Security Blanket (12 page)

Lucky turned to do that, but before he could shout out the order, he heard another click. At first he thought it was Brenna putting the keys in the ignition because a split second later, her car engine roared on.

But that sound was soon drowned out by the deafening blast to his left.

He had just enough time for his brain to register that it was an explosion. He turned, dove at Marin, trying to get her back into the car.

It was too late.

The explosion ripped through the massive movie screen, and it came tumbling right at them.

M
ARIN DOVE ACROSS
the front seat as a chunk of the screen slammed into the car and missed Lucky by what had to be less than an inch. He scrambled inside, and in the same motion, he started the car just as a massive slab crashed into the windshield.

The safety glass cracked and webbed, but it thankfully stayed in place.

With Duran still in his grip, the PI turned and began to race toward the concession stand.

Lucky shifted the car into reverse, turned to look over his shoulder and hit the accelerator. Even though Marin couldn’t see Brenna’s car, she heard the woman make her own getaway. But the screen was enormous, stretching across nearly the entire width of the drive-in. It would take a miracle for all six of them to escape without being crushed to death.

“Keep your gun ready,” Lucky warned her.

That didn’t help steady her heart. Of course, nothing would steady it at this point. It was a terrifying thought to realize that if they made it out of this situation, there might be someone waiting for them. After all, someone had set that explosive.

But who?

Marin took out her gun and waited.

Debris continued to rain down on them. The chunks pelted the car as Lucky maneuvered his way through the obstacle course of metal speaker poles. It seemed to take an eternity, and the seconds clicked by keeping time with the pulse pounding in her ears.

“Take my phone,” Lucky instructed. “Call the sheriff. Tell him what happened and that I need him or one of his deputies to meet us at the ranch.”

With all the horrible things that could happen zooming through her head, she made the 9-1-1 call and reported the explosion to the sheriff’s dispatcher, who assured her that someone would be sent out immediately. Good. It was a crime scene and needed to be secured and examined. Maybe the person responsible had left something incriminating behind.

“Now, look through the recent calls to get the PI’s number. Find out if Duran and he made it out,” Lucky insisted.

Another lump of the screen smashed into the front windshield, dumping the sheet of broken safety glass onto their laps. With the glass obstruction now gone, she could see Brenna’s vehicle on the other side of the drive-in. The roof of her car was bashed in on the passenger’s side where Lucky’s sister was sitting.

While she located the PI’s number, Marin kept her attention pinned to the other car, but she also sheltered her face in case any debris came through what was left of the windshield. A moment later, she watched as Brenna’s car disappeared into the darkness. Lucky noticed it, too, and cursed.

“You two okay?” Rickman immediately asked when he answered.

“We’re alive.” Marin put the call on speaker so that Lucky could hear.

“I want you to go after Brenna,” Lucky ordered.

“I’m already on the way to my vehicle,” was the PI’s answer. “Should I take Duran with me?”

“No. He’ll only slow you down, and you can’t trust him.” Lucky didn’t hesitate, either. “By any chance, did you see who set that explosive?”

“I didn’t see anyone near that movie screen. But once I catch up with Brenna, I’ll check it out.” With that, Rickman hung up.

Once they were clear of all the metal poles, Lucky did a doughnut to turn the car around. He slammed on the accelerator again and got them back onto the road. He slowed when he got to the connecting road, and his gaze darted all around, looking for Brenna’s car.

“Are you going after her?” Marin asked. She wrapped her arms around herself to stave off the cold wind that was now gushing through the glassless windshield.

He shifted his posture slightly. “I can’t. Too big of a risk.” Lucky sped up again.

“Because of me?” But she knew the answer. He didn’t want to put her at further risk. Even if that meant not trying to follow Brenna and his sister.

Lucky increased the speed even more, and even in the darkness she could see the troubled look on his face. “We need to get back to the ranch,” he said.

That comment chilled her more than the brutal winter wind that was assaulting them. When Lucky had requested that the sheriff or the deputy go to the ranch, she’d thought it was so the person could take their statement. “You don’t think this bomber would go to the ranch, do you?”

He glanced at her. Just a glance, but it said volumes. “If this person wants leverage against us, what better way to get it than to go after Noah.”

Oh, God. He was right. If this person had no hesitation about blowing up four people, he wouldn’t think twice about going after a child.

Marin grabbed the phone to call the ranch, and prayed they weren’t too late.

Lucky had his car door open before he even came to a full stop in front of the Sheppard ranch.

With his gun ready, he hit the ground running. But he didn’t have to go far to find proof that everything was okay. Deputy Reyes Medina was right there on the front porch, standing guard.

“Like I told you on the phone,” the deputy said, “there’s no reason to panic. No one’s tried to get anywhere near the house. There are two armed ranch hands out back. Three more are patrolling the grounds on horseback.”

“You’re sure Noah’s okay?” Lucky pressed.

“He’s fine,” the deputy assured them. “I told Ms. Helen to call me if she heard anything suspicious. Plus, I reset the security system after your mom headed out a little while ago.”

That temporarily stopped Marin, who’d already reached the front door. “Where did my mom go?”

“Wouldn’t say. But she got a phone call and left not long after you two did.”

Maybe that phone call had been from Dexter? Mercy. Was Lois meeting with her son right at this moment? Or was this late night visit somehow connected to the explosion?

“Marin’s father didn’t go with his wife?” Lucky wanted to know.

The deputy shook his head. “No. He’s not here, either. From what I gathered from Ms. Helen, he’s been gone for hours.”

“Hours?” Marin repeated.

That was troubling, but it didn’t overshadow her need to check on her son. She hurried past the deputy, threw open the front door, disarmed the security system and began to run toward her grandmother’s room.

Lucky was right behind her.

Her grandmother must have heard the footsteps in the hall because she answered the door after Marin knocked just once and called out her name.

“Noah’s safe,” Helen said immediately.

But Marin had to see for herself. She rushed across the room and checked the crib Lucky had moved there. He checked Noah, as well, and discovered the little guy was sound asleep. Not that surprising since it was a little after 1:00 a.m.

Marin mumbled a prayer of thanks, lowered the side of the crib, leaned down and lightly kissed Noah’s cheek. Lucky couldn’t help himself. He did the same, and he felt relief flood through him.

“Let him sleep out the night here,” Helen whispered. “No need to wake him.”

Lucky agreed, and he was a little surprised when Marin did, too. That probably had a lot to do with fatigue. She leaned against him, and he felt her practically collapse.

“She needs to rest,” her grandmother insisted. “Stress can sometimes trigger a seizure.”

Oh, man. Marin didn’t need that tonight. He slipped his weapon back into his shoulder holster and scooped Marin into his arms.

“I can walk,” Marin insisted.

But he ignored her and headed toward her bedroom. He only got a few steps into the hall when he saw Deputy Medina headed their way.

“Is Marin hurt?” Medina asked.

“No,” she answered, trying to wiggle out of his arms, but Lucky held on tight.

“She’s exhausted,” Lucky explained. “The sheriff will want us to give a statement about what happened at the drive-in, but it’s going to have to wait until morning.” He didn’t ask for permission. Besides, it’d take Sheriff Whitley hours just to process the massive crime scene. “I take it you’ll be standing guard all night?”

Medina nodded. “I’ll be here until the sheriff says otherwise. The ranch hands, too. I went ahead and reset the security system, and I’ll be posted right by the monitor at the front door. That way I can see if anyone tries to open a window or anything.”

Lucky thanked the man and carried Marin to her room. He eased her onto the bed, locked the door and took off her shoes.

“No need to treat me like glass,” she said, sitting right back up. “I haven’t had a seizure in years. But if you’re squeamish about the possibility of it happening, I can go into the sitting room.”

Now, that just made him mad. “Squeamish?” he challenged.

He pulled off his boots and practically threw them on the floor. He wasn’t much gentler when he removed his slide holster and dropped it onto the nightstand.

She lifted a shoulder and pushed her hair from her face. “We’ve already been through enough without you having to be on seizure watch.”

That also didn’t help cool down his anger. “Marin, you might not have noticed, but I’m not here because someone forced me to be here. And hell’s bells, I don’t want you to have a seizure, but I imagine it’d be a cakewalk compared to what just happened to us.”

“Then why exactly are you here?” she snapped. But she immediately waved it off. “What I’m trying to do—and failing at miserably—is giving you an out.”

“An out?” There was still a lot of anger in his voice.

She groaned softly and stood. “I think after tonight we both know that Dexter is behind these attempts to kill us.”

Lucky shook his head. “How do you figure that?”

Marin gave him a flat look. “He was the only key player not at the meeting. And he was the only one whose life wasn’t in danger tonight.”

He couldn’t argue with the last part, but he sure as hell could argue with the rest of her theory. “So, why would I need an out? If your brother wants us dead, he won’t stop just because we’re no longer together. Our best bet is to catch the person responsible. And if it turns out to be Dexter, nothing changes. You need my help to keep Noah, remember?”

She looked exhausted, but ready to continue this ridiculous debate. Something Lucky instantly regretted. He’d brought her in here to lessen her stress, not to cause more by arguing with her.

With that reminder, he ditched his own anger, and eased down on the bed next to her. “I’m not treating you like glass. I’m not leaving. I’m not blaming you because of Dexter. And if you have a seizure, I can deal with it. Okay?”

The emotion in her seemed to soften, too, and she sighed and leaned against him. The physical contact was a strong reminder that no matter what the devil was going on, his body always seemed to react to her.

“Now, what about you?” he asked. “How are we going to deal with your concerns?”

She looked up at him just as he looked down at her. “I’ll calm down. I won’t blame myself because of Dexter. Well, I’ll try not to. And I’ll continue to try to make you understand that you’re not responsible for Noah’s safety. Or mine.”

The seriousness of the conversation was getting mixed up with all the physical stuff he was feeling for her. Or at least that was the explanation Lucky wanted to believe. He couldn’t fall for her. Not with everything ready to crash down around them.

But he was.

“I
am
responsible for your safety,” he concluded, causing her to frown.

“Why?”

Good question. He considered dodging the truth but decided against it when he looked into her eyes. He automatically leaned in. “Because I love Noah. And because I want you.”

She blinked. “Want?”

He cringed. “Yeah. That shouldn’t come as a surprise to you. Not after what happened in the car.”

Another blink. “No. Not a surprise. I’m just trying to figure out why your desire…” She stopped. Shook her head. “How
our
desire for each other would make you feel that you need to protect me.”

He brushed a kiss on her forehead and hoped he could change the subject with a little humor. “It’s a guy thing. You wouldn’t understand.”

The corner of her mouth lifted. A weary, exhausted half smile. And a damn sexy one at that.

Before he could warn himself to back off from her, which he almost certainly wouldn’t heed, his cell phone rang. He fished it from his pocket, glanced at the caller ID and answered it.

“Rickman,” he said to the PI. Because he knew Marin would want to hear this, he put the call on speaker phone. “Please tell me you have Brenna and my sister.”

“Sorry. I lost them. Or rather, I never found them. By the time I ditched Duran, got to my car and went in pursuit, Brenna and Kinley were gone.”

Marin and he cursed at the same time.

“What do you want me to do?” Rickman asked.

Lucky scrubbed his hand over his face. “Go back to the drive-in. The sheriff should be there by now. Try to figure out what the heck happened. If either you or the sheriff find any answers, call me.”

“Will do.”

“If there’s a lull, I also want you to check on what my sister’s been doing for the past year,” Lucky added. “See if you can confirm if she had a child.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

When Rickman hung up, Lucky turned his attention back to Marin. No more hot, sexy smile. She looked alarmed again. And stressed. He caught on to her wrist to check her pulse.

“I’m fine,” Marin insisted.

He took her pulse anyway and confirmed what he already suspected. “It’s been a while since my EMS training at the police academy, but your pulse seems fast to me. Do you have something you can take to make yourself relax?”

“I’m not sure I want to relax.”

Lucky understood that. He wouldn’t be doing any relaxing, but Marin was a different matter. “Noah is safe, and it’ll be hours before he wakes up. Security measures are in place. You’re safe, Marin, and rest is the best thing for you.”

She nodded, and got up from the bed. She took a prescription bottle of pills from her cosmetic bag on the dresser, popped one of the capsules into her mouth and went into the bathroom to get some water. A moment later, she reappeared. She stopped just short of the bed where he was still sitting and she stared at him.

“What are we going to do, Lucky?” she asked.

Since that sounded like the start of another stressful conversation, he caught on to her hand and pulled her onto the bed. But since he wasn’t totally stupid, he draped the comforter over her so there’d be a barrier between them.

“Get some sleep,” he insisted, turning off the light.

He started to move away from her, but she caught on to him and pulled him to her. And in doing so, she revved up his already interested body.

“One,” he said, remembering the counting rule. “Two.”

Marin pulled him even closer until their mouths were mere inches apart. His breath touched her mouth when he mumbled, “Three. Four.”

“Does it help to count?” she asked, her voice like sin and silk.

“Yes,” he lied.

Right before he lowered his head and kissed her.

M
ARIN IMMEDIATELY FELT
a sweet tangle of heat in her stomach, and it spread like a wild blaze. Her nipples drew into peaks, the sensitive flesh contracting so that even a brush from Lucky’s chest seemed like a thorough, eager caress from a lover’s hand. And he kept right on kissing her.

Now, this was the ultimate way to relieve stress.

She didn’t hesitate. Didn’t give herself time to think. Because if she had, she would have stopped, opting for the more logical approach. But she didn’t want logic tonight. She didn’t want to think.

She wanted Lucky.

“Are you sure we should be doing this?” he asked with his mouth still against hers.

“I’m sure.” She went after his shirt.

He went after hers.

It didn’t take much for him to strip her stretchy pullover sweater off her. With his kisses now wild and frantic, he went after the zipper of her jeans while she still fumbled with the buttons on his shirt.

“What about a condom?” He groaned, stopped and stared at her.

“I’m on the pill.”

She nearly cheered when she finally managed to open his shirt. And she wasn’t disappointed. His body was perfect. All toned and naturally tanned. She gave herself the pleasure of touching him.

Lucky groaned and stripped off her jeans. He slid his hand down her breasts and then her stomach until he reached his goal, working his fingers into the wet entrance to her body. With the skill of an artist, he touched her so perfectly, so intimately that Marin thought she might unravel right in his hand.

Within moments he had her starving for him. What she had been unable to say in words, her body said for her. She wanted more. And she wanted it now. Marin pushed herself against his fingers, trying to relieve the desperate hunger that he had created.

She went after his zipper. Not a simple task. He was already huge and hard, which didn’t make it easy for her to free him from his jeans and boxers.

Repositioning her, Lucky removed his hand and pushed himself into the slickly soft heat of her body.

Marin wrapped her legs around him and caught on to his shoulders to bring him even closer. Her body adjusted—no one else had felt this way inside her, no one else belonged inside her.

Marin realized that she had gone a year and a half without a man.

And a lifetime without a lover.

He drove into her. Treating her not like glass, but like a lover that he desperately had to have. Each new stroke, each assault of her mouth with his wildfire kisses became more urgent.

She heard herself moan. Felt herself go right to the edge. She considered trying to pull back, to wait for Lucky. But when she looked into his eyes, she realized, he truly was right there with her.

Marin gave in to the unbearable heat and pleasure.

Lucky did the same.

He kissed her hard and deep as they went over that edge together.

Their breaths were the only sounds in the room, though Marin could feel her heartbeat. And his. It would have been wonderful just to lie there in his arms and let her sated body drift off to sleep. But she wanted to remain alert in case anything else went wrong.

Lucky didn’t give into the moment, either. Breaking the intimate contact, he stared down at her. Their limbs were tangled together, their bodies slick with sweat. Marin felt so fragile that she thought she might shatter into a thousand pieces. Nothing could have prepared her for what had happened. Nothing could have been more beautiful, more perfect than what she had just experienced with Lucky.

She relaxed the harsh grip she still had on him, letting her fingers slide over the tightly corded muscles of his chest. She resisted the urge to ask how he felt about what they had just done.
Was it good for you?
She smiled. Anything she could ask would seem so clichéd, so ordinary.

But surely this couldn’t be ordinary.