Forever Entangled (16 page)

“And we would stay up. All. Night. Long. Together.” Piper smirked. “Doesn’t that sound fun?”

He felt Sienna’s shoulders begin to shake as she buried her head in his chest and laughed. He was going to have to suffer, but Sienna was worth it.

“That sounds great. Sophie, why don’t you and Nash share a sleeping bag? And the twins should be with another set of twins. Let’s see—I’m with Sienna, so, Matt, I bet you and Piper could fit on the couch together. That just leaves you, Layne. I could call Seth back so you won’t be alone, just in case we pair off to play hide and seek.”

Ryan was attacked all at once by laughing women, smacking him on his arm.

“Fine. We’ll take the hint.” Sophie laughed.

Gabe looked around at everyone and frowned. “So, we’re not hanging out?”

His brother elbowed him. “Ladies, can we offer you a ride?”

“Yeah, a ride.” Gabe smiled.

Nash made another strangled sound behind him.

“Let’s go to the water tower. We haven’t hung out there in years,” Reagan suggested.

“Great idea. Hey, Gabe, does that thing come loaded with a bar?” Riley asked as Gabe and Zain opened the door for the ladies.

“This will make work so much fun tomorrow,” Layne said sarcastically and climbed in.

Nash stepped forward after the SUV took off. “Call me if you need me. I’m happy for you both.”

Sienna leaned forward and placed a kiss on his cheek. Ryan reined in his jealousy and waited for her to return to his arms.

“Thank you for tonight,” Sienna told Nash. “You’re a good friend.”

Ryan held out his hand. “I couldn’t agree more,” he said, shaking Nash’s hand.

Nash smiled and disappeared into the shadows of the backyard. A minute later the sound of an ATV taking off was their cue they were finally alone.

Sienna kept her head against Ryan’s chest as they watched Nash disappear into the moonless night. The wind rustled the leaves and the smell of the approaching fall triggered images of her and Ryan next to a fire. Very quickly, those images turned to something as hot as the fire, and Sienna shifted closer to Ryan.

“Ryan?” she asked quietly.

“Yes, sweetheart?” His warm lips brushed the smooth skin of her forehead in a gentle kiss.

“What’s going to happen to us?”

“What do you mean?” Ryan asked softly.

“We love each other, but what’s next? What happens when the case is solved and I’m no longer in danger?”

Sienna felt Ryan hold his breath for just a second. Instead of answering, his fingers ran a tender trail down her spine while his lips kissed her forehead, her eyebrow, the tip of her nose, the path of her jaw, and finally her lips. Her breathing hitched as she melted into him. His hand slid under the waistband of her skirt and squeezed her ass at the same time his tongue grew urgent inside her mouth. Sienna thought he might not have heard her.

Ryan pulled her against him, and she couldn’t help pressing herself against his erection. How many years had they wasted when they could have been doing this the whole time? Sienna felt her heart hitch as her movements became urgent. She had to be with him on a completely different level that was far beyond the physical. She gripped the front of his shirt and ripped. Hooch howled, buttons tinkled like raindrops on the porch, and their breath thundered between frantic kisses.

Ryan pulled her back toward the swinging bench as he pushed down her skirt and panties. Sienna stepped out of them and reached for his zipper. Nash’s advice to read Ryan’s actions fluttered through her mind. And by the desperate way he was preying on her mouth, and the way his hands were memorizing her body, she was afraid she had her answer.

Her heart wept for him, for what might have been, as she pushed him down on the swing and straddled him. And together they cried out into the night. They cried their pleasure, their pain, and their knowledge that this was not meant to be.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Ryan’s phone rang somewhere in the house and woke him from an exhausting night. He and Sienna had not said a word as they made love through the night. They would fall asleep entangled. Then sometime later, he would feel her hand wrapped around him, caressing him from his sleep. He rolled over and took her slowly as their foreheads rested against each other. Their eyes locked, and they came together, then once again drifted off to sleep. He knew the night was over at the sound of the phone. For all their love, they never seemed to be able to find themselves on the same page.

He untangled himself from Sienna’s nude body and went to find his phone.

“Parker.”

“It’s Shaw. Arnie is dead.”

Ryan froze. He couldn’t have heard that right. “What?”

“They killed him, Ryan. He was found shot in his car outside of his home. Same with Simmons, Landry, and Perret.”

That was the entire undercover operation against The Suit with the exception of him! “Do they have any leads?”

“No. I’m sorry, Ryan. Is there anything I can do?”

Ryan shook his head. “No. I have enough backup here, and now I know they are coming. I just wish I knew what this had to do with Sienna.”

“I can’t figure that out either. The hits against the players are totally out of character. They have to be worried about their identity becoming known to be tying up all these loose ends. The key may be there in Kentucky.”

“Ryan? What is it?” Sienna asked from the doorway with nothing but his dress shirt wrapped around her.

“I have to go, Shaw. Thanks for calling.” Ryan hung up and looked at the woman he loved. How far would he go to protect her? That was an easy question—he’d protect her with his life.

“We need to move Jaylen, and we can’t tell anyone about it. My handler was worried about a leak, and we can't trust the Lexington police, my dad’s office, nothing.”

“Ryan, you’re scaring me. What’s happened?”

Ryan stepped into his jeans and then looked at her. Her hair was a beautiful mess and the love she had for him was right there for the world to see in her eyes. “My unit has all been killed. I’ll be next. Then it will be you and Jaylen. I need to see you safe before I go after them.”

“I’ll help you. I’ll be by your side the entire time. I may not look like it, but there’s a lot of fight in me,” Sienna said staunchly.

Ryan didn’t answer. He just stepped forward to wrap her in his arms.

“So, our time is up?” she asked.

Ryan couldn’t voice his answer, the answer they both already knew.

“Well, I have an idea where to put Jaylen," she said.

“I need all the ideas I can get.”

“Keeneston. There is no place safer than Keeneston.” Sienna's smile was faint, but she had a point. Keeneston was contained, and they knew every inch of it.

“Now I just need to think of a way to get Jaylen out of the hospital,” Ryan said to himself as looked down at the woman he loved—the woman he’d give his life for. And that was exactly what he was prepared to do.

*     *     *

Sienna sat in the booth at the Blossom Café and waited for Katelyn Davies and Emma Miller to show up. Ryan had gone to talk with his father to fill him in on the deaths in L.A. while she set the plan in motion to move Jaylen Cox from the hospital to Keeneston.

Sienna looked at her coffee and stared into its depths. She should have felt paralyzing fear. Instead she felt numb. She knew what she needed to do. She would draw them out. She would offer herself to save the man she loved. She knew Ryan would be furious. But she would do anything to protect him.

“Sienna?” A hand came to rest on her shoulder. She jerked her eyes from her coffee to find Emma standing in front of her. “Sorry to startle you, but I said your name a couple times.”

Sienna looked into Emma’s concerned eyes and gave a weak smile. Emma was her mother’s age, and her brown curly hair was pulled back into a sloppy bun at the top of her head. Sprigs of curls cascaded down the nape of her neck. She had her scrubs on, which reminded Sienna why Dr. Emma Miller was there. She worked at Jaylen's hospital.

“Dreaming of an engagement to my nephew perhaps?” Katelyn Davies smiled as she came up to the table. Sydney’s mom had been a model just like Syd. But after her modeling career, she’d returned to Keeneston and opened a veterinarian clinic.

The two women slid into the booth and ordered coffee from Zinnia before Katelyn turned her cornflower blue eyes to Sienna. “What’s going on?” She must have sensed it was serious because Katelyn’s voice was deadly serious.

“I need your help. Both of you.” Sienna sighed. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“How about at the beginning?” Emma smiled kindly and urged Sienna on.

“I need your help saving the live of a patient of mine,” Sienna started and then it flowed out—how her life, Ryan’s life, and Jaylen’s life were in danger. How the men knew where she lived, had already killed Malik, and had tried to attack Ryan. But she didn’t tell them how she planned to sacrifice herself so Ryan could be safe. No one would be suspicious of a woman like her asking for a meeting alone. When they searched her house, they wouldn’t find any weapons, but she knew where to get them and how to use them. They would never see her coming.

“You want me to steal a patient from my hospital?” Emma asked slowly.

“And you want me to put him up at my animal hospital?” Katelyn followed up questioningly.

“Yes.” Sienna nodded. “And I know that I’m asking a lot, but we have to break some rules to save lives. I’ll take full blame if we get caught. I was just hoping you would have an idea how we could get Jaylen out from protective custody.”

Emma shook her head and more curls sprang loose. “I have no idea.”

“We might be able to help with that, dear.”

Sienna looked up at three pairs of matching eyes and permed white hair. “You were eavesdropping?”

Miss Lily just smirked. “Of course.”

“But we can help,” Miss Violet said encouragingly.

Miss Daisy nodded. “It’s been mighty dull around here lately. I have a drawer full of unused wooden spoons I’ve been itching to use.”

Katelyn snorted most shockingly for someone as strikingly beautiful as she, but nodded her head. “I can get us some backup, too.”

“You’re not going to talk me out of this?” Sienna asked in wonder.

“Oh, honey. You have no idea the things we’ve done in our lives. This is a piece of cake,” Miss Lily said knowingly.

“Zinnia! Poppy!” Miss Violet called out. The two cousins, however many generations apart, came rushing forward. “We’re back in action. I need dozens of cookies, pies, brownies, whatever, enough to fill that huge serving cart Mo uses for his fancy receptions.”

Emma smirked. “You’re going to cram him underneath it, aren’t you?”

“Sure am. No one will think twice about three old ladies handing out sweets at the hospital. I even have a candy striper outfit from . . .” Miss Daisy blushed, “never mind from where.”

“I’ll call Anton. He’ll get it for us,” Miss Violet said.

“And Charlie and Emma can take shifts checking in on Jaylen at the vet clinic. My Charlie was a great surgeon in his day, and he’s been itching to practice medicine again,” Miss Daisy said proudly.

“And John will round up the troops. No one will step foot in this town without us knowing about it,” Miss Lily said as she patted Sienna’s hand reassuringly. “Don’t worry, we’ll get these guys.”

When Miss Lily said it, everyone at the table nodded. The Rose sisters looked practically gleeful. What had happened in Keeneston before she was born? Their parents were definitely not telling them things, especially by the way neither Emma nor Katelyn looked surprised by the idea of terrorists in Keeneston.

Ryan sat in the uncomfortable chair in his dad’s office and filled him in on the latest. “Sienna says she has a plan for getting Jaylen out of the hospital. I just feel the less people who know about it the better. I don’t want anyone else being considered a loose end or, worse, becoming the next leak.”

Cole’s phone went off, and he looked down at a text. “Good idea about placing Jaylen at Katelyn’s.”

“What?”

“Sienna’s plan. It’s smart,” Cole told his son.

“How do you know that’s the plan? Sienna didn’t even tell me what it was. She said she needed to talk to some people first to see if it was a go.” Ryan sat at the edge of his seat and tried to see the text message his dad had just received.

“John. It’s on the town text system. So much faster than the old telephone system the Rose sisters could activate when something was going down in the old days.”

“Going down? In Keeneston? Dad, nothing ever happens in Keeneston.” Ryan let out a frustrated breath. So much for this being a secret.

“You have no idea. Don’t worry. This will help you. No one in this text loop will say a word. Think of it as a citizen brigade.”

“So, what’s the plan then?” Ryan asked grudgingly. At least no one knew of his idea to protect Sienna. He would take down The Suit or die trying.

*     *     *

The next day, Dr. Emma Miller confidently approached the hall, which was guarded by two armed officers, and disappeared into Jaylen’s room. Sienna watched from the nurses’ station at the end of the hall where she was dressed in scrubs wearing a mask and hair cover. Cole had Dr. Miller put on the approved physician’s list, and Emma had gotten Jaylen’s regular doctor to take a couple of days off. Something about telling his wife about the affair he was having with the head nurse on this floor. It worked like a charm and now there was no one who was going to stop the Rose sisters as they got off the elevator.

Sure enough, they were in official candy striper outfits as they pushed the biggest serving cart Sienna had ever seen. They stopped in the nurses’ station and handed out sweets. Sienna tried to blend in and noticed the guards eyeing the treats and practically drooling.

The Rose sisters pushed the cart away and headed for the officers. They stopped at the only other occupied room, and five minutes later they reappeared in the hallway. Sienna pretended to review the file she held as the sisters stopped in front of the officers. Miss Lily reached up and patted one of them on the cheek before Miss Violet buried the other officer’s head in her over-fluffed bosom. Miss Violet looked thrilled; the officer looked like he was having trouble breathing.

The guards took some brownies and cookies, and Sienna saw Miss Daisy signal to go inside Jaylen’s room. Dr. Miller made her appearance at the door and smiled at the older women.

“Ladies, did you save me a piece of the peanut butter chocolate brownie I asked for?” Sienna heard Emma ask. Miss Lily handed her a brownie.

“There is a very hungry man back here, but you better not spoil him. He’s still on a restrictive diet. He can only have one. On second thought, I better go with you to make sure he only takes one. He’s a charmer,” Dr. Miller laughed.

And just like that the officers sat down to eat their treats as the Rose sisters walked into Jaylen’s room with Dr. Miller. Less than five minutes later, the cart was wheeled back out by three struggling ninety-five-year-old women.

Sienna saw them trying not to show strain pushing the cart. But with Jaylen lying beneath the white cloth, they were suddenly pushing over two hundred pounds of man along with all their desserts.

“Ladies!” Sienna called out in a full Southern accent. “Can I get one of those brownies Dr. Miller was talking about?”

Sienna held her breath and walked up the hall, taking the brownie Miss Violet held out for her. She took a bite and groaned. They really were delicious. “Have you tried these?” Sienna asked the officers and then proceeded to unload some more of the desserts on them.

“We still need to get the surgical floor; are you heading that way?” Miss Lily asked Sienna who was starting to sweat in her full surgical get-up.

“Sure am, let me help you with this,” Sienna said as she tried to effortlessly push the cart to the elevator.

“I gave Mr. Cox a sedative. He was complaining of nightmares. He’ll be out for at least six hours,” Emma told the guards as she placed Jaylen’s chart on the door for the night shift doctor to review.

While the guards were talking to her, Sienna and the Rose sisters pushed the cart as fast as they could to the elevator. Emma smiled at the guards and took off in the other direction from the group pushing Jaylen. “My shift’s over. I’ll see you men tomorrow,” she called out to the guards.

The elevator chimed and Sienna pushed Jaylen inside. She was quiet as the people on the elevator chatted with the Rose sisters and took treats off the service cart. They reached the main floor, and Sienna pushed the cart right out the back door. The Rose sisters kept up their chattering as Charlie and Anton drove up in a big white van to meet them.

Ryan had pointed out the location of the cameras and told Anton exactly where to park so the cameras couldn’t pick up the activity going on at the back of the van. Miss Lily opened the back doors while Charlie hopped out to help unload the leftover desserts.