Joint Engagement

by Karen Anders

  “He is.”

  Her face contorted into anger and sorrow. “He double-crossed my husband, then.”

  “Can you tell us what you know?”

  Mrs. Thompson looked out the window and shifted. “This is very dangerous for me and for my child. There have already been drug men here looking for the white man. They say that I should call them when my husband comes home.”

  “Do you know what drug men?”

  “Something with ‘Swords’ in the name, but I don’t know the full name. They each had a tattoo on their neck.” She pointed to the right side of her neck, just below her jaw. “Two crossed swords.”

  Beau nodded and leaned forward. “There were four Americans, one of them a navy petty officer found on the ship. Do you know anything about them?”

  She closed her eyes and covered them. “I told him this would not end well. What they forced him to do. They threatened us and left him no choice.”

  “What did he agree to?”

  “That white man, Martin, he was to recruit four men to pose as Coast Guard to trick anyone who might spy the ship. Offer them a lot of money. The uniforms were black market. I know because I got them for him. They forced me to.”

  “Do you know why?”

  “They were transporting someone into the country...”

  Suddenly gunfire cracked across the quiet street. Mrs. Thompson’s windows shattered. Beau dived forward and pulled his weapon.

  “Get down!” Kinley shouted, lunging for Mrs. Thompson and dragging her out of her seat with a fierce tug and pushing her facedown into the floor.

  “Stay here,” Beau ordered.

  Kinley pulled her weapon from the small of her back and nodded, pressing her hand into the middle of Mrs. Thompson’s back.

  He stayed low, heading to the back. As he reached the kitchen, two men with submachine guns came through the back door. He shot each twice in the forehead before they could even react. Bastards thought they would have an easy task, killing two defenseless women and a small child. Once outside, he listened and heard someone approaching. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his KA-BAR knife and flipped it open. As soon as another gun-toting goon came around the corner of the house, he caught him around the neck and with one slice silenced him. Letting the body drop, he made his way around the house just as two more men were going through the front door.

  “Kinley!” he shouted.

  Two more men materialized in the street and shot at him, and there was no way for him to get back into the house. He heard automatic gunfire, then return fire from a handgun. One just like his.

  He squeezed off a couple of rounds and dropped one of the guys. The other backed up, returning fire, but Beau was already behind cover.

  Staying low, he ran for the front door, his heart pumping. As he breached the front door, Kinley was obscured behind the couch. All he could see were her feet sticking out. His heart climbed into his throat.

  He rushed forward, calling her name in an agonized voice. As he rounded the couch, he stopped dead.

  Kinley was on all fours, her hands pressed against a huge bloodstain on Mrs. Thompson’s chest. The red a grim contrast to the stark white dress. The woman’s eyes were open and staring up at the ceiling.

  She turned to look at him with a stricken look on her face. He could see she was trembling. The two men who had come into the house were lying on the floor not far from her. They’d never expected Kinley to take them out. Her weapon was in easy reach.

  Beau knelt down.

  “Call an ambulance,” Kinley said, concern thick in her voice.

  Beau felt for a pulse, but it was too late for Mrs. Thompson.

  “She’s dead,” Beau said.

  “No,” she said softly, looking shellshocked. “Oh, no. Beau! The park! Her mother and daughter!”

  “On it.” After a fast run to the park, Beau found Mrs. Thompson’s mother and daughter safe.

  Back at the house the local authorities were pulling up. He showed his badge and turned the grandmother and daughter over to them for safekeeping. Back in the house, Beau went to one of the downed tangos.

  Kinley said, “I called Daniel.”

  Beau nodded. He turned the guy’s head and exposed the right side of his neck. Two crossed swords were tattooed just behind his lobe and level with his jaw.

  They answered the local authority’s questions that were asked, showed their badges and were released.

  He carried Kinley’s weapon as she went into Mrs. Thompson’s bathroom to wash off the blood. Beau stood behind her. As she wiped her hands, she met his eyes in the mirror. “You did good. Don’t start second-guessing yourself now.”

  She accepted her weapon and tucked it back into the small of her back. “Two Swords,” she said.

  “Yup. Looks like they wanted her dead and unable to give us any information.”

  “So it was someone they were transporting into the country.”

  Kinley’s phone rang and she answered. “Yes, sir. This is conclusive? All right. Thank you.” She listened intently, then her eyes widened. “The commandant? But wouldn’t this be handled by the Atlantic area commander, sir?” She listened some more. “Oh, I see. All right. We’re heading there now.”

  She rubbed her hands over her face. “They want us to head over to OPBAT at the embassy for a briefing. We got a hit off Interpol. The DNA matches Diego Montoya, and the commandant and director want to talk to us. Mrs. Thompson died for nothing.”

  “That’s significant that the commandant is involved?”

  “Yes, normally he doesn’t handle these kinds of matters, but he’s royally pissed at the boldness of Montoya and he personally wants to make sure that man is apprehended.”

  During the ride over to the embassy, Kinley sat mute in the front seat. He could see how she rubbed at her hands. He reached over and covered them after the fourth time. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes. I’m fine.” She clasped his hand though, tight. “That’s the first time I’ve ever...killed anyone.”

  “They were clean kills, and you realize they were going to kill you?”

  “Yes, I know that. It’s just...not what I expected. I’ve shot at targets for forever, and I’ve been on drug busts where I’ve had to pull my weapon, but so far I’ve never killed anyone.”

  “Well, if you ever get used to it, that’s when you have to worry.”

  She turned to look at him. “Have you gotten used to it?”

  He squeezed her hands and shook his head. “I have a professional detachment. They’re tangos in my head. Always the enemy. I did my job in combat. Not something I’ve gotten used to, but I have no regrets, Kinley, and you shouldn’t, either.”

  She nodded.

  Back at the embassy, in their conference room, they all sat down in front of a wide-screen.

  “Go ahead,” Daniel said.

  The screen flashed on. One side was taken up by the commandant of the Coast Guard, and the other was filled with the director of NCIS, with Chris standing close behind him.

  “Agent Jerrott,” the director said. “We want you and Agent Cooper to remain in the Bahamas to track down any information you have on Diego Montoya in cooperation with the DEA.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Keep us posted on any leads you uncover. We will keep Homeland informed.”

  The screen winked off. Beau turned to Daniel and Ken. “Let’s go hunting, boys.”

  “Who’re we hunting?” Daniel said.

  “Anyone who has two swords tattooed right here on their neck.”

  Chapter 8

  Kinley was dead tired after running down government and DEA informants. They were no closer to nabbing a cartel member.

  She rubbed the back of her neck as she rolled away from
the computer Daniel had allowed her to use.

  Rising, she walked to their break room and put some coins into the snack machine. She wasn’t really hungry. From her vantage point she spied Beau at the computer. His cheek rested against his hand as his eyes scanned the screen. His broad, long-fingered hand. He leaned back and stretched all those muscles then ran his hands through his hair, and it settled haphazardly against his cheeks and forehead. Her gaze riveted to his moves, she accepted the shudder of pleasure that rolled down her spine at the image of those strong hands caressing her flesh.

  Nope, she wasn’t hungry for food, and her hunger shouldn’t be this intense for a man she’d just met.

  This candy bar was a desperate attempt to quell the anxiety growing inside her. Anxiety that had little to do with solving the job at hand, and a lot to do with the fact that, despite her attempts to not think about him in the way she was thinking about him, her desire hadn’t eased at all.

  Working side by side with him and watching his quick mind in action certainly hadn’t helped matters at all. Wasn’t it enough he had a body that wouldn’t quit? He had to have a tantalizing mind, as well? She stole another glance at him and shivered, taking a much-needed breath. As she turned around, she almost ran right into Daniel.

  “Hey, sorry,” he said as he steadied her. “Can I have a word with you?”

  She looked down at the candy bar, twisting the wrapper in her hand. The last thing she wanted to do was talk to Daniel. She hadn’t missed the way he’d looked at her, a starving man who remembered how she’d filled him up. But, in her experience, the illusion was unfounded and he’d acted in a way that made it difficult to look at him and not feel contempt. “About what?”

  “Did you get my emails?”

  So many emails the minute he’d gotten his promotion. She’d noted the date. But she’d just hit the delete button whenever one came into her mailbox. She’d also blocked his number. How he didn’t get the hint was beyond her. “I got your emails.”

  He gave her a pained expression. “Did you read them?”

  “No,” she said, her voice going flatter, her chin rising. “I didn’t.”

  He looked away and was silent a moment. Finally, he said, “I wanted to apologize. I’m really sorry about what happened. I don’t have an excuse except that I was wounded, sick with what happened. On medication. My mind was fuzzy.”

  Her thinking paused for just a short moment. Doubt settled in. All that was true. He had been wounded and on medication. But, he hadn’t set the record straight when he could have. She didn’t want him to make her think about what had happened between them. It made her examine what she was doing with Beau much too closely. Whenever she thought too hard about Beau, she got really scared.

  She went to go around him, but he grabbed her arm just a bit too tightly. She stopped. “Look, I know I messed up big-time. But I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.” He drew her closer, but Kinley jerked away from him.

  “What do you want?” she snapped.

  His face softened, his eyes going tender. “Another chance. A chance to make it up to you. We had something good.”

  She tried to remember what it was like with him, but Beau...kept getting in the way. The way his sexy, soft hair felt against her palms and fingers, the feel of his muscles beneath her touch, the way he tasted and sounded when he kissed her. The way he’d held her against him while she cried her eyes out. Where had Daniel been when she’d been heartbroken and scared? Letting her take all the blame. “We did, and you destroyed it. You betrayed me. You let me take all the blame and we both know it wasn’t my call.”

  “I know,” he said softly with remorse. “It was my call.”

  She closed her eyes. “A man died, Daniel, because of my hunch, the hunch that was discounted. I begged you to call for backup. Now, because of that I second-guess everything. Everything. You took something from me and I can’t get it back. I thought I could trust you, but I couldn’t. I can’t.”

  “I know,” he said, his voice sounding crushed. “I won’t ever forget that my actions got a man killed. Never, but I’ve got to put that in my past. I think we can get past that.”

  She tried to camouflage the unsteadiness in her voice. “I don’t think so.”

  “Don’t make any decisions right now,” he pleaded. “Think about it.” His earnest expression made her chest ache. She’d spent so many years constructing a safe, stable world. Daniel had been key in teaching Kinley how easily—and swiftly—that safety and stability could be altered. She didn’t need the reminder.

  “I can’t...”

  He met her gaze, his eyes bleak. “I know you can’t make me any promises. Just think about it.”

  Before she could tell him that there was no way she was giving him anything but a letdown, Beau spoke.

  “Kinley.” His voice made her jumpy. It sounded so clipped. She turned to find him at the door. “You about ready to go?”

  “Yes.” She looked at Daniel and he reluctantly let her go.

  When she got to Beau, he turned and headed for the street. She followed with the candy bar still in her hand, but dropped it in the trash on her way out the door. It wasn’t what she was hungry for, she thought. She couldn’t stop herself as she ran her eyes over his broad back. Once she was seated in the passenger side, Beau took off. He didn’t say anything as he drove. He clenched and unclenched his hands on the wheel, his face tight.

  This time she covered his hand on the wheel, wondering at the many things that could be plaguing him. “Are you all right?”

  “Just tired,” he said in that same clipped tone. Ah, dammit, had she done something wrong when they were looking for a member from the Crossed Swords? Had he found some kind of flaw from when she’d taken down those guys while trying to save Mrs. Thompson’s life? Maybe he’d changed his mind about her. Doubts assailed her as she watched his angry face, her insides jittering. It would be better, much better for both of them if he would just lose interest.

  But, if she was being honest with herself, that thought made her feel a little bit out of control.

  She tried her best to appear unaffected and coolly in control as she sailed across the lobby. Beau reached past her and pressed the elevator button. When he stepped in after her, it felt a bit tight, as if he was suddenly taking up way too much space, using up way too much of her precious oxygen. And yet he was standing a normal distance from her, not so much as looking at her. None of that seemed to help with the way she reacted to him on a purely physical level. She’d never been so aware of a man before.

  Was he really someone she could truly trust? Was there anyone she could really trust?

  Then there was the way he’d held her. Even more than his physicality there was his compassion. She’d felt it so keenly and he’d been so patient, so gentle and kind. That more than anything she couldn’t seem to get past.

  Case in point. He’d been affected by Mrs. Thompson’s death, whether it was knowing that the little girl they’d seen briefly was going to grow up without a mother and father or the fact that six goons had been dispatched to murder two defenseless women and a child. All she knew was the way his jaw had hardened and the regret in his eyes when he saw that Mrs. Thompson was dead.

  Maybe he was blaming her.

  Even as she thought that, she dismissed it. He had been the one to tell her not to second-guess herself and she shouldn’t be doing that now. She glanced at him and all her thoughts just seemed to freeze. Beau was the full deal. Tough, deadly warrior, compassionate man, intelligent, and all residing in a physical body that was hard to resist.

  There was plenty to make a woman’s mouth water from looking at him, but how many of those women had experienced the real Beau? He seemed affable, but she thought it hid a guarded man. She knew about hiding everything that was uncertain in her. She recognized it. He migh
t seem easygoing, but there was a coil of danger that shivered across her skin.

  Beau remained silent as they ascended. But it wasn’t his silence that made her nerves jangle, it was how taut he was, and she was sure it didn’t have anything to do with fatigue. That silence of his was making her analyze things she didn’t want to think about. As soon as the doors opened, she sailed out and walked briskly to her room. She was struggling with her own hang-ups. Was she using her whole professionalism spiel unfairly to help her to keep her distance from Beau? They weren’t partners. They wouldn’t be seeing each other after this mission was over. She was starting to get the really bad feeling that she was closing herself off emotionally because Beau was someone who was pushing her out of her comfort zone. Even with Daniel, Kinley hadn’t had to go very deep to realize that it was nothing more than a temporary thing for her. She needed that to keep herself safe. To not get in too deep.

  Except now, it wasn’t working. She was going to be disappointed if he didn’t want to... Oh, damn, she was such a ninny.

  She slipped her key card into the door and when the green light pulsed, she pushed it open. As she turned toward him to say good-night, he crowded her inside.

  He pushed her up against the wall. In the light from the hall, before the door closed, she glimpsed his dark blue eyes, his hair a tousled mess and a hint of beard stubble shadowing his incredibly handsome face. But instead of looking like a man who was going to kiss her, he looked like a man who was going into battle. The intensity in his eyes reaching right inside her, squeezing her heart.

  Then the door slammed and they were cocooned in the semidarkness, ambient light trickling though the window.

  “Are you going to give that bastard another chance?” he said harshly.

  She’d been completely wrong about his anger. It wasn’t directed at her and it wasn’t anger. It was his reaction to Daniel touching her, getting close to her. He was completely jealous.

  He could deny it all he wanted.

  The easygoing, charming Beau hid this side to him. Not so easygoing. Not a surprise. He was a SEAL. The toughest of the tough. But she heard the need for reassurance in his voice.