Then there was the part where Shane didn’t want Tyler talking to her. It wasn’t a jealousy thing. More like Shane’s control hovering right on the edge. He was looking for any excuse to take this guy out, and if Tyler said or did the wrong thing to Makena, he would do it.
“I’m more concerned with how you knew to come here.” With that move the target shifted to Tyler and stayed there.
“I have some tech skills and I—”
“No.” Not a good enough answer. The Corcoran Team had the latest tech. The team didn’t fool around when it came to staying undercover. If anyone even performed an internet search using any of their names, a message was transmitted back to headquarters. No way had Tyler just stumbled on some personal information while poking around. “This is not a house you find on a whim.”
“I got the license plate off your car and followed you here.” Tyler delivered the line as if he expected applause. But his own words kept tripping him up.
Shane wondered if Tyler knew how easy he made it to doubt him. “The same car that isn’t actually in the driveway since I’m driving one I just borrowed.”
Tyler shrugged. “Why does this matter?”
As subterfuge went, that response wasn’t great. Shane let him get away with it anyway. “Because when people randomly show up where they should not be, I grow skeptical.”
Tyler shook his head. “I get that you take your job seriously.”
Shane ignored the condescension. He had a feeling he’d have to ignore a lot of annoying stuff if he wanted to make it through this conversation without having his head explode. “Which job?”
“As Makena’s bodyguard.”
She finally moved. Instead of taking on the bodyguard comment or anything else, she homed in on facts that brought the visit into question. “Tyler, you told me you never leave your house. You stick close and limit your contact with the outside world.”
“You matter to me. After Frank...” Tyler held up a hand, gave a big show as if he couldn’t talk and had to force the words out. “That was too awful.”
Makena didn’t back down. She tilted her head and kept rattling off the attacks against her. “Someone followed me, us, from your house, or it certainly seems that way.”
“I heard about the bridge accident, and there’s chatter online,” Tyler said even though she hadn’t specified which incident. “Jeff is feeling hunted and looking for revenge.”
Interesting how he changed the discussion. Shifted the attention off him and onto Jeff. Made an allegation without actually saying anything negative.
Her eyes narrowed. “You think he’ll hurt me?”
“He’s on the edge and desperate.” Tyler looked at Shane then. “You guys keep talking with him.”
Shane guessed that was supposed to be some kind of shot. It would take a lot more than that to knock him off task, and right now the task was to get as much information out of Tyler as he could before putting a bullet in him. “How do you know that?”
“I follow the chatter.”
All of a sudden everyone knew about the supposedly private discussions on the loop. “But you didn’t bother to tell Makena that the loop existed so that she could be prepared, too. She had to find out through Frank.”
“I didn’t take it seriously.”
Shane really wanted to hit this guy. He had so many reasons—the way he looked at Makena, the fact that he put their safe house at risk and on general principle. “Do you take your position seriously?”
“What does that mean?”
“Your service record doesn’t check out.” Makena dropped the biggest bomb of all without flinching. The words came out and then she waited.
Tyler did not disappoint. His expression morphed from concern to disappointment to a touch of anger as Shane watched.
“You’re reviewing my records?” Tyler glared at both of them this time. “You can’t be serious.”
“You were never in combat. You didn’t serve in Iraq.” There was no need to hold back now. Shane wanted to spook the guy, get him to cough up some piece of intel that might make this entire case fall into place. Now he had doubts and gut feelings. Some evidence but not enough.
“I can see where you’d think that, but my files are confidential.” Tyler’s smile could only be described as smarmy. “You need specific access.”
Shane was done playing with this guy. “I have it.”
Some of the color drained from Tyler’s face.
“Tyler, the facts and times don’t line up. People you supposedly served with couldn’t identify you.” Makena delivered more of the information in a slightly less hostile tone.
Shane had no idea how she managed it. “The records don’t show what you think they show.”
Tyler shook his head. “You don’t understand how this works.”
“I’ve been researching for a year.” A thread of anger moved into Makena’s voice. “I think I do get it.”
“And I’m retired army, so I know I do,” Shane said. When all the life ran out of Tyler’s face, Shane knew they had him spinning and worrying. “I have contacts. I work for people with endless contacts.”
“I can bring you my file.”
The last desperate gasp of the lying man. “Oh, I looked at it. All fake.”
Tyler’s mouth dropped open in mock outrage. “That is not true.”
“I’m thinking you started the site to keep the upper hand. You got first crack at any research and could see if anyone was getting close to your lies.” It was the only answer that made sense, even though Shane wasn’t convinced it did.
“That’s ridiculous. Makena, tell him.” Tyler shot her a quick look. Then his gaze came back. His mouth fell even flatter. “You believe him?”
“You taught me to research. I researched your record.” She shook her head. “It does not check out.”
“This is him.” Tyler backed up until his ankle hit the door. He kept pointing at Shane and stumbling as he rushed to say whatever was going on in his head. “He wants you all to himself.”
She shrugged. “He has me.”
If he hadn’t loved her before, he would have right now. Shane decided to congratulate her later for that hit.
The outrage had Tyler sputtering. “I’m leaving.”
Shane didn’t argue. He’d be too busy packing and hauling Makena to another safe place to stay this afternoon to get sucked into Tyler’s strangeness. “Don’t you want to tell us why you came by for a visit?”
Tyler grabbed the doorknob. Wrapped his hands around it and held on. “You’ll be sorry.”
* * *
SHE NEEDED A BATH.
Today’s meeting with Tyler had done her in. Makena used to like him, respect him. Now she could barely tolerate standing in the same room with him.
The breadth of his actions hit her. This wasn’t a onetime thing or something that could be brushed aside, because it amounted to nothing. “He lied about all of it. Every last piece.”
“Yeah, I think so, too.” Shane exhaled as he looked out the window. Whatever he saw had his attention. She knew Tyler’s leaving kicked off that celebration.
“I know that doesn’t definitely make him a killer or the guy we’re after, but it taints everything.” She didn’t believe anything Tyler said now and wasn’t in the mood for excuses. They’d celebrated victories for the site, and now they all rang hollow.
“I’m sorry.” Shane put an arm around her and pulled her close. “All indications are he was average at everything he tried. Not a stellar student. Not much of an athlete. Not very popular. The type who tried to buy friends using the trust money he got when his wealthy parents died in a plane crash.” Shane whispered the words into her hair. “Pretending to be a hero might have been what he thought he needed to do to change his life.”
“But he’s such a loner. Lying about his life isn’t getting him anything.” She searched her memory but couldn’t think of a single time he’d used his tales to soak up attention or win over friend
s.
Shane winced. “Maybe he thought it would get him you.”
She couldn’t even process that. Refused to think about it. “I can’t believe I was so wrong. I thought I could read people.”
Questioning this led her to question so many other things. She wondered if she saw things as she wanted them to be. Maybe she painted her entire life with one broad brush.
“Don’t do that.” Shane’s voice stayed low and soothing. “Don’t take on any more guilt.”
It was possible she’d miscalculated about Tyler and put her faith in the wrong person. But she wasn’t wrong about Shane. She refused to believe that was even possible. Her head rested against his heart, and his hand slipped into her hair. She craved this closeness with him and loved that he granted it to her so freely.
She listened for his heartbeat and relaxed into the gentle thumping sound. The higher-pitched beeping had her head whipping back. She looked up at him. “What’s that?”
He frowned as he lifted his arm. “My watch.”
The simple black band. All of the Corcoran Team members wore one. It was part of the uniform, to the extent that they had one of those. She’d never seen him not wearing it. The thing could perform miracles. It did so much more than tell time. It functioned as a camera and a computer, and it gave them the ability to tune in to each other at all times through some sort of internal comm.
But she’d never heard it make noise before. “That’s an odd sound. Is it an alarm?”
He froze. “We need to get out of the house.”
“What?” She pulled back, letting a breath of air separate their bodies as she tried to figure out what put the edge of frustration in his voice. “Why?”
“There’s a bomb in here.”
The comment didn’t make any sense. “The watch?”
“The house, so move.” He had her by the elbow. Got her almost to the front door before he stopped. “What did he touch?”
She had no idea what Shane was talking about. In the past few seconds he’d morphed from this solid male who held her to a guy talking in half sentences. She’d ask him why and try to get more information if she even had a clue what to ask. She didn’t.
She tried anyway. “Shane, let’s sit down and—”
“Do not move.” He held a hand out to her to stay put as he stepped closer to the door.
He’d given her the exact opposite order a second ago. Before the tension had clogged the room to the point of suffocation.
He squatted down and stared up at the underside of the knob. “There you are.”
It was as if she’d been thrown into a strange survival movie. She’d come to expect the unexpected and go with it, but this tested her resolve. She could handle these trials, but this one she did not understand.
She tried to grab him as he paced around the small area. “Could you slow down and explain?”
“Later.” He walked through the house to the bedroom, tugging her behind him. “We need to get out.”
They got the whole way to the bedroom before she built up enough strength to turn him around to face her. She caught his head in her hands just as he lifted the window and let the unusually cool air move in. “Shane, look at me.”
He covered her hands with his. “Tyler planted a bomb.”
The words sat there for a second. Then she got moving. She wanted to race to the front door and run screaming out into the trees. But he had steered them in here and she had to think there was a reason. She helped him open the window. The next minute he was shoving her through it.
“Run and do not stop.” He lifted her legs over the sill and helped drop her to the ground outside. They were on the ground floor and didn’t need any acrobatics. “I need you to keep moving and not look back. No matter what you hear.”
Her feet had just hit the ground when the bang exploded all around her. A wall of heat smacked into her, lifting her up and sending her flying backward. The noise blocked her ears and took her airborne. She finally hit the ground with a jolt, landing half on her butt and half on her elbow.
In her haze she couldn’t think about anything but crawling. She took off, slithering across the ground, as unidentifiable charred pieces landed around her. She didn’t totally understand what had happened, but she sensed she couldn’t stop. If she did, something could hit her, and with debris all around and flames popping up everywhere she looked, she didn’t want to take the chance. Her sole focus stayed on survival.
By the time she rolled over on her back and looked behind her, flames were licking up the walls of the house, and black smoke was billowing from every window. Fire rained down all around her. She scooted on her backside to put as much space between her and the inferno as possible.
Rocks and dirt dug into her palms, and the fire burned hot enough to scorch her cheeks. She kept backing up as her mind switched to one concern—Shane. She searched the landscape, looking for his shoulders. For a shape. For some sign of him.
He’d been right there with her. He’d climbed out...or had he? The memory replayed in her mind, and the horror struck her. He was still inside.
She scrambled to her knees. The hard ground bit into her skin, but she was too busy searching for an easy path back into the raging flame and inside the falling-down building to find him. He could not die. She would not allow it.
Her breath hiccupped in her chest and she choked back a sob. Despair threatened to swamp her, but she pushed the dread away. She had to believe. He was the strongest, most competent man she knew. If anyone could beat a fire, it would be him.
She tried to stand up, but her legs didn’t hold her. She crumpled back down in a heap as every muscle turned to jelly. She’d turned boneless and the shock of what had just happened began to settle in. She rotated between hot and cold as she sat there, listening for the sirens and rocking back and forth.
He could not be dead. The words screamed through her head. She wanted with all her soul for them to be true.
A rumble of noise drew her attention. Fire was so loud as it consumed and destroyed. The sound of the flames rolling over everything in their path had taken on a human vibe. Smoke lifted into the sky and settled around her as she tried to figure out what to do next and how to get in there. Her mind went blank and her heart cracked in two at the idea of Shane not getting out.
Then the pity drifted away and determination moved into its place. She could not just sit there. He had to be alive and she had to find him. She looked around, spinning in a circle and adding to her dizziness. This time she had to get up. She balanced on her palms, then lifted herself. Her knees buckled, but she eventually stayed up.
She took two steps before holding an arm over her head to fend off the mix of smoke and heat. But she couldn’t wait. She forced her legs to move. Slow and sure, she got closer, but not close enough to break in or for her frantic screams to be heard over the roar of the flames.
She stumbled and her ankle turned. Somehow she managed to stay on her feet. One more step and then a new round of confusion started. The whack to her back had her pitching forward. She put out her hands just in time to keep from landing on her face.
Her knee hit the ground first and then her hands. A shot of pain moved through her as she tried to figure out what had hit her. A piece of the house or something. The smoke made it hard to see much of anything and kept stealing her breath. With every inhale, she’d double over hacking.
She needed air to fight this fight. Rolling over to her back, she opened her eyes and tried to breathe in semifresh air. She saw something. A few blinks and it didn’t disappear. There, off to her right, she spied jeans and a man’s legs.
Her heart did a grateful flip. Shane made it out! Her gaze lifted and she saw that face. The wrong face. Tyler stood there, holding a gun.
“What are you...” It hurt to talk and she doubted he could hear her over the thunder of flames and crackling and falling debris.
He reached down and lifted her to her feet as if she weighed nothing. He br
ought his face in close to hers.
She tried to focus and listen to whatever he was saying. She picked out one sentence and her blood turned from burning to icy cold.
“This would have been easier if you’d chosen me.”
Chapter Eighteen
The explosion dropped Shane to his knees. The ground shook beneath him, and the walls caved in over his head. He braced his body for the blows to come. The rafters would break and wood would tumble down on him.
But he’d gotten her out. He’d shoved her out the window and heard her scream and the explosion ripping through the small house. Cam and Connor would grab her. They’d find her wandering around and take her in. Shane refused to believe anything other than that. She hadn’t been injured and wasn’t stuck in harm’s way.
With her safely tucked away in his mind, he concentrated on saving himself. He wasn’t sure that was even possible. Smoke obscured his vision, and the fall had him doubting which way led to the outside and which led to the flames.
Heat pulsed all around him. He felt his clothing singe and the hot air tear through his throat and lungs. He covered his mouth and kept low, tried to remember all of his fire training. It had been a while and he was rusty, but he looked for light. For any sign of the world outside the burning walls.
Something smashed into his shoulder as he struggled to drop to his stomach so he could crawl. Pain seared his neck and he jerked. Saw a piece of burning wood fall to the floor. That had been on him, and he knew the amount of falling debris would only increase in the next few minutes. If he was going to crawl, he had to do it now.
His face hugged the floor as he fought for the last few breaths of untainted air. Every move hurt, but he kept going. Crawled in the direction where he thought he’d last seen Makena. Noise roared around him in a deafening cadence. He twice fell to the floor when the walls crumbled around him and threatened to flatten him.
He somehow kept going even though he felt as if his progress amounted only to inches. He couldn’t draw in enough breath to focus. His strength waned as his last reserves of energy petered out on him.
Tamed (Corcoran Team: Bulletproof Bachelors Book 3) Page 15
