Shattered Valor (19 page)

She’d completed two more days of training with Max and Angel. If she thought she hurt the first day, she was nearly crippled now. Her physical fatigue had affected her performance today. She’d tripped at a critical point when Angel was showing her how to deflect a kick and stubbed her cheek on his knee. She had a lovely bruise to show for her clumsiness.

She went up to her room around 9 p.m., thinking she’d crash for the night. She lay quietly for an hour, waiting for sleep to come, but it evaded her. Perhaps she was too tired to sleep.

She got up and dressed, then tapped on Fee’s door. “Fee? You awake?”

“No,” the girl answered on the other side of the door.

Eden stepped into her room and turned on the light. “I can’t sleep.”

“Eden, I’m tired.”

“I am too, but I can’t sleep. Come play a game of pool with me.”

“I’m in pajamas.”

“Who cares? It’s just the guys.”

“Wait.” Fiona sat up and rubbed her face. “Pool in the game room? With the guys?”

“Billiards room,” Eden corrected her. “Who knows if the guys are there?”

“We can’t go in there.”

“Why not?”

“It’s the guys’ room.”

“What do you mean?” Eden frowned. “Did someone say we can’t go in there?”

“No. It’s just where they smoke and hang out.”

“Screw that. We’re crashing their party. Get dressed.”

Fee jumped from the bed and ran to her closet. “What should I wear?”

“Seriously, Fee. It doesn’t matter. Put some sweats on and let’s go.”

“It matters. The guys are there.”

“Oohh.” Eden smiled. “So is there a particular guy? Or will any of them do?”

Fee flushed a bright red as she turned to flip through tops hanging in the closet. “It’s not like that.”

“No? What’s it like?”

“It’s Kelan,” Fee lifted out a top, held it against herself as she looked in the mirror, then tossed it to a chair and reached for another one.”

“Really? And does he return your feelings?”

“No. He’s always grouchy and bossy. But God, he’s so hot. And he’s so sweet.”

“I thought he was grouchy and bossy.”

“He is, but I feel like I could talk to him about anything. Like he would drop anything he’s doing and listen to me.”

“Hm-hmm.” Eden scooted back on Fee’s bed and watched her panicked search for the right outfit. “How long’s it going to take you to get dressed?” She looked at her watch. “’Cause in exactly five minutes, I’m going down there, with or without you.”

“No! Wait! I’ll be quick!”

She scrambled into a pair of skinny jeans, a tank top, and a shimmering slipover that couldn’t seem to stay on her shoulders. She ran to the bathroom and put makeup on in a way that enhanced her pretty features without overwhelming them. She spritzed a fruity scent on her neck, swiped a lipstick wand over her mouth, then turned to Eden. Holding her hands out to her sides, she spun around.

“How do I look?”

“Beautiful,” Eden smiled. The girl was extremely feminine and impossibly innocent. She could see why the guys had decided to keep her with them. Safe. “How old are you, Fee?”

“Twenty. How old are you?

“Twenty-six.” Eden grabbed her hand and led her out of the room and down the hall. “No alcohol for you.”

They’d gone down the steps and were standing outside the billiards room when Fee stopped dead in her tracks. “I can’t do this, Eden.”

“Why not?”

“What if they don’t want us there?”

Eden smiled. “Let them try to keep us out.” She pushed the door open and stepped into the heavily paneled, thickly masculine room. A quick sweep of the space showed Kit and Owen sitting in the nook, smoking cigars and holding glasses of brandy. Val, Angel, and Greer were playing cards at a different table. And best of all, the pool table was unoccupied.

Silence fell over the room as they entered. Fee slashed a disappointed look her way. Eden nodded at a couple of the guys, then ignored them. She went over to the rack that held the cues to pick one for herself and one for Fee. “Sorry K’s not here, Fee. Maybe he’ll come in later,” she whispered quietly.

Ty showered and shaved in the bunker bathroom. He’d gotten little sleep the last two nights. He and Greer had set up surveillance on Amir’s room from the hotel across the street. Yusef had gone in there this afternoon and cleaned it out, so they’d called it quits. If Amir was coming back to the motel, it wouldn’t be to his old room.

When they’d gotten back to the house, they’d both crashed in the bunkroom. Ty had been out cold for six hours, missing dinner. Lying in the dark and the quiet, he finally had a chance to think. The past few days had been frustrating. Amir moved like a ghost, evading their attempts to capture him as jumped from safe house to safe house. The bastard had done his homework, taking the time to build a far-reaching infrastructure by buying the allegiance of men like Yusef.

Ty’s mind shifted to Holbrook, who was indeed up to his old tricks. He’d found a way to feed his inner pedophile, sleeping just feet from his stable of adolescent boys. To protect them, Ty was going to have to come forward about his past with Holbrook. Just lay it all out for the team and the sheriff. He couldn’t think about the costs to himself. Those boys, junior WKBers or not, deserved better.

The problem was, Ty had no proof. He’d never seen Holbrook’s face. If he leveled charges now against Holbrook for raping him when he was fourteen, it would be Ty’s word against Holbrook’s. And given the team’s friendly relationship with the sheriff, the charges would likely be dismissed after a cursory interview with Holbrook.

His coming forward now would net more problems for the team but no help for the boys in Holbrook’s care. He needed evidence. And he had a sneaking suspicion that that evidence was in the house, that it had been what the WKB was looking for when they trashed it.

Ty shut his eyes as it occurred to him just what the WKB had been looking for.

His dad had videotaped most of Ty’s encounters over the three years he’d whored him out. Ty’s father had gotten mixed up with the WKB through Holbrook and his network of pervs. He had to have been blackmailing some high-level WKBers or their supporters—both political and financial. It explained so much—the renovations, the big name visitors, the income that seemed to have no source.

Spearing his fingers into his hair, Ty held his head in a vice grip. He had to find those tapes fast—find them and do what he had to do for the sake of Holbrook’s young victims.

He rolled out of bed. He was hungry and, now, grouchy. Most of all, he needed to see Eden.

Max was working in the control room. He stopped at the door to see if they got anything from Holbrook’s phone.

“More calls from burner phones. The guy moves around a lot,” Max told him.

“Holbrook said he meets him in Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska.”

“Yeah, well,” Max grinned, “he also made the mistake of calling from his car once, which gave us a machine ID which led us to a VIN.”

“Let me guess, it belongs to a black Mercedes SUV with Colorado tags.”

“Yeah, the one that’s been stalking Eden.”

“Holbrook said he also drives a silver Lexus. The bastard may have a stable of cars he uses for all we know.”

“Yep. Rocco and Kelan went down to check out the address. Hopefully they’ll turn something up.”

“Great. Hey, do you know where Eden is?”

Max flipped through a few screens. “She’s in the game room playing pool with Fee.”

“Thanks.”

Ty took the stairs up to the main floor. Week after week, his leg was growing stronger. He rarely used his cane any more, though he wished he had it by the time he got to the top of the stairs. His thigh was protesting the exertion. He thought about stopping in the kitchen for a quick sandwich, but the need to see Eden rode him hard. Food could wait.

Eden sank her last ball and jumped up in a victory dance.

“Oh, c’mon, Eden,” Fiona complained. “That was hardly a victory. You were mostly playing solo. I got one turn,” Fee groused.

Eden felt instantly contrite. “You’re right. Here I drag you out of bed to come play with me, and then I trounce you. How about we go again and this time I’ll show you some tricks?”

“Okay. But this is for training and not for real. You can’t claim a win.”

“Competitive much, Fee?” Eden grinned.

Fee crossed her arms and glared at Eden. “Says the pot to the kettle.”

Eden laughed. A movement over by the door caught her attention. She looked up and locked eyes with Ty. Her heart skidded to a stop, then lurched forward.

Ty cursed when he saw her. She tried to ignore the weight of his gaze as he stormed in her direction, but it was a lost battle. She straightened and faced him. It was such a relief to see him again. He looked tired and edgy, but when he lifted her face to the light, his hand was gentle.

“What happened?” he asked, still holding her chin.

“Hi,” Eden said with a smile, ignoring his abrupt question. “It’s good to see you again. Where’ve you been?”

“What happened, Eden?”

“I was clumsy at practice today.”

Ty looked over at Angel. “Did you do this?”

Eden pushed Ty’s shoulder. “No. I told you, I did it.”

“Fuck it all,” Ty growled as he marched toward Angel. “Training the girls is one thing, beating them up’s another,” he said, glaring at Angel.

Angel came to his feet. “She’s gotta learn. In real life, that kick would have crushed her skull.”

“You
kicked
her?” Ty got up in Angel’s grill.

Eden handed her cue to Fee and hurried over to slip between the two men who were now standing nose to nose. “Ty Bladen,” she pushed him back a step. “I told you this was my fault. If you freak out like this with a small injury, they won’t teach me. And I want to learn. I’m going to get hurt. I know it. They know it. Get over it.”

Ty’s gaze lowered to her face. He was breathing hard, teetering close to that point of madness where reason cannot prevail. He looked over her head to Angel. “Be more careful with the girls.”

“I hear you,” Angel answered. “And will do. I didn’t mean for that kick to make contact.”

“Great. We all cool, then?” Eden asked both of them, but looked at Ty.

He nodded and went behind the bar to get a beer.

Eden looked at Angel and smiled. “Phew!”

Angel touched her cheek. “I am sorry.”

Without even looking at Ty, she could feel his tension. She shrugged as she stepped away from Angel. “Won’t be the last time I do something clumsy.”

She and Fee played another game of pool—another easy win for Eden had she been counting it. She was about to set up for a last game when Val took Fee’s cue from her. “My turn.”

“Oh, yeah?” Eden challenged him. “You think you’ve got what it takes?”

“Honey, I know I do.” He switched Fee’s cue out for a different one. “What are the stakes?”

“Stakes? What did you have in mind?”

Val let his gaze slip over her. “If I win, you go shopping with me.”

“I hate shopping.”

Val shrugged. “I have to get Blade a house-warming gift.”

“I don’t want a house-warming gift, Val,” Ty snapped as he came over to watch the game.

“Relax, bro. You’re gonna want this one,” Val answered.

“Shopping, huh?” Eden studied him. “Fine. If I win, you have to massage my feet.”

“Only your feet?”

“Only my feet.”

Val nodded. “I’ll take what I can get. You break.”

With Val, she found herself up against much stiffer competition than she’d had with Fee. When she lost the round to Val, she talked him into going two out of three. She won the next round, but he quickly dominated the third round. She told herself it was because she was tired, but the truth was that Ty’s proximity fried her concentration. When Val sunk his last two balls, the game was over.

He put their cues away. “The mall in Cheyenne opens at 10 a.m. We’ll leave at nine.”

“But I’ll miss my training.”

“It’s not going to kill you to miss a day. The rest might do you good. 9 a.m., little girl,” Val said, smiling triumphantly.

Eden glared at him. “See you in the morning.” Fee was yawning. “C’mon. It’s past your bedtime.” Eden linked arms with her as they headed out of the game room.

Ty followed them out. Eden felt a ridiculous thrill that he came with them. At the stairs, he stopped Eden.

“I’m going to make a sandwich. Care to join me?” he asked her.

“Sure.” She looked at Fee, who waved at them and started up the stairs.

“Night, guys. Eden, maybe some time you could teach me more about pool.” She grinned at her. “Then I can beat the guys at school.”

“You got it. Thanks for keeping me company!”

Ty moved down the hall toward the kitchen. A little puff of air was all the warning he had before Eden took hold of his hand. He started and looked down at their joined hands then at her. She smiled at him.
Smiled
. Little did she know what she was smiling at.