As if she could remember at that moment. “Right.”
“Here’s my phone. Press number seven and say medical transport.” He shook the phone. “Not 9-1-1 or anything else. Only number seven.”
With her mind turned to mush, she struggled to understand his message. There were things in the house the police couldn’t see. A treasure trove of intel on New Foundations ferreted out online. “But what about—”
“Connor will handle the rest.”
She had no idea what that meant. Her brain raced to catch up but failed. All she could do was stare at him.
In the beat of hesitation, Holt grabbed her arm. Not hard but enough to kick her out of her stupor. “Now, Lindsey.”
“Right.” She reached for the cell and punched it in.
His hand slipped farther down her arm. “I get the worries, but you need to trust me on this.”
She looked at Kelly, then Kurt. They’d been beaten and shot. Even now bruises formed. Kurt took the brunt, but Kelly had not been spared either. The attacker clearly didn’t care that she was a young woman, which confirmed everything Lindsey already knew about the group.
“Number seven, then Deputy Carver.” Holt nodded at her after issuing the order.
“Why him?”
“As hard as it’s going to be, it’s time to start flushing Falls out.” Holt’s expression grew even darker. “Before he attacks anyone else.”
This time she didn’t disagree or even blink. She just followed the instructions and hoped Holt knew what he was talking about. She wasn’t one to trust and she was placing a lot in him and this Connor person she’d never even met.
By the time the ambulance arrived and the victims were loaded, she’d become convinced everything she knew and everything she cared about was about to blow up.
Holt stepped up beside her as the second ambulance took off. “You okay?”
“No.” She couldn’t even travel to the hospital with the Noonans. Not really.
Deputy Carver had acted exactly as Holt predicted. The deputy clearly assumed the Noonans had been loaded into normal medical transport. After all, the ambulance looked legitimate. But no. Holt arranged for something else.
He had ambulances on his payroll, or Corcoran’s, that would take the couple somewhere safe. That meant she’d hear any new information relayed through Holt. While she hated losing control, under the current circumstances, she needed the help.
She rubbed her hands over her arms, but what she really wanted was him holding her. “I need to go home and pretend this day never happened.”
He nodded without looking at her. “I agree.”
That was a surprise. “No speech about how everything is going to be okay.”
“I’ll give that once I find the missing body.”
The comment hit her like one more body blow. “What?”
“The attacker I shot? Gone.”
She heard his anger, but the words got muffled. She turned them over in her head, trying to make sense of them. “Not possible.”
“Looks like whatever militia Simon Falls is building is coming after us.” Holt finally looked at her. “Good news is I like our chances.”
That made one of them.
Chapter Eleven
Simon stood with Deputy Carver near the main gate of New Foundations. A high fence outlined a portion of the hundreds of acres owned by them. The rest was set off with a shorter electrified fence, along with motion sensors and warning signs that promised a bullet for trespassing.
Guards watched the front, and people mingled inside the walls. No one knew about the danger lurking just outside. They’d heard about Grant and assumed a vagrant shot him. For now, Simon was content to let that story stand to all but the elite staff members who answered only to him and shared his vision.
Simon had listened to Frank Jr. talk about the attacks on a couple he described as random. Heard all about Lindsey and Hank being found there with the Noonans.
The job of framing Lindsey Pike just got easier and easier.
Simon moved in for the kill. “You no longer have a choice but to do something about her.”
“I don’t have any forensic evidence linking Lindsey to any crime.” The deputy waved to a couple walking nearby. They didn’t respond with anything other than by looking away. “I think it’s more likely that Hank guy. He comes to Justice and people start dying.”
“Interesting theory, but he’s been up here with us.” And getting Hank arrested didn’t serve any real purpose for Simon. If anything, finding another man with those skills and that temperament would take forever. So, no, he’d need to remain free. “Lindsey is the one you need to bring in.”
“Possibly.”
Simon decided to let it lie there. For now. He would push later. Bring up some information Frank Jr. either didn’t know or did a good job of hiding. Simon would be more impressed if the case were the latter, but he suspected the former.
Buying his father off had been easy. A beloved sheriff with a small pension and a big heart condition. Simon stuck to Frank Sr.’s practical side and got a mountain of assistance in return. No interference at the camp and a free flow of information.
Now it was Frank Jr.’s turn, though he didn’t seem to realize it yet. But soon he would.
“What’s the plan now?” Simon asked, trying to keep the disgust out of his voice.
“Collect more evidence.”
A response Simon couldn’t control, which made it his least favorite option. “What can I do for you?”
“I need everything you have on Hank.”
Now Simon had a problem. He wanted to make a scene and bring the deputy in line right now, but there were too many people around. And some things needed to be handled in privacy. That gave Frank Jr. a reprieve for now. “I’ll send it over.”
“Appreciate it.” The deputy nodded, then walked away. Right past the guard and through the gate. Out into a world where he could do nothing but cause trouble.
Todd appeared at Simon’s side. He stood there but wisely did not say a word.
Simon wanted to break the man in two.
“Maybe you would like to tell me why you suddenly can’t handle a simple job.” Simon smiled and waved at the people he saw, but inside he seethed.
“Hank and Lindsey came in a beat too early.” Todd scanned the area, never showing any outward sign of distress or blowback from what he had done. “Jeb panicked.”
“And now he’s dead.” That counted two men dead. Simon hated losing anyone. The training needed to bring people up through the ranks proved daunting, but Simon had bigger concerns at the moment. “Jeb is a man who could trace back to me, who definitely traces back to New Foundations. It’s only by pure luck he’d been doing survival training and hadn’t met Hank.”
“I took care of him.” Todd cleared his throat and lowered his voice. “No one will find the body.”
Simon wanted to argue about forensic evidence, but he let it drop. “I have a new job for you. This is your last chance to prove to me you can handle it.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Figure out how to take the deputy’s attention off Hank.” Simon thought about all he had planned for Lindsey and how none of that would happen if she left town in a panic. “And make it quick.”
* * *
LINDSEY SLAMMED EVERY cabinet door in the kitchen. Holt knew because he stood right there listening to the drum show. They waited for Shane to return with news. Holt toyed with the idea of diverting her attention, but now, when her nerves rode the edge, was not the time for more kissing. Which was a damn shame.
Just when he thought he couldn’t take the noise for one more second, Shane walked in. He hit the alarm code before it started screaming, then came into the kitchen.
Lindsey spun around. “Well?”
“Kelly is in stable condition.” He stopped there.
Holt knew that was a bad sign. If Shane had good news he’d spill it, especially if he noticed the hope on Lindsey�
��s face, which seemed hard to miss. But they needed everything out in the open, so Holt asked, “Kurt?”
“He didn’t make it.”
Lindsey sat down hard on the kitchen chair. Her mouth opened and her eyes filled. Her pain vibrated out of her and took over the entire room.
Holt wanted to go to her, and he would, but he needed to know where they were first. “Give me the full report.”
Shane didn’t need further coaxing. He launched right into it, even though his usually lighter tone had disappeared. “Cam and Connor are making arrangements to get Kelly to safety once she can travel.”
Holt waited for Lindsey to pipe up. To say anything. Instead she just sat there, almost in a daze of sadness. With flat eyes and a pale face, she sat motionless. All the life and energy that usually buzzed around her had disappeared.
He reached over and grabbed the list Lindsey had compiled while they waited. “She saved six others. Most relocated outside of Oregon.”
“I contacted them.” Lindsey’s voice cut through the quiet, sounding more mechanical than human.
As each minute passed he worried more about her and how she would cope. Losing Kurt, losing anyone she’d helped, would be a huge blow. Most people would shrivel and stop functioning. He hoped she would spin out of it.
“Connor helped.” Holt could still hear Connor’s calm voice as he worked with Lindsey to reassure everyone.
Shane nodded. “I just talked with him. He’s dispatching Joel and a few others to get these people, relocate them and watch over them until we know what’s going on.”
The news brought relief. The tightening in Holt’s chest finally eased.
“But Kurt is still dead and Roger is missing.” Lindsey stood up. Went to the refrigerator and opened the door. Just stood there doing nothing as the cold air escaped.
“We’re going to get these guys,” Holt said, vowing to do just that.
She glanced at him over his shoulder. “After how many more people die?”
“Hopefully none.” And Holt meant that. He couldn’t promise everything would run smoothly and no one would get hurt, so he didn’t try. But he could make a vow. One to protect and defend.
She shut the refrigerator door. “I’m going to bed.”
That was all she said and then she walked out of the room. Down the hall. Holt waited to hear the soft click behind her.
Before he could say anything, Shane jumped in. “She’s having a rough time.”
“This sucks for her.” People dead at her feet and attackers behind every door. It was too much for him, and he played this game every single day at work.
“Tonight when you go in there to help her sleep, throw everything at her to reassure her.”
Holt wasn’t even sure what tools he could bring to that. “Maybe she needs a break. Some alone time.”
Shane shook his head. “If you think that, you still aren’t getting it.”
Holt had no idea what that meant, but he was a hundred percent sure Shane was right. “Any chance you’re going to be out of the house tonight?”
A grin spread across Shane’s mouth. “That’s more like it. Give me ten minutes and I’ll disappear. Check the grounds and watch from a distance so you won’t need to guard your back.”
“You have five minutes.”
Chapter Twelve
Lindsey wasn’t in the mood to be coddled or placated. She wasn’t a fragile doll, but she wasn’t heartless either. She knew how a person could wither without affection and what it did to everything from your self-esteem to your outlook on life.
Someone she’d helped and nurtured and groomed to fit better into the real world was gone. At twenty-two. It amounted to a sick and horrible waste. She had no idea how Kelly would recover when the only support she’d ever had was her brother, now dead.
And then there was Roger...and Grant, whom she didn’t know but who should still be mourned. The guy outside the Noonans’ house. The bodies kept piling up until her insides shook with fear.
She sat on her bed, then stood up. When the nerves in her hands began to tremble, she rubbed her palms together. Was it really just a week ago when she was happy to lock and relock and check and triple-check her doors each night? That made her feel safe. Now she knew how naive that all was.
“Lindsey?”
She didn’t hear a knock or the door. Nothing but Holt’s deep voice as it filled her room and moved through her head. “Do you need something?”
He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. “You.”
She couldn’t have heard that right. All the adrenaline and crackling of her nerves had her brain misfiring. She looked up and tried to read his expression but couldn’t. “What did you just say?”
“Nothing.”
“I don’t think that’s true.”
His hand went back to the doorknob. “I can leave.”
“No.” She practically shouted the denial.
“Okay.” He stepped farther into the room. Kept coming until he got to the bed. Then he sat down beside her.
The mattress dipped from his weight, and her body slid into his. “I can’t seem to calm my nerves. I feel like I’m six seconds from flying apart.”
His palm slipped over her thigh. “It’s aftermath.”
“It’s pretty awful.” She thought that qualified as the understatement of the century. “Do you always feel like this?”
“Just sometimes.” He slid his hand over hers and their fingers entwined. “Your nerve endings are on fire. The danger and fear, the sadness and pain. It’s all mixing and getting jammed up inside you.”
“How do I get rid of it?” She flipped his hand over and studied his palm. Such a strong hand. Long fingers and the calluses of a man who engaged in physical labor on a regular basis.
“Different things work for different people.” His thumb rubbed against the back of her hand. Slow, lazy circles that soothed her even as her insides continued to churn.
Bold had worked for her once before. She tried it again. “Any chance kissing does the trick?”
He froze for a second before resuming the intoxicating touching. “I am trying very hard not to be a jerk here.”
She’d never thought of him that way. Stubborn, yes. The man could give classes in that. “You’re not.”
“Are you sure? Because it feels like I’m about to cross the boundary.”
He’d lost her. “What do you mean?”
He shook his head, and his voice dipped even lower. “You’re upset and I don’t want to take advantage.”
Wow, was he misreading the situation! The worry was sweet but misplaced. If anything, her mind wandered in the other direction. She’d made it clear she was interested. Even made a not-so-subtle offer in bed last night. He ignored it all.
She’d begun to think he could fight back his feelings for her without trouble, which was not the most flattering idea in the world. Also made her crazed with a mix of disappointment and sadness.
She knew that was ridiculous now. Energy whirled around him, but he kept it in check. He was so set on doing his job that he put being a man with needs aside. She wanted him to let loose. To trust her enough to take a chance.
But he needed to say it. She could not be alone in taking the risk. “Do you want me?”
“Since the first time I saw you in the café. Not a question and don’t ever doubt it.” There was no hesitation in his words or in his smile. “The way you looked and the way you carried yourself. The mix of strength and hotness had me forgetting about the assignment, and for the record, that never happens.”
She wasn’t sure what to say, so she went with the obvious. “Wow.”
“You poured my coffee in the café and I was lost. And watching you walk?” He whistled. “Lost my mind.”
For some reason the idea of that made her laugh. “I’m pretty good with coffee.”
“I’d say.”
She jumped right to the part that mattered. To the words spinning in her head that s
he was so desperate to say. “I want you, too.”
He stared at her, with his gaze searching her face. His eyes softened and that sweet smile continued to play on his lips. “You sure?”
“Yes.”
He mumbled something about timing. “Maybe we should wait until—”
Absolutely not. “What? Bodies stop dropping? I’m not sure when that will be.”
He shifted a little, turned to face her head-on. “We’re going to get this figured out and keep you safe.”
With every sentence they emotionally moved further apart. He didn’t get her concerns or where her mind had gone. “I’m not worried about me right now. I’m sick about what happened, but every second you sit here a new feeling inches its way in.”
“Describe it.”
The words wouldn’t come. She couldn’t think of one big enough. “Desire. I don’t know what else you’d call it.”
“Maybe I should just kiss you and we’ll work on definitions later.”
About time. “Yes.”
She expected him to lean over and start with a gentle kiss. Not Holt. He lifted her, turned her. She moved through the air and when she landed she straddled his lap with a knee on either side of his hips.
Before she could catch her breath and before the room stopped spinning, his mouth covered hers. It was a kiss filled with hunger. A promise of the night to come. Her vision blurred and her fingers dug into his shoulders through his T-shirt. She held on as the world whipped around them.
His lips crossed over hers, coaxing and exploring. He’d deepen the kiss until her breathing kicked up and her heartbeat raced; then he’d gentle it. Every move and shift had her mentally begging for more. And when his mouth kissed in a trail down her neck, then up to that small dip at the base of her ear, her control evaporated.
Forget being smart. Forget the danger and the worries. She wanted this—him—right now. Just the two of them. Not about rescue or protection. About attraction flipping around wildly and out of control. About a welling inside her and a thirst that needed to be quenched.
The room tilted as his arm wrapped tighter around her and his palm balanced against her lower back. One minute she was on his lap, kissing as she felt his body reacting to her closeness. The next, her back hit the mattress and a hundred eighty pounds of pure hot male moved over her.
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