Always a Hero Read online

  “You left the spotlight to Hudson.”

  He watched her for any sign of pained reaction to the mention of the name. He saw only a flash of sadness.

  “He was the one they should be watching, anyway.”

  “You loved him.”

  “I did. But in the end, I didn’t respect him very much.”

  “I read he tried, went into rehab.”

  She lifted a brow at him. “You have been doing homework.”

  “You’re important to my son.” He wished that was all it was. Wished it was that simple. Wished he wasn’t pretty sure his interest went far beyond Jordan.

  “In a way, that brings me to something I wanted to tell you.”

  He’d been so caught up in the simple fact that she was talking to him that he drew back slightly, wary of whatever was coming.

  “That guy I told you about? The older boy who’s so friendly with Jordy?”

  He nodded, the wariness growing.

  “I’m afraid he…may be into something nastier than I thought.”

  Wyatt listened as she told him what she’d seen, and what it had made her suspect. He knew he was more suspicious than most, it was part of who he was, long ingrained now. But he sometimes couldn’t believe how naive others could be. And right now, he couldn’t believe that someone who’d lived in the world she’d lived in for a while could have had any doubts about what was going on, what Max Middleton was up to.

  The only question was what it had to do with Jordan. The worry that had been building throughout her explanation peaked as she finished.

  “I have no proof, really—”

  “It’s only obvious,” he snapped. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me this before?”

  Others, people with supposedly a lot more nerve than the average person, had backed off when his temper bit. Kai Reynolds held her ground.

  “Because I had even less proof before.”

  “You wanted him to take out an ad, maybe? Put up a sign, ‘Get your drugs here’?”

  “Maybe I just don’t want to live my life assuming everyone’s guilty until proven innocent!”

  “You’d be right more often than wrong.”

  For a long moment she just stared at him. And then, with a different sort of sadness than he’d seen before, she shook her head.

  “Poor Jordy,” was all she said.

  And then she turned and walked away. Wyatt told himself it was just as well.

  But still he watched. Watched the graceful, feminine walk, watched the fading sun fire her hair, watched as she got farther and farther away. And as her figure got smaller and smaller, the sense of loss inside him got bigger.

  And no amount of telling himself you can’t lose what you’ve never had seemed to help.

  Chapter 12

  She had, without a doubt, lost her mind.

  With every step she took, Kai wondered. What on earth had possessed her to even try to reach that man? He was prickly, as her mom would say. And tense, wary, suspicious of everyone. Too hard on Jordy at a time when the boy needed some gentle understanding.

  But he was also desperately trying to do the right thing. And he appeared to be just as hard if not harder on himself than he was on Jordy.

  Not to mention lean, strong and sexy as hell, she thought, her mouth twisting into a annoyed grimace. Oh, yeah, let’s not forget that.

  As if she could forget. Just the way he moved drew her eye, and the eyes that were striking in Jordy were incredible in his father. They’d be lethal if they weren’t so exhausted and full of mistrust. But perhaps that was all he knew, thanks to his own father. Perhaps the only way he could think of to protect his son was to distrust everyone around him.

  By the time she got home, she was so annoyed with herself that she knew she was in for a rough night if she didn’t get some of this out. So instead of going upstairs, she unlocked the back door of the shop and went in. She headed straight for the sound room and picked up BeeGee.

  She started right in with the most raucous riffs she knew, loud, hammering, angry. She knew how it would go; she would start with this, concentrate on adding her own personal twists to familiar patterns, and when she finally segued into calmer, smoother bits she would be back under control and able to deal. Other people worked out, some did yoga, some practiced martial arts, but for her, this was what worked.

  It took her a while tonight. It was late when she at last set the guitar down. But she was calm. Sad still, but calm. Enough to sleep anyway.

  To her surprise, the next afternoon Jordy arrived at his usual time. She’d gotten the impression his grounding was going to go on much longer.

  “I’m still grounded,” he explained. “I can’t go anywhere else. But…he’s letting me come here.”

  Kai felt an odd sensation somewhere around her stomach. Was this a result of their conversation last night? Had he actually listened to her? She hadn’t harped on it, just mentioned that he might regret using the music as a tool against his son, but…

  “I have to come straight here after school, and stay here until he picks me up.”

  Jordy said it like a complaint, but his heart didn’t seem to be in it, as if it were more reflex than genuine.

  “So he can be reasonable,” Kai said.

  “Maybe,” Jordy said, clearly unconvinced. It didn’t matter, she had the feeling he’d said it as much for her as for him.

  “Well, get started then,” she said, with a gesture toward the back room.

  Jordy nodded. “I have to make up for the days I missed.”

  “You won’t have lost that much ground in three days,” she promised him.

  After the boy had closed the door behind him, Kai went back to unpacking the carton of picks and guitar straps that had arrived this morning. When it was emptied, she flattened the box and headed out back to put it in the Dumpster in the alley.

  A few feet before she got to the outer door, she heard voices. Or rather a voice; one was loud enough to hear even through the closed doors, the other only presumed because the loud voice was talking to someone else. The closed fire door muffled the sounds so that she couldn’t be sure of anything except that the voice she could hear was male.

  When she pulled open the door it was like a camera suddenly focusing. And she realized two things immediately. The loud voice was Max, and it held that nasty, sneering tone she’d heard from him on occasion. Usually before he realized she was around and it turned back to that phony charm and sweetness. Second, she could now hear the second voice, low and steady. And thirdly, belatedly, she realized something else.

  The other voice belonged to Wyatt Blake.

  “—my son.”

  “It’s a free country, I can hang with whoever I want.”

  “Whatever you’re after, you’re not using my son to get it. Stay away from him.”

  “Or what?” Max retorted, the sneer even more blatant.

  Contrary to Max’s loudness, Wyatt’s voice got lower, quieter. Kai almost involuntarily edged forward, toward the corner of the Dumpster.

  “Or I will make you wish you had.”

  Something about his tone, or perhaps that quietness, sent a shiver down Kai’s spine. She’d never heard that voice from him before. She’d never heard a voice like that from anyone. And only a fool would not take heed.

  But then, she’d always thought Max a bit of a fool.

  Max laughed, a cocky, arrogant laugh. “Listen to the pill counter,” he said.

  Obviously she wasn’t the only one Jordy whined about that to. But that didn’t matter; there was something about not just Max’s tone but his attitude, his body language, that had her worried. She wasn’t sure what it was, or what she was afraid might hap pen, but—

  And then it did happen. Or rather three things did, in rapid succession.

  Max reached into his jacket pocket.

  Almost simultaneously Wyatt’s entire demeanor shifted as he drew up tight, looking wired, ready.

  And Max’s right hand c
ame out of his pocket with a knife.

  He flicked his wrist with a jerky sort of motion, then grabbed the split handle that opened up, revealing a deadly blade that had to be five inches long.

  She gasped as he made a jab at Wyatt. Instinctively she took two more steps forward, although her common sense was telling her to get back inside and call the cops.

  And then she stopped dead in her tracks, staring in shock at what was unfolding less than thirty feet away.

  Wyatt moved with a swiftness that made him practically a blur. She wasn’t sure what he’d done, let alone how he’d done it. All she knew was that in barely over a second Max was face down on the asphalt, Wyatt above him with a knee pressed against his back around the kidneys.

  Max was yelling, she guessed as much in shock as in pain. She was certainly shocked. It had been like some movie stunt, smooth, efficient and effective. She stared as Max struggled fruitlessly. He still held the knife, and flailed out wildly with it, trying to strike. Even as she thought it, Wyatt reached out with his right hand and captured Max’s wrist.

  He didn’t seem to do anything else, just held the wrist. But Max’s yelp of protest became a howl of pain. And after about three seconds, the knife clattered to the asphalt, dropped by apparently numbed fingers.

  “Little children shouldn’t play with sharp objects,” Wyatt said.

  She’d thought his voice intimidating before, but now it was worse. The only word she could think of was frightening. Not that she was frightened, it wasn’t aimed at her after all, but still…

  And the message finally got through to Max; he was down, trapped, unarmed, and finally, apparently listening.

  “If you go near my son again, I will carve you up with your own knife.”

  It wasn’t a threat, Kai thought, feeling almost numb. It wasn’t a threat, wasn’t even a promise. It was a flat, simple statement of fact that was infinitely more chilling than either.

  As was the realization that in that moment, she was absolutely certain that Wyatt Blake would—and apparently could—back it up.

  She’d brought this on, she thought in stunned shock. If she hadn’t told Wyatt about Max… But she’d had to, she thought, quashing a tiny qualm of guilt. He was worried about Jordy, and rightfully so. If Max really was dealing drugs, then no right-thinking parent would want their child around him. She didn’t want Jordan around him, so she couldn’t blame Wyatt for taking action.

  She’d just never expected this kind of action.

  Wyatt got up in a smooth, fluid motion. Max rolled over and scrabbled backward awkwardly, like a crab missing a leg. She couldn’t see Wyatt’s face, his back was to her. But she could see the fear in Max’s as he stared at the man. Without a word he got slowly to his feet. His eyes never left Wyatt. And whatever he was seeing in Wyatt’s expression kept him silent. And after a moment’s hesitation, he started backing away. When he apparently felt safe enough, he turned. And ran.

  Kai let out a breath she hadn’t even been aware of holding. Became aware of the hammering of her heart in her chest, even as it began to slow. The letdown was fierce, enervating. But she still noticed his easy, heedless proficiency, vastly smoother than Max’s jerky motion, as he flipped the knife closed, hiding the deadly blade between the two halves of the split handle.

  And then, oddly, he went very still. Froze in place, stiff, alert. Slowly, he turned around. No surprise registered on his face, and she realized that somehow he had sensed she was there.

  “Kai,” he said.

  “That’s who I am,” she said. “The question is, who the hell are you?”

  Chapter 13

  Wyatt slipped Max’s butterfly knife into his pocket. He brushed off the left knee of his jeans. He picked up the bakery bag he’d set on a ledge when he’d first spotted Max headed for the back door of Play On. It contained a peace offering of sorts. He thought he might need it after the way she’d left the house last night. After the way he’d acted, blaming her for not telling him about Max sooner instead of thanking her for telling him at all.

  The white bag held a jelly doughnut for Jordan—Melissa had told him the boy loved them, one of the long list of things she had rolled off in a desperate rush, knowing she didn’t have much time—and some kind of cream cheese stuffed cinnamon roll for Kai, because Mrs. Day in the bakery had told him she had a weakness for them.

  “Wyatt? Are you going to ignore me?”

  He nearly laughed aloud. “If only I could.”

  She crossed her arms. “I understand you only talk to me because of Jordy. You don’t have to be snarky about it.”

  He bit back the urge to apologize, to explain he hadn’t meant it that way. At the same time, a little, self-preserving voice in the back of his head was yelling, Let her think it, maybe she’ll keep her distance. Safer.

  Safer for her, he couldn’t deny that. People who got close to him ended up hurt. Or worse.

  Sure. Wanting her at a distance had nothing to do with his own mental safety.

  “Who are you, Wyatt?” she asked again. “Or rather, what are you?”

  With an effort, he got a grip on his rocketing thoughts. “A pill counter, hasn’t Jordan told you?”

  “That,” she said, with a gesture toward the alley where the altercation had occurred, “was not the move of a pill counter. What are you, some undercover cop or something?”

  He laughed; he couldn’t help it. It was a harsh, bitter sound even to himself. He wished it was that simple.

  “I am just a boring guy with a son I never planned on, a son who hates me, a son I have no idea how to deal with.”

  But he’d known how to deal with Max. There hadn’t been any hesitation; the location was good, the opportunity was there and he’d taken it. There was no good reason a man Max’s age would pursue a friendship with a thirteen-year-old he wasn’t related to. And that he was apparently the local drug supplier made immediate action imperative.

  Kai studied him silently, long enough to make him uncomfortable. He changed the subject abruptly, not caring if it was obvious.

  “Who’s minding the store? Don’t you need to get back inside?”

  “That’s the nice thing about Deer Creek. Most of the time most of the people are trustworthy, and you can leave your front door open safely.”

  But she turned toward the door despite her words.

  “I suppose you don’t put me in that group.” Lord, what the hell was wrong with him, where had that come from?

  She glanced back at him as he followed her, closing the back door behind them.

  “Oh, I suspect you’re eminently trustworthy yourself,” she said, startling him. “Your problem is you don’t trust anybody else. Including your own son.”

  I trust you.

  Even as the unexpected—and completely unwanted—words formed in his head, he realized they were true. And the realization stunned him. But somehow, somewhere along the line, the impossible had become true.

  He glanced at the closed door to the sound room. The hour wasn’t up for another five minutes, and Jordan was obviously going to take advantage of every second.

  “I trust you with Jordan,” Wyatt said, adding the qualifier as if it could distance him from the revelation. “I know you’ve got his best interests at heart.”

  “I do.”

  Again she studied him for a silent moment, and he instinctively braced himself. One thing he really could trust her to do was to rattle his cage on a regular basis.

  “Do you trust Mr. Hunt?”

  “He’s a good guy. A good boss.”

  “So, you trust him at work but not personally?”

  “Moot point. There’s nothing he can do to help with Jordan.”

  “Because he has only girls?”

  Wyatt blinked. “Because it’s my problem, not his.”

  “So you don’t trust anyone completely, on all fronts.”

  “Everybody has their weak spots.”

  “Even you?”

  “Especiall
y me,” he said, knowing his weakest spot was right now in that room a few feet away.

  “Hmm.”

  He wondered what she was thinking, what the noncommittal sound meant, but didn’t want to ask. He’d never intended for her—for anyone—to witness his encounter with Max, never would have pursued it if they hadn’t been in the usually deserted alley. He had the unsettling feeling that those few seconds had changed her entire perception of him, and he wasn’t sure what ramifications that might have.

  “Speaking of problems,” she said, “what if Max calls the cops on you for assault or something?”

  “He won’t.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Because I know the type. He won’t want the police sniffing around him. He’s afraid of what they might find.”

  She grimaced slightly, but didn’t argue the point. She wasn’t foolish, just…overly optimistic about people, he thought. True, he didn’t trust anyone completely, but she trusted too many too completely. That might be a nicer way to live, but it also meant that when reality bit, it bit hard and fast and without warning. And sometimes lethally.

  “I’m not late!”

  Jordan’s voice cut through the silence. Wyatt turned to look at his son, the boy who looked enough like he had at that age to make many of the locals who had been here then comment on it.

  “Never said you were,” Wyatt said mildly. Then he indicated the white bag. “Jelly doughnut in there for you.”

  Jordan looked only a little less than stunned. “What about it spoiling my dinner?”

  “Dinner will be all vegetables to make up for it.”

  Jordan made a face, but he dug into the bag. Kai laughed. It was a light, silvery sound.

  “Hey, Kai, there’s a cream cheese roll in here, your favorite!”

  “It’s for her,” Wyatt said. Kai gave him a look almost as stunned as Jordan’s. “Mrs. Day told me you liked them.”