Shielding Kinley

by Susan Stoker

  Lefty had come to the base with Trigger, because they lived in the same apartment complex now. It was late, after ten at night, and Trigger had just hung up after talking with Gillian.

  “She good?” Lefty asked.

  Trigger nodded. “Yeah.”

  The answer was short, but Lefty had overheard some of his friend’s conversation. It was clear that Gillian was thrilled he was home, and the feeling was mutual.

  “Seriously?” Grover asked from nearby, the surprise and confusion easy to hear in his tone.

  Lefty was immediately on alert. “What?” he asked.

  The other men on the team were also tense as they waited to hear what had surprised their friend so much.

  “Devyn’s planning on moving here.”

  “Devyn?” Lucky asked. “Who’s that?”

  “My sister,” Grover told him, staring at his phone. “She left a message on my voice mail, saying that she’s quit her job and she’s moving to Texas.”

  “That’s your youngest sister, right?” Oz asked.

  “Yeah. She’s the baby in the family.”

  “She okay?” Brain asked.

  “I don’t know. I mean, I thought she loved her job. She’s a veterinary assistant, and every time I’ve talked to her, she’s had nothing but good things to say about it,” Grover replied, the worry easy to hear in his tone.

  “You gonna call her back?” Lucky asked.

  “I tried. She’s not answering. It’s late though, it could be she’s just sleeping.”

  “Let us know if you need anything,” Lefty said, clapping a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “You know we’re here.”

  “I will. I have no idea what plans she’s made, but she might need help unloading a moving truck or something,” Grover said.

  “Anything you need, we’re there,” Lucky reiterated.

  They were interrupted by their commanding officer dismissing them, and soon after, Lefty was sitting in Trigger’s Chevy Blazer. Resting his head on the seat back, Lefty closed his eyes.

  “You okay?” Trigger asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Still nothing from her?”

  “No. But it’s fine. I mean, it’s not like we were ever really gonna have any kind of relationship. Not with her being in DC and me here. Lord knows having a regular relationship is already difficult; a long-distance one would never work out,” Lefty said, trying to convince himself.

  “But you’re still worried about her,” Trigger said with uncanny insight.

  Lefty sighed. “I spent six hours with her, Trigger,” Lefty said. “We clicked. I called my mom when she was with me, for God’s sake. She promised to talk to me. I don’t know what to think anymore.”

  “Maybe tomorrow you can call Winkler, see if he can make some inquiries. I know we were just his bodyguard detail, but he seemed pretty down to earth…for a politician. He and Brown work in the same building, so at least you might know if she’s okay if you talked to him.”

  It was a good suggestion, but at the moment, Lefty wasn’t ready to do much of anything when it came to Kinley. “Yeah, I might.”

  Several minutes went by as Trigger drove toward their apartment complex.

  “So, Gillian’s good?” Lefty asked.

  “Yeah. Said she’s been busy planning and reading.”

  “Does she sit still long enough to read?” Lefty asked. “I swear I can picture her flitting all over the place, talking on the phone, typing out an email, and reading at the same time.”

  Trigger laughed. “It’s funny because I thought the same thing when I first met her. But you’d be surprised. She loves to sit around and veg. And if she’s reading a book? Forget talking to her.”

  “I’m happy for you,” Lefty told his friend. “I mean it. Gillian’s awesome. She’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. She’d give the shirt off her back if she thought someone needed it. That’s pretty rare nowadays. People only think about themselves.”

  “It’s pretty awesome, but it’s also scary as fuck,” Trigger admitted. “She’s always wanting to buy meals and shit for people she sees on the street. One of these days, I’m going to come home and she’ll have invited someone down on their luck to stay with us.”

  Lefty shuddered. “Yeah, that’s not good,” he admitted. But he couldn’t stop thinking about the moment when Kinley had bought a meal for the homeless man in Paris, and how, in Africa, she’d bought out the woman’s entire stall of food.

  “But I wouldn’t change Gillian for the world,” Trigger said. “I don’t ever want her to harden up. I want her to keep that empathy she has for others forever. I just wish she’d be a bit more aware of her own safety at the same time.”

  “You’ve gotten her to stop using Ubers, though, right?” Lefty asked.

  “Yeah. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”

  They pulled into the parking lot at the apartment complex and, after they’d exited the vehicle, Lefty gave Trigger a chin lift. “Thanks for the ride.”

  “Of course. There’s no point in both of us taking our cars to the base. Thanks again for helping Gillian and me get the apartment here.”

  “No problem. Any luck on finding a house?”

  Trigger shrugged. “We’ve been looking, but Gillian says she’s content where she is for now.”

  “A woman who doesn’t care about material shit is pretty fucking amazing,” Lefty observed.

  “Oh, I know, and believe me, I’m thankful for it. She couldn’t care less about the size of our apartment or designer clothes and stuff like that. But somehow that makes me want to give them to her all the more,” Trigger said dryly.

  “Go on,” Lefty said, playfully shoving his friend. “Go home to your woman.”

  “She’s an idiot,” Trigger said after taking three steps toward his apartment. “Kinley, I mean. You’re one of the best men I’ve ever known. She doesn’t know what she’s losing by ghosting you.”

  “Thanks,” Lefty said. The words didn’t really make him feel better, but he liked them all the same. “I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Later,” Trigger said, then turned and bounded up the stairs.

  Lefty walked to his own apartment a little slower. He knew what was waiting for him. A dark, empty apartment that smelled slightly musty from being closed up for two weeks. He’d thrown away what he thought might go bad in his fridge before he’d left, but he always forgot something.

  Sighing, he straightened his shoulders. This was his life, no matter what he might’ve thought would happen with Kinley.

  He opened his apartment door and dropped his bag on the floor just inside. He’d deal with laundry later. Right now, all he wanted was a shower and bed.

  Lefty groaned when his phone rang the next morning. Opening one eye, he saw it was eleven o’clock. He’d slept hard, but he felt as if he could still sleep for another twelve hours.

  He fumbled with his phone as it continued ringing and finally found the button to click to answer it.

  “’Lo?”

  “It’s Trigger. You need to come over to my apartment. Pronto.”

  Lefty was immediately awake. “What’s wrong? Is Gillian all right?”

  “She’s fine. But she needs to tell you something you’re going to want to hear.”

  It took Lefty a moment to let his heart rate settle. “God, don’t scare me like that, Trigger. Shit, I thought something was really wrong.”

  “It might be. Get your ass over here, Lefty. I’m not kidding.” Then Trigger hung up.

  Lefty grumbled about what a pain in the ass his friend was as he dropped his head back down to his pillow. If he went over to the other apartment only to find Gillian throwing them a welcome-home breakfast party, he was gonna be pissed. The food would be nice, because Lefty knew he didn’t have a damn thing to eat at his place…but still.

  He climbed out of bed and went into the bathroom. He quickly used the facilities and brushed his teeth, not bothering to shave, then threw on a pair of
jeans and a T-shirt. He grabbed his keys and put them in his pocket before heading out of his apartment and over to Trigger’s place.

  He lifted his hand to knock, but the door opened before he could. Trigger stood there with a worried look on his face.

  The tension on his friend’s face made Lefty finally realize that this wasn’t a surprise welcome-home party or anything of the sort. He followed Trigger inside and saw Gillian pacing back and forth in front of the couch.

  “Lefty!” she said when she saw him. “Thank God you’re here.”

  Frowning, Lefty couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on. “What’s wrong?”

  “Well, maybe nothing—but maybe lots. And I’m so sorry! I was…distracted last night when Walker got home, and I forgot until this morning,” Gillian explained, blushing and looking slightly guilty.

  “Take a breath, Di,” Trigger said, using the nickname he’d given her in Venezuela. He went to her and pulled her into his embrace.

  Lefty couldn’t help but feel a pang of…jealousy? It wasn’t that he didn’t want Trigger to have what he had with Gillian…it was just that he wanted it too. And after meeting Kinley, he’d thought maybe there was a tiny chance he might get it, but that was looking less and less likely.

  “Okay?” Trigger asked, looking down at Gillian.

  She nodded and turned to Lefty. “I think Kinley might still be in town.”

  Those eight words turned Lefty’s world on its axis. “What?”

  “I know, it’s crazy. But she was here looking for you.”

  When she didn’t immediately explain, Lefty ordered, “Start from the beginning, and don’t leave anything out.”

  “Right. It was about a week after you guys left. I’d noticed this woman the day before, but didn’t think much about it. She was knocking on your door, and you obviously weren’t home. But then she came back the next day. And then the next day, she was sitting in a car in the parking lot. I noticed her parked there the evening before…then in the morning, her car was in the same spot, and she was still in it. She looked rough, Lefty. I felt bad for her. So I went down to the parking lot to talk to her.”

  “See what I mean?” Trigger said, meeting Lefty’s gaze with exasperation. “We’re still working on personal safety.”

  Gillian shoved Trigger’s chest, but he didn’t move, only pulled her closer.

  “Anyway, she said her name was Kinley, and I remembered Walker telling me briefly about someone with that name who you’d spent time with in Paris. I mean, I don’t know any details or anything, but I felt better that you actually knew her. So I invited her up to have breakfast. As I said, she looked rough.”

  “What does that mean?” Lefty clipped.

  “Easy, man,” Trigger warned.

  Lefty took a deep breath and nodded.

  “Just that it looked like she’d been sleeping in her car. Her hair needing washing and her clothes were super wrinkled. And…” Gillian hesitated, but then went on. “She didn’t smell all that great. Not awful, but like she hadn’t showered in a while. So I convinced her to come up here—which wasn’t easy, by the way—and we ate and she showered. I let her wash her clothes and we hung out.”

  “You hung out?” Lefty asked, perplexed.

  “Yeah. It was pretty awesome, I have to admit. I did some work, she read. Then when I was done, I sat down and read too.”

  Trigger’s lips twitched. “So you two sat on the couch and didn’t talk, but you read?”

  Gillian smiled. “Yeah. You know how hard it is to find someone who’s comfortable just sitting next to you reading and not worrying about carrying on a conversation? I mean, I love Wendy, Ann, and Clarissa, but those three can talk. Kinley didn’t feel the need to talk just for the sake of hearing her own voice.”

  “What happened then?” Lefty asked, wanting her to get on with it so he could figure out why Kinley was there—and where she might be now.

  “She left,” Gillian said with a shrug. “I didn’t know when you guys would be back, so I invited her to come back in the morning so we could hang out again. And she did. I saw her every morning for three days—but I haven’t seen her for the last two. She said she didn’t have a phone, so I couldn’t call her to find out if everything’s all right. I’m worried about her. She seemed almost desperate to talk to you, and now you’re back, but suddenly she’s not here. I don’t like it.”

  Lefty didn’t like it either. He couldn’t figure out what Kinley was doing in Texas in the first place. Not when her job was in DC. And why the hell was she sleeping in her car? And where was her phone?

  Nothing made sense…and that had Lefty’s internal oh-shit meter pinging left and right. “What’s she driving?”

  “A tan Toyota Corolla.”

  Lefty winced. They were a dime a dozen, and it would make finding her all the more difficult.

  “I’ll call the other guys,” Trigger said, letting go of Gillian.

  Lefty wanted to protest. He knew everyone was as tired as he was, but he’d be grateful for the help.

  “You want me to call the police?” Gillian asked.

  “No,” Lefty said immediately.

  She lifted an eyebrow in question.

  Taking a deep breath, Lefty tried to explain. “Something’s wrong. Kinley shouldn’t be in Texas. She lives and works in DC. And I definitely don’t like the fact that you think she’s been sleeping in her car. The police would be able to put out a BOLO on her car, but if she’s in trouble, that could make matters worse.”

  “How so?” Gillian asked. “Do you think she’s wanted by the law?”

  Lefty wanted to chuckle at her wording, but nothing was funny about this situation. Nothing at all. “No, but I don’t know what’s going on. I thought she wasn’t answering my messages and texts because she didn’t want to talk to me, but what if it’s something else?”

  “She could be trying to stay under the radar,” Trigger said.

  “Exactly. So I don’t want to get the police involved just yet. Believe me, if too much time goes by, I might not have a choice, but for now, I want to see if we can find her on our own. Killeen isn’t too big, so maybe we’ll get lucky,” Lefty said.

  “I can call Ann, Wendy, and Clarissa to help.”

  “Thanks, but let’s keep this on the down-low for now,” Lefty told her. Then he walked over to Gillian and put his hands on her shoulders. “Thank you for befriending her.” He hesitated, then continued. “She doesn’t seem to have any friends, so I appreciate you reaching out.”

  “That’s just stupid,” Gillian said heatedly. “I don’t even know her very well, but I like her a lot. She’s…calming. That’s not really the right word, but it’ll do for now. I didn’t once feel like I had to entertain her. She was perfectly happy just sitting on the couch and reading. But she could also hold a conversation. We talked about one of my upcoming events, and she had some great ideas for me. And one day I was having trouble finding anything in my client’s budget, and she was able to give me some hints and tricks to negotiate a better rate with the venue. I like her, Lefty. I hope she’s all right.”

  “Me too,” Lefty said. He let go of her shoulders and looked at Trigger. They shared a glance, and Trigger motioned to the front door with his head. Understanding that he wanted to talk about their plan of action away from Gillian, Lefty nodded.

  “Thanks again for letting me know,” Lefty told her.

  “I’m so sorry I didn’t think to call you last night. I was just so excited that Walker was home.”

  Lefty snorted a laugh. “I know. You hadn’t seen Trigger in a while.”

  Gillian nodded, but was still frowning. “I feel horrible about it. I’m a terrible person for not thinking about it immediately. I should’ve told you last night.”

  “It’s okay. Seriously,” Lefty told her. He would’ve liked to have known last night, but he’d been tired. He wouldn’t have slept if he’d known Kinley had been in town looking for him, and there was a good chance he
needed to be on top of his game when he found her. She wouldn’t be here if something hadn’t happened.

  Determination rose within him. Kinley was here. She’d come to him. Him. It was bad timing that he’d been on a mission, but he was going to find her and figure out what she was doing in Texas. He knew she wouldn’t have come if whatever she needed wasn’t important.

  Within thirty minutes, Lefty was standing in the parking lot of his apartment complex surrounded by all six members of his team. No one had bitched about having to come over on their day off.

  Trigger had just finished telling the guys what Gillian had told him and Lefty.

  “She’s here somewhere,” Lefty said. “I know it. We just need to find her. I don’t know her plate number, but it’ll be a Washington, DC, license plate. If she’s really been sleeping in her car, she’ll probably have looked for a safe place. A parking lot of a business that’s open twenty-four hours, or some other place that’s not too desolate. There’s a chance she’s not even in town anymore…but for some reason, I think she is. She came all this way to see me and she’s very determined. I can’t see her leaving before she accomplishes what she set out to do. If you find her, don’t approach. Call me and watch her. Okay?”

  Everyone nodded.

  Lefty loved his team. They didn’t worry about who was in charge or who was calling the shots. Their egos were checked at the door before they started a mission. And this was a mission, even if it wasn’t being assigned by their country.

  Lefty gave them all different areas of the town to search and immediately after, they all headed for their cars.

  Brain held back as the others left. “You okay?” he asked.

  Lefty shrugged. “I’ll be better when I find out what the hell is going on.”

  “You want me to see what I can find on the computer?”

  Lefty hesitated then shook his head. “My gut is telling me to wait. To find out what’s going on before we do anything that might alert someone else that she’s in the area and we’re looking for her.”