by Dale Mayer
She grinned. “I am. Run down and looking for bed as soon as possible, but, at the moment, I’m holding.”
He nodded. “That’s all any of us can do.”
“It’d be nice if we caught a few hours shut-eye.”
“And that’s where you’re going right now,” he said. “We’re running shifts of four. Except for Sienna, who doesn’t know what’s going on, and we’ll do our best to keep it that way. When she’s up, I’ll get her back into the office. Lots of work to keep her busy.”
“Isn’t that the truth?” Ice snorted. “Do we have that many men left?”
He waved at her with a towel in his hand. “Go. You get some sleep. Move it.” She hesitated, but Alfred was insistent. “You’ve got to be up in four, so move it.”
She winced. Four hours was nothing. She raced up to her room and stripped off her clothing, wincing again at the sight of her bloody clothes. She’d just thrown her night gear over them.
Still all had worked out well.
Once down to her skin, she stepped into the hot shower and scrubbed herself clean. The heat, combined with the fact that she would finally hit the bed, just added to her sleepiness. By the time she stepped out from under the hot water, she was exhausted. She wrapped herself in a towel, dried off, and then collapsed on the cool sheets. She pulled the covers over her and was out within minutes.
Four hours later her alarm woke her up. Groggy, she leaned on her elbow and stared at the clock in disbelief. Surely she’d only been out five minutes. But, no, it read 9:00 a.m. Goddammit. She struggled to her feet and threw her bloody garments into the laundry. Then she carefully folded her night gear to take back down and put away. She should’ve done that last night. Exhaustion was no excuse.
Dressed in clean clothes and carrying her equipment, she headed downstairs to the kitchen. It looked like she was the only one up. When she had stowed away her gear, she came back into the kitchen to put on yet more coffee.
Somebody else would be up soon. Until then, she needed to know who was where and what was going on. She walked to the intercom and checked the control room. “Who’s on duty?”
Stone’s tired voice answered her. “I’m still here. Rhodes’ll be taking my spot in a few minutes. Then I’m crashing for four.”
Ice shook her head. Stone had been up forever. “You do that. You deserve it.”
She checked the med bay. There was no sound. Ice had monitors and could click on that room and check on her patients. Sure enough, Logan slept peacefully. No sign of Bullard. That man was likely down for the count too. Swiftly going through the monitor screens, she checked the electronics garage—deeming it the R&D room in her head. And that’s where she found several men, including Harrison.
Quickly, Ice poured a cup of coffee and walked down to the bay.
The men looked up when she arrived. Ice raised her coffee cup and said, “More in the kitchen but you only get coffee if you’re just arriving for shift. If, however, you’re all done and about to be relieved, then no more coffee for you. I expect to see your asses racing out of here and going to bed.”
Her gaze turned to Harrison, and she frowned at the exhaustion straining his features. “And, if you don’t get your ass out of here fast, I’m taking you back to sick bay.”
His lips quirked into a smile, and he stood up. Even at one hundred pounds over her weight, he knew better than to argue with her. “I am tired,” he said quietly. “No arguments out of me on that.”
She smiled and patted his shoulder, nudging him in the general direction of the door. “Sleep. And don’t come back in four hours. Your body needs to heal.”
Almost gratefully he stood up carefully, put down the equipment in his hands, and, without another word to anybody, turned, and walked out the door.
She glared at Levi. “Just because you can go all night, and he can when he is healthy, doesn’t mean he should when he is injured.”
Levi turned to look at the doorway and then winced. “He never said anything, and he appeared to be working strong. It never crossed my mind.”
Ice shook her head. “Men,” she said in disgust. Ice turned to gaze at all the other guys in the room. “How many are supposed to go down now, and how many of you just arrived?”
Two men held up their hands.
“Did you just arrive?”
They nodded.
“Good, the rest of you go. Minimum four hours down. I’d rather not see any of you back for six.”
The other men disappeared, except for Levi and the two new arrivals. Levi stood in front of her, arms crossed, and asked, “Are you really telling me to leave too?”
She snorted. “What would be the point of that? But, if you expect anybody to respect you, you’d better be damn sure you’re at the top of your game. Everybody needs sleep sometime. Or have you forgotten that too?”
He glared at her, but, instead of her backing down, she took a step forward and shoved her face into his and added, “Then get your ass upstairs and get some sleep.”
Instead of getting angry, Levi grinned, closed the short distance between them, and kissed her full on the lips. “You coming with me?” he asked cheekily.
Her gaze widened. She cast a surprised glance at the two men watching with fascination. Realizing they’d heard him, she glared at them and said, “I’m sure you have something else to do.”
With smirks they headed to the door. “Yeah, we’ll chase down the coffee you got for yourself.”
They disappeared, leaving her and Levi alone.
She turned her attention back to Levi. “And what makes you think you’re in any shape to take me to bed?”
“Well, it could be that you’re the one who’s all rested up and I’m the one that should be just lying there, letting you have your way with me,” he said with a grin.
She took a step back, not sure what to make of his teasing manner. After weeks of being amiable friends, this step into lovers’ talk was new and heartwarming. But also very exciting.
“What’s changed in your world that all of a sudden you think we should be lovers again?”
“I’ve always thought we should be lovers. You’re the one who stepped out of my bed. Remember?”
She nodded. “But that was after you decided I was a little too close to Bullard.”
“And you proved my point by leaving my bed.”
“No.” She shook her head. “It had to do with trust.”
“That’s not fair. I’ve always trusted you,” he said forcefully. “I’m just not so sure I trust him.”
She laughed. “It’s a little late, considering you brought him here to help out on the compound.”
“That’s different.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “This is my life but you’re my heart.”
“Levi?” The call came from the other room.
And with that interruption he gave her a curt nod, turned, and walked to the door, leaving her standing there, staring after him with her jaw open. Alfred stretched an arm across her shoulders. “You two really do need to get the hell away from here and sort yourselves out.”
She shot him a look. “Wouldn’t that be nice?” She picked up her coffee and took a sip. Then remembering all that had happened last night, she turned and said, “Any news?”
Alfred shook his head. “It’s been quiet. No other attempted infiltrations.”
“Well, that’s something at least.” She took another sip and then asked, “What about the men we brought back?”
Alfred smiled and patted her on the cheek. “You slept through it all. They were picked up an hour ago.”
She rolled her eyes. “Of course they were. Did we get any information that was useful?”
“No, and none of them were Rodriguez either. Nor did they admit to knowing him or would say what they were doing at the stores. Although an interesting fact is, none of them were the owner of the hardware store or the ice cream shop. According to the government file, they belonged to two separate business owners. Howeve
r, both are under the umbrella of a larger corporation, SynCorp.”
“SynCorp? That could mean anything. It doesn’t give us any idea what the business is about.”
“That’s why they do it, of course.”
She nodded. She wanted to ask who had come and picked up their visitors but wasn’t sure it was something she really wanted to know. Finally she decided she was all in or all out. “Did Jackson send men to pick up the hostages?”
Alfred gave her a sharp look and a curt nod. “Yes.”
“What about the dead man?” She turned to study the hills out behind the windows. She had been kidding when she’d mentioned having a mass graveyard on the property. Now, in the daylight, it didn’t seem like such a joke.
“He’s with the others. Good riddance,” Alfred said with a note of satisfaction. “We need to decide how to legally handle the attacks on the property.”
“Levi has an in with the Texas Rangers,” she said. “I’m just not sure how the jurisdiction works down here.”
With a steely smile Alfred said, “Looks like we’ll find out before too long.”
She gave a laugh and smacked him gently on the shoulder. “You need a hand in the kitchen? Or is Sienna helping you out?” She glanced around the garage space. “I should go see how she’s doing.”
“Not to worry. I’ve been checking in on her on a regular basis. Gave her breakfast and took her up coffee and a snack. It wouldn’t hurt if you stopped in and said hi. Although I know your life is a bit on edge right now. We don’t need her mixed up in this at the moment.”
Of course he’d been looking after Sienna. But still, Ice should see how the woman was doing. This wasn’t the welcome she’d planned. Then again, she hadn’t really planned for visitors either—friendly or unfriendly—and both types had arrived anyway.
Ice smiled. “I have no idea what’s going on with all the electronics here, but it does look like there’s less than half of what we brought in last night.” She turned toward the windows into the garage bay next door. “And it looks like the vehicle is gone too.” Ice frowned and turned to study Alfred’s face. “Really? Did they leave us with anything to learn from?”
“That’s actually why the men stayed up. They got what they wanted before the equipment was collected.”
“Smart.” She turned to head back into the main part of the house. “Hope they got what they needed too.”
*
Just because Levi was tired and his body needed rest did not mean his mind was ready to shut down. Lying in bed after a quick shower, his hands rested under his head on the pillow. Levi stared at the ceiling. He had the largest room in the place—almost an apartment in itself. He chose that deliberately. Not only was it his house, his place, his company, but he had not expected to be here alone. This was meant to be his and Ice’s room.
And how the hell would he get her in here now?
He’d been wrong about Bullard. Levi had been wrong about a lot of things in life. But he wasn’t about the fact that he and Ice deserved to be together. They were meant to be together. But Bullard was here, and he had made it clear that he’d be ready to take Ice away with him. And if Levi didn’t do something fast to make her a happy woman, Levi could consider her as good as gone.
Levi didn’t want to believe Bullard would cross that line. But Levi also knew it had more to do with Ice’s decision than Bullard’s. Because, regardless of what either of the men said, Ice would make that choice, and it would be rough on the man left behind. In spite of it all, Levi was good friends with Bullard. Levi respected Bullard.
Levi’s argument with Ice just before he’d been in the accident had been really shitty timing. It hadn’t given them a chance to clear up what was wrong.
And then he’d felt like so much less of a man afterward. One with no future. No good prospects. Although he knew Ice would rip his throat apart for such a sexist remark, he couldn’t help thinking that, as the man, he wanted to provide for his family. Ice wanted children one day. He just didn’t know if he was capable of giving them to her. He’d sustained an injury to the groin area with some doubt that his sperm count would be normal. He might not be able to produce children.
This relationship would be the death of him. He had no idea what he was supposed to do about this. To him, it was damn simple. So why the hell wasn’t she here beside him? With those thoughts twisting through his head, he closed his eyes and fell into a rough asleep.
Just under four hours later he woke up. He already knew he was four minutes early. Too many years in the military to stop that kind of mental training. It was also a godsend. His body hated to wake up to the racket of an alarm. That jerk awake wiped out a good hour of restful sleep.
He dressed quickly and headed downstairs. The fact that he got four hours undisturbed meant nothing had gone wrong. He’d admit he was disappointed he’d lost the vehicle and the bulk of the electronics that went with the weapons to Jackson, but Levi understood exactly why it happened. And he’d been prepared.
Besides, they’d kept detailed images of everything. What he needed to do was find Rodriguez, fast. Before Rodriguez tried to get at Levi again. Because Rodriguez would. There was no doubt on that point.
In the kitchen was the proverbial pot of coffee, which he was grateful to see. He poured himself a cup, then turned around to study the monitors. Rhodes was at the control room on the computers. And it looked like Ice was with him. That was good enough for him.
Levi walked upstairs to see them. He really respected the builder for having built this fortress. And Levi was thankful for it. They still had some modifications and upgrades to make, but, without the plans that had been set into motion decades ago by his uncle, no doubt they would have had a much worse casualties than they had last night.
At the doorway to the control room he watched Ice go through the last hours of video, making sure absolutely nothing had been missed. She was like that. She kept track of details like no one else he knew. When she came to an end, he asked, “Satisfied?”
Ice turned, her gaze warming, making the inside of his heart ease back slightly. Surely she cared.
She studied his face, as if checking to see how well rested he looked. Always watching. Always caring for everyone else. Ice would make a hell of a mother.
“Looks like all was quiet,” Ice said. “I went back through the video feeds since last evening. I didn’t see anything that we missed, so I’m confident we’re clear at the moment.”
“I still want to walk through it. Make sure they didn’t plant anything.”
Her eyebrows arched, and she twisted her lips into a thoughtful frown. “Okay, I’ll go with you. I should get up and stretch my legs for a bit.”
She turned to Rhodes. “You doing okay here?”
He waved them off silently. She was okay leaving him alone to watch the monitors, knowing the other guys would be here soon anyway. She walked to Levi. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and together they stepped out the front door of the house. Outside they stopped, and their eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight. The temperatures were soaring; it would be well in the eighties.
“Let’s head up the road a bit.”
She didn’t argue but stepped forward smartly. He smiled. He could take her out of the military, but it was pretty damn hard to take the military out of her. It was easy to keep pace. She was tall and lean yet still only came to his shoulder. When she wanted to move, she could. They strolled in companionable silence for the next few minutes, came around the corner where the vehicle had been parked last night, about one-quarter mile from the house. He wondered about broaching the subject uppermost in his mind.
“What’s that?” She stopped and pointed.
He caught the reflection out of the corner of his eye, grabbed her by the shoulder, and threw them both into the ditch.
Her cry of pain pierced the quiet.
And he knew he had been too late.
Chapter 13
Ice rolled over and shoved h
er face into the gravel. Cries were struggling to get out of her throat as pain rippled through her system. She clutched at her arm, feeling the blood coat her fingers. Goddammit, she’d been hit. A sniper had taken her out. Just when they had thought they were out of danger with nobody watching the place.
They were fools. In the background she could hear Levi talking to somebody on the phone. Presumably calling for help. She wasn’t badly hurt—but she was angrier than hell.
Levi had thrown her off to the side. Once again keeping her out of danger, protecting her. She should’ve reacted faster. She should’ve protected herself. She should’ve been more aware.
“Don’t move,” Levi said, his body holding hers close to the ground protectively.
“I wasn’t planning on it,” she muttered. “He hit me in the arm. But it’s not bad.”
“How can you tell? You haven’t even looked at it yet.”
She twisted enough to see his face and then cried out in pain again. His lips came down on hers and stifled the next sound before it could escape. She shuddered under the weight of his body, the caress of his lips. As he went to lift his head, she raised hers, her lips clinging to him. She didn’t want to lose the connection. It seemed like so long.
“Shh,” he whispered against her lips. “It’ll be fine.”
She barely understood his words until he reached up and stroked moisture off her eyes. Only with Levi. She didn’t know, couldn’t remember on one hand the number of times she had actually cried. But something about knowing she was safe in his strong arms allowed her to be vulnerable. She knew he’d look after her.
Gasping for breath against the waves of pain, she lay there until her body slowly rebalanced. “I’ll be fine,” she whispered. “I wish I was home already, but, given that we’re not too far away, I can walk back.”
“Not happening,” Levi whispered. “Men are even now scouring the hills. Someone is coming to collect you.”
He didn’t move, instead he clasped his arms behind her head and cuddled her close, his body protective above hers. The only way she would get shot at again was if the bullet went through him.