She tightened her hold on him. She couldn’t get close enough. “Then later. You and me, we’ll make it a date―our first date.”
The Capitol’s front entrance crowded with law enforcement personnel, and from the sounds of sirens in the distance, more were on their way. The visitors had been corralled behind barricades at the 11th Street entrance.
Mac strolled through the center doors as Jason took Ramirez out the left side.
“Mac, put me down. I’m fine.”
“Nope. In my arms, I at least know where you are.”
“This time it wasn’t my fault, not that you can blame me for the last time either.”
He lowered her feet to the ground. Lexie lifted her face into the sun and allowed the light breeze to wash over her. She hadn’t been inside the Capitol building for long, but it felt like an eternity. She scanned the tree-lined walkway as a sense of peace consumed her. It wasn’t over, but for now, she was so thankful to be alive.
Mac’s hand rested on her waist, his fingers pressing her up against him. As she wrapped her arms around his waist, an image clicked in her head. She released Mac and took two steps toward the edge of the stairs leading down to the park area. Something wasn’t right, but like a word that sat on the tip of her tongue, the clarification was just beyond her reach.
The scene in front of her was too familiar. She had lived in Austin most of her life and had been to the Capitol many times. But she hadn’t been by the area in months. Why did it seem so familiar to her?
Then the memory came back crystal clear: Ryan’s ranch house, the images on the wall, including the Capitol building. The other buildings she didn’t recognize stood in front of her. “Mac? The other pictures on the wall…”
A reflective light flashed like a beacon from the roof of the parking garage across 11th Street. She twisted around and spotted her father a few yards from her. Without thinking, she rushed into him, knocking him to the ground just as a boom sounded. Something stung her left shoulder, and a hot piercing pain sliced through her. Mac yelled her name, pulled her off Ramirez, and shoved her into the cool entrance.
He spun her around and eased her into his arms. “Shit, Lexie.” He pulled her cotton T-shirt away from her shoulder.
“Thank God! The bullet just grazed the skin.” His voice broke before he gave her a slight shake. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“I wasn’t thinking. I just reacted. I saw the flash on the roof across the street and just…”
The adrenaline pumping through her body drained and her legs no longer held her. Before she hit the floor, Mac caught her in his arms and they sunk to the tile. Nausea roiled in her gut and a shiver raced through her.
“Jason,” Mac’s voice roared in her ear.
His brother joined him on the floor. Mac took her chin in his hand. “I have to go after Ryan.”
“I know,” she said, searching his face.
Mac lifted her under the arms and held her until she steadied herself. She tugged on his collar and gave him a quick kiss. “Be careful.”
“I have to do this, Lexie. I can’t let that asshole get away.”
“I need you to know…”
“What?”
“I love you. Like I’m seriously in love with you.”
“I know.”
She punched him in the shoulder. “You don’t know. I just figured it out myself.”
He let out a laugh. “I couldn’t feel like this without the connection being mutual. Since you think this is the time to express our intentions, I’m adding mine. I have loved you for a long time, and I’m not letting you go.”
She lowered her head to his shoulder and pressed her palm at his heart. “Good to know. Now go catch that bastard.”
Mac placed her in Jason’s arms and grabbed an assault rifle from one of the agents. She watched him until he was out of sight.
“He has backup, lots of it, Lexie.”
“Doesn’t make this easier.”
“I know the feeling.” Jason peeled the fabric off her shoulder.
She let out a shaky breath. “How bad is it? It hurts like hell.”
“It’s just a scratch, but you took about ten years off Mac’s life.”
She searched the rotunda. “Where is the senator?”
“The agents didn’t give him a chance to thank you for saving his life.” He took her hand in his. “How about we get you out of here?”
An idea formed in her head. It was crazy and would send Mac over the edge when he found out, but a force she didn’t understand pressed her to move. She turned to Jason and planted a smile on her face. “Let’s go help Mac, together.”
A low growl came from deep in his throat. “Hell, no. Mac will kill me.”
“Jason, one day, we are going to laugh and laugh about this.” Without giving him a chance to react, she grabbed his weapon out of his hand and raced out of the front entrance.
“Lexie, I’m not laughing.”
Twenty-Seven
The burn in Lexie’s side hurt as badly as her shoulder. She loved a good run. This wasn’t one. It was an all-out sprint. Jason’s heavy boots crunched on the loose gravel close behind her.
The entrance to the garage across the street was like a smorgasbord of law enforcement. They were probably doing a floor-by-floor search. Lexie veered off the Capitol side of the street.
This wasn’t right. Ryan had planned everything so carefully. Trapped in a parking garage wasn’t his style. There had to be another escape route, something only a crazy-ass person like Ryan would think of.
She slowed and envisioned the ranch house wall in her head. The other buildings meant something. She scanned the area, and then strolled east 11th Street. Just as she made it to the next block, someone grabbed her arm from behind. She made her lips form a grin and faced Jason. He wasn’t amused.
“Give me my weapon, Lexie.” He held his hand out and nodded to the army of police milling around. “You’re lucky you’re not in cuffs for running around with a gun in your hand.”
She raised her head and searched the rooftops. “Ryan isn’t in the garage. He’s here somewhere.” She shook her head and jogged across the street. Jason moved beside her.
“You’re making me angry, and you really don’t want to do that.”
“Sorry, but are you going to help me or have a macho hissy fit?”
He let out a grunt that she had heard so many times from Mac. As she slowed to a walk, her mind matched what she remembered seeing at the ranch. At the next intersection, instead of crossing the street, she turned south and set off in a slow jog.
“Where the hell are you going?”
Jason’s frustration was almost comical, and she had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing. He could have taken the gun at any time, but he was trying to be so patient with her, which went against his grain. Mac was the patient brother—or at least, he pretended to be.
She didn’t slow her jog, but glanced at Jason’s expression. Warmth settled over her heart. It was going to be nice to have a big brother like him to piss off.
“Ryan had aerial views of these buildings on his wall. He had an escape plan that didn’t include him getting trapped in the parking garage.”
“Did you tell Mac this?”
“I told him about the view of the building, but even then, it made little sense why they were on the wall.”
About halfway down the block, she gasped and came to an abrupt stop. “That’s it. The church steeple didn’t fit. That’s where he’ll hide out until the heat dies down. Who would think to look for him there?”
“You.”
Lexie gave a quick nod and set out in a hard run. Jason caught up to her just as she reached the front of the church. This time when he grabbed her, he wasn’t gentle.
“That’s far enough. If Ryan is here, then you’re not. Give me my revolver and jog back the way you came. Find a cop and stick to him like glue until Mac comes for you. Got it?”
His stare bore into
her until she took a step away from him. “Yeah, got it.”
Before she could hand over the gun, several shots came from the side of the church.
Mac!
As Lexie sprinted through a narrow iron gate, Jason called for backup. She eased her spine against the brick wall of the church. Jason closed in behind her and eased his weapon from her hand, shoving her behind him.
The walkway opened into a small reflection garden. Mac stood about five yards away from a priest with only a fountain separating the two. The man turned and a chill settled in her bones. Ryan. He disguised himself in a priest’s black cassock, including the crisp, white collar. Of all the places he could have hidden, it turned her stomach that he chose this beautifully serene garden.
“One step, Mick Ryan, and I’ll drop you where you stand.” Mac’s voice filled the quiet.
“Then shoot me, McNeil. I will not rot in some hole.”
Jason stepped away from the wall, his gun aimed at Ryan’s back. At the same time, Ryan pulled his weapon and aimed it at Mac.
“If you have proof that al-Qaeda operatives are being smuggled into the United States, then we need to work together to stop that.”
“Don’t patronize me. I killed a federal agent. Just do us all a favor…”
“What you know dies with you. It won’t erase what you have done, but if you really care about the country you tried to protect, lower your weapon and talk to me.”
“I tried that road and no one would listen.”
“You never tried me.”
Lexie’s heart dropped into her stomach. It was one thing to accept Mac’s job and learn to cope with the danger he lived with daily. It was another thing entirely watching a crazy bastard only yards from the man she loved aim a loaded weapon at his heart. If Ryan fired, Jason would kill him, but that wouldn’t stop Ryan’s bullet.
She had never experienced an urge to run toward a fight. Even as a young girl, survival was a strong instinct, sending her into the deepest closet to get away from her mother. But at that moment, she wanted nothing more than to charge Ryan like an angry, injured bull and shove his crazy ass into the pond that surrounded the fountain.
The walkway quickly filled with law enforcement. They slipped by her, blocking her view of Mac, and entered the garden, Ryan finally trapped.
“Move your men back, McNeil. This is between you and me.”
“No, it isn’t. They stay and you will lower your weapon.”
Ryan let out a harsh laugh. “You’re just as bad as the men I’m trying to stop. You and your kind turned your noses to the wall and allowed terrorists to walk across our borders like they owned the place. Know one thing, McNeil. Killing me won’t stop this. Others just as angry as I am will take my place. The mission will continue without me.”
Ryan raised his gun and pulled the trigger, but Mac fired first. Ryan’s weapon fired a wild shot before dropping to the ground, his hand grabbing his shoulder as blood seeped through his shirt.
“Hydra only grows if I shoot you in the head, asshole.”
Ryan screamed out obscenities as the men raced toward him. An instant later, it was all over as the agents cuffed Ryan and led him away. As he passed, Lexie met his glare. He struggled for a moment, trying to reach her. The men shoved him down the walkway, and she couldn’t help but close her eyes and take a deep, cleansing breath. Silence and peace returned to the garden.
The surrounding air shifted and she opened her eyes. Mac stood inches from her, his arms crossed in front of him and lips compressed into a tight line.
“Are you okay?” His voice came out low and edgy.
“Yes.”
“Your shoulder?”
“Now that you mention it, it hurts like hell.”
“Lexie, you’d better have a damn good reason for being here.”
He planted both hands on either side of her. He opened his mouth, then closed it. She couldn’t help stepping an inch into the wall. Mac was one angry special agent-in-charge.
“Answer my question, Lexie,” he said through clenched teeth.
What question?
She searched for Jason. She could use a big brother to calm the beast, but he was nowhere in sight.
“It’s just you and me.” His eyes grew hard.
Lexie shoved him in the chest. “Don’t give me that look. I was the one who figured out where Ryan was. You should be thanking me.”
Mac moved in close, his breath caressing her lips. He didn’t kiss her.
Lexie had to touch him, to feel him. She cupped both palms at his neck and leaned in for a kiss, but he removed her hand and pulled away.
“No. Not until we get a few things straight.”
“What things?”
His thumb brushed the tender area under her ear as his hazel irises morphed into pools of deep gold. “Things like when I leave you with several agents, you will never, ever swipe one of their guns and come running after me.”
“Jason’s a big—”
He moved fast, dragging her hard against him as a growl came from his throat. “And when I tell you to stay put for your own safety, you will respect me enough to do what I say.”
Lexie didn’t dare break their connection. “But there may be times when I—”
“This isn’t up for negotiation. Do you think I didn’t know the second you hit the walkway? You have any idea what that did to me?”
Her shoulders slumped as her heart dropped into her shoes. “I tried not to make a sound. I didn’t want to distract you.”
“I felt you, sweetheart. Ryan’s a murdering bastard, but he has intel we need. But for you, I would have thrown it away and killed him to keep you safe.”
The burning sensation in her throat erupted. She buried her head into Mac’s chest, his arms cradling her as an avalanche of tears released all over him. He held her tight until she found her control.
“If we are going to work, we need to trust each other.”
“God, Mac, I trust you with my life―and Gabriel’s life.”
“Promise me you will never do something so dangerous again.”
She studied him for a long time before she spoke. “I promise, but you have to make a promise to me, too.”
“What?”
“Stop being so pissed with me. I may react before thinking a time or two, but it’s always for a good reason.”
He dropped his hands and stepped back, running his fingers through his hair. “A time or two? You never take even two seconds before you—”
“That’s who I am. If I can accept who you are”—she glanced at the garden where he played Mexican standoff with Ryan— “and what you do, you have to accept and love me for who I am. I’m willing to compromise, but I won’t change who I am for you―not even for your love.”
This time, it was Mac’s eyes that filled with tears as he reached for her hands and placed them against his heart. “I don’t want to change you. I meant it when I said there wasn’t a thing wrong with you.”
He leaned in and kissed her gently.
“What are you willing to compromise on?” he asked with a grin.
“If you want the right side of the bed, you can have it.”
“I sleep on the left. What else?”
“That’s all you get, McNeil. I’m compromised out for this month.”
He let out a laugh and then covered her mouth with his. Lexie instantly moved into him and lost herself in the feel and taste of him. She loved this man. And one day, she may even admit that she would do just about anything to make this relationship work.
She didn’t know how long they stood there, but a man’s voice sounded behind her. Mac broke the kiss, moving her behind him.
A priest stood by the fountain. “Is there something you two need?”
Mac showed him his badge. “Not right now,” he said, and pulled out his wallet. He removed a business card and handed it to the priest. “Do you hold weddings here?”
“Yes, we do. It’s a popular place for small, inti
mate gatherings.”
“Good to know. We’ll be in contact soon.”
The priest nodded, then glanced at the card. “I’ll be here when you are ready, Agent McNeil. Weekdays are mostly free on the schedule. Maybe sooner rather than later.”
Lexie tucked her arm around Mac’s waist, their fit, perfect. “That’s the plan.”
Twenty-Eight
Two weeks later
The sun slipped behind the horizon, bathing the canyon rim and forest beyond Mac’s property line in deep reds, oranges, and purple hues. Lexie rested her head against his chest as she cradled sleeping Jake in her arms. Jason kicked a ball for the umpteenth time to Gabriel. His little feet tried to kick it back, but the ball would only roll a few feet. Gabriel wasn’t discouraged, but simply picked it up and ran across the yard with a gleeful, “Again.”
Sarah opened the sliding glass door and stepped onto the deck. Lexie didn’t want to let the infant go, but she rose and handed Jake over to his mother.
“I’ll put this little guy down with his sister, and then we can start the burgers.”
As soon as Sarah disappeared into the house, Mac drew Lexie next to him. “Now that Jake’s gone, you’re all mine.” He gently brushed a strand of hair off her face and tucked it behind her ear. There was something in his expression, but he said nothing right away. When he finally spoke, his tone clutched her heart, filling it with dread.
“There is something we need to talk about, Lexie.”
“What?”
“Rico. We have to get him from out between us.”
“He’s not, Mac. What did I do to make you feel like he was?”
“It’s not what you have done, but what you don’t do, sweetheart.”
“I don’t understand.” She eased away from him.
Mac shifted so they were face to face. “You don’t talk about Rico. In fact, you avoid his name anytime I bring him up. He was my best friend, and your husband. I don’t want you to be afraid of talking about him around me.” He glanced out into the yard and they both watched Gabriel play with Jason. “I want to be Gabriel’s dad, but one day, he’s going to want to know Rico.” He paused a moment then said, “Rico wasn’t what he should have been to you, but he would have loved that little boy. Gabriel needs to know that.”
In the Shadow of Pride Book 4 Page 18