Breaking Boundaries (SEAL Team Heartbreakers Book 5)

by Teresa Reasor

  “You’ve already ended it for him, Hillary. You stabbed him. I found him at his sister’s house. Why did you stab him?”

  Kathleen’s eyes opened wide at that.

  Something shifted in Hillary’s expression. “He won’t leave me if I do this. He’ll know how much I love him.”

  “He’s dead, Hillary. He’s already gone. You killed him. You buried a knife in his chest.”

  “No,” she screamed the denial. “No.” But realization was catching up with her. Her eyes shifted back and forth in a panicked dance. “He was going to leave me. He lied to me.” She tottered, losing her balance, and threw an arm out to catch it. The gun flew out of her hand and over the side of the building. She staggered and fell toward Kathleen, her hand momentarily gripping Kathleen’s shoulder, jostling them both.

  Kathleen cried out. Hillary’s eyes rolled up into her head and she fell away into space without a sound. Hillary’s weight dragged Kathleen sideways over the side of the beam. With a terrified scream, she scrambled to maintain a hold.

  Zach shouted, “Kathleen…” His feet pounding on the concrete as he ran toward them.

  Cal dropped the gun and mounted the beam, his only thought to get to her. His feet somehow found the rail and stayed steady as he moved toward Kathleen.

  He was there in an instant, straddling the beam and hooking his feet together beneath it. The metal dug into his thighs, his ankles. He grabbed the waistband of her crop pants and gripped the base beneath him to counterbalance her weight. He gritted his teeth against the pain, his injured shoulder bearing the brunt of it. “Get your knee up on the beam, Kathleen. I won’t let you fall.”

  With the fear of a drowning person she threw her leg up on the steel and wiggled back in place, regaining her seat. “Get me down, please, get me down.” The terror in her voice was painful to hear.

  His body shook with the residual effects of fear-induced adrenaline. His vision blurred for a moment as tears of relief blinded him. “We will, Rose. I promise.” He kept his hands resting over hers as she hugged the beam.

  “Don’t let go,” she begged.

  “I love you, Kathleen. Not a chance.”

  “You okay, Kathleen?” Zach asked, the strain of the last few minutes in every syllable of the words.

  “I will be.”

  Her hands tightened on Cal’s. “I love you, Cal. Once we get down I’m going to want you to hold me for a long, long time.”

  “I can do that.”

  The lift arrived.

  “Here comes the cavalry, Callahan,” Zach said from just behind him.

  God, if it was SWAT… “Let’s hope they’re the right kind. I’d like it to be the fire department. I’m not having much luck with the police lately.” He looked over his shoulder as the first wave of armed men swarmed out of the lift and spread out, their rifles at their shoulders in attack stance. For one extremely tense moment they converged on Zach, ordered him to his knees, and then searched him. Finding no weapons, he was still dragged aside for questioning.

  Cal found himself looking into the barrel of an automatic rifle and the flinty eyes of the guy holding it. “Show me your hands.”

  Really? “It’s okay, Kathleen.” He released his hold on her with one hand, then the other.

  The officer lowered his weapon. He scooped up the pistol Cal had dropped.

  Five minutes later after the lift went back down then back up, and four guys from the fire department, dressed in their yellow turnout gear, trotted out carrying rope, tackle, and a medical kit.

  “Finally!” Zach’s voice was filled with relief. “You finally got your wish, Cal.”

  *

  The two dark-haired detectives stood beside the bed. Both were in their thirties, well built, tall, though the one who’d identified himself as Hart looked like he did some serious work with weights.

  The one named Buckler said, “We’d like you to come down to the station at your earliest convenience and give us a statement, Ms. O’Connor.”

  Their subdued attitude tweaked her curiosity. “I could write up something at home and bring it down to you. Maybe tomorrow.”

  The one with the rounder face, Detective Hart, gave a nod. “That would be fine.”

  “Your boyfriend, Cal Crowes, wouldn’t be around, would he?” Detective Buckler asked. He glanced around as though Cal might be under the bed and pop out at any moment.

  “Yes, he and my brother have been here all night. I think he just stepped out to get something to drink. He should be back in a minute.”

  A quick tap on the door and it was pushed open. “I got you a Diet Pepsi downstairs since you don’t drink coffee.” Cal frowned when he noticed the detectives’ presence. He set a cup of ice on the hospital table and the soft drink beside it.

  He faced off with the two men, and Kathleen got an impression of three bristling dogs circling each other, deciding whether they were going to fight.

  Whoa!

  “It seems you had a really busy night, Mr. Crowes,” Detective Hart said. “A one-man rescue mission.”

  “Actually there were two of us. Kathleen’s brother Zach was with me.”

  Detective Buckler shot his partner a glance. “Thanks to both of you, the two security guards are going to be fine.”

  “Good, I’m glad.”

  Kathleen closed her eyes momentarily in relief. Had it been the sound of her voice that had drawn their attention and put them in harm’s way, or had they seen Hillary? She’d never know. By pleading their case, she’d probably made things worse.

  “Mr. Warren wasn’t so lucky,” Detective Buckler said, his dark brows practically becoming a unibrow, his frown was so intense.

  Cal’s expression grew solemn. “That’s a real shame. He had enough tragedy in his family. He deserved better.”

  “If I were sitting on a jury, I wouldn’t be so certain about that,” Buckler said. “We’ve uncovered a whole history of emails between him and Ms. Bryant. It seems he discovered early on how obsessive she was about him. Instead of running for cover like any other guy, he actually encouraged it with an on-again, off-again thing. Just to keep her hooked.”

  “It was interesting how he manipulated the information about you to build her interest and her rage on his behalf. His last email placed all the blame for his leaving Wiley on you. He said he couldn’t stand to work where he would see you all the time. When in fact he’d already submitted his resignation and left right after we started investigating the email Ms. O’Connor received.”

  “So you’re saying he used her like a loaded gun and pointed her in my direction?”

  “Something like that. She had a history of going off her meds now and then. Although she was a brilliant architect. Mr. Wiley said so himself.”

  “But she didn’t come after me.”

  “No. But you got the girl. He also dated other women and threw it up to her before breaking it off and going back to Hillary.” He shook his head. “I think she finally realized what he’d been doing all along and that he was really leaving to avoid prosecution and she lashed out at him.”

  Kathleen interrupted. “She spoke to him in the kitchen as though they were having a one-sided conversation. Was he already dead then?”

  “Yes. She’d buried a knife in his chest.”

  Kathleen flinched.

  “It happened that morning, right after he spoke to you, Mr. Crowes. You wouldn’t know anything about a nine-one-one call from the residence reporting a murder, would you?” Hart eyed Cal, his expression hard.

  “I never made any such call. I had enough on my plate looking for Kathleen without wanting to get involved in anything else.”

  Hart did everything but roll his eyes.

  Overwhelmed suddenly by pity, Kathleen teared up. “She truly loved him. What he did to her was monstrous.”

  “Yeah. It was.” Though Hart didn’t say it, the implication was Warren had gotten what he deserved.

  But had Hillary? She’d been ill, in need of m
edication and support. Not the attention of a manipulative asshole. Cal moved to take her hand and give it a comforting squeeze.

  “Why did she go after Kathleen?”

  “Warren planted the seed that he was interested in Kathleen to make her jealous. It was a game he played with her. Hillary had it all tangled up in her head.”

  Buckler took over for Hart, “She was the one who had the welder unloaded in your truck. We unscrambled the paperwork. And she did try to get you arrested.”

  Cal raised a brow. “Thanks for solving the mystery and clearing me.”

  “Thanks for siccing the whole viewing public of Harping on the Truth on us,” he said sourly.

  Quick amusement flitted across Cal’s face then was gone. “Kathleen almost died while you were worrying about a stupid welder.”

  “We thought you’d stolen it, intending to sell it. Then got cold feet and returned it. We thought whoever you’d planned to sell it to had taken Kathleen.”

  “Are you shitting me? Kidnapping her over a four thousand dollar welder makes no sense.”

  Buckler grimaced. “You’d be surprised at what people will do.”

  Cal shook his head. “Guys, not everyone you look at is guilty until proven innocent. In fact, I think it’s supposed to be the other way around.”

  “Most of the time they are guilty, Mr. Crowes,” Hart said, his tone suddenly tired.

  “That’s very sad for you, Detective,” Kathleen said, meaning it.

  “Had I waited for you to catch up, Kathleen might not have made it,” Cal pointed out.

  The detectives looked at each other. Buckler said, “We’d appreciate that statement, Ms. O’Connor, whenever you feel up to making it.”

  And then the two hastily excused themselves and left.

  Kathleen studied Cal’s features. He looked exhausted. They’d both had a hideous day yesterday, and no sleep all night between police and medical staff checking on them. She folded back the sheet and thin blanket. “Come lie with me, Cal.”

  “Gladly.” He toed off his tennis shoes and carefully wiggled in behind her. He slid his arm under her head and the injured one in its sling over her waist. His groan of pleasure made her laugh. “I think I could sleep a week with my nose right in the crook of your neck.”

  Finally, she felt safe and exactly where she needed to be. “Go to sleep. We both need to rest.”

  “Roger that.” He wiggled closer, cupping her bottom with his thighs so they could spoon. His breathing leveled out in moments and he was fast asleep.

  Zach slipped into the room. His gaze went to Cal, and then to her. He sauntered to the hospital bed to face her, and bracing an arm on the raised bed rail, leaned down to whisper, “Five-O cornered me in the hall. Don’t those guys ever rest?”

  “They’re trying to tie up loose ends.” She’d tell him about everything later. But right now she was too exhausted.

  He tucked a stray strand of hair back behind her ear with a fingertip. “There’s never been a time I felt more helpless or useless as I did watching you hug that fucking beam, Kathleen.” Zach eyes glittered suspiciously and he looked away. “If anything had happened to you…”

  She curled her fingers around his and brought them in against her cheek. “I’ve never been so terrified in my life. But knowing you and Callahan were there made it better. I knew you’d do something.”

  “I’ve never seen anyone dance across a beam like that. Cal could have won the Olympics with those moves. He saved you, Thorn.”

  The moment had been terrifying for her on two levels. She’d believed they were both going to die. Kathleen’s eyes glazed with tears. “Does that mean you approve?”

  He paused to study Callahan. “You don’t need my approval. I think you have this covered.” He leaned down to press a kiss to her tender, carpet-burned forehead. “But I’ll still rip his head off if he does you wrong.”

  Her fingers tightened around his and her heart swelled. “That’s what big brothers are for.”

  Epilogue

  ‡

  6 Weeks Later

  Kathleen paced back and forth around Cal’s denim-clad legs. The upper part of his body was hidden inside the cabinet below her sink. “I called the owner,” she fretted, “and he said he called a plumber two days ago.”

  Cal’s voice sounded muffled. “They take at least a week to show up. I have this covered, Kathleen. And I need that bucket now.”

  Kathleen rushed to hand it to him. He slid out of the cabinet and maneuvered it under the curved pipe he’d been loosening. With one last turn, water drained from the sink into the bucket. He removed the elbow and wrinkled his nose at what he saw inside.

  Kathleen didn’t want to know what might be in there.

  “Popsicle stick,” he ordered, holding out his hand.

  Kathleen handed it to him, and he dug inside the drain elbow and dumped what he found in the bucket.

  “I think it was just clogged here, but I’m going to run the snake through a short distance just to be sure.” He slipped on a pair of heavy work gloves.

  Kathleen checked the time again. They’d be here within the hour. “Have I told you lately how handy you are, Callahan?”

  “I seem to remember you saying something to that effect last night.” His blue-green eyes held an amused gleam when he glanced up at her from feeding the long coiled metal snake into the pipe.

  Kathleen smiled. “I don’t think I mentioned your hands at all. I was too busy concentrating on other things.”

  “A week is going to seem like a long time without those other things,” he said.

  “Mom and Dad won’t be here with me the entire time. We can sneak in a few conjugal visits.”

  He raised his brows. “Conjugal visits. Isn’t that what they call it in jail?”

  “I promise not to tell my father you’re bopping his baby girl, so you won’t be behind bars.”

  Cal cocked his head. “Kathleen, we can barely keep our hands off each other. They’re going to take one look at the two of us and know we’ve been bopping each other’s brains out, but they’ll ignore it, because parents have a don’t ask, don’t tell policy when it comes to their children’s sex lives.”

  Kathleen laughed. “Thank God.”

  Cal reversed the direction and started recoiling the snake. While he finished up with the sink, Kathleen checked the guest room for the third time. After Cal dealt with the bucket of waste, she went behind him to check the bathroom.

  She paused in her own room to put on lipstick. She stood in front of the mirror and studied her expression. Meeting Cal had changed her. She was more… They both were more because they completed each other.

  She chose the red lipstick because she knew he loved it on her, and because of the sexual charge it always gave him. Like last night when she’d fulfilled one of his fantasies. Or so he’d said.

  She returned to the kitchen to find him scrubbing out the sink and washing his hands. She pressed in tight against his back and gave his trim waist a squeeze.

  “You make me happy, Callahan. That’s what my parents are going to see.”

  Cal dried his hands on a dishtowel and turned to face her. His gaze homed in on her lips and he raised a brow.

  He looped his arms around her waist. “I remember thinking on our first date that being with you made me feel lighter. You took me out of my head and back into the world. You looked at me and saw a man. Not a wounded warrior or an amputee, but just a man. I wondered later if I could be half as good for you as you are for me.” He bent his head to press a kiss into her palm.

  “You are, Cal. You’ve made me see there are men out there who can be trusted to be faithful. I didn’t doubt you even when your phone was going off with all those phone calls from Harpy’s show.” And she could have never dealt with the issues left behind after her eight-hour ordeal with Hillary without him. They’d tackled PTSD together, and it had brought them even closer.

  “We’ve faced more together in two months than
many couples do in years. My parents are going to be a piece of cake.”

  The doorbell rang, and Kathleen grabbed Cal’s hand and tugged him toward the living room. Cal pulled her to a stop. “I’m not worried, Rose.” He bent his head and swooped in for a kiss, leaving her breathless and tingling in all the right places. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too. They’re going to see that, Callahan.” She felt confident and happy. Nothing like the woman who’d left Boston nearly three months before. And Cal was stronger since the episode with Hillary. It was as though he’d come into his own. He’d quit rubbing his head when stressed. And never had a nightmare when she stayed over.

  He waited as she brushed her fingertips over his lips to remove her lipstick, then bussed her cheek with a kiss. At the second tap on the door, he gave a decisive nod. “We got this.”

  The End

  Thank you for taking the time to read Breaking Boundaries. If you enjoyed it, please consider telling your friends or posting a short review. Word of mouth is an author’s best friend, and much appreciated.

  Thank you, Teresa J. Reasor

  New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Teresa Reasor was born in Southeastern Kentucky, but grew up a Marine Corps brat. The love of reading instilled in her in kindergarten at Parris Island, South Carolina made books her friends during the many transfers her father’s military career entailed. The transition from reading to writing came easily to her, and she penned her first book in second grade. But it wasn’t until 2007 that her first published work was released.

  After twenty-one years as an art teacher, and ten years as a part-time college instructor, she’s now retired and living her dream as a full-time writer.

  Her body of work includes both full-length novels and shorter pieces in many different genres, including Military Romantic Suspense, Paranormal Romance, Fantasy Romance, Historical Romance, Contemporary Romance, and Children’s Books.

  Books by Teresa Reasor