Stronger Than You Know--A Novel

by Lori Foster

  She swallowed heavily, her eyes growing damp again.

  Reyes leaned in to kiss her forehead. “It’s okay, baby. Take your time.”

  “I knew I had to do something.”

  “To save yourself,” Parrish said with a nod of approval. “And you did.”

  “I wasn’t really thinking of me. Not then. I just... I knew I had to somehow send back help for Reyes.” She winced. “I know what I did was stupid. I could have killed myself. When it was happening, though, I couldn’t reason anything out. I just knew I had to fight.”

  Reyes lifted her hand to his mouth. He should have been there to fight for her; instead, he’d allowed himself to be taken by surprise.

  “They must have been following Jodi.” He kissed her bruised knuckles. “I should have realized.”

  Kennedy looked at him for a long time and then gifted him with a slight smile. “Despite what you think and what your father tells you, you can’t prepare for every situation. You aren’t psychic, and you aren’t invincible.”

  “But I’ve been trained—”

  “No,” Parrish said. “She’s right. Madison sent you after Jodi. Cade and I approved that plan. If you’re in the wrong, we all are, but I prefer to agree with Kennedy. We can only be so prepared.” He got up to pace. “Golly’s brother apparently hired people to watch Jodi. We don’t know why Delbert was on the scene.”

  “I know.” Shivering, Kennedy shifted uncomfortably. “He said the other man was real trouble, and so he’d left. Something about not wanting to deal with him anymore because he was too crazy. Delbert called him certifiable.”

  “Hmm.” Parrish lightly patted her shoulder. “Thank you for sharing that. If you remember anything else, let us know. Until then, the pain meds I gave you should be kicking in soon. You need plenty of rest.”

  “No problem.” She closed her eyes again. “Soon as I warm up, I’m ready for a nap.”

  Parrish smiled, but Reyes couldn’t. “We’ll get you to bed in just a minute.”

  “When you feel better,” Parrish said, “and I promise you will, stay off the phone and computer, and limit television. Reyes, you’ll want to check on her every couple of hours, just to make sure she’s responsive.”

  “We’ll stay here tonight,” Reyes told her.

  “Here?” She blinked at him.

  “Remember, I have my own suite. It’ll be fine.”

  “But...” She glanced at Parrish, then lowered her voice even more. “I want to go home.”

  Home. Yeah, with Kennedy in it, his house was a home. The security was all there although the drive would be brutal for her. Just getting to his dad’s had been grueling, especially with the window broken and freezing air blowing in. He hadn’t seen an alternative, though.

  “Here tonight,” Reyes insisted, “then we’ll reevaluate tomorrow. Okay?”

  “You’ll have privacy,” Parrish assured her as he stood and walked around to Reyes, where he again checked his head.

  “Ow, damn, Dad. Leave it alone.”

  Rolling his eyes, Parrish gave Kennedy a look. “Luckily he has a hard head, or he might’ve gotten more than a goose egg.”

  “It barely slowed me down,” Reyes promised, to ease the frown of concern Kennedy now wore. “I’ve had enough injuries to know a serious one from a nuisance. Once I’d cleaned off the blood, anyone could see I wasn’t badly hurt.” Hell, the biggest ache he felt was in his heart.

  A tap sounded at the exam room door, immediately followed by Cade, Sterling and Madison coming in.

  Cade said, “I moved your truck into a garage bay so it wouldn’t fill with snow. Tomorrow morning I’ll take it to get the window fixed.”

  Normally Reyes would have insisted on doing that himself, but he wouldn’t want to leave Kennedy while she was hurt. “Thanks.”

  “I brought Kennedy some clothes,” Madison said. “A few T-shirts, sweatshirt and pajama pants, because she can roll those up. Sorry, but my jeans would be about a foot too long on her.”

  “And my butt would never fit,” Kennedy said with a weak smile. “Thank you.”

  Sterling whistled softly as she got close. “Damn, girl. You look like you went a few rounds with a UFC champion. Your bruises have bruises.” She gave an exaggerated wince. “Hurt much?”

  “Mostly my head, but the meds are helping.”

  Sterling took Parrish’s stool. “Did I ever tell you about the time I tried going out a narrow window face-first? I managed to escape a bad situation, but got a chunk of glass stuck in my thigh.”

  Lips parting in awe, Kennedy said, “No, but it sounds awful.”

  “It was. But hey, it led to Cade and me getting closer, so now it’s a fond memory.” Glancing at Reyes, Sterling nodded to the door, then started her story.

  Ah, his opportunity to talk privately with his family. Making sure the blanket covered every part of Kennedy, he softly said, “I’ll be right back.”

  Kennedy barely nodded. She was too enthralled with Sterling’s gory tale.

  Outside the exam room, he, Cade, Madison and Parrish huddled together, their voices necessarily low to keep Kennedy from hearing.

  The last thing she needed right now was more to worry about.

  “Do you know the bastard brother’s name yet?” Now that Kennedy was safe, he could fully concentrate on forever removing the fuck as a threat.

  “Of course I do,” Madison replied. “He’s Rand Golly, two years older than Rob was, putting him at forty-two. He has a long rap sheet, everything from drunk driving to felony assault, attempted kidnapping and arson. He got out of prison at the same time Jodi escaped. My guess is he went to see his brother right off, and found him dead.”

  Yeah, that could make a career criminal vindictive. Poor Jodi. The girl couldn’t catch a break. What were the odds of escaping one abusive lunatic only to have another come after her? “She could benefit from one of Dad’s programs.”

  “My thought exactly,” Parrish said. “Kennedy will rest easier if she knows her friend is clear of danger. But first we need to eliminate the threat.” He added to Madison, “I want eyes on that motel room every second of every hour. We need to know if Golly moves while we formulate our plans.”

  “Already done,” Madison assured him. “I found a few cameras that give me great access. As long as he doesn’t do something extra tricky like dig his way out, I’ll see him. If he does go out, I’ll be able to identify which car is his, then I can grab his plates. That’ll give us even more info on him.”

  “Now that they’re onto us,” Cade said, “I don’t want Sterling anywhere near there when I tag the cars.”

  “I don’t want you there, either,” Parrish countered. “We’ll get by without the GPS.”

  Cade stiffened. “I can handle it.”

  “Don’t be insulted.” Madison patted Cade’s shoulder. “I agree with Dad. From everything I’ve been able to uncover, Golly has a broad network behind him.”

  “His connections aren’t the same as ours,” Cade argued.

  “Agreed. We’ll have to cast a wider net now, and if there’s even a tiny chance that you get spotted, the rest of the goons will go to ground.”

  “How many people are we talking?” Reyes asked.

  I’ve found connections to twenty, including motel owners, diner owners, truckers and a few career criminal buddies that he probably met in prison. Nothing too high-tech, but I don’t want to risk missing a step and losing any—” She glanced at Reyes, stalling.

  “Women,” Reyes said. It was a good bet that the sick bastard had an operation going. “Agreed.”

  “All the more reason for the GPS,” Cade argued.

  Obviously, Cade didn’t want to concede the point. Reyes got that. They were take-charge guys who worked best when in action. “You’re the patient one,” Reyes said to his brother, “so imagine
how I feel. If I can stand to wait while we sort this out, you damn sure can, too.”

  With that reasoning, Cade nodded.

  Wanting to get back to Kennedy, Reyes asked, “Where’s Jodi?”

  “We put her in a nice suite at Dad’s hotel. We dropped off additional clothes for her, stocked the small fridge and gave her unlimited use of movies and games.”

  “Meaning she has everything she’d need so there’s no reason to leave the room.” His father’s hotel was another front. Yes, it served the legit purpose of renting rooms, but the entire upper floor was reserved for situations like this. It looked like nothing more than a five-star hotel, but boasted the same security they used in their homes. Jodi would be safe there. Still... “Kennedy won’t be happy to know she’s alone.”

  Cade shrugged. “Short of kidnapping her, there wasn’t much I could do. The hotel seemed like the best bet.”

  Would Jodi stay put? He had no idea. “Pretty sure Kennedy will insist on seeing her tomorrow, so I’ll want backup.” If it was just him going, Reyes wouldn’t worry, but with Kennedy? Too much had already happened. Never again would he relax his guard, not for any reason.

  “No problem,” Cade said. “Star will insist on going along.”

  Parrish folded his arms. “What’s happening with the detective?”

  Reyes rubbed the back of his neck. “He said Madison explained enough to give us some leeway.” He glanced at his sister. “Though now that I ditched him at the site, he might rethink that.”

  Madison stared back defiantly. “Dad and I agree that he could be a valuable asset.”

  “Maybe.” One way or another, cops were going to show on the scene of the wreck. At least Crosby was a cop he was familiar with. “I assume Delbert is no longer an issue?”

  “Dead at the scene,” Cade confirmed.

  Although they might have gotten more info from him, Reyes chose to see his death as a blessing. It was one less person trying to get to Kennedy.

  “I’ll talk to Crosby again,” Madison offered. “No worries.”

  Reyes stopped her from walking away. “How exactly did you clue him in?”

  “I told him enough that he wouldn’t detain you.”

  Cade’s eyes narrowed. “Enough being how much?”

  “Overall, I mentioned the task force and a general overview of Dad’s philanthropic work. Crosby was duly impressed, but now? I don’t know what he’ll think when he can’t find either of them at the hospital.”

  Parrish considered things. “When I called him, it was just to say that there’d been an attempted kidnapping and it might involve Golly. That seemed incentive enough for him to jump onboard. But Madison is right. He’ll want to be in control of things.”

  “Somehow, we need to string him along,” Madison concluded. She smiled. “Leave it to me.”

  Becoming antsy, Reyes glanced at the exam room doors. He wanted to get back to Kennedy. “He’ll have questions for me, but if you can put him off until tomorrow—”

  “Impossible,” Madison said. “He’s a cop, Reyes, not a goon—he won’t be easily manipulated. And as I keep telling you, he’s on the up-and-up. His questions will be legit.”

  “Stick with the truth as much as you can,” Parrish advised. “There were enough people in the diner to see the attack.”

  “And a few saw Kennedy taken,” Cade said. “It’ll all add up for a cop.”

  Madison gave a short laugh. “It’s not like any of you to underestimate someone as badly as you’re underestimating Crosby.” Turning, she lifted her hand in a wave. “Go get Kennedy settled. I’ll see you later.”

  “She’s taken with the cop,” Reyes complained.

  “Seems like,” Cade agreed.

  Parrish stared after her thoughtfully. Finally he asked, “Do you think Kennedy will want to join us for dinner?”

  Knowing her as he did now, Reyes couldn’t see her lingering in bed, no matter how much she wanted to or how she needed the rest. She seemed hell-bent on proving, more to herself than anyone else, that she wasn’t a burden. “I’d bet yes.”

  “Then I better go confer with Bernard to let him know we’ll all be in attendance.” He clasped Reyes’s shoulder. “You did great under the circumstances.”

  He didn’t need false praise. “I fucked up.”

  Giving a small shake of his head, Parrish said, “I’m proud of you.” He spoke next at Cade. “And you. You’ve both grown into very impressive men.” He walked down the short hallway that headed to the stairs.

  Stunned, Reyes glanced at Cade. “What the hell was that about?”

  “No idea, except that having women around is softening him. My guess is that he looks at things differently when he sees us happily involved.”

  A disturbing thought. His dad, softened? No, he didn’t even want to consider it. “I have to get back to Kennedy.”

  Cade gave him a long look. “You realize you’re in love with her, right?”

  He wasn’t stupid. Figuring out what to do about it was the issue. “Come collect your wife, then I’ll put Kennedy to bed.”

  Cade slowly smiled. “Be careful, brother, or you’ll be softening, too.”

  Not likely. He was the hell-raiser sibling. The daredevil. The cocky jerk who got around.

  But yeah, none of that seemed to matter a minute later when he found Kennedy drifting off to sleep while Sterling softly told another story.

  Women had a miraculous effect on everyone.

  In that moment, he felt pretty damned soft—in his head and in his heart.

  * * *

  MADISON SMILED AT CROSBY. Lord, the man was something to look at, even while scowling. They sat in her car in a deserted park where she’d arranged the meeting.

  Yes, she could have handled things over the phone, but what was the fun in that? She’d told him a small fib, saying she was worried about others listening in, and so he’d agreed to the meeting.

  “You’re angry.”

  His scowl grew fiercer, making his dark-as-sin eyes glitter.

  So sexy.

  “Your brother is giving me the runaround. I expected to find him at the hospital or I never would have let him leave.”

  Ha! Clearly Crosby was underestimating Reyes, too. “I doubt that’s true. You saw how badly hurt Kennedy was. She needed medical attention, so you wouldn’t have delayed them. I’m even sure you realize why Reyes didn’t go to the hospital, because you know how dangerous that route can be.”

  Frustrated, Crosby ran a hand over his sandy-brown hair, leaving it mussed.

  Her fingers tingled with the need to smooth it back into place.

  “Where did he take her?”

  “A secure facility where she can get care and rest without worrying that Golly might find her.”

  His gaze never wavered. “Where?” he repeated, more insistent this time.

  She dodged that, saying, “In case you were wondering, Kennedy is badly bruised all over, especially one arm and her thigh.” As far as diversions went, that worked well.

  “Damn,” Crosby muttered. “All I’d noticed was the lump on her head, and that was bad enough.”

  Madison liked how truly caring he was. It appeared to really bother him that Kennedy was injured. “By the way, Rob Golly is in fact dead.”

  He eyed her suspiciously. “You say that as if you’re certain.”

  “Because I am. Brace yourself, Detective, but we’ve discovered that it wasn’t Rob causing all this trouble. It’s his brother, Rand.”

  Incredulous now, his eyes narrowed. “You and your family have an uncanny ability to discover things.”

  “Yes, I know. We’re good. Modesty aside, though, I’m in charge of gathering info and I’m extremely proficient at what I do.”

  “Do you do it legally?”

  Ah, he wanted to trip
her up. Then what? She smiled at him. “If you have questions for Reyes, give me the number you want him to call and I’ll see to it.”

  “I want to see him in person.”

  “Yes, but Kennedy is hurt, so he won’t leave her side, and no—before you ask again—I can’t tell you where.”

  His gaze searched hers, his indecision almost palpable. “She’ll be all right?”

  “Certainly, though she’ll be sore for a while. Before he so conveniently perished, Delbert O’Neil struck Kennedy in the head with the butt of his gun. She was unconscious long enough for him to stuff her into his car and try to kidnap her.”

  “Thank God he slid on the ice or he might...” He stopped when Madison shook her head. “What?”

  “It wasn’t the weather conditions that caused the wreck. Kennedy attacked him. She was afraid Reyes was badly hurt and wanted to get back to him. From what I was told, she kicked him several times, then punched him in a place where no man wants to be punched.”

  He flinched. “And that caused the wreck?”

  “You could drive under those conditions?”

  Shrugging, he said, “If I had to.”

  That amused her and she grinned again. “My brothers also, though I doubt they’d let anything like that happen.”

  Crosby rubbed a hand over his face. “Tell your brother that I need Delbert’s gun, and that I expect to be kept informed.”

  “I’ll tell him, but Reyes will do as he pleases on that score.” No reason to explain that they all avoided involving the law whenever possible.

  Snow accumulated on the windows, making the interior of the car cozy and private, not that anyone was at the park today anyway. The heated seats kept her toasty warm, and Crosby’s nearness kept her on sensual alert.

  “You know what?” She tipped her head at him. “Why don’t you tell me why this is personal for you?”

  “No.” Fed up, he allowed his anger to show again. “I’ve let you play your games. I jumped at your father’s bidding. I even allowed your damned brother to leave the scene of a kidnapping. Enough, already. If you’re not going to cooperate, then I’m done wasting my time.” He reached for the door handle.