by Terry Spear
She had thought of setting an alarm on her cell phone last night but had dismissed the idea. She never slept late. Ever. She never needed an alarm. And certainly not when she had important business to attend to. Then again, after she woke Brock last night to have more unconsummated sex—and heck, they’d done the same thing in the shower!—she should have realized she would need some extra sleep this morning. He was totally addictive, and she felt like a nympho, wanting to enjoy this…outlet…with him before they had to end it for good.
“I hope they won’t tell the rest of the pack about us,” she said quietly.
“They wouldn’t dare.” Brock’s words were just as hushed, and he gathered her in for a hug and a kiss. “Don’t worry. I wouldn’t kiss and tell either.” He sighed. “But this sure changes things.”
“It doesn’t. We still live hours apart. I have a job to do. You have a job to do. It wouldn’t work out.” She slipped out of his arms and headed for the bathroom. “Meet you downstairs.”
He smiled. “I had the best sleep ever. I never wake up this late.”
She chuckled. “You should have told me to go away when I woke you in the middle of the night.”
“Hell no. When a lady’s in need, a SEAL wolf does the honorable thing and focuses on her.”
Natalie laughed, shook her head, and retired to the bathroom. She didn’t want to hear what Vaughn would say to Brock about all this. In private. Later.
* * *
Brock knew nothing would get past his brother and his cousin Shawn. Jillian might not know Brock well enough to recognize the cues. Then again, she was as wary a wolf as any of them and an intuitive woman.
No one said a word to him as they made pancakes and he fixed himself a cup of coffee. Hell, he wished someone would say something. Not about him and Natalie, but about anything else. He couldn’t come up with anything to say, not when all he could think about was Natalie and what an incredible night it had been with her. And how he wanted a lot more of that with her.
Everyone was smiling, not looking at him, and in the worst way, he wanted to say something about not reacting like they were reacting, but not when Natalie might overhear them.
“Good day for the trip,” Vaughn said finally. Weather was always a safe topic.
“Yeah,” Shawn said. “I filled up my gas tank. What about you, Brock?”
Hell…yeah. Brock hesitated too damn long in responding—which should teach him not to have his mind where it shouldn’t be—and everyone chuckled.
As Natalie came down the stairs, everyone looked at her, just a natural reaction, and she blushed. Brock quickly got her a cup of coffee. “Milk? Sugar?”
“Yes, mostly milk and two teaspoons of sugar.”
He brought her the doctored coffee, and she thanked him. “Pancakes?” he asked.
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
They soon sat down to eat their breakfast and began talking about the mission. Vaughn and Jillian said they’d wash the dishes after everyone finished eating. They said they’d check into who might be dealing in the counterfeit money in Denver and wished Brock, Natalie, and Shawn a safe journey.
The three of them wished Vaughn and Jillian luck in locating the bad guys too.
Then Brock and Natalie took off, Shawn following them in his black pickup.
“Okay, so we can do this one of two ways. I can go to the airport in Amarillo alone and look for Marek, while you go with Shawn to the garden center, and he can watch out for you and your parents. Or, you can come with me. He’ll continue on to the garden center to help out your folks, and I’ll still be keeping you safe. Though if we run into trouble, you could be in harm’s way,” Brock said to Natalie as he drove his Humvee on the interstate to Texas.
“I’ll stay with you. I’m still on vacation, and sometimes I like to live dangerously.”
He chuckled. “Really?” He couldn’t imagine living dangerously while working at the garden center, unless she cut herself while clipping plants or something.
“Yeah, any time I use the GPS, no telling where I’ll end up.”
Brock smiled.
“I noticed you didn’t ask Marek for the location of the printing press,” she said.
“There was no need to. If he’d told me, I’m sure it would have been someplace else. Besides, I didn’t want to spook him. I’d have no way of knowing who Antonio is. And no way of locating him and Marek’s brother. The only way is to follow Marek and see if he’ll lead us to them. It could be days, weeks even, though I imagine he’ll want to be overseeing the printing process so the other guys don’t use the money instead.”
Natalie didn’t say anything for quite a while, and Brock hoped she wasn’t regretting what they had done last night. He wasn’t. He was trying not to think ahead too much, just play things by ear, but he was much more of a tactician, which meant he couldn’t help thinking about tonight and how things would go. He didn’t want to do anything to upset her. Not just because she was Angie’s best friend and now Angie was part of his family, but also because he cared too much about Natalie to want to make her feel bad about anything.
“Are you okay?” he finally asked.
She scoffed. “I didn’t get enough sleep.”
Neither had he, but he’d do it all over again, given the choice. “Why don’t you crawl in the back and lie down for a while.”
“Then we could switch off?” she asked.
“Yeah, and get some lunch when I get low on gas.”
“Yeah, sure.” She glanced back at Shawn’s truck. “Do you think they know? Your brother and Jillian and Shawn? About us and what went on last night?”
“Yeah. Not that anyone said anything, but you know how it is.”
She sighed. “As long as my parents don’t get wind of it. I should have set my alarm.”
“I was thinking the same thing about my phone.” He hoped her parents didn’t get upset with him about having been with Natalie, if they suspected what was up between them. Maybe she would want to cool it with him while he stayed with her. He preferred being with her, but it would be completely up to her how she wanted to handle this.
She reached over and patted his arm. “Don’t worry. My dad won’t bring out his shotgun.”
Brock chuckled, glad for that at least.
* * *
After they had each napped on the way to Amarillo, Brock was driving again. “Did you want to get hamburgers for lunch?”
“Sure. Maybe Shawn needs some rest, and one of us can drive for him for a while.”
“We can ask, but I suspect he’ll say no.”
“My dad can spell Shawn tonight on guard duty. In fact, Dad will love helping with this. He’ll probably put Shawn to work in the nursery, and Dad will be the lookout for any rogue wolves.”
Brock laughed. “It could work. Your dad would know the customers better than Shawn would, and he could concentrate on watching for anyone who shouldn’t be there.” Brock paused. “If Marek believes you were only visiting Amarillo, he probably won’t be looking for you or any connection you would have there. We have that working in our favor.”
“True.”
“I see a place ahead where we can stop.” Brock called Shawn on the Bluetooth to tell him they were stopping at the next service station for gas and lunch. Shawn was ready for a break.
While they got a bite to eat, Natalie asked if Shawn needed her to drive his vehicle for the last two and a half hours.
“No way. I can drive fifteen hours straight.”
“Okay.” Then she told Shawn about her father and what might happen at the garden shop.
“We’ll work it out just fine. I can do a lot of the grunt labor and still watch both of your parents. I was a multitasker before anyone came up with the term.” Shawn took another bite of his double cheeseburger. Then he began to munch on some of his french f
ries. He finished off his lunch with a strawberry milkshake.
Brock was smiling at her. “He eats too much too, doesn’t he?”
Natalie shook her head. “He must need to eat all that to make him look that good.”
Shawn laughed out loud. “I bet she doesn’t tell all the guys that.”
“Nope.” She finished her chicken sandwich.
Brock just kept smiling at her. Giving his cousin a hard time in front of Natalie had backfired big time. He and his cousins and brother were so used to the banter back and forth that he couldn’t have stopped himself if he’d tried. He sure hadn’t expected her comeback. She smiled at Brock.
* * *
When they were on the road again, Brock drove the rest of the way until they reached a service station right outside Amarillo. She had already given Shawn directions to her parents’ garden shop on the outskirts of town. Since she and Brock had to go to the airport, they would be heading in a different direction.
As soon as he parked the Humvee at the gas pump, Natalie stretched. “Here’s where we’ll split off. Shawn can meet up with my parents while we do some surveillance work.”
When they got out of the vehicle, Brock tossed the empty water bottles into the trash, and she saw her chance to pay for the gas as she’d intended. She slid her credit card in the machine.
Glancing back at her and looking surprised, Brock immediately said, “I was going to get that.”
“No you aren’t. You wouldn’t be driving all the way to Amarillo if it hadn’t been for me. Plus, you can’t do a paying job if you’re stuck doing this for me.”
Shaking his head, Brock filled the tank. “I’m not stuck doing this job for you. I wouldn’t have wanted any other job in the world right now.”
“I’m still paying for your gas.” Natalie went over to the other pump where Shawn was, but he’d already started pumping the gas. She offered him forty dollars, but he shook his head. “Unlike Brock, I’ll pay my own way.”
“But you’re also here because of me.” They hadn’t let her pay for lunch, and she’d only paid for the gas for the Humvee this time because Brock had been busy cleaning out the car, which she thought was commendable.
“Free meals, Brock told me,” Shawn said.
She laughed. “Yes, and a free room. From here, you’ll need to go south, and the garden shop is just right off the highway.” She showed him the directions on her GPS.
“You let me know if you have any trouble at the airport.”
“I’m sure Brock will update you right away.” She was both thrilled and apprehensive with anticipation of what might happen. They just couldn’t let Marek see them, or he’d most likely assume they were after him.
“Ready to hit the road again?” Brock asked, joining them.
“Yeah,” she said.
They said they’d see Shawn later and then headed for the airport. Natalie was glad they arrived an hour before Marek’s flight landed.
“He won’t be going to baggage claim, most likely, since we took his bag, unless he picked up another,” Natalie said.
“Agreed. We should wait where the arrivals are coming off the plane, in any event.”
They waited in an inconspicuous place. Tons of people were arriving and departing, which helped to conceal them. Natalie was afraid they’d missed Marek until she finally saw him coming out of the men’s room.
“There,” she whispered to Brock.
“I see him. We need to watch where he goes. We have his home address, so if he doesn’t head straight to his place, we’ll have to make sure we don’t lose him.”
They followed Marek out of the airport. The way he was walking so fast, he seemed to be in a rush.
“What if we lose him when he gets in his car? We might not be parked anywhere near where his vehicle is.”
“We’ll get his license plate number, car make, and model. He’s got only one way out of the parking tower. There,” Brock said. “Black Toyota.” He took a picture of the license plate.
They sprinted for Brock’s Humvee, which was on the same floor of the parking tower but a long way away.
Natalie was worried they’d lose Marek and miss the chance to learn where the other men in the counterfeit business were located.
“If we lose him, we can stake out his house,” Brock assured her as they jumped in the Humvee and headed for the exit.
She liked how Brock always had a backup plan.
They didn’t see Marek’s car on the way out, but on the road, they spied it. And the chase was on. She couldn’t believe she was helping Brock, but this part was fun. Brock followed him, keeping his distance so Marek wouldn’t realize Brock was on his tail, but staying close enough to ensure he didn’t lose him.
Natalie was looking up the GPS for Marek’s house address. “He’s not going straight home.”
“Hopefully, he’s not just going to a grocery store or something, and instead, he’ll lead us to some of the other men in the operation.”
Marek signaled and turned right on the next street. Brock followed him. “Grocery store up on the right.”
“Yeah, but if he’s really leaving the country, he wouldn’t need groceries.” She thought she was pretty good at this.
“Exactly. I knew he wasn’t going anywhere.”
Marek parked his car and walked into the store. Brock parked the Humvee in the side parking area, out of sight of the front windows of the store. “Okay, I’m going to put a tracker on his car. Let’s hope he takes a little time to grocery shop. You stay here.”
“All right.”
Brock hurried out of the Humvee and walked straight to the Toyota, dropped his keys next to it on the pavement, and planted the tracker on the car. He picked up the keys and walked back to the Humvee.
“That was quick.”
He climbed into the driver’s seat, and they waited. “Yeah, you have to be quick if you’re going to do this right. Did you notice I stayed on the side of the vehicle where no one could see what I was doing on a security camera?”
“Yeah, though I just thought you went to that side because it was closer. For the kind of work you do, I guess you have to think like a criminal to catch one.”
“It certainly helps.”
Natalie was anxious to learn more but hoped they wouldn’t get caught at it.
* * *
Half an hour later, Marek came out of the grocery store carrying a couple bags of groceries, got into his car, and drove off.
“Toward home this time?” Brock asked as he drove out of the parking lot to follow Marek.
Natalie was watching the GPS. “Yes, which is understandable if he has perishable items and needs to refrigerate them. Or something like chocolate that might melt if it’s left in a hot car. His house is in the development where he’s turning now.”
“No need to follow him then.” Brock pulled into a service station nearby.
“What now? If the rogue wolves are going to meet up with him at his house, we won’t know who they are.”
“We’ll watch who enters the development, and if anyone looks suspect, we’ll follow them and turn off on another street. If he drives off, we can follow him to his next location.”
“I’d rather be gardening.”
Brock glanced at Natalie. He felt bad he hadn’t considered she might get tired of all the waiting for something to happen, a hazard of this business. “I can drop you off at your garden shop.”
She chuckled. “No, I’m fine. If we missed him, I would be upset with myself. I’m just saying that sitting in a car watching for someone to do something isn’t as much fun as gardening. Though the espionage stuff is thrilling. My adrenaline was pumping hard when we were waiting at the airport and then again when we didn’t want to lose him in the parking tower. Does it give you a heightened sense of excitement doing stuff like tha
t?”
“Yeah. Like it gives the bad guys a rush to commit their crime, I get one when I’m trying to catch them at it.”
“I’ll admit that getting an adrenaline rush from gardening doesn’t happen very often.”
He smiled. “I bet when the first flowers of spring bloom, or if you create a new cultivar, you’re thrilled.”
“That’s true. When the flowers begin to appear, I love it.” She got a call from her mom, and she answered it. “Is everything all right?”
“Yes. Shawn arrived, and you didn’t tell me what a charmer he is. We can see why Angie fell in love with the Greystoke pack, if Shawn is anything like the rest of his cousins. Anyway, your dad has him doing a hundred chores, and Shawn is eager to help. You know your dad. He’s got some fresh labor, so he’ll make good use of the extra help. How are the two of you coming along?”
“We’re on a stakeout, but nothing is happening right now.”
“You’ll be home for dinner, won’t you?”
“As long as we’re not in the middle of anything, we will be. Any problems there?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary. Okay, dear, well, I’ve got customers so I’ll let you go. Good luck with catching up to this guy and his partners. And be careful.”
“Thanks, Mom. We will. Talk later.”
“We’ve got movement,” Brock said. “Here comes the car.”
“Too bad you couldn’t put a listening device in his home.”
“I could, but for now, I’d rather follow him and see where he’s headed.” Again, Brock kept his distance.
Natalie agreed and was thinking there was an art to tailing someone. Brock often ensured a car or two traveled between them, while she was keeping an eye on the vehicle and Brock had to watch for traffic too.
Marek headed out toward Canyon, Texas.
“I hadn’t expected him to leave Amarillo,” she said.
“If he is meeting up with these guys, they could be waiting about anywhere.”