Page 63 of Shane
Fragments of what happened came back to her. The Toyota rolled. A Land Cruiser, “Oh, yeah. The vehicle behind us was a POS sedan, but I couldn’t make out the model. POS sedans come in so many different flavors these days. I never got a shot off because—”
“We blew a tire,” Shane interrupted.
“Yes, and I undid my seatbelt. I was going to shoot out their radiator. But I didn’t, did I?”
“I have no idea, babe,” he answered, letting her slide slowly down his body until she was on her feet. But still in his arms.
Pursing her lips, Everlee blew out a stream of fresh air—just because she could. She peered around Shane and faced Ms. Smart. Shane hadn’t let go yet, and Everlee was afraid she’d fall down when he did. But he probably should. They were, after all, trusted TEAM agents. Nothing more. And that kiss probably didn’t mean as much as either of them thought. It was just an impulsive reaction to seeing each other again and hormones and adrenaline and being alive and…
Yeah. All that.
“One of the guys you just took out punched me when we were in the chopper. I remember that,” Everlee told Shane, her gaze still fixed on Ms. Smart. “He knocked me out. Next thing I knew, I woke up tied to a chair inside the big wooden box that’s inside the silo in there.” She jerked her head toward the now closed barn door. “There was a woman with them, though. Here. I heard her but couldn’t see her. She was in charge. She didn’t come inside the barn, but she wasn’t happy. She screamed they’d taken the wrong woman. She ordered them to get rid of me. I think she killed the dead guy outside the barn.”
Everlee craned her neck around Shane’s beefy body to see the body she was talking about. But Shane quickly blocked her view, and Everlee didn’t push for control like she usually would. Shane was protecting her, and for once in her life, she let a man stand between her and trouble.
“That woman killed her own guy, Shane,” she told him, her voice growing squeakier with every word.Why do I sound like a frightened little girl?Clearing her throat, Everlee tried again. “That woman—”
“Relax, Ev. I’ve got you. It’s okay to let go.” With the tip of his index finger, Shane forced her chin up. “Breathe. Just breathe, babe. Cry if you need to.”
“I don’t cry,” she growled. But she might now. No one had ever called her babe before. Bitch, yeah. She’d heard that behind her back plenty of times. Skank. Whore. But an actual endearment? Rare as flying pigs.
Everlee all but fell into Shane’s ocean-blue eyes. The tender light swamping her was so hard to bear. She’d never been weak. Never wanted to be a sissy, prissy, pretty girl. Had always had to rely on herself. Because,hello.Until Alex’s TEAM, there hadn’t been anyone in her life to count on. Murphy might never know but he’d saved her life the day he’d hired her.
Sucking back a shuddering breath, she relented. On the verge of breaking down beneath so much gentle, male kindness and concern—both rarities in her life—she gave that inch where most men would’ve taken a mile. She let go. Just took a cleansing breath and decided to believe Shane. If he trusted Tuesday, she would, too.
The way he held onto Everlee wasn’t so much possessive as just plain comforting. There’d been damned few times in her life when any guy had been this careful of her body or her feelings. And she had feelings, damn it. Sensitive feelings. And right then, they were about to pour out of her big mouth and her eyeballs if she didn’t calm down and man-up and—
Oh, hell. She was so sick of having to‘man’up. Just once, it’d be nice to be soft and feminine and just be who she really was, a strong female. A woman! For a minute or two, it’d be nice if that part of her didn’t scare guys away. Was it asking too much for a man to let her be what and who she was? A little worn around the edges. A lot of trouble, okay, sure. A challenge because of her unpredictable ADHD. Clumsy. Pushy. But so damned willing to always step up and give a hundred fifty percent, no matter what. Could she help it if her enthusiasm pushed others away? And sometimes helped her fall on her ass? And sprain both ankles? And look bad in front of her boss? Although he was as OCD as she was. Maybe Alex truly did see something in her that others didn’t. Maybe he really was just teasing her when he joked about her falling down. Maybe he did like her. As an agent, not a wannabe girlfriend or anything outrageously foolish as that. Because he loved his wife and Everlee adored Kelsey and…
Jiminy Christmas, where the hell am I going with this?
“Not sure I’d be alive without both my partners,” Shane continued easily. “Tuesday, may I introduce my companion agent and my very best friend, Everlee Yeager. And no, she’s not related to Chuck.”
Your very best friend?
Everlee had never had one of those, not like she wanted him to be just a friend. Not as deep as her feelings were for this big guy. But she had a feeling he was just taking the attention off her so she could regain her self-control and common sense, which was getting harder to do by the minute. But she was his very best friend? No one had ever said that before. Everlee let her head fall against Shane’s chest, sure she looked like a sweaty, bloody mess. But she was past caring. He’d just admitted, in public, well, at least to Smart, that Everlee was important to him. She’d take that to the bank and worry about the details later.
Shane didn’t seem to mind her snapping out orders or bossing him around, or acting like she knew more than he did. But Everlee knew better. Of the two, he was the true warrior, the one who’d come home from years of combat, with real scars on his body and on his soul. Good soldiers, airmen, and scout snipers were each entitled to every last one of their scars, wounds, and bloody messes. Those scars were the true medals, each backed up with stories of valiant struggles to survive, of true heroism, and tons of outstanding courage.
And—Thank you, God—Shane was here. That alone declared what kind of man he was. And if he trusted Tuesday Smart, well, Everlee would, too.
She stuck her arm around Shane and extended her hand in friendship to their prisoner. “Good to see you again, Ms. Smart. Thanks for taking care of my buddy. My friend.”
“I think. No…” Shane started, “I’m absolutely sure we’ve got the wrong woman, Everlee. Ms. Smart could’ve taken off after that wreck. She had the chance, but she didn’t leave me. She gave aid when I needed it, and she gave credible intel on what happened to you.”
“How’d you know where to find me, though? There’s no way you could’ve known where I was.”Or what they meant to do to me when they found out they’d kidnapped the wrong person.Everlee shivered as Ringo’s ugly plan for her came back. Ringo and his torture chamber. Bud and his lighter.Geez!
“Easy. We talked to Sasha” —he toggled a finger between him and Smart— “and Mom tracked your burner phone. Don’t ask me how. I just told her where you bought the burners and she worked some kind of magic. Want to bet your burner’s either still inside this barn or in that chopper over there?” Shane jerked his stubbled chin at the open hangar across the yard.
Everlee hadn’t thought once about her missing phone not being her TEAM phone. Holy shit. She’d been in a more desperate situation than she’d realized. And that chopper? The hangar? Two more things she hadn’t noticed until Shane mentioned them. She’d been too close to falling apart to see anything beyond Shane and Tuesday. And, okay, she only had eyes for him. She was smitten with the guy. But she was noticing the white, turbine-powered, six-seater helicopter resting on its skids near the hangar across the weed-filled yard now. The damned thing looked like a giant mosquito sitting there, waiting to suck the blood from some other defenseless woman.
Pissed that she’d been abducted by idiots the likes of Ringo and Bud, Everlee wanted to squash the shit out of their chopper. With the heel of her boot. Then stick a block of Semtex in its carcass and blow it back to Hell. With them! After too much adrenaline, she was still feeling unusually aggressive. She needed to hit something. Or cry. But whining and bawling were her least favorite things to do, so yeah. Her hands clenched into fists in anticipation of a brawl.
“They were going to kill me,” she growled. “I don’t know where that big-mouthed woman went, but Ringo said he would fuck me up until I died screaming or choking. He said he liked to play games. I think these creeps have killed other people here before.”
Shane pulled her in tighter. Man, his arms were the best medicine in the world. “You and Tuesday wait here while I go inside and get what I need to identify them. Tuesday?”
“Sure thing, Sha—”