One Tough Marine

by Paula Graves

  He cuddled his son close, smiling as Stevie curled up against him and patted his chest. He looked over at Abby and found her smiling at them, though a hint of regret darkened her blue eyes, giving his own happiness a bittersweet edge.

  “The cabin’s less than a mile from here. We’ll be there in five minutes, unless they’re sending us on mule or something.”

  Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Mule?”

  He just grinned.

  THE HELICOPTER’S rotor blades finally slowed to a stop, and Hannah and Riley moved forward to open the door. Hannah beamed up at Luke as he handed Stevie down to her waiting arms.

  Stevie started protesting immediately. Luke hopped down and helped Abby out so she could take their squirming son from Hannah. Passing him over to Abby, Hannah quickly turned to Luke and threw herself into his arms.

  The tight hug turned into a pummeling, as she rapped her small fists against his arms and back. “I can’t believe you kept the Cordero stuff a secret from us this whole time! What were you thinking, you big idiot?”

  Riley caught Hannah around the waist and pulled her off of Luke. “Settle down, Rocky Balboa.” He reached his hand out to Luke. “I’m Riley. Nice to finally meet you.”

  Luke shook his brother-in-law’s hand. “Same here. Thanks for the help in Yuma. Have you heard from your folks?”

  “They’re staying with Joe and Jane up in Canyon Creek for a while,” Riley answered. “They’ll be fine.”

  “If you talk to them, please be sure to tell them how sorry we are about what happened to their house,” Abby interjected, bouncing Stevie on her hip. “I feel so horrible about that.”

  Hannah put her hand on Abby’s shoulder. “Rita specifically said to tell you not to feel guilty. It was the most excitement they’ve had in years.” Hannah smiled at her. “I’m Luke’s sister, Hannah. I guess you figured that out, though.”

  Abby managed to smile, although Luke could tell she was practically dead on her feet. He needed to get them to the safety of the mountain cabin that his brothers and sister had set up for them to use.

  Kristen had filled Abby in on the plan while Luke was in the hangar talking to J.D. and Sam about Barton Reid. The cabin was one of three larger properties that Cooper Cove Marina managed as a vacation rental. The three-bedroom log home was the most distant of the three from civilization but boasted all the modern amenities they’d need, including a wireless Internet connection and—as Abby had told him with obvious excitement—an enormous bathtub perfect for soaking in.

  It was, by far, the most appealing fugitive hideout they could have hoped for.

  Hannah turned to Luke with an apologetic expression. “I’ve got a six-o’clock appointment at the lake, so I have to run. Oh, but before I go—” Hannah reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out something about the size of a pack of gum. “Sam called and told me you might be needing this.”

  It was the flash drive.

  “I can’t promise it contains the files everybody’s looking for, but it’s the only one of the disks we couldn’t open.” Hannah handed it to him. He tucked it into the front pocket of his jeans, where it fit snugly enough to reassure him it wouldn’t fall out on the ride to the cabin.

  Hannah turned to look at Abby. “It’s good to finally meet you, Abby. Luke used to write about you all the time in his letters home. I hope that disk is the answer to your problems.”

  Hannah gave Luke another hug, then kissed her husband and headed off, moving with more energy than anyone should be able to muster up at five-thirty on a cool November morning.

  J.D. brought the last of their bags out of the helicopter and carried them over to Luke. “Y’all ready to head out?”

  “Who’s driving us?”

  J.D. reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. He tossed them to Luke. “I helped Cissy buy a new car for college, so y’all can take her old one.” He motioned toward a blue Honda Civic parked nearby. He picked up a couple of their bags and started toward the Honda. Luke, Abby and Riley fell into step behind him, carrying the rest of their things.

  Luke moved closer to Riley. “Hey, Riley—has anyone shown up, calling themselves Feds, looking for us?”

  Riley shook his head. “No. Sam told us what happened in Texarkana, so we’ve been on the lookout. But nobody’s come around. Weird, if you ask me. If I was a fake Fed, looking for y’all, this would be one of the first places I’d go.”

  Maybe Reid and his boys figured that with so many Coopers involved in law enforcement in Chickasaw County, playing Feds wouldn’t be nearly as easy to get away with, Luke thought. But that wasn’t necessarily good news. Without an official cover story to work with, Reid’s enforcers would resort to stealth. And if they were as resourceful at stealth as they were at tracking, things were about to get a whole lot more dangerous.

  THEY ARRIVED AT THE CABIN within minutes, and as the rental house came into full view, Abby saw that the word cabin was wholly inadequate. The log house was beautiful and enormous, with a wraparound porch on the bottom floor and a massive stone chimney. The morning sun, now creeping over the treetops to the east, bathed the reddish-brown logs with rosy light.

  The door of the cabin opened and a man in his late twenties bounded out onto the porch, his face split by an enormous grin. He was tall, with short black hair and bright blue eyes that danced with delight at the sight of Luke.

  Luke grinned back at him. “Good God, Aaron Cooper, just how tall did you grow, son?”

  Aaron took the shallow porch steps in one leap and pulled his brother into a bear hug. “Six-five last I checked. God, it’s great to see you.”

  Abby pulled Stevie from his safety seat and carried him to where Luke and Aaron stood grinning at each other. All the Cooper men she’d met were large, but Aaron topped them all by at least three inches, and he had the build of a football player.

  “Aaron, this is Abby,” Luke said. “Abby, my baby brother.”

  Aaron shook her hand, his gentle grip swallowing her hand whole. “And this is Stevie, I guess?”

  Stevie looked up at Aaron from Abby’s arms, his eyes wide. “Ooo,” he crooned, apparently impressed by Aaron’s sheer bulk.

  “This is Stevie,” Abby answered. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Same here.” Aaron looked over at his brother. “All the beds have clean sheets. The electricity and water have been turned on. Wi-Fi should work, too, if you need it. Everybody raided their own fridges and freezers so you’d have stuff to eat. Plus, I left a couple of rifles and an extra Smith & Wesson in the hall closet. The key’s on a hook in the kitchen.”

  Abby hadn’t used a gun since Stevie was born, but she’d been shooting rifles and pistols since she was a girl. She was a good markswoman, and if circumstances required her to use a weapon to protect her son, she was ready and willing to do it.

  Luke retrieved their bags from the Honda’s trunk. Aaron caught his arm. “Y’all have to be dog tired after all that running. Go inside. I’ll be in with the bags in a minute.”

  “Aren’t you on duty soon?” Luke asked. Aaron must be the brother who was a sheriff’s deputy, Abby realized.

  “I’m only on call on weekends now,” Aaron answered, hauling all three bags out with deceptive ease.

  “Whose backside did you kiss for duty hours like those?”

  Aaron beamed at his brother. “I got a promotion. Just last week, matter of fact. You’re looking at Chickasaw County’s newest sheriff’s department investigator.”

  “Congratulations!” Luke clapped his brother on the back.

  “So I’m going to fill in down at the bait shop this morning,” Aaron added, looking past Luke and Abby toward the cabin, a broad grin on his face.

  Abby turned to see an older woman standing in the open doorway, her blue eyes bright with happy tears. Her gaze fixed on Luke, and Abby knew, without anyone telling her, that the woman was Luke’s mother. There was no mistaking the joy of a mother seeing her child after a long abs
ence.

  Luke bounded up the porch steps and wrapped his arms around his mother. Abby felt tears pricking her own eyes at the sight.

  Next to her, Aaron chuckled softly. “See? I always knew he was her favorite.”

  Abby dragged her gaze from the reunion and looked up at Aaron. “He’s really missed you folks, you know.”

  “We missed him, too.” Aaron reached out and ruffled Stevie’s hair. “Hey, Stevie, you’re in luck, dude. Your uncle Jake has a boy a couple years older than you are who just happens to be ready to pass along some of his old toys.”

  Abby flinched at Aaron’s use of the word uncle, but if Aaron noticed, he didn’t give any indication as he explained that Jake’s stepson, Micah, had been happy to lose some of his old playthings once Jake offered to buy him some new toys as a reward for his generosity. “Greedy little devil went for that deal in a heartbeat,” Aaron said with a fond grin.

  Luke waved Abby up the stairs. “Mom, this is Abby Chandler and her son, Stevie. Abby, this is my mother, Beth Cooper.”

  Beth took Abby’s free hand and gave it a motherly squeeze. “Sam told us what the three of you have been through over the past few days. I thought maybe you could use some uninterrupted sleep, so I’m here to watch after Stevie for you while the two of you have a rest.”

  The thought of a few hours of sleep in a real bed nearly brought tears to Abby’s eyes. “Are you sure it’s no trouble?”

  “Positive.” Beth smiled at Stevie. “In fact, I thought I could take him down to the house—Hannah has a fishing client this morning, so Riley’s got Cody to himself for a few hours and offered to stick around the house with him so Stevie will have someone to play with.”

  “Having Riley there would be like having a bodyguard with him,” Luke added softly. “Plus, Aaron will be right down the hill at the bait shop. And we’re dead on our feet.”

  He was right. She and Luke were running on empty, while Stevie had managed to get several nights of sleep, despite their frantic flight eastward. Riley and Aaron were both sheriff’s department deputies, and Stevie would be surrounded by people who’d gladly take a bullet for him, simply because Luke asked them to.

  “Okay,” she said.

  “Why don’t you take a bath?” Luke suggested, taking Stevie from her arms and handing him to Beth. “I know you want one.”

  More than words could say, she thought with a wry grin, pleased to see that Stevie was immediately taken with Luke’s mother, who had come armed with a small toy truck which Stevie found instantly fascinating.

  Luke led Abby inside the cabin, peeling her denim jacket off her arms and hanging it on the hand-carved coatrack by the door. Abby faltered to a stop a few feet inside the room, staring around in delight.

  Kristen’s description of the cabin hadn’t come close to capturing the rustic charm of the place. The furnishings were an eclectic blend of handmade wood furniture and classic, sturdy manufactured pieces. The color scheme was mostly earth-toned neutrals, with splashes of color here and there, from a bright woven throw rug in front of the leather sofa to the rich autumn red of the canvas curtains on the windows.

  “I’ll play with Stevie in the playroom while the two of you get cleaned up,” Beth suggested from behind them. “Come on, Stevie, let me show you your new toys!” She carried Stevie into a small sunroom just off the great room.

  “Mother raised six boys,” Luke said softly, as Abby’s worried gaze followed her son and Beth into the other room. “I think she knows how to handle Stevie.”

  “He took right to her, didn’t he?”

  “Yeah.” There was a bittersweet tone in Luke’s voice, and Abby knew he was wishing it was safe to tell his mother that she had another grandson.

  Unfortunately, they both knew that could never happen.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The bathroom was everything Abby had hoped for, spacious and airy, with an enormous claw-foot tub that took up one end of the room. Next to it, the smaller shower cubicle seemed like an afterthought. Abby gave a soft murmur of delight.

  “I figured you’d like it,” Luke said with a smile. “I’m going to take a shower in the other bathroom. See you in a bit.” He gave her shoulder a quick squeeze and was gone.

  A comb, a brush and a small wicker basket containing bath gels, bath crystals, shampoos and lotions sat on a vanity table by the tub. Running hot water into the tub, Abby selected the nearest bottle of bubble bath and dumped in a generous amount. In seconds, apple-scented steam filled the room.

  Easing into the hot water, she washed off what felt like days’ worth of grime and settled back against the tub, letting herself relax for the first time since the moment she’d arrived home to find intruders in her house.

  She might not be completely safe, but this was closer than she’d thought she’d ever be again.

  Abby wasn’t sure how long she’d been soaking when a soft knock on the door made her open her eyes. A second later, the door opened a few inches. “You haven’t fallen asleep in there, have you?” Luke asked gently.

  “Shh, you’ll wake me,” she answered just as quietly.

  “Mom and Stevie are getting along like old pals, so she took him on to the house. She’s going to make pancakes for him and Cody.” Luke slipped inside the bathroom, carrying a tray loaded with golden-brown muffins and steaming mugs of coffee. “She left us a little something for breakfast, as well.”

  Luke’s shirt was unbuttoned, revealing the toned, battle-hardened body he’d earned in the Marines and apparently maintained even after his retirement. In comparison, she felt like a slob, with a small pregnancy pooch she hadn’t yet been able to lose, and pale stretch marks that lined her sides. She sank lower under the bubbles, heat staining her cheeks, and tried to forget she was stark naked under the suds. “The muffins smell great.”

  Luke pulled the vanity bench next to the bath. “Mom’s specialty. Banana nut muffins. Mmm.” He pinched off a piece of muffin and held it in front of her mouth.

  She opened her mouth and he placed the piece delicately on her tongue. Immediately, a rich, buttery sweet flavor filled her mouth, and she couldn’t hold back a soft moan of delight.

  “What did I tell you?” he murmured, pinching off another piece of muffin and popping it into his own mouth.

  Languid heat flooded her body, threatening to destroy what was left of her self-control, but she clung to sanity. She and Luke couldn’t be together, no matter how much either of them might want it. Stevie’s safety had to come first. If Eladio Cordero found out that Luke had a son—

  “Have you looked at the flash drive?” She shook her head when he offered another piece of muffin, no longer hungry.

  Luke set the plate of muffins aside, his expression growing serious. “I took a quick look before I came in here. Definitely password-protected. Possibly encrypted as well, even though they’re probably image files.”

  “How are you going to figure out the password?”

  “It’s got to be something Matt thought I’d figure out.”

  The water in the tub was turning cool, scattering goose bumps along her arms and legs. She pushed away the mild discomfort. “What about the encryption once we’re into the file?”

  “He wouldn’t have had time to do anything fancy, so he probably went with the standard encryption we used for some of our more sensitive communications.” Luke’s gaze dropped from her face to her bare shoulders. “Is the water getting cold?”

  She nodded. “I’m turning into a prune, anyway.”

  Luke pushed to his feet, though his gaze remained fixed on her bare skin for a moment. He took a deep breath and dragged his gaze away. “I’ll wait outside.”

  “Actually, I left my clothes in the other room—”

  “I’ll get the bag for you.” He headed out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

  Abby pulled the drain on the tub and stepped out, dripping water and suds onto the fluffy bath mat protecting the floor by the tub. She hurried over to
the detached shower and rinsed off the remaining suds, quickly giving her hair a quick lathering with the apple-scented shampoo sitting in the shower caddy.

  By the time Luke knocked on the door again, she’d finished rinsing off and was wrapping herself in a large green bath towel. “Come in,” she called.

  Luke entered and stopped short, staring at her. “I—uh—here are your clothes.” He handed her the bag, his fingers brushing against hers.

  She swallowed a sudden lump in her throat. “Thanks.” She took the bag and forced her feet into motion, heading for the door. She made it about two steps before Luke’s hand closed around her arm, swinging her back around to face him.

  The look in his eyes sent a shock wave through her entire body. Fire burned there, along with a dark resolve that froze her breath in her lungs.

  “You should walk out of here and not look back.” Luke’s voice moved through her like a tremor, setting her nerves to humming. “But you’re not going to go, are you?”

  Caught in the velvet snare of his hungry gaze, she couldn’t have moved if she’d wanted to.

  And she didn’t want to.

  “No,” she admitted, giving up any pretense that she didn’t want him every bit as much as he wanted her. It didn’t matter that nothing good could come of what was about to happen between them. It didn’t matter that loving him now would make it that much harder when she had to walk away again.

  All that mattered was that they had been given one more chance to be with each other, with no lies or secrets between them, nothing to taint the connection that bound them together, for however short a time they might have.

  Luke’s fingers glided over her damp skin, up her arms to her shoulders. He lightly traced the ridges of her collarbones, his fingers meeting in the hollow of her throat and moving downward. They dipped into the cleft of her breasts, spreading heat through her flesh until she had to gasp for breath.

  He pulled loose the tuck of the bath towel, which fell to the floor, leaving her bare beneath his hungry gaze.