The Protector

by HelenKay Dimon

  “We have a few injured here.” Steven shook his head. “That fire. Who could have predicted that?”

  Everyone? That’s the first thought that popped into her head and she almost said it.

  “We’ll get to the bottom of it,” Trevor said as he shot her a look around Steven’s shoulder.

  His expression promised revenge. After knowing him a short time, she sensed Trevor would not handle an intentional fire being set on his watch very well. Neither would Damon, which was why she didn’t balk when the doctor talked about sedating him so he could rest. Keeping him down might be impossible otherwise.

  “Faulty wiring.” Steven’s voice sounded distant, almost hollow.

  Trevor’s eyebrow rose. “Is that what someone is saying was the cause of this?”

  No way. If so it was the most convenient excuse ever. Cate didn’t want to be that person, but there was a limit to how much coincidence she could accept. “I’m sure we’ll know the truth soon.”

  “An old room with faulty wiring.” Steven glanced over his shoulder at Trevor. “I should have warned you before sending you in.” Steven shook his head again. “This could have been so much worse.”

  “As one of the two people trapped in the house when it happened, I’d agree.”

  Steven’s gaze zoomed right back to her. “What are you saying?”

  She was trying not to say it, hoping he’d come to the conclusion on his own, but he didn’t. Now she got why Damon found dealing with his dad so frustrating. It was like a purposeful refusal to see the obvious. She had no idea how anyone could move through life like that.

  Steven blinked a few times. It looked as if he were snapping out of the trance he’d fallen into at seeing Damon in the bed. “We lost so much.”

  “Hmmm?” He could be talking about almost anything, so she kept her response neutral.

  “All the documents.” Steven looked from her to Trevor as some of the color moved back into his cheeks. “We’ve lost all those years of paperwork.”

  Now that would have been convenient . . . for someone. But as luck would have it they had most of what they needed. All day they’d been scanning material with their phones and taking pictures. When Trevor left for his meeting with Wren and Garrett he’d taken the relevant files and notes with him.

  No, Steven had opened the door for them to look around and they didn’t wait. If someone had been counting on them to take weeks to complete the work, they’d messed up.

  “We have what we need.” She had no idea if that was true but it sounded good to say it.

  Steven frowned. “How can that be?”

  “We’re going to solve my sister’s case.” Certainty flowed through her for the first time ever when it came to Shauna. There must have been something in her tone or the words she used, because she had Steven’s full attention now. “A fire is not going to stop me.”

  “It was an accident.”

  She didn’t know how he could believe that. “Which incident are you talking about?”

  Steven stared at her for a few seconds. He stood there, tall and unwavering with an unreadable expression on his face. She couldn’t tell if that was confusion or concern. Either way, she’d made her point. This was one accident too many. This mirrored the unwanted visits to her house, which she assumed was Vincent from the scent she recognized on him, only this time strayed into much more violent territory. An unseen hand snooping around, cutting off access. Stoking fear without ever being seen.

  Well, she would not be scared this time. She wasn’t going anywhere. If this was Vincent, he should buckle in for a fight.

  “I need to check on some of the others.” Without another word, Steven pivoted and left the room.

  Trevor watched him go. “That is an odd man.”

  Understatement.

  Cate could think of so many other words that fit, and none of them were all that flattering. “He blocks off reality like no one I’ve ever seen.”

  Trevor reached up and grabbed the end of the curtain. He pulled it around tight until they were enclosed in the suffocating private space again. Just the three of them and a bunch of beeping machines. “Which is why I’m convinced Damon is adopted. He’s the most practical, look-at-the-facts guy I know.”

  Cate heard the sound buried under the joke. That tiny tremble in Trevor’s voice. The way he picked his comment to joke but there was a depth of concern underlying the words. “He really is going to be okay.”

  “Of course he is.” Trevor rubbed his thumb against the inside of his other palm. “The dumb bastard. I thought I was going to have to drag him off that roof.”

  She watched the hand gesture, hypnotized. She didn’t remember seeing him locked in a nervous gesture since they’d met. He didn’t strike her as the type. Neither had Damon, but he insisted he was quite capable of panicking. Well, neither one of them could top her in that department. “He clearly wanted attention.”

  Trevor smiled, clearly happy to play along. “It’s obvious, right?”

  “Both of you shut up.”

  Cate almost jumped off the bed at the sound of Damon’s gravelly voice.

  “Sleeping Beauty awakens,” Trevor said.

  “Were you awake this whole time?” It wouldn’t surprise her but it might make her grumpy. Hiding in bed and making her deal with his father was the kind of thing he would get away with exactly one time. Next round, he was up.

  “I drifted in and out.” He grimaced as he pulled the sheets up higher on his body. “The smell in here bugs me.”

  Trevor shook his head. “Because things smell clean?”

  Damon’s eyes popped open. “Shouldn’t you be updating Garrett and Wren?”

  “Do you know what it took to keep them from rushing in here?” Trevor snorted. “Be forewarned, they want you out.” He shot her a side look. “Both of you. As far as they’re concerned, your fake relationship has flamed out without a proposal.”

  She understood and appreciated the concern but she wasn’t here on vacation. She knew from the beginning the trip carried risks. Serious risks. She’d lost her sister here, so she was completely clear on what Sullivan followers were capable of, though she had to admit they were more obvious in their attacks than she’d expected.

  “But we feel close.” Right at the edge of something big. “Isn’t that why someone really set the fire?”

  Trevor sighed at her. “We don’t want you to be a target, Cate. The idea is to limit the risk to you, not actively invite more.”

  “I came here expecting trouble.” More like being kicked off the property than burned out of a building, but the point was she knew there were risks and took them.

  Trevor threw up his hands. “You’re as stubborn as he is.”

  “She’s worse.” Damon looked at her then. “You know the proper authorities are going to come back with a bogus faulty wiring story. They’ll back Dad up. Talk about how the room has been closed off and something sparked.”

  She hated that he was right. This one time, she wanted him to assess something the wrong way and misstep. But she knew the truth. The whole incident, the loss of property and potential loss of lives, was going to disappear in a pile of paperwork.

  “Total bullshit.” Trevor crossed his arms in front of him. “It’s interesting though.”

  Damon shook his head as the blood pressure cuff started to automatically clamp down on his arm again. “No part of this trip has been interesting.”

  She had to agree with that . . . well, almost. “Except meeting me.”

  Damon winked at her. “That goes without saying.”

  “The fire wasn’t set outside the library. We already have photos from the house including from the air,” Trevor said, picking up the conversation again.

  “Someone snuck in and took them in the dark?”

  Trevor waved off the concern. “Wren wouldn’t let a little thing like nighttime beat him. But my point is if someone really wanted to burn you two out it would have been easy. This was aim
ed at a room you weren’t actually in.”

  “My guess is someone thought it would take us a long time to look through the paperwork, days probably, but then realized you were moving fast.” Damon made a grumbling sound. “That’s what you get for skipping meals, by the way.”

  She decided to ignore the newest round of whining. More than likely she’d have to listen to more back at the cabin tomorrow. Damon might reluctantly agree under pressure to stay until morning. That didn’t mean he’d be quiet about it or concede to staying much past sunrise. “The good news is you can ignore a few of your lists of potential suspects . . . although I guess they’re still witnesses.”

  Trevor frowned at her. “Meaning?”

  Before she could answer, Damon jumped in. “Not to sound ungrateful for the rescue assist, but Roger and Vincent sure got there fast.”

  “Right.” Trevor nodded. “I’ll ask around, figure out where they were all day and try again to get a close-up view of their cabins. I failed the last time because someone was always around, but I’ll do it this time. See if I can find anything.”

  Damon whistled. “Dangerous.”

  “But necessary,” Trevor said. “We can’t have people going around burning down buildings with people in them.”

  “Even if it’s not them or one of their crowd, the person we’re looking for has to be at Sullivan, not some former student or professor living far away. The property is still locked-down. Only us and people with access have gotten in. So, unless you’ve seen someone new wandering around, we have a finite pool of suspects.” Her mind went to the one person she didn’t see through the smoke and yelling. “Speaking of which, where was Liza?”

  “Working with Damon’s dad.” When Cate started to ask questions, Trevor held up a hand. “I checked, so yes, we believe her.”

  That’s not the answer she wanted but she guessed it was good for them to disqualify people as the killer as well. “So, nothing has changed. The rule here is simple—don’t believe anyone associated with Sullivan.”

  Trevor smiled at Damon. “Including you?”

  Cate answered a different question. The one about how dangerous Damon was to her on a very different level. “Especially him.”

  Damon had been out of the hospital for a day. Even being inside that amount of time had been too long inside for his taste. He hated being confined. He didn’t do all that well with being told what to do either. But this he could do without complaint or trouble.

  “Yes . . .”

  Cate’s rough voice, all deep and hot, skated across his nerves. She was begging now, which meant she was almost ready. Almost.

  He lowered his head again, licking her, opening her with two fingers as she squirmed on the bed. He’d been wanting to touch her like this from the beginning. So many times she’d taken the lead . . . and he loved it.

  This afternoon, he was in charge.

  He’d waited until they arrived back at the cabin to say a word. He’d let her think he was tired. He’d even mentioned taking a bath. He figured the last time he’d done that had been twenty years ago. He was an in and out guy, except when it came to her. He wanted to savor her and right now he was.

  Her back arched off the bed and her hands slipped into his hair. She was close now. After an hour of foreplay, touching and tasting her, she hovered on the brink. He’d spun her up then brought her back down several times now. Now her body begged for completion.

  “Damon, finish this!”

  She’d moved from begging to ordering. He liked the change.

  Her legs dropped open even wider, giving him all the access he needed. Those hands guided his face closer to the very heat of her. His tongue never stopped working. It brushed over her, circled her. With each swipe her breathing grew more labored.

  Her hand tugged against the back of his head, bringing him in closer. Those fingernails dug into his hair, his shoulders—anywhere they touched. She made a satisfied sound, half sigh and half huff as she touched him.

  He could feel her leg muscles tremble as control slipped away from her. That was just the sexiest thing ever.

  With one last pump of his finger, one final circle over the spot guaranteed to make her body buck, her body let go. Her chest heaved from the force of her harsh breaths. Her hands slipped out of his hair to grab on to the sheets for leverage.

  As he watched, the orgasm chased and overtook her. Her skin flushed and those thighs clamped harder against the side of his head. Then she went boneless. Her heels slid against the sheets until her legs lay flat.

  The whole scene, from beginning to end, fascinated him. The way she handed over control of her body. How much she enjoyed being touched. Half the time he let her guide him because she knew what her body needed more than he did.

  With his erection thumping and his jeans suddenly too hot and tight thanks to the constricted space in there, he rolled to his side. Didn’t go far, but leaned up on an elbow and stared down at her. Those dark eyes remained closed until he leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead then her mouth and finally her chin.

  “You have to be exhausted and . . .” She dropped her hand and swept the back of it over his length. “Ah, yes. Not all of you.”

  His body jumped in response to her soft touch. It happened then was gone. He seriously considered begging her to continue.

  “I take it back.” The way she threw her arm over her closed eyes made the statement even more dramatic.

  “What are we talking about?”

  “You can be trusted.” She lifted her arm and peeked up at him. “To do this. You are really impressive at this.”

  He would have laughed if he weren’t rock hard and afraid of exploding. “I have other skills.”

  “I should see those to make sure.”

  “I thought maybe you’d be willing to show off a few of your own first.”

  A sly smile crept across her face as her hand skimmed down his chest. “You should tell me exactly what you need.” She turned over and kept moving until one of her legs rested across his. “Don’t leave anything out.”

  His stomach flipped. “Maybe I’ll whisper.”

  She slid the whole way on top of him then. Her mouth hovered over his. “Talk slowly and use very naughty words.”

  “You might be the perfect woman.” And he meant that. Every word she uttered struck right at the heart of what he wanted.

  She kissed him then. “Say that again.”

  Chapter 23

  Cate met Trevor at the gun range as planned. Suddenly it was very important to him that she be ready and able to fire a weapon to his satisfaction. Her assurance that she’d taken safety classes was met with a heavy dose of disdain. Clearly, Trevor thought only he could teach this skill, or that she should pass his test first. After a night locked in Damon’s arms, with him proving he was very healthy, thank you, she was too exhausted to argue.

  Damon’s reaction to her need to be prepared mirrored Trevor’s. He wanted to be here for the lesson but he had a series of informal meetings with some of the workers who had been on staff when Shauna died. He decided to play it as a long-time-no-see check-in. Informal then go from there. Neither Trevor nor Cate could pull that off, which meant Trevor had babysitting duty. They were smart enough not to call it that, but she knew.

  In some ways, it was sweet. They worried. But they could calm down because she wasn’t a martyr. They possessed the training. She didn’t. If they said to run, she was going to bolt. The only reason she dragged her feet on leaving Sullivan completely was she now knew there was something here to find. Once gone, Steven would never let her back in. Never be this accommodating. This counted as her one—and she expected only—chance.

  Problem was, the fire had her shaky. Seeing Damon, so strong and always in control, brought down by the smoke was a wake-up call. These men might be lethal but they weren’t immune to the awful things that could happen. She had far less training, which made her even more vulnerable.

  She spied Trevor i
n the tent with an open gun case in front of him. She approached, but not until she made sure he saw her. No need for worries about friendly fire today.

  After a quick look around, she noted that they were alone. People usually lined up for practice. She guessed he used some sort of enticement to work on these private lessons. Could be he just invoked Steven’s name. Everyone seemed to scurry when he gave an order.

  Trevor looked up and smiled. “How’s the patient?”

  That wasn’t the topic she expected. “What?”

  “Damon.” Trevor’s eyebrow lifted. “The guy you’re sleeping with.”

  She was not the type to advertise her private life. The word private had a meaning, after all, and she believed in using it. Having her love life broadcasted around Sullivan proved to be an odd sensation. Not totally unwelcome because she found she liked the idea of being linked to him on a personal level. Maybe too much.

  Damon took it all in stride, so could she. But the idea of a no-strings arrangement of sorts no longer felt right to her. At some point they had crossed over. The question was how far and how long before Damon panicked.

  But Trevor asked about her favorite topic. Too bad he was not being her favorite today. “Fine. And by that I mean he kept insisting we’re all overreacting, he never lost control on that roof and that it’s perfectly normal to fall down when you try to pick up a hose.”

  “Sounds like you’ve had quite the morning with him.”

  That smile made her wary. Trevor tended to wear that one right before he launched into something borderline inappropriate. “Aren’t you chatty today? Did you find anything on Roger or Vincent?”

  “Still looking, and nice try at throwing me off topic.”

  The tactic tended to work for Damon, but clearly not for her. She admitted defeat. “It was worth a shot.”