Security Blanket (15 page)

Marin was right there, behind him, ready to take her son.

“Run!” Lucky yelled.

Noah yelled, too. The sudden movement and the shout woke him up, and he began to cry. His screams blended with the sound of the struggle.

Somehow, Marin made it past Lucky and Brenna, though their arms and legs seemed to be blocking every inch of the narrow path between the stacked hay bales.

Marin wanted to help Lucky. She wanted to help him get that gun from Brenna. But it was too huge of a risk to take. She had to get Noah out of there.

So, she ran. Just as she reached the back door of the barn, a shot rang out.

Lucky ignored the deafening blast from the shot that Brenna fired. He wasn’t sure, but he thought it’d landed in the barn loft. He had Brenna’s right hand in a death grip and had purposely turned the weapon upward in case she fired.

Which she did.

Lucky ignored the shot so he could keep up the fight to gain control of the weapon. But Marin, Noah and his sister still weren’t safe. Worse, Howard might use this particular battle to subdue Kinley so he could use her as a bargaining chip. But there’d be nothing to bargain for if those explosives went off.

“Get out,” Lucky shouted to his sister.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Kinley try to do exactly that. Howard, too. Marin’s father charged at them while he was still trying to free himself from the ropes that Lucky hadn’t had time to secure tightly enough.

Lucky bashed Brenna’s hand against one of the posts, and the impact dislodged the gun from her grip. He pinned her against the hay long enough for Kinley to get by. His sister went running to the back exit.

With Brenna in tow, Lucky grabbed her gun and followed his sister.

Behind him, he heard Howard, and Lucky tried to keep watch to make sure the man didn’t ambush him. But thankfully, Howard must have realized they were in dire straits because he was as eager to get out of the barn as Lucky was.

Brenna, however, was a different matter. She continued to fight, scratching at him, while he maneuvered her through the hay. Once he reached the exit, he latched on to her and started to run into the cold night air.

“Marin?” Lucky called out.

“Here,” she answered.

She sounded a lot closer to the barn than he wanted her to be, and he spotted her running toward the pasture. She had Noah clutched to her chest, and the little guy was still crying.

Kinley followed Marin, and since Lucky needed to put some distance between the barn and him, he wasn’t too far behind. He glanced over his shoulder though and saw something he didn’t like.

Howard wasn’t anywhere in sight.

Lucky didn’t have time to react to that because behind them, the barn exploded into a fireball.

Brenna finally quit struggling, thanks to a chunk of the roof that nearly landed right on them. Lucky latched on to her even harder and raced them across the pasture to safety.

Ahead of him, Marin stopped and looked back. She was far enough away, he hoped, to avoid being hit with any of the fiery debris. He caught up with Kinley, and the three of them raced to join Marin. Out of breath now and unnerved with adrenaline, they stopped and looked at the blaze that had nearly claimed their lives.

“How dare you endanger my child!” Marin warned Brenna. Her eyes were narrowed, and her breath was coming out in rough jolts.

Lucky checked Noah to make sure he was okay. He appeared to be, despite the crying. They’d been fortunate. A lot could have gone wrong in that barn.

He pulled Marin and Noah into his arms for a short but much needed hug before he turned back around to face Brenna. He was about to add to Marin’s warning when he heard the sound of an engine.

Slowly, he looked behind them, fearing what he would see. His fears were confirmed.

A truck was coming right at them.

“It’s my father,” Marin announced.

The interior truck cab light was on, and the driver’s door was partly open, clearly revealing the driver.

“Run,” he instructed the others.

However, Lucky didn’t move. The man was obviously hell-bent on killing them. Lucky was hell bent on making sure that didn’t happen. Noah, Marin and his sister had already been through enough, and this had to end now.

Kinley latched on to Brenna’s arm and got her moving.

“Run!” Lucky repeated when Marin stayed put.

He looked at her, to make sure she understood that he wasn’t going to let her and Noah die. She said a lot with that one look. A look that made him realize he would do anything to protect her. That look also made him realize that this could be goodbye.

With the truck closing in on them, she nodded. “I love you,” she said. And she turned to run.

I love you.

Powerful words. Words that would have normally shaken him to the core. But he’d have to deal with Marin’s admission later. Because right now, he had to do something to stop Howard Sheppard.

Lucky lifted his hand. Took aim at the truck. And waited. Behind him, he could hear Marin running with Noah. His sister and Brenna weren’t too far ahead of them. Yet something else to concern him—he didn’t want Brenna doing anything stupid.

But for now, he speared all of his attention on Howard.

He watched the truck barrel over the pasture. Howard no doubt had his foot jammed on the accelerator. Pedal to the metal.

Everything inside Lucky stilled. Focused. He adjusted his arm. And when the truck was within range, Lucky double tapped the trigger. The windshield shattered, and Lucky dove to the side so he wouldn’t be run over.

He immediately got up and raced into position for round two, so that Howard couldn’t get anywhere near Marin and Noah.

But it wasn’t necessary.

The truck careened to the left, going right into the rocky stream. Just yards on the other side, it came to a stop. No brake lights. No signs that the driver had tried to bring the truck under control.

Lucky soon learned why.

With his gun ready, he approached the vehicle. But his vigilance and caution weren’t necessary.

Howard was slumped in the seat.

Dead.

“Hell,” Lucky cursed.

Now, he was going to have to tell Marin that he’d killed her father.

The morning sun was too bright, and it glared directly into Marin’s eyes.

She didn’t move from the glass-encased patio off her bedroom. She couldn’t. There seemed to be no energy left in her body so she stayed put on the wicker love seat.

This was the aftermath of a nightmare.

And in some ways, the continuation of one.

Seemingly oblivious to the fact that he’d recently been kidnapped and endangered by Brenna Martel, Noah was playing on a quilt at her feet. He batted at her leg with a small stuffed dog and laughed as if he’d accomplished something phenomenal. Marin couldn’t even manage a weak smile in response, though with every fiber of her being, she was thankful that her child hadn’t been harmed.

In the bedroom, she could hear the conversations that were going on. Lucky and the sheriff were discussing what had happened. Her grandmother was talking to her mother.

Consoling her.

After all, her mother had only hours ago learned that her husband was a killer and that both her son and husband were dead. That was a lot for anyone to absorb.

Marin, included.

It’d been years since she’d felt real love for her father, and she had already grieved her brother’s death a year earlier when she thought he’d been killed. Still, it hurt. It hurt even more that Dexter and her father had been willing to risk her life, Noah’s and Lucky’s just so they could cover their tracks. It would take a very long time for Marin to get over what had happened. If ever.

“Lucky wanted me to check on you,” she heard her grandmother say. She was now in the doorway, examining Marin. “He’ll be finished up with the sheriff soon.”

“Good.” Because she didn’t know what else to say, she repeated it.

Her grandmother walked closer and dropped down into the chair next to her. “Your mother says to tell you that she’s sorry.”

Marin peered into the bedroom. Her mother was no longer there. “Why didn’t she tell me herself?”

“The wound’s too fresh. Give her time.”

Maybe it was her mood or the fact that she didn’t trust her mother, but Marin didn’t like the sound of that. “I hope that doesn’t mean she’ll try to get custody of Noah.”

“Not a chance. She’ll be lucky if she doesn’t get jail time for aiding and abetting Dexter. Your brother was a fugitive, and the federal agents aren’t happy that she kept his whereabouts a secret from them.”

Neither was Marin.

But then, she wasn’t pleased about a lot of things.

“What about Lucky?” Marin asked, almost afraid to hear the answer. “Has he said anything about when he’ll be leaving?”

“Not to me.” Her gran hesitated. “I’m guessing from your tone that you expect him to go?”

Marin didn’t trust her voice and settled for a nod. Lucky would have to tend to his sister and tie up the loose ends of this investigation. Without a custody hearing, there was no reason for him to hang around.

Or was there?

So what if she and Lucky had slept together? That didn’t obligate him to be part of her life. But God help her, that’s what she wanted. Still, she couldn’t cling. She’d spent a lifetime being coddled, and if this brush with death had taught her anything, it was that she was strong enough to stand on her own two feet.

She heard the footsteps, glanced in the direction of the sound and saw Lucky making his way toward them. Marin straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. She doubted that she could completely erase her gloom-and-doom expression, but she tried. She didn’t want this conversation to turn into a pity party.

“How’s your sister?” Marin asked when Lucky joined them.

“She’s fine. She’s at the Justice Department office in San Antonio. There won’t be any charges filed against her, but she needs to give her statement about what happened the night of the explosion and assist them with the case against Brenna. Once she’s done with that, she can leave and get her baby. My nephew,” he added, causing a brief smile to bend his mouth.

“Good.” Marin winced. It sounded like a token well-wishing. It wasn’t.

Looking totally uncomfortable, Lucky stared at her a moment, moved closer and sank down on the floor next to Noah. He immediately got a bop on the forearm from Noah’s stuffed dog, and her son giggled.

“Are you playing with your da-da?” her gran asked Noah. She goosed his tummy, causing Noah to laugh even more.

Marin frowned at the question. Her grandmother knew the truth. Lucky and she had lied about, well, pretty much everything—he wasn’t Noah’s father or her fiancé.

Helen stood. “I think I need a nap. Let me know if you need me to babysit.” And with that, she kissed all three of their cheeks and left the room—but not before she winked at Marin.

With her exit came plenty of silence.

Noah volleyed glances between them, trying to figure out what was going on with the sudden silence. Marin wanted to know the same.

“Brenna was arrested, of course,” Lucky informed her. He sounded as grim as his expression.

Marin choked back a laugh. “Between your sister and her, maybe we’ll learn the truth about what happened at that research facility.”

He grunted. “From what Brenna said before they took her away, Dexter couldn’t deliver the chemical weapon so he forced her and Kinley to fake their deaths, and then spent the last year trying to eliminate them so there’d be no witnesses as to what he’d done.”

Now, it was her turn to make that sound. “And Dexter used your sister as a decoy for the train explosion.”

Lucky nodded. “The Justice Department thinks Dexter used a disguise when he got on the train. They’ll take a harder look at those surveillance disks.”

They’d no doubt take a harder look at all the evidence. But in the end, it would lead them back to Dexter and her father. “I figure that’s why Dexter was trying to kill you. Because he knew that between you and Grady Duran, you were close to figuring out the truth.”

She paused because she had to and then added, “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry,” Lucky said at the exact moment.

Marin stared at him and blinked. “Why are you sorry? My brother terrorized your sister, forced her to put her child in hiding, and then my father and Dexter tried to murder you.”

Lucky held the stare for several moments and then looked away. “I killed your father.”

She heard it then. The pain in his voice. It cut her to the bone. Because Lucky was obviously agonizing over something he couldn’t have prevented.

“My father didn’t give you a choice. And I don’t blame you for his death. In fact, if you hadn’t killed him, he would have done the same to us. You saved my life, again.”

Tears threatened, but Marin blinked them back. She needed to stay strong.

So she could tell Lucky goodbye.

He already had enough guilt without her adding more. The trick was to make this quick. She couldn’t make it painless. But she could do Lucky this one last favor.

“As soon as the sheriff gives me the all clear, I’ll call a taxi to take me to the airport.” She reached for Noah, but he batted her hands away and climbed into Lucky’s lap.

Her son grinned up at Lucky. “Da-Da,” he said with perfect clarity.

Marin groaned and buried her face in her hands. It was Noah’s first word. And it couldn’t have come at a worse time.

“I think my grandmother taught him that,” Marin said as an apology. She risked looking at Lucky then.

He was glaring at her. “You’ll call a taxi to take you to the airport.”

It wasn’t a question. It was more like a snarl.

“Your rental car is wrecked from the drive-in explosion,” she reminded him.

Just then, Noah said, “Da-Da” again. In fact, he began to rattle it off, stringing the syllables together while he snuggled against Lucky.

“You’ll call a taxi?”

Both Lucky and Noah gave her accusing stares as if they were waiting. But waiting for what? Marin couldn’t give Noah the nod of approval for his Da-Da mantra. Nor could she back down on calling that taxi. She couldn’t be clingy. She had to be strong.

Even though her heart was breaking.

Lucky kissed Noah on the forehead and mimicked what her son was saying nonstop. “Da-Da is right.” And then Lucky turned those sizzling gray eyes back on Marin. “I might have started out as a replacement father, but as far as Noah and I are concerned, I’m the real deal. Any objections?”

She glanced at her son’s happy face and then at Lucky. Not happy, exactly. Hot and riled.

“No objections,” she managed to say.

The silence came again.

Marin just sat there. What was she supposed to say or do? The right thing was to give Lucky that out.

Wasn’t it?

He had a life, one that hadn’t included her before he started investigating Dexter. But then, she’d had a life, too. A life she no longer wanted—it didn’t include Lucky.

“You about got it figured out?” Lucky asked.

Marin frowned at his question, which seemed not only eerily insightful, but also like a challenge. Yes, she’d figured out what she wanted. Marin wanted the life in front of her. Lucky as Noah’s father. And Lucky as her lover.

No, wait.

She wanted more than that.

The corner of Lucky’s mouth lifted. “Count to ten and tell me what you want.”

“One,” she mumbled. Marin slid down out of the love seat and sat on the floor next to him. She was about to move on to two, but it seemed rather pointless.

“I’m in love with you, Lucky,” she confessed. “I don’t want a taxi, and I don’t want to go to the airport unless you’re with Noah and me.”

The other corner of his mouth lifted for a full-fledged smile. “And?”

She leaned in and kissed him. “And I want to be your lover and your wife. I want to marry you.”

A chuckle rumbled deep within his chest. “And?”

Marin wasn’t sure what he wanted her to say. She’d already poured out her heart. But what she hadn’t done was take the ultimate risk. “And I want you to be in love in with me, too.”

She held her breath.

Waited.

Heck, she even prayed.

“Then, you have everything you want, Marin. I’m crazy in love with you.”

Lucky slid his arm around her neck, pulled her to him and kissed her, hard.

The kiss might have gone on for hours had it not been for Noah. He bopped them with the stuffed dog and laughed when they pulled away from each other.

“Da-Da,” Noah announced.

Noah certainly knew a good thing when he saw it. And so did Marin. She pulled her family into her arms and held on tight.