The Reckoning

by Kathryn Shay

  Instead, he was the one damaged, maybe irrevocably.

  Much as she had before, Bailey got up and came to him. She kissed his cheek.

  “I’m not here to make up, Bailey.”

  “So you said. Want coffee?”

  “No.” He sat in the empty chair between her and Liam. Figures, they were the hardest to ignore. “I’m only here to tell you that Jamie won’t accept protection from me, and I want you to do something about it.”

  “Why should she, after the way you treated her?” Pat accused.

  Kinley felt like he landed in Oz. “Christ, Pat, this is all your fault.”

  “Oh, yeah, sure, blame me.”

  “It is what it is. Now she’s in danger. So are you, but I’d guess Clay is handling that for his family.”

  “Yes, he is,” Bailey told him.

  “Can she be a part of that? I’ll pay for anything, even ex Secret Service agents.”

  “She said she won’t take money from you, right?” Bailey asked.

  “Yes, but you can convince her otherwise. I don’t care who pays for it, she needs protection.” His voice had risen on the second part of his statement.

  Dylan sat back and folded his arms across his chest. “Why do you care?”

  “You idiot. I’m in love with her.”

  “Hell of a way to show it.” This from Aidan.

  Kinley started to rise. Liam grabbed his arm. “All of us have done some things we’re not proud of to the women we love. It can be fixed.”

  “Yeah, what’d you do, Liam? Raise your voice?”

  Chuckles across the table.

  “No, hotshot. I kicked Sophie out of my life when I knew how much we both cared about each other. I alienated her from me and the kids. I couldn’t risk something happening to her and how it would affect my children, mostly Mikey.” Liam’s eyes were so sincere. So caring. Kinley felt himself falling for his explanation.

  He stood before he capitulated, this time brushing away Liam’s grip. “This is getting way off track. I want your help in protecting someone you all profess to love.”

  “I’ll do it,” Bailey said. “I’ll convince her to let us arrange protection. Mother to mother, she can’t say no.”

  “I appreciate that.” He started away. But she stood and put her hand on his arm. “What?”

  “I’ll take care of her. On one condition.”

  He scanned the group. “Does she always get her way like this?”

  Four yeses around the table. Then Aidan leaned forward. “And she taught Moira how to do it.”

  “Damn it, you play dirty, too.”

  Fuming, Jamie got Ben settled in a room that was a little boy’s dream. Dragons and wizards formed a border around the ceiling, the walls were painted a light blue. The bed itself was fashioned as a racecar. Scattered around the rug were more toys than she could count. “Okay, time to sleep.” She leaned over and kissed him.

  “Will Kinley come in and say goodnight?” Ben asked.

  She didn’t know. He was as mad as she was about Bailey’s conditions, but he didn’t ignore them, so here she and Ben were, living in Kinley’s apartment until Nigel Pembroke was caught.

  Kinley appeared at the doorway. “I came to say goodnight.”

  “I’ll leave you to it.”

  She brushed past him. Being in his company was excruciating. She went to the room she’d been assigned, another dream boudoir. He probably hadn’t had to change this guest room like he had Ben’s, getting everything done in two days.

  The walls were taupe but the accents were bright peach and green and blue. A huge bed. Dressers. Big windows, even a sitting area off the private bath. Nothing but luxury for Kinley Moran. She dropped down on the bed, absolutely miserable, and put her head in her hands.

  “Jamie?”

  She lowered her hands.

  “Are you going to sleep?” He hadn’t changed out of work clothes, but he’d ditched the suitcoat, rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt and kicked off his shoes.

  “Are you going back to the office?”

  “Not tonight. We don’t have full bodyguard staffing yet, so I’ll work from home.” He took a bead on her. “What’s wrong?”

  She waved to the apartment. “This whole thing is. I don’t want to be here; you don’t want us here. The only happy one is Ben.”

  Sighing, he jammed his hands in his pockets. “Why do you think Bailey did this?”

  “When Bailey gets an idea in her head, it generally can’t be shaken loose.”

  “What does she hope will happen?”

  “I do believe she’s worried about me and Ben. But she wants more. She wants us back together. She thinks proximity will do the trick.”

  “That isn’t going to happen.”

  “So you said.”

  “Surely you don’t think, after what you did, there could ever be a future for us?”

  “No, you’ve made that very clear. And no, I’m not glad we’re here. It hurts to be around you.”

  “It hurts to be around you. Let’s make sure our contact is minimized.”

  “All right. Then go away now.”

  He seemed startled at her dismissal. Eventually, he turned and walked out.

  As the door closed, Jamie burst into the tears she’d held back all day after moving in with Kinley.

  Kinley finally gave up at midnight and went to bed. On his way, he stopped to see if Ben was okay. The boy lay on his stomach in the racecar bed, sleeping soundly. For a minute, he allowed himself the fantasy of being Ben’s father, tucking him in every night, then going to Jamie, who’d be waiting in their king-size bed. They’d make exquisite love and lay looking up through the skylights, planning their future.

  “Arrgh.” He stripped, hit the bathroom then climbed into bed, willing himself to sleep.

  But then he started thinking about Nigel and how the man had gone off the deep end. In the darkness of the night, he had to wonder if he himself had done a similar thing. Gotten blinded by revenge. Consumed by his plan to hurt the O’Neils like Nigel had tried to hurt him. He hated the comparison. Was he an awful person who could have had a family—the O’Neils and Jamie and Ben had it not been for his blinding sense of jealousy and retribution? He dozed off mired in regret.

  The next thing he knew, the sun’s rays peeked into his room. Usually he got up at the crack of dawn. He did his morning thing then walked out to the living room. Jamie sat with Ben watching cartoons. Cartoons had never been on in this house. The notion brought back some of the reminders of last night. “Hi.”

  A smile that killed him spread across Jamie’s face. “Morning. Did we wake you?”

  Ben bolted off the couch and raced to him, hugged him tight. “I love my bed and the dragons and the games and puzzle. Thanks, Kinley.”

  “Those are Kinley’s belongings, honey. We’re only visiting.”

  “But he doesn’t need them. Why can’t they be mine?”

  He tousled Ben’s hair. “When you go back home, I’ll send them along with you.”

  “Kinley…”

  “Let me get some coffee.” He noticed her cup. “Want some?”

  “I should wait on you,” she said holding out the mug. “You’re being so generous. Even if Bailey had to twist both our arms to get us to do this.”

  “Bailey hurt you?” Ben asked, with owl eyes.

  “No, Ben, it’s an expression. Now go back to your TV.” When Ben was situated, she stood. Her pink satiny pajamas clung to her curves. “Can we talk over at the breakfast table after you’ve had coffee?”

  “Come now.” He sighed as he got their drinks and brought them to the table. He sat adjacent to her, and the flowery scent that was from the lotion she used wafted over to him. “Where should we start?”

  “I don’t know the plan. All I know is Bailey coerced us into doing this.”

  A corner of his mouth turned up. “How’d she coerce you?”

  “Mom-to-Mom. She said I had to do this for Ben. Grandma wa
nted to go stay with her sister upstate and their driver took her. But she said I had to come here to be truly safe.” Jamie pushed back some of that silky brown hair. It was loose this morning, falling down her back. “How’d she get to you?”

  “Um…”

  “How?”

  “I wanted you to get protection right away. I said I’d pay for it. She said she’d arrange the perfect protection, on one condition. I still can’t believe she made this happen.”

  “Don’t you know her history? She got kids out of gangs for years. Revolutionized law enforcement’s treatment of gang members. Started Guardian. And of course, she was first lady of the U.S. and made huge strides in education.”

  “I should have expected her to pull something on a grand scale.”

  “What’s the plan, Kinley? Ben and I can’t stay cooped up here until Nigel’s caught.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because we have a life. Ben has to finish kindergarten. I have graduation coming up. And I need to support myself. I have interviews for teaching jobs already arranged.”

  “All that can be put on hold.”

  “Are you going to stay here with us?”

  “No, I’ve got to work.” He checked the clock on the wall. “As a matter of fact, I have to get ready. Tom will be here in an hour.”

  “Are people assigned to me and Ben?”

  “I called him a few days ago to arrange for that. He’s bringing them over today. I’d rather have you stay inside, but I knew you’d balk.”

  She sighed. “When will Nigel be caught?”

  “I don’t know. But I do know he’ll try to hurt me or the people I love. Maybe physically. Maybe other ways I haven’t thought of.” He stood. “If you’ll excuse me.”

  “All right.”

  He had to touch her. He had to. He grasped her arms.

  “I’ve missed your hands on me,” she whispered.

  He closed his eyes. How on earth was he going to stay sane, stay away from her when he missed her hands on him, too?

  Jamie was dressed and ready to meet her new bodyguards. She was hoping one of them could take Ben to school at eleven. She’d packed enough clothes for a few days and wore plain jeans with a peach T-shirt.

  Kinley came out dressed in a suit.

  “Where you going, Kinley?” Ben asked.

  “I have to go to work.”

  “You said you’d show me how to play Knights Honor.”

  “I will. When I get back. I’ll try to be home by five.”

  “’Kay.”

  Jamie tousled his hair. “Go into the bedroom and comb this mop. Play with your toys until I call you.”

  Kinley answered the buzzer and told Mitchell to let the bodyguards up after he checked their ID’s. Jess Harper had given him a description of each. When they arrived, he saw they fit it.

  “Come in,” Kinley said rather stiffly.

  Two people, probably in their thirties, entered the apartment. The female dressed in a suit and the male was in casual clothes. “Mike Johnson,” the guy said shaking Kinley’s hand. The woman introduced herself as Karen Lawrence.

  “This is Jamie Ralston and her son Ben.”

  “Can we sit and discuss how this is going to shake out?”

  Jamie asked after the introductions.

  They took chairs at the table by the big window again. “So, who’s assigned to whom?” Jamie wanted to know.

  “I usually take the kids,” Karen told her. “I have a degree in child psychology. Mike’s talents fit you better and should be assigned to you.”

  Mike smiled pleasantly.

  “I don’t want Jamie to go out.” Kinley seemed agitated.

  “Well, I’m going out when I have an appointment or work.”

  “She shouldn’t be in public places.” He looked over to Ben’s room. “The boy should stay inside, too.”

  “Life usually has to go on,” Mike said. “That’s our specialty.”

  Jamie took a bead on Kinley. “You’re going to work. And you’re the real target.”

  “That’s why he got Jess Harper,” Karen explained.

  Jamie had more questions. “We haven’t told Ben anything except we were moving in here.”

  “Go get him, Jamie.” This from Kinley again.

  When she returned with her son, Ben said, “Holy cow! Are these people staying here, too?”

  “In a way.” Karen approached him and knelt down in front of him. “Did your mom tell you that someone is mad at her and Kinley?”

  “No, but I heard them talking about it.”

  “We’re afraid he might try to hurt you, too.”

  Ben backed away and grabbed Jamie behind the knees.

  “Isn’t this too much information for a little child?”

  Karen kept her face neutral. “He’s got to know the circumstances so he takes this seriously. Doesn’t talk to strangers. I’ll go over all that with him.”

  “I know what bodyguards do,” Ben mumbled. “And why they come.” He looked up at Karen. “Are you taking me to school today?”

  “He should stay home from school for a few days.” This time, it was more of an order from Kinley than a request.

  “If you want.” Mike nodded to Jamie. “What do you think?”

  “Nope. We go to school and work.”

  “Hell.”

  Mike turned to Kinley. “Don’t worry, I won’t take my eyes off Jamie.”

  That didn’t seem to help Kinley’s mood.

  Nigel sat back and stared at the computer. He’d finished the new plan since his first one crashed and burned. He’d have to scare them from a distance for a while. He scanned what he’d written. This would certainly put the fear of God in all of them.

  But it wasn’t enough for his revenge on Kinley.

  No, Nigel needed to kill the man!

  Chapter 14

  Three days after they moved into Kinley’s apartment, Ben’s fascination with living at such a cool place wore off. “I wanna go!”

  “Honey, it’s afternoon on a day off from school. You need to rest for a while. We always do that.”

  “But I can’t go out and play up here. We’ve been inside forever ‘cept for me to go to school.”

  “I know. All right, let me call Mike and Karen.”

  “No, just you and me.”

  “Absolutely not, young man. If you want to go to the park, they go with us.”

  “Who’s tryin’ to hurt us?”

  “A man who has a grudge against…us.” In reality, it was only Kinley who Nigel wanted to hurt, but she wouldn’t poison Ben’s mind against the man she loved.

  “What’d we do?”

  “He thinks we hurt his family.”

  “Did we?”

  She stood to end the conversation. “Go put your sneakers on and I’ll call Mike and Karen.”

  Who were lovely people. They slid seamlessly into the job. Right now, they were across the hall in what was a storage room turned into a surveillance site where they kept an eye on Kinley’s front door through closed circuit cameras. They also checked on Kinley, Jamie and Ben several times a day if they hadn’t gone anywhere together.

  Before she could pick up the phone, the intercom buzzed.

  Jamie pressed the button. “Who is it Mitchell?”

  “Portia Lincoln. She’s Kinley’s cousin. Before all this, she had approval to come up anytime.”

  Jamie had heard stories about her. “All right, let her up. And call the room to tell the bodyguards.”

  There was a knock on the door. Jamie checked the camera then opened the door. “I’m Portia. This is my bodyguard. I came over because Kinley won’t answer my calls. Is he here?”

  “No, I’m sorry, he isn’t.” She held out her hand. “I’m Jamie Ralston.”

  “Ah, the woman who captured my cousin’s elusive heart. Are you living here?”

  Shocked at Portia’s comment, she just stared at the woman. She was very attractive with her hair in a fashionable layer
ed bob, which accented her onyx eyes. Jamie recovered and stepped back. “Come on in.”

  Portia entered the apartment, went down the hall to the kitchen and then turned to Jamie. “May I please have a cup of coffee? I hardly slept last night.”

  “Me, either. I’ll make some.”

  While the pot brewed, they sat at the table. “So,” Portia said easily. “What’s going on?”

  “Between me and Kinley?”

  “No, with the bodyguard stuff. I saw you had them across the hall.”

  “It’s not my place to say.”

  “Jamie, I love Kinley. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost him. We’re the only family each of us has. Please, tell me.”

  “Well, he can’t be much angrier at me than he is now, I guess.”

  She gave Portia a shortened version of what Nigel was doing to Kinley. His cousin’s face paled. Jamie stopped talking, got up and poured them more coffee.

  When she sat, Portia asked, “Is he going to be okay?”

  “I believe we all will be.”

  She looked around. “Why are you here?”

  “Um. Well. It’s like a fortress and Kinley ordered us to come and stay until this is all over.” Her eyes widened. “Oh, Portia, he should have asked you to move in.”

  “Actually, he did. But I refused. I will take the bodyguard, but I want to talk to Kin anyway.”

  “I could call him.”

  A little tornado raced to them. “I’m ready to go to the park.”

  “Ben, where are your manners?”

  He faced Portia. “Hello, my name is Ben Ralston.”

  “I’m Portia Lincoln.”

  “Are you coming to the park with us?”

  “No.” She stood and spoke to Jamie. “I’m going to Moran Associates. I’ll get a face-to-face, even if I have to make a scene.”

  “You won’t. He adores you.”

  At the doorway, she smiled at Jamie. “I’m so glad Kinley has you two in his life.”

  She didn’t contradict Portia. She bade her goodbye, then went to the open storage room door.