Bounty's End (Bounty for Hire) (2 page)

Thomas did think though that if Wen finally hadn’t agreed to coffee, then he could easily see himself getting close to Tess. She was beautiful, with bright eyes and a long, lithe body. Not that he didn’t mind a woman with curves, but with her, it was different. She had this air about her that was the girl next door, but with something more.

Needing something to do, Thomas strolled over to the window where Jefferson, was staring out into the unknown abyss of waiting.

“You think she is all right?” Jefferson asked in a hoarse whisper.

Thomas opened his mouth and then shut again. Was Keylee all right? Hell, how could he possibly answer that when he was freaking out just like Jefferson was? Finally finding words that didn’t sound strained, he responded.

“You know Leelee,” he commented back with a light tone. That was all he had. The truth was, he didn’t want her in this business of bounty hunting any more than Alek and Jefferson wanted it. They only agreed to it, because for her, it was a way to take back something she lost when she was abducted.

However, here they were. It was something to get by for now. Thomas was only still in the bounty business because of Jefferson. Five years ago, something happened to Jefferson, and after that, he wasn’t the same. Then two years ago, Keylee was kidnapped by a psychopath and held captive, having to listen to all those other girls being tortured before the psycho decided it was her turn.

That scene of her being strapped to a chair, naked as a newborn baby, bleeding from the cuts made in her skin, bothered him, and he knew it messed with Jefferson. If he was out, he called or texted Keylee every hour just to know where she was at. Jefferson demanded they all check in every hour. At first, he and Keylee were okay with it. Now, two years had passed, and as much as he liked know where his family was, sometimes it was just a bit much.

Thomas needed out of bounty hunting. Always looking for people in crappy places was enough to make his skin crawl. He wanted out and he needed to get his family out. They needed to be together again. Not that they really were a family before, as he and Jefferson were in the military for a few years, but it was okay then, because their parents had still been alive. Now it was just the three of them, and though he was the middle child, well really the adoptive middle child, Thomas needed them all to be together.

The good news was that Alek understood their plight of being in this business. He, Jefferson and Keylee were all bounty hunters. Once Thomas got the word about the real-estate location he had been looking at, as well as his small business loan, he was out and opening his garage. Thomas knew that Alek himself was considering getting out of it. Chasing deadbeats and criminals was getting old. Thomas was not sure what the rest of his family wanted to do after getting out of bounty hunting, but he wanted to open a garage. There was nothing like getting dirty, with the feel of grease on his hands and making something come back to life.

“
That
is what I am worried about.” Thomas heard Jefferson say.

Turning from the window, Thomas looked Jefferson in the eyes. There were still ghosts in his eyes. Ghosts that he wished Jefferson would talk about, but neither one of them were talkers. Talking was Keylee’s thing. If anything happened to her…well, it was better to not go down that road.

“You know where Alek was heading?” Thomas found himself asking.

“Nah, but, man, I wish I knew. There was something he was holding back when he came in saying he had to run back out.”

“Well, I guess we will find out.” Thomas was going to say more, but the interruption of his cell phone caused him to stop. Stepping away from his brother, he looked down at the screen and saw that it was his neighbor, Wen.

“Hey, Wen,” Thomas answered on the third ring.

“Sorry to bother you, Thomas, but by any chance are you on your way back home?”

He wanted to believe that she wanted to see him and talk about their date; however, there was a slight tremor to her voice that made him refrain.

“I’m not, but I could be there in,” Thomas glanced down at his watch, “ten minutes,” he finished.

“If it’s not too much trouble, could you come by and see me?”

There it was again. Thomas could hear her voice strain trying to sound normal.

“Wen, everything okay?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure. I would just feel better if you could swing by.”

“Sure, honey, I’m leaving now. Listen, if something is bothering you, lock up everything until I get there, okay?

“Done. And…thanks, Thomas.”

With that, he heard the click of the phone as she hung up.

“Everything okay?” Jefferson asked as soon as he knew that Thomas was off the phone.

“Man, not sure. Wen needs me to come over.”

“I’m sure she does.” Jefferson smiled in reply.

“Seriously. You are as bad as Keylee,” he retorted, shaking his head. Those two were forever hounding him about Wen. He really could not fault them. He did have it bad for her, though he wasn’t ready to admit it to his family just how bad he had it. “You okay here ’till Alek gets back?” Thomas asked his brother.

“Yeah, man, I am. Go ahead, I can hold out ’till he gets back. Good luck with Wen.” Thomas saw the smile cross Jefferson’s face just before turning to leave.

“Later, Tess,” he yelled, waving to her on his way out.

As Thomas got on his motorcycle and drove over to Wen’s house, he thought about how important it was for him to get out of this business. He’d gotten out of the military when his contract was up, mainly because of Keylee, but if he was honest, he’d also gotten out because he was tired of being gone for god only knew how long, which kept him from having a relationship. He was ready to settle down. If that person was Wen, then he could not be happier. But until he had that coffee date with her, it was not a good thing to plan so far ahead. Besides, he was starting to sound like a girl. Time to turn his attention to why Wen was so upset.

* * *

Wen hadn’t really wanted to call Thomas. She had been going out of her way to avoid him. Where he, on the other hand, did everything to contact her. She knew the moment they shook hands six months ago when he introduced himself, and then proceeded to help her move some furniture, that she needed to stay away. She was hit with a shock of electricity that at first she thought it was static. No big deal, right?

Oh, how wrong she was. The entire time he was in her house, all she could do was think about that jolt she received. It wasn’t until later, after the couch was moved and sweat clung to his shirt, she thought about ripping that shirt off of his body and licking his well-defined chest. It was love at first sight. Something she did not believe in, but it was like one of those moments you would see in commercials where a guy looked at the girl and ‘bam’, instance love. She wanted to laugh, because that never happened with her until that moment. It was dangerous and she needed to stay away. And she had.

She wanted to blame it on his eyes. It was the first thing she noticed about him. He had this ability to draw her in with his deep chocolate eyes. She did not need his kind of trouble, or at least the trouble she thought he would bring.

She should consider it stalking, but it was actually nice the way he went about contacting her. Once a week, on random days, she got flowers. When he was out on a job, he would text her. He even made up lame excuses of packages being delivered to come over and see her. She had to give him credit—he was really going out of his way. If she was honest, it was nice to feel wanted like that again. He’d finally worn her down and she caved to coffee. When she saw his face light up with a smile when she agreed, it made her weak in the knees. He had such a gorgeous smile. When he left, she felt happiness seep through her body.

All that happiness faded when she was outside watering her flowers earlier this evening. That stupid car drove by again. She couldn’t take it. She needed to call someone and the only person she wanted was Thomas. She
knew
that he would make everything okay.

She would have asked her family for help, but she just could not bring herself to do it. Thomas always said that if she needed help, no matter what, to call him and there she was, waiting for him to arrive at her house. She could only hope that he was willing to help her with this stalker, or what she believed to be a stalker.

Ten minutes of pacing her living room finally found Wen leaning against the front door waiting. When she heard footsteps approaching quickly, she moved to look through the peephole and saw his beautiful dark chocolate eyes first.

“Wen, honey. It’s me, Thomas. You can open up now.”

What a thing to say. Open up. If he only knew what she wanted to open up. Slowly opening the door, she saw the bright white smile that was plastered on his face. It looked as though he hadn’t shaved in a few days and was sporting a dark black scruffy beard. Dark sunglasses were pushed up on his head. His dark brown hair was ruffled, no doubt from the motorcycle helmet he carried in his hand.

“Come in,” Wen finally replied, moving to the side, allowing him to pass by her. She didn’t move away far enough, because his arm brushed lightly across her breast. Forcing herself not to shiver, she just smiled up at him. Closing the door, she gently placed her head against the large oak door.

Deep breaths, she had to remind herself.

When she turned around, Wen collided with Thomas’s chest. Faltering a step back, she felt his hands come around her shoulders bracing her.

“Easy now.” His voice was low, but his hands firm.

Not willing to look him in the eyes, she kept her face down. She was afraid if she did sneak a peek, she would have to kiss his thick lips that have been calling to her for six months—morning, noon and especially at night.

“Thanks for coming.” Wen finally found her voice as she led him over to the couch to be seated beside her.

“Not a problem. You want to tell me what the problem is, and why you didn’t say anything earlier?”

Not really
, she wanted to say. However something entirely different came out.

“Thomas, I’m sorry to bother you with this, but honestly, I am not sure if I am going crazy or if I am really being stalked.”

“Tell me what is going on,” he probed for her to continue.

“I think I am being followed,” she confessed.

Chapter 3

Thomas could not believe the words that came out of her mouth. Was she serious? Every muscle in his body went on high alert, ready to take down who was responsible. Without realizing it, he found himself reaching for Wen’s hand and holding it strong within his.

Her beautiful tanned skin sparkled in the sunlight that peered through the big bay window. Her cheekbones were high and well defined. A hint of shimmering golden blush made its appearance. Her long black eyelashes helped to mask her deep brown eyes. Letting his gaze sweep to her lips, he took his free hand and gently placed it on her chin, tilting her face up to meet his.

“Tell me everything,” he whispered.

He listened closely as she went about explaining how a few months ago her parent’s antique store had been ransacked. He knew about this only because he’d stopped in to see Mr. Snow, Wen’s adoptive father, about a gift for Keylee. It was then that Mr. Snow told him about the break-in.

“Since the store’s break-in, I’ve felt like every time I was at the antique shop, I would see this same car just outside of the window, and when I left there, that same car seems to follow me home. It had never pulled into our street, since we live in a cul-de-sac. I would wait in my car until I felt like the car was gone. That was, until today, when it slowly drove by my house while I was outside watering plants.”

“When did you first notice you were being followed?”

“I don’t know. I really think since my parent’s store was trashed. I honestly tried not to think about it. You know how it is; you see one car, then all the cars look the same. It was like, I would see the car and then poof,” her hands went up in demonstration, “the car was gone. Other days, like I said, I would see it follow me home and when I turned into the driveway, it just kept going. Then today…Thomas, oh god, it freaked me out.” He heard the tremor in her voice.

Ah, hell
.

“Peaches here with you?” Thomas found himself asking where her American bulldog was, because the worry lines on her face just did not sit well with him.

“She’s in the backyard.”

His hand never left her face. His thumb caressed her lower lip.

“Keep her inside with you when you can. I know how she likes the backyard, but keep her inside, all right, babe?” Thomas suggested gently. He wanted her to feel reassured. So he pulled her into his arms and held her close. Feeling her face in his neck, he held her while she cried. “Let it out, baby,” he said as he held her close while she continued to cry.

“I’m sorry, Thomas. It--it has just been so much. I couldn’t tell my parents because it would just worry them. I thought about the police, but I didn’t want to go to them if I was just seeing things.”

At this point, Thomas felt her move out of his embrace and watched her just stare at the floor.

“You know, I think I was okay with being paranoid, but this is a whole different thing,” she continued. “I don’t know whether to call the police, or just wait it out to see what happens, because like I said, maybe I am just paranoid. I just knew that I needed you here.”

Thomas liked hearing that she needed him here with her. It warmed his heart. Men were not supposed to be mushy, but one thing his mother taught him was that it was better to understand your feelings than hide from them. It was one of the damned reason he pushed contact on with Wen. He felt something when they touched, and holding her just now, he’d felt it again.

When she started to laugh, it brought him out of his daze. Leaning back to look at her, he noticed how her checks were stained with tears and her face was flushed.

“Listen, I’m going to tell you a secret that they tell you in the military and probably elsewhere. If you feel like you are being watched or you feel like you are in danger, nine times out of ten you truly are. Go with your gut.”