Banishing Shadows (14 page)

Cord grunted with impatience as he shook her none too gently.

“You’re just tired. This won’t last forever. We’ll find whoever is doing this. I promise. Come on, Kayla, you’re tough. You have courage, more than most people. Running is not the answer.”

Her head rose as she scowled at him, shaking off his hold. “I’m not running. I’m trying to protect those I love.”

“Ahem.”

Kayla whirled around to see Luke, Quinn and Joe. She took off, throwing herself into Quinn’s arms. She’d been so worried about him she’d felt ill.

“Where have you been?” she cried. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

Joe ran his hand over her shoulder as she clung to Quinn. “Kayla, even if Cord was foolish enough to let you go off on your own, we’re hardly going to let you leave, now are we?”

“And if you try, we’ll track you down, hogtie you, and lock you in your bedroom until you’re thirty,” Quinn said bluntly.

Joe sent him a quelling look.

“If you don’t want to go home with Cord, honey, you can come and stay with us,” Joe suggested. “Either way, you can’t leave. You cannot be by yourself.”

Kayla’s shoulders slumped. She was outnumbered. But she couldn’t deny the relief coursing through her. The idea of being alone terrified her. Only the thought of something happening to someone she loved scared her more.

No way was she moving in with the twins. Even if she wasn’t in danger, she couldn’t live with Quinn for more than forty-eight hours without one of them exploding. Only Joe had enough patience to live with his twin.

Kayla let out a defeated sigh. “Okay, I’ll stay,” she agreed.

Cord turned to Quinn. “What happened? Why did Kayla get a text from you asking you to pick her up? Where the hell were you?”

Boy was she glad she wasn’t Quinn right now.

Quinn growled. “It wasn’t me. My phone went missing. I didn’t realize it was gone until late afternoon. I figured I’d find it at the office tomorrow morning. I left the site on Eel Avenue around four thirty. I had to pick up some things for the morning on the way home. I can’t find it anywhere.”

Cord swore harshly. “So whoever this is has access to you. Knew where you would be working this afternoon. Probably knew that Luke and Joe were across town. This is someone who knows you.”

“Or someone who’s been watching us closely,” Joe said quietly, frowning.

Cord blew out a breath. “They had access to Quinn’s phone. They must have taken it from his van or the office. They knew he’d be at Eel Avenue and they knew when he left. Yeah, someone is watching you. It could be someone who works for you.”

Kayla’s jaw dropped. “What? That’s ridiculous. Pete and Evan would never…and Reed, he’s a nice guy.”

“Pete’s worked for us for years. Evan, for the last eight months and Reed…” Joe trailed off.

“Reed or Evan. They’re both relatively new. How much do we really know about them?” Quinn paced as he talked.

Cord rubbed his forehead. “We need to find out where they were tonight.”

“But why would Reed or Evan hurt Kayla?” Joe blew out a breath. “We have no evidence against either of them.”

Luke leaned forward in his seat, resting his forearms on his knees. “I vetted them before they were hired.”

“And I checked their backgrounds. It was one of the first things I did. And don’t rule out Pete. As far as I’m concerned, everyone is a suspect.” Cord leaned back against the wall and folded his arms. “I’m going to look into them again.”

Kayla’s stomach lurched at the idea that quiet Evan or friendly Reed, a man she’d had dinner with for God’s sake, could be behind all this.

“Wait, I had dinner alone with Reed, he could have hurt me at any time then,” she protested.

“You’re right,” Cord growled, glaring at her. “I’m still going to look at all of them again.”

Clasping her hands tightly to hide their trembling, Kayla sat on an uncomfortable waiting room chair.

“But why? I’ve done nothing to any of them.”

“Maybe it’s not about you. Maybe it’s about one of us,” Joe theorized.

“You all need to think about this. Who would have quick access to your phone, Quinn? Whoever this is, we know he isn’t afraid to hurt people. He shot Nash. We have to find him—them. Yesterday. Damn it, if it is one of them that means I’ve missed something.” Self-loathing tainted Cord’s words.

Quinn frowned. “But they were all there the night Kayla was attacked at The Rusty Hammer. Could it be someone else, maybe a client? Or one of the other contractors we work with?”

“How would they know where all of you would be?” Cord argued. “How would they know that Luke and Joe wouldn’t be close by when they sent that text to Kayla?”

“If it was a client they could have accessed my computer perhaps?” Kayla offered.

“Maybe. I checked your current clients. Nobody stood out. I’ll double-check. Especially the ones who hired you to do Eel Avenue and the site Joe and Luke were at today.”

Quinn paced. “What about new clients? Or someone who just came in to get a quote?”

Cord turned to Kayla. “Have you left anyone alone in your office lately?”

“I-I don’t know. Umm, let me think. I don’t think so, sorry.”

Cord sat beside her, pulling her against him. “Hush, it’s okay. I’ll find them. I promise.”

“I’m so sorry this happened to Nash. Do you think he’ll ever forgive me?” she asked. “This is my fault. I wanted to go pick up Quinn. Nash thought something was wrong and he didn’t want to stop and investigate. I made him. I endangered his life.” A sob escaped as her head dropped again. “I’m so sorry.”

“What are you talking about?” Cord pulled her onto his lap, holding her close. “Why are you being so hard on yourself? Nash didn’t have to do anything. He made the decision to check for Quinn. He was in charge of your safety. It is not your fault he was shot. None of this is your fault.”

Kayla shook her head silently, blinking back tears.

Cord’s hands clasped her face, his touch gentle despite the lingering anger she saw in his eyes.

“What’s going on in your brain? Talk to me, angel.”

Though his voice was gentle there was no mistaking the firm resolve. He wasn’t backing down.

Kayla let out a sob.

“We’ll go get some food,” Luke said and the three of them quickly left the room.

She took a deep breath. “If I had just insisted on going with Nash, maybe I could have stopped him getting hurt.”

“Or
you
could have gotten hurt. Angel, you did exactly what you should have. Nash knows what he’s doing.”

She wasn’t so sure. She figured she should have been the one to get shot, not Nash.

“T-there’s something else I haven’t told you,” she whispered.

“Like what?”

“Like I left the truck to find Nash.”

“You did what?” he yelled.

“I was worried about him and Quinn. I felt so sick, sitting there, waiting.”

“Jesus. That was a really stupid thing to do, Kayla. Listen to me. You have to let Nash and me do what we’re trained for. You could have been shot, killed…” He appeared ill.

“I’m tired of feeling afraid. I want to live a normal life. I want to be free to go where I want and not be terrified someone is going to shoot at me or someone I love. I should leave. I know that. But I’m too afraid to be on my own. How selfish am I?”

“Angel, I want you to look at me while I say this, because I want no misunderstanding between us.” Kayla forced herself to stare into his intense gaze.

“Everything that has happened is not your fault. I want you to stop thinking this way immediately. Do you hear me?” Kayla nodded slowly. “No one blames you, least of all Nash. Got it?”

“Okay.”

“And you will have a normal life again, I promise.”

“I can’t believe someone shot Nash. Why would they do that?”

“Because they knew they’d never get through him to you. They were probably expecting it to be me.”

“I just— I want to hurt them the way they’ve hurt Nash. I hope they go to jail for a long time.” Anger raced through her veins and she embraced it, letting it push out the fear. If they had hurt Cord there would be no stopping her. She wouldn’t rest until she found them.

“Y
ou should have done exactly as Nash told you and stayed in the cab of the truck. He’s stronger, tougher, he’s trained for this. You’re not.
Kayla, if anything happened to you…” He trailed off, and Kayla grabbed him tightly.

“I know, I’m sorry.”

Cord pulled her onto his lap to hold her tightly. “God, one moment I feel like spanking you until you can’t sit for a week, the next I just want to hold you in my arms and never let you go.” He shook her. “You’re giving me gray hairs! Do you hear me?”

A throat clearing had them both turning to find a plump nurse standing in the doorway. “Mr. Nash is awake now. He’s very insistent on speaking to you both.”

She showed them to Nash’s private room, leaving with the admonishment that they be quick.

Kayla approached the bed slowly.

Nash stared up at Cord, his eyes sleepy. “I fucked up, man. No excuse for it.”

“You couldn’t have known.”

“Had a bad feeling, should have listened to it,” Nash slurred his words. “Thought I saw someone. He was shooting from the roof.”

Cord’s face was grim. “I’ll check it out. Go to sleep. Soon as you’re better I need you back guarding her.”

“You got it.” Nash tried for a salute. Instead he clumsily hit himself in the eye with his hand.

Kayla giggled then slapped a hand over her mouth. But she found herself suddenly unable to stop. The laughter kept bubbling out. Cord pulled her into his arms and carried her into the hallway, rocking her until she calmed.

“Take me home, please?” she asked quietly. “I-I just want to go home and have you hold me.”

“Angel, you read my mind.”

* * * * *

Exhaustion tugged at Kayla as she walked into the motel room. Before she could sit, Cord had her hand in his, tugging her into his arms. One arm settled around her waist, the other clasping the back of her head, holding her close. She nestled in against him, relaxing bit by bit within the safety of his arms.

Kayla laid a kiss on his chest.

“You could have been shot.” His voice was stark.

She leaned back—not far, he wouldn’t let her—and peered up. Shadows lined his face, darkening his eyes.

Kayla placed a hand on his hair-roughened cheek. “I’m all right.”

“If anything happened to you…”

Leaning down, Cord kissed her. A hard kiss that screamed of possession.

“Nothing can happen to you, Kayla. You hear me? I just got you and I’m not letting go. Ever.”

Kayla rubbed his chest, trying to soothe him. “Nothing will happen to me. How could it? I have you to protect me.”

“You mean the world to me.” He massaged her bottom and she shivered. Exhaustion faded as heat rushed through her.

“Like that, angel?”

“I like everything you do to me,” she replied. Her breath caught in her lungs as he rubbed against her, a hard bulge digging into her stomach.

“Do you know what I’ve been dreaming of doing with you?” he whispered.

“No, what?” Her pussy clenched at the sensual promise in his voice. What did he dream about? Laying her over the back of the couch and entering her from behind? Leaning her against the wall and taking her standing up? Him sitting on a dining room table while she rode him? The possibilities seemed endless.

“Dancing with you.”

“Really?”

He chuckled. “Really.” His hands ran down her arms. “Think about it, our bodies brushing against one another, building the anticipation, driving us wild. I want to slow dance with you.” He stepped away and turned on the stereo. Music filled the room as they came together, swaying.