That allowed him to search. He kept up his pacing, up one line of cars and down the other. He wasn’t clear about what he was looking for—evidence of the shooting or an idea of exactly where the guy had stood. He had an idea but would need Cam to come in and work some trajectories to be sure.
He got to the approximate spot. Cars took up most of the spaces, which made it a good place for a shooter to aim and then duck without a high risk of being seen. That didn’t answer the questions about why here, out in the open, and who had been the target. Shane assumed Makena, but it could have been him or even Frank. Someone was intent on hiding something in this case, and who knew how far he or she would go to make that happen?
The scrape of a shoe against loose gravel had him turning. A footstep. Just one and then nothing, as if the person froze or dropped. Shane looked from one side to the other. Listened for any sound as he tried to pick up a sign of who else might be out there. That hadn’t been a trick of his mind. He’d heard something. Someone close by.
Without making a sound, he crouched down. He didn’t move so much as a pebble as he ducked beside the car and scanned the ground. He spied the visitor immediately.
Sneakers. Two rows over and one car down. He could see the blue jeans and the untied shoe. He waited a second longer to see if the guy shifted his weight or made a move, but nothing happened. He had the advantage, but he had to move fast.
Under or over. He debated for a second, only ruling out around because that would waste time and he could shift to one side while this person in hiding went the other way. Shane made the choice and moved. Slipped right over the top of the nearest hood and saw a head pop up. He made out the build and the hair as the guy took off toward the back of the parking lot and picnic area.
He swerved and wove as he moved. Shane went for the straight line. He didn’t run through lines of cars, he vaulted over them, taking a row at a time until he ran right behind the guy. Two more steps...one more... Shane reached out and grabbed the guy’s shirt. Got two fists full and jerked. Threw his weight behind it.
The guy lost his balance. Thanks to forward momentum, Shane crashed into the runner, causing him to stumble. With his grip secured and the advantage on his side, Shane heaved the man into the side of the nearest car and pinned him there. Nailed the guy across the shoulders and separated his legs with a kick.
Adrenaline rushed through Shane, fueling every move and giving him strength. He felt alive and on fire as he searched the guy for weapons. The energy continued to thrum even though he didn’t find a gun. That probably meant he’d dumped the weapon, which was smart.
When Shane flipped the guy over and held him against the car with nothing more than a hand wrapped around his neck, his control almost snapped. He should have been surprised at the guy’s identity, but for some reason he wasn’t.
“Jeff Horvath.” Shane didn’t have to search his memory to call up the name, because this guy was also high on his list of suspects. Never mind that Frank had just pointed a finger at him. Shane hadn’t liked this Jeff guy from the beginning.
“Let go of me.” He squirmed and shifted all around.
Shane braced his arm across Jeff’s throat and fought off the urge to press in hard. “Shut up.”
The guy’s eyes bulged as his fingers clawed at Shane’s arm. “Stop.”
“Calm down.” When Jeff nodded, Shane eased up. He wanted to keep the guy slammed against the car but knew he had to back up. Actually doing that took another few seconds.
The minute Shane let go, Jeff doubled over, coughing and hacking. The display went on for what felt like forever. When he finally straightened up again, fury colored his features and he looked braced for a fight...until his gaze went to the gun in Shane’s hand.
Amazing how a loaded weapon changed the balance of power. Not that it was all that level to begin with, but Jeff could pretend about that, too, if he wanted. The guy excelled at pretending.
“Let’s try this again.” Shane backed up a step just in case this guy was dumb enough to dive for the gun, thinking they could wrestle. Shane wanted to question him, not shoot him, but he would if he had to. “Why are you here?”
“It’s a public park.” Being the kind of guy he was, Jeff didn’t back away quietly. He grew indignant and scowled.
One nowhere near his house, but Shane sailed over that detail. “Try again.”
“I don’t have to answer your questions.”
Shane’s gaze bounced down to his gun, then back up again. “This says you do.”
Lights flashed as three police cars passed through the gate a few hundred feet away. The roar of the sirens grew louder, drawing everyone’s attention. Everyone but Shane. He stood his ground and waited for an answer to the only question he cared about right now. “Why are you following Makena?”
Jeff glanced in the direction of the police cars. “I wasn’t.”
“They aren’t going to help you.” They actually would, because the diversion and their presence would stop Shane from going wild on the guy to get information, but Jeff didn’t need to know that. “No one is.”
The guy kept leaving a trail. He knew where she lived. He showed up after each incident. He’d made threats of a sort. If he’d wanted to paint a bull’s-eye on his chest, he was doing a great job of it. And that was what didn’t make any sense to Shane. It was too easy to tie the attacks right back to Jeff. He might not be a professional, but the file Makena had on him suggested he wasn’t an idiot, either.
The whole thing smelled wrong and Shane couldn’t figure out why. But he had a new problem, because she was heading right for them.
She didn’t stop until she stood almost on top of them. “It was you? First my house and now you come here.” She shook her head with a mouth twisted up in obvious disgust. “You could have hurt a kid or someone just walking by. What is wrong with you?”
She made good points, but this could explode. In addition to that, Shane didn’t want her anywhere near Jeff or any other guy associated with the website. “Go back to the picnic area and—”
“We should turn him over to the police,” she said as she moved away from Jeff to stand by Shane’s side. “End this once and for all so I can get back to work and he can get the punishment he deserves.”
“Woman, you just never stop.” Jeff’s hatred came out in the harshness of his voice and how he almost spit out the words.
“Do not talk to her.” Shane shoved against the other guy’s shoulder. “Ever.”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but I got a call to come to the park.” Jeff sneaked another peek in the direction of the police. “I didn’t ask for any of this.”
The police parked on the far side of the lot, and the doors started banging as they got out of their vehicles. Shane started a mental countdown in his head. He couldn’t be seen waving a gun around or he’d become a suspect.
He needed Connor to step in and get the place secured. He also wanted Jeff hauled away but knew that wasn’t going to happen. The police might question him, but he should be able to squirm out of that cross-examination.
“We’re supposed to believe you?” she asked.
“I don’t care what you believe.” Jeff tried to take a step toward her.
“Enough.” Shane slammed the guy back against the car again. “Explain without the drama and bullying.”
“Look at my phone.” The guy looked in the general direction of his front pants pocket. “I got a text. Probably from her. This smells like a setup.”
“You should continue to not talk unless I ask you a direct question.” Shane slipped the cell out, scrolled through the messages until Jeff tried to grab the phone back, then concentrated on the texts.
The message was there from an unknown number. No name or identifying information. A simple statement and no reply from Jeff.
But that didn’t make it authentic. Things could be faked. Alibis built on nothing.
“The message sounded cryptic, so I came.” His gaze
shot to Makena. “Just like you wanted me to. This was your plan, right? It all makes sense now.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re forgetting that I was the one who was shot at ten minutes ago.”
“And I’m sure you intend to blame that on me, too.”
“No more talking.” Shane’s head might explode if this kept up for much longer. Every word Jeff uttered inched him closer to a punch in the face. “For the record, you lied about your military service. Be a man and own that.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jeff’s denial stayed strong, but some of the heat had left his voice.
“You’re still denying?” Makena sounded stunned at the idea.
The idea didn’t make much sense to Shane, either. He’d seen the evidence that Jeff had lied. No question about it. But getting him to grow up and take responsibility was not going to happen.
“I tried.” Shane stepped back and gestured for Jeff to leave.
“Wait, what are you doing?” Makena grabbed Shane’s arm.
“Letting him go.” They needed evidence and they all had to get through the newest round of questioning headed their way. Once, maybe twice, Makena could sell the idea of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Much more of this and the police’s focus would shift to her. Shane needed to postpone that—hopefully avoid it, if possible. This case belonged to the Corcoran Team and it needed to stay there.
Jeff rubbed a hand over his neck. “I’m innocent.”
“You’re not, but if I find out you just shot at us, you will be dead.” Shane put his gun away and made a mental note to check the parking lot for the shooter’s gun since Jeff didn’t have one on him. “Got that?”
“You don’t scare me.”
Maybe the guy wasn’t as smart as Shane thought. “I should.”
* * *
MAKENA HAD NO IDEA how she made it through the next hour. All those police questions. The sapping of her strength when she saw Jeff leave the lot. He’d been there, in the middle of her life...again. She didn’t believe his phone or his story. She’d wanted to spill it all to the police and let them take him in, but Shane had said no. Then Connor arrived and backed up Shane.
She’d had just about enough of the Corcoran Team for one day.
After Shane did his usual search of the safe house before entering, she stepped through the doorway and kept going. She wasn’t in the mood for mindless chitchat. She wanted a hot shower. Anything to wipe away the memory of the morning. Anything for a few minutes of quiet when no one tried to kill her. Seemed simple enough to her.
“What you do is important,” he said in a determined whisper.
Shane’s voice stopped her steps. It broke into the silence and dragged her back to the present. Had her spinning around. “What?”
“The work you do on the website.” Shane dropped his keys on the table next to the small couch. “It matters.”
This from the man who’d tried to talk her into leaving and had insisted she’d been foolish to help out there in the first place. She tried to put all the pieces together in her head and balance them against his comments now, and none of it made any sense.
“I don’t understand what’s happening.” She stood frozen to the floor, staring at him.
“When you told me I wasn’t supportive, you were right.” He sat on the armrest. “I should have been, and I messed up. Meeting these guys...” Shane shook his head. “They’re jerks and they should be exposed. They deserve whatever fallout comes to them and should not be able to just walk around as if nothing happened. You make sure that happens. You.”
The heartfelt apology tugged at her. After everything that had happened and the exhaustion threatening to suck her under, she knew she should accept his words and duck into the other room. Get a little perspective and tighten the control. Rebuild the walls that held her back from saying too much. Her life kept rolling out in front of her, and now it included fear and danger, and she couldn’t catch up no matter how fast she ran.
“I’ve spent my whole life trying to live up to Holt.” The words spilled out and there was no way to call them back.
Shane frowned. “What does that mean?”
“He’s always known what he wanted to do. He fights bad guys. He’s not afraid or unclear.” She loved Holt. He was a great big brother, but his greatness only served to highlight her flailing and years of uncertainty. “I’m the opposite. I bounced around colleges and jobs. I’ve never known what I wanted or how to get it. A path is so clear for other people, but not me.”
“Not for everyone.”
She noticed he didn’t exclude himself. She got that. The military had been an escape hatch for him. His marriage had been about hope, not love. He viewed himself as so complex, but she saw through it all. She’d spent so much time deciphering him and his actions that little surprised her now.
But she knew her life, her choices, weren’t as understandable to him. “The website was just one piece, and with it my life started falling into place.”
Shane stood up and walked over until he stopped in front of her. “These insecurities you have. No one else sees you this way.”
He refused to see the flaws, but she didn’t have that luxury. “Ask my parents.”
“They are of a different generation. They have whatever baggage they have.” His hands rubbed up and down her arms. “Forget all that.”
If only the looks of disappointment and constant reminders about all she’d failed to do with her life were that easy to ignore. But she tried to pretend. “Fine.”
“You are this amazing woman. Beautiful, smart and focused.” One hand went to her shoulder, then into her hair. “The idea that you can’t see all you are and all you have to offer makes me want to shake some sense into you.”
“I need you to see me as more than Holt’s little sister.” The sentence summed up her fears. That he would always look at her and see braces. See someone younger who followed him around with this crush instead of a woman who loved him for who he was, the scary parts as well as the good ones.
“It’s a rough habit to break, but believe me when I say that is not how I view you anymore. Not the only way.” His hand went to the base of her neck and pulled her in closer.
“I need you to see me as a woman.” Her head dropped back, cradled in his hand. “Living, breathing, feeling woman.”
He didn’t hesitate. “I do.”
Relief had her gulping in breath. “I should have handled the website better. Protected my privacy and weighed the risks. I know I rushed in.”
“You wanted to help.” His gaze searched her face. “That is not a bad thing.”
Every word he said, every touch, drove her feelings for him even deeper. She’d fought for acceptance her entire life. Her difficult parents had given up expecting things from her. Holt thought their overbearing nature was the worst, but their not even caring enough to fight about it ranked as the worst.
But Shane stood there, so open and loving, and told her she mattered. He accepted who she was, the uncertain parts and the focused ones. He didn’t judge. Unless the other night had been an aberration, he didn’t let any part of her past color how much he wanted her now. The words were freeing, and she grabbed on to them. Wrapped herself in that warm look he kept throwing her.
That only left one thing. “Any chance you’re going to kiss me again?”
The corner of his mouth kicked up. “All night.”
Her heart did a little twist. She felt the lightness and then excitement. They spun through her, wiping out every inch of darkness. “Really? I figured you’d do the that-was-fun-but-a-mistake thing.”
She worried he would. Before he’d seemed to be looking for excuses to run away. He brought up Holt and the baby-sister thing all the time. But he wasn’t using that excuse or any other now.
She was about to point out the change when he lowered his mouth to hers. His mouth touched hers, and a spike of heat hit her. Hands roamed her back, and lips covered
hers. The kiss rolled on and her control faded. When he did that thing with his tongue, her knees buckled.
The touches lingered. Her body slid against his in excellent friction as she fought the urge to jump on top of him. Fought and only barely won.
When the blinding kiss threatened to go to her head and wipe out every sensible thought, she lifted her head. “Take me to bed.”
He treated her to a full smile this time. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Chapter Twelve
Frank paced around his apartment. That had been too close.
No one had told him to expect gunfire. He’d known something big was coming, something having to do with Makena and this new guy. He hadn’t expected to be stuck in the middle of it.
Whatever clock kept ticking out there, it seemed to be winding faster. The tension rose along with the stakes. He couldn’t handle any of it. He hadn’t signed up for this. Yeah, he’d made a mistake, and he’d paid for it. Well, he thought so. Others didn’t.
Ask his siblings or his friends, the few he still had. They all looked at him differently now. No one believed anything he said. Even when things did go well at the start of a new job, someone would find the website. They’d insist they’d stumbled over it, and another door would shut.
He deserved to feel bad about what he’d said. He didn’t deserve to lose every piece of his life. No one asked for the kind of pressure being applied now. Despite what Makena and her cohorts thought, no one deserved this type of scrutiny. It was time to move on and for his name to come down so his life could move forward.
He sat down on the barstool at his breakfast bar, then stood back up again. Unsure how much longer his legs would carry him, he dumped back on the cushion again.
A strange ticking noise filled the room. He glanced around, looking for the cause. He’d never heard it before and if he didn’t track it down, it would drive him nuts.
His foot slipped off the footrest on the stool, and the noise ceased. Didn’t wind down. It stopped. He glanced down and watched his leg. Realized it bounced up and down. His nerves were running on edge and the outward signs were tough to miss.
Tamed (Corcoran Team: Bulletproof Bachelors Book 3) Page 10