Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
“Tyler!”
His eyes cracked open.
Kane glared down at him. “Don’t you freaking ever scare me like that again, you understand?” Kane gripped his shoulders and shook him. Hard. “Fuck. Thought you were dead!”
His ears were ringing. His body aching. And fear nearly choked him as Tyler shot upright.
“No, dammit! The EMTs need to check you for spinal injuries.”
And some men in EMT uniforms were rushing toward him.
No time for that.
Kane began, “You can’t just get up?—”
Tyler just got the hell up.
“Or I guess you can,” Kane muttered. “Out cold one minute, charging like a bull the next. Whatever. Do you.” He slapped a hand on Tyler’s arm. “Just glad you’re not dead.”
“Esme.” His eyes were on the house. The still burning remnants of the safe house. Chunks of wood and debris were scattered all over the yard. Windows had shattered.
Firefighters were battling the blaze. An ambulance waited about twenty feet away. Clay’s patrol car sat near the edge of the sidewalk, with its driver side door hanging open.
Tyler frowned at the chaos. How the hell long had he been out? And where was Esme? “Esme!”
“She’s all right.” Kane stepped in front of him. “Breathe. Don’t lose your mind. The woman is alive.”
But he didn’t see her.
“You got her out. I heard her telling Clay how you carried her out right before the house blew.” A shake of Kane’s head. “What tipped you off? How the hell did you know what was happening?”
“The bedroom was trashed.” His hands had fisted. “Someone searched the house while we were at your place. Didn’t care about the mess left behind—that told me the guy must’ve had a plan in place.” Where is Esme? His chest was far too tight. His heartbeat too fast.
“A plan as in…he was gonna blow up the house and everyone inside? Except you got out before he could?”
Barely. He felt blood trickling down his side. He’d barely gotten out.
“You probably have a concussion. You were out cold when I first came across you and Esme. Checked your pulse to make sure you were still in the land of the living—spoiler alert, you were—then I got your lady to safety STAT before coming back for you.”
He grabbed Kane’s shirtfront. “ Esme.”
“Right. Esme. She was holding tight to you and screaming your name. Only like I said, you were out cold.” Kane frowned down at the fists that were wrinkling his shirt. “Wanna take a breath? And ease that grip? I promise, she’s fine. She’s in the back of the ambulance. Figured you wouldn’t want her standing out in the open, considering it seems like this location has been seriously compromised. So I got her to safety then came back to you.”
Tyler let him go and lunged for the ambulance.
“Had to drag her—kicking and screaming—for the ambulance,” Kane’s voice followed him. “She did not want to leave your side.”
Tyler reached the ambulance. He yanked open the back door and?—
“I want out of here!” Esme yelled. She jerked on her right wrist. A wrist that was cuffed. One handcuff was around her delicate wrist. Another was around the metal edge of the gurney beneath her.
“What in the hell is happening?” Tyler demanded. Why was Esme cuffed?
Esme’s head whipped toward him. The golden hoops on her ears bounced with her quick movements. Relief—wild joy—flashed across her face. “Tyler!”
He jumped into the back of the ambulance. “Get the cuffs off her!” Tyler barked at the young EMT who stared with wide eyes.
“But…the sheriff said she had to stay put?—”
Tyler grabbed Esme. He pulled her close. As close as he could get her in the back of the freaking ambulance and with her cuffed.
“Sir, you’re bleeding pretty badly.” Worry filled the EMTs voice. “The side of your shirt is soaked with blood.”
Esme’s scent wrapped around Tyler. The ache in his chest eased. She was safe.
“I am going to kick Kane’s ass,” she promised. “He wouldn’t let me stay with you. You were unconscious, and I was so afraid. ”
He eased back so he could stare down at her.
“You’re supposed to be bulletproof,” she said. “You can’t get hurt.”
Anyone could be hurt.
“You’re bulletproof to me,” she added. “My superman.”
Fuck, he wanted to kiss her. He wanted to haul her out of that ambulance and get her as far away from the rest of the world as possible.
But she was still cuffed.
“Tyler!”
Clay’s voice.
Tyler looked over and saw Clay standing near the open rear door of the ambulance.
“Tyler, we need to talk,” Clay informed him. “Now.”
“Give me the key to her cuffs.” A deliberate pause. “ Now. ”
“No.”
What? Tyler pressed a kiss to Esme’s cheek. “Be right back.” Then he let her go and jumped from the ambulance. He ignored the twinge in his side and the blood that was making his shirt stick to him. Tyler stood toe to toe with Clay even as the wind blew the scent of ash toward him. “ Give me the key to her cuffs.”
Clay’s hands were on his hips. “I think she needs to be brought into custody.”
“Are you insane right now?” Tyler reached for Clay.
Then Tyler swayed. For just a moment, the whole world seemed to sway.
Clay grabbed him. “You have a concussion, jackass,” he groused. “You can’t protect yourself right now, much less her.” Then he raised his voice. “EMT! Check him out!” He maintained his grip on Tyler. “The reason she’s cuffed? It’s because I’m trying to keep her safe. Trying to keep her out of the open and attempting to keep her alive.”
The world swirled around Tyler once more. He reached up and touched the back of his head.
Blood.
Dammit.
“I’ll protect her,” Clay swore. “You need to get your head examined. Literally, man.” The faint lines around his eyes tightened. “You could have died in that house,” he said, voice grim. “Is she worth it?”
Click.
Tyler frowned. Then glanced to the left. Esme was there. And she’d…wait, had she just cuffed herself to him?
He blinked.
Her killer smile flashed. “Did I ever mention that I once dated a world-renowned escape artist? He taught me a few tricks.” She winked.
Tyler could feel the cold metal of the cuff against his skin.
“No? I didn’t mention it? I mean, you think you know your wife.” Her chin angled up. “And yet she still manages to surprise you.”
She had one cuff around her wrist. The other locked around his. Linking them.
“You’re going to the hospital, darling,” she told him. “And I am one hundred percent staying at your side.”
Hell, yes, she was. Because when it came to Esme’s safety, he didn’t trust anyone else. His head turned toward the sheriff.
And he caught the white-hot glare that Clay was firing at her.
“Where I go,” Tyler announced, and he made sure his voice brooked no argument, “my wife goes. You got a problem with that, Sheriff?” If so, too damn bad.
But Clay just grimly shook his head. “No problem.”
“I stayed overnight,” Tyler snapped. “I took all their damn tests. This is absolute bullshit.”
“You’re a grumpy patient.” Esme nodded as she yawned and sat in the chair near the hospital bed. During the night, she’d slept off and on as she pretzeled herself in the chair because no way was she leaving Tyler.
He needed her.
I need him.
Tyler had been knocked out by the force of the blast. Did he even know why he’d been knocked out? Probably not. They’d been hurtling through the air. She’d been over his shoulder. Because of the way the blast had sent them flying, when they landed, she should have been on the bottom. Esme knew she should have been the one who took the brunt of the impact. Her head should have been the one that slammed into the ground right before Tyler’s body came crashing down on her.
Only things hadn’t happened that way. Because even as they tumbled toward the unforgiving earth, Tyler had twisted his body. Twisted them both. He’d cushioned her. In the end, she’d landed on top of him. His body had slammed into the ground. His head had made a sickening thud as it connected.
His arms had been around her one moment. In the next instant, they’d fallen away as his whole body went limp. She’d been absolutely terrified.
Kane had told her that her screams had been even louder than the blast. Probably an exaggeration, but she’d been screaming her head off so, maybe.
Tyler hadn’t been moving. She hadn’t been able to get him to wake up. And when she’d touched the back of his head, his blood had coated her fingers.
In that one, terrifying instant, Esme had come to some very important conclusions. Conclusion one? I’ll protect you from here on out. Because her priorities had shifted.
That tended to happen when the man you loved nearly died saving your life.
The man I love.
She was still fully adjusting to that truth. She’d dreamed of him for so long. Painted him as the perfect hero in her mind as she followed his exploits from a distance. Honestly? She’d been afraid that she built him up to be larger than life.
Then his life had nearly drained away right in front of her.
“Esme?”
She blinked. One of her hands was twined with his. She’d hauled the chair closer to the bed during the night, scraping it across the floor. Her legs were tucked under her, and a scratchy blanket that one of the night nurses had brought in covered her body.
“Why do I feel like you just went a million miles away from me?” Tyler asked.
“I didn’t go anywhere.” Her fingers squeezed his. “Still right here.”
His thumb stroked over her knuckles. “You didn’t have to stay the night.”
“You’re here. Where else would I go?”
“With Kane.”
Her brows climbed .
“You could have gone with him. He would have kept you safe until I got clear from this damn place.”
Ah, back to growling. Someone was as bad of a patient as he was a morning person.
Which reminded her…
She hadn’t done one single good thing that day. And it wasn’t even early morning. Closer to ten. No…her gaze darted to the clock. Eleven. The doctor was supposed to be in soon and hopefully, they’d be getting out of that hospital.
“We both know Kane did offer me a place to stay,” Esme said. Such a nice way of phrasing things. Kane had tried to force her into leaving with him. There had been no offer. He’d picked her up and tried to carry her out of the hospital room while Tyler glowered.
So she’d kicked Kane in the shin and threatened to scream until every security guard in the place came running.
Kane had seen the wisdom in letting her remain at her husband’s side.
“I politely declined,” Esme reminded Tyler as she unfolded her legs and stretched slowly.
He released her hand. “Would have been safer for you to go with him. I could have met up with you later.”
Her fingers curled, then flexed. “Yes, but if that had happened, who would have protected you? ”
He sent her a frown. “I don’t think the bomb was meant for me.”
“Shh.” She pushed the covers aside and hopped to her feet. Esme stood by the side of his bed. Actually, she gave a bit of thought to climbing into that bed with him. I was too worried. No way was I letting you go. “You aren’t supposed to mention the b-word.” A shake of her head. “As far as everyone in town is concerned, there was a gas line leak at an old house. A terrible situation, but luckily, the two newlyweds escaped with only minor injuries.”
“That story will only last so long. A house can’t just explode without an investigation following the blast.”
Yes, she knew that. “Clay is stalling.” Though she still had not forgiven the jerk for the cuffs. “He’s controlling the investigation for now. By the time he loses that control, I figure you and I will be out of Asylum. Clearly, it’s not a safe place for us any longer.”
“Clearly.” His stare was unblinking. “You still have the drive?”
She nodded. He’d given it to her right before the hospital staff had stripped him down.
“Keep it on you, Esme.” Low. “Because some bastard searched the house for it, and when he couldn’t find it, he blew up the whole place. I’m not even sure we were his main target. I think he was trying to make sure the drive vanished.”
“Pretty sure that when someone leaves a bomb,” a bare whisper from her, “in your home, that means you’re the main target, but thanks so much for trying to sugarcoat things for me.”
His eyes narrowed.
She swallowed. Her hand rose and pressed to his jaw. The light stubble teased her palm. “You…you contacted Grayson yesterday. You told him everything was fine here.”
“Yes.”
“Not to call you a liar to your face, but everything is not fine here. Things are on fire here.”
“I don’t trust his boss. Not for one minute.”
“Do you trust Grayson?”
“He’s been my friend for a long time.” His head turned. His mouth pressed to her palm. Right in the center. A soft kiss that made her shiver. “Someone compromised our location. If Gray is reporting straight to his boss, then I can’t tell him what’s happening.”
“The Feds are after us, my father is…” Esme stopped. Exhaled.
He kissed her palm again. Over her hand, his eyes met hers.
“How can you do that?” Esme asked as a pang shot through her. “How can you still stand to touch me knowing what he did?” The guilt ate her up.
He slowly lowered her hand but didn’t let go. “Baby, I’m gonna do more than touch you. I’m fucking you at the earliest opportunity.”
She sucked in a breath. Well, that had certainly been blunt. And reassuring. He still wants me. Tyler isn’t turning away in disgust even though our past is twisted and dark and bloody. He wasn’t telling her to get the hell out of his life.
He was saying he wanted to fuck her. At the earliest opportunity.
Very promising.
She would also, in fact, like to fuck him at the earliest opportunity.
“I want more details about the bombings,” Tyler informed her quietly. “I want to know how your father connected with my parents. I want to know why they were targeted. I’m not going to take some stranger’s word on a two-minute confession that Jorlan had in his possession. I don’t trust anything coming from Jorlan. I will dig for the truth on my own.”
“And if the truth is exactly what Louis said?” She was far too conscious of each heartbeat that passed as she waited for his answer.
“You aren’t your dad. You aren’t paying for his sins. ”
“They were your parents.” He couldn’t just get over this. “You should hate me.”
“Thought I told you already, hate is the last thing I feel. It will always be the last thing I feel where you are concerned.”
“What do you feel?” And she held her breath as she waited for Tyler to reply.