Shane: (A McIntyre Security Bodyguard Novella - Book 2.5) Page 2

  Our server brings me a bottle of dark ale and Beth a glass of Coke, and we place our food order. While we’re waiting for our food to arrive, I lay my arm across the back of the bench seat, letting my fingers brush lightly against Beth’s shoulder, which makes her shiver. But it’s not enough contact. I reach for one of her hands and brush my thumb across her knuckles.

  She leans into me, laying her head on my shoulder, and she turns her hand in mine so that now she’s the one stroking my fingers. She slowly strokes each one, from base to tip, and all I can think about is how good her fingers would feel stroking my dick instead. Just thinking about it makes me hard. She chuckles when I’m forced to shift in my seat to make room for my growing erection.

  I have a feeling she knows exactly what she’s doing to me. She’s starting to realize the effect she has on me. One look, one touch, and she’s got my full attention. It’s a little embarrassing on my part because no woman has ever had that kind of effect on me. I didn’t even know it was possible until I met Beth.

  When she starts to massage my hand, pressing the pad of her thumb in firm little circles in the center of my palm, I can’t help groaning. I have to shift my position again.

  I lean close and whisper in her ear. “You’re asking for trouble.” She can tease me all she wants in public, but once we get home, it’ll be payback time, and she knows it.

  With a grin, she releases my hand and slips her arms around my waist, beneath my suit jacket. When her hand accidently brushes against the gun holster strapped to my chest, she flinches and pulls away.

  “It’s okay,” I say, pulling her back into my arms. She’s still not used to being around guns – she says they make her nervous. But I never go anywhere unarmed, and it’s just something she’ll have to get used to. “It’s just a precaution. It’s nothing to worry about.”

  Our food arrives, and we dig in, both of us pretty hungry. Beth offers me some of her French fries, and I feed her a few bites of my brisket.

  I’m trying to concentrate on finishing my meal, so we can go home, but she’s got her hand on my slacks, gently sliding it up and down my thigh. The heat from the slight friction of her hand on my leg warms my skin, and the heat sinks deep inside me. I can feel my dick swelling with each pass of her hand. At this rate, I’m going to have difficulty walking out of this place.

  I’m fighting the urge to tell her to eat faster so we can get out of here when my phone chimes with an incoming call. Normally, I would have ignored the call, but this is a distinctive ring tone. I know exactly what it means, and my heart rate automatically picks up. It’s Jake.

  I pull out my phone and accept the call, skipping the niceties. “Report.”

  Jake doesn’t waste any time. “Kline just boarded a bus for Hyde Park. We think he’s armed, dressed in all black, and he’s carrying a black duffle bag – something he’s never done before. This may be it. We’re getting in position.”

  “God damn it! You’re sure?” I’ve been waiting for this moment for months now. The good news is that I’m just a few blocks away from the townhouse. The bad news – Beth is with me.

  “Where’s Beth?” Jake says, as if he can read my mind. “She’s safe?”

  No, she’s not fucking safe!

  I take a deep breath. “She’s here with me. We’re at a restaurant in Hyde Park. Fuck! I can’t believe the timing.”

  All Hell Breaks Loose

  “How soon can we get someone here to pick her up?” I say to Jake. I need Beth out of here. I need someone to collect her and take her back to our penthouse apartment.

  “What in the hell is she doing in Hyde Park?” Jake says. “Are you crazy?” He’s silent for a moment, and I can just picture him recalculating his strategy. A moment later, he’s back on the line. “All right. I’ll call Lia, tell her to drop what she’s doing and get to your location to pick up Beth. She can be there in thirty minutes. You stay with Beth until Lia arrives.”

  “No. I can’t wait that long, Jake. Damn it! I don’t believe this.” I glance at Beth, who’s listening to my half of the conversation intently, trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

  “It’s either that,” Jake says, “or you have to bring her here, which I do not advise.”

  “No, I’m not bringing her,” I tell Jake. “It’s too risky. I’ll call you back.”

  I end the call, and my mind races as I weigh my options and their inherent risks. I can’t take her to the townhouse – that’s simply too risky. I have to leave now, there’s no question of that. I’ve got to be at the townhouse – Kline is my problem. It’s safer for Beth to stay here in the restaurant until someone comes to get her. I shoot off a quick text to Lia, telling her to get her ass over here ASAP. Then I grab my wallet and throw a couple of twenties onto the table to cover our bill.

  I turn to Beth. “Listen to me carefully, Beth. Lia’s on her way here.” I rise to my feet and slip my phone back into my jacket pocket. “She’ll take you to the penthouse. Do not move from this table until she gets here.”

  Beth frowns, and I can see the wheels turning as she pieces everything together. She knows there’s no way in hell I’d abandon her like this if it weren’t something urgent.

  She grabs my wrist. “You’re leaving me here? Why? What’s wrong?”

  Hating the look of disbelief, of hurt, on her face, I lean forward and kiss her forehead, willing her to understand that I have good reasons for my actions. When I pull back, I have to force myself to be stern. “You stay right here – don’t leave this table, do you hear me? Lia will be here soon. She’ll take you home.”

  As I try to pull away, Beth digs her nails into my wrist. “Where are you going?”

  I shake my head, grinding my jaws and hating that I can’t tell her the truth. I stiffen my resolve. “Do not leave this table.”

  I forcibly extricate my wrist from her grip and head toward the exit, but a moment later I hear her quick footfalls as she runs after me.

  “Shane!”

  I stop and turn, and she careens into me. I grab her shoulders to steady her. “Sit back down and wait for Lia.”

  “No. This is about Kline, isn’t it?”

  I have to look away before I blow everything. My heart starts hammering in my chest as my adrenalin kicks into high gear. The clock is ticking – I don’t have time for a delay.

  “I’m going with you,” she says.

  “The hell you are!” Everyone in the restaurant is staring at us now, but I couldn’t care less. I lean close and lower my voice. “You are not coming with me, Beth. Stay here and do what I said. Don’t worry, you’ll be perfectly safe until Lia gets here.”

  She straightens, and I’ve never seen her look so determined. “If you walk out of here, so will I. You’re going to my townhouse, aren’t you? Kline’s heading there right now, isn’t he?”

  I close my eyes and count to ten, sighing heavily as I try not to lose my patience with her. “That was Jake on the phone. Kline just boarded a bus headed this way, and he’s armed. This may be it. This may be our chance – my chance – to put a stop to this. I can’t miss this opportunity, Beth. I have to be inside your house before he arrives. You need to listen to me and wait here.”

  Her eyes narrow and I can see she’s digging in her heels. This isn’t going to go well.

  “No. I’m coming with you,” she says.

  “Damn it, we talked about this!”

  “No, you talked about it. I want to be there. If something happens – if something goes wrong and you get hurt, I could never live with myself. This isn’t your decision to make, Shane. This is my life. It’s me he’s coming after. I – ”

  I run my fingers through my hair, frustration getting the best of me. I’m not above begging her. The thought of her being there when this goes down makes my gut sick. “Beth, please don’t do this to me.”

  “I’m not staying here, Shane. I’ll follow you.”

  “Fuck!” I hiss. She’s leaving me no choice. I grab her by
the arm and propel her toward the exit. “I don’t have time to fucking argue with you. Fine, I’ll bring you with me, but you will do exactly as I say, do you hear me? If not, I swear to God I’ll lock you in a closet.”

  She blanches at my harsh tone, but I can’t help it. There’s no time to waste, and I don’t have time for gentleness. She nearly stumbles as I push her through the open restaurant door and out onto the sidewalk, and I catch her arm to steady her.

  * * *

  It takes us less than five minutes to get within a block of Beth’s townhouse. I park the Jag in the alley behind her street, and we walk the rest of the way. It’s getting dark, so I pick up the pace. I call Jake and tell him to meet me at the side door to the garage in two minutes. Just as we arrive at the door, he’s there, holding it open and ushering us inside.

  Jake takes one look at Beth, then turns to me, scowling. “What the God-damned fuck is she doing here?”

  I narrow my eyes at him. Yes, I know her presence is a serious complication, but I’m not about to let anyone speak that way in front of her. “Deal with it!” I tell him. “I need to get her somewhere safe.”

  Jake turns and leads us across the rear yard and into the darkened house through the French doors, which open to the kitchen. Caroline Palmer – Beth’s body double – and two other McIntyre Security operatives, Killian Deveraux and Cameron Stewart, both former military special ops, are standing around a table. They all pivot to face us, Killian raising his semi-automatic rifle at us. Just as quickly, Killian lowers his weapon, and they all turn their curious gazes to Beth.

  “Change in plans,” Jake snaps. “We have a fucking civilian bystander. Where do we put her?”

  Killian steps forward. “Put her in – shit! Beth’s bedroom is the last room upstairs. He’ll look in every upstairs room before he gets to her room. You can’t leave her downstairs, so you have no choice but to take her upstairs with you and hide her in her bedroom.”

  “There’s a small walk-in closet in the bedroom,” Caroline says. “We can put her in there. It’s out of the line of fire, so she should be okay if she hunkers down and has protective gear on.”

  I glance at Beth’s face, which is suddenly as white as a sheet. I don’t think she fully realized what she was getting into when she insisted on coming with me. Now that she’s here, she doesn’t get a say.

  Jake shoves a black Kevlar vest into my hands, and I put it on Beth, adjusting the Velcro straps securely at her shoulders and torso. It’s designed for a full-grown man, so it’s big on her, but that’s fine – it will just cover more of her body. Then Jake hands me one, too, and I strap it on myself.

  Jake’s phone vibrates, and he peers down at the screen. “ETA bus stop in seven minutes. Everyone into position.”

  Killian and Cameron slip out the back door and disappear silently into the night. Jake, Caroline, and I head up the back staircase with Beth. On the way up, Jake hands me an earpiece, which I slip into my ear.

  Once we reach the upper floor, I walk Beth down the hallway to her bedroom, which is at the far end. She winces at the tight grip I have on her arm, but she doesn’t complain.

  As soon as we enter her old bedroom, I march her straight into the walk-in closet, following her inside, closing the door partway behind us. I pull the light chain hanging just inside the door, and a single, low-watt bulb flickers on.

  We don’t have much time.

  “You stay in here and don’t make a sound, do you hear me?” I tell her. Then I double-check her Kevlar vest to make sure it’s strapped securely. Going by her wan expression, I think the seriousness of the situation is finally sinking in. I cradle her face in my hands and pull her close, putting us nose to nose. “Do not make a sound. Do not come out of this closet, no matter what you hear. Do you understand me?” I know I sound harsh, but it’s necessary.

  “Yes,” she whispers hoarsely.

  I know she’s scared, but I don’t have time to comfort her. Every second counts now. “There’s no time,” I say, wishing I could stay here and hold her, chase all her demons away. I wrap my arms around her, despite the bulk of our armored vests. As I kiss the top of her head, I walk her backward into the farthest corner of the closet.

  I push her down to the floor into a sitting position, then arrange some clothes that are still hanging on the rod so that they partly obscure her from view. Crouching down in front of her, I grip her chin and make her look me in the eye. “I swear to God, Beth, if you move from this spot, I’ll blister your hide, do you hear me? This time I’m not kidding.”

  She smiles at the reference to a spanking – it’s an inside joke for us. When I first met her, she was reading an anthology of spanking stories at Clancy’s. I suspect she has a secret spanking fetish.

  My thumb brushes over her cheek. “Be safe, Beth.” I lean in to kiss her one last time. It’s a gentle kiss, the only comfort I have time to give. When I reluctantly pull back, her eyes are glistening with unshed tears.

  Now comes the hard part – the part I’m dreading. I hate the idea of leaving her here alone in the dark, but it can’t be helped. Thanks to that fucker Kline, she’s terrified of the dark. That monster kept her tied up, naked and alone in a freezing cold, pitch-black cellar for almost twelve hours, and to this day she’s afraid of the dark. “Now listen to me,” I say. “I have to turn off the closet light and shut the door. You will remain frozen in place until I – or one of my people – come to get you. Do you understand?”

  “Yes.”

  Her reply is little more than a croak, and I can tell she’s holding back tears.

  “You’re going to have to be okay here in the dark, sweetheart. I can’t let you have any light on. All right?”

  She nods. “It’s not me I’m worried about.” She grabs my wrists. “Be careful.”

  She’s breathing a little too hard now, so I reach inside my Kevlar vest to my jacket pocket and pull out her rescue inhaler and shove it into her hands. “In case you need it.”

  She swallows hard. “I love you.”

  Before I can respond, Jake pokes his head into the closet. “ETA two minutes!” he barks in a low voice. “Get into place!”

  Then Jake looks at Beth, and as he smiles at her his expression softens.

  I brush her cheek. “I love you, sweetheart. Wait here. I’ll see you soon.”

  I back out of the closet, switching off the light as I go, then I gently close the door behind me. I hate knowing she’s alone in there, but there’s not a damn thing I can do about it at the moment. Not until this is over and Howard Kline is dead.

  My priority right now has to be eliminating this monster from Beth’s life once and for all.

  The Moment of Reckoning

  We’re ready.

  Everyone checks in via the comm system, confirming their locations.

  Jake’s here in Beth’s bedroom with me. Caroline is in the bathroom down the hallway, going through the motions of getting ready for bed. Killian is seated in a parked car down the street, monitoring both the bus stop and the front of the townhouse. Cameron is in the alley behind the townhouse, monitoring the rear of the house. If Kline makes his move, we’ll know it.

  There’s light chatter on the comm system as Jake confers with his people. This is Jake’s hand-picked team, and surveillance is his forte, so I let him handle it. I position myself between Beth’s bed and the closet, facing the bedroom door, and wait. No matter what happens, I’ll stay between Kline and Beth. He won’t be getting past me.

  I try not to think about Beth right now. I debated giving her an earpiece, too, so she could be kept up to speed on what’s happening, but ultimately I decided against it. It’s safer for her if she doesn’t know what’s going on – in case there’s a problem.

  “Target exited the bus,” Killian says, his voice low and steady. The guy has ice in his veins – I don’t think I’ve ever seen him riled up. “He’s carrying a black duffle bag. Walking toward the townhouse. Dressed in black, head to toe.”

/>   There’s a moment of silence over the comm system, then Killian speaks again. “Target cut between two houses to the rear alley. I no longer have visual.”

  “I’ve got visual,” Cameron says gruffly over the comm. “He’s keeping to the shadows, walking toward the townhouse. He’s twenty yards from the gate, looking up at the rear of the house.”

  “Caroline, go,” Jake says.

  That’s Caroline’s signal to make like she’s getting ready for bed in the upstairs bathroom. The light’s on in the bathroom – the only light on in the house – so Kline’s attention will be focused there. A moment later, a toilet flushes, then I hear water running from the bathroom faucet. After another few moments, Caroline flips off the bathroom light and heads sedately down the hallway to Beth’s bedroom.

  “Target has reached the rear gate,” Cameron says.

  As Caroline steps into the bedroom, she makes eye contact with me, then with Jake, who’s standing on the opposite side of the bed. The plan is for Caroline to lie on the bed beneath a quilt to hide the presence of her Kevlar vest and her handgun. Jake and I will flank the bed and cover Caroline, in case Kline does manage to get off a shot. The plan is that he won’t. We won’t let him get that far.

  As she enters the bedroom, Caroline switches off the light, then closes the bedroom door. She climbs into bed and covers herself with the quilt.

  Cameron’s low voice comes quietly over the comm. “Target is through the gate.”

  I take a deep breath and close my eyes for a moment, centering myself and willing my heart rate to slow. When this operation goes down, it will happen fast. I need to be focused and centered.

  “Target is picking the rear door lock,” Cameron says.

  Jake turned off the security system earlier, so no alarms will sound.

  “He’s inside the house,” Cameron says. “I’ll follow him in.”