“Okay. You and Dylan are more alike than you think.” She put her earplugs back in, continuing to imagine the paintball game. Cam put his earplugs back in, too. She lifted the Glock in her hand. It felt lighter than before. The power of the mind, she supposed, had made it seem so. She looked at the paper man down the gun range. One bullet. Just one. That’s what Cam had told her. She felt her heart racing in her chest. She closed her eyes behind the protective glasses she was wearing. In her mind, she was in Central Park by one of the dragon statues. Paintball players were all around. She loved playing that game, loved how the people of Destiny came out to support the event. It was fun and the proceeds always went to a good cause. The cause this year was for Amber’s new boy’s ranch that Belle, her sister, and she were going to operate on the Stone Ranch.
A tap on her shoulder again. She turned back to Cam, knowing she was taking too long. She mouthed “Sorry. I’ll do it.”
She turned back to the target. Okay. I’m back in the park. I’m next to The Green Dragon. Then it hit her. That’s where the Russians had caught her and placed her in the trunk. They’d gagged her. They’d put a hood over her head. Oh God. She looked down the gun range. Standing there in paper was the one with all the ugly tats. He’d wanted to fuck her, to kill her, to rape her. And he would’ve, too, if it hadn’t been for Cam and Dylan. They had guns. Now, she did, too. She fired at the bastard. Again and again. Emptying out the clip. Three of the shots hit the paper, creating tiny holes in the man. One in the head and two in the gut. Oh God. She felt Cam’s arms come around her, helping her to let go of the gun and place it back on the ledge. She reached up and grabbed Cam’s shoulders, shuddering from the experience. He held her tight and rocked her gently, kissing her hair. “It’s going to be okay, baby. I’m here.”
He was here. She needed him, needed Dylan. But how could she ask them to take such a damaged woman? It wasn’t fair to them, but heaven help her she couldn’t see herself living without them.
Chapter Seven
Cameron walked into the diner. It was still early, so the big lunch rush that normally ran a little after twelve in Destiny hadn’t started. There were plenty of open booths and tables. The locals weren’t strong on punching clocks or marching to anyone’s drum other than their own.
He’d just left Erica back at TBK. Despite the Knight brothers telling her to take the week off, she’d told them she wanted to be at work. He’d agreed to leave her with them knowing she was very safe in the top floor of TBK Tower. After what had happened with Felix, Dylan had been given a huge budget to tighten the security up there. It was the safest place in all of Destiny.
Dylan was sitting in a booth talking to Jason, who was out of his sheriff’s uniform. They had coffee cups in front of them but no food.
Cam stepped up to the table. “Jason, how’s it going?”
“I’ve been better,” the sheriff answered. “Your cousin Shane is back in town.”
“I know. He was here Sunday morning when we got back with Erica. Where is he staying?”
“At your aunt and uncles’ house. They’re all there, too. Alice and Phoebe haven’t been too keen on me coming around the diner ever since he got sent away.”
Cam knew Jason had only been doing his job. Shane had screwed up and had been caught with a bag of drugs. The problem was Jason’s testimony had been the catalyst that had gotten his cousin the most stringent sentence for a first-time offender.
“Does he plan on staying in town?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Jason told him. “I’d ask Phoebe, but as you know she barely talks to me these days. My two brothers are meeting up with him sometime tonight.”
The door to the diner opened and in walked Phoebe.
“Damn,” Jason said under his breath. “All I have to do is think about her and she shows up.”
“That’s quite a talent,” Dylan said.
“If things hadn’t worked out the way they did between us, that would be a talent I would love to have.” Jason watched as Phoebe headed straight to them. “But they didn’t.”
Mitchell and Lucas, Jason’s brothers, had always been close to Shane. Despite their friendship, they’d been the ones to turn him over to Jason, then just a deputy, for the drug possession. All of it had ended the fledgling relationship that Phoebe and the three Wolfe brothers had had with her.
Phoebe stood at the edge of their table. “Sheriff, I have some papers I need you to look over.”
“How did you know I was here?”
“Shannon told me.” Her phone went off in her purse. “Excuse me.” She stepped back and got her cell. “Damn. Another blocked call.”
Jason’s eyebrows went up. “Another?”
“Just some prankster or wrong number, I’m sure.”
“I can look at your papers at my office. Bring your cell with you.” Jason stood. “I need to get back to work, fellows. Alexei Markov is supposed to call me with what he’s dug up on Mitrofanov.”
“What about the Russians?” Cam asked, taking the seat the sheriff had just vacated.
“Niklaus is a slippery SOB, that’s for sure,” Dylan said.
The sheriff nodded. “Those two thugs you took out back in Denver were connected to his gang. They were on his payroll just last month. According to records at the florist where they worked, they were fired three weeks ago. I’m sure the paperwork was doctored up after you killed them. Niklaus is slick. Nothing seems to stick to that bastard. According to Alexei, Mitrofanov keeps adding to his businesses, though they’re all fronts, of course.”
“The Texans checked with some pals back at the Agency,” Dylan informed. “They found out that the orphanage where Amber had worked was using the boys as mules to move drugs to distributors. It had Niklaus’s fingerprints all over it. So far, the only records they can find shows the place was only in Sergei’s name, Niklaus’s dead son.”