Accidentally on Purpose

He’d felt a whole lot better when Elle had called him as well, but it wasn’t until right this minute, seeing her sitting there tense and worried about her sister but still waiting for him, that he recognized what he was feeling.

Relief, absolutely, but also something much, much more. He went straight to the passenger door and yanked her out of the truck and into his arms.

“What?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”

He tightened his grip and for a rare moment let his vulnerability show as he took comfort from her embrace. “You waited.”

“You asked me to,” she said a little ungraciously.

He was undone. He made it a habit to never be vulnerable and he was good at it, but with this woman, all bets were off. “Fill me in.”

“I think Morgan’s already inside. Her plan was to taunt Lars with the Russian pocket watch, telling him that she had it hidden, that she’d give it to him if he promised to leave her and me alone—”

Archer made a derisive noise.

“She’s not stupid—she knows he’s an arrogant asshole,” she said. “But he’s an arrogant asshole who will happily run his mouth to show off. She wants to implicate him. And then turn the both of them in.”

He met her gaze. “And your plan was to go in after her.”

“No, because you told me to wait. Oh and side note—you still suck at asking.”

Eddie bobbled his head on his thin neck. “Girls like to be asked. It’s a feminist thing.”

“It’s a human being thing,” Elle corrected. “You wanted me to wait for you and I did. I don’t see a car out front so probably Lars isn’t even home. We can just get Morgan out of there and—”

“There’s no ‘we’ on this,” Archer said.

“No?”

“Hell no.” He looked at Spence. “Watch her.” Then he turned to Reyes and Lucas. “You’ve got the front, I’ll go in the back.”

The guys moved like smoke, mobilizing at Archer’s orders. Archer started to vanish around the back of the house.

Elle followed him, hearing Spence swear from behind her. She didn’t care.

Archer flashed her a quick look of irritation but she took it as a good sign when he nodded at Spence. “Watch the street.”

The alley was narrow, lined with fencing and the occasional trash can. They counted buildings and Archer stopped Elle at the right gate. “I can get in and out faster alone,” he said.

“But I can keep her from doing something stupid,” she said.

He didn’t like this, she could tell, but again he didn’t try to hold her back. The back door was unlocked, the handle turning easily in her hand. She looked at Archer, surprised.

With a grim expression, he reached out to stop her from going in, stepping in front of her. “Go back,” he ordered.

Before she could follow his direction, shots rang out. Elle stood frozen in shocked horror as Archer spun toward her, tackling her down off the steps and onto the grass, hauling her behind a tree and pressing her down low there.

She reached out and grabbed his shoulders. Morgan. Morgan was in there! “Archer, we have to get to her—”

“I know. Stay here,” he demanded in her ear and then he was gone.

She was wholly on board with that. She stared down at her shaking hands and gasped in horror.

One of them was covered in bright red blood. Blood that wasn’t hers.

“Elle.” It was Spence, kneeling beside her.

She looked up at him. “Archer was hit.”

Chapter 24

#Crickets

Elle tried to control her crazy breathing but couldn’t. Spence had her by the hand, probably to keep her from running into the house more than for comfort. They couldn’t see much. There’d been no more gunfire and the odd silence scared her more than the shots had. She pulled out the knife Archer had given her all those years ago, the one she tucked into her pocket every morning out of habit, and slowly peeked around the tree.

“Holy shit, Elle,” Spence said, looking impressed at the sight of the knife.

Reyes and Lucas burst out the back door from inside, guns drawn. Morgan was between them, looking unharmed. They located Elle with unerring ease, so either she wasn’t all that well hidden or Archer had told them to come find her.

“Thank God,” Elle whispered as she hugged Morgan fiercely. Then she turned to Reyes. “Archer,” she demanded, fisting her hand in his shirt. “Where’s Archer?”

He looked down at the knife in her other hand and arched a brow like Spence had. “He’s right behind us.”

“He’s been hit,” she said, heart in her throat.

“Shit,” Reyes said, turning back to the house just as Archer pushed through the doorway, shoving Lars in front of him.

Reyes and Lucas rushed up to detain Lars as sirens wailed in the background.

When Archer was relieved of his burden, he hesitated, weaved, and then dropped to his knees.

Elle rushed to his side, gathering him against her as he started to slump over. “I’ve got you,” she said, clutching him to her. She had him and she wasn’t letting go no matter what his stubborn ass said. She tore at his shirt to see how bad it was.

“You’re carrying my knife again.”

“Still,” she corrected.

He let out a tight smile. “Better than diamonds any day.”

Her vision got hazy when she realized he’d been hit in the groove between his chest and shoulder and that he was losing way too much blood way too quickly. His face was pale and he was cool to the touch as she lowered him down and carefully placed his head in her lap so she could apply pressure and try to slow the bleeding.

“Elle,” he gritted out, peering up at her intensely as the paramedics began to cut away his shirt. “Are you—”

“Fine,” she promised, letting out a sob as he closed his eyes. She could scarcely breathe. “Archer—”

He got his eyes halfway open again. “You’re so pretty, Elle. Both of you.”

One of the paramedics was working at staunching the free flowing blood, the other checking vitals and speaking into a cell phone. Spence was at Elle’s side. “Don’t worry. They’ll put a Band-Aid on it and he’ll be fine.”