I nodded, pulling her along as we crossed to the back side of the lot. She picked the lock on the gate and I went inside, finding a dark blue sedan that had seen better days. In less than a minute I had the wires stripped and the engine started. “Let’s go,” I told her.
“We should keep the route as previously planned. Did you get enough sleep?”
I grabbed her hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “I did, thank you Laney.”
“You’re welcome,” she sighed, giving me a wistful look, filled with something I didn’t really recognize, but I thought it might be love mixed with regret.
Strange.
The last time a woman looked at me like that I pretended to be going on a top secret mission to Africa and never came back. This time I wanted to hang on to that feeling. Savor it and pin it to my chest.
And never let it go.
Delaney
“What did he say?” My heart actually stopped at the sight Bennett made walking back to me from the payphone at the internet café we’d stopped at deep in the heart of Chicago.
“He said how in the hell did we manage to miss the damn flight.” He flashed that boyish grin that lit my whole body up and took the seat across from me, sexy as hell despite the lack of sleep from which we both suffered. “I explained about the whole exploding car situation, but the Commander was not moved. He said to find a way to get our collective asses to the Pentagon and ASAP. Or else.”
I nodded because the “or else” very likely ended with both of us rotting in a body of water somewhere. “I used a VPN to log into my email address and the committee members have all received their copies of my dissertation research. I’ve made small but significant changes to each copy so I guess now we wait.”
“And then we eat before finding a car to get us to the coast.”
He grabbed my hand and we walked out of the shop, hopping on a couple of buses and then on one of the elevated trains the city was famous for before we stopped at a hole in the wall that served the best pizza I had ever eaten.
“Deep dish, sounds like it should be awful but this is quite possibly the best pizza on earth.”
His chuckle soothed my frayed nerves and I cursed my body’s reaction to him. Our entire relationship was a gigantic question mark.
“I agree. But we should get a move on. I have an idea for a car.”
His idea had been to go to the sketchiest part of the city and find a used car lot where we got an old gold clunker for less than a thousand bucks.
“Do you think this will get us where we need to go?” The salesman, an older black man with an impressive white beard and a dazzling smile smacked the hood.
“It may be ugly as hell little girl, but the engine is solid. It’ll get you to California and back and that’s a promise.” He must have seen my hesitation because he leaned closer to speak to both of us. “You want the truth? This car was bought at auction, used to belong to a high ranking gang member and that’s why I can’t sell it. I’ve dropped the price, but folks are terrified to be caught driving it. Something tells me you won’t be in town long, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”
Bennett stuck out his hand and grinned broadly. “You have a deal. Cash okay?”
“Nothing better,” the man said, leading us to a desk. “Comes with thirty days insurance but after that you’re on your own.”
Bennett laid down five hundred bucks and his face took on a fierce expression. “If anyone comes asking about two people who look like us, we said something about heading to a cabin in Maine, right?”
The older man slid the bills across the table and tucked them into his eggplant blazer. “I hear Maine is lovely this time of year. You lovebirds enjoy your vacation,” he said loudly and waved us off.
We stopped at the first gas station we saw. Bennett filled up while I got food and a gas can. “If we need to stop it’s better we do it on our terms,” I told him.
“You would have been a good damn SEAL Laney.”
Why that compliment touched me so much, I couldn’t say. “Thank you.” The drive this time started less tensely, but both of us were pensive, lost in our own thoughts as we drove straight through Indiana and Ohio. But somewhere outside of Pittsburgh tension filled the car.
“You feel it too, don’t you?”
“What’s that, the danger, or this thing between us?”
I rolled my eyes. “The former.”
He shrugged. “Yes. Hell yes. To both.”
There were cars on the road, but mostly they looked like bored commuters and the occasional trucker or minivan of tourists, but I felt on edge. Like the danger we’d been running from had come closer. Was upon us.
“I can’t explain it but I feel, suddenly anxious. More than normal.”
In response Bennett weaved through traffic, “To see if we have a tail,” he explained.
We didn’t have a tail, but the feeling didn’t go away. When traffic grew heavier, Bennett’s hands tensed on the wheel and he moved aggressively to the right lane and exited I-76. Every few seconds, blue-green eyes darted to the rearview or side mirrors, checking diligently.
“What’s the plan?”
He blew out a long breath and I knew he felt lost too. “The plan is to get to D.C. as soon as fucking possible. We need gas now, then we can finish the last four hours of this trip uninterrupted.”
I nodded because I couldn’t think of anything else to say. “Thank you Bennett. Whatever brought you into my life, thank you for protecting me. For making me feel like a woman, a desirable woman.”
“Well sweetheart the pleasure was all mine.” He winked and threaded our fingers together, holding them on his leg as he drove with a fierce expression burning in his gorgeous eyes.
I love you. The words hovered on my lips as he pulled up to the side of the gas station, but instead of voicing them out loud, I jumped from the car like it was on fire.
“Should I get anything from inside?”
“Nah. I’m filling up the can.”
I grinned. “Me too,” I said hoping to break the tension. It didn’t work so I pressed a kiss to the side of his mouth and made my way to the second most germ-ridden place in America. The public restroom. Luckily it was unoccupied and I moved quickly, trying desperately not to touch any parts of any surface. Washing my hands seemed pointless when I had to open the door but old habits die hard and I had a miniature bottle of sanitizer in my bag. “Ugh,” I shivered and pulled the door open.
And ran smack into a man with too many gold chains and a distinct patchouli scent. “Hello Doctor. You are very hard woman to track down.”
I stepped back and pushed the door in his face. “No!” His hand slammed against the door, pushing it open and grabbing me by my ponytail. “Stop.”
“I won’t hurt you, as long as you know that your research is now mine. The Harness requires batteries that my boss can produce cheaply. He only wishes to convey his thanks and remind you that your work is done.”
“What? What the hell are you talking about, my work is complete? This is my life’s work!” He frowned and I knew there was something I couldn’t understand, but it was right there. “I didn’t conduct this research for anyone but myself.”
“What…never mind. We have it now, consider yourself lucky you still have your life.” He pushed me roughly and my head smacked against the wall. He tried to get away, but for some reason I reached out for him and he turned, landing a blow right on my face.
I don’t know how long I was out, but I heard footsteps running to me and I pushed off the ground only to fall back down under the blinding pain throbbing in my head. “No, stop! Get away,” I screamed, eyes clenched, as hands clutched at me.
“Laney babe, it’s me. Calm down and talk to me.”
Bennett. I blindly reached up until I cupped his jaw, raspy with several days of growth. “Bennett, you’re here. I love you.”
“Babe,” he groaned and then I felt myself being lifted into his arms. “You’re bleeding.�
��
“I know you don’t love me back, but there is good news.”
“There is?” he asked, voice sounding suspiciously amused.
“I know who the mole is.” It was the last thing I remembered until I woke up and looked into the eyes of a solider. Or a doctor.
Maybe she was both.
Bennett
“She passed out before she could give me a name, but she said she knew who it was Commander.” Finding Laney passed out on the ground like that had taken about thirty years off my life. But fuck me, hearing her say she loved me, well that had been the best feeling of my life.
“Well keep a close eye on her Atlas. I need to know that name yesterday. Whoever it is, I want their fucking ass on a platter!”
I knew the feeling. “Commander I have a feeling this wasn’t the work of one person. I think there’s a mole at Stanford but somehow other governments found out about it.”
“Get answers as soon as she wakes up.”
“Yes sir.”
“And Atlas I wanted you to know that I’ve put in your retirement papers.”
I frowned. “My what? Sir, are you unhappy with how I’ve handled the situation with Dr. Watson?” Shit, had he somehow guessed that things had moved beyond platonic?
“Is it Dr. Watson now, not Laney?”
Was that amusement I heard in his voice? “Commander Mahoney, it’s not like that.”
“It damn well is, and I say it’s about damn time. The team will be sorry to lose you, but it’s time.”
“No it’s not. It’s not time Commander!” I couldn’t lose the only thing I’d ever had that meant a damn thing to me. “With all due respect Commander, it’s not your decision.”
“Son this assignment was meant to be your last. You can write your own ticket, choose wisely.”
There was more I wanted to say but he’d ended the call, the way he always did. The man was determined to get his way at all costs, but in this he was wrong. At least I hoped he was.
“Mr. Atlas, Dr. Watson would like to see you.”
Finally! “How is she?”
“Fine. A little out of it, but she seems a little desperate to see you.”
“Right. Thank you, doctor.” I’d spent the past few hours going out of my mind as she drifted in and out of consciousness before leaving her to the care of a Navy doctor at Mahoney’s instruction. “Laney, how are you feeling?”
She reached an arm out to me. “Better now,” she smiled and winced, placing a hand to her nose. “How bad do I look?”
“You look beautiful, as always.”
She rolled her eyes and patted the bed. “I never realized what a bad liar you are.” She patted the spot again until I sat down, holding her hands in mine. “Ryan Austin is the leak.”
“Seriously?”
She nodded. “The man who attacked me outside the bathroom said his boss can produce the batteries needed for the Harness very cheaply.”
I frowned. “But it doesn’t require batteries. Right?” I still had a minimal understanding of her work, but I knew that much.
She smiled, but it was so faint it could hardly be called a smile. “No but that was one of the changes I made to the different copies of the dissertation.”
“That’s my girl,” I told her and brought her hands to my mouth, brushing a kiss against her knuckles. “I’ll get word to Mahoney.”
“Wait. He thanked me for my research like I worked for him. I knew it sounded weird but I couldn’t quite figure it out. But as I floated back to consciousness and saw your face, I knew.”
The President of the goddamn university had set her up from the beginning. “I’ll kill that sack of shit.”
“No you won’t Bennett, you’ll let the Commander and whatever other entities inside the United States government handle him. He’s not worth risking your career over.” She just understood, and that was a gift. I knew many of my team would love to have a woman like her waiting for them when each mission ended.
“I don’t know Laney, he might be after what he put you through.”
“Bennett,” she sighed, giving me that soft-eyed look she wore after we made love. “I don’t know how I can ever possibly repay you.”
“I don’t need you to repay me.” I didn’t want her to think she owed me anything.
“Then what do you need?”
And in that moment I knew. “You. Just you, Dr. Watson.”
“Are you sure about that? I mean this is all pretty unorthodox by anyone’s standards, right?”
“That’s true but that doesn’t mean it’s not real.”
“Is this real, Bennett? Would you have been with me if we hadn’t been forced into close proximity by the threats to me, my research and national security?”
“If I’d gotten to know you like I do, absolutely.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead and pulled back with a smile. “I wish you could see how I see you, Laney. You’re fantastic. Beautiful as hell, and so smart it should be scary. But you know what?”
“What?” Her question came out breathless, full of emotion.
“It’s hot as hell.” I laughed and she joined in, just as I hoped she would.
Then she sobered. “But you’re leaving. Back to the Navy, right?”
I nodded because I couldn’t seem to push the words past my lips. I didn’t have to go back to being an active SEAL if I didn’t want to, and if Commander Mahoney could be believed he’d already started the process for my retirement. If I accepted that I could do whatever the hell I wanted. I could start my own security firm. I could do something with my engineering degree or get a job making a shit ton of money in the private sector.
“For a while anyway.”
She looked away, wiping at her eyes, but her other hand stayed on my leg, buried under my own hand. “I don’t want to say goodbye to you Bennett.”
“Who’s asking you to?”
“Circumstances.”
“What will you do next?”
“I don’t know. Going back to Stanford seems impossible, but what are my options?”
Come with me. I wanted to say that to her, but it wouldn’t be fair. “You are the smartest person I have ever met, on any continent. You can do whatever the hell you want.”
“Thank you Bennett.” When she turned watery blue eyes my way, I felt simply gutted. Her eyes were filled with tears and regret, love and hope. “You are a special man and I’m grateful that I got a chance to know you. To love you.”
“Laney, you’re killin’ me sweetheart.” I wanted to say more to her. To tell her I felt the same way, but several men in suits and a few in different military uniforms came through the door, squashing any personal talks.
***
I should have let it go and gone back to San Diego to finish up my last month with the SEALs, but I couldn’t. I’d gotten in Mahoney’s face and pretty much forced him to let me in on this part of the project. Only I couldn’t.
This asshole had scared, no terrified, Laney. He’d sent mercenaries after her who set her house on fire, beat her and put a bomb under her car. He needed to pay and that’s where I came in. A week had passed since Laney and I had arrived at the Pentagon and she hadn’t yet returned to California. No doubt Austin thought he’d gotten away with it. The prick.
See, I knew this guy. I’d met guys like him all over the world and they were all the same. They had a great deal of power in their small corner of the world but that wasn’t enough. No. They wanted more, and because they weren’t smart enough to aim for more, they went to extremes and took shit into their own hands.
Just like Ryan fucking Austin. So, I sat on Laney’s sofa and waited. I knew he would show up, we’d been monitoring his emails. He had the dissertation, but he didn’t have the prototype and he needed it to get paid. An hour of waiting and he’d finally put in an appearance, clumsily attempting to break in.
I waited.
He entered and didn’t even bother looking around, creeping across the living room. He froze w
hen his gaze landed on me. “Mr. Atlas,” he wore a smug grin.
“What a surprise to find you here Austin.”
“Dr. Watson asked me to grab something from her lab.” He could barely contain his fucking smirk, and I wanted to smack it right off his fucking face.
“Yeah? She didn’t say a thing to me, but go right ahead.” I knew what he didn’t, that he wouldn’t find what he was looking for downstairs.
He walked slowly, cautiously through the kitchen and down to the basement. Seconds later a string of curses wafted up from Laney’s lab and I smiled. Footsteps sounded quickly up the steps and he scowled down at me.
“Where is it?”
“Where’s what?” I shrugged with a smirk.
“The prototype, asshole. Where is it?”
“Not here would be my guess.”
He laughed bitterly but slowly it turned to amusement. “I knew when you showed up she would go wild for you. No man had ever touched the brainiac before, and you, well I knew you would be the distraction she needed.”
“You shouldn’t have threatened her, and you would have gotten everything. If that asshole at the club hadn’t put his hands on her, or tried to burn us along with the house, you’d be counting your cash on a beach somewhere by now. Instead you’re going to prison. Maybe worse.”
“I have the research, and as soon as Watson gets back I’ll have the prototype.” He grinned like he’d just won.
I loved this part. Standing I stepped forward until we were face to face and I wore my own smug grin.
“Well here’s the thing, Laney is much smarter than you are. Than I am. Hell, she’s smarter than most people. And she knew the best way to find the mole and make them think they’d won was to alter the research. That’s how we knew it was you, the guy who came after her mentioned batteries.”
His smile slipped. “What are you talking about?”
“Whatever you thought you sold is a big fat fucking lie. I imagine even if you found your way out of this mess your partners wouldn’t look too kindly on being duped.”
Seal's Professor: A Military Roommate Romance Page 9