Sharpshooter (10 page)

“Sydney...” Gunner turned back to face her. His face was locked in tight, angry lines. “Did he hurt you?” His gaze locked on her jaw. “Hell, of course he did. I see the mark he left on you.”

She shook her head. “I—I’m fine.” The words were such a lie. Sydney took a step forward.
Don’t fall apart now. Don’t. Soldiers never fall apart.
That was what her dad used to tell her.
“A good soldier never falls. You carry on, no matter what.”

She took another step, trying to carry on.

But the spinning wouldn’t stop. And the room got dark so fast. She tried to grab for Gunner, but then she couldn’t grab anything. Her body went limp, and Sydney felt herself crashing to the floor.

She couldn’t even cry out Gunner’s name.

Couldn’t do anything...but collapse.

* * *

“S
YDNEY
!” G
UNNER
CAUGHT
her before she hit the floor. He dived forward and wrapped his arms around her. He pulled her up into his arms, against his chest, holding her as carefully as he could. “Syd?”

Her head sagged back. Her eyes were closed.

Fear stabbed into him as he rushed for the door. “I need help,
now!
” His bellowing voice seemed to echo down the hall.

Slade was near the elevator. He turned, and his face went slack with shock when he saw Sydney in Gunner’s arms.

“What did you do?”
Slade shouted.

Slade had been the one to hit her. The one to hurt her. And Gunner had never wanted to attack another man more in his life.

His brother.

And he could have ripped him apart. When he’d seen Slade punch Sydney...

“Get a medic!” Mercer barked; then he was running toward them. “What happened to her?”

The guards pulled Slade onto the elevator.

Gunner kept his tight hold on Sydney. “She passed out.” She’d been trying to reach for him. There had been confusion and fear in her eyes. She’d wanted him.

He hadn’t been able to get to her fast enough.

He pulled her closer, held her tighter.

Nothing could be wrong with Sydney.

As he stared down at her, desperate, Sydney’s eyelashes began to flutter.

“Open your eyes,” he whispered.
Please.
Because he needed to see that green gaze again. Needed to see her, without the fear in her eyes.

Slowly, her eyes opened. She stared up at him in surprised confusion. “Gun...ner? What’s happening?”

The medic was running down the hallway toward them.

He wanted to kiss her, wanted to bury his face in the soft curve of her throat.

But more than that...he wanted to find out what the hell had caused her to faint. What was wrong? He had to find out, and he had to make her
better.

Because he could take torture, betrayal, any number of sins and punishments tossed against him, but he couldn’t take anything happening to Sydney.

Not. Her.

* * *

“I
DON
’
T
FAINT
.” Sydney knew her words sounded angry, but
she
was angry.

And a little scared.

She was in the med room at the EOD. The doctor, a brunette with wire-framed glasses, was a woman whom Sydney actually considered a friend. So she figured she could just be blunt with Tina.

“I’ve been in combat zones. I’ve been shot. I’ve been under attack from all sides.” She was currently sitting on an exam table. “I have
never
fainted before.”

“Well, you did about twenty minutes ago.” Tina offered her a small smile. “So I guess there’s a first time for everything.”

Sydney shook her head. “That wasn’t me.” She didn’t want to be weak. With everything going on with Slade and Gunner, she couldn’t afford any weakness.

“Sure it was.” Tina lifted her clipboard. “I know you like to think you’re pretty much Superwoman, but no one can be strong 24/7.” Her eyebrows arched. “Not even you.”

Sydney sucked in a deep breath. “I feel fine now.”

“Except for that shiner on your jaw? Want to tell me how you got it?”

Slade punched me. He went crazy. He was coming to hit me again, but Gunner stopped him.

“No? Okay...” Tina drew out the word. “Then let’s start focusing on what might have made you faint.” She put down the clipboard. “Have you sustained any head injuries lately?”

The back of her head was throbbing now. “I hit my head when I...fell.”

“You mean when Slade hit you.” Crisp, without any emotion.

“If you knew, then why’d you ask?”

“Because we’re friends, and I thought you might want to talk.” Her fingers were carefully sifting through Sydney’s hair searching for the injury. “A slight concussion could explain your fainting spell.” A pause. “At least this way, I don’t have to ask if you’re pregnant.”

Pregnant.

Sydney’s heart stopped. “What?”

Tina’s fingers carefully probed the bump on the back of Sydney’s head. “Pregnant. You know, as in, with child? That’s usually the reason most women get light-headed. It happens pretty early in term.”

Sydney caught Tina’s hand and pushed those probing fingers away, even as she frantically counted up the days in her mind.

“Uh, Sydney, why are you looking like that?”

She swiped her tongue across lips that were way too dry. “Can you test me here?”

Behind the lens of her glasses, Tina’s eyes widened, but she quickly schooled her expression. “Of course.” Then she hurried away only to return with a specimen container in her hand. But before she gave it to Sydney, she asked, quietly, “Are you okay?”

Sydney slid from the table. Took the container and didn’t answer her.

Five minutes later she had the results. Was she okay? Not exactly.

Tina stared at her, waiting. A friend, not a doctor.

She was pregnant.

Chapter Six

Sydney kept a small house just outside D.C. It was about a forty-five-minute drive, but the quiet privacy she received out there was well worth the trip.

Considering all that was happening with Slade, Mercer hadn’t wanted her to leave the area yet. No trip to Baton Rouge, no returning to her
real
home, not yet, anyway.

It had been three weeks since she found out about her pregnancy. Tina had done some additional testing and taken some blood samples, and she’d told Sydney that all seemed well. The changes in Sydney’s body were small. Some increased sensitivity in her breasts, a little light-headedness in the mornings. Nothing too extreme so far.

And so far, only Tina knew about her condition.

She hadn’t told Gunner yet, because she didn’t know how he’d react.

The fact that he’d been avoiding her as if she were some kind of plague? Yes, well, that didn’t exactly make telling him any easier.

Sydney sat on her porch, staring at the setting sun. The sky was red and orange, the hues stretching for as far as she could see. Her fingers were lying over her stomach. Just...there.

A baby.

Her baby.

A vehicle’s engine growled, the sound too close. She tensed as her gaze darted toward the road. This was a dead-end street. Her house
was
on the end, and her only neighbors were out of town for a second honeymoon.

She wondered just who her visitor could be.

Then she saw Gunner’s truck, coming slowly but steadily toward her.

Sydney didn’t rise to her feet. Didn’t rush out toward him, the way she had done too many times in the past. She just kept swinging, nice and casual, and soon Gunner was in her driveway. He climbed out of the truck and headed toward her porch.

As he approached, he didn’t start speaking. Just stared at her with those dark eyes. What had made him come visit her? Had he finally decided that he just couldn’t live without her? Because she’d had that fantasy a time or twenty in the past two weeks.

She forced her hand away from her stomach. “Gunner, I—”

“Slade’s better.”

Sydney blinked. “That’s wonderful.” She’d called for updates but hadn’t learned much. The doctors had sequestered Slade during his treatment.

“They did an experimental therapy with him, to help push him through the worst of the withdrawal symptoms. Mercer says that while it won’t be one hundred percent, Slade should soon be more like the man we remembered.” He climbed onto the bottom porch step. The old wood squeaked beneath his boot. “He’s going to have to deal with PTSD, but he can get through this, Sydney. He can be the man we knew.”

She rose to her feet. “That’s so good to hear.” Because she was tired of seeing nightmares in which Slade came at her with fury on his face and with his fists swinging. “I hope he can find some peace.”

“He wants to talk to you.”

Now, that surprised her. “And what? You’re his errand boy? Last I heard, he was screaming that you were the enemy.”

“We’re making progress on that.” A pause as his gaze seemed to linger on her face. “He’s out now, still under supervision from the EOD, but he’s in his own apartment. He—he said you won’t talk to him.”

Because he’d attacked her. Because she knew this was a delicate situation, and with the news of her pregnancy, she had to do everything possible to protect her baby. “I’ve called and talked with Mercer and the doctors.”

“But you don’t want to talk to
him,
not anymore?”

She clenched her hands into fists so she wouldn’t touch her stomach again. “Things have changed for me. And I already told Slade, a future for the two of us just won’t be happening.” It would be impossible.

“So that’s it...you’re walking away?” Confusion deepened the faint lines near his eyes. “I thought you were going to marry him.”

Gunner actually sounded angry. Her own anger bloomed, but she choked it back. Anger couldn’t be good for the baby. And the baby was what mattered. “Two years ago, I agreed to marry him.” Even when she’d had her doubts. “We weren’t perfect then, you know. Or maybe you don’t.” Her laugh held little humor. “I’ll help him transition back to life here, I’ll do what I can, but he attacked me. I can’t be around anyone who will be a physical threat to me right now.”

Even if it hadn’t been the drugs, there was no future for them. She was in love with Gunner, not Slade. She was having Gunner’s baby.

Gunner stood just a few feet away, and she so badly wanted to tell him how she felt, but he seemed so wooden. Sydney found herself asking him, “Why did you want to be with me?”

His eyelashes flickered, a tiny movement. “Because you’ve been an obsession for me.”

Obsession wasn’t the same thing as love—wasn’t even close.

She gathered her resolve and asked another painful question. He was here, talking to her, so she might as well take the chance while she could. “What do you want, Gunner? You came here to talk about Slade, I get that, but what do
you
want?”

“I can’t have what I want.”

Helpless, she stepped toward him. “How do you know?” Her voice softened because this was the chink she’d wanted to see in his armor. “How do you know you can’t have it?”

She ached to touch him.

He retreated off that bottom step, moving away from her. “You’re the only thing that matters to Slade. I think you’re the only thing keeping him going.”

She shook her head. Why did he continue making everything about Slade? “I’m talking about you. About me. Not him.”

“But he’s there.”

She could feel him, standing between them. Would Slade always be there?

“He’s getting his sanity back, and I can’t take away what he wants most.”

“You can’t take it away?” Now her spine straightened. “I’m not some kind of prize to be given or taken away. I’m a person, and I choose my own path in this world.” A path she’d wanted to take with him. “Tell your brother that I’m glad he’s better, but there isn’t going to be any marriage.”

Not to either brother.

She’d already made arrangements to return Slade’s ring, the ring she had locked away for so long. She couldn’t keep it, because there was no future for them.

Sydney turned on her heel and marched back inside her house.

* * *

T
HE
SUN
HAD
SET
. Night had crept over the area, sealing everything in darkness.

Sydney’s house sat at the end of the lane, lights still blazing in a few of her windows.

Gunner was helpless to look away from that sight.

“What the hell am I doing here?” he muttered in disgust, sitting in the shadows, watching her house.

He just hadn’t been able to leave her. He’d tried. He’d driven nearly all the way back to D.C.; then he’d turned around and come back.

There had been pain in her eyes. Pain that he knew he’d caused because he wasn’t giving her what she needed.

He opened the door of his truck just as her upstairs lights switched off.

Should he still go to her? Knock on the door—and do what?

Ask his brother’s fiancée to be with him? Slade had just gotten back on his feet. He’d apologized for his accusations and behavior. Thin, pale, looking shaken, Slade had told him that he
would
get better.

Slade was out of the treatment facility. Mercer hadn’t wanted to let him out yet, but the doctors had said that with continued rehab and counseling—therapy that he could receive as an outpatient—Slade would keep progressing. As a precaution—because Mercer was a man who believed in precautions—a guard was stationed at Slade’s new apartment.

And Gunner was standing in front of Sydney’s house. Like some kind of lovesick fool. She was sleeping. They could talk later. He didn’t have to—

He could smell smoke. Gunner stiffened even as he inhaled—and yes, that was the scent of fire.

The scent was coming from Sydney’s house. As he turned his horrified gaze on her house, he saw the flash of flames on the bottom floor. Flames...

“Sydney!”
He ran for her house, rushing up the steps and kicking in the front door. The old lock gave way easily, and he saw the flames inside, growing fast, as they raced around her living room and toward the stairs.

Toward Sydney.

“Sydney!”
he yelled again even as he leaped forward. The flames were trying to lash out at him, but he jumped over them and took those stairs as fast as he could. How had the fire started? Why was it spreading so rapidly?

Where was—
“Sydney!”

Her door swung open. She stood there, wearing a small pair of shorts and a T-shirt. She was coughing and trying to cover her mouth. “Gun...ner?”

He grabbed her. He hurried toward her bed, snatched up her covers and wrapped them around her. Then he turned back for the door.

The fire was already climbing up the stairs. Gunner hesitated. He wasn’t sure if he would be fast enough to get her through the flames. They were burning so bright and hot.

He backed into her room. Slammed the door shut with his booted heel and whirled to face the window.

Sydney struggled in his arms. “Gunner, I can...” She coughed. “I can help...”

He put her on her feet. Only long enough to shove open her bedroom window and stare down below. A one-story drop. Maybe a broken leg, depending on how he landed. Could be much worse, though, if he—

“I can’t go through that window.” Sydney had backed away. “I can’t jump!”

He caught her arms and pulled her right back against him. “You can’t go down those stairs, baby. You wouldn’t make it.” Not without receiving burns all over her body.

There were tears in her eyes. “I
can’t
take that drop, I—” Then her eyes widened. Her hands twisted in his grasp, and her short nails dug into his skin. “The storage room down the hall. There’s a lattice leading down from the window there. We can go on that!”

If the lattice held them.

Sydney scrambled and jerked on a pair of sneakers

Giving a grim nod, he grabbed for the blanket and bundled her up once more.

“Gunner, stop, I can—”

He had her in his arms. If the fire was coming, it would get him first.

He rushed down the hallway, holding her tight. The rising smoke was so thick now that every step burned his lungs. He coughed hard, trying to clear his throat and chest. Not working.

Then he was at the other door. Inside that storage room. Carefully, he put her down on her feet. The window didn’t want to open, as if it had been sealed shut, so Gunner just used his fist to break the glass. The glass rained down on the ground, his fingers bled, but he didn’t care. He could see the lattice, just to the side. It looked old and shaky, and he sure didn’t have a whole lot of faith in it.

It wasn’t going to hold them both at the same time, that was for sure. But he’d already planned to get her out first.

She’d dropped the cover. It was smoldering, smoking. Sydney’s glance locked on his.

“Go,” he told her. “Get to safety, and I’ll be right behind you.”

She nodded and then she—kissed him.

He hadn’t expected the move and it was all too brief. A frantic brush of her lips against his, and then Sydney was climbing through the window holding tight to that lattice.

As she climbed down, Gunner realized that he was holding his breath.

Then the lattice started to crack. He heard the wood groaning.

Hurry, Syd. Hurry.

Her feet touched down on the ground. “Come on, Gunner!”

He was already out the window. He grabbed the lattice and double-timed it, and when the wood snapped, when the lattice broke in two, he leaped the rest of the way to the ground.

No broken bones. No burns. They were both damn lucky.

He caught Sydney’s hand, and they rushed away from the fire, heading toward Gunner’s truck. The hungry blaze was destroying that house, burning higher and higher with every moment that passed.

If he hadn’t come back, would Sydney have been able to get out on her own? He hadn’t heard any alarms sounding in her house. If she’d been sleeping...

She might never have wakened.

He pulled her into his arms, held her close against his chest. His heart was racing, and fear had sent adrenaline spiking in his blood.

Too close.

He never wanted Sydney that close to death again.

* * *

T
HE
FLAMES
WERE
sputtering out. Sydney stared at the charred remains of her home. Gutted. The firefighters were still using their hoses, and the scent of ash filled the air.

Sydney stood by Gunner’s truck, her shoulders hunched. The blaze had spread quickly. She’d been in bed, drifting off to sleep, when she’d heard Gunner shouting her name.

Her eyes had flown open. She’d run to her bedroom door, and only
then
had she felt the heat of the flames and smelled the smoke.

“You’re sure that you had fresh batteries in your smoke detector?” The question came from Logan. As soon as he’d heard about the fire, he’d raced out to the scene. Good thing he’d still been in D.C. Logan and his new wife, Juliana, divided their time between D.C. and Juliana’s beach home in Biloxi.

“Yes, I’m sure.” She’d checked it a week ago. The smoke detector had been working fine then.

It had just failed her tonight.

“Good thing Gunner was here,” Logan murmured. “I think he saved your life.”

Again.

She nodded.

“Uh...just why
was
Gunner here?”

Her gaze slid to the right. To Gunner. He was talking to some of the firefighters and looking pretty angry.

“Sydney?”

She snapped her attention back to Logan. “He was... He came out earlier to tell me that Slade was doing better, that he was doing outpatient rehab and counseling now.”

Logan nodded. “He is. I saw him at EOD headquarters just yesterday. Seems like a different man...” His words trailed away. He tilted his head to the right. “So...Gunner came out and just...decided to stay with you?”

Why was he asking her all of these questions? “No, he left. I didn’t even realize he was back until—until I heard him yelling my name.” Her gaze slid back to Gunner.