Free Recon Marines II: Marine's Heiress, The by Susan Kelley Page B

before going upstairs, but tonight he’d left the lockup to
her and her safety to Vin.
    Vin waited while she put out the café
lights and pulled the door tight. Only a few houses had lights in
their windows but it was only a few steps on the dark boardwalk to
Emma’s front door. She and Jenny had moved Russ home earlier in the
day using the wheeled chair Vin had made him. “Thank you again for
the chair for Russ. It will make all the difference in his
recovery.”
    The starlight created shadows around
Vin’s eyes but she could still see his gaze searching her face.
After his usual hesitation he spoke. “I did it for him so your
thanks are not needed.”
    “ I know, but it was very
kind since you don’t even know him.”
    “ As much as I know any of
you. I meant to be helpful more than kind. I didn’t intend anything
different.”
    “ Do you always take
everything so literally?”
    His eyes narrowed as they paused in
front of her door. “Did your words have another
meaning?”
    She didn’t laugh but couldn’t resist a
smile. “No, but Russ and Jenny are my friends, and he’s my patient.
Because you helped him, it helped me and made me happy. You made me
happy.”
    He stepped back, his erect military
posture somehow becoming stiffer. “I have no intentions of making
anyone happy, Miss Emma.” He walked away without saying good night,
passing by his shop door and continuing down the street.
    Emma watched him until he slipped into
the shadows of one of the narrow alleys. His attempt to push her
away with words only challenged her to help him. Vin Smith might be
damaged but no one was beyond repair.
    * * * *
    Vin drifted along the wall, using the
shadows to stay invisible. He tuned his handheld remote viewer to
stealth mode so the glow of the screen wouldn’t give him away. He’d
spent the hours between dusk and dark putting the security scanners
in place. He’d brought only eight of the small spy cameras with
him. They activated with movement but even when running remained
almost invisible. He’d placed one on each gate, set to capture a
wide shot of the ends of town and the lane running north and south.
The other six he’d planted along the walls, adjusting angles so
every inch of the perimeter could be monitored.
    He could have sat in his shop and kept
an eye on the remote, but Emma’s declaration had struck him like a
physical blow. Vin made her happy? He’d only ever made one other
woman happy, and now that woman was dead. He’d come to this planet
to wait in ambush. Emma was nothing but bait to him.
    No words she said could change his
reason for being here. No delicious home-cooked meal would deter
him from his course. No oddly gentle expression would distract him
from his purpose. And for damn sure, no reaction of his body to her
tumbling, golden curls or lithe body would cause him to chance
getting physically involved with her.
    The remote vibrated in his hand. The
middle camera on the eastern wall awoke. At night the screen showed
heat signatures. Two orange figures fought through the jungle
growing right up the wall.
    Vin ghosted through an alley and
crossed the street to the east side. He found the alley nearest the
intruders and paused to watch their actions on the remote. They now
glowed red hot as they neared the camera, taking on the shape of
men. Though the wall stretched upward for a height of twelve feet,
any determined person could scale the rough boards. With two men,
it because easier with one providing a boost to the
second.
    Putting the remote in his pocket, Vin
pulled a knife from his boot. Only two men. Should he question them
or just kill them?

Chapter Six
    Emma woke to pounding on her door for
the second night in a row. She glanced at the old style
solar-powered clock beside her bed. She hadn’t been abed more than
half an hour having fallen asleep in the middle of planning a
course of treatment for Vin.
    She pulled a pseudo wool robe over her
night shirt, tying it as she