Hiding Catherine

by Jennifer Becker

  “No reason,” she said quickly. Too quickly. Now he needed to do some digging into this ex of hers. His instincts told him that the ex did something he wasn’t supposed to back at Fort Hood. He remembered hearing about a few kidnappings involving Fletch’s now wife, Emily, and their daughter Annie. There was another kidnapping not long after involving Hollywood’s girlfriend’s sister. The same man was behind both kidnappings, but for the life of him, he couldn’t remember the guy’s name. As soon as he left Catherine’s he would call Ghost and get to the bottom of it.

  Chapter 11

  A few hours later Charlie said good night and gave her a quick peck on the lips. He wanted to deepen the kiss or at least pull her closer, so he could feel her luscious curves pressed against him but he didn’t want to tempt himself. He believed now that he was no longer a curiosity to Catherine and that she genuinely wanted him, but he wanted to take his time and get to know her better before they took that final step. First things first, he needed to call his old friend Ghost and get to the bottom of the mystery of her ex.

  As soon as he pulled away from the curb he dialed Ghost. He also needed to ask for Tex to look into the mole. He didn’t want to overstep Midas, but it had been a few days, and he hadn’t heard from him. Charlie needed to take matters into his own hands. Ghost answered on the second ring.

  “Bulldog,” Ghost answered without preamble. Ghost was nothing if not always to the point. It was why they got along so well.

  “I need to get in contact with Tex.”

  “You in trouble?” Came his quick reply.

  “Not me directly. I need to check on the status of something, and have him look up a guy from Fort Hood.”

  “You know you can ask me about that. I do live here.”

  “If I knew who the guy was I would. All I know is his name is Martin and dated a lady name Catherine Cunningham who worked at the PX there.”

  Ghost was silent a moment. “The name doesn’t sound familiar. I’ll get you Tex’s number. Emily would be the one to ask too. Having worked at the PX. How long ago did this Catherine work there? Is she in trouble?”

  “I don’t know how long but it was up to seven months ago. She’s not in trouble, but she won’t talk about him, and I feel like he did something illegal, and she fled first chance she got.”

  “I’ll get in touch with Emily, and see if she remembers anything. The only thing that happened around here around that time was Karina’s kidnapping, and the prison escape attempt but we got the guy. Does this mean you finally met someone?”

  Someone sounded so tame for how he felt. The ‘one’ felt more right. She fit him to a T. She made him feel whole, and not a scarred freak of nature that most people gasped in horror at seeing him, and fled in the opposite direction. “Maybe.” He hedged. There was no point going into all the details about her over the phone. He wanted Ghost to meet her in person, and make his own judgment call. Charlie’s ears perked up at hearing about the prison break. Catherine had mentioned something about it but he couldn’t remember what. She had been upset and rambled about her ex moments before moving on.

  “That’s all I get?” Ghost didn’t seem affronted in the least.

  “What are we women gossiping?”

  “I’ve known you for fifteen years. You weren’t a lady’s man before the accident or after. You wouldn’t have Tex look into anyone’s ex’s past without reason.”

  Charlie felt his lip twitch, and his skin pull. He must be smiling. What was happening to him? He hadn’t smiled so much in such a short time in…well ever. The more he did it, the less the skin pulled so tight. That was a good sign he guessed. “Yeah, she means something to me. She won’t tell me about her time in Fort Hood so I’m resorting to this to figure it out.” He wasn’t proud of himself for snooping into her past, but he couldn’t shake the feeling this Martin guy did something bad, not only to her but to others at Fort Hood, and he wanted to get to the bottom of it. He might be the mole he was after. Catherine would be upset with him, but he would make her understand why he did it.

  “You know she won’t be happy with you for going behind her back and looking into her past.” Charlie knew all this already, and he was prepared to face the consequences.

  “I know what I’m doing.” He didn’t have a clue, but he would never admit that to Ghost.

  “You don’t otherwise you would be asking her about her ex. If you want my advice.”

  “I don’t.” Charlie cut him off.

  Ghost wouldn’t be ignored. “I would tell you to ask her first.”

  “I already did. She wouldn’t tell me.”

  “She’s going to be upset once she finds out you looked up her ex without her knowledge.”

  Charlie scuffed. Not Catherine. “Not her. She doesn’t have a mean bone in her body. She is the most understanding person I’ve met.”

  “I thought the same thing about Rayne, but when I didn’t tell her I was injured and pushed her away…” Ghost blew out a breath. “Let’s just say if I didn’t pull my head out of my ass things would be a lot different than they are today.”

  “You were trying to protect her from the dangers of our jobs. I’m trying to get to know her better.”

  “Which is even worst. I’m guessing you recently met this woman.”

  There was no point in denying it. “Yeah. We just had our second date.” A most delicious second date. He couldn’t wait for a third and so forth.

  “So, you barely know the woman and you’re doing a background check on her?”

  “On her ex.” Charlie defended.

  “Like that’s any better.” Charlie could imagine Ghost giving him the eye roll.

  “You said yourself you know me. I wouldn’t be looking into her ex without reason. Something is off about the situation. I can feel it in my gut.”

  “I trust you. If your instincts are telling you there is more to her story, then go for it. I’m telling you that she’s not going to like that you went behind her back and did it.”

  “I hear ya.”

  “So, anything else new going on with you?” Ghost asked changing the topic.

  “Nothing other than getting ready for the charity race at the end of the month.”

  Ghost chuckled. “Are you ready to lose the charity match at the end of the month?” Now that business was out of the way Ghost’s tone turned to humor.

  “Keep dreaming old man.”

  “You’re one to talk, grandpa.” Ghost and Charlie were the same age at thirty-seven. Soon he would have to think about retirement. He wasn’t ready to give up his career. He still felt in the best shape of his life. He could keep up with all the other guys, and he knew he still had a lot to give his country.

  He had been accepted to West Point right after High School. He had known he wanted to be a soldier since a kid playing with his Army men. He knew the military life inside and out. Growing up on a farm had been boring to him. He liked never settling down, meeting new people, and experiencing new cultures. Now, after meeting Catherine, he hoped he didn’t get reassigned soon. With three years left until he retired he doubted it. For the first time in his life, he wanted to settle down somewhere and put down roots. He was too old to be thinking about starting a family. But he could see himself doing contract work for the base, and living in San Antonio for the rest of his life.

  Being called grandpa was an age-old nickname Ghost had given him years ago. The name didn’t faze him. He would show Ghost what a Grandpa he was when he beat him in the charity race.

  “Well, this grandpa is about to kick your ass.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Ghost said not affronted in the least. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

  Charlie turned into his driveway and cut the engine. He could hear a female voice talk to Ghost in the background. It could only be Rayne. “I have to go. Tell Rayne I said hi, and I look forward to seeing you guys in a few weeks. We can do dinner at my place.”

  “Will do. Sounds good to me. I know the ladies are lo
oking forward to getting down there.”

  And he couldn’t wait for Catherine to meet them. He knew they would hit it off. Everyone was easy to get along with. It reminded him he needed to set up a get together with his team and Catherine. He wanted her to meet his brothers. They were a huge part of his life. Each teammate had bled for him, and he had saved their lives and vice versa. It was crucial to him that everyone got along. He didn’t want to be alienated from his team or Catherine because they didn’t get along.

  Charlie hung up with Ghost, and immediately heard the ping on his phone indicating an incoming text. He opened it to see Tex’s number. He got out of his jeep and headed inside to make his call. He was paranoid by nature and didn’t want to be sitting outside making an important call. It was a slight invasion of privacy against Catherine, but he needed to know more about this ex of hers.

  Chapter 12

  Charlie dialed Tex’s number and waited for him to answer. He answered on the third ring.

  “Hello?” He answered hesitantly.

  “Tex, this is Charlie Green. You may have heard of me, I’m called Bulldog as well. I got your number from Ghost.”

  “I know who you are Captain. What can I do for you?” That Tex knew his rank shocked him. The man was uncanny. Charlie knew Tex by reputation and heard stories from those who had worked with him.

  “Two things. But first, is this line secure?” It was bad enough he was about to talk to someone outside his group about his mission. He didn’t need it to be on an unsecured line for the wrong ears to hear.

  “It’s secure.” Tex almost sounded offended Charlie would even ask. The man was a computer genius, so it probably was a dumb question.

  “I recently returned from a mission.”

  “Panama,” Tex stated.

  Now the man was scaring him. “Right, intel got leaked we were coming in. The other team we were with brought a hostage back who might have details where the leak came from. So far, I’m getting nothing from their end. I was hoping you could get me details.”

  “And the other thing?”

  “I’m seeing a lady. Her ex is bad news, or at least that’s the vibe I’m getting from her. He was stationed at Fort Hood with her. She worked at the PX. All I know about him is that his name is Martin and he was involved in an attempted prison break at Leavenworth.”

  “What’s her name?” Tex said all businesslike.

  “Catherine Cunningham.”

  “Am I looking into this guy for personal reasons or military?”

  Ghost was right. He was in a world of trouble for doing this. “I don’t know.” He confessed. “Probably more personal.”

  “I don’t do a lot of personal background checks for people I don’t know.”

  “I get that, but this guy did something back at Fort Hood, and Catherine fled him. I know there was a kidnapping a while ago involving Fletch’s wife and daughter. I think this guy may have been involved.” His instincts were hardly ever wrong, but it was too much of a coincidence that Catherine fled seven months ago when there had been the attempted prison break. The same time frame Hollywood’s girlfriend’s sister had been kidnapped. Emily had even worked at the PX when Catherine would have. The timing was too perfect, and he didn’t believe in coincidence. This ex of hers had something to do with what happened and could still be a threat to Catherine.

  Tex was quiet a moment before he said, “It might take me a few days to get the info you need. Keep your phone handy.” Tex disconnected the call, and Charlie sat on his couch feeling dirty. Dirty for going behind Catherine’s back and digging into her ex, but what choice had she left him? He understood she didn’t want to announce to the world her ex was a criminal, but if Martin was still out there, it meant his friends and their families could be in danger. He would do whatever he had to do to prevent that.

  He cared for Catherine and trusted that she had nothing to do with whatever her ex had been involved in. She feared her ex; he could see every time he brought the guy up. And it had nothing to do with fear of being caught of a crime. He would bet his favorite gun, a 44 magnum, she ran away from Fort Hood to get away from her ex. Could this Martin guy have something to do with his sabotaged mission? Or was he being over-paranoid again? He would wait to see what Tex told him before he made a rash decision.

  He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard his phone ring. He looked down at the ID and saw it was Oreo. He barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He knew his friend was checking up on him. He was a great friend and an even better one to have at his side in hostile situations. But with matters of the heart, not so much.

  “What’s up Ortiz?” Charlie asked in a bored tone, calling him by his real name. Not that he didn’t want to talk to him; he just had a lot on his mind at the moment.

  “Ceiling,” Charlie did roll his eyes. Sometimes the kid could be so juvenile.

  “Har, har.”

  “Lighten up, old man.” That was twice in one night he had been called old. It was grating on his nerves.

  “What do you want?” Charlie wasn’t in the mood to joke about his age.

  “I wanted to see how things were going with the lady from the PX?”

  “Why?” He asked baffled. No one ever cared about his sex life before. Why now?

  “Why not?” He countered.

  “They’re fine.” Charlie was a private person by nature. What he shared between Catherine and himself stayed that way. He didn’t want her gossiped about.

  “Good, so when do we meet her?” It was almost uncanny that Ortiz suggested they get together when he had been thinking about the same thing not even an hour ago. But he was close with his team, so it stood to reason they thought alike. It was better to get it out of the way now, before he did something crazy like fall in love with her, and then discover she couldn’t stand his friends. They were part of the package. If a woman wanted to be with him, she had to get along with his friends. “How about we do a barbeque at my house next weekend?” She could finally meet his friends, and give him a chance to come up with an explanation why he was looking into her ex while Tex did his computer thing.

  “Sounds good to me. I know the rest of the guys are chomping at the bit to meet her.”

  “Why’s that?” It wasn’t like he didn’t date. He had. Once upon a time before the explosion ruining his face.

  “Come on, Charlie. It’s no great secret you haven’t been on a real date since before the explosion, and you’re not one for casual flings, so she has to be something special to grab your attention. Not to mention the fact you dragged us to the PX, just so that you could see her and then you ditched out on us.”

  Charlie wouldn’t apologize for leaving them to pursue Catherine. After giving her a ride home that night in the rainstorm, he hadn’t been able to focus on anything but her. Even when he should be training for missions and the charity race, he couldn’t get her out of his mind. It was one of the main reasons he avoided relationships. She was a distraction that could get him, or a teammate killed. But there wasn’t a force on earth that could keep him from her. Not even their awkward ending to their first date. “I should apologize for that.”

  “But you won’t,” Ortiz stated, not in the least offended.

  “There’s something about her. She’s not afraid of my scars.” Charlie didn’t know why he was confessing all this to Ortiz. He was a private person and rarely talked about his relationships with anyone. So why now? Because he was feeling conflicted, and he needed to vent it all out to someone. Ortiz was the easiest person on the team to talk to that didn’t judge. He was a great listener, even if you didn’t think you had anything worth saying, he was always there.

  “They’re scars. Big deal. We all have them.” Ortiz stated matter of fact.

  “Your scars didn’t earn you the nickname Bulldog, or send women and children screaming.”

  “One, you had the name before the explosion. And two, I get looks of horror too.”

  “When?” Never in all the y
ears when he worked with Ortiz had he seen fear on anyone’s face with him. It was a bald-faced lie to make Charlie feel better.

  “When I pull out an endless supply of Oreos from my pocket.”

  “That’s not fear. That’s shock. And who needs that many Oreos anyway.”

  “It relaxes me. I don’t have to explain myself.” Ortiz sounded exasperated. Everyone knew he had a love for Oreos, hence the name but seriously who needed that many cookies on them? He never seemed to run out of them. He’d hate to know what his cupboards looked like. Charlie could imagine opening his pantry and seeing rows upon rows of only cookies. “Don’t judge me,” Ortiz said like a sulking child.

  “This is a judge free zone.”

  “Good, now back to the matter at hand. You called Tex to do some digging on the ex. Did you give your girlfriend a heads up your looking into her ex. Taken from experience, women don’t like finding out second hand. It never ends well for the guy. You’re not bulletproof.”

  Ghost had given him the same advice. The honorable thing to do would be to tell her but he didn’t know how. It wasn’t something that while sitting at dinner, he could be like ‘hey babe pass me the salt, oh by the way I’m having an ex-SEAL do a background check on your boyfriend.’ Yep, that wouldn’t go over well. “I’ll handle it.” He didn’t know how yet, but he would figure it out.

  “It’s your funeral. Don’t say I didn’t try warning you. Every movie I ever watched where the guy was keeping something from the girl it didn’t end well for the guy. Just saying, don’t wait too long.”

  Charlie ignored the sage advice. “I have to go. I’ll see you in the morning for our run.” Charlie hung up not waiting for a response and went to bed. It was a long time before he found sleep. All he kept thinking about was Catherine and how she would react when he told her he was having her ex looked into. Catherine was a private person much like himself. She would be upset, but he was sure she would forgive him easily. Once he explained why he did it. His instincts had never been wrong before and they were telling him her ex was part of what happened at Fort Hood a few months ago, if not a year ago too. The man could have a vendetta, and be seeking to sabotage missions. He could be their mole. He would explain everything to her. After he got the intel from Tex.