Independence: #4 Hayley

by Karen Nichols

  “It’s not my fault. Someone took shots at me when I was on my way home,” she threw back, her spine stiffening and shin up.

  “At one-forty-five in the morning?”

  “You’re not my father, Dell, back off,” Hayley growled angrily, the age old argument making her blood boil.

  “And this isn’t going well…” Dane thrust his hand out. “Dane Landon. This is Jack Bennett. We were with Hayley until she went home.”

  “You’re responsible for keeping her out until almost two in the morning?”

  “I checked her driver’s license,” Jack said very slowly with a calm that wasn’t reflected in his eyes. “She’s old enough to make decisions on her own.”

  That stiffened Dell’s spine and had his lashes narrowing.

  “Dell, Hayley’s okay,” Tasha said quietly, her hand reaching for one of his. “We’ve had this talk.”

  “I don’t recall sticking my nose in your business when you and Tasha moved in together. I like her. She’s fun…you…a lot less than fun,” Hayley informed her brother hotly. “I didn’t ask that you come out here and I’m very sorry you were disturbed in the middle of the night…”

  “You’re my sister,” he interrupted heatedly. “Who the hell else would they call?”

  “Us,” Dane said without hesitation. “We’ll take care of her tonight. We have a spare room and…”

  “The hell you are.”

  “Dell! Stop it!” Hayley tried moving, but Jack held her back, wrapping the sheet around her. “They cut my dress,” she whispered, feeling the silken fabric slide along her arm. “They had to cut it…”

  Nothing broke the anger of men like the threat of tears. Tears that filled a set of honey colored eyes and brimmed past the edge to dribble down her cheeks.

  “I just wanted to…why would someone shoot at me?” She didn’t offer a protest when Jack pulled her against him, his lips brushing her head.

  “The lieutenant will find out who and why, Hayley. The important thing is you’re okay. We can get another dress,” he promised with a half glance up at Dane.

  “Easily fixed, Hayley.”

  “You’re dating my sister,” Dell said very slowly. The darkly narrowed gaze went from one man to the other. “Both of you?”

  “That isn’t your business,” Hayley said with a sniff, accepting the tissues offered to her. “Thank you. We’re friends. I am allowed to have friends, despite what my big brother thinks.”

  “Back to business…” Natalie said sharply. “You don’t know of anyone who might be out for you? I had that issue with Eden and Rafe last month…”

  “I’m a vet, Lieutenant,” Hayley offered a watery laugh. “My patients don’t have thumbs and some don’t even have legs.”

  “Some don’t have legs?” Jack asked aloud, the look on his face collecting a few laughs.

  “Snakes don’t have legs,” Hayley told him with a shake of her head. “For the most part, their owners like me or find another vet. They don’t gun for me. And anyway…how would they know…”

  “They would have had to be waiting out there…” Natalie said thoughtfully. “You might not have come home tonight. Which makes this either a really odd accident or premeditated.”

  “I might not have, true,” Hayley said defiantly, her chin up and glare aimed at her brother. “I didn’t know what time…things would end. I think we spent almost two hours talking and laughing at a late dinner in the club.”

  “What club?” Dell demanded, unaware of Tasha closing her eyes and wincing.

  “It doesn’t matter what club,” Hayley told him firmly. “I was having a good time tonight. I was…it was wonderful. I don’t know anyone who would want to shoot me, Lieutenant. Especially not someone who’d sit in the cold dark waiting for me.”

  “It wasn’t so dark last night,” Jack said slowly. “There was a full moon out.”

  “I know,” Hayley said. “I was driving straight into it…at least, that’s what it seemed like. It was beautiful.”

  “Huh…a full moon and some crazy with a gun. Merry Christmas to me…I’m off,” Natalie tapped the recorder on her jacket and hopped to the floor. “I’ll call you if I find out anything, Hayley. Let’s go, Dr. Diplomat.”

  “I’ll be in touch, guys,” Tre told them with a laugh. “Glad you’ve moved out here. It’s been a while.”

  “I’ll email you all the data, Natalie,” Mariah said with a chuckle. “You can go home, Hayley. Take it easy for a few days. You can come back in a week and I can remove the stitches…or I’m guessing you know how to take them out. Over-the-counter meds will dull the throbbing…and rest. Nice meeting you, gentlemen. Take good care of her.”

  “We will,” Dane answered simply, one hand up and rubbing the back of his neck. “One long damn night.”

  “My truck…”

  “The police will release it in the morning,” Jack reminded her. “We’ll have it taken to the shop to be fixed. It’s not a problem, Hayley.”

  Dell remained silent for a few minutes, watching the exchange closely.

  “You’re dating them both. At the same time,” he said carefully.

  “Good night, Dell. I’m sorry they called you out. I’m okay and I honestly do appreciate your concern,” Hayley told him, their eyes so similar and staring at one another with all the angst that only siblings can understand. She slid to the side of the gurney, removed the sheet and looked down at her feet. “I lost my shoes some place.”

  “Probably in the truck,” Jack said with a shrug. “No problem. Let’s get you home and tucked into bed.”

  “If you try and feed me warm milk, we’re gonna fight,” Hayley mumbled, one hand up and rubbing the side of her head. “Definitely a headache night.”

  “You have a hard head,” Dane teased, pulling keys from the pocket of his jacket while Jack lifted her from the gurney.

  “I’ll call you, Tasha,” Hayley said with a loose hug when Jack held still next to the blonde. “Thank you. And I really am sorry they disturbed you. And thanks for trying to make him realize I’m a big girl.”

  “Big enough to date two guys at the same time,” Dell repeated, following slowly behind them.

  “Good night, big brother. And a Merry Christmas to all!” She called out before letting her head fall to Jack’s shoulder.

  “Nice touch…not sure it helped, but…nice touch,” Jack commented with a chuckle. His long legs quickly crossed the open entrance to the emergency room and toward where they’d parked the truck. He glanced over his shoulder, her brother and sister-in-law going off in the other direction. He could hear talking, but couldn’t make out the words between the pair.

  “It would have happened sooner or later,” Dane said with a shrug. “Not the best meeting place for that kind of thing, but…sooner or later we’d have run into the whole family thing.”

  “I think I had hoped for never,” Hayley murmured. “You should have let me go with them. They have a house right on the property and not far from…”

  “We could take you to your own house if you want, Hayley. But we’d feel a lot better if you’d accept our hospitality,” Dane said before Jack could speak. “We have really light schedules until after the first of the year. And you told us your office was shut down, for the most part, as well.”

  “I could go back tomorrow,” she said wearily. “I’m so tired…and it hurts…”

  “We have a Jacuzzi, Hayley,” Jack said as he fit her into the back seat and buckled the belt around her. He pulled a blanket from the back and draped it around her shoulders. “It’ll help the bruises.”

  “Thank you. Both of you. I know this…babysitting me…isn’t part of the agreement and I…”

  “Close your eyes and relax, Hayley,” Dane told her, sliding the key into the ignition and turning it. He adjusted the heater and waited while Jack climbed in beside him. “We’ll discuss how much of a burden you are in the morning. Somewhere around noon on a Sunday.”

  “That sounds nice,�
�� she responded with a sigh.

  They drove in silence until there was a soft, steady breathing from behind them.

  “Someone was sitting in wait for her,” Jack said, stating the obvious that had been in both their minds.

  “That’s what the lieutenant thinks, too,” Dane said quietly. “I ran a basic check on her. You read it. She spends more time working than we do.”

  “Except my head wonders about her life in the Marines and that guy and her friend in the Olympia club,” Jack said carefully. “We could choose the naïve route and believe that it was an idiotic accident at two in the morning, but I’m just not feeling that naïve.”

  “Can’t say as I blame you there,” Dane exhaled deeply and pursed his lips. “Someone has to be seriously pissed at our little sub to do this, Jack. We haven’t been down there, but there can’t be many places someone could hide to be able to take shots at her. Not without being seen.”

  “Except it is the middle of the night,” Jack repeated. “I don’t know. I want to take a look at the scene in the morning…fuck, it is morning. Okay…in the afternoon. I’m hoping the lieutenant already has it on the agenda. She’s got to be pretty sharp if she’s hooked up with Tre. I never thought I’d see him settled and wearing a ring.”

  “Yeah…wasn’t that a surprise,” Dane said with a chuckle.

  “Let’s get her settled and get some sleep.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Hayley groaned and rolled to her side. Then she heard the shots and she screamed.

  Two bodies bolted upright, one on each side of her and each one reaching to settle the flailing arms. Dane reached her first. He pinned her arms at her side while Jack’s hands went to her face.

  “Hayley! Hayley, it’s okay! Wake up…come on, baby…wake up…” Dane’s voice was sharp and cutting.

  Pale lashes parted, her breathing ragged and chest heaving. They’d dressed her in one of Jack’s old t-shirts with ARMY across the front. She stopped thrashing, her lashes down slowly as a long sigh sifted free.

  “I’m sorry…I…I heard them…I felt the cold rush in when the window was broken…all the little stinging pieces…” she let the words stumble out. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you again.”

  “You just had a nightmare, Hayley.” Jack lowered his forehead to gently touch hers. “It’s just part of the whole deal. When I have a nightmare, you can stroke my brow and calm me down.”

  “Gotta warn you, though,” Dane released her arms, his hands trailing down to her fingers. “He snarls like a wild cat sometimes.”

  “But I’m really cuddly afterward,” Jack teased with a wink.

  “What time is it?”

  “Not even close to being get out of the bed time,” Dane tossed back, stretching out and pulling the blankets over him. “Go back to sleep, Hayley.”

  “Umm…doesn’t this strike you as a little…odd…” Hayley realized each of them had a separate quilt. Jack lay on her right, on his stomach with the cover stopping in the middle of his back. Dane lay on the left with the quilt pulled to his ears. Both had their faces turned to the outside.

  And there she was, in the middle, with two men, in the center of a very large bed.

  “She’s busy thinking,” Jack mumbled.

  Hayley sighed and turned over. She buried her face in the soft pillow and let the warmth surround her. She was pretty sure it was the combination of their steady breathing and the sense of safety.

  ****

  Morning had slipped by her completely.

  Somehow she was nestled against a strong back, her face pressed next to skin and the breathing in the room very soft and almost silent. Moving very cautiously and slowly, Hayley lifted her head and saw the numbers on the clock. Her body was stiff but she seriously needed to move.

  She’d explored most of the house during her last visit, so slipping from the bed stealthily was her first priority. The second was the bathroom.

  She’d been cuddled against Dane, she realized as she made it to the bottom of the bed without making anyone stir.

  She’d actually slept with two men.

  Her brother would definitely condemn her on that one. She sighed softly and crept from the room, closing the door silently behind her. A long shower later and freshly brushed teeth brought a contented sigh from deep inside her. Bare feet wandered quietly toward the kitchen, a smile on her face at the bag she’d left the previous day.

  For now the t-shirt would work, though she was pretty sure she should take offense at being dressed in an…ich…Army t-shirt. But she’d let it pass. She knew they had stocked the kitchen fairly well and began making a large brunch. She scowled at the store bought eggs and made a mental note to bring them some farm eggs.

  Half way through her preparations, she found the stereo unit and a set of wireless headphones. When the toast was toasting, she was happily dancing to some club music. She didn’t hear or see the men come in from the hall, freshly showered and dressed in jeans and shirts.

  “Our girl likes music,” Jack remarked, his head bouncing to the gyrations and soft singing coming from Hayley.

  “Our girl should be resting,” Dane walked to the shelf and tapped a button. Music poured into the house and made Hayley spin at the silence suddenly in her headphones. He tipped his head, patiently waiting for a reaction.

  “Hi…I made food…” She said casually, taking the headphones to the shelf and setting them down. “I didn’t want to wake you with the music.”

  “You like dancing,” Jack commented, watching the hem of his shirt tickle the curve of her behind when she turned to finish the toast and set it on the prepared table.

  Hayley laughed. “I spent ten months in some of the sleaziest strip joints in Vegas. I’m not really sure what I did in them would be considered dancing, but it worked.”

  “So…” Dane stroked the freshly shaved cheek. “We need to install a stripper pole?”

  “Show us some moves,” Jack challenged.

  Hayley looked from one to the other and nodded slowly. “All right. But the rules of the bar apply. No touching,” she informed them firmly. “Agreed?”

  “We’ve been around strippers before,” Jack told her with a dismissing shrug. He looked over at Dane. Both men braced their legs apart and waited.

  “Agreed,” Dane answered for them both.

  Hayley went to the stereo unit and slipped the CD she’d carried in her bag into the unit. She cued up the song she wanted. “Rihanna is one of my favorites to gyrate to…I especially love the song, ‘Rude Boy’.”

  Her head nodded in time to the start of the music, the lyrics explicit and clear as the woman’s voice filled the room. Using them as her focus, she introduced them to the moves that had filled the places she danced in. She knew the lyrics by heart and sang along with the music. Using them as her stripper pole, she wrapped one leg around Jack and gyrated, grinding her pelvis against his. She knew it would happen and felt his cock react. She slipped down his body and straightened to come up behind Dane, her hands stroking over the freshly pressed button down shirt to the waist band.

  She turned her back to his and slid up and down to the music. Her rubbing against them was getting to them when the erections filled the front of their jeans when the song was only half finished.

  But they held up their end of the bargain and didn’t touch. Both were frozen in place while she performed. She wrapped one leg around Dane’s waist and bent over backward, the shirt straining against her breasts.

  She ended the song behind them, kissing each cheek when silence replaced the music. She saw each of them swallow and knew it had to be a new feeling for the dominant types.

  “I’m going to get dressed. I ate while I cooked…enjoy,” she told them with a backward flip of her hand as she went down the hall.

  “Fuck…” Jack said when he was sure he could breathe. He adjusted his jeans and headed for the tall glasses of frosted juice she’d set out on the table for them. “That was the longest fucki
ng three minutes of my life.”

  “Yeah…and that’s putting it lightly. Damn…the woman can move…” Dane adjusted his jeans, wincing slightly when he sunk into the chair and began filling a plate from the various bowls of covered choices. “She was busy,” he remarked, spooning potatoes and eggs to the plate before reaching for the marmalade and toast.

  “She feels at home,” Jack added, filling his own plate. “That’s good.” He watched Dane pull the phone from his shirt pocket. His thumb moved and scrolled until he had what he wanted. “Business?”

  “Her truck,” he answered, speaking to the man who answered. “I’ll clear things for you, Terry. Thanks.” He took a few more bites as he scrolled through the listings. “I hope the Lieutenant doesn’t mind a call on a Sunday.”

  “I don’t think police people have weekends,” Jack commented, adding more eggs to his plate.

  Dane pushed the speaker button and waited.

  “Templeton.”

  “Lieutenant, this is Dane Landon. We met last night at the emergency room. I’m working on having Hayley’s truck picked up and the repairs begun. At least, I’m hoping your department is finished with it.”

  “They got what they wanted this morning, Mr. Landon. I can clear it. Who’s retrieving it?”

  “Temperance Auto Repairs out of Fife,” Dane told her. “And if you could shoot me a copy of the police report for her to file the insurance claims, we’d appreciate it.”

  “That’s the easy part,” Natalie said. “I love digital stuff…”

  Dane and Jack heard the laughter in the background. “I don’t think that guy you hooked up with would have survived without tech in his life,” Dane told her with a chuckle.

  “Now that…I definitely know to be true,” Natalie returned. “Done. I’ll send the report to you in a few minutes. How is she?”

  “Like new,” Dane said honestly. “She slept till about an hour ago and seems to be fine. We’re at a loss, though on how to protect her when we don’t know the why. We haven’t gone out to the ranch yet to look around, but plan to in an hour or so.”