by Dale Mayer
“You know what you need?”
She turned to study him, his features solemn but the twinkle in his eyes giving him away. She narrowed her gaze. “Bed rest by any chance?”
He laughed. “What a fantastic idea.”
“You’re incorrigible.”
“Nope, just a man in love.”
She froze. “Don’t be like that,” she whispered, hating the fear and the insecurity inside. “I’m not sure I can love you back. At least not the way you’d want me to.”
His smile was tender. “You’re going to feel what you can and that’s what you have to give. Don’t knock yourself down judging it to be not enough.”
With her head tilted back to the stars she wondered if she had a problem, or could it be her heart knew she still cared for Evan? Had Peter been a way for her to forget him? One that hadn’t worked, making her realize she’d cheated them both.
“Evan?” a male voice, slow and low, called from the darkness to the left of the house.
“Here.”
A lithe shadow dropped over the fence. Megan shook her head at the almost ethereal way he slipped into the surroundings. “If Evan hadn’t warned me who you were,” she said in a low voice, “I’d be terrified right now. If you ever want a new career, a cat burglar sounds right up your alley.”
A sexy smile flashed in the smoky darkness. “Who knows what’s in my future.”
She shook her head.
“Whatever it is, it better be on the right side of the law or we’re all in trouble,” Evan said with a grin, then asked, “anything?”
“No. All clear.” He walked closer and held out his phone. “Do you recognize this man?”
She studied the picture. “No, I don’t think so.”
“Consider that facial hair or a different haircut might make a difference.”
“No. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him. Why?”
“Then it’s not the man from your bedroom?”
She stared. “Ah hell. This is the gunman from the hospital, isn’t it?”
He nodded.
Evan studied the image. “So the question then would be is the man who was in her house the same man she killed with the helicopter today? Or is there a third man?”
“I heard about that.” Hawk nodded to her. “Nice job.”
She shrugged. “Seems off that killing a man gets me kudos.”
“It’s what we do,” he said seriously. “What we have to do to keep our country safe.”
“I wish there was something else I could do. I hate sitting around and waiting for something to happen.”
Suddenly a ping sliced through the night.
She was thrown to the ground and covered by Evan. Soft sounds of running footsteps could be heard in the dark.
“That’s Hawk going on the hunt,” Evan said, rolling over and dragging her back against the side of the fence. Outside of the shock and a hard wrench on her stitches, which she’d been able to ignore before this and now she wondered if she ever would again, she was fine.
“Did you get hit?” She asked studying him carefully.
Evan shook his head.
His phone buzzed. “Safe house one has been cleared. Be there in fifteen. We’ll meet you ten after.”
“On it.”
He put his phone away as he studied the night. In a smooth move he shifted into a crouch then swung her up in his arms.
“What are you doing?”
And he sprinted inside the house and straight to the garage and his truck. He placed her gently inside the passenger side, then ran back inside his house. He grabbed up their bags and his keys, and was back out in three minutes. He hopped in, opened the garage door and started the engine.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“A safe house. There’s no way we can stay here.” And he hit reverse gear and was on the driveway and out onto the road flying toward San Diego. There were security checkpoints to get through. Once clear, she settled back into her seat. “I guess there’s no point in asking for details.”
“Not that we have any but as that was yet another attempt on your life, and mine, the best thing is to get the hell away while the police descend to handle the details.” His voice was hard.
“And where are we going that is safer?”
“Some place we don’t know about and some place they wouldn’t expect to find us.”
“They?”
“Someone is gunning for you. We need to know who and why.”
She had no idea and didn’t have a clue what to say to get more answers. But if there was a chance this was personal then that was a whole different story.
His phone buzzed. She reached over and grabbed it. “It’s Ice,” she announced.
“Answer it.”
“Ice, it’s me, Megan. We’re on our way to a safe house.”
“Another attempt then?” Ice asked in a sharp voice.
“Yes.”
“Levi is awake,” Ice said abruptly. “He has something to say you should probably hear.”
Evan looked at Megan. “We’ll come to you.”
She rattled off the address.
“Wait, I thought you were at the new hospital – I don’t recognize this address.”
“No, I had the men moved to a private medical center instead. I didn’t want to take any chances.”
“Uhm, did you get clearance for that?”
“No.” She didn’t elaborate.
Evan and Megan exchanged looks. That was not only not normal it was so far out in left field it made no sense. Unless she was expecting another attack and didn’t trust the people who knew where the men were staying.
Grim, Evan changed lanes and shifted in a different direction all together. She didn’t remember this area of town so sat back willing to trust Evan to take them where they needed to go. When he switched lanes again and took a fast right turn and went around a block then back into heavy traffic weaving until she made it to the far side of the seat, she finally clued in. “So we are we being followed.” She twisted on her seat. “Did you lose them?”
“Yes and yes.”
She shook her head and grabbed his phone to make a call. “Mason, we’ve got a tail. Shook him off once but…”
“Two men heading your way.”
“We just changed the route. Ice said Levi is awake and might have something we need to know.”
“I’ll meet you at his bedside.” And he hung up.
“Mason is meeting us at Levi’s room,” she said slowly. “But he didn’t ask where they were.”
She turned to stare out of the window. That was one thing about a military career. You learned to follow orders and never question why things were done the way they were done – at least not out loud.
*
Evan glanced over at her. And stayed quiet. She’d been through a lot.
Now, he wanted to know what the hell was going on. Finally, with Levi awake, they might be able to find out.
Evan pulled into the back of the hospital lot and parked. He glanced around the area then exited and walked over to her side and helped her down. And stopped. He lifted her arm and slowly raised her shirt. There was fresh blood soaking the bandage beneath. He frowned.
“Might have ripped a stitch,” she said in a low voice. “But there’s nothing anyone is going to do about that but leave it to heal on its own.”
He studied the blood and realized there was none running down her ribs so the flow had already stopped. He lowered her shirt and stepped back. “Do you need help to walk?”
Instantly she shook her head.
“I get independence,” he said. “But stubbornness is something else altogether.”
She froze and then took one step and another step, this time with her bad leg. “I can walk okay. The problem is if the road is rough or uneven then a wrong step jars my ankle, making it hurt like hell.”
“Should be in bed for a few days,” he muttered.
She didn’t joke back so he’d ta
ke that to mean she agreed with him. He walked slowly at her side to the front entrance. She probably looked like she was looking for medical treatment herself.
And how the hell had Ice arranged beds here? Talk about having connections.
At the front, the doors opened automatically. Inside the air was cool, the atmosphere serene and quiet. He quickly found out where his friends were, wondering inside at the ease of how he got the information.
“Maybe Ice set that up early so we’d have no trouble getting access,” Megan suggested, sounding as weary as he felt.
He shrugged. “Who knows?” Inside he wasn’t sure if he liked it or not, but they were heading to the second floor. He’d have taken the stairs if he could have, but it wasn’t going to happen with her ankle. She should be in a wheelchair keeping that elevated and out of the way, but she was going to fight a suggestion like that. Her ankle did appear to be healing so he didn’t want anything to slow the process. The elevator doors opened to find Benji standing guard.
When he saw them, his face lit up. “Nice job.”
She flushed. “Thanks,” she muttered. “Nice to see you made it through that mess at the hospital.”
“Ha, the reports and interviews afterwards were a bigger mess. But the guys are here and so far so good.”
Evan nodded. “Is Mason here yet?”
Benji shook his head. “No, but he will be any minute.”
He led the way to where Ice stood in a doorway, her features hard, and her eyes glittering. She said, “Come on in.”
They entered a larger room than any he’d seen in the military hospital to find both Levi and Stone propped up and awake. Stone’s face broke out in welcome. Levi just looked at him.
“Levi, you doing okay?” he asked, his gaze studying his friend.
Levi gave him a clipped nod. He looked stronger. His color was better.
Evan turned to look at the other man.
“Stone?”
Stone nodded. “Doing fine,” he said smoothly.
Megan turned to Ice. “What about Merk and Rhodes?”
“They are next door and both doing fine.” She sent a pointed look at Levi and added, “Everyone needs another few days here but the rest…that is going to take time.”
“Some of us could get out of here now.”
Ice ignored Levi’s words. Evan understood. Levi was never going to be a good patient. While he’d been sleeping there was no argument from him, now that he was awake it was a different story.
“Stone, glad to hear you kept one leg.”
Stone inclined his head. “No way was I losing both.” He grinned. “And thanks for the rescue. I was sure I was a goner that day.”
“We all did.” Levi studied Megan at Evan’s side. “You flew with Ice?”
She inclined her head, imitating his own movement without intending to.
“And you took out the asshole today?”
She nodded again.
“And saved Evan here and the pilot and co-pilot?”
She narrowed her gaze and nodded one more time. Evan grinned. She was getting pissier by the minute.
Levi studied her then switched his gaze to Ice.
Something seemed to shift back and forth. All he said was, “Nice job.”
That was the thing about the guys Evan worked with. They’d be slim in their kudos to each other, knowing they didn’t need it. That top performance was the standard. But also that it was expected and appreciated. Sure there was some back slapping and high fives. And yet when someone needed it, one of the team always seemed to know.
Megan wasn’t part of the team. But even though she wasn’t a SEAL, she was in the service as they all were, and she’d achieved a unique position here partly due to working with Ice and partly because she’d been in on that extraction for these four men. Then there was today’s mess.
And the thing was Levi knew. He understood people. Understood insecurity. And gave credit where and when it was due.
Not much was required, but that little bit went a long way. And as he watched Megan settle, he gave a small nod of thanks to Levi. She’d calm down now.
Levi was a seriously good guy. Evan didn’t know what his plans were now, but he was a man in command of whatever life threw at him.
If there was anything the guys could do to help him along, then they would do it.
In a heartbeat.
Chapter 19
Megan tried to relax. She had enough trouble reconciling her emotions and ethics without being praised for killing a man. She’d done her job. That was it. She’d done the best she could and this time it had been enough. If she saw combat on a regular basis that would be tough as no one was perfectly in tune all the time. She’d win some and she’d lose some, and it would all happen fast. And as much as she was in the service and would be sent where she was needed, a part of her hoped to focus on search and rescue. She wasn’t sure she was cut out for combat.
Ice opened the door behind them. Megan had been studying Levi to the extent she hadn’t heard the soft knock. Mason entered. Swede was with him. Then Markus walked in and the room suddenly didn’t seem so large anymore. Markus walked over to Stone and high-fived the man. “Damn it’s good to see you awake.”
Stone smiled. “Nice to be awake.”
Markus studied the bandaged stump. “Blued steel or black carbon fiber?”
Stone cocked his head. “I was thinking stainless with the curves so I can run faster.”
Markus snorted. “Boring. Everyone has that. If you’d lost both then that would be awesome. But with only one, I’m thinking…” and he pulled out his phone and swiped through several pages until he found what he wanted. Then he held it up for Stone to see it. “Like this.”
Stone’s face was a study. “Man, that’s not bad,” he whispered in awe. “Merk is a whiz at mechanics, he might be able to build something like this for me.”
“Weaponize it and you’re all set.”
Megan stared. “Are you seriously planning to build a fake leg on your own?”
The men glanced over at her. “It’s hardly fake,” Stone said earnestly. “It’s got to replace my real one so that makes it a real leg.”
“Besides,” Markus said, “it’s a tool like every other thing we carry. So it needs to maximize its job. In this case, it could be a hell of a weapon.”
Swede walked over and took a look. “And it could be a thing of beauty.”
“Absolutely.”
Megan shook her head. “I don’t have a problem with the look of it, but weaponize it?”
They just grinned. “We do like our toys.”
Levi spoke up. “There were only two men who knew we were going to be there. Our contact in the US and the corresponding contact in Mexico.”
“Who was the US contact?” Mason asked.
“The one here has gone missing,” Levi said. “I haven’t been able to reach him.”
“By phone?”
“Several numbers connected but still no answer.”
“Did you ever see him face to face?” Mason asked. “Would you recognize him?”
Levi nodded. “It’s one of the reasons I trusted him. I knew where to find him.”
Evan held out his phone. “Hawk sent this to me.” He walked closer. “This is the gunman from the hospital, do you recognize him?”
Levi took the phone in his hand. Then shook his head. “It’s not my informant…”
He studied the image a little longer. Then passed it over to Stone. “What do you think?”
Stone took it, his face darkening. “He was in Mexico.”
“He was there?” Evan asked in surprise. “He must have escaped early then. I didn’t leave anyone alive.”
“There was a group that disappeared as the double-cross happened.”
“What exactly were you doing down there?” Megan asked.
Levi studied her. “A large cache of guns was being exchanged for drugs. We wanted to make sure both were stopped.”
She nodded. “And did it get stopped?”
“The drugs were burned to the ground and the guns are still in the US. We need to find who in the US is moving weapons.” He motioned at the cell phone. “And how many of these men are crossing our borders freely.”
“Are these weapons being brought in from somewhere else?”
Levi nodded. “But we didn’t get the supplier. We had a line to tug on the buyers and were hoping to cut that supply line of drugs off at the same time. The plan was to take the drug supplier captive and find those above him.”
“Did you get anyone?”
He shrugged. “We were there at the right time and there were some drugs, I doubt the full amount of the payment, but we were taken down almost immediately.”
“So your informant in the US double-crossed you?”
Levi stared at her. “Maybe. Or maybe he’s dead too.”
She pursed her lips. “You’re not going to be able to find out though, are you?”
His face thinned. “Not for a little while,” he said softly.
“If ever?” she questioned, not sure what he was meaning.
“I’ll find who did this. Four of us came home but there were women and children working with the drugs and the men killed them all. They shot them all dead.” Levi’s voice hardened. “I shot two of them but two got away for sure.”
“Four,” Stone said. “Four took off in the helicopter.”
“Then I have four to hunt down,” Levi said smoothly.
“We have four to hunt down,” Stone said in a hard voice.
Levi looked over at his friend. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll heal. You get on your feet and we’ll go hunting.”
Ice snorted. “How about you both get better then talk?”
Levi turned to study her. “I told you before the offer is open.”
She shook her head. “Not a good idea.”
He smiled a slow deep dangerous smile that made Megan suck in her breath. Ice appeared to be oblivious to that magnetic power. Except she stuck her chin farther out.
“What offer?” Mason asked. He studied Levi then Stone and gave a clipped nod. “Might not be a bad idea. Timing is right. But transitioning will take funding.”
“I’ve got backers.” Levi shrugged, the color fading in his face. “Looks like time is exactly what I do have.”