Sloan (The Protectors Series) Book #9 (10 page)

Chapter 18

Waiting for Sloan, Becky leaned against his motorcycle. What she really wanted to do was go inside the warehouse to watch what was going on, but she didn’t know if that was top secret stuff. She hadn’t been able to even ask him because he had been on the phone and then Damon and Duncan had been there talking to him. She had never in her life seen a busier man.

Grabbing her phone, she checked her messages. One from her son saying calculus sucked, but he was sitting next to some hot chick so that made it much better. Becky rolled her eyes with a grin. To Frankie, a hot chick made everything much better. She missed him so much, but loved him enough to let him go find himself and his own life. She was here for him and always would be. Though she did threaten him that Christmas was her time and his ass better be home or she’d visit him at least every other weekend.

A loud noise jerked her out of her thoughts and as she looked up, she watched a body fly through the warehouse wall and roll across the concrete parking lot. Sloan was in front of her before she knew what was happening. She peeked around him to see Jill stomping through the hole with everyone following.

“Ah, damn.” Sloan started to walk away, but stopped. “Stay here,” he ordered, then took off with Damon and Duncan.

She technically listened to him; actually no, she didn’t. She moved close enough so she could hear what was going on. Her gaze landed on Katrina, who glanced her way. Becky opened her eyes wide in question, but Katrina just gave her an amused grin.

“What in the hell is it with you and walls?” Sloan yelled at Jill. Jill didn’t even flinch. Becky did, but Jill stood strong.

“Sometimes I don’t know my own power,” Jill replied to Sloan’s question, though it was obviously directed toward Ben, who was picking himself off the ground. “Though it’s funny that I apparently hit like a girl, like that’s a bad thing.”

“If you weren’t a woman….” Ben headed toward her, but Sloan stepped in front of him.

“Go ahead, bitch!” Jill spread her arms wide. “Take your best shot.”

“Do I need to toss you out of this program?” Sloan shouted, his eyes narrowing on Ben. “Can’t you just keep you fucking mouth shut and train?”

“She’s the one who threw me through a wall.” Ben pointed around Sloan to Jill.

“Damn straight I did and I’ll do it again.” Jill took a step forward.

“Jill, get to my office,” Sloan ordered without even turning around to look at her. When she didn’t move, Sloan roared, “Now!”

Once Jill had left and without a smartass comment, which Becky was sure was a miracle, Sloan once again focused on Ben. “This is it,” Sloan said, his voice even and stern. “One more fucking thing with you and you’re out. Get the fucking chip off your shoulder where women are concerned and train. You understand me?”

“Yes, sir.” Ben nodded, appearing to have calmed down.

Sloan looked at Jax and Blaze. “They can spend the rest of their morning cleaning this shit up.”

When moans and bitching started, Becky watched Sloan stop as he headed toward her and turn back to everyone. “Anyone who has a problem with that can fucking leave.”

Becky wasn’t surprised that no one admitted having a problem because she was almost ready to start helping. Sloan Murphy was an intimidating man and when he said something, you’d better get your ass in gear.

Sloan passed her and mounted his bike, then looked at her. “You coming?”

Not saying a word, Becky hopped on the back. Thinking,
screw it,
she wrapped her arms around him. The perks of a secretary. She grinned.

While Becky enjoyed the short ride back to the compound, she noticed a blue sedan with dark tinted windows keeping pace with them. As Sloan turned into the compound, she watched as the sedan slowed to a complete stop. She was about to say something to Sloan when it took off.

He helped her off the bike, then headed inside with her following. She glanced over her shoulder, but the car was no longer in view. Maybe someone was lost. She shrugged it off and walked into the office where Jill sat in front of Sloan’s desk. Becky headed to her desk, wishing she had something to do, but she hadn’t had time to ask.

“Sorry about the wall.” Jill started the conversation. “I’ll pay for it.”

“Yes, you will,” Sloan replied. “Jill, you need to stop putting people through walls, my walls.”

Becky had pulled out her phone so she looked busy, but she couldn’t help overhearing since she was right there.

“Then these assholes need to learn to stop acting like women don’t belong. You know that pisses me off, Sloan,” Jill shot back. “It’s hard being a woman in a man’s world and this is definitely a man’s world within the VC. A woman has to fight for every tiny scrap of respect, and it’s not right.”

Becky wanted so badly to turn around during the silence to see Sloan’s reaction. She felt for both Jill and Katrina. She couldn’t imagine trying to compete for a position with these men. Jill was right. It wasn’t fair.

“We work just as hard, bleed just as much, hurt just the same, yet when we get the upper hand, we get called into your office.” Jill’s voice rose and sounded hurt, at least to Becky’s ears. “With all due respect, it’s bullshit. Where is that asshole?”

“Cleaning up the mess you both made.” Sloan’s voice was even. Becky couldn’t tell anything from it. Sloan was a puzzle that gave nothing away. Dammit, she wished she could turn around, but she needed to mind her own business and snoop without a visual.

“Still bullshit that he’s there and I’m here,” Jill muttered, but Becky heard her loud and clear. She cringed, waiting for Sloan’s response.

“Why did you slam him through the wall?” Sloan asked.

Again there was silence and Becky leaned back in her chair to make sure she heard everything. The chair tilted dangerously, making her jerk, trying not to fall over. Rolling her eyes at herself, she decided she would never make a good detective.

Jill finally sighed. “We were doing a drill and he said I hit like a girl.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Sloan roared. Becky almost dropped her phone, but grabbed it quickly. “You threw a man through a wall because he said you hit like a girl?”

“Yeah, I did.” Jill’s voice also rose, but she had nothing on Sloan. “Like any single one of those Warriors I know so well, you included, wouldn’t do the same.”

Again silence. Becky stared at her phone, but didn’t see it. She was waiting to see what Sloan was going to say. She actually felt sorry for him. The shit he must put up with on a daily basis was enough to drive anyone insane, even a strong man as him.

“If I put you in a position of authority, you are going to have to try to keep your ass calm, Jill.” Sloan finally spoke. “I don’t do anything without thinking it through, and putting you with the trainees is a benefit to them and me, but not if you’re going to take them out if they look at you wrong.”

“It wasn’t just that.” Jill snorted, but her voice had calmed. “I just get sick of guys thinking they’re the shit and that women belong behind a desk typing a letter or some shit. No offense, Becky.”

Shit, did they know she’d been listening? Well, of course they did—she was in the same room. She’d never make a good Warrior either. Yep, scratch detective and Warrior off her possible job opportunities. “None taken,” she replied, still not turning around.

“You have no idea what it’s like, Sloan.” Defeat laced Jill’s words, surprising Becky. She’d heard a lot about Jill and from just the short time she had known her, she seemed like one hell of a strong woman. Then again, strong women broke sometimes; she should know. She did.

“No, I guess I don’t,” Sloan finally admitted. “Just try to let shit roll off you, Jill. And yes, I would tell the other Warriors the same thing.”

“Okay, I’ll try,” Jill agreed. “So how much do you think that wall is going to be?”

Becky grinned at the question. Having that taken out of your paycheck would suck since it was a big hole. Poor Jill. Again there was silence. That was one thing she had learned about Sloan. He never answered on a whim. He thought every response through, even if it drove the person waiting for the answer crazy.

“I’ve got it, but don’t let it happen again.” Sloan’s voice was low. “Do you know how many walls I’ve fixed because of you?”

“No, I’ve lost count,” Jill replied, and Becky could hear the smile in her voice.

“Get the fuck out of my office,” Sloan ordered. “Go help clean up that mess. I’ll have someone there today to fix it.”

Thinking it was over, Becky turned to see Jill lean down and hug Sloan. Sloan sat stoic at his desk, staring down. He definitely wasn’t used to hugs, that was evident. He looked like a terrified statue. A strange sadness enveloped her as she watched Sloan’s uncomfortable reaction to being touched with care.

“Thanks, and I’m sorry.” Jill straightened and headed for the door. “But do you think you could bring in trainees who aren’t total assholes?”

“Don’t push me, Jill,” Sloan warned. “Slade still at the hospital?”

“Yeah, he should be back soon.” Jill held the door while she answered. “Why, do you need him?”

“Yes, to keep your ass in line,” Sloan replied, looking down at his phone.

“Pfft!” was Jill’s only reply before she left with a grin spreading across her face.

Once the door shut, Becky glanced at Sloan, who remained staring at his phone. She had a sudden overwhelming urge to hug him and even took a step toward him before he looked up at her. It stopped her cold. What the hell was she doing?

“Ah, you want me to call some construction people and get some prices?” Becky asked, clearing her shaky throat. Holy shit, she’d almost hugged the crap out of her boss.

“I’m trying to find the last one Sid organized. They did a good job, but I can’t find the number.” Sloan frowned, his eyes going back to his phone. “Maybe Sid called them, not me.”

“Let me take care of it.” Becky actually grabbed his phone and put it facedown. “You’re paying me to pretty much sit around, listen to conversations that aren’t my business, ride on the back of your motorcycle, which is a big perk by the way, and I feel like I’m taking advantage of you. Let me do the work.”

Sloan’s eyes darkened slightly. “You like riding?”

“Absolutely.” Becky grinned, but watched his eyes. They were amazing when they changed colors like that. “When Frankie was younger, we use to ride dirt bikes all the time.”

Sloan smiled his head tilting as he studied her. “Yeah, I can definitely see you riding dirt bikes.”

“I was pretty fearless,” she bragged, then sighed. “I really miss those days.”

“Too old now?” he teased with a raised eyebrow.

“Hell no. Thirty… ah, something is not too old. I still got it.” She put her hand on her hip, looking offended, but she wasn’t. She knew he was teasing her and she liked it. Plus, age was just a number, and she would beat that into her brain when the big four-oh came rolling around.

He continued to stare at her to the point she started feeling hot, everywhere. The man had the stare down, that was for damn sure.

“Now, give me Sid’s number so I can take some of this off your shoulders. That is why you hired me, isn’t it?” She broke the silence before she went up in flames.

Finally, he looked away and picked up his phone. He rattled off Sid’s number as well as the other Warriors’, which she quickly wrote down. Heading back to her desk, she picked up her phone, wishing she had just gone ahead and hugged him to get it over with. She knew herself well and she knew a hug was coming. Deep down, she hoped it led to something more than a hug.

Chapter 19

It took two days for the contactors to finish the wall. Becky drove to the warehouse with the check to pay them on her way home. Sloan had been gone since the previous day for meetings and had left her in charge with distinct instructions on what needed to be done. The man had his shit together, that was for sure. She didn’t know how he did it.

Turning into the warehouse, the parking lot was empty other than the workers and their vehicles. Training didn’t start for another hour. They had pushed it back so the workers could finish.

Parking, she got out of the car with the check. Glancing at it, she noticed how neat and precise Sloan’s handwriting was. Her thumb rubbed against his signature, then she laughed at herself. She was so pathetic. She hadn’t seen him for twenty-four hours and she missed him. How she could become so attracted to someone so fast, especially after her exhausting failed marriage and her promise to herself to be a crazy cat lady—even though she was allergic to them—or a lesbian, was beyond her. Neither of those options appealed to her anymore, and that was scary because before meeting Sloan Murphy, they did appeal to her very much, runny nose and all.

“Looks good.” She stared at the wall as she walked up to Don Baker of Baker’s Construction. “You finished?”

“We sure are,” Don replied with a proud smile. “Just cleaning up. Come on in and look at the inside before we leave.”

Becky followed him inside to check their work and all looked good. “You guys do a wonderful job.”

Don chuckled. “Well, we’ve gotten a lot of experience with replacing walls with this group.”

“I bet you have.” Becky laughed in agreement, handing him the check. “And I’m sure you’ll be hearing from us again.”

“I count on it.” Don stared at their work with pride.

“Looks good, Don.” Sloan had snuck in on them. He stuck his hand out to shake Don’s hand.

Becky watched Sloan’s hand swallow the other man’s, who wasn’t small by any means. What in the hell was it about a man’s hands? Jerking her gaze away, she cursed at herself to get a grip.

“Did Becky get you your check?” Sloan said, breaking into Becky’s stupid “man hand” thoughts.

“Yes, sir.” Don raised the check. “You got a good worker there. I thought a few times to try to sway her to leave you and come work for me. She had my boys busting ass to get this done. Very impressive.”

“Ah, now, Don, I was nice to those boys and even brought them lunch yesterday,” Becky teased. “I wasn’t busting anyone’s ass, but I may have bribed them with some fried chicken.”

“Well, I don’t know what the hell you did, but it worked.” Don laughed, looking back at the wall. “Never saw them work that hard on a project. You sure you’re happy here?”

Becky glanced up at Sloan who looked down at her with what appeared to be pride, but that couldn’t be right. “I think I’ll stay.” She turned her attention back to Don. “But thanks for the endorsement here today. That will come in handy during raise time.”

“Anytime.” Don gave a nod then headed toward his workers, who kept glancing at Becky.

“Looks like you won a few hearts here,” Sloan said, his voice tight.

Becky glanced up at him. His eyes were narrowed toward the men. “Nah, it was the fried chicken. I make a mean fried bird.” She chuckled, a little confused about his sudden change of mood. “Okay, I’m off to get your tux. You need me to do anything else? Some food maybe? I’m sure you haven’t eaten anything. I can stop and pick something up real quick.”

Sloan finally stopped glaring at the workers to look down at her. “They get home-cooked fried chicken and I get something quick from a fast-food joint?” He frowned.

“Hey, you got your wall fixed in record time.” She laughed, giving him a shove as she passed. “I’ll fix you some fried chicken if it stops you pouting.”

“I don’t pout.” Sloan growled as he followed her outside, walking her to her car.

Don and his workers were just pulling out, but there was a car left by the entrance that they had just passed. Neither paid much attention to it. “Oh, I think that was definitely a pout,” she teased, but seeing the look on his face warned her something was definitely wrong. Before she could say anything else, she was in his arms as a loud explosion rocked them off their feet. Sloan shielded her with his body as they hit the ground hard.

Her ears roared, her vision was fuzzy, and she couldn’t catch her breath. Even during all that, her head turned to see Don and his men running toward them screaming something. Something blue caught her eye, the sedan from the other day, and then it was gone as Sloan’s face appeared in front of her. His mouth moved, but all she could hear was the annoying roar in her ears.

******

Sloan knew she was hurt. Motherfucker! Quickly grabbing his phone, he put it to his ear. “Get everyone to the warehouse now, and bring Slade!” he ordered into the phone before tossing it to the ground. His eyes never left Becky, who lay underneath him, her eyes appearing unfocused.

“We called an ambulance,” Don yelled. “You better move. It might blow up again.”

Turning slightly, Sloan watched the parked car they had passed burn, the heat so intense he felt it heating the bottom of his boots. He looked back down at Becky.

“Becky?” Sloan leaned into her vision again. “We need to move. Can I pick you up? Where are you hurt?”

She just stared at his lips for a few minutes before even attempting to answer. “I’m okay,” she finally managed. Her hearing was probably fucked from the explosion.

“The hell you are.” Sloan moved off her. Even though he had taken his weight off her, he shielded her from harm. “But I have to move you away from this.”

When she didn’t answer, but just lay there staring at him, worry pulsed through him. He wished to hell Slade would get there. Kneeling, he bent down and gently picked her up. He slowed when she grimaced, but continued. Even for him the heat was intense. He knew he had some damage because his back was hurting like a son of a bitch, but he would heal. Becky was his only concern.

Motorcycles and pounding feet hitting the pavement indicated that his team had arrived. “Where’s Slade?” he shouted, not once taking his eyes off her.

“Jesus, Sloan.” Duncan stopped beside him, his eyes on Sloan’s back. “You’ve got metal in your back.”

Sloan laid Becky down, ignoring Duncan and the pain in his back. Slade slid in on his knees and began checking Becky, who kept pointing at Sloan.

“What is it?” Sloan leaned down, wondering why she kept pointing.

“She wants me to check you first.” Slade touched her neck with his hands, but she kept pushing him away.

“I’m fine,” she said loudly. “You’re bleeding.”

Sloan knelt down, grabbing her hands so Slade could finish looking her over. “As soon as he’s done checking you, he can check me over.” Sloan leaned down, trying to calm her. “I’m vampire, you’re not.”

That seemed to calm her, but he kept her small hands in his. “She okay?”

“I think so, but she’s obviously lost some hearing, which should come back.” Slade’s exam moved down to her stomach. He pushed into her skin while watching her face. “How close were you?” When Sloan didn’t respond, Slade looked up at him.

“A few steps away,” Sloan replied, anger forcing the words out.

“I think we need to get you both to the hospital.” Slade leaned back so he could look around at Sloan’s back. “We need to make sure nothing is broken that could heal badly with you, and she should really get a CAT scan.”

“No.” Becky must have either gotten some hearing back or she was a damn good lip-reader. “I don’t have insurance. I’m fine.” She went to sit up, but Slade stopped her.

“She needs to go,” Slade told Sloan. “That was a hell of a blast at close range.”

The ambulance had arrived, as did the police. Sloan had to get his anger in check. He would find whoever was responsible, but not today. Duncan and Damon stood close to him waiting for orders, while the rest looked for evidence. They all knew their jobs; he didn’t have to worry about that. The paramedics were waiting for Slade’s orders and Slade was waiting for Sloan’s.

Looking down at Becky’s pale face, he knew she needed to go and by the stares he was getting at his back, so did he, and that pissed him off. Whoever had done this could have killed her, possibly him, but he was one hard son of a bitch to kill.

“Make sure no one goes near that car until you Warriors have checked it over. After that, the police can do what they want,” Sloan ordered those around him, knowing that the rest would get word. “Whoever is behind this will be caught by us.” He looked them each in the eye.

Duncan, who had received a phone call and had walked away, returned to the group, his face a mask of rage.

“Looks like we weren’t the only ones hit.” Duncan cursed, his eyes going back to the car and then to Sloan. “Other training centers in a hundred-mile radius were also hit.”

“Looks like someone doesn’t want more Warriors running about kicking ass,” Sid hissed.

“Was anyone hurt?” Sloan asked, his eyes narrowing when one of the paramedics made Becky moan in pain. Walking over, he knocked the guy out of the way and lifted Becky in his arms before he repeated his question to Duncan.

“No, but one building was destroyed.” Duncan glanced at the car that was still burning, but the fire department was working on getting it under control. “The rest were like this. A car near the building. Like a warning.”

Sloan nodded, then turned and headed to the ambulance with Becky in his arms. The paramedics had to run to get the stretcher back in place before he arrived with Becky.

“Put me down, Sloan.” Becky frowned up at him. “You’re hurt.”

Sloan glanced at her. “Are you calling me weak?”

“No, but you have stuff sticking out of your back.” Becky’s worried voice did something to him, something he hadn’t felt in such a long time. “Slade, tell him to put me down.”

“I did. He won’t listen.” Slade sneered, the doctor in him not liking what he was seeing.

“Don’t make my redhead ’tude come out,” Becky warned Sloan, then cringed.

Sloan slowed. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” she replied, but he knew she was lying. “And I don’t have insurance. I can’t afford to go to the hospital. I’ll be fine. Lost my hearing for a minute, but it’s coming back already.”

Quickening his steps, Sloan carried her into the ambulance and laid her gently on the stretcher. He then turned to the paramedics as Slade climbed in.

“What the fuck are we waiting for?” Sloan cursed, not in the mood to fuck around.

Slade banged his fist on the wall of the ambulance twice. The ambulance sirens started just as they began to move.

Becky turned, looking up at Sloan. “Do vampires have a high pain tolerance?”

“No.” A slow smile spread across his face. “I’m just trying to impress you.”

“Well, it’s working.” Becky grinned back. “Here I am with a little hearing loss lying on the stretcher and you have glass and metal sticking out of your back.”

“Just part of the job,” Sloan replied, then glanced at Slade who stared at him with an odd expression. He sent the doc a silent message, warning him if this conversation left the ambulance, he would be a dead man.