Blake, Abby - Mikayla's Family [A Bride for Eight Brothers 6] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever) (9 page)

Bryce’s instinct was to stun the woman, but as he reached for his gun Mikayla shook her head minutely. Confused, Bryce hesitated. Obviously Mikayla could see something that Bryce couldn’t.

“Why don’t you come sit next to your whore while we sort out a few details?” The woman looked over her shoulder and gave him a smile that chilled the blood in his veins. At least all pretense of innocence was gone. Whoever this woman was, she represented a very clear danger.

Bryce moved slowly to his wife’s side, unwilling to make any fast or seemingly threatening movements. His heart almost stopped when he saw the explosive device the woman wore around her neck. It would’ve detonated if Bryce had used his stun gun. But it was the miniature machine gun that the woman held aimed in Mikayla’s direction that concerned him most. Bryce stood beside Mikayla, angling his body so that he could protect her if bullets started to fly.

The woman rolled her eyes, waved the gun sideways, and smiled sweetly when Bryce moved slightly, and she once again had clear aim at Mikayla.

“What do you want?” Mikayla asked, sounding reasonable. This close, Bryce could feel her practically vibrating with anger, but she hid it well.

“Simple, I want the man who killed my lover.” She sat back in her chair, looking relaxed as if she were making the most reasonable of requests. Bryce almost laughed. It was far from simple. This woman was obviously ready to commit suicide as long as she took Jet’s killer with her. None of them would hand over Ashton, ever. He’d acted in self-defense and had already been cleared of any wrongdoing.

Unfortunately, the man himself walked through the door, his pregnant wife beside him.

“Oh, sorry,” Tracey said, looking uncomfortable. “We didn’t realize you had a visitor.”

Ashton took one look at Bryce and obviously realized something was wrong. He immediately went from doting husband and soon-to-be father to wary, alert police officer.

“No problems,” Mikayla said, sounding a little strained. “Leila, this is my friend Michelle and her husband Richard.” Obviously Mikayla had figured out that if Leila Sanderson knew that this was the man who shot Jet that she probably wouldn’t hesitate to blow them all to pieces. Tracey looked confused, but a quick squeeze on her hand from Ashton doused her curiosity, for now. “I’ve already collected the things for the charity auction,” Mikayla said in a conversational tone. “They’re in the barn. Bryce can help you load them onto the truck.”

Not fucking likely. Even if Leila Sanderson was stupid enough to let any of them leave the room, there was no way Bryce was leaving Mikayla unprotected.

Bryce caught a glimpse of Lachlan watching them from the mudroom. Fortunately, Leila had her attention on Mikayla as she gave up the pretense of being a visitor and ordered Ashton and Tracey to stand where she could see them.

Trying to appear casual, Bryce placed three fingers on his upper chest hoping like hell Lachlan understood what he was trying to say. Lachlan cupped his fingers together and then separated his hands in a crude imitation of an explosion. Bryce looked away, nodding his head minutely. Hoping like hell Leila Sanderson had missed the exchange, Bryce glanced back to find Lachlan gone.

* * * *

It took every ounce of patience Lachlan owned to creep back out of the house. He had no idea what had stopped him from walking into the kitchen the way he usually did, but he was very grateful that he hadn’t.

He had no idea who the woman was or what she wanted, but if he understood Bryce correctly, she wore an explosive device around her neck and was most likely holding a gun on the four people in the kitchen.

Finally clear of the house, Lachlan sprinted to the barn, quickly explained the situation to Ryan and Ty, sketched a rough plan, and then the three of them headed back to the house.

He just hoped Ryan’s suggestion worked.

* * * *

Mikayla watched the woman who claimed to have been Jet’s lover and wondered just how much she knew about the man.

“How did you know Jet?” she asked. Despite the frown on Bryce’s face, Mikayla really wanted to know the answer. It seemed strange that a man so calculating could’ve endeared himself to anyone. The woman’s expression grew angry, and for a moment Mikayla regretted her impulsive question, but then Leila seemed to relax. She smiled, the dreamy type of goofy grin that new love, or maybe fanatical love, engenders.

“We’ve always been together,” she said with a sigh. “We knew even in middle school that we were destined to be soul mates.” Mikayla glanced at Tracey and saw her emotions reflected in her friend’s face. If Jet had been deeply in love with this woman, it seemed unlikely that he could’ve romanced so many others into the human trafficking ring he’d been a part of.

“So you helped him with the human trafficking?” Ashton asked casually. He may have retired from the police force, but he obviously was still thinking like a police officer.

“Of course not,” Leila answered, looking very annoyed. “I studied for years to become a judge. I didn’t have time to be involved in Jet’s business.” She turned her full attention to Ashton, the gun shaking slightly in her hand as her anger grew. “He was an employment consultant—not a slave trader! Jet found employment for people all over the universe. He never did anything illegal. If it hadn’t been for your lies,” she yelled turning the gun toward Mikayla once more, “he’d still be alive. You killed him. You’re the reason he’s dead.”

Terrified that Bryce was about to step in front of her and provoke the deranged woman into shooting him, Mikayla stepped closer to the gun.

“No, Leila,” she said quietly, hoping somehow to get through the woman’s madness. “Jet abducted women. He pretended to love them and then left them on a planet where the only way to survive is by prostitution.”

“You lie,” the woman said, but this time her words were less vehement, less convincing.

“I’m sorry, Leila. I’m not lying. The only reason I went anywhere with Jet is because I thought he loved me.” Bryce looked angry enough to turn Mikayla over his knee. He obviously wasn’t happy with her stepping closer to the woman with a bomb, but he stayed where he was, most likely realizing that the wrong move right now could get them all killed.

“But I did everything for him. I–I waited. I–I was faithful. I was everything he wanted me to be. He loved me.” A small sob escaped the woman’s throat. “You lie. He loved me.” But again the words were soft, unconvincing, seemingly said aloud to try and quell the internal doubt that Mikayla’s words evoked.

“Leila, put down the gun so that we can end this. We can figure this out without violence,” Bryce said in a soothing, deep voice.

Ashton had stepped between Tracey and the gun while Leila’s attention had been on Mikayla. Leila handed the gun to Bryce and they all breathed a little easier as tears began to flow down Leila’s face. But as Mikayla moved closer to Leila, wanting to offer comfort to a woman who was essentially another of Jet’s victims, the woman’s demeanor suddenly changed.

“Run.” It was an order delivered with a disturbing grin and strange glint in her eyes. “You want to live? Run.” Leila stood, her hand touching her neck as she fingered the explosive device. “Run,” she screeched in a voice barely human.

Ashton grabbed Tracey and shielded her as they ran to the front of the house. Bryce grabbed Mikayla to do the same, but they both hesitated when Lachlan stepped through the door behind Leila. He pressed something against her throat at the same time that Ryan grabbed the woman’s hand away from her neck. Bryce rushed closer and grabbed the explosive.

Leila crumpled, falling into Lachlan’s grip as she lost consciousness. He lowered her to the floor, and Bryce quickly removed the device from around her neck. He left the house without a backward glance. Mikayla went to follow him, but Ryan wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

“Bryce knows what to do,” he said confidently as Mikayla’s reaction suddenly began to set in. It seemed that every muscle she owned somehow shook independently from the others. Her knees wobbled like jelly, and Ryan quickly sat and lifted her onto his lap. He smoothed a hand over her hair when her teeth started to clatter as if from extreme cold. Ty hurried into the room with the first aid kit. Ryan quickly wrapped a light blanket around Mikayla as Ty dropped to his knees and checked Leila’s medical status.

“Emergency services should be here any moment,” Ryan said with a warm smile. “You did well, sweetheart.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead and then held her close.

Mikayla tried to smile in acknowledgement, but considering how hard she was shaking, the compliment seemed misplaced. When nausea heated her face, she tried to scramble off Ryan’s lap. He must’ve realized her predicament because he carried her to the nearest bathroom, and then held her hair back as her stomach emptied violently.

* * * *

Bryce ran.

Leila Sanderson had actually set the damn bomb to explode. He’d managed to get his thumb over the spring loaded trigger before the distraught woman had lost consciousness, but that was his only piece of good news.

If he let go the bomb would go off, and he had no idea what the explosive range would be. He needed to get as far away from the house as fast as possible. He headed to the lab in the research station and only as he opened the outer door did he realize Lachlan was right behind him.

He smiled at his brother gratefully. Bryce didn’t want his brother in danger, but Lachlan had far more experience with explosives that Bryce. If any of them had a chance at dismantling a bomb, Lachlan was the one.

If they could somehow clamp the trigger in place, they might have a chance to dismantle it before it exploded. At the very least Lachlan might be able to determine its explosive capabilities and figure out how to store it safely until a specialist arrived to help.

* * * *

The explosion made the windows rattle.

Mikayla scrambled to her feet. Her mind screamed at her to run toward Bryce and Lachlan, but Ryan and Ty stood in her way. Their concern for their brothers was written plainly on their faces, but it was very clear that they intended to protect Mikayla—even if it was from her own stupidity.

John, Peter, Matt, and Brock all crowded the doorway of the small bathroom where Mikayla stood in Ryan’s embrace. Each of her husbands checked to make certain she was all right before leaving the house once more.

Terror griped her anew, but she refused to let Ryan lift her into his arms. She wanted to know—needed to know—what had happened. “Mikayla, please just wait for the others to return.”

Ryan must’ve interpreted her expression correctly because he let out a deep breath and turned to Ty. Ty nodded even though Ryan didn’t say a word, and then Ryan held her hand as they stepped into the mudroom and then outside.

Smoke rose from the far side of the research station, but it was the two men running toward her that made her knees go weak. Inexplicable anger gripped her as two smiling men reached for her at the same time.

“You scared the fuck out of me!” She truly hadn’t meant to swear, but the fear of having lost them and the incongruity of finding them not only fine but smiling like they’d just had a great time was messing with her head.

“I’m sorry, little one,” Lachlan said in a voice that suggested he wasn’t really sorry at all. “But you know Bryce. He insisted that we make certain the bomb was no longer dangerous.”

“I did?” Bryce asked with a matching smile on his face. “Hey, you’re the one with the experience. I was just along for the ride.”

Able to breathe a little easier now that Mikayla knew all eight of her husbands were okay, she managed to roll her eyes and ask what had happened.

They smiled at each other like kids left alone in a candy store. “Well, it was Bryce’s idea,” Lachlan began, but he quickly got to the point when he noticed Mikayla’s change in expression. Frustratingly, nausea gripped her once more. “Basically, we controlled the detonation. We modified the station’s shields to cover all except the small room that used to be Peter’s office.”

Bryce took over the story. “We also widened the coverage of the shields so that if the explosion was somehow bigger than Lachlan expected, the energy would be aimed away from the house.”

“I assure you, little one, that I wouldn’t have done it unless I was sure it was safe.”

She nodded and managed to say, “I believe you,” before turning away to retch several times. Before she could protest, Ryan lifted her into his arms and all of them hurried back into the house. Mikayla caught a glimpse of Tracey and Ashton in the kitchen with Ty and the still-unconscious Leila before seven husbands hurried her into her bedroom.

“I’m okay,” she managed to say to a group of men so concerned for her health that they seemed not to listen to her reassurance. “Truly, I’m okay.” In fact, she felt better than she had all day. The retching had been awful, but the nausea seemed to have gone completely now. When her men still hovered over her, she wanted to yell at them all for their overbearing attitudes until she realized the level of tension in the room.