“I look like a dork, huh?” Aiden said, coming into the room carrying a tray.
“On the contrary, you were quite the heartthrob.”
“Then why are you smiling?”
“It’s a cute picture.”
Aiden slid the tray onto the coffee table. “That’s one of the last pictures of us together.”
“Why’s that?”
“The next week I tore up my knee. Football was over. But it wasn’t bad enough to keep me out of the army, so I enlisted.” He joined her at the mantel, eyeing the photos. “I needed to get away.”
“From what? Your family seems so close, so…perfect.”
He raised an eyebrow. “No one’s perfect, Nia. But yeah, we were close. I needed out of Echo Mountain, needed to get away from my broken dreams and that look of disappointment on my father’s face.”
“He probably felt bad for you, not disappointed in you.”
“At that age you don’t know the difference. You see it aimed at you and want to get away.”
“Did getting away help?”
“A little. Until Dad passed while I was in the sandbox. Then I had a whole bunch of guilt to deal with.” Aiden ran his fingers along the side of the picture frame, as if remembering that very moment. “You know what Dad’s passing taught me?”
She shook her head and studied him. He leveled blue eyes at her when he spoke.
“It taught me to shelve the ego and never miss an opportunity to tell someone how you feel.”
The room seemed warmer than it was a moment ago. She couldn’t break eye contact if she wanted to, yet she didn’t really want to. He interlaced his fingers with hers.
Her heart pounded in her ears. He was going to kiss her. She wanted him to kiss her. But this was wrong on so many levels. He was experiencing that syndrome… What was it called? Oh yes, the white-knight syndrome, where a man felt the need to rescue a woman, to be the hero.
“Nia?” he said, his voice soft.
“Yes?”
“May I kiss you?”
She nodded that he could. She treasured this moment, being in this special home, with this special man.
A man she had fallen in love with.
He leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. She reached out and gripped his muscled arm, fearing if she didn’t hold on to something she might lose her balance.
The kiss was so perfect, so loving, that tears welled in her eyes.
He broke the kiss and leaned back, worry darkening his eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Why?” She swiped tears from her eyes. “Oh, right, this, the crying thing. I tend to do that when I’m incredibly…happy.”
“You’re happy? Wow, I thought I’d lost my touch.” He winked. “How about some tea?”
“Sure, I’d love that.”
Love. She’d said the word, although not in the right context. As if he’d read her mind, he placed another sweet kiss on her lips and went to pour the tea.
As he was about to pour, a scraping sound echoed from the front door.
Aiden grabbed Nia’s hand. “Upstairs.”
They went quickly to the second floor and darted around the corner. Aiden motioned her into a bedroom.
“No, I’m staying with you,” she said.
“Nia—”
The front door swung open with a crash. Heart racing in her throat, she tried to calm herself. Any minute now the house alarm would go off, alerting authorities. Aiden wouldn’t have to face the intruders by himself. But how long would it take for help to arrive? She squeezed his hand. He pulled her against his chest, stroking her back.
A few seconds later, they heard a thud.
“Oh, for crying out loud in a bucket,” a female voice said.
“It’s my sister Cassie,” Aiden whispered against Nia’s ear.
Aiden took her hand and led them to the top of the stairs. Cassie was in the entryway, the front door open behind her, wrestling with a moving box. The alarm hadn’t gone off, since Cassie knew the code to disarm it.
“Need some help?” Aiden asked.
Cassie screamed and stumbled back against the wall. “Jerk! Why do you always do that to me? I could have had a heart attack.”
“Sorry,” he said.
“No, you’re not,” Cassie said, still clutching the material of her jacket above her heart. “What are you doing here, anyway? And who’s this? Your girlfriend?”
They joined Cassie in the foyer. “Which question do you want me to answer first?” he teased.
Nia liked this lighthearted side of Aiden.
Cassie offered her hand to Nia. “Hi, I’m the sane one in the family, Cassandra McBride.”
“Nia Sharpe.”
Cassie narrowed her eyes. “Nia, as in the concierge at the resort?”
“That’s the one.”
“Ooohhh.” Cassie nodded and looked from Nia to Aiden.
“Oh, nothing,” Aiden said.
Aiden pulled his hand from Nia’s and went to close the door.
“Why aren’t you at the resort? And where’s Mom? Is she okay?” Cassie said.
“Let’s see—I’m off for a few days. She’s shopping with friends in Victoria, which means she’s better than okay.” Aiden motioned Nia and Cassie into the living room. “Let’s have some tea. Then I’ll help you unpack whatever treasures you’ve dumped into Mom’s hallway.”
“‘Let’s have some tea’? Did you really just say that? Since when did you—”
“Since today,” Aiden interrupted his sister. He poured tea for Nia and Cassie. “I’ll get another cup for myself.” He disappeared into the kitchen.
Cassie rocked back and forth on the heels of her sneakers, eyeing Nia. “I like what you’ve done to my brother.”
“I haven’t—”
“So…you work at the resort?”
“Yes.”
“I hear he’s a tough boss.”
“He wants things done right.”
“So, a real jerk, huh?” She smiled.
“I don’t think so. He’s always been fair to me.”
“Just fair?” She raised an eyebrow.
Nia wasn’t sure how much Aiden wanted his family to know about their relationship, or even if the relationship would continue past this current crisis. “Aiden and I have a special friendship,” Nia offered.
“Uh-huh.”
“Don’t grill my friend about me,” Aiden said, walking into the room.
Friend. He didn’t call her his employee this time. Nia had been promoted to friend. Her heart swelled with hope.
“Why not? You’re not going to tell me anything.” Cassie nodded at Nia. “Good tea, by the way.”
“Your brother made it.”
Cassie narrowed her eyes at Aiden. “Okay, what’s going on? I go away for a few months and Bree finds the love of her life, you’ve got a girlfriend and Mom’s off shopping instead of working on a quilt for church. What’s next?”
“Hang around for a while and see,” Aiden challenged.
“Maybe I will, to taunt you.”
“That’s Bree’s job,” he said. “You’re supposed to worship me.”
“In your dreams, big guy.”
Nia was thoroughly enjoying the family moment. Then her cell buzzed with a text and she glanced at it.
It’s Danny. Don’t trust anyone. They want u dead 2.
A shudder ran down her spine.
“What is it?” Aiden questioned.
She handed him the phone. He read the message and pressed the power button. “We need to turn our phones off.”
“He was trying to warn me,” Nia said.
“I understand, but our GPS signals can be tracked if they’re on.” He switched his phone off, as well. Nia shoved hers into her pocket.
“Wait—what? Who’s tracking you?” Cassie asked.
“A drug cartel, federal agents, take your pick,” Aiden said.
“Whoa, what kind of trouble did you get yourself into, big brother?”
“It’s my fault,” Nia said.
“It is not your fault,” Aiden corrected her.
“Okay, then it’s my brother’s fault. He set off this chain of events.” Nia addressed Cassie. “He’s involved with a drug cartel and came out here to escape, but the trouble followed him.”
“Wow. How dangerous?” Cassie said.
Nia cast a worried glance at Aiden.
“It’s dangerous,” Aiden said. “But we can handle it. Change of subject. Want help with your box?” Aiden asked his sister.
Something crashed through the front window, filling the living room with smoke.
FIFTEEN
“Get back!” Aiden said.
“What is it?” Nia cried.
Aiden coughed. “Smoke bomb to drive us out of the house.” Aiden grabbed a shovel from the fireplace set with one hand and covered his mouth with his shirtsleeve. He scooped up the device. “Get in the basement.”
“What about you?”
“Go! If I’m not there in five, get to the barn through the cellar door.”
“Where’s the basement?” Nia asked a stunned Cassie.
She pointed to the back of the house.
Nia led Cassie out of the living room and away from Aiden. A sinking feeling flooded Nia’s chest. No, she wouldn’t go there. Aiden would dispose of the smoke bomb and join them in the basement.
Cassie opened the basement door and glanced over her shoulder for her brother.
“He’ll be fine,” Nia said. “Come on.”
They went into the basement and Nia asked, “Is there a way to lock someone out?”
“No.”
“Okay, then let’s find things to defend ourselves.”
As Nia searched a tool bench, she berated herself for assuming trouble wouldn’t follow her here.
She berated herself for putting Aiden’s life in danger, again.
Can’t think about that now.
“Did you find anything?” Nia asked.
“This old lamp?” Cassie clutched a metal lamp in her hand.
“Good. Hang on to that.” Nia pulled a long screwdriver out of the toolbox and also found a lighter and can of spray paint.
“What are you doing with that?”
“Hopefully nothing, but the threat of setting someone on fire will give us the upper hand. Let’s hide.”
“Back here.” Cassie pointed to the water heater.
Nia turned on her phone and called Nate Walsh for help.
“Nate, they found us.”
“Where are you?” Nate asked.
“Cassie and I are hiding in the basement, but Aiden’s still upstairs.”
“On my way.”
Nia pocketed her phone and huddled behind the water heater with Cassie.
A few excruciatingly long minutes passed.
“Aiden should be here by now,” Cassie said. “It’s been more than five minutes. What if they got him? What if they’re waiting for us if we go out through the cellar door?”
Nia had to distract an anxious Cassie from going down that dark road, the road that led to despair. If they were forced to defend themselves, they had to be sharp.
“So, what was he like growing up?” Nia said.
“Huh?” Cassie said.
“Aiden.”
“Oh, he was a silly guy. He’d always make us laugh.”
“I never would have guessed.”
“Well, you only know him from work.” Cassie paused. “Right?”
Nia shrugged.
“Wow,” Cassie said. “So how long have you been dating?”
“We haven’t actually been on a date.”
“What is wrong with him?”
Absolutely nothing. Even with his gruff manner and short fuse, she thought the man nearly perfect. For her, anyway.
“We’ve been kind of busy staying out of trouble,” Nia said. “But all that will be over soon.”
It had to be. She wanted desperately to see what kind of relationship she and Aiden could have outside work.
“Shh, you hear that?” Cassie whispered.
Nia held her breath. Sure enough, floorboards creaked above them. Someone was in the house. Nia gripped the aerosol paint can and lighter, heart pounding in her chest. The footsteps were headed for the basement door.
Nia glanced at the weapons in her hands. The thought of violence turned her stomach, so she motioned Cassie to the cellar door. Nia only hoped the intruder didn’t have a partner waiting outside.
As they crossed the room, they heard scuffling up above. Something slammed against the basement door, Cassie squeaked and Nia guided her into the stairwell leading outside. They pushed on the door.
It didn’t budge.
“We’re trapped,” Cassie said.
A crash echoed through the floorboards, then a thud, and three taps, as if someone was banging against the basement door. Nia and Cassie huddled close, waiting, praying.
A loud thud was followed by silence. Nia’s heart raced triple time as she clung to Cassie, trying to offer comfort.
The door to the basement creaked open.
“Come on up,” Aiden said.
Nia and Cassie shared a look of relief, and then Cassie bolted out of the stairwell and up to the kitchen.
Nia took a breath to calm the adrenaline flowing through her body.
“Oh no, Aiden!” Cassie said.
Panicked, Nia zoomed upstairs. She spotted Aiden on the floor, leaning against the kitchen cabinet clutching his arm. A man lay facedown on the floor. Cassie stood with her hands on her cheeks, looking back and forth from Aiden to the unconscious man.
Nia started to go to Aiden, but he put out his hand. “Tie him up first. Cassie, get the heavy-duty twine out of the top drawer by the microwave.”
“Oh, okay, sure.” Cassie went to the drawer.
Ignoring Aiden’s order, Nia grabbed a dish towel off the counter and rinsed it under cool water. She went to him and knelt down.
“Help Cassie first. Go on,” he said.
Nia handed Aiden the towel and went to the unconscious man. That was when she realized she recognized him. “It’s the man who broke into my apartment.”
“Yeah, Gus Chambers,” Aiden said. “But how did he find us?”
“Who cares?” Cassie yanked the man’s hands behind his back and started to tie them.
The man suddenly rolled over.
Cassie screamed and stumbled away.
The man started to get up.
Aiden dived at him. “Get out of here!” he ordered the women.
But Nia couldn’t move. The guy flipped Aiden onto his back and slugged Aiden’s bloodied arm. Aiden’s cry lit fury in Nia’s chest. She reached under the sink, figuring that was where everyone kept a fire extinguisher.
“No! Stop! Leave him alone!” Cassie screamed.
Nia grabbed the fire extinguisher and turned to see the guy punching Aiden in the face.
And Aiden’s arms falling limp to his sides.
Nia charged the attacker, swinging the extinguisher like a baseball bat. It stunned the guy, but didn’t stop him. He got to his feet and wavered.
Nia released the pin and got ready to blast him in the face.
“Why wouldn’t you talk to me!” Gus shouted, glaring at her. “We could have avoided all this!”
He stumbled as he took a step toward her.
She got ready to fire.
“Freeze,” Nate said from the doorway to the living room. “Echo Mountain police.”
The room went hauntingly quiet. The ticktock of Mrs. McBride’s wall clock echoed across the vinyl flooring.
Gus raised his hands…
Then grabbed a chair and threw it at Nate, who dodged the furniture but didn’t fire his gun.
Gus whipped the back door open and rushed outside.
“Echo Mountain police!” another male voice said.
A few seconds of silence rang in Nia’s ears, then, “We got him, Nate!”
Cassie collapsed
on the floor. “Take care of Cassie,” Nia said to Nate as she rushed to Aiden’s side. Blood saturated his shirtsleeve and oozed down the side of his face from a cut on his cheek.
“Aiden?” she said.
He didn’t respond.
“Aiden?” she tried again. She felt for his pulse. It was steady. Why didn’t he open his eyes? Was it blood loss? A concussion?
Nia went to the sink and got another dish towel to clean his wound. When she turned to Aiden, her breath caught. He looked so…broken.
“Ambulance is on the way,” Nate said. “Cassie? Cassie McBride, can you hear me?”
“Ya don’t have to yell,” she said in a weak voice.
“You were unresponsive.”
“I’m…I’m okay.”
“You don’t look okay,” Nate said.
“Aren’t you the charmer.” She started to get up, but her legs gave way and she collapsed against Nate for support.
Nia knelt beside Aiden and wiped blood off his face to determine the severity of his wound.
“You might want to deal with the arm first,” Nate offered, holding Cassie against his chest. “Head wounds always bleed like crazy, but his arm shouldn’t be bleeding that much.”
“Okay, thanks,” Nia said.
She spotted a rip in his shirt. She grabbed either end and ripped it wider. Blood seeped from a three-inch gash on his upper arm.
“He’s been cut.”
“I saw a bloodied knife on the dining room floor,” Nate offered.
“I don’t know how to—” Nia stopped herself. She would not make excuses. She needed to tend to Aiden, fix him.
But there was so much blood.
Aiden had been sliced and beaten.
Because of her.
“Try to stop the bleeding,” Nate prompted gently, jerking her out of her self-recrimination.
“Right.” Nia grabbed another towel from a kitchen drawer and wrapped it around Aiden’s arm.
“Is he conscious?” Nate asked.
“No.”
“Splash some water in his face.”
Nia filled a cup with water, went back and sprinkled water on his face with her fingertips. He didn’t move.
“Please, my love, open your eyes,” she whispered and kissed him.
It was at that moment that she knew, without a doubt, that she was—and probably had been for a while now—deeply in love with Aiden McBride.
She dipped the towel in the water and brushed it across his face, wiping blood from the nasty cut on his cheekbone. His eyelashes fluttered as he opened his normally sky blue eyes, now dulled by pain.
Love Inspired Suspense June 2015 - Box Set 2 of 2: Exit StrategyPaybackCovert Justice Page 35
