Code Red (2 page)

Adam left, and Max pulled her onto his lap.
His thick finger inched up her skirt. The more pressure he exerted,
the more Jess wanted to rip his hand away and burn her skin with
hot water to clean herself. She wouldn’t, however, give Max’s
friend the satisfaction.

***

“Red” looked like a beautiful fairy, almost
Disney cute. Her red-streaked hair cascaded over her white lace
blouse in flaming color, but her wide dark eyes blazed with a
desperation Kieran had only seen in people shortly before they blew
their brains out. He didn’t need to be a profiler to see that
someone had hurt her. Her parents? An ex-boyfriend? A husband? Damn
it, he had enough work to handle tonight. He didn’t need this type
of distraction. And yet, here she was, right in the middle of his
thoughts and refusing to leave.

A flash of pain punctuated every tough word
she spoke. For an inexplicable reason, the need to soothe her
spirit fought with his need to get her the hell out of here. She
was in the wrong place at the wrong time. In another life he’d have
asked for her number and taken her to dinner. The reality of his
career, however, made him permanently uncommitted. He’d tried his
hand at marriage, but his wife filed divorce papers three days
short of their first anniversary. She’d claimed he always placed
the needs of the agency before her needs. And she’d been right.

Red, however, wanted nothing to do with him.
Under the circumstances, that was for the best.

When the bartender returned with their
drinks, Red tipped back her shot before he or Max lifted their
glasses. Her shoulders shivered slightly as the last drops touched
her lips. Lips the color of ripe cherries or Snow White’s poisoned
apple.

Kieran shook his head and refocused on his
job. “We need to talk about the logistics.”

Max ignored him and pawed Red. Kieran held
back the urge to break his nose. Although the man was on borrowed
time and might not have a chance to grope another woman for the
rest of his life, Red didn’t want to be pawed. Kieran could read
her trepidation as clearly as he could pick out the caliber of a
round in a pile of ammunition.

Her earlier bravado had begun to fade. She
turned away from Max’s attempts at a kiss, allowing him access to
her neck and ear yet denying him those luscious lips. But she
seemed to be struggling with her decision. Although her arms fought
to escape Max’s clasp, she giggled and nodded at his sweet
promises.

“If you can release your date for the
evening, we can proceed with making plans for the next two hours.”
Kieran tapped the table in front of him.

Max looked up with a frown. “Kieran, my
friend, we have plenty of time. If you lend me the keys to your
car, I’ll be back within the hour.”

Handing him the keys to his car would be the
same thing as buying him a plane ticket to Fiji. Max would go free
and Kieran would be fired. “You’re not leaving my side until
everything’s set.”

“All work and no play…”

“Allows me to keep my job.”

“What is your job?” Red glanced at Kieran.
She struggled to pull away from Max without success. The smile
pasted on her face faltered a few times, but she held herself
together.

Her awkward actions clawed at Kieran’s focus.
If he’d just been nicer, Max and Red wouldn’t be embracing each
other in his presence and making him crazy. Instead, she’d be with
him and making him crazy in a completely different way. She needed
to leave, for everyone’s sake.

“My job is to take care of Max. And
you’re
making it much more difficult.”

A slight smile lifted her expression to smug
satisfaction, as though his frustration pleased her. “I offered to
join you, but you refused.”

“I don’t share.” Especially not beautiful,
wounded women.

She reached across the table. Her cherry red
nails grazed the back of his hand. Her touch teased and tempted
him. “And you don’t play well with others.”

Max laughed. “Give me one hour. Then we can
return here and all will be good.”

“No.”

Max grasped Red’s arm, forcing her toward the
edge of the seat. Kieran reached across and placed his hand on the
man’s shoulder. “I’m not kidding. Do not get up from this
table.”

“I have to go to the men’s room. This young
lady wants to show me the way, so I don’t get lost.”

Max twisted from Kieran’s grip and slid out
of the booth, still holding Red’s arm. He then dragged the woman
toward the restrooms.

The bartender had disappeared, probably to
the storeroom, leaving Kieran as Red’s protector for the next few
minutes. He jumped up and followed. When he reached them, Max was
pulling Red into the men’s room, and she was yanking on her arm to
free herself.

“Not here. Can’t we go to your hotel room?”
She didn’t look as though she wanted to go to his hotel room
either. Her eyes darted to Max and then Kieran.

Max refused to let her go. “I already checked
out, my dear. Come. It won’t take long.”

The sparkle of a tear in the corner of Red’s
eye caught Kieran’s attention, and rage ignited from the bottom of
his gut. His normal iron control began to slip away.

“She said ‘no.’ Don’t piss me off further.”
He wrenched Max’s arm away from Red and touched his other hand to
his waist over his concealed service revolver. Max had better
refocus on the exchange or he’d return to the United States and
face jail time.

The Russian released the woman but scowled.
“If I can’t have the girl, I want another drink.”

“We’re leaving. We can go for a drive and
return in an hour.”

Red tried to move away, but Kieran stepped in
front of her. “I’m sorry about Max. If things were different, I’d
have begged you to sit on my side of the table.”

“It’s no problem. I’m used to being the
alternate in men’s lives. And thanks for the money offer. I don’t
think I’ve ever been valued quite so high before.”

The bartender hustled over a minute too late
and created a wall in front of Red. His scowl grew at her fallen
expression and slumped posture. Without acknowledging any of the
men, she walked away, rubbing her wrist and touching the edge of
her finger to one eye.

“You two better leave unless you want to
spend the night at the police station. No one is sweeter than Jess,
and for you fools to treat her so poorly after all she’s been
through…” The bartender pointed to the door. “Just get out.”

Kieran shoved Max to the exit. He was pissed
off at the man and even angrier with himself.

CHAPTER TWO

Jess had buried her pride with Robert. She’d
vowed to never feel humiliated by a man again. Kieran, however, by
treating her like some drug addled streetwalker, had dropped her
self-worth to a new low. Yet, she
had
presented herself as a drunk, available woman.

Her balance seemed a bit off after the four
shots of whiskey, and she wobbled her way to the bar and waited for
Adam to return. “You’re right. I need a ride home tonight.”

He placed his hand over hers in a comforting
way. “No problem. I’m closing the bar early anyway. Can you wait a
half hour?”

“Sure.” She wandered back to the booth where
the two strangers had sat to clear their drinks for Adam. Max’s
cane, black with a shiny brass handle, remained half on the seat
and half on the floor. It looked valuable.

She picked it up and slid her hands over the
smooth surface. With a slight grin, she gripped it like a saber and
yelled to Adam,
“En garde.”

He shook his head in the same way a big
brother would at a younger sister. “Give it to me. I’ll see if
they’re still in the parking lot.”

“I can do it.” They didn’t frighten her.
Well, Kieran didn’t. He seemed heroic, despite his inability to see
the real her underneath her mask.

She shuffled across the bar toward the front
door, pretending to tap dance as she swung the cane around like a
baton. Her balance was off from a combination of the shots and her
too-high shoes. The three older men in the corner all clapped. She
gave them an exaggerated bow, nearly toppling over in the process.
Most everyone else had gone home.

“Come back here. Those muscle-heads are bad
news,” Adam called out over the bar but was halted by a patron
paying a tab.

“I’ll be fine, worrywart.” Jess lifted the
cane in a salute and headed out the door.

The parking lot contained only four cars. She
saw Kieran and Max getting into a black Expedition.

“Max!” She jogged toward the car. “You forgot
your cane.” She waved it in the air, but her foot landed in a
pothole and she fell forward. Her knee hit first, then both the
palm of one hand and the knuckles of the other. Pain pushed the air
from her lungs and tears streamed from her eyes.

She remained on the asphalt for a few seconds
until Kieran lifted her off the ground without any effort. “Are you
okay?”

His hand went under her chin, tilting her
face toward his. He had amazing green eyes, even brighter with the
streetlights shining toward them. She’d never seen such green eyes
and stared into them until his smile broke her trance. Would that
smile ever deceive a woman? She’d never know. He was one of a
million people who passed through this town of four hundred and
seventy-six residents, never giving it another thought after the
last glimpse in their rearview mirrors.

“Max forgot his cane.” She sniffled and
rested her head on his chest, trying to hide her tears from him but
knowing he’d already seen them. Heat flowed from his body into
hers. Jess refused to lift her head. Maybe he’d let her remain in
his warm embrace for a few minutes more before he left her cold and
lonely in the parking lot.

After a few seconds, he backed away and took
the cane from her now bloody fingers. A cool breeze raced between
them at their separation. He connected again, taking her hands in
his to inspect the injuries. He lifted her fingers to his lips and
kissed the tips. A hot jolt of something burned her insides, and
she drew in a quick breath of air.

He released her hands and flinched back
slightly, his mouth open as though about to say something, but
nothing came out. Had he felt it too?

He shook his head. “You’ll be all right.
Nothing a little soap, water, and a half gallon of ice cream can’t
cure.”

She tried to smile, but her lip quivered.
“Mint chocolate chip?”

“Definitely.” He dropped his mouth to the
edge of her cheek, his lips only a whisper away from her ear.
“Maybe we can share a pint someday—if I can manage to get
away.”

The statement drowned out the warm feelings
she’d developed for this stranger. Instead, the wretched memories
of Robert and his hidden wife and young daughter in the
pink-and-white dress standing in front of her father’s casket
flooded Jess’s brain. An able-bodied thirty-year-old, she refused
to become involved in a dead-end relationship again. “I don’t wait
for men. Men do as they please while expecting me to remain in this
flea-sized town like a loyal dog, begging for any attention thrown
in my direction.”

“I’m not like most men.”

A sliver of hope, a quick prayer, a need to
be needed. “Prove it and stay.”

He touched under her chin and gave a small
shake of his head. “Not tonight.”

“Like I said…” She pushed his hand away and
stepped back. The pain in her hand felt good compared to his
rejection.

He returned to his car and to Max, who was
leaning against the bumper, glaring in Red’s direction.

Adam appeared behind her, standing in the
doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. Her protector. And
friend. Jess looked at Kieran and sighed. A spin around the dance
floor in his arms would have made the evening definitely more
pleasurable than being mauled by his friend.

He handed the cane to Max, opened the driver
side door and waved. “Take care of yourself, Red.”

“Right back at you, handsome stranger.”

She intended to return to the bar but froze
in the oncoming headlights of a dark van. That in itself would have
been nothing, but Kieran’s reaction made her heart pound.

“Shit.” He pulled a gun from his waistband
and jogged over to Max, who had remained by the Expedition. “Stay
put until I give you the all clear. Do you understand?”

Jess didn’t hear Max’s response.

The van stopped in front of her, blinding
headlights shining on Kieran and Max. Two men in suits exited and
walked past her. She couldn’t make out anyone’s faces.

The darker-haired one hollered something at
Max she didn’t understand and then grabbed and pushed him toward
the van.

Kieran cursed and followed, aiming the gun at
Max. “Not until I see Mark.”

The scene was surreal. Would Kieran shoot
Max? Jess didn’t know whether to run or remain. By staying frozen,
her body made the decision for her. Her throat began to constrict.
Should she scream, or would someone shoot her if she did?

Adam ran up. “Get back in the bar, Jess.” He
dragged her partway to the entrance to the pub, but her focus
remained on Kieran.

Two other men with very large rifles exited
the van. “Change in plans,” one of them yelled over the noise of
the engine with an accent similar to Max’s. “Everyone in the van.”
He faced Kieran and laughed. “You won’t kill Max. Drop it.”

The man then marched forward and placed the
barrel of his rifle against Max’s ear. With two guns pointed at his
head, Max stiffened and his entire body started trembling. The
earlier cockiness had faded into fear.

Kieran lowered his gun, and one of the
newcomers pulled it away from him. They shoved both him and Max
toward the van.

Another big guy holding another big gun
turned and pointed his weapon and flashlight at Jess and Adam. “You
too.”