Riptide

“No, Tyler,” Becca said, lightly touching her fingertips to his arm. “We’ve got to clean it up. There are lots of people here now to help me.”

Tyler turned to Adam. “Who the hell are you, really? And you?” he added to Sherlock.

“Savich and I are FBI, Mr. McBride. Adam here is on special assignment to protect Becca.” That sounded like he was with the Bureau as well, Adam thought, which was probably for the best. An independent security consultant didn’t sound like he’d know what to do with a madman. FBI did.

“You never told me,” Tyler said to Becca, his voice low. “You didn’t trust me. You let me think he was your cousin. Why the hell did you do that?”

Becca couldn’t think of a thing to say that wouldn’t make everything worse. She hadn’t meant to hurt him, to keep him in the dark, to make him feel unimportant to her, but—

“Get over it, Tyler,” Adam said. “This isn’t fun and games. It’s serious business. You’re not trained to do this sort of thing. We are. Besides, you’ve got Sam. He’s got to be your first priority.”

“You bastard,” Tyler said, his hands fisted at his sides. “You’re not gay, are you?”

“No, not any more than you are.”

“You want to seduce her, to take advantage of her. She’s scared and you just want her to depend only on you. You’re afraid to have me here.”

“Look, McBride—”

But Adam didn’t have time to calm the man down. Tyler leapt at him, knocking him over on his back in the entryway. Adam landed on his hurt arm, grunted, then bounded back up. He wasn’t seeing red this time, he was seeing a very sharp and clear target—right in the middle of Tyler’s kidney. Hellfire, no, he couldn’t. It wouldn’t be fair. He could seriously hurt the guy. Well, damn.

Tyler, breathing hard, out of control, was about to jump at him again when Sherlock calmly tapped him lightly on the shoulder, and when he turned, distracted, she clipped his jaw. His head flew back and he stumbled. He regained his balance and stood there, feeling his jaw. He looked at her, stupefied, as Sherlock said, “I’m sorry, Mr. McBride, but that’s enough. Listen to me. Becca’s life is what’s important, not your wounded feelings. Adam didn’t even know Becca until a couple of days ago. He’s here to protect her. Now, get a grip on yourself or I’ll flip you over my shoulder and lay you out.”

Tyler looked like he didn’t doubt her for an instant. He turned slowly to face Becca. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to hit him, well, I did, but it’s just that I’m so scared for you, and this guy shows up pretending to be your cousin and I knew he wasn’t. I didn’t know what to do. I’m worried about you, Becca, real worried—”

Becca walked to Tyler and slowly stepped against him, clasping her arms loosely around his back. “I know, Tyler, I know. I really appreciate you being here for me, but these folk are all pros. They know what they’re doing and there are even more people coming now. We’ve got to catch this maniac. Now that he’s here I can’t pick up and run. We’ve got to get him. He found me, how, I don’t know, but don’t you see? If I run, he’ll just find me again. I’ve got people here to help me now. Please, Tyler, tell me you understand why I kept quiet about Adam.”

He was pressing his cheek against her hair, squeezing her so tightly Adam thought he’d crush her damned ribs. Adam wanted to pull him off and give him one good shot in the jaw.

Becca slowly pulled away. He was afraid for her, she knew that, and she didn’t want to hurt him. Her voice was very gentle when she said, “You do understand, don’t you, Tyler?”

“Yeah, I do, but I just want to help.” Then he lightly traced his fingertips over her cheek. “I’ve known you for a long time, Becca. I want to help. This is a real creepy business.”

“You’re telling me.” She managed something of a laugh, which was closer to a cry, really.

Tyler said when Savich came back to the entryway, “Thank you for taking care of Sam.” He lifted Sam into his arms and squeezed him nearly as hard as he’d squeezed Becca. “Sam, I’m sorry I lost my temper with Adam. I didn’t mean to frighten you. You okay?”

Sam nodded. “I heard you yelling.”

“I know,” Tyler said, kissing Sam’s temple. “You’re not used to that, are you? Everyone loses his temper sometimes. I’m sorry I did it and sorry you were close by. Now, you and I need to go over to Goose’s Hardware and get some washers for the bathroom faucet. Would you like to do that?”