0-69 in 5 Minutes (16 page)

“
Noah Kittler?” The small
one spoke.

“
Depends on who’s asking.
You’re not from the IRS are you?”

No one laughed at his joke.

“
You could say that. And
Uncle Sam sent his nephews to collect his money.”

He looked over the two goons, waiting for
the word to beat the shit out of him. They both stood about
six-foot four and had clearly abused steroids.

“
I’m not sure what you’re
talking about.” He closed the hood to the Cougar.

“
Cut the crap, Kittler.
Our boss knows that tramp ran back here. Now hand over the fucking
bitch, or me and Butch are gonna have some fun,” one of the
Moondogs roared.

“
Leroy, settle down.” The
leader of the three turned back to him. “We don’t want any
problems. All you have to do is give us the money or the girl, and
everything will be settled.”

“
I don’t have your
money.”

“
Well then, give us the
slut.”

It was gonna hurt like
hell, but he couldn’t turn her over to these guys.
Let’s get ready to rumble.
“So that’s how it is. I turn over my bitch or you turn loose
your bitches.”

“
That’s it, dickhead!”
Butch said.

He clenched his fists as the ogre advanced.
His only chance was to throw the first punch and make it count. He
connected a right hook to the side of Butch’s chin. The ox
staggered a step back, but stayed on his feet.

Damn.

With the sole of his work boot, Noah mashed
the man’s knee, dropping him to the ground. Leroy stepped up and
delivered a crushing blow to his jaw. He felt his brain jar and
tasted blood on his lip. The two of them traded punches, jab after
jab, until Butch came to his feet again.

The two slabs of meat wrapped him up and
held him while their lead man stepped up.

“
It didn’t have to come to
this.” He landed a blow to the gut. “She really isn’t worth it, you
know.” Another jab, this time in the ribs. “The bitch screwed
around on you every chance she got, and you welcomed her
back.”

A few more throws to the ribs and he felt a
crack. He couldn’t move or even protect himself with Leroy and
Butch holding him. The little fucker couldn’t have beaten him any
other way. Blood poured from his cut lip and busted cheek as the
pompous ass worked on his face.

“
That’s good, boys. I
think Mr. Kittler has learned his lesson.”

Leroy let go, but Butch held on, mashed his
head into the side of the Cougar. “Asshole, that’s for my
knee.”

“
Butch, enough. Leave Mr.
Kittler to think about the solution to his problem.” Butch let
go.

Noah slumped to the floor.

“
You have one week. Get me
the money, or the girl is mine.”

His head throbbed, his jaw ached, and at
least one rib was cracked, if not broken. The asshole had been
right about one thing, Bambi wasn’t worth it. He tried to move, but
pain shot through his side.

After a few minutes he heard the door slam.
His eyes had swollen, making it hard to see. The smell of gasoline
assaulted his nose.

“
Noah! Oh God, Noah, I’ll
be back.” Sadie’s voice drifted off.

Sadie. Emily.
He had to get up and find them. Smoke drifted
into the small slits still open in his eyes.
Fire!
The place was on
fire.

“
Noah.” Sadie’s voice came
back. “Noah, you have to get up. I can’t move you by myself. Noah!”
Panic laced her words. “I won’t leave you here. The place is on
fire and it’ll blow with all the gas in here. You have to get
up.”

She tugged on his shirt. He pulled his knees
beneath him. If he didn’t get out, Sadie would stay and die with
him, and he couldn’t let Emily grow up without a mother. It was too
hard for a child. But he could see a damn thing with the smoke and
his eyes swelling.

“
Help me!” Sadie
screamed.

I’m trying.
His head throbbed and he felt close to passing
out. He’d taken a hard blow to the temple and his head spun. Each
breath was filled with pain and smoke.

His arms were lifted and
placed over two sets of shoulders.
Bambi?

“
Pull!”

The two tugged, trying to pull him to his
feet. With his last bit of strength, he rose to his feet. Pain shot
through his side. “Agh.”

“
That’s it. Stay with us,
Noah,” Sadie coaxed. “Lean on me.”

He shuffled his feet, blindly following the
direction of Sadie’s pull.

Fresh air hit his face. He coughed and
stumbled.

“
Not yet. We need to keep
going.”

Step after painful step, he followed Sadie’s
lead until she eased him down on the sofa. His head rested on the
couch arm. He felt sleep coming on.

“
Noah! You can’t…sleep.
Hit…head.” Sadie’s words drifted in and out.

* * * *

Light blazed in Noah’s right eye. Then his
left eye. He blinked.

“
He’s coming around,” an
unfamiliar male voice said.

His head pounded and his side hurt. He tried
to sit up, but pain shot through his temple.

“
Don’t try to move, Mr.
Kittler. You’ve taken a bad blow to the head.”

Opening his eyes, he saw a
man, in his thirties, wearing a paramedic’s uniform.
The fire!
“Sadie?
Emily?” This time he had to get up.

“
Lay still. We’re fine,
just worried about you.” Sadie took his hand.

“
Mr. Kittler, can you tell
me how many fingers I’m holding up?”

He focused on the man’s hand. It was a bit
blurry, but he could make them out. “Three.”

“
Good. You passed out from
the shock. You have a cracked rib and your head will hurt for quite
a while. The guys have the fire out and an ambulance is ready to
take you to the hospital. I recommend you go and let them look over
your injuries.”

“
No.” Once this week had
been enough. “I’m fine. Besides…” He winced. Pain stabbed his side
with each breath. “They’ll just give me a brace to wear…which I
already have…and tell me…I need to be awakened…every couple of
hours.”

“
Noah.”

“
I hate to say it, but
he’s probably right, ma’am. And if he’s had cracked ribs before,
then he knows there’s not much that can be done about them. I
didn’t feel any broken or poking his lungs.”

“
My garage?”

The paramedic packed up his medical bag.
“The blaze is out, but the garage burnt to the ground.”

“
Burned,” Sadie
said.

“
What?”

“
Nothing…you’ll have to
excuse her. English teacher.” He rolled his eyes.

“
Oh. Well, I hope you feel
better soon. I’m sure the police ‘ill stop by for a statement.
Ma’am.” The man nodded and left.

“
I think it’s time
for
you
to leave,
too.” Sadie wasted no time before she tore into Bambi.

“
Leave?
I’m gonna take care of Noah.” She sat down on the
edge of the couch. “Ain’t that right, baby?”

“
It’s isn’t. And no you’re
not. He got the hell beat out of him because of you.”

“
Where’s Emily?” Maybe if
they remembered little ears were listening, the two of them would
stop arguing.

“
Bob picked her up while
you were passed out. She’s fine.”

“Oh yes, Bob. How is nerd boy,
anyway? Was that a new pair of glasses he was wearing?” Bambi
laughed. “Run on home to
Bob
. I can handle things here.” Her
hand stroked his stomach and dipped lower. “I’m so sorry, baby. Is
there anything I can do for you? Anything I can get
you?”

“
Val.”

“
What, sweetie?” she
leaned closer to hear.

Sadie laughed. “He said, you can call his
girlfriend and then get the hell out of the house.”

“
Girlfriend?”
Bambi yanked away.

“
That’s right. As in,
moved on with his life, done with you.”

Bambi crossed her arms and pouted. “Noah,
are you dating someone else?”

He rubbed his forehead and groaned. “I met
someone.”

“
But you made love to me.
How could you do this?”

Shit.
He looked at Sadie and swallowed hard. This was not a
conversation he wanted to have with big sister in the room,
hovering over him like she was his mom. The protect-my-brother side
of her was about to explode. In her eyes, he could almost see the
anger boiling over like a busted radiator.

“
Bambi.” He turned back to
his problem, the reason he’d gotten his ass kicked. “We didn’t make
love. We’ve
never
made love.”

“
How can you say that?
Just two days ago, we connected with each other.”

Rude had never been in his
nature, but she wasn’t going to get the hint otherwise. He gritted
his teeth and took a deep breath. Another stab of pain rocketed
through his side, but he needed to get all of this out at one time.
If he paused, he might not have the strength to finish. “Bambi, I
left your arms to go have dinner with Val and her parents. Then, I
spent the entire weekend making love to her. You were just a fuck
to take the edge off, so I could get through dinner without
stripping Val down. See, she lets
me
do that to her without other men
looking.”

“
Oh, my gosh, too funny!”
Sadie busted out, cocked her head and waved. “Bye-bye!”

Bambi’s lips pouted like a three-year-old
trying to get their way. “Tell me you don’t mean it.”

Lord, is this what he’d fallen for? His head
throbbed harder. “We’re divorced. I’m sorry, but it’s over.”

Bambi stood and stomped her foot like the
brat she was. “I have no way to get anywhere.”

“
I already called a cab.
It should be here soon, and I’ll be happy to pay the fare,” Sadie
said.

Bambi turned and looked him in the eyes.
Tears rolled down her cheeks. “You’re hurt, in more ways than one.
I understand that, so I’ll leave. But we are far from over.”

Chapter 13

Val stared in the long mirror as she slipped
in her emerald teardrop earrings. Heart racing, she trembled as she
attempted a contortionist move to zip her green floor length silk
gown. A beaded figure eight formed a halter-top bodice, giving the
simple dress an elegant illusion.

“
Let me help you with
that.” Noah’s deep voice tickled the bare skin on her
neck.

She shivered and blushed as she followed his
gaze in the mirror. It dipped down to the center openings of the
figure eight and traveled over her breasts. Still trembling, more
from the sheer closeness of him than from the events to take place
tonight, she held her breath. The sound of the zipper closing
echoed in the otherwise silent room.

Disappointment struck her. She’d much rather
him unzip her gown, but she feared complicating his injuries. For
the last week, she’d taken care of him while he’d healed. She’d
done everything for him: cooked, cleaned house, taken messages.
She’d tended his wounds, massaged his sore muscles and helped him
bathe. More than once she’d had to make “Spike” heal, but she
couldn’t make love to him when he was in pain.

He moved gingerly, but physically he seemed
to be mending fast. Mentally, she wasn’t so sure. What had really
happened to his place? He’d told her he’d been robbed. Somehow, she
didn’t think it was the truth. Their relationship was so new and
they were just starting to build trust. He’d tell her in his own
time. She had to believe that, or else she’d end up once more with
a broken heart from another lying man.

“
Thank you,” she breathed
the words, jagged to her ears. This was her night. The night she’d
waited so long for. But with Noah a reality instead of a ruse,
showing up Tyler didn’t seem so important anymore. “Noah, if you
don’t feel well enough, we don't have to go.”

“
Nonsense. This is what
we’ve been working for. Besides…” He spun her around and placed a
kiss on her cheek. “You look amazing. I’d be honored to have you on
my arm this evening.”

Heat rushed to her face once more. “Thank
you.” Fidgeting with his tie, she continued. “Since we’ve decided
to see where this leads, I think you should go as Noah. I mean,
people will see us in town, and you can’t pretend to be Sam
forever. After tonight, we'll get with my parents and tell them the
truth.”

He stilled her hands. “Are you sure this is
what you want?”

After spending the past
week with him, sharing everything so intimately, she wanted
Noah
more than anything
else in her life. More than some fake relationship. More than
getting her mother off her back. And more than some petty revenge
on an ex. “Positive.” She brushed a soft kiss over his
lips.

The black suit, white shirt and green tie
showed off a side of Noah she’d never seen. Nor did she believe
she’d get to see it very often. Nonetheless, even with his face
still bruised, every female eye would be on him tonight, and a few
male gazes for that matter.

“
Kiss me deeper. I’ve been
dying to make love to you and I'm not going to break.” His throaty
voice sent shivers down her neck.