Page 20 of Justified Fear (TFH Team Bravo #2)

Eleven

“ M ama,” Keely growled into the phone, “why didn’t y’all call me?”

She had run back to her room to put on something less embarrassing and decided to let her mother have it.

“I just found out about it in the last ten minutes. Your father freaked out.”

“Where is he? I want to talk to him.”

“She wants to talk to you.”

“On camera, Mama.”

The phone clicked on so they could do a video call.

It was early morning in Hawai’i, but midday in Texas.

Her father was in the kitchen, surrounded by a mass of windows that filled the wall above the sink and countertop.

It was sunny outside for sure. When she got a look at her father, she paused for a second to gather her anger.

No matter what, her father was being pulled in two directions.

She knew that. There were dark circles beneath his eyes, and he looked like he had aged ten years since flying back.

“How is Tutu?”

He sighed. “She’s okay. The doctors want to keep her in the hospital for a few days, then they want to put her in a rehab facility, which is best.”

She could tell her father didn’t want to do that. More than likely, he wanted to take her home, but broken bones at her grandmother’s age were very serious.

And while she could empathize with him, she was not going to let him off the hook.

“Dad, do you want to tell me why Ian Smith and his partner showed up here to scare me this morning?”

“No.”

“Dad.”

“Okay. I heard from Jason—you know your brother’s friend?” She filtered through all of her brothers’ friends. They had a lot of them, but she remembered Jason. He was a Texas Ranger.

“Yeah.”

“Well, apparently your old place closed last week.” While it hurt her heart a little, she knew the Cucina Mexicana was long gone. It had ceased to exist when she’d walked out.

“Okay.”

“I got word that he had been telling people you were coming back.”

She didn’t need her father to tell her who the he in this situation was. She snorted.

“Not bloody likely.”

Her father smiled. “I know. But things came to a head last week when the restaurant was seized. Also, his little friend has disappeared.”

“What do you mean by disappeared? She moved on to another restaurant?”

Shayla had never been one for hard work. The idea that Chad had thought he would build a restaurant around someone who didn’t like working more than three hours a day had always been a joke.

“No, as in her family can’t find her. She has disappeared off the face of the Earth. That sent alarm bells, so the cops showed up at Chad’s place. He was gone. That’s when Jason called me early this morning.”

“Slow down. Why is that a problem for me?”

“There is proof of wire transfers, and the men they found at the house are dead.”

She blinked. “Chad has something to do with all of this?”

Her father shrugged. “I’m not sure. But I thought it would be best to have protection just in case.”

“A call. That is all I wanted.”

“Sorry.”

There was a knock at her door, and it creaked open behind her. From the thunderous expression on her father’s face, she could just imagine who was standing there—and probably still shirtless.

“KeeKee, what is Morrison doing at your house?”

“He spent the night. I’ll talk to you later. Give Tutu a kiss for me.”

She hung up the phone. She might be thirty years old, and a woman who had lived with a man for almost a year, but seeing proof of his daughter’s escapades might be too much for her father to handle right now.

“So, do you think he’ll kill me?”

She snorted and turned around. Now dressed, she felt more secure standing in front of him.

“Naw, he has a lot on his plate right now.”

“How’s your grandmother?”

“She is doing okay. She’ll have a lot of rehab, but the doctors are really hopeful.”

“I thought I could jump in the shower before I went to work. With Brothers in the mix, Charity will be hunting out information on him.”

“Of course.” She went to walk past him, but he grabbed her, pulling her against his body. God, he smelled so yummy. Like hope and cookies.

“I hate to leave you, but with Mix and Eden here, I feel better.”

“You’re still coming for dinner tonight?”

“Try and keep me away,” he said, before leaning down to press his mouth against hers.

It didn’t take long for her to lose track of time, as she slid her arms around his neck and fell into the kiss.

Within moments, the kiss turned hot as he stole inside her mouth.

There was a knock at the door that poured cold water on the moment.

He tore his mouth away, and they were both breathing heavily. “Sorry about that.”

“Never be sorry when you kiss a woman so well her entire body lights up.”

His mouth curved. “Your entire body, huh?”

“Yep. I would offer to wash your back?—”

“Again.”

She smiled, remembering their bath from the night before. “Again. But I have people who want to talk to me.”

“You’re not going to get rid of them, are you?”

She shook her head. “My father is on edge, and while I think Chad is too lazy to fly to Hawai’i to exact his revenge, and I think that attack had more to do with the Kellys than it did with me, I know that accepting the protection will put my father’s mind at ease.”

“Not just your father.”

She cocked her head to the side. “Yeah?”

“Definitely.” She heard a buzz and realized it was his phone.

“Go on. Take your shower.”

She slipped out the door to find Eden standing down the hall.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“He’s got to get to work anyway. You don’t have to worry about reporting him to my father.”

“I wouldn’t do that.”

“Well, Dad got a good look at Ryan without his shirt on.”

“Oh, damn,” Eden said with a chuckle. “I figure you wanted to talk to Ian and me.”

She nodded. “I need another cup of coffee to deal with all of this.”

“I hear you. I am not a morning person.”

As she listened to Eden a little more, she realized there was a bit of a twang in her voice. “Do I detect a little Texan in your accent?”

Eden smiled as they stepped into her kitchen. Ian was nowhere to be found.

“Yes. In fact, I realized my parents know your parents.”

Eden Carlyle. Her eyes widened. “Not that Carlyle?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“Small world.”

“And Ian has a connection to TFH,” Eden said, as Keely headed for the coffeemaker.

“Would you like a cup?”

“Always.”

She started to make a pot of coffee, assuming Ian would want one too. “Ian has a connection to TFH?”

“Yeah, Mix’s sister works for them. I bet you met Autumn.”

“Stop calling me Mix,” Ian said, his voice bland as he walked into the kitchen.

“Ignore him. He’s just mad because it was my turn to drive,” Eden said, stepping around him. She knew they were trying to ease her worries. “Your father told Conner just how much you have been through in the last few days, and I’m really sorry you’ve had to deal with that.”

Usually, when people said things like that, it didn’t feel sincere. With Eden, it felt different.

“How does this work?”

Ian…AKA Mix…zeroed in on her. “According to the boss, you’ve had protection before.”

She nodded. “There was an incident where I got lost at a mall in San Antonio. They couldn’t find me for close to an hour.

Both my parents freaked out because South Texas had suffered through a spate of kidnappings.

I had security for a little while after.

But it has been years. I was a minor at the time, so I couldn’t say no.

Now is a different matter. Tell me how we make this work without me screaming at you. ”

Eden gave her an approving look. It was as if she had passed some kind of test. “One of the things we pride ourselves on is being as unobtrusive as possible. We’re there, but we try our best not to get in your way,” Eden said.

“That’s good because I have several bookings. And tomorrow, I have another school day. The only problem we might have there is getting you two approved.”

Ian frowned. “At a school?”

She nodded. “I volunteer to help with life studies.”

The frowning didn’t ease.

“It’s what they used to call Home Economics. They don’t really teach that anymore, which is a problem in some cases. Many people struggle to create a meal plan or shop for it effectively. I come in and teach them how to do that.”

“And they pay you for that?”

She chuckled. “No. That’s what volunteering means. I approached my local school here, just as I had done back in Texas. Word got around to the other schools, so I had to set up a schedule. I’m going to Nimitz tomorrow.”

“That’s over on Salt Lake, right?” Eden asked.

She nodded. “It takes about thirty minutes to set up and then an hour or so for the class.”

Eden was on the phone texting, nodding in acknowledgment of her response.

“I have a dinner party for twelve next week.”

“That can be easy to handle. I assume it’s at a private residence,” Ian said.

“That one is, but sometimes they aren’t. I just don’t want my clients thinking that I’m having them investigated for no reason, but I also want to make sure that everything is above board.”

“All we need is a list of your upcoming bookings. We’ll be discreet. Emily is already looking over your past clients,” Eden said. “She’s amazing at digging into someone’s social life and finding everything there is to know about them.”

“Will we be able to stay here?”

The agents shared a look, and it was Ian who answered. “I don’t see a problem, since we installed those cameras and alarms.”

She let out a breath. “Okay. That should work.”

“You’re not going to fight us?” Eden asked. “Your father was worried you might.”

“Don’t get me wrong. I don’t like the idea of people in my space, no offense. But my father needs to concentrate on getting my grandmother on the mend. If he knows you two are watching my back, he will feel better. He can be a little overbearing, but I love him.”

Eden smiled. “I completely understand that. I also have a twin brother who can be a pain.”