Dangerous Men, Dangerous Places

by Krystal Brookes

  Erik raised the gun and rested it between her eyes. Sobs and pleads poured out of her, breaking his heart. He couldn’t communicate how sorry he was. He closed his eyes and trained the gun with years of experience. The silence deafening. One shot was all he had.

  “Please,” she screamed.

  “Daughter, I’m giving you a nice death. Believe me. Any other snatch would have been dealt with far differently. Come, Erik, show me your loyalty.”

  Erik pointed the gun at her head and allowed the concentrated calm to settle over him. He gazed into her eyes and saw the love shining out. If he got this wrong, he wouldn’t live long enough for her to admit her feelings for him.

  Swallowing down his nerves, his hand settled and he pulled the trigger. In the split second of his reaction, he charged at Roger taking him to the ground and forcing his weapon from his dying fingers.

  Kelly lay on the ground grabbing her shoulder.

  Without taking the extra time to look her over, he landed a shot at the guard drawing his weapon. Arthur and the pilot were the only two left. Arthur got off a shot but Erik, pumping on adrenaline, barely felt the sting.

  “So my thoughts about you were right. You’re not one of us, Mr. Coldwell. A former Army Ranger and special agent.”

  Erik didn’t allow his surprise to show. He kept the gun trained on the man. Arthur reached into his pocket and withdrew another weapon. Before he had chance to fire, Erik landed two bullets. One in each leg.

  He walked to the fallen man, keeping his eyes trained on the pilot, kicking away the gun as he passed.

  The pilot surrendered. Erik lowered his gun as another helicopter, one he recognised and trusted whirled in the sky and started to lower.

  He turned back and went to where Kelly started to sit up. “Are you okay, baby?”

  She gazed at him. “I thought you were going to kill me.”

  “Never. Let me have a look at that wound,” he said, pulling her hand away. While assessing his chances, he realised the only way he could get to the man holding Kelly had been to graze her body. Kelly moving and struggling meant the bullet grazed her shoulder. Blood pooled on and around the area but it was nothing to worry about.

  “It stings but it doesn’t hurt all that much,” she said.

  “That’s good.”

  “What about you? Are you hurt?” she asked, concern filling her face and voice.

  “I’m as hard as a rock, darling.” As the words left his mouth and the adrenaline flowing through his system began to mellow, he became aware of the pain in his stomach. Glancing down, he noticed a red stain on his stomach.

  “Oh my God, I should have seen this. Erik, you’ve been shot.” He heard her panic but it didn’t register. Men were piling out of the police helicopter as he collapsed to the ground. Kelly was over him, her lips moving but he couldn’t hear the words.

  A light buzzing pounded between his eyes and filled his ears with the sound of static.

  Stray strands of hair escaped her pony tail. His arm as heavy as lead, he lifted it up and tucked a few hairs behind her ears before he couldn’t stop his eyes from closing and the sweet sense of dreamland to consume him.

  Dangerous Men, Dangerous Places

  Chapter Eight

  Kelly watched as the special agents left her hospital room. They refused to tell her anything about Erik or how he was doing. The guy she loved took a bullet for her and still managed to get them home, yet they wouldn’t tell her if he was even alive. After everything she’d done for them, their treatment of her was nothing short of appalling. She wasn’t a criminal and she’d helped them bring her father down.

  Her shoulder ached a little but nothing compared to the pain in her heart.

  Trying to contain her sob, she turned her head away from the door. She wouldn’t be getting visitors anytime soon. On her bedside unit lay a tray with a cheese and pickle sandwich, a small clear glass, a jug which held some water and a plastic cup containing three pills. Two pills for her pain relief and the third the morning after pill. The tablet that would prevent any children forming from her time spent with Erik on the island. In the time they’d been there, she’d come to see it as their island.

  The unfairness of her decision lay heavily on her. Her nurse had been very discrete when asking the more personal questions.

  Could she do it? Kill any potential unborn child?

  What if Erik died and she decided to take the pill? She’d have killed off her one possible connection to the man she loved. But what happened if after the haze of the island wore off, Erik realised he didn’t love her? She would be left with a child that did nothing but leave a bitter reminder of the magnitude of feelings she felt for the father.

  Raising a baby was such a hard and long responsibility and after being under the thumb of her father, Kelly wasn’t sure if she was ready for the commitment to another human being.

  She placed a hand over her belly. The small round which Erik loved playing with while they lay on the sand gazing up at the stars. Did a baby rest there? Tears formed and fell from her eyes.

  “Why did you have to do this to me?” she sobbed. Her hands going up to cover her eyes. “I can’t do this.”

  Many women had sat, stood and lay in this position before her. Had they been so lost and felt so alone? She couldn’t think past the buzzing of the machines and the stillness of the room. At least back on the island she would have the sound of the ocean. Ironic, she wished she could be back to the place where she once wished she could leave.

  Kelly took a sip of water from the cup and filled her glass with more liquid. She lifted the plastic cup with the tablets and emptied the three unknowns into her palm. She gazed at them. The two large, identical circles were the pain killers and she singled out the one pill giving her so much indecision.

  “I can’t do this,” she whispered. The tears dropping from her face to the blanket. She gathered all three pills and put her hand to her mouth. Opening her mouth she fought with herself to release her fist and allow the three pills to fall inside. She would have no choice but to swallow then. However, her fist refused to open and the tears poured out of her eyes. The battle a personal one. Inside she was screaming for something miraculous to happen. Anything to make life easier.

  The door to open and Erik to be standing there would be a good distraction.

  She waited for several minutes, praying someone else would intervene and take the choice away from her.

  This is your choice, baby. Hearing the words once spoken by her mother, Kelly gasped and flung the offending tablets away from her.

  What happened on that island was hers and hers alone. She didn’t need Erik to change her mind or make the decisions for her.

  Gulping down the water, her muscles relaxing, Kelly lay down and allowed sleep to claim her.

  She’d faced her father and the threat of death. She would handle any problems brought by her time with Erik.

  ~* * *~

  “Why can’t I see her?” Erik paced his hospital room, the stitches in his side hurting like hell but he refused to back down. Kelly had fainted in his arms and the last vision she had was of him being carted away, pale and bleeding.

  “She’s being taken care of,” Strider said. He liked Strider, the guy could be an asshole sometimes but mostly he meant well.

  “We need you to get well so we can update you and your status,” another man whom he didn’t remember said.

  “No, let me tell you two something. I won’t be doing anything until I see Kelly. I need to know she’s okay.” He stopped and ran his fingers through his hair.

  “Erik, I hate to do this but you know it’s protocol. You don’t get involved with a witness. Kelly, as far as you’re concerned, is dead. She died in a plane crash eight weeks ago. Her body never recovered.”

  Erik watched both men leave his room.

  His side killed him though the operation to remove the bullet had gone swimmingly.

  A great big void settled in his chest. He w
as nothing without Kelly. No matter who her family was he loved her.

  As soon as he was out of this hospital he was going hunting for her. He didn’t care how many rules he had to break. Nothing and no one was keeping him from the woman he loved.

  Erik settled down on the hospital bed with one mission in mind. To get well and heal as quickly as possible so he could find Kelly and tell her how he felt.

  Dangerous Men, Dangerous Places

  Chapter Nine

  Two weeks later...

  Kelly put the finishing touches to her new home, part of the special witness protection. She was now Amanda Lynne, had finished college and was working part time as a receptionist at a gymnasium.

  A sofa and few bits and pieces dotted her house. Not much but it was home. The money and luxury of her old life would have to remain there. She couldn’t touch any of the inheritance her mother left her in case one of her father’s old friends wanted to come and look for her. Kelly O’Donald died in a fatal plane crash brought down by one of Arthur’s enemies. At least that was the story she’d been told.

  No matter. She was pleased to have the old life behind her and be able to focus on the fresh new one waiting for her.

  Today was a day off and she’d booked an appointment into a clinic to go and get herself checked.

  Her period hadn’t arrived and instead of wasting money on one of the home pregnancy kits she decided to use the free health insurance the new identity gave her. She washed her breakfast bowl and sipped her warm coffee as the handle on the clock began to chime nine in the morning.

  Kelly picked up her purse and keys and made her way to her car and the doctor’s.

  A few hours later she didn’t know what to do. The pregnancy test had been positive and the nurse and doctor assured her the test was reliable. She had some vitamins to take on a regular basis. Her whole world had been turned upside down.

  Later she pulled up outside her house. Her life was about to take a drastic turn. At the hospital she thought she was ready to handle anything. Now she wasn’t so sure.

  Picking up her bags, she made her way inside the house. She would spend the time wishing for work.

  ~* * *~

  Erik watched the woman walk to her car. This woman from all of his digging had only been alive as long as two weeks according to the system. He should thank Strider for being sloppy at work. Maybe the guy should be told his password was piss easy to work out.

  The mystery woman opened her car door. She looked dazed and confused. Erik squinted through the binoculars he was holding to try and get a better look at her. If it was Kelly, she’d lost a small amount of weight in the short time they’d been apart.

  “Turn around,” he whispered. Waiting to see her was killing him.

  Finally, she turned around and looked over the houses. Erik got a good shot of her. He watched her walk into her house and he was out of the car.

  The woman was Kelly and he was going to claim her.

  ~* * *~

  Kelly stirred the tea bag in her cup until it had a nice dark consistency. Coffee was out of the question and so too was nuts and cheese. Thank God. Chocolate was still on the menu.

  The murky darkness did nothing to ease her aching head. She took a sip of the dark liquid and wished she’d stuck with water. The sweet brew tasted disgusting. She tossed it down the drain and went to the fridge, uncapping a bottle of water.

  Resting her head in her hands, she wondered what she was going to do. Work would soon be out of the question. She could only call the agent’s number in case of an emergency and this wasn’t much of an emergency. According to the reports, she’d taken the pills at the hospital before she’d been discharged.

  A knock at the door distracted her from the thoughts whirling round her brain.

  “Who is it?”

  “Delivery guy.” Frowning, Kelly opened the door and screamed.

  Erik Coldwell stood on her doorstop looking cocky, arrogant and in a lot of pain.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  “Nice way to say you’ve missed me.” Kelly let him into the house and glanced out to make sure none of her nosy neighbours would see.

  “You shouldn’t be here,” she whispered even as her heart soared. Erik was here, in her house.

  “I couldn’t stay away.” He coughed and Kelly led him to her small two-seater sofa.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I know I’m not supposed to be here and you’ll probably hate me for the rest of my life. Pointing the gun at you was the biggest mistake of my life and I’m so sorry to have hurt you, baby. How is your shoulder?”

  He reached out and touched the tender spot.

  “My shoulder was merely a scratch. I don’t understand. What are you doing here?” Kelly didn’t want to get her hopes up. More than anything she wanted to fling herself into his arms but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

  “I had to see you. The time we spent on the island meant more to me than anything. I can’t go on living until I tell you how I feel. In fact, if you hate me, then as soon as I tell you, you can kick me out. But I couldn’t go another day without looking in your sweet eyes and saying to you, I love you.” He stroked her cheek and her breath caught in her throat.

  “How can you love me?” The insecurity coming back to play havoc with her mind.

  Erik took her hand and laid it across his heart. “This beats for you and you alone. I can’t go another day without you not knowing how I feel.”

  Kelly reached over and kissed him on the lips. A sign from the big man upstairs. In her hour of need, the man she loved had come for her.

  “I take it I’m not in any kind of trouble, Amanda Lynne?” he teased as he kissed her back.

  “I didn’t get to pick my name. Strange as it is.”

  “You’ll always be Kelly O’Donald to me. The daughter of a drug cartel, a person who asks endless questions and the woman who owns my heart.”

  Kelly responded to his kiss, her heart racing. Her arms circled his neck to bring him closer. The few weeks they’d been apart had been more like a life time.

  “What’s going to happen now?” she asked.

  “Well, I think I need to move a little more furniture in here and then I must warn you I sleep on the left side of the bed.”

  “Not about us. This isn’t allowed to work.”

  “Screw the people who say it shouldn’t. I’ve spent a great deal of my time prepared to take a bullet. Just consider this my next full-time position. Keeping a wanted daughter protected.”

  Kelly moaned as he leaned her back on the sofa. She reclined as he worked the top button of her blouse open.

  “Stop. Stop. I’ve got something to tell you.” Kelly held his hand to stop him working her blouse off.

  “What?”

  “We’re going to have a baby,” she blurted out.

  “Seriously?”

  “Yes, I went to the doctor today and I’m pregnant.”

  Erik’s face went from serious to smiling. “I’m going to be a dad?”

  Kelly nodded her eyes forming tears.

  “You’re an amazing woman.”

  Erik kissed her and for the remainder of the day he kept her on her back, making love to her.

  He promised to settle things at work. No longer could he live his life as an agent with his focus being on her. Erik figured his boss’s would agree to their staying together to keep him working for the company. As long as they were together, Kelly didn’t care. She was pregnant, in love and the world was at her fingertips.

  Unless something drastic or dangerous happened she was going to spend the rest of her life living it with her dangerous man.

  Erik Coldwell.

  The Prisoner

  Dangerous Men, Dangerous Places

  Chapter One

  Madison Delaney knew she didn’t belong here. None of this had been her fault. Vincent had been the one to cause all of the trouble.

  At the sound of her name bei
ng called, Madison pulled her mind back from the past to concentrate on the here and now. As she was led to the front of the courtroom, Madison ’s hands started to shake.

  “Calm down, honey, you’ll be fine. This is just an arraignment. The judge will probably set bail and give you a date to return to court.”

  Madison appreciated the attempt to ease her nerves, but with a charge of first degree murder against her, she knew that she would most likely not be making bail. When she turned her head to thank the man who was now escorting her to her destiny, her breath caught in her throat. He was, without a doubt, the most beautiful man she had ever seen. His long dark hair hung loose around his shoulders, framing a strikingly elegant face. Green eyes studied her from beneath thick, dark lashes.

  He moved forward, beside her, with a feline grace that belied his size. The tight muscles that were obvious beneath his shirt, combined with the predatory look in his eyes as he took in his surroundings, gave him the appearance of a lion stalking its prey.

  Madison tore her gaze from his and focused on the judge, who seemed to be waiting rather impatiently for her to approach the bench. Moving as quickly as the shackles on her ankles would allow, she made her way to the front of the room. Reaching up with her cuffed hands, she nervously pushed her long, blonde hair behind her ear.

  “Madison Delaney?”

  “Yes,” she responded quietly.

  “Speak up, please,” the judge admonished her.

  “Yes, sir, your honor. I’m sorry, I…” That was as far as she got before all hell broke loose.

  Shots echoed through the courthouse, but the fact that people were shooting did not register in her mind right away. It was only after she felt herself being shoved to the floor beneath the gorgeous man she had just been admiring, that she started to realize something was wrong.

  “Stay down,” he ordered, as he knelt over her holding a very large handgun at the ready.

  Though she could not really see what was happening from her current vantage point, she was able to turn her head enough to look up and see her savior’s face. The strain had hardened his features, giving him an even more dangerous appearance.