Connor lifted a hand. “Hold up.”
“Speaking of loose ends, it would be helpful if you finished him off for me.” Drake lifted his chin in the direction of the area behind Connor.
Until then she hadn’t noticed the truck in the distance or Marcel tied up and walking in closer. He looked as if they’d dragged him outside the window. She knew that wasn’t true, but she also knew Marcel had paid for some part of his role in this already.
“On your knees.” Holt gave the order to Marcel and he obeyed.
“You’re outnumbered here, Drake,” Connor said.
Drake laughed and his breath blew against her hair. “Why do you think I’m alone?”
He said the words and fear tumbled right on top of Jana again. She’d begun to believe in the miracle. Connor never failed and he wouldn’t this time. But there were other players and that could mean shots fired from anywhere.
She tried not to move anything except her eyes as she glanced around. Drake had been careful not to leave her a weapon. There was nothing within lunging range, not even a rock. That left the bags. She saw the guns inside one before he zipped it up. That bag had to have some weight. Question was if she could get the leverage she needed to swing it.
“Marcel?” Connor called out the man’s name without turning around.
Marcel didn’t hesitate. “He has a second-in-command type. Bruce. I haven’t seen him in a few hours.”
Jana scanned the area, looking for any signs of life. She took in every inch of red rock and dried tree and didn’t see anyone. She’d settle for a snake at this point. Anything to draw Drake’s attention and give Connor a clean shot.
“Only one, Drake? I guess that’s because we killed everyone else.”
“And you think your two are enough?” Drake nodded in Cam’s direction as Drake angled his body tighter behind her. “Though I admit it’s impressive this one survived the fire. Maybe you did learn something about leadership from me, Connor.”
“I learned about being a man from my wife.”
Jana’s heartbeat triple timed. She hoped those weren’t the last words she’d ever hear from her husband. Connor stood there out in the open, without a shield of any type, and it terrified her.
Yeah, she had to do something. Risk it all. If the bag pulled her shoulder out of joint or she got a shot in the side, so be it.
“Romantic.” Drake’s arm tightened. “The only question here is if I take her with me and make you spend your life hunting her down or if I take off and drop her from the sky. Preference?”
Connor didn’t move. She knew the reaction was practiced...and killing him. But she would not go out like this. She would not be a victim or saddle the man she loved with the burden of watching her die.
Her choices put them here. He’d trained her and she would fight. He would know she pushed and shoved and did everything to come back to him.
Drake made a tsk-tsk sound. “Unfortunately, it’s too late for anything else.”
“No, it’s not.” Throwing all her weight, she nailed her head into his jaw. The thwack of pain had her stumbling and him swearing.
That worked in the movies. Not in real life. Pain seared across her temples. Stars buzzed in her head as she reached for the bag but her fingers refused to move. She couldn’t grip and the daylight dimmed. She dropped down as the shots whizzed over her head. Her last thought was for Connor but even then the words wouldn’t come.
* * *
Connor saw her drop as her head lolled back. The hit knocked her out and part of him thought that was good. With her down, Holt and Cam unloaded into Drake. His body jerked and blood stained his shirt and head. After all the yelling and threats, he slid to the ground and his gun clanked against the helicopter as he went.
Connor didn’t waste time on the man who’d betrayed him in every way possible. He and Cam crowded in on Jana. The world fell away and the idea of more bullets didn’t matter. He wanted her up and to safety.
Placing two fingers on the side of her neck, Connor found a pulse and felt a whoosh of relief when her eyelids fluttered. “Come back to me, honey.”
She inhaled sharply. “Are you okay?”
“We’re all fine.” His hands still shook and his brain stuttered on every other word, but none of that mattered. All he wanted was to hold her. Get her out of there and somewhere safe.
“I’m sorry.” She whispered the word against his neck as he wrapped an arm around her and gathered her close.
The smallness of her voice made him ache. “For what?”
“Everything.”
“Let’s get you up.” He got his legs under him with Cam’s help and had a hand under her knees when the sharp crack of a single shot echoed from the distance.
It was the signal. Shane on lookout. He clearly saw something approaching.
They all turned. A single shooter walked straight toward them with Connor and Jana in his sights. Guns rose as Connor flattened her to the ground and rolled over her.
At the last second before the battle began, Marcel knocked into the guy. Stood up and ran, hitting him from the side and sending him reeling.
The man shot and Marcel went down with blood running out of his shoulder. But the attacker never got up. The team pumped enough artillery into him to make sure he never moved again.
Wobbling and woozy, Jana struggled to sit up. Connor didn’t feel much better. Even without a head injury like hers, the past few minutes drained the energy from him but he found the strength to stand. He got an arm around her and guided her over to Marcel. Cam was already on his knees in the dirt, working on Marcel’s injury as Holt talked with Shane over the satphone.
Marcel panted and the words came out of him in staccato beats. “Bruce. Down.”
“That was him?” Connor asked.
“It’s done.” Marcel closed his eyes.
Connor took that to mean they’d gotten all of Drake’s men. Also looked like Marcel gave up fighting. Not knowing whether Cam could pull the guy out of it and wanting to give some hope, Connor crouched down on the other side of him and let Cam do his work.
Battling his anger and the pulsing need to rip this guy apart, Connor picked up Marcel’s hand and shook it. Those last few seconds meant something and Connor would honor those. “You saved her.”
Marcel looked past Connor’s shoulder. “I almost killed her.”
Jana leaned her knees against Connor’s back. He looked up and saw the cloudiness in her eyes had cleared.
“It’s how you end that matters,” she whispered.
Connor thought that said it all.
* * *
It took hours to clear the crime scene, which extended over several miles and throughout the desert. The police and emergency vehicles descended thanks to Shane’s calls for help. They’d all been interviewed and checked out.
With Drake’s job, a jurisdictional battle waged. Federal officers of all sorts showed up, each claiming the right to investigate and move in. Local officials didn’t agree. Connor was left to help sort it out.
Jana spent longer than she wanted in a hospital bed while the doctor convinced Connor she didn’t have a concussion. He did paperwork and the men joked. It all seemed so surreal.
So many dead men out in the desert. Men now in the morgue because of terrible decisions they’d made and their refusal to take any responsibility for their actions.
Except for Marcel. At the end he played the hero. He bounced into Bruce and got shot in return. Maybe it was a type of penance.
She’d forever see that final look in his eyes. Love and regret, pain and guilt. Forgetting the betrayal and fear would take longer. But she had a goal now and after hours in a hospital she was following through with it.
Not that Cam agreed with her tack.
He ste
pped in front of her, putting his body between her and the private plane. “Connor is going to kill us both.”
The hangar smelled of fuel and people scurried around outside. She’d been in and out of small airports like this her entire life. They almost felt like home. Almost. “He’s not.”
“When he realizes you left the hospital and—”
She held up both hands. “I’ll take full responsibility.”
She had to do this. She needed Connor to understand she made the conscious choice. She wanted to go home.
Cam swore under his breath. “He’s going to flip.”
Footsteps thudded over her shoulder. She glanced up in time to see Connor walk in. Dressed in clean clothes and showered, he made her senses dance. Seeing him had her brain scrambling and her stomach twisting in anticipation.
The sure walk, the confident swagger. She loved it all.
And the scruff. It still outlined his chin. She’d try to convince him to keep that, at least for a short time.
He stopped right in front of her but saved a scowl for Cam. “I’m wondering why my wife is about to board a plane without telling me.”
Cam cleared his throat. “I’ll wait over there.”
“Smart move.” Connor shot Cam one last dark look. “We’ll talk later.”
“I figured.” Cam’s voice trailed off as he walked outside and into the sunshine.
She watched him go only to turn back and stare into the angry eyes of her husband. “Don’t be mad at Cam. I forced him.”
“He’s a grown man.”
“And I’m a grown woman.” She waited for the verbal battle to begin. This time she’d win. Their marriage, their lives together, were too important not to.
Connor didn’t disappoint. That scowl grew even more menacing. “Meaning?”
“I want to go home.”
All the emotion ran out of his face and his expression went blank. “By yourself.”
She knew that look was a bad sign. He’d blow...and soon. But she wasn’t scared. He’d never hurt her and it was clear he’d never leave her, no matter how much either of them messed up.
“No, Connor.”
His fury slipped as his eyes narrowed. “I don’t understand what’s happening here.”
“I’m not going to let you do it. Storm in and take the blame for what happened with Drake.” She put a hand against his chest, loving the feel of his muscles underneath.
He immediately covered her hand with his. “I didn’t keep you safe.”
There it was. The guilt and desperation that would always be between them. They bounced it back and forth, taking turns feeling bad about something. She planned to break that cycle now.
“You did. I left the protection of our home.” And she had to take responsibility for that. After seeing adult men, someone like Drake with a lifetime of service behind him, not own up to being wrong, she’d vowed never to take that path.
Connor nodded. “Because I smothered you.”
“Yes, you did.” Pain moved behind his eyes and she rushed to wipe it out again. Her hand went to his chin and she caressed that stubbly skin. “But I still shouldn’t have left. I should have somehow made you listen and understand. I gave up too fast, and I’m sorry for that.”
His arms came around her. She sensed he wanted to gather her into a crushing bear hug but he settled for resting his arms loosely around her waist.
“I almost lost you today.” The words sounded harsh, as if they were ripped out of him.
“I’m not going anywhere except home to our house, to our bed.” She leaned in with her forehead resting against his and tried to believe how much she loved this man. “Do you know why?”
“Because your head injury made you loopy.”
She smiled as she lifted her head. She caused him pain and pushed them apart, yet he didn’t wallow. “Because I love you and don’t want to be away from you.”
His fingers tightened against her waist then relaxed again. “Wasn’t that true when you walked out?”
“Yes.”
He exhaled. “Not to sound ungrateful, but what’s changed?”
Some small things that added up to everything. Some changes came from her and really were more about recognizing the things she had started to take for granted.
Seeing the way he looked at her. Feeling him against her as they made love. His strength, honor and loyalty.
“When you didn’t put the tracker in my clothes, which I know was hard for you.”
He rolled his eyes. “I nearly crushed the thing in my hand.”
“But you didn’t. You talked with me.” Her palms found his cheeks. “We talked it out and I made the decision.”
“Okay.” He winced. “You know I may have tucked it in your pants if you said no, right? I want to take credit and be the bigger man and all that, but I don’t know what I would have done if you fought me.”
She loved his honesty and right now, after all the double-dealing and lies they’d seen, it meant even more. “Admittedly, we still have some work to do.”
His hand went to her hair and he massaged the back of her head. “You know that I would do anything to keep you safe. That the idea of losing you is the only thing in this world that I cannot handle.”
“And you know I feel the same way about you.” That’s the part she needed him to understand. “We are in this together. Both of us. Equally. I may not be a sharpshooter and can’t crack a safe with a can opener, or whatever you do—”
“That’s Shane.”
“—but when it comes to our lives together and how we get through each day, we’re equal. You worry about me and I worry about you.”
“I get that.” A few words, so simple and firm in their delivery.
She knew he meant them. “I just needed to know you understood that.”
He pulled her in tighter until every curve of her body slipped into his. “For the record, even without the can opener skills, that was a pretty impressive head butt you did back there.”
“You told me to use it as a last resort, and I was feeling pretty desperate.” So much of what he’d taught her came rushing back when she needed it. He’d ingrained it in her. Maybe the strong-arm tactics annoyed her, but the skills stuck. “Point is, your training made a difference. Your surveillance made a difference. I think we can figure out a way to balance it all, but you have to meet me halfway.”
“You’re not the only one who learned something all these months, you know.”
She hoped that was true. She was gambling everything on it. “What did you learn?”
He kissed her then. Leaned in and covered her mouth with his, passing and pressing until her hands went to his neck and her heart bounced against her ribs.
She smiled against his lips. “Well, I like that.”
“You are a fierce, beautiful, strong and independent woman. I loved those things about you when I married you and I love them now.” He kissed her nose and her cheeks. “I’m sorry I made you question any of that, that I didn’t show you how I felt every day. But now I get that suppressing the things that make you who you are doesn’t make either of us happy.”
There it was. That little hiccup her heart did when he said something so perfect she wanted to tackle him and drag him off somewhere private. “And I’m sorry I didn’t fight harder, that I left you at all.”
He kissed her again. Quick but still so precious.
“Forgiven.”
She could see in his eyes he meant it. “So are you.”
“Then you know what we need to do next.”
He lifted her up until her toes barely touched the floor. Even being tall he could make her feel cherished. “That smile promises something naughty.”
“We need to get back to Maryland first. If
we do what I’m thinking on the plane, poor Cam might jump out.”
She bit back a laugh. “Then take me home.”
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from WEDDING AT CARDWELL RANCH by New York Times bestselling author B.J. Daniels.
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SPECIAL EXCERPT FROM
Read on for a sneak peek of
WEDDING AT CARDWELL RANCH
by New York Times bestselling author
B.J. Daniels
Part of the CARDWELL COUSINS series.
In Montana for his brother’s nuptials,
Jackson Cardwell isn’t looking to be anybody’s hero.
But the Texas single father knows a beautiful lady in distress when he meets her.
“I’m afraid to ask what you just said to your horse,” Jackson joked as he moved closer. Her horse had wandered over to some tall grass away from the others.
“Just thanking him for not bucking me off,” she admitted shyly.
“Probably a good idea, but your horse is a she. A mare.”
“Oh, hopefully she wasn’t insulted.” Allie actually smiled. The afternoon sun lit her face along with the smile.
He felt his heart do a loop-de-loop. He tried to rein it back in as he looked into her eyes. That tantalizing green was deep and dark, inviting, and yet he knew a man could drown in those eyes.
TRACELESS Page 19
