Vision of Darkness (6 page)

CHAPTER 6

Should have found a cozy bed and breakfast, you dumb jackass.

Alex sighed, pillowed his hands behind his head, and watched the wind abuse the rain flap on his tent. He could be relaxing with a warm cup of coffee in front of a fire, a book on his lap. A good thriller à la John Sandford or Lawrence Block. He hadn’t read for pleasure in so long, it’d feel good to lose himself in someone else’s problems for a while.

Or, better yet, a woman on his lap. A particular blue-eyed waitress would definitely make him forget all his problems.

Thunder cracked overhead. He pressed his palms to his eyes.

He could still go find a B&B, but the idea of breaking down camp now in the wind and rain didn’t hold much appeal. And staying in town equaled a bigger headache than camping. People were too damn nosy. He’d rather deal with a no-holds thunderstorm than a bunch of hopeless gossips.

Of course, if he left town, he wouldn’t have to worry about gossips. No reason for him to stay here, freezing his ass off alone in a tent in the middle of Bum Fuck Egypt, Maine, when he had a perfectly good condo back in Boston. Pru obviously didn’t want him here, and yet he was hanging around like a frickin’ stalker.

Hah. Look up the word masochist in the dictionary, and there’d be a picture of Alex Brennan’s ugly mug.

He could call Nick and unload some of the shit weighing on his chest, but Nick would probably say he was punishing himself for perceived misdoings and yadda, yadda, yadda. Alex could hear the psychoanalysis now. He’d tell Nick to shut the fuck up. It’d be as satisfying as any therapy session.

Alex smiled, reached for his phone, and froze.

A shadow loomed outside his tent.

He realized it too late. The door burst inward, the zipper releasing with a snap. A hand gripped his ankle like a manacle and yanked him out into the storm. For a long, stunned moment, he lay on his back, rain pelting his face as he blinked up at the hulk of a man backlit by flashes of lightning.

Then self-preservation kicked in. He rolled, twisting his ankle free, and sprung to his feet. Hulk roared and launched at him. He dove to the right and Hulk flattened his tent.

“Jesus!” Alex swung around, ready to fight, his heart pounding in a hole in his chest, the sound of blood rushing in his ears blocking out everything else.

Probably smarter to run, but his boots were inside the tent underneath Hulk, who was up on his hands and knees, shaking his head.

Closest building was Pru’s lighthouse, at least a quarter of a mile down the rocky beach. He could make a run for it, but Hulk had longer legs and better traction in work boots than he had in wool socks.

Hulk lumbered to his feet with a scowl, swaying a little. Now would be the time to run. Alex edged a step backwards.

Wrong, wrong, wrong
, his inner cynic screamed.
Coward! Pussy-faced coward!

Alex cursed under his breath and stood his ground. It just wasn’t in him to run. Maybe he was suicidal. God knew that ran in his family too.

“You’re trespassing!” Hulk shouted over the wind. “Dad doesn’t like trespassers!”

Okay, so this guy wasn’t the sharpest knife in the dishwasher. Alex held up his hands in a peacemaking gesture. “Lookit, buddy, I don’t want to fight. I didn’t know this was private property. I’ll leave. All you had to do was ask.”

Hulk’s face screwed up as if he was having trouble processing the words. “You’re trespassing.”

“Yeah, I get that now. I’m sorry. Lemme get my stuff together …” Alex crouched down and reached for his broken tent. There was no way he’d win in a hand-to-hand fight with this guy, but maybe if he got hold of his gun, he’d stand a chance at getting out of this situation intact.

Hulk dropped a shoulder and plowed into him, the blow like a freight train to the stomach. Alex managed to stay on his feet and used his smaller size to slip out of Hulk’s grasp. He made it three steps before he bent double, gagging on the surge of bile.

Hulk advanced.

Alex let his body fall forward, caught himself on his hands and tumbled into a line of bushes along the edge of the campsite, leaving Hulk with nothing but a handful of air. Just like the good old days in sniper school, he kept his face, body, and heels flat to the ground, letting the little bit of shrubbery provide cover. When lightning flashed, he paused and used the second of illumination to get his bearings. He’d crawled about twenty feet. Hulk stood in the same spot where he had dropped into the bushes, pounding at the shrubs with his foot, screaming and—

Shit, was the guy crying?

Alex wasn’t about to stick around and find out. Inner cynic be damned, he was outta here. He crawled through mud and over rocks as the storm exploded and cold rain lashed his back like stinging pellets of shrapnel. Just like Hindu Kush, without all the snow—

No. He slammed the door shut on those memories. Afghanistan had been just as bad as Iraq and if he let himself go there, he’d freeze up. He had to stay in the present and get away from the crazy asshole still stomping through the underbrush looking for him.

Headlights flashed over his ravaged campsite as a Jeep screeched to a halt next to his car. A woman jumped out, dressed in jeans and a red rain slicker. The wind whipped off her hood and sent black hair flying. Alex’s heart made a freefall dive into his stomach, then bungeed back into his throat.

Pru. What the fuck was she doing out here?

She cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, but her voice was lost in the storm. He couldn’t let Hulk hear her. The guy had a good hundred-fifty pounds and well over a foot on her. She wouldn’t stand a chance in hell against him if he decided to attack.

Alex got to his feet, but stayed low, using trees and rocks for cover as he made his way in a wide circle, coming up behind Pru’s Jeep. She stood in the high beams, making herself an easy target, calling into the wind.

Dammit, Pru, don’t draw his attention.

He couldn’t call her name. The wind would carry whatever he shouted away from her. He hated to frighten her, but he saw no choice. He darted out from behind the Jeep and snagged her around the waist, clamping a hand over her mouth to muffle her frightened shriek as he dragged her out of the pool of headlights.

“Shh, it’s okay,” he said in her ear. “It’s Alex.” She sagged against him as he opened the Jeep’s door. He lifted her inside and climbed in behind.

“What the hell’s the matter with you?” She shoved herself into the passenger seat to make room for him, then beat on his arm with her fist. “Sneaking up on a woman in the middle of a storm is not the best way to endear yourself to her! Idiot!”

He dodged another blow and felt around for the gearshift. He bumped the lever for the wipers and they sped up, squeaking as they swiped at the rain. “Can you beat me up later? We have to get outta here. There’s a fucking maniac running around out there.”

Her fist stopped mid-flight. “Oh. Oh, God.” She pushed open the passenger side door and jumped out before he could snag her jacket.

“Dammit.” He slammed a hand into the steering wheel and shoved open his door, catching the sleeve of her slicker. She shook out of the coat and kept going, rain soaking her diner uniform, pasting the polo shirt to her breasts as she skidded down the hill.

“Pru!” He tossed the coat aside and went after her. “Jesus, are you insane? Get back in the car.”

She ignored him. “Wade! Wade, you come here this instant. God, your brother’s going to kill me. Wade!”

Alex skidded to a halt beside her and watched the Hulk’s shoulders stiffen, then fold in as he dropped his head like a chastised child. “You know that maniac?”

“Don’t call him that. Wade,” she said again and the huge man approached in reluctant, shuffling steps. She pointed at the Jeep. “You are in so much trouble. In the car. Now!”

Wade obeyed, but glared daggers at Alex as he passed.

Once Wade was safely in the car, she whirled and poked a finger at Alex’s chest. “What exactly are you doing out here in a storm, in a tent, in the middle of October? Are you out of your flippin’ mind?”

He opened his mouth to reply. She cut him off with an impatient gesture. “Don’t answer that. Get your stuff, get in your car, and follow me.” She stalked toward her Jeep, rain plastering her hair to her head.

Alex watched her go, feeling small and put in his place. Admiration mixed with lust—a dangerous concoction. He usually tried to avoid women he admired when it came to sex. Too complicated. If he admired them, respected them, it made it harder to walk away unscathed.

He shouldn’t be so turned on by her temper. No doubt she’d skin him once they got someplace dry and warm, and yet he was so eager to follow he tripped over his own feet trying to get his stuff packed up.

Yup, no doubt about it. He was a masochist in every sense of the word.

***

God save her from testosterone!

Pru fumed as she navigated the hill to the lighthouse, her fingers opening and closing around the steering wheel. Wade, she’d deal with. His outbursts weren’t entirely his fault. He just wasn’t smart enough to control his impulses. But Alex—sneaking up behind her, ordering her around like he had a right? She should have left him on the beach to face the storm like the idiot macho man he thought he was. Serve him right to let Mother Nature have a go at him. Except Wade had destroyed his tent and, even as satisfying as it would have been, she couldn’t wittingly leave him without shelter.

“Damn that man,” she muttered. It was becoming a mantra when it came to Alex.

Behind her, the lights of his ostentatious Lexus bounced over the unpaved road. If she looked hard enough, she could see an outline of his broad shoulders and square face behind the steering wheel.

Strange that he would drive a Lexus. He didn’t strike her as the type. Too flashy. Then again, she didn’t really know him, did she? He could come off as modest and low key at first, but then turn out to be exactly like her ex, Owen. Arrogant and fussy, always worried about the bottom line.

Ugh. Owen, the presumptuous ass, made her head hurt. She shoved him out of her mind and glanced in the rear-view again.

Wade, hunkered in the backseat, lifted his miserable gaze to meet hers in the mirror. “I’m in trouble.”     

“Uh, yeah,” she said. “Why did you attack Alex?”

“The Green Lady told me to.”

She nearly swerved off the road in a knee-jerk reaction. “What?” She straightened the car and shook her head. “Wade. Tell me the truth.”

“I’m sorry! I didn’t know he was your friend,” he said, his eyes widening and filling with tears. He had a streak of mud down the side of his face that smeared when he wiped away the tears with his sleeve. “I thought he was trespassing. She said he was trespassing and Dad doesn’t like trespassers!”

Technically, Alex had been trespassing, but that was beside the point.

“Okay, it’s all right,” she said. “But do you remember the last time you went after someone?”

He stared down at his lap. “I got put in jail ‘cause I hit Rhett with a chair at Buzzy’s. He needed to get hit, but they put me in jail anyway. I didn’t like it.”

“Right.” Pru used the turn signal for Alex’s benefit, since the turn off could be hard to see, and steered the Jeep into her driveway. She wondered if Alex’s city car would make it up the steep hill in this rain or if she’d end up pulling him out of the ditch. She checked the rear-view. He seemed to be doing all right, so she turned her attention back to the conversation.

“You can’t go after people like that, Wade. No matter who tells you to. You could hurt someone bad and then you’ll go back to jail for a long time.”

His lower lip trembled. “Do you have to tell J.J.?”

“Yes.” He looked so miserable that she added, “In the morning. We’ll just let everyone get some sleep tonight.” And it’d give her time to talk Alex out of pressing charges. Maybe. Hopefully. She’d just explain Wade’s situation and if Alex was as reasonable as she thought, they could brush the whole matter under the carpet and forget about it. Of course, John Jr. wasn’t going to want Wade living in the carriage house anymore, but one mistake shouldn’t condemn him. He enjoyed the freedom of having his own place, liked having Triton to play with and lots of room to wander. It’d be a shame to take that joy away from him. If she could convince John that Alex wasn’t upset about it, maybe—  

“Hey, look!” Wade said and pointed from the backseat as the Jeep chugged up the last incline, cleared the trees, and the lighthouse rose into view. The beacon flashed its intense white light over the yard at twenty-second intervals as expected, but every light in the house also blazed as if in welcome. The front door hung wide open, banging into the side of the house in the wind. Triton paced the porch with his head hung low and his tail tucked between his legs.

“Triton’s scared,” Wade said.

“Aw, poor pup.” Pru tried to smile for Wade’s sake. “The storm probably frightened him.” But that didn’t explain why he wasn’t in the house. Or why the lights were on and the door open when she’d left it dark and locked.

She parked the Jeep and turned in her seat. The carriage house loomed on the right side of the property, dark and silent. At least that seemed untouched. “I want you to go home, get cleaned up, and go to bed. No wandering around tonight, got it?”