Seeking Vengeance: Callaghan Brothers, Book 4 (26 page)

By the time Sean entered the room several seconds later, four of the men were face down and unconscious, and Nicki was facing off against the last two in a dramatic triangle, guns drawn in both hands. 

Sean came in behind one of the men.  One swift, silent blow and the dealer went down like a brick, never even knowing what hit him.  “Damn it, woman!” Sean said, looking as dark as a thundercloud as he removed the gun from the prone man’s hand and pointed it at the last standing occupant.  “You were supposed to wait for me.”

“Why?” she asked, knowing the question would only agitate him further.  He growled a low warning that had their target paling considerably.

“What part of love, honor, and
obey
did you not understand?”

“I’m sorry, baby,” she said, though there was no apology in her voice, just amusement. 

He looked around at the mess on the floor and shook his head.  “You really are the perfect woman, you know that?”

Ignoring the prone figures littering the area, she closed the space between them until only a few inches separated them.  Her hand came to rest on his chest even as her lips brushed against the underside of his chin.  Her gun, like his, was still pointed at the man in the corner. 

“Should I go back over there, and you know, let you take care of this?”

Despite his irritation, the corners of his mouth quirked and his body shuddered.  “Yes.” 

His voice was so oddly petulant that Nicki was reminded of a small boy who’d been deprived of all the fun.

“Would it make you feel better if you shot something?” she said placatingly as she lowered her gun and slipped it into the waistband of her pants.  She moved to his side and stroked his back, almost as if she was petting him.  The man in his sights uttered a little gasp and promptly wet himself. 

“Yes,” he said, his eyes brightening.  “Nothing fatal,” he added, “just a little something to take the edge off and maybe impress you a little.”

“Mmmm.  Impress me, baby.”  Nicki glowed with pride as she stepped back again, enjoying the view as she watched his muscles flex and come to life.  He was a beautiful, dangerous man, and she was so in love with him it actually hurt, an ache so sweet and addicting she couldn’t survive without it. 

Deciding he didn’t stand a chance in hell, the last remaining man dropped his gun and put his hands up.  Sean looked disappointed, then decided to put a tranq dart in him anyway.

“Did I ever tell you how sexy you are?” Nicki purred.  Sean grunted and pulled her to him, ravishing her mouth.

“Ah, Christ.  Get a room, will you?” Kieran said as he joined them.  “Next time, I vote we take Nix and leave Sean at home.  She’s just as lethal and looks a hell of a lot better in body armor.”  Sean did not lift his head, but clearly shot his youngest sibling the middle finger. 

Shane laughed.  “Come on, guys.  Unless we want these bad boys to be ashes, we need to drag them out with their buds before this places goes nova.”

“I say we just toast ‘em,” Kieran said, looking down with disgust at one of them.  “What does T want them alive for anyway?”

“Don’t know,” Shane said.  “And not our problem.”

Nicki had a pretty good idea what was going to happen to the captured.  She almost felt a stab of pity for them.  Death would be kinder.  Taser had a special punishment for scum specialized in drugs targeted towards kids.  Most of the stuff this little facility produced looked like innocent candy.  Things that even diligent, concerned parents would never suspect.  The small squares coated in hallucinogenics and coke dust were popping up in schools everywhere, and this place was a major supplier.

Reluctantly, Sean pulled away from Nicki.  “Duty calls, love.” 

“I’ll just wait outside, let you boys do all the manly hefting and lifting.  And don’t worry.  I’ll shoot anything that comes near you.”

“God, I love that woman,” Sean said fervently as his eyes watched her walk away.

––––––––

N
icki walked outside and positioned herself at the corner of the property fence.  She leaned against it, rifle in hand, looking for anyone foolish enough to try to come out and make a buy tonight.  They’d never get near her family.

She looked up briefly, admiring the stars.  It was a slightly overcast, so there weren’t too many visible, but there were a few that were twinkling brightly amidst the occasional breaks.  A long-forgotten rhyme rose unbidden in her mind:  “Star light, star bright, First star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, Have the wish I wish tonight.”

She chuckled silently.  Wishes.  It wasn’t that long ago that she refused to even consider such things.  Wishes weren’t for people like her.  Nicki didn’t believe that anymore, but try as she might, she couldn’t think of a single thing she would wish for.

Nick was doing great; Nicki got to see him nearly every day, and the two of them were closer than they’d ever been.  Sean had promoted him to lead mechanic at the garage, and Nick had really risen to the occasion.  Sean no longer worried about leaving the garage for several days at a time.  Nick had a girlfriend, now, too – a pretty young, quiet girl that took classes at the local community college and was studying to be a veterinary assistant.  Nicki couldn’t have been happier for him.

Nicki had free run of the garage, and could often be found tinkering on some old piece of junk Sean had collected for her.  To hell with jewelry and flowers; her husband knew just what would get her eyes sparkling. 

Now that she and Sean were officially married, the guys treated her with a lot more respect, too.  All around it was much more comfortable than it had been, especially since she could talk shop with the best of them.  And on weekends, sometimes they’d take a cruise over to Birch Falls and hang with Lina and Kyle.  She and Kyle were working on ideas for a new custom series that would be featured on one of the popular cable shows come spring.

She was now part of a big, loud, and fiercely loyal family.  If she’d thought any of them would look down upon her, she was soon proven gravely mistaken.  It was somewhat daunting to find herself with six additional big brothers – all lethal but protective as hell – and three sisters.  She’d come to know each of them pretty well in a relatively short amount of time. 

Kieran was the youngest, and quite possibly the most boyishly adorable, though he was unmatched in martial arts skills.  As part of her “team training”, she sparred with him weekly, and was learning a lot of great stuff.

Shane was just as soft-spoken and polished as she’d first surmised.  He was quite brilliant, a human computer of sorts, and a source of inexhaustible knowledge.  He also had the very useful gift of reading people with astonishing accuracy.  Quiet as he was, there was no one more fiercely loyal to Sean than he (besides her, of course).

Ian was the good-time bad boy.  It was Ian, she learned, who had ferreted out all the information about the Chameleons and had ultimately been the one to track her down.  His wife, Lexi, was as kind and good-hearted as she was beautiful, and had welcomed Nicki into the family warmly.  Their little boy, Patrick, was as much of a rascal as his father, and just as irresistible.

Michael was the medic of the family, easily the most logical and rational among them.  He was particularly interested in Nicki’s knowledge of organic toxins, and the two often got into deep discussions on the topic.  His wife Maggie, though only a couple of years older than her, was clearly the motherly influence, and Nicki was just as drawn to Maggie’s big, welcoming kitchen as her husband.

Jake was a little harder to figure out, but Nicki liked him instantly.  Large and intense like Sean, but generally quieter, he was the day-to-day manager of their family, it seemed.  Nicki was especially fond of Taryn.  Like Nicki, Taryn had been forced to endure horrific acts at a young age, though under a completely different set of circumstances.  In her, Nicki found someone who truly understood, as well as the hope that she, too, could learn to live a semi-normal life.

The only one she was a little afraid of was Kane.  He was the oldest and largest among them.  Surrounded by a darkness that let him become part of the shadows around him, Nicki often had the feeling that he was also the most dangerous.  To have been accepted by him as she was, was probably the thing that amazed her the most.

And of course Jack Callaghan, the family patriarch, had welcomed her with open arms.  It didn’t take long for her to think that maybe, someday, she could think of him as her father, too.

If all that wasn’t enough, she was married to a man that surpassed every fantasy she’d ever had.  Sean Callaghan was, quite literally, the man of her dreams.  He was big and strong; highly intelligent and superbly skilled.  And he had become her entire world – her lover, her friend, her confidant, her protector.  The list went on and on.  She still wasn’t quite sold on the whole “one soul mate” concept, but she did know that she loved him more than she would have ever believed possible. 

Whenever she spoke with him about this, he would simply smile, take her in his arms, and tell her that that was exactly how it was supposed to be. 

Nicki sighed.  Maybe wishes came true after all.

T
his book is fiction, but unfortunately, exploitation of children is all too real.  It is not a problem only found in third-world nations or big cities; it is happening everywhere, and it is happening right now.

Child sex trafficking.  Child pornography.  Pedophilia.  The internet is filled with horrifying statistics and heinous accounts, but it all boils down to this: 
no child should ever have to experience any of it.

Be aware.  Pay attention.  Know the people who are around your children.  Talk about it.  Educate them. 

For more information, visit http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/vc_majorthefts/cac/crimes_against_children. 

Y
ou didn’t have to pick this book, but you did.  Thank you!

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Abbie

A
bbie Zanders loves to read and write romance in all forms; she is quite obsessive, really.  Her ultimate fantasy is to spend all of her free time doing both, preferably in a secluded mountain cabin overlooking a pristine lake, though a private beach on a lush tropical island works, too.  Sharing her work with others of similar mind is a dream come true.  She promises her readers two things:  no cliffhangers, and there will always be a happy ending.  Beyond that, you never know...

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