Crossing Danger: A Shelby Nichols Adventure

  I got home and greeted Chris with a kiss, glad to be home where I didn’t have to worry about keeping my mind-reading a secret, at least from him. My kids were a different story, but no way would I ever let them know their mom could read their minds. I shuddered at the thought.

  “How was class?” he asked.

  “Great! I learned how to break someone’s arm. Do you want me to show you how?”

  “Um...no.” He was thinking do I look stupid?

  I chuckled. “You don’t think I’d really break your arm, do you?”

  “You might,” he said, but hurried on to add, “Not on purpose though.” He was thinking my enthusiasm might get the best of me, and then who knew what could happen?

  “I wouldn’t break your arm...geeze.”

  His smile widened, and mischief brightened his eyes. “Okay then...you can show me.”

  What a tease. I had him do the choke-hold on me and then pushed my way right out of it. I got a good hold on his arm and pulled it back and down. “This is where I could break your arm if I wanted to.”

  “Yeah,” Chris said, his voice a little strained. “I can feel that...you can let me go now.”

  I let up on him and tried to keep the satisfied smirk off my face. What was it about pushing a man around that gave me so much pleasure? “Let me show you something else. Grab my wrist like you’re trying to drag me away.”

  His lips turned down in a frown, but he did as I asked. This time I put my other hand over his and twisted his wrist until he staggered back. “With this hold...I can break your wrist.”

  “Yeah...I get it...lots of breaking things.”

  “Isn’t this great?” I asked, letting him go. “And this was just my first class. Imagine how good I’ll get after a few months?”

  Chris rubbed his wrist. “Yeah, that’s true.” He was thinking that maybe he should take lessons too, just so I couldn’t beat up on him.

  I snickered. “That could be fun. Maybe the kids would like to learn too. Some basic self-defense is always a good thing, especially for a girl. Where are the kids anyway?”

  “I think Savannah’s in her room, and Josh is playing video games downstairs.”

  “Did he get his homework done first?” I asked. This was a rule I tried to enforce, and I hoped Chris had checked up on him.

  “I think so,” Chris said. But he really had no idea.

  “You don’t know?”

  “Um...no, but I think he was working on something earlier, so he probably did.”

  His mind was blank, so I knew he was blocking me out. “Okay...good.” I hated the role of “the mean parent,” so I let it go and yelled down the stairs for Josh to come up. Being fourteen, he wasn’t enthusiastic about losing his place in his game, so it took him several minutes before he came upstairs.

  At twelve, Savannah was more than happy to see what I’d learned. It was also surprising that she had some of the same thoughts about beating up the guys that I did. As I showed her the wrist-grabbing move, she was thinking about the boy at school who’d grabbed her by the arm and shoved her into the boy’s bathroom.

  I caught my breath to ‘hear’ that, and hot indignation surged over me. “Let’s practice that again so you’ve got it down before school tomorrow. In fact, I think you should start coming to Aikido with me.” I knew seventh grade was rough, but seriously? Who were these boys?

  “Cool,” she said, excited about the prospect of breaking someone’s arm, or at least causing some pain so no one would want to mess with her.

  “You got that right,” I said, giving her a high five.

  Josh thought it was cool too, but he wasn’t as enthusiastic as me and Savannah. His voice had dropped an octave, and he was growing like a weed. He’d even passed me up by a couple of inches. He’d also never had the same experience of getting shoved into the bathroom like Savannah had.

  That’s when it hit me that men didn’t experience life the same way as women. Walking to a car at night, or being alone on a dark street, wasn’t a big deal to them. But I always felt fearful at times like that, and I thought most women did.

  Good thing I was taking Aikido. Knowing how to defend myself would help me feel more in control and, after what I’d been through recently, it was definitely what I needed to cope with the times those dark memories fell over me like a shadow.

  “Hey beautiful,” Chris said, lifting my chin to gaze into my eyes. He always seemed to know when I got lost in the dark and knew just what to say to bring me back. I smiled up at him, amazed that he put up with me most of the time.

  The fact that I could read his mind had been a real trial for us, but somehow we’d managed to make it work, and my relationship with him was better than ever. Especially now, when he was thinking that I was beautiful, sweet, and...did I buy his favorite ice cream when I went to the store?

  I narrowed my eyes. “I bought some ice cream, but I got my favorite this time.”

  “That’s okay,” he drawled. “I especially like your flavor.” This time, he wasn’t talking about ice cream.

  “Did someone say ice cream?” Josh piped up.

  “Yeah,” I said, pulling away from Chris with a knowing smile. “Dad’s going to dish it up for everyone.”

  “Sweet,” Josh said. His voice cracked, and we all laughed.

  ***

  The next morning I got out of bed, surprised to find my muscles stiff from my workout at the dojo. At least I felt confident that if anyone grabbed Savannah’s arm today, she could handle herself. That put me in a good mood.

  After Chris and the kids left, I got ready for my appointment with Uncle Joey. I only felt a little guilty that I hadn’t told Chris about it. But I’d learned that, where Uncle Joey was concerned, telling Chris as little as possible beforehand worked best, mostly because I didn’t want him to worry about me. I could fill him in after I knew what was going on...if I needed to. So really...it was for his own good that I didn’t tell him to begin with.

  I had no idea what Uncle Joey wanted this time but, for the first time in a long while, I felt I stood on equal footing with him. Like I could speak my mind about whether or not I’d do something he wanted. Gone were the days when I might have groveled or tried to run. We were both in a different place now...and I was grateful for the change.

  I pulled into the parking garage and walked with confidence to the elevators. On a whim, I peeked around the corner just to see if Ramos’ motorcycle was there. The sight of it brought a bit of longing to my heart.

  The autumn leaves were cascading to the ground, leaving trails of color in the breeze. Even though the weather was a bit cooler now, it was still warm enough to go riding through the leaves, and I could imagine how nice it would be to sit behind Ramos and enjoy a brisk ride.

  Full of nostalgia, I headed to the elevators and soon exited on the twenty-sixth floor. The words “Thrasher Development” spanned above the double doors and, with a smile, I pushed the door open and stepped inside.

  “Shelby!” Jackie greeted me warmly. “How are you doing?”

  “Great. How are you?”

  “Things are going okay. I’m still here, even though Joe wanted me to quit.” She was thinking that now that everyone knew she’d married Joe, he thought it was inappropriate for his wife to be his secretary, and it drove her crazy. “Can you imagine someone else running this place? There’s no way I’m going to let that happen.”

  “I totally agree,” I said. “If he knows what’s good for him, he’ll keep you right where you are.”

  “Exactly,” she said. “Anyway, he’s with a client right now, but he should be done soon. You want a Diet Coke?”

  “Sure.” I followed her to the end of the hall and through a door that opened up into a swanky apartment. It was done in black and white, with splashes of color on the walls and couches, and I knew Ramos often stayed there.

  As if thinking about him conjured him up, Ramos entered the kitchen from a back room. He stopped in surprise, and a small grin
spread over his lips. “Babe.”

  “Hey,” I replied. My stomach did a little flip-flop, and my heart raced. He had that effect on me. “We’re just here to get a Diet Coke.” I didn’t want him to think I was stalking him or anything.

  “Oh...yeah, I see that.”

  Jackie grabbed a couple of cans out of the fridge and set them on the counter while shaking her head. She was thinking that if we didn’t stop drooling over each other, she was going to be sick.

  “How have you been?” he asked.

  “Good.” I reached for the soda, but he got it first. “Hey...that’s mine.”

  He smiled, but didn’t let it go, so I took the other can, and Jackie rolled her eyes before opening the fridge for another one.

  “I’ll have you know I’m learning self-defense, so you’d better watch out.” He raised his brows, so I continued. “Yeah, I could probably break your arm if I wanted.”

  “Really? You think you could take me?” He was thinking he’d like to see me try, and if I managed to take him down, he’d certainly be impressed.

  “Sure,” I said.

  “Okay then, show me what you’ve got.”

  The living room floor was covered with thick, white carpet, and Ramos moved the coffee table to the side so there was lots of open space. I slipped off my shoes and set my purse on the counter, visualizing how fun it would be to throw Ramos over my shoulder. But since I didn’t know exactly how to do that yet, I decided to do the wrist-grab thing to take him down.

  “Okay,” I said. “First you have to try and grab my arm.”

  Ramos suppressed a grin before lunging for me. I squeaked and tried to jump out of the way but, before I knew what was happening, he’d grabbed me around the waist and, in one smooth move, pinned me to the ground. Even though the carpet was soft, it kind of knocked the breath out of me, and I stared up at him with surprised shock. As he easily held me down, a satisfied smirk twisted his lips.

  “How did you do that?” I asked, a little breathless.

  Before he could say a word, the flash of a camera caught me full in the face. I blinked up to find Uncle Joey standing there with a big grin on his face and his phone in his hand.

  “Crap!”

  Ramos grunted and quickly got up, then offered me his hand. After helping me to my feet, I glared at Uncle Joey. “You did not just take a picture of me.”

  “I did,” he grinned. “But it might be a little blurry. Do you want to see it?”

  “Yeah...sure...” I reached for the phone, but he held it out of my grasp while he pushed a few buttons.

  “There it is...what do you think?”

  He handed me the phone, and I nearly fainted to see myself in such a compromising position. The look of shock on my face wasn’t very flattering either. Before he could object, I found the delete icon and got rid of the photo.

  “Shelby? Did you just delete that?”

  “Of course I did! What were you thinking?”

  He couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst out laughing. “You should have seen your face. As long as I live, I’ll never forget that look.”

  I glared at him, but he only laughed harder. I scowled before handing Uncle Joey his phone and turned toward the kitchen. “Where’s my Diet Coke?”

  “Um...on the counter,” Jackie said. She was trying not to laugh, even though it was killing her. She also thought maybe that would teach me a lesson about keeping my distance from Ramos. After all, I was a married woman.

  Clenching my teeth, I slipped on my shoes, grabbed my purse and soda, and took off out the door. They all followed behind, each entertaining amused thoughts about my little incident with Ramos. Jackie stopped at her desk, and Ramos continued down the hall to the security room, a happy grin on his face.

  By the time I got to Uncle Joey’s office, I had loosened up a bit, realizing that the whole episode was probably all my doing...and even a little funny if I thought of it that way. Why did I ever think I could take Ramos? Of course, I hadn’t expected Uncle Joey to be there with his camera. Whew! That was close. Thank goodness I’d deleted it.

  I took a seat in front of Uncle Joey’s desk and eyed him with new understanding. He hadn’t gotten where he was by coincidence. He knew how to be at the right place, at the right time, to take advantage of situations just like mine. I hadn’t missed Ramos’ thought of how Uncle Joey had ‘let’ me delete the photo either and, right now, I was glad I was on his good side.

  “I hope you’re not too upset with me,” he began, taking in my observant stare. “But I couldn’t resist having a little fun.”

  “Oh no...it’s okay...I mean, what can I say? It was pretty silly of me to think I could take Ramos. Of course, in my defense, all I really wanted to do was show him some moves I’d learned at Aikido last night. I decided to take a martial arts class after what happened with that guy who tried to kill me. It kind of spooked me, you know? So I thought this might help, so that maybe next time...of course, hopefully there won’t be a next time, but since I’m still working...uh...well, you never know what could happen.”

  I swallowed, grateful I hadn’t said, since I’m still working for you, like I was thinking, and I clamped my lips tight. I usually didn’t open up so much to Uncle Joey but, for some reason, I couldn’t seem to stop the words from pouring out of my mouth. What had gotten into me?

  “That’s good, Shelby. It shows a lot of initiative on your part and should help you cope with everything you’ve been through lately.”

  “Yeah.” I sighed, relieved he understood. “I think it’s helping a lot.”

  “Good. I’m glad. Well...shall we get down to business?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Do you remember the man who left this little note at my wake?” He pulled a note from his desk drawer and handed it to me.

  Just a few weeks ago, Uncle Joey had survived an explosion but faked his death to find out who had tried to kill him. At his wake, a man approached the casket, dropped a note, and quickly left. I’d seen the whole thing, and grabbed the note to show Uncle Joey. He’d been on edge ever since then.

  “Yeah, sure I do.”

  “Did he look anything like this guy?” He pushed a grainy, black-and-white photo in front of me.

  It showed a man in dark glasses leaving the building. From the side angle, it was hard to see his features but, after a moment of study, I nodded. “Yeah...it looks like him. The dark glasses hide his eyes, but it’s the same jaw and hair. That crease down the side of his face is one of the things I remember most about him. So yeah...it’s probably him.”

  Uncle Joey rubbed his chin, thinking that having Blake Beauchaine show up after all these years wasn’t a good thing.

  “Weren’t you thinking about sending Ramos back to Seattle to check up on him?” I asked.

  His lips twisted in annoyance that I’d read his mind, but he let it go and answered my question. “As a matter of fact, I was. I don’t know why he’s here in town unless it’s to check up on me. Now that I’m not dead, we might have some unfinished business he wants to take care of.”

  “Where did you get this photo?” I asked.

  “Yesterday, a large envelope addressed to me was left in the lobby downstairs. Someone who works in the building noticed it and brought it up. After I opened it, Ramos went through the surveillance cameras to see who’d left it.”

  “What was in the envelope?”

  “It was the newspaper article about the explosion on the yacht,” Uncle Joey answered. “I don’t know if it’s a veiled threat that he wants me dead, or just a reminder that he’s watching me. Either way, I’d sure like to know what he’s doing here.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “But at least you know who it is, right?”

  He nodded and glanced my way, not at all comforted that it was his old college roommate. Not after what had happened back then. He thought they had leveled the playing field all those years ago, and he didn’t want Blake poking around in his business.

&nb
sp; “Thank you Shelby. Once I find him, I might need your help to know what he’s doing here. I’m sure he wouldn’t tell me the truth.” Uncle Joey was also thinking he might have to figure out a way to draw Blake out but, with the right incentive, he could do that.

  “Okay...sure. Just let me know. Is there anything else?”

  “Not at the moment, but I’ll keep you informed.”

  “Well, I’d better get going then.”

  I said goodbye to Jackie and got on the elevator, uncomfortable that Uncle Joey was unsettled about this Blake Beauchaine person. Mostly because if this guy worried him, it was bound to be bad, and that meant I could end up right in the middle of it.

  Chapter 2

  I exited the elevator in the parking garage and, without even thinking about it, walked around the corner to look at Ramos’ motorcycle one more time. From the way it was parked, it looked like he’d been using that instead of his car lately, which made perfect sense to me. I’d certainly be riding it on a day like today if I could.

  Sighing, I turned to leave and came face to face with Ramos. “Babe,” he drawled. “It looks like you’re drooling just a little. Want to go for a ride?”

  My breath caught and, even though I knew I shouldn’t, I nodded my head and grinned like a fool. I didn’t have any control when it came to Ramos and going for a ride on his motorcycle. What was worse, he knew it.

  “It shouldn’t take long,” he said.

  “Okay...that should work for me.” I hated that I sounded so eager, especially since I didn’t know where he was going or why. Who knew what I was getting myself into? There might be guns involved. It could be dangerous. But did that matter? Nope. I’d risk it all for a ride with Ramos.

  Before I could decide if that made me a bad person or was just something any warm-blooded woman would do, he popped the trunk of his car and got out the gear I’d need. As I held his soft leather jacket in my hands, all doubt flew out the window.

  I quickly slipped my arms through the sleeves and pushed them above my hands so I could zip the jacket up. It was huge on me, but I didn’t mind. It was soft and supple and smelled of leather and that musky scent that was all Ramos. Next, I slipped on the helmet and, to my delight, I even managed to snap the straps together under my chin like a pro.