SWEET CALLAHAN HOMECOMING (4 page)

Ash stayed far away from him at the other end of the sofa. “You’ve been conspiring with my children?”

“I’ve been conspiring with
our
children, yes. And we’ve come up with quite the remarkable plan. They’re very bright, you know.”

Ash let out a breath that sounded a bit exasperated. But he thought he was winning her over, because she said, “What is this remarkable plan?”

“You marry me, and we produce a formidable team that faces all challenges together. Including the damnation of being the hunted one.” He thought about that for a moment. “I’m still not sure about all the ramifications of that particular designation, but let the record reflect that I face it fearlessly.”

“I didn’t make the decision to come here lightly. I wouldn’t have left Rancho Diablo if I hadn’t known that it was best for everyone.”

He shrugged. “I didn’t make the decision to come here lightly, either. Let’s consider you stuck with me.”

“That’s your marriage proposal?”

“Sure. It’ll probably work better with you than the old-fashioned, hearts-and-flowers, on-bended-knee routine.”

“Maybe,” Ash said, sounding as if she might actually be considering his counterproposal, until the front door crashed open so hard the drapes at the window flew.

“Don’t move,” Wolf said, “or this time this kid gets it.”

He pointed a gun at Skye, and Ash gasped. Wolf’s right-hand man, Rhein, slipped in behind his boss, aiming his gun at Ash. “And little mama gets her payback for nearly killing you, Boss.”

Xav had never felt so helpless in his life. He’d taken off his holster after entering the house—not wanting to carry when he was around the children. That left him unarmed now, at the worst moment of his life. There was blood in Wolf’s eye and he was out for the prize, the biggest Callahan prize of all—the silver-haired only daughter of the Callahan clan—and right then Xav knew that Ash had been right all along.

She was indeed the hunted one.

Chapter Four

“Don’t even think about heroics,” Wolf said. “Here’s where you get lucky. I happen to be in a giving mood tonight. I take my niece, and leave you here alive with these bundles of joy.”

Ash looked terrified—and mad—as Rhein held her arms together, quickly binding them with nylon cuffs. Xav feared for her if things got out of control. Ash had a fiery temper and he hoped she didn’t unleash it. He started to say, “She’s nursing these babies, don’t be an idiot, take me instead,” then realized he couldn’t offer that deal because Wolf didn’t know these were Callahan children.

If Wolf knew, he’d be just as likely to kidnap them all.

“You don’t want her,” Xav said. “Taking her will bring down Callahan wrath on you.”

“I know what I’m doing. Thanks, though, for the generous advice.” Wolf jerked his head at Rhein to depart with Ash. She kicked Rhein in the shin, and he slapped her. Xav grit his teeth, reminding himself that the patient man left himself the most options.

“If you call the law, we’ll kill her,” Wolf said, waving his gun for emphasis.

“You’d kill your own niece,” Xav stated, his voice deadly quiet. Wolf had a hair-trigger temper as the door hanging by a hinge illustrated. He’d been spoiling for revenge for months.

“I probably will anyway, but that’s not your concern.” He glanced at the babies in the bassinets, sleeping soundly for the moment, thankfully. “Let me tell you how this is going to go down. This isn’t about you, it doesn’t concern you. If you come after us, we’ll shoot her on the spot. But if you give us an hour’s head start, she’ll live. Best deal I’ll offer you. Don’t make me have to shoot you, too,” Wolf said. “I’m kind of in a killing mood, to be honest. In case you don’t know, my dear angelic niece nearly killed me. She and I have things to talk about, but that’s none of your business.” He stared Xav down. “You get me?”

“I do. One hour head start, no more.”

“That’s all I need for the party I’m planning.” Wolf followed Rhein to his black truck.

Mallory peeked around the corner. “What is going on?”

“Just an unforeseen event that requires a bit of attention. Can you move the babies to the back of the house, quickly?”

Mallory grabbed up a baby, then another, and scrambled down the hall. Xav didn’t move, but watched Ash put up a helluva fight as Rhein and Wolf tried to get her into the truck. Mallory had the other two babies moved while Ash struggled, and Xav got his gun from the holster he’d laid on the sofa, unlocked it and checked the magazine.

“Do you want me to call the sheriff?” Mallory whispered from the kitchen.

“In a minute you’re going to hear two shots. After the second shot, you can call the sheriff.”

“Okay.”

He heard the kitchen door close and trained his eyes on Ash. Rhein and Wolf had finally managed to wrangle her into the truck, and were driving away when suddenly she fell out of the vehicle and started to run toward the woods across the street. The truck stopped and Wolf and Rhein ran after her, and from the front door, Xav fired once, twice.

He smiled.

Ash whirled to stare at him from two hundred yards away. Her hands were still bound. She bent down to stare at her uncle and gave Rhein a cursory glance. Stomping toward the house, she met him on the porch, her eyes blazing.

“You killed him!”

Xav shrugged. “He said he was in a killing mood. I decided to take care of his mood.”

“Running Bear said no one was to harm his son!”

He stared at the silver-haired spitfire he adored from her small feet to her big, wide navy eyes—Callahan eyes. “Your grandfather said none of you Callahans were to harm him. Me, I’m not a Callahan. I’m a Phillips. And as your uncle so clearly pointed out, his problem had nothing to do with me.” He tugged Ash to him, removing his knife from his boot to cut her free. “Now, the mother of my children has everything to do with me. There was no way on this planet I was going to let him drag off my babies’ mother.”

Ash slowly nodded and drew a shaky breath. “Thank you.”

He enveloped her in his arms. “I take it you’re not going to fire me, Callahan?”

She sniffled against his chest, and he realized his nerves-of-steel lady was shaken, frightened. He decided it was best not to injure her pride by commenting on her tears. Stroking her back, he let her know she was safe.

“Where are the babies?” she asked, her voice slightly unsteady.

“Safe in the nice warm kitchen with Mallory. She’s called the sheriff. You should go take a bath, try to relax.” He ran a hand down her long blond ponytail.

She drew in a hiccup breath. “I think I’ll go call Running Bear.”

“Even better idea.” The chief would calm Ash down, relieve her anxiety. She disappeared, and as the sun began setting in the sky, sending the gray of winter into the living room, Xav glanced at the empty bassinets and thought how lucky it was that he’d found Ash when he had. Things could have turned out so differently if Wolf had gotten here before he did.

But knowing the chief the way he did, the timing was probably no accident at all.

* * *

“T
HERE
’
RE
NO
BODIES
anywhere out there,” Sheriff Lopez said thirty minutes later. He and his deputies had scoured the fields and woods across the way, returning to the house to make their report. “Are you sure you hit them? Because we find no evidence of blood or any type of struggle.”

Ash and Xav shared a startled glance. “I know they were dead,” Ash told the sheriff. “I’m sure Rhein was. And Wolf didn’t look very lively.”

They stood inside at the fireplace, warming themselves as the sheriff wrote up their statements. She’d offered him some hot cocoa, which he’d accepted gratefully. The weather outdoors was a bone-chilling fifteen degrees, and the sheriff and his men had been searching for Wolf and Rhein with no luck. Now it was dark—solidly black outside the big window. The Christmas-tree lights twinkled with soft color, but Ash didn’t feel any sense of holiday peace.

Not now.

“I shot both of them.” Xav leaned against the mantel, stared down at the fire. “I didn’t aim to merely wound. I saw them hit the ground.”

“Well, it’s a mystery,” Sheriff Lopez said, his tone cheerful for a man who’d been out hunting for dead thugs. “You should get some sleep, Ash. I’m sure those four angels of yours keep you quite busy.”

He tipped his hat to her, thanked her for the cocoa, told her to say goodbye to Mallory for him and slipped out the front door. She turned to Xav who studied her with his dark, intense gaze.

“That’s odd. Don’t you think? There’s no way the bodies weren’t out there,” Ash said.

“I know. I don’t understand it.”

She wanted to walk into Xav’s arms and stay there forever. She couldn’t. He’d killed two men because of her. She
had
brought darkness and devastation to him, just as Running Bear’s warning had foretold. “You’d never killed anyone before, had you?” she asked, destroyed by the knowledge he’d crossed a place in his soul he could never return from because of her.

“That’s not something I’m going to discuss.”

“You shouldn’t bear that because of me, because of my family.”

“I don’t bear anything, Ash. Two armed men entered your home with full intent to kidnap you. Perhaps they would have returned for the children.” He shrugged. “If there was a burden for me to bear, it would have been calling your brothers and telling them I’d let Wolf kidnap you. He clearly intended to harm you. I feel no burden at all. Besides which, your brothers don’t even know that you’ve had children. If they knew that you’d just been attacked, this place would be swarming with Callahans rushing to protect their sister. No, I feel no burden at all, just a sense of peace.”

“I don’t feel peace.” She glanced toward the window, at the darkness shrouding the house. “I feel unsettled. It didn’t take the sheriff but maybe thirty minutes to get here. What happened to the bodies?”

“I don’t know.” He pulled her into his arms and she went willingly. “But they were dead, Ash. They’re not ever coming back to hurt you or the children.”

“I know.” Goose pimples ran over her arms just the same, and a dizzying sense of worry swept her.

“I thought some potato soup and hot apple cider might be the thing to settle everyone’s nerves,” Mallory said, poking her head into the room. “Oh, the sheriff’s gone. Let me bring you two something to eat.”

“Thank you,” Ash said, glad for the interruption even if she didn’t feel like eating. Anything to feel like life was normal, and not a horrible nightmare from which she couldn’t wake.

“I would swear I’ve seen Mallory somewhere before,” Xav said, staring after the older woman. “I have the strangest feeling I know her.”

“You’re from Texas. Were you ever in Wild?”

“No. Kendall, Gage, Shaman and I have been through lots of the state with Gil Phillips, Inc., but somehow we never made it to Wild.”

“Maybe she reminds you of someone you met.” Ash left his arms and went to the tray to pour a cup of cider for him and one for her. “She’s been very good to me. Motherly, in a way.”

“I’m glad.” He sat across from her, took the mug she handed him. “What did Running Bear say when you called him?”

“That things happen the way they are meant to. That I should take care of the babies now.”

“He wants you to return to Rancho Diablo?”

“We didn’t discuss it. But I know it’s time.” Ash wanted her brothers to meet their new nieces and nephews; she wanted to hug Fiona and Burke. She’d been so homesick, though she wouldn’t say that out loud. “I’d like to be home for Christmas.”

“Consider my truck your sleigh, then,” Xav said, and Ash nodded, glad that her children’s father could be with them.

But she had a niggling feeling she’d brought darkness to Xav’s soul.

* * *

M
ALLORY
CAME
OUT
to say goodbye, and help them put the babies in the SUV the sheriff had lent Ash and Xav to get home with their babies.

“I’ll miss them,” Mallory said.

“Come with us,” Ash said. “I could certainly use the help.” She would miss Mallory, too, and terribly so. The two of them had grown close during the months they’d spent together.

“I would love to come with you,” Mallory said, “but I’m better staying here. Feel free to return whenever you want to. Holidays, weekends, weekdays, whenever.”

Ash smiled and hugged Mallory. “I’ll remember that.”

“Keep up the fight,” Mallory whispered against her ear. “The fight is all that matters. And remember that so often what we think we see hides what we really should be seeing.”

Ash hesitated. “The fight?”

Mallory pulled away and thrust a bag into Ash’s hands. “These are snacks for the road. You’ll find just about everything one needs for good nutrition between here and Rancho Diablo without having to stop for fast food.” She smiled at Xav. “Thank you for keeping an eye on Ashlyn. She’s very special to me.”

“You won’t be worried to stay here by yourself?” Xav asked Mallory. Ash watched his gaze sweep the property before he shook Mallory’s hand.

“No. I’m not afraid. All is well with me here. Drive safely. Let me know when you arrive.”

They got in the truck, waved goodbye. “I don’t know what I’ll do without her,” Ash said.

“I know. She treats you like a long-lost daughter.” Xav started the truck and drove off. They waved to Mallory as she stood on the porch, watching them go.

“She said something about keeping up the fight,” Ash said. The rest of Mallory’s words echoed in her head, but she didn’t repeat them. “She’ll be safe, won’t she?”

“Sure. The sheriff will keep a tight eye on her.”

“I don’t understand where the bodies went. It worries me.” Mallory’s life had been uncomplicated before the Callahans had arrived.

“She’ll call if she needs help. She has my cell number.”

Ash looked at Xav, grateful for his calm strength. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” He glanced at her. “Are you all right?”

“Yes. Just a little worried about Mallory.”

“She knew what she was getting into when Running Bear asked her if you could stay there, babe.”

“I wish she’d come with us.”

He put his hand over hers, lightly squeezing her fingers. “We’ll bring the babies back to see her soon.”

She looked at him. “Thank you for understanding. And for being here.”

It felt strange to be in a car with Xav, with their four children, considering the many years she’d spent chasing after him. “You know, in all the years I’ve know you, you never asked me out.”

A smile creased his nicely shaped lips, lips that Ash had loved kissing, wanted to kiss now. “You’re right. I didn’t.”

“Why not?” For so long she’d despaired of ever “catching” Xav. “It always felt like you were avoiding me.”

“I was.” He laughed at her gasp. “I could see no good reason to allow my employer’s wild little sister to seduce me. And it was clear that was what was on your mind.”

“I don’t know that you put up
that
much of a fight.”

He laughed. “I liked letting you catch me, I’m not going to lie.”

She arched a brow. “I don’t believe for a moment that you were afraid of my brothers.”

“Not afraid. Wary. Then again, I was faced with one tiny, loud, adorable lady who had a penchant for lovemaking while I was on duty. What’s a guy to do?”

Ash looked out the window. “Exactly what you did.”

“That’s right. And now I plan to marry you, make an honest woman of you. I’m not sure that’s entirely possible, but we’ll give it our best shot.”

“I never agreed to that.”

“You will,” he said cheerfully, “or no more lovemaking for you.”

She turned to him. “That’s your best bargaining chip?”

“It was good enough to get you into the canyons, beautiful, it’ll be good enough to get you to say ‘I do.’”

“We’ll see,” Ash said.

“Yes, we will,” Xav said, and kissed her hand like an old-fashioned prince in her personal fairy tale.

But he wasn’t. He’d shot her uncle and his thug, and they’d disappeared. He’d done that for her, and nothing was right about the price he’d had to pay for her.