McDonald_SS_GEN_Nov2014 (10 page)

When she looked away from Nicolas, she realized part of herself wanted to find the shooter and tear him from limb to limb with her bare hands. That part informed her there was no time at the present to have any sort of emotional breakdown. After a few deep breaths, and one massive internal debate, eight years of training kicked back in and she had never been more grateful feeling it happen.

She would allow herself one tiny girl thing, but that was all.

She leaned forward and kissed Nicolas on his forehead.

Then her gaze raised to the EMT working the vest off him. “Take him and get him checked out. I saw a lot of this recently. Bullets at the top of vest often break collar bones completely, so move him carefully. His name is Nicolas North. My name is Megan Lynx. I’m his bodyguard. A stalker has been taking potshots at him for a few months. As bad as this situation is, it’s the first break in his case. I need to stay and talk to the police officers who’ll be following up.”

The EMT nodded and directed the other one to get a body board so they could move Nicolas. “Will you be coming by to help check him into the hospital? I saw the kiss you gave him and I thought maybe you were. . .”

Megan interrupted and shook her head. “No. I’ll send his mother to do that. Where’s he headed?”

“Athens Memorial on Lancaster.”

“She’ll meet you there,” Megan said, and opened her phone.

David stood outside the chapel door and watched the incredibly-sexy-even-when-frowning redhead walk warily toward him. He knew Kendra was still mad at him—and probably still hurt. It hurt him right back when she didn’t at least offer one tiny reluctant smile when she saw him. It had been weeks since he’d laid eyes on her, much less anything else. He hadn’t known how much her warm hug had meant to him until he’d no longer had it to look forward to at the end of a hard day.

“Thanks for coming. Megan’s hiding in the chapel and brooding. She needs someone to talk to. . .really talk to. Mom tried, but got nowhere. You know how Megan gets when she’s fixated on something.”

Kendra nodded. “Yes. I know how Megan gets. She’s a lot like her brother.”

It was hard to focus on her friend’s meltdown when her body was trying to get her to jump back into the arms of the man she had missed for months now. Questions, she thought. She needed information about the situation.

“So they finally got together—her and Nicolas. I thought that ship had sailed when she stayed in the Marines so long.”

David nodded. “Yes. They got together this week and I can vouch for the fact they’re equally besotted. It’s fairly sickening to be around them. They stare at each other and talk with their eyes now.”

Kendra snorted. The disappointment David’s words caused was merely an emotional pinprick, even if a sharp one. Had David always been so jaded about love? Had she just been too young and in love herself to notice his flaws?

“It doesn’t surprise me someone like you would think of falling in love as some sort of disease. How did you describe our relationship before you left? I believe you referred to it as
a sentimental phase of our lives worthy of becoming a bad sitcom.
”

“I’m sure I didn’t put it exactly like that,” David denied.

Kendra steeled her heart to make her glare more effective. “Yes. You said it exactly like that, but worse, you meant it. Megan’s never been in love before, David. From what you’ve told me about Nicolas, he hasn’t been either. Today they nearly lost each other. Megan has a right to be a bit freaked and hide out from everyone until she gets her shit together. Her tough Marine act runs about as deep as your bad-boy bad-ass persona. You should cut her a break for once and stop thinking of her as some sort of female anomaly.”

David bit back the rebuttal he might have made under different circumstances. He didn’t have time for a two hour debate with one of Cincinnati’s premiere attorneys.

“I don’t know why everybody keeps acting like I’m some kind of insensitive bastard. I’m not. I understand what’s going on here. Why do you think I called you to come talk to her?”

Kendra sighed and turned to stare at the chapel door. “You called me because it’s always been easier for you to let other people take all the emotional risks. Genuinely listening to someone bleed their heart’s emotion out to you takes more guts than you’ve cared to develop. So I am glad you called me. I want to be here for Megan. I’ll text afterward and tell you if I have any luck getting through to her.”

She put her hand on the wood and started to push.

“Kendra, wait.” David watched her halt and hesitate. He swallowed hard and said what he should have said to her weeks ago. “I’ve missed you more than I have words to describe. Not a second goes by that I don’t think of you. Can’t we just go back to living together and having a happy life?”

Kendra ducked her head and studied the floor. How many times was she going to have to go through the same pain before it stopped hurting? Finally, she raised her head and shook it. Turning him down was always going to hurt no matter how often she did it. A large part of her heart belonged to him.

“No, David. What we had might have been your happiest life, but it was never mine. I was being patient and trying to wait for you to want more out of our relationship. But while I was waiting on you to emotionally grow up, real life happened and changed my priorities. Every day, people die of cancer, just like my sister did. People get shot, just like Nicolas did. Life can turn really bad in an instant. I’m no longer willing to skim the surface of happiness with a man who doesn’t want the same things I do. Love is only enough when both people use their love in the right way. You don’t want more with me than you had for eight years, so I’m honoring your decision. But at the same time, I can’t let your limited view of love stop me from going after the kind of life I really want. Rehashing this a hundred times more is still not going to change my feelings.”

The chapel door opened and closed, leaving him standing outside of it sighing. It wasn’t that he didn’t want more with Kendra—he just didn’t want more right now. Wasn’t it enough that he didn’t want other women? When they’d gotten together during college, he gave her his body and his heart without a second thought. She held it still, though she was getting good at pretending not to know it.

Why would someone as smart as she was, throw all the good they had away, just because he didn’t want to buy a house and have babies for a while?

Sighing, David turned and headed back to the room where Nicolas was being restrained by the body brace they had put him. It was all David’s mother could do to keep him in bed. Tomorrow, his friend would get a metal cervical collar and be turned loose to chase after his stubborn sibling. Dating Megan had lit some kind of rebellious fire under Nicolas, and he was still getting used to his friend having such strong opinions.

He tried to tell Nicolas he didn’t need to worry so much. Megan had never left the hospital after the police had picked up Nicolas’s stepfather and thrown him in jail. The mask and rifle she’d advised them to look for was still in the trunk of the man’s car. Several of his people had located the patio his sister identified and found the shell casings Megan had mentioned. Jobs didn’t end any cleaner. Five years of doing security for a living had taught him that lesson the hard way.

Whatever it was his sister was chewing on, there was no doubt in his mind how much she cared for his friend. Megan just hadn’t been in to see Nicolas yet, though for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why. He’d probably be going nuts right now, except he’d long ago given up trying to understand his quirky sister. Yet he had thought—at least for a few years—that he’d understood Kendra quite well. Her kicking him out of her apartment had ended the illusion very painfully.

Women
, David fumed as he walked away. Maybe there was no real understanding possible with them, just passing moments of rationality now and again. Too bad they were so much fun to sleep with and so easy to miss when they were gone. Not that it seemed Kendra had missed him back. He hadn’t gotten a smile or a frown out of her. She’d been in attorney mode with him.

Maybe he had messed up worse than he thought and said the wrong things at a time when Kendra had been vulnerable. God only knew—but there was no way to change the past.

She was right about him having some qualities in common with his sister. They were both stubborn, persistent, and skilled at waiting. Frankly, hell would freeze over before he’d accept his relationship with Kendra was over for good.

***

The chapel was silent and empty when Kendra stepped inside. Only one person sat a few rows from the back. Kendra walked down that row and slid into the seat next to the best friend she’d ever had in her life.

“Congratulations, Dead-Eye Dick. I heard they found the shell casings, the AR, and the mask the bastard used to cover his face. Nicolas’s stepfather is now behind bars and his mother is refusing to put up bail. No big duh, there. Better though, a little birdie told me she’s exercising her pre-nuptial agreement and cutting him off with a quiet little divorce being filed as I speak. Nice work for your first official assignment, by the way. Your asswipe of a brother should be quite proud, whether he has the balls to admit it to you or not.”

Megan turned to her friend, burrowed her face into her shoulder, and let loose the tears she had been holding back. Never mind that she’d never cried on anyone’s shoulder before, not even Kendra’s. She’d had a lot of firsts in the last week or so.

“Oh, baby. I always wondered what would be bad enough to make you cry.” Shock ruled for a moment, and then Kendra twisted in her seat and pulled her friend tightly into her arms. “It’s okay. Everyone is okay. You did good. Why are you hiding out in the hospital chapel and crying? Now I want to go kick someone’s ass and I don’t know who or what for. You know I hate to be so conflicted without knowing the reason.”

“Nicolas could have died,” Megan whispered.

Kendra sighed loudly and lifted her friend out where she could look into her teary face.

“Yes. He could have died, but he didn’t. Do you hear me, Megan Lynx? He didn’t die. Nicolas has a fractured collarbone, but no crazy stalker after him anymore, thanks to you. Right now, the worst problem Nicolas has is being worried sick about his hard-ass girlfriend who’s still avoiding him. He thinks it’s his fault because you watched him get shot.”

Pushing away from Kendra, she swiped at her face. “He’s a little bit right actually. It’s uncanny how much he gets me.” Megan drew in a shaky breath and let it out. “I should have kept it from happening, Kendra. It was worse than before. I missed both shots.”

“No, you didn’t. You knocked the damn gun from the shooter’s hand and scarred the barrel, making it easy to be identified. Plus, they had to dig most of the second bullet out of his vest. So even though you didn’t kill him like the bastard deserved, you didn’t miss either. So don’t go there with me.”

Megan sniffed. She searched her bra, but all the tissues had been used. Pulling up the tail of the long shirt she’d thrown over a tank top, she wiped her eyes, but couldn’t bring herself to blow her nose on it. When had she become such a weenie?

“When I saw Nicolas on the ground, all I wanted to do was cry. How many seconds did I waste making up my mind to finally shoot?”

“Are you hearing the self-pity in your voice? The SOB shot the man you’ve been sleeping with. Of course you were freaked and wanted to cry. But let me tell you, all every policeman working on the case talks about is how impressive it was you even hit the guy from fifty-two plus yards away. I told him them they should have been with me when I went to Quantico to watch you compete in the open match. David started calling you Combat Barbie after we saw you shoot a perfect score.”

Megan sighed. “You don’t get it, Kendra. Nicolas got hurt because I wasn’t paying enough attention. I should have been looking for a shooter instead of worrying about how tired I was or how bad I needed to use the bathroom. I know better. I was trained for situations just like that.”

Kendra shoved Megan’s arm. “Stop the self-pity stuff right now. Don’t make me try to kick your toned ass because. . .well it would just be embarrassing for me. . .but don’t think I won’t try if you keep this pity shit up. Nicolas got hurt because his mother married a psycho who thought killing her son might be a good way to make a living. Evil step-daddy’s plans might have played out like a bad movie if not for you. Think about it like everyone else is, sweetie. If you hadn’t helped take the shooter out, he’d still be waiting to shoot Nicolas when he got the chance. You stopped him completely, Megan. You saved the good guy. Now stop crying and savor the damn moment. Not all stories like yours end so happily—trust me.”

“Says the biased assistant prosecuting attorney,” Megan grumbled.

“There’s no bias when the facts are laid out so cleanly, and don’t make this pity party about me. I know what this is really about and it’s not your sexy geek. I saw you in the hospital just before they fixed your leg, remember? I’m telling you right now, what happened to the Marines who were killed when you got shot was not your fault either. Six out of eight escaped, and only four had injuries. You ended up stopping the bad guy then too. How much a hero can one person be and still walk away from every fight to fight again? You’re doing pretty damn good beating the odds, if you ask me. I could have lost my best friend if the shooter had shot three times, instead of two. You weren’t wearing anything at all under your skank outfit. You don’t see me freaking out and playing the ‘what if ’ game. I’m just glad you’re sitting here.”

When Megan cried harder over being emotionally chastised, Kendra dug in her purse and pulled out a handful of tissues. “Here. Restock your boulder holder. I’m sure your secret bra stash is probably long gone by now. If you’re going to act this much like a girl, I’m going to buy you a purse and make you start carrying your own supply in it.”

Megan laughed a little as she blew her nose on a fresh tissue. It smelled like the quick spritz cologne Kendra carried in her purse. She was never going to be quite so feminine, but she was glad to have at least one uber feminine woman in her life who would never be after her man.