Joint Engagement

by Karen Anders

  Kinley came around the counter and wrapped her arms around Maria as she started sobbing. “I’m so sorry. I can only hope we got the bastard who killed him.”

  She raised her head. “You did. He was my guard. The man you killed. So if you feel any regret for your actions, you can rest at ease. Thank you, again.” She put the cover on the skillet and said, “Excuse me for a moment.”

  When she left the kitchen, Kinley turned to Beau. She just stood there, her heart broken and bleeding for Maria. She’d had a terrible, horrible loss and it was devastating her from the inside.

  She trembled when she looked at Beau, feeling vulnerable and crushed. His hair was a mess after the shower, curling around his face, his bangs heavy on his forehead. His midnight-blue eyes a deep well into which she could fall and never find her way out. His sympathy for Maria was there, too, in those eyes that were so expressive, sometimes full of steel and at other times full of her, as if he was a mirror that reflected her image so that she could feel completely whole.

  And the fear she’d been pushing at with both hands since their recent lovemaking rolled over her, swamping her, jumbling up her emotions. She felt like she was in that fog again, waiting for the moment she’d heard those shots and knew with certainty that her father had just died. Feeling it as the life left his body. She’d never felt safe again...

  Not until now.

  Maria’s situation had reminded her of what happened when love was lost suddenly, a hollow gulf so wide there was nothing to bridge it, so deep it ripped out whatever made you whole. And when it went, when the person you loved went and you were left behind...it hurt. A can’t-catch-your-breath, I-think-I’m-going-to-die agony.

  Beau was like a force of nature, like the energy of atoms splitting, cosmic and unexplainable, and they connected just like that sexy chain around his biceps with the empty link.

  Getting into his orbit was dangerous, but she couldn’t fight it. She closed her eyes when he cupped her face and drew her against him, murmured to her that it was going to be okay. But she knew it wasn’t and knew he was also lying to himself.

  He would understand why she walked away.

  He would understand why she couldn’t stay with him. Because he’d been burned. He’d felt that same loss. And decided that he was better off without it.

  And she understood herself so much better. Understood why she’d always kept herself behind that protective fog, a barrier between her and any man she thought she could love. The main reason she couldn’t give him everything. The fear of loss.

  Even as she buried her face into his throat and slipped her arms around his broad shoulders, she knew this was the beginning of saying goodbye.

  And Beau would let her go.

  He’d let her walk away because his fears were just as powerful as hers.

  Wouldn’t he?

  Chapter 17

  After the food was consumed, Maria set them up with blankets and pillows, and they settled into the family room. Maria took one couch and Kinley took the other. Staying vigilant, Beau took the chair with the perfect tactical view of the entrance to the street and a panoramic view of the backyard. He’d been trained to go without sleep and he had no intention of being caught off guard. They had fulfilled their mission and he was getting them out of here in one piece. The storm still lashed the vegetation surrounding the house, the wind making a keening sound in the rafters. Sometime in the night, Kinley settled against him. She curled up to him, exhaled long and low and in moments fell asleep, her hand on his chest. Beau set his weapon on the table, the safety engaged, and settled next to her. He sent his hand into her mass of hair, burnished in the dancing ambient glow from the security light burning in the backyard.

  He stretched his legs out and snuggled her more comfortably. It felt good, her compact body wrapped around his. He was pretty shocked how good. But he cared deeply for her. He wasn’t sure how it would work between them.

  He recognized the look in her eyes so well. He used to get it with women after one night, and that was all it would take. He was either gone the next day or trying to get gone. But...damn, he was thinking things he hadn’t thought since Jennifer.

  Settling down.

  He wanted that with Kinley.

  Kinley’s barriers had fallen right along with his, revealing something surprisingly vulnerable and open when she’d given herself to him. Now, even as she got close to him again, her barriers were there, wholly back in place, and they’d been reinforced.

  That left him hanging on the edge of a cliff. He’d committed with Jennifer. He’d been all in. He’d tried to be patient and understanding. He’d tried to talk to her and make her understand how much he loved her, but in the end, she’d simply left. He’d come home to an empty apartment, his belongings piled into the corner and everything else...gone.

  He wanted to hold fast to the knowledge that while Kinley might now be busy backing off and constructing walls, in that moment when she’d looked into his eyes, there had been confusion and longing plainly there for him to see. And that said otherwise. There was something else going on here, whether or not she could tell him, whether or not she’d even admitted it to herself.

  He wanted to figure it out.

  He wanted to be all in with Kinley.

  But the remembered pain of being abandoned, as Jennifer had simply cut him out of her life, was still there. He wasn’t sure pushing her or getting her to try to understand how he felt about her would do any good.

  The conclusion: the all-in had to come from her and if it didn’t, it would be best if he just let her go. Let her walk away. Less pain now, no more empty apartments and emptiness he tried to fill with shallow women who he picked because they responded to his charm and his looks. He closed his eyes and rubbed his hand deeper into her hair.

  Suddenly, a snippet of conversation came back to him from his partner at NCIS, Amber Dalton. One of these days, Beau, a woman is going to come along and knock that Cajun charm of yours right on its ass. When that happens you’re going to be humbled by actual feelings. I want popcorn and a front-row seat for that.

  Aw, hell, Kinley filled that emptiness with a genuineness that he couldn’t deny.

  Her hand shifted to his stomach and Beau felt his muscles instantly flex. He moved her hand away from the danger zone.

  The dark night transformed into a gray, rain-washed day, but to Beau it was their wake-up call. The chopper that was going to take them out of Cuba would be at the rendezvous at 0800. Kinley woke slowly, and he loved watching her face as it crinkled. She stretched a little, then opened her sleepy green eyes.

  She looked up at him with parted lips, looking like she was still caught in a dream, and all that bull he was thinking last night tugged at his heart.

  They had to get moving. That chopper wasn’t going to wait for them. Maria made a quick breakfast and they packed up the green bag, leaving everything else behind except Maria’s meager possessions.

  “Mind if we take that Lexus sedan in the garage? Would be best to keep the Mercedes out of sight,” Beau asked as they prepared to leave.

  She shook her head. “No, I don’t mind. Miguel gave it to me as a birthday present.”

  Suddenly the sound of a vehicle motoring into this quiet section of the neighborhood had Beau striding to the window.

  “Damn!” he muttered as two Jeeps filled with more cartel goons pulled up to the front of the house. It was easy to see the tattoos.

  “I don’t know how they found us, but these guys are really not going to give up Montoya. Time to bug out, ladies.”

  They raced to the garage and Beau settled behind the wheel, handing the bag back to Maria as she settled into the backseat. Kinley shot him a look as she softly closed the passenger-side door.

  “Buckle up.”

  “I take it we’re not going
to raise the door.”

  He started the car and twisted his body around. Giving her a grim smile he said, “You locked and loaded, chérie?”

  “Hooyah,” she said.

  “Watch your six.” He gunned the engine and hit the gas.

  The Lexus punched through the garage door like it was tissue paper. Gotta love a car that drove like a dream but was as indestructible as a tank. The cartel contingent was already out of the Jeep and just starting to surround the house as Beau flipped the car into first and peeled out, burning rubber.

  As he shifted to second, Kinley already had her window down and she sent a burst of rapid fire across the lawn, cutting down some while others dove out of the way of her hot lead.

  Beau sped through the street, swerving around traffic and heading for the main road where he could open the vehicle up and leave those tangos in the dust. He banked the turn, downshifting to check his speed, then the tires of the car hit the asphalt.

  * * *

  Kinley kept her eyes on the side-view mirror, the submachine gun in her hands at the ready. When the Lexus growled and Beau shifted, she swung her eyes to him. He drove like a freaking race-car driver. She was still awed at the maneuver he’d pulled yesterday to get them away. He handled the vehicles like he handled everything else—with hot, sexy, mad skills.

  He shifted into second gear. Third, fourth and fifth in rapid succession, each gear forcing a quantum leap in their acceleration. Her heart jamming in her throat, she watched the speedometer climb.

  Sixty miles an hour was much closer to zero than she thought. Seventy flew past so fast, it didn’t register.

  Eighty was a memory.

  Ninety, and she white-knuckled the door handle.

  One hundred.

  She glanced up, and he flashed her a grin, the wind whipping at his hair, one hand easy on the wheel, the other on the shifter.

  One hundred and ten.

  One hundred and twenty and oh, damn...they were flying. The sleek car low to the road, roaring.

  They left those Jeeps in their dust as Beau never hesitated, navigating around anything in front of him as if they were standing still. She could smell the ocean as they got closer to a long spit of land, buried in thick jungle growth. From what she’d been told, there was an opening in the trees, perfect cover for egress.

  Beau was slowing down when he saw them and he swore. He swerved off the road as the tires kicked up gravel and dust, then they were skidding on the vegetation as he sent the Lexus fishtailing, careening for the opening in the trees.

  But a different Jeep barreling down the road in the opposite direction saw them even as they passed each other. Bad luck and good communication between the cartel lackeys. A few more minutes and they would have been able to stash the car out of sight and made the chopper. The driver slammed on the brakes even as they skidded over the vegetation.

  Kinley spilled out of the car, hearing the muted whirling blades of a Black Hawk as it screamed across the sky, heading for the edge of that spit.

  Beau practically pulled Maria out of the car and Kinley started running as automatic gunfire cracked behind them. She turned and backed up as she depressed the trigger of the machine gun in her hand. The goons ran behind the Jeep for cover.

  “Run!” he shouted at her as one of the cartel goons yelled at everyone to hold their fire. Of course they would want Maria alive and with two women, the cartel couldn’t be sure which of them was which. Their caution gave them an opening to get to the chopper. Kinley turned and ran, but one of the goons had not stayed with the Jeep and had run around to outflank them. He was heading straight for their tightly formed group.

  She brought up the machine gun, but the clicking noise told Beau she was out of ammo.

  The man hit Kinley and Beau, knocking them all to the ground.

  * * *

  Beau hit his head and was stunned for a moment. When he could focus again, he saw Maria hesitate. “Run, Maria! Now!” he screamed. With an agonized look on her face, she whirled and took off.

  Looking around for Kinley, he saw her fighting off the thug.

  He rose and headed for the struggling pair. Delivering a hard kidney punch that would have the guy pissing blood for a week, he followed up by locking an arm around the guy’s neck.

  Her attacker let Kinley go and Beau shouted at her to run as the Black Hawk touched down. More members were catching up to them as Beau faced the guy. There was no time for a prolonged battle.

  When Kinley scrambled away, Beau slammed his foot behind the goon’s knee, taking him down. After a quick boot to the face, Beau pelted after the two fleeing women. He saw Maria make it to the chopper, but with a cry she turned.

  It looked like the cartel’s patience was at an end when they realized they were going to lose them to the waiting chopper. A spurt of gunfire sounded behind him and to his horror Kinley turned around and started running for something bright reflecting the light. She bent down and grabbed it, crying out as she grabbed her side and collapsed to the ground.

  Hot lead whizzed past his head. Something molten punched into his side and he gritted his teeth at the pain, stumbling. He regained his footing and pressed forward, heart pumping, chest tight, his eyes never leaving her crumpled form. Scooping her up over his shoulder, he ran the last few feet to the chopper.

  Once they were out of the line of fire, two marines opened up on the cartel members. One of the marines slipped out of the chopper, running for him, laying down defensive cover as Beau hit the open door to the chopper, propelling them both inside.

  As soon as they were on deck, the Black Hawk powered up off the spit of land and accelerated away from the cracking gunfire, but Beau was oblivious. He was frantically clawing at Kinley’s shirt, panic shredding him. Oh, God, no, no, no!

  Blood covered her stomach and he swallowed hard.

  In her hands, she held the picture of Maria and her husband.

  With her face contorted in pain and the medic trying to shoulder Beau out of the way, Kinley reached over and handed the frame to Maria, who sobbed and clasped Kinley’s hand as she passed out.

  * * *

  When Beau woke up in the hospital after collapsing in the chopper from the wound to his side, the doctor assured him that Kinley had been tended and released. Her wound was superficial. The Black Hawk had landed on top of the medical center to get Beau the treatment he needed.

  Shortly after that, Ken came into the room. “Good to see you awake.” There was a sadness in his eyes Beau understood.

  “I’m sorry about Daniel.”

  Ken nodded. “He was a good man and he died a hero. They’re going to release his body to me tomorrow.”

  “That’s good to know. The cartel?”

  “Still a threat, but they don’t know who you are, so you and Kinley are safe. Maria Costa will be protected until we finish working with Cuba to dismantle the cartel. There’s already been some nasty infighting in the ranks so it’s a sinking ship. Also, thought you would want to know that Umprey Thompson’s little girl and grandmother have also been sent to the States under protective custody with new identities.”

  He nodded. “Kinley?”

  “She’s on her way here now that you’re awake. She’s been debriefing the DEA...ah...wait, there she is now.”

  Kinley came into the room and gave him a smile, but he got a bad feeling when she stayed a respectable distance. It wasn’t like she could kiss him or anything, but he just wanted some reassurance that...what? That she cared for him enough to want to take the next step in their relationship? His feelings for Jennifer had been laid to rest, but the memory of the pain was something that still plagued him.

  His attention shifted from her when Ken pulled out the laptop from the case he was holding and opened it. The display winked on. The screen was taken up in thi
rds by the director and his boss, Chris, the commandant, and then SAC Stafford.

  “Good to see you’re recovering Special Agent Jerrott.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “To fill you both in, Diego Montoya has been identified by his photograph and his residence in Norfolk was raided. He was so confident he’d gotten away with it, he’d not only bought a house and settled in the city, but applied for a driver’s license. He and his two bodyguards are in custody and charged with the murders of Cameron Dixon, Mark Levin, Pete Samson, David Walters and Umprey Thompson along with the nine National Defense Force members and the three Coast Guard crew. In addition, they were charged with hijacking a vessel at sea. The ballistics proved that Dudley Martin had been shot and killed by Umprey, presumably when he had been betrayed.

  “Montoya’s DNA locks him in at the scene. To get a lesser sentence, Montoya agreed to testify against the cartel. He told us that he’d had his face altered by Dr. Costa and had cashed out his bank account and secured a shipment of cocaine to finance his getaway. He intended to hide out in the US until he could neutralize the danger he was in. He’d already had Umprey on his payroll, but had Martin trick the Americans into thinking they were going to film a movie about the Coast Guard to get them on board for the sole purpose of deceiving any CG vessels they might come across. Worked like a charm. As for you two...”

  “Here comes the ass-chewing,” Beau murmured and Kinley didn’t say anything. He didn’t like her silence.

  “What exactly was it that you didn’t understand about engaging the Las Espadas, Special Agent Jerrott?” The commandant demanded.

  “I take full responsibility as lead,” Beau said immediately. “Kin...Special Agent Cooper got dragged along in my wake. She wanted to follow orders and request permission.”

  “I commend her for that.”

  Beau breathed a sigh of relief, but tensed up as she opened her mouth. “Sir...”