Fearless. HelenKay Dimon
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of panic enveloping her and the sick ball of dread bouncing around in her belly, she smiled. It was not as if seeing Davis naked had ever been a hardship. He stood six foot one with long, lean muscles. If there was an ounce of fat on him, she defied anyone to find it. If anything, he was even more toned, more fit, than when she’d left all those months ago.
Looking at him now and holding his hand while they crept on boards balanced over the big puddles, she watched the muscles on his back tense and flex under his shirt. Nothing new there. The broad shoulders and military-short sandyblond hair hadn’t changed. Neither had the rough edge to his face, complete with a broken nose from years ago that had never healed quite right and a full, kissable mouth.
Put it all together and you got a man who was self-assured and strong, compelling and intriguing without being pretty. He walked by and women turned. He took a woman to bed and she didn’t want to leave again for days. Lara knew that last one from experience.
“You okay?” His question, delivered in a monotone voice, almost blended into the sounds of traffic blocks away.
“Except for the whole thing where people are trying to kill me? Yes.”
His fingers tightened around hers. “That’s the spirit.”
They walked to the six-foot fence running between his house and the next-door neighbor’s then followed it to the very back end. Unless he planned to chew his way through it, she didn’t see this as a viable way out. “Uh, what are we doing?”
“Escaping.” He trailed his hand over the wood planks.
“Did you develop the power to walk through walls?”
He shot her a sexy smile. “If only.”
Refusing to get sidetracked by the shine in his green eyes, she glanced around the yard. Nothing was out of the ordinary. You’d never know a dead man lay only a few feet away.
The strangeness of life going on, the sun shining and a lawn mower running nearby, struck her. When a person died, the world should stop, if only for a second. But nothing changed.
“Here we go.” There was a click and a panel of boards slipped open.
“A hidden door? Of course. Everyone has one.” She rolled her eyes, but his back was to her so he missed it. That was a shame because it really fit here.
Davis had a contingency for everything. Well, everything but her, which was part of the reason she’d handed back the ring and still cried over the loss.
“It’s my get-out-of-Dodge-fast plan.” After ducking his head inside and taking a look around, he held the door open and motioned for her to pass through. “After you.”
It was not as if she had a choice. Her life had careened out of control hours ago. Now she just held on and hoped not to throw up. Her knee throbbed and the drum-crashing thumps in her head promised a killer headache any second now.
They stepped inside a fenced-off square consisting of a small shed and what she guessed was a car under that slipcover. When they reached the shed, Davis flipped open a black box and typed in a code. The gate at the back end of the enclosed space opened. It spilled out into the alleyway that ran behind his house, the same house he’d moved into a week after their engagement had ended.
They were supposed to have bought it together, even put in the offer together, but when the relationship fell apart he went through on his own. Funny how the original sales listing forgot to mention a secret car compartment at the back of the neighbor’s property.
“Any chance you’re going to tell me what’s happening here? I feel like I walked into a movie a third of the way through.”
A door Lara hadn’t even seen on the house side of the enclosure opened and a tiny older woman walked out. “Is it time, Davis?”
Lara couldn’t help but stare. The lady wore a long royalblue robe buttoned up to her throat, dwarfing her under-five-foot frame. Her shocking white hair was long enough to tuck into her collar but thin enough for Lara to see the woman’s pale scalp underneath. Slippers and cheeks rubbed pink with bright blush rounded out the look.
Whoever she was, she knew Davis and wasn’t surprised to see him. She walked right up and put her hand on his forearm. Her eyes twinkled as she looked at him.
“Hi, Mrs. Winston.” He lifted her hand and kissed the back. “I need the car.”
“Go ahead.” She patted his arm then turned to Lara. “Well, who is this pretty young thing?”
“This is Lara, my…” He shot Lara a warning glance. “Fiancée.”
“Well, it’s about time, young man. Come here, dear.” Mrs. Winston gave him a squeeze and shuffled over to Lara.
It was her turn. Mrs. Winston hugged her, though her arms barely reached to Lara’s back.
“Uh, hello.” The older woman was so small and thin that Lara worried about crushing her by accident, so she kept the hold loose.
When the older woman pulled back, she took both of Lara’s hands in her curved ones and her smile faded fast. “Did that boy fail to give you a ring?”
Lara glanced at Davis. He stood behind Mrs. Winston with an unreadable expression. Clearly this woman viewed Davis in a grandson sort of way. Lara wasn’t about to unload about all their past problems. It didn’t hurt anything to let this woman think what she no doubt wanted to hear.
“Don’t worry. He gave me a beautiful ring.” And technically that wasn’t a lie. He had. A perfect solitaire with baguettes on a platinum band.
It had broken her heart, actually shredded it in two, to hand it back. Not because she loved jewelry—that sort of thing never mattered to her—but because of what it symbolized. The commitment she so desperately wanted from Davis.
Mrs. Winston reached out and absently patted Davis’s shoulder. “He’s a nice boy.”
He handed her a cell phone. “You remember what I told you, Mrs. W?”
“Stay inside, don’t talk to anyone including anyone in a uniform, put the alarm on, pretend I don’t know you and wait for you or Pax to come back.” She peeked around Davis’s muscled arm. “I guess I can add Lara to the list of people I can trust.”
He kissed her on the cheek. “Nicely done, Mrs. W.”
“My mind is just fine, you know.”
“All of you is.” He winked at her. “Now, back inside.”
Mrs. Winston padded away without asking for an explanation. The snide part of Lara figured that was why Davis liked the woman so much. She didn’t ask questions.
He closed the door, sealing them inside the odd parking space. When he turned back and walked to the front of the car, he whistled. The peppy tune continued as he ripped the slipcover off to uncover a pretty boring blue car.
Not Davis’s usual style. He didn’t go for flashy, but he usually chose trucks of some sort. This thing barely had a backseat.
With the driver’s-side door open, he reached under the dashboard and pulled out a set of keys. He smiled as he jingled them in front of her. “Ready?”
The man looked far too satisfied with this little scene. “What, no helicopter?”
“Not on such short notice.”
“Are you kidding me?”
He frowned. “Do you want to drive?”
“I’d prefer an explanation. You involved your neighbor in something dangerous. Since when do you do things like that?” That piece didn’t make any sense. If anything, Davis was overly careful.
He used to talk about contingency plans and had even run through a safety drill with her one time. The second time he’d tried she’d threatened to dump a pot of hot coffee over his head. Not that she