“Maybe I should just head home. I feel like a fifth wheel.”
“No way.”
“How about I give Ryan a call? I’m sure he’d be up for joining us,” Rafe said and pulled out his phone. Cam knew already that Ryan would be interested. He hadn’t said much but it was obvious to the guys that he was interested in Chrissy. Rafe might know why he’d been holding back since they were close, but the rest of them didn’t have a clue.
“Umm, you don’t have to…”
“I know, but he’s just as hungry as we are. If he doesn’t want to come he won’t.”
The women exchanged a strange look and Cam would have to ask Miranda about it later. Chrissy was up to her usual something or other. He thought she might be interested in Ryan, but from the way she was acting, he could have been wrong.
Before anyone could say anything else, Ryan must have picked up the phone.
“Hey, bro, we’re heading over to the Ice House. Want to come?” They could hear Rafe’s side of the conversation, but Cam had a pretty good idea what Ryan was saying.
“No, just the women, me and Cam.”
“Maybe fifteen minutes, give or take. You know how women are.” That earned Rafe an elbow in the side hard enough to make him grunt and Cam chuckled. Meghan lived up to her spitfire nickname and then some. She was something else. As much as he thought she was amazing, he was glad that Miranda was softer and sweeter. He supposed that could change if she continued to hang out with the trouble twins.
“Perfect, see you there.” Rafe disconnected the call. “Okay, you heard me, we’re out the door in fifteen so go do whatever you need to.”
“Who says we need to do anything?” Meghan asked with her hands on her hips.
“Umm, no one. Just wanted to give you the option.”
“Good thing or you might have found yourself sleeping in the recently vacated guest room.”
Cam couldn’t hold back his snort at the chagrin on Rafe’s face. He’d barely extricated himself from that mess. And having learned from his friend’s faux pas, he wasn’t going to put his foot in his mouth.
“You look perfect already. Do you need to grab anything before we go?” He thought he was so suave until Rafe hit him in the back of the head.
“You trying to show me up, kid?”
“Maybe,” Cam said with a huge grin. Not for getting back at Rafe but for the huge smile he’d earned from Miranda. It was like standing in the sunshine, and he’d never get enough of it.
“I wish you hadn’t invited Ryan,” Chrissy said, as she grabbed her purse.
“Why?” Cam and Rafe were surprised. Didn’t she realize Ryan had a thing for her? Or maybe she didn’t like him. He hadn’t thought of that.
“He doesn’t like me. He hardly says two words to me when he’s here. It seems like you’re just going to torture him with my presence. And trust me, as much as I like that idea, no one deserves that after a deployment.”
“Don’t worry, it won’t be torture. He loves that food. If he comes up for air to acknowledge any of us I’ll be freaking shocked,” Rafe said.
“It’ll be fine, stop being a fucking whiny-baby,” Meghan said as she wrapped her arms around her friend. Oh yeah, there was definitely something going on.
They had to take two vehicles to the restaurant since Rafe’s truck couldn’t fit them all. Halo had to stay behind since the Ice House didn’t allow non-service dogs. They’d tried before so he already knew it was a no-go. To take the sting out of staying behind, he opened a can of tuna and put it out for Halo along with some fresh water.
Then Cam and Miranda hitched a ride with Chrissy to make sure she didn’t ditch them. By the time they arrived at the restaurant, Ryan was already leaning against the side of the building. If Cam hadn’t been watching closely he wouldn’t have seen Chrissy’s intake of breath when she first saw him.
Chapter 7
The food at the Ice House was excellent, just as Cam said, but Miranda had trouble eating much. Nerves set in as she thought about being alone with him. She wasn’t a prude or a virgin, but they hadn’t had sex yet either. There had been plenty of kissing, touching, and intimacy but she hadn’t been naked in front of him. When that thought hit her, her appetite had evaporated.
It’s not that she had a poor self-image, she accepted her body for what it was—hers. She’d never felt the need to be perfect, or thin, or anything other than herself. But that had changed after Afghanistan. She’d been tortured. The men who took her had cut her so many times that most of her body was covered with scars. Since she’d been home, she’d made sure to be covered up most of the time.
“Don’t you like the food?” Cam asked.
“Oh, it’s wonderful, just like you said. I’m full already.”
“But you hardly ate anything. Are you feeling okay?”
“I’m fine. Maybe a little tired. I’m not used to partying like we did last night.”
“Got all rowdy, huh?”
“Maybe a little.”
“What are you two talking about down there? You need to share with the class.” Chrissy had an excellent knack of interrupting at the most opportune times. It’s like she saw and heard everything. Probably what made her a good analyst.
“I was trying to get Miranda to share about your girl’s night festivities, but she is being tight-mouthed.”
“Good. That’s how it is, kiddo. Whatever happens on girl’s night stays secret.”
“Got it.”
“So don’t try plying her for information, Miranda knows how to keep secrets.”
They had no idea of the secrets Miranda knew and would never share, mostly about her father, but that was the whole point of secrets wasn’t it.
“It’s not a big deal.”
“It is, secrets are important, Sunshine, and I’ll always respect yours.”
“Thank you, Cam.”
“He knows all about secrets, we live them every day,” Ryan said. It was the first thing he’d said since he greeted them when they arrived. Rafe had been right about him being quiet and eating. It was amazing just how much the three SEALs managed to eat in one sitting.
“It must be hard sometimes, not being able to talk about what you do. But I learned all about that with my dad.”
“I didn’t realize senators had many secrets, but I guess I should have,” Ryan responded as he ate the last bite of food on his plate.
“Yeah.” She didn’t mention his prior work for the CIA and how most of her life had been based on his secrets. It was time to change the subject. “I’m curious, do they not feed you when you’re on missions?”
“What? Of course they feed us. Depending on what we’re doing it could be MREs. You had a few when you were with us, remember?” Cam said as he finished his plate.
“Oh yeah, I’ll never forget that gourmet experience.”
The men chuckled. Everyone at the table with the exception of Chrissy had experienced the joy of the MRE. The woman was lucky she’d avoided that pleasure.
“So I guess that’s why you’re always hungry?”
“We burn a lot of calories. Even when we’re not working we’re working out, staying on top of things.”
“I hadn’t thought about that. Maybe I need to add more than just yoga to my workout schedule.”
Cam leaned over and whispered into her ear, “I wouldn’t change a thing.” Miranda could feel the heat creeping up her cheeks. If her mother had been there she’d have been mortified, but she was more comfortable around all of these new friends than her family and didn’t care. That made her think of her mother and the text message and voicemails she hadn’t answered. Shit. Then again, if there had been an actual problem, she would have called again.
As if she’d triggered it with her thoughts, her phone rang. She didn’t have to guess it was her mother. The only other people she heard from were Meghan’s brother Charlie, and Cam. It wouldn’t be either of them, so that left her mother.
“I’m sorry, I need to t
ake this. I’ll just step outside.” She grabbed her purse and answered the phone as she made her way between the tables and stepped outside.
“Mom?”
“Thank God. Why haven’t you answered your phone or messages, Miranda? You had me worried sick.” The first response she thought of would not be acceptable to Cherise Stanhope.
“I’m sorry. I let you know I got here okay. Then I was just hanging out with Meghan and Chrissy. I left my phone charging in the other room and didn’t see your messages until a bit ago.”
“That’s not acceptable young lady. You know better.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m sorry. Is everything okay? Did something happen?”
“Everything is fine except for not hearing from you.”
“Mom, I’m not twelve. You need to lighten up a bit.”
“But you’re my baby girl. You’ll always be my baby girl. And you were almost killed.” And there was the crux of the problem. Miranda wasn’t sure if her mother would ever get over the fact she’d been taken hostage. But in order for Miranda to move past it, she needed her mother to as well.
“I know, but I’m fine. I’m with friends and three Navy SEALs. I don’t think I can get much safer than that.”
“I don’t know…”
“I do, Mom. I’m okay.” Cam startled the crap out of her when he came up behind her and put his hand on the small of her back. It shouldn’t have freaked her out, but since she hadn’t heard him approach it triggered a fight or flight response and she brought her heel down hard on his instep. Those self-defense classes had come in handy. Except it was Cam. Thank goodness he was wearing his heavy boots.
“What was that? Are you okay?”
“Yes, Mom. Cam just came out to check on me. See you have nothing to worry about. I bet I can’t go to the bathroom without someone checking on me.”
“Nothing wrong with that.”
“Mother.”
“Okay, I’ll admit maybe that was a bit over the top. But I couldn’t talk to your father. He was with the president yesterday and you weren’t answering your phone. So, I just kind of panicked.”
Hearing the worry and sadness in her mother’s voice made Miranda feel guilty, and her mom was good at making her feel that way. She’d had many years of practice, but this time, she wasn’t going to give in to it.
“I’m sorry, Mom. But I’m sure dad is fine and I’m fine. I’ll call or text you tomorrow. Try to have a good day. Don’t you have a garden club meeting or something?”
“No that’s not until tomorrow. But I’ll find something to do.”
“Good. I love you. Bye.”
“I love you too, Miranda.”
“Wow, is she always like that?” Cam asked as she tucked the phone into her bag.
“Unfortunately, yes. Although, she’s gotten ten times worse since the incident.”
“The incident? You mean your abduction in Afghanistan?”
“Yes. She doesn’t like to say it out loud, so it’s become ‘the incident’ in our house.”
“Got it, good thing you told me in case I decide to bring it up as a topic of conversation at dinner.” Miranda smacked him in the stomach and laughed.
“And that reminds me, where did you learn that trick with your heel? You could have done some serious damage to me.”
“I know, isn’t it great? I’ve been taking self-defense classes. I was hoping it would help me feel better about going back to help finish the school there.”
“Wait. When did you decide about going back? I thought you were still thinking about it.”
“I was. But after talking to Charlie, I felt guilty about not wanting to go. So I started the classes to help.”
“But they didn’t?”
“No, but we can talk about it later. We should get back to the others.”
“Okay, but first, I’ve been dying for one of your kisses.” Before she could answer, he leaned down and took her lips in a gentle kiss, his lips barely moved against hers. But it didn’t matter, it still triggered the same tingle she always got from his touch.
When he pulled back, Miranda sighed with happiness and received a huge bright smile in response.
“Ready?”
She never had a chance to answer. Instead, a hail of bullets rang out all around them. Before she could react she was down on the ground with Cam covering her with his body. The gunfire was so loud, echoing off the buildings and bits of brick flew through the air where the bullets impacted.
Finally, the shots stopped, and a car roared down the street with squealing tires. It didn’t last long, but while she was lying there it seemed like forever. Terror, unlike anything she’d felt since the Middle East had paralyzed her with fear.
“Sunshine, are you okay?” Cam asked as he kneeled next to her on the concrete sidewalk.
“I think so. I don’t understand. Were they shooting at us?”
“Not sure, but we’ll find out. Here let me help you get up.” Her heart was still racing a million miles an hour and she was shaking like a leaf. If he hadn’t helped her she’d be lying on the sidewalk for a long while.
“You’ve got blood on your face, are you sure you’re not hurt?”
“I do?” Miranda reached up to touch her cheek. Feeling the stickiness she looked at her fingers. It was blood.
By then their friends surrounded them on the sidewalk, and Meghan handed her a tissue.
“It looks like it’s from pieces of the brick that splintered off,” Cam said as he took the tissue from her hand. “Let me do it.”
He was so gentle with her like he’d been before, and it brought tears to her eyes. A chill traveled down her spine and she shook. Cam’s eyes were filled with concern as he tended to the little scratches on her face. They didn’t hurt and were nothing much at all, but it was the shock of the shooting that had freaked her out.
Someone must have heard the shots and called the police. Sirens could be heard in the distance and the whining sound grew louder as they approached. Miranda shook in Cam’s arms as he tried to soothe her fear.
The entire incident was surreal. So many questions swirled in his head. Who would open fire on them? Who even knew they were there? Was it him or Miranda that was the target? Or was it just a random shooting? Not that it mattered at the moment. All he wanted was to get his woman to a place that was safe and comfort her.
Rafe was on the phone with Jake, who would call the captain. The local police would handle the investigation. They were SEALs, not law enforcement, but it was standard operating procedure to notify their commanding officer when incidents involving law enforcement occurred.
“We should take the women inside. Get them off the street in case the fuckers come back.”
“I agree,” Rafe said after he ended his call. “Jake’s calling Captain Knox and Murph since he’s the only one not here.”
“Murph will show up any minute now.” No sooner had Ryan said the words, a black Harley roared to a stop across the street. “Told you. I guess I should have bet you on this one.”
“Who’s betting now? And what the fuck? Can’t you guys go anywhere without being the center of attention?” Murph said with one of his shit-eating grins on his face. Talk about being the center of attention.
Rafe rolled his eyes and flipped him the bird over Meghan’s head. It summed up how Cam felt too.
“Everyone’s safe, thanks for asking, dickhead,” Ryan responded.
“I knew that already, Jake told me. So don’t go getting your panties in a twist. Oh, and thanks for inviting me to the party.”
“It wasn’t a party. There was no food in the house, and we needed to eat.”
“And? I live right down the street.”
“For fuck's sake, really?” Rafe replied.
At first, Murph was pissing him off, then he realized that all his carrying on had distracted Miranda and the other women too. She was no longer shaking and just leaning against him and her breathing had returned to normal.
The police pulled up a moment later and took over. First, they separated everyone, which pissed off Cam. He didn’t want Miranda to be alone, but when they found out who she was, they offered to let her go inside and relax until they were ready to take her statement. They even let the other women accompany her.
The cop that spoke to Cam was young and likely a recent graduate from the Academy. It made him feel old, not that there was so a huge difference in age between them, but they were worlds apart in experience.
Cam gave his statement, which wasn’t much. The car had been a black late model sedan, but he couldn’t tell him the make or specific model. The license plate was covered so no tag numbers to work with either. That didn’t leave much except for the bullets and casings the Crime Scene techs were collecting.
“Did you see how many people were discharging their firearms?”
“Not for sure. I heard the bullets before I saw anything and pulled Ms. Stanhope to the ground to protect her. When I looked up the car was already driving away. The passenger side windows were down, so I guess there were at least two shooters.”
“Can you think of any reason why someone would shoot at you or Ms. Stanhope?”
“No, I just returned from a three-month deployment. Ms. Stanhope is visiting from Georgia. It makes me think it has nothing to do with us and maybe it’s just the neighborhood.”
“We don’t have a lot of drive-by shootings in this area.”
“There’s a first time for everything.”
“Maybe. Will you be in town for a while?”
“Unless I get a mission. My commanding officer has all my information and will know how to locate me, or my teammates should something come up.”
“Okay. The detective assigned to the case may have more questions, but you’re free to go.”
“Thanks. What about the others?”
“I’ll check but I think we’ve gotten all we need right now. Thank you for your cooperation.”
Cam mumbled under his breath about not having a choice and he was sure the officer heard him, but wisely didn’t say anything. This was some fucked up shit. They’d just gotten in a few hours ago. And Miranda? She didn’t even live in the state. Didn’t know this restaurant. They couldn’t be the targets.
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