Chapter 8

Slyder’s phone went off about an hour later while he lay in bed, Nebraska draped over him, her warm skin against his from his shoulder to their feet. His hand froze on her spine at the sound of ‘Whiskey in the Jar’.

Disentangling himself from Nebraska’s warm body, he made his way to where his jeans lay in a heap on the floor and pulled out his phone.

“Hello,” he mumbled, trying to stay quiet so Nebraska could sleep.

“Why are you muffled?” Dylan asked.

“Give me a minute,” he said as he ducked out of the room and closed the door. “Okay, what’s up?”

“We know who it is, and he’s hired someone who’s headed your way. We lost him about ten miles from her place. Be ready—we’ll be there as soon as we can.”

“Who?”

“Aaron,” he said. “But it’s a long story and you don’t have time.” The phone went dead and Slyder’s instincts took over.

Her own fucking brother. They knew it was a family member, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise, but he cringed at the thought of telling her.

Not that he had time now, because he needed to get dressed and secure the perimeter.

He ducked back into the room and slid on his pants, tucking his gun in the waistband. The sun had started to set, and night was closing in fast, making it hard to see anything going on outside. He flicked on the bedside lamps to make sure that, no matter what, he could see in this room.

Nebraska lay in the middle of the bed, her even breathing telling him that she was out and totally relaxed. He debated waking her, but wanted to check the perimeter of the house before he got held up answering a bunch of questions.

And she would have questions.

He checked the windows and doors in her room to make sure they were locked, and headed through the rest of the house to check all other points of entry just to be on the safe side. Everything was locked but for a window in her home office.

He stared at the gap where the window lay open three inches, the evening breeze drifting in, setting the sheer curtains to swaying.

The hair stood up on his arms and neck. His ears buzzed as his sense of hearing heightened. Sounds that for everyone else became background noise came to the forefront.

The sound of the fridge, the Freon kicking in and the coolant coming on. The low hum of the electronics, a kind of static sound, almost no one heard.

Unless they were trained to hear everything.

The muffled thud of a boot on paver bricks drew his attention, and he ran for the front door to get a better view of the gatehouse.

An eerie quiet took over, silencing the background noise, the silence so loud his ears rang with it. It was that quiet that came with a single-minded focus that narrowed to one thing.

One moment in time.

Squinting, he pressed his face to the glass in the door and spotted the gate.

Open.

No light shone from the gatehouse, an indicator that something had happened to José who had taken over for Willy at three.

Son of a bitch!

He ran through the hall and back to Nebraska’s room. He burst through the door and skidded to a stop, his heart hammering behind his ribs.

Nebraska shot up, pulled the sheet to her chest, and blinked at him. “What is it?”

He couldn’t force a word past his seized throat.

Because a man in a ski mask stood behind her, a gun aimed at her head.

The intruder held up his free hand and wagged his index finger at him. A warning to keep his mouth shut.

Nebraska rubbed her eyes with her balled up fists, completely unaware that anything had gone wrong.

Slyder took a tentative step, working his way closer to Nebraska. By the third step, the man figured out what he was up to and cocked his gun.

The sound got Nebraska’s attention and her head whipped around. At the sight of him, she let out a scream that would peel wallpaper clean off the walls. She scrambled toward Slyder but the guy reached out and grabbed her hair, snatching her right back. “Back here, you bitch,” he sneered.

Nebraska fell back onto the bed, the sheet falling away, leaving her breasts exposed. Her lungs heaved as her eyes darted back and forth. He knew that look. Sheer panic, and the search for anything that might help her protect herself.

Because, at the moment, he couldn’t protect her. Not with a weapon aimed at her in such a way that just one slip on the trigger would end her life.

Her breasts lay bare to the intruder’s gaze, earning a leer.

Slyder saw the excitement in his narrowed, shining eyes.

Slyder seethed with rage, his gut burning. His heart thudded, the sound echoing in his head.

“You need to learn your place, and I think I know just the way to do it. I’ll even let your boyfriend watch,” he said, reaching for her breast.

His black-gloved hand reached out and pinched her nipple hard, making her cry out.

Her eyes narrowed, her teeth clenched, and her muscles bunched right before she flipped over and lashed out, clawing, scratching, swinging, doing anything she could to keep the vile man from touching her again.

Her fist connected with his shoulder, knocking him back a step.

Slyder had one shot while the intruder was distracted by the surprise hit. He lunged, his foot on the bed, where he used the leverage to launch himself past Nebraska, and threw his entire body weight at the man.

They hit the floor with a thud that knocked the breath out of Slyder. The intruder’s elbow caught him in the cheek as Slyder fought to get a hold of the gun. The guy struggled against him; desperately try to aim his weapon at Slyder.

“Run, Nebraska!” he shouted.

Slyder didn’t dare reach for his own gun. It took all his strength to keep the man’s arms up and the gun pointed at the wall, shielding Nebraska from getting shot.

Because, if he knew anything, he knew she sure as hell didn’t listen when he told her to run.

Locking his hands over the gun, they fought, rolling across the floor. Whoever the guy was, he was strong and capable, and gave Slyder a run for his money.

He shot a look toward the bed, relieved to find Nebraska gone. Bringing his knee up, he dug it into the thigh of the intruder, hoping to distract him just enough to gain the upper hand.

The guy grunted, but continued to fight.

Slyder took a deep breath, and with all his strength slammed their locked hands against the wall just under the windows, once, twice, three times—until the intruder’s finger slipped from the trigger slot.

A faint click echoed by his ear and they froze, their gazes swinging toward the sound.

Nebraska stood over them, naked, a ball of fury, a Beretta pointed right between the eyes of the man.

“Don’t think I won’t pull this fucking trigger and watch your brains splatter on my wall and your blood soak into my carpet,” she said, her voice low and controlled.

Slyder would never forget the way she looked, fierce and dangerous, her hair wild, a glint in her eyes.

He slipped the gun from the intruder and yanked him to his feet. An unfamiliar ring sounded, coming from the guy’s jacket.

Slyder pulled out his own gun. “Why don’t you go ahead and slide that phone out of his pocket and answer it, Nebraska.”

She did as he instructed, flipping over the phone, the blood draining from her face when she caught view of the screen. With a shaking thumb, she clicked on the phone and pressed it to her ear, but said nothing.

“Is it done?”

“Aaron?” Her chin wobbled.

The phone went silent and slipped from her trembling fingers.

The door flew open, Dylan and Cole bursting in. Slyder moved to block Nebraska from their view and away from the guy sent to hurt her.

Dylan grabbed the intruder. “We’ve got this. Evan’s watching Aaron’s place until the police can get there,” he said, cuffing the man’s hands behind his back.

Nebraska’s damp eyes shot up to Slyder and she took a step back. “You knew?”

Shit. “Yes,” he admitted.

She took two more steps back before squaring her shoulders and wiping her eyes. “Get out.”

“Nebraska,” he said, reaching for her.

“I said get out. Now. Out of my house,” she demanded, her voice unyielding.

Sirens wailed as the driveway filled with cop cars, and uniformed officers poured in.

“This isn’t over, Nebraska,” he said to her. He didn’t care who looked on or what they saw. She just looked at him as though he was no better than her brother, and that was something he couldn’t live with.

He wouldn’t live with.

He’d give her time to calm down and then she’d hear him out.

Whether she wanted to or not.