"Tyson!" Libby screamed, fighting the dazed shock accompanying an accident, pushing herself up to look around her frantically. He had given her his heavy leather jacket, protecting her skin, but he was sitting up a distance from her, taking off his helmet, one arm dripping blood from shoulder to hand, his head swiveling around as he called out to her.
"Just stay there," Libby commanded. "For once, do what I say."
It was like trying to ward off a hurricane. Tyson was up and running to her, catching her in his arms to ease her back down onto the dirt at the shoulder of the road. Immediately his hands were skimming over her body, checking for signs of damage.
Libby pushed at his chest to back him off, but he didn't appear to notice, frantic to make certain she was alright. "I'm the doctor," she snapped. "And I'm fine. I want to check you."
"Damn it. This is impossible," Tyson said. "Totally impossible."
"We must have hit oil. There's grease all over my leg." She pointed to her jeans. Part of the material had shredded and along with the oil stains, there was the darkening stain of blood. "I think the oil plug loosened and came out."
Tyson bent over his leg to inspect the gravel pitted in her flesh. He had a fair amount in his hand and arm, but his much heavier jeans had saved his leg. "I work on my motorcycle myself. There is no damned way that plug would come loose."
"Not even with the vibrations as we rode down the highway?"
"No way, Libby. I know that for a fact. If that's what happened, then someone tampered with the bike."
Libby rubbed at her pounding temples. It wasn't such a stretch to think that someone had sabotaged Tyson's bike. "This evening in the garage when I saw Harry Jenkins and Joe Fielding they looked very guilty. When they saw me they both sort of straightened up, looked at one another and for some reason it really scared me."
"Like tonight?"
She shook her head, winced when he touched her leg and jerked it away from him. "That hurt. I'll take care of it when we get home. And no, it wasn't the same as tonight. Tonight felt . . ." Libby searched for a word, shrugged her shoulders and sighed. "Malicious is all I can think of. There was hatred. Whoever it was wanted us dead."
"You don't have any old boyfriends, do you?" He drew her leg into his lap and stroked a finger down her calf just above the raw streak.
His voice was so gentle, so teasing, Libby smiled in spite of herself. "I was thinking maybe an old girlfriend of yours."
His lips twisted into a lopsided grin that made her heart beat faster. "I didn't have girlfriends, only you."
"Yes, you did. You didn't get to be such a great lover by reading a book. And I'd be pretty jealous if a man made love to me like that and then left me for another woman."
"Why Libby Drake, I do believe you're threatening me."
She jerked her leg away a second time, or attempted to, when he lightly brushed away a piece of gravel. "Ow! If you don't stop I'm definitely going to threaten you. I have to call my sisters."
"We're in for a walk. The cell phones don't work along this section of road."
"Who needs a cell phone when I have the wind?"
She turned to face the direction of her home, lifting her arms into the air. She closed her eyes, visualizing her sisters, knowing they would be on the captain's walk, waiting for any clue that would give them a direction to find her. She'd always had that safety net, the love of her family solidly behind her. She focused and reached for them, arms up to the stars, calling the wind, directing it home with her message of need.
Tyson watched the concentration on her face with interest. Almost at once he felt the wind begin to pick up, driving at them from the sea and heading away toward Libby's home. The wind shifted suddenly, racing back towards them at a furious rate of speed and he swore he heard feminine voices. The wind enveloped him, surrounded Libby like a living blanket, whirling and spinning as if inspecting them. It left just as fast in a sudden rush, back towards the house again.
"Your family must wreak havoc with meteorologists."
Libby laughed, relief spreading through her, easing the tension that had drawn her so tight. "I never thought of that. You're becoming a believer."
"I still want to hook you up to a scan and collect all the data. Only now I'm going to be fantasizing all sorts of interesting things while I'm studying you."
"You're not hooking me up to a machine, Ty," she said, trying to look stern.
He flashed a small grin and went back to inspect his motorcycle. There was oil all over the back wheel and just as he suspected, a puddle leaking from the bike onto the ground. He swore softly as Libby came up beside him. When she slipped her hand into the crook of his arm, he glanced down at her. "Someone is trying to kill me, Libby."
"Or both of us," she said.
"Or both," he conceded, "but I think I'm the primary target." He gave her a grim look. "The fall I took during the helirescue is starting to seem a little suspicious right about now. All along, I've been wondering how my safety harness could have failed the way it did. We triple check that gear, Libby, because we know our lives depend on it."
"You think someone tampered with your safety harness?"
"I do. How they got to it and what they did to it, I don't know, but I don't think it was an accident. And I'm beginning to think it was no accident that Jonas was shot while taking the broken harness back for testing. The harness disappeared right out of his squad car while everyone was trying to save his life."
"Why would someone want you dead?"
"A lot of people might want me dead. I step on toes, Libby. I'm not very careful what I say and I don't have tolerance for idiots."
"You mean like Harry Jenkins."
"I also called Edward Martinelli and told him to back off."
"You didn't!" She shook her head. "But you had the accident before there was any reason to connect us. He wouldn't have had a reason to want you dead."
"That's not exactly true." He took her hand and led her to the side of the road so they could sit down. Libby didn't realize it, but she was shaking, and probably not from the cold. Already he could see lights in the distance, blinking on and off around the hairpin turns. "I've spoken to Ed about you many times in casual conversations. He had to know I was interested. And my cousin, Sam, owes him a great deal of money. Sam gambles and apparently he lost heavily to Ed. Ed's been threatening him and Sam didn't tell me about it until recently."
"Is it more money than you can pay for him?" Libby asked.
"No. He won't take the money. He wants me, or Sam, to persuade you to talk to him. He says he needs your expertise and no one else will do."
"But you didn't tell me. And neither did Sam."
"Hell, no, we weren't going to tell you. We don't want you anywhere near that bastard. Sam got himself into trouble and if it's a money thing, money can fix it. I only told you so you'd see Ed could have wanted me out of the way."
"Why would he want you out of the way though?"
"Ed knows I never stop if pushed. He's known me since I was a child. Sam can't sustain anything for very long. Of the two of us, he'd want to deal with Sam. I just don't back off once I'm dug in on something." He ran his fingertip down the back of her hand, all the way across to caress her fingers. He curled his hand around hers to press her palm to his heart. "Does that scare you, Libby?"
"No. I can handle you, Tyson. Even when you pull your superior act." How could she not, when he looked at her as if she were the only woman in the world. His eyes devoured her, ate her alive. She'd never, in all the years she'd known him, seen him look that way at anyone else--nor seen anyone look at her that way either.
"You're turning me on, going all dominatrix on me." He leaned over to kiss her. "Your mouth drives me crazy. Every time you do that little thing . . ."
"What little thing?"
He grinned at her. "That. You do this little sexy pout with your lips and all I can think about is kissing you until you're so hot and wet for me I can have you right there and t
hen, or better yet"--his hand slid over the front of his jeans--"I can watch you put those lips to good use."
She tried to stop the slow burn creeping through her body to center deep and low. His voice had gone rough again, and he sucked her finger deep into his mouth.
"Well, try to control yourself, the troops have arrived."
The car screeched to a halt just as the passenger door opened and Elle Drake leapt out to fling herself at Libby. Libby barely had time enough to stand and catch her. Tears poured down Elle's face. "I couldn't find you. I tried, Libby, but I couldn't find you."
"I'm okay, baby. Ssh. It's all right. We're both all right." Libby soothed her. "This isn't your fault, Elle."
Sarah slammed the car door and ran to her sisters, her arms around both of them. "We were so afraid, Libby. We even tried reading the mosaic, but we couldn't find you."
A second vehicle pulled up behind the Drakes' and Jackson emerged. "You two all right?" His sharp glance raked them both, then settled on Elle's tear-stained face.
Tyson nodded. "Someone tampered with my motorcycle and earlier they were watching us at my house." He turned to Libby. "You go on home with your sisters and I'll stay here with Jackson."
"Are you certain?" Libby asked. "I should take a look at your arm first."
"It's nothing, a scratch. Go on home and let me take care of this."
Jackson pulled his gaze away from Elle to study Tyson. "Go on, Libby. I can take your statement later."
Tyson leaned down to brush a kiss across Libby's mouth. "I'll see you first thing tomorrow."
"If you're certain," Libby said. She followed her sisters to the car.
"What is it?" Jackson asked.
Tyson met the deputy's eyes with a long, level look, allowing him to glimpse the pent-up rage looking for a way to break free. "I took Libby to the house I just purchased. We were up there for a while and she became certain someone was watching us through the front glass. The property is fenced in and gated. I thought we were safe, although I don't have a security system in place. I dropped Libby's jacket outside on the walkway and when I went to get it so we could leave, I found it ripped to shreds. The cuts were too clean to have been made with anything but a knife. I'm telling you straight up, Jackson, you'd better find the son of a bitch before I do."
Jackson ignored the threat. "Do you think these attempts are directed at you? Or is this about her?"
Tyson shrugged, looked down to see his fists were clenched and made an attempt to open his hands. "I don't have a clue which one of us. I'm in love with her and maybe that's drawn her into danger. I just don't know." He raked his fingers through his hair in agitation. "There were a couple of men in my garage earlier this evening who chased Libby into the house. They had access to my motorcycle as did whoever was at the new house tonight."
Jackson nodded, careful to take down the details. He glanced at the Drake car as Sarah pulled a U-turn and came up along side of them. She leaned out the window.
"Libby's worried about Ty. She wants him to come by the house and let her clean his arm. She says he'll get an infection if he doesn't take care of it."
Tyson stepped up to the car on the passenger side so he could put his head inside and kiss Libby again. "Sam's good with scrapes, Libby. I want you home and safe now. Get moving." He glanced up and down the highway as if he might spot a threat to her.
Libby didn't want to cling to him so she forced a smile. "Great, you're already trying to get rid of me. I'll see you soon."
Tyson nodded and stepped away from the car.
Libby sank back into her seat with a small frown. "I missed something important, something he doesn't want me to know about. I have a feeling it has something to do with my leather jacket."
"You're wearing his." Sarah glanced at her.
Libby nodded. "I dropped mine outside his house. He owns this absolutely beautiful house and we were going in and I dropped the jacket on the walkway. When we left the house, I was running, so I didn't notice it until we were driving out. I just caught a glimpse but it seemed to be in pieces."
"Pieces?" Elle echoed.
"I think it may have been."
Sarah's gaze jumped to the mirror to meet Elle's vivid green eyes. "I don't like this at all, Lib. We all felt the danger to you. It was incredibly strong this time."
"More to the point it was sharp and spiteful. Very directed."
"At me? Or Ty?" Libby swiveled around in the seat to look at her youngest sister.
Elle shrugged. "I don't know. It felt like you, but I'm tied to you. I couldn't tell. And how in the world would they know you'd even get on his motorcycle?"
Sarah sniffed. "Most people would never consider that a woman of your intellect would even get on the thing."
Libby turned her head to stare out the window with a small secret smile on her face. Libby the bad girl. Her first lecture from big sister. She was grown and a doctor, but it felt like an earth-shattering achievement. Danger and making love and riding on a motorcycle. She wouldn't take back a single second of her night with Tyson Derrick.
"Just in case you'd like to know, Lib," Elle said, studying her fingernails, "Sarah not only has been on a motorcycle, she owns one and drives it."
"For work! For work, you wench," Sarah emphasized. "I'm in security and I do all sorts of things for the job. Libby's a doctor and much more--fragile."
Libby whipped her head around. "I'm so not fragile. I'm a doctor. I don't hang out in a high-rise either, Sarah, I fly to Third World countries where people don't have medicine and their world is filled with power hungry murderers. I am not a pansy."
Sarah held up one hand in surrender as she maneuvered through a switchback. "I didn't mean to offend you, Libby. I was being protective."
"Well, don't. Why is it everyone thinks I need protection? Hannah and Joley both need more protection than I do. You do, too, Sarah. I don't do anything that warrants protection."
Sarah flashed a small grin. "You go out with Tyson Derrick."
Libby huffed out a breath and tried not to smile. She did more than go out with him. She hugged the knowledge to herself. "I do, don't I?"
Elle shook her head in disgust and settled back in her seat with a slight frown. "Another one bites the dust. Just so you know, Hannah isn't going to be happy with you. You were her last line of defense."
Libby bit her lip. "I know she won't be happy. I think deep down she knows she should be with Jonas, but she can't accept him. He's too dominating. She's afraid she can't stand up to him and eventually he'll realize she isn't the strong woman he wants, but someone weak."
"Hannah isn't weak," Sarah denied, shock in her voice.
"Of course she isn't," Libby said. "Hannah thinks she is and that's all that matters. She isn't like the rest of us and she knows it. She never has been."
"She believes we'll all have families and she'll be alone in our house," Elle added. "She laughs about it, saying she'll be the strange old lady with cats, but she isn't laughing on the inside."
"And she isn't eating either," Libby said. "We have to find a way to help her."
"Joley's been trying to get her to eat a little," Sarah confided.
"Joley?" Libby was amazed, but then, on second thought, realized it was like Joley. She talked a good game, and played the part of the musician for the crowd and her adoring fans, but she loved her sisters just as fiercely as they loved her. And Hannah was different. She was the fragile one, even though she would deny it with her last breath. "Of course Joley would notice and try to do something about it. How many accidents have there been in the kitchen?"
All three girls laughed and it helped to dispel the terrible tension. Libby let her breath out slowly as the house came into view. The lights were blazing in welcome, the heavy gates wide open. Hannah and Joley waited on the wide verandah with anxious expressions and even Sarah's guard dogs ran in circles barking a welcome. The moment Libby was out of the car, Hannah and Joley nearly knocked her flat as they dragged her int
o their arms.
"I was so afraid," Hannah said, somewhere between laughter and tears. "Don't you ever scare us like that again."
"You aren't hurt, are you?" Joley stared at her leg and took her hand, turning it over to wince at the gravel embedded there.
"It's painful, but I heal fast."
Hannah stepped back to stare at her. "Libby, you have been with that man. I thought he had broken ribs. I was sure you were safe."
Joley nudged her taller sister. "You mean you thought you were safe. Libby is a fallen woman."
Libby carefully folded Tyson's jacket and set it on a chair with a loving caress her sisters couldn't miss. "I made certain I didn't expend a lot of energy, but I sped up his healing every time I saw him. Just a little touch here and there." She gave them a dreamy smile.
"Stop mooning, you goose, and let's get you cleaned up." Hannah put a hand on Libby's back, felt her wince as she yanked up her shirt. She whistled and pulled the material back in place. "You've been having a good time, haven't you?" She gestured toward a chair and waited until Libby removed her jeans so she could kneel by her to begin the difficult job of cleaning her leg. Joley started to work on her palm.
"I'm going to marry that man," Libby announced.
Sarah turned back from the window to face her. Hannah covered her mouth to keep the gasp from being heard. Joley and Elle exchanged a long look of near despair.
"Are you certain, Libby? You haven't been seeing him that long."
"Longer than you think," Libby said. "I remember watching him argue with a professor at Harvard. I knew he was right, but the professor was so arrogant and Ty was making a mortal enemy. I wouldn't have done it. I would have agreed and taken the good grade and simply have quietly known I was right. It was the principle, the fact that Professor Harding was teaching an entire class something inaccurate. Tyson didn't care if that man could fail him, it mattered that the material was taught correctly. I knew then, at that moment, that he was someone special. He stands up, Sarah."
"Can you stand up to him? A man should make you feel good about yourself, Libby. I saw your face when you talked to him back in school. He made you cry."
Dangerous Tides Page 22
