The hand that brushed against her back burned in her memory. So did the moment the bullet broke through the glass. She sucked in her breath. "I don't know what's going on, but it must be big if you are both here."
Without another word, she squeezed into the backseat of the car, which she quickly realized was overdramatic. The leg room was more than ample, she thought, as both the men in the front seat were all muscle. They stared at each other. She crossed her arms as the men closed their doors. "What?"
Colt turned to her from the passenger seat. John revved the engine. Colt asked, "Why weren't you at John's as planned? Did you two have a fight so you put your life in danger out of anger?"
Her skin prickled and her forehead felt hot. This discussion was not to be had with Colt. She shook her head. "No—and what a question."
His gaze narrowed like he was a hawk and she was prey. "Then why did you leave?"
"Today is move-in day with my condo. It's time I do what I need."
John gripped the wheel and she caught his gaze in the mirror. His blue eyes looked haunted. Then he handed her his phone. She stared at the newest model of the phone and realized this wasn't what she'd seen before. Whatever it was that brought them together had better not be technology-related. "This looks brand new."
John shook his head. Then he returned his attention to the black-tarred road. "I had to give my old one to the police. Listen to the voice mail."
The police. The thought that something had happened to her father replayed in her mind. He couldn't have had another heart attack. No.
"Okay." She hit play. This couldn't be happening. A chill raced through her body. The man had been a real threat. She coughed as the message replayed again. "Someone was following me. At least he didn't shoot me on the street."
Her entire body had a chill that ran through it. She could have been shot on the street where people buy wedding dresses and walk in their finest outfits to be seen.
John's hand went to her spine and he quickly massaged her shoulders. "Don't think about what might have been, Alice. You called and Vicki sent the video. The police are on it."
"Victoria dragged me inside the bookstore. Jennifer has the original footage of the man on video."
Again both men shared a look. Colt nodded, "I'll deal with Jennifer and get that to the police with her sworn statement."
John told her brother, "Thanks."
This was all her fault. She should have listened and stayed at John's home.
John sped his car down the street. Colt shook his head, stared back at her, and said, "You have two options until this all clears up, Sis. You come home with me to the parents' house, or you stay with John. You cannot be alone."
No. She gripped John's new phone like it was a lifeline. Her condo would only have locks, not the House of Morgan protection. She stared at John's profile. He kept his eyes on the road so she couldn't see them. She shook her head and turned her attention to her brother. "This is idiotic."
John tapped the steering wheel with his fingers. Her head snapped toward him and then she met his blue eyes for a moment in the mirror. "My house has security that the farm doesn't have."
To go back with John made her heart race. Alice recalled her fear at how close the stranger had come and decided she'd stay without one more complaint until the man was caught. It wouldn't be too long, not with video evidence. She nodded. "John's house is free of Mom and her constant negativity."
Colt stared at John next to him in the front seat. John nodded back, and then Colt ran his hands through his hair. "Mom has good reasons for not trusting the Morgans. She tried to call you."
Alice reached for her phone and unblocked her mother's telephone number. As her fingers clicked, her mind did the same. Whatever happened to fuel her mother's opinion of the Morgans, her brother knew.
John didn't have a clue how much her mother despised his family. She pressed her lips together as John told Colt, "You were the quarterback the year I was running back. Remember?"
Football seemed to be John's argument that Colt could leave her with him. Alice's mind prepared an argument for when that didn't work.
Then her brother shrugged. "Which is why I can let my sister stay with you. I don't think you're like your brother or father."
How did football translate into trust? Alice blinked, but kept her silence.
John said, "Alice, you didn't have to leave alone this morning."
Yes, I did. Though it hadn't worked out in her favor, she'd had to reach out for her independence. If she'd stayed in his bed, she would have turned into a needy sex-slave who begged for another moment of John's time. Not how she envisioned herself. She lifted her chin. "I'll stay for a few more days."
A few days she could handle. She dropped the phones on the seat beside her like they were heavy bricks.
John stopped at a light. "Colt, want to stay for dinner then?"
John seemed relieved as the light turned green and he accelerated the car. He had to know how he affected her. All her life, she'd had this overreaching crush on him that never wavered.
Her brother's brown eyes met hers. He nodded. "Yeah. John, we should catch up."
Strange. They drove back into the driveway of John's house where cameras waited outside. She kept her head down until the garage door closed. Despite the walls, she rushed inside with both men on either end of her.
Once inside, Alice rushed to pick up the flowers that she and John knocked down last night with the stand, before her brother saw it. A minute later, he walked in with John and Alice squared her shoulders. Colt nodded at her and said, "Text Mom you're here and you're safe."
Her mind went blank. "Mom?"
Colt again met John's gaze. Then he turned to her. "Yeah."
Again, Alice was hit with a jolt. Colt knew something she didn't about their mother.
John asked, "Anybody want something to drink? Water? Coffee? Soda?"
She took off her shoes and left them at the front door.
Colt walked in like he'd been here all morning. He slapped John on the back and smiled. "Iced tea."
"Me too," she said.
John went toward the kitchen, so Alice tapped her brother on the arm. She'd ask her questions before John came back. "Come on, Colt. Let's go to the living room and sit down."
He followed her. The sun shone bright in the window that faced the bay. She took a step toward the clear glass, but then her brother blocked the sun. "Now you can tell me why you left here without John's listening in."
Her face heated. No, she'd not tell him that. "I wanted my independence. I've lived with Mom and Dad for a while, and Mom always drives me crazy."
"I asked why you left John's side, not Mom's."
Adrenaline rushed in her veins. "I like him."
He shrugged his shoulders like she was the one that needed to see reason. "That's not a reason to put yourself in danger."
The birds chirped out the window as palm trees rustled in the breeze. She hugged her waist. She'd steer this conversation now. "Yeah it is. You know our mother hates his family."