50
A tremendous thing
Rafferty lifted his head. “Stas,” he groaned. He was gonna kill the man. Twisting his neck, he shouted, “Go away.”
Another thump. He swore.
“It must be important,” Brandy-Lyn said, patting his arm. “Besides, I need to clean up.” She scrambled to her feet.
He huffed. “Reality sucks,” he muttered as he stood. He snagged a towel from the rail, wrapped it around his hips, and stomped out the bathroom.
“This better be important,” he snarled, opening the room door.
“Carvalho’s made contact,” Stas announced.
Rafferty’s heart missed a beat. “What do you mean?”
Stas pushed his way into the room. His eyes moved from the rumpled bed to the closed bathroom door to Rafferty. Where it lingered for a beat. He flashed a grin. “About fucking time.”
Rafferty ignored the man’s remark, grabbing his arm. “Kamila made contact?”
Stas reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a plastic evidence bag.
“We intercepted a local kid trying to tuck this under the Yukon’s windshield wiper.”
Rafferty took the bag, eyes narrowing as he scanned the note inside.
Charlotte
Sarah
Looks like the women in your life have a penchant for dying.
Better watch the redhead’s back.
And let’s not forget your mother, grandmother, sisters, lovely nieces …
And sweet little Sinead.
You can’t protect them all, lover.
The she-devil was still in town.
“Fuck.” The expletive exploded from his mouth. “The kids? My family?” he barked.
“The ranch is now on full lockdown. Including Brandy-Lyn’s three. Your sisters and their respective families have added security. And Sheriff Stirling is on his way here with the children. Figured it best to have you all together.”
Relief surged through him. “Thanks, man.”
“We have your back, Lawson. You are not on your own anymore.”
Rafferty rubbed his neck, casting a quick glance at the closed bathroom door. “Yeah. Slowly coming to understand that.” His eyes shot back to Stas. “You said … a youth?”
“Local teenager. He’s a bit of a troublemaker, but what he claims rings true. A lady approached him in the street, offered him fifty bucks to place the note on Brandy-Lyn’s truck. The description he gave fits Carvalho.”
He swore again.
By coming home he’d brought danger right to the doorstep of the people he loved. All those years, protecting them by staying gone, and now … “Should’ve died in that fucking jungle,” he muttered.
A gasp came from the bathroom door, and Brandy-Lyn, wrapped in a white hotel robe, stormed across the room. “Don’t you dare say that,” she exploded, poking a finger at his chest.
“She’s threatened you, Red. You ,” he spat.
She smoothed a palm over his frantically beating heart. “I’m here. I’m safe.” Brandy-Lyn twisted her neck to give Stas a serious look. “You’ve upped security?”
“We have,” Stas replied, equally grave.
Her focus back on him, she whispered, “We’re good, sugar.”
There was no fear in her eyes. Just resolve.
“Charlie’s death cut deep. And I’ll always blame myself for letting down my guard. But if something happened to you …” He swallowed hard. “Fuck, Brandy-Lyn. It would destroy me.”
And wasn’t that the truth. He wouldn’t recover.
Rafferty pulled her into his arms, rough with feeling.
“Nothing’s going to happen to me,” she said, wrapping her arms around him. “We’ll be smart. Follow every rule Stas and his team give us.”
“Listen to Brandy,” Stas added. “She’s right. We’re damn good at our jobs, and we’ve never lost a primary. Not about to start now. We know Carvalho’s out there watching. We’ll get her. Just as we intercepted the note.”
Brandy-Lyn leaned back to look up at him. “Note?”
He shot Stas a withering look, wanting to protect her from seeing the threat.
Protect her from everything that could harm her.
But she had to know. And it had been left on her vehicle, drawing her right into the heart of danger.
He inclined his head to the note on the bed.
“It was left on the Yukon’s windshield.”
Her gaze flicked to the bed then back to him. She frowned. “My Yukon?”
“Yeah.”
She jerked back, and he reluctantly released his hold. This was it; this was when she’d come to her senses and leave. Just walk out the door without a backward glance. He couldn’t blame her. And he’d let her go.
Brandy-Lyn grabbed the note and read it. “Bitch,” she swore, brandishing the note. “Fucking bitch. Threaten me, will you? We’ll see about that. And little Sinead.” Her eyes glared at him. “She’ll harm an innocent, defenseless baby?” she exclaimed, her voice rising on the last two words.
“I believe she would kill her own child if it stood between her and her desires.”
Eyes narrowed to mere slits, she asked, “Does she have children?”
“Thankfully, no.”
“We need to get Connor and Sinead here. Keep them close. And I need a weapon.” Her gaze swung to Stas. “Preferably a shotgun. I’ll blast her ass into oblivion if she dares come near us.”
Truth ran deep in her voice, and Rafferty gawked at her.
“What?” she snipped. “I will, too. I told you before, Rafferty — I’ll kill to protect what’s mine. That covers Connor and Nadie.”
“You’ve never even met them,” he pointed out.
“You’ve claimed them. That’s enough for me.”
“As simple as that?”
“As simple as that.”
Two things hit him, hard and fast.
First — if this thing between him and Brandy-Lyn played out the way he was beginning to hope it would, she wouldn’t just be his partner — she’d be their mom.
Connor’s. Nadie’s.
And she already seemed good with that. She spoke like they were hers.
The second hit deeper — Charlie had shied away from violence. She’d never have so much as pointed a gun at someone, let alone pulled the trigger. That wasn’t weakness. God no. She’d lived a full, vibrant life despite her diabetes. But he’d always been the protector. The shield.
Brandy-Lyn didn’t need shielding.
She was strong.
Fierce.
Willing to stand beside him. Not behind.
He’d never had that before.
And he wasn’t entirely sure what to do with it now.
Stas’s phone chirped, and he retrieved it to read the message. “Sheriff Stirling’s arrived with the kids.”
*
“It’s Nadie’s turn, Dad!” Connor’s yell echoed around the solarium as he shook the water from his skinny body after clambering out of the pool.
Brandy-Lyn grinned at his exuberance. Her position near the entrance gave her the opportunity to quietly observe the trio without drawing attention to herself.
The sheriff’s wife, Rae, had accompanied the children and suggested keeping them occupied in the hotel pool while they waited for the legal documentation allowing Rafferty to take the children out of state.
At least something good had come from that awful note, speeding up the legalities.
And a private jet would take them back to Texas, ensuring as much security as possible.
Rafferty swam to the edge of the pool and focused on the little pipsqueak observing her brother and Raff with wide eyes. “You wanna come in the water, Nadiebird?”
The girl vehemently shook her head, taking a step back. And stuck her thumb in her mouth. Connor rushed to her side and tugged her arm down while saying something to her. She jerked away from him and shook her head again.
“Connor,” Jack, the sheriff’s son, called out from the opposite side of the pool. “Let’s make the biggest cannonball splash ever. You go from that side, and I’ll go from this side.”
Connor looked across at his friend and grinned. “Epic,” he called back, turning away from his sister.
Brandy’s focus moved from Rafferty to the two boys lining up for their epic splash.
Rae raised her voice and counted down from three.
The boys sprinted the few yards to the edge of the pool and took off, hugging their knees close to their chests.
And yeah, it was an epic splash, causing a surge of water up and over the sides of the pool in addition to the high splash.
An almighty wail rose above the boys’ raucous laughter, diverting her attention from the high-fiving champions to the origin of the heartrending cry.
Sinead, utterly drenched, stood ramrod straight with her arms as close to her sides as the inflated arm bands allowed, bawling at the top of her lungs.
Before anyone could react, Rafferty surged from the pool, reaching the shocked child a mere beat later.
He crouched before her and rubbed his hands over her arms, quietly speaking to her.
Closest to them, Brandy shot to her feet and rushed over, snagging towels from the nearby pile on the way.
She handed one to Raff. He gave her a tight smile and draped the soft cotton around the little one.
Scooping her into his arms, he sat on one of the loungers and cuddled her close.
Her cries subsided as he continued to hold her, soothing a hand over her back.
Brandy’s heart just melted at the sight of the rough-edged man holding the small child so tenderly.
To think he was worried about not being a good father.
Connor and his friend slunk over, stopping a few paces away. “Sorry, Dad,” the boy mumbled, looking down, shuffling his feet while Jack kept darting a nervous look at his mom
“It’s okay, Connor,” Rafferty said gently. “It was an accident.”
“But I made Nadie cry,” Connor whispered, his lower lip trembling.
Before Raff could answer, Nadie wriggled out of his arms and hopped to the ground. She tossed the towel aside and wrapped her small arms around her brother. “It ’kay, Onna,” she chirped. “Don’t cwy.”
Connor sniffled and hugged her back, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Sorry, Nadie.”
She wriggled loose and turned to Rafferty. “Go swim wif me?”
“You wanna go swim now?”
“Uh huh. Daddy hold me tight?”
“Yeah,” Raff said gruffly. “Daddy will hold you tight.”
He scooped the precious little one up and walked to the pool.
Brandy swiped her fingers beneath her eyes, not noticing the boy until he was in front of her.
Solemn brown eyes studied her. “Who are you?”