Chapter Thirteen

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“The sonofabitch is dead,” Caroline heard Nash mutter.

He sounded both shocked and comforted. A combination of emotions that Caroline completely understood. Because she was having a similar one as she stared at the dead man’s face.

Bodie.

“He’s dead,” Caroline managed to say. “Bodie’s really dead.”

It certainly looked like it anyway, she tried to look at the scene with an objective eye. Hard to do when she was feeling a whole lot of relief right now. Relief that was short-lived though when Nash said something to shatter the moment.

“It’s been set up to look like a suicide,” Nash remarked.

Slade made a sound of agreement. “But the angle is off for the placement of the gun. Hard to kill yourself with a rifle and then have the gun and body land on the ground like that.”

Caroline volleyed glances at both of them while the image was still frozen on the screen. “So, who would…”

She stopped because she immediately realized who could have done this.

“Jordana,” she spat out. But she stopped again and shook her head. “Why kill him and then come here?”

“To try to establish an alibi,” Nash was quick to say. “She could have been in those woods with him, and maybe Bodie said or did something to piss her off, and she shot him.”

“Yes,” Caroline muttered, and she recalled the way the woman had bashed her hand against the steering wheel when Nash had mentioned the term of endearment that Bodie had used in his text.

There had been a lot of rage there.

Rage that Jordana could have directed at her husband if Bodie had said something to his wife about that darlin’ or his feelings for Caroline.

“Why don’t you go ahead and get Caroline out of here?” Slade offered Nash. “Take her to my place on the lake so she can have a little time to deal with this before she has to face the cops and give a statement. I can let Ruby and the cops know what’s going on as well.”

Nash looked at her, and he couldn’t nod fast enough. Probably because he could see there was no possible way she was ready to do an interview or be questioned. Added to that, the police would likely be focusing on getting to the body.

The body.

Those two words were really starting to sink in. Bodie was dead. He was no longer a threat.

But was Jordana?

Maybe with Bodie gone, she would give up on finishing what Bodie had started eighteen years ago. If Jordana was behind this, that is. It was still possible that Eddie or Leland was involved, though they personally couldn’t have been the ones to fire those shots since they’d been at the police station at the time.

Caroline pushed thoughts of that aside when Nash picked up the bags from the console and turned to her. It felt as if she were on autopilot as Nash led her out of the van and to his vehicle. They got in his SUV and drove away just as the gates opened to let in the cops.

Or rather the cop.

It was a lone uniformed officer in the cruiser. He didn’t try to stop them, which meant Slade had likely explained to him what was going on. Caroline was betting that Slade had also called for more officers, maybe someone from Maverick Ops, too, to go in and recover Bodie’s body.

“Slade’s lake house is only about fifteen miles away,” Nash let her know.

Good. Not far. And it wouldn’t take them long to get there at the speed that Nash was driving. Then, it occurred to her why he was going so fast. He probably thought she was on the verge of a total meltdown.

“I’m okay,” she spelled out for him. “Maybe a little in shock, but I’m okay. I, uh…feel free,” Caroline settled for saying.

But then she had to consider what this might be doing to Nash. After all, he’d just learned his brother was dead.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

He glanced at her. “I’m glad he’s dead. Glad he’s personally no longer a threat to you. But I’m still worried. Jordana needs to be found and questioned.” Nash opened his mouth as if about to give Oz a command about that. Then, he stopped. “Slade will take care of it.”

“Yes.” She had no doubts about that. “Will Slade and Jericho be relieved, too, about Bodie?”

“They will be,” Nash verified. “The three of us were never close to Bodie. The only one Bodie was close to our father.”

“The abusive asshole,” she muttered.

Nash nodded. “Yes, Bodie was his firstborn, and a son at that. Someone he could brag about to his asshole friends. I think he groomed Bodie to be the man he became.” He paused a moment. “And I didn’t do a damn thing to stop it.”

And there it was. The guilt in his voice. Maybe the grief, too, for a sibling he hadn’t been able to save.

Caroline touched his arm, rubbed gently. “I didn’t save my father so I get what you’re saying.”

Nash frowned when he looked at her. “Your father died from cancer.”

“He did, but guilt is a greedy SOB, and I kept thinking I could have done more. Maybe I could have noticed sooner that he wasn’t his usual self. Maybe I could have insisted he go to the doctor right away. Part of me knows that isn’t logical, that he would have died from that form of cancer anyway. But, like you, I wish I’d done more to try to save him.”

“Done more,” he repeated under his breath. “Thinking like that is what creates emotional baggage. And guilt. And regret. So much regret that I didn’t stop Bodie from getting to you.”

“Well, he’s stopped now.” And Caroline used that as a launching pad to go over some other things.

Things that might help Nash put his regret and guilt on the backburner.

“Maybe Bodie was stopped by his bride. Or by someone that her father could have hired. A nice setup for Leland,” she added. “Get someone to kill the bane of his existence and make it look like a suicide.”

He stayed quiet a moment, probably considering that. “Yes, and this way, Jordana won’t disown her father for eliminating her beloved.”

“A bonus,” she decided. “So, that could mean Eddie wasn’t involved in the attacks or Bodie’s death.”

Nash shrugged. “I’m not ruling him out just yet. He could have motive for wanting Bodie dead if he wants Jordana for himself. That sounds like a long shot,” he tacked onto that. “But Eddie could be covering up his real feelings for Jordana, and he has plenty of ex-con friends who could have helped him.”

Helped him by actually firing those shots both at her place and at Nash’s. But now that Bodie was dead, did that mean Eddie would consider this vendetta to be over and done?

Caroline prayed so.

She tore her gaze from Nash when he slowed and took a turn. Not into some remote countryside either. This was the entrance to a gated subdivision, and beyond the gate and fence, she could see something that surprised her.

Houses.

Lots of them. Some cabin style, some more like mansions that’d been built on hills that surrounded the lake.

The large limestone sign announced that this was Pearl Bluff Estates, and there were indeed some pearly-colored bluffs in the distance. The view was definitely postcard-worthy.

“I guess I thought Slade would live somewhere more… secluded,” she commented.

“You’d think, especially after being raised in a survivalists’ compound. But unlike Jericho and me, Slade prefers living in a neighborhood. Though this doesn’t quite qualify as that since it’s mainly vacation homes. He splits time between here and his apartment on the Riverwalk in San Antonio.”

Nash punched in a code when he reached the gate and then drove past four houses before he pulled into the driveway of a log cabin. Well, an upgraded cabin that also hit that postcard-worthy mark. It was two-story and with lots of windows and balconies.

“How secure is this place?” she had to ask, but then Caroline immediately waved that off. “It’s very secure. Slade might prefer living around people, but he still works for Maverick Ops.”

“It has all the right bells and whistles,” Nash assured her, using another code to get into the garage.

She saw one of those bells and whistles right away. The door leading into the house had its own keypad, and Caroline thought it might be made of some kind of metal that’d been painted dark gray. If someone managed to break into the garage, they wouldn’t have an easy time getting inside.

As with the gate and garage door, Nash entered yet another code, and the door slid open, reminding her of an entrance to a hotel. They stepped inside, not into a usual mudroom or small entry but into a massive equipment room that had shelf after shelf of weapons and gear.

The house seemed to spring to life. Lights flared on and music, too. Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall began to pulse from…somewhere. Caroline couldn’t spot any speakers.

They stepped into an open floorplan similar to Nash’s place, but instead of the pasture, barn, and horses, Slade had a view of the lake. There were other differences as well. Slade had gone for vibrant colors. Cobalt blues, aqua, and yellow.

“Welcome, Nash and Caroline,” a voice said, talking over the song. “Slade informed me you’d be arriving.”

Caroline’s forehead bunched up. “That sounds like Spock’s voice from Star Trek.”

“It is,” Nash verified. “The song and the show were our mother’s favorites. Well, favorites before we moved to Stronghold anyway. After that, we didn’t have a TV, and my SOB of a father didn’t allow her to listen to music. I think this is Slade’s way of thumbing his nose at the bastard while still keeping part of her alive.”

Yes, grief was very complex, and Slade had obviously worked out a way to deal with the loss.

“Caroline, as Slade instructed, the hot tub is ready for you to have a long soak,” Spock added. “Nash, there’s Oban in the liquor cabinet for you.”

“Thanks,” Nash muttered. “It’s my favorite,” he added to Caroline, and then he checked the time. “It’s a little early for a drink, though.”

She checked the time, too, and was shocked to see it was barely noon. Her body suddenly felt as if she’d been up for days. And in a way, she had been since she hadn’t slept a wink the night before. Added to the lack of sleep was all that spent adrenaline from the attack.

“Where’s the hot tub?” Caroline asked, glancing out onto the flagstone patio. It wasn’t there.

Nash smiled and motioned for her to follow him. He led her past a large office and what appeared to be the main bedroom before he threw open double doors at the end of the hall.

And Caroline did some instant goggling.

“Wow,” she muttered. “It looks like a gym and a spa combined.”

“Yep.”

He pointed to a sauna and a lap pool that ran against the entire back of the room. There was another wall of windows here with views of the lake and a side garden bursting with flowers. But the focal point of the room was the sunken hot tub in the center. It was the size of a half dozen regular tubs, and the jets churned and bubbled the steaming teal blue water.

Suddenly, every muscle in her body seemed to be aching to climb inside.

“Help yourself,” Nash said. “There are some swimming clothes in the closet of the ensuite bath or you can take a soak commando since no one can see in through the windows. I’ll grab you a glass of wine.”

While that sounded wonderful, Caroline thought of something else that would work a whole lot better than wine.

A kiss.

So, that’s what she did. She took hold of his hand, pulling him to her and pressing her mouth to his. He stiffened a little, maybe because he was well aware that the kiss could end up being the start of a whole lot more.

And that’s what she was hoping.

It seemed to hit her hard and fast. The realization that while a soak in the hot tub and wine would indeed be nice, it wouldn’t fix what Nash could do just by being with her.

“We’re playing with fire,” he muttered with his mouth against her.

“Yes, we are. Very hot fire.” She kissed him again, deepening it this time, and his taste glided through her.

The kiss continued and got even deeper. The heat came. The hunger, too. Hunger for Nash, and she could feel he was having the same reaction to her. That’s why she was surprised when he eased back.

“You’re exhausted,” he said, lifting a finger. “You’re probably still in shock.” A second finger went up as he continued his tally of why he should be leaving her alone. “You need to relax and process what’s happened.” A third finger went up. “And after a soak and some wine, you need sleep.”

“All true,” she admitted, “but I’m not as exhausted as I was just a few minutes ago.” She moved closer, brushing her body against his. “In fact, I’m more than a little revved up.”

The corner of his mouth lifted in a smile. Then, he groaned. “This feels like taking advantage of you.”

“Always the hero,” she muttered. “So, let me take advantage of you. Let me finish what we started at that party.”

Even with that blatant invitation, she thought he might decline and do the hero thing by giving her some time alone. Time that she didn’t want. So, she kissed him again, this time pressing herself against him.

He made a sound, sort of a groan-grunt combo, and the rest of his resolve seemed to snap because Nash hooked his arm around her waist and hauled her to him. All those muscles made it easy for him to do the maneuver.

She might have cheered in triumph if his mouth hadn’t claimed hers. Now, this was a kiss. A scalding, scorching kiss that promised so much more to come.

And more came.

He slid his mouth and tongue down to her neck. Then, to the front of her shirt. Her body reacted all right, and this time the heat didn’t just glide, it roared through her. Parts of her started to make demands. Demands that Nash seemed well on the way to fulfilling when he took those torturous kisses to the front of her shirt.

To her breasts.

Caroline got so caught up in the pleasure of the moment. Caught in the fantasy of being with Nash like this. That she forgot something major.

Something that she got an instant reminder of when Nash lifted her shirt.

She stepped back, and with her breath gusting, she stared at him. “The scars,” she managed to say. “I, uh, don’t want you to see them again.”

“Because you think it’ll make me want you less?” he asked.

He closed the distance between them and kissed her with his breath. No mouth-to-mouth contact. Just the breath that carried his scent, his taste, and some kind of erotic pull that made her want to jump him right then, right there.

“Trust me,” he said, his voice a slow, easy drawl that was his own form of foreplay. “Wanting you less isn’t an option for me.”

She wanted to argue. Caroline wanted to tell him that he could be wrong. That he might change his mind when he saw, and touched, the scars.

But she wanted him more than either of those other things.

So, she stepped toward him, straight into his waiting arms. Nash didn’t make her wait though for anything else. He picked up where he’d left off with the kisses, trailing from her mouth, to her neck, to the front of her shirt. Then, he lifted it, shoving down her bra and giving her some well-placed kisses that had her drowning in pleasure.

And falling.

Except, no. Not falling.

He was lowering her to the smooth stone rim of the hot tub where he gently placed her on her back. The kisses continued, and he appeared to be on a sensual journey to explore every part of her body because he kissed her stomach next, circling her naval with his tongue.

She had a fleeting thought of his mouth on her scars. Just fleeting though. Hard to think of scars when he was doling out such sweet torture.

Along with getting her naked.

Nash pulled off her top. Her bra. She felt the warm, misty air settle on her skin as he exposed more and more of her by taking off her shoes and shimmying her jeans down her legs.

Her panties, too.

Before she could protest that she was now naked and he wasn’t, he gave her a kiss that rendered her speechless. Heck, it nearly caused her to climax. Because he kissed her between her legs, right in her center.

She closed her eyes, arching her back and accepting everything he was giving her. For a couple of seconds anyway. When she felt that climax about to roll through her, Caroline put the pause button on her pleasure and did a role reversal.

Nash probably could have stopped her from moving, from maneuvering him so that he was lying on the floor and she was on top of him. He didn’t because she didn’t give him a chance. She kissed him, hard and deep, as he’d done to her, and she started that whole getting him naked part.

And what an adventure that was.

She got off his shoulder holster and the rest of his weapons, including his phone. Then, his shirt. She might have gone straight for his jeans, but mercy, she had to take a moment to admire the view. The man was built.

“Good grief,” she muttered. “No one has a right to look this good.”

He smiled. “I feel the same way about you.”

That was probably BS, but she didn’t give that much thought. Correction—she couldn’t give it much thought. That’s because she was focused on something that felt much more urgent.

Kissing her way down all those toned and tanned muscles.

She kissed her way down to the zipper of his jeans. Because she got so caught up in the sensations of having her mouth on his body, she didn’t feel herself getting too close to the edge.

Not a metaphor for an orgasm either.

But the edge of the hot tub.

Nash and she rolled in, sinking straight into the steamy water.

After she gasped from the shock of it, she laughed. So did he. But their bodies quickly adjusted to the change of location, and they kissed again. And again. Nash added some touching, too, by cupping her butt and pressing her center against his erection.

Of course, that particular part of him was still covered by his jeans, so she did something about that. It wasn’t easy though, not when the kissing took on a fresh urgency. Not when her body was begging for her to get him naked.

Nash helped with that last part. He managed to get out of his jeans and boxers. But just as important, he managed something else. He went through his now-soaked wallet and came up with a condom.

Caroline silently cursed for not remembering safe sex, but soon, she forgot all about the near lapse. That’s because Nash jumped straight back to the kissing. To the touching. All the while he managed to get on the condom. It was very effective multitasking.

He anchored her against the side of the hot tub, right on a jet that was giving her some amazing sensations on her backside, while Nash gave her even more amazing sensations on her front.

By hooking her legs around his waist and pushing into her.

The fresh wave of pleasure came fast, filling her. Spreading through her. She got lost in it. Got lost in Nash.

Thankfully, he didn’t treat her like glass. There was gentleness but a hard urgency, too, that told her he needed her as much as she needed him. The thrusts inside her became harder, faster, deeper.

And each one took her closer and closer to that peak.

She wanted to hang on. Wanted to make this last. But she couldn’t. Nash saw to that. He quickened the pace, and then he claimed her mouth with his just as the climax rippled through her.

Pleasure. So much pleasure. No thoughts, no words. Just the sensation of being taken by a man who knew exactly how to make her fly.

She flew all right.

And once Nash had stretched out every last moment of her climax, he flew right along with her.