She barely had a towel on her, and that was clear to see. “Teo…” Jinx sighed out his name. “Keep your eyes on her face, not her body, and we’ll make it one fifty.”
“One fifty?” Teo’s attention swung back to him. “For real?”
“This shit is as real as it gets.”
“I think I’ve got two robes that will fit you perfectly. Would that work?”
Robes were better than nothing.
***
Teo gave them a phone, and Jinx called to confirm with Landon that the scene was, indeed, secure before he got his new best buddy to drop him and Ali off back at the beach house. Of course, Teo’s ride wasn’t free. Jinx promised him another twenty for the drop-off.
And when they arrived, they pulled up at the same time that War was sliding into the graveled drive with his precious Chevy Impala. War jumped out of the car, and when Jinx went to meet him, War’s stare swept over him.
“Uh…nice robe?”
Jinx bit back his immediate reply of “fuck off” and instead said, “Give Teo one hundred and seventy bucks, will you? Don’t exactly have cash on me.”
Teo held out his hand.
War eyed Teo, then Jinx, and, finally, Ali. “Matching robes?”
“It has been a day, all right?” Ali sighed. “A. Day.”
War shoved the cash at Teo.
A black SUV rushed up behind their group.
“Better go before you get blocked in,” Jinx warned Teo. “You don’t want to be a part of what’s going down next.”
Teo rushed away.
“I need to get changed,” Ali said. She’d shoved her hands into the robe’s pockets. “Then I want to find Landon and figure out what is going on here.”
“Easy enough to explain.” Landon’s voice boomed out. He marched toward them, heading away from the other house on the stretch of sand. “The sniper is dead. The scene is secure, and I’ve got a cleanup team…” He motioned toward the black SUV. “Arriving as we speak.”
Another SUV appeared.
“Feds?” Ali asked.
A van rolled up, too. Block letters on the side read…Coroner.
“Who killed the sniper?” Jinx questioned quietly.
“I did.” Landon rolled back his shoulders. “I came to speak with Ali, and when I arrived, I realized what was happening. I saw the glint off his weapon and knew his location.” He turned and pointed in the distance, toward the beach house that waited yards away. “I was able to get pretty close to him, but at the last moment, he turned and would have fired his weapon.” Landon swallowed. “I fired first.”
Jinx studied him. Landon’s voice was grim. Almost cold. But his eyes were darting around the group too quickly. There was a fine edge of nervous tension to his body.
Had that been Landon’s first kill?
“Get changed,” Landon directed. “We all need to talk, but let’s not do it while it’s looking like you two just got back from a spa day.”
“Spa day, my ass,” Jinx rumbled right back. “We had to swim for our lives.” His head turned toward Ali. “Didn’t realize you were so good underwater.”
Shadows darkened her eyes as she gave him a weak smile. “I was pretty sure that I was going to drown…at least three times.”
His gut clenched. “And then you didn’t let me go up without you.” He’d wanted to surface first so that he could take any fire and give her the chance to suck in some much needed air.
She shook her head. “We’re in this together, but you don’t get to risk your life for me.”
“Um, yes. Of course, I do.” As if he’d do anything else. He caught her hand. Pulled her closer. Stared into her eyes and wanted to make absolutely certain she got this point. “I would risk anything for you.”
She sucked in a sharp breath. “Jinx?”
Not the time or the place for big declarations. He got that. Especially with a shaky Landing Zone watching him and some stiffs in suits coming to do clean up.
Jinx locked his jaw. “I want an ID on the sniper.”
“If he’s her stalker, this mess is over,” War noted. “We get his ID, and we tie him to Ali. Then she can get her life back.”
Jinx wasn’t so ready to call the case closed. His gaze remained on Ali. “He didn’t kill your previous target with a long-distance shot, did he?”
Once more, Ali shook her head. “All signs indicated the shots were close-up.”
“Maybe he’s a man of many friggin’ deadly talents.” War’s voice had lowered. “Let’s get the ID, then move from there. Try to be more positive, would you, buddy?” He slapped a hand on Jinx’s shoulder. “You’re alive. Ali’s alive. I’ll call that a win.”
It was a win, hell, yes. But…
But I want Ali alone. He locked his hand with hers and pulled her away from the growing chaos of the scene. He took her inside his house as quickly as he could, but that meant retrieving keys and disarming the security system first. Once they were away from everyone else and the door of his home closed behind them…
He spun around and pinned Ali to the door. His mouth crashed down on hers in a frantic, desperate kiss.
Any one of those bullets could have hit her. Any one of them could have taken her out.
Then there would have been no second chances for him. For them. No chance to show Ali that there was one thing in this world he took very, very seriously…
Her.
He was kissing her too hard. Too desperately. He realized that. But a desperate tension rode him. The feeling that, despite what War hoped, this case wasn’t over.
It was just going to get worse.
Jinx had screwed up. He hadn’t counted on a sniper. Had never considered that mode of attack. He’d been so sure that the beach’s location meant he’d see his target coming…
First that punk showed up last night. Now this.
He’d messed up left and right.
Jinx slammed his hands against the door behind Ali and forced his mouth away from hers. “I’m sorry.”
She licked her lips. Lips that were red and swollen from his mouth. Her hair was starting to dry, and it was tousled and thick and gorgeous around her face. “Are you sorry for kissing me?”
His gaze fell to her delectable mouth. “I’ll never be sorry for that.” He freaking loved her mouth. And he was staring at it too hard. Jinx gave a rough shake of his head. “I didn’t protect you well enough.” The failure burned in his gut. “I was distracted.” Because I want you so much. “Because I can’t keep my damn hands off you.” A stark truth. “I never should have put you in a position where you could be vulnerable. If we hadn’t been able to sink into those waves…”
Her hand rose. Pressed to his stubble-covered cheek. “You are not seriously blaming yourself right now.”
He was.
“Jinx.” She said his name like it was some kind of caress. “There was a crazy man with a gun shooting at us. Not your fault. Not mine. His. He’s the one who pulled the trigger.” She offered him a tentative smile. “And we got lucky—probably because you are the luckiest man I know.”