Unexpected Hero (Skyline Trilogy Book 1) Read online

  A moment later, Jax delivered a shepherd’s pie on a plate and dropped a fork in Josh’s lap.

  “Plates and everything, huh?” Josh settled his plate.

  “I’m fancy.” Jax sat down on the couch and bent over his food.

  Without ceremony, they shoveled food into their mouths as fast as competition eaters. When they were done, finishing at almost the same moment, they put their plates to the side.

  “So. How’d it go?” Jax stripped off his shoes before propping a foot on the coffee table. The other followed.

  “Same ol’. A bunch of upbeat nature lovers who clap in ecstasy whenever they see a bird.”

  “Tired of it yet?” Jax took a pull from his beer. “Ahhhh. That’s good.”

  Josh huffed a laugh. Jax was too expressive by half. “Not yet.”

  “You sure? I could get you a job in record time. Say the word. It’s not exciting as far as cop jobs go, but occasionally you get to turn on the siren.”

  “Sounds like a dream.”

  “Look, bro.” Jax took another swig of his beer. He was about to get serious, Josh could tell. Jax had been worried about Josh since they’d pulled through the event that changed their lives. Jax seemed to have healed faster than Josh in more ways than one. He’d certainly healed more completely. “I get why you started over. You don’t have to tell me—I get it. And I get why you’re cool with being a loner. I don’t agree with it, but I get it. But the thing is, you’ll never get out of those woods if you don’t force yourself. You’ll roam around there forever, not getting shot at, but still thinking that you will. You’ll relive it, over and over, as long as you keep dwelling. I don’t want to sound like your sisters, but it’s not healthy.”

  “Getting shot at will cure me, is that it? Being a cop will make it all go away?” Josh upended his beer and drained it dry. He pushed himself off the chair and went into the kitchen to grab another.

  “All I’m saying is, this isn’t helping, this job of yours. Maybe try something else for a change. There are a million ways to escape. Try one with more pretty girls your age.”

  “I have nothing to offer a pretty girl.” Josh handed his friend a beer. “My life is fine. Predictable. It works.”

  Jax blew out a breath, probably hearing the finality in Josh’s voice. As was always the case, his friend got the hint and backed down. “All right, man. Well, you know I’m always here when you need something. I can’t find a girl to save my life, so I got plenty of time to kill.”

  “What happened to Amy?”

  “She was hot, but…that was about it. Dumb as a post.” Jax’s shoulders shook with laughter.

  Josh nearly laughed with him. “That’s not right.”

  “It’s true.” Jax leaned back and covered his eyes with his arm. “Dumb as rocks, bro. Seriously. Could not hold up her end of the conversation to save her life.” He shook his head and put his beer between his legs. “But hot, though. Very. I was the envy of the town.”

  “You’re about out of girls to date now.” Josh watched a dog being led around a green floor on the TV.

  “There’s a whole lotta towns, and I’ll hit them all.” Jax’s grin said it all. He was a playboy with no thought of settling down. Not that he wouldn’t want to, eventually, but he was flat broke. All his money was going into his house and helping his sister. Coming from nothing, he was the only one who made it out of poverty, and now he was trying to pay it back. It was commendable. He had a lot of heart.

  “You should move on,” Josh said, keeping his eyes firmly on the TV. “I’m holding you back. You should get out there. Hit a big city and see what it has to offer. Big-city cops make double what you do. Triple in some places.”

  “Now…” Jax shifted from side to side, shimmying his butt down a little so he could lean further back. “Why would you say a thing like that, I wonder?”

  “My turn to be honest, then, is it?” Josh watched more dogs being led around, all the same breed. “We both know you hang around because of me. You think you owe me something. You lived. That’s enough. Anything else is a waste of your time. You should get out and make some money, see some action, meet some girls. I’m holding you back.”

  “You’re holding you back. I’m just minding my own business.” Jax put a hand behind his head. After a silent beat, he said, “I would like a little more action now and again, though. Nothing crazy. I don’t need another bullet hole. But…something. I feel like my brain is eroding.”

  “Nothing there to erode.”

  “Even still. I’m getting slow and fat. Look at this gut.” Jax put a hand to his stomach and shook.

  “Go running.”

  “See, now that’s the thing. I don’t want to run unless something is chasing me.”

  “Drape cold cuts all over your body and go for a stroll through the woods. I guarantee something will chase you.”

  “Look at you and all your ideas. Keep ’em coming, man. Keep those terrible ideas rolling.” Jax made a rolling motion with his hand.

  The phone rang and vibrated at the same time, clattering across the glass. Karen’s name scrolled across the screen, making Josh pull his hand back.

  He hadn’t been entirely truthful with Jax. His life wasn’t fine. It was hollow, if anything. Uneventful, boring, and…useless. He wasn’t living, and he wasn’t dying. Hell, he wasn’t even floating. He was sinking slowly in the pit he’d fallen headfirst into. The bitch of it was, he didn’t want to face his life. He didn’t want to feel the pain that haunted his every step. When he went into the woods, he could shut off and push it all away. He focused on nature, took care of the dippy idiots, and hid away from the world. It might not be the right thing to do, but it was all he had.

  He grabbed the phone off the table. Karen, the lead woods guide, probably wanted him to pick up another shift. Maybe two. Hell, let him disappear into the woods for the rest of his life. It might help everyone else cut him free, finally.

  Chapter Three

  The end of the week saw the size of the crowd of picketers doubled. Yells and chants accompanied waving signs and pumping fists. The volume drowned out the sound of Jenna’s heels clicking against the concrete. The protesters were at fever pitch, looking for a reason to let their aggression boil over.

  They must have found some press. And a whole lotta coffee.

  Nearly holding her breath, she made it halfway through the throng before people started to realize who she was.

  “Hey, are those plans?” Her body jerked as someone tugged at her duffel.

  Increasing her pace, she ripped her pack away. A hand swatted her shoulder. Then a shove had her staggering to the side.

  The crowd condensed around her.

  “This bitch is involved in creating that eyesore,” a woman yelled.

  “Fucking bitch,” someone screamed in her ear.

  Another push, harder than the first, sent her careening into a heavyset man with body odor. He reached for her bag.

  “No,” she said, yanking her pack away and hugging it to her like a child. His face turned putrid, anger pulling at his features. His shove sent her flying, smacking her against someone’s large breasts. The crowd boiled and surged around her, catching her up and spinning her around.

  She yelled for Jimmy, the only security guard she knew. Greedy fingers reached and plucked, yanking a roll of plans away.

  “No!” she screeched. Another roll. Hands on her back shoved, throwing her forward. The sound of paper tearing competed with the yelled swearing and threats. She felt like a rag doll, only to be pushed away again. Faces swirled in her vision as she was pushed from side to side. Any second she could be pushed to the ground and trampled.

  Jenna screamed as someone grabbed her around the middle. She thrashed, breaking free, only to see a black uniform with her company’s insignia above the left breast.

  She breathed a sigh of relief as another security guard sandwiched her between them. “Let’s go!” one of them yelled.

  As a unit,
they moved, pushing through the crowd.

  “Here we go,” yelled someone a few feet away.

  Their group shifted, heading toward the voice.

  “…should be killed!” a man yelled, his red face screwed up with hate. He spat, spraying her cheek.

  Disgusted, she wiped at her cheek, smearing away the filth. A black stick rose beside her, coming down swiftly. A hollow thunk sounded before the spitter crumpled. Another baton caught her eye as her security guards jostled through the angry crowd. Screaming assaulted her ears, high-pitched and wild. The guard closest to the building grunted then stumbled, jerking her. Something splattered the man behind her, and then on her arm. Egg yolk dripped down her five-hundred-dollar blouse.

  “You okay, Bob?” the remaining guard asked the man who was staggering.

  He clutched on to Jenna to pull himself up. Leaning over with pain lancing his face, he coughed and squeezed her tighter, their pace no more than a crawl through the crowd. “Caught a fist to the kidney.”

  “Almost there, buddy,” the first guard said, shoving them to get moving.

  A loud grunt preceded the first security guard’s fall. He dropped away, his fingers scraping across her skin as he fell.

  “We’ve lost—”

  Before she could finish the sentence, Jimmy stepped up next to her, his large arms coming around her to grab Bob’s. “Almost there, Miss Anderson,” he said in a heavy, gruff voice.

  Like on a ship on stormy seas, she staggered back and forth, her security guards shoved as their fellow guards beat and jostled people out of their path. She heard sirens as her throng of muscle and might slowly moved toward the building. Rocks fell like rain. Luckily the mob only had urban stones at its disposal, which were small and light, but they dinged off her head and arms, still painful despite their small size. More than one of her guards grunted in pain as his coworker bludgeoned freely beside them.

  The game changed in a heartbeat as the knights of New York, the NYPD, arrived and joined the fray.

  A team of grim-faced men wearing full-blown riot gear surged toward Jenna’s throng. Bodies bounced off reinforced plastic shields. More batons flashed through the hazy morning sky. The crack of a gun sounded before someone dropped. A bean bag rolled across the ground and was quickly kicked aside as two more protestors took the first’s place. Curses were thrown with as much violence as rocks and fists. The guards around her bristled in matching rage.

  “Go, go, go!” Jimmy said through clenched teeth.

  Moving faster now that the NYPD had cleared the way, Jenna stubbed her toe. Her body pitched over before being grabbed and hauled up the concrete steps. They hustled her through the open glass doors, then one and all spilled out onto the lobby floor.

  As the heavy glass doors finished their slow sweep shut, the room was immersed in liquid, gooey silence. Jenna’s heart thudded through her ears. Heavy panting seemed unnaturally loud against the muted screaming from outside.

  “Are you okay?”

  She turned slowly and met the eyes of Jimmy. A trickle of blood ran down his cheek.

  “She’s in shock. She needs to go to the hospital,” Jimmy yelled at someone behind him.

  “No, no, no.” Jenna struggled to her feet, braced by strong hands. “I’m okay. It’s okay. But…that was nuts, right?”

  Jimmy cracked a smile, though the concern did not leave his eyes. “Someone is coming with a first-aid kit. Are you sure you don’t need to go to the hospital?”

  “The rocks. You’re bleeding.”

  “I’m okay. Glory wound. No big deal.”

  Before she could comment, the door opened. The roar of an enraged crowd washed through the room. A voice on a bullhorn blared. On the stairs, the line of NYPD were getting bombarded with fists, sticks, screams—a shoe flew up out of the crowd and hit the window.

  The guards inside the building secured the door once a new group had shuffled in, muting the scene once more. Directions were shouted and two guys helped someone to the ground. A mussed brown head lolled to the side. Erika!

  Jenna staggered toward her friend like a drunk, still disoriented from the jostling trip through the crowd. She made it halfway before Jimmy put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. “She needs a second. Give her time to gather herself.”

  “Is she okay?”

  Erika’s head snapped up. “Jenna?” Her big brown eyes peered out of wild hair. As soon as their gazes met, Jenna saw Erika’s big exhale. Then her smile lifted her cheeks. “What the hell, am I right?”

  The woman could bounce back on a dime.

  Jenna felt her relieved smile bubble up from her toes. “I’ll say. How are we going to get into work tomorrow?”

  “Let’s worry about how we are going to leave first!”

  “Don’t worry, ladies,” Jimmy said. “NYPD are on the scene. They will have this sorted out in a jiff. We need to get you up to your floor. The line is holding so far, but they are a bit too close for comfort.”

  Jenna and Erika clutched each other as Jimmy led them through the lobby and then motioned them into a waiting elevator. The wide-eyed office assistant holding the first-aid kit followed the girls in, blinking heavily.

  All sounds of mob warfare closed off instantly with the click of the shiny metallic doors. In its place, soft jazz was conquering the world one elevator at a time.

  “What the hell just happened?” Erika asked in a hush. The quiet seemed out of place.

  “I started that.”

  “No way. How could you possibly have started it?”

  “I don’t know.” Jenna thought back. “There were picketers and all that, and they were chanting and whatever. Then someone must have seen my plans. Oh my God, my plans!” Jenna looked down at empty hands.

  “What about your handbag?” Erika asked.

  “That, too. But I can cancel credit cards. All that work! Hours and hours.”

  “Isn’t it on your computer?”

  “I made hand notes. I meant to transfer them this morning. Damn it!”

  “I don’t get it,” Erika said as the elevator came to a stop. “Sure, our company is actually making the building, but it’s not like we can just randomly pick a spot, club someone over the head, and build away. Shouldn’t those people be mad at the city for giving us permission? I mean, seriously, isn’t that why there is a permit department, for cripes’ sake!”

  “All the groups against this building think we paid off the planning commission.”

  “So? Sure, that’s unethical and illegal, but shouldn’t someone be protesting about corruption? Hell, companies are all evil, we know that. This is not news—which is why we have government and regulation, right? They’re supposed to make sure that businesses don’t get away with murder. What the hell do we have to do with it? Tell those SOBs to take it up with Congress!”

  “They are,” Don said as he emerged from Mike’s office, next to Erika’s. Her eyes grew as big as the world, and at the same time her mouth snapped shut. He’d effectively knocked her off her soapbox of indignation.

  Don looked at them both for a second before he continued. “A lot of city buildings have picketers right now. It’s turning into a widespread phenomenon. Except they have no power. We do. But we can’t have you girls getting caught up in that mess. We’re going to have to make some changes. Put you in another location. I’ve seen this kind of thing before. This is just getting started.”

  Before Jenna could open her mouth to disagree, pointing out that all their equipment was here, Don strode away, barking orders to his secretary down the hall.

  Erika walked into her office. Jenna, not ready to be alone, followed her.

  “Did you see Phil?” Erika asked from behind her desk, changing subjects as though they hadn’t just waded through a bunch of psycho picketers.

  “Phil? Who’s Phil?”

  “You know. Phil? The hot security guy?”

  Jenna shook her head slowly, running through a mental list of security guards. “What does he
look like?”

  “Tall—your height—lean, wavy brown hair, constant stubble, our age. You know—Phil!”

  Jenna tried to match the description to her list of possibilities. She couldn’t place him.

  “He’s usually a night guard,” Erika said, “but he just got switched to days. Anyway, I got stuck in all those screaming people, right? I was trying to push my way through—no one caught on I worked here—”

  “Lucky.”

  “Yeah! And anyway, I saw him on the steps looking down at everyone—well, I yelled for him. I don’t have your height; I was drowning in there. So anyway, he must have heard my voice. God only knows how, right? And he jumps into the fray. I knew, I just knew he was coming for me. And then he did!”

  Erika got a dreamy look in her eye. “He got to me and picked me up à la The Bodyguard. As soon as he had me, I felt so safe. So safe! Then a bunch of guys circled me and basically carried me inside.”

  Without warning, a weird pang pressed on Jenna’s heart. A longing she hadn’t felt before tugged at her middle, making her cross her arms over her chest. “Are you seeing him?”

  Erika’s smile held an image of mornings in bed wrapped in the arms of a lover. “Yes. We’ve been together for a couple of months.”

  Jenna squirmed uncomfortably, trying to rid herself of the sudden empty feeling that struggled to tear free from her hard shell of indifference. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because it’s so new. And anyway, I didn’t know if it was just physical at first. Then, when it wasn’t, I didn’t want to jinx it. But yeah, we’re together. Together-together. I think I’m in love!”

  Jenna smiled like an idiot, happy for Erika. Then the sentiment melted as she thought of Lewis, or any number of previous boyfriends. There had been a few, like Lewis, that she really liked. She had definitely felt a strong emotion toward them, but she couldn’t honestly say that she’d ever felt like Erika’s expression looked. The feelings never went that deep. They had never truly affected her.

  “I think I am dead inside,” Jenna said sarcastically.

  Erika rolled her eyes as she turned on her monitor. “If you were dead inside, you wouldn’t be so sweet to your friends.”