Win dropped like a ton of bricks, grabbing his left butt cheek. She looked first at Gunner, and then at Drew.
"Drop your weapons or you’re next," she ordered, and Gunner nodded, dropping his gun on the coffee table. Drew followed suit. "And your backup pistols, and any knives you have on you."
"Both sets," Ansel groaned, using every ounce of strength to push himself upright.
"I have some zip ties in the garage," Gwen said, and he nodded. "They’re in the red tool chest, sweetie."
Ansel rummaged through the garage, and limped back with the heaviest grade zip ties he could find. He threw the clear plastic strips on the bright blue carpet, then glanced over at Cat and Seneca, who now stood, terrified, at the entrance to the hall.
The fear on their faces made him furious and he fully intended to take it out on the men who had put it there.
"Sit on the couch, and tie your own feet. Tight," he ordered, knowing better than to get too close to his colleagues. Especially in his current condition.
But Win didn't move. "I can't sit down, that bitch shot me."
Ansel tossed his head toward the other couch. "On your stomach," he said, before turning his attention to the other two men. "Gunner, tie Drew's wrists, then he can tie yours."
The remaining two ties he reserved for Win Caffrey. Ansel dropped a crushing knee into the small of Win's back.
He put all of his weight into it then leaned down and smiled, saying, "Hands behind your back, motherfucker," with more satisfaction than he had felt in a long time.
Win sneered, but he lifted his arms, knowing that he was caught. Ansel left him on the couch before walking over to pick up Gunner's sidearm off the living room floor.
"I got 'em," he said, so the older woman could lower her heavy shotgun.
Ansel stared at his best friend, looking deep into the eyes of the man who had tried to kill his sister.
"Why?" he asked, trying to ignore the dull ache buried deep in his chest.
"Treat Win's wounds first, and I’ll tell you what I know."
"I'll treat him," Gwen said. "Shouldn't take long. I only shot him with plastic pellets." She caught Win's eye. "Hurts the coyotes like hell, though."
She walked to the bathroom to get the medical supplies and he looked at Gunner, shaking with rage.
"This is my sister, Catherine Miller." Gunner's eyes swept over his sister then came back to meet his. "Cat," Ansel snarled, "This is Gunner Holstad. My best friend and the man who tried to kill you."
"Ma'am," Gunner said, bobbing his head toward Cat like they were at a military ball before turning his attention to Seneca. He stared at her, taking her all in. A broad smile spread across his face, a smile Ansel knew was reserved for seducing women. "And you are?"
Ansel wanted to punch him. Hard and repeatedly.
"It doesn't fuckin’ matter who she is." He didn't want Gunner to know her name. Or anything about her. "Why were you sent to my sister's house?"
Gunner shrugged. "No idea. We received orders to secure her, or, if necessary…"
He didn't finish. Didn't have to.
"So you would have killed her without knowing why?"
"Ansel, we're soldiers. We obey orders," he scoffed. "How the hell was I supposed to know she was your sister? For all I knew, Catherine Miller could have been planning the next big terrorist attack right out of her prosaic home."
"Hey!" Cat was pissed. "My home is not prosaic."
Gunner rolled his eyes. "If you say so, ma'am."
"And you know what else I don't appreciate, you smug bastard," Cat said, waving a finger in Gunner's face. "My own government trying to kill me."
"Look." Gunner ignored her and tried to reason with Ansel. "You know teams aren't sent out on a whim. Your sister must have done something,” he smirked, looking at Cat. "Maybe she's dealing drugs for Al Qaeda and just forgot to tell you."
"Oh, we know what she did to deserve your knock on her door," Ansel growled, and then asked Gwen to explain the DNA anomaly and the evidence she had accumulated, of all the people killed because they were carriers.
"So, if your sister has this DNA, then you have it too?" Gunner concluded, a quick study. "That's probably why they called you into headquarters. So we wouldn’t have to come get you."
"They snatched a kid?" Win was suddenly interested. "What could a kid have don—"
"What could my sister have done?" Ansel snapped, holding his arm out in her direction. "She publishes a food magazine, for Christ’s sake. No." He was sure. "This sanction has something to do with this DNA anomaly, because those murders could not have been a coincidence."
Everyone thought to themselves, but it was Drew who spoke up. "You ever watch that movie were the guy, like, uh, he unleashes a virus that kills the entire planet?"
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Win grumbled.
"Maybe you guys,” Drew pointed between Ansel and Cat, “are like that chick, Typhoon Mary?"
"It's Typhoid Mary, dumbass," Win sighed, "and if they did carry some dangerous virus, they would have quarantined all of the people with that type of DNA a long time ago. Killing them is a bit…extreme, don't you think?"
"Then you have something the army must want," Seneca said to Ansel, and all eyes turned to look at her. "The DNA must contain something they want. Or, if it is dangerous, something that can be weaponized. Gwen said that only a handful of people had this anomaly out of…?" She looked to Gwen for help.
"Twenty million profiles."
"Wow. Okay, out of twenty million. And because there are so few of you, the government must have thought the connection between these victims would never be made."
"That's plausible," Ansel nodded, then turned to Gwen. "Why do you think they would kill the older people with the DNA profile?"
Gwen raised a brow. "I thought a lot about that. The obvious conclusion is that the anomaly is connected to the reproductive system. But…" She was shaking her head. "It could be much more complicated than that. The genetic variance could simply have an expiration date."
"And the older people were no longer of any use, because their DNA…expired." Gunner stared at Ansel. "How old are you?"
"Younger than my sister. And they told you to bring her in alive?"
Gunner shrugged. "They preferred we do so. 'Not an imperative', is what I was told. So, your sister is most likely at our age threshold."
"I think you’re right, but I need to find a lab so I can test you both." Gwen's eyes lit up, and she grinned. "And I know just the place. The—"
"Don't say it," Ansel held up his hand, then looked down at the men seated in front of him. "I don't want Gunner to know where we're going."
"Fine, don't tell me." Gunner shook his head. "But I’ll tell you this. If I don't call General Hawkins, and soon, he’s going to send out another team to take Catherine.
“You should also know, that the moment I found out Catherine was your sister, I went to the general and told him that I could use our friendship to bring you in too."
"Very efficient of you," Ansel sneered.
"But I only did it so I could get to you first," Gunner said. Drew's head snapped around so he could look Gunner in the eye.
"Seriously? You had no intention of bringing Ansel in, and you didn't even tell us?"
"That's a dick move, Captain," Win decided.
"I wanted you to have plausible deniability." Gunner was looking at Win, but he said it to everyone. "No need for us all to be court-martialed."
"Well, if we're not taking them in," Drew asked his commander, "then what do you propose we do?"
Gunner looked at Ansel. "You let me call General Hawkins and tell him I have Catherine, and that we’re bringing her in. That gives you approximately six hours to get someplace safe."
"Then what?" Ansel was not sure where Gunner was going with this.
"Then we take some of those zip ties, and drive toward our rendezvous point. Unfortunately for us, 'Ansel ambushed us and took his sister before c
ould get back to the base'."
"As if he could," Win chuckled.
Gunner looked at the large man, adding with a grin, "Sadly, 'you shot Win in the ass, in the process of escaping with your sister'. Then you go with Dr. Huber and figure out why your DNA is so fucking special, while I try to figure out why General Hawkins is so hot and bothered to get his hands on it."
It was a good plan. He looked at his friend. "You've thought about this?"
"Since I got your phone call, two days ago." Gunner stared at him, and he felt a twinge of guilt. "Now, cut these fucking zip ties off. They're hurting my wrists."
Ansel pulled a knife from his pocket, relieved that he hadn't misjudged his friend. But just when he was about to cut the thick plastic, he hesitated.
"What about the rest of you?"
"Killing our own citizens seems rogue to me," Drew said, adding, "and General Hawkins is…one scary motherfucker."
Ansel did not take this observation lightly as it came from a decorated Delta Force Army Operator with over fifty missions under his belt.
"Win?" he looked at the mountain lying prostrate on the couch.
Win Caffrey rolled on his side, away from his injury. "You're a son of bitch, Babineaux." He smirked. "But I don't think you're a traitor. And besides—" He turned dangerous. "—you don't mess with kids."
Satisfied, Ansel cut his friends loose. Gwen showed Gunner the articles about the murders, while Seneca and Cat helped Win to a comfortable chair with a lot of soft cushions. Ansel was in the kitchen throwing away the zip ties when he was surprised by Drew.
"Hey," the kid whispered, making it hard for Ansel to hear him. "You, uh, seeing your sister's friend there? What's her name?"
"Seneca." Ansel couldn't help but look over at her. Her long hair, her amazing body, her beautiful face.
"Yeah, Seneca. You seein’ her, because if not…Damn, that girl is hot." They both stared at Seneca's ass when she bent over, and Ansel's hackles raised as Drew blew out an appreciative breath. "Real hot."
But what could he say. They weren't sleeping together. Quite the contrary. Seneca told him that he would never touch her again, and that the only reason she had allowed it in the first place was because he… He hurt her.
His stomach clenched, and he cleared his throat.
"No, there's nothing there." Never would be.
"So, I have your blessing?"
Ansel smiled at his friend and joked, "As if she would have you," to conceal his numbing pain.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Ansel had been avoiding her all morning, and Seneca knew why. He had to have heard his sister yelling last night. She needed to talk to him, but that was not going to happen with all this commotion. Gwen was gathering any old genetic research she thought might be useful, while she and Cat prepared the house for their trip.
She took the kitchen trash out to the garage, just as Ansel was hopping in the Chevy. She watched him lay his right arm across the back of the bench seat as he turned his head to pull the pickup out so they would have access to the larger Range Rover.
The back of a silver Ford Explorer was opened by the darker scary guy. Win, was shoving a clip into the bottom of his nine millimeter pistol. It clicked it into place and she flinched, causing him to look her way.
They held each other's eyes for a moment when someone said from behind, "Please, allow me," giving her a heart attack.
"Oh." The nice one, Drew, was pulling the trash out of her hands. "Thank you."
"Seneca, right?" he asked, in that charming twang. The man walked the short distance to the large trash can, tossing the trash bag in, before walking back over to her.
"Yes," she nodded, noticing for the first time that Drew was a lot younger than the other two.
"I hear you work on a Seattle food magazine with Catherine?" he asked, with a smile so pleasant that she immediately became nervous. She looked over at the scary guy, who chuckled, then went back to cleaning his guns.
"Yes, that's right." She felt self-conscious. "It's called The Finer Things. We've been publishing for three years now."
"Wow, that's great." Drew nodded. "So I bet you know a bunch a good restaurants in Seattle?"
Ansel was walking back into the garage. She tried to concentrate on her conversation, but she was having a hard time.
"Yeah," she smiled. "There's a ton of great places to eat in Seattle."
"Well." Drew stepped a little closer. Too close. "Maybe you can take me to one of 'em sometime?" Ansel didn't even look at her, just turned his head slightly as he opened the door.
"Sure," she mumbled, hurt. "I'd love to."
The door closed, and Ansel was gone. What were they talking about? She blinked, looking up at the young man, whose smile was so big it lit up his deep blue eyes.
"Well, all right then." He put his thumb through a front belt loop. "I'll give you a call when all of this…" He made swirly motions with his index finger. "Is over."
"Okay." Wait! Did she just agree to go on a date with Drew? Crap. Seneca blushed, because she was pretty sure she did. "Well, I better go help Cat finish up."
She opened the door and slipped inside with her heart still racing. Ansel stood in the corner with his back to her. His arms were crossed over his chest with his feet planted wide. He spoke in deep whispers, while Gunner stared at him, nodding his white-blond head.
After a few minutes Ansel turned around and said to the three women in the room, "Time to go."
Gwen locked up the silo and Ansel walked with Gunner out to the silver Explorer. She watched as the three men, who had been trying to kill them, left to help save them. It was a shock to the system. As they drove off, she prayed that they would succeed.
"I can't drive." Ansel shoved his gun in his holster. "I need both hands."
A chill went through Seneca.
Gwen spoke up, offering, "It's my car. Why don't I take first shift?" She looked at Cat. "Sit up front with me, sweetie. I want to hear all about that husband I'm about to meet."
Not wanting to talk, Seneca sat behind Cat. She knew that Gwen would need to keep her eyes on the road ahead. Ansel slipped in behind Gwen, and even though the tiny woman sat about as far forward as she could go, Ansel's knees still touched the back of the driver's seat.
He was so large, and she felt vulnerable sitting this close to him. Not physically intimidated, just…scared.
Gwen backed out of the garage then pressed a button, and the heavy door started to swing closed. The silo disappeared into the hillside, prompting Cat to ask, "How did you cover the garage door with grass?"
"Oh, the door was a nasty metal thing, so I just bought a bunch of those magnetic planters at IKEA," Gwen said, and Cat laughed. "Turned out nice, I think."
"Yeah, it did," Cat agreed, and started talking about her own home.
Seneca stared out her window, listening to their chatter until they pulled out onto the freeway. Gwen headed west on I-90 and Ansel announced to the car, "I'm going to try and get some sleep. Stay in the right hand lane, and don't stop without waking me first."
He unzipped the leather jacket he was wearing, then leaned towards her to pull his arm out of the sleeve. Seneca pressed herself against her car door, but she still felt his heat mingled with the scent of his cologne, a masculine scent that made her close her eyes as she remembered breathing him in when he was on top of her.
Ansel leaned the other way, and she felt exposed, as if she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. But no one else seemed to notice her lust raging just a few feet away from them.
She forced herself to stare out the window, pretending not to see Ansel wadding up his leather jacket and shoving it behind his head.
He cleared his throat and she glanced over at him, but he wasn't paying any attention to her. He was too busy finding a comfortable position for his head on the makeshift pillow, before crossing his arms over his chest and closing his eyes.
She waited a few moments. But now that he could not see h
er do it, Seneca looked at him. He was so beautiful that she just stared at him. His strong jaw, his perfect nose, his skillful lips.
Her gaze lingered on his mouth as she remembered the feel of those lips on her breast, the feel of his teeth scraping gently against her nipple. Then Ansel opened his eyes and looked directly at her, and her breath caught.
His stare was too intense. She wanted to look away, but she couldn't until he released her.
His eyes drifted closed as if she were nothing, and he didn't open them again. For hours. She knew, because she spent the time thinking. Why was she even here? In this car, with him.
They were going back to Seattle. Cat couldn't go home, but Seneca could. She had an apartment. A life outside of work. Sure Cat was her best friend, but she had other friends.
Honestly, there was not much else she could do for Cat. It wasn’t like she could help Gwen figure out this anomaly. And she sure as hell was no Army Ranger or whatever the official title was for those black ops people.
What else could she contribute?
She could do research online. She could help run phone and computer traces, but that could be done from the comfort of her own home. And surely Dave would want some privacy when he was reunited with his rescued wife. She would just be in the way.
The seatbelt tugged on her shoulder as she leaned forward to discuss the matter with Gwen and Cat in soft whispers, so they wouldn't wake Ansel up.
They all agreed that with the exception of Gunner's team, nobody involved in Cat's attempted abduction would even know who Seneca was. Ansel had even said that she would be safer at home.
And she would be.
By the time they arrived in Seattle, Cat was driving. It was dark, and the stop-and-go traffic had lulled Ansel back into a deep sleep. She watched his chest rise and fall in a steady rhythm.
They were getting close to her high-rise apartment. She quietly unbuckled her seatbelt and reached in the back to get her purse.
Cat pulled over to the curb and Seneca leaned forward, squeezing her arm and whispering, "I'll call you tomorrow," before slipping out of the car.
The Range Rover pulled away, and even though Seneca knew she would see Cat again, she started to cry.
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