Dance Away, Danger (20 page)

“You think you’re going to kill me and blame everything on me like you guys have been doing for the last few days.”

“Gage, if you had just left it alone, we wouldn’t have had to come after you.”

“Leave you guys to break the oath you swore the day you became officers? No.”

Pete grabbed the pillow resting on the visitor’s chair, his fingers clenching on its edges. “If you’d talked to us instead we could’ve worked something out. But you didn’t, and so we have to take another path with you, your friend, and your sister.”

Jason’s head pounded, his shoulder hurt, and all he wanted was to sleep for a week.

A sickening smile tugged at Pete’s lips. “And that sweet chick that brought you to the hospital? Don’t worry. I’ll take real good care of her for you.”

Brenna.

Jason shoved his hand to the scissors under his butt cheek.

Pete moved the pillow over the side of the bed, closer to Jason’s mouth.

He gathered all the breath he could. Not yet. He’d only get one chance. The timing had to be perfect.

When Pete shoved the pillow just above his face, Jason pulled out the scissors and used all his strength to shove them into Pete’s arm. He didn’t want him dead. Someone had to be tortured into explaining all the insanity of the last few days.

Pete howled. As he let loose a string of swear words, the bedroom door flew open.

Matt bolted across the room. Tessa remained at the door.

Hot damn. Tessa’s heart lurched into her throat. Pete scrambled backward with his eyes wild and a pair of scissors poking out of his arm. Jason lay on the bed, breathing heavily. His skin was gray, ashy almost. But he was still alive. All at once, a handful of emotions sped through her—fear, relief, despondence, love.

Pete landed a hard punch to Matt’s jaw.

Matt retaliated with a heavy blow to Pete’s injury and a shove. But the officer wasn’t done. He righted himself, glared at Matt like a man possessed, and stalked toward him.

But her man wasn’t done either. One, two, three jabs to the face sent Pete stumbling. Another pounding to his midsection and he slammed into the heater. His head smacked the window and he collapsed to the floor.

Tessa rushed to her brother’s side. “Jase.” She wrapped her arms around him and held him tight.

“Whoa, go easy. I’m a little brittle.” He patted her back.

“You are more than a little brittle.” She rested her head on his good shoulder.

Her two favorite men both alive and safe....for the moment. “Good to see you haven’t lost your touch,” Matt said.

“Hell, I was going to say the same thing about you,” Jason countered. Too quickly his grin disappeared, and his gaze shot between them. “Whit.” The jingle of the cuffs as he pointed sounded as loud as a bomb in the quiet room.

She and Matt both turned to the doorway. Sure enough, her brother’s boss, the only other man she’d ever put her faith in, stood just outside the window holding two coffee cups. Then he retreated and disappeared.

“Hey!” A nurse hollered as she and another arrived at the door.

“What the?” The second staff member drank in the scene, and then rushed to check on Pete. “Sandy, call security!”

“Stay with Jason.” Matt started for the door.

Tessa grabbed his arm. “No, wait.”

He wrenched himself free “Your brother needs you.”

“Matt!”

He raced out and turned left, toward the danger they’d been desperate to avoid for the last five days.

The nurse still in the hallway swore and called in the opposite direction, “We need some help and get security!” She stormed into the room, knelt beside her colleague, and assisted with Pete, who remained unconscious. “You two take it easy, all right?”

“We’re the good guys,” her brother answered. “Be careful. He’s dangerous.”

So was Whit, and she’d let Matt take off after him alone. She stared at the doorway as a thousand reasons to stay and go vied for attention

Jason squeezed her hand. “Hammer knows what he’s doing.”

“Yeah,” she said. But still. Whit, a man she’d trusted with her life and her brother’s, could take away the one other man who’d come to mean anything to her. She glanced at Jason, still pale and weak beyond reason. Yes, he needed her, but at the moment, Matt needed her more. “Jason, I’ve got to go.” More voices filled the room as the hospital staff moved to the bed and a security guard listened to the nurse’s tale.

One nurse checked Jason’s vitals. Or tried to. “Sir, please.”

For an injured hospital patient, Jase’s grip held more strength than she’d expected. “No. It’s too dangerous.”

She kissed his forehead. “I don’t have a choice.” She yanked free and scrambled into the hallway.

“Come back!”

She closed her brain off from the emotions flowing through her.

From the right, more security guards rushed toward them, followed by state cops. In her brain, an idea formed. If she could get them to follow her....

She took off to the left. Voices yelled out to her—her brother’s, another nurse’s, the cops arriving in to babysit Jason and Pete. But she, Tessa Gage who’d always abided by the rules, ignored them all and ran to the nurses station. When she slammed her palms on the top of the desk, three nurses glared at her. “The cop and one other guy. One chasing the other. Did anyone see where they went?”

They only gawked at her.

Dammit, what was wrong with the hospital staff? Were they all stupid? Matt could be in danger. Again, she slapped the desk, harder. “Hey, which way?”

One of the younger women pointed farther down the hall. “Stairs, I think.”

She pushed off the desk and ran. No one followed her yet.

Jase’s room was on the third floor. They had to have gone down, but where would they come out? Hell, she’d worry about that later.

She shoved the door open, crashing it into the wall, and rushed down the steps. Holding onto the railing was a definite. She didn’t trust her feet to find purchase.

****

Matt chased Whittaker through the hospital stairwell. When he reached the door the older man had slipped through, he stilled. Rushing through it without thinking could be the death of him. He might not get out of there alive, but at least he could try to trap Whittaker into screwing himself. He pulled the mini-recorder from his coat pocket, pressed the record button, and replaced it. Would it would catch enough of the conversation? If he couldn’t get Whittaker to confess to working with Walgren to stop Brian, extort the hookers, and frame Jason, he could at least get him for whatever he did to him. No, he didn’t want to die, but he had a mission to finish. That was the only way he could think of to keep Jason and Tessa safe.

With a thick gnawing in his gut, he pushed the door open and peeked out. Of course, Whittaker was nowhere to be seen. Probably aiming for him from some safe spot. Still, Matt had no choice but to go through.

The scents of oil, dirt, and exhaust fumes closed in around him. The door squawked as it shut. He spotted two elevators to his immediate left. The first one’s silver doors remained clamped shut while it moved past floor after floor. Matt scanned the numbers. What if Whittaker had gone back—

A flash of movement from the other side of the elevators caught his eye, and a hard fist slammed into his jaw so heavy Matt stumbled into the wall between the elevators. Before he could get his bearings, another punch jerked his head against the concrete. There was no mistaking the man in front of him. Kyle Whittaker. “We meet at last, Mr. Rylan.”

Pride would be the guy’s downfall, exactly like Walgren. He held no weapon, just the cocky grin feeding into his belief he was invincible.

“You are under arrest.” Metal cuffs jingled as he pulled them from his pocket.

“I won’t keep quiet.”

“Yeah, that’s why you’re going to get shot trying to escape. Such a tragedy, really.” He grabbed Matt’s arm and slapped one cuff on him.

He would not go down without one hell of a fight. With every ounce of strength he had, he slammed his fist into Whittaker’s gut. The man stumbled backward. Matt punched again and again. The older man was no slouch, though. His blows rained on him until they were both on the ground. Before Matt could scramble for the upper hand, Whit slid the barrel of a gun under Matt’s chin.

He stilled.

“Face it, buddy boy. You will not win against me. I’ve been a decorated officer of the Hanover Police Department since you were in diapers, and I’ll be at it long after the ground hardens over your grave.”

“What about Tessa?”

He shrugged “An unfortunate mishap. After you’re killed trying to escape and her brother dies of complications from his injuries, she’ll be so distraught, she’ll take her own life.”

“Not likely. Tessa’s a fighter.”

“I can handle her.”

“No, you can’t.” Matt shook his head. “We figured out you had something to do with Brian Koswich’s death, whether you pulled the trigger yourself or just helped to cover it up. Other people will figure it out, too.”

“Are you kidding? I’m a hero. The only people aware of the truth about that night are either dead or on my side. ”

Matt’s brain scrambled for an exit. The longer he kept Whittaker talking, the more evidence they’d have to bring him down. And the cockier the man got, the more likely he was to underestimate Matt’s ability to protect those he cared about. With each word out of the sergeant’s lips, Matt gathered more power. Thoughts of Tessa living a free, safe life crowded his mind. He had to stay strong for her.

“Why’d you do it? Why’d you kill Koswich?”

“He wouldn’t play by my rules, and I knew he’d be the one to give us up. In the end, I made it so we all won. I got what I wanted, we got rid of a drug dealer, Brian died a hero, and his wife still got her benefits.”

“What about Tessa and Jason? You were Jason’s mentor. He trusted you.”

“It wasn’t personal. Just business. I had to protect my investments.”

The metal door squeaked as it opened again. “No, Whit, please!” Tessa’s shrill scream deafened his ears.

What the hell was she doing?

The gun drifted away from his neck. Whittaker spared her a quick glance, but it was long enough for Matt to spring into action. He brought his arms up and slapped the gun from Whittaker’s grip. It skittered away. A string of violent swear words flew out of the sergeant’s mouth. The man raised his fists and pounded into Matt. Relentlessly.

Red hot fury bolted through him, feeding his muscles with the strength they needed. A growl rushed through his mouth. He shoved the other man’s body and tossed him to the concrete next to him. Both of them scrambled to their feet, circled like boxers waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. Whit threw a left hook. Matt ducked and rose with a hard uppercut to Whit’s jaw. His head snapped back. Matt didn’t let up. All his anger—at Whit for abusing his position, at Jason for getting him involved, at Tessa for not trusting him to get the job done—unloaded in lethal punches. Whit fell to the ground.

“Freeze!” someone yelled from behind.

Matt stilled, his gaze never leaving the sergeant’s defeated body.

“Hands up and step away from the sergeant.”

Immediately, he followed orders.

Officers crowded him, shoved him toward the trunk of a nearby car. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Tessa also being surrounded. More policemen tended to Whittaker.

That was all right. Pretty soon nobody would want to touch the bastard. He’d committed the ultimate sin: he’d abused his authority and killed one of his own. For the past week, he and Tessa had been searching for proof of the man’s devious acts and in the end, all it had taken was for Matt to feed the man’s ego and get him to compromise himself.

The officer cuffing Matt read him his Miranda rights.

Yes, he was under arrest at the moment, but for the first time in the last five days, he allowed himself a bit of faith in the judicial system. When he, Tessa, and Jason had a chance to explain their situation and share all their evidence with honest and decent cops, Matt was confident they’d be freed.

They had to be. He couldn’t fail.

Chapter Twelve

Tessa smoothed the blanket on her brother’s hospital bed. “They took off your cuffs?”

“Yeah, after Pete confessed, Matt’s tape from the parking garage, and I guess after IA saw the evidence you and Matt pulled together—”

“And your evidence,” she added.

“They figured maybe I wasn’t the bad seed they’d originally thought.”

“I’m so happy for you.” She brushed her fingers over the skin of his wrist.

“Captain says when I get out of the hospital, I’ll be tied to a desk until the doc gives me the all clear. Then I can return to full duty. How about you? How are you doing?”

“I’m good.”

“Yeah?”

“Sure. I mean, Matt kept me safe and comforted.” Thoroughly satisfied and with grand illusions of having a family of her own. He had opened her thoughts to those possibilities, but whenever those they entered her mind, she could only see the picture with him by her side.

Yet, he didn’t want her.

Figures she’d chosen to fall for the a man who had no desire to return her love.

“How’d you leave it with him?”

Empty
. She shrugged. “They kept us separated while we were questioned in the police station. When I got out, he’d already left.”

He stared at her hard.

Great. He was going to tie himself up in her business. “What, Jase?”

“You seem different.”

She wore a sad smile. “I am.”
I fell completely and totally in love.
“Being with Matt made me stronger, more confident, more willing to take calculated risks.”

“I heard about your interference in the parking garage, and I don’t want you taking any more risks. That’s my job, not yours.”

“Believe me, when it comes to danger, I’m happy to return those reins to you, but there’s more to it. Through the whole experience, I learned I can rely on my gut to guide me in new situations, and it’s okay to put faith in other people, not just you.”

“Just don’t cut me out altogether.” He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “I’ve been taking care of you for a dozen years, and that’s not a job I want to lose.”

“Oh, no worries there. I will definitely be around to complicate your life just as much as I have been since high school.”

“And you and Matt?”

“What about us? He did a favor for you and kept me safe. We’re done.” The words tasted like gasoline swishing through her mouth. But it was the truth, and she had better start accepting it.

“That’s okay with you?”

Not by a longshot.
“What I really want is for you to stop milking your injury for all it’s worth and harassing the nursing staff. You need to get your butt out of this bed and back home.”

“They said tomorrow, for sure.”

“Good.” Then their lives could go back to normal.

Yet hers would never be the same again.

Jason glanced over her shoulder. “Hey,” he greeted someone behind her.

Every muscle in Tessa’s body stiffened. Like a sixth sense, she knew it had to be....

“Don’t mean to interrupt,” Matt said. “Just coming to check on you.”

She stood. He caught her gaze. “Hey, Tess.” His hands remained in his jeans pockets. The navy blue shirt hung loosely over his waist under a Patriots jacket.

Trusting her voice to respond wasn’t an option. Instead, she smiled at him. For several seconds, no one spoke and tension built between them. So much she wanted to say and, yet, she knew better than to get all blubbery, especially in front of her brother.

“I can wait out there if you guys need more time.” Matt tossed his thumb over his shoulder.

“No, that’s all right. I’ve got to go anyway.”

“Where?” Jason asked. “You told me you were free all afternoon.”

“I’ve got some errands I can run. I’ll come back and have dinner with you.”

“Only if you bring me a steak.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. How about a steak sandwich?” She leaned over the bed and kissed him on the cheek. “I’ll see you later.”

“You don’t have to go,” Matt told her as she approached him. His familiar scent surrounded her and once again brought back memories of their lovemaking. Every inch of her weakened with desire.

“Yes, I do.” She itched to reach out to him. Her body thrummed with the need to be wrapped in his strong arms. Instead, she closed her fists. What she really needed was the closure he’d denied her by slipping from the police station before she’d had a chance to speak with him. “Actually, can I talk to you in the hall?”

“I don’t have a lot of time. I’ve got an appointment at the travel agency.” He shifted away from her.

Dammit. He wouldn’t deny her. She wouldn’t allow it. She deserved better. “It’ll only take a couple minutes. Let’s go.” With way more courage than she had, she lifted her chin and walked out of the room, hoping he’d follow.

Matt watched Tessa strut out to the hallway with her sweet ass swaying. His pants tightened with memories of holding and caressing it, of touching and kissing every inch of her. It had only been two days since he’d had her in his bed, and yet he already craved her again.

No, he wouldn’t allow his libido to sidetrack his brain. She’d given up on him when he’d needed her faith the most.

He followed her into the hospital hallway and asked, “What do you need?”

“Some explanation would be nice.”

“About?”

She rolled those beautiful eyes and shifted her weight to one foot. “Yeah, what we had between us was a fling, but can you at least tell me why you’re angry with me?”

A fling? Angry? How could she say either of those things? Granted he wasn’t interested in dating her, but he hadn’t considered their relationship a fling. It had been so much…more. Different. Damn. “You’re not making any sense, Tess.”

“We get picked up by the cops and you drop me faster than a hot potato. I saw the scowl on your face when I showed up in the parking garage and when you passed me in the hallways at the police station. Then you ignored my phone calls. So you at least owe me an answer as to why you’ve been such a jerk.”

She folded her arms across her chest, which hoisted her breasts upward.

He pinched the bridge of his nose for a second. He wouldn’t glance down. He would not. “I told you to stay with your brother and Pete in the hospital room. I told you I would handle Whittaker.”

“So you’re angry because I followed you down to the garage?”

“Damn right I am. What the hell were you thinking? You could’ve gotten hurt.”

“I was worried about you.”

“Then you should’ve stayed where I told you to.”

“But—”

“You should’ve trusted me to deal with it.” He wanted to grab her shoulders and shake some sense into her. The one time he actually cared about the responsibility he had and she hadn’t had enough faith he could solve the problem on his own.

A call through the loudspeaker cut into the silence between them.

“Trust you? That’s all I’ve been doing since you showed up in the dance studio. How can you think I don’t trust you?”

She reached for him.

“Don’t.” He pulled back.

“Hey.” She grabbed his forearm. Even with his bruised ego, her fingers ignited sensual thoughts and memories in his head. “Leaving Jason was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, but I did it
for
you, not because I didn’t believe in you.”

“For me?” The rest of her explanation ought to be rich. He folded his arms.

Moisture shimmered in her eyes, but no tears fell. Of course not. Tessa was too proud.

He should be mad as hell at her, but the pain in her voice still tugged at his heartstrings.
Sucker.

“You had given up so much for me, for Jason, and you’d been there for me every step of the way. I didn’t want you, someone I care about, fighting that last battle without backup. I wanted to do what I could to protect you.”

“Good partners recognize when to stand down, too.” If he’d needed any more proof closing the door on their relationship was the right decision, his own statement held it. He hadn’t been in the market for a partner of any kind. Tessa’s actions proved he was still better off alone.

“It doesn’t matter. Everything worked out. It’s over, and we’re all safe.” Some insanity clawed inside him to wrap her in his arms and kiss away the hurt from her brow. He peeked at his watch instead. “I need to get going. I’ve got plans after I check in with your brother.” He brushed his thumb along her cheek for one last precious touch. “Take care of yourself, Tess.”

He whirled around and wandered into Jason’s room. While pulling the cushioned chair closer, he asked, “How’s the arm?”

“Fine. What’s going on?”

“With?”

“Tessa. She’s different.”

Matt’s head popped up. “How?”

“She’s bossier than I remember. More confident. That’s got to be your influence.”

He snickered.
Yeah, right.
“Hardly.”

Jason braced his fists on the mattress on each side of him and shifted to a better seated position. “No, for real. She told me all you did for her. She’s asked me to teach her how to shoot.”

It should be me teaching her
. The thought caught him off guard. Nonsense. She wasn’t his responsibility anymore. He’d seen the last of Tessa Gage.

“She’s a pretty good student.” Memories of the night she’d practiced shooting an empty gun in the motel sprang to his brain. As did the images of them making love afterward, of her sprawled out underneath him, with her hair spread out over the pillow and her body pulsing to the rhythm of his loving.

Damn.
Even without her in the room, his pants tightened, and his chest ached.

Taking Tessa into his life would only be a mistake. He’d work like a dog to get her to trust him, and that responsibility would kill him. Not. Going. To. Happen.

His one-time best friend pinned him with a vicious glare. “Did you sleep with my sister?”

He rubbed his neck. Not the conversation he needed at the moment. Or ever.

“I’m going to kick your ass when I get out of the hospital,” Jason declared.

“I’ll be waiting.”

“So why are you angry with her?”

“Did she tell you I was?” he snapped.

“I’m a police officer. I’m trained to notice things. Besides, you’re not really subtle.”

Matt ignored the dig. “Why’d you let her follow me down to the garage?”

He held out his one good arm. “Hello? I’m in a hospital bed, one I was cuffed to until recently. How was I supposed to stop her?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Whatever you’re thinking, consider it this way. She wanted to help you.”

“Yeah, because she didn’t think I could handle it.”

Jason shook his head. “She risked her life for you. I know she’d be stupid enough to do something like that for me. I’m her brother, and she loves me. But I’ve never seen her willing to do something so dumb for anyone else. Ever.”

Matt had no desire to discuss Tessa with her brother. And he sure as hell didn’t want to think about what Jason’s admission might mean. Matt’s life was about to return to being uncomplicated. He, Tessa, and Jason had been released from police custody and all the more serious charges had been dropped. There was still the matter of stealing a couple of cars, but he’d been able to reach financial agreements with the owners and they, in turn, dropped the charges against him and Tessa. The security guards in the train station had also had a change of heart after hearing their tale, and no charges would be filed. And as soon as the police gave him the okay to leave the city, he would be stretched out in his swim trunks on white sand in front of crystal blue-green water.

Sparkling green that rivaled Tessa’s eyes.

Damn.

****

Jason climbed the stairs to the front entrance and rang the bell. He clenched and unclenched his fingers on his good hand. His shoulder throbbed. He figured he owed her something. Her car sat in the driveway. He pushed the bell again.
Come on, Brenna. Don’t make it harder than it has to be.

Then again, could leaving her alone be the best way to thank her for saving his life?

The door opened. Brenna was dressed to kill in her tight jeans and a sweater that showed off her curves. “What do you want?” she asked with a bitterness he hadn’t expected. Deserved, yes.

“I just wanted to come by.” He’d planned his words while he waited for the hospital to release him, but a headache robbed him of clear thought. Or maybe it was the painkillers he’d chomped on before leaving his own home. “Can I come inside and talk?”

“No. Say what you need to and go.”

“I was rude to you in the hospital.”

“You think?” She pursed those beautiful lips.