Cold Heat (Seasons of the Heart #1) (13 page)

“I was cleaning, not paying attention to anything when I saw Jenny out of the corner of my eye, she was focused on something around the back of the house, pacing and growling. I walked over, hoping to catch sight of whatever animal had caught her attention. I didn’t see an animal, Drake, I saw a man running back into the woods.”

Rafe was already headed around the house at a full run when Drake told Kaylie, “Rafe and I will see what we can find, you get back into the house, lock the doors and stay away from the windows.”
He took off after Rafe and Jenny.

The two men and the dog followed the footprints left in the snow, giving chase until they came to the end of the prints where their tango had climbed into his truck and gotten away.

Turning towards Drake, Rafe barked, “Damn it!”

“Did you see anything?”

“No,”
Rafe started as he squatted down to study the tire tracks in the snow. “Fucker was far enough ahead of me that I couldn’t see anything of the truck once I got here.”
He looked back up at Drake. “It could be anything from an idiot wandering around, or we were too late getting rid of her phone.”

Drake let out a sigh of aggravation, putting his hands on his hips as Rafe stood back up. “I need Cal and Zach up here ASAP to keep some extra eyes on the place.”
Both men started walking back toward Drakes place, each one deep in their own thoughts as they approached the house. “How the hell did they get here this quick? There’s no way they made it up here from Vegas today, the roads have been impassable until late yesterday, even now they’re still icy in spots. There had to have been someone tailing her, biding his time during the storm. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

Walking up to the house, Drake pulled out his keys to unlock the door when Kaylie pulled it open from the inside. “What are you doing, Kaylie? I thought I told you to stay inside and away from the windows while we went after whoever it was you saw.”

She lowered her eyes for a moment before looking back up at the two men, “No. Drake, I’m tired of running and hiding from every shadow. I know it’s a battle that I have to face inside myself, but I have to stop. I need to find the strength that I had once upon a time. I stayed in the house, with the doors locked like you asked, but I have to stop hiding. You both have done so much for me today.”
Kaylie stopped what she was saying, turned and led the men into the kitchen. Stopping when she reached the counter, she turned to look at the two men, noticing some swelling and early bruising on Rafe’s jaw. “Jesus, Rafe, what happened to you?”
she asked as she ran a finger along his jaw, her look quizzical. “This looks like someone’s fist got ahold of you.”
She turned to the freezer and grabbed a bag of frozen vegetables for him. “Here. What happened to you two out there?”
She narrowed her eyes as the two men started chuckling, looking Drake over for any bruising before seeing the swollen knuckles on his hand. “Seriously, you two?”

Kaylie took a deep breath before continuing, “You know what I read, once upon a time? ‘Life has no remote; get up and change yourself.’
I’m making that change, or trying to,”
she looked between the two men. “When I started this, I decided to stick up for and protect myself. I continued to change when I left Las Vegas. Now I have to realize that not every shadow is him…
Drake, you keep telling me that I need to trust you, that you’ll keep me safe, and I do. But I have to trust myself also.”
She took a deep breath, “Drake, I need to trust myself, for a few hours at least, and I need to know that I am strong enough to live.”

The men were standing there, listening to her as she spoke.

“I know this is beyond ridiculous coming from me, especially after I just climbed all over you because of what I saw.”
Kaylie ran her hands up into her hair, pulling at it like it would help he think clearly. “I have to prove to myself that I can, and as long as I have you here with me every second…“
she stopped, shaking her head. “God, I even sound pathetic and ungrateful to myself, I can only imagine how I sound to you. Sometime in the next couple of days, would you trust me enough to leave me alone here? Please?”

Drake looked at her, looked into her eyes, and he saw something he’d often seen in himself when he’d first come back from a mission. It was something so many men and women serving now were coming home with, maybe not the exact same, but PTSD came from so many different sources. He knew what she was asking was difficult for her, but he knew that there were obstacles, demons, in the road to recovery that she had to face in order to live fully again.

He leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. “Just not tonight, okay?”
He turned to Rafe, thanking him for the help before the other man turned and headed out to his
snowmobile,
walking around Kaylies battered car on the way.

Chapter 20

“Can't you just please trust
me
this time? I know you’re doing what you think is best to keep me safe,”
Kaylie was saying as she stood over his stove making pancakes the next week, “but you have to understand that I need some time to myself.”

“Kaylie.”

“No. Don’t interrupt me, please.”
She held up her hand, telling him to stop while she finished up their breakfasts. “All I am asking for is a few hours to do
something
without you here supervising me. You’ve got to be getting tired of me by now.”
She turned from the stove with a plate stacked with pancakes and bacon that she had finished earlier. “Hell,
I’m
getting tired of me. Please Drake? I’ll be fine here during the day for a couple of hours. I have your phone in case I need to call you, which I won’t need to do,
plus, I’ll have the gun here. You’ve been working with me on using it, making sure I’m comfortable if I need it. I’ll even keep Jenny here w
ith me. Come on Drake? Leave me alone and go play with your friends. Rafe isn't that far away from here.”

Drake couldn’t pin point when, exactly, he’d lost so much ground in this discussion. He knew she had a valid point in needing time alone, but damn it, it was still too dangerous. “Kaylie, I understand what you're asking, and why you're asking it, but it doesn't feel right. No, I really don’t think it’s a good idea,”
he was shaking his head. “Even with Jenny staying here.”

Sighing she told him, “You’re right, its foolish of me to think that I would be safe in a remote cabin in the mountains, forty miles from the nearest town. Snow falling on the ground outside,
the deputy running a drive by every day, while I stayed warm and secure
behind locked doors with Jenny. I can see where that could lead to disaster.”

Narrowing his eyes at her, he was certain her heard sarcasm in her speech. “Fine. If it’s that important to you, I’ll call Rafe, see what’s up. But I’ll only give you limited time, so you'd better make the best of it, and Jenny stays inside the entire time. Clear?”

She was all but bouncing in her seat while Drake was talking, giving her the conditions to her ‘parole.’
“Deal! Doors locked, phone on, Jenny inside. Sir, yes Sir!”

“You,”
he motioned with his fork, “are a smart ass.”
Just another thing I love about you
. Wait, when did he decide that he loved her? Drake shook his head as if to clear it.

Drake had called Rafe and they had decided on a few hours of poker in later in the day. He was reluctant to leave her alone that afternoon as he let Jenny out for a few minutes. “You have three hours, Kaylie. That’s it, and if the snow starts falling any faster, it could be less than that. You have my phone and Rafe is programed speed dial one. If you need me for anything, call immediately. I’ll be back before dark, understand?”

“Oh my God, Drake, I am not a child you’re leaving home alone for the first time! Three hours is perfect. Jenny and I will just do girly things. Now,”
she leaned in to kiss him quickly before opening the door to let Jenny in and him out, “go away.”

Brian looked at the phone number displayed before answering the call. “I hope this is good news you’re calling me with?”

“I told you I knew where she was staying, and with whom. Her car, and its tracker, is parked outside his cabin. I told you that her car was wrecked when I helped Drake and Rafe move it off the side of the road. The car isn’t going anywhere for now.”
Deputy Collins was looking forward to the money he was making from this information. “I went over to his place while they were still messing with the car and I saw her inside, looking awfully cozy and comfortable in his house.

I’d have tried to get some pictures for you, but the bastard’s dog alerted her to me being outside, and then the guys showed up. I had to haul ass so they didn’t see me.”

“
Deputy,”
Brian sneered, “tell me where she is today. Now.”

“She’s at the cabin, alone. I saw Givens drive off a few minutes ago. I’m not sure where he was going, but I know she’s not with him, and he looked pissed.”

“Very good, Collins,”
Brian said as he was hanging up on the man. How fortunate that the deputy liked the finer things in life, fine things that he couldn’t afford. Another player to keep in his pocket, should he ever need him again. For now, though, Brian was ready, more than ready to collect his belongings.

It’s time, he thought to himself as he looked over the images that Manuel had gotten for him. It had taken them far longer than he wanted to, to be able to finally get away from Vegas and all the hoops he’d had to go through with his parole officer, and Ruvalcaba, and now the need for vengeance was festering inside of him. The bitch, his loving
wife,
had
to pay. He knew what she’d been up to, spreading her legs for that bastard she’s been staying with. She stopped spreading her legs for him a long time ago, but apparently, like a dog in heat, she’ll now take anyone on. He looked over at Manuel, the fury boiling in him evident on his face, “Are your men ready? I want her with me tonight. I don’t care how we go about getting her, just see that we do, and remember, no one else is to hurt her.”

“The men are ready and awaiting the go ahead from you. They know what their jobs are, they’ve been warned to bring her in, in one piece and unharmed.”

Brian nodded his head as he tucked the .45 caliber gun in the small of his back before grabbing the MP5 assault rifle, sliding it over his coat and then slipping out into the afternoon shadows with Manuel to reclaim his wife.

Chapter 21

Kaylie sang along with the radio as she was putting the dishes away. She couldn’t pinpoint when these feelings of peace and happiness had settled over her. Her heart that had been so betrayed, somehow it was healing. She knew she had a long way to go, but just knowing that she could relax and breathe again was more than she ever expected. Taking a deep breath, she placed a hand on the butterflies in her stomach as she finally realized what love was. She never thought she would ever experience real love after what Brian had done, but she had found it in Drakes arms. Somehow she was filling in the broken pieces of herself here in this house in the woods.

She was cocooned inside while the snow was still falling outside, enjoying the tranquility of the evening when a loud
pop
suddenly pierced the quiet as a window behind her shattered and the wood above her exploded with an ear splitting
crack!
She swallowed hard over the lump of fear in her throat as she dropped to her knees, reflexively covering her head with her arms.
The gun,
she thought.
It’s in the table by the door.
She reached out a hand toward Jenny who was circling around her, protecting her, while she growled deep in her chest at the unknown person. Kaylie’s mind was blank for a moment, not knowing what to do before the adrenaline kicked in and had her reaching on the counter for Drake’s phone. She knew he would get here as soon as possible with the other men, but she wasn’t sure it would be in time.