Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Dean
We kept following Woodson until he pulled into the parking lot of a strip club. A neon sign with a naked woman flashed at us from the roof.
“A nudie bar,” Keira deadpanned. “Why am I not surprised?”
We were way out near the county line. I pulled our vehicle into the lot, picking a spot within view of Woodson’s truck and the entrance, and watched him go inside. Loud music spilled from the door, and a row of motorcycles was lined up out front with men chatting beside them.
“We’ll wait for the right opportunity,” I said, “and then I’ll put the tracker on Woodson’s truck.”
“No, I’ll put it on his truck. My hands are little. I’m much more nimble.”
“I’m nimble,” I protested.
“You’re big and tall and you’ve been putting on weight. Nobody will notice if I’m sneaking around a parking lot.”
“Are you calling me fat?”
“I meant muscle.” She poked my side. “You’ve been training so much. You’re like a solid brick wall.”
Good thing it was dark, because I was probably blushing. My damn pale skin, even though I’d picked up my usual warm-weather tan.
Way back when I’d first returned to town, I’d set up an outdoor obstacle course on my property.
I ran it religiously every morning, then spent several rounds with a heavy punching bag I’d suspended from a tree branch.
Keira still wasn’t allowed to run or do anything too physically taxing, but since she’d moved in, she’d joined me outside for her physical therapy exercises and stretches.
It just so happened I usually stopped for a water break during her stretch times.
Keira waved a hand at the club’s entrance. “You could go inside. See the local sights.”
“I’ll pass, thank you.”
“Getting shy on me, Reynolds? You’ve never been to a strip club before?”
“Didn’t say that,” I chuckled. “But it’s not my scene.”
I’d been a Marine enjoying my time off-base in my younger days. But that was a while ago. Long before I’d met her.
“Were you seeing anyone in Switzerland? The ski bunnies at those resorts must be gorgeous.”
I tilted my head, studying her profile. “Is this more friends talk? We’re sharing secrets?”
“This is you entertaining me. Stakeouts are boring 90% of the time.”
“Fair point. No, I wasn’t seeing anyone. I haven’t dated for a while. What about you? Boyfriends?” My fingers clenched into a fist, and I forced them to relax.
“No dates. No boyfriends.”
“Why not?”
She shrugged.
There were still people lingering outside the bar’s entrance, and someone walked out onto the gravel of the parking lot, talking on a phone. Too much activity for us to make our move.
“Want to know what really made me want to join the Protectors?” she asked.
I glanced at her profile again, lit up in bright colors from the neon sign. “Tell me.”
“I’d wanted to join pretty much since Owen told me about them. But after you left Colorado, I gave up for a while. I was kind of…down, I guess.”
Guilt and shame reared their heads. Like always. I kept my mouth shut and waited for her to go on.
“Then I was out on patrol one night on a quiet road, and a woman ran out into the street, limping and bloody. She’d been beaten within an inch of her life.”
“Geez. That’s awful. What happened?”
“Her name’s Hadley. She’d reported her brother to her local police department for stealing their mom’s disability checks.
Hadley was sure her brother was into other stuff, too, but she chose to mind her own business until it involved her mom.
Unfortunately, the brother got a tip-off somehow about his arrest warrant.
He skipped town. To get back at Hadley for betraying him, her brother sent his friends to punish her.
She was too scared to press charges or even tell me their names.
So, after she got out of the hospital, I took her to Last Refuge. ”
“They helped her?”
Keira nodded. “Aiden and Jessi made sure she had a place to stay and meetings with a therapist. I met with Hadley every week, too. We became friends. After a while, Hadley and her mom moved away and started fresh with the Protectors’ help.
I’d brought other people in trouble to Last Refuge before that, but Hadley was the one who got to me the most. I was so proud of her. ”
“You should be proud of yourself too.”
Keira rested her arm on the passenger door. “I was. I decided I was going to become a Protector no matter what. Being a deputy has been an honor, but as Deputy Marsh, I couldn’t do as much for Hadley as I wanted. With the Protectors, I could.”
“You did help Hadley. Does it really matter if you’re officially one of them?”
“It matters. To me.”
I felt a rush of tenderness for her. Keira was so sweet and compassionate, but she matched those qualities with a fierce sense of justice. Kinda pissed me off that Trace hadn’t brought her into the fold already.
Yes, she was young, and she didn’t have military experience. Wasn’t former CIA or FBI or special forces. But Keira had more guts than some of the Marines I’d served with. She’d changed so much in the last couple of years.
I remembered something Brynn had said about Keira, weeks ago. Sometimes we’re forged through fire.
“I’ll talk to Trace. See what I can do.”
Her chin angled toward me. “No, I’m going to do this myself. But thank you for saying that. And for listening.”
I couldn’t even see her that well, but her beauty hit me square in the chest. Her strength. I’d been spending every day with her, yet she could still do that to me.
This woman was everything.
I probably wasn’t ever going to get over her, and maybe I didn’t want to.
“It’s quiet,” she said. “I’ll go now.”
After what she’d just told me, I wasn’t going to tell her no. Reaching into the backseat for our gear bag, I handed her a tiny black square. “Attach the transmitter to the underside of his vehicle and press this button.”
She nodded. “Got it.”
Her door clicked open, and she slipped out. The seconds passed. I tried not to fidget. I figured it should take less than ten seconds for her to make her way to Woodson’s truck. Another five to get the transmitter in place.
I watched the app on my phone, waiting for the device to connect.
There. A blinking red dot appeared. The GPS transmitter was active.
Headlights turned into the lot. At the same time, a drunk couple stumbled out of the club and lit up cigarettes. I held my breath, watching the activity. Keira should’ve been on her way back, but maybe she was keeping out of sight until the lot was clear again.
Then the door to the bar flew open, and Nox Woodson stepped out. Fuck.
There was someone with him. A guy with a beard. He was more slender than Woodson but taller. Had a more cunning look in his eyes as he glanced around. He and Woodson stood there, talking.
And now a full minute had passed. I didn’t like this. Where the hell was she?
I had to find Keira. Now. No way was I just going to sit here.
Reaching for the glove compartment, I unlocked it and took the gun I’d stowed inside. It was my unregistered SIG Sauer, and I’d brought it only in case of emergency. But this certainly had the makings of an emergency.
Clipping the gun holster onto my waistband, I quietly got out of the vehicle. Woodson and his friend were in my peripheral vision. Weaving between cars and keeping my shoulders hunched, I scanned the shadows for Keira.
Woodson and his buddy were moving now. Heading this way.
Shit, shit, shit.
“Dean?” Keira whispered. She’d just stepped out of the shadows between two cars.
Heavy footsteps crunched in the gravel not far behind us. It was dark, but if those men got a good look at Keira, they could recognize her.
I had to do something fast.
So I wrapped my arm around her waist and slanted my mouth down on hers.
Her body was stiff against me. But she kissed me back, moaning around my tongue. My hands groped at her hips, squeezing her curves. Backing her up against another random vehicle, I put every bit of longing into that kiss. We had to make this look real.
Keira grabbed hold of my shirt, pulling me closer. I lifted my hands to her face to hide it as much as I could.
Woodson paused briefly and huffed a laugh. “Y’all have fun tonight,” he said gruffly. Then he and the other man got into Woodson’s truck and drove off.
I broke the kiss. Keira’s eyes were round.
“You good?” I asked, panting for breath.
“Um. Yep. Mission complete.”
I rubbed my eyes, separating our bodies, though I wanted the opposite.
She pointed in the general direction of our vehicle. “We should…um, car…”
Right.
Nice going, Marine. Get your damn act together.
We returned to the borrowed car and got in. “What happened?” I asked as I replaced the gun in the glovebox.
“You were armed? You might’ve mentioned that to me earlier.”
“I didn’t know it would be necessary. Keira, tell me what happened out there. What took so long?”
“Drive. Let’s get out of here. I’ll tell you on the way.”
I pulled us onto the road, heading back toward my place. The drive was going to take a while. But that was good. We had plenty of time to talk, and I could make sure we weren’t being followed.
Also plenty of time to calm myself down. Three times now I’d had my mouth on Keira, and not once had it felt like part of a mission.
“The man who left the strip club with Woodson tonight,” she said. “That was him. The bearded guy who offered to buy me a drink the night of the shooting.”
I cursed.
“But I got a photo of him. That’s why I didn’t come right back after planting the tracker.”
“We should send the photo to River, see if he can identify the guy.” I exhaled. “You scared me to death disappearing like that, though.”
“You don’t trust me to be careful?”
“I do trust you. But you’re still not physically able to defend yourself. I can’t let you get hurt again. You’re too important to me.”
“Make up your mind, Dean. Are we in this together or not?”
“We are.” On the other hand, I’d promised her mother I’d take care of her.
And if I brought that up right now, Keira might smack me.
“A few minutes ago, you were saying you’d help me become a Protector. Now you’re getting upset about me being in danger when it was nothing. I was staying hidden. Woodson and his friend wouldn’t have seen me at all. Of course, then you charged over there, guaranteeing they’d notice us.”
“I had no idea what was going on. What was I supposed to do, just sit around?”
“Yes. You were supposed to wait for me. Instead, you had to manufacture a make-out session to get us out of it.”
“I’ll be sure to avoid kissing you in the future.”
“Good.” Keira touched her lips. Like she was thinking about it. Replaying it. “No more kissing. Or…any other stuff.”
“Like walking in on me naked?”
“That was weeks ago! I said I was sorry. There won’t be any repeats.”
“Good.” Even though the memory of that particular moment had become fodder for my shower-time fantasies daily. I also didn’t bring up the fact that she’d kissed me back, every single time.
I was tired of resisting this pull. What if we gave in to the attraction? Would it really be so bad?
Yes, my conscience responded. Yes. It would.
I had to keep Keira safe. And that included keeping her safe from me. Even if it took every last fucking ounce of my willpower to do it.