Brand

by Leanne Tyler

  There was a tightness in his chest that formed in a flash of a second as he recalled her clutching the pieces of her tag sale dishes, refusing to let go. He swallowed the taste of raw emotion bubbling up in his throat. And he was tempted to run back across the apartment to her. Damn it to hell. This wasn’t happening to him. How could he be objective and protect her without letting his emotions get in the way?

  He was a former SEAL for Christ sakes. He wasn’t supposed to let emotions get in the way. He was all about the job, nothing but the job. Carly was the job.

  But, he couldn’t live with himself if something happened to her. Hell, he already knew he didn’t want to live without her in his life. Job or no job.

  Storming out of his room, he headed back to her, calling her name as he picked up speed, closing the distance between them. “Carly. Carly.”

  “Brand?” She met him with a questioning look at her doorway. Her cheeks were glistening wet as if she’d been crying.

  Had his leaving made her cry?” Dammit.

  He didn’t let that stop him. He was a man on a mission. Cupping her face with palms up under her chin, he lowered his lips to hers, tasting the salty tears on her lips as he kissed her harder than he intended. She hungrily responded, opening for him to slip his tongue into her mouth and taste her fully.

  Her warm body pressed instantly against his and he could feel the swell of her breasts. She ran her hands up his hard six-pack, to his chest, and then around his neck, pulling him closer as their tongues tangled in their warm haven.

  Letting his hands roam down her back to her bottom, he lifted her and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her further into the room, over to her bed where he turned slightly and sat down, never breaking their contact.

  She pulled away catching her breath and smiled at him.

  “You’re more than a job to me, Carly. You stopped being a job…that’s all I know. I don’t want you to think you’re just a job to me.”

  “I shouldn’t have said that, Brand. I was upset. I am upset thinking about how things will be different once the job is over. The thought of losing you upsets me.”

  “Who says you have to lose me?”

  “Don’t tease me.”

  “I’m not.”

  Chapter 10

  Carly woke the next morning curled up beside Brand, lying on the bed with a thin afghan thrown over them. She scooted closer to him and he wrapped a protective arm around her. Closing her eyes, she recalled their kiss the night before that made her feel as if he’d bared his soul to her. The way he’d held her in his arms and carried her over to the bed before he’d sat down with her. He could have laid her on the bed, but he hadn’t. He didn’t try to dominate her. He let her guide where and how far they had gone. When she’d asked him to stay and sleep in her room after the scare of the day he’d wanted to sleep in the armchair. But, she’d insisted that they sleep on top of the comforter because she’d needed him near.

  The buzzing of his phone woke Brand and he pulled away from her, rolling off the bed. He grabbed his shoes as he answered the call.

  “Good morning, Hawkeye.” Brand looked back at her and winked. “Sure, we can be ready in an hour for the motor detail to pick us up. Absolutely. We’ll see you then.”

  “Did we sleep that late?” She scrambled off the bed on the other side and began looking for her own cellphone.

  “It’s already ten. The service is at noon.”

  “I haven’t slept this late since I had the flu.”

  “I'm positive I was in high school,” he said, jamming his phone in his pocket.

  Carly laughed trying to imagine him as a teen. Was he a jock or one of those ivy-league wannabe preppy types? He had to be smart to be a Devgru SEAL, right? Her curiosity died with her laughter. She couldn’t bring herself to ask. It didn’t matter what he was back then. All that mattered was what he was now. And that he made her feel safe and alive for the first time in a long time.

  It struck her then that she knew very little about him. Yet, she already knew she never wanted to spend another day without him in her life. Was that a rational thing to desire? Or had her experience with Justin Porter drove her to live in the moment?

  “I better go shower. You had too.”

  His words jarred her out of thought. She realized she’d been standing there staring at him this whole time as her mind drifted. “Right. Yeah. Of course.”

  “Carly, are you okay?” He cocked his head to the side, not taking his eyes off her.

  Her face heated and she was certain it had flushed with color as well. “Thinking about…oh…never mind.” She pointed toward the doorway that led to her bathroom. “I’m going to go shower now.”

  He grinned, taking a quick step to her and planting a kiss on her forehead. “You are adorable when you get flustered.”

  She raised her right hand up to her brow and gave a quick salute. Then she dashed to her bathroom to the sound of his chuckle.

  Carly opted not to take a purse with her to the funeral. She applied her extended wear lipstick before they left the apartment on Lakeshore and got into the police detail caravan. Despite the many days since the shooting, Carly couldn’t help but relieve it all once again on the extremely quiet drive over sitting beside Brand and holding his hand. She couldn’t even pretend they were only going to church because as soon as they approached Christ’s Church on Hollandale there were police SUVs, cars and even swat vehicles parked in the parking lot, up and down the main and side streets where Phil’s funeral was being held. Local television station vans were parked across the street and one was even lucky enough to get into the business next-door’s parking lot to provide live coverage of the event for the noon and evening news.

  Their driver was someone other than Kevin Petree today. He drove up to the front of the church and dropped them off with the other two men in black who rode with them. Kevin met them at the church and walked inside with them. He was wearing an earwig, a black suit and he had on dark sunglasses like the other men. Once again, Carly was a security sandwich between Brand and Kevin, but she didn’t mind it out in the open where she was a target.

  She looked around the church then leaned closer to Brand. “I don’t see Simone. Isn’t she coming?”

  “Negative. She didn’t want to.”

  “Oh. I just assumed.”

  “Not everyone is as caring as you,” Brand said.

  Carly tried to smile at what he said as they stood in line to pay their respects. The line was much longer than she imagined, but it made her feel proud to know that Phil had this many people who turned out for him in the end. She’d only met him that one night. She was certain there were many patrons of the Pied Piper that came on a regular basis who had to be there, sitting in the pews.

  Finally, they made it to the front, where the casket draped with a floral spray sat and his widow stood. She didn’t look much older than Carly. She had dark hair and warm brown eyes and had the same olive complexion as Phil. Commander Burns came forward from the side and said something to the woman before Carly could even speak to her.

  She began to cry, nodding her head.

  “What’s going on?” Carly asked Brand.

  “I don’t know.” He leaned back behind Carly and spoke to Kevin Petree. Carly could hear their muffled whispers, but that was all she could make out over the sound of the voices in the church and the soft piano music.

  A woman on her left side handed his widow a box of tissues and she pulled several out. She wiped her eyes and blew her nose as the commander spoke to her. At last, he looked up at Carly and motioned for her to step forward.

  “Carly, this is Phil’s widow, Carmen,” Commander Burns said. “She’s wanted to meet you since Friday night.”

  “I wanted to thank you for what you did, but I was told I would have to wait. I can’t thank you enough for trying to protect my Phil from that shooter. The Commander told me how you took Phil’s bat to him when he wanted to hurt him more.”
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  Hurt him more? That’s not what went down. Carly decided not to quibble.

  “I’ve wanted to meet you too. I wanted to tell you how special a person I thought your husband was. I only met him that night, but he kept me from drinking too much and another patron of the bar from taking advantage of me when I’d clearly had more than enough to drink. He was a very decent man and you should be proud to call him your husband. I just wish … I just wish things could have turned out differently. He didn’t have to die. If I had realized that the shooter had a bullet in the gun after he already pulled the trigger on my friend and nothing fired, maybe I could have acted faster, maybe if I hadn’t had so much to drink earlier I would have been thinking more clearly and would have …”

  “Gotten yourself killed,” Carmen said. She shook her head. “No, Carly. You fighting off the shooter with the bat after he already killed my Phil was all you could do. It’s just a shame that your testimony will not be needed now to put him away.”

  “Wh-hat?” Carly squeaked.

  “What’s happened? Why won’t Carly be testifying against the man that shot Phil?”

  “I was just explaining that someone got to the man at the jail and gave him a lethal injection in his cell. He was found with a hypodermic needle still sticking out of his jugular about an hour ago.”

  “Do you think the Twin Cobras would do this to their own?” Carly asked finding it hard to breathe. She held onto Brand's arm a little tighter and took several small, but deep breaths to try to stay calm.

  “We’re not sure. We had him in what we considered a secure area away from the general population. If it wasn’t them it was one of their rival gangs.” Commander Burns looked at both Carly and Carmen. “Until we find out who was responsible then security will be heightened on both of you.”

  Carmen wiped her eyes with her tissue and then gave Carly a hug. “Thank you again.”

  “Bless you. Maybe after all this is over we can get together?”

  “Maybe.”

  Carly and Brand moved on to view the body for a moment. In her mind her few interactions with Phil flashed by stopping on the sound of the gunfire and the spark of the bullet slamming him back against the glass mirror. She closed her eyes, blocking out the images the best she could before Brand ushered her to the pew that was reserved for them with the other law enforcement officials.

  “Brand, will I make it out of this alive?” she asked.

  “You know the answer to that question.”

  Carly tried to put everything out of her mind the best she could as she waited for the service to begin., But, when the speaker began to talk about Phil her mind drifted to what would one say about her if this were her service instead? What if she were the one lying in the casket. Would her parents even darken the doors of the church then? Would they even care? Not once since her name had been in the newspaper about the shooting at the Pied Piper had she heard from either of them.

  She began to cry, not a few tears that normally happen when you attend someone’s funeral, but mega tears. Her nose was running and the floodgates had opened. This was the worst time for this to happen. She was here for Phil. Instead she was becoming a soppy mess as she had a private pity party. She’d held it together as long as she could about her parents. Their resentment toward her about the divorce from Justin. Whether she’d wanted to admit it or not, they’re not reaching out to her s was more than she could take. Brand handed her the pack of tissues they’d found at the apartment and she pulled out several, trying to stop the waterworks. She finally pulled it together, grateful she’d worn waterproof mascara or she’d have black streaks down her face.

  For the closing prayer, the speaker had everyone stand before dismissing them to follow the procession to the graveside. Carly had no idea if they were going to that or not. She doubted it. That would be too much in the open exposure and all protection needed to be on Carmen and not divided between the two. Besides, she’d done what she’d come here to do. She’d spoken to his widow. She’d gotten to tell her what an impression Phil had made on her, but what she hadn’t expected was to find that Carmen wanted to meet her as well. What she didn’t understand is why Burns told Carmen that Carly had taken the shooter out with the bat to keep him from shooting Phil again? That wasn't the reason at all. The shooter had been going to shoot Carly for not putting the bat down and getting away from the body. Had Burns misspoken before he’d known the facts and he didn’t see the reason to correct himself since it didn’t change anything in the end? Or had Carmen misunderstood? Either way, Phil was still dead. Thanks to Carly, they had captured the shooter.

  Brand offered his arm to Carly as they walked out of the church. Because of the number of people exiting the building their driver couldn’t come and pick them up in the front. Instead, they walked over to the side where the detail sat when shots rang out.

  Screams and bullet fire created chaos all around Christ’s Church. Brand had Carly down on the pavement so fast it scraped her knees and tore her stockings in the process. People were running for their vehicles. Police officers shouted for people to go back inside the church until the area was secured.

  Carly tried to look up, but she couldn’t see much other than Brand covering her body with his own. She had no idea if he’d been shot or not. He wasn’t moving and that frightened her to no end. Though she found his weight on her didn’t bother her.

  “Lay still.”

  His order comforted her more than she thought.

  “I thought you were shot.”

  “No. Now be quiet. I need to listen to what is going on around us.”

  She did as she was told, even slowing her breathing down. She heard footsteps near them and she thought it sounded like Kevin’s light step scraping on the pavement. She turned her head and saw those wingtips he usually wears. He stooped down and looked at her.

  “Are the two of you going to lie there all day?”

  “Waiting for the all clear,” Brand said.

  “All clear,” Kevin said, offering him a hand up.

  They both lifted Carly to her feet.

  “Ouch, those knees don’t look good. Brand, next time you want to play linebacker with our girl, do it in the grass,” Kevin said, trying to make light of the situation.

  “You get the shooter?”

  “No. He was long gone by the time SWAT found his shooting spot. No casualties though. Lots of scared people. Commander said for you to get Carly to the safe house and stay put until he says otherwise. I’ll be driving you back since the bigger guns are going to the graveside.”

  The parking lot was still chaotic as they walked to the SUV assigned to Kevin. An officer was standing guard of the vehicle. “Thanks, man. I know you’d rather be doing more important jobs than watching my ride all morning, but I appreciate it.”

  “Keeping you and other officers safe is all part of the job too,” the officer said. “If we can’t serve each other as well as the public then we don’t need to be wearing this uniform.”

  “You’re so right,” Kevin said. He opened up the back door for Carly and Brand to get inside before he got into the driver’s side.

  He backed out of the parking space and drove across the lot toward a side street that fed into Hollandale. The SUV jerked and he swerved. There was a loud boom that reverberated through the vehicle, then whooshing of air. Not once. Not twice. But four times.

  Carly screamed. She removed her seat belt and got into the floorboard. Brand followed, shielding her again from any harm. Each time another boom/whoosh sounded, she screamed again.

  Kevin slammed the SUV into park and got out cursing a blue streak. He didn't have anything good to say about the officer who had been watching the vehicle.

  “Stay here,” Brand ordered. He crawled over her and got out to see what was going on. All four tires had blown as they drove.

  Officers and detectives came running toward them. Hawkeye included.

  “Is Carly okay?” He asked.

  “
Yeah, she’s inside.” Brand pointed to the SUV.

  “I don’t get it. My detail had an officer on guard.” Kevin paced, and then kicked the flat tire on the driver’s side. He clasped his hands behind his head, looking up to the sky. He turned slowly. “Do you hear that?”

  “Hear what?” Brand pushed through the throng of men.

  “It sounds like faint ticking.”

  Brand stepped closer to the vehicle until he could hear what Kevin was referring. He grabbed the handle on the back passenger door and opened the SUV, pulling Carly out. He ran with her as far away from the parked vehicle as he could while the other men scattered as well and ordered others in the parking lot to do the same.

  Within ten seconds, the SUV exploded and what was left of the frame began to burn.

  Carly stared in silence, made a sound like a mewling kitten, and then went limp in his arms.

  When Carly came around, she was lying on the bed with the afghan over her in the apartment on Lakeshore. It was four in the afternoon and she didn’t know how they’d finally made it home from the church. Brand had changed out of his suit and was wearing tactical pants and a black t-shirt, sitting in the armchair in her room. He looked much the way he had the first night she met him, except much softer around the edges.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  “Good. Kevin made his momma’s vegetable soup again and went to the deli down the street and purchased some hero sandwiches for us.”

  “Is he here?”

  “No. He’s being reassigned. He had to report to headquarters for briefings about today. So, the soup and sandwiches are his parting gift to us. Hawkeye thinks he’s been targeted as our driver and could lead the Twin Cobras to your door now.”

  Carly pushed herself up to a sitting position. “If Kevin can be reassigned then what about you?”

  “No way. Kevin’s our driver. I’m your protector.”