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“Put your gun away, Harding. I’m not armed.” Emmett unfolded his tall frame, shoved the stool out of the way and offered his hand to Sally.
She hesitated before shrugging and allowing him to help her up. She still didn’t trust him completely—probably never would—but she could believe he was single-minded enough to chase her down and warn her if he thought doing so would somehow exact revenge from the man responsible for beating the tar out of him. Mostly, though, if Emmett’s intention had been to harm her, he’d had ample opportunity. He moved aside, and she pulled the door open and stepped out.
Luke caught her hand and tugged her to the side, bringing his firearm to bear on Emmett. “Are you all right, babe?” Luke’s tortured eyes swept over her, worry, impatience and relief cascading across his face.
“I’m fine, mostly.” She rubbed the tender spot on the back of her head. “Not his fault,” she quickly added when Luke scowled. “Just my own clumsiness.”
Luke squeezed her hand and then focused on Emmett. “Turn around and put your hands against the wall.”
Emmett smiled coldly. “I told you I wasn’t armed.”
“Humor me.”
Emmett stared at Luke as the seconds stretched, then suddenly laughed. “I knew I liked you, Harding. You remind me of me.” He turned, leaned his hands against the wall and spread his legs.
“High praise indeed.” Luke tucked his weapon in his belt and quickly searched the man.
“Luke, where’s Jen?” Sally’s voice was a strained whisper, unable to believe it’d taken her so long to miss her daughter’s presence.
“Don’t worry. She’s out front with Maryanne, the salesclerk. I promised to double her commission if she kept Jen occupied for a few minutes.”
Emmett swung around and glanced from Luke to Sally. “Satisfied?”
“More like surprised. You don’t strike me as the type who travels without a bodyguard or a weapon.” Luke pushed Sally toward the front of the store. “Go find Jen. I want a word with your friend here.”
Emmett’s grin was cocky. “This should be good.”
Sally paused, looking between the two belligerent men. “Luke, you heard why he came, right? To warn us?”
Luke nodded, without taking his eyes off Emmett. “That’s why he’s still alive.”
A gruff chuckle rumbled from Emmett’s throat. “Darlin’, go get your kid. We knights have some jousting to do.”
Sally snorted scornfully.Have at it, then.She was too emotionally exhausted to care at the moment. Men with their wannabe balls of steel and their delicate egos—it would serve them right if their words dissolved into a free-for-all. As long as she…or Jen…didn’t have to watch. Leaving the skirt and blouses hanging in the dressing room, she turned abruptly and marched toward the front of the store.
* * * *
That was the third time in the last twenty minutes Sally had glanced into the back of the Jeep, obviously checking on Jen. Luke couldn’t decipher whether she was worried about Jen or just life in general. Every time he looked toward the little girl in the rearview mirror, she was intent on the new book Sally had bought for her after they’d left the department store.
He caught Sally’s hand as she faced the front again. “Penny for your thoughts.”
A genuine smile brightened her features for a couple of seconds before it faded. “Did you believe Emmett? You don’t think he’ll go back and tell Clive Brennan where we are, do you? Is that what you talked about?” Sally lowered her voice and leaned closer.
Luke brought her hand to his lips for a lingering kiss. He could almost feel her tension. “I think Emmett will do whatever it takes to get payback from Brennan. It was big of him to warn you, because he had no way of knowing you already suspected Brennan. Don’t get me wrong—Emmett isn’t a man I’d trust to watch my back. But in this case, I can’t see him doing anything to help the man that beat the sh…crap out of him. And…let’s not forget, he’s a man with resources. Sometimes it makes sense to give the benefit of the doubt to a person like that…if you can stomach it.” He covered her hand with his. “That’swhat we talked about.”
Sally pulled away and unconsciously massaged the back of her head for a moment.
“How’s your headache?”
She dropped her hands into her lap. “Better. Thanks. You haven’t told me very much about this place we’re going.”
Luke slipped his phone from his pocket. “Hold that thought. I need to give Daniel a call.” He found his friend’s number in his contacts and pushed to dial, then hit the button to put the conversation on speaker. Ian’s brother answered after three rings, but the connection was lousy. “Hey. It’s Luke.”
“Well…our long lost…a week ago.” Daniel’s side of the conversation was breaking up badly, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out what he’d said. It was a totally legitimate gripe.
“I’m sorry, Daniel. I know I said I’d be there last week.” Luke paused. “I got a little lost, I guess, but I found what I was looking for. In fact, I’m bringing a couple of friends with me, and we’ll be there in about twenty minutes…if that’s all right.” How much of the conversation was Daniel getting on his end?
“No problem…ass up here. Couple things…tell you…cell phone…sucks. No surprise…don’t go all apeshit…some…” The call abruptly went dead. Luke tried calling him back twice but got no answer. This wasn’t the first time he’d phoned Daniel, so he was well aware the cell phone service was abysmal. Butdon’t go apeshit?What the hell did that mean? He scowled as he dropped the device in the cup holder.
