Rules in Rescue

by Nichole Severn

  “Thank you.” She forced a smile but the exhaustion weighing her down didn’t let it reach her eyes. She headed for the back of the cabin empty-handed, taking nearly every ounce of his control with her. Damn, he’d missed her, and no matter how many times she reminded him nothing would happen between them again, he couldn’t help but imagine what they could’ve been together. Stopping shy of the hallway, Glennon turned back. “For everything.”

  Ten minutes later her voice stopped him just outside her cracked door, only a sliver of light spilling into the hallway. He pushed it open a few inches.

  “I know what I said.” Her back was to him where she sat on the bed, but her words registered crystal-clear. “Things are...more complicated than I thought they’d be here. It’ll be a couple more days. Can you please put him on the phone? I just need to hear his voice.” Dressed in a set of his oversize T-shirt and sweats, Glennon shifted on the guest bed, head down, legs stretched in front of her and ran her hand through her hair. The sight rocketed his pulse into dangerous territory. “Hey, baby.” Her voice lightened in an instant, a beautiful smile spreading across her expression. “I know. I’m sorry I woke you. I just missed you so much. Are you being good for Grandma?”

  Anthony settled against the door frame, entranced by the sudden shift in her mood. The plate grew heavy in his hand, but he’d stand there all night if there was a chance he’d get a glimpse of that smile again.

  “You went to the zoo without me? That sounds fun. Can I call you again tomorrow so you can tell me more about it?” Those mesmerizing green eyes brighter than he’d ever seen, she leaned back against the headboard and crossed her legs over the pillow top. A laugh escaped from between her perfectly pink lips, tightening his insides. “Okay. Go back to sleep, my love. I’ll see you soon.”

  He couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. In the few seconds she’d spoken to her son, he’d felt her undeniable love, and something inside him splintered. He gripped the plate hard. She would’ve made an amazing mother to their kids. Hell, she was obviously an amazing mother already. Couldn’t even keep herself from calling her son so early in the morning. Anthony ignored the tightness in his throat and straightened. Didn’t matter. She’d made it clear how their relationship would proceed. As partners. Nothing more.

  With three knocks, he shouldered his way into the room with everything on a plate. “Hungry? I made your favorite. Aspirin, clean gauze and my special egg salad sandwich.”

  “Yeah.” Glennon shot off the mattress, wiping at her face. A split second later she turned toward him again, locking down any hint of emotion. She sniffed as she maneuvered around the bed. “I’m starving. Thanks.”

  His stomach sank. She was getting far too skilled at hiding those emotions of hers, to the point he questioned whether he’d really seen her smile a few minutes ago. “Was it something I said?”

  “What? No. It’s not you. I appreciate you letting me stay here.” She shook her head, a flush of pink rising in her cheeks. Her long fingers brushed against his as she reached for the plate. Heat seared through him as she took a step back and raised the plate in acknowledgment. “And for the food. I—”

  “You miss your son.” He’d read it in the way her skin had paled in the few short moments after she’d disconnected the call, in the way her tears had dried a path down her cheeks.

  “Stupid, right? I mean, he’s safe. That’s all that matters. Nobody knows about him. Not the army. Not his father. I shouldn’t have anything to worry about.” A weak smile played across her mouth. Shoulders rising on a deep inhale, she glanced up at him, signs of her apparent misery wiped clean from her expression. “I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed your egg salad. Every time I’ve tried to re-create the recipe, it turns out wrong. I finally gave up trying.”

  “I add hot sauce at the end.” Okay. He’d pretend she hadn’t let a piece of herself out into the open.

  Anthony backed toward the hallway, reaching for the doorknob to close it behind him. “Get some rest, change your gauze. The ballistics report should be here soon. We’ll figure out our next move then.”

  “Listen, I know things are different between us now, but I’ve had a hell of a day.” Her lips parted as she took a single step forward and, for the first time, he noted the dark swirl of purple nail polish on her bare feet. She glanced at her cell phone on the nightstand. “Hunter usually sleeps in my bed, and I won’t be able to sleep unless...”

  Grip tight on the doorknob, Anthony froze. Pressure built in his lungs.

  She locked her gaze on him, determined, sincere. “Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?”

  * * *

  WHAT HAD SHE been thinking?

  She hadn’t. That had been one of the problems whenever Glennon was around him. She couldn’t think straight. And here, in a small lakeside cabin filled with his scent, with him mere inches from her, she’d must’ve lost her damn mind. She ran her free hand through her hair, a nervous habit she’d used to try to relieve some tension over the past few years. Without success.

  “You think that’s a good idea?” Anthony released the door handle, his tone registering exactly how much she’d already asked of him in the last four hours. Too much. Especially for a man she’d walked out on while he was in the middle of serving his country, a decision she’d regret for the rest of her life.

  “No.” Heat rose up her neck and flooded her face. She shook her head, forcing another smile she didn’t feel. Her fingers tingled, urging her to run her hand through her hair one more time, but she rolled them into a fist at her side instead. Taking another step toward him, she focused on the raised outline of a chain hidden under his shirt. Dog tags? “And I don’t have any right to ask after everything you’ve done for me already. But the past couple days have been a nightmare and I need...I need you to stay.”

  Anthony swayed on his feet as though he intended to back toward the door. His full beard kept her from reading his expression entirely, but his eyes had always been the window to his thoughts. Gorgeous, dark blue eyes she’d tried for years to forget. And right now, the battle swirling in their depths was spreading across his features. His brows drew inward as he ran a hand down his beard. “Glennon—”

  “Please.” She fought the urge to grip his shirt to keep him from leaving. Notching her chin higher, she studied the face she’d missed since the day she’d left. “If it helps, I promise to keep my hands to myself.”

  “It’s not your hands I’m worried about.” He moved into her. A rush of his reinvigorated, clean, masculine scent filled her lungs as her brain fought to catch up. Had he showered while she’d been on the phone with Hunter? Only the thin fabric of a T-shirt she’d found in one of the dresser drawers separated them. He kept his touch light, giving her enough room to escape if she wanted to. Which she should. Because she’d most definitely violated her three-foot rule. “Do you ever think of what might’ve happened if you hadn’t left?”

  Glennon swallowed hard, her pulse pounding behind her ears as she set the plate of food, the painkillers and gauze on the bed. No point in lying. He knew her too well. She passed her tongue across her too-dry lips as he stared down at her as though she were the only woman in the world who mattered to him. “Sometimes.”

  All the time. The only way she’d been able to give those thoughts a break over the last five years was by throwing herself into her work and into being there for her son. Throwing herself into everything that didn’t include Anthony Harris. She’d made her choice then and she stood by it now. She’d suffer the consequences, no matter how many times she’d thought of coming home. She stared at the open door behind him for a moment, into the darkness of the cabin.

  “Sometimes I think I could’ve changed your mind, convinced you I was enough for you to stay home.” The comforting warmth rolling off him in waves urged her to stay put. It’d been a long time since she’d gotten lost in somebody’s touch, relied on some
one other than herself. She’d almost forgotten what intimacy felt like since becoming a single mother. It’d be easy to give in to him. Right here, right now. Forget about her missing partner, forget how lonely she’d been over the last few years, and just do something for herself for a change. But extricating herself from a romantic relationship with this man had been one of the hardest things she’d ever done. Something she wasn’t interested in doing again, not with Hunter involved.

  “But that was a long time ago. Things have changed.” Glennon stepped out of his hold, the rough calluses on his palms catching on the cotton shirt she’d borrowed. “And it finally took me leaving to realize changing your mind was one case I’d never have closure to.”

  Disappointment darkened his features. “You were always enough for me, Glennon. More than enough.” His tone dipped into dangerous territory, raising tiny goose bumps on her arms. He countered the step she’d taken to the point where she had to stare up at him. “You were the only person who could help me forget what I’d seen every time I came home. You were the one I trusted to keep my head on straight, to bring me back to who I really was. Not the soldier. Me. You were everything.”

  Her knees shook, the blood drained from her face. As Military Police, she’d walked into dozens of situations more confident than she felt in this moment. This wasn’t the plan. The rules had been plain. No matter how many times the past came back to haunt her, she’d keep herself in check. But now... “I didn’t know that.”

  The muted ding from his phone released the pressure building behind her sternum. Saved by the bell. She took the opportunity to distance herself from his reach as Anthony checked the screen. Sitting on the bed, she stared down at her hands as her stomach flipped. From hunger or from the sincerity in his voice, she had no idea. Didn’t matter. She could only fix one of those things at the moment. The other? Couldn’t happen again. Nothing could happen between them again.

  “The ballistics report came in early,” he said. “Vincent’s contacts in forensics were able to lift a print from the homemade bullet recovered from the windshield.”

  So much for getting a couple hours of sleep. Glennon shoved off from the bed, a strike of pain spreading across her shoulder. She massaged the area around the wound as she moved to view the screen. He flipped through the report too fast for her to see specifics, but one line stood out among the rest, highlighted on the phone’s screen.

  “Private First Class Gani Miller.” The name sounded familiar on her lips. But where had she read it before?

  “Left the army because of a dishonorable discharge, now makes his living as a gun for hire. Paid to take you out.” Anthony swiped his thumb across the screen to the next page. “I’ll have Elizabeth look into his financials to find out who hired him.”

  Glennon stayed put as he called the former NSA consultant. Mentally sifting through her investigations for the army, she studied the recliner tucked into the corner of the room, but couldn’t really focus on anything in particular. Where had she heard that name before? A shooter for hire had most likely made his way to the top of her Most Wanted list, but that wasn’t it. She reviewed the list every morning before heading onto the base, and Private Gani Miller’s name hadn’t been on there as of yesterday. “Do you have a laptop here?”

  Anthony spun toward her. “I packed one in my gear. Gray duffel bag in the hallway.”

  In less than two minutes she’d powered the laptop up and logged in with the username and password Anthony had written down for her while on the phone with Elizabeth. The screen came to life as she settled back on the bed.

  Her heart skipped a beat.

  There, in the center of the black desktop background, was a photo of...her. Smiling, arms wrapped around her brand-new fiancé. The memories of that day interrupted her concentration as she zeroed in on the yellow-gold engagement ring he’d slipped onto her finger moments before the photo had been taken. She’d set that same ring on the kitchen counter as she’d walked out the door for the last time five years ago. What had he done with it?

  “All right.” Anthony disconnected his call. “Elizabeth is pulling everything she can find on Gani Miller as we speak. Still nothing leading back to who owns that house, though.”

  Panic flooded through her. Glennon rushed to bring up the backup of her investigation files. The mattress dipped as he sat beside her. She swallowed hard then typed the shooter’s name into the search bar. No point in bringing up the past. They had more important things to worry about now. “I know I’ve heard that name before. If Private Miller has been at this for a while, he might be linked to one of my investigations.”

  The fact the sniper had been military couldn’t have been a coincidence.

  The search of her files came up blank.

  Her eyebrows drew together. She checked that she’d spelled the shooter’s name correctly and pushed Enter a second time. Nothing. There had to be some connection. “That’s weird. I know I’ve come across that name before.”

  “Are you remembering it from somewhere else?” Anthony leaned into her to get a clear shot of the screen. His powerful, muscled thigh brushed against her, and she licked her lips.

  “I don’t know where else...” A single image of handwritten notes flashed across her mind. “That’s it.” Glennon checked another file, one she’d been compiling since her partner had gone missing.

  “After Bennett disappeared, I searched his barracks and found a bunch of notes he’d scribbled on napkins he’d left in the trash bin. Most of it was nonsense, but that name—Gani Miller—was on one of the napkins with a few others.” She reentered her username and password to access the secure files. “I took pictures of them in case something led to Bennett’s whereabouts, and uploaded the photos to my online storage.”

  A new rush of hope blossomed in the center of her chest. They had a name, a lead. She could find Bennett and get back to her life. Back to her son. Double clicking the track pad, Glennon leaned away from the laptop. No. No, no, no, no. Her throat tightened. “That’s not possible.”

  “What’s not possible?” Anthony shifted the computer out of her lap and onto his own. With a few clicks of the track pad, he stroked his beard. Confusion swept across his features. “Where are the files?”

  “They were there. I backed up my files from my laptop to this drive in case something happened and I couldn’t get to my computer.” Which probably meant... Glennon stood, crossing the room to the pile of clothing she’d discarded on the floor.

  “And now they’re gone,” he said. “How?”

  “Someone accessed my backup and deleted them.” She stripped out of the borrowed sweats then pushed her legs into her jeans, all thoughts of privacy retreating to the back of her mind. Nobody knew about those files. How had evidence catalogs, Bennett’s investigation notes, witness statements and photographs of the napkins all disappeared overnight?

  “And I think I know where they’re going next.”

  Chapter Four

  “Where the hell do you think you’re going?” He wasn’t about to let her walk into another ambush, even with the possibility of finding her partner. “You haven’t slept in who knows how long, you’re running on empty, and there’s blood dripping down your shirt. You’re going to crash any second. You need—”

  “What I need is to find Bennett.” Glennon turned her back to him while she crossed her arms under the oversize T-shirt and brought it over her head. Shadows played across her lean back as she bent for her clothing. Blood spotted the gauze taped across the backside of her wound, but his attention shot to the raised lump of scar tissue over her ribs, the one paler than the rest of her skin. The one that looked strangely like another bullet wound. She’d been shot before?

  Glennon faced him, pulling the shirt she’d borrowed from Elizabeth over her head. “Everything I had in those backups came from Bennett. He’s the only one who can prove Staff Sergeant Mascaro’s o
peration has been taken over by a new leader. And there’s only one place someone could’ve accessed those files to delete them.”

  “What is that?” He nodded toward her, each word tearing from him. “That scar on your back. Where did it come from?”

  She froze, spine a bit straighter. She placed her boots on the bed carefully, slowly. “Thought you’d recognize an old bullet wound when you saw one, Ranger. Don’t you have a few of these yourself?”

  “When?” Anthony didn’t blink, didn’t move. Any second now his control would shatter. Someone had shot her and she hadn’t said a word, hadn’t reached out to him before now? He wanted details. A name. Whoever had pulled that trigger would wish they hadn’t. “Who?”

  “Doesn’t matter. Reliving old investigations isn’t going to help me find my partner any faster, and that’s what I hired you to do.” She reached for her boots and sat on the edge of the bed, lacing them quickly. The blazing determination in her expression said she wasn’t going to see reason. In the end, it didn’t matter what he said to convince her otherwise. It wouldn’t work. Once she set her sights on something, the devil himself couldn’t stop her. That was one of the things he’d loved about her. Glennon headed to the door, wiping a strand of hair out of her face without glancing back at him.

  But she wasn’t getting away that easily. Anthony crossed the room in three strides and wrapped a hand around her arm. Spinning her into him, he filled the door frame. She wanted to leave? She’d have to go through him, and he wasn’t moving until she told him the truth. “What’s so damn important about this case that you’re willing to put your own well-being at risk?”

  “Because it’s my last.” She visibly flinched at the words, something he’d never witnessed before. Her sudden reaction lightened his grasp on her arm. Either her words had hit a sore spot or Glennon was far more exhausted than she wanted to admit.