Laura Kaye - Hard As You Can

“Uh . . .” She glanced around the group, her gaze landing last on Easy beside her. He nodded.

“Now, please call your sister,” Shane said, hoping Crystal had made her way to her cell. “She saw us leave, and Marz gestured to her that we’d call.” Shane had really been hoping to spare Crystal the knowledge that Jenna had stepped foot in that hellhole, especially given the risks Crystal had taken earlier in the day to see him and pass on information about the meeting. She had enough on her plate.

“Oh, God, she saw me?” Jenna asked, her eyes going wide.

“She did, but she was cool,” Shane said, finding yet another reason to admire Crystal. Tonight, she’d had no warning and no preparation that she’d see him on her workplace turf, where he knew his presence alarmed her given his role in Charlie’s rescue. Crystal didn’t know much about Shane, so she had no reason to believe him especially capable of flying under Church’s radar. And yet, with all that, she’d been cool and sweet as lemonade on a hot, summer day.

Add all that to Shane’s pushing her too far earlier, Bruno’s aggressive kiss, and Shane’s inviting himself into her dressing room, and she’d have been well within her rights to totally freak out by now. But she hadn’t. Of course she hadn’t. Because everything Shane knew about Crystal so far pointed to the fact that she was tough as fucking nails.

And as he stood there staring down her younger sister, it was plain to see that Jenna was cut from the same cloth.

“Jenna, call her,” Shane said, gentling his tone. “I don’t want her to worry because I don’t think it’s good for her to be at all off her game when she’s in there. Do you?”

Recognition flashed through Jenna’s blue gaze. She fished her cell from her small purse and pressed a series of buttons. After what seemed an inordinately long time, Jenna said, “Hey. It’s me.” Pause. Some of the tension drained from Shane’s muscles, knowing hearing Jenna’s voice would likely ease Crystal’s concerns. A car went by on the street behind them and Shane did another one-eighty scan of their position. Beckett was doing the same thing. “I know, I know. I’m sorry,” Jenna continued. Pause. “I just . . . I . . . I had to say I was sorry,” she said, her voice suddenly tight and strained with sadness. She batted at an eye, and her gaze flickered up to Shane. “I didn’t mean it,” she almost whispered, and Shane was glad for the apology for Crystal’s sake. He just wished Jenna had waited to deliver it in person—at home. Jenna’s gaze whipped back to Shane. “I’m with them. They said they’re your friends and want to take me home.” With an arched brow, Jenna offered him her phone. “She wants to talk to you.”

With a prayer that this jacked-up night didn’t further damage Crystal’s trust in him, Shane placed the cell to his ear. “Crystal.”

“What the hell is going on?” she asked in a hushed voice.

“Long story, but if it’s okay with you, rather than tell it right now I’d like to escort your sister back to your apartment.”

“Yes, please. Oh, my God, thank you. She has to get out of here.” A hint of panic was clear in Crystal’s voice. “Will I see you . . . I mean, will you stay there with her?” she asked.

Shane glanced at his watch, and twin reactions coursed through him. A soul-deep satisfaction that she’d even asked—a hell of an improvement from where they’d stood this afternoon. And white-hot regret, because he had to return to Hard Ink in less than an hour for Charlie’s surgery. “I can’t. I have something I have to do in a little while. But why do you ask? Do you think she needs protecting?”

“No. I don’t know. I’m just a little rattled.”

Man, but the unusual fragility in her voice just slayed him. “Look, if it’ll make you feel better, I can leave someone . . .” He surveyed the group.

“I’ll stay,” Easy said. “If that’s okay with Jenna.” She stared at the guy for a long moment, then gave a small shrug. “Don’t worry, you won’t even know I’m there.”

Shane gave Easy a thumbs-up. “I’ll leave a good friend named Edward. He’ll keep an eye out ’til you get home.”

“But that won’t be until after two,” she said.

Shane turned away and paced a few steps along the cracked sidewalk. “I told you I’d help you and Jenna. That offer didn’t come with an expiration date or office hours. Understand?”

She blew out a long breath. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now get your head screwed back on straight and keep your wits about you. Everything’s fine here, okay?”

“Okay. And Shane? I . . . uh . . . just, thank you.” The connection went dead.

Handing the phone back to Jenna, Shane asked, “You with me?” Jenna nodded, more cooperative now. But Shane couldn’t fault her for fighting back. Hell, he had half a mind to lecture her for walking out the door with a group of strangers in the first place. But that would be all kinds of unfair, wouldn’t it? “Okay, then. Would you be comfortable riding with us, and Easy will follow in your car, or would you rather I ride with you to your place, and they’ll follow?”

She glanced at the group of men surrounding her. “Uh, I guess—”

“We’ve got some activity out front of the club,” Beckett said in a low voice.

“Pick, Jenna. Or I’ll choose for you. Because either way, I’m not leaving your side until I know you’re locked inside that apartment.”

Jenna rolled her eyes. “I’ll ride in your car, I guess,” she said, then gave the make, model, and location of her vehicle. Fishing in her purse, she located her key ring and handed it off to Easy.

Shane nodded at Easy. “Remember that location is under some type of surveillance, E.”

He nodded. “Roger that. I’ll make like Casper.”

Jenna watched Easy walk away and turned a glare on Shane. “You’re kinda bossy. You know that?” she said.

Shane barked out a laugh as they set off for Beckett’s SUV, parked just down the street. He threw Jenna a smile and winked. “I can totally live with that.”

Back at Hard Ink, Shane hopped out of Beckett’s SUV, with Charlie’s surgery filling his mind. For the next few hours, nothing else mattered. Not Church or Merritt or the team or himself. Not even Crystal.

Because tonight was do-or-die.

Gravel crunching beneath his boots, Shane crossed the parking lot to the back door of Hard Ink, Beckett and Marz right behind him. Easy had stayed back to keep watch over the women’s apartment until Crystal got home from work, giving Shane a little peace of mind that everything was squared away there. At least for now.

The three of them humped it up the steps, and Shane broke left for the Rixeys’ apartment.

A hand landed on Shane’s shoulder, and he paused at the door.

“You saved me. You can save him. Don’t doubt it,” Marz said, an uncharacteristic seriousness in his expression.

Eyes narrowed and brows slashed downward, Beckett’s discomfort with any talk of Marz’s injuries was clear. But that didn’t keep him from offering his hand and saying, “Same goes for me. You got this.”

Shane shook both men’s hands and nodded. “No prize for second place this time,” he said.

“You won’t need it. Now go take a few minutes to clear your head before Murphy gets here,” Marz said.

Before Murphy gets here . . . and shit gets real. “Roger that.” Shane turned and pushed through the door. Difference between the medic work he’d done in the field and what they were doing tonight? He’d never had time to prepare for a crisis in the field. No such thing as time to psych yourself up—or psych yourself out. One minute it would be situation normal, the next everything would go to shit, and you dealt because there was no other choice. Men’s lives were on the line, the bullets were flying, and the clock was ticking.

The living room and kitchen were quiet and dim, but light spilled out from Charlie’s room down the hall. Tossing his hat on the couch, Shane headed straight there and found Becca, Nick, and Jeremy all standing vigil at Charlie’s bedside. Not to mention Eileen, who’d made a black furball of herself at the foot of the mattress.

They exchanged hushed greetings as he entered. Shane crouched next to Becca, sitting by the bed. With his fever red cheeks and sweat-dampened hair, Charlie appeared much the same as before. “How’s he doing?” he asked in a quiet voice.

“No change,” she said, already wearing a set of scrubs and her game face. There wasn’t going to be any room for Becca the sister during the procedure. But for Becca the nurse? Damn straight. They needed her there, and they needed her to be rock solid. From the look of resolve on her face and in her eyes, Shane needn’t have worried.

“We’re going to take care of him, you hear?” Shane refused to entertain any other outcome. Wasn’t in his nature. Besides, you couldn’t look at your own hands and believe them capable of salvation without a healthy dose of confidence, and not a little arrogance, too. He didn’t look at it as playing God, but he didn’t question for one minute that there was something divine, something miraculous in the ability to restart a beating heart, restore a man to consciousness, or bring someone back from the edge of eternity.

Becca nodded and gave a small smile. “Murphy should be here soon.”

“Okay,” Shane said, rising. Nick tilted his head toward the hall, and Shane followed him out.

“How’d it go?” Nick asked in a low voice.

“We’ve got eyes and ears on the inside now,” Shane said. “Marz planted bugs in the ductwork which he thinks will pick up sound from at least several offices away and cracked the wireless frequency on some of the security cameras, too. He’ll fill you in on all the details.”