by Mayer, Dale
She lay down on top of the covers. She hated to still be in her dirty clothes but unless she was going to bed for the night she didn’t want to strip and get under the covers. Determined to rest, she let her eyes drift closed.
Cold steel woke her up a few hours later.
*
Markus tried to focus, but hell…for the second time that day, Mason was on his case. Markus needed to get into the damn game. They were back training but Bree dominated his thoughts. Was she okay? Had she slept? Had she eaten? He’d fed her breakfast but he was afraid she’d had no thought about lunch. Now if she’d slept the afternoon away then she’d need dinner…or she could still be asleep and out for the night. The afternoon was long gone with the sun already lowering in the sky. It would be dark by the time he got there.
He glanced around as the guys unloaded the gear they’d been using all day.
“Markus, we’ll handle this. Update us when you can.”
He grinned. No explanation needed. He was happy to go and check on her. She had to be doing fine. If she stayed inside she would be. He didn’t want her wandering alone around town and using up her precious energy.
He wanted to keep an eye on her. But how? He had a job. And one he wanted to keep. Several trucks headed off. He was with Shadow. Evan loaded gear into the back.
“Let’s go.” Shadow nudged Markus’s shoulder.
Markus smirked. “Got a reason to be getting home as fast as you can, do you?”
Shadow’s flat stare reached across the armory box. But Markus wasn’t fooled. He’d seen Shadow’s softer side – and the love of his life. Rainbows and unicorns indeed.
Still, it only went to show that there were hidden depths to the people around him, and Markus himself was no different.
Bree was layers of complexity. Damn if that didn’t make him wish he could peel a ton more layers away – especially her clothing. He knew he’d get furious to see her body wasting away. She should be holed up somewhere safe and doing her damnedest to put muscle and flesh back on those poor bones.
She was a sweetheart about it all too. He glanced down at the half dozen donuts that had somehow magically appeared in his hand when he’d been busy buying coffee an hour ago. They’d stopped for fuel and he’d gone inside. The thing was he’d been looking at them and thinking that they’d be a good way to put on weight. So he’d bought six.
Much to the men’s surprise and his when they reminded him he didn’t like donuts.
He shook his head. She was consuming his thoughts. Maybe that was a good thing. But he still figured she should go home to her family. And be damned glad she had one who loved her and wanted to help. Then again if they were both in California he’d be the one forcing food down her throat.
Then that wasn’t the only problem. She needed rest. No stress, as good a diet as possible, physical exercise to build up her muscle, and more than that she needed a passion. A goal. A reason for living. It’s what had made the difference to him. He’d been lost for so long. Then he’d found himself again through his brothers – his SEAL brothers. A few had a bigger impact than others. Levi for one. But they’d all been instrumental in getting his ass back in line. He’d like to repay the favor for someone else sometime.
They got into the truck. Shadow drove. Markus barely paid attention. His life had been shit for so long. He was alone. For the first time since Fiona’s death he was interested in someone else. She’d woken up his heart. Helping it to heal from the inside out.
A great concept in theory but not so much in practice. He’d been without a relationship for a long time. He missed sex. He missed the closeness. That special feeling of knowing that you were one of two people in the world and one of a partnership where the other person loved you as much as you loved her. It was seriously special and that was an impossible feeling to regain. Or was it? Did lightning strike twice? He hoped so. He was counting on it.
All around him there was evidence of love in a way he’d never seen before. Hell, Cooper had fallen hard for his doctor, and what a sweetheart she was. As high energy as a racing horse and just as precious. Markus would always have a soft spot for Dr. Sasha Childs. If only because she’d been the one to show him that there was a pathway forward even for those who had loved and lost. He was jealous of what Cooper found. What almost everyone on his team had found. Did they realize how lucky they were?
And once on that track, he couldn’t stop thinking about Bree. And that’s when he realized Shadow had driven the military rig to the B&B where Bree was staying. He turned his own flat stare at Shadow.
“Go. You’re useless until you make sure she’s okay.”
“She’s okay,” Markus snapped.
“How do you know?” Shadow countered. “Those damn donuts have been sitting here since we picked up coffee hours ago. Were you planning to let them dry out completely?” Then he grinned. A smile that lit up the interior of the cab. Markus was shocked into silence. He didn’t know the man could do that. And never thought to see it directed at him.
“Go.”
Markus shook his head. “No. She’ll be sleeping.”
“The light is on.”
Markus turned his head to look up on the second floor. True enough the bedroom Bree was supposed to be in had the lights on. But there were no lights on downstairs. So how did that work. He studied the bedroom…and froze.
“Shit.” Shadow’s soft voice filled the cab. “Does she have a boyfriend?”
“No. I don’t believe so any longer.” Markus answered hesitantly. Christ, he hoped not.
Then they saw something in the man’s hand as he crossed the room that said it didn’t matter if she did or not. She was in trouble and they had to help.
The man held a handgun.
And it was pointed toward the center of the room.
Chapter 16
“Get up, bitch.”
She closed her eyes briefly and gave herself a mental shake. No, this was not happening. She so didn’t need this. No way she needed this. She just wanted peace and quiet in her life.
Apparently the universe didn’t get the message.
“Did you hear me?”
“Yes,” she whispered, opening her eyes. “I heard you.”
“Then get up. Now.”
Sighing, she slowly sat up. The room swayed around her. Shit. She reached out a hand to the wall beside her to steady herself. She took a deep breath and slowly stood all the way up. She almost cried out as her sore legs buckled. Lord, she’d been better this morning than she was now. All she’d done was go for a small walk around town.
Taking a deep breath she turned to face the man holding a gun on her. “What do you want?”
He snorted. “Not you, that’s for sure. What are you, a toothpick? And weak as shit. Need solid women up here. Not breakable models.”
For some reason that hurt. She’d thought she’d done quite well so far. But apparently not. “I’ve been ill.”
“Yeah, well you should have died and saved me the trouble of killing you.”
Her heart sank and her gut twisted. “Why would you kill me?” she whispered. “I didn’t do anything to you.”
He walked over to the window and looked out. And she caught sight of his profile. It was the man she’d been following in town. The man who’d torched Boomer’s Diner. Damn it. Had he seen her? Had he noticed her following him? Had he tracked her back here?
What the hell was going on?
Dropping the curtain, he spun and stared at her. And caught the look on her face. In a knowing voice he said, “Yeah, I can see it in your eyes.” He snorted. “You recognized me.”
She swallowed hard, trying to figure out how to answer. “I might have seen you around town. I do work at a diner.”
“No, you used to work at a diner. And lived above it according to Boomer. Only the diner burned to the ground – right?”
Her breath balled up in her throat.
“I guess you needed a new bed for the night, didn’
t you?” His grin held satisfaction and a touch of craziness. Just enough to scare her shitless.
Damn it. It had been him. “What did you do after you torched the place? Call around to find me?” And she knew she’d made a mistake.
His glare would chill anyone to ice. “What do you know about that?”
“Nothing,” she cried. “I don’t know anything. Why are you here? Why are you in my room? What do you want?”
“Not that, that’s for sure. You’re too damn skinny to ride. You’d break after five minutes.”
He turned to stare out the window. “No,” he said. “There won’t be time either.”
What did that mean? She puzzled on it while she mentally measured the distance between the doorway and the bed. Could she make a run for it? Get down the stairs and out the front door before he caught her?
And then what? Where could she go?
Nowhere. But once again, anywhere was better than here. Her new wallet was lying on the night table with her money and new debit card. Maybe she’d be lucky enough to get away with her wallet this time.
“Don’t even think about it.” His harsh voice made her wince, her muscles tense.
“Don’t think about what?” she asked in a low voice.
“Trying to make a run for it.”
She shuddered and glanced at the door. What if she didn’t go down the stairs? But headed for the back entrance? There was one, but she didn’t know the house plan as well as she’d have liked. It was a simple thing to go the wrong way and get caught.
Shit. She didn’t know what to do. But she wasn’t going to stay here and receive whatever punishment he was meting out. Running seemed to be her answer to everything lately. So far it hadn’t been working out so well.
He straightened suddenly and peered out the window again. She slipped to the door, wallet in hand, and raced down the hallway and stairs in a flash. She heard a shout behind her but it just added fuel to her feet and she hit the front door, pulling it open and dove outside. There was no place to go but several vehicles had parked out front. She raced to the side of one.
And hit a wall.
She was picked up and held tight. She lost it.
She wasn’t going down – not now. She was free damn it. “No,” she yelled. “Let me go.”
Fighting like a wildcat, she twisted and kicked only to realize none of it was doing any good. And that the arms holding her were gentle – as gentle as could be given she was trying to scratch and kick him.
“Easy, Bree.” His voice gentle. “Easy, honey. I don’t want to hurt you.”
Finally that voice penetrated the din in her head.
Markus.
Instantly she threw her arms around his neck and hung on as hard as she’d been trying to escape. Still crying, she tried to explain what had happened.
“It’s okay, I’m here now. Take it easy.”
She shuddered and tried to, but damn it the tears and the sobs just wouldn’t quit. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I don’t mean to get into trouble. I don’t know why this keeps happening to me,” she wailed.
He rubbed her shoulders and held her close, his head tucked against hers. Not like a stranger but more like a lover and just that thought…brought tears to her eyes. It had been so long since someone held her close like this. Someone who cared for her. She’d been alone a long time. Sure she had family but that wasn’t the same thing.
It’s not something she’d expected to miss as much as she did, but she did, and she didn’t want to anymore.
She buried her face against the crook of his neck and burrowed in. Shivers wracked her form but no matter what she did she couldn’t seem to calm down.
Finally he sat her down on the truck seat but still held on tight. When she could she explained what happened.
“Are you sure it was him?”
She nodded. “It was him. I know it was him. I saw him downtown and followed him—”
Markus roared. If there were words mixed up inside that voice there was no way to prove it by her. She reared back and gave him a good frown. “What’s the matter?”
“You saw the arsonist and decided it would be a good idea at follow him? On your own? Without telling anyone about what you were doing?” He gave her a gentle shake. “I told you not to do that.”
“How could I tell you? Besides if I’d told anyone then they wouldn’t let me do it,” she cried. “What was the point of that?” She shuddered. “No one else was there and I didn’t want to lose him.”
“Where did he go?” asked the stranger at Markus’s side. He’d come from the front door, and the look on his face… A third man popped up behind Markus as well, his gaze intent as he listened to her explanation. Were there more here? She recognized one – Shadow. He’d taken Jake from Markus when they’d reached the cabin. She could place several of Markus’s friends. There was the giant guy, Swede. And she recognized a couple more that she’d heard Markus use their names. Mason and Hawk she thought they were called. But she wasn’t sure she knew this other man.
“I don’t know,” she confessed from deep inside Markus’s arms. Shadow looked scary and dangerous. He was on his phone talking to someone but his gaze was on her, waiting for her answer. “I lost sight of him.”
“Good thing,” Markus said in a harsh voice.
“I was sleeping,” she whispered, “and woke up to the gun at my neck.” She shuddered.
“You’re okay now,” Markus said in a low, soothing voice.
“What did he say to you?” Shadow asked.
When she didn’t answer right away, Markus nudged her. “Answer Shadow.”
She sighed and relayed what she could remember.
In truth – she just wanted to forget.
A second vehicle ripped up beside them, with several more men all dressed in military gear inside. It parked, hard glances exchanged and men spread out. She watched in shocked silence as half a dozen disappeared into the neighborhood. She pulled back slightly so she could look up into Markus’s face. “Who are they?”
“The rest of my unit,” he said in low tones. “They are searching for the gunman.”
“You need to call them back,” she cried. “They aren’t armed.”
Markus slanted a look at her. “They don’t need to be armed. If he’s here they’ll find him and take him down regardless.”
She blinked. “What are you guys – superheroes?” She managed to ask the question without cracking a smile and was gratified to see him grin at her. His chest rumbled under her ear. She smiled. “Okay, just kidding but seriously, it seems like you are always at the right place at the right time.”
“I wish,” he said in a low pained voice. “But I know I haven’t been in the past.”
“Damn, I’m sorry. I forgot.”
“Not your fault.” He hugged her once then released her. “Let’s get you all the way inside the truck. You’re freezing.”
She shook her head and tried to hop down. “I need to go back to my room.”
He snatched her up close again as if he was afraid she’d bolt. “No way are you going inside.”
“I just bought new t-shirts,” she protested. “I need them.”
He glanced down at her old dirty clothing she still wore.
“See, I didn’t have a chance to get changed yet.”
“And you’re not going to do so now either.”
She stared at him. “Damn, you’re killing me. These clothes are going to walk away on their own. I’m going to walk around naked soon,” she muttered.
“And that’s supposed to be a deterrent?” he asked, his voice rising in humor. “I’d be more than happy to have you in that state.”
“Only if you are too,” she snapped. “Besides I’ll have goose bumps all over from freezing,” she warned. “That’s not a pretty sight.”
“I’ll keep you warm,” he promised, a twinkle in his eyes.
She blushed. She actually blushed. She could feel the rosy heat rising on her neck an
d cheeks. “Hell, my temperature is going up already just thinking about it,” she muttered under her breath.
“I heard that.”
“Well you weren’t supposed to.” She glared at him.
He grinned at her.
She rolled her eyes and scrambled back up into the front of the truck. A quick boost from him, and she was sitting on the front seat and now eye level with him. “You’re too pretty for your own good.”
“I’m what?” he asked in outrage. “I am not pretty.”
“You don’t like the implication that pretty is feminine, do you?” Inexplicably she felt pleased to have poked him.
“Do I look feminine to you?” He glared at her.
She withheld her grin but took her time looking at the heavy square jaw, the huge hazel eyes locked on her, the massive shoulders and neck. She gave a happy sigh.
“Nope, you look like a cross between a Hell’s Angel and one of Heaven’s angels.”
His eyebrows shot up and he looked so surprised, she had to grin. “Well, you do look so damn tough I wouldn’t want to meet you in a back alley at night and so damn soft I would arrange to meet you at nighttime,” she explained.
His gaze warmed and a twinkle shone in his eyes. “I do like the sound of the last part.”
“See, there you go flirting even in these situations.”
“You flirted first,” he protested, but his gaze sharpened and he was looking behind her shoulder.
And she realized that the whole time he’d been talking to her he’d been keeping watch…always with an eye to her safety. Only he’d done so in a way that had kept her attention off the danger surrounding them.
“You’re very good at your job.”
“What job is that?” he asked.
“Being a guardian angel.”
“I thought I was a cross between two different angels.”
She beamed at him. “You are – that makes you the guardian angel.”
*
She really was nuts. That was the only explanation for her odd comments. But she just might be his kind of nuts. And he could really use that. But was he what she needed? Not that they had been together long enough to find out. She was cute as hell. Not pretty. Gamin was the word his grandmother would have used. A huge mobile mouth that was quick to smile. Her eyes were a soft blue, and they stayed with a permanent, almost ethereal look to them. Would that be the case later when she’d recovered her strength and health? Or should they deepen to a more normal color? There was a silvery tint to them to add to the ghostly appearance. But with her button nose and high cheekbones she was an appealing package. Now if only she was a more normal weight.
