Danger In Oleander: A Cowboy's Heart Novel Read online

  Chapter Eleven

  Without warning, a loud sound of a gunshot going off with a following noise of glass breaking echoed through the house, alerted Fang, and snapped his focus onto what was going on instead of keeping it on Emily.

  Instinctively, John ducked down and pulled her down with him to where he was on top, shielding her from the aftermath in case any glass flew in their direction or if the bullet hit something on the wall that would send it in their direction.

  What in the hell was that?! His conscience asked, screaming out its own shock and fear of what had just happened in a matter of seconds. What is going on, John?!

  I don’t know…but I plan to find out.

  John spoke with authority to his conscience, informing it that things were fixing to pick up and in a big way.

  Easing his body up, slightly, to a point where he gave Emily some room but remained shielding her, John scanned over the room, looking for the bullet.

  For the most part, the room appeared as it always had been aside from a small piece of glass nestled on the floor at one end of the couch. Everything was where it should be, and nothing was out of place.

  His eyes moved in the direction that was beyond where the broken glass lied, and noticed where a shiny, metal object was sticking out in a metal, Ford sign hanging on a side of the mantle.

  Bingo!

  John moved to his feet, and crept over to where the sign hung. He was cautious in his approach as to make sure that if the shooter was still outside that it would not hear his movements. Reaching his intended target, one of his hands titled a corner of the sign up enough to get a look at the bullet that was sticking out of it.

  Hm…This looks like the type of ammo that only can be found in a nine millimeter. I wonder-

  “Do you want more of that, John?”

  His body immediately started to boil at the sound of Johnathon’s’ voice shouting at him from outside of his home. He had reached his limit with the punk, and was not about to let him get one over on him.

  John moved back over towards the window, but kept to a side of it, hiding his body from sight in case her ex decided to shoot at the window again. Leaning against a wall to the left side of the window, he kept his focus on the window without letting on where he was at the moment.

  “Let’s not be foolish, Johnathon.” He called out to him with his tone dripping with frustration at him for coming to his home, inviting, and shooting a bullet through the living room window with the intent of hurting Emily, Fang, or himself. “You need to walk away right now before you make a decision that will change your life for good.”

  “The only way that I am going to walk away from this house,” Johnathon replied, shouting to the house from where he stood outside,” is if it is with Emily riding in the passenger side seat of my car that you stole!”

  * * *

  Emily’s heart dropped at hearing the request that her ex-boyfriend had made to him. She didn’t want to go anywhere with him let alone give him the pleasure of seeing her in the passenger side seat of his expensive car that was parked out back.

  There is no way in hell that I am going to walk out that back door, get into that vehicle of his, and go around the front of the house to where he is-

  “Very well, Johnathon.”

  John’s voice giving her former flame the answer he wanted to hear from him caused her attention to focus primarily on him, and expose the utter and complete shock that she was under. She kept eye contact on his face that was turned towards the window.

  “If you lower your gun, I will have Emily to bring the car around the front of the house, and drive you two to wherever you had in mind.”

  What in the hell are you doing, John?!

  Absolute fear started ravaging her from the top of her head all the way down to the bottoms of her feet. Not only was John giving up the fight…but that he was going to hand her, as well as the car, over to the devil himself.

  “Okay, John.” Her ex called out to him. I am putting the gun on your porch right now. Now…You do your part of the agreement.”

  Emily watched John finally look over towards her before she managed to reveal to him how upset she truly was with what was said by him to the monster that stood outside of his home.

  How can he do this to me?! I thought I meant more to him than just a roll around in the sack…but I guess that I was wrong.

  Her confidence in his feelings for her had started to take a nose dive the very moment that he had told Johnathon that he was going to have her to go outside, get in his car, and drive it around the front of his home to where he was waiting for her. How could she have any other type of feelings for him when he was clearly giving up on her so easily?

  Maintaining her gaze on his face, Emily started to notice something coming to the surface of it: Determination. He was showing no sign of walking away or giving off the vibe of someone throwing in the towel. There was no way that he was planning to walk away from her after all from finding his piercing stare fixated on her.

  “You got my word, Johnathon.” John called out to him while his eyes maintained on her with all of his desires and protective side pouring out to only her. “Emily is heading out right now to your car, and will be bringing it around to the front of the house.”

  Chapter Twelve

  The wheels in John’s head had started turning the moment Johnathon had placed down his gun in response to him ‘giving’ Emily to him. He knew that there was no way he was going to let her slip away from the life he could give to her, and back to the abusive one that her former boyfriend had to offer her.

  What are you planning to do now, John? You have told him that Emily is heading out back right now to the car and will be driving it around to the front of the house where he is-

  His answer lied in what his conscience had said to him. Emily would be heading out the rear door, getting into his replacement car, and drive it around to the front of the house where he was waiting on her. Once she did get out to him, she would have to get out of the car so he could move in the drive side.

  With a plan forming in his head, John motioned her towards the back door with his head as he silently moved in the same direction, attempting to keep his own sounds as quietly as he could manage. He slipped into the kitchen, and stood in front of the screen door while his eyes lingered on the backseat behind the driver’s seat.

  There should be enough room in the backseat for me to get down, and spring out at her ex from hell itself when she gets out for him to climb inside of the vehicle.

  John planned to get down in the backseat of the car behind where Emily would be driving around to the front. Once she would get out and moved out of the way, he would jump out, and take care of Johnathon with his own hands.

  Removing his gaze away from the rear seat, he focused it on an approaching Emily with an uneasy look on her face. His eyes lingered on the angelic beauty of her face while her sweet voice echoed to his ears.

  “What are we going to do, John?” Emily asked. She kept her voice low, but couldn’t manage to hide the overwhelming nervousness that she felt about the task at hand. “Do you have a plan in mind?”

  “I do…” John whispered, matching the lowered sound in hers, with his voice having a very serious tone. “I have a plan on how to deal with that asshole and to keep him from taking you away from me.”

  His head motioned out towards the car before he slipped out the screen door. John moved up to the driver side door, and peered inside at the large backseat that would give him plenty of room for what he had in mind.

  Perfect…This is going to work just fine.

  John turned back towards the house, and gaze upon Emily reaching where he stood. He shifted his eyes to hers, locking onto them, shortly before whispering to her with the same sound and tone in his voice he had used inside.

  “Now…I am going to squat down in the back behind the driver seat. You will drive the car around to where Johnathon is waiting, and get out when he asks you to. Once yo
u do, get his back to face me. That will be when I will jump out and silence him once…and for all.”

  * * *

  This plan sounds insane to me, Emily. Her conscience’s whispered, giving her its opinion regardless of her wish to hear it or not. There are so many things that can go wrong with this, and cost both of you to lose so much.

  Secretly, Emily understood that things could go wrong with what John wanted the two of them to do for his plan, and that they could lose what they both desperately wanted: Remain together and to spend their time in each other’s embrace for however long their time left might be.

  However, she also understood that the plan could go without a hitch to it, and that she would finally be free of the source of so many of her problems since having moved down to Oleander for the summer. Johnathon would be gone, and there would be nothing to stop her from spending as much time as she wanted with her passionate and protective Texan cowboy.

  Drawing in a breath of air, Emily gave a nod of her head towards him, and let her long awaited answer out in her soft voice.

  “Okay, John…That sounds like the best way for us to deal with my ex-boyfriend, and to free ourselves from him for good.”

  She chose to ignore the overwhelming amount of negative thoughts coming from her conscience, and focus on the more positive ones. For this to work, she needed to believe in the plan, and that him and her would finally have peace and quiet once more.

  Her eyes focused on his face while the rest of her body sensed his moving towards her. Gazing upon him, the muscles in her face tightened when one of John’s hands cupped a side of it, and the sound of his deep, sensual voice coming out of his strong mouth.

  “Everything is going to be okay, Emily.” John whispered, keeping his voice soft enough to where only her ears could hear it. “We will take care of Johnathon, and rid ourselves of him once and for all.”

  “I hope that you are right about this, John.” Emily wanted to sound brave in the face of the danger they were heading into, but her voice gave away her true feelings, revealing how scared she truly was. “I don’t know what I would do without you in my life.”

  “You are never going to know that feeling because I am going to always be here to keep you safe, happy and loved.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Emily’s heart overflowed with happiness at hearing his response. She needed to hear something to reassure her about all that was going on would be okay, and John did just that for her.

  Thank you, John…Thank you.

  Holding back the urge to throw her arms around his body and pull him tightly against hers, Emily’s brown eyes watched him walk over to the car, and open up the driver side door. She stood her ground as she watched him move his tall frame into the backseat, and ease down to where he would be in the floor and the backseat at the same time, and in a way to where he would not be seen so easily.

  Hesitantly, Emily made her way up to the car, and slid her curvaceous frame onto the leather seat. She reached out with her right hand, and pulled the door closed behind her.

  This plan is so crazy, Emily! How are you possibly going to pull this one off without making a mistake?!

  Her conscience’s ramblings took a toll on herself. She needed to be focused on the plan set out before her, but the voice of her inner self was attempting to sabotage that with its own fear of what was to happen next.

  Apparently, the turmoil she was experiencing on the inside was clearly noticeable on the outside of her body because she discovered one of John’s hands slipping onto her right shoulder before giving it a firm yet loving squeeze, letting her know that he was there and she had his complete support in this situation. A faint smile danced across her face as she reached back with one of her hands, and squeezed his back in the same kind of gesture he had given her.

  “You have nothing to worry about, Emily.” John whispered to her. His deep, Texan accent made his voice appear both comforting and sensual at the same time. “I am right here with you…You are not alone in this battle. We are in this together.”

  “Thanks, John…” Emily replied back to him in a tone that was soft and relieved. She used her thumb on her hand to rub against the top of his hand as she spoke to him. “I needed to hear that.”

  “You’re welcome, Darling…and I will be telling you something else once we get done with this punk, and we are finally alone with each other.”

  Her curiosity instantly peaked the moment she heard what he had said to her. What was it that John had to say to her? Is it good? Is it bad? Is it in the middle of the two?

  Although she desperately wanted to know what he wished to say to her, Emily knew that right now she needed to focus on their plan like he was. She gave one more nod to him before removing her hand from his, and turning the key in the ignition over.

  * * *

  It’s time for less talk…and more action.

  John kept his body close to the floor, and out of sight of the window as best as he could. He didn’t want Johnathon to spot him right off the bat when Emily got out of the car.

  As she had started driving them around a side of his home, he could feel his heart racing and adrenaline pumping at an accelerated speed. The fact he was heading into a fight against Johnathon with Emily’s safety and welfare on the line made the tension and intensity of the moment even that much more stronger and profound.

  I hope that you are ready for what you are heading into, John. His conscience whispered, letting its concern for the moment be clear and out in the open for him to completely see. You are heading right into the lion’s mouth.

  I am quite aware of where I am going, and it doesn’t scare me at all. He showed no hesitation in his response to his inner voice’s plea for caution. And there is no backing out for me now.

  John was one hundred percent confident in his plan and didn’t doubt it for even a single second. He had thought it through and figured it out to the best of his ability.

  I have figured out all of the logistics to it, and am quite sure of this plan going off without a hitch.

  Are you sure, John?

  What are you going on about now?

  What if Johnathon didn’t put his gun down when he said he was going to? What if he doesn’t give Emily a chance to have his back turned to you and has your plan to fail horribly?

  Before he could respond back to his conscience in the way he was wanting, John caught the sensation of the vehicle coming to a stop, and the sound of Emily shifting the car into park.

  As he stated earlier…The time for talking was now over. Now…The time for action had arrived.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Okay, Emily…Here it is…The point of no return. There is no going back now.

  Emily tried very hard to keep her heart rom racing any more than what it was at the moment. She needed to remain calm if this was to go off without a single problem.

  Letting a sigh, she eased the door open, and moved herself to stand outside of the vehicle, keeping her back towards John’s hiding spot. Her eyes moved towards where her ex-boyfriend stood while she listened to the sound of his voice.

  “It is good to see that John has finally realized who the better man was and is.” Johnathon spoke with a coy sound in his voice despite trying to sound sexy and seductive to her. “I mean…I knew it would only be a matter of time before that impotent and ignorant cowboy knew that I am more of a man than he can ever dream to be.”

  Oh…I wish to just punch him as hard as I can in his face for what he is saying about John, and end it on my own.

  Emily struggled to keep from letting her true feelings rise to the surface. She desperately wanted to shut him up, and sending him running for the hills on her own terms.

  There was nothing that she found in the way he talked to her that made her quake with desire or shiver with lust. It was quite the opposite for her.

  Don’t give into it, Emily. Her conscience whispered to her in an urgent tone. You have to keep up this façade with Johnathon if
you are wanting to not only walk away with John…but also alive.

  It was right. Her ex-boyfriend had come there with a gun, and was not prejudice at all about the idea of shooting into the house with the aim being to hurt John, Fang or herself. She had to play along with this or there wouldn’t be a future for the two of them.

  Drawing in a breath of air, Emily managed to put a smile on her face as she moved away from the vehicle, and started towards Johnathon.

  “Yes…” She said, sensually. “He couldn’t measure up to all that you can give to me.”

  Her voice forced the words out to him. It took every ounce of her strength to keep her from caving in, and just let him have it for what he had done to her in the past and at that very second.

  She made her way around him to where his back faced the direction of the opened driver side door. Her eyes remained focused on his stare that was fixated on her, wishing to keep his attention on her. Emily took a chance with flashing him an expression that dripped with desire that she wished for only John to see before she spoke to him in a tone to match the way she was looking at him.

  “How about we head out of here now, and go back to your place, darling?”

  * * *

  The only place that you are going to is back inside with me, sweetheart.

  John made stealth movements out of the backseat of the car, and placed his tall frame into a squatting position. His eyes never left the form of his target, and the reason for Emily’s frustration during the last month. Shifting down into the position of a football player fixing to run at an opposing team mate, John drew in a breath of air, and released it with a soft growl coming out with it.