Page 29 of Forgiving His Past (Eagle’s Nest Securities #5)

He didn’t think about the bullet holes that had been gouged into the narrow door, or those he could see along the nearby wall. His only thought was on getting to Kam and making sure she was okay.

Van reached the door and started for the knob when a bullet struck the doorframe inches from his hand. Van cursed again, yanking his hand back while being forced to wait for the line of lethal projectiles to move away.

The first chance he got, he took it. He shot up to his feet and shoved open the door. Relief weakened his knees the second he saw her.

Kam was in the shower—still naked—with the door pulled shut. She’d crouched down onto the floor, knees pulled tightly to her chest while keeping her back pressed against the far wall. Her head was down, and her long hair covered her face completely.

It broke his heart to see her so understandably scared. But that same heart swelled when he noted an obvious absence of blood.

She wasn’t hit.

Van stepped one of his bare feet inside the shower’s insert. Just the one because that was as much of his body that would fit.

“Kam?” He stretched out a hand for her to take. “It’s me. Come on. We’ve got to get you to a safer place.

Her head shot up, her eyes frantically searching his. “Van? Oh, thank God!” She took his hand and let him pull her out of the shower. “I woke up to someone shooting and saw that you were gone, and I thought…” She threw herself into his arms. “I thought you were dead.”

Not yet.

“I’m good.” He kissed the top of her head while simultaneously easing her back out of his arms. “But we need to get the hell out of here, and I can’t do that unless I know you’re safe. So I need you to do exactly as I say…no arguing this time. Got it?”

Her head bobbed with a jerky nod.

“I want you to go into the kitchen and get under the table. And I want you to stay there until I come get you. Okay?”

“Okay, but…what about you?”

He looked down into the eyes of the woman he knew he was falling for and said, “I’m going to end this.”

She didn’t argue or try to stop him. It wouldn’t have done her any good. Instead, Kam’s gorgeous face fell into a look of acceptance and resolve as she leaned up, kissed his lips, and told him?—

“Please be careful.”

He watched as she did exactly as she’d been told. Keeping her deliciously naked body down low, Kam went straight for the booth a few feet away and disappeared beneath the table.

Good girl.

Van continued dodging bullets on his way back to the cabin door. A cool and collected rage coursed through his veins, and he was more than ready to take these fuckers out.

They’d come after him. His home. And most importantly, his woman.

There was no way in hell he was letting them get away.

With his gun up and at the ready, Van moved cautiously as he went back outside. The boat was coming back around to his right, and this time…he was ready.

He crouched down behind the table mounted to the deck. He held his gun steady, knowing approximately right where to aim. The sound of the other boat’s motor grew nearer, and when Van spotted the first man he saw…

He took the shot. The passenger of the boat jerked back before falling into the water. Van shot again, this time aiming at the driver, but his bullet missed its mark, and the man continued to live.

One down, one to go.

The remaining attacker kept a hand on the wheel while shooting blindly toward Van’s boat. Those bullets went wide, but they kept him pinned down behind the table long enough for the target’s boat to disappear to the other side.

Anticipating the asshole’s next move, Van left the cover of the table for the opposite—and wide-open—portion of the small deck. An eerie calm fell over him, and he may have even smiled just a tad, because the idiot trying to kill him had played right into Van’s hand.

Speaking of hands…

He lowered himself into a squat, raised his gun and waited. As expected, the asshole driving the other boat had spun back around.

Three…two…

Van pulled his trigger. The driver’s right arm flew back. The gun he’d been holding fell from his hand before hitting the edge of the boat and falling into the water below.

But he hadn’t gotten the man well enough, because the asshole was still alive. Not only that, but he was driving the hell away. And his boat was too fast for Van’s bullets to stop it.

Fuck!

He blew out a breath and waited, not trusting that the hit man wouldn’t return. Only when the guy’s boat became so small it was impossible to see did Van rush back to check on Kam.

“It’s me,” he announced loudly the second he opened the door. “You can come out now. It’s safe. ”

She immediately crawled out from beneath the table and ran to him. He’d barely made it down the few stairs before she threw herself into his arms.

“You’re okay?” she asked breathlessly, her heart racing as her bare chest pressed against his.

“I’m fine.” He hugged her back with his gun still clutched in one hand. “But we need to get dressed and get the hell out of here before he decides to come back.”

“He’s still alive?” Kam pulled back, surprised by the news.

“There were two. One’s in the water. I winged the driver before he got away.”

“Are you sure the other man’s really dead?”

“He is.” Van had watched his bullet hit the guy right between the eyes. “There’s something else I need to do outside. Go get dressed, and I’ll be back in a sec.”

“Do you need my help?”

No, sweetheart. Not with this.

“I’m good. Now go.” He motioned toward the bedroom where they’d been keeping her things. “We need to haul ass out of here as soon as I get back.”

With a nod of compliance, Kam turned and walked away. Van wasted no time in grabbing his phone from the couch and heading back outside to handle what needed to be done.

Thanks to the water around him having gone relatively still, the body floating beside the boat hadn’t traveled too far away. Moving quickly, Van retrieved his telescoping boat hook from where he kept it mounted against the stern’s exterior wall.

He walked over to the railing, leaned his upper half over, and used the boat hook to grab hold of the dead man’s black jacket. Keeping the body as steady as possible, he used his phone to take a few pictures of the guy’s face.

Then he pushed the body back out into the sea, leaving it for the birds and whatever else wanted a feast .

Before he went back inside, Van needed to make a call. With the phone to his hear, he waited. As expected, Logan answered on the very first ring.

“Are you okay? What the hell was tha?—”

“Kam and I are fine.” He relayed what had happened, keeping the details short and succinct.

“There were two hit men. Definitely pros. One guy’s dead, the other one got away with my bullet in his right shoulder.

I’m sending you the dead man’s picture now, so Lucky can run it for facial rec. Kam and I are headed back onto shore.”

It would take them about five hours, but that was fine with him. They were both still alive and relatively safe. And the ride would give him time to think.