Rock-A-Bye Rescue. Karen Whiddon

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СКАЧАТЬ was so loose, he could jerk the wheel a good six inches left or right before the damn SUV responded. He’d lose the SUV and steal something else if there was another car around. But he’d already reached the outskirts of Collins Ridge and was headed up into the foothills. Nothing out here but forests, wild animals and the sleet-crusted highway.

      Wayne set his jaw and tightened his grip on the steering wheel as the tires slipped again. Kent had trusted him to take care of Eve. To humanely end his niece’s life. To save her from the indignity of foster care, the blind dictates of bureaucracy and a life under the tyranny of misguided government drones.

      The idea of killing a baby, his own niece, didn’t sit well with him, but he saw Kent’s reasoning. And his first duty was to his brother. He had his orders, and he’d carry them out. What’s more, he’d take down anyone who tried to stop him, too. For instance, this Lila Greene woman who’d taken Eve. Was she just in the foster system for the check, like his foster mothers had been? Would she stand aside when threatened and let him take Eve with him or would she put up a fight? If she tried to stop him, he’d shoot her.

      He had no problem with that. Funny, though, that any show of actually caring about her charge was exactly what would get the lady killed. Wayne didn’t dwell on the irony long. He needed to focus on his driving. The sooner he did his job, the sooner he could meet up with Kent and they could disappear. They’d set up a compound in another state with new names and build a new family. The Pitts brothers would not be shoved in a box or ruled by any government. They would remain free, follow The Truth and The Sword would rise again.

      * * *

      “I gotta tell you, Lila,” he said as she turned to face him, “listening to your head is fine most of the time, but I’ve done tours with too many young guys who died with regrets.” He moved closer, and she would have backed away from his touch but her legs bumped the edge of her coffee table. Without pushing past him or climbing backward over the furniture, she was trapped.

      “The girl they should have married before being deployed, the apology they never gave their dad, the risk they should have taken in business. Heads are good for some things, but don’t let it talk you into missing something you’ll always regret losing.”

      Lila closed her eyes. It was so hard to think straight when she looked into Dean’s dark eyes.

      “I swear to you, Lila. I will do everything in my power to keep you and Eve safe.”

      She drew a lungful of oxygen to fight the dizzying effects of his nearness. “Even be honest with me? Can you do that?” She opened her eyes again to read his reaction to her boldness.

      He hesitated, his gaze narrowing slightly. “Honesty, huh?”

      “Is that a difficult concept for you?” She tried to keep a stern tone, letting him know she wouldn’t be trifled with, but her voice cracked when she met the mesmerizing heat in his eyes.

      “Okay, how’s this for honesty? I’ve had a thing for you since I was fifteen. I’ve always thought you were beautiful. Sexy. Intriguing.” His hand skimmed her cheek, and he leaned in for a kiss. “I wanted you back then, but I knew you were a good girl. I figured you wouldn’t want someone with my reputation, so I never asked you out. That’s my regret, and I don’t want to repeat it.”

      She turned her cheek to him, struggling for a steady breath and her reasoning powers. “As I recall—” she had to pause and clear her throat “—you did try to kiss me at the Fourth of July fireworks...” She cut a quick glance up at him, catching his dark gaze. “The summer before our senior year of high school.”

      “As I recall—” Dean pitched his voice to a low, sultry whisper and slid an arm around her waist “—I didn’t just try to kiss you. I succeeded. And you kissed me back. More than once.” He leaned in, catching her lips again, then moved his mouth down the line of her jaw and nibbled his way toward her earlobe.

      As much as her teenaged self had wanted to drape her arms around his neck and savor the caress of his kisses, her adult self reminded her wavering heart of his reputation. The pain of Carl’s betrayal was too fresh, her resolve not to repeat her past mistakes too firm to throw caution aside. Even if she knew a few moments of passion with Dean would be bliss. Her traitorous body buzzed with anticipation and pleasure. Fortunately, her head still worked. Planting her hands on his chest—dear heavens, he was solid and taut with muscle!—she rallied enough composure to push him away. “Don’t.”

      Dean lowered his hands and gave his head a quick shake. “Okay. I’ll respect your wishes, for now, but... I had to give it a shot. I didn’t want to live with the regret of letting a second chance with you slip past untried.”

      Lila finger-combed her hair away from her eyes as she walked slowly over to her palette, her head spinning. Eve, a gunman, Dean, an ice storm. Any one of those was enough to process in a day, but all of them at once?

      Chloe sat by the sliding glass door to her screened porch, pleading with sad eyes and a soft meow to be let out. Spring through autumn, the porch was a favorite hangout for her cat, but Chloe couldn’t get it through her head that it was too cold to go out in winter. Being in no mood to play the in-and-out and in-and-out-again game with her cat, Lila did her best to ignore Chloe’s beseeching expression.

      “It’s not that I’m unwilling to try, Dean—” she cast him a glance for understanding, not unlike the one Chloe was giving her “—but I need to be sure about you before I take a leap that could get me hurt. You’ve only been back in my life a few hours. And while the physical chemistry may have been reignited on sight, we have eleven years of getting reacquainted to consider.”

      “I get that.” He slipped his hands in his jeans pockets and rocked back on his heels. “I can give you time. My plan is to be at my parents’ cabin for the next couple of months. I have a seasonal job lined up with a friend starting in April. But until then...we have time to get to know each other again.”

      “Once this killer is caught. And Eve goes to her biological family...”

      He inhaled deeply and nodded. “Right. The Pittses will be caught, Lila. There’s a huge manhunt for them. It’s just a matter of time.”

      The question was—would the Pitts brothers be caught before or after they reached her cabin, and she had to fight for Eve’s life? Biting her bottom lip, she paced a bit more. She stopped at her easel and lifted the paintbrush she’d been using when she’d received the call about Eve. She’d been so crazily distracted since then, she’d allowed the paint to dry on the brush. She’d have to throw that brush away. And she’d wasted a good amount of expensive paint, which was now caked on her palette as well.

      Whatever. She had bigger problems to deal with...

      No sooner had the thought entered her mind than a plaintive wail came from the nursery, loud enough that the baby monitor was overkill.

      “That nap didn’t last long,” Dean said as he followed her into the nursery.

      “No, it didn’t. Poor thing. I know she’s hurting...and scared without her mother.” When Lila stroked Eve’s head to soothe her, she found the baby’s skin unusually warm. “Oh, no.”

      “What?” Dean stepped closer to peer over her shoulder.

      “I think she’s running a fever.”

      * * *

      Pulling to a stop along the isolated СКАЧАТЬ