After the Storm (6 page)

“Oh my Lord,” Marlene whispered, her voice aching with pity. “We have to do something, Donovan. We can’t just stand by and let them go hungry and without.”

Donovan smiled at the answering agreement in all his family’s faces.

“No, Ma, I don’t plan to. But Rusty wanted you to know what she’d done and why. And I support her on this. I’ll gladly pay Travis’s salary out of my pocket. She’s going to let him work this week whenever he wants to come in. They desperately need the money. But we have to be careful how we handle this. If we come on too strong, they’ll cut and run. I saw the desperation—and fear—in their eyes. We have to tread very lightly.”

“No need for you to pay for his salary,” Frank said. “I’ll gladly take on the kid. If what Rusty says is true and he’s a good worker, I could use him around the shop. I’d gladly hire him on and pay him in cash like she’s been doing.”

“Just be careful,” Rusty warned. “Don’t question him. I’ve been very careful not to pry. He’s scared and he’ll bolt. I was him once. I know what he’s thinking. He doesn’t trust anyone. He’s been conditioned to expect the worst in people. As Van said, we have to be very careful about anything we do, because they’ll run. Eve said as much when we were at their house. I hesitate to call it a house. It’s a horrible, run-down, leaking, dilapidated trailer.”

“What do you want us to do?” Rachel asked softly.

Donovan’s other sisters-in-law all looked to him and Rusty, the same question burning in their eyes. How could they help? He loved that they all had hearts the size of Texas and that they’d do anything at all to help someone in need.

His brothers might run a kick-ass organization devoted to helping those in danger, but his sisters-in-law were warriors in their own right and as formidable as KGI was any day of the week.

“For now, nothing,” Donovan said. “I need to find out all I can about them and their situation. Try to figure out what they’re running from. Travis will continue to work in the hardware store, and I plan to get out there and bring food and other supplies. Hopefully get to know them more so they’ll trust me. If the entire Kelly clan descends on them, it’ll just overwhelm them, and as Rusty said, they’ll run.”

His mom didn’t look happy with his dictate, but she nodded her agreement.

“They need our help,” Donovan added, his voice grim with resolve. “And I’m going to give it.”

His brothers smiled ruefully in his direction.

“We would expect nothing less,” Sam said.

CHAPTER 7

DONOVAN
knew it wouldn’t take long to get cornered by his brothers once the furor of lunch had settled and everyone had gotten up from the table and helped with cleanup. Donovan had purposely slipped out onto the back deck and waited for his brothers to follow. He knew them too well to think they’d just let it go and not question him intensely over Eve and her brother and sister.

He stood on the deck and stared out over the backyard. A place where memories had been built over the decades. He smiled, remembering many a barbecue. Wrestling with his brothers. Rusty’s graduation, when Nathan had seemed to come out of his shell after his horrific imprisonment in the Middle East. It still chilled Donovan’s blood, how close they had come to losing their younger brother.

If not for Shea . . . Donovan shook his head. At Rusty’s barbecue, he and Nathan had wrestled, just like old times, and Donovan had been so relieved that he was seeing the old Nathan and not the shell of his younger brother that had returned, broken and changed. And then Nathan had freaked out. Tucked and ran from his parents’ house like the hounds of hell were nipping at his heels. All because Shea had finally made contact again. She was in trouble, and Nathan had moved heaven and earth to get to her.

And now they were both home where they belonged. Married. Happy. In love. Just like all his older—and two younger—brothers.

He smiled ruefully. Ma had ribbed Joe at the table about settling down, but he knew that he was on her list as well. He was older than Joe and in his mother’s mind, he should be next.

His thoughts drifted once again to Eve. What was her story? How old was she? She had an ageless look to her. She could be anywhere from twenty to thirty. She looked young, and yet when he looked into her eyes, he saw a much older woman. He saw the knowledge gleaned from years of experience. Of lessons learned the hard way. And he saw fear. He hated that the most. That this woman was struggling to keep it together, that she had so much responsibility. Younger siblings to take care of when she couldn’t even take care of herself.

He wanted to barge in and demand answers. He wanted to know everything. What she was running from. And then he wanted to move that same heaven and earth that Nathan had moved in order to help Shea.

He had the house. He had the space for Eve and her brother and sister. He wanted them there. He realized that. As crazy as it sounded, he wanted nothing more than to move them into the compound and under his roof where he knew they would be protected. Where he could gain their trust and hopefully get them to open up about what was scaring them so badly.

And he knew he wouldn’t like their answers—provided they ever gave them. He knew it was bad. The fact that a four-year-old baby girl looked at him with terror—and knowledge of all the bad things in the world, something no four-year-old should ever be acquainted with—told him everything he needed to know.

His fingers curled into tight fists. Helpless. He felt so damn helpless and he hated it. Hated that he knew he couldn’t just go in like this was a mission, act, remove the threat and ensure the safety of Eve and those precious children. He had to be very careful and take it slow, and that ate at him.

“You’re slipping, old man,” Sam said dryly from behind him. “You never even heard us come out.”

Donovan turned to see Sam and Garrett standing there studying him. They knew something was on his mind and that this thing with Eve was bothering him. They could read him like a book. Always had been able to. But then Donovan wasn’t someone who shielded his thoughts or his emotions. He’d never tried.

“Just thinking,” Donovan replied.

Garrett nodded. “Yeah, that much is obvious.”

“Hey, congrats to both of you,” Donovan said. “Can’t believe you two are providing more nieces and nephews. How is Sarah? Is she taking it well?”

Sam and Garrett both softened, their hard faces suddenly filling with love at the mention of their wives and their pregnancies.

“She’s happy,” Garrett said softly. “We both are. I worried it would be too soon. But she wanted a child, and well, I’ve always wanted a house full. But I’d wait indefinitely if that was what she wanted.”

“I think we all know where I stand,” Sam said in amusement. “Sophie and I started trying right after Rachel’s babies were born. Not sure if this will be the last or not. I’ll leave that up to Sophie. Every child is a blessing, and I’ll take as many as she wants to have and be grateful for every one.”

Garrett nodded. “Sarah and I have some catching up to do. Sam’s on his second. Rachel gave Ethan twins. Hell, I’m surprised Nathan and Shea haven’t started thinking about children yet.”

Donovan smiled. “They’re still young and they’ve both been through hell. It’s probably smart that they’re waiting. They still have a lot to work through. And they have all the time in the world. Shea is young. And hell, so is Nathan. They still have a few years before they get to where Sam was when he had his first.”

“Don’t remind me of my age,” Sam said with a grunt. “Turning forty sucks. I feel like an old fart now.”

Garrett and Donovan both laughed.

Sam turned his stern gaze on Donovan as the laughter stopped. “Now, what’s this about this kid Rusty hired and his sisters? You said it was bad. You also said they’re running from something. What do we need to know here and what can we do to help?”

Donovan sighed and ran his hand raggedly through his short hair. “The hell of it is, I don’t know. I’ve never felt so damn helpless in my life.”

Garrett frowned and took a step forward. “I’ve seen you get worked up over women and children in danger plenty of times, Van. But this is different.
You’re
different. What’s going on here? We need the full truth. Not the watered-down version you gave Ma and the rest of the family at the table.”

“Rusty is right. They’re in trouble. I just don’t know what they’re running from,” Donovan replied. “They need the money Travis is bringing in. He walks like he expects someone to jump out and attack him at any moment. He’s always looking over his shoulder. He’s so obvious about it that it makes me cringe. Someone would make him in a minute.”

Sam made a sound of disgust and anger. “What do you plan to do?”

Donovan lifted his shoulders and then let them sag. “That’s the problem. I don’t know and it pisses me off. I can’t treat this like a mission. Go in, kick ass and take names. Put a bow on it and call it good and leave knowing I made a difference and the people go on and live their lives. This woman is scared shitless. Her brother and sister are scared shitless. It was like being punched in the balls to see that four-year-old little girl look at me like I was a monster.”

“Damn,” Garrett said softly. “That sucks, man. There has to be something we can do.”

“Oh, I’m going to do something,” Donovan said, his soft vow settling over his brothers. “I have to figure out a way to get close to them. To make them trust me. I’m going to start by bringing them food and evaluating the situation more thoroughly. And then, if Cammie is still sick, I want to bring in Maren so she can check out Cammie.”

“Is that the little girl’s name?” Sam asked. “Cammie?”

Donovan nodded. “Yeah. She’s Charlotte’s age. Reminds me a lot of her. But where Charlotte is a happy, normal child without a care in the world and an entire family behind her to love and protect her, Cammie has Travis and Eve and that’s
all
she has.”

“I’m sure Maren would love to help,” Garrett said. “Good idea to call her in and bring her out. Not like she doesn’t make house calls now that she’s taken over Doc Campbell’s practice.”

“She’s been taking it a lot easier and Doc has stepped back in to take some of the patient load while she’s been on maternity leave, but she still sees a few patients. Steele’s been breathing down her neck trying to make her take it easier,” Sam said, amusement thick in his voice.

Donovan and Garrett both chuckled. It was funny as hell to see the team leader so wrapped up in his wife and daughter. Steele with a baby was a sight no one in KGI ever imagined seeing. But it was hilarious to see the ice man thoroughly wrapped around the finger of Dr. Maren Scofield—now Steele—and their daughter, Olivia.

“Steele won’t like letting Maren go in alone,” Garrett warned. “If he gets wind of the situation, there’s no way in hell he’ll let her go in without him, and if Eve and her siblings get sight of Steele, he’ll scare the shit out of them even more.”

Donovan grimaced. “Yeah, I hear you. I could use your help persuading him to stay his ass at home and let me go in with Maren. I will have been out twice by then, so I think they’d be okay with me and Maren. But if Steele comes, yeah, that’s not a good idea.”

“I’ll put a bug in his ear and assure him that you’ll be with her and prepared for anything. But I need the situation, Van. I need to know everything about what she’s going into, because Steele is going to want to know and I can’t just tell him nothing and to trust us. You know him. He plays by his own damn rules, and he’s very protective of Maren and Olivia.”

“There’s no danger inside that trailer,” Donovan murmured. “It’s a run-down piece of crap that no human should be living in. Cammie is four. Travis is fifteen, but he’s a good kid. Earnest. Determined to provide for his sisters. And Eve . . . I’m guessing midtwenties, but it’s hard to know. She has this ageless look to her. Like she could be twenty or thirty or anywhere in between. Beautiful. But scared to death.”

Garrett’s and Sam’s brows furrowed as they stared back at their younger brother. Donovan shifted uncomfortably under their scrutiny, knowing he’d probably said too much. Or perhaps it was his tone or expression that had given him away. Fuck it all. The last thing he needed was a lecture about getting
too
emotionally involved. More so than normal, at least.

“What’s this woman mean to you, Van?” Sam asked quietly.

“She’s in trouble and she needs help,” Donovan said, avoiding the question. “That’s what she means to me. Some asshole has made that baby girl afraid of men. A part of me doesn’t even want to imagine what they’ve all been subjected to, and we come across a lot of horrific shit in our line of work. At this point you’d think we’d seen it all, and yet I find myself surprised every time I come across some asshole who abuses women or children.”

Garrett winced in sympathy. “I hear you, man. But the day we become immune to it is the day we need to hang up the job. It has to mean something to us or we couldn’t do what we do. We aren’t fucking robots without empathy or emotions. Every mission means something.”

“Every mission is personal,” Sam said, echoing a statement he’d made many times in the past. “Just some are more personal than others.”

“And this is one of them,” Donovan said softly. “I can’t explain it, but yeah, this is very personal to me and I’m not going to look the other way.”

Sam put his hand on Donovan’s shoulder and squeezed. “You know we have your back.”

Donovan smiled. “Yeah, never doubted it. Never will. I’ll call Maren. You put a call into Steele. Get him to stand down. I know it will kill the control freak in him, but explain the situation. Tell him I’d never put Maren into a dangerous situation and that I’ll have her covered every second we’re there.”

“Will do,” Sam said. “But Van? And I’m probably wasting my breath saying this, but don’t let your emotions overrule your common sense. If you get in too deep, take a step back and let one of us go in. We’d be more objective and you know we’d get the job done.”

“No one is doing this but me,” Donovan said, his voice more fierce than he intended. “She’s mine.
They’re
mine. And I protect what’s mine.”