Tamed (Corcoran Team: Bulletproof Bachelors Book 3) (8 page)

“I was just about to say that to you.” He pressed a kiss on her forehead. “Go to sleep.”

She didn’t have the strength to answer him. She thought she groaned, but she didn’t know. Her muscles weighed her down and her bones refused to move. No body part responded to a signal from her brain. She took that as a sign it was time to sleep. After all the death and panic, her body gave in and she drifted.

She could feel him drag the covers over them. Smell his skin. She was just about to fall under when she heard him whisper.

“I can’t fail at this.”

Her eyes popped open, but she didn’t move. Didn’t want him to know she heard the fear. But she had, and now she had to figure out how to fix it.

Chapter Nine

Frank Jay had his orders. He’d gone from living one lie to another. Getting caught pretending to be a SEAL was just the start to his trouble. It led to the news story, then his friends turned on him and the two job offers on the table were rescinded. The interest from the senator who wanted a real-life hero on staff disappeared as fast as it had come.

No one wanted to be seen with him or associated with his name. Anyone who tried got an anonymous email directing them to
Wall of Dishonor
. The mistake refused to die.

His life had flipped upside down, and he took responsibility for that. That damn website also played a role, but he had created the problem. But what came after wasn’t his fault. He’d apologized and gone to rehab. He’d been through the program and stayed clean. Hadn’t had a drop of liquor in seven months. Seven long months.

Getting swept up in the rest had been an accident.

He thought about that as he sat in the coffee shop. His drink had long turned cold as he turned the file over in his hands. He’d picked it up ten minutes ago as ordered in the set drop location. Protocol demanded he finish the drink, get up and go, but he didn’t. Not today. What else could they do to him?

He opened the fastener on the back of the folder and peeked inside. Photographs and paperwork. The usual. Digging deeper, he saw Makena Kingston’s picture and a police report about a break-in at her house. He dropped the documents back inside, not needing to read more or wanting them to be seen. He’d been tied to enough conspiracies and trouble without adding more.

The bigger issue was what came next. He balanced an elbow on the table and stared blankly out the shop’s window as he tried to reason it all out. He knew what the contents of the folder meant without reading closer. The boss wanted Makena dead.

Whatever she’d said or stumbled over put her on the firing line, and now... Frank shook his head. He liked her. After he’d gotten done hating her, which he had at first. The smug face and the way she’d scolded. But she’d been the first to believe him. She’d given him a second chance. And now she’d call and ask for help. Seek information. He’d give it to her, tying the string tighter. Then she would be gone and whatever secrets she had would get buried with her.

He took out his phone and stared at the screen. He was in countdown mode now. Soon his debt would be paid...but not soon enough to save Makena.

* * *

C
AM
ARRIVED
EARLY
the next morning. Too early. He used the alarm codes and buzzed through the layers of protection and walked in.

Makena stood in the kitchen wearing only Shane’s tee. On her it worked like a minidress. Not that it fooled anyone. Shane could tell from Cam’s smile and the knowing look in his eyes that he had figured out exactly what had happened here last night.

Shane cursed his unexpected need to sleep in. He rarely rested for long periods of time. With his history, short bursts of sleep with a hand on the weapon proved to be the answer. Not this morning. She’d wiped him out. The first time, the second... He’d finally fallen into an exhausted dream around three. Before that he couldn’t leave her alone.

Makena unstuck from the floor as her gaze traveled from Cam to Shane and back again. “I should probably...yeah, my clothes.”

“Subtle,” Shane mumbled under his breath, knowing no amount of subterfuge would help now.

“You’re not exactly helping.” She let her gaze drop to his briefs as she walked by.

Wearing only a T-shirt and briefs early in the morning wasn’t odd, but wearing the outfit on a formal bodyguard assignment when Corcoran kept all kinds of gear and clothing there was. “Cam knows when to shut up.”

“Let’s hope so.” She didn’t turn around again as she headed for the bedroom.

Cam opened his mouth to say something, likely something smart, but Shane held up a hand. He gestured toward the front door. Shane got there first and did a check before opening it.

Instead of going out, he lounged in the doorway and crossed his arms in front of him. Waited for the comments he knew were headed his way. “Go ahead.”

Cam nodded as he pretended to scan the horizon. “I’m just wondering if there’s anything we need to talk about.”

That was enough to answer. “No.”

Cam glanced inside, toward the kitchen. With the door open, they could look from one end of the house to the other. That was the point of the safe house. It had to be easy to lock down and protect. All seven hundred square feet of this qualified.

He nodded in the direction of the closed bedroom door. “That looked pretty cozy.”

Shane let his arms drop to his sides. “Do you want to die?”

“That’s what I thought.” Cam stepped around Shane and out onto the porch.

Puffy clouds rolled along the clear blue sky. The weather had warmed and the sun heated the porch. Shane ignored it all as he stood there in his bare feet. He’d never been ashamed of having sex and he wasn’t about to start now. Not when it had been so good, so freeing.

Not when the nagging voice in his head told him he’d messed up. He didn’t regret sleeping with Makena or holding her through the night. It was the way she’d looked at him this morning, all full of hope and renewed energy. As if she believed they could make something work, which was just the ultimate fairy tale.

He’d watched the male members of his family marry and then blow up every relationship in record time. They took advantage, lost jobs, drank too much. Shane had spent his entire life on the run so that his genes wouldn’t catch up with him. The one time he’d tried to buck the trend, had found a woman who wanted out of her small town and tried to make a go of it, they’d both ended up miserable.

He couldn’t do that to Makena and he sure owed more than that to Holt.

“You folded in about two days.” Cam looked at his watch. “That could be a record.”

Shane wasn’t going to ask. He refused to ask. But... “What are you talking about now?”

“Only that it doesn’t take a genius to figure out you stopped keeping your distance.”

Shane’s gaze zipped to the bedroom door. Still closed. He lowered his voice anyway. “Do I look like I want to talk about this?”

“You look like you got hit by a truck.” Cam smiled, as he’d been doing since he walked in the door. “Good news is Connor is giving you a few more days.”

“What are you talking about?” Shane wasn’t leaving until the case was done. He didn’t care what other assignments waited. He wasn’t leaving Makena or dumping her off on another team member. The personal stuff had him reeling, but he’d see the other through. She would not be injured on his watch.

“Before he contacts Holt. He knows Holt is going to be ticked off for keeping the danger to Makena quiet, but Connor is willing to take the heat.”

“Having her big brother rush back into town and take over won’t help.” That trip would certainly make Shane’s life more difficult. He’d been messing up things just fine without help, so, no, thanks. “We don’t need to throw more people at this thing.”

Biting down on his lip, Cam looked as if he was trying not to smile...and failing miserably. “Good argument.”

Time for a topic change. That qualified as the easiest road out of this unwanted discussion. “Do you have information for me?”

“Yes.” Cam hit a few buttons on his phone and then turned it around so Shane could see the photos on the screen. “You were right. There was a tracker in her pants pocket. Connor is tracing it.”

Shane glanced at the photo and cursed himself for not checking for one the second after the first attack. He’d led her into danger by skipping steps. That was what he did around her. Work and safety and common sense all took a backseat to blinding need. And spending the night with her had not eased the burning inside him. He wanted her as much as—more than—he had before.

Sex never worked like that with him. He met a woman, stayed around for a few days, then moved on. But then this was not the usual sex.

“I’m guessing Connor is having Joel look into all of this,” Shane said. Joel Kidd, the tech genius of the group, was Cam’s best friend. The guy worked magic with surveillance and had an eerie ability to find anything.

“The Jeff Horvath information is disturbing.” Cam scrolled through whatever file he’d downloaded to the phone or whatever notes he had on there. “The guy lost everything when his face appeared on the site. Got fired. Fiancée left. Family isn’t talking to him.”

Not a surprise. Jeff had the angry-guy thing down. He threatened and postured and refused to back down even when common sense demanded it. “Sounds like motive.”

“In worse news, he has skills. Has taken a bunch of survivalist courses and can definitely shoot.”

That qualified as terrible news. Jeff had skills, and that, combined with the anger festering inside him, made him very dangerous. “It would have been easier if he actually went into the military instead of pretending to.”

“Point is, Makena picked a bad guy to make an enemy.”

Apparently she possessed a knack for that. When Shane talked to her about everything else once this case ended, he’d bring up that point, too. He’d never be able to survive knowing she lived her life without taking precautions. The website or no, she was Holt’s sister and had ties to Corcoran, which made her safety a constant concern.

So did the men she knew, but Shane vowed to handle that part. “There’s more.”

That headache came roaring back to life. “You mean the other guys on the site?”

“Look closely at a guy named Frank Jay.” He was a wild card for Shane. He didn’t get the relationship or how the man had gone from foe to friend, but he’d figure it out. But he was not the main target. No, Shane reserved that space for someone else. “You should also do an in-depth search on the site’s owner, Tyler Cowls.”

Cam’s eyebrow lifted. “I take it your meeting with him didn’t go well.”

“There’s something about him.” Shane actually didn’t like anything about the guy, but the investigation would tell him what he needed to know.

“Anything specific?”

Shane heard the shower and knew Makena had dropped the tee and stepped under the spray. He tried to block the thought of her naked. “Tyler is in love with Makena.”

Cam whistled. “That’s a problem.”

“No kidding.” She protected the guy and he’d all but drooled over her. That made Shane the outsider, and he hated the sensation.

“I meant a problem for you.” This time Cam laughed. “Did you tell him there’s no room for him since you’re already in love with her?”

And then there was that. The needling he’d get from his friends as more and more information about this case came out. Forget Holt—the other guys could handle the verbal battle just fine in his absence.

Since Shane didn’t want Makena shutting off the water and overhearing something annoying, he tried one more time to get control of the conversation. “Keep your voice down.”

“That’s not a denial.”

Shane hadn’t even realized that had whizzed by him until it was too late. Probably better that way, as the idea of standing there insisting he felt nothing for her made something twist in his gut. “Just do the intensive background checks.”

Some of the amusement faded from Cam’s face. “We also need to know what case she’s working on now, or just worked on. Someone tipped someone off and this exploded. I’m betting she’s getting close to a piece of information someone doesn’t want revealed.”

Shane had been so lost in trying to stay away from her that he’d missed an easy check. Her work touched a lot of lives. The idea of a recent case setting this off sounded the most rational of all possibilities. “Makes sense.”

“Of course it does.” Cam slipped his phone back into his pocket. “You look awful, by the way.”

The mix of no sleep and a whack of guilt did that to a guy. “Did I ask?”

“It’s much more fun just to tell you.”

Not for Shane. Nothing about this case or his time with Makena ran smoothly. He felt two steps behind and half out of it. A terrible combination for someone on bodyguard duty.

Not that he thought she was in danger around him. She wasn’t. He’d dive in front of her if he had to, but his concentration kept getting tugged and pulled. Combine that with the confusing pieces of the case and the high risk of danger, and the worries of not being prepared kept pounding him.

He tried to put it all into words. “I have this feeling.”

“Your instincts are usually pretty good, so what kind?”

He could pretty it up, but he didn’t try. With Cam he didn’t have to. They’d been through everything as a team, and Shane didn’t play games with duty and team. Still, spitting it out meant giving life to the fear, and he hated to do that.

Cam’s eyes narrowed. “Shane? What feeling?”

“That this is not going to end well.” And it grew stronger every single day.

Chapter Ten

Makena thought meeting Frank in the park seemed a bit extreme, but he’d insisted on privacy and quiet. Shot down every suggestion that would have allowed them to sit down inside. No, he wanted out in the open, a fact that had Shane delivering an unending lecture for the entire drive over.

“Remember what I said.” He slammed the door and stared at her over the top of the car.

“Don’t wander, stay out of Frank’s grabbing range and listen to you.” Even she heard her dry tone. “Got it.”

“This isn’t a game.” Shane came around the hood of the car and slipped his hand under her elbow. He didn’t grab on, but his fingers didn’t just skim her skin, either.

She didn’t love it when this side of his personality came out. Protective and a bit controlling? Fine, she could handle those. Talking down to her? No. That was never going to be okay, and he hovered right on the line right now. It had to do with wanting her safe and worrying about her. She got that, but still.

“You think I don’t know that?”

“This guy, Frank, pretended to be something he wasn’t.” Shane guided her through the parked cars and past the group of preteen boys debating which one of them possessed the better bike. “You can see where I might not believe his sudden change and claims of regret.”

“You could try meeting him before judging him.” Seemed obvious enough to her.

He stopped walking and brought her with him. There, under the lush canopy of trees with kids squealing in the distance, he stared her down. “I’ve met guys like Frank before. They rarely change.”

The stiffness in his tone and stance bugged her. She refused to back down. Shane might bark and scare other people, but not her. She’d been standing up to him from the moment they met. He said he liked that about her. Well, they would see.

“What is your problem?” When he threw her a blank expression, she widened her eyes and stared right back with an
I’m waiting
look.

He glanced around, his gaze scanning the entire area before hesitating on a picnic table off to her left and then traveling back to her. “You are in danger and it makes me nuts.”

No way could she hold on to her anger after that. “Oh.”

His expression morphed from blank to frustrated. “
Oh?
That’s your response?”

“Yeah. It’s sweet.” She knew she’d said the wrong thing as soon as the words slipped out.

“You’re driving me...” He shook his head as the words cut off.

From the way he kept grinding his teeth together, she guessed the last word wasn’t going to be good. She almost felt sorry for him. Almost, but not really, because he’d just admitted how much he cared. She knew he had a she’s-my-friend’s-sister loyalty, but this went deeper. The way he’d held her and kissed her, the way he protected her and reined in his temper even when he could have blown. It all told her she mattered. He might fight hard and play hard, but with her he took his time, and she wanted that to mean something important.

“Where is he?” Shane asked.

The question hit her from out of nowhere. She’d been thinking about him and them and what could be if he unclenched about the Holt issue and trusted her enough to believe in them together...and his mind was on the job. That summed up their relationship. Rarely on the same page except when kissing or in bed. Apparently talking was their issue.

“Frank.” Shane nodded in the direction of the nearby picnic table, the one near the parking lot and about thirty feet away. “Is that him?”

She followed his gaze. Frank sat there wearing blue jeans and a baseball cap pulled low. “Yes.”

Shane frowned but didn’t start walking again. “He looks young.”

“He is.”

His hand slipped to her back. “Give me the details before we get over there.”

She wanted to point out that they should have had this conversation in the car on the way over, but Shane didn’t look open to discussing his decision-making, so she just answered, “Twenty-six. An all-American Midwestern-boy type. He was an army supply clerk who injured his back in a locker room but claimed to have fought on the front lines in Afghanistan.”

Shane swore under his breath. “How did he get caught in the lie?”

“An anonymous tip to the website started me checking on his history. His claims all over social media didn’t match up with the reports from anyone he served with.” She remembered how easy his case had been. Her third and the one she celebrated the hardest because she’d done it alone. “His story unraveled from there and his hometown newspaper did a story.”

Shane exhaled. “How do these guys think they can get away with it?”

“Some of them do.” She lowered his voice. “Or they do unless the site or someone else exposes them.”

They walked a few more steps in silence. They’d almost hit the edge of the table when he whispered one more thing. “You do good work.”

The shock still gripped her when Frank looked up. She stuttered a few times before forcing out a greeting. “Thanks for coming.”

He tipped his head back and stared up at Shane. “Who are you?”

Shane shook his head. “Not important.”

“It is to me.”

“He’s with me.” Makena slid onto the bench across from Frank and waited until Shane sat next to her to start talking to Frank again. “As I said on the phone, we need to ask you a few questions.”

Frank shot a quick glance in Shane’s direction before focusing on Makena. He reached a hand across the table. “I heard about your house. Are you okay?”

She folded her hands together on her lap. No way was she giving this guy mixed signals.

Shane jumped in and asked, “How?”

Frank frowned. “What?”

“How did you hear about the attack?” Nothing in Shane’s tone suggested he had an ounce of patience left. His words came out in staccato bursts and he looked half-ready to lunge across the table and pounce. Probably would have done so if kids weren’t playing on a swing set in the distance.

She decided to step in before she witnessed another bloodbath. “Frank, please. We need you to answer these questions.”

He finally nodded. “There’s an online group. Men who have been targets by the
Wall of Dishonor
website. They talk and someone mentioned you were in trouble.”

“Trouble?”

Frank swallowed. “Attacked.”

Her stomach fell. She could have sworn she heard it thud against the ground. A sick shaking moved through her as she tried to imagine the conversation and information these men shared. “So they all know where I live?”

“Not before the police were called in.” He winced. “They do now.”

She didn’t realize her foot had started tapping until Shane put a hand over her knee. The touch should have soothed her. At any other time, it would have. But not now.

She knew these men and how desperately they held on to their lies. How they viewed themselves as victims and took zero responsibility for their behavior. Except for Frank. He’d stepped up, but now that she knew about the loop and his involvement... She kept her mouth closed because she feared she’d start throwing up any second.

Shane gave her knee a gentle squeeze. “Did you know about the group?”

She could only shake her head. She’d almost regained the ability to form words when a wall of indignation smacked into her. The mix of fury and frustration pounded off Shane. Sitting so close, she could practically feel the fire burning inside him.

“Holding back information, Frank? I thought you were all about making amends.” Shane didn’t move, but he looked bigger, more formidable. Somehow his body expanded and all the air around them stopped, as if suspended. “You understand how guilty that makes you look.”

“I wouldn’t be here if that were true.” Frank’s jaw tightened along with his fists. Only the slight bobble in his voice gave him away.

And Shane didn’t back down. If anything, he leaned in. “I’m not so sure.”

“Who are you, again?”

Shane ignored the question. “Is anyone on this loop taking credit for the attack?”

“No.” Frank held up his hands as if he thought he could hold back the flood of anger shooting at him. “No, I would have said something. There was no warning. No one is admitting anything.”

She almost hated to ask but had to. “Is anyone celebrating it?”

Frank nodded. “Everyone.”

She really was going to be sick, right there where little kids played. She wanted to get up, pace around...move across the country. Somehow she stayed in her seat. Clamping on to Shane’s hand with both of hers helped. Feeling his strength fed her. Helped her focus the rage and panic coursing through her at backbreaking speed.

“Except you, of course.” Shane’s voice dipped lower.

Makena knew that meant trouble. When his tone went soft, he hovered on the brink of explosion. This time she didn’t plan to stop him.

“I’m trying to help here. I came when called. I’ve provided information on other men.” Frank jerked in his seat when a dog started barking.

“Then give me what I need to look in on this loop.” Shane took out his cell phone and swiped the keyboard.

The move seemed so normal, so every day, but something grabbed her attention. He didn’t enter a lock code. She concentrated, studying the black rectangle in his hands. Yeah, that wasn’t his phone. She had no idea where it had come from or why he had two, but now was not the time to ask.

“You can’t just sit in or read along. This is a private loop and these guys guard all the information on there very closely.” Frank’s fidgeting ratcheted up. He looked around and leaned in. His hands kept moving.

Shane didn’t show one sign of nerves. “I probably can, but just in case give me your log-in information.”

“I...just...” Frank’s mouth dropped open, and then he turned to her. “This is a dangerous game.”

She got that now. Maybe at the beginning this had been an adventure. Never a game, because she took the work seriously, but she’d been excited about the research and uncovering information. The whole thing had given her a thrill. Now she knew how far some men would go to hold on to the lie they’d built, and it scared her.

“I’m the one people tried to kill. I’m well aware how dangerous this all is.” She doubted she’d ever forget. She wondered if she could continue doing the work or take pride in any of it from now on.

Frank played with his hat, then scratched his neck. “Fine.”

“Why are you so nervous?” Shane’s eyes narrowed as he asked.

The question pulled her attention from the numerous little things and made her focus on the bigger picture. Frank looked ready to crawl out of his skin.

“You’re not exactly the friendliest guy,” Frank said.

No, it was more than that. Something bigger. She’d seen this guy at his worst, right after being found out. Over time, he’d changed. He got sober. He told people the truth. He delivered information, maybe even some of it from that private loop.

“He’s actually being pretty civilized.” And she wasn’t kidding. Shane led with his fists. He’d been trained to ferret out the truth and punish liars.

She knew fury brewed and built inside Shane. The fact that he held it back and stayed coherent amounted to a pretty positive step forward.

“I’m not killing you for lying about being a big-time war hero, so you should consider this a good day.” Shane spun the phone around and pointed to the blank notes section. “You’re lucky, but I can’t guarantee that will last if you don’t cooperate and do it right now before I really get ticked off.”

Well said.
“Listen to him.”

Frank coughed up the information. He typed it into the notes section, grumbling under his breath the entire time. He shoved the phone at Shane. “Here. Are you happy?”

Shane scoffed. “No.”

“It’s a start,” she said at the same time.

“You should know there is a guy...” Frank wiped a hand over his mouth as he blew out a long breath.

“Get to it,” Shane said as his voice sharpened around the edges.

She knew pushing too hard would stop the flow of information, so she trod a bit more carefully. After rubbing her fingers over the back of Shane’s hand, she let go. Put her hand on the table in what she hoped came off as a supportive gesture. “Tell me.”

“The owner of the group is a guy named Jeff Horvath.” Frank gave one final look around before dropping his voice to a near whisper. “Be careful of him.”

She talked over whatever Shane was going to say. “Why?”

“There’s a core group of really angry guys, and he’s their leader.” Frank stared at his hands for a few seconds before looking up again. “He doesn’t try to hide his dislike of you.”

Not a surprise. He never had done so to her face, either. Still, hearing Jeff’s name sent a shiver of fear racing through her. “Okay.”

“What else do we need to know?” Shane asked.

Frank started talking before Shane finished. “Nothing.”

“That better be accurate.” Shane put both elbows on the table and eyed up Frank. “You know why?”

“I don’t—”

“Because I know where you live.” Shane didn’t even blink. “So, if anything happens to her, if someone comes near her, I’m going to assume you knew and didn’t warn her. That for some reason you made the decision not to choke up the intel for me.”

Frank shook his head. “That’s not—”

“Then I’m going to choke you.” Shane made it sound like a promise.

That was probably enough. She rushed in to get the conversation back on track. “Shane—”

Frank stood up. “I don’t have to listen to this.”

Shane rose, slow and deliberate, with each inch seeming to take a year. “Yeah, you do. That’s the price you pay for what you did.”

The nervous tics drained away, leaving behind only anger. A wall of it, from the angry red blush on Frank’s face to his ramrod-straight back and stiffness in every muscle. “And just how long do you think I should pay for my mistake?”

Mistake?
Makena couldn’t believe the lack of self-awareness in that word.

“Forever.”

She liked Shane’s clear answer, so she didn’t add one of her own. She stood up, ready to march back to the car with Shane. He’d launch into a lecture at some point, and in light of the information they’d just learned, she thought she might deserve one.