Archer (13 page)

T
he running air compressor in bay 2 muffled whatever Tony was yelling at the women. Jane held the hose with the grinder attached in front of her, her finger on the throttle, creating more noise and a wicked weapon if anyone came close.

“Get back!” She motioned her head for Sabrina to throw the next weapon.

A former pitcher for her college softball team, Sabrina held the wrench in front of her, wound up, and let it fly underhanded toward Tony. Jane rolled her eyes as Tony easily swept to the side and missed being hit. All the boys had been athletes in their own right. The girls would have to try something else.

“Charlene, hand me the paint gun…no, not that one, the one on the ground.” Jane became more determined at the possibilities the paint gun presented. They’d interrupted Lance painting, and he hadn’t had time to drain and clean the gun. With any luck, there was enough midnight blue spray to get them out of there.

She’d thought Sabrina’s fake asthma attack would have been enough to get them past the men. While Garrett hung back to see if Sabrina needed help, she and Charlene snuck out of the room. But her decision to lead them out through the garage, thinking the others were in the office, backfired when they ran into Lance and Tony working on cars.

Charlene brought her the paint canister, and Jane quickly unscrewed the grinder. A benefit of growing up with a dad who was a mechanic, she knew her way around tools.

At that moment, the charge for the compressor shut off and the garage went silent. She smiled in victory. A full tank of air, an almost full canister of paint, and she was taking them down.

“Dammit, Jane. Don’t do it.” Garrett moved toward her. “That’s a special-ordered paint. The customer wants his car delivered next week.”

“Back off.” She held the paint gun in front of her. “You have two choices. One, we cause more damage than you can comprehend, or two, you step back and open up the garage door and let us out. What’s it going to be?”

“Three. You put down the fucking paint gun. That’s a ten-thousand-dollar paint job on a seventy-thousand-dollar car behind you.” Garrett glared. “You get one drop on that vehicle, and you’ll be working the rest of your life to pay me back.”

Oops. She glanced behind her. “It’s not one of your classics?”

He shook his head. She flipped her ponytail behind her shoulder. Just great. Her one move defeated, she went for the next big thing.

“Garrett…I have to help Kage. You know what will happen if he goes through with whatever he’s got planned. I won’t let him get hurt.” She set down the paint gun and approached her brother. “Come with me. We can’t let him make a mistake he’ll regret.”

Tony cleared his throat. She turned to see Kage standing behind him in the doorway. Relief swept through her, leaving her weak, and she reached out to hold on to Garrett.

Kage stalked toward her, she toward him, breaking into a run once it hit her that he was okay. He was safe. She buried her head in his chest, holding him tight. Going by the wildness in his gaze, whatever he’d gone through, he needed her.

When a final shudder rocked his body, she leaned back, checking him over from head to toe before settling on his face. His eyes softened and she breathed through the tightness in her chest.

Standing in front of him, she gazed up into his face. “You’re back.”

“You’re not in the holding room,” he said.

“Kage, I couldn’t—”

His mouth came down on hers, hard, hot, and moist. She clutched his shirt, holding on. Nothing else existed.

He pulled back as suddenly as he had started. “I like how much you worried about me, baby.”

She melted even more, her arms tightening around his waist. He was okay.

His hand slid along her back to her nape. He squeezed lightly. “I’m so damn glad to have you in my arms.”

She poked him in the chest while keeping a firm hold on him with her other arm. “Don’t ever do that to me again!”

He grinned. She tried to glare, but the relief of having him back made it impossible to appear stern. Her earlier anger over the trick he’d played no longer mattered. He was safe and okay.

His cheek twitched. “Baby…”

“There’s nothing funny about this situation.” She stepped away, looking around. “We were all worried. I pimped Sabrina off on Garrett and made her show her sexy thong and forced Charlene to run in her heels. I almost ruined a customer’s car. I was willing to do anything to get to you.” She fisted her hands on her hips.

He continued to smile at her. She found her resolve weakening when he looked at her as if she could do nothing wrong. She moved forward, and he hooked his finger in the belt loop of her jeans and pulled her closer.

“Are you two done?” Garrett shook his head, but even he grinned, and she understood his happiness. He loved Kage like a brother. “Let’s brief.”

“Cool.” Sabrina walked to Garrett and looped her hand through his arm. “You heard the man. Let’s brief.”

“Oh, hell no,” Garrett muttered, causing all the boys to grin.

Kage pulled on Jane’s jeans and kept her beside him as they walked out of the garage and into headquarters. She followed him to his desk and sat on his lap. Not that she had a choice. He pulled her down and wrapped his arms around her waist.

She snuggled closer, and he sighed deeply. “Thanks for giving me this, Janie. I need you right now.”

“You’ve got me, honey,” she whispered.

That’s when she noticed the stiffness in his body and the slight quiver in his arms. She leaned back, wanting to help him. Her stomach clenched as she realized she had no idea what he’d gone through.

“I’ll remind you all that we have nonagency members in the room.” Garrett sat behind a computer, ignoring Sabrina, who perched on the edge of his desk. “Agency business is private. Let’s keep it that way.”

“Don’t hold back, sugar.” Charlene removed her half sweater, displaying an impressive amount of cleavage before planting her butt in a chair. “If this involves Jane, we want to hear everything. No more secrets.”

Tony leaned back in the chair, clasped his hands behind his head, and swung his feet up on his desk. “Next thing they’ll want to do is go out on stakeouts. I want it on the record that I’ll quit if any one of you even shows up when I’m working.”

“Can we do that?” Sabrina leaned over the desk toward Garrett.

“No.” Garrett’s gaze swept her body from head to toe. “What are you doing here?”

“Wherever Jane goes, I go. We’re back together, if you haven’t noticed.” Sabrina crossed her legs, swung her foot, and it was obvious to Jane that she was staying put. “Nothing will break our friendship apart again.”

“Hell.” Garrett looked to Kage. “Go on. Jane will tell her anyway, and we might as well have everyone prepared and on guard.”

“Yes.” Sabrina pumped her fist in the air.

“What you hear stays in this room.” Garrett pinned her with a look. “If I have to, I’ll make you sign a waiver and I
will
come after you if I hear of anything that’s been leaked outside the agency.”

“Really?” Sabrina leaned toward Garrett. “Tell me, what kinds of things will you do if you catch me?”

“Sabrina.” Garrett growled. “This is serious.”

Sabrina nodded, the humor evaporated. “I know. I want to help.”

“Okay.” He waited, and when Sabrina remained silent, he continued, “Kage, update us on what’s going on.”

Kage locked his fingers together, tightening his hold on Jane. “Carson works for my uncle.”

Jane wasn’t sure if it was her own heartbeat echoing in the room or Kage’s she heard. She strained to face him, but he held her in place.
Scott works for Kage’s uncle?

“I’ll give him two days to show himself and if he doesn’t, I’ll go underground,” Kage said. “My uncle won’t deny me entrance, because he’ll be too glad to have me back under his control. I’m worth more than one of his men. Despite his fucked-up ways, family still comes first to him.”

“You can’t.” Garrett shrugged, looking around the room at the other boys. “Not alone. We’re in this together.”

“Impossible. Even the feds are unable to get into the inner circle. It has to be me.” Kage stood, never releasing his hold on Jane. “I’ll be in and out. Over.”

“They’ll never let you out alive,” Garrett said.

“Wait.” Jane squeezed Kage’s arms. “You’re talking about turning and going into your family’s business. You can’t do that.”

“Not your decision,” Kage murmured.

“Are you kidding me? It’s totally my call. This is about me. I won’t let you.” She pushed at his hands. “Let me go.”

She whirled and faced the others. “Do
not
let him do this.”

“Sis…” Garrett rubbed the back of his neck. “What he’s saying makes sense. He’s the only one who has the connections to get to Scott.”

“Have you lost your mind?” She marched over and stood beside Charlene. “All of us know he doesn’t want anything to do with his family.”

No one answered her. She turned to Charlene. “Tell them.”

“Honey…” Charlene lowered her chin and her voice. “You have to let him do what he has to do.”

Jane’s jaw dropped opened. This could not be happening.

Kage had fought his whole life to prove he was nothing like his father, his uncle, his mother. She’d heard the talk around town. If he went underground, for her, he’d lose everything he’d struggled to build for himself. He was the most law-abiding person she knew.

“We’re done here.” Kage scooted his chair under the desk. “I’m taking Janie home.”

When he reached her side and held out his hand, she folded her arms. He couldn’t declare the subject finished, because she wasn’t through yet. No way was she going to allow him to take a bullet for something she had caused.

“Hang on.” Sabrina jumped off the desk. “It’s still early and I’m starving after all that excitement. Let’s go out for breakfast. We haven’t hung out together since Jane and I left for college.”

Garrett shook his head. Lance and Tony stood. Kage looked at Jane and asked, “Hungry?”

She wasn’t ready to be alone with Kage until she had a plan. “Yeah.”

“We’re in.” Kage threw his arm across her shoulders. “Garrett?”

“You owe me.” Garrett grabbed the keys off the counter, a scowl on his face.

Her brother’s attitude seemed out of place. She leaned into Kage. “What’s his problem?”

He chuckled. “I’ll explain later.”

Mashed between the others, she walked squeezed side by side with Kage until they reached his car. She slid into the front seat. They’d all agreed to meet at the bar where Charlene said she’d whip them up some breakfast. Kage let the other cars go first before following in the Mustang.

Jane squeezed his hand, loving that part of him that pushed away his family problems and relied on the Beaumont Body Shop guys to help him remain on this side of the law—his ability to do the right thing no matter how dangerous his job became. It gave her hope that good guys always came in first and bad guys would lose. Soon their problems would be over, and she wanted to spend a lifetime giving him the same comfort he freely gave her every single day.

A
few stragglers wandered into Corner Pocket to pick up the free cup of coffee Charlene always handed out during morning hours and then quickly left, leaving the seven of them mostly alone in the bar. Jane leaned back in the booth, her shoulder against Kage’s arm. Garrett sat on her other side, closest to the window. Both men were suffocating her with their overprotectiveness.

“Charlene, sit down and eat.” She pointed to the chair at the end of the booth. “You overdid it on the hash browns. I’m stuffed.”

“Coffee’s good for me. I’m not young anymore, and anything I eat goes straight to my hips.” Charlene sat down and looked at Kage. “Guess this is as good a time as any to ask you what you’re doing.”

Kage placed his hand on Jane’s thigh. “I wait, and if that doesn’t work, I go underground.”

Charlene waved off his answer. “Not about that. You and Jane. Any other time, I’d let you two figure this out for yourself, but considering what she’s been through, her daddy out of the picture, and”—she pointed at Garrett—“him too wrapped up in his own life. Someone needs to watch out for her.”

“Charlene…” She rolled her eyes.

“Don’t ‘Charlene’ me.” She sipped her coffee. “I’m serious. You’re coming off a long-term relationship with a man who is up to no good and treated you worse than dog shit. It’s been a week since you moved into Kage’s house, and look at you two. You can’t keep your hands off each other.”

“Well…it just took me a while to realize how much I missed being away. Now that I have him back in my life, I do want to be with him,” Jane said.

“Jane’s right. She’s back, and I’m not going to waste any more time away from her.” Kage leaned closer to Charlene. “But I will give you my word, I’ll never hurt her.”

“I didn’t think you would. I know you better than that, Kage.” Charlene peered over the edge of her mug. “I’m talking about her heart. Don’t you break it, or I’ll come after you.”

“Geez.” Jane shook her head. “My life has turned into a TV drama.”

“You have my word,” Kage said quietly.

“I’ll vouch for him, Charlene.” Garrett threw his arm around Jane. “We’ve talked. Kage is cool with everything and knows he’ll answer to me if he hurts my sister. Leave them alone now.”

Jane had to remind herself that she was a grown woman, past the age of being upset if someone didn’t agree with her choices, and recognizing their nosiness as concern over her happiness. She’d get over her embarrassment, because her behavior recently gave them a right to doubt her ability to take care of herself. She’d proven how incompetent she was in that respect when she fell for Scott’s lies and continued to take his abuse. Not to mention how hard it was for her to accept help from her friends and family. Her eyes burned with unshed tears. She only wished she could move on from her mistakes.

She had to wonder if Kage fully trusted her.

For four years, she’d told everyone lies. She’d made excuses for what her life had become. She closed her eyes briefly. “Do I even want to know what went down between you two?”

Kage and Garrett answered together. “No.”

“This is awesome.” Sabrina elbowed Tony. “Isn’t this great?”

Tony winked. “I’m feeling all soft and gushy.”

“Me too.” Sabrina sighed, missing Tony’s sarcasm. “What you need to do is go out on a date. Just the two of you, so you can have a night off from all the madness in your lives.”

“Kill. Me. Now.” Jane groaned, staring a hole in Sabrina.

“Good idea,” Kage said.

Jane sat straighter. “What?”

He had to be kidding. With everything going on with Scott, Kage meeting his uncle this morning, and her unable to take two steps away from any one of them, he wanted to go out on a date?

Kage turned his big body in the booth to face her. “I’m taking you out tonight.”

“You’re serious?” she whispered.

“As a heart attack, baby.” He lowered his voice. “I want to pull Carson out into the open, piss him off. If he sees me out with you, he’ll take it personally and lose his cool.”

“Can we talk about this in private?” she asked.

Kage’s gaze left her and sought out Garrett. She studied her brother. “Don’t tell me you want us to go out too,” she said.

Garrett leaned closer. “If Kage draws him out, we’ll be around. He’ll have backup. It’ll be safer than letting him go alone.”

Every scenario of what could happen if they went out as a couple played in her head. None of them were good, and all of them scary. Doing that not only risked Kage’s life but Garrett’s, Lance’s, and Tony’s too.

“No.” She pushed against Kage. “Move. I want out.”

“You can’t walk away.” He hooked his hand behind her neck. “Get it through your head. Until this is over, someone is always with you. The sooner we can get this asshole, the safer you are. You can have back your life of coming and going when you want.”

“At whose expense?” She slapped the table. “You’re asking me to risk one of you getting hurt or worse. I keep telling you…you have no idea what he’s capable of doing. I should’ve stayed in Pullman. If I knew you”—she pointed around the table—“any of you, were going to act this way, I never would’ve come home.”

Kage’s mouth hardened. He stared at her until she wanted to scream and then slid out of the booth across the bar. She gasped as he smacked the swinging door and disappeared out of sight. Her body froze, and all she could do was stare at the exit. She’d never seen such fury on his face.

“Sis, you need to—”

“I’ve got to go.” She slid out of the booth.

Lance rose and blocked her from going after Kage. “Can’t do that, Jane.”

“Shut up and move.” She pushed against his chest, but he didn’t budge. “Let me out.”

Garrett grabbed her arm and she swung out at him. “Did you see the look on his face?”

“Yeah.” He pulled her a few tables away and put her in another booth before sitting down, effectively blocking any escape. “We need to talk. Privately.”

She wrapped her arms around her waist and leaned against the table. Her legs trembled, and she bit down on her lip. “Let me talk to him first.”

“Right now you need to give him time to check himself. A few minutes, that’s all he’ll need,” Garrett said.

“Why?”

He held her hand. “He’s afraid of scaring you. Up until now, he had hold of his temper. Finding out what happened to you riled him. I’ve never seen him lose his cool before, but he saw blood when he found out Scott put his hands on you. He doesn’t want you to deal with his anger and get the wrong impression. Sis, he’s having a hard time. We all are. It’s not right that Carson got away with abusing you this long. Kage doesn’t want to add to what you’ve gone through.”

“But he’d never hurt me,” she said.

He smiled tenderly. “I know that, but Kage’s protecting you. He doesn’t believe that others see him the same way that we do. So, he walks away and checks himself.”

“I need to go to him,” she whispered. “I’ll talk to him. I can calm him down.”

“Sis, there’s things about Kage you need to know.” Garrett sighed. “This morning he met with his uncle.”

“I figured that out already, between the talking in code and the mysterious looks, but I want to talk to Kage,” she said.

“Dammit, will you sit still and listen.” Garrett ran his hand through his hair. “What you don’t know is, it’s a do-or-die situation with his family. They believe since he’s blood, he’s one of them. Kage stepping into their circle means he can’t walk away.”

“But he won’t let it get that far. He’s not a criminal. He’s clean.”

“Darrell Archer took a marker for the information he gave Kage on Carson.” Garrett stared at the table, not meeting her eyes.

“Marker?” she whispered.

“A favor. Kage had something, whether that was information or whatever, he didn’t say, that had kept his uncle away from him all these years. Now he has nothing to keep Darrell from coming after him, and he
will
come. The life Kage has lived is tainted, because he will never know when his uncle will use him or get rid of him if he thinks Kage’s trying to take him down. Men like that…they have ways of making people disappear. That marker kept Kage safe, and now he doesn’t have that insurance to protect himself.” Garrett leaned back and gazed at her. “Do you understand what I’m telling you?”

Her stomach seized and she covered her mouth, gagging. Garrett cussed and pulled her out of the booth, across the bar, and pushed her into the bathroom. She barely made it to the toilet before she lost her breakfast.

Tears rolled down her face, but she blamed it on getting sick. Inside, she was dying. Nothing. Not one single thing Scott did to her was as awful as hearing what Kage gave up to keep her safe. She didn’t deserve it.

Charlene and Sabrina rushed into the bathroom. She let them help her clean her face, murmuring soothing words as they surrounded her. But all she could think about was Kage and how she’d ruined his life.

“Are you okay?” Sabrina rubbed Jane’s arms. “We’ll help you get through this, and that jerk will regret ever hurting you.”

She let Sabrina pull her into a hug and hold her. “This is all my fault.”

“Bullshit.” Charlene turned off the faucet and brought her a paper towel. “Dry your face. That ex-boyfriend of yours will pay. I don’t want to hear another word from you taking the blame for what he’s done.”

The door opened and Kage stood just inside the entrance. She flinched, pulling away from Sabrina. His gaze swept over her body, landing on her face. His anger from earlier was nothing compared to right now.

His eyes softened, belying the tension around his mouth. His jaw muscle ticked and his chest expanded. “You okay?”

She shook her head.

“Come on. I’ll take you home.” He spoke softly, holding out his hand.

She walked with him out into the bar, past the others, and straight outside. She allowed him to buckle her seat belt before walking to the opposite side and taking the wheel. As they drove off, he held her hand. She squeezed his fingers, afraid more than ever she was going to lose him.

When they arrived at Kage’s, she stopped him from opening his car door. “Is it true? Will your uncle come after you?”

“He’ll try.” He relaxed back in the seat.

“Kage, I can’t let you live the rest of your life worried…like I am. Give him back the marker or whatever it’s called,” she said.

“Can’t.” He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “It’s over.”

“But you need to keep yourself safe.”

“I’ll only say this once, baby.” He locked his gaze on her. “There’s one thing more important than watching my own back or worrying about what’ll come my way because I had the misfortune of being an Archer.”

“What?” she whispered.

“You.”

She melted. Then the guilt hit her whole body, overwhelming her. “Oh, Kage, I can’t—”

He grabbed her head, pulled her forward, and kissed her hard. The multitude of emotions left her feeling as if she were swimming in the ocean, the tide pulling her away from shore, and all the breath she’d had left to scream for help had fled.

“Let’s go rest up for tonight, and then I want you to get dressed in your best clothes,” he said.

“W-what?” she breathed, because surely she was drowning.

“We’ve got a date. It’s a little late considering, but it’s our first one, and I want to take my woman out on the town.” He opened the car door.

As he walked around the front of the Mustang, she shivered. And not out of fear for how fast they were taking things.

She was going out on a date with Kage.