Fatal Dreams (COBRA Securities Book 17)

by Velvet Vaughn

  “Ethan.” She had a feeling if it was just him, he’d have hit the hard concrete without regard for his body. But he knew the ground would be a softer surface. He was so thoughtful.

  Half an hour later, Ethan and Kayla returned. Lumi threw her arms around him. He looked panicked but accepted the hug and even returned it before stepping back.

  “Thank you for keep Esme safe.”

  He nodded. “Along those lines, it’s time to consider closing.” When they both opened their mouths to protest, he held up a hand. “Until the perp is caught.”

  “Perp? That’s his name?” Lumi asked.

  “Short for perpetrator,” Esme informed her. Hey, she watched Law and Order: SVU and NCIS Los Angeles. She knew the lingo. “And no.”

  “Hear me out,” Ethan tried but she shook her head.

  “This is our livelihood, Ethan. We can’t let some psycho run us out of business.”

  “Others have tried,” Lumi added. “None have nor will succeed.”

  “Besides, we’re already struggling with bad publicity after Merle’s death and from being closed so much lately. Any more might do us in for good.”

  He grumbled under his breath but didn’t argue further. She figured he already knew what their answer would be to his suggestion.

  Lumi gasped when he walked past them. “Ethan, you’re bleeding.”

  Esme spun around to see the deep red stain on his gray polo shirt and streaks of blood running down his arm.

  “It’s just a graze,” he insisted.

  Esme latched onto a belt loop and dragged him to a halt to inspect the wound. She carefully peeled the edge of the sleeve away to reveal a deep groove on the back of his triceps.

  She turned, his pants still firmly in her grip and started for the door. He hastily back peddled to keep up with her.

  “What are you doing, Esme?”

  “We’re going to the hospital. You need stitches.”

  “It’s just a scratch,” he argued digging his feet. She yanked and he yelped but didn’t move.

  “Fine. Die of an open wound. See if I care.”

  She stalked off to her shop, pulling out her phone as she went. When she was out of range, she dialed his brother.

  “Addison.”

  “Noah, this is Esme Jovanovich.”

  He was instantly alert. “What happened? Is Ethan okay?”

  “Someone shot at us today and Ethan protected me, but a bullet grazed his arm. I’m trying to get him to go to the—” She gasped when the phone was jerked from her hand.

  He narrowed his eyes at her. “You told on me?” He put the phone to his ear. “I’m fine, Noah. It’s not even a scratch.” He listened as his brother said something. “Right. It’s nothing. Glad you believe me. I’ll talk to you later.” He disconnected and handed back her phone. “Yeah, he’ll be here soon.”

  “But you just said he believed you.”

  “He was humoring me.”

  #

  Oracle carefully slid the window shut with a gloved hand and stashed the rifle inside the guitar case. The cops would be arriving soon and there needed to be no sign of life in the house. The owners were on a cruise and had hired a service to water their plants. A little snooping into the company’s ridiculously easy to hack system and it was a piece of cake to break in and set up to take the shot.

  Oracle’s purpose had been achieved: to let Esme know she wasn’t safe, even with the huge bodyguard surrounding her. She’d be dead right now if it served the purpose, but Oracle wanted to play with her some more. It was all a game of cat and mouse and Oracle was most definitely a saber-toothed tiger.

  The guitar case was stashed in the back seat and Oracle was leisurely driving away as the first siren sounded.

  #

  It was only a scratch, but it stung like it was on fire. Ethan knew it probably needed a couple of stitches, but he planned on slapping on some butterfly bandages and calling it good. Now that Noah knew, he’d probably bring his field kit and sew him up himself.

  It took guts for someone to shoot at them in broad daylight. He’d caught a flash of the rifle from the attic of a house down the street. He’d instructed the cops where to look but the perp would be long gone. If he’d wanted to hurt them, he’d have kept shooting. When they hit the ground, they’d been at his mercy, but no more shots rang out. Ethan figured it was more of a warning than anything else.

  A knock sounded on the back door. Knowing it was Noah, he headed for it, but Lumi beat him to it.

  “Oh my,” she gasped, her head darting between them. “You look like twins. You must be Noah.”

  “I am. Nice to meet you, Ms. Cosmescu.”

  “Please, it’s Lumi. Come in. Oh, I see you’re not alone.”

  Ethan’s lips twisted to see his sister bop in behind Noah. He narrowed his eyes at his brother, but he just shrugged.

  “You look like the boys,” Lumi remarked. “Maggie?”

  Maggie’s smile was wide. “It’s so nice to meet you. This is my friend, Dr. Amelia Howell.”

  “Really, Noah? You brought Doc?”

  Noah ignored him, manhandling him so he could check the wound. He probed at the grove in his arm and Ethan bit back a groan.

  “Can we borrow a bathroom?” Amelia asked. “I’ll get him patched up.”

  “Sure. It’s down the hall, second door on the left,” Lumi informed her.

  Resigned to his fate, Ethan trudged after Amelia. Family could be such pains in the ass. Maggie proved it by saying, “Hurry Ame, you wouldn’t believe all the cool things in Esme’s shop.”

  “I’ll be fine,” he called over his shoulder.

  “I know,” came her cheeky response. He heard Esme’s tinkling laughter and he frowned harder. Where was the sympathy? Not that he actually wanted nor needed it.

  Noah followed them inside and propped a shoulder against the wall. “Tell me what happened.”

  He opened his mouth to recount the events but what came out was, “Ow.”

  “Just an antibiotic,” Amelia murmured, recapping the syringe.

  “A little notice next time would be appreciated.” He gritted his teeth as she swabbed the blood from his arm and applied butterfly bandages. Hell, he could’ve done that.

  “The cut’s in a bad place where stitches would most likely pull, and you would rip them out.”

  Why was everyone ragging on him when he was the injured party? When she finished, Noah tossed him a clean shirt. “Thanks.” He tugged it over his head, hiding a grimace when the cut pinched.

  Amelia slapped a package of bandages in his hand. “I’m sure you have plenty of these on hand, but just in case.”

  “Thanks, Doc. Aren’t you leaving soon?”

  “Yeah, I’m just finishing up at the hospital and then I’m off.” Amelia was scheduled for a stint with Doctor’s International before coming to work for COBRA Securities full time. Luke and Logan were building a facility that would house her office, a surgery center with all the equipment she’d need, and recovery rooms designed and outfitted to her specifications. “I’ll check on you later. Now, I have some shopping to do.”

  Once Amelia left, he recounted the shooting to Noah, including his thoughts on it being only a warning shot.

  “I agree,” Noah said. “If he wanted to do damage, he’d have shot again when you were down.”

  “Exactly. There’s something I want to run by you and Kayla.” They found the other agent in the shop with the women and he called her over. “It’s not safe for Esme to stay here any longer, especially after the sniper took a shot today.”

  “Bring her to the compound,” Noah said.

  “That’s the plan, but I’m not sure she’ll leave her aunt or Sophie.”

  “I’ll still watch over Lumi,” Kayla said. “Sophie, too, when she’s here. That might calm her worries.”

  “It might,” he agreed. “You’re okay with us leaving here after the shop closes at night?”

  “Sure. I agree it’s the sa
fe option.”

  They returned to Esme’s shop to see his sister and Amelia practically buying out her inventory. “What?” Maggie said when he lifted a brow at the row of candles on the checkout counter. “I couldn’t decide which I liked best, so I’m buying one of each.”

  “Me, too,” Amelia announced, using a forearm to shove Maggie’s bounty aside, making room for her own. “Look at that necklace,” she cooed and soon she and Maggie were trying on jewelry.

  “Can you believe them, Noah?” He chuckled and glanced at his brother…who wasn’t beside him anymore. “Noah?” He turned to see his brother picking out his own selection of goodies. “Peyton loves candles,” he claimed in his own defense.

  He glanced at Esme and the look of sheer joy on her face slammed into his gut so hard, he physically took a step back. He was relieved his brother was preoccupied and missed his reaction. Again. He felt a swell of pride that it was his family making her so happy. She was chatting away with Maggie and Amelia like they were old friends. Damn, he wanted to see that look on her face every day for the rest of his life. Another step back. The rest of his life?

  Could it be possible that he was in love with her? His breathing became ragged and sweat dotted his brow. He fell in and out of love easily…or so he thought. He loved the woman he was with at the time, but the feelings quickly faded. The sensations he was experiencing now were nothing like any he’d felt before. It was as if Esme had reached into his chest and was holding his heart in the palm of her hand. She had the power to keep it beating or stop it altogether. She held his fate in her soft hands.

  Damn, he loved her. He loved Esme Jovanovich. He never saw that one coming.

  #

  Esme adored Ethan’s sister Maggie and her college roommate, Dr. Amelia Howell. It was hard to believe sweet, beautiful Maggie was an agent, able to kick butt and take names. Like Kayla, she could rake in big bucks as a runway model. Noah looked so adorable and boyish as he purchased a selection of candles for his girlfriend. She wrapped them with tissue paper and a bow and packaged them in a fancy gift bag. The women didn’t want theirs wrapped since they bought them for themselves. She’d sold each of them a piece of Lyra’s jewelry, too. Maggie and Amelia chose necklaces, while Noah opted for a pair of earrings she also wrapped up for him.

  “You should see the pieces Lyra’s creating with Tyler that include weapons,” Maggie told Amelia. “I requested a bracelet with a hidden dagger that would pass through a metal detector.”

  “Oh, that would be good for me to take on my trip,” Amelia agreed.

  Once the orders had been processed, each of the women hugged her. She was sad to see them leave. She felt comfortable with them and hoped they would become friends.

  It’d been a record-setting day for Esme’s shop. Granted, Ethan’s family accounted for seventy percent of it, but customers had filed in most of the day. She wondered if Maggie and Amelia had called everyone they knew. She had to ask Ethan to bring supplies from the storage room. Her supply of candles had been severely depleted. Lyra’s pieces had taken a major hit, too. She’d called her to let her know and she’d been over the moon, promising to stop in tomorrow to replenish her inventory.

  With everything that had been happening, she hadn’t approached Lyra about working in the shop full-time. It would be a blessing for Esme. Not only would she enjoy her company, but right now, it was hard to take any kind of a break.

  Ethan placed a box of soaps on the counter. They were alone for the first time in hours. “Your family is awesome,” she said. “I love them. Amelia, too.”

  “Yeah, they’re pretty great.”

  “I’d love to meet your parents, too.” Not that she was hinting around about being introduced to her future in laws. Much. “They sound interesting.”

  “Oh, Moon Beam and Sun Ray are a hoot.”

  She smiled at him. “I can’t believe you’re the product of hippies. Noah or Maggie, either. You’re all so…”

  “Normal?” he supplied.

  “I guess, but that’s not fair to your parents. I’m sure they’re very lovely people.”

  “They totally are, but it was an unconventional childhood, that’s for sure.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Ethan washed his hands and had just stepped out of the bathroom when he heard Esme scream. Fear sent him bolting for her shop, anger sent him lunging for the man about to grab her.

  “Touch her and die,” he growled, digging his Sig Sauer into the man’s brain stem.

  The man stopped cold and both hands shot into the air.

  “Drop to your knees, slime ball,” Kayla ordered, circling around to cover him from the front.

  “Ethan, Kayla stop,” Esme ordered, grabbing his arm. “Put the guns away. This is my friend Trevor.” It took a few seconds for her words to penetrate with the adrenalin flowing through his veins. When he didn’t respond soon enough, she barked, “Ethan! Gun down now.”

  His arm slowly lowered, and he stepped back. He shot a look at Kayla to realize she’d already holstered her weapon and with a wave, disappeared.

  The man turned and leveled a hostile glare at him. “Damn, that’s not the welcome I was expecting.”

  Ethan gritted his teeth and forced his arm to stay put. It really wanted to aim the gun at the man’s smirking face.

  Flicking one more inimical glance his way, the man smiled wide and opened his arms to Esme. “I’ve missed you, darling.” Then he scooped her up.

  That’s it. Ethan was putting a bullet in him. That’s all there was to it. He even raised the gun. Esme eyed him from over the man’s shoulder and mouthed the word, “No.”

  “Yes,” he mouthed back. And if the man didn’t release her in the next second, he’d be getting two bullets.

  Thankfully, he did, and Ethan relaxed.

  “Ethan, this is Trevor Bowers. He’s Lumi’s friend Ethel’s grandson and a dear friend.”

  “Come on, Luv, we’re more than that,” he winked at her and tossed an arm over her shoulder. He was up to three bullets now.

  “Stop, Trev,” she chastised. “This is Ethan Addison.”

  Trevor didn’t offer his hand, but then, neither did Ethan.

  “So, you’re what, the guard dog,” Trevor sniggered and smacked Ethan on the arm. Right on his bullet wound. Stars exploded in his eyes and he bit his tongue to keep from yelping in pain.

  Having obviously noticed his discomfort, Esme hurried to him. “Oh, Ethan, your injury.”

  “It’s fine,” he managed between gritted teeth. She ignored him to fuss over him, lifting the sleeve to check the bandages that he could feel had loosened.

  “Did I do that?” Trevor asked.

  “No, a bullet did,” Esme answered.

  “A bullet? Really?” Trevor leaned closer to inspect the wound. “It looks more like something Whiskers, my granny’s cat, might do, and he’s been declawed.”

  “Four,” Ethan snarled.

  “Four what?” Esme asked as she smoothed the bandages back in place.

  “Nothing,” he muttered, lowering his sleeve. He’d had just about enough of this little reunion. Before he could send Trevor on his way, his phone buzzed. He lifted it to see Detective Hurley’s name on the screen. “Excuse…” his apology died on his lips. Esme and Trevor were chatting away and laughing, having completely forgotten his existence. With a sigh, he stepped into the hallway to answer.

  “What’s up?”

  “A crew canvassed the area, but there was no sign of the shooter. The house where you pegged the shot from is empty right now. The owners are out of town. They did find where dust had been disturbed in the attic, but no prints.”

  “I don’t suppose any of the neighbors saw anything, either?”

  “You suppose correctly. We’re ramping up patrols in the area.”

  “Thanks, Frank, I appreciate it.”

  He disconnected and glanced back into the shop. Trevor said something that made Esme throw her head back in laughter. Ethan couldn
’t look away. She had a hold on him. It pained him, physically pained him, to see another man touch her. He had no right to be jealous. He had no hold over her. Sure, their chemistry was off the charts, but that didn’t give him the right to dictate who she was friends with or how to act around other men.

  He couldn’t watch anymore. Turning away, he leaned against the wall. Jealousy was a foreign emotion for him. He couldn’t ever remember being jealous of anyone in his life. He had a hefty dose of his parents laid back attitudes in his DNA. Things rolled off his back. But today, he’d almost shot a man four times just for touching Esme.

  “They’ve been friends since they were young.”

  He hadn’t even heard Lumi approach, that’s how tied up he was inside. He affected a casual air. “That’s nice.”

  She smiled and patted his arm. “There’s nothing romantic between them. Never has been. They’re more like brother and sister.”

  “I didn’t—”

  “Come, let’s have some tea.”

  She took his hand and he had no choice but to follow. He hated tea but there’s no way he’d tell her that. God, he hoped she didn’t try to read his fortune in the leaves or something.

  Once they were seated at the table, he took a sip. It was pretty good, but not something he’d drink regularly.

  Lumi was holding her cup in both hands and staring at him over the rim. “You’re a good man, Ethan Addison.”

  “Uh, thanks.” He wasn’t sure what to say.

  “Esme is special. She’s strong-willed and can be impetuous sometimes, but she’s also very sensitive and caring and the most special person in the world. Knowing you’re watching out for her makes it easier for me to sleep at night.”

  What would she think if she could read his thoughts about how much he wanted to strip Esme naked right now and lick every delectable inch of her incredible body? Or that he planned to do just that tonight? Oh hell, she read fortunes. She probably knew already.

  Since he had Lumi alone, he wanted to broach the subject of Esme’s security. “I don’t know that it’s safe for Esme to stay here, especially after a sniper took a shot today.”

  A troubled expression crossed Lumi’s face. “Where would she go?”