Fiance by Friday (11 page)

“Giving up?”

She narrowed her eyes and found him smiling down at her.

“You’re taunting me.”

“Maybe. But if you needed to use it, I don’t want you unprepared.”

He wrapped his arms around her again and picked up the gun. He held on to her as she shot the gun two more times, helping absorb the impact. The following rounds came close to their targets, but missed. When the clip was empty, Neil stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders. For a moment she stood still, enjoying the feel and scent of the man she’d fantasized about relentlessly since they’d met.

The range had emptied out, leaving only the two of them.

“Not bad, Harrison.”

She laughed. He’d never addressed her by her last name. “Harrison?”

His hands softened on her shoulders. “In the military, we often called each other by our last names. Seemed appropriate with you out here lighting up the place.”

He’d never, not once, said a thing about his military days. That he did so now felt intimate somehow.

“So they called you MacBain?” she asked, removing the plastic glasses she wore to protect her eyes.

“Mac. They called me Mac.” His voice had softened, making it difficult to hear him. She tugged the earmuffs away and twisted in his arms.

He offered a smile, one seldom seen.

“Well, Mac, thanks for the lesson.”

He hadn’t moved away. His hands rested on her forearms. This close, she could see his eyes even through the dark sunglasses. They stared directly into hers.

Her heart kicked in her chest, firing signals throughout her body. Neil lifted his hand to her face, traced his thumb alongside her jaw.

She wanted his kiss so much she could taste it. For one brief moment, she felt him move into her. Then something snapped, and he moved away. His gaze, his body, his hand.

“We should go.”

Gwen wanted to call him out. He wanted her; Lord knew she wanted him. So why did he hesitate?

What was so broken inside of him that made him pull away?

Chapter Nine

The silent ride back to Malibu ate at him.

His gut ached. The floral scent of the shampoo she used found a comfortable place inside his head and took root. He’d never again look at the froufrou shampoo section in the store and not think of Gwen.

He’d tortured himself when he’d wrapped his arms around her. Her tiny frame fit perfectly against his. Not that it mattered.

But it did. He knew it mattered. The only way he was going to escape her was to leave. Hire someone to take his place at Blake’s side, pack his one bag, and disappear.

And what about the raven left with Billy’s body? Was it a warning? A warning that wouldn’t mean anything to anyone other than the remaining members of Neil’s team?

More reason to pack up and leave.

But who could protect Gwen better than him?

Neil knew the answer before he bothered booking a flight.

He didn’t need anyone thinking he cared about her, thus making her a target.

She stared out the window at the passing traffic on the freeway. She should have been riding in the back, where the tinted windows would obscure her face. But Gwen refused. Said he was no more her driver than she was his maid.

“Do you think about it…your time in the military?”

Her question came from nowhere. He wasn’t sure how to answer it.

“Neil?”

“Sometimes.”

“Was it awful?”

He gripped the wheel, recalled the smell of her hair, and ignored the memory of burnt flesh and blood. “War is hell.”

“I can’t imagine. The only violence I’ve witnessed was my brother breaking the nose of a boy chasing me in school. And you and Carter fighting those men in Texas.”

He felt his spirits lift. He’d enjoyed teaching the man hitting on Gwen a lesson in propriety. He flattened his lips and said, “Violence doesn’t solve as many problems as it creates.”

“You’re probably right. The threat of violence does tend to keep people in line, however. Take today for example. We spent the day firing weapons. I doubt anyone would mess with you but I realize how I might be considered vulnerable. If the people out there who would do me harm knew I had a weapon, my guess is they’d look for an easier target. Don’t you agree?”

“Some.”
Purse snatchers and cowards.

“I don’t imagine I’ll ever have the need to use the gun for its intended purpose. It does feel right to have one, however.”

That, he completely agreed with.

Short of that ivory tower he thought of putting her in when he saw her, owning a gun was better than nothing.

“You’ll need to keep it at the house.”

Gwen nodded. “I didn’t think to carry it with me.”

He pulled off the highway and onto the street leading to the Malibu estate. “A Taser fits inside a purse. It’s legal for you to carry.”

“One of those electric zapper things?”

A rare chuckle rose in his throat. “Yes. One of those.”

She smiled at him and damn if he didn’t want to melt into that smile and forget every awful thing about his life.

“Do you have one?”

“No.” He didn’t need one. “But I’ll get one for you.”

“That would be lovely, Neil.”

Only a lady would say a Taser as a gift was
lovely
.

Neil parked behind Gwen’s car. He placed the larger revolver she liked the most inside her trunk along with an extra box of ammo.

She opened the door, and tossed her purse inside. “Thank you, for today. I feel better knowing I have the proper weapon.”

He liked the ivory tower idea better. “You’re welcome.”

Neil stepped away from the car, intending to give her room to drive away.

“Oh…uhm, the alarm on the house?”

“Yes?”

“All the doors and downstairs windows have to be closed in order for it to set properly, right?”

He paused. Stepped closer. “That’s right.”

“Don’t freak out,” she warned him.

When a woman suggested he not “freak out,” it meant he had reason to.

He lifted his hands in the air and forced the tension away from his shoulders.

“OK…well, I found the back door opened, just a little bit, when I woke up the other day. The alarm said it was engaged.”

“The alarm won’t set if a door is open.”

“That’s what I thought. With all the interference lately, I thought I should mention it.”

“Are you sure the alarm was armed?”

“Positive. I checked it twice. Though I think the cameras and outside motion detectors are overkill, I do think a home alarm is wise.”

“Did you set it before you came over today?”

“I did.”

He fished his cell phone from his pocket, clicked on his mobile app of her home. “Karen’s not home?”

“No.”

The alarm said it was set, and the cameras didn’t indicate any issues. He didn’t like it. Any of it.

“I’m coming over.”

Surprisingly, Gwen didn’t argue.

“I have a few errands to run,” she told him. “Do you mind looking into it without me there?”

He preferred it, actually. The distraction of her being there might make him miss something. “Not a problem.”

“Thank you,” Gwen said as she drove away.

Yet the farther Gwen drove away from him, away from the safety he knew he could provide, the less control he felt.

He hated a lack of control. Made him weak.

“So Blondie has a gun,” the man said to himself as he witnessed the two leave the range.

His camera recorded them, found the subtleties of their behavior that he would analyze later.

MacBain wasn’t acting alarmed. Didn’t even realize he was being watched.

“You’re slipping, dude.”

He doubled around to his perch above the Malibu house and watched as she left alone.

He knew, without a doubt, that she hadn’t mentioned the dead bird in her conversation with Neil.

If she had, he would never have let her leave.

Time to up the ante.

Kenny Sands, the owner of Parkview Securities, met Neil at the Tarzana house.

“This doesn’t make sense.” Ken stated the obvious.

Neil had run test after test. Sure enough, the back door no longer tripped the alarm. Yet when on a chime mode, a feature that let the homeowner know when a door or window was being opened, it made noise.

“There’s been an unusual amount of noise in the backyard motion detectors, too. I thought I fixed it last week, but it seems to light up anytime the neighbors use their hot tub.”

“That shouldn’t affect it.” Kenny picked up his cell phone. “Hi, Jane. I need you to send a team to 5420 Cherry Lane.” He paused. “No, have them bring a full truck. We’re replacing the wiring to the back door.”

Neil moved into the backyard, looked around, and found nothing out of place. He walked to the back fence and looked over to the other side. There was a base around a Jacuzzi complete with a small bar set up. Lucky for him the naked neighbors liked to tub in the dark.

It was midday.

He glanced up at the second story of Gwen’s home and noticed an open window.

Neil walked into Karen’s unusually warm bedroom. He moved through it to the window and tugged it closed. The view to the naked neighbors wasn’t ideal from this perch so he moved to the next room over.

Gwen’s room was filled with soft colors and plush textures. Feminine, just like the woman. The space smelled like her too.

He peeked out the window. “Nice naked view.” He’d laugh if it weren’t screwing with his surveillance.

Something flashed in the corner of his eye. He looked beyond the houses to the hillside that separated Tarzana from Woodland
Hills. It was one of the nice features of the location of the house. There was one row of houses behind Gwen, and then a park.

For Neil, it was both a blessing and a pain. A blessing that there were fewer neighbors, a pain because anyone could be hiding in the acres of brush.

He searched for the source of the light but didn’t find anything.

While Kenny’s men worked, Neil took a walk around the neighborhood. Paying close attention to the house directly behind Gwen’s. The shades were drawn and two newspapers were stacked on the front porch. There wasn’t a car parked in the driveway. From the look of the neighborhood, most of the residents parked a car in the driveway or on the street. Very few houses had empty space in front of the garage doors.

Neil attempted a smile and walked to the door and knocked twice.

No one answered.

He tried to look inside the bay window to the front room. They had blackout shades making it impossible to see anything inside. Blackout shades were a staple in Vegas, but in suburbia? Not so much.

Why would people who parade around the backyard naked hide from the front yard?

Neil knew he was as inconspicuous as a semi truck in a parking lot full of Smart cars. So instead of walking around the house, he moved away from the front door and back around the block. For the most part, the neighborhood was quiet. As much as he hated the fact that he couldn’t control it in every way, it could be worse.

He turned a full circle, looking around.

He felt naked walking the streets in the wide-open world without the security of an AK in his hands.