Wanted (6 page)

“Did I drive
you insane yet?” he asked as his eyes searched her face.

“Not yet,” she
breathed. “I guess you’ll have to try again.”

“Maybe later.
Can I sleep with you tonight?”

“I’d like that.
I feel safe with you. I’ve never felt safe with anybody till you.”

He pulled her
up off of him, stood to stretch his legs.

“I don’t think
you are safe with me, Tierney. I’ve got a couple of hound dogs on my tail. They
might show up here.”

“Who are they?”

He zipped his
pants, finished his beer. “Well, they used to be friends, until I decided to
leave their organization. Now … they’re more like enemies.”

“Are they
dangerous?”

“Could be.”

She wrapped his
arms about her naked body. “And I thought I was putting you in danger by being
here. Tell me about them,
Kiel
. I want to know everything.”

“Come to bed,
and I will.”

She nodded,
slipped on her dress and picked up the espadrilles.

***

The night lit
up like fireworks, rousing Tierney from
Kiel
’s cozy arms. She
screamed.

“Hush!” he
ordered as he scooted away from her and peered out the window.

“What’s going
on?”

He removed a
pistol from a drawer, checked its ammo and headed for the door.

“Stay here! And
keep quiet!”

He disappeared
down the hallway. Tierney ventured towards the window. She could see the
silhouettes of men in the bushes outside the fence wall. Their guns blazed like
fire as they bombarded the fence with shattering blasts.

“
Kiel
!
Don’t leave me!” she whined, donning a lacy black nightgown from the dresser
and taking off after him.

The ground
level of the house was etched in chaos – servants running around, frantic and
afraid, Travers loaded down with two automatic rifles, searching for
Kiel
.

“Where is he?”
Tierney cried.

“I don’t know!
A man sure gets excitement in
Kiel
Fortune’s company! I ain’t had
nerves this bad since I was in ‘
Nam
!”

“Please, calm
down! I don’t want to have to tell your grandkids that you really are dead!”

“Don’t worry
about me, girl! Just because I’m nervous doesn’t mean I can’t handle a fight!”

He entered the
study, flung open a shutter and began shooting.

“Oh, God! It’s
like a damned Stallone movie!” Tierney shouted, lost in the din of bullets. One
flew past her shoulder; she ducked. Another nearly caught her in the side but a
strong hand yanked her to the floor before it hit.

“Didn’t I tell
you to stay upstairs?”
Kiel
was glaring at her with moist eyes.
She could just barely see him in the strobe light streaks of the gunfire.

“I couldn’t! I
had to be near you!”

“Well, stay
down then! These bastards mean business!”

“They couldn’t
think they’d get away with murdering us!”

“Oh, no? The
news boys could spin this as just another drug war battle. They’re in the
military’s pocket, too.”

“We’ve got to
get out of here,
Kiel
! Could we make it to your boat?”

“There is a
second exit that leads down to the dock. But if we’re not shooting back they’ll
get suspicious and come looking for us.”

“Is there some
way to rig up a gun or two, to keep shooting until we are safe?”

“I’ve got a
simulator, made it for an operation in the
Middle East
. If I can
set it up, it might give us some time. Round up Travers and the servants, head
them out that way. I’ll hook things up and join you when I can!”

“I don’t want
to go without you,
Kiel
!”

He put firm
hands on her arms, kissed her. “You won’t! I’m not about to die now when I’ve
got so much to live for! Get going!”

She kissed him
in return, reluctantly left his grasp and headed for Travers.

“Help me talk
the servants into taking us through the back exit to the boat!
Kiel
has a plan to trick the creeps outside!”

Travers nodded,
began to speak in Spanish to the two men and three women. They eagerly led the
way to the exit then all seven of them crept like burglars down to the dock and
readied the boat for sailing.

Tierney watched
the action from the safe haven of the boat deck. The gunmen kept firing;
seemingly determined to crumble the house down to its foundation. They stopped
suddenly; the night grew quiet. Voices flew back and forth. She thought she
heard someone call for storming the boat.

“Travers!” she
whispered. “I think they’re coming this way!”

He stood,
listening. “You’re right. I guess
Kiel
couldn’t get his trick to
work.”

“But we can’t
leave him! What’ll we do?”

“We can’t stay.
They’ll take us all out if we do! I’m starting the engine!”

“No, wait,
please!”

“He can jump in
and swim to us. You know he’d want us to go!”

Tierney was
near hysteria; but she knew he was right.

“Start the
engine.”

He hopped over
to the bridge, switched on the engine and steered them away from the dock.
Tierney stood crying as she stared at the hacienda. It could have been heaven
there, with
Kiel
. But now it would be just another number on a
long list of nightmares.

“Oh,
Kiel
,
I don’t care about the house! We can live anywhere! Please come to me. You’re
all that matters!”

She hurried the
servants below, waited on the deck for any sign of
Kiel
. The
gunmen were heading towards the dock, their weapons raised.

“They’re going
to start shooting, girl!” Travers said in a low, desperate voice. “Get into the
hull!”

“Wait, what’s
that?” Tierney said. She could hear a faint but growing clatter from the house.
Lights began flashing, bullet sounds whizzing. The gunmen turned back to the
house, ducking and shooting.

“He’s done it,
by God!” Travers laughed. “Look at those idiots squirm!”

Tierney was
still trembling. Sure, the gunmen were distracted but only temporarily.

“Where is
Kiel
?”
she whimpered.

“Here!”

She was
answered by a running shadow that leaped into the inky ocean and splashed its
way to the boat. Tierney’s heart choked her throat as she tried to help him
onto the deck. He finally had to discard her shaky assistance, eased his big
frame up and surrounded her with cold, wet, wonderful arms.

“You made it!”
she sobbed.

“Damn right I
did! Get us out of here, Travers, before they realize we’re not there!”

The boat
careened out into the black night, leaving Baja behind.

CHAPTER FOUR

“They won’t
stop, you know,”
Kiel
warned as he and Tierney lounged in his
bunk, naked to the air and goose pimpled from the coolness of it. “I told them
their secrets would be released if I died. But I guess they think maybe they
can figure out my security system and keep the emails from being sent.”

“Can they?”

“It’s possible
… anything is possible. But it’s highly unlikely.”

She rubbed the
soft hair on his chest, played with his hard nipple. “They think they’ve won
because everything is so under the radar. If you could be out in the open,
watched constantly … like I was on my TV show … well, they couldn’t hurt you,
could they?”

“What are you
getting at?”

“I think I’m
going home,
Kiel
. I’ll step out and show everyone I’m still
alive! Then I’ll restart my reality show … with my new fiancé,
Kiel
Fortune!”

He sat up on
his elbow, examined her with wary eyes.

“I can’t let
you do that, Tierney. Have you forgotten that somebody wants you dead?”

“No, but I’m
going to be brave from now on. I want to be worthy of a man like you. And I
want to find out who’s been trying so hard to kill me!”

“You don’t have
to put on a brave act for me. I love you. I’ll admit that. I felt it right off,
though I tried to ignore it, and smother it, and kill it. Be who you are,
Tierney. That’s good enough for any man. Or it should be. And what’s this about
your ‘new fiancé’? I don’t recall asking …”

“I know. I
always assume these things. But if somebody has to actually do the deed …” she
got down on one knee, “will you marry me,
Kiel
?”

He laughed,
raised her nude body up and sat her on his chest. “Only if you keep me
satisfied. Think you can?”

“Honey, just
watch me!” she giggled.

***

Once back at
the marina in
Pierpont
Bay
they made a hasty but
affectionate goodbye to Travers.

“Call me if you
need an extra gun,
Kiel
. I’m ready and able.”

“I know you
are, man! Thanks for all you’ve done.”

He hugged him.
Then Tierney did the same.

“Will you be
safe here?”

“Sure. I’ve got
a sweet little cabin in the
Malibu
hills, bought it in the
Sixties before the prices went through the roof! I’ll hole up there until all
this dies down. You take care of
Kiel
, now. Keep him on the straight
and narrow …”

“I will.”

They went their
separate ways; Tierney turned to watch Travers go.

“He’s the
closest thing to a father I’ve ever had.”

“That’s rough.
My old man was the affectionate type, made me feel like I was the center of his
universe. My mom was the same way. When they died I thought something was wrong
with the whole deal. I thought I should be dead if they were. Took me years to
get over that feeling.”

“I don’t like
my parents. I honestly never believed they ever loved me. People shouldn’t have
kids if they’re not willing to nurture them. They should give them to somebody
who cares.”

He put an arm
about her shoulders. “No use fretting about the past, Tierney. I’ve wallowed in
that cesspool myself. We need a clean, fresh start!”

“Yeah, we do.
But we have some business to settle first. Are you game,
Kiel
?”

“Whatever you
say, baby. This is your territory. I’m a rookie.”

“And I’m the
pro? Ha! I’ve been called worse.”

“You know what
I mean.”

“I know. I was
only joking. I was thinking we should head to my retreat up in
Santa
Barbara
. It’s a dreamy place. We can flesh out our plans there … and I
can slip into some of my own clothes. This black nightgown is making me stick
out like Lady Gaga in a church choir!”

“Lady who?”

“Wow, you are
out of the loop! Come on!”

She started to
run towards a taxi parked at the marina clubhouse. He followed her, admiring
the way her round butt jiggled with every barefooted step.

***

Tierney’s
retreat was an ultra-modern beach house with sleek wood floors, glass walls and
a flat, metal roof. Inside she had decorated it in a minimalist, rather Asian
style; the furniture sturdy, functional yet very artistic. The seating was lean
but comfortable.
Kiel
sank into a black leather sofa; put up his
sore feet and closed his eyes.

“A man could
get used to this too easily. You know what Travers said, ‘keep him on the
straight and narrow’.”

“And what does
that mean, anyway? You’re rich too. You’re already used to this lifestyle.”

“Not really;
most of the time I live on my boat. Before that I had a simple
Cape Cod
in
Virginia
, where I lived with Jeri. I rarely visited the
hacienda, it reminded me too much of my folks.”

Tierney sat
down beside him; handed him an imported beer. He frowned at it, sipped it, set
it on a glass coffee table.

“Tell me about
her. Was she beautiful?”

“Sure. Like an
angel. And her heart was good. She wasn’t callous towards one soul, no matter
how they treated her.”

“You think I’m
callous, towards my parents?”

“I didn’t say
that.”

“But you think
it.”

“I get that you
have this idea about them, how they are, who they are. But people just need a
second chance sometimes, to prove they’re worth knowing.”

“But what if it
was them that hired those goons to kill me?”

“Why would
they, Tierney? Be logical.”

“I don’t have
to be logical. I follow my instincts, and they say I can’t trust them. I’m
going to take a shower. Want to join me?”

She threw off
the black nightgown, headed bare to the glass shower in the bedroom’s en suite
bath. He shed his clothes, chased her in.

The water was
gloriously warm and soothing, erasing the tension and fatigue from their
muscles.
Kiel
soaped her up with a heavenly lavender bath gel;
the scent invigorating and soothing at the same time. They were both slick as
the glass – their bodies slipping against each other, working up a devilish
friction. She rinsed him down with a showerhead then went at him like a starved
cannibal, nibbling, biting, devouring. He had to grab the door handle to keep
from falling as her actions carried him off to a higher plane. He grunted and
hissed and growled and begged for more. But before she could finish he lifted
her, wrapped her soapy hips around his and thrust into her sharp and deep.
Tierney gasped, then settled into his rhythm, impaling herself gladly on him.
Her breasts ached for touching. She began to massage them, knowing what the
sight of that would do to him. He watched her, his eyes on fire. He caught one
nipple in his mouth then the other, going back and forth until she was about to
burst.