No Reason to Run (10 page)

Chapter 17

Shane opened his
door to a man he considered a good friend. Aidan Hill, a former Army Ranger,
settled in Harmony five years ago. He ran and won the sheriff’s position when
the former Sheriff retired after thirty years on the job. Aidan eschewed the
navy blue uniform of the four man sheriff department but wore the badge clipped
to the waist of his jeans with pride. When Shane considered places to set up
his new life, Aidan campaigned heavily for the quaint town.

Since his sister and
mother were an easy drive away in Philly, Shane accepted the recommendation and
relocated. Aidan and he got along well enough, often reminiscing about their
lives in the military. The good shit and the bad.

“Shane, how are
you?”

“Been better, been
worse too.” Shane reached out to clasp his hand then waved him in. Aidan came
to his house frequently for a beer or late evening game due to the proximity of
his own residence. The blond man was a few inches shorter than Shane but
carried himself with a military bearing one had to respect. His brown eyes
unflinchingly met Shane’s.

A police officer in
full uniform entered behind Aidan, the bulk of his bulletproof vest puffing his
chest out. The officer nodded at Shane.

“The leg bothering
you?”

Shane grimaced at
Aidan’s question. “Nah.” His right leg was the least of his concerns. The
injury during his last overseas op had permanently sidelined his career.
Doctor’s promised a limp even with intense physical therapy but Shane proved
the bastards wrong. He didn’t have a limp but the leg burned like a bitch when
he pushed himself too far like today and his nights sometimes brought
unexplained spasms usually after one of his re-occurring nightmares.

“Mr. Mitchell, you
have toys?”

Distracted, he and
Aidan turned downward to the little voice. Olivia’s daughter stood near, her
mother behind her in the hallway leading from his kitchen. His name once more
came out mispronounced as mitter mittel. Her mangled speech was growing on him.
“No toys, kid. Chloe.” Shane corrected without glancing at Olivia. The heat of
her glare was hot enough to burn the back of his shoulders.

Chloe’s disappointed
look spoke volumes. Unused to dealing with kids this little, Shane offered the
one thing that seemed to work on her so far. “Cartoons?”

Her blue eyes
brightened and she bounced on her tip toes in pink shoes that were small enough
to fit in the palm of his whole hand. “Yes, please.” Sounded like she wanted
peas.

“No,” Olivia
countered as she approached. “She’s had enough television for now.”

Shane watched those
long legs eat up the space between them. His gaze dropped lower, remembering
the silken feel of every inch of her. Her hips moved in an unconscious
seductive sway that seemed to be ingrained in all women. He remembered how
tight those same legs gripped him earlier.

Aidan flashed a
smile in her direction and Shane caught the unknown officer eyeing her with
interest as well. He controlled the urge to punch both of the men on principle.

“Good morning,
ma’am.”

Olivia returned
Aidan’s smile and extended her hand. “Olivia Anderson.”

“Sheriff Hill. You
can call me Aidan though I’m here in a professional capacity. This is Officer
Rock Hampton.”

Aidan tossed Shane a
look. “Your family room?”

Shane shrugged. It
was as good as any. His living room was larger but he didn’t think Olivia would
be any more comfortable in there.

Once seated, Olivia
put her daughter on her lap. Shane sat to the right of her with Aidan resting
on Shane’s coffee table directly in front of Olivia. Officer Hampton remained
standing.

“Nice set-up.”
Officer Hampton scrutinized each inch of the comfortable space.

Shane couldn’t place
the vibe he got from the guy but didn’t like it. “Thanks.” He frequently
received compliments on his home. Mostly thanks to the decorating efforts of
his mom and sister.

Legs braced, Hampton
pulled out a notepad. “As you’re aware, we’re here to talk about the incident
at the bus station outside Harmony this morning. The CPD is working closely
with Harmony on this since many of the residents from both jurisdictions work
or use the bus station in some capacity.”

“I understand.” Her
voice shook but Shane forced himself to hold back. To not offer comfort and
reassure her while local law enforcement took the lead on this. He trusted
Aidan and Aidan brought this guy to his home so he better be trustworthy.

Aidan spoke in a
gentle voice. “Who do we have here?” He aimed a smile at Chloe.

Chloe snuggled into
her mom keeping her eyes turned from the sheriff and the officer.

“This is my
daughter, Chloe. She was with me.”

“Can you tell us why
you were at the station this morning?”

Hampton’s question
came out abrupt and accusatory, cutting off whatever the Sheriff had been about
to say. Shane stiffened and rolled his eyes toward Aidan with a clear warning.
If he didn’t check his friend, Shane would.

Olivia looked to him
first then back to Hampton clearly confused. “My daughter and I were taking a
bus to North Carolina this morning.”

Hampton stared hard
at her before scribbling something down. “Did you notice anything suspicious?”

She cleared her
throat and a frown creased her brow. Shane knew she’d relive the explosion this
morning if the questions kept going in this direction. “I don’t know if I’d
call it suspicious. I wanted a coffee and my eyes were on the man at the cart.
I noticed he left his briefcase at the same time as the attendant.”

“What man?”
Hampton’s brown eyes narrowed. He focused on Olivia’s next words. Was there
doubt in his question?

She must have sensed
the intensity as well. Her shoulders hunched and she pulled Chloe closer to
her. Shane got to his feet and circled to the back of the sofa putting him in
the direct line of sight of the officer. Aidan glanced his way with a wary eye.
His friend was smart to keep his gaze alert. Shane needed the distance because
he was seconds away from using his fists on the uniformed officer.

“There was a man in
a suit. A dark colored suit. He got a drink, I don’t know what kind but he sat
his briefcase down to pay and then walked off to catch the bus.”

“What did he look
like?”

Her voice trembled.
“H-he had dark hair, I think.”

Hampton glared. “He
did or didn’t Ms. Anderson?”

Shane dug his
fingers into the sofa cushion and shot another look at Aidan. One more time and
Shane was gonna throw this fuckhead out the front door.

Aidan leaned
forward, obstructing Olivia’s view of Officer fuckhead. She immediately shifted
her attention back to the sheriff. “Think back, Mrs. Anderson. Can you remember
if he had dark hair or light?”

“Miss,” she
corrected nibbling on her lip. “I went back to my maiden name after my divorce.
The man had dark hair.”

“Good.” His half
smile revealed dimples.

Shane tensed. Aidan
had a reputation with the ladies. His pretty boy routine went over a lot better
than Shane’s burned out distrustful guy vibe.

Olivia relaxed
against the sofa cushions, her back bumping the knuckles of Shane’s hand. He
stroked her hair in a calming gesture.

“Do you remember
anything else about him?”

Her body language
shifted. Aidan’s tone indicated empathy unlike Officer Hampton. Shane could
sense her desire to remember something key.

“He had a cell.” She
jerked upright startling Chloe and causing the one-arm bear to fall to the
floor.

Aidan swooped it up
and handed it back. Chloe smiled shyly before accepting.

“I thought he didn’t
hear the coffee attendant because he was into his cell phone conversation.”

“Remote device,”
Shane murmured, making eye contact with Aidan.

“Suicide mission.”

There were a dozen
possibilities in light of this information.

“What are you
talking about?” Officer Hampton’s face screwed tight. Not a good look for him.
“We’ve no idea if this was a suicide. It could be a terrorist attack.”

Aidan rose to his
feet. “Could be, Hampton, but I’ll check with the coroners and get a rush on
ID’ing the bodies. The sooner we find out who he is the sooner we can search
for the reasons for his actions.”

“This guy would have
left a note or some message if it was suicide. Hell even if it was a terrorist
attack there might be a message left behind.” Shane paced behind the sofa as he
thought it out. Incidents like this on American soil were a lot different than
what he used to handle. There was always a trail.

“We need to ask her
more questions,” Hampton protested.

Aidan clapped the
officer on the back. “After we find out who this guy is, if you still think Ms.
Anderson’s a viable witness, you can come back.”

The statement firmly
shut him down and Shane found himself ushering them out swiftly. Aidan winked
over his shoulder as Shane firmly closed the door and locked up.

Olivia followed
behind with a dazed expression carrying Chloe on her hip. “What’s this about?
What does it mean?”

“It means it might
have been a random bombing and you ended up in the wrong place, princess.”

The relief washed
over her face instantly. “Then it wasn’t…him?”

Her ex. Shane wished
like hell it was. It could have been one more thing to nail him on. “We don’t
know for sure yet.”

Chapter 18

The next few hours
passed by rather quickly. In need of a way to entertain Chloe, Olivia broke
down and asked Shane if he thought it was safe to play in his backyard. Under
his vigilant watch, she and her daughter passed a ball, chased each other and
played a mutated form of hide and seek because Shane’s clean landscape offered
no potential hiding spots.

Despite the
distraction Chloe provided, Olivia remained hyper aware of Shane. Each glance
over her shoulder revealed steely gray eyes monitoring her every move. If his
attention diverted, it canvassed his yard as if he expected the occasional
rabbit to have a hidden agenda.

Chloe, however,
loved catching sight of the rabbits and spent half her time chasing them around
the enclosed space. When her path crossed Shane, she’d pause give him a solid
nod which he returned every time then she raced off again with a pleased
giggle.

As the afternoon
wore on, Chloe tired. She became cranky and her eyes could barely stay open.
After being under Shane’s undivided attention, Olivia was glad to head back
inside. She wasted no time getting Chloe settled in the room they shared. A
quick snuggle and her daughter passed out. Once downstairs, Olivia immediately
noticed the two strangers standing next to Shane.

Her spine stiffened.
These were the men he’d brought in to talk to her about Brian. One man leaned
against the island, his hip canted to the side, an arm braced on the counter
while his brown eyes insolently watched her approach. Old defenses came to the
forefront. Lifting her chin defiantly, she blazed forward and halted in front
of him. Screw him, he didn’t know her.

Shane straightened
from his slouch. He watched her closely while he performed the introduction.
“Vik, this is Olivia Anderson, formerly O’Donnell. Olivia, this is Viktor
Zonov.”

Viktor stood inches
shorter than Shane with a head full of blond hair pulled back into a stubby
tail. The angles of his face hinted at his European heritage. His black shirt
and matching cargo pants covered a body that rivaled Shane’s in fitness.
Another person with a military background, she assumed. Her eyes caught on the
unusual shoulder holster crossing his chest which held a snub-nosed gun and a
sheathed knife.

The second man
didn’t turn when she entered the kitchen. His bald head stayed bowed over the
counter as he read a document in front of him.

Shane raised his
voice. “Striker, meet Olivia.”

The bald giant
matched Shane in height when he slowly straightened from his position. He
stared at Olivia for a full minute, his dark gaze missed nothing. A wave of
fear shivered down her spine. His presence unnerved her more than Shane’s.
“Ma’am,” his voice rasped.

“Hey.” She waved her
fingers at him, trying not to stare at the twisted scars running along his neck
and the left side of his face. His ear suffered some kind of damage too, the
skin roped and red as if from bad burns. The rest of his face was cut from
harsh angles broken only by the glitter in his midnight colored eyes. Whatever
destroyed part of his face had taken its toll on this man’s soul.

“Vik and Striker are
ready when you are. Tell us what you saw.”

She controlled the
lurch in her gut. Shane warned her and she thought she’d prepared herself
mentally but she hadn’t.

“Olivia.”

Shane crossed to her
side. How did he move that fast? His hand came up to massage her shoulder.
“It’s okay, princess. Just tell us. Spit it out.” He pushed her toward a chair
and Olivia sat.

Deep inhale. It
needed to be said. “When I went to pick up Chloe from his house.”

“The senator’s
house?” The blond interrupted her, his voice tinged with an accent she couldn’t
place. Olivia nodded.

“Yes, I was married
to Brian O’Donnell.” They already knew this. “Anyway, Chloe was with her nanny
getting her things together so I went to Brian’s study to let him know I was
taking her.” She paused and licked her lips. “It was the polite thing to do
though he wouldn’t have noticed. The door was open and there were sounds coming
from within.”

“Bang
bang bang kinda noises?”
Again, the blond Shane identified as Vik spoke.

Clearly he found
this funny since his smirk spread to an all out smile. A smile that moved his
face from reasonably attractive to downright gorgeous.

“Yes. They were sex
sounds,” she snapped. Shane came closer and curved his arms around her
shoulders.

“Take it easy.”

Olivia leaned her
weight unto him. “Sex sounds,” she repeated. “But it was too late to turn. I
could see Brian with someone leaning over his desk.”

“Office action.
Nice.” Vik’s joke fell flat.

“His partner was
naked and,” she swallowed, vividly remembering her surprise. “Brian’s pants
were around his ankles.” Stunned, her first thought had been he hated that
position. When they shared a bed he insisted on missionary despite her desires
to experiment, to try different things to enhance their pleasure. He’d been
adamant and later it hadn’t mattered.

To see him in such a
compromising position held her immobile. She must have made a sound or cried
out. “He turned around and saw me standing there.” Brian’s face went pasty
white while he jerked away from his partner and yanked up his pants.

“Why’s he scared?
What else did you see, Olivia?”

The heat from
Shane’s body so close to hers warmed her back. His reassuring presence gave her
courage. “It was his assistant.”

“Man. What an
idiot.” Vik’s tone was full of disgust but the look he leveled on Olivia showed
sympathy. He thought she was hurt. She wanted to laugh. Brian’s shift in
affections could no longer hurt her.

“Is his assistant
married?” The deep rumble came from Striker. She wondered if that was his first
or last name. His mouth twisted in a cruel smile when he noticed her prolonged
stare. Dressed similar to Vik in a black tee shirt and cargo pants, he wore a
thigh holster and she saw the matte edge handle of the handgun inside. Olivia
doubted it was the only weapon on his person, it just wasn’t as blatantly
displayed. Of that she had no doubt.

“Finish it, Olivia.
Is the assistant married? Is that the bug up his ass?”

Vik barked out a
laugh at Shane’s question.

She flushed and
leaned away from Shane. He nudged her back into his arms. She struggled briefly
until she saw the humor on both Vik and Striker’s face as they watched the two
of them. “No, his assistant isn’t married.” She considered not saying more but
Shane’s arms squeezed her shoulders in warning. “It’s a man. His assistant, Tim
Gordon, is the one he was having sex with in his office.”