Nautier and Wilder (15 page)

EPILOGUE

I
t was that deepest part of the night.

That time when sound carried its best and revealed the secrets others would prefer
remain hidden.

For Lyrica, it was that time of night that haunted her the most. The time that seeped
into her soul, filled her with chaos, and left her staring into the darkness and hearing
the secrets she had no desire to know.

It was that time when she ached for what she now knew she could never have, yet was
forced to acknowledge that settling for less wasn’t going to happen.

It was that time of night when, no matter the locks on the doors, or how tightly the
windows were closed, still he found a way to her. . . .

“Pretty Lyrica,” he whispered from the darkness. “Did you really think I’d let you
hide . . . ?”

“Please—d
on’t.” She shook her head, helpless as she felt his weight on the bed, watched his
shadow come over her as he slowly drew the sheets back from her naked, aching body.
“Please . . .”

“You’re mine . . .”

RIDING TO

SUNSET

JACI BURTON

To Lora Leigh—as always, thank you.

ONE

“H
ey, the newbie’s back.”

“Survived the latest mission, huh? Did Diaz hold your hand so you wouldn’t be scared?”

“I’m pretty sure Diaz said that Jed was afraid of the dark.”

“I give him a year and he’s going to run back to the FBI, tail between his legs.”

Jed Templeton cracked a grin, not at all insulted by the ragging he’d been getting
from General Grange Lee’s crew of veteran Wild Riders. On the job for about a year,
Jed was still the new guy. And when you were the newest of any crew, you took shit
until you proved yourself.

He dropped his bag and headed into the kitchen of Wild Riders headquarters to grab
a beer before moving to the living room, where Mac, Lily, Diaz, Jessie and Spence
were huddled up watching a football game on the big-screen TV. He grabbed one of the
available seats, unscrewed the top off his bottle of beer and propped his booted feet
onto the scarred table.

“So?” Jessie asked, leaning forward to clasp her hands together. “Diaz said it got
rough.”

“He would say that, being a pussy and all. I had to do most of his job for him, but
I’ll cover for him when I file my report to the general.”

Jessie snorted. Diaz scowled, but didn’t say anything.

“So really, Diaz, how did he do?” Mac asked when the commercial came on.

The room went silent except for the sound of a manic announcer on TV, selling car
insurance.

Diaz shot a glare to Jed, who smiled at him.

Diaz shrugged. “He can hold his own. Kicks ass in a gun fight and hand to hand. He’ll
do all right.”

The rest of them nodded and tilted their drinks in his direction. He nudged his bottle
of beer toward all of them, and when the game resumed, they argued over teams.

That was it. With Diaz’s endorsement came acceptance.

Lily came over to sit next to him on the two-person love seat. She laid her hand on
his forearm. “It’s hard to dig into this group,” she said. “I was the first, and a
woman at that. When I joined, I had to prove myself. So did Shadoe. Even Jessie, though
she’d been mostly brought up here, had to prove she could hack it on her first assignment.
We all have our trial by fire.”

“Yeah, good thing you didn’t suck worse than the women,” Spence said, grabbing a handful
of chips.

“I did not hear that, Spencer,” Lily said. “You don’t want to upset me and my hormones.”

“Sorry, oh pregnant one.”

Jed leaned back and cocked a brow. “A baby, huh?”

She grinned. “Yeah. Mac and I are having a baby.”

His gaze shot to Mac, who grinned. Jed lifted his beer. “Congrats to both of you.”

“Thanks,” she said. “Hence the reason for all the mad recruiting the general has been
doing over the past year. With a lot of us getting married, and now Mac and I having
a baby . . . obviously I’ll be taking some downtime—”

“Retiring,” Mac said.

“Maternity leave,” Lily argued.

“Retiring,” Mac said again, his gaze focused on the game.

She rolled her eyes. “We’re still discussing that part. Anyway, we’re so glad to have
you on board, Jed. Diaz already told us you did a great job on the Montana assignment.
How do you like working for the Wild Riders?”

No one had ever cared whether he liked his job or not. Not when he was in the Marines,
not when he was in the FBI. He did what he was assigned to do, like it or not. This
was a different atmosphere entirely.

“It’s fine.”

She laughed. “You’re going to have to loosen up, Jed. I promise we don’t bite.”

“Jessie does,” Diaz said.

“And you like it,” Jessie shot back.

Jed shook his head. “Are all of you paired up?”

“Yes,” Lily said. “Like I said, that’s why the general needs some new blood. Some
of us are moving on and out and it’s time for the next generation. That’s you, Jed.”

He didn’t know about the whole “next generation” stuff, but he liked the job. It was
adventure, it took him around the country, and it beat the hell out of the boring
shit he’d done for the FBI. When General Grange Lee had recruited him, he’d jumped
at the chance to have a little more leeway in what he did for a living, while still
doing a service for his country.

For the past year the general had trained him, put him through grueling evals. Then
he’d let the other guys run Jed through maneuvers and practice scenarios, which meant
time out here at headquarters in Dallas. He’d gone on a couple light assignments,
nothing major, followed by the big one with Diaz—a harrowing undercover in Montana.

It had gotten ugly. He and Diaz had gone full throttle when the bullets had started
flying. They’d taken down a group of survivalists, pulled in all the gunrunners and
tied up the mission with a bright red bow. And hell, he’d done it all in his leathers
and riding his Harley.

He liked this job.

“Templeton.”

He stood when the general came in. “Sir.”

“First thing, I keep telling you not to call me ‘sir.’”

“Sorry, sir.” Shit. Old habits died hard. “Sorry, General.”

Spence snickered. The general shot Spence a look that would freeze the devil in hell.

“You want dishwashing duty for the last month you’re working with me, Spence?”

“Nope.”

“Then mind your own fucking business.”

“You got it. Minding my own fucking business here, Grange.”

“You’re with me in my office, Jed.”

Jed got up and followed the general to his office, shutting the door behind him. He
stood and waited while the general took a seat.

Grange rolled his eyes. “You’re not in the military anymore, Jed, and neither am I.
And I’m getting tired of reminding you. You don’t salute me, you don’t stand at attention,
so just relax. Call me Grange or General. I don’t give a shit. But pull the stick
out of your ass and sit the hell down.”

Jed pulled up a chair in front of the general’s desk.

“You know, kid, I get that you thought you were going to be career military, and that
you went straight from two tours in the Marines to four years with the FBI. And you
suffered doing nothing with the G-men because they’re stick-up-the-ass regimented
asswipes, but here we’re more relaxed and nobody jumps unless I’m pissed off. And
when I’m pissed off, Jed, you’ll know it. Understood?”

“Yes, si . . . General.”

“Good. Now, for your next assignment.”

Thank God. The last thing Jed wanted was downtime. He was ready to go.

The general clasped his hands together. “This one’s a little different. I want you
to fly to Florida. Daytona Beach. Your target is Elena Madison, age twenty-six.”

“Undercover?”

“You’ll be undercover. Sort of.”

Jed cocked a brow. The general raked his hand through his hair. “It’s hard to explain.
I know Elena’s mother, Carla. She’s gone missing, but Elena doesn’t know that.”

“And you do.”

“Yes. Carla has always been sort of a free spirit, very New Age. Kind of a hippie,
back when hippies were the thing. She comes and goes as she pleases, takes off whenever
she feels like it.”

“So Elena wouldn’t think anything of it if her mother was gone.”

“Right.”

“But you—being friends with Carla all these years—have kept tabs on her.”

Grange nodded. “You could say that.”

“How do you know she’s missing?”

Grange stood, rubbed the back of his neck and turned to look out the window. Jed could
tell he was uncomfortable as hell. Obviously having some kind of personal relationship
with this Carla was doing a number on him. From what he knew of the general, he left
his personal life out of all his dealings with the Wild Riders. Why he was giving
Jed this assignment, he didn’t know. But he was going to be patient and listen.

“I’ve kept tabs on Carla for years. I always know where she is. But this time . . .
I’ve lost her.”

“Lost her?”

“Yeah. And that’s not good.”

Whatever was between Grange and Carla Madison, it was something deep and meaningful,
or at least that’s what Jed was taking away from that comment. “Okay. Have you . . .
lost her before?”

“On occasion, but I always pick her back up. This time I haven’t been able to.”

“Oh.” Well, hell. How was he going to do this mission without stepping on the general’s
toes?

“Ask your questions. Nothing’s off-limits. I’m not going to send you into this blind.”

“Who is Carla Madison, General?”

He blew out a deep breath. “She’s my sister.”

“Okay, which means Elena is your niece.”

“Yes.”

“Can’t you just go to Elena and the two of you try to figure out—”

“Elena doesn’t know about me.”

Jed frowned. “Why not?”

“Because we didn’t want her to.”

Jed scratched his head. “You’re her uncle, sir.”

“I know I’m her uncle, dammit. But I’ve kept my family away from who I am and what
I do because of my lifestyle and career choice. My enemies. It would make both Carla
and Elena targets.”

Jed nodded. “Okay, that I understand. Tough choice for you.”

“It was, but it was the right one.”

“So what do you need me to do?”

“We need to find out where Carla is, and keep Elena safe.”

Now the light was beginning to shine on this mission. “You think one of your enemies
has figured out that Carla is your sister and has targeted her?”

“Possibly. I don’t know and won’t until I get down there and try to find her. But
I can’t go hunt for Carla and protect Elena at the same time. So I need you to help.”

“Why me, General? I’m the new guy. Why not one of the others?” This was a pretty deep
secret to share with the most recent recruit.

“Because I haven’t told them this secret. And because they’ve built up relationships
with each other and stand to lose a lot if this goes wrong.”

Now he got it. He didn’t have the ties they all had—they all had someone to love.
He was a loner, and therefore the easiest to take along on this assignment. “Understood.”

“I knew you would. Pack it up, we’re leaving in an hour. I’ll fill you in on Elena
on the plane down there.”

Jed pivoted and left the office, realizing he’d just gotten royally fucked.

The general’s niece? And she didn’t know?

Yeah, this one had no-win scenario written all over it.

TWO

E
lena Madison put the finishing touches on the display case just in time to open.

It was a lovely day, warm and sunny, and the ocean breeze swept into the shop as the
doors were opened. Traffic was light so far, but having an upscale shop near the beach
meant the more discerning clients had to fight the tourist traffic to get here.

She didn’t mind. She had repeat customers who didn’t mind the drive to the beach.
And she liked the location, loved the view and wouldn’t sacrifice it. Her mother’s
influence, no doubt. The only thing they shared in common—their love of the ocean.

She’d modeled her gallery after the beach and the water, always brought in pieces
that reflected the ebb and flow of the tides, the way the landscape was always changing,
just like art. Good designers knew this and changed with the tides, the seasons, the
years.

The doorbell tinkled, and one of her favorite—and richest—customers stepped in. Louise
wore colorful button-down shirts and khaki capri pants along with white tennis shoes.
She looked like a tourist, but the woman was made of money. She had a condo overlooking
the beach, and she was loaded. She loved to come in and share her stories about her
husband and how the two of them had made a fortune in the real estate market in New
York. Louise loved this area as much as Elena did, so they had a lot in common.

“Louise.” Elena smiled at the woman. Louise was in her seventies, and Elena admired
Louise’s pep. “Finish your walk early today?”

“It’s such a glorious day. I walked all the way here from my condo. It’s my exercise
for the day and I couldn’t resist stopping in to see if you had any new pieces.”

“You know I do. Come see.” She led Louise to the case where she highlighted the latest
arrivals.

Louise’s eyes widened, and she slipped on the glasses she kept on a jeweled string
around her neck. “Oh, these are lovely, Elena.”

Elena stood back and let Louise bend over to examine the necklaces.

“Who did the coral pieces?”

“James Waymire.”

Louise pulled her gaze away from the case only long enough to cast a gleaming smile
at Elena. “Stunning.”

“I thought so, too. He brought them in over the weekend and I bought several pieces.
You also need to see the new glass sculpture Triana did. I have it back here when
you’re ready.”

Louise went over several of the necklaces that Elena pulled out of the case, finally
settling on the coral that had caught her eye at first. Then Elena made her some tea
and the two of them sat at the back of the shop and admired Triana’s five-foot-wide
blue glass sculpture of a jumping dolphin. Elena had set it up on one of the side
windows where the light could show it off to its full effect.

“It’s breathtaking,” Louise said. “And if I came home with a piece like that, Leo
would kill me.”

“But you won’t be bringing it home. I’ll have someone deliver it to you.” Elena winked,
and Louise let out one of her bawdy laughs.

After Louise left, Elena was busy with other clients. The morning passed in a blur
of activity, just the way she liked it. When Marco came in to relieve her, she had
just enough time to run out and grab a bite to eat. She headed upstairs to her apartment
over the store, kicked off her shoes and fixed a sandwich, then stepped outside and
ate on the balcony so she could enjoy the beach view.

She’d worked hard to open this store, had gone to school, scrimped and saved every
penny she owned working three jobs in order to come up with the money to rent the
gallery. And she still hadn’t had enough, until her mother—her mother of all people—had
handed her an envelope with the cash to not only rent the property but buy the building
outright.

She’d been stunned. Her mother was as flighty and undependable as they came and, as
far as Elena knew, rarely held a job for more than a month. Where she got the money,
Elena didn’t even want to know. She’d tried to give it back, but her mother had said
it was a gift and gifts weren’t to be returned. Elena had hoped her mother hadn’t
done a drug deal or robbed a bank.

She’d still like to know where that money had come from. Her mom eschewed money and
property, only had enough to get by and often had to mooch off Elena, causing her
to dip into her own meager savings.

She took a bite of her sandwich and focused on the calming waters of the ocean, the
cloud-free sky, the screams of laughter from children playing in the sand at the water’s
edge. Anything but the enigma that was her mother.

She heard the low throaty rumble of a motorcycle as it roared down the street, tearing
into her idyllic rest. She followed the sound as it grew louder and pulled to a stop
in front of her shop.

Oh, yum. Hot guy on a Harley. Now that was almost as good a sight as her ocean. Baggy
jeans, sleeveless muscle shirt, and the muscles to show off in it, he was tall, with
black hair and a strong chin she could see from all the way on the second floor. Mirrored
sunglasses gave him a bad boy look that should have turned her off—she never went
for guys like him. Yet she couldn’t deny wanting a closer look.

He shoved off the kickstand with the heel of his boot and climbed off the bike, slid
the keys into his pocket and headed inside her shop.

Huh. She didn’t get too many bikers in her shop. It wasn’t typically their style.

She looked down at her watch. Technically she had a half hour left to her lunch hour.

Then again, she did have inventory coming up at the end of the month, so no sense
wasting time when there was so much work to be done. Besides, Marco might be overwhelmed
with clients.

Right. And that happy button between her legs hadn’t been touched in far too long,
so the sight of testosterone on a Harley just might have gotten her motor running,
which surprised the hell out of her. She much preferred men who were more refined—the
suit-wearing
Wall Street Journal
type—not the grease-under-their-fingernails type.

But she had a need to get a closer look. Men who looked like that guy could be considered
art, and art was her job, so why not?

She did a quick brushing of her teeth, smoothed her hair and her dress, slid her heels
back on and headed back downstairs, through the back door and into the shop.

Mr. Good Looking was in the shop, sunglasses tucked into the neck of his shirt. Marco
was currently leaning next to him, showing him the metal sculptures.

Hot and Sexy looked up at her as she walked through the gallery. His lips curved upward
in a hint of a smile that made her fully aware of herself as a woman. She hadn’t felt
that kind of draw toward a man in a very long time.

Marco could handle this customer, but since the place was currently empty, no reason
not to be polite, especially since he’d smiled at her and all. She headed over.

“Marco.”

Marco’s head shot up. “Oh, Elena, hi. I was just showing Jed here some of our welded
art pieces. Jed, this is Elena Madison. She owns Eclectic Designs.”

Elena held out her hand.

“Nice to meet you, Elena. Jed Templeton.”

His hand was calloused. And really big, but gentle in hers. Sometimes big guys liked
to prove their masculinity by nearly crushing her hand. Good to know he could power
it down.

“Welcome to my shop, Jed. Are you here for the bike rally?”

He laughed. “Yes and no. I moved here to start a business, but I see you saw my ride,
so yeah, the bike event should be fun.”

“Oh? What kind of business?”

“Security.”

Her brows went up. “That’s interesting.”

“Hope it’s interesting enough to businesses around here.”

“Do you have clients yet?”

“A few. Are you looking for security?”

“No. We have a system already in place.”

He nodded. “Good for you.”

She liked his voice. Deep and gravelly, the kind of voice a woman would like to hear
whispered to her in the dark.

Wow, it
had
been a long time for her, hadn’t it? “So, Jed, what are you looking for today?”

“Nothing in particular, but these designs caught my eye. I need to furnish my new
place.”

“Oh, really, where’s your place, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I’m renting one of the new Oceanview condos just across the road. I have the furniture
but it needs something more.”

She smiled. “We can certainly help you with that.”

The bell jingled over the front door. Marco met her gaze, then shrugged. “I’ll go
see to the new customer.”

Normally she’d never take a prospective sale away from Marco, but this guy intrigued
her. If he bought something, she’d give the commission to Marco anyway.

“Tell me what you’re interested in.”

His brow popped up and he gave her a flash of a smile.

“I don’t know. Not much for art, but the place is nothing but white walls. When I
rode by, I liked what I saw in the window. And this is interesting.” He motioned to
the mermaid made out of metal, rising out of waves and leaning against the rocks.

“She is stunning and would be an interesting conversation piece. But I have to be
honest—she doesn’t come cheap. Perhaps we should discuss your price range first?”

“I don’t have one.”

Now it was her turn to raise a brow. Was he really here to buy an art piece, or was
he hitting on her? She was picking up all sorts of signals, especially the way he
was looking at her with the intensity in his steely eyes.

She found herself unable to look away.

“All right then. She sells for three thousand, five hundred.”

He gave a short nod. “I also like this one. It has a hard edge to it.”

She turned and smiled, liking his taste as he pointed out some of her favorite pieces.
Jed might not have a knowledge of art, but he had a good eye.

“How long have you owned the gallery?” he asked as they moved to yet another piece.

“Four years.”

“Successful?”

“I do well enough.” She lifted her gaze to his. “Where are you from, Jed?”

“Dallas.”

“And what brings you here to start a business?”

“I like the beach and the ocean.”

“There’s a beach and ocean in Texas.”

He glanced outside, where the clear blue sky met the impossibly cerulean ocean. “Not
with water this color and weather like this year round. It’s amazing.”

“It is, isn’t it? That’s why I wanted my shop here instead of in town. I wanted to
spend my days being able to look over the water. I live above the shop, too, so I
take whatever breaks I can and go sit on the balcony and watch the waves. It’s the
most calming thing.”

“Better than any tranquilizer, I imagine.”

“Ocean waves are tranquilizing. They bring a peace you can’t find anywhere else. And
after work I can run along the sand, or play in the water.” She realized she’d been
staring out at the ocean so she dragged herself back to his face—he’d been watching
her. “Sorry. Obviously the ocean and I have a love affair going.”

His lips lifted. “No, I understand. And I’ll take the mermaid.”

“Good choice. And welcome to the beach, Jed.”

“Can you have it delivered? Obviously I can’t strap her to the back of my bike.”

“Of course. Just give me your address and I’ll have her sent to you at your convenience.”

They did the paperwork and Elena arranged to have the art sent to Jed’s condo the
next day.

She hadn’t realized how much time they’d spent together until shadows began to fall
over the water and the crowds began to thin. She’d tuned everything and everyone out
but him.

“How about dinner tonight?”

She lifted her head up from the credit card slip she’d shoved into the cash register.

“Excuse me?”

“You close soon, right?”

“Yes.”

“Have dinner with me.”

“Oh, I don’t think—”

“Are you married?”

“No.”

“Seeing someone?”

“No.”

“Then have dinner with me. I’d like to get to know you. I liked talking to you, and
I don’t really know anyone here. You can tell me all about your city.”

She had no reason to say no, and every reason to say no. But she didn’t really want
to. “All right.”

“I’ll pick you up at eight. You like to ride?”

She never rode. That was one of her mother’s things, not hers. “I never—”

He grinned. “That’s okay. I’ll go easy on you. See you at eight.”

He left, and she finished up work for the day, mostly in a fog. Marco was thrilled
to have the commission on the sale.

“He asked me out,” she mentioned when they were going through receipts.

“He did not.” Marco’s dark eyes widened. “Tell me you didn’t say no.”

“I didn’t say no.”

Marco feigned disbelief. “Why, Miss Elena. I’m shocked. You always say no. Mr. Muscles
must have the magic touch. Too bad he’s not gay or I’d have lusted after him myself.”

She laughed. “Yeah, and Torrance would have kicked your ass all the way to Miami.”

Marco sighed. “True. But just because I’m in a relationship doesn’t mean I’m dead.
I can still look.”

Marco left when she closed up the shop. She locked up the windows and doors, enabled
the alarm system and headed upstairs, changed clothes and put on her tennis shoes
to head outside for a run.

It was a cool night so she threw on a hoodie, stretched and started off easy, relishing
the brisk air. She crossed the street to the beach side, enjoying the crowds that
had gathered for bike week.

Motorcycles zoomed by, their engines roaring as she got into the rhythm of her run.

Her mother was a bike fanatic, had always gotten so excited whenever the bikers came
to town. She’d make tie-dyed T-shirts or some kind of jewelry to sell to the bikers,
happy to be a part of the throng of incoming tourists. Sometimes she’d hook up with
a biker group and go off riding. Elena would worry they’d kidnap her and she’d never
be seen again. Her mother told her she worried too much. She told her mother she wasn’t
careful enough. It was a common argument.