Sophie Oak - Found in Bliss

“Is danger passed?” Alexei asked, yelling a bit.

It was a good thing because Caleb’s ears were still ringing. “It’s good.”

It was also good to know that Alexei had her back even when she was fighting him.

Alexei let her up.

“Nicky?” She looked around for her son.

“He’s fine, sweetheart. I think we’re all fine.”

“My ears are ringing,” she said, calming visibly once she could see her son.

“Mine, too,” Alexei said, pulling at his ears.

Caleb slapped at his hand. “It’s tinnitus. It’ll go away. Don’t pull at them.”

Nate walked over. “I think we need to take this to the station house. Logan and Cam are going to stay here and see if we can get anything off the car—once it’s not a flaming ball anymore. We need to talk. All of us.”

Nick stepped up, his face white as a sheet. “I think I should come, too. I think maybe my dad might be more involved than I think.”

“What?” Holly asked, taking his hand.

“Well, I might be blackmailing him, and he might be really pissed off.”

Yeah, it was definitely time to talk.

Vince was just about ready to call it a job. A fucked-up job. A big, old pile-of-shit job. He’d never before screwed up the way he had in this town.

He trudged through the woods, cursing nature at every turn. Where had he parked his Jeep? He’d seen an opportunity to get at one of the vehicles the target used. It seemed to be the only car left between the three of them, and if he got one of the others, his employer was okay with that. Collateral damage.

But he’d been made. Oh, they might not know exactly who he was, but they knew someone was after one of the townspeople. It wouldn’t take them too long to figure out who was the target. They only had three fucking choices.

And the sheriff seemed much smarter than a local yokel. The whole fucking town was a bastion for former feds and conspiracy nuts, and every goddamn one of them had a gun.

Life was easier in New York.

He’d blown the car because he was afraid he’d left something behind. He knew he’d done a hack job on it, but he couldn’t get at the damn car while it was parked at the woman’s cabin. Last night had proven that. He’d watched as six huge men had shown up to take care of one skinny-ass kid.

No way. No how.

The parking lot of the clinic was away from the street. It was surrounded by a concrete wall. He’d watched the three of them enter the clinic after his botched attempt to take out the target with the car he’d stolen after hiding his Jeep on the mountain. He’d listened and heard the freaks all having sex. After deciding they would be occupied for a while, he’d decided to give it a go.

And that dumb bitch had found him. He’d barely gotten the device in place when she’d called out to him like they were old friends or something. She’d said hi and he’d taken off.

He’d barely made it over the wall when the sirens had started up.

He felt sick to his stomach. He wasn’t this guy. He wasn’t the guy who screwed up. He should never have taken the job. He should have known how many goddamn eyes would be on the target.

But he wouldn’t quit. He would just simplify finish the fucking job. No more accidents. No more close encounters.

The target was getting a bullet to the brain the next chance Vince got.

He was going to end this.

Holly stopped her pacing long enough to stare down at her only child.

“Dad told me to get a hobby.” Nicky sat back in his chair with a little shrug. He had a cup of coffee in his hand and looked distinctly uncomfortable to be sitting in the Bliss County Sheriff’s Office.

They sat in the main room, all of them. It was getting crowded. The US Marshals Alexei had neglected to mention to her sat together watching the scene play out. They leaned against the back wall, talking to each other in low tones. Alexei looked as uncomfortable as Nicky, though Holly was sure it was for different reasons. The last time Alexei had been in this room, he’d nearly died. He’d been shot in the gut, and only Caleb’s sure hands had saved him. She remembered how it had felt to clutch him and know she couldn’t hold him together. It had been horrible, and she hadn’t even been in love with the man then.

Now she wasn’t sure she would be able to survive it. She tried to give him a reassuring smile before she turned back to her baby boy.

“So explain to me how blackmailing your father is a good hobby. I think he was talking about something like stamp collecting or reading. I doubt he meant for you to dabble in crime.”

Nicky leaned forward. “It was photography. It seemed like a good idea. And Dad made a really good subject. I mean, he didn’t know at the time that he was the subject, but he was really good.”

She put her head in her hand. He was so stubborn. “Please tell me you didn’t do what I think you did.”

“I think the boy catches father with many womens.” Alexei sat back in his chair and gave Nicky a look of deep respect. “This could ruin career. How much did you get?”

“Don’t encourage him,” she said Alexei’s way. The last thing Nicky needed was a partner in crime. He seemed to be doing so well on his own.

Caleb leaned forward, joining the other two men. “It wasn’t money, was it? You wanted out. You wanted to be free of the whole ‘political family’ thing. I can understand that. It’s hard. Everyone’s always looking at you. You can’t just be yourself. You have to live up to the family name.”

Nicky pointed to Caleb. “He gets it. I did it to get away from my dad, but I also took a lot of money. Hey, I wanted to be free, not dirt poor.”

“Holly, I know you want to throttle the boy, but how about we hear him out?” Nate asked, sitting on Hope’s desk.

Nicky seemed to suddenly remember they weren’t alone. “Crap. Is that really a crime? Am I going to be arrested? I don’t look good in orange.”

Oh, she hadn’t even thought about that. “You can’t arrest him.”

Nate waved her off. “If what I’ve heard about your ex is true, then I should give the boy a medal. But this is a serious situation. Someone just blew up your car, Holly. If the congressman is involved, I want to know.”

Marshal Michael McMahon shook his head. “If this is about Ms. Lang, the US Marshals would leave this completely in your hands, Sheriff. Not really interested.”

Jessie gave Nicky a thumbs-up. “Give ’em hell, kid. I never did like politicians.”

At least Nicky had the law on his side on this one. It didn’t look like anyone would be hauling her baby boy off.

“I think it probably be me,” Alexei said. “Many peoples wish to be killing me. I should not have come to town. I should have stayed and been Howard.”

Michael crossed his arms over his chest. “You wouldn’t have been happy. We knew that.”

Nate sighed. “Okay, so it could be Holly or Alexei.”

Caleb’s hand came up slowly. “It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to kill me.”

That was news to Holly. “Who would want to kill you?”

Caleb’s face went oddly blank. “Have you met me?”

Every damn man in her life was made of sarcasm.

She turned to the Marshals. “Do you guys think this is about Alexei?”

“I would bet on it,” Michael said. “He put a lot of dangerous men in jail. Two of those men are trying to wrangle their way out of convictions. If they get their cases overturned on appeal, well, it would be better for them if Alexei couldn’t testify again.”

“But just so you know, we haven’t received any specific threats,” Jessie continued. “We’re just playing the odds.”

“Marshal Wilson gave a detailed description of the subject to Hope. Turns out she’s a hell of an artist. We should know something soon. Zane is coming in because he got a bad feeling about a guy in Trio the other day. I’ve learned to trust his instincts. We’ll see if the two match up,” Nate said. “Although I wouldn’t bet on it. She says the guy was short and very pale. I don’t think they’re going to match. The man Zane talked about looked Italian.”

“Scott is the only person who might want to hurt me. But I don’t get it. I didn’t even know about Nicky’s side business, which is going to stop now.” She couldn’t have her son blackmailing his father. The three men in chairs all started talking at once.

“Holly, you need to listen to the kid. Do you have any idea how hard this could have been on him?” Caleb’s face was earnest, his hands tight on his thighs.

“Boy is tough. Boy does what he needs to do.” Alexei went on praising her son.

“Mom, I can’t go back. I won’t.”

She held a hand out to silence them. To her great surprise, they all fell in line. Maybe she was missing something here. She got to one knee. “What happened? Have you been thinking about this for a while?”

Her baby boy’s face flushed with emotion. “I thought about it all the time growing up. Don’t get me wrong. There was a lot I loved…still love…about being incredibly wealthy. And Dad isn’t the world’s worst dad. He’s a terrifically horrible human being. Seriously, don’t vote for him. But he loved me.”

“He didn’t kick you out.” She took an odd comfort from that. Guilt had been gnawing at her ever since Nicky had shown up. When she’d been thrown out of his life, she’d at least thought that Scott loved him. For all his douchebag ways, he’d genuinely cared for their son. Just not for her.

Nicky sighed, putting the coffee down. “No, he didn’t throw me out. And when I threatened to leave, he threw a fit. He told me if I stepped one foot out of his house before college, he would make sure I didn’t touch my trust fund.”