Lone Star Christmas Mission (Hard Justice #9.5)

Chapter Six

Kayla sat at Cash’s dining table and waited for him to finish his latest call with Ruby. She didn’t mind the flurry of calls and texts that’d been going on because getting info was vital. Plus, she was using the time to try to settle all the raw nerves zinging through her body.

Even now, a full hour after the live feed with Harvin had ended, the sound of that bullet being fired was echoing in Kayla’s head, and it showed no signs of fading. The images were staying with her, too.

She hadn’t actually seen the shot blast into the man in the Santa suit, but she had no doubts that Harvin had murdered him.

And for what?

To prove he was a cold-blooded killer and that he meant business? He’d already accomplished that with the first man he’d shot. So, either Harvin just liked killing innocent people or else he wanted to torture Cash and her before the big finale. Perhaps both.

Since that big finale would likely happen soon, she’d changed back into the scrubs that she’d gotten in the ER. Hardly showdown garments, but they would have to do since she didn’t want to go back to her place and get her own clothes. Still, that was something she would need to do if this ordeal with Harvin dragged on.

Cash finished his latest call, but he stared at his phone for a couple of seconds before putting it away. Kayla guessed he also needed a moment to settle himself before he relayed anything to her.

“Still no contact from Harvin,” he said, making his way to a coat closet.

Except it wasn’t an ordinary closet, she realized when he opened the door and she got a look inside. It was more like a mini arsenal with weapons and all sorts of gear. Stuff that he would need for his usual Maverick Ops assignments.

Cash took out two bulletproof vests and some other equipment. Not guns but what appeared to be mini flares.

“These won’t show up on a metal scan,” Cash said, donning one of the vests and slipping some of the flares into the pockets of his cargo pants. “These produce diffused red light that looks like thick smoke.”

That could come in handy to conceal themselves or distract Harvin, and her mind began to spin with all sorts of possibilities for a showdown with a killer. Harvin wasn’t going to make this easy for them, but she also believed he’d want to toy with them first. He would want to dole out more of that mental torture. Hopefully, during that, Cash and she could figure out a way to stop Harvin from going after anyone else while Cash and she got out of there alive.

Cash added a communication earpiece to his gear stash before he took something else out of the closet. A slingshot.

“It’s from my friend, Jericho,” Cash said when he saw the look she was giving him. “He puts it to good use in ops, and again, it won’t show up on a metal scan.”

“Neither will rocks,” she said. “Got any of them in the closet?”

“Something better than rocks.” He took out stone arrowheads. They were rounded on the bottom but had two-inch long pointy tips, and he shoved some of those into his pockets as well. So, Cash wouldn’t be bringing in any guns, but he would have weapons.

And so would she.

Cash took out a knife. A big one. In fact, it could have probably qualified as a machete. Carrying it, the second vest and what she thought was a neck guard to protect that area of her body from a bullet, he went to her, setting the items on the table as he sank down in the chair next to her.

“Once we know what Harvin has in mind, we can come up with a plan,” he muttered.

Kayla thought of the rules that Harvin had laid out. Cash and she had to come alone, and she had to bring a knife. Since Harvin would have a gun, a knife wouldn’t be an ideal weapon, but she had no doubts that Ruby and Cash could come up with something to make the situation survivable.

She hoped so anyway.

“We need a plan that doesn’t include you going in,” Cash amended.

Their gazes locked, and in his eyes she saw the intense determination to keep her safe. “Harvin isn’t going to allow any scenario where we’re both not there,” she spelled out. “I’m the one who killed his father, and he blames both of us for his uncle being in prison.”

His jaw went tight, and he cursed under his breath. What he didn’t do was admit she was right, which meant he was going to try to keep her out of harm’s way while he walked straight to a killer.

Sighing again, she shifted the subject a little. “Have they found the second dead Santa?” she asked.

Cash shook his head. “Not yet. But about twenty minutes after he ended the live feed, Harvin called the cops to give them a location, and they’re heading there now. It’s an old fishing cabin out on Medina Lake. No close neighbors. No one around to hear the shot and report it.”

Harvin had almost certainly factored that in when he’d chosen the location. The man would be doing the same for the one he was setting up for Cash and her. Again, her mind went to all the torturous possibilities the SOB could set up, but that didn’t help her breathing or her nerves.

To settle herself, Kayla ran her right hand over the smooth surface of the table. That gave her a jolt of better thoughts, better memories of when she’d been making it.

“It’s so funny that you bought this piece because I was thinking of you when I was working on it,” she confessed.

He gave her a flat look. “How the heck did you connect me to a table?”

“Not to the table itself but rather the oak slab I used. Wood has its own personality. This one is strong, interesting…and sensual.”

His look got flatter, but the corner of mouth lifted slightly in a smile. So, she had accomplished that at least. “Sensual, really?” he asked.

“Absolutely.” Keeping her eyes fixed on him, she continued running her hands over the surface. “The grain patterning in this wood is called flame because it looks like a fire. Hot, sensual. Hard.”

He fought the smile now. “You know, I can think of a lot of dirty analogies right now.”

“Good.” Because dirty was better than dwelling on the threat they had hanging over them.

Kayla decided to amp up the dirtiness a bit. She caught onto the front of his vest, pulling Cash closer and closer. Until she could reach his mouth, then, she kissed him.

Mercy.

The jolt was instant, and it was scalding hot. So hot that Kayla felt herself melting into the kiss. Into Cash. He didn’t back down either. Didn’t put an immediate stop to it. But he did make a hoarse sound of pleasure, and he hooked his arm around her, drawing her against him.

Of course, it wasn’t skin to skin contact. There were a lot of layers between them, but her body seemed especially thrilled to have his chest against hers. That pressure was delicious, but at the moment, the star of this particular dirty show was the kiss.

Cash deepened it, his tongue brushing over hers. That upped the heat even more and shot a wave of lust-filled need through her. When she’d started this kissing, she hadn’t thought it could jump forward so darn fast, but she was already thinking of more, more, more.

She was thinking about sex.

The kiss raged on, causing her to ache for him, and Kayla moved onto his lap so her center would be against his. The contact was exactly what her body was clamoring for, and she would have definitely kept it up…if Cash hadn’t stopped.

He tore his mouth from hers and took hold of her shoulders.

“Panic attack,” he reminded her.

She managed to laugh. “I’m feeling a lot of things, Cash, but panic isn’t on the list.”

“But it could be,” he insisted.

Kayla wanted to deny that, wanted to tell him there was no possibility of a repeat of what’d happened during their post-sex moments. However, there was a chance that the flashbacks could take over.

“I don’t want to let the past dictate anything else in my life,” she said instead. “I want a fresh start. I want the here and now.”

She brushed her lips over his, but Cash didn’t claim her mouth as he’d done seconds earlier. Instead, he stared at her with that intense gaze.

“You’re saying all of this to me now because you think we’re going to die,” Cash grumbled.

“We might,” she admitted. “And that’s almost certainly playing into this. But I still want that change in my life.”

She was about to add that she hoped the change would include him. But his phone buzzed again, and just like that, the heat and the moment were both lost. Kayla had no idea if or when she’d get another opportunity to finish telling him what she wanted for her future.

Because they might not have a future.

Not if Harvin had his way.

On a heavy breath, he took out his phone, and Kayla saw Ruby’s name on the screen before she moved off Cash’s lap and stood. He stood, too, and he took the call on speaker.

His boss didn’t make them wait long to tell them why she’d called. “Harvin’s on the line,” Ruby said. “And he’s set up a meeting place.”

“Where?” Cash asked.

“He won’t say. The asshole won’t say,” she repeated, the frustration in her voice. “For now, he wants Kayla and you to go to Coyote Creek Road. It’s about twenty minutes from your place.”

Cash shook his head and started a search on his phone. “I’ve never heard of it,” he told Ruby.

“Neither had I, but here’s what my techs found as soon as we had a location. The road is about ten miles long, narrow, and is in serious disrepair since there are no ranches or residences on it any longer. Lots of woods, a dried up creek, and several abandoned houses and barns.”

Sweet heaven. It would be impossible for even Maverick Ops to cover that much ground.

“Hold on a sec,” Ruby said. “Harvin apparently has something else to say, and he wants us to see a picture.”

Kayla’s heart dropped. She couldn’t imagine any picture from a killer would be a good thing.

Ruby was only off the line for a couple of seconds, and when she came back on, she was muttering some raw profanity. “I’m forwarding you the photo,” she blurted. “Harvin says you’ve got fifteen minutes to get to Coyote Creek Road, or he starts shooting.”

Cash’s phone dinged with the incoming photo, and he turned his phone so they could both see it when it loaded.

Kayla groaned. She’d been right about this not being good.

And it wasn’t.

God, it wasn’t.