His eyes drilled into hers and he smiled as he gazed into her wide terrified stare. “You are terrified—why is that? You were so cool, so cocky, just a minute ago. What happened?” Then he grinned, a quick, playful grin, as though they were playing a game. He licked a wet trail down her cheek and he bit her ear hard.
“I know what happened. You’re pinned down.” Max whispered, “A shrink would just love to get a hold of me, Kris. I’m such a paranoid bastard. I heard about how the little rich girl was kidnapped from school, held for ransom. How one of the kidnappers was a pedophile, and almost slipped his leash…damn shame, what nearly happened to you.”
A sob tripped out of her as Max levered his body over hers, pumping his groin against her body. “Mommy and Daddy moved away from Los Angeles, moved to New York City after that happened. Poor baby, only eleven years old, almost raped. And the man who saved you was the man who put you in that place to begin with,” he crooned.
She jerked her head away when he lowered his mouth to kiss her streaming eyes. Against her belly, she could feel his throbbing erection and she felt like she was going to puke. He was turned on by this, by her fear, by what had happened to her as a child.
Something that should have repulsed him aroused him.
“What in the hell is wrong with you?” she gasped out. “If you’re so sure somebody is after you, why aren’t you running?”
He rose up onto his knees and smiled. “Because you’re the bitch that led them to me. And the military hates a traitor. They’d just as soon kill me as look at me. And I want a shield.”
Kris froze as he jerked up by her arms so her could snarl into her face. “And if you try to help them—I’ll make what nearly happened to that sweet kid you used to be seem like a weekend at the spa.”
She bit back the sob that threatened to spill out.
And when he jerked her to her feet, she went along, forcing her mind to calm and to focus. Damned bastard.
No, she wouldn’t try to help him.
She would help them.
No sooner had she made that decision when the soft hum of electricity tripped. Lights flickered and then died.
Max swore softly and jerked her against her and Kris went, biding her time. Now wasn’t the time. She’d wait…until he was certain she’d lost all her fight, until she was certain she was too caught up in her own fear to even think of fighting.
Kris wasn’t sure what to expect, but it sure as hell wasn’t that for Max to bellow out, “You might as well get the hell out of your hiding places, guys. I know you’re out there. And you know I’ve got a civilian in here with me. Stale mate.”
An easy, southern drawl said, “Not exactly. We knows she been helping you out from day one, Sergeant Blessett. We’re not too concerned with her safety. We’ve secured the building and the security officer is out of harm’s way. You want to just get this over with, easy like?”
Kris squeaked, “Helping him?”
Another voice laughed, “Don’t bother denying it, Miss Evress.” It had come from somewhere else, another direction. “Fortunately for you, the court may buy the bullshit you hand them. But Blessett, well, he gets a court martial. And that jury won’t be so easily fooled. You aren’t my problem.”
Kris’ face flushed red and her entire body quivered with rage. Damn it, they lied to me! All these months, thinking the fear of being investigated was behind her…and then her mind kicked in.
The phone, damn it. She had called Nikki.
She had gotten through to Nikki. Nikki had gotten through to Dylan.
She was letting her mind interfere with common sense. These guys were here for him, not her. Kris closed her eyes tightly. She just had to focus on that, and she had to remember that. But she didn’t want to let Max know she wasn’t too terrified of those guys out there.
“Damn it, I didn’t do anything,” she said, whining. And the whine wasn’t even faked. She was entitled to whine a little bit here. And pout, and sulk.
But the bastard holding her with his arm around her throat, dragging her back into a corner, using the light that came in through the window to see, wasn’t very likely to let her drop to the floor and just have a good old fashioned temper tantrum.
“They don’t seem to believe you, babe,” Max whispered, when a dry laugh was the only answer that came.
“Let go of me,” she shrieked when one hand came up and stroked over her breast.
He chuckled. “Better get used to it. Sounds like they seem to think you belong in jail…and a pretty thing like you? Some bitch in jail is going to want to have you for her own.”
Her belly rolled. Oh, no. I’m not listening to this, she thought. She drove her elbow back and stomped on his foot, grinding the spike of her heel on his toe. The suddenness of her attack when she had just been whimpering was just barely enough to give her that start of surprise she needed to throw herself away from him, into the darkest corner of her office.
“Bitch!” he shouted.
That was when the world exploded.
Her door flew open and men came flying in, the dark shadows of their bodies barely visible in the darkness. Kris clapped her hand over her mouth, smothering her scream. Keeping her back against the wall, she started to creep toward the door, away from the men who were taking Max struggling down to the floor.
Light came on and she flinched as somebody lifted her up, holding her back against a hard body. “Be still,” a harsh Queens-accented voice said. “This isn’t over. Not—”
That was when gunfire erupted and Max came off the ground. Two men fell dead. Max lunged for Kris, only to come up short when the man holding Kris lifted a gun and pointed it at Max. “Head another direction, man,” her savior said. “You look at me for more than five seconds and you’re dead.”
“Hobbes…you lucky bastard. Don’t you know you’re supposed to be dead?” Max asked, a cold grin curving his mouth up as he walked sideway to the door, keeping the gun aimed toward Kris. Somebody started to edge toward him. He said, “Don’t. I’ll kill the bitch and don’t try giving me that shit that you think she’s guilty.”
The agent lowered his weapon and backed off, his lips peeled back from his teeth, his eyes glinting with hate.
Hobbes squeezed Kris’ shoulder reassuringly. Then he focused his eyes back on Max as he asked, “Don’t you know I’m coming after you?”
Max laughed. “You won’t find me. I was right there, next to you, for months. And you never saw me then.”
Hobbes laughed. “I never had a reason.” Then he squeezed the trigger.
Kris screamed.
Max’s eyes widened and his fingers tensed on the trigger of his own weapon, but Hobbes had already taken her to the floor.
****
Dylan walked across the room, his sweat soaked hair laying in damp curls against his neck. Jerry lifted his gaze from the beer he had been drinking and smiled half-heartedly. “Hobbes got him. We know that. He took a bullet in the gut. Or maybe Hobbes saw it wrong and it caught his dick and he’ll get gangrene—they’ll have to amputate,” he said wickedly.
Dylan said quietly, “He knows too much about Kris. She’ll be in danger now.”
Jerry sighed. “She’s been in danger since she had the bad luck to run in with him,” he responded, shaking his head. “The Army won’t leave her unprotected. I don’t know what they’ll do, but they won’t let her get hurt because of their screw up. They’ve already got a tag on her, and this time they won’t mess up. She’s ours now.”
Dylan collapsed into his chair, and he closed his hand into a loose fist and he pounded it onto the arm of his chair. She’s ours now…well, not mine. He wasn’t going to be active military any more. “You aren’t going to shut me out, are you?” he asked softly.
Jerry slid Dylan a glance. “Anybody ever told you that you have some serious trust issues? Even after three years with us, you have to ask if I’m going to cut you out. Shit, Dylan, you’re still one of us, whether you leave or not. Have you
forgotten that?”
A sheepish grin crossed his face and he shrugged. “Well, I dunno if I forgot exactly. Maybe I just have trouble adjusting to what’s coming.”
Jerry arched a brow. “It’s still your choice, man,” he said quietly. “And you know I wish you wouldn’t.”
Dylan was silent. A long moment passed and then he just shoved the subject aside by changing it, pushing his monitor around, showing the screen to Jerry. “For some odd reason, Max has developed an unusual interest in teenage gab groups,” Dylan said. “I broke through the wall he had on Kris’ computer. He was hiding this.”
“You’re such a subtle bastard, Kline,” Jerry drawled. “I’ve always admired that quality about you.” Then he leaned around the desk and craned his neck to see what was on the computer screen and a straight black brow lifted at what he saw. It was the familiar AOL screen.
Jerry scowled. “How in the hell did you get through?” he demanded, striding around the desk and crowding behind Dylan staring at the screen with a confused scowl. He reached for the mouse and scrolled through chat rooms. “Damn it, how in the hell did you figure out where he’s been hitting?”
Dylan just stared at Jerry.
Jerry shook his head, and muttered, “Dumb question, shoot me. Damn it, these are kids’ groups.”
“Nothing but,” Dylan agreed.
“Maybe he just likes them young,” Jerry said, his mouth twisting in a snarl. “Damned prick already proved he was a traitor. Maybe he’s even worse than we thought.”
Dylan rested his chin on his fist.
“No. It’s more than that,” he muttered. “But there’s nothing else for me to find. He hasn’t done anything on her PC but try to get his money and chat in some rooms.”
“Why use hers? Why not just find an internet café?” Jerry asked, scratching his head. He ran his hand over his hair, tugged on his ear.
“Maybe he were expecting that. Or maybe he’s toying with us,” Dylan said. “I don’t know.” He shut his own computer down and sighed, scrubbing his face with his hands. He was so damned tired. “Can you find out what’s going to happen with her? Who’s going to be tagging her? I’m having the hardest time finding out anything in here. You’d think I was already discharged.”
Jerry grinned. “Classified. But don’t feel bad. They ain’t telling me much either. I have to remind them of what happened and I’m not listening to the classified shit. And when that doesn’t work, I just get mean.” A black lock of hair fell into his green eyes as he smiled a particularly wolfish smile.
Yeah, Dylan could see where Jerry getting mean could accomplish something.
“Well, go snarl at somebody and see if you can get me walking any faster,” Dylan said, spinning his cane in his hand.
Jerry turned and rested a hip on the desk. He leveled a patient look at Dylan and said, “Buddy, you are walking. You seen Dom? No, you haven’t. The man is in a wheelchair. A wheelchair. For good. And he’s not as bitter you are. Hell, he’s already gone home. He’s planning on going back to college in the fall. Says he’s planning on being a lawyer.”
Dylan closed his eyes and let his head drop back against the padded headrest on the chair. “Dom’s a better man than me,” he said quietly. “He’s got a focus. Hell, I don’t even know what I want to do with my life. And he’s going to college. Shit.”
Jerry opened his mouth, but whatever he had been about to say died as he stared at Dylan. Finally, he just sighed and clapped his hand on Dylan’s shoulder and he walked away.
Chapter Four
May
Shoving her carry on back up on her shoulder, Kirsten Evress took a deep breath and asked, “Any idea when my luggage will get back from Sri Lanka?”
She was not having a good day.
But why should that surprise her any, after the past few months? Since March, her good days had been outnumbered by her bad days three to one. And after the past two weeks? She should be feeling lucky she hadn’t ended up in Sri Lanka.
But that was okay—because she was away from New York. The nightmares had grown to unmanageable proportions after that night. She heard gunshots in her sleep, and she couldn’t turn a corner without seeing Max.
It had taken two months to work up the nerve to quit her job, two months to decide she was leaving, and where on earth she was going to go. For two months, her plans were uncertain.
But then she flipped open the New York Times and seen the ad.
Her sanity had been questioned and her financial security was definitely going to be at risk. Well, not exactly. Her mama and daddy were rich, after all, and Dad was a financial genius, who had in turn raised a woman who knew how to treat her money.
She had a small fortune tucked away, and more than enough for a rainy day. But investing in a small, unknown publishing company that was in Kentucky, of all places…and moving to Kentucky…of all places…yes, some people were sure she needed to have her head examined.
The investment was going to eat up some of her money.
And if it didn’t work out, well, she wasn’t sure where she going to end up.
But this felt right.
And besides, it was closer to some place important.
Louisville was just three or so hours away from Nik, instead of a pain in the ass flight every time she wanted to see her friend.
“It went to Las Vegas,” the airline attendant replied cheerfully, Kirsten’s sarcasm floating right over her empty blonde head. Those heavily mascared lashes batted over her purple eyes and the ditz just continued to smile and chirped, “And we should be able to have it here by tomorrow evening.”
Great. And she didn’t have anything more than her make-up, her lap top, a book and her purse. But Kris could handle this.
Taking a deep breath and counting to ten, she said, “I’ll call, then, tomorrow. Who should I call?”
The attendant, Stacey, according to her crooked nametag, pursed her lips, which were almost as purple as her eyes, and looked thoughtful. “Hmm. I really don’t know. Would you like me to check?”
She managed to say, “Yes,” without gritting her teeth. As Space-cadet Stacey wandered away, Kris glanced at her watch and cursed under her breath. “Damn it.” Already late. She had less than thirty minutes to get her rental and make it to the hotel where she was supposed to be meeting up with her new partner.
Wasn’t this just swell…
“Wonders never cease,” a soft voice drawled.
Kris froze. Her eyes closed and her breath shuddered out of her lungs. She swiped her tongue across her lips before she turned slowly and met those sultry hazel eyes, the heat of them penetrating her through and through.
“Dylan,” she said quietly.
“Miz Evress,” he drawled, inclining his head. In one hand, he held a cane, but he didn’t rest on it—he stood.
Kris’ knees wobbled and her lips trembled. “Oh, dear God,” she whispered, one fisted hand pressed to her lips. “Thank You.”
Dylan’s mouth quirked. “Sounds like you’ve been saying some prayers over my sorry tail,” he said, one straight brow lifting as he studied her face. “Thank—”
The rest of his words were murmured against her hair as she moved against him and wrapped her arms around him. “I’ve worried myself sick about you,” she whispered. “And I couldn’t ask Nikki, couldn’t ask anybody. I’m so glad to see you.”
A big, rough hand stroked down the back of her head, his chest rumbling as he laughed. “Damn, rich girl. I didn’t realize you cared,” he teased.
She moved away, staring up at him. “Are you going home?”
“Yes,” Dylan said, his eyes darkening. “Gotta face the music.”
“You never told them how bad you were hurt, did you?” she asked.
He arched a brow. “I’m standing here, aren’t I? Nikki finds out, she’s likely to put me back in the hospital,” he said, running a hand through his hair.
She watched as the dark gold and brown curls twisted around h
is fingers, then forced herself to focus on his words. “Now…she’s not likely to react that bad,” she said.
He cocked a brow. “You do remember Nik, right? Short, mouthy, reddish brown hair?” he asked. He nodded toward the counter. “Somebody is looking for you, rich girl. You going to be heading down to Monticello any time soon?”
Kris rolled her eyes, staring pointedly at the smiling man standing with his shoulder against the wall. She was sure the military had some cool name to call this man who followed her everywhere she went. She just called him the pain in her ass. “You mean there’s more than one?” she asked dryly.
Dylan laughed, glancing at the man who made no attempt to hide himself. “Now, Kris. He doesn’t have to look. He knows where you are all the time,” Dylan said levelly. Then his eyes grew serious. “Make sure it stays that way. He keeps that butt of yours safe.”
“Yes, sir,” Kris said, snapping a salute.
He grinned at how she placed her hand, with the back of her hand against her forehead. “You’d make a terrible soldier. That’s a Navy salute, not an Army salute, rich girl.” He gestured to the desk. “But that’s who I was talking about. She’s looking for you. And you didn’t say…you heading down to Nik’s?”
Kris looked over as Stacey wandered back over to the desk, smiling vacuously at Kris. “I’ve got some business stuff I need to attend to first. But I’ll be around.”
Dylan nodded. “I’m setting up in Lexington, sooner or later. So, if I don’t see you, take care of yourself.” His eyes lingered on her face and he started to walk off. Then he turned back, his steps slow, but steady. He stared down at her face as he murmured quietly, “There are two things I never told you. I should have. I’m sorry. And thank you.”
And then he was gone, moving through the throng of people, his tall, lean frame moving slowly, easily.
And he was walking.
“He’s cute!” Stacey whispered.
Kris closed her eyes and shook her head.
Cute didn’t even begin to touch what Dylan Kline was.
ALWAYS YOURS Page 4
