Summer Kisses (220 page)

There he had his answer. He had to keep his distance and his head on straight, and forget about the strain causing his jeans to feel too tight in the crotch. He turned and looked down at her. “Where’s Luka?”

She pointed ahead. “On the roller coaster. He’s next to the little blonde. It seems I’m just a tad too large for the ride.” She smiled.

He didn’t return the gesture. There was nothing large about Katrina. “Right.”

Her brows pulled together. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing.” He shook his head, feeling as if he were under a microscope.

Her eyes narrowed further. “I don’t think it was nothing. You looked so sad.”

He wasn’t about to tell her about his personal demons no matter how sincere she seemed. He walked four feet to the roller coaster’s guard railing. A moment later she stood next to him.

“What were you thinking about when I sat down?”

“A bunch of kids ran through here unsupervised. If their parents knew how their world could crash without notice—” The words had tumbled out of his mouth. He didn’t want to put her on guard. Damn, he was tired.

“If someone like Gorgon got their hands on them,” she finished his thought.

“Yes.”

The delight that radiated from her face a moment ago disappeared. He saw the understanding in her eyes before she lowered them again. “I know.”

She was putting on a good act. Thinking about the deeds she must’ve witnessed. Disgust left his mouth sour and his skin now crawled at her closeness. He wanted to move away, but he stood his ground. How did she live with herself? “Of course you do.”

He looked down his nose at her and ignored the hurt in her eyes. “Answer one question. Why Susie? Why did you save her?”

“I had to. I couldn’t let her remain behind, with him. She reminded me of me when I was—” Katrina bit her lip. Tears clung to the edges of her eyes as she backed away.

What wasn’t she saying? Will drew a breath of night air. An amber moon sat on the mountains to the east.

Susie reminded Katrina of herself? He didn’t see the resemblance. Susie was blonde, fair. Katrina was just the opposite. Auburn hair and had a bronze complexion.

The roller coaster in front of him slowed around its last winding turn.

Will turned and saw Katrina had taken a seat on the bench again. The pink and blue bags lay beside her. Her eyes were lowered to her lap and her fingers worked the hem of her blouse. Was she ashamed of her actions?

A tear fell to her cheek and she swiped the moisture away.

He wasn’t the forgiving type, but his heart mellowed as he watched her. Fuck, he needed a stiff drink.

Under the blinking lights, he checked his watch. He needed to check in with Gary again in about an hour.

Will crossed the short distance to stand in front of Katrina. “The ride is slowing down. I think it’s time we head back to the motel.”

Katrina snatched the bags off the bench, stood, brushed by him and stalked toward the ride. The moment Luka cleared the exit gate, she clamped onto his hand and marched toward the park’s exit. She never looked back to see if he followed. Will had a feeling she didn’t care.

The night air rushed into the cab, feathering Will’s hair. He drew in and exhaled several long, shallow breaths in an attempt to weaken the angst prickling his gut. Silence reigned in the SUV. Not even Luka spoke.

In the rearview mirror, Will noted the kid’s lashes rested against his cheeks and his head lolled to the side. That explained Luka’s silence. He darted a glance at Katrina from the corner of his eye. Wearing a frown, she remained a statue, leaning against the passenger door. Probably sensing he was watching her, she folded her arms over her chest and turned to stare out her side window.

Will stretched his fingers one by one and tightened his grip on the steering wheel. Damn. He hadn’t meant to alienate her. He needed to stay on her good side so she’d talk, or make her move on him. Those boys at the park reminded him of his friends and a loss he would never get over. He’d let that memory and his loathing for the people she associated with get the best of him.

Katrina’s safety belt clinked the moment his tires crunched the pebbles covering the motel’s parking lot, and before he could turn the key and cut the engine, she’d already jumped from the vehicle, shot around its rear end and opened the back door.

He stepped from the vehicle as Katrina lifted a drowsy Luka out of the child’s safety seat and stalked off, leaving the back door for his attention.

Silently, Will unlocked their room and once inside, she back-kicked the door closed with enough force to shake the jamb. A half-second later he heard the deadlock slide into place and the safety chain rattle.

Well, he guessed he didn’t have to worry about getting seduced tonight. He shrugged. Just as well, he wouldn’t be at his best. He was too damn tired. He unlocked his door and hit the light switch in time to see the door between their rooms close. Again, he shrugged.

After dead-bolting his own door, he checked the connecting door. It wasn’t latched, just sitting within the jamb. With his ear to the door, Will heard water running and Luka’s protests at having to take a bath. Figuring he had a few minutes to himself, he decided to wash off the last twenty-four hours of grime and slip into clean clothes.

The hot stream smacking him in the face and whooshing down his frame was exactly what he needed to clear the sleepy fog from his head. A few minutes later when he stepped out of the shower, he knew he’d be good for another hour, maybe two before sleep would call to him again.

Will slipped on his jeans and stopped by the adjoining door and listened again. He heard splashing and Katrina’s laughter mixed with Luka’s. The disdain poking him earlier during his and Katrina’s conversation at the park slipped another notch. In many ways Katrina was just like any other woman.

With that thought, he headed outside, needing to clear his head of the many cute snapshots of Katrina he witnessed today, especially the one as she swirled her pink tongue around the cotton candy. He focused on checking the grounds and he had to check in with Gary before closing his eyes for a few hours.

He circled the motel twice, inhaling the scent of fresh cut hay before taking a stance in the shadows near the corner of the motel and plucking his phone from his pocket.

“About time you checked in.” Gary must’ve been sitting on his phone because he answered on the second ring. “What the hell have you been doing? I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for the last twenty minutes. Your phone went to voicemail. I thought maybe something happened.”

Had he been in the shower that long? “So you do worry about me?” Will smiled, imagining the cherry-red embarrassment rising above Gary’s starched golf shirt’s collar. “Has Kyle checked in?”

“Yeah. Both he and Jolene are fine. Boy, do I have news.”

Will heard a thud and knew the noise was caused by Gary’s case file hitting the desk. The guy carried his papers everywhere.

“She was telling the truth.”

Will pushed off the wall and headed toward the road. Except for the tree toads chirping and the hum of the motel’s rooftop sign, the night was as still as a graveyard at midnight. His grip on the phone tightened. “You’re not pulling my goddamn leg, are you? She really killed Gorgon?”

“She tried.”

“He’s alive? What the hell happened?” Will edged the corn field, scanning its murky, narrow rows for prowling silhouettes.

“Kyle couldn’t go into details but he’s in hell’s kitchen. Katrina did a number on Gorgon. She sliced and diced him pretty good and left him for dead. He’s in Mercy Hospital, in critical condition. I have people in place there already, trying to get more information. Last report, it’s still touch and go. Yegor and the Mrs. are there too, keeping a watchful eye over the bastard.”

Gary drew a quick breath. “You were right to get her out of here. The street grapevine is already hot. Old man Novokoff didn’t wait for the outcome. He’s offered a five hundred thousand dollar reward to anyone who brings his grandson back to him unharmed and another five hundred for Katrina’s head.”

The small boulder at Will’s feet became Katrina’s head. Her glossed-over eyes stared accusingly at him. Some might not agree with him, but he didn’t think the woman deserved that type of ending. She had redeemed herself somewhat by saving Susie and trying to rid the world of Gorgon. “Christ, the whole underworld will be looking for her.”

“I got a feeling if Gorgon kicks, that reward will double. We’re not only going to have every slimeball looking for them, but also every bounty hunter who has financial problems, and you know there are a lot of them out there who don’t give a rat’s ass about right or wrong. They’re in the profession for the money.”

Gary was right. A couple million dollars was a hell of a lot of cash. Hell, they wouldn’t have to kill Katrina for the reward. Just drag her ass back to New Jersey and throw her at Yegor Novokoff’s feet. The old man had trained his son in the art of torture. Yegor would take great pleasure in ending Katrina’s life himself.

Will’s mind spun. How in the hell was he going to keep Katrina and Luka safe? His gut told him the net meant for Katrina was already crisscrossing the country and getting larger by the hour. He stared at the long, dark road heading west.

“Will, are you there?”

He blinked. “Yeah. She turned against the Novokoffs for a reason.”

“That’s what I was thinking. Find out why. Offer her a deal. Make her believe we can only help her if she helps us. She’s the key to shutting down their whole fuckin’ operation.”

“I’m already on it. I’ll call you when I know something,” he said, turning toward the motel. For three long years his team had worked on this case. Most days they took two steps forward and three back. Now, in under twenty-four hours, hell broke free and the icy grip round his heart began to melt.

Inside, he knocked three times before opening the connecting door and stepping into the dimly lit room. Katrina led a sleepy-eyed Luka, dressed in his PJs, out of the bathroom. “I need to talk to you.”

Noting his frown, Katrina’s step faltered. She knew something was up.

She grabbed Luka by the shoulders and ushered him toward the bed. As she passed by Will, she whispered, “Give me a minute.”

The boy was an innocent. “Sure. Night, kiddo.”

“Can we go swimming tomorrow, Uncle Will?” Luka asked on the tail of a yawn.

“We’ll talk in the morning.”

“K’ay.”

Will nodded to Katrina and backed through the door, leaving it ajar a few inches. A minute later he heard Katrina guide Luka through a child’s prayer. What kind of woman could lie with the devil and yet teach her child God’s word?

The woman confused the hell out of him.

Will put his foot on the edge of the bed and tucked his pants leg up over his gun. He unsnapped his leg holster just as he heard the door behind him creak open. With his gun in hand, he let his pants leg drop and turned to face Katrina whose worried gaze dropped to his weapon.

She pushed the door behind her to its jamb. “What’s wrong?”

“I have some news,” he said, cutting to the chase.

“You’ve found us a home?” Her face beamed with hope as she stepped toward him.

Will stiffened. She was anxious to disappear. Now he understood why. He’d seen Gorgon’s handiwork. Tossing the leg strap onto the dresser, he tucked his gun into his belt. “Not yet.”

Katrina brushed back her hair. “Then what’s going on? You look worried. What’s happened?”

The tiny room closed in on him, along with the scent of sunshine and cotton candy, as she stepped toward him. Will detested the hot rush that Katrina’s closeness sent coursing through his veins, but he held his ground anyway, folding his arms across his chest. “We want to offer you a deal.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” Her brow furrowed under her fringe of bangs. “A deal for what?”

“We’ll put you and Luka into the witness protection program in exchange for information and your testimony against Gorgon and his family.”

“Gorgon is dead.”

Will shook his head while gauging her reaction to the news he was about to share. “No. He’s alive.”

Nicole’s hand covered her mouth and she backed away until the wall stopped her retreat.

“No. He can’t be.” Her throat strained against the rising, hot bile. Feeling like a caged animal about to be slaughtered, she searched for an escape. Will stood between her and the outside exit. She edged toward the adjoining door. She wouldn’t leave without Luka.

“Katrina.” Will’s stern look warned her not to run.

Her lungs burned. She labored to drag in quick breaths, but even those weren’t enough to keep the darkness from edging in on her.

Will stepped forward and a moment before her knees gave out, he caught her by the elbows.

“Come here. Sit down.” His strong arm encircled her waist and provided support while he helped her to the bed. The mattress springs creaked as she sank onto its edge.

“He can’t be alive. I kill—” Nicole’s cry caught in the vise closing her throat and her hands trembled so badly she couldn’t seem to fit them together. She shook her head in disbelief. “It can’t be true. Gorgon can’t be alive. There was so much blood.” Gorgon’s blood had seeped into the bedroom’s hardwood floor, overflowing the cervices. Its phosphorus smell haunted her memory. Bile rumpled in her stomach and caused her to blurb. “Oh, my God.” She could feel the stickiness of his blood between her fingers. She scrubbed her hands across her lap, first the bottoms and then the tops. She pleaded with glistening eyes before saying, “I swear. You need to believe me. I saw him. He was dead.”

“I’m told you did a number on him. Word is Gorgon still might not make it.” Will studied her for five rapid heartbeats before his fingers curled into fists along his sides.

Was he mad at her? Because she didn’t finish the bastard off
?

Will wavered in his stance.

Was he going to hold her and console her? God, she wanted to feel safe and she had a feeling she’d have no fears within his embrace.

Instead of stepping toward her, he turned on his boot heel and crossed to the dresser, tapping the wood with his knuckles before looking at her again. “There’s more.”