by Lori Foster
“Dare, wait!” Molly bolted from the seat to chase after him. “It…it couldn’t be the same people as before.”
No reason to worry her more. “Probably not.” Dare gave a hard smile and opened the door. “Don’t worry.”
“Damn it, Dare!” Panicked, Molly charged after him. “Let’s just call the police.”
At the same time, Jett asked, “Need any help?”
Sighing with impatience, Dare said to Jett, “Yeah. Keep her in here. Got it?”
He looked very put out with the enormity of that task. “I’ll try.”
Trying wasn’t good enough. “Just man up and do it.” He gave Molly one stern frown and said in a tone that brooked no argument, “Stay put.”
She folded her arms and glared right back at him. “I’m not stupid.”
Meaning he was? But he saw the fear in her eyes and knew she was scared for him.
Fuck.
He went out the door anyway, saying to Jett, “Lock this behind me.” Face pale, Molly stepped back, her lips rolled in, her body tensed. The door shut and Dare heard the lock click into place.
Guilt punched at his heart.
But for Christ’s sake, he couldn’t falter every time Molly bit her lips. He knew what he was doing, and if she trusted him at all, she wouldn’t be worried.
It would have helped if he could put Molly from his mind, but that was like asking himself not to breathe. Since the day he’d met her, she’d occupied his thoughts in a severely distracting way.
As he’d told her to do, he was learning to live with it. Now…he almost liked it. Having her at the forefront of his mind was becoming a comfortable thing.
He liked having her there.
Going down the steps two at a time, Dare ensured the hallways and foyer were empty. Given it was the middle of the night, not another soul was in sight.
Peeking out the front door, he saw the van at the corner, idling.
Waiting.
As Jett had said, the vehicle was in shadow, hidden from the streetlamp and the bright moon.
In a few hours, the sun would be up and people would be coming and going.
Were they hoping to catch Molly? Or maybe just to verify her presence in the apartment?
He needed to get closer. Maybe he could ID the men, or overhear something important.
Dare pulled back to think. If he went out through the front door, he’d be seen. Damn it, he should have investigated the entire building. He knew better than to go into a structure blind. But his concentration had been on Molly.
Mostly on getting her under him. Damn.
Dare glanced around the foyer. Almost every old building had a basement, so he searched for the right door—and found it. Luckily, it opened in silence. The dank basement with its concrete floors and walls smelled like mildew and held a thick chill.
He wasn’t about to turn on lights, but the moon shining through a window guided him. Covered in webs and dead bugs, the rusted lock on the wobbly frame offered no real protection. The narrow window barely afforded enough room for him to hoist himself up and out. The casing scraped his spine, and his face met dry, brittle weeds outside.
He barely noticed.
Shooting to his feet, he circled the building and edged out along the side, using the shadows of the apartment building next door as concealment. Off in the distance, a dog barked. Cold wind rustled dry leaves and cut through his thin shirt.
Senses alert, Dare listened for any unnatural sound as he edged closer and closer to the street.
He detected the quiet rumbling of the van’s motor and the hushed drone of conversation inside.
Certain words pricked his mind: daughter and payment. They were incriminating words that worked to ramp up his instinctive protectiveness.
Without making a sound, he edged closer until he could see the license plates on the van. He committed them to memory.
The ringing of a cell phone made the driver curse. He answered with a sharp “What?”
Silence, and then, “She’s here. No, we didn’t see her, but there are lights on inside.” The driver waited, and then, “No one is going to see us. I know how to… Fine. Are you sure? Yeah, all right.”
He disconnected the call with a curse, saying to his passenger, “We’re done here for tonight.” Then he put the van in gear.
The urge to go after them ripped through Dare. He could reach them before they picked up speed. He could drag the driver through the window and beat some answers out of him. If there were more than two of them…
Through his nose, he inhaled a long, deep breath.
The smart thing to do, the unemotional thing, would be to wait. If he got hurt, who would look after Molly? Who would protect her?
He had the plates. It’d be better to get hold of Trace and have him find out what he could about the owner of the van.
Putting his head back against a brick wall, Dare let out the breath and tried to ease the killing tension. The adrenaline dump left him humming with the need for violence.
He couldn’t go back to Molly like this. The mention of the van had thrown her for a loop. She needed him calm and in control. She needed him to comfort her.
Somehow, he would manage that. But one word the driver said kept pounding in his brain: daughter.
For her own safety, he had to tell Molly that her father was likely the one who’d plotted against her, the one who’d wanted her hurt.
Dare still had to find out why. And until he did, Molly would never be satisfied.
Pissed off, more at himself than the situation, Dare reentered the building by the front door. Hell, anyone could walk in and out of the place. And her apartment door wouldn’t offer even a modicum of protection, not even to the dumbest criminal. And that damned fire escape…
Her apartment door opened right before Dare reached it. Jett stood there, a half-eaten piece of pizza in his free hand. “Didn’t go after them, huh?”
He shook his head and pulled out his cell phone. From the corner of his eye, he saw Molly sitting on the couch. She curled in the corner, her knees up to her chest, her arms around herself, her shoulders hunched.
Beside her, Natalie hovered, no doubt offering comfort.
Dare punched in Trace’s number as he went to Molly and sat down beside her. The couch dipped, and her hip rolled against his. He put his arm around her.
She remained rigid, but she’d get over it.
As soon as Trace answered, he said, “Sorry to wake you, but I need you to run some plates for me.”
Looking suitably impressed over that, Jett went for another slice of pizza. The excitement of the night hadn’t dented his appetite one bit—or else he was used to danger.
That’d make sense, because it wasn’t the danger that affected Dare as much as Molly’s reaction. If he wasn’t so drawn to her, he’d have gone for the pizza, too.
There was the sound of Trace moving, probably hunting up a pen and paper, and then he said, “Go.”
Dare gave him the number. “Soon as you know, let me know. And if you can connect the driver with anyone, it’d help.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thanks.”
Jett watched him. “Men of few words, huh?”
Ignoring Jett, Dare closed the phone and put it back in his pocket. That done, he caught Molly’s chin and, ignoring her sister, turned her face up for a kiss.
From the beginning, that had been the easiest way to reach her, to take her out of her worry.
He meant it to just be a peck of affection, to thaw her a little. But her lips were firmed, and he could feel the tension vibrating through her, so he lingered, keeping his mouth on hers until she softened.
Smoothing her bottom lip with his thumb, he asked, “You okay?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
Snippy. Dare gave a tight smile. “Good. Let’s eat.”
Her hands knotted his shirt. “I’m not hungry.”
“Yeah, you are.” He stood,
caught her wrists and pulled her to her feet, too. “But you’re also pissed. And scared. Not eating isn’t going to help, though.”
Her eyes reddened. Her bottom lip quivered.
Ah, hell. More softly, he said, “Everything is fine.”
“What happened?”
“You heard me give the plates to Trace. He’ll check them and we’ll go from there.”
“You…you didn’t…”
“Chat with them? No.” Fuck, he hated explaining himself. Especially with Natalie and Jett as a fascinated audience. “The driver got a call and left before I could decide what I wanted to do.”
“Oh.” Relief left her swaying on her feet. She averted her gaze.
“Molly.”
“What?”
It wasn’t like her to be detached. “We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow, so it’d be better if you used the time we had for something other than sulking.”
That got her attention.
She snapped her head around to glower at him. “Sulking?” She sounded mean. “Is that what you think?”
Dare narrowed his eyes. “I think Jett better stop his goddamned smiling.”
Jett laughed and held up a hand. “Sorry.”
He heard Natalie muttering to him, and then the two of them pretended not to listen.
Molly propped her hands on her hips. “Seriously, Dare?” She stomped two steps closer. “You seriously think that just because you ran outside after deranged kidnappers, I’d sulk?”
Reining in his temper, he closed his hands over her shoulders and brought her closer. “I think you were worried about me, like I’m some damn grade-school boy without an ounce of sense or training. And you’re starting to realize that your life is never going to be the same after this, and that’d fuck up anyone’s day. And if that wasn’t enough, you’re wishing you were at least paying me, because then you’d feel like you had more control.”
She gaped at him.
“Nailed it, didn’t I?”
Her tongue slicked out over her bottom lip. “Pretty much…minus the insults.”
Dare hooked his arms around her waist. “But it was insulting, because, Molly, I’m not going to get hurt, I will get your life back in order and paying me wouldn’t really change anything. Something is going on between us, and money wouldn’t blunt the effect of it at all.”
“Maybe you’re right.” Her fingers played with the front of his shirt. She stared at his sternum. “What kind of something, though?”
Hell, he didn’t know. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to hash it out right now with people listening in. “We’ll figure that out along the way.” He kissed her forehead. “But it goes both ways, okay?” That was about as much of a promise as he could give her.
“I don’t know.” She let out a breath. “I hate it that you’re in the line of danger trying to keep me safe.”
“Funny, because, possessive as I am, I sure as hell wouldn’t leave your security to any other man.” He glanced at Jett. “Other than very short-term.”
Jett saluted him with a canned cola. “Piece of cake. She’s a reasonable woman, just like her sister.”
“Glad to hear it.” It did reassure him that Molly hadn’t tried to do anything foolish, like follow him out.
When Molly stayed quiet, Natalie shoved her shoulder. “For God’s sake, Molly, men need reassurance, too, you know. Put him out of his misery already, will you?”
Jett laughed. “Seriously. From one guy to another, it is rather painful to watch.”
Dare paid no attention to either of them. “Molly?”
She met his gaze. “Well, I’m possessive, too, and I can’t help worrying when you run out blind to face off with people we already know are dangerous.”
That was more like it. Dare turned her toward the table where the pizza waited. “Do you believe that insult, Jett?”
“Got ya where it hurt, didn’t she?”
Natalie elbowed Jett. “What are you talking about? She didn’t insult him.”
Sprawling back in his chair, Jett said, “The hell she didn’t. Insinuating that he can’t handle himself against some thugs too damned stupid not to be noticed is a definite insult. Look at the man, Natalie. You can see that he knows what he’s doing.”
Dare accepted the accolade with a nod.
And then as an aside, Jett added, “And he took me down with almost no effort, a fact that still smarts. So you can see why I choose to think he’s that good, rather than that I got taken so completely off guard.”
“I’d say it was a little of both, but thanks all the same.” Dare held out a chair for Molly. “If I’d wanted to get those bastards out of that truck, I could have, and I wouldn’t have broken a sweat.”
Natalie made a face. “Are all men so modest?”
Jett grinned. “Probably.”
“But if I’d done that,” Dare said, “there would have been a scuffle, maybe gunfire, and cops would be called. There’d not only be questions, but we’d be tipping our hand, and whoever is behind this would go to ground.”
“Smart.” Jett leaned forward, an arm on the table. “So, you’re working with someone who can look up plates that easily?”
Dare put a slice of pizza on a plate and set it in front of Molly. “It’s unfortunate that you’re here, listening in, but you have to know that I’m not going to tell you jack shit.”
“Fair enough.” To Molly, he asked, “He’s legal?”
Her gaze went from the massive slice of pizza to Jett. She opened her mouth, closed it again and shrugged. “Whatever he is, I’m glad, because I don’t think anyone else would have found me in Mexico.”
Dare grinned at her answer. “I operate outside the law when necessary, but usually with amnesty.”
“Huh.” Jett stared at Dare as he mulled that over. “Got a lot of pull?”
“Enough.”
“This is all damned intriguing.” He pulled Natalie into his lap. “When I asked you to marry me, I had no idea that your family would be so interesting.”
Dare got his own plate ready. “If interesting is the best description you’ve got, I have a feeling you haven’t met their father yet.”
Natalie and Molly both winced.
Dare regretted his words. Regardless of her father’s sins, Molly had feelings for the man. It was the way of nature.
For now, he’d withhold what he’d overheard from the driver of the Ford. She’d had enough confusion for one night. It’d be better to tell her away from the others, maybe right before she reunited with her father.
Facetiously, Jett said, “Ah, no, I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting her folks. Something to look forward to?”
“If you have a strong constitution, you should be fine.” Dare noticed that Jett hugged Natalie a little closer.
“That bad?” he asked.
“Stop trying to scare him off,” Molly said to Dare. “You’ve only met my father once.”
Once was enough, but Dare kept that thought to himself. Hedging the question he knew Natalie was about to ask, he brought up a new subject. “We can’t stay here.”
Slumping, Molly nodded. “I know.”
Damn, but he hated seeing her life disturbed this way. She deserved her old life of naiveté, where bogeymen didn’t exist. “Even if you didn’t have creeps hanging around outside, this place isn’t secure.”
She didn’t argue with him about it. “Where will we stay?”
“I have a guest room,” Natalie offered.
Jett gave immediate objection to that idea. “Having her at your place would just put you both in the line of fire.”
Cutting off Natalie’s objection, Dare said, “He’s right.”
Molly touched her sister’s hand. “The last thing I want is to put you in danger, too. This is all bad enough as it is.”
Dare nudged the pizza toward Molly again. She needed to keep up her strength to get through the emotional shit-storm ahead.
He waited for her to take a bite
before saying to Natalie, “When would be a good time to catch your father and stepmother both at home?”
Around her mouthful of food, Molly asked, “Why?”
“Because it’s time that we paid them a visit. The sooner the better.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
DARE WATCHED AS Molly all but deflated.
It couldn’t have been more plain how she dreaded seeing her father. And no wonder. She was the smartest woman he’d ever met, so she probably already suspected her father’s involvement.
Under the table, he clasped her thigh. When he got her alone, he’d comfort her in a hundred different ways. He only hoped that part of the comforting could be done in the nude, preferably on a soft bed.
Thinking that stirred him, so he had to push the erotic image aside. “I’d like to see both of them at the same time, if possible.”
Oblivious to the undercurrent, Natalie shrugged. “Only time to catch them both at home is pretty early. Right after breakfast, Dad takes off to the gym, and Kathi takes off for one of her many scheduled things.”
“Bishop goes to the gym every day?”
Molly smirked. “His personal appearance is real important to him.”
“Kathi encourages him. She likes it that he stays in shape.” Natalie wrinkled her nose. “The two of them are really big on image.”
Molly slumped back in her chair. “Kathi means well, but she’s forever telling us that we need to exercise more.”
That insulted Jett. “The hell you say?”
Natalie added, “According to Kathi, we’re too soft.”
“We should tone up,” Molly chimed in, saying, “because we jiggle.”
Dare shared an incredulous look with Jett, before ruling out such nonsense. “I think it’s safe to say that men enjoy women who are soft.”
Getting a handful of Natalie’s soft hip, Jett agreed. “Hell, yeah.”
Laughing, Natalie moved his hand to her waist. “Don’t worry. Molly and I don’t take it to heart. We both learned long ago to just let the criticisms roll right off.”
“Good.” Jett cupped her neck and drew her face to his. “Because you can take my word for it—you’re beautiful.”
Molly watched them share a kiss, and she smiled at Dare. He could almost read her thoughts and see the wistfulness in her expression. She was happy for her sister, but did she want the same for herself?
