by Brenna Lyons
Joe jumped on that statement. “No. If it’s disturbing her that much, you don’t have to know.”
Leo stared at him. “What has you so upset?” He had never seen Joe like this before.
“Don’t push her. She’s already distraught. Ask her later.”
Leo nodded, though he knew there was more to it than what Joe was telling him. “All right.”
“No,” Kyla said quietly. “It’s important.”
“What is?” Leo asked her.
“I couldn’t let them in because I couldn’t trust one of them.”
Leo surveyed Joe to see if he looked as confused as Leo felt, but Joe stared at Kyla with a look of perfect understanding.
“Like Stacie?” Joe asked.
“Yes, just like Stacie.”
Joe kissed her forehead. “I’ll handle it.”
Kyla smiled and touched his cheek.
“Handle what?” Leo demanded, as Joe pulled out his cell phone started dialing.
“Guards.”
“That’s my department,” Leo snapped at him.
“You find your traitor, and I’ll trust them.” Joe stopped dialing and favored Leo with a hard look.
“Joe, be sensible. She was in a drug-induced psychosis. She didn’t trust anyone she didn’t know.”
Joe smiled. “Silly boy. Stick around. There’s a reason she’s been around this long. When Kyla can’t trust someone, there’s a reason why.”
Leo found his logic shutting down. He supposed it was possible. After all, Kyla and Molly had a connection he couldn’t explain. In the background, Leo heard Joe finish dialing and start speaking, but he wasn’t paying attention anymore.
* * *
Eric answered on the second ring. “Hey bud. What’s up with you two?”
“Call out the guards,” Joe ordered. “You and me at the hospital. The other two on her family.”
“Shit! What’s going on this time?”
“The police have a turncoat.”
“She’s sure?”
“Yep.”
“Just what we need. What about equipment?”
“I don’t suppose Stanton and Waters are going to let us carry here, but we’ll be dressed for the trip out. Ask Matthew if he minds the others carrying their personal pieces. Nothing big. We don’t want to scare Molly. I think that shotgun may have been a little much, but Kyla had no other weapons available.”
“Yeah, the kid’s had enough. I’ll get on it. What if I can’t reach them?”
“Let us know. We can.”
Joe hung up, and Eric turned to face Matthew.
Matthew was already upset by what little he had overheard. “What now?” he asked.
Eric glanced at Molly. “Maybe we better—”
The girl adopted an expression that was a Xerox copy of a classic Kyla look when she was irritated. “If it’s about the bad policeman, I already know.” Molly rolled her eyes at the two men.
Eric squatted down to her level. “How do you know about that?” he asked.
“The pretty lady told Kyla. You know who I mean?”
Eric smiled. “Yes, I do. Does the pretty lady talk to you, too?”
“No, just Kyla. I only see her when Kyla does.”
Eric nodded and touched her cheek. He had no doubt that what little Kyla told him about Molly was a gross understatement. Molly wasn’t simply her sister’s first contact. She was much more, and Kyla and Joe both knew it.
Eric looked up at Matthew and moved toward the doorway to scan his eyes up the hall.
Matthew was more confused than ever, and Eric didn’t have the time for a proper explanation. “What lady?” he asked Eric.
“That’s a story for another time. Right now, I have to arrange for some protection.”
“For Kyla?”
Eric nodded. “And for you. Can our personal guards carry?” Eric patted under his arm and jerked his head at Molly behind her back.
Matthew pondered it carefully. “They’re professionals?” he asked.
“The best.”
“I agree. Can we see Kyla?”
“Go in whether they want you there or not,” Eric told him. “I have a few calls to make.”
* * *
Matthew’s head was spinning. Every time he thought he was on an even keel, something new came up. He assumed from the conversations between Eric, Joe, and Molly that a bad policeman meant they couldn’t trust the officers assigned to them.
Who was the lady Kyla talked to, the lady Molly could only see when Kyla saw her? She sounded like a guardian angel, but Matthew doubted it was that simple. Nothing about Kyla was as simple as it seemed. He had misgivings about accepting Kyla’s armed guards, but one look at Molly and Josie convinced him it was the right thing to do.
Matthew opened the door, and Kyla smiled weakly. She was pale, and monitors still recorded her heart rate and breathing, but the oxygen was off and she was awake again. As he expected, Kyla was wrapped under Joe’s arm.
“Hi Dad. I think I owe you for some damages.” Her voice was a little rougher than he was accustomed to.
“Nonsense. I’m sure it’s not that bad.”
“You haven’t seen your office yet, have you?”
“No, but I heard you broke the glass.”
Kyla grimaced. “With one of your golf clubs.”
“My clubs?” Matthew feigned shock. In truth, he had to admit that it was probably the easiest way for her to break the glass.
“It was that or your trophy, and the club lost. I also shot a hole in the door, knocked most of the stuff off the desk when I moved it, and threw up on the carpet.” She grimaced again, and Matthew remembered that Kyla had always hated throwing up.
“Bad day, huh?” He hugged her. “It’s over. You’ll be home soon.”
Kyla shook her head. “Not with you. It’s too dangerous for all of you. Once they know I’m not there, you’re all in the clear.”
Matthew couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You can’t keep running away. You can’t keep pushing people away. Haven’t you learned that yet?”
“It kept you all safe while I did it.”
“In case you missed it, it didn’t keep us safe all of the time. Be reasonable.”
Joe smiled at him. “It took me two and a half weeks to convince her to be reasonable. It’s not in her nature. Let’s visit, and we’ll discuss it later.”
Matthew waved Molly and Josie in. Molly climbed into her sister’s lap and cuddled in. For a long time, none of them spoke.
Kyla looked up at her father. “I’d never let anything happen to her,” she said tearfully.
Matthew patted his older daughter on the shoulder. “I never doubted it.”
* * *
Eric rode back to the house with them and made sure they hooked up with Liz and Jason before he headed back to the hospital.
Matthew recognized Jason from the elevator. The pair were nothing like Matthew expected for bodyguards. Liz was a young woman who looked like she would be at home slam dancing or clubbing downtown. Jason had a homegrown air about him. Neither were the hard-boiled professionals Matthew had expected.
Liz smiled at his concerned look. “Don’t worry, Mr. Keating. We know what we’re doing.”
Molly bopped over. “Hi Liz,” she greeted the woman without pause.
Liz knelt down to her level. “So, you’re the infamous Molly.” She smiled at Matthew’s younger daughter. “You don’t have to worry about anything with us here.”
“I know. You’re professionals.”
“Better. We’re professionals with a personal stake in what we do.”
Molly hugged the woman, and Matthew grimaced. He expected Molly would feel a handgun, but as Liz smiled over Molly’s shoulder, he got the message. Liz really did know what she was doing. He nodded in relief.
Matthew turned to Jason. “I can show you to the guest room.”
The young man shook his head. “We won’t need it. We’ll sleep on the couch, if
that’s okay. One of us will be on guard at all times. Can I throw a backpack in the closet?”
“Is it—” Matthew blushed as he realized he almost asked if it was safe.
“Just clothes and toiletries.”
Matthew nodded and backed away from the door.
Jason swung Molly onto his hip and tickled her. “What do you say you give me the grand tour?”
His daughter collapsed into her new friend’s chest in a fit of laughter, and Matthew stood in awe. Kyla and Joe really did know what they were doing. The professional bodyguards were more like family. No doubt, Molly would be calling them Aunt Liz and Uncle Jason by morning.
Liz double-checked the front locks and started on the first floor, while Jason carried Molly upstairs. He commented on how nice her room was, but Matthew could see him calculating as he scanned.
“Why don’t we close that blind? That way, the reporters can’t see you,” he suggested. Molly nodded, and Jason drew the blind.
Molly showed Jason her parents’ room and Kyla and Joe’s room. Jason glanced down the hall in the opposite direction.
“That’s the bathroom and the guest room and the office,” Molly offered.
Matthew watched as Jason smiled. “It’s really late. Why don’t you go with your Mom and Liz and get ready for bed. I’ll send your Dad back with your toothbrush.”
Liz reached out to take the little girl, but Molly looked at Jason suspiciously. “Why?”
Liz hefted Molly with a laugh. “Because we’re girls and he’s a yucky boy.”
Jason pulled back his hand as if to smack Liz on the rump, and they smiled at each other. Matthew stifled a laugh as Molly peered over Liz’s shoulder at Jason.
“He doesn’t look yucky to me,” the child offered.
“He doesn’t look yucky to me either,” Liz admitted over her shoulder. She carried Molly into the master bedroom and out of sight.
Jason shook his head and walked back down the hallway past the stairs. The smile was still evident on his face. Jason paused at the doorway and surveyed the door and the wall across from it. “We can clean this up tomorrow and keep Molly away until then. It won’t be hard to repair.”
Matthew nodded in agreement.
“Why don’t you deliver that toothbrush?” Jason suggested as he disappeared inside the office.
“I’ll be back in a second.” In all honesty, it wasn’t much longer than that.
When Matthew returned, Jason was pulling the desk back to its original position. Jason scanned his eyes over the destruction. He shook his head and started stacking the guns and rifles on the desk.
“Where do you want to store these until the glass is replaced?” Jason asked.
“We’ll put them in the iron safe in the basement.” Matthew hesitated. “As long as you’re not going to need them.”
Jason laughed heartily at the idea. “No, we don’t need them. We’re each carrying two as it is.” Matthew gaped at him, so Jason continued. “Eric explained you had concerns, so we’re being as low key as we can.” He looked at the shattered glass. “Do you have a shop vac?”
“Yes. We’ll use it tomorrow after Molly is up.”
Jason turned the bent club over in his hands and sighed. “Goodbye, Mr. Nine Iron.”
“Easily replaced,” Matthew replied. “Much easier than my girls.”
Jason nodded.
Matthew found it hard to gauge what was going through his mind.
“Yes, it is.” Jason crossed to the sour puddle. “Must have been some serious drugs,” he commented.
“They could have killed her.”
Jason smiled a tight smile.
Curiosity got the better of Matthew. He had to know what was on Jason’s mind. “What?” he asked the young man.
“You don’t want to know.” Jason met Matthew’s gaze. “Honestly, you don’t.”
“Yes, I do. Conversations with you guys always seem to run this way. I missed a lot. I know that. I never seem to know what you’re talking about. I want to understand.”
Jason looked at him and shrugged. “All right, Mr. Keating. I’ve seen a lot of things almost kill your daughter. I’ve never seen anything make her puke. I’ve seen her with concussions, broken ribs, strangled half to death, beaten, battered, suffering from exposure bordering on hypothermia, with a hundred and five degrees of fever, and on pain meds and muscle relaxants that allowed her a few hours of broken sleep. I’ve never seen her puke. In the last twelve weeks of almost constant emergencies, I’ve never seen it. Kyla is stronger than you think.”
Matthew swallowed a lump in his throat. “You were right. I didn’t need to know that.”
Jason shook his head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said it. We all care about Kyla. I should have known you didn’t want that much honesty.”
“No,” Matthew assured him. “I’ve been wearing rose colored glasses, haven’t I? That and the fact that no one wants to tell me the whole story.”
Jason sighed. “Yeah, well when it hits you, it hits you hard.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll never forget what it was like when Joe and Eric brought her to Gram’s. I signed on to protect her. I didn’t expect to have to load her on a carry blanket the first time I saw her up close. I wasn’t ready. I thought she was weak and defenseless. That was my second mistake.” He laughed at the thought.
“She wasn’t?” Matthew asked.
Jason shook his head. “As soon as Kyla regained consciousness, she did the impossible.” He looked at Matthew with a mist of tears showing in his eyes. “She couldn’t walk. She had no shoes or coat. She had no idea where she was or where she was going. It was wet and close to freezing outside.
“Kyla thought Harris had her. She’d never been to Gram’s house before, and Joe wasn’t in the room with her when she woke. We thought she’d sleep through the night. Anyway, Kyla opened a window and dropped out. We found her more than a hundred yards away in the woods. She was still trying to find a way out even though she was soaked to the bone and turning blue.”
“Why?” Matthew asked.
“She thought Joe needed help. I’ve never seen love like that before. Love, pure guts, and a little skill were all we had going for us, at times.”
“And Kyla’s gifts.”
“No, sometimes we didn’t even have that.”
Matthew started.
“Whenever she was unconscious, we were out of contact with her. She was unconscious for a lot of those last two days.”
“It’s amazing that she survived the first week.”
“And on top of everything else, she saved my life,” Jason added.
“You mean metaphorically. The fire that kept you out of jail, right? I know, we agreed not to talk about that, but—”
“No, I mean literally. I took a shot that knocked me out of a tree. My radio was smashed, I was fading in and out of consciousness, and Liz couldn’t see me from where she was. Everyone took me for dead. Everyone except Kyla.”
“What happened?”
“She sent Liz to get me out and to a doctor before all hell broke loose again. If Kyla hadn’t done that, the police would have found another charred body. She sent us out before the shooting even stopped.”
“She gave up an advantage like that? She sent away her bodyguards before she was safely out? Why?”
“Because,” Liz answered from the doorway, “she cares for other people before herself. It would have made no difference to Kyla if she survived at the cost of our lives. You raised a great kid.”
“What about Gram and Stacie?” Matthew asked.
“Gram and Stacie chose what they did even though it got them killed. Joe chose to take that bullet. She couldn’t stop them because they were in the line of fire. She agonizes over it, and she probably always will. We were different. Kyla could order us away, and she did.”
“Why were you different?”
“We weren’t inside. Our fighting was done, unless she or Joe order
ed us inside. If it were up to Joe, it might have been different, but Kyla vetoed him.”
Matthew was still having problems following what she was saying.
Liz sighed and met his eyes. “We were snipers.”
He looked from one to the other. They weren’t kidding. Matthew bid them goodnight. He walked away in a sort of shock. The view he was getting of Kyla was beautiful, complex, and far more disturbing than he’d counted on. Matthew decided there were a few questions he had to ask his older daughter when she came home.
Chapter Thirty-eight
June 30th
Liz and Jason spent the night cleaning up and standing watch. Jason moved the weapons to the basement and set them atop the other gun safe until he could get the key from Matthew. He cleaned up the blood and vomit and made a mental note to run the vacuum and steam cleaner in the morning. Liz spackled the holes dotting the wall across from the office door.
The sweeps they made of the outside were stressful. Waters had posted an officer outside despite their wishes. The officer didn’t outwardly interfere with them, but he made annoying comments about checking their licenses to carry concealed weapons, the weapons themselves, and any other number of outrageous ideas.
Liz invited him to try. Jason stalked around him, grinning much like Kyla had with Liz in the library during their infamous standoff.
“Smile and make them wonder,” he told Liz.
“She wasn’t smiling,” Liz reminded him.
* * *
For Matthew, the day dawned bright and clear. He left Josie sleeping and started down the hall. The smell of Pine Sol was strong, and he followed it to his office. Overnight, the couple had all but rebuilt the room.
He went downstairs. Liz was asleep on the couch, but the smell of coffee let him know Jason had been in the kitchen. Jason was pouring a cup for him when Matthew came through the door.
“How do you take it?” Jason called over his shoulder.
“Blonde and bitter. Thanks.” Matthew accepted the cup. “I saw the work you did upstairs. You didn’t have to, you know.”
Jason nodded. “Yes, we did. Molly and Kyla didn’t need to see it again. Joe didn’t need to see it at all. Point us at the paint and order a new door. It’ll be better than new.”
