by Desiree Holt
He was so fucked. But he was going to do the right thing, for both of them. He was no good for her. She needed to move on with her life, find a nice guy to settle down with. And he needed to make sure if it was here in Tampa, he avoided them like the plague.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“I was afraid you were going to wear ruts in the floor and the carpet.”
Hawkeye turned from the kitchen sink where he’d been standing, looking out the window, shocked to hear her voice. This was exactly what he was afraid of. He’d gotten so distracted thinking about the two of them naked she’d managed to sneak up on him. He was grateful she wasn’t a terrorist or, worse yet, the people they were hunting.
“Couldn’t sleep?” He made his voice as even as possible.
“Too edgy,” she told him. “Did you see anything outside the window?”
“No.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I thought about getting some additional sensors for the outside, especially along the sidewalk and the driveway.”
Her eyebrows flew up. “You think they’d be stupid enough, gutsy enough to walk right up to the house?”
“These assholes will do anything. I ditched the idea, though. Going out puts you in danger.”
“Even if I’m with you?”
“Even if—” The ringing of his cell phone interrupted him. The readout said Grey. “Yeah, Grey.”
“Some changes of plans, and you probably won’t like them.”
“Probably not. Lay it on me.”
“I’ve been on the horn with the U.S. Marshals’ office both here and in San Antonio. They want to move Maddie.”
“What?” Hawkeye realized he’d shouted. “What the fuck for?”
“I said the same thing. Their reasoning is Scalzo knows Maddie is here in Tampa so he’s going to make it his business to scour the city for her. That means laying out heavy money for anyone who can give him a tip.”
“No one except you knows she’s here,” Hawkeye pointed out.
“I mentioned that, but it didn’t buy any ice with them. The thing that really pushed them is Scalzo himself being in town, and he’s put a bounty on her head, but only if she’s taken alive.”
“Fuck.” That was rapidly becoming his go-to word.
“They want to move her to San Antonio where her parents are until they catch these guys.”
Damn it all to hell.
“You don’t need me to tell you that’s uber risky,” Hawkeye pointed out. “No matter how careful we are, they could somehow get wind of this and snatch her. Force her to tell them where her parents are.”
“I think we can make this work for us, though, with one or two minor adjustments. Another pause. “One more thing,” Grey said in his deep voice, “and you won’t like this one bit. I’ve had Jacqui all over this, verifying.”
And then he relayed a piece of information that made Hawkeye’s blood boil and his anger threaten to explode. He needed to keep himself under control or he wouldn’t do Maddie any good.
“Bastards.” He was overcome with a sudden urge to kill someone with his bare hands. He took a deep breath to settle himself. “I thought it was a little too convenient you call the U. S. Marshals’ office and two eager beaver guys jump right on this? I mean, the damn trial was thirty years ago. I’d think their first reaction would be to blow this off. Tell us we’re imagining things.
Grey was silent for a moment. “I agree, which is why we now have Plan B. Hence the minor adjustments.”
Hawkeye ground his teeth. “What do you have in mind?”
“They asked me where she was and I wouldn’t tell them, so they have issued an order for you to deliver her to them at a private airfield.”
Hawkeye was startled. “Private airfield? I thought they always flew commercial.”
“Usually,” he agreed. “But in some cases, like this, they have private aircraft at their disposal if they feel the person’s life is in grave danger.”
“True that.” He stared out the window for a long moment. “What happens if I refuse?”
“They put out an order to retrieve her in whatever manner and you become a fugitive. That paints a very large target on her back.”
Fuck!
“Okay. But I’m not taking chances with Maddie’s life.”
“Of course not,” Grey agreed. “We’re going to rewrite their script a little and put Plan B in play. That is, if you’re willing.”
They went over it again, with Hawkeye adding some details of his own. If he could control the situation, if he could change things up a little bit…. Maddie’s safety was paramount, not only for the moment but also going forward.
“Okay, I’m on board with this. But I want you to use your best people.”
Grey gave a short laugh. “They’re all my best people, guy.”
“You’re laughing at this?”
“Only because your mind works the same way mine does. You really do need to think about coming to work for us when your tour is up. Okay, let’s go over the details.”
They ran over it a few more times, looking for places it could fall apart. At last, they were both satisfied they had the best plan in place.
“How long will it take you to get everything set?” Hawkeye asked.
“Thirty minutes, tops. I had already reached out to my agents before I called you.”
“Fine. Call them back and tell them we’ll be there in an hour and a half.”
“They won’t be any too happy with the delay,” Grey pointed out.
“Tough shit. Are her folks being taken care of?”
“The guys I spoke to said they’d contacted the San Antonio field office. To be on the safe side, though, don’t let Maddie call her folks until this all goes down and everyone is safe. I hope we’re wrong, but let’s use all our options.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Hawkeye agreed.
“Trust me,” Grey assured him. “Nothing will happen to her as long as we follow the plan.”
“Do we have a choice? Okay. I’ll call you back in ten.”
Maddie hovered near him, a worried frown on her face. “What’s happening, Hawkeye?”
So he told her, keeping it short and sweet and not sharing any of his misgivings or the shocking information Grey had dropped on him. “So that’s the deal. As soon as Grey calls back, if it’s a go, we need to be ready to roll.”
“Should I bring my suitcase?” she asked. “How long will I be in San Antonio?”
“I have no idea.” He hated being deliberately vague, but he needed her to be unaware of his plans. “Depends on what they have planned to trap Scalzo and his goons. I guess bring it in case.”
Sooner than he would have liked, Grey called back with the go-ahead. Hawkeye tweaked the plan a little, arrangements Grey had totally concurred with. Five minutes after that, they were rolling to the airport on Davis Islands.
“What’s going on?” Maddie asked, glancing at his grim face. “I know you and Grey whispered about something when I was out of the room.
He was silent for a long moment, trying to come up with the right words. Finally, he said, “Maddie, tell me one thing. Do you trust me?”
“Yes.” She said the word without hesitation.
The knot of tension inside him eased a fraction. “Okay. Then, if you do exactly as I tell you, this will all be over soon, and you’ll be safe. You good with that?”
“I am.” Again there was no pause before she answered him.
“Then get ready. It’s game on.”
He was grateful she didn’t pepper him with a lot of questions, or ask him to hide her away somewhere while he and Grey took out the bad guys. He was sure she was smart enough to know the only way to get them was to smoke them out. But he wasn’t about to gamble with her life, either. Which was why, in downtown Tampa, a short drive from the airfield, he made an abrupt detour and pulled into the multi-level parking garage.
“What’s going on, Hawkeye?”
He heard the tension in her voice.
“A little precaution. Better safe than sorry.” He gave her a hard look, trying to reassure her. This is where you really trust me, Maddie. Nothing, nothing at all, is more important to me than keeping you safe.”
He drove to the next to the top level, looking for the car Grey had described to him. When he found it, the SUV next to it backed out and he pulled into the now available space. Grey Holden climbed out of the SUV, came around, and opened Maddie’s door.
“This is your rest stop, Maddie. Come on out.”
She looked from him to Hawkeye and back again. “Will someone tell me what this is all about?”
Hawkeye leaned over and pulled her against him. “I’m not risking your life, no matter what.” He pointed to a man and a woman who had come to stand beside the car. “Derek here is going to spend some time with you right here while Grey and I, his men, and your stand-in play out this little charade.”
“Stand-in?”
He gestured to the woman. “Meet Mel Bracco, former FBI agent. Crack shot. And could pass for you if they don’t get too close.”
“I promise we’ll give you all the details when this is wrapped up,” Grey assured her. “But, right now, we have to get moving. They’re expecting us, and I don’t want to put them on guard.”
He was proud of her for not asking more question and following orders, no matter how conflicted or confused she was. Within ten minutes, Maddie was seated in a car with Derek and Mel Bracco was in the shotgun seat next to him. She was dressed much as Maddie might be, with the possible exception of the Glock 9mm she carried.
Here we go, he thought. I hope to fuck this all works.
*****
Maddie appreciated the fact Derek was doing his best to keep her calm and make sure her mind was occupied, but nothing could settle her nerves.
“Can you at least tell me what they’re doing?” she asked. “There’s something going on no one is explaining. I don’t want anyone to get killed on my behalf.”
Derek smiled. “Trust me, Maddie. It takes better men than these to kill Grey Holden, and I’m guessing your Hawkeye is the same.”
Her Hawkeye. But was he?
“They’ll be back soon,” he assured her. “And in one piece.”
She hoped that was the truth. She sat rigid as a steel rod, trying not to watch the clock, until Grey’s SUV pulled into the parking garage. As soon as Hawkeye hopped out of the vehicle and opened her door, she fell into his arms.
“Is it okay? Did it go okay?” She was patting him all over as if looking for wounds.
“It’s fine.” He cupped her chin and looked straight into her eyes. “No one got shot, certainly not us, and the bad guys are all in handcuffs.”
“They are?” she squeaked. “How did that happen?”
“Well,” he drawled, “the cops helped a little.”
“Cops?” She looked from him to Grey. “You called the police?”
Grey gave her a slow smile. “Whenever it suits my purpose. And today it suited. But let’s get the hell out of this garage, okay?”
Hawkeye put her in his car and jogged around to the driver’s side. “See you at your office,” he told Grey as he climbed in.”
Maddie was full of questions, but Hawkeye asked her to keep it together until they got to The Omega Team offices. They’d have a complete debrief, and then the two of them could go home.
And that was exactly what happened. Grey explained how Jacquie, hacking into the ultra-secure Marshals’ system, discovered the two Marshals they dealt with were actually on Gus Scalzo’s payroll. They’d been stupid enough to actually exchange emails with Scalzo. There were enough police there to take all three men plus the pilot down to headquarters, with a laundry list of charges against them.
And no shots had been fired. That was the best part, as far as Maddie was concerned.
They were barely in the house before she threw herself at him, hugging him and kissing every inch of his face.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He set her slightly away from him. “I need to call Ghost and tell him it’s all wrapped up.”
“And I should call Gretchen.”
The look in his eyes gave her an unsettled feeling. “Then I’ll take you home.”
“Home?” She felt as if an icy knife had stabbed her. “But I thought—”
“Maddie.” His face was expressionless, as if he’d wiped every emotion from his mind. “Let’s not discuss this here, okay?”
She had a hard time swallowing against the tightness in her throat. “Okay. But we will definitely talk about it.”
Since she had her suitcase with her, there was no need to detour to his house, so he took her straight to hers. Out of habit, he checked everything before walking inside with her. He had refused to discuss anything as they drove, but, as soon as they were inside, he turned her to face him.
“I have to leave,” he told her. “I’ll be getting my medical clearance this week, and my team is waiting for me.”
“But we still have the next couple of days, right? And we can discuss what happens after that?”
“Listen to me,” he told her. “Nothing is happening after that. Nothing is happening now. The kind of life I lead doesn’t make for good lasting relationships. My job is everything to me.”
“Others make it work,” she protested.
“Maybe. But I’ve never seen myself in a permanent relationship.” He cupped her cheeks. “I didn’t mean to mislead you, so that’s all on me. But it’s better if we end it before it starts. Before I hurt you any more than I already have.”
“You only hurt me if you walk away from me, Hawkeye.” She blinked to hold back the tears. One minute, she’d been ready to celebrate; now she felt only pain. “I know it’s only been three days, but sometimes it can happen in three hours. Don’t lie to me and tell me you didn’t feel that connection right away. I want us to see where it goes.”
“I told you, that can’t matter. I have a job to do for my country, and that comes first.”
“How can you keep saying that?” she cried. “I told you other people do it.”
“I’m not other people. I’m—” He stopped. “Maddie, please don’t make this any harder for us than it has to be.”
“If it’s hard to do this,” she pointed out, “then maybe you should think twice about it.”
He stared hard into her eyes. “I’ll be thinking about it a lot. That’s the damn problem.”
He took her mouth in a kiss so scorching it seared her to the soles of her feet. His tongue was a flame licking everywhere. Maddie put everything she felt into the kiss, silently begging him to change his mind.
When he lifted his head and broke the contact, she wanted to grab him and pull him hard against her. But he took a step back.
“Good-bye, Maddie. I’m glad I could keep you safe.” He let his gaze take her in from head to toe and back again, as if memorizing her. “Have a good life. You deserve it.”
He walked out the door and closed it softly behind him.
Maddie sank to the floor, buried her face in her hands, and wept.
Chapter Seven
“Honey, you only knew him for three days.” Gretchen scooped more ice cream into Maddie’s bowl. “That’s hardly time enough to establish a relationship.”
“We had a connection,” Maddie insisted. “He knew it, too. I swear he did. Some things you can’t fake.” She swallowed a large spoonful of the confection. “He had a couple of days left before he had to report for his physical. Why couldn’t we spend them together and see where things went? I mean, Ghost has someone, right?”
Gretchen sighed. “Yes, but—”
“Do you think he’d talk to me?”
Gretchen wrinkled her forehead. “Hawkeye? From what my cousin said, when he’s not on downtime, he shuts out the outside world. And you said he made it clear there was nothing to go forward with.”
“No, not Hawkeye. Ghost.” As soon as th
e words left her mouth, Maddie wished them back. What kind of immature woman was she to go running to Ghost, who didn’t even know her except secondhand, and blubbering about why Hawkeye walked away from her?
Gretchen’s eyebrow lifted almost to her hairline. “You want me to call my Delta Force cousin and ask him for romantic advice? Damn, Maddie. You really are in bad shape.”
Maddie shoved another spoonful of ice cream in her mouth and hoped it would cool the hot flush of embarrassment surging through her body.
“Yeah, forget I said that, okay?” She sighed and licked the spoon. “I just wish I could get him out of my mind.”
Gretchen reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “I wish I could say it will get better and maybe with time it will. At least we have ice cream to get you through it.”
Maddie gave a short, hysterical laugh. “Yeah, by which time I’ll weigh three hundred pounds.” She sat back in her chair and swallowed against the sudden lump in her throat.
“Let’s talk about something else, like what happened to the Chicago hood who wanted to kill your folks.”
“Can you believe it?” Maddie sat up straighter. “My parents have been in WitSec all this time. Who’d a thunk it?”
“That is so wild, though. So where does everything stand now? I know Grey Holden called you to fill you in.”
Maddie stared at her. “And you know this how?”
Gretchen’s face turned red, and she bent her face over her bowl of ice cream. “Well, um, he might have also called Hawkeye who might have told Ghost.”
Maddie slammed her spoon down. “And you didn’t tell me? Why?”
“Ghost said the guy was calling you himself and to let him know if that didn’t happen. But it did, right?”
“At least he cared enough to make sure I got the information. Or maybe it eased his conscience to know things were wrapped up.”
Gretchen leaned forward. “So come on. Give.”
“The two Marshals are both under arrest and about to be indicted.” Maddie ticked the items off on her fingers. “Gus Scalzo had several outstanding warrants against him, as did his two thugs. They won’t see daylight for a long time. And my parents can draw a full breath for the first time in thirty years.”