He would never be the man he had been just months ago.
But Dylan would run, he would swim. He’d be more than they thought.
But not a Ranger. Never again.
A hard, calloused hand came down to rest on his shoulder. “I know it sucks, man. And I swear to God, if I could change it, I would. But life ain’t fair. Hell, kid, you oughta know that by now.”
Dylan didn’t say anything, staring out the window in stony silence.
“You don’t have to retire, Dylan.”
“Yeah, I do.” Grimly, Dylan said, “I have to. I need to get the hell out of here and get home. As long as I’m here, I’m going to be reminded of what happened, what I can’t have. Hell, what I would still have, if I had listened to a phone call. And I’ll keep feeling sorry for myself.”
“And you think going home to your family is going to help? You think your sister isn’t going to coddle you and baby you and remind you of what you can’t do?”
For the first time in days, maybe weeks, Dylan laughed. Nikki, coddling? “That reminds me, Jerry. Y’all never did meet my sister,” he said, his head falling back, a tired smile on his face.
Turning his head, he met Jerry’s eyes and said, “I’ve been so sure what I was going to do with my life. For the past six years, I’ve known who I was, who I was going to be. That’s changed now. I need to go back home and figure it out again.”
Jerry sighed, resigned himself that Dylan wasn’t going to be around. He’d made up his mind. It was written there in those flat, hazel eyes, in the grim lines of his lean, tired face. “You gotta do what’s right for you.” He rubbed his hands over his face, feeling as tired and angry as Dylan Kline looked. “You mind if I grab one of those beers Hobbes brought in for you?”
Dylan shrugged. “Go ahead.” He’d barely touched the one he had bothered to open.
“So, have you made plans to go home?” Jerry asked, popping the top and tipping the bottle back.
“I’m going to a rehab clinic first. I need to find out exactly what I’m...what I’m capable of before I go making any plans for the future,” Dylan said bitterly. God, he didn’t even know where to begin. Since he was eighteen, he’d decided he would go into the Army. Before that, he had been heading for jail, or an early grave. His only goals had been to avoid both as long as possible.
He’d never taken the time to think about what in hell he would do with his life.
And now he had to start over again.
Chapter Three
April
Kris glanced at the time on the clock, and thought longingly of her bed, a glass of wine, maybe a nice long hot bubblebath first. But she needed to stop by the office. Blowing a tired sigh out, she tried to figure out exactly why it was so damn urgent she stop by there tonight, no major crises had come up during the week. In the world of writing and publishing, there was always a minor crisis. Minor ones could wait until morning.
But Kris knew damn good and well she wasn’t going to sleep until she went by the office and got those damn papers. That nagging little voice in her head would see to it. Her lips curved up in a slight smile and she decided since she was out at ten p.m. doing business, she might as well have some fun with a little of it.
Not that she was sleeping much anyway.
Her dreams were getting…out of control. She didn’t know how to handle it. Dreams of screams and sobbing and crying...little children, broken women, and young girls.
Her lack of sleep showed in her face. But the bits and fragments of dreams that she remembered weren’t enough for to do anything about. There weren’t even faces. Just vague echoes that she could barely remember upon wakening.
“Damn it, stop,” she muttered, reaching up and pressing her fingers to her brow. “You told yourself you were going to stop thinking about this so much. And not during the day. Work. Think about work.”
Nikki had missed her deadline. She might as well call her and jibe at her a little. Maybe, just maybe, she had heard from Dylan. Nikki still didn’t know a damned thing about Dylan being in a wheelchair. Last Kris had heard, Nikki hadn’t talked to Dylan in since July.
The unassuming low, squat building that housed Barnes and McNeal looked even more unassuming in the dim light as she parked on the street. The garage was likely to be mostly empty and Kris had recently decided that her and dark places weren’t very good friends.
Not that she was scared of the dark, mind you. But the last time she had come down here at night alone had been four months ago, and some bastard had come up on her, looming over her with a knife and demanding her purse. But the purse hadn’t been enough to make him happy and when he had grabbed at, she had given him a palm strike to the nose before she had really even realized it.
The rage in his voice still lingered with her as well as the gut certain fear that he would kill her if he could. Which was why she had kneed him in the balls so hard, he might be joining the woman’s rotary.
Kris had been glassy-eyed with shock while the onsite security guard cuffed the bastard and he had patted her back soothingly as he placed the phone calls to the cops, but by the time the police had arrived on scene, she had thankfully stopped feeling so hysterical. Years of karate training had risen when she had needed them, just like her legendary cool had slid back into place by the time professionals had arrived. Now if she just could stop the infrequent nightmares…
The guard looked up at her from his desk, blinking a few times. “Ms. Evress, rather... odd seeing you here so late,” he said, standing. His eyes flashed to her face and he asked, “Is everything all right?”
Kris smiled as she smoothed a stray lock of hair back behind her ear. “Everything is fine, Bill. I just left a few things here that I need. Quiet night, I hope,” she teased him. “Any more excitement going on?”
“Uh, well, not yet,” he said. He opened his mouth again and looked as through he were ready to ask her something and then he sighed. “You’ve been rather quiet of late, Miss Evress. It’s not the attack, is it?”
Kris smiled gently. Bill had known her from the first day she had bullied her way into a job here. The older gentleman had been furious over the attack, and had called her several times after to check on her. He was, without a doubt, one of the sweetest souls she had ever met.
And he didn’t like bullshit. Since she couldn’t exactly lie to the man, she said, “Bill, have you ever felt like something was totally wrong with your life and you just didn’t know what?”
Faded green eyes narrowed a bit. “I’ve felt like that a time or two, yes.” Then he just smiled, that wise old smile that only those who have lived a while can ever seem to manage.
“Girl, if things aren’t as they need to be, just…let go. What is meant to be will just happen, if you let it.” He walked her to elevator and pushed the button, smiling at her and then tipping his hat at her.
The silence of evening suddenly seemed a little too oppressive and Kris started to wish she had just gone on home. Damn it, there was nothing here that really had to be taken care of now, was there? Rubbing her temple, she scowled as she stepped out of the elevator as walked down the hall to her office, so caught up in her own thinking that she didn’t even see the light coming from her office until she was standing in the door way.
She blinked.
Then the rage started to seethe through her.
“You bastard, what the fuck are you doing in my office?”
Max Delacourte looked up at her and smiled. “I’m glad it’s you, and not somebody else. Of course, if it had been somebody else, I would have just killed them. But you can be useful,” he said as he continued to work at her computer.
“Get the hell out of my office,” she snapped.
“I’ve got some business I need to finish up and then I will. I’m a bit pressed for time—I’ve got people all over my ass lately.”
“They ought to just shoot it,” she said flatly. “Get out.”
He lifted his head. Cold, emotionless eyes star
ed out of his handsome face and he said gently, “Are you sure you want to give me orders, Kirsten? I’m a dangerous man—haven’t you heard?”
“Go fuck yourself,” she said sweetly. She walked over to her coat rack and hung her purse up, nonchalantly hitting the on button on her cell phone. Then slid her jacket off and managed hit the auto dial for Nikki. Please… “So, what exactly are you wanted for? Murder? Treachery? Backstabbing? Oh…what about adultery?”
He grinned at her, that boyish, sexy grin that had caught her eye. “That might touch the tip of the iceberg. Why don’t you make yourself useful? I’d like come coffee.”
She flipped him off and stayed close to the door, to the phone. Praying so hard.
Angelically, she said, “You don’t want anything from me. I’d slip cyanide in it. I keep it on hand to give to authors who give me a hard time...”
He winched playfully and said, “You realize that you ought to be really nice to me right now, don’t you?”
She quirked a brow at him. “No, I don’t. You don’t have any reason to let me live anyway, now do you, Max. Tell me something…are you aware of the fact that I know Dylan Kline? I’ve known him for years. And you damn near got him killed. You’re responsible for killing half his team, and you dating me—damn it, I was questioned by Army Intelligence!”
He ran his tongue over his lips and nodded slowly, pushing back away from the desk. “I am curious about why they were so intent on questioning you. I had planned on coming to hide out with you for a while. I worked damned hard building a good, solid trust with you, and then when I came looking to hide out, you had a tag everywhere I turned. Why is that?”
She blinked. “A tag?” she asked, glancing down at her clothes, puzzled.
“A tail, somebody watching you every where you go. A tag,” Max clarified.
She smiled and winked. “You’ve got your secrets. I got mine,” she said, lowering her gaze to her nails.
It was more to hide the fear in her eyes than anything else.
She’d be damned if she let him see how damn scared she was.
From under the veil of her lashes, she slid a sideways glance at the phone and saw it was still on and it had been answered.
****
Jerry Sears ran his tongue around his teeth as the agent on the other end of the line briefed him. He’d never make it to New York City in time, but he thanked God that the people watching Kris had decided against removing the tag. It probably had something to with the fact that Max Blessett had yet to be found.
Until now.
The woman was apparently trapped with the treacherous bastard and she had dialed her friend’s number. And Nikki had called her emergency contact number for Dylan. And Dylan in turn had called Jerry and every authority known to man.
Poor Max probably didn’t even know hell was about to open up under his feet.
And there was no way to warn Kris either, but she had known what she was doing, or she had some clue when she had called Nikki. She must have. Surely she hadn’t been expecting Nikki just to call nine-one-one.
No. She wasn’t expecting the local cops to come busting through that door.
Jerry just wished to hell and back that he was close enough to be there.
When his cell rang, he already knew who was on it. “I don’t know anything yet. I’ll call you as soon as do,” he said.
Dylan said softly, “If he hurts her, I’m going to kill him. You need to know that. Now I want to know what in the hell he is doing in her office.”
“Not sure yet, but he’s been using it for a little while. I was able to get that much information. The reason she still had her tag was because they were waiting for him to try and contact her. He never did, but he did get into her office. Regularly. So they tapped her lines, and he apparently never had a clue,” Jerry said flatly.
“Why?”
“Well, because incredibly intelligent people also possess an incredible amount of arrogance,” Jerry said with a grin.
“I meant why was he using her PC. Why her phone lines?”
Jerry laughed. “He’s trying to get his money,” he said, once he stopped chuckling. “I guess it never dawned on him that he might get discovered and his assets would be frozen. He moved some outside to Switzerland, and there are a few things that we can’t touch, yet, but we will. He’s banging his head against the wall trying to get to his money and he’s doing everything short of blackmail to get more money out of the bastard he teamed up with. But he’s no good to them now.”
Jerry scratched his head, the tumbled jet curls tangling around his fingers. “He’s up to something else, but he’s got a smokescreen up, which means he’s not totally stupid. He’ll be getting more money in. Sooner or later. We just don’t know how.”
“Are you going to New York?”
“By the time I got there it would be over,” Jerry said, shaking his head.
“I want you there. Damn it, I want somebody I know there,” Dylan said roughly.
Jerry heard the unspoken words. Dylan wanted to be there. “Evan Hobbes is from Queens,” he said quietly. “He may be around there somewhere. Want me to look him up?”
In the ensuing silence, Jerry laughed and said, “I guess that was just a dumb question wasn’t it? I’ll call him and tell him to keep us both updated. But they aren’t likely to just let an unknown waltz in.”
“Then I guess it’s a good thing he’s good at not being seen or heard, isn’t it?” Dylan asked neutrally.
Jerry muttered, “Smart ass,” under his breath and jammed the disconnect button before dialing Hobbes. If he wasn’t in the area, Dylan was likely to have his ass.
****
Dylan hadn’t ever felt so helpless in his life.
He couldn’t do a damn thing.
As he walked to the window, leaning heavily on his cane, he had visions, glorious ones, of using that cane to bludgeon Max Blessett bloody.
No. That wouldn’t satisfy him.
He wanted to use his own hands.
But his legs wouldn’t cooperate.
Even though he had been walking for a month, first with crutches, and now with a cane, he couldn’t do it on his own, and he couldn’t do no more than a few hundred yards at a time. It got a little farther every day, and he got stronger every day.
But Dylan couldn’t take Max on his own.
Well, he thought, reevaluating, he could always put a bullet in him. Maybe in his back, like Dylan had taken. Even the field a little.
But Dylan couldn’t taken him on his own.
He had to rely on friends, on colleagues.
And he was in the dark.
Was this how his family felt?
Yes, it was.
Swearing, he walked over to his desk and collapsed onto his chair, hooking his cane over the back of his chair, booting up the computer. So Max’s assets were frozen. And he was trying to get to money in other ways.
What other ways…
He may be left in the dark when it came to action, but he had other ways to see.
****
Kris’s breath froze in her lungs. Something had caught Max’s attention and now his eyes were icy and cold, locked on her face, his head cocked as though he was listening to something she didn’t hear.
“You’ve done something,” Max said softly.
“Done what?” she asked, lifting one flame red brow at him.
He smiled, a snake’s smile, cold and reptilian. “Don’t play with me, bitch. You’re good, very good. But I’m better.” He tapped a finger to his chin. “I’d like to know—how did you know I was going to be here?”
She rolled her eyes. Okay, so maybe he was just paranoid. “I didn’t know you were going to be here. I came to pick up some work I forgot to take home,” she said calmly. But there was still an icy feeling closing around her heart.
“Hmmm.”
He moved too fast. No man should be able to move that. She screamed and threw herself to the floor but he caught her, pinn
ing her to the floor and shoving her wrist high between her shoulder blades. “Now…the truth. How did you know I was here? Who is coming?”
Kris shrieked out, “I don’t know,” as her arm and shoulder screamed in agony. Then she lowered her voice and coldly said, “But I hope they kill your ass.”
He stilled and released her arm, rolling her over. “So somebody is coming,” he said, arching his brows questioningly.
She tried to slap him and he caught her hand, first one, then the other, pinning them over her head.
“I sure as hell hope so,” she said, keeping her voice level, blanking her eyes.
Max sighed, a forced sound as though she was trying his patience. “Kirsten, Kirsten, Kirsten…darling. You are making this so hard on yourself. Lets make it easy. Did you, or did you not know I was here?”
She smiled brilliantly. “No. And that’s too bad. Because I would have tried to think of a way to burn the building down. That’s the best a traitor like you deserves,” she said sweetly.
He hit her with the back of his hand. Then he licked the blood away from his knuckles. “Okay, that was a good start.”
He sat down on her belly, forcing the air of her in a rush, smiling as she paled. “Now, why don’t you tell me who is coming? How you managed it?” He ran a hand down the front of her chest, groped her roughly, smiling obscenely as he ripped her shirt open. “Are you wired? Did somebody shove a bug up your ass?”
She spat at him.
When he hit her again, she prayed this time she’d black out. Because there were a few things that Kris just didn’t tolerate very well. Being terrorized was one of them. Her breath started to burn in her lungs as her throat locked tight. Kris had been terrorized, once before. At the mercy of somebody else and she just didn’t think she could handle it again.
His eyes narrowed considering as he studied her face. “Hmmm…I think I see some real fear here,” he murmured. Max leaned down, stretching her arms painfully high as he put his face right against hers.
ALWAYS YOURS Page 3