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She shook her head slowly. "Don't leave me again Nik. We'll take care of it." Nik prayed for the ice to return within his soul. He prayed like a broken man praying for death as he stared into Mikayla's shocked, horrified eyes. The race to get to her and Kira once Ian's phone had emitted that hard, shrill pulse in the truck had nearly gotten both men killed. Nik had raced through town like a madman. All he could see was Mikayla's blood; all he could hear was her screams echoing in his head.
To find her alive was a prayer answered. To realize just how many of his barriers against emotion had been destroyed was a nightmare.
Holding her close, he watched as the police and ambulance arrived. Kira was prepped for transport as the chief of police pulled up and watched, his expression stony, from the side of the street as another car pulled onto the curb. Nik wasn't surprised to see his commander, Jordan Malone, step from the vehicle. Robert Denover, the criminal investigator, stood to the side of the ambulance questioning Ian as Jordan moved to them. Nik had no intentions of being a part of this. He'd seen who had shot Kira, who had tried to shoot Mikayla, even as he and Ian had rushed from the truck, their own weapons drawn.
Nik couldn't believe it. A part of him had been certain, despite the evidence, that Maddix Nelson hadn't been involved in any of this. Only a stupid man would hire someone of Nik's reputation to investigate a murder he had committed. But it had been Maddix. There had been someone with him, Nik had seen the other shadowed, unidentifiable figure, but he'd clearly seen Maddix.
"Don't mention that Ian and I saw anything," he warned Mikayla as the investigator glanced their way. "You only saw shadows and bullets, nothing else." 213
Mikayla nodded. "That is all I saw."
Her voice was still quivering as she trembled in Nik's arms. He should never have left her, he admitted. She would have been far better protected with him than she was without him. He should have known this would happen. He'd allowed both Ian's wife as well as his own woman to be placed in danger because of his own fears. Because of his knowledge that he was growing too close to her. That leaving her was going to be that much more difficult.
His arms tightened around her as Jordan moved to them.
"I need backup," Nik told Jordan. "Mikayla and I are heading to the Nelson home. I saw Maddix Nelson here tonight."
Jordan's gaze sliced to Mikayla. "Leave her with Ian."
"No." Mikayla's hands jerked up, gripping Nik's arm where it crossed over her breasts, holding her to him. "Not this time. I'm going, or I promise you everyone on this street will hear about it."
Nik grimaced. Jordan was right: the best thing to do would be to leave Mikayla with Ian. Jordan would ensure her protection, even from the police.
"Nik, you do this and I promise I'll slip away from him." Her voice was husky from the tears that Nik refused to allow himself to see. "I have the right to face him. You know I do."
"The right and the ability are two different things, Ms. Martin," Jordan informed her.
"Who the hell are you anyway?" Mikayla bit out, the fury in her voice catching Nik by surprise. "You don't tell me what to do and what not to do. The last I heard, I already have a father."
Nik noticed the almost-amused quirk to Jordan's lips as he glanced back at him.
"She's too damned stubborn," Jordan told Nik. "This isn't going to work." Nik shook his head wearily. "We don't have a choice but to make it work. I can't afford the distraction right now. She goes with us."
And he prayed. Like a dying man praying for salvation, Nik began to pray. Mikayla sat silently in the front seat of the truck as it pulled into the Nelson driveway several hours later. There should have been a sense of triumph, she thought as she stared at the lights blazing in the house. At the very least a sense of satisfaction. Finally, Maddix Nelson would be brought to justice.
"Mikayla and I will go to the front door," Nik told Ian and Jordan as they sat in the back. "Slip around the back and come in behind us. Maddix doesn't know he was seen. He's not going to expect trouble if he just sees me and Mikayla." The plan was simple. He and Mikayla would get into the house. Once he saw Maddix was alone, then Nik would let him know he was seen.
Nik had promised the other man retribution if he learned he was involved in this. The police would be called later. First, though, Nik would have his pound of flesh for Mikayla.
"Slip this into the back of your jeans." Flipping the safety on the small handgun he laid in Mikayla's hands, he stared back at her. "Keep your shirt pulled over it. Stay behind me, and if things go from sugar to shit, head for the nearest exit. Understand?" She nodded, her amethyst eyes wide as excitement flushed her face. Damn, he hoped he was right about this. Everything pointed to Maddix being 214
alone in the house. He wouldn't expect Nik and Mikayla to be showing up if he had been seen. He should be off guard. That was all Nik needed to make certain Mikayla was safe.
"Let's go." He got out of the truck before coming around to help Mikayla out. Jordan and Ian slipped out unnoticed, sliding into the darkness as Nik led Mikayla to the front door.
The doors opened as they approached them, a confused Maddix Nelson staring back at them in silence.
"Nik?" He looked at Mikayla. "I heard there were problems at Ms. Martin's home?"
"A shooter." Nik escorted Mikayla inside as Maddix stepped aside. Mikayla stared around the foyer, her gaze searching, ears listening for anyone else who might be there.
"Come into the living room," Maddix said, a note of confusion still in his voice as he invited them into the room. "Is there something wrong?"
"A few things," Nik stated as they moved into the luxurious television room. "Are Glenda and Luke here?"
Maddix shook his head as he moved toward a well-appointed wet bar. "Glenda is out with friends and Luke hasn't been around for a day or so. He'll show up when he sobers up, I imagine." The hint of disgust in Maddix's voice wasn't feigned.
"Then you're alone?" Nik asked.
