Rogue Alliance (47 page)

             
Unable to resist, he kissed the small dip in her throat. When she spoke, the desperation in her voice made him hesitate.

             
“Just do it.”

             
Confusion segued to startling realization as it dawned on him what she was su
ggesting, b
ut he didn’t pull away. With his lips still to her throat, he closed his eyes and fought the raging war within. It would have been so easy to sink his teeth into her flesh. God
,
he really was a monster.

             
She spoke again softly, the encouragement in her voice near pleading. He saw a tear run down the side of her neck.

             
“Just do it. I can’t do this anymore. I just want all of it to go away.”

             
Her raw emotion and pure vulnerability slapped him back to his senses. Pulling back, he looked into her face. The pain was pure and unhindered. Her typical thick bravado was nowhere to be found. Only the depth of her and who she was, what she feared, was exposed in that moment.

             
Guilt and shame plagued him, b
ut
,
more than that, everything about her haunted him. The overwhelming thirst
and temptation which had engulfed
him only minutes before was squelched and drowned with her sorrow. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he found reprieve as he realized he would never have to fight that demon ever again. He’d overcome it in that one split second of transformation.

             
Tipping her chin down, she looked at him with wet, brown eyes.

             
“Why?”
she asked.

             
Ignoring her plea
,
he pulled her to him and held her against his chest. He held her there for a very long time, the silence of the car enveloping them in a protective embrace. When her body finally relaxed and he felt her earlier sadness drift away, he ran his palm down the side of her neck, over the swell of her breast and trailed across her rib cage in one long caress. She sucked in a gasp of air.

             
As if she’d bit
ten him, he jerked back.

             
“I’m sorry, are you okay?”
he asked.

             
Tenderly, she grazed her fingertips over the spot on her left side.

             
“It’s my ribs. I think they’re a bit bruised.”

             
“Oh…I thought that I’d hurt you.”

             
She smiled and cupped his cheek with her hand.

             
“I’m okay. Really.”

             
“I shouldn’t have done that,
”
he shook his head,

             
“What…kissed me? Why not? Didn’t you like it?”

             
“That’s not the issue. Of course I like
d
it, but…”

             
“But what
, Brennan?
” She dared.

             
“But, like you said before, we’re on the opposite sides of things. I had no right to do that.”

             
“You’ve got a lot to learn about women. You don’t kiss them and then turn around and talk about how you shouldn’t have done it. It’s a real ego killer. Second, you have every right. I don’t know when you’re going to get this Brennan, but you’re free to do whatever you please now. You are no longer someone’s prisoner.”

             
“I’m not having this conversation with you,” he said, then opened the door, slid out and slammed the door behind him.

*

             
She watched him stomp out in the snow, glad for a few minutes to gather her own thoughts. She hated to admit it, but she was just as confused and frustrated as he was. It didn’t help that she could still feel the effects of the alcohol.

             
Within minutes
, Brennan
had
slipped back into the car with a gush of cold night air.

             
She was quiet and waited for him to speak first. He reached to the gear shift then paused. He looked at her.

             
“I found them.”

             
She knew exactly who he was talking about.

             
“Okay. What did you find Brennan?”

             
He spoke clearly, concisely
,
and she could hear how heavy his heart was with every word.

             
“It didn’t take long. With the information you gave me, I just followed the trail. Apparently my dad died of a heart attack
four years after I disappeared,” He paused, “ and m
y mom had an emotional break down and has been living in the state mental hospital in Eugene, Oregon.”

             
Her heart was breaking for him.

             
“That’s only a four or five hour drive from here. You need to go up there.”

             
“I know,” he nodded, “
I need you to go with me.”

             
Hadn’t she offered to help him in any way she could? So why, now that he was asking for her to follow through, was she panicking inside?

             
“I…I’m not so s
ure that’s a good idea, Brennan,” she said,
“
I mean, we still haven’t found Carmen.”

             
“You will,” he said with confidence.

             
Frustration welled up within her. “

             
I’m not so sure anymore. We have absolutely
no leads,”
she hung her head and mumbled, “I can’t imagine where she could be.”

             
Brennan’s hand closed over hers.

             
“We’re going to find her. I promise. The whole town is looking for her. Even Victor.”

             
Shyla’s head snapped up.

             
“Why? What does he care? I don’t want him anywhere near her.”

             
“I know you aren’t a fan of his, Shyla, but like it or not, he has contacts and ways of getting things done that the rest of us can’t. He has a better chance of finding her than anyone else does.”

             
“I don’t care. I don’t want his help. He can just stay the hell away from me and Carmen. Besides, he wouldn’t help me if his life depended on it.”

             
“Maybe not you, but he’d help the girl, help the town. It would make him look good, and they’d have to show favor.”

             
Of course, she thought, his motivation was purely selfish.

             
“I still don’t like it.”

             
Brennan’s
hand tightened around hers.

             
“Look at me, Shyla.”

             
She tipped h
er head towards him
.

             
“I know you’re worried,
” he continued,
“
but it wouldn’t hurt for you to be away for a day or two. It might even be good for you. The authorities, your friends, are working around the clock. All I’m asking for is a day, maybe two. We could leave first thing in the morning and be home within twenty-four hours. I have to go. I have to talk with my mother. But I need someone with me. I need you.”

             
All resolve crumbled away with that last statement. Never in her life had Shyla felt needed before. Why did life have to be so complicated?

             
“Fine, I’ll go, but I’m holding you to the twenty-four hour deadline.”

FIFTY
-ONE

             
The plan was that they leave by seven a.m. Brennan had suggested that since it was nearly two in
the morning when he dropped Shyla
off at her apartment, that they wait one more day so she could rest. But she’d insisted that a few hours was all she’d need. Anything b
eyond that was a waste of time, she’d said.

             
So
,
only five hours after he dropped her off, he was back in her parking lot with a piping hot vanilla latte, ready to go. He had already chugged down a double. She might be able to cope after only a few hours but with his health fading faster each day, he needed all the help he could find to muster the energy to keep going. His benefactor had said six months, but
,
over the past week, his strength had waned further and he doubted he had more than four.

             
As she slid into the passenger seat
,
she reached for the coffee.

             
“It would be really nice if this had a bite to it.”

             
“Sorry,” he smiled, “
it’s just coffee, I’m afraid.”

             
“Eh, I figured,” Shyla gave him a sly smile,
“So what’d you tell the boss man? Did you tell him we’re running away together?”

             
Brennan found her quipped sarcasm amusing. It was amazing how she could maintain her stoic front through nearly any scenario.

             
“I told him that I was going up to Oregon to follow up on a lead about my parents and kept it at that. He didn’t ask any questions. I guess he knows that it would be pointless to argue and I don’t think he would begrudge me seeking that knowledge. He doesn’t feel threatened by it. Nor should he.”

             
She kept her eyes straight ahead on the road ahead of them.

             
“You two have quite the bromance going on.”

             
“Bromance?
”
he laughed, “
Where do you come up with this stuff?”

             
Brennan was pleased when they eased into a simple conversation for
the first hour of the drive before slipping
into a comfortable silence. The drive was beautiful. Once in Oregon, the terrain was flatter as they drove north. The farther they went the cloudier the sky became and Brennan tried not to think of it as an ominous sign.

             
Then again, he was trying not to think much at all. The idea that he might actually see his mother for the first time in over ten years had him feeling twitchy and uncertain. It had upset him to find out she was in a mental hospital and he wasn’t sure what to expect. Would she be coherent? Would she recognize him? If so, how would his sudden appearance affect her? How would it affect him?

             
It was too much to process so he shoved it aside and gave Shyla a quick glance. She had drifted to sleep with her head resting on her bent arm against the door. Her mouth was parted slightly and he could hear the soft in and out of her breath. Suddenly
,
there was nothing else in the world that mattered. She was in his life for whatever reason and he didn’t ever want to think of a time when he might be without her. It was like a bomb of revelation bursting inside his head, a single point of knowing which settled in his heart.

             
She must have felt the weight of his stare. He smiled when she opened one eyelid with trepidation.

             
“You look pretty when you sleep.”

             
Uncomfortable with the compliment
,
she sat up and yawned. Her pony tail had loosened. A few stray strands framed her face. Keeping one eye on the road and another on her, he watched as she tugged the hair tie free and the rest of her dark hair cascaded over her shoulders and down her back. Now she was not just pretty, she was absolutely striking.

             
“Why don’t you ever wear it down?” he asked
,
mesmerized. He wanted to reach out and touch it like he’d done the night when he’d caught her in Victor’s office.

             
Shyla
had pulled the sun visor down to look in the tiny mirror and was brushing her fingers through it violently, as if its very existence angered her.

             
“It’s a nuisance. I hate it.”

             
“Hate’s a pretty strong word.”

             
She flashed him an irritable look.