“C’mon, Keiki. Give me the shiv,” Nolan cajoled.
“Hey, kid. It’s time to go home.” Coyote’s tone slid deeper into his down-home dialect as if he were sitting at a backyard barbeque.
“Keiki, listen to me, and I swear no one will pass this threshold until we’re finished talking.” Coyote glared a warning over his shoulder. “I’ve been in your shoes, and took a wrong turn. Overseas, my buddy and I’d just cleared a building and walked out the back door. It was late and we were damned tired.”
Several rapid blinks cleared Coyote’s eyes. “The shot came out of nowhere and threw Luke back against the building. I was so fucking stunned. I fired in the direction the shot came from and got lucky. I knew I’d hit the bastard when he screamed.”
A second passed before Coyote continued. “Turns out, the guy was about my age. I’d hit him in the leg. He’d dropped his gun and just stared at me. Waiting.”
“What happened?” It was Nolan who murmured the question.
“I remember looking back at Luke, the way his eyes stared up into… nothing. We were coming home in a week and had made so many plans.” Coyote willed Keiki to understand.
“I heard a shot and ducked thinking the bastard wasn’t alone. I thought I was gonna die. I waited. When nothing happened, I looked down again. The kid had a bullet hole right between the eyes. I don’t recall pulling the trigger, but no one else was around. I’ve relived that scene every day since.”
Silence engulfed them all with the admission.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve woken up in a sweat and wished I could go back in time. I’d find a way to not pull that trigger. I swear on my brother’s life, I would.”
“You were at war. This is different, more complicated.”
One hand kept her weapon close enough that the arrogant thug couldn’t move and survive With the other, she rubbed his smooth head. “I wonder if douche bag here can still get a hairline fracture. Shall we test that theory?”
Coyote picked up the gauntlet. “He won’t be able to play volleyball in the prison yard ‘cuz inmates will swing at his head.”
“Lame, partner. And not helping.” She needs to engage, not a push further out in looney land.
Coyote’s voice dropped further. “No, Keiki. It’s not complicated. It’s very simple. It’s about taking a life and having one moment haunt your every waking and sleeping moment. It would define the rest of your days. If my enemy’s weapon had been pointed at me, I wouldn’t endure sleepless nights and personal demons that won’t let go. But he didn’t. He had dropped his gun.”
Background noise from the outer room came into focus and consisted of officers reading Miranda rights and shuffling steps over concrete.
“C’mon, Keiki We’ve got to work things out. In my mind’s eye, I’ve already cleared out the other half of my garage for your car.”
Her hesitation gave him hope in continuing. “We don’t want this hanging over our heads and coming between us. This isn’t the way.” He’d reached the point of using any advantage to help reboot her emotional state, but also realized he meant every word.
A long, low growl erupted from her chest, the sound of ultimate pain. Her emotions had run the gauntlet, draining her energy and leaving animal instinct in its wake.
Nolan was close enough to see the shiver of fear in her prisoner’s eyes along with the perspiration in the cleft of his chin. Alternating expressions included hatred and fear.
An internal sigh of relief remained trapped when he viewed a tear trailing down her cheek. It was the break for which he’d waited and prayed to see.
In a silent bid for her to yield, he held out his hand.
A lifetime of possibilities flashed through his thoughts while he waited.
Her fingers tightened on the metal, and she crouched to get closer to her prey. “I should do it. I really should. But this is me, being better than you, asshole.” She stood and tossed the metal aside.
In the next instant, Nolan urged her close and wrapped his arms around her, not caring if others saw and judged him.
“Well, guys,” Coyote’s words paused on a dramatic sigh, “I guess we all know where Tinkerbell’s heart lies.”
Smothered chuckles erupted from those entering, Nolan’s fierce scowl be damned.
“Give it up, Knotty. You’re stuck with it,” Keiki teased then snuggled closer and buried her face against his chest.
“Seriously? I think I prefer Tink.” The warmth of her body seeping into his frame settled some deep and primitive need for the connection he’d fought since their first meeting.
She may not believe it now, but one day, he’d stake his claim and not let go unless she walked away. First, she needed time to grieve, to grow, and to figure out her life.
In the meantime, he’d be there to listen and help.
Of their own accord, his fingers smoothed the tangles in her hair, softer than anything he’d ever imagined. Minutes passed in wordless silence, their quiet interaction a testament to mutual need.
When her eyes fluttered closed, he rested his chin on the crown of her head and sighed his relief. It was homecoming for his heart, his mind, and his soul.
Where’s—” she began.
“We got them. We got ’em all, Keiki.” If he could envelop her in bubble wrap to keep her safe, he would. They both knew the score, though. No matter what measures were taken, the chance existed for Theo to escape and make good on his threats. Someday.
Coyote’s southern rumble lacked his usual unreserved undertone. “She okay? EMS is outside waiting for an all clear to enter. I’ll give you another few minutes if you need it.”
When Theo grunted, Nolan nodded toward the prisoner. “How about getting this piece of shit out of here?”
“He said he was going to kill me, real slow, and make you and your partner watch.” Keiki rubbed her nose while uniformed officers hoisted the prisoner to his feet and thrust him out the door.
“Only in his dreams.” Nolan inched back, needing to separate before he lost the ability to let her go. She clutched him tighter.
“You still don’t understand, do you?” Quiet words meant for his ears and no one else’s.
Her look held more awareness than he could fathom. Underestimating her wouldn’t just cost him his heart, but perhaps hers, too. He was a patient man. He could wait.
The lightest stroke of her fingers across his nape closed the distance between them.
Her lips, so light and warm, breezed across his own with a contact that scorched him to core level. Understanding came with the caress along his jaw and down his chest. It was a claiming, as firm as any commitment he’d ever imagined, one that declared she owned him body and soul.
When she pulled back, he almost clutched her tighter, needing the contact, the affirmation. Yet the look in her eyes expressed everything he needed to hear, without words, without touch, simply understanding.
“You can’t argue that we’re too different. You know that, don’t you?”
“Jesus. Our worlds are so far apart.” Despite his weak attempt to justify his position, in reality, he’d already conceded, in spirit if not physically. From the corner of his eye, he saw the PI evaluating the situation.
“No. You’ve just spent too much time alone. Sometimes that makes people… eccentric.”
“You mean squirrely, don’t you?” His sigh ushered out the last of his resistance. “You need to finish school first, and get a job.”
“I have a, oh, I guess I don’t anymore.”
“Sounds like you’re gonna branch out on your own, kid. I can help with that.” Tucker snickered under Nolan’s glare.
“I have an idea.”
Her look spoke of mischievous pranks and embarrassing consequences, and he groaned with the thought of his colleagues attaching an even more embarrassing moniker. “As long as it doesn’t involve glitter, okay?”
“I also have a calendar. I’ll mark graduation day as D day.”
Her smile held none of the innocence he knew existed in her heart.
Epilogue
“This isn’t exactly what I had in mind when I suggested a relaxing evening.” Nolan sat on his patio, waiting for the rest of his family to arrive.
Tucker and Keiki sat on one side of the picnic bench while Coyote fiddled with his cell on the other. Three bags of chips surrounded a bowl of dip at the table’s center.
“Hey. I need a job. I don’t graduate until May.”
“No. You don’t need a job. You may want one, but you don’t need one. Carolyn cut your rent until after you graduate and are gainfully employed. I’ll cover utility bills and anything else you need.”
“She is employed, Garnett. She’s working part-time for me.” Tucker took a swig of his coke and nabbed a few more chips, tossing them on his plate before spooning up guacamole.
“She needs to concentrate on her schoolwork, not peep through keyholes and risk her neck on one foolhardy venture or another.” Seeing Tucker and Keiki side by side, poring over a map and discussing surveillance options, raised the hair on his arms.
“You can’t fly a drone over the middle of a hundred acre piece of private property to take photos.” Coyote shook his head as if realizing keeping the two out of trouble was going to be a full-time effort.
“Well, not if you want to take said photos into court.” Tucker used his index finger to draw a circle around his target’s property.
“You’ve got to learn the laws if you want to avoid complications,” Nolan declared and flipped the last of the steaks on the grill.
“He’s right.” Tucker grinned then waggled his brows. “Monitoring someone in the middle of a forest entails a different set of rules than if you’re on a city street. Even then, you get into gray areas such as, does the homeowner have a solid fence which would suggest a desire for privacy. Is the house one story or two? How far is it from a public road?” Tucker tapped the map again. “Many variables. However, we are responsible for knowing whose land we’re on or flying over when obtaining confirmation of infidelity, insurance fraud, or whatever.”
“You guys put a tracker on me without my knowledge.” Keiki tilted her head side to side then added, “Not like I’m going to complain since it saved my life. I still don’t understand how Theo and his goons found me.”
“They got Nolan’s work phone. We’d figured since it was registered to the department and not in his name, they wouldn’t track you. They had to have traced and monitored all the contacts. One, of course, was Carolyn.” Nolan hated reminding her of the ordeal, but fear for her safety was still too close to the surface.
“Then I’ll learn. I’ll get better. Maybe I’ll decide to become a private investigator.” Hiking up her eyebrows signaled her insincerity.
“You don’t have three years of law enforcement experience,” Coyote reminded her.
“No, but I work for Tucker.”
“You have to be at least twenty-five to get a license, and you won’t be twenty-one for a few more weeks,” Nolan added. “Oh, and for the record, I think you’ve lost your marbles.”
“Maybe there’s a hole in the bag and I’ve lost a few, but I still do okay.” She smiled at his darkening scowl, obviously remembering his promise and their unconsummated commitment.
They weren’t idle words she’d spoken. He’d witnessed the determination in every line of her body, but it would not wear down his resistance. His assertion she needed time to let the dust settle hadn’t sat well with her. No, she’d narrowed her eyes and smiled.
He’d sweat bullets, knowing her power over him entitled her to liberties he’d never granted another soul.
The southerner grinned then stood to snag his ringing cell from his pocket. “Glad that focus isn’t lasered on me. It’d make me a bit nervous.” Turning away, he answered the phone while ambling out into the backyard.
Nolan groaned, but inside, his heart swelled. He’d endure cold showers and sleepless nights for a few months, but realized she was well worth the wait.
Coyote returned, his face pale and murmured words unintelligible. His sitting at the picnic bench equated to gravity’s pull more than conscious control.
“Hey, partner. What’s up?” Nolan had never seen his frame so tense or the vacant look in his gaze.
A silent minute followed when his partner held a finger up, collecting himself. His other hand tightened on his phone until a cracking sound broke the stillness. “I need to take a leave of absence.”
The End
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Pivotal Decisions
Moonlight and Murder
Book Two
Agonizing pain flashed through both lower legs that dissolved into thousands of pins-and-needles sensations.
Warmth flooding his brain followed by a tranquilizing calm soothed his anxiety.
Confusion over conflicting sensations diminished with the tingling heat spreading throughout his chest and permitted a deep breath. Phantom shadows of panic receded to the periphery of his thoughts, pushed out by increasing perceptions of rightness that shouldn’t exist in his world.
His mind struggled to remember what he’d intended to do. He recalled sitting in his kitchen, then… the softness of his mattress beneath his thighs, but not walking from one room to the other.
His feet weren’t chilled from the cool tile floor, nor did he recognize the scene from his bedroom window.
He lived in a modest contemporary rancher with his wife, newlyweds of less than a year. The structure was surrounded by two acres of St. Augustine Grass. The closest neighbor enjoyed a Spanish Revival house with a low-pitched tile roof, half round arched doors and windows with adobe brick.
He saw none of it.
Instead, miles of beautiful flowerbeds with blooms that shouldn’t appear in December sprawled over lush hills, another view absent from southern Florida. Despite the conflict, he couldn’t muster the energy to tear his gaze away. Inability to turn his head soon lost meaning in the wake of the bouquet of scents wafting through the open window.
He knew the soft, sweet taste of each blossom as if they were on his tongue. Bird song encouraged him to linger and ignore unpleasant sensations of forced immobility. There existed no obvious reason to move or feel concern.
A slight tug at his head reminded him he hadn’t picked up his glasses, yet he could see each flower petal glistening with morning dew with crystal clarity. The pad of each fingertip tingled with their softness despite the distance that lay between.
Every cell of his body felt cocooned in a warm fuzzy blanket.
Nirvana was confirmed as his mind flashed to a different scene, yet it didn’t appear to be a dream. Everything felt so vivid, so real.
Before him, the soft ocean surf lapped at his feet, the sand warm between his toes. Pungent scents of salt and copper filled his nostrils and he briefly held his breath until it passed. Calm, balmy breezes whispered through nearby feathery palms and whisked the pungent aromas away.
If he died and was lucky enough to see pearly gates, this was where he wanted to stay. Life’s concerns drifted on a sea of contented bliss.
He briefly closed his eyes in ecstasy. The spray of salt water snapped them open to look over the deck of a large ship. The rolling motion forced him to grab the railing to either side of him and clutch tight. Knowledge that there should only be one before him didn’t prevent his grasp for dear life.
Something tugged against his legs and belly. He thought to rub it, then decided it unnecessary as his spirit drifted above the beauty before him.
A peculiar numbness infiltrated his lower legs, followed by a li
ghtheadedness not overcome by the pleasant tingling at the base of his skull. He rarely felt the bite of cold under his skin.
Perhaps he’d take a nap and let the strange sensations pass.
Reily’s Books
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Romantic Thrillers
McAllister Justice Series
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Bound By Shadows
Inconclusive Evidence
Carbon Replacements
Shattered Reflections
Remnants of Evil
Moonlight and Murder Series
A Critical Tangent
Pivotal Decisions
Erotic Romance
Carnal Series
Carnal Beginnings
Carnal Innocence
Bending Fate
Carnal Whispers: Mind Stalker
Carnal Obsession: His Heart’s Prisoner
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About Reily
Reily is a West Coast girl transplanted to the opposite shore. When she’s not working with her dogs, you can find her curled up with a book or writing her next story. Past employment as an ICU nurse, private investigator, and work in the military police has given her countless experiences in a host of different environments to add a real world feel to her fiction.
Over time, and several careers, many incidents have flavored the plots of her stories. Man’s cruelty and ingenuity for torment and torture is boundless, not contained by an infinite imagination. Witnessing the after effects of a teenager mugged at knifepoint for a pair of tennis shoes, or an elderly woman stabbed repeatedly with a screwdriver for no apparent reason, left an indelible impression that will forever haunt her subconscious. In counterpoint, she has observed a woman stop her vehicle in severe, snowy weather to offer her own winter coat to a stranger, a teenager wearing a threadbare hoodie. Life’s diversities are endless.
A Critical Tangent Page 28
