Harlequin Heartwarming May 2016 Box Set: Through the StormHome for KeepsThe Firefighter's RefrainTo Catch a Wife

by Rula Sinara

  “Brice, you’d do anything to keep me safe, wouldn’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’d forgive you because I know you love me, and at this point, we’re in this together—till death do us part—but did you have someone make it look like Kat was responsible for trying to red flag the companies I mentioned, just so you’d be protecting me?”

  Brice’s jaw popped up and down and he studied her closely.

  “She was a casualty of all this, Tessa. I told you that. I can’t believe you’d insinuate that I’d go that far.”

  “I’m not insinuating anything. It’s just that this is all so stressful. I thought maybe her death was the unintentional result of trail covering.” She wrapped her arms around him and rested her cheek on his chest to buy herself a minute. This time he didn’t reciprocate.

  Try and remember everything he said in the phone call. You need a confession...proof. Get him to trip up. He said the house had been robbed.

  “I still can’t believe they invaded our home,” she said.

  “What?”

  “The burglary. It makes me nervous about you going back.”

  “I’m having the security system updated.”

  “What did they steal? You mentioned valuables. Tell me they didn’t take my jewelry.”

  “Just items like the audio system and television.”

  “The necklace you got me...and the pen? Please tell me they’re not gone.”

  He rubbed his thumb against her chin.

  “No. Don’t worry. They weren’t taken. I took them and the rest of your jewelry to the safety deposit box at the bank before I came here.”

  There she had it. He couldn’t have taken the ivory pen to the bank. Not when she’d had the foresight to hide it in the combination locker she used at the spa where she took yoga classes.

  “Thank goodness,” she said. “But they’ll come back. If they want me out of the picture, they’ll return. I’m a liability, aren’t I?” That’s how he’d always seen her, wasn’t it?

  She needed to go all in. Take the risk. For Nick. For Mac. For all the wild victims out there. But first, she had to think. Ben had gone over scenarios with her, but nothing fit this moment. No more pretenses. She needed Brice to fall. She walked over to the dresser and looked at herself in the mirror. He followed her.

  “We’ll have to leave soon,” he said. He caressed her shoulders. The goose bumps she got weren’t the good type. Katia had been a casualty. Who was to say he wasn’t setting her up to be one, too? He’d mentioned a private plane. All it would take was a crash. Just like what had happened to her sister. Tessa had known something was off when she’d spoken to Brice from Camp Jamba. He’d mentioned believing Maria and Allan had been killed because of a pattern of poaching they’d discovered from overhead flights. A trail that ran from South Africa to Uganda and up toward Tanzania. That put the poachers at the border with Kenya.

  Only days before Maria’s death, she’d texted Tessa, telling her to expect an important email. She was sending it, not only for safekeeping, but because it contained newsworthy details. If Maria’s copy didn’t make it to the right hands, she wanted Tessa to go public with it through the newspaper, if possible. Tessa never received that email. She’d heard those details for the first time from Brice, during their phone call. At the time, she kept thinking there was a small chance he’d gotten that intel from his own sources, but now she was sure he’d been monitoring her emails for a long time. He had to have read it and deleted it. Then he had Maria and Allan killed. It was the only explanation she could think of. He made her sick.

  “I’m going to end up like Maria and Allan. That’s the plan, isn’t it? You had them killed, didn’t you?”

  “You’re crazy, Tessa.”

  “No, I’m not. Maria told me she was sending me critical information, but you intercepted it first. And the minute you read it, you knew Allan would be passing the same information on to his brother, as well as the authorities. You had to act fast. They both kept their laptops with them for work, so it was convenient that everything burned in their plane crash. But don’t you think if anyone ever suspects these were all murders, they’ll find the information backed up somewhere?”

  His face hardened and he loosened his tie and undid the top button of his shirt.

  “You took care of everything like you always do,” she said, looking up at his reflection in the mirror. “For the record, the ivory pen you supposedly put in the safe? I wasn’t stupid enough to leave it at home.”

  The color rose in his neck. He grabbed her jaw, tightened his hold and spun her around to face him.

  “You should have kept your mouth shut. The kind of life I’ve given you comes at a price. I gave you everything you wished for and what gratitude do I get? Backstabbing.”

  Panic surged through her face and she clawed at his wrists and tried to pull his hands away.

  Ben, where are you? Now would be a good time to step in.

  “Brice, that hurts,” she said, trying to loosen his hold.

  “I would have protected you. I really do love you, darling. I always have. But that doesn’t make me a stupid man. It makes me a cautious one.”

  A risktaker, but not stupid. Cautious. Mac had said almost the exact thing. But Mac and Brice were on opposite ends of the spectrum. Their values, morals and beliefs couldn’t be more different.

  Mac, if I never see you again, know that I love you.

  “You want to keep your parents and nephew safe? You don’t want to end up like Katia? The only reason you’re alive right now is because you have information I want. This isn’t all of the information you managed to uncover, is it?” Brice said, waving the falsified documents at her. “You thought you could play with fire. You wanted a little taste of power. But once you saw what was on those computer drives and you realized just how many contacts I have in the ivory market, you realized you’d gotten yourself in over your head. Now here you are, trying to make nice because you know that by my side is the only safe place for you. Assuming I forgive you. I want those thumb drives back and I expect a list of every single person you shared them with or who might have had the chance to look at them when you weren’t around. Nick knows his way around computers. He’s on that list. Got it?”

  “Then you’ll just kill me.”

  “I won’t have to. Not directly, anyhow. Your flight simply won’t make its destination. It breaks my heart, Tessa. If you hadn’t broken so many rules, none of this would have happened.” He shoved her face away, but then grabbed her hair from behind. She felt the butt of a gun against her back. “You destroyed what we had together,” he said. “I’ll miss you. I mean that.”

  * * *

  “MOVE!” BEN HAD the room cleared in seconds. He cocked his M9 and charged down the hall toward Tessa’s room. Mac was on his heels, wishing he hadn’t left his pistol locked in the chopper with the tranquilizer rifle. They burst in but the room was empty. She was gone. The sheer drapes that covered patio door at the far side billowed in the post-storm breeze. The racket of orders being shouted outside, clicking of triggers and Ben pulling the curtains aside all seemed to happen at once.

  Brice stood, holding Tessa, in the middle of the small lawn trimmed with lush landscaping that had provided cover for an entire brigade of law enforcement and KWS soldiers, many of whom Mac knew. Their leader, a man by the name of Farid, exchanged signals with Ben and motioned to one of his men to change positions. Ben hadn’t only crammed a few guys into Mac’s office, he’d used his contacts to make sure this operation was done right and nothing would happen to Tessa. Brice was surrounded. Trapped. Looking down barrels pointed at him from every tree and bush. His face turned an unnatural shade of burgundy and he pushed Tessa to the ground and dropped his handgun.

  “Don’t move. Put your hands slowly on your head,” Farid
ordered.

  Brice glowered at Tessa as he obeyed.

  “Tessa, move away,” Ben called out from the patio, keeping his gun raised, as well.

  Mac wanted to rush to her, but knew to wait until she was a safe distance from Brice. If he tried anything, Mac didn’t want her getting shot.

  She got onto her knees and then rose up. The expression on her tear-streaked face was enough to make Mac nervous. More than nervous.

  “Tess,” he said. “I’m here. Back away from him. It’s over.”

  She took two steps back, shaking her head and glaring at Brice. One order from Farid and an officer came up behind Brice and bound his hands. Some of the men backed off while others still stood within feet, their rifles pointed at him.

  “You...you...”

  Tessa called Brice a slew of derogatory terms that were enough to make even a marine like Ben raise a brow.

  Without warning, Tessa walked up to Brice and slapped him hard. Then she began sobbing in full force.

  “You killed my sister! You...” She cursed and raised her hand again, but before she could deliver any more blows, Ben signaled Mac. He reached her in a few strides and pulled her away.

  Mac didn’t believe in violence or fighting unless it was in self-defense, but heaven help him, Brice deserved that slap. And then some. They watched as Brice was hauled away. Scum of the earth. Mac wished he’d gotten a few punches in for all the emotional manipulation that man had subjected Tessa to. And if somehow Brice was being sincere about having loved her, well, then he was one messed-up man with screwy priorities.

  Tessa’s shoulders sank and her arms hung limp at her sides. She stood, tears streaming down her face and her chest heaving, staring in the direction they’d taken her husband, even after he had disappeared. Mac had her braced against his chest.

  “Shh. It’s done. You’re okay,” Mac said. “Hold your breath a second. Slow your breathing. He’s gone.”

  She buried her face into his shoulder and another sob escaped.

  “I’ve got you, Tess,” he said. “I’ve got you.”

  * * *

  TESSA TRIED TO dry her cheeks with her hand and took a slow, deep breath that came out with a shudder. She couldn’t find her voice, but she nodded to let Mac know she was okay and she’d heard him. He had her. Crazy Mac had her safe, supported...and he had her heart. But most of all, she had herself. She’d taken control. She’d done it. She’d brought Brice down.

  Mentally, she knew his unspeakable crimes justified her actions. Emotionally she felt dirty, guilty, lost and overwhelmed by what she’d just pulled off. Where had her wedding vows gone? What happened to “in good times and bad” and “promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals”? Was she at fault for breaking those vows, or did all of this qualify as “until death do us part”? Brice had caused death. And just like Mac had said with regard to wildlife and carrying a gun, no matter how much he respected animals and did what he could to preserve them, if he was faced with a life-or-death situation, he had a right to defend himself. Brice had crossed the line first. She had a right to defend herself and all the innocents affected by his actions.

  Her chest constricted. She tried to inhale but her lungs filled in short spasms. She was mourning all over again. Mourning the loss of Maria and Allan and Katia. Mourning all the elephants tortured and killed because of Brice and others like him. And mourning the loss of life as she knew it. It didn’t matter that she also felt relief at finally knowing the truth or that she was freed from spending the rest of her life with the wrong man, a man who controlled her and kept her from stretching or growing. Change was scary and difficult...and unstable. But at this moment, change had never felt so right.

  The warmth of Mac’s hands against her back and the way her cheek fit in the crook of his neck calmed her breathing. Mac was safe. Her wild and reckless Mac was more loving and caring and safe than anyone she’d ever known. He always had been. Was this why her parents and Maria and Allan had never flinched at the risks inherent in their work? Because they had each other and because they’d found a purpose beyond their own comforts? One that overshadowed fear the way protecting Nick from that hyena or preventing Mac from doing something reckless to protect her from Brice had?

  She tightened her arms around Mac and let herself sink into him. She’d never felt so open...so unguarded...so consumed by an energy so pure and alive. An energy strongly reminiscent of how she’d felt when he’d held her at her sister’s funeral and how he used to make her feel—as disconcerting as it was—every time he hung around just to bother her when they were teenagers. Had that been love? Was this love? She’d never remotely felt this depth of emotion with Brice, even if on some level she must have loved him. Tessa buried her face in Mac’s chest and breathed him in. She’d always loved Mac. As much as she resented his choices and confidence because they scared her, he was the one person who knew her sister and his brother like she did, the one person who understood why her parents were the way they were and that when she vented about their choices, it came from a place of love. He was the one person she never had to pretend for because he knew the real Tessa...even if he teased her for it. He knew. He’d been there.

  But risking her feelings for him back then...admitting to them...would have meant suffering more pain if something happened to him. She would have hurt more when he left to follow his dreams.

  And now...now, even though her marriage was over and she’d be signing divorce papers as soon as humanly possible, if she told Mac how she really felt, he might see himself as a rebound guy. He’d think she was the old Tessa who needed someone to make her feel safe and secure. She had learned that strength and that sense of security could only come from within. She knew she had it in her. She knew now—without a doubt—that Mac Walker had always been her soul mate. She didn’t need to rely on him. She needed to love him. She didn’t want him to stop taking risks. She wanted him to risk loving her back.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and held tight.

  “I’m sorry, Mac. I’m sorry for everything.”

  “There’s nothing to be sorry about, except for maybe giving me a heart attack. I was really upset when I found out you’d left the camp,” he said.

  “I’m sorry. I had to do it, Mac. And you wouldn’t have let me. I didn’t want you hurt because of me. And I didn’t want Nick left without either of us if the worst happened.”

  “You took a big risk.”

  “It was worth it. I understand that now. Some risks are worth it.”

  The entire situation was so grim, even with their success, she didn’t feel like celebrating or accepting any kind of accolades. She felt nothing but deep fatigue. Utter exhaustion. She couldn’t settle the slurry of thoughts and emotions whirring through her. The realization that her life would never be the same was overwhelming.

  “You’re right, it was. And I wouldn’t have let you do it,” he said, rubbing his hands up and down her arms. “But I have to admit that you were quite impressive in there. You’ve gotten pretty gutsy, haven’t you?” Mac teased, tapping her nose. She almost smiled, but the idea that he’d seen and heard everything that had gone on between her and Brice made her uncomfortable.

  “Mac, you do realize all of it was an act, right? Everything I said to him. All of it.”

  He tipped her chin up and looked into her eyes. Tessa wasn’t sure if it was the rush of the situation or her imagination playing tricks, but something in the way his blue eyes took her in while the sun-kissed lines around them relaxed made her feel adored and—she wished—loved. But how could he possibly love her back? Friendship, raising Nick together...that was different. That was about caring. She didn’t just care for Mac.

  “I know it was. I also understand that in spite of everything, you and Brice have a history. I get that. You had a life with him. This must be so toug
h on you. You’ve been let down.”

  But her life with Brice had been missing something fundamental from the start. With Brice, she’d never really risked her heart because she’d never fully given it to him. Less than a year into her marriage, she’d known she hadn’t married her soul mate, but he was kind to her and she’d made her choice and wasn’t about to admit to her sister that she’d been right. Maybe it wasn’t simply that Maria and Allan didn’t like Brice. Maybe they could see there was something between Tessa and Mac that neither was willing to admit.

  “We have a history, too, Mac,” Tessa said.

  “We do. I hope it’s not just history.”

  “We’ll work as a team. We won’t let Maria and Allan down. We’ll make sure Nick knows we love him.” They’d always have a future together because of their nephew.

  “What about making sure you’re loved?” Mac said.

  Tessa licked her lips. What was he saying? The corner of his mouth turned up and he reached into his pocket, pulling out a coin.

  “How about a game of ‘Get Tess to Confess’? You see, back in high school there was one ‘truth’ question I never had the guts to ask because I knew I wasn’t the kind of guy you wanted.”

  Mac hadn’t had the guts to do something? She never would have believed that. He used to flirt with girls all the time. But the way he was looking at her right now weakened her knees.

  “What question was that?”