Deadly Ties (4 page)

3

The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.

—PROVERBS 4:18

Present Day

G
et up on the balls of your feet.” Lisa Harper walked across the Crossroads Crisis Center exercise studio to Kelly Walker. “In that position, he’ll attack you from the left. You need to be able to pivot and get your arm up. Then when he does attack, you twist and bring your arm down. That will break his hold.” She hiked her leg and feigned a kick to Kelly’s right knee. “Pop his kneecap and he’s down. You can get away.”

Sweat-drenched, Lisa dabbed at her face with her sleeve and shoved strands of damp hair that had escaped her ponytail away from her eyes. She addressed the twenty-four students in her self-defense class: all women-in-jeopardy from people who wanted them hurt or dead. Her chest went tight. “Everybody got that?”

Some mumbled, Kelly nodded, and Melanie Ross, the Crossroads Crisis Center receptionist, groaned. “Not me,” Mel said. “Not yet. Can you show us again?”

If it would help, Lisa would show them fifty more times. “Sure.” Movement from the door caught her eye, and she glanced over just as Mark walked in with a man she didn’t recognize. She ignored a little flutter in her heart and smiled. “Ah, good. Mark. Come help me demonstrate.”

The man with him took a seat on the bleachers, and Mark walked out to where Lisa stood before the class. He nodded a greeting to the women. “What are we doing, Lisa?”

“Self-defense tactics. Level one.”

For the next fifteen minutes, Lisa and Mark demonstrated escape-and-evade tactics. Winded and worn, they wrapped up. The class applauded.

Mel got to her feet. Dressed funky as usual in lime green and hunter orange, she rubbed her neck. Her hair stood in short, gelled chocolate spikes that hadn’t moved an inch during the entire class. “It’ll take me a year to learn all that, but if Mark’s helping you teach it, I’ll gladly invest the time.”

The class laughed.

“You’re adorable, Mark Taylor.” Mel batted her eyes, flirting and clowning around at the same time.

“Back off, sister.” Lisa smiled, but she meant it. Why she should feel so proprietorial toward Mark she had no idea. But she always had. She peeked over at him. He winked at her and something in his eyes softened. She loved his eyes. Dark gray, flecked with deep blue and hints of gold. Intoxicating. “Sorry, Mark.”

“No problem.” He grinned at Mel. “If you were ten years older, we might have something to talk about, sweet stuff. Until then, consider me your big brother.”

Mel pouted. “Just what I need. Another overprotective relative.”

Lisa laughed because she
was
overprotective. She tried to watch herself, but she didn’t always succeed. “Here we go. One more time.” She lifted her arms and signaled Mark. “Come on. I’m ready.”

“Are you?” A spark lit in his eyes.

Her breath escaped. “Give it your best shot.”

“Seriously?”

She nodded, motioned him to bring it on.

He sidestepped, then came in at an angle, moving fast. Lisa feinted left, moved right, and caught him on the ribs with a jab.

He shifted his weight and her fist slid off, doing no damage. Before he could counter, she ducked low and tight and went for his instep.

He rotated his foot and countered, catching her by the throat and holding her out of reach. “Never, ever let your opponent get his hands around your throat,” he told the class. “If he’s taller, he’ll probably have a longer reach. Combine the two, and he’ll just lift you off the ground, and you’ll be done.”

“Unless you do this.” Lisa jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist.

He automatically caught her.

Solid. With a square jaw and light stubble that so appealed. Always tender and gentle with her. That tenderness set Mark apart from other men because it took effort on his part. He was large, strong inside and out.

She blinked hard and held his steady gaze. How in the world had she missed the full-force magnetism in his eyes for so long? Magnetism and mirth.
Potent combination
. Unsure what to do, she pecked a kiss to his cheek. Not because she wanted to, but because she had to or she’d kiss his lips, and that would be a huge mistake.

You’re acting like a love-starved crazy woman, Lisa Marie Harper
.

Love starved, maybe. But not crazy. She just didn’t expect being this close to him would affect her this way. It was a sensual assault. No part of her was unaware of any part of him. That’s what’s crazy.

He mumbled softly so only she could hear, his breath warm on her face, mirth still in his eyes. “You can do better. I know you can.”

Assault. Assault. Assault. Only one way to counter this kind of attack. She wrinkled her nose at him. “Absolutely, I can. But will I? That’s the question.”

Before he could respond, she addressed the class. “I, um, don’t recommend kissing your opponent under ordinary circumstances, but it might surprise him enough that he lets you go.”

Mark dropped her right on her bottom. “Like that?”

Stunned, Lisa tilted her head back and saw the twinkle in his eye had spread to his mouth. “Yes.” She clasped his extended hand, rose to her feet, and rubbed her smarting bottom. “Like that.”

Kelly and Melanie started giggling. “Pretty entertaining watching you two.” Mel swayed side to side.

“But this is also serious business.” Mark glanced at Lisa. “The point is for you to use whatever tactics or weapons are at your disposal. The unexpected can be the one thing that saves your life.”

“Mark is exactly right.” Lisa put her hands on her hips. “You have to always think. Always assess. Never pause for a moment. The bottom line is to do whatever it takes to protect yourself.”

“I’ll still be here next January trying to learn this stuff.” Mel dragged her hands through her hair. “If I’m lucky … and I’m not or I wouldn’t be here.”

“Be determined, Mel. The important thing is you will learn it. You all will.” Lisa waved. “Same time next week. Remember to practice every day—and, oh, don’t forget the party tonight at Three Gables. You’re all coming, right?”

Kelly Walker tapped Lisa on the upper arm. “Everyone in the entire village will be there.” The amusement drained from her face. “Well, except for he-who-shall-remain-nameless.”

Dutch. “We can but hope.” If there were a way to mess up the celebration of Lisa’s getting her medical license, Dutch would do it. Since the day her mother had married him, he always messed up anything that made Lisa happy, and gauging from his attitude and past exploits, he always would.

Chatting, the women returned Mark’s killer smile and filed out of the studio. The blond man, wearing tight jeans, a white shirt, and sunglasses, who’d come in with Mark, stood at the bleachers, then walked over to join Lisa and Mark.

“Lisa, this is Joe, a friend from my military days.” Mark lifted a hand. “Joe, Lisa Harper, a doctor here at the center.”

No last name. No information about him. Clearly he was one of Mark’s spy friends. Not that Mark ever had admitted being a spy, but everyone close to him had just sort of figured it out on their own when Benjamin Brandt, who owned Crossroads, hired Mark as the chief of security for the center and his home, Three Gables.

Lisa extended a hand. “Hi, Joe. Welcome to Seagrove Village.”

“Thanks.” He shook her hand and smiled. “It’s nice to finally meet you. Mark talks about you all the time.”

Surprised, she glanced at Mark, but he looked away. No sense getting excited and making more of it than it was, probably just social chatter. “Mark is very kind. My mother and I owe him a lot.” That would win her the grand prize for understatement of the year. Without Mark, she wouldn’t know if her mother were alive or dead. Dutch made sure of that.

Joe was about Mark’s age—thirty or maybe a little older—and in great shape, solid, maybe five-ten. He was a great-looking guy who had that ease of being comfortable in his own skin, but he lacked Mark’s “total package” curb appeal. Even Joe’s lazy charm didn’t fare well in a direct comparison to Mark—tall, tanned, broad shoulders, and black hair that curled ever so slightly on his neck. Simply put, inside and out, Mark Taylor was gorgeous.

Gazing into Joe’s eyes, she didn’t feel that total command and complete confidence Mark exuded. How many times had they talked about everything and nothing and she’d longed for just a touch of his confidence? Just a touch of his certainty he could handle whatever came his way?

“One day, I hope to belong, Lisa. I want a family. A real home. A simple life where I’m wanted and not just needed.”

When he’d finally confided those things to her in one of their many walks on the beach, it resonated with her down to her bones. She wanted exactly those things, yet when he said them, there had been a wistfulness in his tone, as if he knew his wishes were a pipe dream. She’d hated that. And she’d prayed about it every night since, that God would touch Mark’s heart and show him it was okay to want and wish and that pipe dreams could come true.

“You owe me nothing.” With a deftness she’d come to expect from Mark, he shifted the topic. “My old team is in town for a reunion.”

“How fun.”

“We’ve planned it a long time. A little golf and deep-sea fishing. You know, typical guy stuff.”

Now why did Mark sound defensive? Maybe because this wasn’t a reunion so much as a summons for reinforcements, which could mean that Mark expected trouble. Maybe trouble from her nut-case stepfather. Heaven knew she expected it, and Mark had become her mother’s and her self-appointed guardian. Yet she could be making a mountain out of nothing but her own fears. Maybe this was just a reunion. Though the odds of their scheduling it at the same time as her party seemed a bit of a stretch. If Mark expected trouble, surely he would have said so. He’d always been straight talking and up-front.

Lisa, get a grip. His whole life doesn’t revolve around you. Could be about Kelly Walker or something else entirely
.

Right. Exactly. Grip gotten.

“How long have you been into self-defense courses?” Joe parked his sunglasses atop his head.

Very nice eyes. Not exactly green or blue but somewhere in between—and full of secrets. “Most of my life.” She could have been more explicit. Since she was seven years, four months, and twenty-one days old—and she hadn’t started classes young enough.

“Lisa’s been teaching since she was seventeen,” Mark added. “She got an early start.”

“That explains it, then.” Joe folded his arms across his chest. “Your skills are impressive. Anytime you need a sparring partner, I’m available.” He winked.

“Mark takes it easy on me.”

“Even so, you’ve got good technique.” He stuck a stick of chewing gum into his mouth. “Sorry. Trying to quit smoking.”

“Chew away.” She encouraged him. “My mother insisted I needed the skills and that I practice them. I should be great, so I’ve still got a ways to go.” She attempted a smile but her heart wasn’t in it. “Unfortunately, the women taking my classes need excellent skills—now.”

“Sorry to hear that.” He stuffed the gum wrapper into the back pocket of his jeans.

“We work in a crisis center. That makes these situations common.” Lisa lightened her tone. “Joe, why don’t you—the whole team—come to my party tonight?”

Joe slid Mark an inquisitive glance, and he responded with a nod she would have missed had she not been watching for it. “That would be great. Thank you, Lisa.”

“Wonderful.” Excitement bubbled in her and overflowed. She tried to tamp it, but she hadn’t had a party since her father died, and she couldn’t help herself.

Mark turned to Joe. “I need a minute.”

“You got it, bro. I’ll check in with the guys.” Joe stepped away.

“He seems nice.”

Mark frowned. “He’s a woman magnet.”