Superb and Sexy (Sky High Air #3)(77)

Rick’s gaze narrowed, wavering on each of the four of them in turn. His gun, however, did not waver, not one bit. “Are you kidding me?”

Maddie put her hand in front of Brody and shoved him back a step.

Then Leena elbowed both Maddie and Brody back. “I told you! My fight.”

Brody was getting damn tired of getting shoved while trying to save his woman, but then Leena grabbed the barrel of the gun herself and put it against her chest. “It’s me you want. Tiny Tim,” she yelled toward the door. “This doesn’t involve you. Just stay back.”

Uncle Rick craned his neck to glance at the door, but there was no one in the doorway. In that split second, Leena grabbed a wickedly sharp chisel from her shelf and swung it at Rick.

Rick, no slouch in the quick mover department, sensed her motion and whipped back, aiming at Brody—except that Maddie threw herself in front of him as a shield, screaming “Nooooo.”

Brody might have yelled, too. He couldn’t tell over the roar of adrenaline in his body as he wrapped Maddie in his arms and tried to pivot to protect her, but the woman was strong and determined, and still screaming in his ear as she shoved with all her might.

The two of them crashed to the floor as the sharp crack of the gun went off. He actually felt the whir of the bullet as it whizzed past his ear.

Holding Maddie down, he lifted his head to see what was happening, just in time to see Leena clock Rick over the head with the chisel.

Rick’s eyes, wide and surprised, locked on Leena as he staggered back a step, still in his shooter’s stance. His mouth went slack as he formed one surprised word.

“Leena.”

And then he hit the floor with a bone-jarring thud.

“That’s bitch to you,” Leena said, dusting off her hands. “Oh, and by the way? I quit.”





Chapter 29


M addie had never known panic like she knew now. Rick had gotten a shot off, but who had it hit? Beyond reason, nearly hysterical, ears still ringing, she slipped out from beneath Brody. “You okay?” she demanded, slapping her hands down his body.

“Yes.” His hands grabbed hers, his gaze filled with the same panic she felt. “You?”

Heart in her throat, she nodded, her gaze going straight to Leena next, who was now standing over a very unconscious, and if she wasn’t mistaken, drooling Rick.

“Hope you heard that, you SOB!” Leena sounded so cocky she might have been Maddie.

Maddie sagged in unbelievable relief as Brody surged to his feet, grabbing a roll of twine from Leena’s shelf. Ben met him, and together, the two of them hauled Rick to a chair and tied him to it.

None of them had been hit. It was a miracle. And a sign. Or so Maddie hoped. A sign that this was going to go their way.

Moving close to a hog-tied Rick, she held the radio toward his mouth as his eyes slowly opened. “When I push this button,” she instructed, “you’re going to tell your men out there that we need the boat ready for a little ride to Nassau. You tell them that, and—”

“—And we’ll let you live,” Leena finished for her.

Rick snorted.

“We’ll let you live,” Leena repeated. “Unlike Manny.”

Looking only slightly less cocky, he shut his mouth. Uncooperative.

Brody crouched in front of him. “And one other thing. Once we’re out of here, you won’t contact either of the sisters ever again.”

Over Rick’s head, Maddie met Brody’s gaze and felt her heart catch. God. How had she gotten so lucky to have him in her life? She pushed the button on the radio and waited for Rick to talk.

“Tiny Tim,” Rick said through his teeth, but said nothing else.

“Do it,” Maddie said. “Tell him.”

Rick nodded, but instead, he yelled, “Tiny Tim, get your ass in here—”

Before he’d even finished the sentence, there came a thud from outside in the hall, and then another, and then a single person stood in the doorway.

Rosaline.

“Where are my men?” Rick demanded from his chair, fighting his bonds.

Rosaline shrugged. “Sporting twin concussions from the brass vase I just hit them with.”

Looking comically taken back by the fact that everyone had turned on him, Rick shook his head. “Rosaline—”

“Save it. I quit, too.”

With a smile, Leena tossed aside the tool she still held and dusted off her hands. “Feels good, doesn’t it?” She gasped in surprise when Ben yanked her into his arms. “What—”

But he just cupped her head in his big hand and shook his head. “Shut up a minute.” He tightened his grip on her. “Just shut up a minute, and let a guy catch his breath.”

Brody checked the knots on Rick’s rope and then turned to haul Maddie into his arms, too. “Too close,” he murmured, his voice thick. “Too damn close.”

She gripped him tight. “It was you I was worried about.”

“I’m hard to hurt.”

Pulling back, she looked into his eyes, feeling her heart swell painfully. “But not impossible.”

He slowly shook his head, and she opened her mouth to say something—she wasn’t sure what—but Rosaline interrupted. “Come,” she said. “I’ll take us to the boat.”