"I'll keep that in mind, big guy. Thank you for making this easy on me. We both know you didn't have to." My voice was scratchy and I could feel the tears threatening again because I couldn't pull my mind away from my legal eagle.

He didn't reply as he followed me out of the office and back into the mostly empty bar. Church was leaning against the long bar top talking to one of the regular daytime patrons and a bartender I didn't recognize.

"Where's your dad?" It took me a minute to realize he was looking around for whoever was supposed to be on Avett babysitting duty for the day.

"I had a meeting at the courthouse about Jared's trial. I went alone because I wasn't sure how long it was going to last. He's at home waiting for me to check in with my mom. I should call them and let them know where I'm at. I need to call a cab and head that way before they worry."

Rome grunted and crossed his arms over his muscular chest, which was covered in a faded Eagles T-shirt. "It's slow. I can run you home since Church is here to keep an eye on things."

I was getting ready to agree when my phone flashed and I saw my dad's number on the screen. I held up a finger and told Rome to hold on as I put the phone to my ear.

"Hey, Dad. Sorry I didn't call sooner. That lawyer Jared hired was a real piece of work, a total slimeball. I needed a minute. I'm at the bar with Rome. He offered to run me home."

"Tell him you have a ride waiting for you outside." The voice definitely wasn't my father's. I didn't recognize it at all, and before I could ask who in the h.e.l.l had my dad's phone the person on the end snapped, "You better make whoever you're with think everything is okay or your parents are going to experience what it's like to lose everything from the inside."

Rome was looking at me curiously, so I forced a shaky smile and took a few steps away from him. I put a hand to my churning stomach and whispered, "I understand." I had to lock my knees because they felt like they were going to buckle right out from underneath me.

"Do you? To be clear here on what's going to happen, you're going to walk out front and get into the black Yukon that's waiting. You're going to tell my a.s.sociates where you stashed the drugs your boyfriend jacked from my boss, and then you are going to take them to the location. If you call the police, if you alert anyone as to what's going on, this cute little house where you've been staying will go up just like the other one did, only this time your parents will be left inside to burn."

I cleared my throat and looked over my shoulder to see that Church had joined Rome and that both of them were staring at me intently. I shivered and fought to get out quietly enough so that I wasn't overheard. "How do I know you haven't hurt my parents already?"

There was some rustling, the sounds of an obvious struggle, and then my dad's strained voice came on the line. "Don't you go anywhere with these people, Avett! You hear me! Call the police and keep yourself safe. Do not worry about me ..." There was a sickening crunch and a heavy-sounding thud that made me gasp and had me putting my hand up to my mouth.

"If I were you, I would ignore your father's advice. If the police show, this place goes up like a tinderbox and we'll go after the lawyer. We want the product. Once we have it, we'll be on our way. Your freedom and your parents' safety for our drugs. Seems like an easy decision to make if you ask me."

Maybe it would be if there were drugs and if I didn't already know how these men did business. I still had nightmares from my last run-in with them and it looked like this time around a baseball-bat-wielding landlady wasn't going to be enough to save the day.

"Don't try and call the lawyer for help either. We have people watching him in case you decide to be difficult. He's our plan B."

At the reminder that Quaid was in as much danger as my parents were, I suddenly had an idea. It wasn't the best plan in the entire world but it was the best I could come up with given the circ.u.mstances.

"All right, I'm headed out to the SUV. I'll give you what you want."

"See how easy that was? And to think everyone told me you weren't a smart girl."

I squeezed my eyes shut and tightened my fingers around the phone. "Not smart enough to keep everyone I love out of another one of my f.u.c.kups. I'm leaving now."

I hung up the phone and whirled on Rome and Church. "I need you guys to head over to my mom's house. My dad really needs your help with something."

I felt guilt threaten to choke me as words shot out at them. I couldn't call the police, but I could send two highly trained former military men to the rescue. I had to do it without alerting them to what was really going on because there was no way they were going to let me out the door if they discerned what was waiting for me on the other side of it.

"Um, yeah, he's run into a situation and he needs you both there. I have to go back to the courthouse. They have more questions for me. Jared's attorney even sent a car. I have to go." I rushed towards the front door with both of them calling my name and moving after me as I did so. I looked over my shoulder and told them, "Also, you need to hurry and don't try and call him because he won't be able to answer."

"What in the actual f.u.c.k just happened, Avett?" Rome officially lost his patience and I had to dodge out of the way as he reached for me.

"Go to the house ... and you both need to be very, very careful. It's a bad situation and you're the only ones that can help him, so promise me you won't call the police. If you do, his situation is going to go from bad to worse. Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?" They both gave me hard looks, accompanied by angry and confused scowls. "When you get there tell him I'm sorry. So sorry."

I pushed through the door and hit the parking lot at a run with both of them hot on my heels. I saw the big, black SUV idling on the street and made a beeline for it as my heart crawled into my throat. I grabbed the back door handle and looked back at Rome and Church, both of whom had their phones to their ears as they paced the asphalt like uncaged predators. I should've known they wouldn't listen to me after my less than subtle freak-out and all I could do was hope they didn't call the police before going to check on my dad themselves. As I was getting into the SUV I screamed, "Stay safe!" and hurled myself into the backseat and the unknown. I would never forgive myself if something happened to either of them but I had to do something.

A guy that couldn't be much older than me sat in the seat next to me and I tried not to throw up when my gaze landed on the wicked-looking gun that he held in his hand. The driver turned around to look at me through mirrored sungla.s.ses and the pa.s.senger turned around to smirk at me. I recognized him from the attack at Jared's apartment and everything inside of me froze and went startlingly numb.

"Where to?"

The driver pulled the big vehicle into traffic as I gulped and tried to make my unresponsive body respond. I curled my shaking hands into fists on my lap and kept my eyes locked on the gun that was trained, unwavering, right on my side.

"Do you have a full tank of gas?" I finally got the words loose and they had both the men in the front seat turning to look at me.

"Why?"

I exhaled and could taste terror and panic bright and crisp across my tongue.

"Because we're going to the mountains."

Not just any mountains. We were going to go to Quaid's mountains. I was going to take these thugs on a wild-goose chase so I could hopefully buy Rome and Church time to help my parents out. There was a pretty good chance I wasn't going to see tomorrow, and if that was the case, I was going to spend my last moments in the place where I fell in love and felt more loved than I ever had.

It was the easiest decision I ever made.

CHAPTER 17.5.

Church

She told you not to call the cops."

I shot Rome a look out of the side of my eye. It had been a long time since the big man had been my CO but some habits were hard to break, and ever since I came to Denver to work for him I often found myself looking to him for direction and guidance. The man had saved my life more than once, so it was a rare occasion I questioned him. That's why I was sitting next to him in his big-a.s.s truck as he raced across town towards Darcy's house based on nothing more than Avett's cryptic words and odd behavior. He thought something was wrong and I hated to think he was probably right.

He tossed his cell phone on the seat next to him and met my look with one of his own. The scar that bisected his eyebrow and slashed across his forehead always made him look fiercer and more terrifying than he actually was. Rome had settled into full-on civilian life since leaving the Army. The man had a forever kind of girl and a growing family, not to mention he was pushing paper and paying bills like an average Joe, instead of doing things that a man trained to kill in a variety of ways could be doing with his time. Maybe I should envy him. It was clear Rome had found not only peace but his place since getting out, but none of that was for me.

In fact, speeding towards the unknown, handguns stealthily tucked away as we tossed around various hostile situations that could be waiting for us when we reached the house, was the most alive, the most invigorated, I had felt in way too long. I wasn't sure what kind of sick f.u.c.k that made me-the fact that I missed dodging bullets and the sounds of bombs going off way too close to where I was trying to sleep, but I did. What I didn't miss were my friends dying and fighting a war that felt like it would never end. If I never had to make another phone call to a surviving wife and family again, I would be a happy man. A bored man, an unfulfilled man, but a happy one. I was pretty sure I wasn't hiding that the only part of bouncing at the bar I liked was knocking heads together when idiots got out of line and the daily back and forth I had with Dixie.

The job was simple-I could do it in my sleep-but Little Miss Sunshine with her strawberry blond curls and her "I don't believe in bad days" att.i.tude was anything but. I'd never met anyone that was so ... happy. The woman acted like the world wasn't going to s.h.i.t and like her go-nowhere job handing out drinks and smiling at drunks was the best thing to ever happen to her. And what really got to me was the fact she wanted to be my friend. What in the actual f.u.c.k? I only had a handful of those and sure as s.h.i.t none of them were women. I wasn't friends with people I wanted to f.u.c.k, and even though she wasn't my type, her optimism alone was enough that my d.i.c.k had no business getting hard when she turned her pretty fawn-colored eyes in my direction. Big doe eyes that were so soft and warm that they made me want to believe in things I knew weren't real. I'd left anything that looked like hope and faith in the desert when my last platoon had been attacked and I'd buried pretty much every single man I'd been in the war with for the last eighteen months. It didn't matter; Dixie spread her sunshine around, tried to get the rays to break through the perpetual black cloud that hovered around me, and I wanted her. I wanted to show her how rough and ugly the world and the people in it could really be, and since I wanted to tear apart what made her who she was, I stayed away while everything inside of me ached to get as close to the sunny little c.o.c.ktail waitress as I could.

My being able to kill time and lay low at the bar was running out and not because I was bored and restless. My time was up because it was getting harder and harder to stay away from the girl and I refused to be the reason any of her pretty and infectious light went out.

"I didn't call the cops, I called a cop. Royal said she would wait for my call but would have guys ready to roll as soon as we give her a status update."

I tapped my fingers on my knee and nodded. "You really don't miss this?"

Rome turned his head towards me and the edges of his mouth pulled down. "No. I have people I need to be around for now, and I want to see my kids grow up. Catching bullets and putting myself in danger are two things that are so low on my list of things I want to be doing with my time they don't even rank." He lifted the ruined eyebrow at me. "You do?"

I shrugged a shoulder and turned to look out the window as he pulled the truck to a stop around the block from where Darcy's modest home was located. "I was in for a long time, longer than you. Sometimes I think the fight and the fear changed my blood. It doesn't seem to move through me the way it used to. I can only feel it when the adrenaline kicks in."

His dark eyebrows snapped down in a deep V and his mouth pulled tight. "That's not any way to live, Church. You shouldn't have to chase after things that can kill in order to feel alive."

No, I shouldn't, but I did, which meant I was a dangerous man, far more dangerous than I had been when I was working for good ole Uncle Sam.

We climbed out of opposite sides of the truck and I c.o.c.ked my head at Rome as we rounded the back. "You take the perimeter and let me go inside."

"We don't know what we're dealing with. We should both take the perimeter and then work our way inside together."

I shook my head at him. "No way, brother. There is more unknown happening inside the house. Brite's a big f.u.c.king dude. It woulda taken more than one guy to get him down. You've got those people you need to be around for, so there is no need for you stick your neck out any more than it already is. I'll go inside-you make sure the outside is clear."

He scowled at me and I could see the argument in his eyes before he said anything. "I don't like this plan ... at all."

I chuckled drily and clasped a hand on his beefy shoulder. "Well, you aren't my CO anymore and I've got more tactical strike experience than you, so this is how it's going down."

He blew out a breath of resignation. "Let's hope we don't need your tactical experience."

If I was able to hope for anything anymore it sure as h.e.l.l wouldn't be that. "Let's do what we do so we can focus on figuring out where Avett went because we both know that wasn't any kind of hired car she jumped into. This situation is a full-on s.h.i.t show and we're in the stink neck-deep."

He grunted his response as we split up and maneuvered our way around the block from opposite directions. Rome had changed since leaving the service but one thing that was ingrained in the man regardless of his situation in life was his need to protect those that needed it. Brite wasn't only Rome's mentor and savior; he was the man's friend and there were no lengths the former soldier wouldn't go to in order to make sure his friend was safe. I considered it my job to make sure that no one that mattered, no one that had someone to lose, got hurt. I would storm the castle and I would take the shot of adrenaline, the surge of fire and focus, that the first action I had seen in over six months brought with it.

I cut through the backyard of the house behind Darcy's and dodged a barking German shepherd as I scaled over the privacy fence that separated the two yards. Luckily, Darcy's yard had plenty of big elms scattered throughout the landscaping so I ducked behind one as quickly as I could in case whoever was in the house with the captive Brite and Darcy went in search of what had the dog going nuts.

I waited a beat to see if anyone was going to come out of the house guns blazing, but when nothing happened, I moved my way closer to the house using the trees and then the deck at the back of the house as coverage. I made sure to keep my head below the window lines since I was tall and would be easily spotted by anyone looking out. I crept along the side of the house and found my way to the back door. I didn't think I would be lucky enough to find it unlocked, but fate apparently wanted Brite out of harm's way as much as I did because the k.n.o.b turned easily under my palm. The interior of the garage was dark and I could clearly make out the outline of Brite's Harley and the bulk of Darcy's Chrysler 300 parked next to it.

My heart was thudding in my ears, but outwardly every single part of my body was focused on the possible threat that was waiting for me behind the door that separated me from whatever was happening inside the house. I didn't hear any noise coming from outside but Rome was good like that. If there were bad guys protecting the perimeter he would take them out without making a sound, even if it had been years since he'd had to put those particular skills to use.

I didn't get as lucky with the interior door. It was locked up tight and I knew all my stealth and covertness was about to be blown to h.e.l.l. I wasn't going to waste time picking the lock when a shoulder and some muscle could get me in so much faster. I pulled out the gun that I had tucked in the back of my waistband and made sure the safety was off. I took a deep breath and reared back so that I could shove my way into the house, knowing I was only getting one shot to get through the door and take whoever was on the other side unawares. It felt like the good ole days and there was no denying that I could feel my blood rushing through my veins and the way the thrill of the action had me feeling alive in a way I seriously missed now that my life wasn't about war and carnage anymore.

The flimsy wood gave way easily enough; it was the body on the other side that proved difficult to get through. I took a man to the floor as soon as I broke through and wasted no time in cold-c.o.c.king him on the side of the head with the b.u.t.t of the weapon in my hand. I jerked my head back as blood spattered up at me and rolled to the side as gunfire erupted over my head. A bullet tore into the floor right next to where my face had been only moments before, and I swore as I aimed from my back and fired off a return shot that it hit its target dead-on, if the sound of the man shooting at me screaming was any indication.

I scrambled to my feet with my weapon clutched in both my hands and made a quick sweep of the room. The guy I hit was out cold and the guy I shot was lying on the floor clutching his leg as blood pumped steadily out of the hole I put there. I made my way over to him and kicked his gun to the side. I c.o.c.ked my head as I looked at him and asked, "How many more?"

He looked up at me with glazed eyes as his pallor turned from white to gray. I may have hit his femoral artery with my shot, but I didn't have time to feel bad about that. I nudged him with the toe of my boot and asked again, "How many more of you are in the house?"

His head lolled to the side as his eyes drifted closed and I knew I wasn't going to get an answer from him any time soon. I swore under my breath and pressed my back to the wall so I could make my way down the hallway towards the front of the house while being as small of a target as possible. I couldn't believe I missed this ... but I did. I was operating on instinct and years of training. It felt good to be doing something, anything, that felt useful and purposeful again. I needed the charge. I needed the threat, and like Rome said, that was seriously no way to live the life I was lucky to still have. I so easily could have been one of my fallen brothers that didn't even get a chance at anything more.

When I got to the end of the hallway, I caught sight of a reflection in the gla.s.s of one of the pictures Darcy had hung on the wall. Brite was on the floor on his side and his hands were tied behind his back. He wasn't moving but that could be because there was a man in a dark suit, also reflected in the distorted image, who had a nasty-looking revolver pointed at Darcy where she sat crying on the couch.

"f.u.c.k me." The situation took on a whole other level of seriousness when it wasn't insurgents taking hostages, but thugs threatening an innocent family. I wasn't sure which was worse but I knew I couldn't stand by and let Darcy and Brite get hurt any more than they already were.

"I heard the commotion from the back of the house and my spotter out front hasn't radioed in. I know you're there and if you don't want this pretty lady's brains splattered all over the couch you'll throw your gun out so I can see it and then get your a.s.s in here."

I swore again, this time loud enough that he could hear me. I never liked to give up my weapon, but in this case I didn't really have much of a choice. I threw the gun down and kicked it across the floor so that it went skidding well into the living room. I shook my head at how quickly things had gone south and lifted my hands up in front of me in the international gesture of surrender as I rounded the corner. I glanced down at Brite and was instantly relieved to see the man's ma.s.sive chest moving up and down in even breaths. His eyes were open and furious as he gazed at me with blood dripping down his face from a wicked-looking gash that ran the length of his forehead. I knew the bada.s.s biker wouldn't go down without a fight.

The man with the gun shook his head back at me and gave me a grin that made my skin crawl. "I can't believe you actually tossed the gun away. That's an amateur move and I'm gonna make sure the girl pays for not following orders."

I heard Brite growl from his position on the floor and Darcy started crying harder.

I dropped my hands so that they were hanging loosely at my hips and lifted my brows up at the c.o.c.ky intruder. "No, an amateur move is bringing a single weapon into an unknown situation with an unknown number of hostiles."

Before he could fire off the shot that I knew was coming as his finger twitched on the trigger, I pulled out the other pistol I had stashed behind my back and fired first. I hit the guy in the shoulder and the gun he was holding fell uselessly to the ground. I hurried across the room and tackled the man to the floor before he could regain his wits about him and reach for the weapon again. I punched him in the face hard enough that I heard my knuckles crack. He gurgled a trickle of blood out of the side of his mouth, and let out a pitiful little moan. Satisfied he wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon, I climbed to my feet and asked Darcy where I could find some rope to tie all the intruders up with.

She was a blubbery mess and couldn't respond but Brite barked out that he had a whole stash of zip-ties in the garage. I made short work of the guy in the back hallway and bypa.s.sed the one that I was pretty sure had bled out. When I jerked the guy's arm with the bullet hole in it he screamed in agony and called me a lot of really colorful names. By the time I had them all situated, Rome burst through the front door followed by a pretty redheaded woman dressed in police blues.

They both gave pause as they took in the b.l.o.o.d.y but handled situation as Rome visibly shook himself back into action as he made his way over to Brite to work on getting him free.

"I'm calling this in. Ask the guy that's still conscious if he knows where the guys that grabbed Avett are going."

The redheaded cop disappeared back out the front door while she was talking into the radio pinned to her shoulder.

Brite leaped to his feet and went to work untying his lady. His dark eyes shifted between us with an intensity only a person that had been to war or a parent that had a child in danger could manifest.

"I need to call Quaid. He might know where she would take them. I have to get her back."

Rome put his hand on the other man's shoulder and told him solemnly, "We will. There isn't any other option." Brite nodded and started frantically poking at the phone that he had clutched in his hand.

Rome turned to me with narrowed eyes and asked in a voice so low that only I could hear him, "You really f.u.c.king miss this?"

I looked around at the blood and smelled the acrid scent of spent gunpowder that lingered in the air. I flexed my bruised hands and shifted on my feet.

"I do." And that was why I had to get the h.e.l.l out of Dodge, before I did something stupid like fall in love with a girl that didn't have any idea what I was really like.

CHAPTER 18.

Quaid

Orsen was staring at me from across his desk with an expression on his face that I had never been on the receiving end of. He looked frustrated and disappointed, but more than that he looked resigned. He had his hands resting on the slight roundness of his belly and his mouth was drawn in a line so tight it made the rest of his face look like it was stretched too tautly across his bones.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Quaid?"

I lifted an eyebrow as he bit out the words and settled back in my chair. I felt a lot like a kid getting pulled into the princ.i.p.al's office. Where I would normally be doing everything in my power to placate Orsen and fix the situation, now that I had a better understanding of what was really important to me and what I really wanted to fight for, it was all I could do not to roll my eyes at him and his exaggerated bl.u.s.ter.

"Nothing." I leaned back in the chair and crossed my ankle over my knee. I wanted him to know I wasn't intimidated by this little meeting and that I was done letting him yank on my chain. "I have nothing to say for myself, Orsen. I told you I wasn't going to represent your friend, so even if I had been in my office when you brought him back by this afternoon, my answer would have been the same."