The Shadow of Mudflap (A Foxtrot Team Novel #1)

by Christi Snow

  “Property descriptions,” Quirk added.

  “Property descriptions?” she asked.

  “Yeah, on plat maps, lots are designated by numbers, usually long ones like this.”

  “Is there a way to run that type of thing through a database to find matches?”

  “Yeah,” Quirk started to work his magic on his tablet as he and Shanae continued to look at the numbers.

  Mudflap squinted at the numbers again, murmuring to himself. “Locations… GPS coordinates. Geocaching.”

  Shanae squinted at the numbers as Mudflap worked it through. She thought he was right. Those could be GPS coordinates.

  “Quirk, I think these first two numbers may be local GPS coordinates. Can you check that?” Mudflap instructed. “And if it is, what does this last number mean?”

  Shanae nodded. “I think you’re right about the first two numbers, and look at this last one. It could be a date. December sixth, that’s today. 1935….that could be military time. 7:35.” She looked down at her watch in panic. “That’s in less than two hours from now.”

  The game started at five, so the game wouldn’t be over yet at that time. Were they planning a large attack to happen at the end of the game?

  “Found it,” Quirk said. “Those GPS coordinates are for the federal building here in town.”

  “The federal building? There wouldn’t be anyone there at this time of night on a Friday night. That doesn’t make any sense. Why would anyone want to attack then? And what does that have to do with the football program?” Mudflap asked.

  The three of them mulled it for a moment, and then Mudflap asked, “Do you have the transcript from the radio show in your file?”

  “Sure.” She rifled through the papers in the file until she found it. “Here it is.” She handed it across to him.

  He scanned it for half a second before he exclaimed, “Fuck. It was never about the football. It says it right here. ‘Football’s just a distraction.’ The question is, what is the point? And why the federal building on a Friday night?”

  “Seth’s in town,” Shanae murmured. She had told him about Seth and their past relationship, but she hadn’t mentioned that he continued to call her when he was in town.

  Mudflap scowled at her. “Do you know why he’s here?”

  “No, but I know he’s here for his job with the CIA.” Seth was high enough within the CIA hierarchy that if it warranted his presence as an agent, the operation was for someone important. “What do you bet that whatever’s going on with him is happening at the Federal Building tonight?”

  “Call him, Shanae. Let him know what we’re coming up with here so they can relocate immediately. I’ll call the colonel and your boss.” Shanae scrambled for the phone, praying they were on the right track and in time to thwart whatever the terrorists had planned.

  After all the calls had been made, the three were in limbo, waiting to hear. Had they been in time? Was there any danger to those at the location or did they misread the clues? After the adrenaline of all the events of the evening, to have to just sit and wait was its own special kind of torture.

  Shanae had been so busy since they’d taken Riley into custody that she hadn’t had time to consider the danger Mudflap had been in. Now the reality caused her legs to feel weak. She wrapped her hand around his waist, unconcerned with the public display of affection that she’d normally avoid in a work environment. She needed to feel the strength of his presence. Twice this week, she’d come way too close to losing him. The urge to refuse to ever let him go again, no matter how impossible, overwhelmed her.

  Then the call came in from Seth. “I need you all to come down to 4236 North Beauregard. I think there’s something here you’ll want to see.”

  She watched the curious faces of Mudflap and Quirk. “Okay, we’ll be right there. Is everything secure?”

  “Yes, baby girl, you all did good work tonight.”

  That sounded like good news, but she refused to let her guard down yet.

  * * *

  When they arrived at the small non-descript house, there were cars, both police and unmarked government ones, parked everywhere along the street. Seth met them at the door. “I thought you all earned the right to see what you prevented tonight.”

  Shanae and Mudflap exchanged a confused look. They followed Seth along the hall until he stopped in the doorway of an empty room, empty besides the huge missile platform sitting in the middle of the room.

  “Holy shit, is that a TOW missile?” Mudflap asked.

  Seth nodded. “Yes, and it’s been modified to remote launch. We’re assuming it was headed to the location you all called in earlier tonight.”

  Shanae suddenly felt light-headed. This had been way too close.

  Mudflap nodded as he examined the huge missile. “Who was there?”

  “I can’t tell you anything about that except it would have been very bad for our federal government if this attack had happened.”

  Shanae knew Seth wasn’t brought in as security unless it was someone very high up in the government, at least congressional level, but it could even be presidential. She also knew it would be useless to question him further about it because he was very careful about security information. Except for the lapse in judgment and abusing his CIA contacts when she started dating Mudflap, he was good at his job.

  The missile and the rest of the house needed to be processed, so they were ushered out quickly.

  Seth stopped them as they exited the house. “Mudflap, before you go, may I have a word?”

  She turned to glare at Seth. “No, there’s nothing you need to say to him, Seth.”

  Urging her toward the car, Mudflap gave her a soft kiss on the forehead before telling her, “Go on over to the car. I agree it would be a good idea for the two of us to have a little chat.”

  She didn’t like the sound of that, but relented when she saw the determined look in his eye. “Okay, but you’re surrounded by just about every branch of law enforcement. It probably wouldn’t be smart to assault him right now.”

  He smirked at her. “Darlin’, you wound me. Do you think I’d do something like that?”

  “In a heartbeat, but don’t forget my promise from earlier. We have some business to finish in a bed and that can’t happen if they haul your ass off to jail for the night.”

  Mudflap

  Mudflap probably shouldn’t let her know just how much that little bit of incentive helped keep his temper in check. Knowing what Seth had been to her and the fact he continued to keep in touch with her, burned. Jealousy and anger warred within him for dominance when it came to this guy. He flat-out didn’t want him anywhere near Shanae any more than necessary. And goddammit, the guy worked in Houston. There should be no reason for him to be around her…ever.

  As he headed over to Seth, he ignored the curious glances of the government and police personnel watching their exchange. This was big news and it looked like every branch of law enforcement had their people here to check it all out.

  The smirk on Seth’s face was enough to make him want to rearrange it. Think of Shanae naked in your bed. You won’t get that if you lay the smug bastard out right now. No matter how good it would feel at the moment.

  Instead, he plastered what he hoped was a friendly smile on his face. See, look, he could be friendly with the guy. But as he got closer, he couldn’t hold onto it. Instead, he growled, “What do you want? I have a hot girl waiting to take me home to bed and I’m anxious to take her up on it.”

  Okay, yeah, that wasn’t very nice, but it had been a long damn day and he wasn’t feeling generous, especially when it came to this prick.

  The pain he saw flash in Seth’s eyes was real, but just as quickly it was replaced by banked anger. Seth clenched his jaw. “Right now, you make her happy, but you need to know that the day that stops, I’m going to be there. I’ll be in the wings waiting for you to screw this up and then she’ll remember how good it was between the two of us. In the meantime, I’
m gonna be watching. Don’t hurt her or I will make you pay. Shanae is special.”

  “I’m very aware of how special she is, so don’t worry. I have no intention of making the same mistake you did. I’m here for the long haul. In the meantime, you need to stay the hell away from her and stay in your part of the state.” Mudflap fought the urge to do something really stupid.

  But as he walked away, he heard the soft threat. “Next time, my shot won’t miss.”

  His stride faltered. The golf course.

  He clenched his fists and jaw, but kept walking even though he really wanted to turn around and pummel the smug bastard.

  Game 10 Results:

  Texas Tech (2): 34

  vs.

  Kansas State: 20

  Post-Season: Headed to the Championship Game

  Mudflap

  A week later and Mudflap was still astonished by the events of the last few months. His brother was head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders football team. Despite everything that had happened and all the distractions thrown at them throughout the season, the team was on their way to the championship game against Texas A&M. That prospect had everyone in Texas celebrating and looking forward to the outcome, no matter which team they supported.

  Even more astonishing, things continued to be amazing between him and Shanae. At the end of the case, emotions had been intense and he kept thinking his feelings would ease as things calmed down. That didn’t happen. In fact, every day it seemed like his feelings for her stretched and grew even more. It was a bit frightening, because he had no idea if she felt the same way. He saw signs that maybe she did, but she wasn’t a person to wear her emotions on her sleeve.

  On the other hand, he wanted to tell her he loved her, but didn’t want to scare her away. He always remained aware of her reluctance about them at the beginning of their relationship. Right now, he didn’t want anything to mess with the good thing they seemed to have going.

  Tonight, she planned to make him a big dinner at her house. She’d been very secretive about the exact reason for it. He knew she wasn’t the type of girl who liked to cook, so Mudflap was both excited and a bit concerned. It seemed as if they were on the same page, but what if she just wanted to let him down gently now that the mission was over? He could be reading her completely wrong and she planned to pull back again. Maybe that was why she invited him over, so she could break his heart in private.

  Stressing about it and second-guessing her actions wasn’t helping him with anything, so he scooped up the bunch of flowers he bought her and headed out the door, yelling goodbye to Derek and TC.

  When he arrived at her house, he was surprised to find another car in the driveway. She hadn’t mentioned anyone else would be here tonight. Maybe her sister was here helping her put together the dinner.

  Knocking on the door, he was surprised when Daniel, her boss from LiFT, swung the storm door open for him. “Come on in, Mudflap. Shanae’s in the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on dinner. I’ve been instructed to offer you a drink. Would you like a beer or wine?”

  “A beer sounds great. Thanks, Daniel.” He noticed that the man moved through Shanae’s apartment like it was his own. What the hell?

  “I’m going to go give these to Shanae.” He lifted the flowers and Daniel nodded to him.

  When Mudflap stood in the doorway of the kitchen, he stopped for a moment to enjoy the vision of Shanae. She had the radio on low and shimmied her hips to the music. Watching the flare of her short flippy skirt as she danced was so tempting. He’d love to move up behind her, slide his hands up those long toned thighs, and take her right there against the counter. But damn, they weren’t the only ones in the apartment. He willed his erection away.

  He slid in behind her and reached one hand around her waist while placing the flowers in front of her with the other. She gasped in surprise and delight with a softly whispered, “Mudflap, they’re gorgeous.” Leaning into his embrace, she backed up tight against his erection, and he fought a whimper. Why exactly was Daniel here again? God, he’d love to take her like this right now.

  He settled for nibbling on her neck, right where he knew that freckle was under her ear. “I wasn’t expecting to see Daniel here tonight. Are y’all working?”

  She turned in his arms and gave him a secret little smile. “Something like that. I’m happy you’re here.” She rose up on tiptoes and gave him a chaste kiss. “Give me two more minutes in here and I’ll be out to join you.”

  “It smells good. What are you making?”

  “It’s one of Emma’s recipes. It needs about thirty more minutes in the oven and then it will be ready, but until then, it’s a surprise. Now, go back out there and keep Daniel company.”

  That was a little odd. If he were gay, this would feel like a set-up, but he followed her direction and headed back to the living room.

  “Does she have everything under control in there?” Daniel asked.

  “It seems like it. She said she’d join us in a couple of minutes.”

  “So, I know the case is over, but you’re still working with the football team, right?”

  Mudflap nodded. “Yeah, thankfully, they’ve kept me on so I can continue through the championship game. I know what I was on the team for, but it would have sucked to not be able to go to that final game with them. They’ve worked so hard for this. I’m emotionally invested with them this year.”

  “I imagine. Do they seem ready? What are their chances?”

  “Hell, they’re set. Look at what they’ve overcome this year and still come out ahead. They’re going to win this championship and I couldn’t be prouder of what those kids have done. Their perseverance is humbling. They’re definitely a special group of kids.”

  “So, are you planning to go back to the fire department after the season is over?”

  “Yeah, that’s the plan. Luckily, my fire captain has been really supportive of my extended leave in light of the circumstances.”

  Shanae came into the room and slid under Mudflap’s arm, but glared at Daniel. “You’re dancing around this.”

  Daniel glared back. “No, I’m not. I thought you would want to be here when I asked him, so I was hedging a bit.”

  Mudflap looked between the two of them. “What are you both talking about?”

  “I have a proposition for you,” Daniel said. “We were very impressed with your work on the Texas Tech terrorist threat. As a result, I’ve been instructed to offer you a job with LiFT. How would you like to become one of my agents?”

  “Seriously?” Mudflap swung his gaze between Daniel and Shanae. He loved his job with the fire department, but there was so much more he could do with LiFT, both on the paramedic side of things and on the agency side. Plus, he’d be working with Shanae day in and day out. On the surface that sounded good, but then he considered when she’d been undercover with Riley and the jealousy that consumed him. Those kinds of situations might cause some complications.

  “I think you surprised him. I’ve never seen him speechless before,” Shanae told Daniel.

  “No, no.” He needed to immediately disabuse them of that notion. “My first reaction is hell yes, but I have some concerns.” He turned to Shanae with a quick glance at Daniel. “What about our relationship? How would that work if we’re working a job together?”

  Daniel interrupted, “Believe me, I’ve gone over this. I wouldn’t offer you the job if I thought that would be an issue. You’ve already proven you can work very well together, but we are in the midst of shuffling the teams a bit and you two will be on separate teams. The only person you know from your new team, if you choose to join us, would be Michael Turner.”

  Mudflap tilted his head. “Michael, the firefighter?”

  “Yes, he’s one of ours. He was at the fire station undercover. In fact, if you accept this job, you two will be heading out very shortly for your first undercover job.”

  Excitement buzzed as the possibilities bombarded him, but his life wasn’t ju
st about him anymore. Mudflap turned to Shanae again. “Are you okay with this? Is it okay for us to work at the same place?”

  Her eyes softened as she gave him a sweet kiss. “I’m excited about the prospect. I love you and spending more hours a day with you sounds like heaven.”

  Tingling spread through his limbs like an adrenaline rush. Not only had she said she loved him aloud, but she’d done so in front of her boss. Mudflap felt ready to take on the world right now.

  He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, before turning back to Daniel. “Well, then I guess you need to hook me up with Michael, because I’m in.”

  Shanae

  It was three days before Christmas and they were finishing up a visit with Grant at his house. He’d finally gotten to come home the week before. He still had a lot of physical therapy because the long-term coma had done so much damage to his muscles, but the therapists were already impressed with his progress. He had a really strong will.

  Tonight, they were returning the records from his father. LiFT had examined each new piece of evidence and agreed with Grant’s assertion that his father had been murdered. It was amazing what the untrained man had been able to uncover about the highly secretive ALT. Grant had no idea about all this though. In fact, he wasn’t to know that the files had been out of Mudflap’s hands at all. As far as he knew, Mudflap was just returning the files to him so that he could continue his research while he convalesced. In secret, LiFT would continue to monitor and guard Grant’s safety as best they could without him ever knowing.

  From his father’s notes, they were able to figure out a lot of the details about the attacks at Tech that hadn’t been clear before. It appeared ALT always used a five, three, one plan of attack.

  Five men were responsible for different parts of the attack. Those were the phone numbers they’d found in the coins. The third coin did reveal a different set of four numbers. Again, they matched up with some of the numbers from the other two coins. All together there were five different numbers, so five different people responsible.