Monroe, Marla - The Edge of Night [The Protectors 3](Siren Publishing Classic)

by Marla Monroe

  “What is it, Amanda?” Morgan asked, staring at her.

  “You’re going to meet with her, but you’re going to leave me here.” She fisted her hands on her hips. “This is about me. I should have some say-so in all of it.”

  “Amanda, it’s not safe for you to go. We don’t know if she’s working with Guy’s goons or not. I just don’t want to risk it, baby.” Morgan walked over and cupped her cheek in the palm of his hand. He bent down and kissed her.

  “You’re not going by yourself either,” she said.

  “No, I’m going to take Jethro and Justin with me. Tyler will stay behind with you in case this is a setup to get us away from you.”

  “I’ll keep you safe, Amanda. You don’t have to worry about that,” Tyler assured her.

  “I’m not worried about that. I’m worried about all of you getting hurt because of me.”

  “Not going to happen, baby. We’re going to be very careful. That’s why you’re staying here. If you were to go with us, we’d all be worried about you and miss something.” Morgan pulled her into his arms.

  A few seconds later, there was a knock at the connecting door. Morgan and Tyler exchanged looks.

  “Who is it?” Morgan asked.

  “Jethro. Open the fucking door.”

  Tyler laughed and unlocked the connecting door. Both brothers walked in scowling.

  “What’s bothering you two?” Morgan asked, picking up on their mood.

  “That damn red Mustang is parked not two doors down. I don’t like it,” Justin said.

  “Yeah, she cornered us as soon as we pulled in so that we couldn’t leave. She wants to talk. I told her we’d meet her at the diner in”—he looked at his watch—“forty minutes.”

  “Who in the hell is she?” Jethro asked.

  “Don’t know, but she said we have two guys looking for Amanda and they aren’t nice guys. Since we already know this, I figure it’s worth listening to see what else she knows. I want to know why she’s looking for Amanda,” Morgan said.

  “What’s your plan?” Jethro crossed his arms.

  “I figured Tyler would stay here with Amanda. The three of us will go meet her, overwhelm her with numbers to get her to talk and tell the truth.” Morgan waited to see what Jethro thought about the plan.

  “I don’t like it. She has too many people interested in her,” Jethro said.

  “I agree. At least this way we can find out what this one wants.”

  “Tyler, move Amanda into our room. That way they won’t know where she is. We parked the truck several cars down. We’ll divide up, though, at the diner. I’ll go in first and take a seat in the back so that I can see her and the door. Then you two go in and sit across from her. That way, if there is any trouble, I’m free to either help you or go after Amanda, depending on what looks like the best course of action at the time.” Jethro let out a breath in a huff.

  “Let’s get Amanda settled. We’ll just keep the rooms like that anyway,” Justin suggested.

  The four men moved all the luggage around, and Morgan made sure Amanda had something to drink and nibble on till they got back. He could tell she was still upset with him, but there wasn’t a damn thing he could or would do about it. He wasn’t taking her with him.

  At the appointed time, the three of them left, noticing the red Mustang had already gone. Morgan and Justin rode over on the bike. Jethro drove the truck and pulled into the parking lot so he could go in first and set up. A few minutes later, Justin and Morgan rode up and got off the bike. They opened the door and walked straight to the booth where the blonde was sitting.

  Morgan noticed two other single men in the room. One was facing the bar eating, and the other was in a booth on the opposite wall. Jethro had a seat at a table in the back, watching the room. He didn’t acknowledge them at all.

  They slid into the booth opposite the woman. She sat with her hands on the table, balling a napkin up in them. This put Morgan on edge.

  “Okay, what do you want?” Morgan asked without beating around the bush.

  A waitress walked up to ask what they wanted. Morgan dismissed her, saying nothing right then.

  “You were going to tell us what you wanted,” he began again.

  “I need to talk to Amanda. It’s very important that I talk to her.”

  “You’ll have to talk to us instead. She’s not talking to anyone but us.”

  “You don’t understand. He’ll kill her if he catches her. I shouldn’t even be here, but I needed to warn her about him,” she said.

  “Who are you?” Justin asked.

  “My name is Jane Porter. I’m a reporter for The Daily Journal. I was writing an exposé on Guy, her ex-boyfriend, but he found out and had me fired. I went to reason with him and overheard him plotting to kill Amanda,” she whispered.

  “So why didn’t you go to the police?” Morgan asked.

  “I can’t. I don’t know who to trust there. He has several of them in his pockets. He has friends everywhere,” she said.

  “Why does he want to kill Amanda?” Morgan asked.

  “I don’t know for sure, but it has something to do with her having something on him. The man he was talking with asked if he wanted her brought to him or what. Guy said to take care of her and make sure no one found the body. He said she wouldn’t be missed anyway.”

  “Why did it matter enough to you that you followed her, and how did you find her?”

  “Because I had an abusive boyfriend once and know how it is to be on the run. I found her by doing what I would have done. I would have cut my hair, dyed it, and hitched a ride west as far from Memphis as I could go.” She kept glancing around as if expecting someone to show up at any minute.

  “Who are you waiting on?” Justin asked.

  “No one, but those two men who Guy sent are close. They were back at the last hotel you were at. I think that was my fault. They followed me. I lost them, though, this time. I think.”

  “Okay, you’ve delivered your message. You can go home now,” Morgan said, starting to get up from the booth.

  “I can’t go home. I don’t have a home to go to. He had me evicted from my apartment besides getting me fired from my job. Everything I own is in the back of that car,” she cried.

  “I’m not responsible for you or what happens to you,” Morgan told her.

  Tears formed in her eyes and began to slide down her cheeks. “Please, I’m afraid that since I’ve helped you they will want me dead now, too.”

  “Why should we trust anything you have to say?” Morgan asked.

  She shook her head, looking down. “I guess you can’t.”

  “Look, do you have enough cash you can drive in the opposite direction and hole up somewhere for a few days?” Morgan asked her.

  “Yeah. I can do that.”

  “Give me your cell phone number. I’ll call you when things are taken care of so you’ll know it’s safe to come out of hiding. Then you’re on your own at putting your life back together.”

  “Thank you,” she whispered as she dug in her purse.

  She pulled out a card with her name and phone numbers. She circled one and handed it to him.

  “That’s my cell number. Use it. The other was my office number.”

  “Get going. I’ll call you as soon as we have things under control.” Morgan stood up, and he and Justin left the diner, and climbed back onto the big bike.

  They circled the hotel twice before parking a few spots down. Morgan knocked on Justin and Jethro’s door. He saw Tyler pull aside the curtain and look out. Then the sounds of locks clicking reached his ears. Tyler pulled open the door and stepped aside to let them in.

  “Jethro will be along shortly. I think he’s going to follow the red car to see where it goes,” Justin explained.

  Tyler nodded. Morgan could tell he was chomping at the bit to know what happened.

  “Amanda in the bathroom?” Morgan asked.

  “Yeah, taking a bath. She just went in there an
d the water turned on,” Tyler said.

  Morgan reviewed what they’d found out. About the time he finished the story, Jethro knocked, then waited for them to let him in.

  “She drove through a fast-food place and got burgers and a drink, then drove straight back here. I parked around the other side. She appears in for the night, ’course we don’t know about if she makes phone calls or has Internet access. She could still be playing us.” Jethro pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it on the bed.

  “Don’t get too comfy,” Morgan said. “Remember, we switched rooms. You’re in the other room for the night.”

  “Fuck, I forgot,” he groused.

  Morgan watched him pick up his shirt and unlock the door to discard his clothes in the other room. He returned in only his jeans, unbuttoned at the top. Justin followed suit, leaving Morgan and Tyler fully dressed.

  “So we’re going to go straight to Dodge’s house when we get to Stillwater?” Jethro asked.

  “Unless you think of something better,” Morgan said. He wasn’t sure what the best course of action should be considering all the curves they had been thrown.

  “I don’t know. I’ll sleep on it and let you know in the morning. I’m still antsy about where those two goons are that you saw. They have to be close by since they showed up at the other hotel snooping around.” Jethro stretched and started to walk through the connecting door, when Amanda walked out of the bathroom in nothing but a long T-shirt that just covered her upper thighs.

  “Oh, everyone’s in here. Um, I was just going to get in the bed.” She slipped into the one closest to the bathroom and turned her back to everyone.

  Morgan could see the pink spread from her face to the back of her neck and those delicious little ears. How he wanted to nibble on that ear and suck the lobe into his mouth. Unfortunately, they had an audience she wasn’t comfortable with, and they needed to talk about what he’d found out from Jane. He had the sneaky suspicion that things were going to get worse.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Amanda tried to calm her breathing as she lay on her side with her back to the room and the four men standing there talking. The twins scared her to death. They were both so large and, well…large. Morgan trusted them, so she felt like they were okay, but that didn’t mean she had to go out of her way to befriend them.

  Several minutes later, the door closed between the two rooms, and a quiet fell over the room. Then the bed sank on the other side.

  “Amanda? Baby, we need to talk.” Morgan placed a hand on her shoulder.

  She turned over to find Morgan and Tyler sitting on the bed. She shivered and scooted up so she would be lying down. Morgan fitted a pillow behind her back so she would be comfortable.

  “What did she want? Who is she?” Amanda asked.

  “Her name is Jane Porter. Does that ring a bell?” he asked.

  “No. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of her.”

  “She’s a reporter for The Daily Journal in Memphis.”

  “I still don’t know her. Is she just looking for a story? Can we get her not to do it?”

  “No, she’s here to warn you. She says that Guy got her fired from her job and evicted from her apartment because she was doing an exposé on him.” Morgan watched her face.

  “Then why is she following me?”

  “She said she overheard Guy tell someone he wants you dead and buried, that no one will miss you.”

  She began to tremble, and tears seeped from her eyes. “He’s right. No one would miss me.”

  “Amanda, do you know anything about him that might cause him problems other than the fact that you’re pregnant?” Morgan asked.

  “Not that I know of. I mean, if something was said around me, I wouldn’t have known if it was important or not. I didn’t understand most of what he said half the time anyway. He talked in riddles to his people. Mostly, I ignored him,” she said.

  “Well, she’s going to lay low. One thing we do know is that those two goons are still on your trail. I don’t know where they are right now, and that makes me antsy. They haven’t shown their faces anywhere since the hotel the other night. I have the sneaky suspicion they’re going to show up when we least expect it.” Morgan glanced at Tyler.

  “They give me the shakes just thinking about them. They were so rough, and when they tried to hold me down so they could strap me in the chair, I thought I’d pass out.” Amanda began to tremble again.

  “Hey, you didn’t, though. You got away.” He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

  “Think I’m going to get ready for bed. What time do you want to head out tomorrow, Morgan?” Tyler asked.

  “Let’s check out about nine and then go back to that diner for breakfast. It looked clean,” Morgan said.

  “Sounds good. I’ll talk to you in the morning.” Tyler stood up and crossed the room to drag his stuff toward the bathroom.

  “Come on, sleepyhead. Lie back and let me get you covered and tucked in. I’ll join you as soon as I shower off.”

  “I know what you mean. I take one in the morning, but by the end of the day, I’m ready for a hot bath just to relax.”

  “Are you relaxed now, Amanda, baby?”

  “Getting there.” She yawned.

  “Go to sleep, Amanda. I’ll be in with you soon.” He pulled the covers up to her chin and kissed her on the forehead.

  She must have fallen asleep because when she woke a little later, it was dark, and Morgan was in the bed with her. He had his arm wrapped around her waist and a leg thrown over both of hers. She wasn’t sure what woke her up, but something had.

  Amanda twisted slightly so she could see the other bed, and Tyler seemed fast asleep as well. She listened intently for a few minutes, but other than the faint snore from Tyler, there was no other sound. Probably someone outside going to their room. But what if it was one of Guy’s goons? What if they were outside making plans to come in?

  She wondered what time it was and leaned up as far as she could with Morgan’s arm around her waist. She could make out the clock. It was only 5:00 a.m. She would stay awake, and if the noise came again, she’d be awake this time to identify it. Then she could wake up Morgan and Tyler. Until then, she would let them sleep. They needed it.

  Unfortunately, now that she was awake, she felt nauseous and needed the bathroom, in a bad way. She lifted Morgan’s hand off her middle, which gave her some relief from needing to pee. When she attempted to slide her legs from beneath his, he wrapped himself tighter around her.

  Shit!

  “Morgan? Let me up. I need to use the bathroom,” she whispered in his ear.

  He grunted, but seemed to have gotten used to her early morning ritual and moved off of her. This time she hurried out from under him, then pulled the covers back over him before creeping silently to the bathroom to keep from disturbing the men’s sleep. She nibbled on the crackers she’d picked up on the way to the bathroom. Then she started her morning routine.

  Once she’d finished, Amanda dressed and tiptoed across the room to look outside, peeking around the drapes. She didn’t see anything strange, so she cuddled up on the couch to wait for the men to wake up.

  About twenty minutes later, she heard the noise again. This time a card swiped the door, and the light went from red to green. She panicked and rushed over to wake up Tyler since he was the closest. Then Tyler woke up Morgan.

  “Amanda, come on. You’re going next door until we find out who they are.” He eased the door open and shoved her inside without an explanation to the twins. Jethro was immediately at her back with a knife to her throat.

  “P–P–Please, it’s me, Amanda,” she whispered.

  He quickly turned her around. “What’s wrong?”

  She filled him in, and he had Justin take her into the bathroom with a pillow and lock the door. Justin stood guard outside with a lethal-looking gun. Amanda hated not knowing what was going on around her. Long seconds turned into even longer minutes, un
til she was ready to scream. Finally, the door opened, and Morgan pulled her out of the bathroom. She all but threw herself into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist.

  “Easy there, Amanda. It’s okay. He’s long gone now.” Morgan squeezed her tight, then set her down to stand up on her own.

  “What happened?” she demanded, still shaking.

  “Whoever tried to get in the door was stopped by the security lock and the chain,” Morgan said.

  “They had to have known we would have it on, so why try and alert us they were there?” Tyler asked.

  “They have something up their sleeve. I don’t like this,” Jethro said.

  “By the time we got outside, though, he was long gone by then. He left his tool set sitting outside the door,” Tyler said.

  “That was a big mistake,” Morgan said. “It tells us he’s a professional. If we are lucky, there could be prints on the case. More than likely, though, he wore gloves every time he used them. Still, if he’s ever been in the system, they’ll have the prints on file. It’s worth a try anyway.”

  “So how are you going to explain it to the police that you want it checked for prints?” Tyler asked.

  “Dodge will know. Until then, it comes with us,” Morgan said.

  He gingerly picked it up with a bath cloth and laid it on the dresser.

  “You can keep it since you have a truck to transport it in,” Morgan said.

  “Got it handled,” Justin said as he pulled up his jeans and fastened them.

  Amanda nearly passed out with embarrassment when she realized the men had all been naked except for boxers or briefs and she’d only had on an oversized T-shirt and panties. She immediately crossed her arms and darted around Morgan to run to the other room. Jethro caught her with an arm around her waist, though.

  “Where are you going, little girl?” he asked with a chuckle.

  “I need to get dressed,” she said, trying to get away.

  “Easy, you don’t need to go anywhere without one of us with you.”

  “Jethro, you can let go of her now.” Morgan’s voice had dropped an octave, and he took a step forward. “I have her.”