Текст книги "Secrets"

Автор книги: Cynthia Eden

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Текущая страница: 5 (всего у книги 13 страниц)

Chapter Five

She’d taken care of her horse. Lady was settled for the night, and Jennifer was ready to crash. She turned away from the stables, her shoulders slumping and her steps slow with a sudden weariness.

Why can’t the danger ever be over? I wanted to leave that life behind me.

“I don’t trust you.”

She stumbled to a stop at that low, rumbling voice. A voice that was very similar to Brodie’s but...

It belonged to his twin. The harder, rougher drawl gave him away.

Jennifer glanced toward the shadows of the ranch house and saw Davis. He’d been so still that she hadn’t noticed him when she’d left the stables. He’d blended perfectly with the growing darkness.

It was a mistake that Jennifer shouldn’t have made. Being a civilian had made her soft. She’d stopped looking for threats in every corner.

Davis stepped away from the house and advanced toward her. “I don’t trust you,” he said again. “And, unlike my brother, I’m not so tangled up in you that I can’t see the danger you present.”

Brodie was tangled up in her? Since when? She glanced over her shoulder. Brodie was still in the stables, settling down his horse.

Davis caught her arm, and her attention snapped back toward him. “No one is going to hurt my brother.”

“I’m not here to hurt him.” Hurting Brodie had never been part of her plan.

“Aren’t you?”

She tried to search his gaze, but it was too dark for her to see much at all. But she could feel the deadly intensity that clung to him. “The last thing I want to do is hurt Brodie.” That was the truth.

He pulled her toward him. “My brother was almost run down the first night you came to town. Today, he was seconds away from being blown to hell and back.”

She swallowed.

“There’s a target on you. By coming to my brother for help, you put a target on him, too.”

Tears stung her eyes. Brodie had been her only hope. She’d actually thought her stalker would stay behind in Louisiana, that she’d buy time by going to Brodie and that—

No, I didn’t think this through. I was scared and I fled. I never thought about the risk to Brodie.

“Help me to get away,” Jennifer whispered.

His hold tightened on her.

“I don’t want him hurt,” she said, and she fought to keep the emotion from her voice. “I don’t want any of you hurt.” Especially since it appeared she’d already led pain to the McGuires before. Dear God, did I cause their parents’ death? Ever since she’d seen the picture her stalker had left behind, the question had haunted her. “Distract Brodie, give me a car to use, and I’ll vanish.”

Vanishing... Hadn’t that been her backup plan all along? But she’d been so determined to cling to this life she had. A life that had never been her own, not really.

It’s time to let go.

Because when it came down to a choice...letting Jennifer Wesley live or protecting Brodie... Well, there was no choice.

The stable doors groaned behind her. She knew the sound meant Brodie was coming out. “Help me,” she told Davis, making sure her voice wouldn’t carry far. “Tonight...distract him, and I’ll vanish.”

Gravel crunched beneath Brodie’s booted feet. “Everything all right out here?”

This time, the Texas drawl was stronger in his voice.

“Everything’s fine,” Jennifer rushed to reassure him.

“Davis?” Brodie closed in on them. “There a reason why you’re holding her arm?”

And Davis did still have his grip on Jennifer.

He dropped her arm, fast, and backed up a step.

“I stumbled,” Jennifer said quickly. She didn’t want Davis lying to his brother. She was the one good at lying, so why not stick with her skill set? “Davis steadied me.”

“Did he?” Brodie’s voice was doubtful.

She forced her shoulders to straighten. “I’m too tired. Barely walking straight. I think I’ll just...turn in for the night.”

No, she thought she’d plan her escape. As she passed him, her gaze cut to Davis. She still couldn’t read the expression in his eyes, but he gave an almost imperceptible nod.

Relief made her feel a little dizzy. He was going to do it. She’d slip away. Brodie would be safe.

And Jennifer Wesley would vanish.

* * *

BRODIE WATCHED JENNIFER as she headed into the house. Her shoulders were stiff and her stride too fast.

“That woman is trouble.”

The door shut behind Jennifer, and Brodie glanced at his brother. “That woman is the key to finding out what happened to our parents.”

A few weeks back, they’d finally found the guns used to murder their parents. The weapons had been hidden beneath the floor of an abandoned cabin—an old cabin that was just miles from their ranch. All those years, the murder weapons had been close, practically under their noses, and they’d never realized it.

The guns had proved to be a ballistics match for the crime, but there had been no prints on the weapons. The men who’d broken into their parents’ house that long-ago night—Ava had said that they’d worn black ski masks over their faces.

They didn’t know the identities of the killers, but they would. The McGuires wouldn’t stop until they’d gotten justice.

“You think our parents were killed because of Jennifer?” Davis asked him quietly.

He sucked in a deep breath. “For years, I thought they died because of one of us.” It was a dark truth that had eaten away at him for too long.

Davis backed up a step.

“You, me, Grant, Mac, even Sullivan...we were all working different black-ops missions back then. One right after the other.” Because all the McGuire brothers had left the ranch and went right out and gotten lost in danger. Once, Brodie had craved that rush of adrenaline. As a SEAL, he’d always been walking on the edge of death; he’d known that.

But he’d thought the risk was his alone. Until he’d realized that his enemies could follow him home.

“I thought,” Brodie continued, “someone wanted payback because of what we’d done. That our parents were caught in the cross fire because of us.”

He still believed that. Hell, even if Jennifer’s enemies had tracked her to the ranch house in Austin, wasn’t that still on Brodie’s shoulders? He’d been the tie to Jennifer. His parents’ death—

“I thought the same thing.” Davis’s voice was low. “The guilt never stops, does it? They were always there for us, but when they needed our help, when we could have saved them...”

They’d all been too far away.

Brodie’s gaze swung back to the house. “Whoever is after her...that guy was here, taking pictures, days before our parents died. Either he was here his own damn self or he had some flunky doing his dirty work. Maybe her stalker is the one who killed them. Or maybe he saw who did. Either way, I will find that man, and I will make him talk.” Two men had been there the night Brodie’s parents were murdered. The stalker and his flunky? Or someone else?

Brodie marched toward the house.

“She’s planning to leave.”

He swung back around to face Davis.

“She wants me to help her vanish, and I...I gave her the impression I would.”

He stalked right back toward his brother as fury pumped through him. “Want to tell me why the hell you’d do that?” Jennifer can’t vanish. I won’t let her.

I...need her.

“Yeah, I’ll tell you.” Davis rolled back his shoulders and stood toe to toe with Brodie. “Because you keep getting caught in the cross fire when she’s around. I lost my parents. I don’t want to lose my brother, too.”

“You’re not helping her,” Brodie snarled, fighting to keep his fury in check. How could Davis not see the danger? “If she leaves, she’s dead.”

Davis shook his head. “Only if we aren’t keeping an eye on her. Maybe she leaves, and that sicko out there thinks she’s easy pickings. If he goes for her, then we move in on them both.” Davis’s words came out in a rapid-fire burst. “And when we do that, maybe we’ll finally close in on the people who ripped our lives apart.”

“You want her to be bait.” He had to unclench his back teeth in order to force those words out.

Davis didn’t deny the charge. “You got a better idea? I mean, you could always try nearly getting blown to bits again for her, because, you know, that worked out so well for you before.”

His hands were fisted, and it took all his self-control not to take a swing at his twin right then.

“We’d have eyes on her,” Davis continued quickly, as if sensing how close to the edge Brodie might be. “It’s not like she’s a civilian. That woman has training. Let’s use it. Let’s—”

He grabbed Davis by the shirtfront and jerked his brother toward him. “I’m not using her!” His words blasted out. “So come up with a new plan!”

Did Davis really think he’d just put Jennifer at risk? She’d nearly been blown to bits, too. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw that explosion, only in his mind he hadn’t pulled her back quickly enough. She’d screamed for him, and then the world had erupted.

“She is our best plan.” Davis’s voice was soft.

Brodie’s hands fisted in Davis’s shirt. “She’s not yours to risk.” He shoved him back.

Davis swore. “You’re too caught up in her.”

He turned away from his brother. He wasn’t going to argue on this point. Jennifer wouldn’t be put at risk like that. End of damn discussion.

“Why?” Davis called after him. “Why won’t you even consider that this could work?”

“Because she can’t be hurt!”

The lies that she’d told...yeah, he felt the burn of that betrayal. He wouldn’t be trusting her again. But Davis didn’t get it.

I can’t risk her.

He pounded up the steps and shoved open the door. He was aware of Davis following behind him, but he didn’t slow down. He hurried down the hallway and turned toward that second door on the right.

Brodie didn’t waste time knocking. He grabbed the knob, turned it—

Locked.

“Jennifer!” His fist pounded into the door.

She didn’t answer.

Has she already left? “Jennifer!”

Still no response.

So he kicked in that door.

But the room was empty. He ran inside, looking around, searching for her—gone.

He rushed back through the house and nearly knocked Davis to the floor. “She’s gone!”

Davis’s eyes widened. “No...she can’t be—”

She’s gone. “Were you supposed to keep me out there, keep me talking, while she vanished?”

Davis swallowed quickly. “I was going to distract you, but not yet. She would need a ride to get off the ranch and she doesn’t—”

Davis just didn’t seem to understand how determined Jennifer could be. Brodie pushed his brother to the side and ran for the garage. Jennifer didn’t need them to give her car keys. The woman’s whole life was a lie—so Brodie was betting that she knew plenty of handy tricks that would surprise most folks.

Tricks like taking a security system off-line.

The alarm hadn’t sounded when she fled the ranch house, and he’d damn well bet the woman went out one of her bedroom windows.

Tricks like hot-wiring a car.

He ran into the garage and saw a shadow moving inside his SUV. Brodie flew toward that vehicle. He yanked open the driver’s-side door.

Jennifer didn’t even cry out in surprise. She was crouched under the dashboard, her hands working feverishly with the wires. Her head turned slowly toward him.

“Uh, hi there, Brodie...” Jennifer mumbled.

Davis burst into the garage.

Brodie tried to get a stranglehold on his fury. “Going somewhere?” he demanded.

“Um, no.” Her fingers pulled away from the wires. She sat up, rolling her shoulders a bit.

“Jennifer...” Her name was a warning.

“I...might have been going for a little ride.”

Davis hit the lights, and illumination flooded the garage.

Jennifer took one look at Brodie’s face and winced. Then her eyes locked on Davis. “I thought you agreed to keep him busy,” she snapped.

Brodie fired back, saying, “You both thought wrong.”

Her fingers tapped against the wheel.

She looked so damn cute and sexy right then...and he was furious with the woman.

“You walk away from me,” he gritted out, “and you’re a dead woman.”

Jennifer inhaled a sharp breath.

“You came to me because you needed help.” His hands were fisted as he fought the urge to grab her and hold on to her as tightly as he could. “Now you’re running?”

Her gaze rose to meet his. “Now I’m trying to protect you because it seems...” She gave a sad shake of her head. “It’s seems I may have already hurt you enough.”

He stared straight into her eyes. “Leave.”

She blinked. “I, uh, was trying to—”

No, sweetheart, you’re not going any place. “Davis, get out of here now,” he ordered without glancing at his brother. “I’ll deal with you later.”

“Brodie...” Davis wasn’t leaving. Brodie could tell by the sound of his footsteps that his brother was coming closer. “I was going to watch her. I was going to—”

He spun toward his brother. “She wasn’t going to wait for you to follow her! She was going to vanish. She was either going to rush right into a trap that stalker has for her out there or she was just going to disappear completely. Become someone new, someplace new.” How could his brother not see that?

Davis’s eyes narrowed. “I just want to help you.”

“Leave us alone, bro. Just leave us alone.”

Davis gave a curt nod and shuffled back. He stopped near the exit and glared at Jennifer. “Not the plan.”

Then he was gone.

Silence.

Brodie tried to yank back his self-control.

“Your brother is angry with me.”

He caught her wrists. Curled his fingers around the delicate bones and pulled her from the vehicle. He had to touch her. Had to know that she was still there, that she hadn’t vanished from his life. “You don’t need to worry about him. Worry about me.”

She yanked away from him.

Brodie slammed the SUV’s door, and before she could flee, he pinned her against the side of the vehicle. “You aren’t going to disappear.”

Her dark gaze searched his. “Even if that’s what is best for you?”

“Let me worry about what’s best for me.” His body pressed to hers. Fury was tight within him, but desire was there, too. Whenever he was close to her, need, hunger, lust built within him.

The woman was dangerous. Not to be trusted.

And he wanted her still.

“I don’t want you to get hurt.” Her voice was husky, seeming to stroke right over him.

“And I don’t want you to get killed,” Brodie told her.

Her lashes lifted.

“If you go out there alone,” Brodie pushed, “with no backup, what do you think will happen?” He knew... She’ll die.

Her hands pressed to his chest, as if she’d shove him back. She didn’t, and the heat from her palms seemed to burn right through his shirt.

“I didn’t think about the risk to you,” Jennifer said, voice soft. “I’m so sorry. I—”

His lips took hers. The kiss was angry, because he was angry. Angry and hungry because the woman had twisted him up with fury and desire.

Letting her go wasn’t an option. Davis needed to see that. Jennifer needed to see that. He had to keep her close because if something happened to her, Brodie wasn’t sure what he’d do.

When did she get to me? When did she slip beneath my guard?

She still wasn’t pushing him away. Instead, Jennifer was kissing him back with a fury of her own. She’d risen onto her tiptoes and her hands now curled around his shoulders as she pressed her body to his.

She had to feel his desire. He couldn’t control it and wouldn’t hide it. From now on, there would be no hiding, not for either of them.

“Don’t leave,” he whispered against her lips.

Her head moved back a bit. Her mouth was red from his kiss. Her eyes were wide. “I never meant to hurt you or your family. When I came to the ranch before, years ago, I only wanted to repay my debt to you. I swear that was all I wanted.”

He kissed her again. Pain clawed inside of him as he thought of his family, and he didn’t want to head into that darkness, not then. He wanted to sink into her, to ride the rush of passion between them and to just let everything else go. He wanted to but—

He smelled smoke.

Brodie’s head whipped up.

“Brodie?”

He inhaled deeply. Damn it, that was smoke, and the stalker who was after Jennifer had already proven just how much he liked fires.

He ran out of the garage, and his gaze immediately flew to the ranch house. Part of him had expected to see his home engulfed in flames.

It wasn’t burning. But I smell smoke.

Davis hurried toward him. “What’s happening?”

Brodie spun toward the stables. They looked fine, but he and his brother hurried inside them, checking on the horses just to be safe.

When he turned back around, Jennifer was there. Her arms were wrapped around her stomach as she stood in that open stable doorway.

He blinked, realizing she could have fled. When he’d been distracted by the scent of the smoke, Jennifer could have jumped back into his SUV and raced away.

She hadn’t. She’d come to check on the horses, too.

“The fire isn’t in here,” Brodie said as he marched past her. He reached for her hand and pulled her with him. The night sky was dark—no stars were out, so he couldn’t see anything overhead.

But the scent of smoke was drifting to him on the breeze.

“It’s coming from the east,” Davis muttered.

The Montgomery ranch was to the east. The Montgomerys were the only close neighbors that the McGuires had. If you counted being ten miles away as close.

When Ava had stumbled onto the scene of their parents’ murder years before, she’d saddled her horse and raced like mad toward the Montgomery ranch. Mark Montgomery had protected her, kept her safe—

We owe him.

“Let’s go,” Brodie said. If there was a fire out there, he had to help.

* * *

JENNIFER DIDN’T THINK they were chasing a wildfire. Not with the deadly chain of events that had become her life. So as Brodie drove his SUV toward what he’d called the Montgomery ranch and as the scent of smoke deepened in the air around them, she knew they’d be finding trouble.

Danger.

They drove through a big, open wrought-iron gate and down a long winding road that led to—

“Fire,” Davis snapped. “I can see it. Damn it, his stables are burning!”

Brodie braked to a fast stop. Everyone jumped out of the vehicle and rushed toward the blaze. Jennifer could see men struggling to lead blindfolded horses out of what was quickly turning into an inferno, even as two other men tried to spray water onto the growing flames.

Davis and Brodie—they were running right toward the fire.

“Brodie!” she yelled.

He didn’t stop. He ran forward. Grabbed the reins of a blindfolded horse. “I’ve got him, Mark,” he told the man who’d been pulling the horse.

Mark immediately ran back into the flames. Davis was at his heels.

Jennifer hurried to help Brodie secure the horse, moving the animal well away from the flames. She could hear the sound of the fire crackling around her. The horses still inside the stable were screaming, terrible, desperate sounds.

She counted five horses that had been removed from the stables. How many were still inside?

Davis ran out with another horse.

The screaming continued.

While Davis brought the horse toward her, Brodie sped into the burning stables.

No!

Davis tied the horse to the tree. He coughed a bit. “I think there are four more in—”

She ran past him and into the blaze. The flames were so hot, she could feel the fire lancing over her skin. Jennifer coughed, choking on the smoke, and she crouched low as she tried to get access to clearer air. The horses were screaming, the flames still crackling—the sound eerily like laughter—and, above her, Jennifer could hear the creak and groan of wood. Was that roof about to break? To snap apart?

Fire was racing everywhere—up the walls, tearing through the hay. She fought her way to the stall on the right. A black foal was in there, huddled near the back of the stall. The foal’s eyes were rolling and when she tried to approach the horse, it struck out at her.

“Easy,” Jennifer whispered as she put up her hands. Could the animal even hear her over the flames? “I’m just trying to get us both out of here alive.”

The foal wasn’t harnessed. Jennifer grabbed for a blanket on the right, and she tried to cover the foal’s eyes. The animal was shuddering and still kicking, but Jennifer managed to steer it out of the stall.

“Get out of here!” Brodie was at Jennifer’s side. His face was streaked with black ash. “The roof is going to fall in!”

She pulled the foal with her. “Come on,” Jennifer whispered to the foal. “Come...”

Brodie yanked the foal forward. They all tumbled outside, and Jennifer gulped in fresh air greedily. Her lungs were aching, and she couldn’t seem to suck that air in fast enough—not with the coughs that racked her.

A young male—it looked as if he was in his teens—hurried forward and took the foal.

Brodie grabbed her arms. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yes...”

“What were you thinking? Why would you go in there?”

He was angry? Seriously? Because she was helping? “Why would you go in?” she yelled right back at him. “Because I didn’t want to listen to those poor animals die!”

“You don’t—”

“Brodie!” Davis called for his brother. “Mark is still inside. The roof is about to go, and he’s in there!”

Jennifer’s gaze swung toward Davis. He was running into the fire.

“No,” Brodie whispered.

But Davis had gone inside.

“Brodie...”

He tore away from Jennifer and ran after his brother. Jennifer rushed forward, running behind him. Brodie had just cleared the gaping entrance to the stables when the roof collapsed.

A ball of flames seemed to fly into the dark sky.

“Brodie!” Jennifer screamed and headed right for the fire.

Hard arms grabbed her from behind. She was pulled away from the burning stables even as she fought to get inside. “Stop!” she screamed. “I need to get in there! Brodie’s inside! Davis is in there and—”

“I want my brothers out, too,” a rough voice growled behind her, “but I can’t let you die for them.”

Her head turned. She saw Mac McGuire staring back at her with wild eyes. He was as big as Brodie, just as muscled and with a grip that was just as powerful—and unbreakable.

She stopped struggling.

“Stay here,” Mac ordered. “Or Brodie will kill me.”

If he isn’t already dead...

Then Mac freed her and shot right toward the flames. Wait, he thought she’d just stand there while he faced death? While Brodie burned? The guy didn’t know her at all. But then...none of them did. No one had ever really known her.

Wasn’t that the problem?

Ranch hands were still trying to spray water on the flames, but the fire was too far out of control. She knew time was of the essence. If Brodie and Davis didn’t get out, they were dead.

The scene was chaos. The ranch hands were running everywhere, and two horses were racing around wildly. She dodged the horses and made her way back to—

“Got you.”

Once more, hard arms had closed around Jennifer, but this time, fear raced through her. An instinctive, chilling fear. She couldn’t see who held her, and when Jennifer opened up her mouth to scream, he put his hand over her mouth. She was fighting fiercely, but he was too strong for her. Every move that she used against him, every kick, every twist of her body, he seemed to anticipate.

Her captor didn’t lead her toward the fire.

He didn’t lead her toward the sprawling ranch house that she could see about fifty yards away.

He took her away from the light. Away from everyone else.

He’s going to kill me.

Now she understood what was happening. Her stalker hadn’t been able to reach her at the McGuire ranch, so he’d lured her and Brodie out into the open.

Another fire...

Only she hadn’t been meant to die in those flames. The fire had been the distraction. His way of catching her off guard.

She heaved against his hold, and then Jennifer felt something sharp press into her neck. A knife.

Jennifer froze, fearing that he was going to kill her right then. He could. One fast swipe of his knife, and it would be over for her.

“It won’t be that easy,” he whispered into her ear. “You’ll suffer...just as I did.” Then he kept dragging her back, far away from the others.

No, no! She could still see the flames. In a few more moments, she wouldn’t, though, because they’d be too far away. No one would be able to help her.

Brodie. I was supposed to help Brodie! He’s still in the flames!

Ignoring that knife, Jennifer drove her elbow into her attacker’s gut with all her strength. Groaning, he jerked back.

She lunged forward, racing away from him as fast as she could.