Shelby's Secret (Once a Marine, Always a Marine Book 4) Page 11

  The late morning had turned into afternoon, and it was time for lunch. He couldn’t hide much longer. Either Beth or Lily would come drag him out. Or worse, Shelby would come for him which ran the risk of being alone together. Alone with a desirable woman. One he knew intimately. How she tasted, how she smelled. How she moaned when she came.

  Damn.

  He adjusted his jeans when he stood and strode outside.

  Time to join in and show Zach and Jesse how to chop wood. The work and axe would keep his mind off a certain sexy singer. Yeah right. He’ll be lucky if he doesn’t sever his own leg.

  Chapter 12

  Shelby wasn’t sure how he did it, but Mike had tactfully avoided being alone with her for two days. She was getting a complex about it.

  “Good God, those are some handsome guys,” Lily said. “I’d bring out my camera, but then they’ll just get worse with their antics.”

  “That’s true,” Beth chimed in, “but they might take off their shirts.”

  She sounded so hopeful that Shelby laughed.

  The two women leered at their husbands from the shade of the porch while drinking homemade lemonade.

  Shelby was privately jealous of the obvious love she saw between the couples. They were openly affectionate with one another, as well as all the kids. “I wouldn’t mind seeing Mike with his shirt off again.”

  That brought Beth’s head around and her eyes widened. “Again?”

  Lily grinned. “Do tell.”

  “Nothing to tell.” Shelby sighed, making it properly dramatic, and she fought a laugh. She hadn’t had this much fun talking with anyone since Abby. She pushed away the pang thinking of her friend inevitably brought, and instead focused on the smiling women in front of her. “Hard not to see something when you’re living with a man, even temporarily.”

  Lily and Beth shared a look.

  Beth grinned and winked, “Have you noticed the shower is big enough for two?”

  Shaking her head, Lily reached out and put her hand on Shelby’s. “Beth’s obsessed with the showers. All three houses were built by the same contractor, and he apparently thought the guys needed showers big enough to do aerobics in.”

  “Hmmm, aerobics,” Beth said with a lascivious smile.

  Shelby shook her head. “You have been married for a while, right?”

  “Over six years now.”

  Lily threw back her head and laughed. “You do remember what she writes, don’t you? Zach is her willing victim every time she wants to “work out” a scene.”

  Shelby covered her face, “Now I won’t be able to read those scenes without thinking of you and Zach.”

  “The downside of knowing the author.” Lily sympathized. “I can’t read them either, not anymore. But I have all my signed copies sitting on my bookcase.”

  “Speaking of signed copies,” Beth said. “We’d love it if you signed a couple of our CDs.”

  “Only if you sign my copies of your books when you come for the concert. And I know I have an Arizona Highways magazine around somewhere in the house in town, Lily. I’d love to have your signature as well. You take amazing pictures.”

  “Aren’t we just a talented group?” Beth said, but she eyed her husband as he shoved Mike.

  “Can I confess something?” Shelby asked.

  The women looked at her with bright glances and raised eyebrows.

  “Mike and I were a thing when we were younger.” She waved her hand in a circle. “Before all the fame. But I’m guessing you might know that already.”

  Lily nodded. “We knew and were kind of hoping you being here was a good sign.”

  “Mike never brings anyone home,” Beth said.

  It warmed her heart to hear it, even though Mike told her that. And she had a feeling these ladies would be on her side with her request. “I have a rather rude request, then.”

  Beth grinned. “You’d like us to take our kids and husbands and leave?”

  Shelby returned the smile and nodded. “Am I horrible?”

  “Not at all,” Lily said. “Sometimes you have to smack them over the head to get them to your way of thinking. And Mike is exceptionally hard-headed.” She stood and stretched. “We’ll be out of here as soon as lunch is over.”

  “Which is now. Shelby, why don’t you call in the kids and have them wash up, and we’ll start laying out the food,” Beth said. “Then we’ll drag our brood home.” She winked and went inside the cabin.

  Shelby really liked Beth and Lily. They were so nice and understanding and genuinely cared about Mike. He didn’t have many friends growing up, and now he had a core group that would lay down their lives for him, just the way he would for them.

  That kind of rapport was something she wanted. She and Abby had it and she missed it. But she had Rebecca and Madge. And while she truly liked her band and crew—that was work. This was family.

  And home.

  ***

  After lunch, Shelby lost track of Mike and Rebecca. The same thing happened a couple of times yesterday as well. She’d see Mike bend down and talk to the little girl then he’d hold out his hand. Rebecca, who was normally shy, slipped her hand into his large one with no hesitation and they disappeared together. Shelby wanted them to like each other, so she’d left them alone. She worked on her music or napped, since she still wasn’t sleeping much at night.

  Today, she was curious.

  Just the three of them were here now, and Shelby decided to follow Mike and Rebecca to discover what was going on. Rounding the enormous barn, she saw a round corral with the little Shetland pony saddled up and waiting.

  Mike stood, pointing to the various pieces of tack the horse wore and explaining what each one was. He and Rebecca stood side by side inside the pen.

  Shelby pulled back into the shadows and watched. She and Abby had been on the road for as long as Rebecca had been alive, so there hadn’t been time to find horseback riding lessons. Even when Rebecca had begged for months to learn how to ride. The pang in her heart reminded Shelby this was why she couldn’t cancel those concerts. She needed to give Rebecca everything she’d missed out on in the past seven years.

  “I know you don’t like to talk much, but Cinnamon here likes to obey commands with noises and by voice,” Mike said before making a clicking noise out of the side of his mouth.

  The horse’s ears perked up at the sound.

  “See? Now she’s waiting for a command. Can you make the same noise?”

  Shelby held her breath—hoping.

  Rebecca reached out and touched Cinnamon’s neck. Then she looked up at Mike.

  He repeated the clicks.

  Then Rebecca looked back at the horse and tried. The sounds came out softly, but they were there. Three little clicks that matched Mike’s almost perfectly.

  “That’s exactly right, Rebecca. See how her ears flicked back toward you?” He waited until she nodded and then continued. “Now when you want her to go from a walk to a trot, you’ll kick her flanks gently and make that noise. And when you want her to stop, you have to pull back on the reins and say, “Whoa”.”

  “Whoa,” her little voice echoed.

  Shelby had both hands covering her mouth to keep quiet. She didn’t want to disturb the moment by doing something stupid like bursting into tears. Instead, she tore her tear-laden gaze away from Rebecca to look at the man who had her daughter talking. He was big and could be intimidating, and a tough-as-nails former Marine, but to her, he was a miracle.

  Her heart felt like it might burst with all the emotions she had. The fear Rebecca would never speak again, the undying hope her best friend was still alive, and the love had never gone away, that was bursting through her for the man she left behind. And that was it, the real reason she’d chosen to come home to retire. She could have gone anywhere, but Shelby had been determined to return to Phoenix. The reason was clear now, in a way that she’d never have admitted to before.

  She loved Mike and she wanted him back. And, this tim
e, she was determined keep him.

  Backing away, she retraced her steps to the cabin and let her man and her child have the moment of triumph. But, in the end, the moment was hers because she had a goal. Not like the one that led her to Nashville in the first place. Fame was temporary in this fickle world. This one was for the rest of her life, and this dream was the only one that truly mattered.

  Love. Family. Home.

  And she would fight for them.

  ***

  He woke up, not sure where he was. But his head hurt so bad, the ache made him stay still until the pain dulled to a throb. “What did you do, Charlie?” he whispered. He thought he tasted blood.

  But Charlie was quiet, because he was a shadow.

  Looking around, he wasn’t sure where he was at first. He didn’t even know what time it was, but he felt sticky. Like something foreign was on his body, but he couldn’t figure out what. It was dark, so he moved slowly and sat up. He lay on a hard floor that wasn’t smooth and felt like concrete. Maybe he was in one of the secret places.

  When he didn’t feel as if he might vomit, he got to his feet. His head protested, but he stood still, holding onto what felt like a table until the pain receded again. That was better. And his eyes were adjusting. The room wasn’t pitch-black after all. Light streamed in through the high windows. He was in a bathroom of sorts, with a couple of industrial sinks and a commode in the corner.

  “Where did you bring me?” he asked, but knew there wouldn’t be an answer. The shadow normally rested after he took over for an extended amount of time. Especially, when he was mad.

  And Charlie was always mad.

  Leaving the room, he walked out into the wide open space of the main warehouse, and that’s when he knew that Charlie had been in a rage. The carnage in front of him wasn’t what he had planned. He’d been having so much fun with the woman. With his newest Shelby Lynn.

  But that was now over.

  He walked around and looked at what had been done. He could do nothing now—not for her. She was supposed to be the pinnacle in his video montage, but she wouldn’t make the cut. He shrugged. What a waste.

  Turning away, he found the lantern he used to light up his work space. He still didn’t feel right. Going back into the room with the sinks and the small table, he flipped on the lantern and turned back to the mirror that was partially intact on the wall. The bottom half had been vandalized at some point, but one whole side was unbroken.

  So much blood.

  The face that stared back wasn’t his any longer. The creature in the mirror was something else. Something reptilian that slithered into the small spaces. Bringing a hand to his face, he saw that it too was covered in blood. So much that the smell suddenly overwhelmed him. “Who are you?”

  I’m you, a voice hissed back.

  It was the Shadow. He wasn’t resting after all.

  It was Charlie.

  He didn’t even exist anymore.

  ***

  Daniel pushed back from his desk in frustration. He wished he were making more headway, but every rodent specialty store came up empty. The only chinchillas sold recently were to a little Hawaiian girl who’d promptly named them after a Disney movie that was set on her home island. Her parents had been surprised, yet helpful, when he’d shown up at the door to ask about the purchase.

  When his cell rang, he hoped the news was something good because he wasn’t getting anywhere and it was pissing him off. “Wolfe,” he barked.

  “Peter and the . . . ” Her voice trailed off.

  That threw him for a moment, “What?”

  “Now I have the music from that story running through my head. Oh well, guess it’s better than Shelby Lynn’s stuff. I’m suddenly addicted. And I don’t normally listen to country music, but that chick’s got the pipes.”

  “Casey?” he asked, but he already knew. She was like a sudden storm after his gloomy afternoon. Her breezy attitude blew him off course, but he couldn’t be too upset. He liked her voice.

  “Who else? I have some good news.”

  “I could use it.” And he could. Something was better than the nothing he had.

  “Victim number one has a name, finally.”

  He pulled a pen out from under the papers strewn across his desk. “Okay, shoot.”

  “Name is Priscilla Trenton, she’s twenty-three, single, and is a missing person from Nashville, Tennessee. I’m thinking that’s not a coincidence, and that her folks were clearly influence by the proximity to Graceland.”

  Daniel sat back in his chair. “No, I don’t think that it is,” he said slowly. “I’ve been having some doubts about this guy being home grown. So what if he’s not?”

  “Time of death is roughly the same day Shelby Lynn said she got into town.”

  “Son of a bitch. He brought victim one with him. He wasn’t hunting here, he was hunting in Nashville.” What the hell happened in Nashville to start all this?

  “I’m already trying to match prints and dentals for victim number two in Nashville, just in case he brought two bodies.”

  While he didn’t think victim number two would be from the same place, he did wonder about the chinchillas. They were small and easy to move. What if he hadn’t bought them here, but already had them?

  “Keep checking locally, as well as the route from Nashville to here. He could have picked up the second girl from the road.”

  “Thanks for the tip, Captain Obvious.”

  He could hear the sarcasm dripping through the phone. “Not that you aren’t already doing that, I meant.”

  “I’m telling Mike to fire you when I talk to him, due to your lack of people skills.”

  He snorted. “I have people skills.”

  “First, you think I’m a hooker, and now you think I’m an idiot. That is not winning me over.”

  He took a moment to picture her in that dress and those heels. And he tried to keep the smile out of his voice. “I don’t think you’re an idiot, and I never said you were a hooker.”

  “You didn’t have to, Daniel,” she said his name with a bit of extra sweetness.

  “Mike’s not firing me.” He laughed. He enjoyed her spicy wit that livened up his bad day.

  “He likes me better than you.”

  He imagined her sticking out her tongue at the phone. Hmmm, what he could do with that tongue. Then he shook himself out of that image, because he didn’t want to think about the little medical examiner that way. That idea was too complicated. But, he didn’t stop baiting her. “That’s because you show up to crime scenes looking like a hooker.” He hung up. Let her chew on that. Then he laughed out loud as he pictured the look of outrage on her face.

  He turned back to his computer, determined to find those freaking chinchillas. That hair was the only clue this bastard had left behind, and Daniel wanted to nail his ass to the wall with it.

  Chapter 13

  He’d been a little worried when all his friends suddenly had something to do after lunch, and Mike suspected a little matchmaking from Beth and Lily. They really liked Shelby and had been worried about him being alone for some time now. But what he enjoyed most was watching his bad-ass Marine brothers get dragged home by their little wives. The apology for not backing him up was written on their faces, but the shrugs and sheepish grins told the story. The sight was worth the abandonment.

  Or so he thought.

  He hadn’t counted on Shelby’s determination. Or Rebecca’s sweetness. Both just about brought him to his knees.

  Spending the afternoon teaching Rebecca how to ride had been more enjoyable than he could have imagined. That she was talking was its own reward. He just hoped she would stay open and talkative and not retreat back into her silent world.

  Mike had worried about Shelby and how she would take Rebecca suddenly talking again after a year, but he decided that she’d be fine. Now he stood, making dinner for the girls and all he had to do was ask Rebecca to tell him what her favorite part of the day was.

&
nbsp; “Riding Cinnamon was the best part.”

  “Why don’t you tell your Aunt Shelby about it?”

  And she turned and did just that. Rebecca had been silent so long that the words just rushed out in long streams.

  Mike watched Shelby surreptitiously, but she smiled and laughed with the little girl as if no time had passed in silence. And if her eyes were shinier than normal, he thought she did a great job of holding the emotion in.

  Dinner was simple, but the company was amazing. Mike felt something move inside as he listened to the girls chatter. They included him as well, both reaching over to touch him. Rebecca in excitement as she talked about owning a horse of her own someday, and she wanted the exact same horse as Cinnamon. Shelby’s touch was absent minded, as if it was normal to reach out to him and squeeze his hand while Rebecca talked.

  It was almost like having a preview of what his life could have been. If things had been different, and Shelby hadn’t left him all those years ago. Rebecca could be their child, and none of the heartache would have happened because he would have been there to protect her.

  He got to his feet and grabbed the dishes, jerking them from the table. Anger welled up inside of him. Anger with himself and with Shelby. Her single-minded dreams had robbed them both of this, and he still couldn’t get over it.

  “I can get that,” she said.

  He shook his head. “Why don’t you go tuck Rebecca into bed? The drive back to town tomorrow is long, and I want to be in place before you have to be at the concert venue for the sound checks and rehearsal.” At the sink, he braced his hands on the counter, and he was glad he did because two little arms went around his legs, giving him a big hug.

  “I want you to tuck me in, Mike.”

  The demand was one he couldn’t refuse. As much as he wanted to distance himself from them both, he just couldn’t. Big blue eyes dominated her serious face. No way could he do anything to disappoint this little girl. Ever.