That Summer Night (Callaways #6) (3 page)

"Maybe tomorrow."

"It can't wait until then. Please." She was close to begging, but she didn't care. She'd been on edge for a week, and she wouldn't be able to stop the nightmares until Robert was back in San Francisco, living his life, and doing his job. "You have to help me. I don't know what else to do."

Her pending hysteria worked in her favor. Reid put his hand on her shoulder again. "Okay, calm down. We'll talk." He glanced at his watch. "There's a coffee house around the corner. It should be open for at least another hour."

"Perfect," she said with relief, following him outside.

The bar was in an industrial area that was fine by day but seedy at night, and while it was only a little after eight o'clock, she was happy to have Reid by her side.

They crossed the street at the corner and were only a few feet into the intersection when a car came speeding down the block.

She froze at the sudden, blinding headlights. Then Reid shoved her towards the sidewalk as the car screamed past, flying around the corner on squealing tires. She landed hard on the pavement, Reid's body adding more weight as he fell on top of her.

The shock of what had almost happened took her breath away. She was still trying to get it back when Reid jumped to his feet. He ran toward the corner, but the car was gone, and there was no one else around who could have seen what happened.

She was making her way to her feet when he returned to her, his expression grim.

"He almost hit us," she said, her lips trembling.

"Yeah." He gave her a hard look. "You asked me what I had to lose by having coffee with you—I think I just got an answer."

"That wasn't about me," she protested.

"Wasn't it? You tell me my brother is in danger and then someone tries to run us down? I don't think that's a coincidence. We need to talk. Did you drive here?"

"No, I took a cab."

He pulled out his phone. "So did I. I'll call a taxi. We'll go to my place."

"Your place?" she echoed. "Isn't the coffee house down the street?"

"I'd like to get farther away from here. Is that a problem?"

She slowly shook her head, reminding herself that he was Robert's brother. She could trust him, couldn't she?

* * *

What the hell was he doing, Reid wondered as he ushered Shayla into a cab a few minutes later. He'd gone to the Cadillac Lounge to have some drinks and forget about everything that had gone wrong in his life—a few mind-numbing hours of nothingness. He certainly hadn't intended to follow a beautiful blonde out of the bar and almost get himself run over.

He glanced out the window of the taxi, seeing no sign of the vehicle that had narrowly missed them, not that he'd gotten a good look at the car. In fact, he couldn't have described one thing about it, and that bothered him. He used to be better at details, because details could save his life. It was another sign of how much of his edge he'd lost since he left the Army.

He couldn't imagine why Robert would think he could save his life or that he would even want to try. They hadn't spoken in eight years. They didn't know anything about each other now. And Shayla's story about Colombia, drugs, guns, raids… it was crazy, and it didn't sound at all like his academic, intellectual brother, who'd always been more interested in books than adventure.

Shayla tapped her fingers nervously on her thigh, drawing his attention back to her. Her fingers were bare of jewelry. She didn't appear to be married or engaged, and as she turned her pretty light blue, almost gray, eyes on him, his gut clenched. He'd noticed her in the bar long before he'd realized she had a more serious reason for staring at him than just to flirt. He wished now that had been her only reason, because she was a very attractive woman and just his type with long blonde hair that would probably look great out of a ponytail. Her eyes were fringed with dark lashes, and she had a killer mouth with soft, full lips. The rest of her body didn't look bad either in white jeans and a sleeveless tank top.

As she stared back at him, he realized she was younger than his brother, quite a few years younger, probably mid-twenties. "What were you doing for Robert?" he asked.

"I was working at the medical clinic that had been set up in El Catatumbo to facilitate the drug trial Robert was running and to bring health care to the surrounding villages, which are remote and extremely poor. I'm a doctor. I took the assignment as part of my residency program."

"You look more like a student than a doctor. How old are you?"

Her lips tightened and her eyes sparked with irritation. He had a feeling it wasn't the first time she'd heard the question.

"Twenty-six," she said tersely.

"Did you start college when you were twelve?"

"Three days before my sixteenth birthday."

He would have been more impressed at her early achievement if he hadn't grown up with Robert. "Not so young then. Robert started freshman year when he was fifteen."

She nodded. "I know. We met my first week of college. He was a guest lecturer in one of my classes. He took me under his wing and said he remembered what it felt like to be younger than everyone else. He gave me some advice on how to fit in, and over the years he kept in touch, checked in with me every now and then. He helped me out a lot."

There was a note of affection in her voice when she spoke of his brother, a note he didn't care for. "Are you and Robert sleeping together?"

Her eyes widened, and then she gave a quick and emphatic answer. "No. It's not like that. We're friends and colleagues. Robert has been a mentor to me, but that's all. And up until last year he was married."

"
Was
married?" Every muscle in his body stiffened at that piece of news.

"Robert and Lisa divorced right before Christmas." She gave him a thoughtful look. "Do you know Lisa?"

"I know her." He stopped there. He was not going to discuss Lisa. "So you and Robert were running a medical clinic in Colombia…" He still couldn't quite believe his brother would go to one of the most dangerous countries in the world. "Why there?"

"Because there's a cluster of early-onset Alzheimer's cases in the mountain villages, and some five thousand people in the surrounding areas who carry a similar genetic mutation. It was the perfect location for the drug trial. Abbott Pharmaceuticals, the company funding the trial, is very excited about a new drug they're developing. It could change a lot of lives for a lot of people, people like my grandmother. She's the reason why I wanted to go, wanted to help." Her voice faltered. "But everything changed last week when the clinic was attacked by gunmen, who not only stole the drugs but also destroyed the data and killed several people."

"And that's when Robert went missing?"

She nodded. "No one had heard from him until he called me this morning, and he was adamant that I not tell anyone about that call except you. You have to help him, Reid."

"I don't have to do anything." He tried not to soften at the plea in her eyes. "My brother can get himself out of whatever mess he's in. Robert had always been good at escaping consequences. He's the
golden boy
. Why should this time be any different?"

She frowned at his harsh tone. "I don't think Robert can get himself out of this trouble. He was different on the phone this morning. There was real fear in his voice. After having seen what I saw in Colombia…" She drew in a quick breath. "I think Robert is caught in the middle of something very dangerous. I'm terrified for him. I need you to understand that this isn't some joke. It's very, very real."

"I get it."

"Then you'll help me save your brother?"

He hesitated. "That's still to be determined."

She gave him a frustrated look. "Why?"

"Before I can commit to saving him, I have to stop wanting to kill him."

Chapter Three

Reid's words hung in the air for a long minute. Shayla couldn't begin to understand the anger in his eyes, but she could only hope that he'd find a way to get over it, because if he didn't agree to help his brother, then she didn't know what to do next.

The bright lights of the Golden Gate Bridge distracted her from their conversation. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"My place. I live in Sausalito," he said, referring to the small town across the bay from San Francisco.

"Oh. I thought you lived in the city."

"I don't like cities. Too much traffic, noise, people."

"You didn't seem to mind the
people
in the bar. You were the center of attention."

He smiled. "I was hoping to take home a beautiful woman tonight. I just didn't think I was going to have to dodge a speeding car or knock her on the ground first."

"I've always been hard to pick up," she returned, happy to follow his flirtatious lead for a moment, because thinking about everything that had happened and might happen was making her way too anxious.

"I'll bet," he said. "You're way out of my league."

She wasn't at all taken in by his false modesty. This man would have no trouble getting a woman. Keeping one might be another story. He had an angry, bitter edge. But then, he probably wasn't interested in a relationship lasting more than a night.

The cab pulled up in front of the Sausalito harbor.

Reid paid the driver. Then she followed him onto the sidewalk.

"Where's your house?" she asked.

"My home is this way." He opened a locked gate, then headed down a narrow dock lined with houseboats. Reid paused by the second to last boat, which was aptly named
Lone Wolf
. "This is it."

"Seriously? You live on a boat?"

"It's great. The water rocks me to sleep at night."

She shook her head in amazement. "You are nothing like your brother."

His mouth curved into a smile. "That's the nicest thing you could have said to me."

"Why do you hate Robert?" She was getting really curious about what was between them.

"Right now we have more pressing things to talk about," he said, as he stepped onto the deck of his boat. Two beach chairs were set up on either side of a small table. A fishing pole and a tackle box were off to the side as well as a one-person kayak, obviously meant for solo trips on the bay.

Reid unlocked his front door, and as she followed him inside she was surprised at the spaciousness of the interior. They walked through a galley kitchen into a sitting area with a sofa, armchair, and a crowded bookshelf. On the walls were beer and whiskey placards and pictures of wild animals.

"The bathroom is there." He pointed to the hallway. "The bedroom is just beyond that."

"I must admit this is bigger and better than I thought," she said, sitting on the couch. "But the décor could use a female touch."

He grinned and his whole face lightened up with that smile, a smile that made her stomach do a little dance. He did have a sexy charm when he wasn't pissed off.

"I bought this boat and all the furnishings from a WWII vet named Walt Hopper," he said.

"And you haven't changed anything?"

"Why would I?" he asked with a shrug.

"To make it yours. I'm sure one of the women you were with tonight would be happy to help you redecorate."

"I'm not really interested in their decorating skills." He took a seat in the armchair across from her.

"Big surprise. Did you even know their names?"

"We hadn't gotten that far."

"The redhead was practically sitting in your lap."

"Jealous?" he challenged.

"Hardly," she said forcefully, feeling a need to convince herself as well as him. "How long have you lived here?"

"About seven months."

"And before that?"

"I was living on Army bases and traveling the world."

His tone turned cold, the light in his eyes replaced by dark shadows. She was suddenly curious about his story, why he'd left the Army, why he hated his brother, why he lived on a boat decorated by an eighty-year-old man, and why he seemed to wince with pain every now and then. Something bad had happened to this man, some kind of terrible pain that he tried to hide but couldn't quite cover up. Her nurturing, healing instinct wanted to help, but she doubted he'd be receptive. And she hadn't come here to help him but to help his brother. She needed to focus on Robert.

"Let's talk about my brother," he said, obviously coming to the same conclusion.

"All right." She paused. "I must say you don't seem as drunk as you did in the bar."

"Almost getting killed has a tendency to sober me up."

"I guess I should thank you for shoving me out of the way."

"You guess?"

"You're right. Thank you."

He gave a dismissive shrug. "I was saving myself. If you went down, I was going with you."

"Wow. First you want a thank you and then you don't. You're kind of being an asshole, you know."

"I know," he agreed.

"So what's your problem?"

"You're my problem. I was having a great time tonight and then you walk into the bar and mess everything up."

"Your brother sent me."

"Of course he did, because there is nothing my brother likes more than to screw up my life."

"Okay, that's it. We can't go any further until you tell me what happened between you and Robert."

"It's too long of a story."

"I've got time."

"Not that much time."

She stared back at him, thinking about what could possibly break the relationship between two brothers. All she could come up with was a woman. And while she couldn't imagine two men as different as Robert and Reid being in love with the same woman, it made the most sense.

"Lisa," she said abruptly, remembering the way Reid had reacted in the taxi when she'd mentioned Robert's ex-wife. "She came between you in some way, didn't she?"

"Why would you say that?" he countered.

"Because I have five brothers, and I know that it takes something big to break the bond."

"Five brothers? Big family."

"Two sisters, too."

"Your parents ever hear about birth control?"

Anger ran through her. He could throw darts at her, but her family was off limits. "My parents are two of the most incredible people in the world. Their first marriages ended badly, one with death, the other with divorce. They got together and blended two families, then they had me and my brother, Colton. We were all raised together in the most loving environment you could ever imagine."