After The Storm

by K. M. Scott

  Maybe she was overreacting. She had to be, right? No one in their right mind would think she, Jonas, and Samuel Darnell were involved in a love triangle. They’d never been in a room together for more than a minute. Anyone in the offices or in the building where Jonas had his law office could attest to that. Why the hell were the police floating the idea of a love triangle no one could possibly say they had any evidence of?

  This couldn’t be happening. All she was guilty of was going to work every weekday and doing her job. She couldn’t believe anyone would ever think she could kill anyone, least of all her boss she liked or a man she didn’t even know.

  Her mind raced with what to do next. She couldn’t go to her family. That would only put them in danger. They didn’t deserve that, even if they could help her.

  She ran through the names of her friends, deciding after each one popped into her mind that she couldn’t go to them either. That she had dragged Eve into this whole mess even as much as she had filled her with regret.

  Then the memory of that man following them through the French Quarter came rushing back to her, bringing tears to her eyes. In her haste to get away, she’d left her best friend alone with him just a block behind.

  Kate covered her face with her hands and began to cry. “How could I have done that to her? What if he got to her before the police showed up?”

  She had to find a way to see if she was okay. God, what had she done?

  Her eyes flew open at the sound of someone outside the door, pushing thoughts of Eve out of her head. Was she going mad? Had she heard anything or was her mind playing tricks on her?

  She strained to listen for the sound again but heard nothing. Good God! At this rate, she’d be out of her mind by day’s end.

  Then she heard that sound again. Closing her eyes, she listened and thought she heard breathing. Someone stood on the other side of the door. What could they be doing there? What did they want?

  She silently prayed to God the person outside was that pimply-faced check-in clerk she’d met last night. Maybe he’d stepped away from his desk for breakfast and now wanted to offer her fresh towels or something like that.

  Or maybe the person on the other side of the door stood ready to blow her away the moment she opened it to see who it was. She spun around to check the peephole to see who stood out there and found no peephole in the door.

  Christ! How could such a seedy place not have peepholes? What kind of people just opened the door to strangers who could be ax murderers?

  Clearly, the people who stayed at the Bayou Motel.

  Terrified the person outside would try to get in, she tried to lock the door, but her fingers fumbled with the doorknob, causing it to make a sound whoever was outside had to hear. Then, her heart skipped a beat as the knob began to turn against her hand.

  They were coming in!

  She backed up into the center of the room and looked around for anything she could use to defend herself. The TV was from sometime in the mid-eighties and stuck out from the wall like two feet, so it would be too heavy to pick up. Her head swiveled over toward the nightstand and the hideous oversized frosted glass lamp. That could work.

  Running over to it, she gripped the base and yanked hard, but the thing wouldn’t budge! This place didn’t worry about letting guests see who was outside their doors, but they worried about people stealing ugly lamps so much they screwed them to the nightstands?

  She was about to die in the worst motel in the world run by people with no sense of priorities.

  Frozen in place, she watched as the door slowly opened. Her heart pounded so hard she wondered if it would explode out of her chest. Whoever this person was who planned on coming into her room, they better be ready for a fight. She didn’t have anything to defend herself with, but she could kick and bite as if her life depended on it.

  As she planned her attack, a man walked in, and she felt like all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room. He closed the door behind him and stopped, leveling his gaze on her. It felt like he was looking into her soul.

  This man stood perfectly still, and for a moment, she wondered if he’d changed his mind about killing her. She didn’t see a gun, but that didn’t matter. Someone his size could easily snap her in half with his bare hands.

  His short hair made him look like a soldier. Was he some kind of mercenary hired to kill her now that he’d killed Jonas and Samuel? What had her boss gotten himself into that made someone like this come after him?

  “I’m not going to let you kill me,” she said as a second surge of bravado came over her that morning.

  The very large, very muscular man took a step toward her and shook his head. She waited for him to say it wouldn’t matter what she did because he had orders or whatever hit men said right before they killed their targets, but he said nothing.

  She paused for a moment and then her flight or fight instinct kicked in. Her desire for self-preservation chose fight, so she lunged at him, ready to defend herself to the death.

  Chapter Four

  Roman had only a few seconds to size up the woman in front of him before she came at him like a madwoman. As beautiful as he thought she would be from her picture, Kate Sheridan also appeared to be out of her mind.

  Her arms flailed in front of her as she lunged at him, doing nothing to a man his size. Even though her face looked menacing, well sort of, the way she tried to attack him made him want to laugh.

  Pushing her back, he held his arm out to keep her far enough away so he could say something to let her know she didn’t need to act like this. As he moved to calm her, she caught his jaw with her nails and scratched him clear to his neck.

  Stunned, he picked her up and pinned her to the bed. She looked up at him not with rage in her eyes but fear that bothered him.

  “If you promise not to take another swing at me, I’ll let you up,” he said in a sincere voice he hoped would convince her to calm down.

  It had the opposite effect, though. With a nasty scowl she tried to get free, kicking her legs out at him and pushing on his hands that still held her down by the shoulders.

  “I’m not going to just let you kill me, you bastard!”

  He leaned down close to her face and quietly said, “I’m not here to kill you, Kate. I’m here to help you.”

  For a moment, she stilled and seemed to consider what he said, but then she shook her head and returned to trying to kick her way free. “You’re holding me down. Why would someone who wants to help me do that?”

  Done with being calm, he raised his voice and barked, “Because you’re acting like a banshee. Now promise me you’ll behave yourself and I’ll let you up.”

  Her eyes flashed pure anger. “Behave myself? Don’t talk to me like I’m a child. You don’t even know me. Let me up!”

  Roman found this woman infuriating. Twice her size, he could crush her like a bug with no effort whatsoever, but still she fought with everything she had. He couldn’t help but be impressed by her courage, though.

  He let go of her and backed up a step, hoping to show her that he wasn’t there to harm her. It didn’t work. She bolted toward the door, so he stepped in front of her.

  Holding her by her wrists, he shook his head. “Kate, I’m not letting you leave, so you might as well stop trying.”

  Even that didn’t work. Clearly still on the defensive, she refused to listen to what he said. No matter. He had a job to do, and he had no intentions of budging from that spot until she calmed down and listened to him.

  She looked up at him, visibly confused. “Why? Who are you? If you’re not here to kill me, how did you find me?”

  Roman raised his right hand and smiled. “I swear on my honor I’m not here to hurt you. We really don’t have time for me to explain who I am. I just need you to trust me.”

  She stopped fighting him and for a brief moment, Kate stared up at him in a way that made her look vulnerable. Something about it triggered a reaction in him he hadn’t felt in forever. Bothe
red by it, he let go of her hands as he looked away.

  As he fought back an emotion he’d sworn he’d never feel again, she sat down on the bed. “So I’m supposed to trust you, a perfect stranger? Maybe I should know your name then.”

  Turning to face her, he watched as she rubbed her wrists from where he’d tightly held her. “Roman. My name is Roman.”

  “Roman what?” she asked like he just said something odd.

  “Just Roman. Get your stuff. We need to get out of here.”

  She scowled again and mumbled “Just Roman” but she didn’t move.

  Frustrated, he said sternly, “We have to go.”

  Stubbornly, she crossed her arms and stared up into his eyes. “I know nothing about you, so why would I just up and leave with you, just Roman? Like, here’s a good question. How did you find me? No one knows I’m here. Well, except the people who may be trying to kill me. So how did you find me if you’re not here to kill me?”

  Roman took a deep breath and let it out in a heavy sigh. He understood her being skeptical, but wasn’t it obvious he didn’t plan on killing her since he hadn’t done it yet? He could have at any point since he walked through the door.

  Pinching his nose, he groaned. “Your friend Eve told the police you’d probably come here to hide out. Someone in the New Orleans Police Department let my firm know you needed help, and I was the lucky soul who got assigned to the mission. When you went out to get the paper, I spied you from across the street. So now that I’ve brought you up to speed, let’s go.”

  Kate didn’t seem happy with his explanation, though. Holding her head, she began to pace back and forth in front of him across the room.

  “God, Eve! Why would you tell the cops, of all people? Do you want to see them kill me?”

  On one of her passes, he grabbed her, spun her around to face him, and held her in place by the shoulders. They didn’t have time for this. This woman needed to get her damn head together.

  “Did you not understand me? We need to get out of here before the people who want to kill you get here.”

  “I know full well what you said, but since Eve told the very people who would like to see me dead, it’s probably too late.”

  “Who do you think wants to kill you?” he asked as she turned out of his hold and began pacing again.

  Kate stopped and glared at him in exasperation. “The police! Aren’t you listening to me?”

  “Why do you think the New Orleans police want to kill you? Nothing I was told makes that sound even remotely the case.”

  She shook her head and huffed her disgust at what he said. Throwing up her hands, she snapped, “And just what were you told? Because if the cops were the ones doing the telling, that explains why you’re stalling and trying to keep me here.”

  Roman felt his mouth drop open as he looked at her in shock. He was the one stalling and keeping her there? This woman was certifiable.

  “Rewind a minute and you’ll see how wrong you are. I’m the one who was just trying to get you to leave here with me.”

  Kate jabbed her finger toward him. “Ah-ha! See? You keep getting me to argue with you so I won’t leave. You’re trying to keep me here. Why? Is your partner running late and you need to waste time until they get here? Is that it?”

  He didn’t give a damn how beautiful this woman was. She clearly had lost her mind. Roman didn’t have the patience or interest in finding out what had sent her around the bend, though. He just needed to get her the hell out of there before whoever had killed her boss and his client showed up looking for her.

  Taking a step toward her, he reached out to grab her by the arm. She anticipated his movement, though, and spun away out of his hold once more. Jesus, was this woman a ballerina in her spare time?

  “We don’t have time for this craziness. I don’t know what your problem is, but we have to go. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m here to help you. You need help, whether you know it or not, Kate. I’m that help, so let’s get moving.”

  She held up her hands in front of her as if to signal her surrender, and for a split second, Roman felt they were making some progress. But then she began talking again, and any progress he had hoped for evaporated into thin air.

  “Whoa! You don’t make the decisions here, pal. I don’t even know who you are, just Roman. So until you give me some more details about who you are and why you’re here, I’m not going anywhere with you.”

  At that moment, he had to admit he missed the teenage mooner and his psycho parents. While they had been borderline insane, he at least could figure out what their motives were and Karen, the schoolteacher, had been a true delight compared to this woman.

  He tried to keep his calm and quietly asked, “What do you need me to tell you to convince you I don’t want to hurt you since it’s obviously not enough evidence that I haven’t done anything yet and I’ve been standing in this motel room for the last five minutes? You do realize you’re like half my size. I could have snapped you in half easier than a twig two seconds after I walked in here.”

  A look of disgust came over her face, and as her right hip shot out, she set her hand on it in defiance. “No, you couldn’t have. I know how to defend myself, just Roman.”

  The chuckle that erupted from his throat couldn’t be stifled, even if he wanted to stop it. She thought she was tough when she was anything but.

  “No, you don’t. You know how to flail around like a fish on the end of a line. Anyone looking to hurt you could have had you down on that bed and under their complete control in a matter of seconds.”

  Instead of frightening her, his words only made her angrier. She took a step toward him and stopped about a foot away, craning her neck to look up at him.

  “I don’t know who you think I am, but no one has complete control over me, buddy. And as for me being down on that bed—”

  Roman cut her off before she got too far into her rant. “Enough. If I tell you all I can about me, will you at least try to think logically so we can get the hell out of here?”

  Kate opened her mouth to protest, probably hating the part where he more than insinuated that she wasn’t acting sane, but after a few moments finally said, “Fine.”

  “As I told you half a dozen times already, my name is Roman. Your friend told the police that she thought you were in trouble, and someone from the New Orleans Police Department called the firm I work for, Project Artemis.”

  While he spoke, Kate relaxed and seemed to listen. Roman expected her to lash out at any time, though, so he kept his guard up as he continued to explain how and why he’d come to help her.

  “My entire job is to safeguard you from danger. I promise you I mean you no harm.”

  Kate’s shoulders sagged and she let out a huge sigh. “Okay, just Roman. What exactly is this Project Artemis anyway? I’ve never heard of it. Are you guys like the X-Men or something?”

  She didn’t mean to be cute, but he couldn’t help but smile at her question. “No, we’re not like the X-Men. We’re just men who work for two people who’ve decided to dedicate their lives to protecting women like you, women in danger. Nothing supernatural or special about that. Just good people trying to do good things for women who need our help.”

  “Just men? Aren’t there any women who do your job?” she asked, narrowing her eyes to slits.

  Roman had never put any real thought into why there were no women who worked alongside them, other than Persephone. Now that Kate had asked the question, he tried to find an answer that wouldn’t elicit another argument with her.

  “Not that I know of yet, but I’m not in charge. I just go out on the assignments as I receive them.”

  Slowly, Kate lowered herself to the bed and sat down. “So who is in charge? Another guy like you?”

  The hint of contempt in her tone bothered him, so he quickly explained how Project Artemis had come to be. “No. A woman named Persephone started Project Artemis after she was kidnapped. She and the man who helped her escape her c
aptors run the group and the focus is on helping women like she was helped.”

  Looking up at him, she forced a tiny smile. “Oh. Well, it’s hard to say anything bad about that, I guess. So you and the others who work in this Project Artemis put yourselves in harm’s way for women like me who you’ve never met for what reason? Do you have a death wish or something?”

  Whatever else Kate Sheridan was, she definitely had a way of making him laugh. Chuckling at her question about them having a death wish, he thought about Xavier and Gideon and considered the possibility that one of them might. Marius definitely seemed to like the job more than most of them, so maybe he did too.

  But he definitely did not have a death wish.

  He shook his head. “No death wish. It’s just my job to help you. That’s it. If I can do it without getting hurt, all the better, but I know my duty being part of Project Artemis. Your safety is my top priority.”

  Kate looked at him with a strangeness in her eyes. “And your other priorities? What about them?”

  Confused, Roman shook his head again, not understanding her questions. “What do you mean other priorities? My job is to protect you.”

  “That’s it? Who’s paying for you to do this for me?” she asked, her suspicion clear.

  She still didn’t believe he was there to help her.

  “Nobody pays us to protect anyone. Project Artemis is self-funded,” he answered proudly.

  “So you do this for free? Are you independently wealthy? Did your family invent shoelaces or something, so you don’t have to work a regular job?”

  Roman had to admit this woman had a way of making him want to laugh one minute and walk away from her the next. He’d never met anyone so unwilling to trust in his life.

  “No, my family is just like most people’s. No shoelace empire here. Project Artemis pays me to do this. Now, have I answered enough of your questions so we can get out of here?”

  She stood from the bed and put her hands on her hips. Clearly, he wouldn’t be spared more questioning, so he waited for the rest of her interrogation. He just hoped all this question and answer business wouldn’t put them in danger. He honestly had no idea who might be after her, and he had a gut feeling it would only be a matter of time before whoever they were found out where she was hiding.