by M. Malone
“FBI, show me your hands!”
Eli dropped his weapon and put his hands on top of his head. The SWAT team fanned out, yelling instructions as they secured each room. A moment later, he saw Agent Harris. He lowered his hands and let out a heavy breath. He’d been strangely calm until this moment, but now his heart was racing and his pulse pounded like a drumbeat in his head.
“Good work, Elliott. We’ve got him.”
Suddenly the room was swarming with people. The SWAT team, FBI agents, and then a team of paramedics barreled in. He watched as they loaded Justice onto a stretcher.
One of the paramedics spoke directly to Agent Harris. “He’ll be okay. It was in the shoulder. But the bullet needs to come out.”
Eli crossed to the french doors. Tank stood on the lawn of the house behind his. He raised his hand in greeting and Eli waved back.
Agent Harris approached. “Great work here, Elliott. Since Zeus is still alive, hopefully we can get all the information we need from him.”
Eli nodded, his thoughts still jumbled from everything that had happened. Everything he’d learned. “Did you know he was behind all this?”
Agent Harris’s lips thinned. “I’m not at liberty to say. So I’ll just say again, good work.”
Eli pushed away from the counter and headed toward the back of the house.
“Where are you going, Mr. Alexander? We need to debrief you.”
Eli didn’t even slow down. “Consider me debriefed. My woman is stuck in a closet. I need to get her out and to a safe place.”
WHEN THE DOORS to the panic room slid open, Kay and Mara both scrambled to their feet. Eli’s head appeared in the small entryway. Kay’s heart leaped.
“It’s safe to come out now. It’s over.”
She ran across the room and collided with his chest. He lifted her off her feet. “It’s all over.”
They followed him back out to the living room. Mara ran to her brother and jumped into his arms. Kay surveyed the damage done to the room. It looked like the aftermath of an earthquake in the kitchen. There was glass over the floor and the back door was smashed in.
For the next two hours, they waited as the police questioned them about everything that had happened. Kaylee was already tired of telling the story, and she hadn’t even told anyone she knew yet.
Just then, the doors to the house opened and she heard a familiar voice. “Where is my baby? Young man, I don’t care if you’re FBI or DIY, you’d better get out of my way. Elliott!”
Eli got up from the couch where he’d been talking to one of the FBI agents he’d introduced her to. “Mom? Is that you?”
Julia suddenly appeared, pushing past all the FBI and ATF agents in her way. “Of course it’s me.”
“What are you doing here?”
Jackson appeared behind her, followed by Mark Alexander. “I called her. Matt called to warn me not to return to the house. Once I realized what was happening, I called Mom as soon as I hung up. I knew she’d want to know.”
“Of course he called me. We came straight here. I was so worried.” She grabbed Eli around the waist and didn’t let go. He held her, letting her sob openly on his shirt.
When her tears subsided, she wiped at her cheeks. “That’s it. You’re definitely coming back home now where I can keep an eye on you.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Eli pulled her in for another hug, which apparently shocked Julia but made her very happy.
“We came with the Wilhelms. I knew they’d want to know their daughter was all right.”
Kay’s heart sank. “You brought my parents with you?” As soon as the words left her mouth, her mother’s face appeared amidst the crowd. She skirted around the policemen and agents, looking like she was afraid they’d contaminate her if their bodies touched.
Oh no.
“What is this I hear about you all being shot at? And where was the baby during all this?” Henrietta exclaimed as soon as she reached Kaylee’s side. She took Hope from Kay’s arms and hugged her.
Kay pulled her mother away from the crowd so everyone else wouldn’t have to hear her mom’s criticisms. “She was here, too. I had her safe in the panic room with me the whole time.”
“This is just too much. You should have just left Hope with us. You know I would have kept her. Why didn’t you call if you thought you were in this kind of danger?”
“I didn’t know we’d end up being shot at, Mom. And you know what? I don’t call or come by more often because I can’t take hearing what a screwup I am every single time. Or seeing that look on your face that shows how disappointed you are in me.”
Kaylee registered the shock on her mother’s face, but she was on a roll now and couldn’t stop. All the things she should have said over the years tumbled out in a big, jumbled rush.
“All I ever hear from you is how badly I’m ruining my life and Hope’s future. How I make stupid decisions. I know I’m an embarrassment to you. I’m doing the best I can, but it’s still scary. It would be really great to have you hold my hand and tell me that you understand and that you’re there for me.”
Her mother’s face had hardened and she handed Hope back with stiff arms. “I don’t know what I’ve ever done to deserve this. I’ve tried to be there for you, Kaylee. I really have.”
“I know you’ve tried. But you know what I really wish? All this time I wished you could stop being embarrassed by me long enough to just be my mom.”
Eli put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her to his side as her mother turned and walked away.
Her father looked between them awkwardly before he squeezed Kay’s arm. “I’m sorry, pumpkin.”
She pulled him into a quick hug. It wasn’t his fault that she and her mother couldn’t get along. “I’m sorry too, Daddy. Go ahead and follow her. You’ll never hear the end of it otherwise.”
Eli rubbed her arm as they watched them go. “She’ll come around. You’ve never stood up to her before. I think she’ll need a little recovery time before she learns to deal with it. But I’m proud of you.”
Kay hugged him back, his words reassuring her. She hated to think of having a rift with her mother, but she’d finally learned that others could only treat her the way she allowed them to treat her. She’d been through so much lately. She was proud of how far she’d come, and she wasn’t accepting put-downs anymore.
From anyone.
“Can we get out of here?”
Eli looked back at the cluster of agents behind them. “Gladly. I’ve had enough of this scene to last a lifetime.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
OVER THE NEXT few weeks, Elliott learned the true meaning of family. After a long discussion with Kaylee about it, he’d decided to tell them the truth. Family was about people who accepted you, warts and all. He’d been afraid of their reaction to his failings, but in the end, they’d rallied around him in a way that humbled him.
Mara had gotten a recommendation from her friend Danny for an attorney who specialized in criminal law. It turned out Agent Harris had counted on Eli not being aware of all his rights. Since he’d never been formally charged with anything, his new lawyer was going over the details of his case carefully to see what obligations he had, if any, to continue being involved in the FBI’s case.
Now that it was all over and he had some distance from the situation, he realized he was happy to help out. However, if he did, it would be because he wanted to, not because of a threat hanging over his head. His lawyer thought he had reason to be optimistic, and he felt lighter than he had in years.
“Do you want another biscuit, Eli?”
He looked up to see his mother offering him a plate of homemade rolls. His stomach growled and he grabbed another one off the plate. His mother had insisted he stay at their house when he moved back to town. It seemed that after years of him being absent, she wasn’t ready to let him out of her sight yet.
“Thanks, Mom. You don’t have to cook all this food every day.”
She beame
d at him. “I like cooking for my boys. I haven’t had enough chances to feed you lately. I’m not sure where I went wrong that only Nicholas absorbed my cooking lessons. The rest of you are a fire hazard in the kitchen. Although now that you have Kay, I know you won’t starve. She’ll take good care of you.”
“We’ll take good care of each other.” He glanced behind him instinctively to where Kay was sitting on the couch with Ridley.
Ever since the day of the shootout, she’d been right by his side as he’d taken every step in his new life. She’d come with him to the lawyer’s office. She’d ridden up to headquarters for meetings so he could turn over control of the day-to-day operations to his vice president, George Callahan.
“She thinks that I should talk to you. About that day in the barn. When I was seventeen,” he clarified.
Julia’s face paled slightly. He covered her hand with his and squeezed. “I’m sorry, Mom. I hate to bring up something so painful, but I need to talk about it. How it affected me.”
“All right.” She squeezed his hand back gently.
“I was really angry,” he admitted. It had taken a lot of introspection for him to come to terms with that.
“At me?” Julia’s voice wavered slightly.
“Yeah. A little. I shouldn’t have been, but I was confused. I couldn’t understand why you wouldn’t press charges. I wanted to hurt him. I wanted him to pay. I think that’s why I joined the Circle. It was stupid, but I felt like I was helping someone. Even if I couldn’t help you.”
Julia sighed. “I am so sorry for… a lot of things. But Eli, things are so much more complicated than you know. It’s not what you think. It’s just… not what you think.”
Eli saw it in her eyes then and suddenly didn’t want to take the conversation any further. “You don’t owe me any explanations, Mom. I just wanted you to know that I’m here if you ever need me. A really smart woman is helping me see that it’s time to move on. I’m excited about the future for the first time in a long time.”
“She’s good for you.” Julia stood and kissed him on top of his head before picking up the plate of leftover biscuits.
He walked over to Kaylee and sat next to her on the couch. He pulled her into his arms and she purred and snuggled up next to him.
“You two are just so cute.” Ridley sniffled. “I’m so glad you found each other and now you’re so happy,” she said and looked at Eli. “And I’m so happy.”
Jackson appeared. “What did you do to my wife? I finally got her to stop crying.”
Ridley waved her hand at him. “I’m not crying. I’m just misty-eyed, that’s all. Leave a girl and her hormones in peace.”
Eli breathed in the scent of Kaylee’s hair and held her close. They’d spent a lot of time together over the past few weeks and now he couldn’t imagine how he’d lived so long without her. Now that he wasn’t working sixteen-hour days, he could see just how barren his life had been before she and Hope had barged into his house and heart and brought them both to light.
It was long overdue for him to delegate so he could live a little. He’d always be grateful for and proud of his work because it had given him a productive outlet for his anger and frustration. Through it he’d been able to realize his purpose of helping people. But it was no longer the main focus of his life.
His family was.
KAYLEE STOOD ON the doorstep of her parents’ house and rubbed her arms. It had been a few weeks since they’d gotten back in town and her mother hadn’t called her once. She was definitely still angry.
But Julia had stepped into the void and helped Kaylee out in more ways than one. Not only was she supportive of her relationship with Eli despite their age difference, but she’d given her encouragement and reassurance about how she was raising her daughter. Things Kay hadn’t realized she’d needed so badly until she had them.
Then there was Eli.
She looked over at him and everything inside her went gooey. The last few weeks had been challenging for him. She’d done everything she could to support him as he’d started untangling the legal mess from his time with the Circle of Seven and from his defiance in walking off the active scene of a crime at his house a few weeks ago.
Danny had found him a great lawyer, which she thought was amazing considering that his only introduction to Eli had been less than complimentary. Even Hope’s father had called to offer support. Not that she needed it, but it was nice to hear anyway. He wasn’t going to be a part of their lives and Kay was at peace with that.
Finally at peace.
She hadn’t told Eli about the call from Tim. He’d just go crazy and she’d have to pretend to be upset on principle. Truthfully, she kind of liked it when he got a little jealous. Eli treated her like the focus of his entire world, which was great because he was the center of hers, too. She loved every inch of her exasperating, overprotective, dominant alpha male.
The only thing that still hurt her heart was that Sasha wasn’t speaking to her. Her friend had been hurt and embarrassed when she’d realized Eli had suspected her of being the stalker. Kay had tried to explain that she hadn’t believed it, but Sasha had left in tears. She left messages on her friend’s cell phone every day, but she probably wasn’t even listening to them. Kay sighed.
“Don’t be nervous. It’ll be fine,” Eli said as he rang the bell. “I’m sure she’s not still angry. She’s your mother.”
“Oh, I wasn’t even thinking about that. I’m sure my mother is still angry. I don’t expect anything less. You have no idea how stubborn she can be.”
“I wondered where you got it from,” he muttered.
She was saved from responding when the door opened. Her father stepped back so they could come in. “Hey, pumpkin. I was wondering when you’d finally come by. You know we’ve missed you something awful.”
“Sorry, Daddy. I know I should have called, but with the way I left things with Mom, well, I wasn’t sure my call would be welcome.”
He enfolded her in a hug. “You’re my daughter. You are always welcome.”
She snuggled into the embrace, soaking up the flow of love and acceptance. “I missed you.”
Her father pulled back and his eyes landed on Eli. “Mr. Alexander. Thank you for keeping my baby girl safe. I hope you won’t be taking her away from us again anytime soon.”
“Well, about that…”
“So, you’ve finally decided to come visit. We’ve been worried sick.”
They all turned around. Henrietta stood in the doorway, her arms crossed. Kay’s heart sank. She knew her mother’s body language, and she wasn’t giving off a forgiving vibe.
“I’m sorry, Mom. Things have been really hectic.”
Kay handed Hope to her father. He carried her into the kitchen and Eli followed with a sympathetic smile.
Kay sucked in a breath to steady herself. “Actually, I needed some time away. From you.”
Her mother took a step forward, her eyes wide. “Kaylee! What an awful thing to say.”
“I’m sorry, Mom, but it’s true. For a long time, I’ve tried to be smarter, thinner, just better so I could finally make you proud. After all this time, I’ve realized that it’s never going to happen. I didn’t go to college, I got pregnant and embarrassed you in front of all your church friends, and I’m singing pop music. But I’m proud of my life. I’ve made mistakes, but I’ve learned from them, too.”
Henrietta crossed to the couch and sat down. “I’m a horrible mother.”
“I didn’t say that. I just think you want something from me that will never happen. You wanted a perfect daughter. That’s not me. That will never be me. And I’m okay with that.”
She was shocked when her mother pulled her into a hug.
“You are perfect. Exactly as you are. I’m the one who is a failure for not letting you know that.”
“Mom? But you always seemed so disappointed that I wasn’t singing in the choir anymore.”
“I wasn’t thrilled that you went
into popular music because I know how rough that industry is. I recorded a few albums, so I know what it’s like. They demand your all and then if you don’t live up to their expectations, they’ll grind you up and spit you out. I was just worried for you, Kay. I didn’t want them to break your spirit the way they broke mine.”
Stunned, Kaylee allowed her mom to pull her closer. For years, she’d thought her mom’s criticisms were because she was disappointed in her. Not because she was worried for her.
“And I was upset when you got pregnant because I wanted to string that no-good man up by his gonads for how he treated you. I was disappointed because I want the best for you, Kay, not a lifetime of struggle. Of course, you proved me wrong as usual because you didn’t struggle, you thrived. I am truly awed by you.”
Kay sat back, stunned. “I never knew. I guess we could both do better at communicating what we really feel. I’m sorry I didn’t call. I hate to think of you being worried. I was safe the whole time. Eli would never let anything happen to me.”
Henrietta wiped the tears from her eyes and stood. “Yes, well, I’d like to hear what happened from him. I think he has some explaining to do.” She marched into the kitchen where Eli was standing next to her father.
“Now, I’d like to hear directly from you, young man, about what happened. You show up on our doorstep one day and then the next thing we know, our daughter is gone for a month. I’d like an explanation.”
“Mom! I already told you everything.” Kay groaned. She walked over next to Eli, as if she could shield him from her mother’s wrath. It seemed their mother-daughter truce didn’t extend to being nice to her man.
“I am so sorry about this,” she whispered to Eli. She supposed she couldn’t expect her mother to break all her old habits. All things in good time, she thought. But at least they’d made a start to patching up their relationship.
He pulled her closer and grinned. “It’s fine.”