Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
Pandora handed Haven a glass of wine and settled onto the sofa with a short glass of straight tequila.
“Blaze is quite the handsome fella.” Haven tapped her glass against Pandora’s and smiled. “Weston mentioned something about if he batted for the other team, I’d be single.”
Pandora laughed. “Blaze is all sex appeal wrapped in sugar and spice, that’s for damn sure, but Weston isn’t anything to sneeze at.”
“Nope. My husband is hot.” Haven kissed her fingers.
“How are you feeling?” Pandora asked.
Haven shrugged. “I want to try again next month, but Weston thinks after two miscarriages, it might be too soon.”
“Maybe he’s right.”
“The doctor said it’s fine. He told me there is nothing wrong with me or my body and no reason we can’t try again. Weston’s just worried about how I will handle it emotionally. We have one healthy little girl and we’re both happy with that. But we both would like to have another one.” Haven waggled her finger. “Adoption isn’t out of the realm of possibility. Brayden and Madison are about to adopt two older kids and they couldn’t be more thrilled. But before we go down that road, I want to try one more time.”
“I think that’s fair, but I also know how torn up Weston was watching you go through those miscarriages.”
“I know. He’s a good egg, that husband of mine. It hurt him too. No matter what happens, we’ll get through it.”
Pandora tipped back her glass and swallowed the smooth beverage. Weston and Haven had the kind of romance that novels were written about. Haven’s life hadn’t been easy. Nor had Weston’s. But they came together like a fiery crash and they loved each other like the moon and the stars. It was so beautiful and pure.
Much like Pandora had thought her life would have been with Blaze.
When she’d tried to seduce him, she knew he’d never fully be hers again. She could see how broken he was and she suspected it all had to do with his brother. She didn’t have enough ego to believe it had anything to do with her because she could see how much love he still carried for her, and her alone. That was undeniable.
But his heart had been destroyed the day Axel died and there was no repairing that.
She hadn’t wanted to be with Blaze to avoid her life. Okay, maybe a little, because she did use sex to avoid the painful things in life. But part of her thought maybe she could ease some of his suffering. Give him a little refresher course in what it felt like to be loved. To be cherished.
Boy, had he taken that the wrong way, and maybe she hadn’t gone about it too well. Or at the right moment.
But that ship had sailed.
And there was no fixing what was wrong with Blaze. Not anymore. The moment Sully was behind bars, Blaze would be in that fancy pickup of his for parts unknown to slowly die.
Part of him was already six feet under.
“You look deep in thought.” Haven tapped her fingers on Pandora’s thigh. “Are we thinking about that sexy bodyguard of yours or something a little harder on the brain?”
“A little of both,” Pandora said. “I’m nervous about whatever Ethan and Rocky are discussing with Blaze and how Blaze will react.” Pandora downed the rest of her tequila and poured more. “I’m not an idiot. I know how Weston’s cousins think and I know one of their plans includes me.”
“They don’t discuss it with me and Weston because whatever it is probably isn’t legal, until they need it to be.” Haven tucked one of her feet under her butt. “However, knowing what I went through, and what those boys had to do to get rid of my problem, you’re right. Using you to lure Sully out of the woodwork would be the quickest, most direct route.”
“Well, they spoke to Greg and threw a shit fit.”
“I know.” Haven nodded.
“I thought they hadn’t discussed it with you,” Pandora said.
“They haven’t. But Greg has and he was pissed, to say the least.” Haven brought her fingers to her lips, making a zipping sign. “I was told to keep my mouth shut and I have because Sully was still in prison. But now that he’s out, it’s not right to keep you out of the conversation. This is about you. Not them.”
“Thank you for that.” Pandora tossed her head back and let the alcohol burn her gut. She needed more. Not because of the topic, but because she wasn’t going to be able to face Blaze when he returned.
She’d crossed the line and she knew it.
It was one thing to tell him she’d kept all his letters. Even to tell him she still cared for him—even loved him. But it was another to tell the man he was broken beyond repair.
She emptied the bottle into her glass.
“Are you sure you want to do that?” Haven asked.
“Yup.” Pandora nodded.
“All right. Before you get too drunk, tell me how you feel about being used as bait. And be honest with me. I want to know the truth. Weston won’t ask because as good as that man is, sometimes he has no balls when it comes to his cousins. Me, on the other hand, I’ll get involved if I have to.”
“I can stand up to Ethan and Rocky. I have since the day I landed in Rocky’s bar.” Pandora laughed. “Depending on the plan, who’s involved, and how it’s executed, I’d consider it. But if I’m being totally honest, that’s the firefighter in me speaking. The woman who runs into danger. Not from it. The victim? The woman who was beaten into a coma and raped? That woman? She might say no and she might also panic. If I’m put in that situation, I don’t know which one will come out when I’m forced into a confrontation with Sully.”
“When he was assaulting Andrea, you leaped into action.”
“Because it wasn’t about me.” Pandora took another gulp. Her mind was already fogging over from the effects. “And let’s not forget what happened the moment Weston showed up. I had a major panic attack. Sully almost got away because Weston had to deal with me. If Greg hadn’t been five minutes away, who knows what would have happened.”
“But you did what had to be done in the moment.” Haven squeezed her knee. “You’re one of the strongest, bravest women I know. That said, if you don’t want to do it, no one would blame you.”
“I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t. So, the answer is hell yes. I’d let them use me as bait, if that was the only way to nail that asshole.” And she meant it. Living in fear wasn’t an option.
Neither was moving.
The only problem was that she would have to say goodbye to Blaze and that was going to crush her.
Blaze sat in the back of On The Rocks with Brock, Rocky, and Ethan. Talon, unfortunately, couldn’t make the meeting.
“Haven mentioned wanting to be home by nine, so let’s get started.” Blaze lifted his beer and took a sip.
Brock sat next to him, and the two cousins, who looked like polar opposites, sat across the booth.
“Listen, man, if I had known about your connection to Pandora, I would have said something about all of this before you rolled into town,” Brock said. “I’m not very close to her, but these men are.”
“I know. Water under the bridge. I’m just glad she’s had all of you to rely on.” Blaze meant those words.
“Our plan is overly complicated,” Ethan said. “But it does come in phases and it will piss off Weston.”
“Why?” Blaze asked.
“Because it means he will have to loosen up his patrols and he’s not going to want to do that,” Rocky said. “He’s the best detective this town has, but this was one of his first cases as a rookie. It’s been the one case he hasn’t been able to close. He takes it personally that he hasn’t been able to nail Sully for what happened to Pandora. Asking him to stand down will be like taking his badge away and that man worked damn hard to get where he is.”
“But why would he need to do that?” Blaze leaned back. These were highly trained military men. They had seen some shit in their day and Blaze could tell they wanted Sully to pay for his crime.
“Because we need Sully to walk around in this town like he doesn’t have a care in the world. We need him to believe he’s not being constantly watched, even though we will be watching,” Brock said. “Everyone in search and rescue is former military. Or has had training in law enforcement. We might as well have a small army at our fingertips. We’ve got experts in surveillance, intelligence, explosives, snipers. You name it, we’ve got it. But what we need is for Sully to believe he’s got a chance at gunning for Pandora.”
“This brings us to the second phase, which might not be an easy task.” Rocky fingered his beard. “And that’s getting Pandora out of the house and into the streets where Sully can run into her on more than one occasion.”
Blaze growled.
“Yeah. We don’t like it either,” Ethan said.
“They both live in the same town. They will bump into each other.” Blaze lifted his beer and took a long slow sip. He would keep his consumption to one drink. He needed to be able to drive home.
“Not necessarily.” Rocky tapped his knuckles on the table. “She struggled to leave home after the rape. Greg couldn’t get her to even go to the grocery store, much less to the station.”
“Then after Andrea, when Sully was out on bail, awaiting trial, it got worse. She had panic attacks. It wasn’t until he was locked up that we saw her out and about again,” Ethan said. “She could easily lock herself in that apartment of hers and never come out and no one would blame her.”
“That’s where you come in,” Brock said.
“From what we understand about your past relationship, if anyone can get her out, it would be you.” Ethan arched a brow. “She speaks very highly of you.”
“I’m still butthurt she never mentioned you to me. Or that you never told me about her.” Brock shook his head.
“I’m overly curious about what was said about me.” Blaze chuckled. “I feel like I’m constantly playing catch-up about what everyone knows or doesn’t know.”
“Let’s just say that when that girl gets a little too much tequila in her, she rambles on about some Marine who ran away with her heart,” Rocky said.
“And then she goes into how great you were.” Ethan rolled his eyes. “But now we’ve digressed. If this plan is going to work, Sully needs to see her out. He needs to believe she’s not afraid of him, even though she is. He also needs to think no one in this town is gunning for him. We accomplish that, and he’ll start fucking with her.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Blaze muttered.
“But that’s how we catch him. And not just with something stupid like slashing her tires,” Brock said. “But with something real, and that means?—”
“If you say letting that bastard do something crazy like kidnap her, I’ll fucking lay you out right here.” Blaze glared at his friend.
Brock lowered his gaze to his beer.
“Fuck. This plan is about the most insane thing I’ve ever heard in my life.” Blaze shoved his beer to the side.
“Can you think of anything better? Because we’ve had seven years of wargaming and outside of murdering that asshole, it’s about the best we’ve come up with,” Rocky said.
“Give me a few minutes and I might.” Blaze had been mulling through different scenarios, but he’d be damned if he could come up with one that didn’t end up with him going to prison for murder.
The sound of the front door opening caught his attention, along with everyone else at the table. He glanced over his shoulder and clenched his fist.
Ethan shifted as if to stand, but Rocky grabbed his arm. “You’re not going to kick him out of your bar. Let Sully and his buddies be unless they cause a scene.”
“I don’t want that asshole in my establishment,” Rocky said with a menacing sneer.
“None of us want to see him,” Brock said. “But if this plan is going to work, we have to leave him be. Just ignore him.”
Blaze studied Sully as he strolled to the bar with Tim and Carl. The three of them sat down while the bartender took their order. They looked like your average everyday men. Nothing special. Average height. Average weight. Didn’t even look like criminals. They all had short hair. Clean-cut. They didn’t appear to be anything to be afraid of, yet they were dangerous men.
“Let’s keep focusing on what we came here to discuss,” Brock said in a hushed voice. “Blaze, we believe you’re the best person to bring this plan to her.”
“Why me?”
“It can’t be one of us,” Ethan said, pointing between himself and his brother. “Most likely she’ll feel pressured. But then she’ll get an earful from Greg on why she shouldn’t. He’s not down with this plan at all.”
Blaze blew out a puff of air. “And you believe I’ll let her think for herself.”
“Won’t you?” Rocky asked.
“I don’t know,” Blaze said. “When I broke up with her twenty years ago, I told her it wasn’t fair to make her choose between me and family, ending our relationship. I’m not sure that was letting her make her own decisions. I kind of did that for her.”
“Are you saying you’ll try to sway her one way or the other?” Brock asked. “Because at the end of the day, this decision is hers.”
“I don’t like the plan because it puts her in danger. I don’t like doing nothing because it puts her in danger. The whole situation is lose-lose and every bone in my body says it’s better to do something rather than nothing.” Blaze glanced toward the ceiling, as if it had the answers. “If anything, at this point, I’d probably try to convince her to go along with the fucking ridiculous plan, but only because she can’t live here if she doesn’t and I know moving isn’t an option for her. She wouldn’t want that. But there’s a fatal flaw in the plan.”
“What’s that?” Rocky asked.
“Sully’s not going to come after her when I’m guarding her twenty-four seven.” He shifted his gaze back to the threesome. “He’ll see me for exactly what I am. Her bodyguard. If this plan is going to work, he’s going to need to have a reason to circumvent me. Or want to take me out too. He’s going to have to come after me as well, or it won’t work.”
“Are you suggesting getting yourself kidnapped too?” Rocky asked. “Because he’ll kill you first.”
“Better men than him have tried and failed.” Blaze gave Brock a little shove. “Besides, the only way to get to her is through me anyway.”
“What the fuck are you doing?” Brock stood.
“Doing what my ex-wife says I do best.” Blaze stood. “Being an asshole.” He rolled his neck. “Don’t come over unless the shit really hits the fan.”
“Fuck,” Brock mumbled. “You’re not seriously going to pull a stunt like you did at the border, are you?”
“That’s exactly what I’m going to do.” Blaze sucked in a deep breath.
“What did he do at the border?” Rocky asked.
Brock eased into the booth. “Completely different circumstances, but some chick was being harassed by a prick and Blaze got in the middle of it. He ended up with a black eye, but the other guy, well, let’s just say you don’t want to mess with Blaze when he’s defending the honor of a woman.”
Blaze chuckled. “I promise I’ll try not to destroy the bar.” He strolled across the room. Hopefully he could get his point across without fists. But he wasn’t opposed to taking a punch. Or throwing one.
He leaned against the bar. “Hey, man, can I get a beer? Whatever’s on tap will be fine.”
“Sure thing,” the bartender said.
“Aren’t you Sully?” Blaze stared at Sully.
“Who the fuck are you?” Sully asked, giving him the once-over as he swiveled on his stool.
Blaze leaned closer. “Your worst fucking nightmare.” He knocked his knuckles on the counter. “I know who you are and what you did. You’re scum and I’m coming for you.”
“Who the hell does this guy think he is?” Sully glanced over his shoulder, jerking his thumb in Blaze’s face.
Blaze curled his fingers around Sully’s wrist.
Sully jumped to his feet. “Get your fucking hands off me.”
Blaze released his grip but inched closer. “I’m Blaze Wright. Burn that name into your thick skull. Remember it. Because one day, you and I are going to meet again and I’m going to make sure you pay for what you did to Pandora.”
“You don’t know shit and I don’t like to be threatened.” Sully poked him in the chest. “Come near me again, and I’ll call the cops.”
“That wasn’t a threat. It was a promise.” He took the beer the bartender handed him. “Now, I’m going back over there to enjoy this with my friends. My suggestion to you and your pals is to leave.”
“You can’t tell me what to do,” Sully said with a narrowed stare. “This is a free country and I’m a free man. Besides, I didn’t do nothing to Pandora.”
Blaze growled. Low and deep. “I’m not the kind of man you want to run into in a back alleyway. Consider yourself warned.” Blaze turned on a dime and marched over to the table. He scooted in next to Brock and took a long draw from his beer.
“Jesus, what the fuck did you say? Because those dickheads are leaving,” Rocky said.
“I made it clear that he would pay for what he did and that I was coming for him,” Blaze said. “The rest of this town can go about business as usual, but I’m going to be in that man’s face. I’m going to piss him off like no has before. It’s the only way to get guys like him to fuck up and come with both barrels loaded and no real plan.”
“Well, shit, we could have done that,” Ethan said.
“No. You couldn’t. You’ve all got wives. People you love. He doesn’t know me from dick. He’ll google me and he won’t find much. But he’ll know I’m with Pandora. He’ll see us out together. He’ll see two people romantically involved and it will burn his ass. It’s the only way.”
“It does make sense, but Pandora isn’t going to like what you did.” Rocky arched a brow.
“I’ll deal with her and while we’re discussing this mission, I’m running point. We’re doing this my way from here on out.”
“I think we can all live with that,” Ethan said. “Welcome to Fallport Search and Rescue.”
“I never said I was joining your operation.” Blaze shook his head.
“For the time being you are.” Brock slapped him on the shoulder. “Now, let me out of this booth.”
Blaze stood, shaking each man’s hand.
Now all he had to do was make sure nothing happened to Pandora. It would be his last good deed. His last act of kindness before slithering away into darkness.