by Lori Foster
So, Dare was right. She had involved Sagan and in the process left them both exposed to unthinkable consequences.
He looked around, expecting thugs to jump out of the bushes at any moment. “Do you know what you’ve done?”
She twittered a laugh. “Don’t worry. Mark thinks we have something special, but he doesn’t understand that I did it for you.” As if sharing a confidence, she leaned forward to whisper, “George is going to kill him for me. After he’s taken care of everything else.”
Her twisted logic left Bishop floundering. She spoke of killing with the same detachment she gave to housekeeping duties. She actually appeared proud of her cunning, as if she’d helped him to handle a tricky business deal.
Suddenly what she’d said presented a new horror. After he’s taken care of everything else. Heart thundering, Bishop grabbed her shoulder and slammed her up against the brick facing of the garage bay. His fist twisted in her finely made top. “Where is George now?”
“Bishop,” she complained, trying to wriggle free, fussing at the damage he did to her clothing.
“Where is he?”
Her bottom lip came out in a pout. “He’s gone after Molly and Dare, of course. You heard what Dare said. He wants to destroy you. But I’m not about to let that happen. Thanks to you, I have everything I ever wanted, everything that’s important to me, and no one is going to rob me of it.” She put her arms around him and laid her head on his shoulder. “I love our life together too much to ever risk it.”
Arms at his sides, strangled by loathing, Bishop accepted the truth; everything he’d worked so hard for would be destroyed. And though indirectly, he had no one to blame but himself.
He couldn’t cover up something this monumental. That she’d whored around on him, playing him for the fool, was bad enough. But to be complicit in the rest…
Once the news broke, he’d be pitied by some, scorned by the rest.
But it beat the hell out of dying.
Determined, he shoved Kathi back an arm’s length away but retained a bruising hold on her upper arm. It shamed him to know that, for even a second, Kathi had thought he’d go along with his daughter’s murder.
Deciding on a course of damage control, he started across the lawn toward the house.
“Bishop?” Kathi resisted him with each step.
Calmly, to keep her off guard, Bishop said, “Come with me now.”
“Oh. Yes, of course.” She drew a breath and stopped fighting him. “What are we going to do next?”
At the front of the house, he found the other guard standing there, dark sunglasses in place, but with an alert stance.
Bishop stopped in front of him and shoved Kathi forward. “Were you fucking her, too?”
“No!” Kathi reached out for him, but he kept her away. “Bishop,” she pleaded, “don’t be like this.”
Startled, the guard went very still. “Too?”
“George,” he said.
The guard pushed his sunglasses to the top of his head; he didn’t so much as look at Kathi. “No, sir.”
The relief was overwhelming. “Do you value your job, then?”
Without hesitation, he affirmed, “Yes, sir. Very much.”
“Then restrain her.” He pushed Kathi forward, and the guard automatically caught both of her arms. Lifting his phone to punch in a number, Bishop said, “The police will be here soon enough.”
“No!” Kathi fought with a decided lack of class or refinement.
Bishop turned away from her, but he couldn’t tune out the awful noise. And he couldn’t tune out the grinding guilt.
CHRIS DIDN’T LIKE IT when the alarm system glitched, shutting off and back on. Twice. It reset itself as it was programmed to do, but still he stewed. Had the weather affected things? It wouldn’t be the first time the weather had tripped something. It was all electrical, but on a backup system, too.
Going to the porch outside, Chris looked down the hill to the lake.
Though colder winds buffeted him and he could smell the impending rain in the air, it wasn’t all that bad yet. Beyond the lake, to the north behind the hills, he saw black clouds rolling in and bringing with them brilliant bursts of lightning.
Both dogs nervously circled his legs, almost tripping him. Sargie whined, and Tai put her ears back. Noisy weather sometimes spooked them, but this was odd behavior, especially since the thunder hadn’t yet reached them.
He crouched down to talk to them. “What’s the matter, Tai? There’s no noise yet. Dare will probably be home before the rain gets here, so you don’t need to worry.” She crowded in close to him, making her worry clear.
Sargie, always the jealous sort, wormed in front of Tai to soak up his attention, too. She whined in anxiety.
Laughing, Chris dropped to his ass and let the dogs crawl over him. To help put them at ease, he tussled with them a little, played and petted. In mere minutes, the skies darkened enough that the security lights flickered on.
Sargie turned and started a furious barking. She looked toward Chris’s house, but Chris saw nothing amiss.
“What’s the matter, sweetie? Did a leaf spook you? Is there a frog deserving of your wrath?” Often, when Dare was away, the dogs spooked easily. “Doesn’t say much about your trust of my abilities, does it?”
The lake grew turbulent, rushing up to the shore to splash over rocks and plants before ebbing out again. Fish jumped. Birds circled, swooping low.
He loved nature. He loved his place here.
If Molly became a permanent fixture, would it change anything for him? He liked her. Dare more than liked her.
Damn it, he didn’t want to be a third wheel…
The sound of a car sent the dogs bounding away and around the house in barking excitement. Chris was quick to follow. It had to be Dare, because no one else could get past the gates.
But when he saw Dare leaving the car, he knew something was wrong. The look on Dare’s face said it all.
Molly, bless her, didn’t appear to notice. She took her time greeting the dogs and laughing at their enthusiastic welcome.
Quietly, Chris said, “What is it?”
“The gate was tampered with.”
“Shit. How so?”
“Looked like someone tried to pry open the control box. The plants on the ground around it were trampled.”
Chris chewed his bottom lip as he thought. “Everything flickered twice, but came right back on.”
“Yeah.” Dare looked around, then got knocked back a step when Sargie jumped up to greet him. Because Molly was watching, Dare laughed and let Sargie snuffle around his face before dropping down again, racing off and back from Molly to Dare. She even included Chris in her gusto, though he’d been with her the whole time.
Tai came over and leaned on Dare until she’d had her fill of gentle attention.
Molly looked up at the sky. “It’s going to be a storm.”
“Storms on the lake are something to see,” Dare told her.
Tai grabbed her attention by turning and presenting her butt for Molly to scratch. Chris laughed. “On her back just above her tail is her favorite spot.”
Dutifully, Molly bent down to scratch.
Turning his back on Molly, Dare asked, “Everything secure inside?”
“I was in there until just a few minutes ago. No one could have gotten in.”
“What about your place?”
Damn. “The dogs were barking…” He shook his head. “But you know how they get spooked when you’re not around, and then with the storm… I didn’t see anything or anyone.”
“I don’t want to take any chances.” Concentrated in the way he got while working, Dare searched the immediate grounds. “Take Molly inside while I look around.”
“Not a good idea.” Chris stopped him. “If something comes up, you should be with her. If someone has intruded, she’s the one they want.”
Dare looked downright lethal over that possibility.
“Go get he
r settled,” Chris said. “I’ll check out my place, lock it up and come right back.”
He knew Dare didn’t like that plan, but Molly joined them, and, given that she was the priority right now, he gave in. “Finish up and then come back to the house, ASAP.”
Molly frowned over the curt order, so Chris was quick to say, “I’ll give you a full report on the dogs in just a few minutes. Coffee is ready to go—all you have to do is switch it on.”
“Thanks.” Dare gathered Molly close into his side. “Come on. Let’s get in before it starts to rain.”
“What about our stuff?”
“My job,” Chris said, walking backward a few steps. At the side of the house, he turned. Damn it, now Dare had him feeling anxious when he doubted there was reason to be. “I’ll be right back.”
Because he jogged off, Sargie decided to follow him. Usually she’d be glued to Dare’s side, but she thought Chris was playing, and honestly, he didn’t mind the company. “Come on, girl. We’ll get this over with before we get soaked.”
Telling himself that everything was fine, Chris went down the lighted path to his front door. Tall budding trees, swaying in the wind, surrounded the perimeter of his smaller home.
Sargie found a stick, tossed it and then chased it down again.
Though the dog was no longer concerned, Chris felt an eerie sense of uneasiness edge up his spine. He looked at the curtains on his front windows. He was almost certain that he’d left them open, but now they were closed.
His jaw locked. With Sargie right at his side, he opened the front door, deliberately making noise. Stealth was Dare’s thing; he’d prefer to confront any intruders head-on—or better yet, give them the chance to hightail it out of there without any confrontation at all.
A flip of the wall switch showed that the combined living room, kitchen and dining room was empty.
Now.
But footprints on his carpet meant that someone had been inside. They came from the hallway leading to his back bedroom. Crushed leaves, dirt, mulch—all the things around the outside of his windows at the back of his small house.
Chris stared down the hall toward the bedroom, took one step in that direction—and smelled the smoke.
“Oh, shit.” He stepped back to the front door to yell for Dare and found him already coming down the slope.
Dare had the Glock in his hand, and he looked really, really pissed.
“GET OUT OF THERE,” Dare shouted to Chris. Tai followed on his heels, but Dare knew he wouldn’t be able to dissuade her from following. After Trace’s call, it was all he could do to give strict orders to Molly before going after Chris.
Trace told him that the car he’d followed was missing a few people, and when he questioned—aka forced answers from—the lone man left behind, he was told they were setting up a distraction at the smaller house so that they could grab the woman.
The type of distraction is what really shook Dare.
Furious, Chris looked back at his place, undecided, Dare knew, on whether to try to put out the fire or to do as Dare instructed. He still stood in the doorframe.
Dare cursed. “Move, damn it, it’s a—” His words were swallowed by a loud blast.
Flames shot out of the shattered windows, and Chris hurtled face-first out the door and onto the ground.
“No.” Running now, Dare reached Chris just as he rolled over onto his back with a groan.
Dare had to push Tai away from Chris; she was as worried as Dare was. Kneeling over Chris, Dare saw the rising lump on his forehead where he’d landed against a rock. He took Chris’s shoulder and demanded a response. “Say something, damn it.”
Chris coughed.
Thank God.
If Chris had been any farther in the house when the blast happened, he probably would have been killed. But they had little time for rejoicing right now.
Dare leaned over him. “Anything broken?”
“No.” Chris shook his head, but stilled that movement real fast, wincing as he raised a hand to his head. “Jesus, what was that?”
“Fucking bomb. If you’re sure you’re okay, I need to get you clear in case anything else goes off.”
“Yeah, I’m okay.” He started to struggle upright.
“Let me.” Dare hoisted him to his feet, but Chris’s legs wobbled. He was hurt, and it scared Dare so damn bad he had to clench his jaw to keep from howling. He locked an arm around Chris, turned—and found Molly standing there, her hands twisting together, her expression ashen.
Red-hot rage hammered inside Dare. She was supposed to be locked inside, safe.
Before he could speak, she did.
“They’re in the house, Dare.” Her pale lips trembled. “A window broke and the alarm went off, but someone shut it down….” She panted, gulped air, and whispered, “I heard them. I… I couldn’t stay in there with them.” She covered her mouth as she looked at Chris. “Oh, my God, is he okay?”
A hand pressed to his head, his nose bleeding, Chris nodded. “Yeah.” In a smoky rasp, he asked, “Did Sargie come out?”
Molly’s eyes widened, and just that easily, her own fear evaporated. She looked beyond Chris, gasped and took off running. “I’ll get her!”
Dare went blank with panic. “No!”
But Molly didn’t listen. Christ, if anything else blew…
Never in his life had he been so divided. Done with delays of any kind, Dare lifted Chris half over his shoulder, making him moan and curse, then moved him several yards away. He eased him down to the ground against the base of a large oak tree and told Tai in the sternest voice she’d probably ever heard from him, “Stay.”
Ears flattened, she plopped down beside Chris with a heartbroken whimper. Even as hurt as he might be, Chris locked a hand in Tai’s collar, and Dare knew that short of passing out, Chris wouldn’t let her go.
It had taken him mere seconds to settle Chris, but in that time, Molly could be caught in another explosion.
Blood rushing hot, Dare rose to go after her—and she came tripping out the front door of the house, leading Sargie.
Relief nearly disabled him.
Dare shoved the gun into his waistband and reached them in a few long strides.
Sargie was panting, eyes wide, as much in panic as from the smoke that now colored her beautiful fur. Molly had tears tracking her cheeks.
But neither of them appeared to be injured.
Dare grabbed them both and practically dragged them up to Chris.
“She was cowered down, scared, behind the door,” Molly babbled. “I think the door is what kept her safe. She came right to me, though. She’s going to be okay, isn’t she, Dare?”
“She’ll be fine.”
“And Chris?” On her knees, Molly jerked around to Chris and smoothed his hair away from the blood on his forehead. “Oh, God, Chris, you could have been killed.”
Dare’s eyes burned. After all his fucking assurances, all his confident promises, Molly could have been killed, too—but he couldn’t think about that right now.
She’d saved his dog.
He closed his eyes, overwhelmed and out of control. But that just made him relive the moment when she’d rushed into Chris’s house, when he’d realized what he’d lose if anything happened to her.
He had to get it together.
After a deep breath, Dare said softly, but with iron demand, “Be quiet now.”
Molly looked at him, but he didn’t meet her gaze. She would unravel him if he did. He couldn’t soothe her yet, couldn’t crush her close or tell her…
He sawed his teeth together and cleared his mind.
Under cover, he passed the gun to Chris and closed his hand around it to ensure he had a good hold. “Okay?”
Chris took a breath. “Yeah. Got it.”
But Chris didn’t look good. He probably had a damned concussion—or worse. Dare’s heart twisted…
“I’m up for it, Dare. Just go.”
Molly’s mouth opened twice befo
re she gasped, “Go where? What are you talking about?”
Dare couldn’t seem to make himself move. If this all went wrong, if the intruders spotted Chris with that gun, they’d shoot him dead. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He filled his lungs, and tasted smoke. “You know I love you, Chris.”
Chris focused pain-filled eyes on him. “God, man, not now. I’ll live, I swear.” And then, grudgingly, he muttered, “But yeah, love you, too.”
That exchange only worked to further incite Molly’s fear. She grabbed Dare’s arm. “What are you doing? We need to get out of here.”
He peeled her hand away and guided it to Sargie’s collar. “Keep the dogs here for me. Do not let them go.” He couldn’t look at her; if he saw her expressive eyes, he’d falter. “Remember, there are two of them.”
He had to speak louder to be heard over the crackling of wood, the hissing as the fire consumed Chris’s home. Smoke billowed into the air and the flames licked the sky, sending an eerie orange glow to dance over everything in the immediate area.
He’d told Molly that he would keep the story quiet, but how could he do that now? He hadn’t counted on the crazy fucks blowing up Chris’s house. Even if the security system wasn’t set to alert the authorities, the fire would draw them.
Dare turned to gaze up at his own home just as two men stepped out. Black hoods covered their heads and faces. Seeing them kicked him into automatic pilot.
He knew what to do, and he’d do it.
Narrowing his concentration, Dare watched their bodies, how they moved, how they held themselves. He recognized George Wallace, the guard from Bishop Alexander’s home. The man had a distinctive stance and telling body language.
The other man he hadn’t yet met, but he knew his type and what he wanted, what he was capable of.
Each of the men held guns.
Without taking his attention off of them, Dare said to Molly, “Stay here with Chris. Do. Not. Move.”
He could feel Molly watching him, but she said not a word.
Sensing danger, both dogs went berserk. Molly hugged Sargie, restrained Tai, and tried to shush them.
With a groan, Chris repositioned himself, turning to get a good view but keeping mostly concealed behind the trees. “I got this, Dare. No worries.”
