The Lady And Alex Payton

by Nikki Benjamin

  Moving woodenly, Kari stood, crossed to the closet door and took down her garment bag.

  “All right, I’m ready to go.”

  “Get your purse, too,” Brandon instructed, gesturing toward her dresser with his gun. “We wouldn’t want anyone to wonder why you drove off without it.”

  Trying to assimilate what he’d just told her, Kari did as he said. He had shot a man in the barn and left him for dead. One man. Which meant that either Alex or Kevin could be nearby. Maybe hiding somewhere outside, waiting for them to leave the cottage.

  Oh, please...oh, please...oh, please...

  She didn’t want to believe that either of them was dead. Did not want to believe that at all. Nor did she want to die herself. Not at the hands of Brandon Selby. But time was running out for her, she admitted as she walked down the hallway. Once Brandon got her to the Blazer, he would probably knock her out. Then she would be completely at his mercy.

  Her last hope was to try to get away from him as they crossed the front yard. She could make a run for it and pray that he didn’t shoot her.

  Could except for the fact that he grasped her by the upper arm, his fingers biting cruelly into her flesh, as they entered the living room.

  “Open the door and walk down to the Blazer,” he ordered. “And don’t try to fight me or I’ll hit you... hard.”

  “You’re going to do that anyway, aren’t you?” she retorted.

  “Yes, of course, but when I do it will be entirely up to you.”

  Nudging up against her, he shoved her forward, pulling the door shut as they stepped onto the front porch.

  The bastard was so close to her. So damned close. But he had his .38 lowered to his side. Even if he pulled the trigger as a reflex, the bullet wouldn’t hit Kari, Which meant it was now or never, Alex thought as he crept through the shadows thrown by the overgrown shrubbery planted haphazardly around the cottage.

  He couldn’t allow Selby to move her out of the glow of the porch light into the darkness of the front yard. Unless he could see both of them clearly, as he was able to at that moment, he couldn’t risk taking a shot.

  But now... now...

  Using both hands to hold his automatic steady, he rose fluidly from his crouch and took aim.

  “Going somewhere, Selby?” he asked, his voice cracking across the lawn like a whip.

  Startled, Brandon turned and pointed his .38 at him as Alex had intended. At the same instant, Kari jerked free of his hold on her. His line of fire unimpeded, Alex squeezed the trigger.

  Selby grunted. Then, his eyes widening in surprise, he stumbled backward, his .38 falling to the porch as he pawed ineffectually at the red stain blossoming across the upper left side of his chest. A moment later he collapsed in a heap and lay still.

  As if frozen where she stood, Kari stared at Selby and whimpered, her garment bag and purse sliding out of her hands.

  Though keeping his eyes on Selby, Alex lowered his weapon and moved toward her slowly.

  “It’s all right, love,” he soothed. “It’s all over now.”

  She jerked again, then turned her head and stared at him, a bewildered look on her face.

  “Alex?” she murmured as he stepped onto the porch and slid an arm around her waist. “He...he didn’t shoot you?”

  “No,” he assured her.

  “But then, Kevin...” she began, her voice filled with anguish. “Kevin is—”

  “Going to be awfully sore for a while, but otherwise he’s just fine. He was wearing his vest.”

  “Oh.” She blinked once, sighed softly, then fainted dead away.

  Lifting her into his arms, Alex spared a last glance at Brandon Selby, then started down the steps. In the distance, he heard the sound of a car creeping up the road. The police, more than likely. Just in time to mop up.

  He hoped there would be an ambulance not far behind, as well. Before anyone started asking questions, both Kari and Kevin Wyatt were going to need medical attention. And Alex intended to see that they got it.

  As for Selby...it was too late for him. Though Alex took no pleasure in having killed the man, he had to admit he was relieved that Brandon Selby would never pose a threat to Kari or anyone else again.

  By the time Kari and Kevin were released from the hospital, and the local police as well as Kevin’s superiors at the FBI had finished taking everyone’s statement, it was early evening. Kevin gladly accepted a ride home from a fellow agent, leaving Alex and Kari alone at last.

  “Now what?” she asked as they walked to her car.

  “Now we go back to my place. Unless you don’t feel up to the drive.” Though she looked exhausted, he didn’t really want to take her to a hotel tonight. He wanted to take her home.

  “I don’t mind the drive. But maybe we ought to stop by the stable first. I’d really like to check on the horses.”

  “All taken care of,” he assured her as he opened the car door for her. “The police have notified all the owners of Selby’s death, and a member of the mounted patrol will be on hand to look after the horses until other arrangements can be made.”

  “That’s good to know.” With a weary sigh, she slid into the passenger seat and fastened her seat belt.

  As he walked around to the driver’s side, Alex couldn’t think of another person—except maybe Laura—who would be as conscientious as Kari. After going through the kind of trauma she had that day, anyone else would have walked away from Selby Stables without a backward glance.

  His heart swelling with love for her, Alex climbed behind the wheel and started the engine. She was such a good person. Too good for the likes of him.

  “What did my brother say when you called him?” she asked, turning to look at him as he pulled onto the street.

  “A lot of things I’d really rather not repeat,” he admitted, smiling as he glanced at her. “Suffice it to say, he was glad to hear you weren’t hurt. Laura, too.” He hesitated, focusing his attention on the road again, then added, “She wants us to come for a visit as soon as possible. She says she wants to see for herself that we’re both all right.”

  “Mmm, I’d like that,” Kari said, not batting an eye at his use of the word us, as if it were natural for them to be coupled so. “But I think I’m going to need a few days to recuperate first.”

  “Yeah, I think so, too,” he agreed as she tipped her head against the headrest and closed her eyes.

  Though she seemed to have bounced back from the emotional turmoil she’d suffered that morning, Alex knew she was still in a mild state of shock. She had been threatened with death, then she had watched a man die. As if that hadn’t been enough for one day, she had spent the past twelve hours recounting the experience over and over again for one law-enforcement official after another. That she hadn’t indulged in a bout of the screaming meemies was a testament to her strength and courage.

  Gradually, over the next few days, the horror of all that she had witnessed would begin to fade. And while she would probably never forget what had happened that morning, the knowledge that she had survived, relatively unharmed, would aid in her recovery. She was safe now. Safe at last. Once she realized that, she’d be just fine.

  But then, of course, she wouldn’t need him anymore. At least not in the way she had during the past two weeks when her life had been in danger. Perhaps not in any way at all.

  She had seen for herself what he was capable of doing. He had killed a man before her very eyes. That he had done so to save her life might be hard for her to keep in mind when she had a chance to think dispassionately about the kind of past he’d had.

  Her loving acceptance of him had taught him to believe in his own basic decency. But now he wondered if she would still be able to believe in it herself.

  Kari dozed off twice during the long drive, starting awake with a soft cry both times. After that, she seemed content to stare out the window in silence, which was also fine with Alex. At one point, however, she reached out and clasped his hand. Glad she could st
ill turn to him for comfort, he wove his fingers through hers. He didn’t let go until he was forced to get out and open the gate at the entrance to his property.

  At the house he tried to get her to eat something, but she only nibbled on the grilled cheese sandwich and sipped the tomato soup he set in front of her. Not trusting her to stay upright in the shower on her own, he joined her under the steaming spray, then quickly toweled her dry and carried her to his bed.

  He would have left her then, but she clung to him with surprising strength, and when she awoke screaming a short time later, he was glad that he’d stayed. He gave her one of the sleeping pills the doctor at the hospital had prescribed for her, and held her as she drifted off again, leaving only when he was sure she was too deeply asleep to be disturbed by another frightening dream.

  Having come to a decision, he returned to the kitchen, found paper and a pen and sat down at the table to write a letter. After that, he dozed for a while on the living-room sofa, getting up occasionally to make sure Kari was still sleeping peacefully.

  Just after dawn he called his housekeeper, Estella, and when she arrived at the house an hour later, he did what he’d known all along he would have to do. He called a taxi to take him back to San Antonio.

  He had to give Kari some time to think, and he had to take a little time away from her to do the same himself. He had meant it when he told her she brought out the best in him, and he now knew in his heart that would never change. More than anything, he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. But until he had given her a chance to consider all that he’d told her, he couldn’t, in good conscience, ask her to be his wife.

  He couldn’t bear it if she agreed only because she was still held in thrall by the sexual hunger he’d awakened in her over the past two weeks. Weeks she had more or less been forced to spend in his company because she’d had no other safe place to go. Weeks when he hadn’t been able to stop himself from taking all she had seemed so willing to give.

  The sound of the taxi pulling up outside the house drew him from his reverie.

  “You’ll look after her for me, Estella?” he asked as he slung his backpack over his shoulder.

  “Of course, Senor Payton.”

  “And you have the number where I can be reached if there are any problems?”

  “Right here.” Smiling indulgently, she patted the pocket of her apron. “Along with the letter you’re leaving for the señorita.”

  “Good.”

  “When will you be back?” she asked, following him to the door.

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Soon, I hope.”

  “Me, too.”

  “You should spend more time here, señor,” she scolded. “This place is good for you.”

  “You’re right, Estella. It is.”

  Especially with Kari here, too.

  Maybe, just maybe, he could finally begin to live the life he’d always wanted. A life he had thought would always be just out of his reach.

  But only time would tell.

  Chapter 12

  Lured by the aroma of freshly brewed coffee—and, if she wasn’t mistaken, homemade banana-nut bread—Kari made her way down the hallway, across the living room and into Alex’s kitchen, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

  Thanks to the sleeping pill he had given her, she had slept deeply well into the afternoon. Although it had taken her a while to awaken completely, by the time she had showered and dressed in her jeans and one of Alex’s shirts, she’d felt almost like herself again.

  The events of the previous day were still fresh in her mind, but not disturbingly so. She was too glad to be alive and well and here with Alex, who was also alive and well. When she considered what could have happened yesterday, what had happened paled in comparison. And while she wasn’t happy that Brandon was dead—she would have much preferred to see him rot in prison—she was relieved that he would never be able to do anyone else any harm

  “I’m sorry I was such a slug,” she began as she stepped into the kitchen, fully expecting to see Alex there.

  Instead her gaze fell upon an elderly Hispanic woman, neatly dressed in a black skirt, plain white blouse and brightly colored, flowered apron, her salt-and-pepper hair pulled back in a tidy bun, her brown eyes warm and inquisitive.

  “Good afternoon, señorita. I am Estella, Señor Payton’s housekeeper.” She nodded toward the table, set with a single place mat and napkin. “Sit down and let me get you some coffee,” she added. “And perhaps a slice of my banana-nut bread?”

  “Yes, of course. Thank you,” Kari murmured, her smile fading. “Where’s Alex?”

  Not anywhere there. She knew that instinctively. But she couldn’t quite believe he had left her already. She knew he still had two weeks before he was supposed to report to McConnell. And somehow she had foolishly believed they’d spend that time together. Time she had been counting on. Time in which to strengthen the fragile bonds that had only just begun to grow out of their love for each other. “He left early this morning. He didn’t say where he was going, but he gave me a telephone number where he could be reached in an emergency.”

  The housekeeper handed Kari a slip of paper. The number on it was one she recognized, having used it in the past to get in touch with Devlin. You called the number, left a message, and the person you were trying to contact called you back whenever he could.

  “Also, he asked me to, give you this,” Estella added.

  As Kari looked up, the woman pulled a plain white envelope from her apron pocket and offered it to her. Hesitantly, she took it. Her name was written on the front, and from the feel of the envelope, there couldn’t be more than one sheet of stationery inside. She turned it over and over several times, then set it aside as Estella placed a mug of coffee and a plate of banana-nut bread in front of her.

  She would read the letter sometime later when she was alone and hopefully prepared for what would more than likely be his final farewell. Right now, it would be all she could do to drink her coffee and eat a few bites of the housekeeper’s homemade bread without bursting into tears.

  She should have been better prepared for this moment. She also should have known it would come sooner rather than later. Alex hadn’t made any promises except to keep her safe, which he’d done with flying colors. Now that he no longer deemed his presence necessary for her well-being, of course he would want to be on his way.

  He’d never been one to linger once he had decided on a course of action. And where she was concerned, he had obviously decided—yet again—not to allow her any say in the matter.

  “You must be very special to Senor Payton, señorita,” Estella said, joining her at the table companionably, her own mug of coffee in hand.

  “Why do you say that?” Kari asked, wishing she could really believe it was true.

  But then, he wouldn’t have left her, would he? Unless he still thought of himself as damaged goods.

  “He’s never brought anyone here before. Anyone at all.”

  “He didn’t have much of a choice with me,” she hedged. “I needed a place to stay temporarily, and my brother asked him to look after me.”

  “Ah, don’t fool yourself. The one thing Alexander Payton makes sure he always has is a choice,” Estella replied in a kindly tone. “And he didn’t want to leave you. I know that for a fact. I saw the sadness in his eyes, and I’ve never seen sadness in his eyes before.”

  “But he did leave,” Kari said, unable to hide her grief any longer. Swiping at the single tear that trickled down her cheek, she added, “Without even saying goodbye.”

  “Maybe he says that in his letter.”

  “Maybe.”

  “You should read it, señorita.”

  “I will. Later.”

  With a tsking sound, Estella rose to refill their mugs. As she set the coffeepot back on the burner, the telephone rang and she went to answer it.

  For an instant Kari thought it might be Alex, then admitted that in the highl
y unlikely event it was, he probably wouldn’t ask to speak to her anyway.

  “For you, señorita,” the housekeeper said, stretching the telephone cord so Kari could take the receiver without getting out of her chair. “A Mr. Kevin Wyatt.”

  “Hello, Kevin,” she said, trying to sound more cheerful than she felt. “How are you feeling?”

  “Like a herd of buffalo just took turns tap-dancing across my back,” he replied with a rueful laugh.

  “That good, huh?” Her spirits lifting, she smiled. Of them all, he had come closest to losing his life, but he seemed to be taking it in stride.

  “Yeah, that good. How about you?”

  “Just fine,” she replied—too quickly, she realized.

  “Nice try,” Kevin chided. “How are you really?”

  “Alex is gone,” she blurted before she could stop herself.

  “I know. He called me from the airport this morning and asked me to do a couple of things for you. I just wanted to let you know I’ve taken care of everything as requested.”

  “What do you mean by everything?” she asked, truly puzzled.

  “I had your furniture packed and put into storage. I also had your clothes and other personal belongings packed and sent to Alex’s place. Several boxes should be delivered to you later in the afternoon or early in the evening.” Kevin paused, then added, “You did know about this, didn’t you?”

  “Not until just now,” Kari admitted. “But thanks for taking care of it.”

  She hadn’t thought about retrieving her belongings and closing up the cottage. Probably because she had no real desire to go back there. As Alex had obviously guessed. He, along with Kevin,.had saved her a lot of anguish, for which she was deeply grateful.

  “I don’t suppose you have any idea where he went?” Kevin asked.