No Turning Back (16 page)

She walked over to the destruction and ran her foot along the edge, toeing the crisp wood. “How could someone do this?”

“Maybe you’d prefer to read the threatening e-mails. My favorite was the one promising to rip our balls off.” Anger raced through him fueling the argument and raising his temperature on Declan’s behalf all over again. “Or maybe Beck can show you the hate mail. Only a few are written in crayon, but one did come with a knife.”

Her hand went to her mouth. “Oh my God.”

Nice touch, but Callen wasn’t buying the sadness tugging at the corners of her eyes. She forgot he’d learned these sorts of acting skills from the best. Thanks to Charlie’s teaching, Callen could cry on cue and charm the next second.

“It’s what you wanted, isn’t it? Pile on the threats until we drive out of town and never look back.”

Her hand dropped to her side. “Of course not. Not like this.”

The pale skin. The wide eyes. The dropped mouth. He had to give her credit. The shock looked genuine. “You put on a good show, I’ll give you that.”

“I would never . . . I want to buy the house, not run you out of it with a pitchfork.”

“You’ll understand if I don’t believe you.”

“I thought people in town were accepting of you guys being here. The people at the market, the—”

“Some. Most, which is a good thing and part of why we’re staying for now, but there is a strong group of angry folks roaming around as well.” From his experience there was always an angry group hanging around somewhere. They tended to be the most vocal and the most dangerous.

He refused to discuss anything with her other than her exit. “You know, you weren’t around long enough for me to give you the ‘hurt Declan and you’ll deal with me’ speech, so I’ll refrain from kicking you off my property in a very nasty and ungentlemanly way as I would have promised, but you will leave now.”

“I need to talk with Declan.”

“Oh, honey, that is not going to happen.”

“I’m not your honey.”

“No joke there.” Out of the corner of his eye, Callen saw Declan and Sophie cut a diagonal line across the backyard from the porch to the rat shack.

They were a good hundred feet away, carrying on a conversation as they walked. Sophie hovered a few steps behind Declan and he carried what looked like a broom. Interesting choice. No need looking at the woman across the yard when the furious one in front of Callen demanded his attention.

“Declan doesn’t need you to protect him.”

That was the one job he consistently failed at over the years and Callen vowed to do better this time, whether Declan knew about the intervention or not. “I’m his brother and I’ll do whatever I think I need to do.”

“Finally.”

Looked like the little lady was ready to spill some of her agenda. “Now, what does that cryptic comment mean?”

“You weren’t here before but you are now, and I guess you think that’s enough.”

The words struck just close enough to the truth to tick Callen off. He had to wonder about Declan being attracted to a woman so determined to pick fights. She was a stunner, sure. The redhead thing was hot. Callen got that, but he didn’t understand why any sane man would pick a woman who made things so hard.

“You don’t know anything about me or my brothers.” He remembered the investigator and what he read in those reports once he convinced the man to let him see them. “Maybe I should rephrase that. You think you know everything, but all that sneaking around didn’t really tell you anything you couldn’t find out if you bothered to be honest and ask.”

“Oh, please. I’m sure if anyone dared get close enough to you to ask you about Charlie or your past, you’d threaten them away.”

That was a mild version of what he would have done. “Maybe you do know me better than I thought.”

She slipped her hands in the pocket of her running jacket. “I get that you don’t like me.”

He should hate her. She sure made that easy. But Declan was tied to her, whether he wanted to admit it or not, and that tied Callen to her in a sick, want-to-break-free way. “I don’t know you.”

“That was my point.”

“But I do know Declan.” In the time it took from one second to pass to the next, Callen assessed his options and went with the roughest one. Declan would be pissed and guilt flashed through Callen for what he was about to do, but he sensed this might be the only way. “As you can see, he’s doing fine without you.”

Callen took her arm, turned her around and pointed across the lawn at the other woman he wasn’t prepared to trust. Declan and Sophie got to the caretaker shack. They were too far away for their voices to be heard but the body language was friendly. Callen hoped it looked even deeper, more intimate, to Leah.

Her arm tensed under his hand. “I thought you said he was upset.”

“He’s not sitting around moping, if that’s what you mean.” Never mind the fact he actually was. “I’m thinking he’ll get over whatever he felt for you fast.”

When Leah continued to stare at Declan’s back, Callen decided to end this fast. He reached into his jeans pocket and took out the balled up piece of paper he’d picked up off the front porch an hour before. There had been about twenty of them. He threw them all away before his brothers could see, but kept this one to show them later.

“This probably belongs to you.” He held it next to her hand, not giving her a choice but to take it.

“What is it?” Her forehead wrinkled as she smoothed out the paper and started reading.

He shortcut it for her. “The flier for the emergency town meeting tomorrow night. You can see there’s only one item on the agenda. Sure, the wording is careful but the underlying message is that it’s time to run the Hanover boys out of town. That’s your office’s address there at the bottom, yes? Declan said something about you being in charge of the town’s business affairs. Nice work.”

If possible, her face bleached even whiter. “I didn’t have anything to do with this.”

“Right, why would I ever think you did?”

She crumpled the paper in her fist. “Well, I can tell you one thing.”

“What’s that?”

She slapped the ball of paper against his chest. “The information I collected about you being a gigantic ass wasn’t wrong.”

At least they finally understood each other. “You might want to remember that for the future.”

With a shove, she stepped away from him. Grumbled something about him going to hell. Then she took off down the driveway and back to her car without bothering Declan.

Mission accomplished. Shame it didn’t feel like a win at all.

Chapter Sixteen

The next night Leah stood with Mallory in the elementary school cafeteria and watched the insanity unfold. Grown adults were packed into tiny chairs around long tables. A low mumble of conversation filled the big room.

She stood with Mallory by the emergency exit door and tried to figure out what terrifically terrible idea her father planned to implement tonight. The possibilities were endless. She’d tried to talk to him but he failed to pick up the phone. Three trips to his house over the last twenty-four hours hadn’t resulted in the face-to-face meeting she wanted.

Good ‘ole Dad was in hiding.

Well, he was until now.

There on the stage used for class plays and ear-splitting violin performances, her dad stood with Clay, who was all decked out in full uniform and she could only guess how many weapons, and some guy Leah didn’t recognize. She had no idea who the stranger was but he definitely stuck out. Probably had something to do with the trim black suit and even darker scowl on his face.

Dread crept over her. The pamphlets all over town were bad enough but she’d walked in on no less than five heated debates between people about Declan and his brothers. The folks who had been here through the early Charlie years talked about sending the Hanover brothers to jail, never mind they hadn’t committed a crime. The folks newer to town didn’t say much, most nodding and pretending to understand but quick to run away from the vigilante talk. No one came right out and said all of this was ridiculous, and that’s what scared the crap out of her.

Mallory elbowed Leah in the side. “He’s here.”

She didn’t have to look to the opposite end of the room. She knew the “he” in the sentence. “They all are.”

Declan and his brothers had filed in and were standing along the back wall, each dressed in jeans and casual work shirts. Had been there for almost five minutes. They didn’t speak or move. Just watched the room and hung by an exit.

Without looking up, she felt Declan’s glare. The intensity burned through her. Until yesterday, the attention filled her with a whirling anticipation of the passion to come. Now she felt nothing but his stunning disgust.

Mallory whistled. “Damn, what is with the genes in that family? The hotness of those three is off the charts.”

Leah gave in to the churning need to see Declan’s face again. She glanced over but he’d ducked his head, staring at something near his feet.

Callen met her gaze head-on. She half expected thunder to boom through the room. “So is the hatred for me.”

“This is your dad’s thing, not yours. Declan will settle down and understand.”

If only it could all be brushed away that fast. She’d done some things. He’d said some things. Bridging the yawning gap between them looked impossible from where she stood on her side.

And then there was the biggest strike against her. “He saw the whiteboard.”

Mallory banged her head against the wall a few times. “I’m trying not to remind you—”

“You told me so.”

“I didn’t say it.”

“Didn’t have to. I should have dismantled the board.” Should have broken it down and burned it along with all the files and papers she’d spent years collecting. It all mattered so much once but now Leah saw that huge stack of information as a wall between her and any kind of real future free of her family’s demons.

“As long as we finally agree that Hanover obsession of yours is long past its expiration date. I’d think kissing him would have given you a whole new focus.”

Leah tried not to conjure up the feel of his lips against hers. “Declan is doing his best to cure me of wanting to kiss him or do anything else together.”

Not that she could blame him for the roiling anger he unleashed in her bedroom, all fierce and scary. It was one thing to gather information to see about regaining control of Shadow Hill. She’d been doing that for so long it was an automatic reflex. But obeying her father’s orders and using her information to destroy the Hanover family . . . she never wanted that.

She’d thought she could have it all—hold her dad off and convince Declan to sell. After that, maybe they could test all those feelings pinging around inside of her. That was her plan, anyway. But he kissed her and the timeline shifted, and she failed to react in time to help anyone.

There was no one to blame but her and she’d spent a long, sleepless night doing just that. The idea that he’d already moved on just added to the sting. It also redirected some of her guilt to a numbing pain in her chest.

Mallory pressed in close. “You ready to admit how into him you are?”

The words made Leah fight off that now-familiar rush of bile up her throat. He’d eased under her defenses before she even realized it. Not that she could admit it. “We never even slept together.”

“Right, because that’s the test.” Mallory flopped back against the wall with an exaggerated sigh. “Give me a break. I know that look on your face. That’s not disinterest. There is nothing neutral going on here. You’re in deep and treading.”

No matter how hard Leah tried to slam her expectation level down to disinterest or something lower, she couldn’t do it. Even now it took all her control not to stare at Declan. The face and that dark scruff did her in.

“You’re not helping me move on,” she said half to him and half to Mallory.

“Maybe I don’t think you should. I said from the beginning I thought you should go for him. Still believe it.” While Leah sputtered, Mallory switched her focus to the stage. “Who’s the dark and deadly-looking guy?”

Leah followed her friend’s gaze to Mr. Black Suit. “I’m afraid to guess.”

“He’s got that uptight hotness thing—”

“You have to be kidding.” To Leah the man in quesiton looked like the dressed up, cleaned up, less friendly version of Callen, and that last part was saying something because Callen hadn’t exactly met her with a big hug when he figured out she’d been kissing Declan.

Mallory wrinkled up her nose. “I like a guy with a firm chin who looks like he might want to be the boss in the bedroom.”

Mallory’s words managed to knock Leah senseless. She stared at her oldest and closest friend and remembered a sprinkling of comments about in-charge men. “He looks like he’d stuff you in a mattress when he was done.”

“I thought I was the one with the wild imagination.”

Before Leah could say anything else or point out the mystery guy hadn’t so much as blinked since he walked in, her dad stepped up to the microphone. He did that annoying tapping and testing thing before he finally started talking.

Except for the uncomfortable shifting in the undersized plastic chairs, quiet fell over the room. He cleared his throat then launched into his welcome, ignoring completely that he wasn’t the mayor or anyone with authority to hold this sort of meeting. “We called this meeting to talk about some recent events in town.”

Mallory leaned in. “Why doesn’t he just say the name Hanover?”

“This is his stab at subtlety.”

“We weren’t expecting some of the visitors, but all are, of course, allowed to stay.” Her dad scowled at the back of the room as he talked.

So much for the hope of calm and rationality. Clay and the actual mayor whispered but the targets of the comment were so obvious, a few heads even turned around to stare.

“Gracious of him,” Mallory said under her breath.

Leah was stunned he didn’t throw Declan and his brothers out, or at least try. “In his head, it probably is a huge concession.”

Her father held up a stack of papers. “I have a petition. Now, we can’t make people leave town, but we can give them an incentive to move on. That’s what this is about. Getting our town back, finally exorcising ghosts and, frankly, repayment.”

Mallory’s mouth dropped. “Is he saying what I think he’s saying?”

“That it’s open season on Hanovers? Yeah.” Leah shot a glance over to the potential victims in question. They had not moved. Eyes stayed forward as they listened to her father ramble on without any authority.

“Many of us are owed money.” He shook the papers. “We will be repaid. I will make sure of it.”

There were grunts of approval around the room. One couple and the newest teacher got up and left while others shifted in their seats. At the sight, relief crashed over Leah, leaving her a little breathless and struggling to keep still. She wasn’t alone. There were other people in the room who took issue with the direction of her father’s talk.

But it only took one crazy to set the danger in motion. She scanned the crowd looking for the potential lone attacker, the one with the grudge he couldn’t hide. Maybe one missing a knife because he sent it to the Hanovers as a warning.

Mallory leaned forward and peeked around Leah. “How can they look so calm?”

Because that’s how Hanover men survived. Leah knew that now. “What else can they do? They move and some members of this crowd will be all over them. Clay isn’t exactly stepping up and Ed is hanging out at the back door, probably wondering how much money he can charge everyone for his legal time when they need a good defense.”

“As if these people will use regular legal channels.”

“Good point.” No, Mallory was right. They’d come in quiet, like the cowards they claimed Charlie to be, and wreak havoc on Declan’s life.

Then he would leave and the idea of not seeing him nearly bent her over. She didn’t know when he’d come to mean so much, but he had.

Her father continued to talk. She focused in when he hit his next line. “We will set up a command center at my house.”

People started asking questions, frightening things about the limits of going onto other people’s property and squatting. And the Hanover brothers
were right there
.

“This is ridiculous.” Leah shoved off from the wall. Her stomach rolled and jumbled at the thought of digging a deeper canyon between her and her dad, but she didn’t have a choice. It wasn’t as if he would listen to reason. Right now, he wouldn’t listen to her at all.

A debate played in her head but she knew the truth. She’d have to take the risk in repairing the damage later. This wasn’t just about protecting Declan; it was about saving all of them, including her father, from doing something irretrievable.

Mallory grabbed Leah’s arm. “What are you going to do?” Something about the amusement dancing in her eyes said she was being nosy, not trying to stop an intervention.

“This will teach them to give me a title like Business Manager.” She only hoped she could make some—most—of them listen. “Hello, everyone.”

This time Declan’s gaze zipped to her. He shifted as if he were going to leave but Callen put out a restraining hand and backed Declan against the wall.

“Please settle down for a second.” She clapped her hands and kept going until the talking died down and the guy who was standing up to ask the next question slowly lowered to his seat.

Her father came down the five steps to the stage and headed straight for her. “What are you doing?”

Since he didn’t lower his voice or try to hide the anger zipping through him, she didn’t keep the disagreement private either. “Restoring order.”

He shook his fist. “You should—”

“It’s my job and thank you for reminding me yesterday of my obligation.” The words crackled along with the tension zapping between them.

Her father stopped in his tracks, just a few feet away, when she leveled a this-is-over glare in his direction. Loyalty was one thing. Mule-headed stupidity was another. Nowhere in the daughter-father bond was there a requirement to honor that. At least she hoped not.

She looked out over the crowd, ignoring anyone named Baron or Hanover. “If I can have everyone’s attention to clarify what my father is saying.”

“You don’t speak for me.”

The room hummed with anticipation. It was as if every attendee held his or her breath at the same time. So many eyes focused on her. So much anger pitching and shifting around her, and none of it hers.

“We need everyone to rethink a strategy that involves vigilante justice before it accidentally blows into a bloodbath.” There was no accidentally about it, but she was reaching for a bit of tact.

Clay chuckled as he stepped up to the mic, waving hands in the air as if he were the one calling for calm. “Now, Leah. There’s no need to exaggerate. No one is calling for that sort of thing.”

“I hope you’re right because I’m sure no one in this room would want to be blamed for the actions or crimes of their friends or relatives.” Her gaze went over every face, looking for folks to whom the comment might be a stark reminder.

Her father started sputtering, but she didn’t stop. The point hung out there and she needed to tie the ends.

She focused on the parents of a kid who recently stole a car then drove through the school’s football field. “Like trespassing and theft.” Then she stopped on a man still reeling from his wife’s recent car accident. “Getting into a car drunk and injuring others.” She’d lost eye contact from quite a few people now and figured she’d made her point. “None of us is immune and none of us deserves to pay for the crimes and poor judgment of others.”

“We are talking about fact-finding,” the chief said.

No they weren’t and he knew it. They all did.

“There are courts and police departments for that, and I’m sure the chief would agree that he, and not individual citizens, should be handling any claims.” She waited until Clay gave her a reluctant nod. “The facts you’d be finding would be about a man who has been dead for a year. Charlie Hanover is gone. You can’t make him suffer.” The words were meant for her father but applied to so many.

The mumblings and stray bits of arguing stopped. So did all the head nodding. Silence roared through the room with enough force to shake the walls. Time to go in for the big finish and then get the hell out of there.

“I am sure Chief Darber and our most esteemed attorney, Ed Pierce, will also agree with me when I say there is nothing that can be done outside of the law and the law is clear. File a claim with either Nanette or Charlie’s estate, or with whatever court is appropriate. Anything else will get you arrested. Right, Chief?”

The man in the black suit shifted his weight. He went from looking bored to on edge. Energy rumbled off of him and his gaze traveled all over her.