Framed (22 page)

He might have laughed at her sass, but the threat to her safety trumped everything at that moment so she’d just have to deal with his mood.

“My disposition’s just fine when you aren’t getting shot at. As for being a jerk, deal with it.”

Motioning Harley inside her apartment, he held her glare as she entered. He waited for Prez, D, and her father to enter before he locked her door, then he turned to Harley, pointed to her loveseat, and bit out, “Sit, then spill.”

With an air of disobedience and a look that could have killed, she placed Buttercup on her bed, then moved to the loveseat and sat glaring at all the men in the room. Buck jumped up on the loveseat when she sat down and laid his head in her lap in a show of solidarity.

Traitor
, Kade thought.

“Well?” her father finally asked when she didn’t immediately respond.

“Where are Jake and Davy?” she asked, looking around the room.

“I sent them back to work. Now quit stalling.”

“Fine . . . . It’s as I said before, I saw him on the way home then he parked up the street. I forgot about him, what with Kade showing up unexpectedly. By the way, how
did
you get here?”

“Chapel brought me,” Kade answered exasperated.

“How did you know where to find me?”

“Harley!” her dad snapped, losing patience with his daughter.

Kade sighed. He knew she was being stubborn on purpose; she was pissed at everyone for yelling at her. When she raised her brow, waiting for him to answer, Kade grinned. Life would not be boring with Harley in it.

“Prez told me you lived over the garage, so I came here first. Now . . . would you recognize him again if you saw him?”

Her frosty attitude melted a bit when she heard he’d come directly to her.

“Absolutely,” she answered without hesitation, but didn’t, he noted, give a description. She was smiling, as if she was waiting for a punch line to be delivered.

“And?” Kade growled impatiently, wanting to get a lock on this guy sooner rather than later.

Harley looked at all four men then shrugged, sat back, and stated with a huge grin, “He looked like the Dread Pirate Roberts.”

“Pardon?” Dad asked, confused.

I looked at the boys and nodded, since I knew they’d get it. “He had a scar that ran from his left eye down to his mouth. He must have lost his eye when he got the scar because he wore an eye patch as well.”

Prez pulled out his phone and mumbled, “I’ll call this into Slater,” as Kade turned and looked out the window and mulled over this information.

“Harley,” Dad replied with a sigh, “apparently everyone in this room understands what this Pirate Roberts business is about but me, so how about you describe him for your old man?”

“He was tall, blond, and good-looking despite the scar.” Kade turned and raised a brow at me. I shrugged before continuing. Bad guy or not, scar or not, good-looking was still good-looking. “His hair was on the longer side and he had it pulled back in a ponytail. I couldn’t tell how tall he was since he tried to grab me from inside his van, but I’d say close to six feet. Also, if the grunt I heard when Prez shot at him was an indicator, I’d say he’ll need medical attention.”

Kade’s eyes flashed angrily when he heard that, and he turned to Prez and glared.

“Tell me you didn’t take a shot with Harley in the way.”

“Yeah, I did. Before you lose it, though, and put your fist in my face, you need to understand it was take the shot or lose her in the van, man. We were too far away.”

Kade nodded, he understood, but didn’t let up.

“All right, while we’re on the subject of being too far away to assist, why was Harley unprotected in the first place?” Kade asked. “If you didn’t leave town like I ordered, you should have been on her tail,” he accused as his temper rose again. “This guy followed her home thinking she was unprotected.”

“Leave? My brother, she was on a one-woman seek-and-destroy mission and you think we’d follow that order and leave her unprotected? We’ve been glued to her ass like white on rice for two days. The
only
reason we pulled off Harley at the prison is because Drum hauled ass and we knew he was your ticket out of that hellhole.”

“Wait, if you’re here, does that mean he got away?” I broke in.

“In a sense. Thankfully, King is out so it doesn’t matter,” Prez answered. “We followed him, but he picked up our tail and tried to get away. We chased him for twenty miles until he lost control of his car on a hairpin turn and wrapped it around a palm tree. He’s dead.”

“Jesus,” Kade mumbled. “Please tell me you weren’t made by the cops.”

“Luckily, there were no witnesses at the time of the crash so we were able to call it in then peel off from the scene as Highway patrol showed up. By then, there were thirty cars pulled off the side of the road and we were lost in the crowd.”

I’d stood when Prez started talking, but my legs buckled when I heard Drum was dead and I sat back down. He was our only lead to find out who had framed Kade.

“Who’s this Drum and why do we care that he’s dead?” Dad asked the room.

“Harley found evidence that showed the three men in the alley the night Sutton died. Drum was the only one who was recognizable,” Prez answered.

“Why was he at the prison? You said you pulled off tailing Harley because he was leaving.”

“Drum was a guard at Renault,” Kade answered. “Chapel says he applied for the job two days after my conviction.”

“Are you telling me that one of the men who killed Sutton took a job at Renault? What the hell for?”

“To keep an eye on me.”

“But why?”

“Chapel seems to think whoever wanted Sutton dead has deep pockets. He thinks they wanted to keep an eye on me in case my team showed up to set me free.”

Chapel thought the killer had deep pockets, which in turn made me think about what Prez had said about Consolidated having skeletons. I bet Consolidated had deep pockets, deep enough to hire hitmen to take out Sutton if he found out something he shouldn’t.

“Consolidated fits that bill,” I stated to the room.

“They do,” Prez answered, then turned to Kade. “Slater’s in the middle of something for West that’s time sensitive and priority one. A woman from West’s youth has gone missing and they’re trying to find her. He’s working the Consolidated angle when he has time.”

“Blaine West?” Kade asked.

“Yeah, he works for Slater’s brother. Security to the rich and famous,” Prez smiled.

“Who’s this Slater?” I asked Kade.

“Brody Slater was a SEAL, so was Blaine West. We graduated BUD/S with them. West took a bullet to the knee after being thrown clear of an IED blast that took out the Humvee he and Slater were traveling in. He and Slater are lucky to be alive, but the minute that bomb exploded, their Naval careers were over. The last I heard, Slater was still rehabbing in Las Vegas.”

“He’s still there and still hacking in his down time,” Prez confirmed. “He was able to pull Drum’s record for us last night. He’s ex-Army, but no criminal record.”

“Until now,” I added.

“Until now,” Prez agreed.

“So, where do we go from here?” I asked.

Kade turned and raised a brow at me.

“
We
don’t go anywhere from here. You go back to managing your dad’s office.”

I don’t think so.

After everything I’d been through, they weren’t gonna freeze me out.

“Maybe you’ve forgotten, but I’m in the thick of it. Pirate Roberts just tried to kidnap me, so like it or not, I’m involved,” I stood and argued.

“That’s
exactly
why you’re out. No more gallivanting around town looking for the killers. No more putting your life at risk, do you hear me?”

Translation: Do as I say or else.

“Did you just order me around?” I asked icily.

“Uh, yeah, Harley,” Kade responded, unfazed by my tone. “I didn’t just spend two years in prison for this shit just to have you hurt on my watch. You’re done.”

“So you’re saying ‘It’s my way or the highway?’”

“You got it, baby. In
this
situation, it’s a dictatorship. You’re done.”

Ask a stupid question . . .

“I suppose when you say ‘jump’ I’m supposed to say how high?” I mumbled, but not low enough because Kade narrowed his eyes at me. Whatever, I wouldn’t be deterred by a little scowling. “You know I did fine on my own before you got out,” I defended.

Kade opened his mouth to argue, but Mickey decided to jump into the fray at that moment.

“Princess has a point, King. She handled herself like a pro. You should have seen her in action, man. She was impressive. I’m not ashamed to admit I have a bit of a crush,” Mickey said in my defense.

“Thank you, Mickey,” I replied smiling.

When I looked at my father and Prez for further backup, I noted that the room had grown eerily quiet. Dad was staring at Mickey as if he’d lost his mind and Prez was shaking his head. I turned to Kade and saw his eyes were darting back and forth between Mickey and me, coolly assessing us. He broke the silence a moment later. In a calm voice, that didn’t match his ridged posture or the anger bouncing off him he asked, “Princess?”

“Yeah,” Mickey responded with a grin. Somehow, he’d managed to miss that Kade was morphing into a man on the edge of murder. “She’s hot as hell like Buttercup, what with all that long blond hair and curvy ass.”

Oh, dear Lord.

My dad coughed and shook his head, muttering, “Jesus,” while Mickey shot Kade questioning eyes. Kade’s face went blank as fury seemed to swirl around him like a cloak. He was shutting down just like he had in Hinkle’s office.

With calculated movements, he curled his arm around my shoulder, tugged me into his side, plastering my front to his body. His jaw had set in a hard line that made granite look soft. He didn’t seem angry, though; he seemed cold as ice, distant, as his dark eyes stared Mickey down. He curled me tighter into his side, crushing me with a death grip, and it was then I could feel his body trembling as he fought for control.

I was wrong; he wasn’t shutting down, he was holding back.

I knew certain men could be possessive, but this seemed different somehow. Possessive without a doubt, but personal at the same time.

“D, we need to have a serious talk,” Prez bit out, watching Kade closely.

“What the fuck did I do now? It’s not like I kissed her again.”

“Jesus. Dead man walking,” Prez muttered before his head dropped back and he looked at the ceiling.

Kade kept his eyes trained on Mickey, his breathing slow and deep as he kept me pressed me into his side.

“Maybe we should move on to something else,” I mumbled, trying to break the tension.

“No, we need to finish this now,” Kade stated coldly. “I’ve waited fifteen years to be where I’m standing right now and you, D, of all fuckin’ people, you knew how I felt, since you were there for most of it,” he explained through gritted teeth. I wrapped my arms around Kade’s waist and hugged him back. I was speechless, hearing how important I’d been all these years. Kade looked down at me before he continued and ran the back of his hand across my cheek. Then he turned back to Mickey and finished his thought. “Fifteen years I thought about Harley. Through the adolescent bullshit I brought on myself, the spilling of blood to defend our country, and finally the wrongful imprisonment while my grandfather lay dying. You, of all people, you fuckin’ knew what she signified to me. So do us both a favor, D, and use that pea-sized brain for once and clue in. I’m not tolerant of your bullshit where Harley’s concerned. She’s
mine.
Not some cheap lay you picked up in a port. Not some no-name woman you can’t remember in a week’s time.
Mine
. I don’t want your opinion about what’s best for my woman, and I sure as hell don’t need to hear every fuckin’ day that you kissed her. Her name is Harley,” Kade growled, “not princess, not sweet cheeks, or any other name you can dream up while I’m at it since you have a hard time comprehending.”

Mickey looked shell-shocked as Kade spoke. He nodded his understanding when Kade was done, then moved towards him. Standing in front of Kade, Mickey looked contrite.

“I hear you, man. I wasn’t thinking. Go ahead and take your shot, Kade. I deserve it.” Then he tilted his head back and offered Kade his chin.

“What on earth? Mickey, Kade isn’t gonna—Oh, my God. Why did you punch him?” I shouted after Kade landed a right hook that sent Mickey to his knees.

“Payback,” Prez answered, smiling.

“What? Are you telling me when you have a dispute you boys punch each other?”

“Makes sense to me,” my father chuckled.

Of course, it would.

I headed to the kitchen to grab some ice, but to save time, I grabbed a bag of peas from my freezer. I threw them at Mickey then glared at all the men in the room. Including my dad.

“You’re SEALs for God’s sake. Act like it,” I reprimanded.

“Babe, that’s how we keep disputes down in the Navy. One hard punch and the behavior stops,” Kade answered with a grin.

All four men nodded, as if violence in answer to any disagreement made sense. Honestly, I was so mad I could punch them myself.

Hmm . . . On second thought
.

“Oh for the love of . . . How often does this happen?”

“D gets punched a lot,” Prez stated.

“So you’re saying he doesn’t learn?”

I’d admit Mickey had a laid-back charm that led you to believe he didn’t take much seriously, so I wasn’t surprised that he hadn’t learned his lesson in the past.

“No, we’re saying he doesn’t use his head before he reacts. He learns after I dole out punishment, but he still finds ways to piss me off,” Kade answered.

“Lesson learned,” Mickey groaned as he stood. “My lips won’t get near princess . . . I mean Harley’s luscious—” Kade raised a brow stopping Mickey in his tracks. Mickey sighed, realized his error, then finished with, “I’ll never look at her again?”

“That works,” Kade agreed, completely serious.

“You’re all children in SEAL clothing.” I sighed.

Kade reached out and pulled my back to his front, wrapping his arm loosely around my middle before he kissed my neck.