The safety was on. She remembered that as her hand fell on it and she felt Wes’s breath on her neck. Her thumb fell into position, flipped it as she brought it up.
The knife glittered above her head as she heard her own screams and the sound and the feel of the weapon discharging, throwing her hand up even as she stumbled to throw herself out of the trainer’s way.
And she watched him fall. Slowly. Shock rounded his eyes, parted his thin lips. It was a curse that croaked from his lips as the knife fell to the floor milliseconds before his body did.
And then she saw the blood—
“Keiley! Wake up, Wake up now!”
Jethro and Mac were yelling at her as hard hands shook her shoulders, bringing her from nightmare to reality with a jerk.
She stared up at Jethro, fighting to breathe, seeing the emotions that washed over his face the moment he realized she was awake. The emotions displayed there were heartbreaking. Fear. Remorse. Love. He loved her, just as fiercely, just as possessively as Mac loved her.
“God, you’re going to give me a heart attack at this rate. ” He jerked her into his arms, his powerful, naked body shuddering once as his hold tightened on her briefly.
“I’m okay. ” She was shaking, shuddering in the aftermath of the nightmare that had come two days after the attack.
The day before had been filled with questions, from the FBI, the local sheriff, and the reporters who had caught the story.
She didn’t think the house was ever going to empty of people. She had finally collapsed in exhaustion at midnight while Jethro and Mac were still compiling information on Wes Bridges, alias so many different variations of the name that she had lost count.
“Is she okay?” Mac stood in the doorway, already showered and dressed, his gaze concerned as he moved to the bed where Jethro held her.
“You could ask me, you know. ” She pushed back from Jethro, dragging her hand shakily through her hair as she swallowed back the remnants of fear.
“Are you okay, Kei?” He sat down beside her, reaching out to brush a tear from her cheek as Jethro collapsed back against his pillow.
“Stupid nightmare. ” She shook her head. “I’m fine. ”
He watched her carefully for long moments before slowly nodding. “If you two want to get
a shower, I’ll fix breakfast. We need to head to D. C. later this afternoon to give our depositions and finish up some red tape. ”
“Great,” she muttered as she looked over at Jethro. “Why is he still in the bed? I thought he got up with the chickens with you. ”
Mac glanced over at Jethro with a smile. “He was up later last night. ”
She looked at Jethro suspiciously. “Why?”
A frown etched over Jethro’s brow as his eyes opened. “I had things to do. ”
Keiley glanced back at Mac, barely catching the concern in his eyes before they became shuttered.
“Get a shower. I’ll put breakfast on while you two have your coffee. ” He rose from the bed before leaning forward and kissing Keiley’s lips gently, “I’ll see you downstairs. ”
Evidently someone had decided that she got to deal with Jethro’s early-morning grouchiness.
She turned and stared back at him silently.
He was staring at the ceiling, avoiding her gaze, his muscular body tense, as though prepared for battle.
“Are you coming home when we’re finished in D. C. ?” she finally asked, terrified of the answer.
His gaze sliced back to her before moving away again.
“Should I?” he finally sighed, his thick black lashes shielding his eyes.
“What does that mean?”