Page 12 of Serve ’N’ Protect

Another man came from the dining room. If she wasn’t mistaken, he’d just shoved a mean-looking black gun into a holster on his belt.

“Good to see you, Matt.” Markus hadn’t opened his eyes.

“You, too, buddy.” Matt leaned his shoulder against the doorjamb. “I see you made a new friend.” The corners of his mouth lifted, and wow. Can anyone say gor-geous?

Matt was about the same age and height as Markus and with equally broad shoulders. Dark hair curled slightly around his GQ-handsome face. Chocolate-brown eyes pinned her, but not in the same surly way Markus’s and Sourpuss’s had. Matt’s gaze was clearly amused.

“Yeah, that’s me.” Markus let his head fall back against the cushion. “Making friends everywhere.”

Someone directly behind her snorted. “That would be a first.”

Cassidy started, turning too quickly and nearly tripping over her cane. Another man—one who’d moved so quietly she hadn’t even known he was in the room—grasped her shoulders, steadying her. She looked up, then up and up, into a smiling face framed by wavy, dark hair and with the cutest dimples she’d ever seen on a man.

Okay, so maybe cute wasn’t the right word. His dimples might be adorable, but his two-toned hazel eyes were almost hawklike in their intensity, belying something dangerous simmering behind this man’s seemingly friendly facade.

“Nice going, Kade,” Markus growled. “Still scaring women to death with your Spidey skills.”

“Sorry.” Kade released her and backed away with his hands in the air, palms facing out. His expression was still smiling but with a tinge of regret at frightening her.

“Enough of the pleasantries,” Sourpuss said, crossing his arms and looking fiercer than a tiger ready to pounce. “Are you going to introduce us?” He flicked his gaze from Markus to her.

Again, Markus wiped the sweat from his brow. She didn’t know why it bothered her so much, but it was obvious he needed to rest, not get interrogated. And yes, something about the older man’s demeanor warned that he was getting interrogated. Who are these guys? For that matter, who was Markus?

“This is Cassidy Morgan, my next-door neighbor.”

She waited for him to introduce the men to her, but he didn’t. The way the older man was scrutinizing her made her feel like a bug under a microscope. His eyes narrowed and his lips flattened.

Something about this whole thing was weird. What am I thinking? The entire day had been weird. “You know?” she said, backing away from the sofa. “I think I’ll be going now. You guys obviously have a lot to talk about, and I don’t relish getting shot at again.”

“What?” Sourpuss uncrossed his arms. “What the hell is she talking about?”

Markus’s eyes were closing, another sign that he needed to rest. “When we left the hospital, someone took a couple shots at us from the employee parking lot.” He quickly recounted the rest of what happened, including their NASCAR getaway. “You might be able to pull a slug from the engine block of her car.”

“Shit,” Matt said.

Sourpuss’s face turned sourer, but she sensed it was out of concern for Markus’s safety. For all his outward crankiness, he genuinely seemed to care. “We have to move you. You’re going into protective custody. Tonight.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Markus said in a determined voice. “Especially into protective custody. I don’t know how they found me, but the hospital’s thirty minutes away, and there’s no way they followed us here.”

“Moving him might not be necessary.” Matt pushed from the doorjamb and sat on one end of the sofa. “Besides, he can barely stand on his own two feet. Could be they saw him on TV like I did. The press was staked outside the hospital and caught you going in. Only someone who knows you—or, who’s watching for you—would know it was you in that wheelchair.”

Kade sat on the other end of the same sofa, and all the men’s attention seemed totally focused on Markus, the perfect time to…

Make my escape.

Despite John’s adamant statement that she could trust Markus, she didn’t want any part of what was going on here. Whatever it was, she’d nearly been shot because of it. Again, the mobster analogy came to mind. If she didn’t slip away, they might take her down to the bay and feed her to the fishes.

Trying not to attract their attention, she began inching her way to the door. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest. When she was five feet away, she looked over her shoulder and was relieved. They didn’t even seem to notice she was no longer in the room.

She turned back to the door, hobbling faster. The tip of her cane banged against the brass umbrella holder parked by the door on the floor, making a loud, tinny clang. Whoops.

“Kade, stop her!”

Ghost barked.

Cassidy twisted the knob and had cracked the door open a few inches when an enormous hand appeared over her head. The door slammed shut in her face. She tried opening it again, but he was far too strong.

Awkwardly, she spun and stared up into Kade’s face—the man with the dimples and smiling hazel eyes. Only his eyes weren’t smiling now.