Lucy Kelly (16 page)

“Thanks for all your help with the close,” she said to her attorney.

“I’m happy to be of service.  That’s a nice piece of property,” he said, as he gathered up his papers and put them in his briefcase.  “What is the HeVan’s Gate Trust planning on doing with it?” he asked.

“Hmm - Oh, the HeVan’s Gate Trust is going to set up a working farm and also a shelter called Tamiel’s Rest.  It’s for helping women in trouble with abusive relationships or who need a place to get away from the world for a short time. 

“We’re hoping that after a while, the farm will support the retreat.  I’ll be contacting you soon to talk about gaining non-profit protection status for the Trust,” she said.

“Well, you have my number,” he said, holding out his hand.

She shook his hand and then followed him out of the conference room they had been using.  He stayed to speak with the representative of the Title Company as she headed for the front door.

She’d taken two steps towards the Jeep when she felt something slam into her.  She could hear shots being fired and some kind of roaring sound as she fell to the ground.

She found herself flat on the ground and something heavy was holding her down.  She wiggled a little to get some air while she took stock of her physical condition.  She could hear shouting now, and someone calling for the police.

“Let me up,” she said, pushing back with an elbow.

All at once, the weight on her back was gone.  The next thing she knew, she was being picked up in someone’s arms.  It was Ari and he was running back into the building with her.  As soon as they were behind the solid wood doors, he put her down and then started looking her over.

In the middle of her chest, right through the graphic of a fist representing Rock, was a bullet hole.

“Damn!  This is one of my favorite T-shirts,” she said. 

Then she fell on the floor in a dead faint - or would have, if Ari hadn’t caught her.

Ari looked up.  People were hiding behind desks, crouching down.

“Is there someplace where I can lay her down?” he yelled.

He had taken a few steps towards the reception desk when he heard a thump at the door.  Still holding Becky, he ran forward and placed her on the floor behind the reception desk, then he ran back to the door on light feet.  Looking out the window on the side, he saw that it was Nyal.  He tried to open the door but there was something in the way. 

“Hold on,” said Nyal.  A moment later, Nyal pulled open the door.  “I didn’t mean to block it.  I wasn’t paying attention when I threw him,” he said, pointing to the man slumped in the corner with his hands and feet bound.

“Is Becky all right?” Nyal asked.

“She appears undamaged.  I could see no blood and she was speaking.  Then she looked down and fainted.  I believe it was the shock of seeing that she was shot and still alive.  The fabric pieces she gave us must be protection against these metal projectiles.  She’s lying on the floor inside.  I put her down when I heard the thump. 

“Is he the only one?” asked Ari.

“No, there is another one on the other side of the parking lot,” Nyal said, pointing in the direction of the other assailant. 

“The police will be here soon.  I will go and get him and gather their weapons.  I’m tempted to kill them, Ari.  I know Arjun ordered us not to harm any humans,” he said – and then he took a quick guilty look around - “but they dared harm my female.  They must pay for that,” he said in a hard voice.

“Go inside to Becky.  I will gather the weapons and the other lawbreaker.  It is too tempting for you to take justice into your own hands.  Go inside,” urged Ari, as he turned and began walking to the area where Nyal had pointed.

While the men were outside, Becky had roused from her faint.  She didn’t try to get up so fast this time.  Turning her head to the side, she saw the receptionist crouched under her desk, tears streaming down her face as she listened to someone on her cell phone.

“Hi,” said Becky.  She lifted her hand and gave a little wave. 

“It’s going to be okay.  I’m sure the guys have it all handled by now.  Do you think I could borrow your phone?  I need to make an important call,” said Becky.

The receptionist didn’t have a chance to answer.  The front door opened again and the woman let out a little squeak as she tried to curl into a smaller ball.

“Becky!” shouted Nyal.

“Over here, Nyal,” answered Becky.  She stayed down on the floor as he came rushing around the desk to her.  He went down on one knee beside her.

“Are you hurt?” he asked.

“I’m fine.  I had a little shock, so I’m hanging out down here for a minute,” she said.  “Did you get the bad guys?”

“Yes, they and their weapons are secured.  Ari is guarding them until the police arrive.  By the sound of the sirens, they will be here soon.  You’re sure you are not injured?  Your face is bleeding,” he said.

Becky reached up with her hand.  “Ouch.  I must have hit the ground hard, I have a little road rash going on.  I’m not going to look at my shirt.  The last time I did, I passed out.  So you look for me - okay?” she asked.

Nyal tore his gaze away from Becky’s face and looked down at her chest.  He blanched when he saw the hole.  “You could have been killed!”

“I kind of figured that.  I’m not bleeding though, just a little sore.  You gonna look?  Addie is going to be so upset, she bought me this shirt, you know.  She’ll probably cry for hours and hours.  I’m not crying, though, I’m not a crybaby.  Grew up tough, and shoved it all down deep.  Never let ‘em see you sweat and all that jazz,” she babbled.

He reached over with suddenly shaky hands and ripped open the shirt.  Just over the special fabric that Becky had put on earlier, lay the necklace.  In the middle of the thick metal disk that was the centerpiece of the necklace, was a squashed bullet.  Nyal ran his hands up to her neck and reaching under her for the clasp, undid the necklace, and then held it up for her to see.

“I guess you didn’t need the special fabric.  The necklace did the job for you,” he said.

“What?  Oh, wow!  Valerie saved my life!” she said.  “I’ll have to call her and thank her.”  She reached up to her ear for the Bluetooth; it was gone.

“Looks like I lost my Bluetooth.  I’m going to have to call her the old-fashioned way,” she said.

Through the front door, she could hear a bullhorn.  “Stay where you are and put your hands up!”

“Uh, oh, the police have arrived.  We’d better go out and let them know who the bad guys are and who the good guys are, before they arrest Ari,” said Becky.

She held out her hand for Nyal to pull her up.  Instead, he reached down and stood up with her in his arms.

“I’m fine now, you can let go of me,” she said.

“Only if you promise not to faint again,” he said.

“Okay, I promise.  Tough girl here, remember?”

After Nyal put her down, they went outside together.  It took about an hour to give statements.  Longer than it should have, because Nyal didn’t want to give in to police procedure and separate himself from Becky to give his statement.  He finally agreed when she said that she was tired, wanted to go home, and he was holding them up. 

She told the officers the two men were probably the two assassins who had evaded capture in the attack on Addie’s house and most likely had Becky confused with Addie.

She then explained that it was related to Captain Udaka’s case against the Kadyrovs.  As soon as they heard that, the police insisted on having them come down to the station.  The perps didn’t have any identification on them but she was able to give their most likely names based on the information she’d found.  They took the necklace in as evidence; she wasn’t going to miss it.  It had served its purpose.

By the time they were allowed to leave, it was past nine and she was bone tired and hungry.  Ari insisted on driving back.

I’m going to have a long soak in the Jacuzzi tonight, she thought.  Miranda gets home tomorrow and we’ll have dinner at the hotel.  I hope Addie remembered to pick up Granny Mac at the airport today.  The convention is all day Saturday and then, finally, the special event for all the descendants.  Sunday is the surprise going-away party for Addie.  When they leave, I will officially be on vacation.  Whoopee!

She continued to run things through her head as they pulled into the driveway and into the garage.

“Home again, home again, Jiggety-Jig,” she said, after Ari turned off the engine.

“What is that phrase, Jiggety-Jig?” asked Nyal from the passenger seat.

“Hmmm,” she said, as she took a minute to roll her head around on her shoulders.  Her neck felt stiff. 

“It’s from a nursery rhyme by Mother Goose.  I still have the book somewhere.  It was the first one that belonged to me and not a borrowed one.  I love Mother Goose rhymes; remind me to show it to you sometime. 

“Right now, I want to go upstairs and have a long hot soak in the tub, and some food, maybe at the same time.”

She got out of the Jeep and started slowly walking to the door on the side.  Before she got there, the door flew open and Ishme came running out.  He went straight to her and picked her up, holding her in his arms. 

He bent close, holding her head still with both hands and started to kiss her, plunging his tongue past her lips and into her mouth.  He wanted to taste her; he wanted to be so close to her that their skins melded together.  Even as he kissed her, he was careful not to hurt her.  Though she did not bleed, he knew she must be bruised.

When he had received Nyal’s call, the rush of fear had brought him to his knees.  Then anger had struck and he didn’t have anywhere to direct his rage.  He had gone to Kai and Markus and taken them to the back yard.  While Becky was with the police, the three of them trained in battle techniques.  He desperately needed the outlet for all the emotions crowding into him.

It was necessary for Kai and Markus to team up against him.  In his highly agitated state, he might have hurt them if they had gone one-on-one.

Becky began to soften and kiss Ishme back, when she heard Markus speak nearby.

“Ishme, she is fine.  She is also bruised and tired and most likely very hungry.  Kiss her later - feed her now,” he said.

Ishme pulled back in chagrin.  “I’m sorry.  I should not have swooped down on you like that.”

Becky gave him a fat grin over her shoulder as she stepped into the house, “Don’t apologize now, I liked it when you swooped.”

Could have died today, she thought.  I shouldn’t let the opportunities right in front of me pass me by.

When they entered the kitchen, she hung up the keys and tossed her jacket over a chair.  The suede had kept her arms from getting scraped on the ground.  Trying to work the kinks out, she turned back to the men who were gathered around.

“Kai and Ari, you know I’m not your
Join
, right?  I mean, you’re nice guys and all.  I just don’t feel anything stronger than sisterly affection for you,” she said.

“Yes, Becky.  Your back touching demonstration this morning convinced us,” said Kai.

“Ishme fixed a tray of sandwiches.  We didn’t know how long it would take you to get back.”

“Good.  I’m going to grab one of those to take with me.  I want to go upstairs and have a long soak in the tub.”

She turned to Ishme and Nyal, “Maybe you both should come up to make sure I don’t faint again.  I wouldn’t want to drown,” she said with a smile.

“We would be happy to assist you,” said Ishme, as he followed her out of the room.

“Yes, you have had a stressful day.  You deserve a massage.  Have you heard of the
Kuan
Haddis
?” asked Nyal as they walked up the main staircase.

Chapter Eleven

As she’d done hundreds of times before, Becky walked up the stairs to her bedroom to soak in the Jacuzzi.  What was different now?  Oh, yeah, two hot guys following her, wanting to have sex with her, at the same time!  That’s what was different!  She took a bite of her sandwich; she wanted to finish it before she got into the tub.  As she chewed, she started to think about what she was doing.

Have I signed up for more than I can take?  How’s this actually going to work?  Last night’s experiment went really well, but these guys are both nearly twice my size.  Really, it’s like trying to go to bed with four men - ouch!  No, I’m not going there. 

Addie said if I’’m really aroused, then everything fits and there’s no pain.  No pain would be good.  I guess I’ll have to leave the mechanics of it mostly to the guys.  Whom should I kiss first?  Well, Ishme  is somewhat already….

“Becky?” said Ishme, as he followed her down the hall.  She didn’t respond.  He reached out and touched her arm as she was reaching for the door, “Becky?” he said again.

She started and then looked back at him; she seemed a little dazed.

“Have you changed your mind?  You seem kind of confused.  Would you like us to get Markus to examine you?” he asked. 

Ishme and Nyal looked worried.

She cleared her mind and smiled at them. 

“I’m fine.  I was just working on...an engineering problem.  I’m sure it will all work out.  Excuse the mess.  As I’m sure you’ve discovered, I’m not much on housework.” 

Entering the bedroom, her nerves reached a new peak.  Suddenly, she wasn’t hungry anymore; she walked to the wastebasket and threw away the rest of her sandwich, wiping her hands on her jeans.  Both Nyal and Ishme noticed it and tried to think of a way to calm her. 

Nyal decided that standing around looking at each other just made them feel more awkward.  He stepped forward and put his hands around her waist.  Lifting her up until they were at eye level, Becky automatically put her legs around his waist.

“You’re both so much bigger than I am,” she explained.

“We would never hurt you.  You know that, don’t you?” he asked. 

Ishme came up beside them and put a hand on her back, gently petting and rubbing in slow, circular motions.

“I know you won’t hurt me on purpose.  I was just concerned that in the heat of the moment, so to speak…” she trailed off.