SuddenHeat (2 page)

He pressed his lips close to her ear and whispered, “At
least one guy is casing the mall. He’s got an automatic rifle. He’s coming this
way and going store to store. I tried to pull down the storefront gate but it’s
locked open. We need to stay in here and keep quiet.”

Shaking, her heart practically bounding out of her chest,
Melanie realized she’d never felt so scared. She clasped his waist then his
strong back as one of his arms came around her. His heat and hardness gave
security but she couldn’t deny that she’d gone from happy-go-lucky this afternoon
to utterly terrified.

The sound of gunfire echoed outside, sounding faint but
growing in intensity. She jerked, startled. Matt’s arm tightened around her.
For what seemed an eternity they stood there, hardly breathing. A silent prayer
ran through her head.

Oh God. Please let this be over soon.

More gunfire. Closer. She tensed in Matt’s arms. His pressed
her head to his shoulder, hand tangled in the hair at the back of her neck.
Shivers suddenly racked her frame. So much for cool control. She’d lost the
edge, lost her ability to stand firm and strong. Being in the wrong place at
the wrong time had a whole new meaning.

Quiet hovered like a beast, waiting. Silent and deadly and
ready to pounce. Matt held her tightly and she stayed tense. She barely breathed.

A huge thud hit the door. Cursing rent the air from outside,
a man’s angry and incoherent shouting.

Then the man shouted. “Fuckin’ whores! Where the fuck are
you?”

Melanie tensed, holding back a cry of alarm. Matt’s arms
loosened and released her.

No. Please.

He turned full toward the door and stood in front of her.
She pressed herself farther into the corner. They waited. Waited for an
eternity.

The sound of footsteps shuffled, faded away. Matt didn’t
move and neither did Melanie. She gulped, ridiculously afraid the killer could
hear the sound.

A few minutes later they heard more gunshots but these were
far away. The killer had retreated from the store. She let out a hard breath just
as Matt turned toward her. She heard him lean the metal pole against the wall.
She reached for him and he tugged her tight against him. She flung her arms
around his neck. They remained that way, finding comfort from closeness. She
lost track of time.

“It’s going to be all right.” His voice whispered against
her ear, reassuring and strong.

“I know,” she managed to say in a shaky voice. She kept her
voice to a mere whisper. “How long do you think we should stay in here?”

“We have to wait it out until the cops take him down,” Matt
said into her ear. “I’m sorry I didn’t see another quick way out of here.”
Matt’s arms tightened around her. “It’s all right. We’re safe here for now.”

Fear started to ease under his attention. God, how did he do
it? How did he keep that creeping sense of disaster at bay? She accepted the
warmth and comfort his embrace offered. As her hands slipped down his shoulders
she drew in a deep breath. Something about him calmed her.

“I was on the line with 9-1-1 when my cell phone died,” she
said.

He released her and she heard him jingling some keys.
Suddenly a small flashlight on one of the keys lit up. He placed it on the
floor pointing at the wall. “This is the first time this has come in handy. My
mother gave it to me.”

“Smart mom.”

He grunted and pulled a cell phone out of the holster on his
waist. “Worried mother.”

“Worried? You’re a marine.”

He chuckled softly, a smooth, deep sound. “You know how
parents are. Besides, my mother was in the marines. She’s always prepared.”

She’d never met anyone whose mother was a marine. In the air
force and the army, yes, but not a marine.

As he used the touch screen on his phone, his fingers flew
over the keys. “I’m texting my brothers. I’d call them but I don’t know how
safe it is for them to answer a phone.”

“Excellent idea. Ask them if they’ve seen Kathleen and
Lena.”

She caught a glimpse of his face in the semidarkness. His
brows drew down in concentration. His eyes flashed, his mouth a tight line.
Silence ruled for a few minutes. Finally a dull vibrating sound rumbled from
his phone. And then another and another.

In the distance more shots popped but these still sounded
far away.

“Yes,” he said in triumph. “Jake just answered. He’s with
Kathleen.”

She caught her breath. “Are they all right?”

“They’re in a storage room behind the coffee shop next to
the engraver’s and there’re several other people with them. He says they’re
staying put for now.”

She released a slow breath, her tight muscles relaxing
slightly. He continued texting. She stayed silent, her mind churning a hundred
miles a minute. Worry escalated. Where were Lena and Rick?

“God, I hope Lena is safe,” she said.

“I got the impression you three ladies could handle anything
that came your way.”

“Huh. Well, we have our moments.” She slid down to sit on
the floor, easing her handbag off and leaving it nearby. “Lena just started
taking handgun lessons. I hate guns.”

“Afraid of them?”

“Not exactly. I just have this aversion to them. My father
was…” How did she say this without sounding like a cliché? “He was in Vietnam.
He became a cop, then the PTSD took hold after a few years and…” She swallowed
hard and couldn’t continue.

His dark gaze caught hers for a second and held, filled with
an understanding she hadn’t expected. “My mother was a marine for twenty-five
years and had some interesting experiences in Desert Storm. Then her body
couldn’t take the wear and tear and she retired. She can be a real bear.”

“Ouch. The war or the discharge?”

“She loved her job. The discharge is what broke her.”

“Broke her?”

“She was in military police, and not doing that any more ate
her up. She’s still trying to decide what she wants to be when she grows up.
She got out of the military ten years ago, right before this last war.”

Silence wrapped them for a few moments before she said, “Was
she tough on you and your brothers?”

“Yeah.”

She sensed a lot more to that story but didn’t feel
comfortable going deeper. “What does your father do?”

“Travels with my mother. He was a Mr. Mom through our
childhood. He’s a travel writer too. He’s a great dad. We always know that he
loves us. He’s pretty easy to talk to.”

She popped out with, “Unlike your mom?”

He smiled. “How did you know?”

“Lucky guess.”

They went silent again for a short time before he asked,
“You more like your mom or your dad?”

She winced. “I’m guilty of being like both of them equally.”

In the semidarkness his face didn’t reveal much. “Do people
think you’re not approachable?”

That question stopped her in her tracks. She shifted on the
hard floor, her mind awhirl, wondering why he’d asked. “How did you guess?”

“At Patrick and Danelle’s party the other night you seemed a
little cool.”

Defensiveness almost won. She modulated her voice. “So did
you.”

He laughed, and this time it was a purr of sound that wended
its way inside her. “Touché. I’m good at giving orders in the marines. Not so
good at relating with small talk.”

“You’re doing a great job now.”

“You’re…different. I find it easy to talk to you. And I
don’t consider this small talk. It’s too significant for that.”

A low, sensual response unfurled in her and threw her off
guard. How had he managed to draw her into this kind of conversation when a
nutjob was nearby threatening people’s lives? He’d calmed her just by making
conversation, and she was grateful.

She found her voice. “Men are intimidated sometimes after
they’ve talked to me a while. I figured that’s the way you felt.”

“I see how some guys would be intimidated. Not want to get
to know the real you.”

She didn’t want that to hurt but it did. “Story of my life
but I’m working hard to change. I’ve spent too much of my life isolated from
other people.”

She took a big chance revealing this much to a virtual
stranger.

“Hard to keep cool, calm and collected when there’s a
firefight. Even if it’s in the mall,” he said.

She snorted a small laugh. “My number-one priority used to
be keeping my cool.”

“You did a good job at the party. Your eyes were throwing
daggers at me.”

“
You
scowled at
me
.”

Surprise filled his voice. “I did?”

“Yes. You scowl a lot.”

He shrugged. “I’ve been accused of having this pissed-off
face when I’m deep in thought. It wasn’t anything personal. I don’t even know
when I’m doing it.”

“A couple of times you looked like a deer caught in
headlights when I talked to you.”

“I think the deer in headlights thing was probably because
you’re beautiful and I was stunned.”

Surprise held her silent for a moment. “Oh.”
Holy cow.
“Thank
you.”

My God. This guy kept getting better and better. Something
about this man touched her in deeper ways she didn’t understand. If it had been
just good looks she could have ignored that. This…this had bite. Substance. A
lick and stroke that demanded her attention and played along her skin like good
sex but with a lasting finish that didn’t wear off the next morning.

“I’m sorry.” She closed her eyes as she laid her head back
against the wall. “I’ve been chattering. I guess being scared as hell does that
to me.”

“You never know how you’ll react to something like this
until it happens.” Finished texting for the moment, he turned out the
flashlight. He sat at her left side. “You okay?”

She drew in a deep breath and released it slowly. “Yes. No.”

He made a sound, just enough to convey amusement. “We’ll get
out of here soon.”

She wanted to believe him. A short time passed and the
bathroom was cold and quiet.

Unease trickled up her spine. “Do you think that…man will
come back?”

“Maybe. A SWAT team should be in position soon. Then again,
it hasn’t been very long. They might not be here yet.”

A low rumbling sound came from somewhere and then the light
from the store outside the bathroom extinguished.

“Shit,” he said.

“I wonder if the police turned off the lights.”

“They might have. It could make things more difficult for
the shooter. It could also make it harder for us.”

She drew her knees up and rested her head on her folded
forearms. “I’ll never complain about another thing again as long as we all get
out of this in one piece.” She sighed. “But I have a feeling someone won’t be
coming home tonight. The man must have killed or wounded people.”

“But
we’re
going home tonight. In fact…” He drifted
off, and it immediately brought her to full attention.

She looked over at him even though she couldn’t see him,
total darkness making her feel like they were isolated on another planet. “In fact?”

“Before the shooting started I was going to ask you out.”

Surprise held her silent.

He cleared his throat. “I know. Bad timing. Forget I said
anything.”

She’d heard the uncertainty in his voice and found it
endearing. Her tongue felt too thick, the words difficult to form. “No. I…yes.”

“Yes?”

“When we get out of here, let’s go somewhere and talk.
Obviously after the cops talk to us. They’ll probably have a million questions,
right?”

“Right.”

She rubbed the back of her neck. “After that, I’ll need to unwind.”

“That’s good, you know.”

“What? Unwinding?”

“You’re keeping the good thought. We are getting out of here
in one piece, I promise.”

She liked the conviction in his voice and suddenly she felt
one hundred percent safe, as if he’d placed a huge safety net under her.

Her stomach growled and heat crept into her face.

He laughed. “We’ll go out to eat.”

She rushed into the next thought. “There’s a diner in town
that serves a wonderful breakfast twenty-four hours a day.” She refused to
imagine they wouldn’t be out of here in time for dinner. Even a late dinner.
“God, you wouldn’t think I’d be hungry at a time like this.”

“The body reacts in strange ways when you’re in danger.”

“It’s what I get for skipping lunch.”

“There’s no way I’d skip lunch if I could help it. A man’s
gotta eat when he gets the chance.”

Somehow she knew exactly why he believed it. “Survival
mode.”

“You could say that.”

She rubbed her arms as a cold chill crawled up from the
floor and into her body. She took a deep breath and tried to calm the
twitchiness that still flittered and skated through her muscles. “This is the
first time I’ve been in danger. But you were in Afghanistan, right?”

“Yeah. Two tours. I’ve been back less than two weeks.”

“Were you in dangerous situations? Wait, don’t answer. Dumb
question.”

“No problem. Yeah, a few times there was danger.” He made a
self-deprecating sound. “Who the hell am I kidding? Afghanistan
is
danger. There isn’t a safe place.”

“Anything this scary?”

“They’re all scary.”

She hadn’t expected him to admit it. In the back of her mind
men like the Frasier brothers had seen violence yet had become hardened by it.
“I don’t know how you do it.”

“Training. It becomes second nature.” His voice dropped
lower, quieter. “I do it because my fellow marines rely on me to watch their
six. And I rely on them. If we’re damned lucky, we come home to our families
and friends.”

“My father would never have said that much about it. About
being in war, I mean.” An ache started in the middle of her chest. “My mother
said he wouldn’t talk to anyone. I was too young to understand and after he
became a cop he finally…”

She stopped and the silence grew.

“He finally?” Matt asked.

She licked her lips. “He died five years ago during
Thanksgiving. Cancer. He was in a mental institution. Long story.”

How he found her left hand in the dark, she didn’t know. He
slipped his fingers through hers and squeezed gently. “I’m sorry. This time of
year must be hard for you.”

She nodded even though he couldn’t see her. “I’m getting
better at seeing it a different way. Reframing it, I guess you could say.” But
for some reason her eyes filled with tears that threatened to spill over. They
did. She swiped at them with her right hand but couldn’t hold back a sniff.
“Oh, jeez. I didn’t mean to start this. I don’t cry.”

“Hey.” The gentle quality in his voice stirred something
tender within her. His fingers tightened on hers. “We’re all the crying type
one time or another.”

She made a scoffing sound. “Even big bad marines?”

“Yeah. I’ve seen a few crying like babies. We’re only human,
Melanie.”

“I was just so used to seeing Dad deny his feelings and try
to pretend like there was nothing wrong. In the end it gobbled him up.”

“Is that what you try to do?”

She knew what he meant but she wouldn’t admit it. “Do?”

“Bottle things up and pretend like there’s nothing wrong.”

God, this man could see through her way too easily. “Yeah.
How did you know?”

“My brother Jake is like that. He’s sort of a joker. When
he’s really pissed and wants to hit something, he cracks a joke instead. It’s
his way of coping.” His hand squeezed hers again, this time a little tighter.
“A guy in my unit flipped out on us once during a firefight. Totally lost it.
We had as much fun trying to deal with him as we did with the insurgents. He’s
out of the military now.”