Like Arrows (Cedar Tree #6)

by Freya Barker

  That is not good news for Kim. You don't want someone talented with a long-range rifle to get spooked, especially when there's already a bullseye on your back.

  Turning to me Gus says, "I'm adding Neil to Kim's detail. He has experience in the field."

  I nod. I don't know a whole lot about Neil's history but I do know he was military at some point. My suspicion had always been special ops. The fact that Gus finds him most suited to deal with a potential sniper only strengthens that suspicion. The youngest of the team, and the jovial one, on the surface, Neil is by far the most intelligent one and has the poise of someone much older.

  "I best get back." I'm restless about being half an hour out of reach from Kim. Especially with this bit of news.

  "Caleb's keeping an eye out," Gus reminds me. I knew that. He told me on the way here that he'd asked him to look after the girls from a distance. I realize he must have done that after Neil found out about the rifle range. "Let's finish this brief and we'll head out."

  The next hour is spent laying out any and all information. The content of the flash drive, the geologist's report on the oilfields, the name Hart Holdings which, as confirmed by the FBI, is a known front for Hartnett Oil and Vedica's role to obtain the real estate. Gus assures us that the Walker Family is being looked after by the Ute community, and that there have been no further incidents on their farm.

  I'm fucking frustrated as hell at the threat of the unknown, and our inability to plan for it. At not having any idea where our suspect is, although the discovery of Winter's body would seem to indicate that Hartnett was in the Austin area as recent as last night.

  Lastly we get security for Kim hammered down. Unfortunately I'm the who has to tell her she'll be even more restricted in her movements and that's not going to make her happy. But I can take the heat if it means she'll be safe.

  -

  "Well that's nice. I've just told my mother to meet me at Arlene's for an early dinner on Thursday."

  Just as I thought, Kim is less than pleased to hear that unless she's willing to brave the outdoors with an entire entourage of armed men, she's to stay inside at all times.

  "Meet you at Arlene's? You don't for one minute think I'd let you face that woman alone, right? And whose brilliant idea was Arlene's anyway?" I notice a light twitch of her mouth when I bring up the location.

  "That would've been Emma, who seems to think I need a show of force. My mother will hate it," she says, the smile finally surfacing on her pretty mouth. "As for the other, I didn't want to presume you'd want to be there."

  I curse her mother for putting that hint of insecurity back on her face, and don't hesitate to get rid of it. I cup her face in my hands and have to bend down to touch my forehead to hers. "You, are the only person who's allowed to freely 'presume' when it comes to me. It can't have escaped your notice that I like being around you. And I certainly won't give up a front seat to the big parental take-down."

  The smile is back on her face and my heart beats a little faster when she stands up on tiptoes and reaches to touch my lips with hers. That's a first.

  Keeping my mental fist-pump to myself, I quickly take over the kiss with one hand tangled in her hair and the other firmly on her lower back, pressing her body close. Reluctantly, I pull my mouth away from hers. "You know I'd love to take this where we both know it'll lead, but there are some other things I want to update you on."

  We'd just walked in after I picked her up at Emma's, where the two of them had been chatting away like old friends. She seemed happy and relaxed and I hadn't had the heart to lay everything on her right away. At least not until we got home. Then Boo had demanded our attention with his boisterous hellos and I'd taken him for a quick walk before giving Kim an update. I know a lot of people would want to protect their loved ones from worry, but in my experience it's better to know what's at stake. So I want to give that honesty to Kim.

  Loved ones. I have to admit to myself I'm at that place—the place where certainty slips into your awareness. I'd seen it happen before to my brother with Katie, that moment there is no longer any hint of insecurity about how you feel. You know. It's as simple as that. Maybe it's the voluntary kiss she initiated, or maybe I've known it all along, but this moment seems to bring it home for me. I'm it for her, and as unexpected as it may be, she's it for me. In her I see a future I never thought possible. One I never even looked for or strived toward, but now that I have it in my sights, I'm not going to let go. I'm certainly not going to risk it by keeping information from her.

  "There's a reason for us needing to tighten up security around you for a bit." And with my arms holding her close and my nose almost touching hers, I tell her everything I found out this morning.

  I feel her shock when she finds out Winters was found murdered, and again when I tell her we suspect Hartnett might be responsible and why, but I hold on tight when she tries to pull away.

  "I can't believe someone else is dead because of me."

  "Stop that," I tell her with a little shake until she lifts her tear-filled eyes to mine. "You did nothing but show up every day and do your job and show loyalty to your boss. You planning to take the blame for everything bad that happens? None of this is your responsibility and you know it. So knock it off."

  Perhaps not the most sensitive way to handle her self-recriminations, but fuck, this woman lives inside her head so much, she's bound to get lost in there. Along with her self-doubts and blame. I'm grateful to see the flash of anger on her face.

  "Don't you tell me to knock it off, Malachi Whitetail," she bites out. "I know it's not really my responsibility, but I can't help feeling bad. Even if he was obviously not a particularly upstanding citizen."

  Her fire is like an aphrodisiac for me. My already half-hard cock grows to full attention with the heat she glares my way. Leaning in I skim my lips over her tightly clenched ones before moving my mouth to her ear. "You have no idea how turned on I get when you let your temper fly," I grumble. "And the words 'upstanding citizen' from your cute little mouth has my cock stand at attention and salute."

  I'm rewarded with a soft chuckle from her. "That's ridiculous," she says, smiling.

  "Oh yeah?" I press my hard-on into her stomach. "Does that feel ridiculous, Nizhóní?"

  "Mmmmm, no. It feels like it deserves a little attention of its own."

  And in broad daylight without any hesitation, she sinks to her knees on the kitchen floor, and proceeds to give my dick her thoughtful and thorough consideration.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  "You can't wake a person who is pretending to be asleep."

  ~ Navajo

  Kim

  I woke up with butterflies in my stomach this morning.

  That feeling of an impending storm you can't really prepare for.

  My appointment is today and I haven't yet broached the subject with Mal. I don't know what I was thinking. It's not like he would let me out of his sight long enough to sneak out to Cortez, get the MRI and sneak back without him noticing. I've just been avoiding. I had plenty of opportunity yesterday when we just hung around the house most of the day, watching a movie, putzing in the kitchen and spending an ungodly amount of time in bed. A great distraction in clearing negative thoughts from the mind.

  I don't want to think about a potentially bad result, so I haven't brought it up because that would only highlight that possibility. I've always stuffed shit I don't want to think about far down, but I get a feeling in this case, it might have been prudent to share with Mal at some point. Not to mention the impending dinner with the 'fam' after. Should make for a great day altogether. No. It's not a surprise my stomach is queasy.

  "You're not eating," Mal points out.

  I've been pushing the scrambled eggs he made us around my plate and I can't even remember if I've taken one taste. I demonstratively put a bite in my mouth and chew. It should be delicious but right now it tastes like rubber.

  "Don't like it?"

  It's obvious I made some k
ind of face, because Mal is looking at me with mild amusement. Time to face the first challenge of the day.

  "It's not that. I should've told you about an appointment I have today. I...it's nothing, just routine, but I... Well, I need to go to Cortez this morning. I'm scheduled for a MRI. Just routine," I quickly add when I see the worry I’ve been trying to avoid, on his face. "It's just, before Naomi can make a proper diagnosis, there are a few tests she ordered for me." I don't tell him about the shadow the ultrasound had revealed. I convince myself I'm not lying when I tell the truth, even if it isn't complete. Let's face it, after today I might be able to forget about it too, when the MRI comes back clear.

  "I'm taking you," Mal says, pushing himself away from me, his face dispassionate, but I can feel anger underneath.

  "I'm sorry, I know I should've told you. I'm not used to... having someone care so much. I'm really sorry." I wrap my arms around his waist and hold him as tight as I can. His body feels like a stone column under my hands. I feel more than I hear a big breath of air expelled, before his body relaxes.

  "Sorry," I mumble again for good measure and his chin drops to the top of my head while one hand holds me to his chest.

  "Hush," is all he says.

  -

  I'm having a panic attack. I swear this contrast dye they're running through me intravenously is crawling under my skin and making me nauseated. If this fucking strap is not taken off my head very soon, I'm gonna lose it. My fucking body is lying on a metal 'bed,' wide enough to hold about half of one of my goddamn legs, but no—they want my whole body on there. Then they shove me inside a tube I just about feel brushing up against me. And then they tell me to lie still with my arms and legs slipping off the side of the bed and my stomach about to explode. Fuck this.

  "Ma'am? You have to lie still, ma'am, or we'll have to start over." The disembodied voice can barely be heard through the headphones they plopped on my head. The noise is too overwhelming.

  "Ma'am? Slow down your breathing, you'll start hyperventilating soon."

  No shit, Sherlock.

  With the threat of having to do this again right from the start, I dig up every ounce of control I have and with Mal's face as my focus, I manage to get through the final five minutes of this hell. Serves me right to refuse the sedative I was offered earlier. Next time they're welcome to knock me the hell out.

  "Are you okay?" the hapless technician asks me as he removes the contraption that was holding my head in place like Hannibal fucking Lecter, and looks concerned at my tear-streaked face. Really?

  "No, I'm not. I need a—" And before I can finish my sentence, the nausea churning in my stomach wins and I puke all over his shoes.

  He screams like a girl.

  My torture reaches its peak when Mal, who was grudgingly confined to the waiting room on the other side of the doors, bursts through. "What the fuck is going on?" He takes one look at me and rushes over. Lovely. "You okay, babe?" he says, grabbing a corner of the sheet that was supposed to keep me warm in this sub-zero room, and starts wiping my cheeks and mouth. Giving up, I bury my face in his chest. At this point, what's the point of resisting. "I thought it was you screaming," he mumbles in my hair and despite the totally embarrassing situation, I burst out laughing. What else are you gonna do?

  The technician unhappily cleans off his shoes and dismisses me, saying the radiologist will have results to my doctor as soon as possible. Mal leads me to the nearest patient bathroom and deftly cleans me up. I'm beyond caring and just let him do his thing.

  "Be back in two seconds, baby. Close the door behind me?" he says before darting out the door.

  A few minutes later, I let him back in and he hands me a packaged toothbrush and toothpaste. "Thought this might make you feel a bit better," he says.

  That's when I burst into tears again.

  "Thank you," I tell Mal as we are leaving the hospital parking lot, followed closely by Neil, who'd been our 'tail' into Cortez. I was mortified to find out he'd been standing guard outside the patient bathroom, while Mal was making his purchases in the small gift shop in the lobby. Mal whispered in my ear as we walked right by him on our way out the door to just ignore him. Not to draw attention to him. So I shoved it from my mind, as I have a tendency to do with unpleasant things.

  "No problem, Kimeo." He smiles a little without taking his eyes off the road, but his hand finds mine on my lap and for the rest of the drive home, he doesn't let go.

  Mal

  I recognize them the minute they walk in the door. Both bottled blondes, compared to Kim's rich brown color. Tall and skinny. Too skinny, that much is clear. The older woman's face is gaunt with skin drawn too tight for someone her age. The younger one looks a bit more fleshed out but wears an ugly distasteful scowl that takes away any attractive appeal she might otherwise have. Kim's mother and sister.

  I shouldn't be surprised to see their eyes skim right over Kim to take in the diner before coming back to rest on me, not Kim, who's shrunk in her seat beside me. I'd purposely blocked her in the booth by sitting down next to her before Arlene appeared and took our drink orders. The older woman's eyes are the first to glimpse Kim sitting beside me and shoot right back to meet mine. The younger one never moved her gaze and with a small shiver of disgust I register the veiled heat I see there.

  Not gonna happen, blondie. Not on your life.

  The moment Kim's mother starts walking toward our table, her other daughter looks confused before she too finds her sister sitting in the booth next to me.

  "Seriously, Kim?"

  Kim's back straightens underneath the arm I've casually slung around her. I've got to bite my fucking tongue not to take this woman down right this minute, but I'd promised myself I'd let Kim fight her own battle, just providing her security. She needs that.

  It helps that Emma stood true to her promise. Everyone, including Clint, Beth and their grandson Max, were sitting at the big round table in the corner. All of them knowing full well what was going down. Only Neil and Joe were outside somewhere, keeping an eye out.

  "Mother. Britta. Good to see you both," Kim says as the other two slide into the booth across from us.

  "I see you haven't changed much," her sister says with a sneer. No hello from either of them. Un-fucking-believable.

  "Thank you. You look well too," Kim says smiling and I can't stifle the chuckle at how she puts them in their place by being deadly polite. They don't even realize it. All eyes shoot to me, Kim's warm and appreciative, the other two irritated at my intrusion.

  "And who might you be?" Britta holds out her hand while batting her eyelashes. I reach out my free hand to shake her limp one, letting it drop right away when I feel her thumb brush my palm. Fucking piece of work.

  "Sorry, this is Malachi Whitetail, my boyfriend. Mal, this is my mother, Elaine Lowe, and my sister, Britta," Kim says in a strong voice and I have to restrain myself from kissing the stuffing out of her right here and now.

  Elaine's lips are drawn in a tight line and Britta's mouth falls open in surprise before she lets out a snort.

  "Kidding me, right? This is your boyfriend?" she asks Kim incredulously. Elaine says nothing and before either Kim or I have a chance to respond, Arlene shows back up with our drinks.

  "Here you go, lovebirds, a beer and a tea. And what can I get you two ladies?"

  Britta's eyes move fast as lightning between Arlene, and Kim and I.

  "I'll have a tea also. No milk, no sugar," Elaine says as she watches with disapproval while Kim doctors her tea with both.

  "Honey, you ask me, you could do with a little sugar. Both of you," Arlene says, waving her hand between the two blondes. "You've gotta know, real men like a little meat on their women. Just you wait, my Seb will get you set up. He's made one of his specialties tonight: a good hearty shepherd's pie with home made applesauce. That stuff'll stick to your ribs, all right. I don't even have to ask these two, but how about you? Ready for some good country food? Shall I make it four specials?"


  The smile Arlene sports is as fake as a three-dollar bill and I can't be positive she won't spit in their food given the chance.

  "Just water for me," Britta bites off. "And a house salad, with a light vinaigrette."

  "As you wish," Arlene grinds her teeth. "And you, Madam?"

  Kim snorts when her mother flinches at the title.

  "Just the tea. I'm not very hungry."

  "Tea it is, and I'll say a quick prayer that wind they promised for tonight holds off a bit. You're bound to be blown away otherwise."

  The chuckles from the table in the corner are evidence the interaction was observed by quite a few eyes, and I'm having a hard time keeping a straight face when Arlene turns on her heels and disappears into the kitchen.

  "That woman is rude. I'm surprised you'd invite us to a place like this." Elaine is not good at hiding her distaste, if she even tries.

  "What is rude is seeing your daughter after years and the only thing you manage to say is 'Really?' What is rude is sitting down at a table with someone without introducing yourself. What is rude is not responding to your daughter when she welcomes you anyway. And lastly," I say, turning to Britta, "it is extremely rude to not only ignore your sister's existence, but to then come on to her man and to laugh in her face when she gives you the facts. Now, I thought you wanted to have a visit with Kimeo."

  With that I turn to Kim and kiss her at the hairline. "Sorry babe, I couldn't hold back," I mumble.

  "No problem," she says softly, her face turned to me with the brightest smile before turning to her sister. "So—tell me, how did your meeting go?"

  It takes a few seconds before Britta answers. I tune her voice out and let my eyes wander over the table of friends. A wink from Caleb, a thumbs up from Emma and Gus can't hide his chuckle. Beth, Katie and Naomi all smile big. It hits me, fuck I'm lucky. Shitty fucked up background, yet I have these people who have my back and Kim's. No questions asked. Caleb is my blood but I don't count that against him. These people are all the family I need.