Forever Devoted Page 6

  “I met your father.” Walker smiled, albeit a little wobbly.

  Good. She hoped her dad made him piss himself. “What can I say? I’m a daddy’s girl,” Layne said with a shrug even as she was mentally composing the nasty text she was going to send her dad for snooping.

  “Your mom seems nice.”

  “She can be scarier than my dad. She just wants grandchildren, so I’m sure she was on her best behavior.” There, that should scare him a little more. “Yeah, she’s desperate to get me married off—apparently that includes to a complete stranger.” Layne smiled to herself as Walker paled a little. She was going to put the fear of her parents into him, not because she didn’t like him, but because she did. She’d been drawn to him instantly. After this morning, it was clear the feelings were one-sided and she needed a major divider between them to protect her heart. She was already in lust with Walker; she didn’t need to fall in love with him. And there was no bigger buffer than her parents. Talk of marriage, children, and her father’s threatening antics was better than a cold shower to every man she dated.

  “That must be nice to have parents that love you so much. It’s just my sister and me now,” Walker said, holding the door open for her.

  Layne walked into the cottage feeling like a bitch. She hadn’t known he had lost his parents. And while Layne sometimes felt the pressure of her parents, it was all because they loved her so much. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you lost your parents. Or that you had a sister. Where is she?”

  “Edie is in Virginia Beach. She was married to my best friend, Shane Wecker.”

  Layne covered her mouth with her hand. “The news didn’t report that she was also your sister. Oh my gosh, does she know you’re alive?”

  Walker shook his head. “After Darrel Snyder began looking for me, I didn’t dare contact her. It’s tearing me apart, not being there to console her. A widow at thirty, and now she thinks she lost not only her husband, but also her only family.”

  “You need to let her know. I can get you an untraceable phone.”

  “How could you get that?”

  “Oh, I have my connections,” Layne said, thinking of her family.

  “Thank you, but not yet. The only way she’s safe is if she thinks I’m dead. She already refused to declare me dead since they haven’t found a body. I don’t want to bring any attention or danger to her.”

  “I’m sorry, Walker. I know you probably won’t take me up on the offer, but you can trust me if you feel like talking. It’s a nine-hour ride to Keeneston, after all.” Layne shoved the last of her clothes into her bag, not bothering to fold them. Walker leaned down and picked the bag up. “I’ll get it. I don’t want any pressure on your leg,” Layne said quickly.

  “Thanks, doc, but I’ve got it. See, I’m even using a crutch.” In one hand, he carried one of her bags and with the other he picked up one of his crutches and used it to help him down the stairs and out to the car.

  Layne picked up the other bag and did a quick look around the cottage, making sure she didn’t leave anything behind. When she turned from locking the door, she looked to where Walker was holding the driver’s door open for her. The sun shone in his hair, causing it to shimmer as brightly as his eyes. Damn. She needed to build those walls or she was in for the mother of all heartbreaks.

  8

  Layne and Walker drove in silence until they reached Columbia, South Carolina. Finally, she felt as if she could breathe a sigh of relief. She hadn’t noticed any cars following her as they made their way west. It was time for a break. She normally wasn’t one to stop after a couple hours of driving, but for the past twenty minutes, Walker had been quietly massaging his leg.

  “What are you doing?” Walker asked as she pulled off the interstate.

  “I thought I would top off the gas and get some snacks for the car. Do you want to pump the gas or get the snacks?”

  “I’ll pump the gas. But get me something with chocolate,” he called out as she got out of the car.

  “I wouldn’t peg you as a sweets guy,” Layne said, watching him hobble around the car. She inserted her credit card and he lifted the pump.

  “I’m nothing but sweet.” He grinned and gave her a wink.

  Wall. Big, big wall was what she needed. Layne gave him a half smile and took off for the convenience store. In minutes, she was back with bottles of water and an array of snacks. Walker finished up while she put the bags into the car. “How is your leg feeling?”

  “Tight.” Walker grimaced as he moved without his crutch.

  “Walk into the restroom and back. You need to warm it up if you don’t want it cramping. Then when you get back, make sure to put your seat back all the way and see if you can get your foot up on the dash for a little stretch.”

  Walker didn’t argue; instead he turned and hobbled away. By the time he was back in the car, he was looking better. “Why did you want to become a physical therapist?”

  Layne got back on the interstate and tossed a chocolate bar to Walker before answering. “My dad suffered from PTSD. He got involved with therapy dogs. Since I was a little kid, I would join him at the hospital to visit soldiers with our dog. When I was eight or so, I saw a woman working with a soldier who had lost his ability to walk after being injured in an IED explosion. I watched the triumph in their eyes the first time he took a step after months of hard work. Over the next year, I watched them work together, and I was there when he walked out of the hospital. I wanted to do that. I wanted to help. To give hope where hope had been taken away. I can’t make everyone better, but if I can improve a life in any small way, it’s a job well done.”

  “That’s you. I’m not surprised at all. You’re someone who wills people to get better. I can tell by the way you’re already looking out for me. So, you work solely with veterans?” Walker asked, letting Layne out of responding to his nice words about her.

  “No. I wish I could, but I do all my work with veterans pro bono. In order to afford to do that, I’m on staff with the Lexington Thoroughbreds,” Layne said. “Plus, I have my own clinic.”

  “You work for a professional football team?”

  “Yeah. One of my best friends is the team’s sports psychologist. Her father owns the team along with another family friend. And the dad of the kids I used to babysit is the coach.”

  “Seriously? Are you talking about Trey Everett and Will Ashton? How do you know them all?” Walker asked, suddenly very interested.

  “They’re all from Keeneston. I grew up with them. I told you, Keeneston isn’t like any other town out there. We may be small, but we’re mighty.”

  “Tell me more about Keeneston,” Walker requested, sitting back in the chair.

  For hours Layne told him about her family, about the three old ladies who ran Keeneston, about the Ali Rahman royal family who lived in town, and about her aunt and friend both being pregnant at the same time.

  “And I thought my dad was bad.” Layne laughed as she told him about the fathers spying on their daughters. “But Abby said her dad, Ahmed, has sent drones after her.”

  “Drones—wait, Ahmed? As in the Ali Rahman soldier? He lives in Keeneston?” Walker asked, sitting up so fast he hissed as he unintentionally moved his leg.

  “Yup. You know him?”

  “Of course I know him. He’s a legend. There’s even a torture technique named after him. And he lives in Keeneston? And you’re friends with him?” Walker asked with disbelief.

  “Friends? He’s like my uncle. He and my dad still work out together.”

  “Wow,” Walker said with wonder. “I’d kill to work out with Ahmed. What he could teach me . . .”

  “Well, if you let me work on your leg multiple times a day and do everything I tell you, you can work out with him in a couple weeks.” Layne let that be a motivator.

  “I’m at your command, doc. So, tell me more about your family.”

  Layne had already noticed Walker asked questions to stop her from asking her own. He’
d talked a little about Edie, but it was clear it was painful for him to think of her on her own after hearing about her husband and believing her brother to be dead as well.

  “Well, Sienna Ashton is the daughter of Will Ashton, the owner of the Thoroughbreds, and Judge Kenna Ashton. She’s the one who’s pregnant. She’s married to my cousin, FBI Agent Ryan Parker. He’ll come in handy for your situation.”

  “He’ll help?”

  “We’re family. Of course he will,” Layne said with certainty. “Then there are Zain and Gabe. Not family, but like brothers nonetheless. They’re princes of Rahmi. Both are married now. Zain to a German interpreter named Mila and Gabe just got married a couple weeks ago to the nicest woman named Sloane. Gabe is on his honeymoon, and I think Zain is in Canada on some diplomatic trip, but he’ll be back soon. Then there’s my cousin Sydney Davies, well, McKnight now. She’s married to a private investigator named Deacon. They have a dog named Robyn who scares Ahmed. It’s really quite entertaining.”

  “Sydney Davies . . . the supermodel fashion mogul?”

  Layne smiled. “Yes, and my cousin. As I said—”

  “Keeneston is not like anywhere else. I’m beginning to understand that. Then you also have a cousin who works with nanotechnology. I’ve heard rumors of the military buying some clothes made with nanotech that stops bullets. It’s a very big up-and-coming industry.”

  Layne grinned wider as Walker looked at her. “Let me guess, your cousin?”

  She nodded. “Yup. That invention was all Piper. She discovered it worked when she gave it to Ahmed’s protégé, Nash Dagher, who is married to my cousin Sophie. She’s a weapons developer.”

  Walker laughed out loud. “I think I’m going to the safest town imaginable.”

  “That you are.” Layne paused and decided to ask what had been on her mind since she first learned of who Walker Greene was. They’d been talking for hours; they were already into Kentucky, so she asked, “What happened that night?”

  * * *

  Walker didn’t have to ask what night she was asking about. She hadn’t pressed him the entire seven hours of their trip. But now she deserved to know everything. “As you’ve figured out, due to the media coverage of the incident, I’m a SEAL. But not just a SEAL. I’m part of DEVGRU.”

  Layne nodded. “The famous SEAL Team Six. I kind of guessed that. I don’t mean this to sound strange, but you remind me of my dad, and I think he was in something similar. I recognize the signs.”

  “We were in the Atlantic off the coast of Nigeria heading toward another mission when we got a call that an American crew had been taken hostage by Nigerian pirates. Since we were the closest team, we were rerouted while another team filled our spot on the original mission. Everything was completely normal. We reviewed the boat and made our plan. Everything was fine until we approached and no one could be seen. Shane felt it was off. I did too. I should have followed my instinct and had everyone pull back, but I didn’t. Then Jud appeared and lured us up to the bridge. We were sitting ducks as he and the pirates took everyone out. I was only left alive because I was the last in. I backed out and leapt over the bridge into the ocean after Jud ordered me killed.”

  Layne glanced over at him with a frown. He didn’t want pity, and luckily it didn’t appear as if she were going to do that. Instead, she looked as if she were thinking through a problem instead of talking to him about his survivor’s remorse.

  “But why? Why did Jud do all of this?”

  “Money. He is the one who stole the goods from the ship. He couldn’t have been acting alone, though. He told me he was going to sell the goods on the black market and become a hero. He wanted the attention and the money. But what I can’t figure out is what happened to the stolen goods. There couldn’t have been much time between when everyone was dead and when he signaled the rescue.”

  “So, that’s even more reason for him to make sure you’re dead. No body found is a loose end he can’t afford,” Layne said as they drove through the Appalachian Mountains heading toward Lexington.

  Walker nodded and turned to look out the window. Layne read his mood instantly and simply turned on the radio. Before Walker knew it, he was on a narrow country road winding through horse farms. They rounded a corner, and he knew they must have arrived in Keeneston. Even though it was nighttime, the summer nights left a warm glow over the town now in twilight.

  “If you don’t want everyone in town knocking on my door tonight, you may want to get out of sight,” Layne said as she slowed down.

  “Seriously?”

  “Seriously. That’s DeAndre’s state trooper car up there, and he’s turning into an bigger gossip than John Wolfe.”

  Walker unbuckled and slid to the floor. His leg protested but bent. “John is married to a Rose sister, right?”

  “To Miss Lily, yes. And we thought aliens talked to him or maybe ghosts because he knows things before they happen. However, much to John’s displeasure, DeAndre is starting to beat him out. If DeAndre sees me with a man in the car, he’ll text his girlfriend, Aniyah, who is best friends with my cousin Riley, the politician. Well, Riley will tell her twin sister, Reagan, who will tell Piper . . . well, you get the picture. We won’t even be home before I’ll have people asking who you are.”

  “It may be safer if no one knew I was here,” Walker said slowly, thinking about the gossip tree and how that one slip could bring Jud here.

  Layne smiled and waved out the window as she drove through the small downtown. She didn’t reply until he could no longer see the streetlights. “We’ll try it, but I give it two days.”

  “How long do you think my rehab will take?” Walker asked as he held his hidden position on the floor.

  “Three to six weeks. However, with your athleticism and a strong will to recover, and with being with me 24/7 so we can have multiple sessions . . . I am thinking three weeks, tops.”

  “I can stay hidden for three weeks,” Walker said confidently.

  Layne chuckled and shook her head. “Have you not been listening to who lives in Keeneston? Gossip, suspicion, and betting on said gossip and suspicion is what everyone lives for. Two days. Tops. But don’t worry. If we fill them in, no one will say anything to outsiders.”

  Too bad their lives depended on it. Walker looked up at Layne. Her dark hair blended into the shadows, her smooth skin glowing in what sunlight was left. He’d do whatever it took to protect her. This was a woman who hadn’t hesitated to put her life on the line for a man she didn’t know, even if that meant leaving her and this town safely in Ahmed’s hands. For if he was found out, Walker already had developed a plan to keep her safe, and that plan revolved around the infamously dangerous Ahmed.

  9

  Layne closed the garage door to her house and let out a sigh of relief. She’d at least made it home without anyone seeing Walker. She said two days, and that was optimistic. Her phone buzzed before she could open the car door.

  “Who is it?” Walker asked as he slowly pulled himself off the floor of the SUV.

  “My dad. He must have put cameras up again outside my house,” she said, reading the text.

  Welcome home. Will bring the little rat over soon. Unless you’re too tired and then I guess we can keep him.

  She texted him back to keep Fluffy Puppy overnight, promised she was fine and just tired. After a video chat as she walked inside her house to show her father she was quite all right, her father relented and agreed to bring FP by the office tomorrow.

  “I’m taking it your dad doesn’t know the meaning of boundaries.”

  “Nope. He’s never heard of them.” Layne chuckled. “I used to hate it. He scared away every single boyfriend I had, but now it’s endearing. I always feel loved, even if sometimes it’s a smothering kind of love.”

  “What does your boyfriend think of it?” Walker asked, not so subtly, as he helped carry what little luggage there was inside the house.

  “Don’t have one.”

  “I wonder why.”
He snorted.

  Layne rolled her eyes. If she found a man willing to stand up to her father and not run like a scared little boy, she’d marry him on the spot. Layne walked into her kitchen from the garage and set down her bags. She saw Walker looking at the pictures she had of her friends and family and at the little dog bowl on a mat in the kitchen.

  “Cat?”

  “Dog. A Maltese.”

  Walker’s eyebrows rose. “I didn’t picture you with a little froufrou dog.”

  Layne shrugged her shoulder. “My aunt Gemma and uncle Cy had one, and I loved that little dog as a kid. When you meet him, don’t tell him he’s little. He thinks he’s a Great Dane.”

  Layne nibbled on her lip, though, as she looked around the house. “We do have a little problem.”

  “What’s that?” Walker asked, suddenly on alert.

  “It’s easier if I show you.” Layne walked from the kitchen and Walker followed. “That is the dining room over there,” she said of the open doorway leading to a front room. “And you can see the living room already,” she said, pointing to the living room with the large-screen television, two damask club chairs, and a soft green couch with a large rectangular coffee table between the seating. Layne turned down a hall and pointed out the half bath, then the full bath. “You can use this bathroom. There’re towels hanging up already. There are more in the closet.”

  Layne nibbled her lip again as she opened the first bedroom door. “This room is my office,” she said, stepping into the room lined with a bookcase filled with medical texts and books. A large desk faced the window overlooking the backyard. The room was a small bedroom but was perfect for an office.

  She walked out and opened the door to the second bedroom. “And this is my gym. We’ll be able to do all your physical therapy here as well as at my office in Lexington.”

  “Nice,” Walker said, walking around the room checking out the equipment. This room was a good size, and she’d been able to put in a treadmill, an elliptical, and a rowing machine along with some free weights. Different exercise bands hung from the wall and a television was hung nearby as well. “But what’s the problem?” Walker asked.