Dancing with Fire

by Susan Kearney

  Billy’s eyes flashed. “If I’d revealed I had the laptop, then Kaylin and Sawyer would have been no use to the bad guys. I was afraid they’d be killed. So I waited.”

  “Oh . . . my . . . Billy. You’re amazing,” Kaylin told him, realizing he’d been correct. “In the end you did the right thing.” As Billy beamed with pride, she heaped on the praise. Kaylin hugged him, and her sisters joined her, all of them talking at once. “Billy, I’m proud of you.”

  “You aren’t going to send me away?” Billy asked.

  “Only to rehab. But then you’re coming back home. To us,” Kaylin assured him.

  “You did great,” Becca told him.

  Lia grinned so wide her cheeks hurt. “Who knew you were so smart? I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.” She kissed him right on the mouth.

  Billy’s entire face and neck turned crimson. “I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t want you to worry.”

  “Damn. My son is growing up.” Mitzy hugged him, too, and tears of happiness trailed down her cheeks.

  Eventually, the celebration broke up. Her grandmother agreed to spend the night and retreated to the sleep sofa in the living room. Lia and Billy went off to the sun room, their heads close together, Randy on their heels. Shadee and Becca remained in the kitchen, and Kaylin peeked out the window while Sawyer took a file from a kitchen drawer.

  “Looks like the press have gone.”

  Sawyer set down the file and laptop, came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Tired?”

  “Exhausted. But I’m too wound up to sleep.”

  “Why don’t we go out on the back deck?” he suggested, scooping up the laptop and file. Although Shadee and Becca paid no attention to them, she liked the idea of some alone time with Sawyer.

  “All right,” she agreed, but when she followed him, tension gripped her. Dad’s formula was probably on that laptop. And she honestly didn’t know if she wanted it to work. If it did, then her father had died for something worthwhile. And yet if the formula really was there, if it did work, it would bring about all kinds of decisions—about the business, about her and Sawyer’s future.

  She didn’t know if she was ready to define their relationship, but she didn’t want to lose him, either. They’d been through a lot together. They’d saved one another’s lives. Although the adrenaline rush had long since passed, she didn’t want to say good-bye, either. She couldn’t imagine life without him.

  They strode outside, and he set the laptop on the picnic table. But he didn’t open it, as if sensing what they found on it might alter their future.

  “What are you thinking?” she asked.

  “I could erase the file.”

  “No.” She gasped, shocked at his offer. His dreams were on that laptop. That he could even make such an offer told her his feelings for her. But the laptop wasn’t just about Sawyer’s future, it was all their futures. Her father had always asked, What would you attempt if you knew you couldn’t fail? He’d lived by that, died by those words. No way could she erase his life’s work. “I couldn’t stand not ever knowing. Whatever is on there, we’ll deal with it.”

  “Together?”

  She nodded. “Go ahead. Let’s see what Dad came up with this time.” His last invention. His legacy. She prayed she wouldn’t have to disappoint her sisters. She hoped their future rested in that case. A future that would send Lia to college and help Becca finish school and maybe put Billy through rehab. A future that would keep Sawyer in her life for years to come.

  “You’re certain?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “All right.” He sat at the picnic table, stretched his fingers, and cracked a knuckle. It took a moment for the laptop to boot up, and she reminded herself to breathe.

  “No matter what’s on there, I don’t want to lose you,” she said, the words rushing out unplanned, but never had she been so certain.

  He ignored the laptop and turned sideways to face her. “What does that mean?”

  “We’re good together. I said I didn’t want to get involved because I knew that meant giving up my plans for New York, but my dancing was an excuse.”

  He frowned. “You love to dance.”

  “Recently, I’ve spent most of my time on tribal fusion. I can do that here.”

  “Look. Even if there’s a formula in this computer that will turn dirt into diesel oil, I don’t want you to give up your dream. We can build the plant anywhere.”

  “You’d move to New York? Didn’t you tell me you hated the cold?”

  “I’ll buy a good coat,” he joked.

  “You’d move to another state . . . for me.” She couldn’t believe she could be so lucky.

  He opened the file and pulled out a piece of paper. “I’ve been waiting for the right moment to give this back.”

  It was her old plane ticket. The one she’d ripped in half and thrown into the bushes. He’d salvaged it and taped it together.

  He waved it at her. “You can change the ticket. I checked.”

  He’d saved it for her. And all this time he hadn’t said a word. A lump formed in her throat. “You don’t have to move up north. Dancing in New York wasn’t my dream. It was my mother’s hope for me. It sounded exciting. An escape from everyday life. And after she died, I needed to hang on to that dream while I took care of my sisters. I think maybe it was my way of hanging on to my mother and what we shared. But now, I don’t need those old dreams. I’m ready to make some new ones.”

  “Together?”

  “Yes.”

  “Together it is.” Sawyer kissed her, and heat sizzled between them.

  The laptop dinged, signaling it was fully booted. Gently, Sawyer pulled back and looked straight into her eyes. “We don’t have to decide this minute, but I wanted you to know you don’t have to choose between Broadway and me. You can have both.”

  She couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have this man’s love. Her throat tightened. It seemed she’d spent the last few hours crying happy tears.

  “Kaylin?”

  “Mm.”

  “Say something.”

  “There’s this giant lump in my throat.”

  He grinned. “I like it when you get all emotional.”

  “You do?”

  “Yeah. Actually, I pretty much like you all the time.”

  “Oh, my God.”

  “What?”

  “Here I’ve been thinking how great you are, but I’ve never told you.”

  “Sure you did.”

  “No, I didn’t. I’d remember.”

  A teasing grin broke out, and his eyes crinkled at the corners. “You risked your life to save mine. At least three times. Maybe four.”

  “I did?”

  “You kicked a gun out of that guard’s hand. You picked rocks up out of the dirt when that golf cart was racing down the road. You climbed a tree—”

  “That’s hardly saving your life—”

  “So we could trek in the right direction. And you made up with your grandmother so she could save us.”

  “Now that’s farfetched. I thought scientists were supposed to be objective?”

  “There’s no such thing. Not when I’m around you,” he admitted. “You still need to hear it. I love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  “Actually, I’ve known that for a while,” he teased her, then entered the password on the computer. “You’re the one who was clueless.”

  “Why, that’s the most conceited, arrogant—”

  “He did it.”

  “What?”

  “Your father.”

  She snapped her head to the monitor. “The formula is there?”

  “This is brilliant.”

  “What?”
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  “Henry came up with an algae-based biodiesel formula.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Kaylin, right now the world is converting soybean, corn, and vegetable oil into biodiesel. But we can’t grow enough crops to produce all the fuel we need. At least, we can’t grow enough on land. But in the ocean, we can produce algae in enormous quantities. If this works, and I believe it will, you and your sisters are going to be beyond wealthy.”

  “I’ll be able to pay our bills?”

  He didn’t answer. Sawyer tensed and lost his smile. He frowned at the computer screen. In a hushed voice, he muttered, “Your father left me a coded message.”

  “Coded?”

  “Yeah. In case anyone else guessed the password.”

  “But what could be more important than his formula?” Kaylin peered over his shoulder.

  “Let me extract the sequence and I’ll—”

  “What?” She couldn’t read the message on the screen since it appeared as a series of numbers. But her pulse increased, and she placed her hand on Sawyer’s shoulder to steady herself.

  “Henry wrote, ‘Quinn is a threat. He wants to run the show. And he’s brought in a Russian partner, Pavel, who works with Asad. Beware.’”

  “Quinn?” Kaylin looked at Sawyer in confusion. “But he told us to tear up the contract. Said he wasn’t interested.”

  “He threw us off the scent with that comment. Maybe he had a duplicate contract. But he wouldn’t need a contract if he stole the idea and murdered your father.”

  “Quinn doesn’t have the money for a plant like the one we saw.” Kaylin still didn’t believe it.

  “Quinn hooked up with Pavel, who must have had plenty of funding. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement may have rounded up Pavel and Asad by now, but no one’s even looking for Quinn.” Sawyer reached for his phone. “I’ll call Deputy Bryant, and he can alert the other government agencies.”

  “It’s late.”

  “Bryant gave me his cell number and told me I can reach him 24/7.”

  Sawyer made the call and shut off his phone. “He’s sending someone over to pick up Quinn.”

  “But Quinn isn’t home.” Two men with guns stepped out of the shadows. One man had a badly burned face. Kaylin gasped at the ugly scars. “Don’t like what you did to me, bitch?”

  This was the man she’d burned the night they’d taken Lia. Even in the dim porch light she could see the hatred in his eyes. The other man, Quinn, stepped forward, his gun aimed at Sawyer. “Move back. I’ll take that laptop.”

  Sawyer reached for it. Quinn cocked his gun. “Don’t touch it.”

  “Take it easy.” Sawyer raised his hands and the motion caused his elbow to knock the laptop to the deck. Kaylin suspected he’d done it deliberately but couldn’t be certain.

  Kaylin prayed her sisters stayed inside and asleep. The burned man grabbed her around the neck, choking her. Pain shot down her neck. Her lungs burned.

  She clawed at his gun hand and slammed her foot down onto his toes, the motion like squashing a beer can. He roared in pain and loosened his arm from around her neck, leaving enough room for her to squirm out of his choke hold and drop to the decking.

  Gasping for air, Kaylin scooted backward on her butt, crabwise, her palms supporting her weight. Her right hand landed on the laptop. As her scarred opponent pointed his gun at her, she swung the laptop, intending to strike the weapon away. She missed, but the laptop struck his burned face. He screamed in pain, dropping the gun as his hands flew up to cradle his face. He staggered and toppled over.

  Quinn kept his weapon pointed at Sawyer. “Kaylin, give me the laptop or I’ll shoot him.”

  The man beside her groaned. Holding the laptop in one hand, Kaylin rose, edging away from him and toward Quinn. She kept her head bowed, her shoulders slumped as if defeated. “Don’t hurt him. Don’t shoot us, please. You can have the laptop. Here you go.” Then she tossed the laptop right at him.

  And she caught him by surprise. He tried to catch it with one hand, his other still holding the gun. Sawyer picked that instant to barrel into him, tackling him around the legs, slamming him to the ground. The two men rolled across the grass, wrestling for control of the weapon.

  Kaylin picked up the laptop, whacked the burned man’s head again, making sure he wouldn’t get up anytime soon, then looked for the weapon that had gone skidding across the deck. She didn’t see it anywhere and suspected it had fallen in the rose bushes where she wouldn’t find it until daylight.

  Sawyer didn’t have that much time.

  She raced toward him, fear shimmying down her spine. In the darkness, she could barely tell one man from the other. The two men tangled and rolled in the grass, arms and legs kicking and punching. Grunts and groans punctuated the air.

  Quinn was older, but he outweighed Sawyer. While Sawyer used knees and elbows slamming into Quinn’s body, the man’s fat seemed to protect vital spots.

  She had to do something. But what? If Quinn’s gun went off at such close range, Sawyer would surely be hit. She feared using the laptop as a weapon. With the two of them rolling, she could hit the wrong man.

  Suddenly Quinn rolled on top, aiming the gun at Sawyer. Sawyer’s hands closed over Quinn’s, but they rolled again, and she couldn’t tell in the darkness if Sawyer had managed to deflect Quinn’s aim.

  A shot reverberated across the river. Sawyer’s chest bucked.

  Kaylin screamed. “God . . . No!” She’d lost her mother. Quinn had murdered her father. Surely he hadn’t killed Sawyer?

  “Get back,” Sawyer yelled and knocked the gun loose. When Sawyer shouted, she started to breathe again.

  He jabbed Quinn’s throat, and the man doubled up in pain, choking and releasing his hold.

  Sawyer scrambled out from under him and recovered the gun. Kaylin ran over. “Were you shot?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “When he fired that gun, your body jerked. Are you certain?” She ran her hands over his chest, his shoulders, his stomach, searching for blood.

  “Kaylin, I was trying to buck him off.”

  “I’ve never been that scared.”

  “Except for bumps and bruises, I’m fine.”

  Shadee and Becca stumbled out the back door with her grandmother just as the sheriffs arrived, their red and blue lights flashing, their sirens screaming.

  Becca ran to Kaylin. “We heard a gunshot. Are you okay?”

  “Quinn attacked us,” Kaylin explained. “I think he murdered Dad, too.” Kaylin explained about the laptop and their father’s warning.

  Sawyer put down the gun and placed his hands over his head. But law enforcement seemed to know Quinn was their man. When Deputy Bryant stepped out of the car, Kaylin began to shake. The blood rushed from her head. “I don’t feel—” she began, then fell to the ground.

  Moments later she opened her eyes and found herself lying in the grass, her head in Sawyer’s lap. “What happened?”

  “You fainted.”

  She tried to shove herself to a sitting position. “I don’t faint.”

  Sawyer whispered in her ear. “We didn’t have protection on the island. Maybe you’re pregnant.”

  She tensed, then counted backward. “It’s highly unlikely.”

  “You don’t seem too upset.”

  “I always planned to have a family,” Kaylin told him. “Maybe not so soon, but what about you?”

  “Me?”

  “If I am pregnant—”

  “I don’t care if you want to have ten babies or none. I want you. I love you.”

  “That’s awesome, because I seriously love you back.”

  Deputy Bryant cleared his throat. “Excuse me, but we’ve got Quinn and his pal restrained in a vehicle. I need your state
ments.”

  “We’re getting married soon,” Sawyer told him, his tone husky, warm and sexy. “How’s that for a statement?”

  “Did you hear that?” Becca nudged Shadee. “My sister’s engaged.”

  Shadee grinned. “Maybe we should have a double wedding.”

  “Huh?”

  “Sawyer and Kaylin. You and me.”

  Becca whooped. “You mean it?” She flung herself into his arms, and he spun her around.

  Happy for her sister, Kaylin laughed. Becca had told her once she expected a traditional proposal, a ring, the guy down on one knee, but in her excitement, none of that mattered. Even under the sheriff’s car’s bright headlights, she glowed with happiness.

  Kaylin pushed to her feet, pleased that although Sawyer hovered protectively and appeared ready to catch her if she fainted again, he let her get up by herself. Sawyer was good that way. She linked her arm through his. “What was that you said about ten children?”

  “I’m not kidding. Whatever you want is fine with me.”

  Whatever she wanted? Kaylin finally knew what she wanted. Or whom she wanted. Sawyer. She wanted Sawyer for today, tonight, and all their tomorrows.

  Epilogue

  Two years later

  “READY?” KAYLIN juggled her one-year-old son and looked over her shoulder at Sawyer. Husband, father, scientist, and her best friend, he was covered in dirt and grease. But he’d never looked better to her.

  With a big smile, he shot her a thumbs-up, and she threw a switch that started a pump and a continuous flow cycle. Beside Sawyer, her grandmother looked on with a loving gaze. She’d traded in her designer clothing for a set of coveralls. Not only had she funded the plant, she’d insisted on helping.

  Becca tipped her hard hat. “Ready over here.”

  Lia nodded. “I’m set.”

  “All right, I’m letting her rip.” Sawyer opened a pipe, and their first biofuel poured through the system.

  Mitzy came in with a plate of cookies, and Billy handed out soft drinks and water. Mother and son had gone into rehab together, Mitzy for her drinking and Billy for his drug dependency. Both had been clean for over a year.

  Lia’s grades had shot straight up and, she’d have no trouble finding a college. While Becca hadn’t gone back to school, she was going to be a mom soon, too, and Shadee worked part time at the plant.