Truth and Humility (47 page)

“You can’t just squeal up the driveway like Bo and Luke Duke,” Danny admonished from the right.  Austin was in as much of a hurry as she was.

“I know, I know, Challenger not Charger,” Austin said absently, but his mind was on getting to the Bennett house.

“Cut the engine here and coast to a stop at that recess in the trees.  I’d rather my parents sleep through this if at all possible.”

Austin’s eyes sparkled in the muted glow of the dash as he did just that.  “You don’t think they’d take too kindly to a Cahill sneaking through the house at all hours?”  Her raised brow made him smile.  “Wouldn’t be my first time.”  Then her jaw dropped.  “Thirteen.  Derek snuck me into his room to look at some porn magazines.   Everyone was asleep.”

“You sound proud of that,” she chided with a tisk.  “And I was just in the next room.”

Something about that made him go hard, though she had to be, what…eight at the time?

The car coasted to a silent stop.  Tension mounted.  Danny began to chew the inside of her lip again.  “I just hope this woman who wants us dead isn’t still in there.”

When she reached for the door handle, Austin took her by the wrist.  “Remember, I go in first while you hide outside.”

“I know, I know.  Wait for the all-clear, got it.”  Then she mumbled as she exited, “It’s disturbing enough that you know your way around without my help.”

Once to the house, Danny pulled him around to the back entrance and put her key in the lock.  He entered first, then pointed to the shadows of the garage where she’d agreed to wait.  The house was silent, asleep, save the subdued ticking of the kitchen wall clock.

Outside, Danny waited a few seconds by the garage, just long enough for Austin to move far enough into the house to miss her rebellious move.  No way in hell was she waiting around like some weak-kneed victim in a horror film.

In her jammies, she stealthily made her way around the front of the house, highly alert of all sounds, all movement around her.  Rubbing her hands together, she leveled up with Derek’s dormered window and took the front of the house in three long strides.  On the roof now, she worked his bedroom window open and slipped silently inside.

This was something she and her brother had done countless times as children.  In fact, the wear-and-tear on the windowsill and rooftop overhang required constant maintenance in order for their midnight excursions to remain a secret.  Derek’s room wasn’t above their parent’s bedroom like hers, therefore was the safer route.

But at the moment, Danny didn’t feel safe.  A quick, jerky sweep under the bed produced no results other than a pounding heart.  Her eyes flew to the closet.  Could someone be lurking inside?  Dside?&nbefiling the sanctity of this room with their murderous intent?  The thought made her angry and she turned the knob, stepped back quickly as the narrow door swung open.  There was no room for a person.  Derek’s clothes hung on two rows of rods, shoes and climbing gear piled underneath.

A hand snaked over her mouth from behind.  For a split second, she thought she would be taken down on the spot.  But the bulge of the arm around her middle, the solid muscle at her back, was unmistakably Austin’s.

Holy Mary Mother of God.  She’d nearly peed her pants.  When he released her, she twisted, glared at him.  But he was the one with murder in his eyes as he silently indicated they retreat to her room.

Once there, he closed the door behind him as she glided to the window, checked the front yard for intruders.  His big hand curled around her upper arm and yanked.  She careened into his chest and was suddenly involved in a searing mouth-to-mouth.

When he’d had a good taste of her, Austin eased up on the pressure as his jeans tightened painfully beneath the fly.  The woman frustrated him beyond measure for a variety of reasons.  “I have a mind to turn you over my knee,” he whispered hotly against her mouth.

At that point, she’d agree to anything.  “Okay,” she answered dumbly and was rewarded with a pained groan as he put his forehead to hers.

This was wrong in so many ways.  Him, a Cahill, molesting a Bennett as her parents slept ignorantly in the bed directly below them.  Which is why it felt so damned hot, he deduced as he released her, stepped back.  He had to get a hold of himself.  But it was damned hard when she looked so stirred up, like a woman who’d just been brought to the brink then left to simmer.  “Keep looking at me like that, Bennett” he warned dangerously, “and I’ll throw you down right here.”

Would he now?  Danny licked her lips in anticipation.  “You started it, Cahill.”

His hand came out when she took a step toward him, warning her to keep her distance while his other reached down to adjust his painful erection.  Shit, but it was uncomfortable.  “You started it when I watched you climb this damned house after I told you to stay put.”

“I’ve never been accused of adhering to the rules.”

Austin almost laughed at that.  He would have if he weren’t so freakishly turned on.  “You’re just lucky our stalker isn’t here.  You could have been attacked and I wouldn’t have been able to stop her.”  A nod indicated the carnage behind her.  “It looks like she ransacked your room after you left.”

“No,” Danny responded, still recovering from his tactical assault and the ensuing verbal foreplay.  “This is how I left it.”

His brows came down.  “You did that to your own bed?”

“Nightmare,” she reminded him absently as she gathered the blankets from the floor.  “That’s what incited my spontaneous trip to the river.”
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That sobered him up slightly.  Without a word, he moved to the other side of the bed, tugged the fitted sheet back into place.  The room was dark with nothing but slight moon glow coming through the windows, but he soaked in the details of it while they performed the mundane chore of making her bed.

The furniture was white, girlie.  He pictured her doing homework at the small desk behind him, pulling clothes out of the chest of drawers to get dressed for school.  Pictures littered a pegboard and he’d bet plenty of them held memories of excursions with her brother.  There were way too many posters of some ripped dude dangling precariously from insanely high cliff walls.

Those would simply have to go.

Danny fanned the top sheet and he caught the corners.  Together they smoothed it down.  Her gaze regarded him as he worked, sharing a simple chore she’d always done on her own.

It was then her eyes began to mist over as her chest weighted with the hard-hit realization.

She was going to marry this man.  Feud or no feud.

His eyes met hers across the bed when she slowly handed him a pillow.  “What’s wrong?” he asked, startled by the emotion he saw there.

Holding his gaze, she finally answered.  “I love you, too, Cahill.”

She hadn’t known what to expect, but the cocky grin she got in return wasn’t it.

“Well, that’s pretty obvious,” he replied with a swagger to his words.

She angled her head.  “Is it now?”

“Sure.”  He sent her a wink as he bent to smooth out his perfect hospital corner.  “After all, you took on, let’s see…” he straightened and counted with his fingers, “Two fire departments, a dozen cops, a dangling death trap, and your father.  All to save my sorry ass.”  Her answering grin was wide.  “Which, I just realized, I’ve never thanked you for.”

Danny choked on a laugh, put a hand to her mouth to muffle the noise.  “You were too busy firing shots at me as you lay there bleeding out.”

His smile faded, was replaced by something warm.  “Then I’ll thank you properly.  Soon.  When I’m not within firing range of your family.”

Her eyes moved over him appreciatively.  Such a big man in her small – and still in many ways – adolescent bedroom.  Youthful country charm mixed with yellow and white accents and a whole lot of worship for a world famous free-soloist.  That Austin’s stunningly gorgeous face and body could curtail the appeal of her beloved John Bachar posters …well, it was epic.

She sighed, regarded the largest poster in the room. 
Sorry, John.

Austin went still with jealousy.  “Eyes forward, yes forwBennett.”  After a moment, her shoulders shook with mirth, which didn’t help his mood.  “Am I going to have to start climbing rocks to keep your attention?”

Danny put pillows in place, shook her head.  “You don’t have the right build.  Too big and bulky, too weighty.”

His head jerked back.  “You calling me fat?”

Hers jerked back as well, mocking him.  “You calling me blind?”  Her quick response placated him somewhat.  She tisked, shook her head.  “And I thought you’d been paying attention at the bar that night.  Climbers avoid too much muscle mass.  It slows them down.”

“I’m not much bigger than him.”  Austin jerked his chin toward the poster.

Silly man.  “John Bachar is...or
was
...the best of the best in free-solo.  Nothing slowed him down.  And if you change one thing about this...” her brows creased with pained worship as her hand indicated his physique.  Austin crossed his arms, waited.  “...
incredible
gift from God...I will knock you out.”

That’s better
, his smile said.  “So I take it this John guy is retired.”

“Nope.  Dead.”  Danny settled onto the covers, crossed her ankles.

A sick feeling entered Austin’s stomach as he settled next to her.  “How?”  But he knew her answer before she verbalized it.  “Never mind.  I don’t want to know.”

Danny settled beneath his arm, smacked her lips.  “You don’t want to know.”

Some time later, they still occupied her room in wakeful silence.  Waiting.  Their first attempt to share the double bed ended with his hand up her shirt and hers down the back of his jeans while they played tonsil-hockey without a thought to who might intrude.  Now, she occupied the bed alone while he sprawled out in the corner chair by the closet.

Danny took note of the time, whispered, “Nothing from Brett’s phone yet?”

“Nope.”

“I don’t think she’s coming back.”

His arm flopped from beneath the weight of his head.  “Maybe not,” he whispered in reply.  “I’ve been thinking...she’s been in my house, too.”

“How do you know?”

“Just some things out of place, signs of someone rifling through drawers that no one else would touch but me.  And the library door...Ruth said it was already closed when she found you in my bed.”

Danny swallowed.  “And you think this person could have been...watching me?  Even then?”

Austin didn’t like the possibility, or the fact that she was so scared.  Didn’t she know he wouldn’t let anyone hurt her?  “I think it’s time to call Mac, let him go ahead and call the police.”

Just as she was about to agree, the floor creaked in the hall.  In her peripheral vision, Danny saw his body draw up with tension just as hers did.  The doorknob made a small noise as it slowly turned.  By the time the door opened a bare crack, Austin was already behind it, ready to spring.  How he could move so quietly for a man his size stymied her for a bare instant.  But then the door opened wider and a shadow crept over the threshold.

Playing her part as bait, Danny lay there stone still.  Her blood flowed loudly in her ears.

A feminine squeak escaped through his hand when Austin grabbed the woman from behind.  Without hesitation, he swept her feet and had her pinned to the floor where she struggled blindly for a moment.

Recognition dawned.  Danny’s eyes widened in horror and she sprung from the bed.  “Austin, that’s my mother!”

The bedside lamp came on.  Austin blanched at the painful intrusion to his pupils, but backed off immediately when he noted the gray-haired woman beneath his weight.

Mary stammered as she rose to her elbows in her nightgown and robe.  “What…what in the Lord’s name is going on?”  She squeaked again as big hands closed around her arms and performed a powerful hoisting that flip-flopped her stomach.

“Hell, Mrs. Bennett, I’m sorry.” 
Shit!
Austin thought, cringing as he set the small woman gently to her feet.  Not exactly how he planned to worm his way into the heart of Danny’s mother.

“Mom, are you okay?”  Danny looked her over, straightened the collar of her robe and generally fussed over her with a thoroughness born of pure panic.  “We thought you were an intruder!  I’m so sorry, we were a bit jumpy and nervous and then you were being so quiet and we thought…”