Landon (The Love Family Series Book 5) (3 page)

Alice broke the kiss and stepped away. Her mouth was parted, and her cheeks were flushed. Pleasure and need radiated from her. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

Her gaze searched his. Was she looking for acceptance, appreciation? Whatever the hell she wanted or needed, he’d give it to her. Landon licked his lips, savoring her taste. “I’m not sorry. I should apologize and say it was unprofessional of me to kiss you back, but I’m not sorry.”

Her eyes softened, and she gave him a small smile, as if still in shock.

“I like you, Alice, but under the circumstances, no matter how badly I want to taste you again…”

“You do?”

His lips twitched. “I do, but I won’t. Not while I’m protecting you. It’s a distraction neither of us can afford.”

Regret drifted from her body as her shoulders sagged. “I’m a distraction?”

Landon stepped closer and gently touched the freckle on her neck. “This freckle is a distraction. I’ve wanted to kiss it since I met you.” He lifted her arm and ran the pad of his thumb over the birthmark on her inner arm. “And your birthmark. That’s a distraction. I’ve daydreamed about searching your body for other distractions.” He pressed a tender kiss over the mark on her inner arm. “You’re a walking distraction, and it’s hard keeping my head in the game when my thoughts drift to how it would sound to hear you moan my name.”

Being with her twenty-four-seven for two weeks had done a number on his head, not to mention kept his body hard as a rock. Seeing her in the workout bra the first time, it had taken everything he had to hold back from lifting it over her head and tasting what he knew was hiding beneath. Her fire called to him, even if she didn’t realize the emotions she’d sent out. He’d felt her lust and knew one touch had the ability to crush them both.

Alice visibly swallowed.

“Your sweet taste is branded on my lips.” Landon ran his thumb over her birthmark once more before letting go. He eased back behind the desk, putting more room between them. “So for now, I won’t act. But when this is over…” He sat back down in his chair. “I’m going to kiss you again.”

“Is that a promise?” she asked. Her voice came out in a whisper.

“Another one I intend to keep.”

Chapter 5

Landon’s eyes shot open as the alarm wailed throughout the house. He grabbed the gun beneath his pillow, slipped out of bed, and peered out into the hallway. He aimed the gun up the hallway as he stepped out and moved across the hall to Alice’s room. He opened the door to find Alice shoving her shoes on her feet. His relief was short-lived.

Landon held out his hand and she took it. He moved her to the closet and shoved the clothes aside, pressing numbers into a keypad on the wall. His only goal was to get her someplace safe.

The concrete door to the safe room slid open and he moved her inside. “We’ve practiced this drill. If I’m not back in twenty minutes, use the phone in here to call for help and stay put.”

“Landon…” Her voice trembled as she rested her hand on the phone.

“Stay here.” He pressed the numbers again, knowing the code was on the wall inside the safe room, if she needed to get back out.

She gave a hesitant nod before stepping back and letting the door close. Landon slipped from the room. His heart raced with each step he took down the hall. He completed a thorough sweep of the upstairs, checking each room, closet, and corner before he descended to the lower half of the house.

He kept his finger on the trigger and his back to the wall as he eased down the stairs and continued searching the house for the point of the intrusion. He got to the French doors in the kitchen and paused. Glass was scattered on the tile. A tree limb hung half in and half out of the opening.

Landon moved to the alarm pad by the door and turned the alarm off before slipping out of the front door. He jogged into the tree line ignoring the limbs that scratched his feet. He eased into a better position and watched the house for any movement. Anything to indicate that the limb was anything other than a freak of nature. The only sound he heard was the beating of his heart. The only movement was the breeze on the waves in the lake.

He kept a vigilant look as he headed back into the house. He picked up the phone and hit the intercom button. “Surf’s up.”

Their code word for the coast is clear. Anything other than that one phrase and she was to stay tucked away.

He hurried back up the stairs and met Alice in the hallway as he walked into his room. “What was it?”

“A limb busted through the French doors in the kitchen.”

“The wind from the coming storm?”

He shrugged, grabbed his jeans, and slid them over his boxers. Her gaze lingered, and her cheeks heated. The look was cute. She was cute. When her gaze reached his face, he couldn’t hide the silly grin on his lips. He winked before he spoke.

“The wind must have picked up while we were sleeping. The storm isn’t supposed to hit for another few days.” Landon grabbed his boots and shoved his feet inside. He slipped his phone off the dresser and dialed Avery’s number on his way back downstairs. If he didn’t know better, she was already on the way. She answered on the first ring.

“I’m in-route.”

“False alarm. Tree busted the window and broke the pane.”

“I’m in the driveway.”

Landon glanced over his shoulder. “Avery’s here. Will you let her in?”

Alice nodded and hurried out as Landon looked for a broom and dustpan to start cleaning up.

He picked up the bigger pieces and had started tossing them in the trash as Avery walked into the room. Her wrinkled clothes and tangled hair were a testament to her state before the alarm kicked on.

“I’ll clean up outside,” Avery said in passing and headed right back out the door. 

“I’ll start some coffee,” Alice announced, moving through the kitchen, careful to avoid the area next to the door where Landon had swept up the small pieces. Avery opened the door and leaned inside. “Uh...Landon. Can I see you out here?”

“Sure.”

Landon stepped outside to find Avery in the yard, slowly turning as she scanned the tree line, her phone pressed to her ear as she spoke.

“Yeah, check all of the monitors and call me back.”

“What’s up?” Landon asked as she disconnected the call.

“The limb wasn’t an accident.”

Landon glanced over his shoulder back at the house to find Alice standing at the kitchen sink window watching them. “What makes you say that?”

“The limb didn’t break from the tree,” she said, glancing up at him. “There was a straight cut.”

Landon’s gaze shot up to the tree line. “Anything on the monitors?”

“Reed’s looking into it as we speak.”

Landon gestured back to the house with his head. “Keep Alice inside while I go check things out.”

She nodded and hurried back inside as Landon took the gun out of his waistband and started at a jog into the surrounding forest.

He moved silently through the trees, his gaze darting around him. Alert and on edge, he inhaled nothing but the scent of trees, no emotions but his own as he worked his way around the perimeter. He stepped onto a fallen log and paused. On the other side of the log was a single footprint. Landon pulled out his phone and dialed Avery.

“I’ve got a footprint to the east.”

“I’ll tell Reed to concentrate on those feeds.”

“Stay alert,” he whispered into the phone before hitting the End button and shoving the phone back in his pocket.

Landon stepped over the log, careful not to disrupt the footprint, and stood silently listening for anything other than chirping birds and forest animals. He was met with silence. He used the light of the moon piercing through the trees to search for clues. Anything to tell them which way the intruder might have gone. Nothing.

Landon spent another forty-five minutes in the forest, searching the perimeter and the surrounding area before he headed back toward the house. He jogged up the back stairs to the patio, where Avery stood at the door with a gun in her hand.

“Did Reed find anything on the feeds?”

“They were looped. Whoever was out here knows electronics and knows how to stay out of the picture while doing it.”

“Pack your bags, Alice. We’re leaving.”

“What?” She rose from her seat. “No, I’m not leaving. That wasn’t the deal.” 

“I’m just going to call Reed.” Avery gestured toward the living room.

“Alice.” Landon took a deep breath. He didn’t want to yell. It wasn’t her fault that their location was blown. His body vibrated with adrenaline. “They found us. We need to move. I know you don’t want to, but your life comes before your happiness.”

“Says who?”

“Says me,” he answered; his voice was deadly and deep. “My job is to keep you alive.”

Alice held out her hands to her sides. “You’re doing your job. I’m alive. I’m safe. No one got to me.” She took a step in his direction. “I have a job too, Landon. People are counting on me to deliver their babies. I can’t just walk away from that. Hell, I have three patients who are going to pop any minute and a possible C-section that we’re monitoring.”

“Alice, you aren’t the only doctor on the island. Someone else can do those.”

“I’m not running, Landon.” Her eyes pleaded, and her determination simmered in the air like a volcano on the verge of erupting.

“It’s hard to do your job if you’re dead,” he countered.

“I won’t stop living just because you think I should. I trust you to keep me alive, and on the island, we have the home court advantage.” Alice spun around and left Landon standing in the middle of the kitchen.

Damn it. Landon shook his head and turned to stare out the kitchen window. Other men had trusted him to do the same thing, and he’d failed. If he lost her…

“For what it’s worth, I’d trust you too,” Avery said from the doorway.

“You know what happened in my past.” He turned and leaned his hip against the counter. “She doesn’t.”

Landon watched the emotions cross her face. He didn’t need to feel them to know that she was hesitating.

“What aren’t you telling me, Avery?”

“I kind of told her when I was explaining about what was going on with your family.”

“You what!”

Alice came rushing into the room. She was dressed in scrubs and had her stethoscope around her neck. “We gotta go. The Jensen baby has decided to make an early appearance.”

Avery shoved Landon to the living room. “Take her. I’ll stay until the window is fixed, and when the sun comes up, I’ll check the area one more time in the daylight.”

As he took the stairs, he could feel his throat closing. Her refusal to leave only fueled his fears, and Landon wasn’t a man who feared much. He took the stairs two at a time up to his room, returning moments later wearing a different shirt and holding his keys in his hand. A gun was strapped to his leg and another to his back.

Chapter 6

Landon pulled into the doctors’ parking lot and killed the ignition. “I don’t like this.”

“Everything can’t always be nice and tidy.”

Alice opened the SUV door and hopped out. Landon was quick on her heels. His eyes darted around the dimly lit parking garage as he placed his hand on the small of her back, quickening their pace.

Alice stabbed the elevator button and then stepped to the side just as Landon had taught her. Out of sight was out of the crosshairs.

“I’m sorry you’re mad.” Remorse flowed freely from her to him. “And I’m sorry about your old unit. It wasn’t your fault.”

“You don’t know that.” The doors to the elevator slid open and they stepped inside. His body and mind were tight with tension. He ran his hand through his hair and squeezed his neck. “I don’t want you to be another casualty.”

Alice took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You can’t save everyone, Landon. Avery, Reed, and you are the only people I trust to get me through this. If you try to get me to leave, I’ll run. You know I will.”

He nodded, pushing away the memories of his fallen friends. She wouldn’t succumb to the same fate. The elevator dinged and she pulled her fingers free and waited for him to step out, following the protocol he’d demanded and taught her in the prior weeks. He checked the hall and ushered her out, the two of them walking side by side toward the delivery area.

Alice swiped her card key, and they both walked into the restricted area. He breathed a sigh of relief that she, at least, had that little bit of security around her. Things could be worse. They could always be worse.

Alice headed directly for the busy nurses’ station and grabbed the file the nurse handed her. “What room is Jenson?”

“Delivery room 3. She’s prepped and dilated seven centimeters.”

Alice nodded and flipped the file open, walking on autopilot toward the room, her gaze locked on the chart, not even bothering to notice her surroundings. She paused with her hand on the door. “You’ll be here when I’m done?”

He nodded, and she gave him a small smile. Stretching up on her toes, she planted a quick kiss to his lips. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

Landon paced outside the room much like an expectant father. He’d called Avery a few times and checked in with the teams working to locate the psychotic son, and to see if there were any additional viable threats. Reed had called to tell him that he’d finished reviewing the facial recognition, and no flags had gone off for anyone coming onto the island. Everyone associated with the baby snatchers was either accounted for or on the run. Whoever had been responsible was a mystery they’d need to solve. His gut coiled at the thought. The adrenaline slowly dissipating from his body made his eyes tired.   

Two hours later, Avery showed up to relieve him so he could run back to the safe house to get a shower and freshen up. He’d been gone thirty minutes when Avery called to tell him that Alice had finished and they were safe in her office. Landon let out his first relieved breath. He called in an order at the local diner and picked it up on his way back hoping with some food, and a little heart to heart, maybe he’d be able to get her to change her mind.

He juggled the coffee and bags while knocking on the office door. Avery opened it and stepped back. Alice was behind her desk. Dark bags hung beneath her red, irritated eyes. She was tired. He registered it with fresh eyes. His need to protect Alice went deeper than keeping her alive. Soon she’d break down. Her emotions were already on the verge of doing so.

“I thought we could all use something to eat.”

“You’re a lifesaver.” Alice smiled up at him as Avery took the coffee container from his hands and passed out the cups.

“I’ll take my coffee to go. I have a sexy fiancé at home who needs my help.” Avery winked and headed to the door. 

“I didn’t know what you’d like, so I got a little bit of everything. Pancakes, eggs, cinnamon rolls, hash browns, take your pick.” He heard Avery chuckle as the door clicked closed.

“I’m starving.” Alice stood, helped him open the cartons, and dished herself out some food.

“So what did she have, a boy or a girl?”

“Girl.” Alice poured syrup on her pancakes. “Nine pounds eleven ounces.”

The thought warmed Landon. “Did you finish your reports?”

“I did. We can leave when we’re done eating. Assuming none of my other patients go into labor before we get to the car.”

They ate in easy banter while Landon continued working different scenarios in his mind on how he might be able to convince her that they needed to move. Home turf or not, they were sitting ducks on the small island without many ways to escape. Landon fished his phone out of his pocket and fired off a text to Avery about putting in place some optional escape routes. With this house, and this location, it was just a matter of time before they would be leaving it all behind.