by Joan Swan
She startled. Her gaze broke from Luke’s, and she spun toward the door.
On the gurney, Mateo’s eyes popped wide open, but his body remained stone still.
Kakos andras.
A chill prickled over Luke’s shoulders like a cold breeze. The kid’s mouth hadn’t moved, but Luke knew the words—the same ones he’d heard from the boy in the chopper—had come from Mateo, and he really didn’t like this new ability to hear the kid’s thoughts.
Keira must have also heard him, because her attention darted back to Mateo and held.
A man stopped at the exam room doorway, both hands on the jamb to halt his forward momentum. A little on the swarthy side with a day’s worth of whiskers covering the lower half of his face, dressed in typical office casual, slacks, dress shirt, tie loose at his neck.
“There you are. This place is a zoo.” His dark eyes traveled over the room, took in every detail, then latched on to Keira with the heat of ownership. “Beautiful, I owe you. Big-time.”
“Tony.” Keira’s shoulders tightened, her hands dug into the front pockets of her jeans. “Wow, you got here fast.”
Tony. The father. The coworker-slash-boyfriend-slash-whatever. Only this wasn’t the greeting Luke expected for lovers. Definitely not the way Keira used to greet him, by wrapping her arms around his neck, sliding that perfect body up against his, and latching on to his mouth with her own until he couldn’t think straight.
Jealousy burned white-hot. It would have erupted into an inferno if Mateo hadn’t distracted him. The boy sat up, his round eyes stuck on the other man with even more fear than Luke had seen on the kid’s face when he’d been standing on the opposite side of a wall of fire.
Mateo’s fingers curled around the gurney’s metal side, his stare intent on Keira. Thia! Kakos andras.
Luke reached out and touched Mateo’s hand. The boy flinched, and Luke expected him to pull away. Instead, Mateo flipped his hand over and gripped Luke’s fingers so hard they stung. He scooted to the edge of the gurney, wrapped his other arm around Luke’s waist, fisted his fingers in his T-shirt, and pressed his face into Luke’s belly.
An instant, completely irrational urge to shield the boy had Luke drawing Mateo closer, bringing with it a new appreciation for Keira’s protectiveness. Luke ran a hand over the boy’s head. His curls were as soft as feathers. No wonder Keira couldn’t keep her hands out of them.
“Kakos andras.” Mateo’s murmur vibrated against Luke’s stomach.
Keira’s eyes rounded in surprise. “Did he just talk?”
He’s fucking terrified. Luke found himself thinking at her instead of talking to her. This was all so damned weird.
He picked Mateo up and rubbed his back. “It’s okay, buddy.”
Tony dropped an arm around Keira, pulling her close. Luke gritted his teeth. Wanted to twist that arm behind Tony’s back and break it. The guy stared at Mateo, an uncertain smile turning his mouth. Luke’s senses simmered. Where was the awe of seeing his child for the first time in three years? The relief? The excitement?
“Wow,” Tony said. “He’s gotten big.”
“That happens with kids when you don’t see them for a while,” Luke said. “And judging by your height, he’s probably pretty small for his age.”
Tony’s eyes strayed to Luke’s face. “Are you a doctor?”
“Luke is ATF.” Keira’s demeanor had shifted, as if she’d climbed back inside an uncomfortable shell. “He helped me get Mateo out.”
“Thank you, Agent.” The gratitude was stiff, but Tony offered his hand.
Luke should have taken it, but he couldn’t make himself do it. Something was very wrong with this scenario, with this man, but he had no idea what because his emotions had his mind and body cross-wired.
When Luke didn’t respond, Tony’s hand dropped. The tension in the room spiked.
Keira stepped into the space between them and looked at Tony. “Mateo’s still a little rough around the edges. He’s been through a lot in the last few hours.”
Mouth tight, eyes fiery, Tony turned his attention to Keira and relaxed. He reached out, ran a hand over her hair, and squeezed her shoulder, an intimate gesture that spoke of familiarity. One that made Luke want to deck the bastard. “Sure. I understand.”
“What is he saying?” Luke interrogated. “What language is he speaking?”
“Probably Greek.” Tony’s expression had closed. Turned businesslike. “His mother was Greek. Very proprietary about her heritage. She spoke Greek to him from the day he was born.”
“Tony,” Keira said. “The situation was pretty bad at the ranch when we left and I don’t have any news on your wife.”
“Ex-wife, and it’s fine. My feelings for her died a long time ago.”
An awkward silence invaded the room. Luke looked at Keira to check her reaction the same moment she looked back at him. Shared opinion passed between them. One that had nothing to with any mind-reading.
Keira broke the connection and reached out to rub a hand over Mateo’s back. “Hey, buddy, your daddy’s here. Want to say hi?”
Eyes squeezed closed, Mateo pushed off Luke’s chest and climbed into Keira’s arms, his movements jerky, almost violent in his need to stay connected to her. Pain wrenched through Luke’s ribs, but as soon as the boy was gone, a chill crept into his body. The same loss he’d felt the day he’d watched Keira drive away, headed for the academy. The same loss he’d felt the day he’d given Kat back to Teague when his former brother-in-law had been released from prison.
None of this made sense. And he couldn’t take that kind of loss again.
“Keira,” Tony said. “Can I have a word with you? Privately?”
“Sure.” Keira flashed Luke an apologetic glance. “I’ll be right back.”
In the hallway they stood close, talking in undertones. With Keira’s face turned up to his and Tony leaning toward her, they were only inches apart, Mateo between them.
The image was like looking at a picture of what Luke’s life could have been—only with another man standing where Luke should be. Of what Keira’s life would be like without Luke in it.
Some part of his damaged psyche still saw Keira as his. His best friend, his partner, his other half. She had been his True North during the darkest times of his life—his sister’s suicide, recovering from the warehouse fire, his brother-in-law’s imprisonment, the first year parenting Kat. Nothing had dimmed that deep sense of belonging he’d shared with her from their first moment together. Not time, not distance, not even the end of their relationship.
We needed very different things.
Logically, he’d known that. Still knew that. Logically, he knew he couldn’t change what he’d needed then or what he still needed. Nor could he change the fact that Keira’s needs were entirely different. At least they had been then.
Emotionally, though, looking at her with another man, holding that man’s child as if he were her own, the possibility that maybe they hadn’t needed such different things after all, that maybe she’d just needed those things with someone else, hit him so hard, his knees went weak.
He turned away, pulled his cell from his jeans, and dialed his boss in Lake Tahoe. His real boss, not the asshole commander at the siege. But Luke’s mind was somewhere else. Greek. Greek. Who did he know that spoke Greek? He was dying to find out what the kid was saying.
“Special Agent Carroway.”
“Kirk,” Luke said when his boss answered. “It’s Luke.”
“Heard I almost lost you, dickhead.”
Luke was too frazzled to smile. “Yeah. Kinda wishing you had.”
“What?”
“Never mind. What’s happening at the ranch? Did they get any more hostages out? Any more kids?”
“That place is a chemical inferno. Nothin’s coming out of there but ashes.”
Luke’s stomach pitched. “I’m leaving the ER now, headed back to the scene. I’ll check in with that jerk incident commander and—”
“Don’t bother. The army has taken over. Pushed all other law enforcement out. We’re officially released.”
“The army?” It was happening again. Just like it had five years ago. An explosion. A fire. Deaths. Trauma. The army sweeping in, taking control, classifying the information so they could bury it. “Can they do that?”
“They’re the United States Army, Luke. They can do anything they want.”
Dread filtered in. A sense of complete loss of control. “What about the FBI?”
“Even the Feds are out on this one.”
“You know they’re covering.” He had to force his voice down. “Where did the chemicals come from? Why didn’t we know what we were walking into? We’re ATF, for God’s sake. If anyone should have known, we should have.”
“Good question. The way this all panned out, I’m starting to believe no one knew.”
No way. Someone knew.
He spun with a glare ready for Keira. But it was wasted. She was absorbed in Tony. Before Luke turned away again, Tony lowered his head and kissed her. A solid, serious, purposeful, full-on-the-mouth kiss. Luke froze. Pain stabbed the center of his chest.
“Did you hear me?”
His boss’s voice pulled him back. Luke squeezed his eyes shut and turned away. He could have gone his entire life without seeing her kiss another man. Sure as hell hadn’t planned on being around as a witness.
“Uh, no, boss.” Luke rubbed the back of his neck as anger transitioned into hollow loss. “I didn’t.”
“I said that Delgado is in the parking lot handling releases. He’ll get you a vehicle and a hotel room for the night. You can head back to town tomorrow.”
“Sure, whatever.”
Luke disconnected and waited a few seconds before facing the threesome again. He took a breath, cleared his mind, smoothed a hand over the pain in his chest. Whatever she’d dragged herself into here with Rostov and Mateo and Tony wasn’t his problem. She’d relieved him of the need to worry about her when she’d made her choice three years ago. She’d chosen the Bureau. So the fucking Bureau could take care of her now.
He shoved his phone back into his pocket and picked up his duffel. As he approached, Keira took a step back from Tony. She didn’t meet Luke’s eyes. Guilty. She never looked him in the eye when she felt guilty.
“Looks like you’ve got everything here under control.” Luke tried to keep his tone flat, but even he could tell it came out rusty, pained, and venomous. “In case you’re interested, the army has taken over control of the incident.”
That got her attention. Her light eyes jumped to his and held.
“You might want to double-check with West,” he said, “but I was told that even the Feds have been released. So . . .” He cast a glance at Tony, then Mateo, the boy’s face buried in Keira’s shoulder, hands fisted in her shirt, and back at Keira before he started down the hall. “I guess you can all get on with your lives now.”
“Luke, wait.” Keira peered around Tony’s shoulder with an unreasonable sense of panic tightening her throat. It isn’t what you think. “I need to talk to you.”
Luke didn’t slow, didn’t stop, didn’t even turn around. He either didn’t care or didn’t hear her. Maybe her relationship status just didn’t matter. Because she just didn’t matter. He’d turned his back on her exactly as he had before. Keira felt the rejection all the way to her bones.
And she felt something else, too. An all-encompassing sense of anxiety. Impending disaster. A clusterfuck waiting to happen. Something . . . odd, but dark. Something she couldn’t pinpoint or place or attach to anyone or anything.
Tony sidestepped and cut off her view. “Keira, what do you think?”
She didn’t know what he was talking about, because once she’d shifted her mind off Luke, her thoughts automatically returned to the irresistible urge to wipe the feel of Tony’s mouth off hers with the back of her hand. That was probably the root of these disgusting sensations.
“I think you’d better never kiss me again without my permission. I was very clear about our relationship months ago. Nothing has changed.”
“Okay, okay.” He held up his hands. “I’m sorry. I got carried away. But, it’s perfect. Now that you don’t have to go back to the scene, we can take a little vacation. Go somewhere quiet, just the three of us. It can be completely platonic. If something happens between us, great. If not, I’ll accept it. But that will give Mateo time to get to know me while you’re still in the picture. I mean, look at him. What do you think he’s going to do when I try to walk out of here with him?”
True. Mateo wouldn’t even look at Tony. Wouldn’t even allow Keira to put him down. Luke was gone. She’d been released from the scene. There was no excuse not to go with Tony, but the thought of being alone with him for even an hour, let alone days, made her squirm.
“Look, Tony, we both knew this transition was going to be tough. You may have to suffer through a few nights of tears, but he’ll get over it. He’ll probably forget about me after a day or so.”
“That’s what you said about me.” He smiled, all charm, and ran his fingers over her uninjured cheek. “You’re not the kind of girl a boy forgets after a few days.”
Oh, no? Ask the man who just left.
“This is already way harder than I expected.” The thought of leaving Mateo created an unshakable sense of loss. She had an undeniable connection with the boy, but it wasn’t legal or even mental. It was chemical. And Keira still didn’t know how to lead into that conversation, only knew that now was not the time or place. “Dragging it out won’t help.”
The smile disappeared from Tony’s eyes, and something uncomfortable niggled along the back of Keira’s neck.
“How about this,” she offered. “I’ll stay close to you two and come see you every day. That will give you both time to acclimate.”
“I had a feeling you’d say that.” Tony slid his hand around the nape of her neck. “I wish you didn’t make me do these things.”
His fingers shot into her hair with unexpected force. He yanked her head back. Pain seared her scalp.
“T-Tony, stop.” She started to set Mateo down, needing her hands free to knock the living shit out of this bastard. But Tony tightened his fingers, and Keira choked on the new surge of pain.
“Keep your voice down,” he murmured in her ear. “Or you won’t be the only one hurt.”
Something cool and smooth touched the base of her neck. His weapon. He was her tactical equal. Her self-defense skills, her negotiation techniques, they were all rote to him. Panic edged in.
“This . . . this . . .” She didn’t know what this was. It made no sense. It was so out of character, yet some part of her psyche wasn’t completely surprised. “This is really stupid, Tony. Think about your career. Your future. Put the gun away and I won’t mention this to West. We’ll chalk it all up to stress and forget it ever happened.”
“West doesn’t mean shit to me. This is my career. My future. And I’m damn sick and tired of the delays.”
He released her hair and pushed the gun against Mateo’s ribs. The boy flinched, buried his head deeper into the hollow of Keira’s shoulder, and whined, “Kakos andras, Thia.”
“We’re leaving through that door.” Tony lifted his chin toward an exit down the hall and pushed her forward.
“I’ll scream.” She scanned the room, the hallway, the area, for some type of weapon, for someone to help, but all personnel had been pulled to the trauma bay. “You’ll never make it out of the parking lot.”
“You won’t make a sound, because I don’t want you or this kid as much as the others do.”
The others. Her chest plunged into a deep freeze.
No. He couldn’t be. She’d known him for over a year. Worked with him almost every day at the Bureau. She couldn’t have missed . . . The FBI couldn’t have missed . . .
He pushed the weapon against Mateo’s ribs, and the boy let out a sharp squeal of pain. The sound ripped at her h
eart. “And remember, alive is preferred, dead is perfectly acceptable.”
Those were West’s words. Keira’s mind pinged back to the moment her boss had said them. There hadn’t been anyone within earshot. It wasn’t a typical FBI euphemism.
She’d always considered Angus a mentor, a muse, someone she’d hoped to emulate someday. Now she didn’t know what to think. Or who to trust.
Luke.
Luke, come back! She didn’t know why she tried to contact him telepathically. He might have heard Mateo’s thoughts, but he hadn’t indicated he’d been able to hear hers. The truth was she had no idea how this mind thing worked, because the strange web of communication they seemed to have developed was different from anything she’d experienced before. Still, she screamed in her head. I need you. Help me. Luuuuuke!
Keira let Tony shove her forward. No one wandered the short hallway, and when Tony opened the door, no alarm sounded. The rear parking lot was deserted.
She stumbled into the warm, dry evening air. Dusk mixed with the smoke drifting from the fires at the ranch, and a gray tinge settled over the landscape, dulling all edges and colors like a muddy painting.
He opened the driver’s door of a familiar Crown Victoria and shoved her across the bench seat toward the passenger’s side. She glanced at the lock. At the door handle. She could run, shield herself and Mateo behind the other cars until someone came into the parking lot.
“Don’t bother.” Tony pounded the lock on his door with a fist. “Your locks are disabled. You’re not going anywhere.”
He fired up the engine, screeched out of the parking lot, and turned onto the main road, heading east. A sleepy desert town spread out to the west. Flat, barren land stretched in all other directions.
Luuuke!
FIVE
Luke slammed a fist against the shower controls in the dinky hotel bathroom and swore when a pansy-ass stream of water emerged.
“What do you expect in the middle of bumfuck nowhere?” He shucked his clothes, trying like hell to keep his mind off the day’s events.