Embattled Home

by J. M. Madden

  A black coroner’s van had arrived to collect the dead. Ambulances had arrived to collect the living. Harper had had to be flown out by Careflight to Amarillo, and she prayed that the big former SEAL would be okay. He’d been struck in the chest with a round and from the look on the other’s faces, it didn’t look good. There’d been a lot of blood. She’d known that. Flynn had been the one to find him and his pale eyes were more haunted than normal.

  Rachel had been grazed by a shot from the mercenary she’d been fighting with. Probably had a broken rib, but she would be sore more than anything. Lora wished she could have seen the woman kick the guy’s ass, but she’d been a little busy then.

  A cup of coffee appeared in front of her and she looked up at Chad’s older brother, Brock. She gave him a tight smile as she took the cup. “Thank you very much.”

  He lowered himself to the chair catty-corner from the couch. “Are you doing okay?”

  She nodded, cradling the cup to her. The coffee was scalding hot, but she was still chilled, even after the shower and bundling up. “Warming up. This will help.”

  Brock cradled his own mug, looking down into the liquid without seeing anything.

  Lora frowned. “I’m curious why you came to help? I didn’t think you liked your brother.”

  His dark navy eyes swung to hers. “Is that what you thought? That I didn’t like my brother?” Frowning fiercely, he shook his head. “It’s quite the opposite, actually. I just…never knew how to relate to him. He did everything I wanted to do, had a girl who loved him, did what he wanted.”

  “Didn’t you have that option as well?”

  Frowning at her, he shook his hand and ran a hand through his curls, darker than Chad’s by a few shades. “I was always expected to be the one to take over, and don’t get me wrong, I love my life here. But I never had the chance to live like he did.”

  Lora felt like she was wading through personal issues that the two brothers needed to hash out. Was this even her business?

  “Honestly,” he continued, “I think it’s envy that has ruled us for so long. But how can I even say that when he returned wounded?”

  Lora felt a presence move up beside her and looked up at Chad’s quizzical expression. He looked at his brother as if he’d never met him before. “What the fuck are you saying?”

  Brock winced and looked at his little brother. “Nothing, Chad.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me any of this? Better yet, why didn’t you join up to experience it yourself?”

  “And leave Dad here alone? Who would have run the place?”

  Chad gave him a disbelieving look. “Dad. Do you seriously think he couldn’t do it?”

  Brock just shook his head. “You don’t understand.”

  “I think you put a lot of expectations on yourself and what you think people wanted for you but never bothered to talk to the people involved.”

  Frowning, his older brother sat back in the chair. “Maybe,” he agreed softly.

  The agreement obviously set Chad back. Brock had the typical older sibling personality, used to taking on responsibility.

  Lora watched the two of them interact and wondered at it. She’d never had that understanding with anybody and marveled at the conversation she could see silently taking place between the two of them.

  Chad held his hand out to his brother. “Don’t waste your life wishing things had been different. Change the now.”

  Brock took his brother’s hand with a nod. “I will. Hey, did you mean what you said to Tara? She told me she came up here the other day and you turned her away.”

  Chad’s brows lifted in surprise. “I did.” He glanced at Lora. “I’m in a long term relationship and off the market.”

  Sighing, Brock fingered the fabric of the chair he was sitting in. “I always thought the two of you would end up together.”

  Chad made a face and grinned. “I think that’s what Tara thought too.”

  Brock stood up from the chair and held his hand out again to his kid brother, but Chad tugged him into one of those back-slapping man hugs. Lora couldn’t help but smile as they stepped apart.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The FBI agent in charge was a ball buster. Frank Calhoun, Special Agent Calhoun, Chad was reminded, didn’t like that a private security company had messed with his investigation. No matter how good they were. After listening to hours of snide comments and fielding dirty looks, Chad asked him to step outside.

  Calhoun, sorry, Special Agent Calhoun, had directed too many investigations to be circumvented. As Chad squared in front of the man on the front porch of the house, he forced himself not to try to wave away the smoke the man was blowing in his face or to crow about the collar. Yes, Derek, the focus of their investigation was dead, but they had two mercenaries in custody that were wanted by a dozen different agencies around the world.

  “And you have enough evidence here,” he waved a hand around the house, “to put them in lockup in this country for sixty years.”

  Special Agent Calhoun ran a hand through his thinning hair. “You should have contained him when you had the chance.”

  “You mean when I was fighting to get him away from Ms. O’Neil and her daughter on the mountainside? And I had a guy firing behind me?”

  “Yes,” the man snapped. “You lost a valuable target. He had a list of charges as long as my arm waiting for him, but you give us these penny-ante crooks instead. Malone had embezzled millions. Murdered his mother.”

  Chad leaned over the man, getting in his face. “And he beat the shit out of his ex. Where were you when he was trying to force himself on her three weeks ago? And where were you each time he violated that damn protection order she had against him?”

  Calhoun’s jaw clenched. “We would have blown the investigation if we had stepped in at that time.”

  Shaking his head in disbelief, Chad planted his hands on his hips. “So she was an acceptable casualty? And the daughter was an acceptable casualty.”

  Chad knew by the look in the other man’s eyes that he was right. Bastards. “Get what evidence you can and get out of here. I need to get to the hospital to check on my man. Another casualty because you didn’t step in sooner.”

  Turning, he headed inside the house. Calhoun tried to call him back but he ignored the man.

  Duncan would have been proud of him. God, Duncan. Boss man had not been happy when he’d called hours ago, when all the crap went down. But he’d understood. Chad could hear it in his voice.

  As soon as he could break away, he would be driving to Amarillo, where they’d flown Harper. The need to call the hospital again needled at Chad, but he knew he would get no more information than he had last time. He needed to be on site to get the info he needed. Flynn said that it looked like Harper had been shot twice. Close range. Luckily, the shooter hadn’t been as good as Harper himself. If the man recovered it would be a hell of a story.

  Chad’s gut clenched, but he forced himself to walk inside fairly normally.

  Lora was asleep on the couch. Most of the people had left, other than Flynn and a nameless agent at the kitchen table. Even as he watched the man received a text message, then gathered up the forms he was filling out. With a final nod, he left the house.

  Through the front bay window, Chad watched the line of nondescript vehicles turn and head down the mountain. They’d tramped everything into the ground, collected all available evidence, and left a mess in their wake. Brock and his father had left long ago.

  Rubbing his eyes, he looked up at the moon. It had to be creeping on toward three a.m., but he was restless as hell. Lora had curled up on the couch with Mercy and he took a minute to ease another blanket over the two of them. Now that the threat of Derek was gone, they needed to head back to Colorado.

  Flynn sat at the kitchen table nursing a cup of black coffee. He was the only one who had escaped injury completely, lucky bastard. Bruises were developing all over Chad’s body from the fights and his right kidney ached lik
e a mother. Lora had patched up the scratch on his shoulder. And his leg was chafing. He just didn’t have time to take care of it.

  “Are you able to get them back? I have to head to Amarillo to check on Preston.”

  Flynn nodded. “Of course. I expected you to.” He surveyed his boss up and down. “You may want to shower first. Harper’s not moving for a while.”

  Chad looked down his body and realized he still had on the same clothes he’d started the morning with. He sighed. Another delay. “Yeah. I’ll go clean up and gather my crap. I’ll call Brock in the morning and send him up for the horses. Take your time heading back. We don’t have to race anymore.”

  Flynn gave that single, somber nod and went back to staring into his coffee.

  “Are you okay?” Chad asked.

  For a moment, when Flynn looked at him, he felt like there were many things unsaid that he needed to let out, but then his eyes chilled. “I’m fine. Go get your shower, boss man.”

  Chad took his man’s suggestion and went to clean up, even taking the time to scrub and care for his amputation. He rinsed the sleeve of rainwater and threw it into the dryer for a few minutes. Not the suggested practice, but he needed to get moving.

  Half an hour later he stroked his hand down Lora’s shoulder. She needed her sleep, but he wanted to reassure her before he left.

  Her bright green eyes blinked up at him, puffy from sleep. “Is everything okay?”

  Chad knelt on the floor beside the couch. “Yes, I just wanted to let you know what was going on. I have to head north to check on Harper. We are his family, as far as I know, and I need to be with him.”

  She nodded and reached out to rest her hand on his shoulder. “Of course you do. We’ll be fine.”

  “Flynn and Rachel will drive you back to Colorado to your house. They will stay with you until you feel safe enough to let them go. There is no timeline,” he stressed. “I want you to feel secure in your home.”

  She nodded her head against the pillow. “Thank you for that. I saw his dead body, but I know I’m going to be a little stressed going back.”

  “Which I’m sure is completely normal. I would too. Take your time going back to work. Hell, you may think about just having a few days fun with Mercy. Do things you’ve not allowed yourself before.” He tipped his chin at the little girl curled in front of her. “She deserves to take some time too.”

  Tears filled Lora’s eyes and rolled down her temples and he had to lean forward to press a kiss to her lips. “And as soon as I can, I will come to you. This separation is not the end of us, just so you know.”

  He winked at her and kissed her again harder, thrilled when she responded. She even looped her arm around his neck to pull him closer for a moment, before releasing him with a stroke down his cheek.

  Mercy shifted and looked up at him. “You’re gonna go see Harper?”

  Chad nodded. “Then I’ll meet you at your house in a few days.”

  Wiggling, the little girl dragged Chad’s old classic teddy, the one he’d given her to replace Handsome when the FBI ripped him open, out from beneath the blanket. She pushed the bear at him. “You need to take this to him. He needs it more than I do right now.”

  Throat tightening because he knew how important the bear was to her, Chad took it from her. “Are you sure?”

  Mercy nodded her head. “He’ll need it until his family gets there. They live a long ways away.”

  Frowning, he shook his head. “I don’t think he has family, Mercy. Did he tell you he did?”

  She nodded again. “You need to find them.”

  Chad leaned over and pressed a kiss to Mercy’s little blond head before pushing to his feet. Grabbing his bag, and with a chin nod to Flynn, he walked out the door.

  As he drove north toward Amarillo, his heart thudded in his chest in protest. He hated leaving them behind.

  “It’s only for a little while,” he whispered to himself.

  * * *

  Duncan swiveled his chair to look out the office window, eyes scanning the distant streets. Chad had just called him to let him know everything that had gone on. Worry hollowed out his stomach and he wondered how the hell Harper had left himself so open. The guy was a machine. That somebody had gotten the drop on him was truly something.

  He rolled back to look at the whiteboard across the office. He didn’t need to be anywhere important in the next few days.

  When he called Shannon in, she had a slip of paper in her hand. “I knew you would want to be with Harper, so I’ve made your flight. You only have an hour and a half this time so you need to get your sexy butt moving.”

  Duncan knew his brows popped in surprise and he looked at her askance, feeling anything but sexy. Actually, he felt more tired than he could remember being in a long time.

  With a heavy sigh, he pushed to his feet. He snapped his tablet closed and placed it in the case he carried for it. As he walked toward Shannon, he tried to look more awake than he felt, but she stopped him with a hand on his arm. “I know you’ve been down about something. If there’s anything I can do to help, you just have to say something.”

  Smiling, he shook his head. “You already do more than you need to Shannon and I really appreciate it.”

  “Well,” she told him softly. “If you need anything, just let us know.”

  He nodded, throat tight and walked past her. John met him at the elevator and took his hand. “Don’t worry about anything, Dunc. Tell Harper he needs to get his ass back to work.”

  Grinning, Duncan stepped onto the elevator. “I will. I’ll call when I know something.”

  John nodded and tossed him a salute as the elevator closed.

  Duncan walked through the doors of Northwest Hospital in Amarillo and seriously tried not to be swamped by a sense of futility. No matter where he went or what he did, he always ended up in hospitals. Even in the vestibule, the scent of disinfectant was enough to turn his stomach.

  The volunteer desk directed him to a waiting room on the fourth floor. Harper was in surgery now and would be for many hours to come, assuming he survived. As soon as he walked into the room, Chad pushed to his feet and moved to meet him. If the handshake was a little tighter than normal, or the hug a little longer, neither of them said a word.

  “Have you heard anything?”

  Chad shook his head and sat back in the chair he had been in. There was a raggedy bear sitting in the seat beside him and he picked it up to rub the ears. “They took him into surgery before I got here.”

  They settled in to wait. A nurse came out at one point to update them on the non-news. As dawn came and went, they dozed, hands propped on fists.

  Right around dawn, a doctor appeared. Tall and gray haired, he had the competent air of someone who had seen lives come and go. “Are you here with Mr. Harper?”

  Duncan nodded and pushed to his feet. “We are.”

  The doctor propped his hands on his hips and went into the list of everything that was wrong with their buddy. By the time he was done, Chad felt no better for the knowing. After hours in the operating room, Dr. Reynolds gave him a very slim chance at life.

  “Can we see him?” Duncan murmured.

  The doctor led them down a hallway to the right and into a room. Even ass out cold, Preston Harper dwarfed the bed he laid upon. A respirator hissed rhythmically at the side of the bed. IV lines fed into both sides of his body. His entire head was swathed with bandages. “I can’t candy coat this,” the doctor said softly. “He is very seriously injured. The best news I can give you is that one of the bullets that entered his chest didn’t do as much damage as we had initially thought. He still has…”

  The room door swished open and a woman stepped inside. She was tall and lean, with short dark hair and a furious frown on her face. “Where is he?”

  Chad looked at Duncan, hoping that he knew who the woman was, but boss man shrugged and lifted his hands. The woman didn’t wait for them to respond. Dodging around them, she shoved her w
ay deeper into the room.

  “Oh…my…” she whispered. A hand lifted to cover her mouth as she moved closer to the figure on the bed. Then she reached out with both hands and leaned over to skim her fingers down his body.

  “Ma’am,” the doctor said. “I don’t know who you are but you can’t be in here.”

  The woman glared at him over her shoulder. “I most certainly can. I don’t know what he’s told you or not told you, but my name is Cat Harper. I’m his wife.”

  Chad looked at Duncan, hoping he had some insight, but he had the same dumbstruck expression on his face Chad knew was on his own.

  Harper had a wife? What the fuck?

  * * *

  Lora wished for Chad’s calming presence. It had been three days and they were beginning to get anxious, and this didn’t help. She stared at the letter in her hand. It was from a law office in New York City that represented the Malone estate. They wanted to meet with her.

  There were no other details, just that they would come to her in three day’s time and if that was not convenient to let them know and they would reschedule.

  Anxiety crept through her gut. She wondered what the hell they wanted with her.

  Pulling her cell phone from her pocket, she pulled up the home screen in the hopes that she’d missed a text from Chad. No luck. Thumbing the screen, she debated sending him something, but didn’t want to bother him if he was in with Harper.

  The big man had survived several surgeries to repair damage to his lung, liver and bowel, but the other bullet had struck his weapon and sent metal fragments into his face and eyes. He was still under heavy sedation. But surprisingly a woman claiming to be Harper’s wife had shown up.

  As if in answer to her thoughts, her phone buzzed in her hand.

  Heading home today. I’ll say bye to my parents and be back 10ish.

  Lora pursed her mouth, wondering if it would be too forward to invite him over.

  I would like to see you, she typed. A little generic and understated, but true.

  Ok!

  As she moved through the day, she watched the clock like a mad woman. When she told Mercy Chad was coming, she squealed and raced through the house, as excited as Lora to see him.