Long Way Home (21 page)

Turned out she knew his birth mother and was desperate for him to know the truth. That made her the messenger of bad news in Callen’s book. The way she’d gone about getting his attention didn’t help. Her interference and persistence cost him more than one job, so he wasn’t a fan.

Grace sat up straighter, as if she just clued back in to the conversation. “Wait, what?”

“This woman. She knew my birth mother. Kristin came wanting to tell me, but Mom—Kim—and Leah beat her to it.” Leah had found the evidence and gave him the option of knowing or waiting. He’d chosen waiting, and for some reason his mom hadn’t stepped in to lessen the blow until it was almost too late.

“Kristin Accord.” Grace repeated the name, then said it again.

That didn’t sound like a question to Callen. “Did she bother you?”

“Blonde and tall. In her late forties.” Grace acted out the description with her hands as she talked. “Wears long skirts, not that flattering, with a bit of a flower-child-mixed-with-soccer-mom vibe.”

“I don’t know about the last part, but yeah.”

“How do you know her?” Declan asked.

Grace looked from him to Declan and back again. “From Walker.”

“Yeah, we’re sure he interviewed her.” It made sense to Callen that her name would come up in a file . . . but Grace kept shaking her head. “What?”

“I think he grew up with her.” Grace looked like she was thinking it all through as she talked.

Declan slumped back in the chair. “What?”

“They’re friends. Well, not really. I only saw them together a few times, but it was weird.”

That word seemed to fit with everything about this family and with most things having to do with Walker. Callen tried to imagine Kristin and Walker as anything more than agent and interviewee and couldn’t come up with a logical explanation.

“You’re saying Walker knows a woman who knew my mother.” Repeating the facts out loud didn’t help either.

“Maybe that’s why he’s so invested in you, in your family,” Grace suggested.

Maybe . . . but it didn’t feel quite right. “I think we need to find out.”

Grace managed to roll her eyes, sigh and blow out a breath, all at the same time. Never a good sign. “That should be fun.”

Declan’s frown deepened. “Why?”

“Let’s just say you should expect yelling.”

Grace loved this position, naked and straddling Callen’s thighs. From here, on his lap, she could see his face. Watch the heat move into his eyes and his head fall back as she rode him.

That was about to happen.

Wet and ready, she lowered her body to his. Inch by inch, she took him in, grabbing his shoulders for balance as she planted a mind-numbing kiss on him. The press of his hands against her hips barely registered. The tightness inside her increased as she lifted up and pushed back down again. But her mouth never left his.

Knowing he loved it, she let her hair fall over her shoulder and across his cheek. When he took fists full in his hands and brushed it back over her shoulders, her head followed. She threw it back and nearly choked on a sharp inhale when his mouth moved to her neck then slid down to her breast.

His tongue swirled over her nipple. He sucked and licked until the clenching inside her had her leaning forward for more.

“You feel so good.” His voice rumbled against the deep valley between her breasts.

So sensitive, so primed, her body begged for more. She rocked against him, shifted from side to side until he moaned against her skin. She wanted him in her and around her. She squirmed until he hit the spot that made her breath catch in her throat.

His palms traveled over her back as his lips treated one breast, then the other, to loving attention. She could feel the sweat gather at the back of his neck and ran her fingers through his hair.

When leaning forward sparked something inside her, she did it again. The shift had them both panting as the soft strains of music filled the room. He’d said something about sounds carrying; the same thing Leah had told her. Grace appreciated the warning, but she was about to scream loud enough to bring Beck running from two states away.

Callen grabbed her hips. “I need you to move.”

The words ground out against her lips. She pulled him in closer for another blinding kiss. The mix of his hands and his mouth revved her up even further. He felt full inside her and hard everywhere she touched.

He lifted her slightly, just enough to put a bit of distance between them.

“What are you—”

Then he started moving. Thrusting into her from below and driving her to the edge of madness. This time she did scream. Yelled his name, and did it again.

“Oh, yes.” Her fingers tightened on his skin. “Callen, please.”

She couldn’t hold back now. Her insides coiled, ready to spring. Need washed through her in waves and her legs tightened against his hips. She was so close, and when he dipped his finger, traced it down her stomach to her heat then rubbed inside, something exploded inside her.

The orgasm ripped through her as he held her steady. Pumping in and out, every nerve ending zapping to life. She was so sensitive that she felt every pulse. Wanting him with her, she pushed down hard. The noise he made, half groan and half shout, rang in her ears.

The sound of their breathing filled the air as she caught the sexy little noises coming from his throat when she kissed him again. Her body burned and her hips kept flexing as the last of the clenching let go.

She opened her eyes in time to see him drop his head back against the wall. The muscles in his neck strained. She couldn’t resist kissing him there while he came. The rough bristle of his scruff brushed against her as his hips pumped up and down.

Finally spent, she dropped down against his warm body. A few seconds later, the last of the pulses subsided and he wrapped his arms around her. Then she could hear the music again. It marched in time with the frantic thumping of his heart under her ear.

“Damn, woman.” The awe in his voice matched the reverent way he rubbed a hand over her lower back.

“That should win some sort of award.” She could barely move, so she just stayed there, snuggled under his chin and flat against his chest.

“I think we’d have to submit a tape for judging.”

One of her eyes opened on the horrible thought. “Never going to happen.”

He kissed her forehead. “Not the exhibitionist type?”

Naked bodies slapping? People could do whatever they wanted, but taping and then watching was not her thing. She feared she’d be horrified by her thighs or belly hanging down or something. Besides, she’d rather do it than watch it. “No.”

“Me neither.” His hand brushed over her hair. “Though I do enjoy how loud you are.”

That made her wince. She didn’t even remember screaming, but she wasn’t surprised to learn she had. In her head, she chanted his name.

Of course, they didn’t used to have an audience for this sort of thing. “You think Declan and Leah heard?”

“If they were in the house, yes.”

“Declan is going to smile at me at the breakfast table.”

Callen laughed, and the noise vibrated through his body. “He likes you. He likes that I’m with you.”

She loved to hear the rich sound of Callen’s laughter. “And I like him.”

And she loved Callen. Which was why she hesitated about wading right back into deep water. “Now that you’re in a good mood—”

“No.”

She looked up. “You don’t know what I was going to ask.”

“It was a prophylactic no.”

That didn’t bode well. “Listen.”

He sat up straighter, and his arm hung looser around her. “Okay, what is it?”

It was as if he were getting ready to do battle. He hadn’t physically left her, but his mind was off coming up with a strategy to combat whatever she said. “You already have an attitude.”

“This is about Walker, isn’t it?”

It kind of made it hard for her to give a big speech when Callen cut right to the point. She should have seen that coming.

She sat up, and they both groaned. With him still lodged inside her, every move sent her body into a wild frenzy. She almost wished she had a defense against him, but she didn’t.

She balanced her hands on the headboard behind Callen’s head. “We should invite him here for a talk.”

“On my property? No way.” The soft caress of his hands on her breasts didn’t match the gruffness of his voice.

She tried again anyway. “Tell him about the holes and the stuff you found. Let him do his job.”

“Arrest us?” Callen shook his head right before he lowered her mouth to her neck. “Again, no.”

Her resistance was fading fast here. She sensed Callen was using their attraction and her undeniable need for him to cut the conversation short. At the very least he had her brain misfiring.

“You didn’t do anything,” she said as she tipped her head to the side to give him better access to her throat.

“Grace, honey, you’re smarter than this.” He palmed her breast, pinching and massaging as he spoke.

She could barely think. “He will listen to you.”

“His hatred of me might be stronger than his feelings toward you.”

She tried to grab on to one last point. That meant making Callen look at her . . . and no touching.

With her hand on the back of his neck, she tipped his head up so he could face her. “Then make a deal. Information for information.”

“No.”

“You’re not listening.”

His hand pressed against her back and their bodies flipped. He rolled and had her under him without breathing hard.

Balancing on his elbows, he loomed over her. “I have better things to do.”

“I’m serious.” But her hands went on a tour of their own, down his back to that fabulous ass.

“About this position?” He pressed deeper. “So am I.”

She felt him growing inside her as her body melted into his again. “You can’t possibly be ready to go again.”

“You shouldn’t make that bet.”

Callen didn’t know who he expected to see when he opened the front door, but definitely not Chief Darber. Funny how having a guy with a badge ring the bell still had the power to send adrenaline pumping and spurring on the need to run.

It also pissed him off, which Callen planned to make clear to the officer. “What do you want?”

“I need to speak with Ms. Pruitt.”

The chief slid his foot into the opening and angled his body so all Callen could see was the man’s bulk, and nothing outside. It was a good trick, filling the doorway like that and speaking with authority. It was a shame for the chief the whole act had zero affect on Callen.

“Why?” he asked, not opening the door one inch further.

“This is official business.”

It always was. “You can stay on the porch.”

Hell, he could sit out there all damn day for all Callen cared. No way was he welcoming law enforcement into his home. He’d done that in the past, and it never ended well. They had questions about Charlie that turned into accusations about Callen. He’d been through it all and was done. Fucking done.

“What’s going on?”

Callen had to fight from flinching when he heard Grace’s voice and two sets of footsteps coming in from the kitchen. “Both of you go upstairs.”

Grace snorted. “I don’t think so.”

“I agree with Grace,” his mom said as the women pulled up on either side of Callen. “Let the chief in so we can figure out what’s happening.”

“That’s the wrong answer.” Callen knew it to his bones.

Before moving into Shadow Hill the family had tried everything to make peace. Offered up all the information they had collected on Charlie up until then. And nothing. It hadn’t earned them one minute of rest from the claims and whispers.

“The sooner we figure out what’s going on, the sooner this can be over.” His mom reached over and pulled the door open, motioning for the chief to step inside.

“Fine.” Callen’s concession really wasn’t necessary, since the chief had already closed the door behind him, bringing them all to the entryway.

“What exactly is happening?” Grace asked.

The chief nodded at her. “This is about you, ma’am.”

That knocked the cockiness right out of Callen. He went from planning his verbal jabs to rushing to defend. “Excuse me?”

“There are reports you had an altercation with Marc Baron in town.” The chief didn’t read from notes or stammer over his words. He leveled his gaze at Grace and let loose.

She shot him a half smile. “I’m not interested in pressing charges.”

“He is.”

Callen’s gut clenched hard enough to cause pain. “For what?”

The chief finally broke eye contact to glance at Callen. “He’s claiming Ms. Pruitt assaulted him.”

“That’s fucking ridiculous.” There were no other words for it. Callen took a step forward, thinking to kick the guy back out again. Only a slight shake of his mom’s head stopped him.

“Explain, please,” she said in pure mother tone, all this-had-better-be-good and in charge.

“He’s claiming Ms. Pruitt put him in danger.” The chief said the words but didn’t seem all that invested in them. More like he repeated the story than that he planned on lodging an actual charge.

Callen guessed he was looking for a reason to back Marc down. That wouldn’t be tough. Callen had seen Grace furious but never violent, and God knew Marc deserved to have someone beat the hell out of him. But no way did Grace step over the line.

She had training and a scary amount of control. She also had the skills that if she really wanted to hurt Marc, she could probably do it without leaving any evidence . . . not that Callen supported that solution to the Marc Baron crisis.

The bottom line was that Callen had heard all about Marc’s scene at the diner. During the numerous retellings he’d been subjected to in his rush to get home to her, at no time did one of the good citizens of Sweetwater blame a thing on her. In this town, that meant something, because no one had any trouble pointing fingers.

“I don’t care what Marc says. Walker Reeves was standing right there,” Grace explained.

The chief started nodding. “Marc is complaining about Agent Reeves as well.”

Callen could understand that, and it grated to have to support the guy, but he did it. “He’s FBI. I’d like to think his word carries more weight than Marc Baron’s ravings.”

Grace grabbed his arm. Callen had no idea what he’d said or why she’d gone still until the chief started talking again.

“As to that, I’ve checked, and it would appear he is not in Sweetwater in his official FBI capacity.” The chief’s voice stayed steady as a bit more heat and steel slipped in. “Which is problematic in light of representations he made to me and his actions now.”

Son of a bitch.
Leave it to Walker Reeves to screw them all. That would teach Callen to try to support the guy for even a second.

Grace didn’t seem surprised, but that was an issue for another time. “What actions?”

“The diner incident.”

“There was no incident, at least not one instigated by either me or Walker. Marc came up to our table and started yelling. I never touched him.” But with the clenched jaw and red flush to her skin, she looked half ready to do it now.

“Did Agent Reeves?” The chief slipped the question in there, slow and gentle, proving he might once have been competent to hold his position of power.

Callen had no idea how to help out. Grace didn’t exactly overflow with information as far as Walker was concerned. She’d built some sort of communication wall between the two men and tried not to spill one side into the other.

Not that he’d always understood that. He’d walked away from her, in part, because he was convinced she was a mouthpiece for the guy and looking to set Callen up. But her coming here, and the way she handled his family and the news about his past and the baby, all suggested he’d been dead-ass wrong.

He got that now. Got that he’d been a dick and had some groveling to do—which sucked, because groveling was not really his thing.

“Walker escorted Marc outside to get him to calm down,” she explained as the tension tightened her voice.

“There you have your explanation.” His mom stepped up to the door and put her hand on the knob.

“Now you can leave.” Callen didn’t mind playing backup for his mother. Not when the person she was protecting was Grace and she looked ready to throw her body in front of Grace’s if needed.

“That hardly settles the matter.” Chief Darber’s gaze switched between them as his voice deepened.

“The diner was half full. People saw Marc explode.”

When Grace looked ready to fill in more blanks, Callen stepped in. They’d said enough. Been clear on the Marc angle.

Now Callen would make a point of his own. “If Baron presses charges, he’s done in this town. You can tell him that.”

The chief’s eyes narrowed. “That sounds like a threat.”

Damn straight.
“Okay.”

The chief leaned in, looking like he was not ready to let the topic go. “What exactly are you saying, Callen?”

He’d said enough. Marc knew they had the evidence tying him to the scam against the town all those years ago. Knew and was scurrying around like the rat he was. “Baron will understand. Just pass on the message.”

“I’m the police, not the damn Internet.”

The anger came from being left out of the loop. Callen recognized the rough sensation but had no intention of making this one ounce easier on the chief. He’d picked the wrong side long ago when he threw in with Marc and agreed to do his dirty work in making it tough for anyone with the last name Hanover to assimilate in this town. “Then go be a policeman. But Grace told you all you need to know to check into both stories.”

“You might be able to prevent this from touching Ms. Pruitt, and—”

“You can call me Grace.”

Now, Callen didn’t agree with that at all. “He should call you Ms. Pruitt.”

The chief shot a scowl in Callen’s direction before looking back at Grace. “My point is that it could be too late to save Agent Reeves from serious trouble.”

That was not even on Callen’s radar. “I don’t care.”

Grace tugged on his sleeve. “I do.”

“So do I,” his mom said at the same time.

Callen had expected Grace to balk. But his mother? “Why you?”

“Marc has gotten away with bullying and being rude and awful to Leah his entire life. This ends now.” She drew herself up straight and pressed her shoulders back as she pointed at the ground to make her point. “He needs to understand this behavior will no longer work.”

Callen had seen his mother angry and frustrated, sad and defeated. Right now she came off as ready to go to war and nearly invincible. He kind of liked this version of her.

Then she opened the door, and the fall breeze blew in.

Grace caught Mom’s arm before she could step outside. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to find Marc and talk some sense into him.”

Talk about a frustrating exercise. Callen couldn’t think of anything less likely to lead to success. “That’s a loss cause.”

Grace glanced over her shoulder at Callen with an expression pinched with fear. “Callen, don’t let her go. That guy is not okay.”

Callen wasn’t sure if he should celebrate or be worried about the idea of Grace and his mom working together. But Grace was right on this issue. “Listen, you need to stop. He could hurt you, and then I’ll have to kill him.”

And he might. No one touched the people he loved, and the two women standing there were at the very top of his protection list.

The chief cleared his throat. “He’s outside.”

“Baron?” Callen faced around to look at the officer. Gun or not, the guy should have better sense. “You brought him on my property without my permission?”

“He has a claim to the house.”

“He does not. Not legal or otherwise.” Callen couldn’t believe he had to explain this—again—to the man in charge of upholding the law in this town. “Marc lost this house years ago to a bank, and he is trespassing right now. If you want to start arresting people, start there.”

But his mom was already out the door, with Grace running behind her.

By the time they all hit the front porch, Marc was climbing out of the front seat of the patrol car. A few seconds later he stood at the bottom of the steps, right at the edge of the yard.

His mom put her hands on her hips and faced the older man down. “Marc Baron.”

Some of the ever-present rage left his eyes when he saw her. “Stay out of this, Kim.”

That was the only thing Callen had ever agreed with Marc about. “Go inside, Grace, and take her with you.”

“Listen to him,” the chief said from behind Callen’s shoulder.

Instead of backing down and ignoring Callen’s mumbled swearing, Mom took a few steps and went to the very edge of the porch. “We are done doing this dance, Marc.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“You want to dig up the past? Fine, I’ll go get a shovel.” She sounded like every ounce the school teacher she was. “I lived here back then, Marc. I know what you did to drive your wife away.”

Marc’s face turned bright red. “Shut up.”

“I know what really happened between you and Charlie.”

“What does that mean?” the chief asked.

“I have no idea what she’s talking about.” Marc’s glanced darted to the chief, then back to Mom.

Callen knew, but he was too stunned to move. All this time he’d assumed his mom either hid from the truth about Charlie’s affair and Marc’s involvement with the scam or refused to see it. Callen figured there was no way she missed it all back then unless she was trying to.

Turned out he’d sold her short. Didn’t give her enough credit. Made him wonder if he’d done that more than once.

Marc launched his body up the steps until he stood one stair below Mom. “I said to shut your mouth.”

There was no way Callen was accepting that. Call it assault or not, but he put a hand on Marc’s shoulder and held him away from her. “Back up right now.”

“Don’t touch me.” Marc threw off the hold as his voice rose.

Now Callen’s anger matched the other man’s. A red haze of fury clouded his vision, but in his head he knew exactly what he was doing when he took another step and backed Marc down the steps again. “I’ll do more than that if you don’t get off my property.”

The chief finally jumped to action. With a hand on Marc’s chest and another on Callen’s, the chief stood between them, glaring at both of them. “Let’s all settle down.”

“You caused this by bringing him here,” Grace said.

Marc’s gaze zipped to her. “No one is talking to you.”

Grace shook her head as she moved to stand next to Mom. “How in the world did Leah come out of your household?”

“Stupid bitch.”

Callen didn’t know if Marc was referring to Grace or Leah. It didn’t really matter.

But before he could teach the guy some manners, Callen felt a hand on his back.

His mom pulled him away and pushed her way into the male circle. “Marc, hear me. I have spent my life trying to protect my boys, and I will spend whatever is left of it making yours a misery.”

The chief shook his head at her. “I don’t think that sort of talk is necessary, Kim.”

She never broke eye contact with the man she once called friend. “Oh, Marc understands me just fine. He knows what I can and will say. Trust me, I have nothing left to lose.”

The energy seemed to drain from Marc then. He stepped back and all emotion left his face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

But he did. Callen could see it in the other man’s eyes.

His mom aimed her finger at Marc’s chest. “You are going to lose Leah forever if you don’t stop this.”

“Your son already saw to that.”

Grace snorted. “Declan is the best thing that’s ever happened to her.”

It was as if Mom didn’t hear any of it. She kept up her steady lecture. “Get rid of the anger and stop wallowing in guilt. You have a heart condition and a daughter who loves you despite your behavior. There could be grandchildren, Marc.” Her head fell to the side as her eyes softened. “Think about that. Think about knowing they are in town and not being allowed to see them.”