Loose Ends (Magnolia Series Book 1) (20 page)

“Alright then. I’ll just go home. Have a good time tonight. Oh, and will you tell Cole he can call me later?”

“Sure.”

“Thanks.”

Luke tossed the phone back to Cole and ran a hand through his hair. With the speed they were going, they’d be back to his house in just a few minutes. “Do you have an extra piece in here?” he asked Cole.

“Under your seat.”

Luke bent over and swept his hand under the seat until he felt it touch cold metal. It banged against the underneath mechanism of the seat as he pulled it free. “This your spare?” he asked as he released the clip, making sure there were enough rounds inside. The silver casings should’ve calmed him—they always did—but not this time.

“First one they gave me.” Cole sounded somber, like he was readying himself for who or what they might find.

He shoved the clip into the firearm and slid back the hammer just as Cole turned into his long driveway. If he had to put a hole in some crazy fucker today, the entire plan would be ruined. He just hoped that wasn’t the case. They’d worked too damn long on this shit for some asshole to come in and blow things to smithereens.

Chapte
r
Seventee
n

It’d seemed like
she’d been out cold for hours. The blackness swamped her still but Ava was finally coming to. She smelled something strange. It was a metallic smell that had her nose scrunching up in distaste. What the hell was it? Her entire body felt like it’d been run over by a train, the ache mostly in her head though. The room came into blurred view as she blinked rapidly to clear her vision. Basement. She was still in Luke’s basement. What’d happened? She didn’t want to move just yet. So she laid there on the damp concrete staring at the brick and mortar wall across from her. Something shimmered and caught her eye—the mirror. Which was now in unrecognizable shards, scattered all around her body.

The sunlight was still seeping through the small basement window and causing a glittering effect on the broken glass surface. The pain in her head was a piercing type that made her wince and almost cry out.
What the hell was that smell?
She didn’t know but now the sensation of wetness near her head came over her. Was she lying in a puddle of water? Her hand snaked up and over her head to feel where the foreign sensations were coming from. Something was wet. What was it? Pulling her hand back down she focused the best she could on the dark substance streaked against her fingers and palm. Red. A gasp left her lips as she recognized what it was…blood. Panic overtook her as she tried to sit up.

The pain was excruciating but she managed to end up on her butt with her legs extended in front of her. She wiped her hand on her dress to rid herself of the disgusting substance. Trying to keep her breathing under control she got on all fours and stood shakily, using the wall for support. Her stomach roiled and the feeling that she might vomit hit her.

Suddenly though, she heard heavy footsteps on the wooden stairs descending toward the basement. Ava’s heart raced as she waited for whoever it was to see her.

“Ava?” Luke’s booming voice shouted through the large room.

Her voice cracked as she called back, “Luke.”

Through her hazy vision she caught sight of him taking long strides to get to her. “Jesus, what happened? I need you to tell me everything.” He grabbed her shoulders and lightly shook her.

She couldn’t manage any sort of speech as the pain throbbed insistently.

“She’s bleeding.” Cole. He was here, too. “We need to get her to the emergency room.”

“They’ll want a police report,” Luke said.

“Yeah, and?”

“You know we can’t do that.”

“Fuck, man. What if she has brain damage or something?”

Ava’s raspy voice finally came out. “I’m fine.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.” Luke swept her into his arms and held her tightly to his chest. He took her upstairs and into the kitchen. Her ass was put in a chair while Luke went about gathering things around her. She felt hands on the back of her head as she sat there trying to think of anything but what was going on. “Cole, I need you to grab my phone and go back over the footage. I want to know who the fuck was in this house,” Luke ordered. “Ava, did you see anyone while you were down there?” he asked in a lighter tone.

“No. I was looking at a mirror I’d found and the next thing I know, I felt this sharp pain and fell to the floor,” she said almost on a whisper. It even hurt to speak.

“Were the doors to the house unlocked when you went down there?”

“Yes. Brandi was supposed to come over. Oh no. Where is she? Is she okay?” Ava sat up a little straighter.

“Calm down. Brandi’s fine, I’ve already spoken with her.”

Something about this whole thing wasn’t siting right with Ava. Luke and Cole weren’t the laid back guys they’d been before. They almost sounded like they were trying to investigate this whole thing. Like they were some sort of law enforcement. But that wasn’t right; they were just good ole country boys. There was no way in hell they could’ve been with the law.

As she pondered everything, Luke inspected her head. “It’s just a minor cut. I don’t know what you got hit with but you were lucky.” She felt him wiping around the area on the back of her head.

“You okay, Ava?” Cole entered the room once more and patted her on the shoulder.

“Yes. I think I’ll be fine.” She wasn’t entirely sure of it, but she hoped she’d be fine. Once this massive headache subsided she’d be up and running again.

“You need to take a look at this.” Concern in his tone and on his face, Cole handed Luke’s phone over to him.

Luke studied the screen. “He looks familiar. Not sure where I know him from though.”

“Can I see it?” Ava reached her hand out for the device. Luke handed it to her and she gasped when she saw the person. “That’s the guy from the grocery store the other day. He was leaning against the lottery machine, staring at me while I waited for you to get back to the cart.”

“Do you know him?” Luke inquired.

“No. I was trying to place him but I couldn’t. He gave me the creeps, though.” Ava shivered, remembering how the man made her feel uncomfortable.

Luke handed the phone back to Cole. “Run it. See who it is.”

“Maybe it was just a random break-in. Is there anything missing?” Ava asked.

“No. Cole already swept the place.” Yet again he sounded like he was on official business.

Ava needed to point it out. “Why do you sound so official? Like you’re some sort of law enforcement?” The room became silent.

“I told you already, I’m ex-military. That’s how we talk.” He began to bandage up the small cut on the back of her head. “Let’s get you upstairs. You need to lie down for a while.”

“Luke, I’m fine,” she argued.

“No, you’re not. You just got smacked over the head with something. You’re far from fine.” He helped her from the chair and again swept her into his arms.

“Why do you always have to be so bossy?”

“Because I’m an asshole. Does that answer your question well enough?”

“I’d say it does. Thanks,” she grumbled.

He climbed the stairs while holding tightly to her, his scent rubbing off on her clothing so she would smell him later. When they reached his bedroom, he put her down on her own two feet and grabbed one of her bags. “Here, change clothes. Your dress has blood on it.”

She slowly dug through the bag and pulled out a thin cotton nightgown. Luke watched with a heated gaze as she pulled her dress over her head and stood there in nothing but her panties. She turned to him before she slipped the clean garment over her head. “I need you,” she whispered. Something about the tense situation had her desperate for contact.

Luke strode over to her and cupped her face in his hands. “I would love nothing more than to toss you on my bed and bury my cock inside you. But you need to rest.”

“Please.” She felt tears brewing in her eyes.

“Don’t look at me like that.”

“You don’t want me. I understand.” She dropped her head and unfolded the nightgown.

“Hey, we’re not going down that road again. I’ve already established that there’s no place I’d rather be than in this sweet body of yours. But this is for your own good.” Ava nodded. “Let me help you with this.” He pulled the garment from her hands and began to slide it over her head. Once it covered her body he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “Get some rest, please? I’ll come back up and check on you in a little while. If you need anything, just yell for me or Cole.”

“Alright, I will.” Ava pulled the sheets back and climbed in the bed. Luke stood there with indecision on his face. “The invitation is still open,” she teased.

“I can’t. If I climb in that bed with you, we’d not be leaving for the foreseeable future.”

He left the room and closed the door. Sadness overtook her along with the events of the day. The tears that’d threatened earlier spilled out onto her cheeks. She furiously wiped them away and laid back into one of the plush pillows. She loved Luke’s bed but the one thing that would’ve made it better was Luke.

***

“I don’t think you’ll want to see this.” Cole brought his laptop to the table and hesitated. The look on his face told Luke there was nothing but bad news on the screen.

“Might as well show it to me.” He grabbed the side of the screen and spun the computer so he could see more clearly. “Fuck.” He sat back in his seat and scrubbed both hands over his face. The outgrowth of hair was almost a full-fledged beard now and the sound of the course hairs rasping against his palms irritated him. But he didn’t have the fucking time to shave.

“We need to hunt this guy down and take care of him,” Cole suggested.

“How the hell are we supposed to do that and still fly under the radar?” So many scenarios blasted through Luke’s head—none of them were ideal for the situation they were faced with.

“Fuck if I know. But if we don’t take care of the problem, the big man will find out and call this thing off.”

“Fine.” Luke leaned forward and braced his elbows on the table. “I’m putting you in charge of it.”

“You know I like to be where the action is.” Cole grinned like a kid who’d been abandoned in a toy store. Yeah, Luke knew this was Cole’s thing, the more damage he could cause the better.

“But I bet you ten to one this bastard doesn’t come out of hiding unless Ava is around.”

“So we use her as bait.” Luke could see the wheels turning in Cole’s brain. But he didn’t like the thought of putting Ava out in a situation like that.

“I don’t like it,” Luke bit out.

“How else do you suppose we get him to show himself? It’s not like we can go around town yelling ‘here, piggy piggy’.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“How about this, we know he’s more than likely not going to show up here again. What if we let her go back to her house and just keep an eye on the place?” Cole
suggested.

“I don’t see how that’s supposed to work. Her house is out on the beach, the only neighbor she has is at least a hundred yards away.” Luke tried to think of other alternatives but came up short.

Cole chuckled. “Only a hundred yards, that’s child’s play to you. Hell, that Columbian in Bogotá was further away than that, you dropped him while he was drinking his Folgers and reading the
Drug Lord Times
.”

“Don’t remind me. That was a tough one.” Luke thought back to that job. It hadn’t been easy at all. He’d sweated his ass off in the sub-tropic climate while wearing enough camouflage that even the trees thought he was one of them. “I’ll cover the distance but I want you on site somehow.”

“I can handle that. Chances are he doesn’t know I’m here. If we play this right, I can use the cover as a beach bum for a bit.” Cole began to type furiously on his laptop and then stopped. “Just pulled up the property next to hers. It’s a vacation rental.”

“Is it vacant?” Luke mentally crossed his fingers.

“As of three days ago. Doesn’t look like the new vacationers are supposed to come in for another two weeks. That gives us plenty of time.”

“We won’t need two weeks,” Luke said with utter certainty.

“Now the only problem is how do we get Ava back to her house? You insisted she stay here with you, you can’t very well be like ‘time to go’.”

Cole had a point. But if Luke knew anything about Ava, it was that she had a temper. He would have to play on that and hope she would forgive him yet again for being an asshole. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Good luck. I’ll spend the rest of this evening getting everything squared away. If you can get her there by tomorrow before dark, I think we’ll have our best shot at taking this guy out.”

Luke nodded. This was a throw-together plan, and hopefully it would pan out. If not, they would have to find some other way of tracking this guy down and taking him out of the equation. The one thing he didn’t want though was for Ava to catch wind of any of this. If she did, she’d be gone. But on the flip side, if she didn’t forgive him for what he was going to do in the morning, he’d lose her anyway.