A Little Harmless Rumor (8 page)

“Yeah, and I need to do a little work before Del arrives.”

“I think that’s code for ‘he wants us out of here’,” Randy said.

“Okay,” Jaime said, even though she did not sound too happy about it.

“Hey, why don’t you two go out to the beach. It’s not that busy right now, and it’s going to be a nice day. I’ll let you know when they arrive if they get here before you get back.”

Jaime nodded and Randy gave Sean a look that said he would take care of it. Sean watched as Randy drew her away and up the stairs. He didn’t lie to them. He did have some work to do, and he decided it would be the one thing that would keep his mind off the issue of Emma.

J
aime looked
out over the beach, taking note of the number of locals compared to the tourists. This had always been a local beach until the last few years. Now, more and more people had found out about the beauty of Kailua Beach Park, and they flocked to it. Thankfully, it was a slow day so she didn’t have to be rude with anyone, because she definitely needed to take out her frustration on something.

With a sigh, she moved her attention to the gentle waves rolling in off the Pacific. She should be enjoying her time. She loved the beach, loved Hawaii in particular, and she relished her downtime. She remembered the first time Sean had brought her to Hawaii. She had fallen for the islands, just as she had fallen for the man. Their job was so stressful that if she didn’t take quiet times at the beach, she would have lost it by now. She owed Sean for introducing her to Hawaii—and so many other things.

She glanced at Randy. The afternoon sun danced over his golden hair. There were times when it would be darker, but they had been spending a lot of time in the sun lately. The tan he sported definitely proved that. The red trunks with orange palm trees were new, bought in California the last time they’d been on the mainland. She had been the one who had picked the trunks out. She sighed. The man was perfect, just perfect. Oh, there were a few scars here and there. There was the one on the arm where he got hit on his first assignment with Sean. And she knew there was one on the back of his right calf from a knife wound. He had gotten that in one particularly bad situation in Jakarta a year ago. He was like Sean. Each one of those scars just made them both sexier.

She looked back out over the rolling waves. The scent of the salty ocean air and coconut oil filled the air. Usually, it relaxed her. Right now, it was making her fucking mental. She knew without a doubt that Sean wasn’t screwing them around now, but she was getting bloody tired of waiting on the answers.

Randy rubbed some sunscreen onto her back. “So, what do you think that was all about? I don’t think he was burned, but something definitely went down.”

She shrugged, pulling her legs up and wrapping her arms around them. That was what was irritating her. For years, she had been able to understand Sean. Even after their breakup, she could usually tell what he was thinking. It was because she knew where he came from, what he wanted to do with his life. Now, though, it was like dealing with a completely different person. He was a distant stranger; and worse, she worried about his motives.

“No comment?” he asked.

“I don’t know what to think.”

“Yeah,” Randy said as he poured some sunscreen on his chest and rubbed it in. “He’s playing this very close to his chest.”

“That’s nothing new.”

He closed the container and tossed the bottle on the sand beside him. “No, but this is another whole level from him. He’s acting like he has something else to protect. And we both know that even with our past problems, he has never hidden this much from us. The fact that he won’t talk to us is kind of worrisome.”

“Maybe not something else…maybe it’s
someone
else.”

Randy gave her a sharp look. “You think there is another lover in the mix?”

That was the thought that was gnawing at her gut. Sean had always been very protective of women, even if they could handle their own fights. Jaime always thought it had something to do with the way his mother had been abused in real life. She could hold her own in any fight, and he would let her. But there was always a point for him where he would step in. This felt like that and it was breaking her heart.

“Jaime?” His voice was gentle, and she knew then Randy was truly worried about her. Hell, she was worried about all three of them.

“I’m not sure what it is, but I do know he isn’t being truthful with us.”

He laid back on his towel and didn’t say anything for a few moments. “I think you’re being a little harsh because you are a control freak—at least out of the bedroom.”

She slanted him a look and saw the cocky little smile. Damn, both of them were bad about knowing they had her pegged. It was hard to deny it because they were right. All they had to do was give her one of those looks, or say something particularly dirty, and she melted into a puddle of lust. There was part of her who wished that wasn’t the way of it, but that was just the way it was.

“You haven’t heard back from anyone about your father, have you?”

She fought the anger that was pounding through her blood. She was still pissed Royce hadn’t contacted her about this, and somehow got Sean tangled up in the mess. “Don’t use the term
father
for Royce. I refuse to let a man who was never around during my childhood wear the name.”

“Did he ever explain?”

She nodded. “He tried to say he didn’t know, but I don’t believe him.”

He said nothing to that. She waited, but he was suspiciously quiet.

She pulled her sunglasses down the bridge of her nose and looked at him. He had his eyes closed.

“What? You don’t trust him any more than I do.”

He sighed and opened his eyes. “But we both work for him.”

“Not anymore.”

“When did that happen?”

She shrugged again. “Mainly knowing the wanker got Sean mixed up in this mess got him kicked off the list of people I’ll work with. Also, I don’t think Sean will be working for him any more after this. You know he was the only reason we were taking jobs.”

He frowned.

“What?” she asked when he said nothing.

“Jaime, he’s your father.”

Anger made her voice lash out. “I told you not to use that term.”

“You’re blood related at least.”

“It doesn’t mean I have to work with him. Right now, I don’t even want to talk to him, other than to tell him to bugger off for this mess.”

When Randy didn’t pile on to her irritation, she looked at him. He had closed his eyes and seemed to be enjoying the sun. But she knew better. Randy was trying to avoid an argument.

“What?”

He sighed and opened his eyes again. Then he cursed and put his sunglasses on. “How do all these people deal with this much sun?”

“Not everyone wants to live in rainy Forks, Washington. And quit trying to avoid telling me what you were thinking.”

“Okay. It’s just that as long as I have known Sean, I have found it difficult to get him to do what I want him to do.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean that if he didn’t want to help your fa—sorry Lassiter, then he wouldn’t have.”

“That’s what I mean. There is something else driving him—something he isn’t telling either of us about.”

“That wasn’t my point.”

“What was your point again?”

“That you can’t blame Lassiter for what Sean agreed to do.”

She frowned and looked out at the ocean again. She knew he was right, but it didn't mean she couldn’t still be furious at Royce about it. Royce had made sure they didn’t know about it, so he had done the job without telling Randy and Jaime. It had put Sean in danger, and that was just not something she could deal with.

“He didn’t have to go to Sean.”

“Yes, that’s something I have to agree with.”

“Wait,” she said, giving him a nasty smile, “I need to record this so I can play it back to you when you belittle my opinion.”

“I don’t belittle your opinion. I disagree with you from time to time, and that is not the issue at hand. Stop trying to start a fight with me.”

“I am not trying to start a fight with you.”

But they both knew she was. It was the one defense mechanism she used with both Sean and Randy. She should have realized years ago that is why they were both so important to her on that same level. Everything about them drew her, but in different ways. Randy was a talker, a man who liked to talk himself out of a situation—or snap an adversary’s neck if that didn’t work. Sean was the thinker. The planner. The man who would have the perfect plan for any situation—with a backup plan that usually had the same result as Randy’s. And damn, they both knew just how to get her insanely hot.

“Jaime?”

She shook her head trying to bring her mind back to the present discussion. “Sorry.”

“No worries, as Sean always says. But if you were thinking what I think you were thinking, you
must
tell me everything in vivid detail.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

She couldn’t help but laugh. This is why she had been drawn to Randy. He could always make her smile, no matter what situation they were in. Even in the worst situation, he would coax a chuckle out of her.

“Then tell me what you were talking about.”

She thought through their conversation. “You said there was something or someone else this was about. More than likely, it has to do with family or what he calls his
Ohana
, these people he knows here.”

Randy nodded. “That’s true. It’s not like we’re the only ones in the business he knows. And, he has that ranch his uncle used to own, the one over on the Big Island. Something might be up with that.”

“Cowboys in danger?”

He flashed her a smile. “Eli St. John owns the ranch now.”

The name sounded familiar and then it clicked. Tall, built, blond hair. He was a Dom with a lethal smile and a taste for all kinds of women—until recently. She’d heard he had gotten married. “Oh, yeah, I remember him. Former Special Forces for the Aussie Army.”

He nodded. “I know that he is very close to Eli and his new wife. He’s related to her in some kind of way. Of course, there is always Ali.”

She grunted at the name. She didn’t really know the woman, but Jaime did not like her. Or rather, she knew Ali didn’t like her, so she thought it fair to reciprocate. Of course, turning down Sean’s marriage proposal probably gave Ali some justification.

“I don’t think we will need her help.”

Randy chuckled. “No, but she does have issues, and Sean was like a brother to her. Granted, her husband can take care of anything that comes up, and so can Micah—“

“Micah as in Rough ‘n Ready?”

“Yeah. He’s Ali’s brother-in-law. She’s married to his wife’s brother.”

All the connections were starting to make her head spin. “Hmm, the world is indeed small.”

“I agree. There is something else going on, something else driving him. At the moment, pressing him for more answers isn’t going to help, but he’s promised them. So, why not just enjoy our life right now. We’re staying at a million dollar home on one of the best beaches in the world. We are having amazing sex, and pretty soon, Sean will tell us everything.”

She knew he was right and nodded. But even as she lay beside him enjoying the heat of the sun on her skin, Jaime knew something bad was right around the corner. One of the things that had kept her alive more than once during her life was her sixth sense. When trouble was approaching, she knew before anyone else did. But, for the moment, Jaime would let things slide. She made herself one promise right then, though.

Blood or no blood, she would kill Royce if anything happened to Sean.

S
ean paced the kitchen
, his office, and around the pool. He couldn’t seem to sit still. He wondered if this was what it was like for parents? Other than his mother, he had never had any close relatives, but now all he could think about was what could go wrong. Waiting on the plane to return was one of the most frightening experiences in his life.

“Would you quit milling around?” Jaime said.

He stopped and looked at her. From the way her eyes were narrowed, Sean could tell she was irritated. “What?”

“You’re driving me bloody mental. All this walking around, here and there, mumbling under your breath.”

He opened his mouth to respond, but he heard the beep from the intercom at the gate. He strode to the box.

“Yeah.”

“It’s me.”

No need for him to say it was Del. There was no way to mistake the growl from the intercom. He buzzed him in.

“Well, he’s rude,” Jaime said, walking up behind him and crossing her arms beneath her breasts.

Sean shrugged, happy that she was now irritated with someone else for a change. “That’s Del.”

The moment he heard the car roll to a stop out front, Sean bolted to the door. He opened it just as Emma jumped out of the car. She ran to him as he opened his arms. She came to him easily, as if they had known each other their entire lives. Of course, in the world, they only had each other. Two people who could have walked past each other on the street a year ago and not known they were related. Now, they couldn’t even think of breaking contact.

He pulled her back from him and looked at her. She had let her hair grow a bit in the last couple of months, and she had lost a few pounds. Of course, she was wearing her normal uniform for Hawaii. Board shorts and an old t-shirt. She had
slippahs
on.

“Uh, so, do you want to explain things?” Jaime said from behind him. There was a thread of jealousy in her tone. He kissed the top of Emma’s head, and they turned to face Randy and Jaime.

“Let’s get inside first.”

“Hey, Taylor, you want to help with your crap?”

She glanced over her shoulder at Del. “No.”

With that retort, she stepped past both Jaime and Randy into the house as if she owned it. Which, of course, she did; but no one else there probably suspected that. Randy and Jaime watched her walk away and turned back to him.

He smiled and just shook his head as he walked to the car. Del was a mess. With his nose swollen, Sean could guess just how bad it was when Del had first shown up. “Sorry about that. You must have picked up on Emma’s issues with understanding social cues.”

“Oh, so that’s why she gave me a concussion?”

“Now you’re like family—which means you deserve to know what is going on. Come on, you should hear the whole story because we need advice.”

“I think by the end of this, you’re going to owe me beyond anything you can afford.”

“For Emma, I would sign over the house right now if it meant her safety.”

Del gave him a strange look, but said nothing else as he followed him into the house. He introduced him to Jaime and Randy, then walked into the kitchen. They found Emma sitting on the kitchen counter. He had remembered the first time they had walked through the house. She had hopped up on the counter and sat cross-legged on the counter just like she was now.

“Tell me, is there a reason I had to come over here?”

Her tone was what most would call bitchy—but he knew better. He couldn’t fault her. She had been through a lot in the last six months—hell, for the last ten years since her parents died. Add in the fact that she was tired and out of sorts due to the situation, she had every right to snap at him. Still, they had to explain just what was going on because they both needed help.

“Jaime Alexander and Randy Young, this is my sister, Emma Taylor.”

Jaime blinked, then looked at Emma. Comprehension filled her gaze as she looked back and forth between them. “Oh, yeah, now I see it.”

“Half sister, really,” Emma said with a smile.

“Yes, half sister. And she’s the reason I was burned.”

Emma shook her head. “You really weren’t burned.”

“Listen, while I appreciate all of this, I don’t see why I need to be here.”

Everyone turned to Del. The man was beyond grumpy now, and it was hard to hide a smile at his friend’s appearance. His nose was swollen, and his eyes had been bruised in the hit Emma had given him. He was not going to be happy when he had to explain it to his team.

“I don’t understand either,” Randy said with a chuckle.

Emma rolled her eyes. “You need to be here because you’re law enforcement. Sean said you were some kind of team leader, but I’m confused by that.”

“Why would you be confused by that, Taylor?” Del asked, his tone downright nasty now.

“You were investigating my house when I got the jump on you.”

“Wait, what?” Randy said, as he studied the former Army Ranger. “Is that why your nose is so swollen?”

Del tossed Randy a look that would scare a normal man. “Shut the fuck up.”

Randy opened his mouth to argue back, but Sean wasn’t in the mood. He gave Randy a look that made his former partner shut up. They didn’t have time for crap like this.

“I need you here because I think I have an old friend showing up soon with one intention. I need help with strategy and tracking him.”

“Who are you talking about?” Del asked.

“Letov, and he’s out for blood—mainly mine.”

There was a beat of silence before Jaime said, “Let’s have some coffee and get the whole story out.”

R
andy waited
until everyone was settled at the dining table before he pushed for more. The need to demand answers simmered in his blood, but he knew better. It would just set Sean off, and it would waste precious time if Letov were on his way here. There was another factor in all of this. Jaime. She was barely keeping it together. Most people wouldn’t see it, but the look Sean had given him as they sat at the table told Randy their lover had seen it too. Her nerves were raw, and her temper was bubbling beneath the surface. One wrong move and someone was going to end up in a body bag.

“Alright, tell us everything,” Randy said.

Sean took a sip of coffee before he answered. Nothing had changed, at least not much. Sean hated sharing any secrets.

“I got a call from Lassiter. There was a job, but he called me because of my connection to it.”

Sean shared a look with his sister. Randy saw that connection and the shared memory and,
dammit
, he was jealous. Not that it was even sexual, but the fact there was this other person in Sean’s life Randy didn’t know about until now hurt. Plus, he couldn’t get over feeling like a voyeur. It was odd seeing this entirely new side of Sean, and he kept stealing glimpses into the private looks Emma and Sean shared.

“So, Lassiter knew?” Randy asked.

Sean nodded. “Let me back track a bit. I’m going to confuse everyone with the story.”

“That’s because you don’t walk a straight line. You have to do that so everyone knows what is going on,” Emma said in a tone that made Randy think she was repeating a lesson she had learned as a child.

He smiled at Emma and his expression softened. They might not have known about each other long, but they cared for each other. Sean rarely let others see what he was feeling, but it was easy to see how he felt about his little sister.

“Okay. So, Lassiter started hearing things out in the field. Things about Letov and his interest in me. I didn’t understand it. Not at first, then I realized the connection was back to that first job we did together.”

“The FUBAR in the Philippines?”

He nodded. “Remember when we were trying our best to avoid the bastards who were chasing us?”

“Yeah. I got shot, so I sort of remember that,” Randy said, not trying to hide his sarcasm.

“The kid who shot you…the one I shot, it was his son. He didn’t survive.”

Randy shook his head; trying his best to follow that line Emma told Sean to draw. “No, wait, that was MILF.”

Emma snorted. Sean tossed her a smile. When he turned back to face Randy, he said, “Emma didn’t know what the US acronym was until I told her.”

“Let’s not get off track,” Del said. “MILF-that’s one of the terrorist groups in the Philippines?”

Sean nodded and Randy’s stomach started to sink. He was starting to get an idea where this was going.

“So, you killed Letov’s son? You’re lucky he didn’t hunt you down and kill you himself.”

“True. I take it you know the man?” Sean asked.

Del nodded. “He was selling illegal arms to Syrian rebels. Not that he believed in their cause, but because it would make him money. I also know he was raised by a father who was former KGB. Torture is a family business. Add in the human trafficking and he’s a real sweetheart.”

“Sounds about right, and I think his son was just getting his feet wet playing a guard. And, yes, they were using MILF to hide. They dressed as them, spread rumors, and it was all about getting back at Lassiter.” He looked at Jaime. “Remember going in and bugging his office?”

Jaime nodded.

“He despised Lassiter for it.”

“You’re saying that your first jobs with each one of us brought you to this point?” Jaime asked; the disbelief was easy to hear in her voice.

Sean nodded. “In order to get at me, Letov started digging. He wanted to know everything about me. He found out that my father was not actually dead. That he just abandoned us.”

“Yeah, Dad wasn’t all that good of a guy earlier in his life.”

Sean sighed. “But, the other issue we found out was that he held onto some patents. And that he had died in 2004. He did have one surviving relative, and she had inherited everything.”

Everyone looked at Emma.

“That’s you?” Del asked.

“Well, yeah, not that I knew it. I was sort of out of contact with any kind of lawyers. In fact, they were about to file an injunction to declare me dead when I was kidnapped. I had just heard, and I was on my way back to Thailand.”

“That’s it,” Del said interrupting her. “I knew you weren’t English.”

“Spent the early part of my life there, but most of it in Thailand, Jakarta, all around there.” She turned back to everyone else. “I lost my parents when I was fifteen and after that, it was hard to find any kind of records.”

“Why is that?” Randy asked.

“I…”

She didn’t continue, but looked at Sean. Sean took her hand and gave it a squeeze.

“Emma lost both of her parents in the Tsunami.”

There was a long beat of silence. How did you respond to something like that? Hell, he didn’t know if he could handle losing his parents
now
, but at the age of fifteen would have devastated him.

“So, when I popped up in Thailand thinking that maybe my dad had left me some of mom’s jewelry, pictures…things they kept in a safe deposit box, Letov snatched me. At that point, he put out a call under an assumed name, pulled in Lassiter, who then contacted Sean. He came to get me, and now we are in Hawaii. And thank goodness he takes care of all the other stuff, because I wouldn’t know where to start.”

“The other stuff?” Randy asked.

“All the money and all that. I really had no idea we were so rich.”

“
You
are rich, Emma,” Sean said.

“I told you, Dad left it to his kids. You’re one.
We
are both rich.”

Randy saw the look of disbelief on Sean’s face come and go so fast, most people would have missed it. He doubted Sean had ever been accepted so easily by anyone in his life. Randy had to swallow the lump in his throat. Damn, Sean really hadn’t had the best road to get to where he was now, but he now had someone in his life who accepted him unconditionally. Randy could see it there in Emma’s expression.

“And the burning, it was all a ruse set up by Royce.” It was a statement from Jaime, not a question. Every bit of emotion had bled from her voice. She looked a bit shell shocked and Randy understood why. He was feeling a bit shell shocked himself.

Emma studied Jaime, then looked at her brother. “Really? You couldn’t tell that she was Lassiter’s daughter. She has the same eyes and facial structures.”

Sean gave her a smile that Randy would term paternal. “We can’t all be as talented as you.”

She shrugged. “That’s true.”

Del snorted then cussed. “Mother fucking nose.”

“He has a very bad temper,” Emma said. “And uses a lot of bad language.”

“I believe you told me to fuck off and called me a wanker not too long ago.”

Emma didn’t respond, so Sean continued. “Subsequently, Letov found out and kidnapped her. Lassiter got me into Thailand, gave me the layout of the house.”

“You really aren’t starting at the beginning. Most of this is Letov’s making. Way back to when you and Jaime bugged his office all those years ago. He blames you both for everything that happened. That’s how she ended up in the hospital when your job with Randy went to pot.”

“Wait, I thought we pinned that on someone else. That cult leader in Africa,” Jaime said.

“That’s what Royce thought, but he was wrong,” Emma said. “All the signs pointed to him, but come to find out, it was Letov all along. He lost a lot of business thanks to you bugging him. He had to flee England. Therefore, he blew up the house you were in for a job, then he sent his son after Sean. Only, that backfired. And then, he spent the next five years planning this.”

“But, he didn’t come after me,” Randy said.

Emma looked at him and it was a bit eerie. Her eyes were so similar to Sean’s. “He had his revenge on you. You were shot. And, you didn’t kill his son. Sean did that. That was far worse than losing business and pretty much being exiled to Croatia. Losing his one child—at least the one he claimed—that was too much. He blamed Sean.”

Sean nodded. “Then, he started to dig. He must have been pretty good at it because everyone here thought my father was dead. He followed the trail to Thailand and discovered that my father
was
dead, but he had left a child. He found Emma and kidnapped her.”

“And that is how we got here.”