Guarding His Fake Family Read online

  From across the room, Simon yelled, “Does Eddie know you’re involved, Jon?”

  The goon attacking Alisha stepped closer and she held baby Amy tighter, her motherly instincts kicking in at last. If they tried to take the baby from her, she’d make sure they walked funny for a good long time. She narrowed her gaze on the guy blocking her path. “You feel like a man, threatening a woman with a baby?”

  “That ain’t your kid,” the guy said, sneering. “Put it down.”

  “Make me.” Alisha scowled. “You won’t get away with this.”

  “Wanna bet?” the goon said, lunging for her at the same time Simon punched the other one hard in the face. While they tussled, she dodged around the goon in front of her and barrelled toward the open door. Nearly made it too, until a hand grabbed her arm from behind and yanked her back inside. The diaper bag went flying, but at least she kept hold of Amy.

  “Take your hands off her, asshole,” Simon shouted, kicking Jon hard in the stomach, then lashing out at the goon attacking Alisha. “Get out of here, Alisha. Go!”

  “What about you?” she yelled, halfway out onto the porch.

  “I’m coming!” he yelled, landing a hard right on goon number two’s jaw before kicking Jon again hard in the nuts. “Get in the car and get it started.”

  Alisha tore across the yard and over to her vehicle, sliding in behind the wheel before she realized the diaper bag was still inside. She got out and called from over the top of the car, “Get the diaper bag if you can!”

  Simon halted on the threshold, then ducked back inside and came out again with the bag in his hands. He darted across the street, just as the two goons emerged out onto the porch. He raced around to the driver’s side and tossed the diaper bag into the backseat. “Slide over and let me drive. You’ve got the kid!”

  With the goons in pursuit, Alisha didn’t feel much like arguing, for once, so she did as he asked, keeping her eyes glued to the side mirror, watching as the goons climbed into yet another black SUV down the block. “Hurry up and go!” she yelled at Simon. “Go, go, go! Now!”

  * * *

  Simon tore out of there in a squeal of tires and burning rubber just as the wail of sirens in the distance grew louder. One of the neighbours must have called the cops. Unfortunately, the goons were in pursuit and her car was basically a piece of shit. Why they hadn’t chosen to take his sedan he couldn’t remember now, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was losing their tail and getting to safety.

  Beside him, Alisha held the baby over her shoulder, her expression about as shell-shocked as he felt. He’d expected a stakeout like the ones he saw in the movies. Endless hours of waiting, followed by a few moments of witnessing the bad guys doing some nefarious stuff. He’d never in a million years imagined anything like this.

  He took a hard left, then a few rights, weaving through traffic and finally losing the goons at a railroad crossing when he took a chance and dodged the gates before the train barrelled through. After a few blocks, he pulled over to the curb and parked, taking a few deep breaths to slow his speeding pulse. An odd mix of adrenaline and astonishment seared through his veins. He’d been through his share of firefights as a SEAL, but man. He’d never had a night like this.

  Glancing over at Alisha again, he took in her shaking hands and her slightly grey complexion and his concern rose. She was pregnant, after all. With your baby. “You okay?”

  She gave a small, cautious nod, staring straight ahead. Simon wasn’t sure if he ought to reach over and touch her or just let her be. He looked into the rear-view mirror again, then decided to do what he did best—avoid trouble. So he drove on, down into an old parking garage near his apartment, careful to make sure they weren’t being followed again. When he was satisfied they’d lost the goons for good, he ditched her car on the lowest level, then cut the engine. “C’mon. My place is just down the block. We can hole up there tonight until we figure out what to do next.”

  Alisha moved a bit robotically as she got out and followed him to his apartment. The kid was super quiet in her arms and he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad one. Honestly, he didn’t feel like he knew much of anything at that point, so he was mainly working off pure instinct. By the time they got inside and he locked the place up tight, he was ready to drop where he stood from stress and exhaustion. With the adrenaline gone, there wasn’t much fuel left to keep him going.

  Judging by the trembling, Alisha was ready to crumple too. He guided her over to his sofa and took a seat beside her as she finally lowered the baby from her shoulder to rest it on her lap. He set the diaper bag down near her feet and unzipped it.

  “Do you, uh, think she’s hungry?” he asked, for lack of anything better to say.

  “I don’t know,” Alisha said, her voice quieter than he’d ever heard it. “I’ve got no clue about babies.”

  They both stared down at a now-sleeping baby.

  “Me either,” Simon said, reaching out to stroke the kid’s tiny hand, then thinking better of it. Those cries back at the house still rang through his head, and the last thing he wanted was to wake the baby up when she seemed so peaceful. He exhaled slowly and pushed to his feet. “I, uh, I need to pull the blinds and make sure the place is secure. Be right back.”

  Nine

  “Are you sure we’re safe here?” Alisha asked as he went around the room making sure things were secure for the night.

  “Probably more than at your place,” he said, checking the locks on the windows before lowering the blinds. “Those guys at Warren’s house might’ve recognized you during the scuffle.”

  “Hmm. Maybe.”

  “Besides, my address is unlisted.”

  “Seriously?” She looked over at him, her dark eyes wide. “Why?”

  He shrugged. “After the book came out and my ex started spewing her lies about me, I was in the news a lot. Someone found my personal information and posted it online. I got a lot of hate mail, even some threats—not to mention the paparazzi. When I got this place, I took precautions.”

  “Huh. Wow. Okay.” Simon finished his rounds, then took his seat again beside her. They both stared down at the sleeping infant on her lap. “Her name’s Amy.”

  Simon frowned. “How do you know?”

  “I saw it on the wall of the nursery when I was in there.”

  Taking a deep breath, he stood. “We need to find someplace for her to sleep tonight.”

  “Maybe we can make a makeshift crib,” Alisha said, attempting to sit as still as possible to avoid waking the baby. “My mom told me once that she used to do that sometimes when we were little. She’d take a bunch of blankets and sheets and tuck them up high around us so they acted like bumpers and we couldn’t roll away.”

  “Good idea.” He got up and walked over to the closet, doing his best to shake off the anxiety curdling inside him. Tonight had not gone well. Not at all. First the kidnapping, then the attack, then they took the baby. They took a frigging baby. He guessed that meant they were kidnappers now themselves, but he couldn’t bring himself to feel bad for keeping the kid out of the hands of the Andronettos and their cop henchmen. And speaking of cops, he needed to talk to Eddie. Figure out if his friend was in on this mess with the Andronettos or not, and if not, warn him about his partner. Distracted, he carried the stuff back over to the sofa and got it laid out in some semblance of a crib for the kid, then stepped back to let Alisha handle getting Amy in there. He might be a soon-to-be dad but there was still a lot he didn’t know about, like holding a baby without hurting it.

  Once she got Amy nestled into what amounted to a small mountain of blankets—without waking her, amazingly—they both stood back and stared at the sleeping infant again.

  “What do we do now?” Alisha asked, sounding as befuddled as he felt.

  “I need to call my friend,” he said.

  “While you do that, I’m going to the bathroom,” Alisha said, walking away. “Stay here and watch her until I get back.” />
  Before he could argue, she was gone, leaving him alone with Amy. Great.

  Scowling, he kept a wary eye on the baby while pulling up Eddie’s number. At least they were all here and all safe. A brief image of the night they’d spent together flashed in his head, how good it had felt to hold Alisha in his arms, the fact they’d have a baby of their own soon…but no. He couldn’t think about that now. There were too many other important things to deal with at the moment.

  “Hello?” Eddie’s voice said over the line a few seconds later. “Simon? What’s up?”

  “Listen. Something’s happened.” He raked a hand through his hair and moved across the room, where he could still see Amy, but where hopefully he wouldn’t disturb her with his talking. “We went on a stakeout at Warren’s house tonight and there was a kidnapping.”

  “A what?” Eddie’s voice hardened. “What the hell, Stone? Did you report it?”

  “Well, I started to, but there’s a problem.” He winced. “Jon was there. And not as a cop. He was working for the perps. The Andronetto brothers.”

  “No,” Eddie said. “That’s not possible. Jon wouldn’t do that.”

  Simon took a deep breath and persisted. “He did, Eddie. I saw him with my own eyes. He did it. He was there and he was working for them. I know that’s tough to hear, but it’s the truth. And now I’m worried there might be more officers involved.”

  Silence echoed across the line, lasting so long that Simon checked to make sure the call was still connected.

  Finally, Eddie said in a calm tone, “Okay. I’ll look into it, but there has to be a rational explanation. Maybe there’s an undercover operation going or something.”

  “Maybe,” Simon said, staring over at Amy. He should probably say something about the baby, but he was torn. Until he was sure Eddie wasn’t involved and the local cops weren’t crooked, he felt he needed to keep Amy a secret, for her safety. “Okay. Well, I just wanted to let you know what happened tonight and what I saw. Keep me posted on what you find out.”

  “Will do,” Eddie said. “Take care, Simon.”

  “You too,” Simon answered, then ended the call and stared down at his black screen, wondering when the hell his safe, ordered life had gotten so crazy.

  * * *

  Alisha stood at the sink in the bathroom of Simon’s apartment and splashed cold water on her face, then stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes looked too big for her face and her hands wouldn’t stop shaking. Panic nipped around her edges and threatened to rip her to shreds if she didn’t get a goddamned grip on it.

  Was it her hormones magnifying everything again? If so, she needed it to stop. Now. Before she gave in to the temptation to throw herself into Simon’s arms and hold on for dear life. Yeah, he’d done a good job tonight, fighting off those thugs at the house, then driving the car to get them to safety. And sure, it felt sort of good to have someone else take care of her for a change, but that was no reason to lose her head about it, right?

  Ugh.

  She grabbed a towel off the rack and dried her face. The only thing she knew for sure about tonight was that it had not gone how she’d expected. Not at all. And now she was trapped here in Simon’s apartment with a baby and not a whole lot of options. Still, they had to keep Amy safe. That much was certain.

  After a few more minutes of calming breaths, she went back out into the living room to find Simon perched on the arm of the couch, watching Amy sleep.

  “Did you talk to your friend?” she asked.

  “I did.” He didn’t look at her, just kept staring at the sleeping infant, his expression unreadable.

  “And?”

  “And I don’t think we can trust the police, not even Eddie.” He looked up then and she wished he hadn’t. There were shadows lurking deep in his pewter-coloured eyes that notched her own inner turmoil higher. “So, yeah. Eddie didn’t say anything in particular, but I got a bad feeling from the way he acted on the call. Kind of squirrelly and strange. Especially when I told him about his partner, Jon, working for the Andronettos.” He got up and took a seat in the armchair across from hers. “I think Hendrix and Milo are controlling the game and it’s up to us to figure out what they’re doing and rescue Amy’s father.”

  “Uh, wow.” She swiped a shaky hand across her clammy forehead and did her best to hide her growing unease from Simon. Alisha clenched her hands in her lap and swallowed hard against the rising bile burning the back of her throat. “So, we’re a couple of vigilantes now? I’m not sure I signed up for that.”

  “Hey.” He came over and crouched in front of her, taking her icy fingers in his and warming them with his own. His skin felt nice against hers. He ducked and caught her eye, then gave her a small smile. “It’s going to be okay. I don’t know how yet, but it will. I promise. Can you trust me?”

  She held his gaze, unable to look away, drawing strength from him whether she wanted to or not. Despite her best, most independent intentions, Simon made her feel better. Simon’s touch comforted her. She did trust him. Slowly, the stiffness in her body subsided and she slumped forward. Simon was there to catch her in his arms, pulling her close and just holding her, rocking her slowly while she rested against him, like she was the child here. Alisha closed her eyes and breathed in his soothing scent—soap and sandalwood. They’d only spent one night together, yet she still remembered how he smelled, how his body felt against her, those little moans he made when she stroked him just right.

  As if in a daze, she raised her head slowly to look up at him and found him watching her. His lips were close, so close. If she tipped her head up a little more, she could kiss him. Simon moved closer too and Alisha’s eyes fluttered closed, anticipating his lips on hers and---

  Bang!

  Next thing she knew, she was on the floor and Simon was over her, covering her body with his. Shattered glass covered the floor around them and Amy was wailing loudly.

  “What’s going on?” she shouted. “Get the baby!”

  Simon scrambled away and returned seconds later to hand Amy to Alisha. “That was a gunshot. We need to get out of here. Now!”

  Ten

  Dammit. He’d forgotten that Eddie had his address. He should have taken Alisha and Amy somewhere else. God, how stupid could he be? He’d basically just put a huge target on their backs.

  Smooth move, Stone.

  While Alisha and the baby took cover behind the sofa, he managed to snag the diaper bag on his way to join them, then hurried them to the door. Once he got them safely into the hall, he backtracked for his keys and a backpack of supplies he always kept ready in the closet—a holdover from his SEAL days—while dodging yet more shots pinging through the windows. Thank God the room was too dark for whoever was firing at them to see him clearly, or he’d have been toast.

  “Come on,” he said, herding Alisha and Amy ahead of him into the stairwell. “My car’s in the parking garage.”

  “You know,” Alisha said, her strained voice echoing in off the cement walls. “If we’re going to keep exposing this kid to car chases, we should invest in a car seat.”

  “True, but that’s the least of our worries right now.” At the bottom of the stairwell, he threw the door open to the cavernous shadows of the parking garage. Compared to the gunfire and the steady thump of their footsteps down the stairs, it was eerily quiet now. He put a hand on Alisha’s arm to get her attention, then held a finger to his lips. They needed to be extra cautious now, when every corner seemed to have ears. There could easily be another shooter lying in wait. As quickly and quietly as possible, he led them through a maze of cars, always doing his best to keep some kind of barrier between them and whatever might lurk beyond, until they finally reached his sedan. With a nod, they ran to the car and jumped inside, both breathing hard. He jammed his key into the ignition and floored the accelerator, not slowing down until he was sure they weren’t being followed. “I think we shook them.” He glanced over at Alisha then back into the mirror again. “A
ny ideas on where we can go tonight?”

  “No.” She fussed with the blanket around the sleeping baby. “If they found your place, they can find mine.”

  “Okay then.” Simon took a deep breath and concentrated. “Well, I’ve got a buddy I can call. Rick and I served together in the SEALs. We can trust him.”

  “That’s what you said about the last guy,” Alisha said, giving him a look.

  “I know, but Rick isn’t a cop. He’s private security. And he’s got a place downtown in a busy part of the city.”

  “What about the car?” Alisha asked, putting Amy over her shoulder. “Can’t they track us if they spot it?”

  “Maybe, but we don’t have much of a choice at this point.”

  She blinked out the window a moment, then reached into her pocket for her phone. “Wait a minute. I might know some place.” With her free hand, she hit a speed dial on her phone, then held it to her ear. Simon did his best to concentrate on driving, but he couldn’t help but overhear her part of the conversation.

  “Hey, it’s Alisha. Listen, I’ve got a problem and I’m hoping you can help me out. I need somewhere to stay, someplace private where no one will find me. Uh huh. Yeah. Right. Okay. Thanks. Oh, and is there any way you can meet me there with some basic supplies, food and baby stuff, if you can manage? A girl—eight months. Great! You’re awesome. How about a car seat? Perfect! I owe you big time, hon. Thanks. See you soon!”

  Alisha ended the call and put her phone away, then glanced over at Simon. “There, all done. You’ll want to make a right up here and head toward Redmond.”

  “Redmond?” He wrinkled his nose. “The suburbs?”

  “Yep.”

  “Are you sure this place is safe?”

  “As long as you can get us there, we should be fine,” she said, rubbing Amy’s back while bouncing her gently to keep her from fussing.

  “Okay then.” He sighed and made the turn. Wasn’t like he had much to lose at this point, trusting her. Besides, he’d been the one who’d been wrong about who to trust so far, not Alisha, so yeah. It was her call.