Crime & Punishment 3: Theirs to Share

by Trista Ann Michaels

  The smell of hamburgers and ribs filled the air, making his stomach growl. His dad looked over at him and grinned. “Didn’t you just eat two hours ago?”

  Josh shrugged and smiled at the big man behind the bar, who stood wiping his hands on a towel. “The smell of Gordon’s burgers on the grill always makes my stomach growl.”

  Gordon chuckled. “Good to see you looking so much better, Josh. I told ya…a glass of Margaret’s cure-all and a good night’s sleep will take care of most anything.”

  “It certainly did,” Josh replied.

  Margaret’s cure-all was nothing more than a crap load of alcohol, some spices, and warm milk, which, he had to admit, did make him sleepy. He’d slept more peacefully last night than he had in a while.

  “How about two of those burgers, Gordon?” his father asked.

  “You want fries with that too?” Gordon asked.

  “Hell, yeah,” Josh countered, making Gordon grin.

  “You planning on going back to work, Josh?” Gordon asked as he placed two burgers on the grill behind the counter.

  “Trying to get rid of me already?” Josh asked. “Jeez, between you and my dad, I never felt so welcome.”

  Gordon and his father both snickered.

  “You know better than that, asshole. We worry about you, you know. Especially after that last assignment. From what I understand, it was a close call.”

  “It was,” Josh agreed. “But I survived. As for going back, I’m not sure yet. Not sure what else I would do if I didn’t.”

  “You could always become a pro fisherman,” Gordon suggested. “You were good.”

  “That was what? Close to ten years ago? I’m not sure I could still bait a hook, much less fish for money. Besides, I promised a friend I would help him out before I leave the agency.”

  “I thought you were going to that girl’s house in Tennessee?” his dad asked.

  “I am. I have several more weeks of leave, but I can still help Daniel in the meantime. His father’s got him in a real mess right now.”

  “Is that the one whose father’s company is laundering money for the mob?” his dad asked.

  Josh sighed sadly. “Yeah.”

  “You know you can stay here,” his dad offered.

  Josh smiled at the old man. His dad had missed him. He’d said as much several times over the last few days. He’d always been close with his dad, especially after his mom died. But, after being shot this time, his dad seemed to be more worried and almost a bit clingy.

  “I know I can, Dad, but I need to feel like I’m doing something. From what I understand, this girl in Tennessee could use some help, and I’m good at fixing up houses.” He slapped his dad on his shoulder. “I learned from the best.”

  “Hey now, don’t forget me,” Gordon threw in. “After all, who helped me fix this place up?”

  Josh looked around the restaurant with a sense of pride. “I did, and if I recall, you worked my ass off that summer.”

  Gordon chuckled. “It did ya good, though, didn’t it?”

  Josh smiled. “That it did. So, since I put in so much work on this place, are the burgers free of charge?”

  Gordon’s snickered but slid two plates across the counter. “For you two, they’re always free.”

  Gordon reached across the counter and ruffled Josh’s hair, like he used to when Josh was a kid. Josh shook his head and grinned before digging into the burger. No one could cook a burger like Gordon.

  “Hey, Josh,” Gordon’s grandniece, Karen, said as she began to clean the bar. She’d been working the restaurant on weekends and summer breaks since she was fourteen. She was now in her last year of college and still spent her summers here. She claimed the tips were too good to pass up. “Did that guy find your friends?”

  Josh tensed and swallowed his bite of hamburger. “What friends and what guy?”

  She shrugged. “Three guys I’d never seen before came in asking about Grayson and Parker. They said they were supposed to meet them at their houseboat but weren’t sure they had the right marina.”

  A sense of dark dread moved down Josh’s spine. “What did you tell them?”

  “I told them they’d already taken the boat out, and they were probably anchored in a cove somewhere close to the falls.” Something must’ve startled her about his expression, for her eyes got very wide. “Did I do something wrong?”

  Gordon walked over with a concerned expression. “What’s wrong, Josh?”

  Josh grabbed his phone from his pocket and pulled up a picture the FBI had sent him earlier. He turned it to face Karen. “Was this one of the men?”

  She went pale and nodded. “Oh, God. Are they in trouble?”

  “Shit,” Josh growled and started scrolling through his phone for Parker’s number.

  When he didn’t answer, Josh said another curse and then called the local police. After giving them the information, he turned to Gordon. “Do you know if anyone rented a boat from the marina today?”

  Gordon looked to Karen. She nodded sadly. “Those guys did. I saw them leave about forty minutes ago.”

  “Son of a bitch!”

  “I’m sorry,” Karen said. “I didn’t—”

  “It’s okay, Karen.” Josh turned to his dad. “I gotta find them.”

  “Josh, what the hell is going on?” Gordon asked.

  “Parker and Grayson have a woman in witness protection on the boat. The guys that were in here earlier are the ones they’re hiding from.”

  Gordon turned quickly and grabbed the rifle he kept over the door leading into the kitchen. With a nod to Josh’s dad, he said, “Let’s go.”

  “Where the hell do you think you two are going?” Josh demanded.

  His father stood and lifted his chin, a sure indication he would take no argument from Josh on the matter at hand. “You just had open-heart surgery, son. I’m not about to let you go out there by yourself.”

  “Me either,” Gordon growled. “So stop your damn yappin’, and let’s go find those boys.”

  Josh rolled his eyes and with a sweep of his hand indicated they should lead the way.

  * * * *

  Cheyenne lifted her hair off her neck to allow the afternoon breeze to flow over her heated skin. She sighed and turned her face toward the clear blue sky. She could hear Parker whistling a soft tune. Grayson was a few feet away, tightening a screw on one of the teak deck chairs.

  After her shower and short, unexpected nap, they’d fallen into a comfortable routine of cleaning, cooking, and generally teasing each other. She couldn’t seem to stop touching them. Earlier had been the most incredible sex she’d ever experienced. Even though she was sore, desire continued to hum through her whole body like an idling engine ready to roar to life.

  She had to be crazy to want this, but it wasn’t just the sex. There was a pull between the three of them. A gravitational force that kept them circling one another, their senses tingling, as they awaited the next celestial bump that would bring them together once again.

  She snorted softly at the weird analogy.

  “Would you like something to drink, Grayson?” she asked.

  He looked up as he set the teak chair back on its legs. “Water would be nice. Thank you, sweetheart.”

  She smiled and headed into the kitchen to grab a water bottle from the fridge. Right as she turned to head back to Grayson, the sound of a fast-moving boat roared through the open windows. She dipped her head to peer out the kitchen window as a barrage of bullets came crashing through the walls.

  Cheyenne dropped the water and screamed. Grayson grabbed her and threw her to the floor, his body landing on top of hers.

  She brought her knees up and curled her body as Grayson wrapped his arms around her and over her head. The bullets stopped briefly, and she glanced up, staring in horror at the holes in the wall. Sunlight poured through them and slashed across the opposite walls. She glanced around the empty room and panic set in.

  “Where’s Parker?” she a
sked, then yelled, “Parker?”

  “Shh,” Grayson commanded. “Stay down!”

  Another round of bullets ripped through the boat from the opposite side, hitting the kitchen cabinets above them and sending shrapnel raining down on their heads.

  Returning fire sounded from the bedroom area of the boat, and Cheyenne realized with some relief it was Parker.

  “Is she okay?” Parker yelled.

  “I’m good. You?” she called back.

  “I’m fine. Stay down, Cheyenne. Grayson, I need to get to the upper deck.”

  “Got it,” Grayson reached up and grabbed the pistol from the kitchen drawer above them.

  He turned and pointed it toward the broken dining room window. “Go!” he shouted and started firing though what was left of the window.

  Fear for Parker raced through her as shots began to fire toward the back of the boat. She heard a loud oath; then a large body hit the deck above them. Had he been shot?

  “Parker!” she screamed.

  Another round of shots sliced through the boat. Grayson covered her with his body, but it didn’t stop the shaking of her limbs or the feeling of nausea that rolled through her stomach. How in God’s name were they ever going to make it out of this?

  She heard Parker shooting from the roof and realized with a sigh that he was at least okay enough to fire back. She heard a shout and someone hit the water.

  “Sounds like he got one,” Grayson said in her ear. “Stay here.”

  He crawled across the floor to the window. Raising his pistol, he fired toward the boat, hitting another one.

  “Nice shot,” Parker said from the upper deck.

  “How many are there?” she asked from her crouched position by the cabinets.

  “There were three. Now there’s just one.”

  Cheyenne heard the roar of another boat and groaned. “Please tell me that’s not more of them.”

  He pointed a finger at her. “Stay down.”

  She nodded and didn’t move. She wasn’t sure she could, even if she wanted to.

  A shot much different from the others echoed through the cove just before the third man shouted. There was no sound of him hitting water, though, so she assumed he fell into the boat.

  “Was that a rifle?” she asked.

  “Hey,” Parker called. “Gordon, is that you? What the hell?”

  “You boys all right in there?” a man called out.

  “We’re good,” Grayson replied. “Is that Josh with you?”

  Cheyenne moved to her knees and looked out the window, staring in relief at the man she recognized as Josh. Grayson turned to her and held out his hand. With a sob, she rushed to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “It’s okay, sweetheart. It’s over,” he said smoothly as he rubbed his hands up and down her back.

  She could hear Parker’s voice as he led the three men down the narrow hall from the back of the boat and sighed. Both her men were okay and safe.

  “I heard you fall, Parker,” she said, still holding on to Grayson. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine, Doc,” he said.

  He walked up and put his hand on her back, then leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Just tripped trying to go up those narrow steps too fast, but don’t tell anybody.”

  Cheyenne snickered and opened her eyes, glancing toward the front of the boat before pushing away from Grayson. What she saw, however, stole her breath. “Parker,” she whispered.

  A wet man, bloody from the bullet wound to his shoulder, stood inside the boat. He raised his good arm, taking aim at her and Grayson. Both men pushed her between them just as the man and someone behind them shot at the same time.

  Grayson grunted with a jerk as she watched the man fall to the floor, a bullet hole in the center of his forehead. She felt warm wetness on her stomach and pulled away to stare in shock at Grayson’s bloody side where a bullet had torn through.

  “No!” she shouted as he sank to his knees.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Cheyenne fell with him and started lifting his shirt. It had gone clear through, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t done any damage. She needed to see how bad it was.

  “I’m okay,” Grayson said weakly, but Cheyenne shoved his hands away. She could hear Josh calling for help on his phone.

  Parker knelt down as well and put his hands on her shoulders, trying to get her to calm down. He finally gave her a shake and snapped, “Cheyenne. I need you to calm down for a second.”

  “What?” she yelled as she wadded up a towel Josh handed her and pressed it to the exit wound, which was twice the size of the entrance one.

  “The bullet went through him, but where did it end up?” Parker asked.

  Cheyenne froze. It was then she felt the pain in her side. She’d been so worried about Grayson, she hadn’t noticed it before. Wincing, she lifted her top and saw the hole halfway between her belly button and lower rib, just off to the side, right below where her stomach was.

  Her hand shook as she gingerly touched the wound with her finger. Piercing, burning pain sliced through her midsection, taking her breath away. The room began to spin.

  “Oh, God,” she whispered, then blacked out.

  PARKER CAUGHT HER easily in his arms, ignoring the residual pain in his own side from Grayson’s wound. They both would live, but right now, Grayson was white as a sheet and losing a lot of blood. Parker reached out and cupped Grayson’s cheek. “You stay with me, Grayson. You hear me?”

  “Yeah, I hear ya,” Grayson mumbled as he accepted Gordon’s help to his feet. “Just take care of her.”

  Gordon leaned him against the counter and reapplied pressure to his wound, making Grayson growl curse words that would make a sailor blush.

  “Oh, stop your whinin’, boy,” Gordon said harshly, but the amused twitch in his lips lessened the bite of his words.

  “Whinin’, my ass,” Grayson snarled, making Gordon chuckle.

  Parker looked down at Cheyenne and brushed a lock of hair from her pale face. He was so worried about her.

  “I’ve got the police on the way.” No sooner had Josh finished his sentence than they heard the sirens of the water police rushing through the cove. They stopped by the boat, and Josh yelled out the window. “I’ve got an agent as well as a witness in protective custody down. Both were shot in the midsection.”

  “Do we need life flight?” he heard someone asked.

  “They’re not life threatening, but we need to get them back to the marina. An ambulance is waiting.”

  “We can take them,” the man called.

  Josh turned back to the group. “Let’s get them on the boat.”

  Once they were loaded, Parker started to go back to the houseboat, but Josh stopped him. “I got this. You go.”

  “You sure?”

  He gave him a slap on the shoulder. “Yeah, go.”

  * * * *

  Parker sat in a chair between the twin beds, watching his cousin and Cheyenne sleep peacefully. Both had come through with flying colors and would be fine. Unfortunately, he couldn’t seem to stop thinking about life without either one of them.

  Cheyenne had become a part of him, just like his cousin. He called his mother and asked her point-blank if she and his aunt had done anything magical to help find them a wife, and she was sure they hadn’t. When they realized what the spell had done to connect him and Grayson, they hadn’t done anything else for fear they would make things worse.

  Parker wasn’t sure if he was happy about that or not. If they hadn’t done anything, then why did he feel such a pull toward Cheyenne? Why did it feel so incredibly different when it was the three of them than it ever had before? It made no sense.

  How could he be in love with her after only a few days?

  Cheyenne stirred and opened her eyes, staring sleepily at Parker.

  “Hey, Doc,” he said with a smile. “How are you feeling?”

  “Like I’ve been shot,” she whispered hoarsely.
>
  Parker chuckled softly.

  “How’s Grayson?” she asked.

  He nodded toward the bed next to her. “Sleeping like a baby. Of course, you know, since he took a bullet for you, there will be no living with him.”

  She harrumphed, then winced as she tried to shift to a more comfortable position. “I still got the damn thing,” she grumbled. “If Josh hadn’t fired at the same time and knocked the guy’s aim off, he probably would’ve gotten both of us.”

  Parker shook his head. “I don’t even want to think about that.”

  “Me either,” she said tiredly. “Did I really pass out?” she asked hesitantly.

  He gave her a slight smile as he reached out and gently rubbed her shin. “After everything you’ve been through the last few days, I would have been surprised if you hadn’t.”

  She sighed and glanced toward the ceiling. “I thought I was made of stronger stuff than that.”

  “We all have our breaking points.”

  “I suppose.” She glanced over at Grayson. “How bad was it? Any internal damage?”

  “No,” Parker replied. “It went clean through and didn’t hit anything vital. He’s got about three times as many stitches and will be pretty sore for a while. On yours, the bullet was shallow. They were able to get it and stitch you up with a local. You came to briefly, but the pain meds they gave you knocked you back out again.”

  “Yeah, I have a low sensitivity to them.”

  Standing, Parker walked over to the morphine pump and hit the button. “Get some sleep, baby,” Parker whispered as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. “We’ll talk later.”

  * * * *

  Later turned into three days, and Cheyenne was beginning to get anxious. She knew it wasn’t their fault. They’d all three been put through the ringer. Debriefings seemed to take forever, and she felt like she’d told the same story fifty times. Anytime there was a death, whether a good guy or bad guy, there were lots of questions and paperwork. Even Josh had been delayed on his trip to Tennessee to help that girl.