Night is Darkest Read online

  “Ah, there you are. So sorry to have to kill off your boy toys but this one here…”

  She gestured with the barrel to where Mason lay unmoving. From this distance she couldn’t see where he’d been shot or if his chest still rose and fell. Her hopes grew dim when she realized he didn’t make a sound. Horror stunned her as Gina kept talking.

  “…ruined everything. I told them my story. They were supposed to forgive me. How could I be held accountable for my actions with a monster after me?” Her insane laughter terrified Lacey. “And he still told the chief. That fucker. I had everything tidied. I got that skanky stripper to get rid of your nosey brother then I helped her get her courage up to fix her mistake when she realized what a freaking saint he’d really been. I even paid some thug to smash my face! No one should have believed that pathetic fool, Jackson, after that!”

  Lacey latched onto any excuse to draw Gina’s attention from her men. “You really did use him, didn’t you?”

  “Of course, darling. You’ll find it’s quite easy to manipulate men to do your bidding. Looks like you’ve gotten a nice start with this pair. I’m proud of you. Jackson, Rob and now dear sweet Razor are the latest in a long line of dumb men who have served my purposes.”

  “What did you do to Razor?” She hated stroking this monster’s ego but when Gina beamed, she took a step away from the bed in her earnest storytelling.

  “I seduced him, of course. With tears and a few well-placed faux self-recriminations. Though he’s been quite useful until now, filling me in on the details of the case so I could stay one step ahead, it was nothing to steal his gun and use it to blow him away. Stupid boy. As if I’d want a wimp like him to comfort me! I don’t need any man to fuck me. I’m the one that does the fucking.” She made wild gestures with her pistol though she hadn’t seemed to notice Lacey’s yet.

  “Well, it’s no matter now. I’ve already sent word and supplies to Jackson. He’ll hang himself as the ultimate test of his love for me. I can’t have him blabbering on as he did today, he really should have known better. You did meet another of my disciples, yes? The warden can’t wait to get rid of Jackson so he can have me all to himself! Ha! With him out of the way, along with these meddling assholes and—of course—you, sweetie, I’ll be back in business. But it pisses me off that you’ve made me break my favorite toy. I suppose it’s only fair that I break yours, too.”

  “If you really think you’re going to get away with this, you’re crazier than I thought!” Lacey tempted the woman to charge her. She couldn’t flash the gun until she was sure the guys were out of range. She had to believe they were all right. She’d only heard one shot. Hadn’t she?

  “Who’s going to stop me?” Gina stalked closer. When she’d reached the foot of the bed, Tyler lurched up and made a grab for her waist. Lacey raised her gun but couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t hit Ty. Her heart froze when Gina swung around and clocked him on the head again. The dull thud of metal on skull threatened to make her stomach heave.

  Tyler crashed to the floor.

  “Ty!” Lacey struggled to focus on Gina. It was the only real way to help him.

  “You people are starting to get on my last fucking nerve.”

  Before she realized the insane woman’s intent, Gina spun around then opened fire. With only one good eye, her aim wasn’t particularly accurate. Lacey dropped to the floor then scrambled beneath her bureau as a trail of splintered wood exploded behind her. She kept moving as the shots ringed the room.

  One bullet pierced the wall just inches from her toes. The next struck close enough to her head that she felt the breeze. She crouched behind the hamper like a sitting duck. Lacey didn’t even realize she’d counted each shot until the tenth one shattered her mother’s antique mirror.

  That pissed her off.

  When the crazy bitch’s footsteps neared where Ty lay on the floor, Lacey didn’t have time to wonder at the precision of her instincts. Instead, she popped up from her meager shelter and strode straight for the lunatic.

  “You know, Lacey. I think I could have liked you. Too bad that asshole got lucky and broke in on Jackson playing with you. I’d finally gotten him worked up to killing someone. You could have been his first. Too bad your brother couldn’t leave well enough alone when I called him afterward to see if he was on to me. Too bad he tempted me by falling in love with me. How could I resist that kind of power?”

  They stood less than five feet apart, right arms outstretched. Identical police-issue sidearms aimed at each other’s chests.

  “I’m up for a game if you are. Which one of us can pull the trigger first you think, Lacey?”

  “Count to three and let’s see.”

  Tyler groaned then shook his head. His eyes fluttered open. They bulged when he saw their pose. “Get down! Lacey!”

  “One…”

  “Lacey!” Tyler lunged for Gina but he would never make it in time.

  The cheating woman cackled then squeezed the trigger on, “Two.” Lacey watched the slight motion as though the world had slowed to a crawl. She responded in kind. If nothing else, Tyler would be safe. A metallic click transformed Gina’s evil grin into a bewildered circle a moment before Lacey’s bullet destroyed her black heart.

  Both Ty and Lacey ignored the crumpled body where it dropped. Together, they turned to Mason.

  A rivulet of blood trickled from the cut above Ty’s temple but he refused to sit still. He shook Mason’s shoulder. “Mason! Answer me!”

  “Jeremy called an ambulance but I don’t think we have that kind of time. Where was he hit, Ty?” Lacey kicked the covers the rest of the way off Mason’s limp frame then searched for his wound. The pool of blood slicking the right side of his abdomen hid the point of entry. She wadded the sheet into a compress then applied pressure to slow the bleeding.

  Ty knelt near Mason’s shoulder, watching her in shock.

  “Snap out of it! I need you to hold this. Please, Ty. He needs you.”

  Tyler lurched for the bloody sheet, clamping it in place as she had moments ago. She leaned over Mason’s face, hoping for even the faintest whisper of breath but nothing stirred against her cheek. Sirens wailed in the background. She prayed they came from an ambulance. With calm efficiency borne of endless practice, Lacey tipped Mason’s head back then started CPR.

  She inflated his chest with two quick breaths then started chest compressions. Thirty counts later, she covered his mouth once more.

  Please, please be okay. Come back, Mason. We need you. Come back.

  Halfway through the second set, Mason coughed then groaned as his eyes fluttered open. Though she wanted to smother him in desperate words of love, she focused on treating him. Lacey rolled him onto his side so that his blood didn’t spill as freely from his wound as she tugged him into the recovery position. From this angle, she could gather another wad of fabric to tuck against the exit wound on his back.

  “You’re going to be okay, Mason.” Tyler promised things she wouldn’t. She’d seen patients in better condition slip away from them in the ER. “We’ve got you.”

  Mason glanced up at her with pain-drenched eyes. He nodded when she didn’t reassure him. “Take care of each other. I love you.”

  He slipped into unconsciousness as the cavalry stormed up the stairs. Jeremy flew into the room first, with paramedics two steps behind. “Christ!”

  Lacey ignored his wild stare at the destroyed room, their state of undress, the noise and flashing lights. She ignored everything but the head EMT. A point by point account of Mason’s injuries and status as she knew it flew from her lips even as she assisted them in loading him onto the board for transport.

  “Tyler needs attention. Blunt trauma to the right temple.” Another medic swooped to inspect the damage despite Ty’s attempts to rush to Mason’s side.

  In a herd, they poured outside and piled in the ambulance for the second time this week. The police escort cleared the way as they raced to the hospital.

  Please,
God let us make it.

  ***

  Tyler crushed Lacey to his chest as she cried uncontrollably. His brave, smart, coolheaded woman had kept her shit together until it no longer mattered. Now, she was inconsolable.

  Another round of sobs wracked her diminutive frame against his chest. It didn’t surprise him when the racket roused Mason from his fitful, drug-induced slumber on the hospital bed beside them.

  “I thought you said I’m not gonna buy the farm, doll?”

  Even though she still cried, Lacey laughed, too. The impressive combination resulted in a very unladylike snort. “Not. You’re not. Promise.”

  Ty smoothed her hair as best he could in spite of the clumps of dried blood making it stick out like a porcupine’s needles. “I tried to take her home. She needs to shower then crash. She assisted the ER team as they worked on you for six hours. But she’s being stubborn again. She won’t go.”

  “Yes. You will.” Mason’s declaration wheezed between tight lips. “I can’t rest until you’re settled.”

  Lacey objected. “I can shower here. I’ll take a nap in the lounge. I do it all the time when I pull a double. I’ll be fine.”

  Even hopped up on pain meds, Mason saw through the ruse. “You’re afraid to go home.”

  “I-I killed Gina. In my bedroom.” Fresh tears coursed down her puffy face.

  “You had no choice, little one.” Ty squeezed her trembling body closer to his heart. “I think you scared twenty years off my life when I saw you facing off with her. How did you know she was out of bullets?”

  “She told me she’d shot Razor. Then Mason.” She shuddered again. “I counted the rest.”

  “What if that bitch had reloaded after Razor?” Their fellow officer hadn’t fared as well as Mason. His fate still hung in the balance. They’d managed to revive him but he lay in a coma in the intensive care unit. The doctors were split on their prognoses.

  “I didn’t have a lot of time to consider it. I knew that if I didn’t pull the trigger, you could be next.”

  Ty kissed her salty cheek. “Then you did the right thing, Lacey.”

  “Take her home.” Mason directed the order at Ty. When she began to object once more he added. “Our apartment. For now.”

  She went lax in his hold. “For now.”

  “I love you both. Now get the hell out so I can sleep.”

  Tyler grinned. “Oh, don’t worry, I’ll put Lacey to bed the right way. Enjoy your Jell-O.”

  “I love you too, Mason.” She wriggled from Ty’s grip to drop one last kiss on Mason’s forehead before holding out her hand. Ty grasped it, tugging her close.

  “We’ll be back before you know it. Rest up.”

  Epilogue

  Lacey clutched the newspaper to her chest as they picked their way across the hilly terrain. Mason had lost so much weight during the past month, she knew he struggled to keep even their slow pace but he’d never admit it.

  She had intended to keep her face averted from the two fresh graves at the bottom of the hill but she couldn’t help but look. It seemed a fitting reward for Jackson, and punishment for Gina, to bury them side by side. The twisted couple made the perfect pair. Seeing the dirt, with just a few sprouts of grass poking through, somehow gave her closure.

  Their nightmare was over.

  They continued up to the giant oak tree. Lacey tucked the sports section against the headstone of Rob’s grave between the dozens of flowers left by myriad friends. She kissed her fingers then pressed them to the granite, surprised it felt warm to the touch in the early winter morning. They’d come straight after picking her up from work. Recent events hadn’t done much to tone down the guys’ protectiveness but, suddenly, she didn’t mind so much.

  After all, she loved them more with each passing hour.

  Lacey didn’t realize she’d been talking out loud to her brother until she caught the nod Mason gave Tyler in response to some unvoiced question.

  “Look, little one, I realize this is probably the weirdest place on earth to do this but…” Mason and Tyler both dropped to one knee at the foot of Rob’s grave.

  “What are you two doing!” She covered her gaping mouth.

  “We thought it appropriate to propose here. We hope he would finally approve.”

  The first shaft of morning light to break over the mountains illuminated the contents of the jeweler’s box Tyler cracked open in front of her. The diamond burned with unnatural brilliance.

  “This is your grandmother’s ring!”

  “The last time I saw her before she passed away, she gave it to me. She dropped it in the center of my palm and told me she thought it would look stunning on you.” Tyler slid the ring onto her trembling finger.

  “She was right.” Mason added, “Accept this promise from us, Lacey. We love you. Forever.”

  “But…how will it work?” she whispered, in awe of the hushed intimacy. In a place others might have found creepy, she felt surrounded by loved ones. Rob, her parents, even Grandma Lambert were all here. For one moment, she thought she could see them just beyond the trees.

  “The vows we exchanged that night, doll.” Mason drew her attention from the vision and when she looked again it was gone. “Did you mean them?”

  Her heart filled with love all over again. “Of course.”

  “So did we.” Tyler took her hand. “I consider us hitched. Mostly.”

  She frowned. “You and I never said the words to each other.”

  “How about we fix that in a traditional wedding? You can have your big white dress and we’ll make it official. As for the rest…we know.”

  Lacey looked to Mason. He nodded in agreement. “You’re already mine in my heart.”

  “Mine, too.” She kissed him.

  “Then marry me?” Tyler asked.

  “Yes!” She kissed him, too. “With one stipulation…”

  “Uh oh.” He raised one brow.

  “I don’t want to wear a big, ugly dress.” She grinned.

  “Thank God,” the guys muttered together as they rose and headed back toward the truck.

  Locked together, they crossed the wrought iron gate of the cemetery. Tyler boosted her into the cab. When they crammed onto the bench seat, Mason asked, “How about we grab some breakfast at the diner then drop by Morgan Wheeler’s place? I hear he’s into real estate now.”

  Lacey hadn’t been back inside her house since the shooting. They’d agreed it might be time to move on from the past.

  “I think that sounds like a great idea.” Grandma Lambert’s diamond flashed when Lacey rested her hand on Mason’s thigh. She held the other out for Ty, who entwined their fingers.

  “Do you think they have Spaghetti-O’s?” he asked.

  They filled the cab with laughter as they began the journey of their life together.

  Just before the dawn.

  About the Author

  Jayne Rylon's stories usually begin as a daydream in an endless business meeting. Her writing acts as a creative counterpoint to her straightlaced corporate existence. She lives in Ohio with two cats and her husband who both inspires her fantasies and supports her careers. When she can escape her office, she loves to travel the world, avoid speeding tickets in her beloved Sky and, of course, read.

  Jayne is a member of the Romance Writers of America (RWA), the Central Ohio Fiction Writers (COFW), Passionate Ink and International Heat. Feel free to stop by her website at www.jaynerylon.com or email her at [email protected]

  Look for these titles by Jayne Rylon

  Now Available:

  Nice and Naughty

  Dream Machine

  Three’s Company (Ménage and More print anthology)

  Coming Soon:

  Kate’s Crew

  She can cover him with one hand tied behind her back. Maybe two.

  Personal Protection

  © 2009 Leah Braemel

  Hauberk Protection, Book 2

  Sam Watson excels at keeping other people safe. No
w a stalker is targeting him, but so what? A few doctored photos and a couple threatening phone calls are no big deal. He can watch his own back. Then again, the view from behind the sexy spitfire assigned to protect him isn’t so bad…

  Rosalinda Ramos has managed to keep her attraction to Hauberk Security’s owner tightly under wraps. It’s just as well he doesn’t know. One slip—in the bedroom or on the job—will cost her her heart and her career, so she’s got only one thing on her mind. Protect Sam, whether he wants it or not.

  The stakes—and the heat—rise exponentially when she discovers Sam belongs to an exclusive sex club—one she must investigate for potential suspects. Suddenly she finds herself immersed in a world that pushes her boundaries.

  Sam delights in leading Rosie deep into his sexual shadows—until they go one game too far. Making him wonder if he can allow the woman he loves to take a bullet for him.

  Warning: May incite the reader’s protective instinct, forcing her to throw herself on the nearest man.

  Enjoy the following excerpt for Personal Protection:

  The limo pulled into the underground parking lot and past his Jag. A sigh escaped Sam as they cruised past his Harley. The crisp October day would have been perfect to drive his Road King. Instead he was cooped up like a damned dog in the back of the limo that finally stopped near the elevator where Rosie was waiting.

  Damn it, why had Chad insisted on Rosie Ramos as his lead CPO? If he’d wanted a woman to accompany him to any upcoming parties or meet ’n greets—the reason Chad had given him—why not McKee or Anderson? Neither of those women got his cock twitching like Rosie did.

  The fantasy he’d had of getting her alone in his apartment hadn’t included her wearing a gun and acting in as his personal bodyguard. All right, maybe one had. But, damn it, if a bullet was going to be aimed in his direction, there was no way in hell he wanted the little spitfire throwing herself in its path. He’d rather have her throw herself in his bed. Go down on her knees and unzip his fly… Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!