Bordering On Love (A James Family Novel Book 3)

by Carolyn Lee

  Whoa! An engagement after only being away from Keegan for months, rather than years? First of all, what was wrong with that woman letting him get away? Second, unless she was one fast operator, she had to have been seeing the other guy when she was with Keegan.

  "Is she the reason you left the FBI?"

  "How much of our conversation did you actually hear?"

  "Um, all of it," she answered slowly. "For the future, your bathroom is not sound proof. Hey, that's our exit." She pointed to the sign that read Lynnhaven.

  Keegan pulled the truck onto the off ramp but didn't say anything else. Great. He was mad at her again. Another relationship shot to hell in record time.

  There is no relationship, a tiny little voice in the deepest recesses of her brain screamed at her.

  She directed Keegan toward the marina and didn't mention Margot again.

  "Take my phone and send Will a message letting him know we are here."

  Nikki picked up the cell phone from the console and did as she was told. In less than a minute, a return text came in.

  "He says they are parked by the bait shop."

  Keegan nodded, switched off his headlights and drove the truck to where the ATF agents were waiting. He and Nikki exited the truck and joined Will.

  "Hey, guys. Glad you made it to the party," Will teased.

  "Is the truck here?" Keegan asked looking around the mostly empty lot.

  "Around the bend over there," Will pointed to a line of docks that slipped out of view. "This here is Matt Smith and Tracy King."

  "Nice to meet you," Nikki said shaking the other agents' hands. Keegan did the same. A pang of jealousy hit her when Keegan touched the female agent. He might not be speaking to her but he gave Tracy a full on Keegan smile.

  "Tracy is a rookie. Matt's her training agent. This is a big case for a rookie to help break." Will shot her a grin but Tracy remained stony-faced.

  "These guys give you a hard time, Tracy?" Nikki asked. "I’m the only woman in my office and it’s like having a dozen fathers."

  "I can handle myself just fine, thank you." Tracy didn't even crack a smile. She was one serious woman.

  "I'm sure you can." She turned to Will. "So, do you have a plan?"

  "Yeah, catch the bad guys."

  Nikki rolled her eyes. "Aside from the obvious. Do I need to show you how it's done?"

  Will ignored her sarcasm. "I figured we would surround them. Watch what they do and who else shows up. I'd like to get a big boss if we can. Those weapons are not intended for target practice. Once we have a better idea of who is involved and what they are planning on doing with the guns, we can take them down and bring them in."

  "Tracy and I will go wide and come in on the far side. Here, put this in your ear." Matt handed Will an earpiece he pulled from a small bag in his pocket. Keegan and Nikki each took one as well as Matt and Tracy.

  "Can we all hear each other?" Will asked.

  "Check," Keegan responded, followed by Nikki and the others.

  Matt and Tracy took off for the far side of the lot while Will worked his way closer to the truck by acting like a tourist out for a late night stroll.

  "Come on, I want to get close to the boat." Nikki waved Keegan over. He followed her but didn't say anything. His ability to cut off all communication without warning was extremely annoying. Maybe she should apologize for asking about Margot. Just as she was about to open her mouth, Nikki remembered the ear pieces they all wore. Last thing she needed was their private discussion being mic'd to the ATF. Especially when Will knew there was an attraction between her and Keegan and he knew about Margot.

  Careful to stay in the shadows, they picked their way around the parking lot and down to the docks.

  "This is Nikki, can you see anyone by the boat?"

  "10-4," Tracy replied. "There's two on the dock on the north side and one on the deck of the boat. Slip 124D."

  "I'm moving closer." Nikki mouthed to Keegan. He shook his head no but she ignored him and did a crouch run from where to they stood to a sedan parked within earshot of the suspects. The two guys on the dock waved and said something to the one on the deck of the boat. He jumped down to the dock and the three of them headed to the truck that had held all the guns.

  She looked behind her but Keegan was gone. Matt and Tracy were out of sight. After a quick scan of the area, she made up her mind.

  "I'm going on board," she whispered into the mic.

  "Nikki, don't." Keegan's voice of authority sounded in her ear but she pretended not to hear him and ran across the open area between her and the boat. Grateful for all those years of gymnastic training, she grabbed the brass rail that surrounded the bow of the boat and hauled herself up and over using the same techniques she used on the uneven bars back in the day. Way back in the day, she quickly discovered when it took twice as much muscle energy as it had when she was a teenager.

  Flipping over the rail, she dropped quietly to the deck and ducked behind a tarp covered object, probably more weapons, and waited to see if anyone had heard or seen her. The boat rocked in the slightly rough water. When no one came after her, Nikki slipped out from her hiding spot. She raised her gun, so she was ready just in case, and followed the wall of the large cabin around to the back of the boat. A block of incandescent light illuminated the deck from a window in to the cabin. Through the glass she saw that she wasn't alone on the boat.

  Two men, one seated in the driver's seat and another standing with his back to her were in the room. Nikki dropped down out of sight and pulled her cell phone from her pocket. Rising slowly she snapped a picture of the two men.

  "Nikki? Nikki can you hear me? Where are you?" It was Keegan again. She didn't dare answer. As she tried to slide the phone back into her pocket, a large swell tilted the boat to one side throwing off her balance. The phone hit the deck and slid into the water.

  "Damn!" she muttered.

  "You okay?" That was Will.

  Keeping her back pressed low against the boat cabin, she worked her way back to where she had started before responding.

  "I'm fine. Dropped my phone in the water."

  "That's sucks."

  "Yeah, it does. Sucks more because there are two more guys on board."

  "The three with the truck took off a couple of minutes ago. They must be the delivery crew. Matt took Tracy and followed them."

  "Where's Keegan?"

  "He's not with you?"

  "No. I left him in the parking lot."

  "Damn, Nikki. I knew he shouldn't have come."

  "In case anyone cares, I am right here," Keegan said into his mic.

  "Where's here?" Nikki asked.

  "Look down."

  She rose from her crouch and looked over the side of the boat. Keegan stood on the dock looking up at her.

  "I've got eyes on him," Nikki said.

  "I don't need eyes on me. I'm a trained federal agent, just like both of you." There was a hint of anger in his voice.

  "Chill, man. Just making sure you're with us." Will sounded equally annoyed.

  "Keegan, can you pass me up your phone? I dropped mine when a wave hit the boat."

  He nodded, pulling the phone out of his jeans and handing it up to her. Nikki tried hard to ignore the sparks that accompanied the exchange between their finger-tips. "Thanks."

  She squatted back down and took a picture of the tarp covered object before lifting one corner and snapping some photos of the boxes the black fabric covered. When she was done, she stood up. Keeping to the shadows, she chanced a shot of the deck of the boat.

  "I'm going around back to see if I can get another picture of the two guys in the cabin."

  "Be careful," Will said.

  "I'm a big girl," she replied, the sarcasm slipping out before she could stop it.

  "Whatever."

  Keegan stayed silent through the exchange but she could see him following her in the shadows along the dock. Nikki reached the place where the window was. Once again, she ro
se slowly and snapped a couple of pictures of the men in the room. As she was securing the phone in her pocket, the engine below the deck roared to life and the boat started moving. The sudden motion knocked Nikki to her knees.

  "Nikki! The boat's moving. You need to get off." Keegan was saying in her ear. She knew she had to get off the boat, the problem was though, she was stuck. When she fell, her jeans caught on a hook in the side of the cabin. The material tore and wrapped around itself as her body twisted during the fall.

  "I know. I'm kind of stuck though."

  "Stuck?" Keegan asked.

  "I'm caught up. My jeans ripped and—"

  Despite being in a no wake zone, the boat suddenly jerked forward again as it quickly picked up speed. "Keegan!"

  "I know! You have to get off of there, right now!"

  Remembering the last good advice her father had given her, she stuck her hand in her back pocket and pulled out a pocketknife. Flicking it open, she started cutting at the denim that covered her leg wincing as the expensive, designer material tore apart. By the time she was able to pull her leg out, the boat departed the marina. Scrambling to her feet she ran to the side as the cold night air whipped her hair around her face. That boat was moving way too fast for the confined space of the marina. Keegan was still standing at the end of the dock waving his arms. In her ear she heard, "Jump, Nikki! You've gotta jump!"

  Pretending it was July and that the water was still eighty degrees, Nikki climbed over the end of the deck and dropped into the cold sea below. As chilly water washed over her, Nikki climbed back to the surface and started swimming for all she was worth. The boat disappeared into the night leaving her alone in the water.

  She had lost her earpiece when she jumped. Her boots were full of water and weighing her down. Nikki struggled against the cold water and the heavy wet clothes as her muscles grew weaker and weaker. After what seemed like forever and she had gotten nowhere, her brain started to feel fuzzy.

  "No! You will not give up, Nikole." The pep talk was almost useless as she forced her arms to move and her legs to kick. In the distance, she heard a loud bellow but like her thoughts, it sounded fuzzy and contrived. She kept moving, slowing down with every stroke. The darkness was suddenly broken by bright lights as a small boat pulled up beside her. Strong arms reached down and pulled her up and over the side. She collapsed to the deck, huge, violent shivers wracking her frame. A wool blanket was wrapped around her as voices said things she couldn't decipher.

  "You must be Nikki." Finally, words—and a face—that were familiar.

  "Keegan?" her teeth crashed together and she forced the words out.

  "No." The man hovering over her smiled. He looked like Keegan, smiled like Keegan—had she hit her head on the way into the water and was now hallucinating?

  "Oh, sorry," she murmured. Blackness followed the path of the blanket, wrapping around her and swallowing her in its depths.

  15

  Keegan

  Keegan paced the dock, cursing and stomping impatiently. What the hell where they doing out there with her?

  The small rescue boat pulled up in the slip the larger boat had just vacated. "It's about damned time. How is she?"

  Keegan jumped in to the boat, rocking it violently but he ignored the comments of the other men as he scooped Nikki up in his arms and leaped back onto the dock. The woman was shaking violently. He needed to get her to the emergency room. Keegan took off at a run toward his truck, footsteps sounding behind him.

  "Thanks, guys!" he heard a voice call out but he didn't stop.

  "Keegan! Would you wait for me please?" The same voice was yelling after him but he kept moving.

  When he finally reached his truck, he realized his keys were in the pocket of his jeans. "Son of a bitch!"

  The man running after him finally caught up. "What's wrong, brother?" Kaiden panted.

  "My keys. I can’t reach them. Front right pocket."

  His twin reached in and fished out the keyring. "Get in, I'll drive you."

  Keegan did as he was told, pulling Nikki across his lap and slamming the door shut. As soon as Kaiden turned the engine over, Keegan turned the heat on full blast. "I've got to get her boots off, don't go anywhere yet." Pushing the door back open, he let Nikki's feet hang down the side of the seat. With one hand, he worked both boots off her feet, dumping ocean water out of them and tossing them into the back seat.

  He closed the door again. "Okay, go!"

  Keegan held Nikki close, whispering in her ear and rubbing her arms and legs to try and warm her. The cab of the truck began to feel like an oven. Nikki still shook but with less ferocity. As they hit the main road, her eyelids fluttered open.

  "Keegan?"

  He smiled down at her. "Yes."

  "Why were you so mean to me?"

  "What do you mean, I was mean to you?"

  "You pulled me out of the water then pretended not to be you."

  "It wasn't me." Both the brothers laughed heartily as Keegan shifted Nikki a little on his lap keeping the blanket tightly wrapped around her. The shaking was finally tapering away. "Meet my twin brother, Kaiden. He works for Homeland Security and has a few buddies in the Coast Guard. They are the ones that fished you out."

  "Coast Guard. Homeland Security. FBI. Border Patrol and ATF. You James people are connected."

  Kaiden laughed. "You don’t know the half of it. Wait until you meet our mother."

  "Is she in the NSA?"

  This time Kaiden and Keegan bust out in laughter. "No," Keegan managed to get out between laughing bouts, "but she is more connected than we are!"

  Nikki shook her before letting it fall against his shoulder. "Where are you taking me?"

  Her breath warmed his cheek. Keegan bit back a groan that formed with the intimate contact. "The E.R.," Kaiden replied.

  "No, you don't have to do that. I'm fine, really. I just need a hot shower and dry clothes."

  "I don't know," Keegan said. "That water was cold and you were pretty blue when they fished you out. You passed out on the boat."

  "I'm not cold anymore, just achy. You have warmed me sufficiently." Her face turned a glorious shade of crimson when she realized what she had just said.

  He'd definitely like to warm her more thoroughly. Every single inch of her cold, damp skin would be burning by the time he was done. Nikki shifted a little in his lap. That was not a good thing. Everything below his waist tensed. She was looking up at him, making Keegan the one to turn red.

  "Look, I'm serious. I'm fine. Can you just take me to my place? It's not far from here," She tried her appeal on Kaiden who passed a look to Keegan.

  "Fine," Keegan said. "Take her home."

  "Where to, ma'am?" Kaiden asked.

  "Sandbridge Road."

  "Got it." Kaiden turned the truck around at the next light and headed toward the part of Virginia Beach that boasted the most beach front property.

  "I'm at twelve nineteen Sandpiper."

  "That's a nice address," Kaiden said.

  "Yeah. It's my dad's place. He, um, moved and didn’t want to sell so I live there for now."

  Keegan detected a hint of sadness in her voice that he didn't understand. A beach house was a nice gig as far as he could tell. He'd have to ask her about it when he had the chance.

  Ten minutes later they pulled up in front of Nikki's house. While it was a tiny cottage surrounded by oversized beach rentals, it was definitely well kept. As Kaiden shut the engine off, Nikki reached for the door.

  "I got that." Keegan pulled the handle and slid from the seat with Nikki still in his arms.

  "You can put me down now. I really am fine. Besides, I need to grab my purse from the backseat."

  "You aren't wearing any shoes and Kaiden grabbed your bag already." He turned so she could see his brother holding her bag up in the air.

  "I can still walk."

  "It's too cold for you to be walking around wet and barefoot."

  Nikki let out a long breath.
"Okay, fine. I still need to get my keys out of my purse."

  "No problem," Kaiden said, walking toward them. Nikki accepted the purse, digging in and pulling out her keys as Keegan carried her to the door. He took the key from her and fitted it into the lock. When he pushed the door open, an alarm sounded. Keegan set Nikki on her feet and she punched in the code to turn it off.

  The two men followed Nikki into the house, eyes searching the space around them. Nikki still wore the blanket over her clothes. "I'm going to hit the shower, get this funk off of me. You two can make yourselves at home."

  Nikki disappeared down a hall, leaving Keegan and Kaiden in the living area. Keegan sort of wished his brother weren't there—he might have offered to assist Nikki if they were alone.

  "Anyone tell our cousin we were leaving?" Kaiden asked.

  "I think my phone is at the bottom of the bay," Keegan replied.

  Kaiden pulled out his phone and sent Will a quick text. While he typed, Nikki returned in a short, terry cloth robe in a purple so dark and rich it was fit for royalty. Every one of Keegan's senses came alive at once. There were no words to describe the way Nikki appealed to him in that moment. He was a breath away from throwing his cousin out when Kaiden's phone rang. After a quick one sided conversation he turned to his brother.

  "I need to take your truck. Something has come up at work. Can you grab a cab back to your place?"

  "I'll make sure he gets home," Nikki said before Keegan could reply, "Once I shower and change." Turning to Keegan, she held out her hand. In the palm lay his cell phone.

  "It was in my pocket when I jumped in the water. I will make sure the agency replaces it. I'm so sorry." She looked so morose that Keegan had to fight the urge to take her in his arms. Instead he just accepted the ruined electronic device.

  Suddenly the idea of his brother taking his truck sounded fabulous. "I thought you had already showered."

  "Nope. I was getting undressed when I found this in my pocket. I'm really sorry."

  "Don't apologize. It's just a phone that can be replaced. I'm just glad you are all right." Keegan held her intense gaze with his own hungry one. They stood that way, looking at each other for so long, that he was sure there was a glow surrounding them from all the electricity they were creating.