by Grady, D. R.
“I have to get back home. Do you want to come for supper?”
Greg thought about her invitation. Really, it was a no brainer. “Yeah.” Now that he was here, he would spend time with this sister who meant everything to him. He couldn’t think about her children without wrenching his heart out of sync, so he didn’t. That didn’t mean he didn’t long to meet them, get to know them.
She smiled, and Greg basked in the gloriousness. He’d forgotten how beautiful and radiant KC was. How she made the shadows seem a little less dense. He could breathe in her presence. So long as she wasn’t surrounded by her Morrison buddies.
“We’ll look forward to you around six then.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
She grinned at him again, and he caught the relief and love there for him before she clattered down the stairs and climbed back into her van.
KC had unknowingly begun the process of binding him here. He didn’t plan to remain in this town. Hershey held nothing for him. Then a pair of amber eyes filled his vision, and mocked him as a liar. Maybe Hershey held nothing for him.
“What am I doing here?” he muttered to the walls for at least the third time.
Protecting your family. The exact same answer as the other two times echoed in his brain and caused a headache. How was he supposed to protect his family? Greg yanked out his cell phone and hit a series of secure numbers.
He waited until O’Riley picked up. “Gilmore, what can I do for you?” At least his former boss had started calling him by his real name, rather than that of a dead man.
“Have any more information for me?”
O’Riley riffled papers on his end and Greg waited. “No.”
He wanted to swear, but that had never got him anywhere but shot at a few times. “Why not? How can I have some unknown enemy after me now? I’m dead, or at least that man is.”
“He’s supposed to be dead.”
“How’d they track down that he’s not? Do they know who I am?”
O’Riley hesitated. “I can’t even find out that information.”
And Greg jumped. “What?”
Again, his former boss hesitated. “I’ve been thinking about this. Have you remembered everything from that night you blew up those terrorists?”
“Nothing more than what I briefed you a few days ago.”
“What do you know that could come back and bite you?” With his usual skill, O’Riley had hit his fears head-on.
“Been wondering about that. Why was I there? To destroy that terrorist ring. I did.”
“They’re gone, yes. But someone wants you.”
“Do they?”
“Do they what?”
“Are we sure whoever this is wants me? If so how do they want me? Dead, alive, open to questioning?”
Silence. “I assumed they wanted you dead.”
“Well, I already am.”
“Yes.”
“What about my family?”
“What about them?” He couldn’t see O’Riley, but knew the man frowned at the wall across from his desk.
“Do these people want to hurt them? Do they think my family has answers? What about my former team?”
“First of all, Michael Lamont has no family. Next, your former team is definitely in danger, if you are. But they all knew that before they took the assignment. Every one of them are well trained.”
“That doesn’t help me sleep at night.”
“Janine can take care of herself.”
“I’m sure she can. Doesn’t make me want to place her in danger any more than I want to see my sister and her family in danger. She has kids. If these enemies connect her with me...” He couldn’t finish the statement.
“KC is perfectly capable of taking care of herself, too. Besides, I think you’re forgetting something.”
“What?”
“Never underestimate the Morrison Family.”
“Why?”
“Because if anyone went after their own, the Morrisons wouldn’t stop until they’d torn every last bit off the people who dared to harm someone they loved. KC and Janine both rank in that number.”
Greg winced. He could well imagine the carnage. “Your wife would probably lead the slaughter.”
O’Riley chuckled. “Absolutely. Only person I’m afraid of. But I’ve noticed all the Morrison women are fearsome if the circumstances are right.”
Greg was thankful for O’Riley’s comment, but he didn’t understand it. Big families didn’t work for him. Too many people, not enough air. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“You do that. And try to think about what you saw that night. I’m leaning toward that being the problem.”
“Admiral, I took out all those terrorists. There’s no one left to come after me.”
“Someone is, and they’re the only ones I can think of who could do this. None of the others have the resources to track down a dead man.”
It always came back to the dead man. How he wished Michael Lamont remained dead. Forever. It’d make his life a lot less complicated.
A nice, tropical breeze blowing through his hair would be nice, too, since he was in the wishing business.
Chapter 4
Later that evening Janine rolled into her garage and shut off the engine of her SUV. She still couldn’t believe she owned the monster vehicle, but the four wheel drive had earned its gas guzzling keep this winter. An emergency room surgeon didn’t have the luxury of remaining home when the snow and sleet came.
She slipped out of the vehicle and made for her kitchen door. A shadow loomed in the corner, and Janine slowed her pace. The hackles on the back of her neck stood to attention. Another sure sign that shadow didn’t belong there.
Mysteries like this one were not a welcome addition to her life. She stopped, deciding that if she needed to make a dash for her SUV, she was that much closer to the garage. Alarmed that she might have to make a run for it, Janine eased her hand into her open purse.
Her fingers closed around a cold metal casing and she hefted the weapon. This gun was new, one she had purchased recently, after learning of the man who invaded O’Riley’s home. Then there was her internet search for her possible missing relative, John Morris. For some reason, the search had raised her alarms. Nothing had happened, but she was left with an unwelcome feeling of ... unease. Purchasing the gun had seemed like a good idea, even though it went against everything she believed in as a doctor.
“Janine?” a low male voice questioned from the shadow-infested section of her side porch.
She swallowed. She shouldn’t still remember that voice, but she did. At least it didn’t sound pained now.
“Greg.” Relief soared through her, but she still didn’t relax. Why was KC’s brother here? A crushing, ominous feeling bore down on her so that she decided not to drop the weapon into the bottom of her purse. She did put the safety on.
“Sorry to startle you.” He didn’t move from the concealment of the shadows. She wished he’d do something other than talk. Nervousness wasn’t something she normally associated with herself, but she didn’t like the idea of him lurking there. Where she couldn’t see him at all.
“Sure.” Janine bounded up the steps to the door. He finally left the darkness and glided on silent feet toward her. She unlocked the door and entered her house with Greg two steps behind her. He shut the door the moment he crossed the threshold.
Her heart beat a tattoo she didn’t recognize or appreciate when she turned to face him. She slid the mail into the mail holder she kept on the small table.
“Are you here for a visit?” Janine thought being polite would probably get her further than kicking him. Since the urge to kick him for startling her still proved overwhelmingly strong.
“Basically.” Why couldn’t he just answer the question? She mentally added a second kick.
“Are you living with Max and KC?”
“No, I rented a place about a mile out of town.” Mystery solved as to where he was headed this mornin
g.
His voice remained quiet, and gave no indication as to his intentions, and definitely not his emotions. Much like the closed-up man himself. Training would have furthered the secretive qualities in him. Janine could almost see the blinking No Vacancy sign above his head. Still the feeling of foreboding vanished so she released her weapon into the depths of her bag and added her keys before setting the purse close by.
“I see.” She snapped on a light before turning to face him again. Now what did she do with him?
She showed him into the living room, turning on more lights as they went. Should she offer him a drink? Something to eat?
He moved so silently, she almost jumped when she turned from the last light switch and saw him seated in a chair that didn’t quite make the pool of light from a nearby lamp. Janine took the sofa across from him. She wanted to ask him so many things, but didn’t know where to start. He had spooked her, something no man had ever done before. Why was he able to startle her? And why did it seem so cold in here? She rubbed her palms up her arms.
“You heard about O’Riley’s break in.” It was a comment, not a question.
How did he know she knew that? “Yes.” Janine closed up her own thoughts.
“You and O’Riley are the only people who know for sure I was Michael Lamont.” He sat very still in the chair in the shadows and his stare was heavy. “Other operatives might suspect that identity.”
Okay, so what did that mean? She finally asked when he didn’t elaborate.
“My sister and her family could be in trouble. You could be in trouble.”
“O’Riley and his family could be in trouble,” she added.
“And since you’re all part of the same family now...”
She understood his frustration. “So you had to come back here to protect your family.”
“Yeah.” He didn’t sound delighted about that prospect.
“You hadn’t intended to settle down in Hershey? Even temporarily?”
He didn’t roll his eyes, but she received that impression anyway. “No.” His tone was curt.
Janine’s lips itched, as though they wanted to smile, maybe even grin. She didn’t give in to the sensation. “Hershey is the nicest place I’ve ever lived.”
“I’m glad.” He didn’t actually sound that way.
“But not for yourself, obviously.” The chill in the room increased. She wondered if she should change the thermostat setting.
Their chit chat made her a little crazy, and she doubted this man was the chatting type. She knew he preferred shadows and his own company to people. Not that many would classify her as a chatterbox though.
“Why did you come here tonight?” Janine decided to cut to the bone of the matter. She could chase her tail all night with this man and still not learn what she needed otherwise.
“You’re a member of my team.”
“Yes?”
“If they discover who I am, they probably can figure out who you are.”
An emotion, one that acted exactly like fear, erupted in her stomach. She didn’t care so much about herself. She could handle herself. But she did care about the people who lived across the way. She cared about her parents and siblings. “My family could be harmed.”
He sighed and turned to glance out the window. “Yes.”
“What can we do? What do you know about this enemy?”
His blue eyes stared into hers, intense as an angry ocean. “That’s the problem.”
Janine closed hers briefly. “You know nothing.”
“No.” He clasped his hands between his knees and watched her.
“We’ve got potential enemies coming after us and we have no idea who they are.”
“Right.”
“What about those terrorists you bombed?”
“I got all but one. A SEAL team got him.”
“So they’re not the threat.”
“No. Neutralized.”
Janine nodded. Her thoughts swirled into chaos. As a secret agent, he would have a mind boggling array of enemies. “There’s no chance this enemy will reveal his hand so we can neutralize him?”
“Not likely.” He remained unnaturally still.
“How are your injuries?”
“Gone. Can’t even see most of them.”
“That’s good.”
“Good surgeon.”
“Thank you.”
He inclined his head slightly, a secret operative’s method of nodding. Janine thought maybe Greg wasn’t used to carrying on long conversations. Not that this one was long. It was pretty minor compared to some she routinely conducted with her female relatives. She wouldn’t change that for anything, but would love to know how to break the ice with this man. Why she wanted to do so racked up yet another mystery.
“Do you have a plan?”
“Yes. No.”
“Ah, that helps.” Janine heard the sarcastic tone in her voice and was surprised. She didn’t normally allow such emotions to show.
His lips jerked to the side and she was relieved. At least she hadn’t offended him. That was good. Now for a plan. “What about leaving here to keep everyone safe?”
“A possibility.”
“But?” Trying to pull information out of this man was worse than wrestling with Ryan’s dog when he had latched onto something he didn’t want to give up.
“Not a safe option.”
Understanding dawned. And she wished it hadn’t. “Running away would allow them a wide open door for whoever is after you.”
“Probably.”
Janine raised a brow at him. What did that mean?
“They might not care about our family.”
She hadn’t thought about that. “That’s true.” Just because her family was her major concern didn’t mean their enemy cared about them. But bad people liked to use your loved ones against you. She knew this firsthand.
“But then again, they might, too.”
Maybe she could sign Greg Gilmore’s death certificate, too. After she lied about how he died. No one would believe how frustrating the man was. “So what do we do?”
“I’m thinking we stay put. Watch everyone and everything and trust no strangers.”
“I see a lot of strangers at the hospital. It’s my job,” she pointed out.
“You’re in a good place to hear things.”
“Yes, I am. I’ll stay alert.”
He sent her a sardonic glance she couldn’t interpret. “What does that mean?”
He cocked a brow at her.
“What did that look mean?” She added, and barely restrained herself from rolling her eyes. Why could this man rattle her when no other could? And she previously thought she was attracted to him? Obviously she preferred him quiet and unresponsive.
“You always seem to remain alert regardless of the situation.”
“Ah, right. That’s true.”
He sent her another look and Janine liked how his eyes raked her. Hmmm. Okay, he was allowed to look at her like that. But he still needed to keep silent.
“Why are you searching for John Morris?”
Janine knew her eyes widened at the random question. “How did you know?”
“I overheard someone mention it.” He didn’t shrug, but the gesture would have gone with his easy attitude.
“We think he might be the link between Ben and I and the Morrison family.”
“You and Ben are related biologically?” Okay, so the man caught onto details with lightning speed. She still preferred the strong, silent version.
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out.”
He nodded before moving on. “That’s all I have for now. I’ll let you know if I come up with anything else.”
“Okay. How do I reach you?” Did her search bother him, or what went through his head? She doubted torture would yank the answers from him.
They exchanged cell phone numbers and when Janine locked the door behind him, she couldn’t imagine why she had been so moved by the wa
y his eyes had caressed her face. He frustrated her to no end, but she still savored the remnants of the thrill his masculine appreciation had garnered.
She had left romantic feelings to others in the past. Right now, her family needed her. She couldn’t afford feelings for a man she barely knew to distract her.
Janine rubbed her palms up her arms again. The gesture didn’t help dispel the chill.
The fist came out of nowhere, and slammed into her with its usual force. Accuracy wasn’t so much an issue as the power behind the blow. And what fueled the need to beat her senseless again. She had cleaned the hut and made him supper, why did he have to beat her tonight? Her homework was finished and she’d gone to bed on time. Why now?
The second blow snapped her against the back wall and Janine felt something break as she scrabbled to right herself. Her left hand slid down the wall with her body and he stepped on it. Please don’t break... She couldn’t finish her chores or her homework if he broke her left hand.
She whimpered but then remembered he liked when she made noises. Don’t make any sound. That will only make it worse.
Janine centered herself as the fear threatened to overtake her. She needed to escape to her special place.
Quietly, she took in a steadying breath and entered the world she had created for when her uncle beat her. She waited until the sounds of his fists hitting her flesh subsided and instead she heard the crash of waves on the beach. The cry of birds overtook the cries she wanted to shriek but was afraid to because noises made the beatings worse. It had from the first time, three years ago when he had started beating her. From the time she came to live with him at age five.
Instead, Janine breathed in the scent of the salty air and thought it might rain soon. The birds swooped and called overhead as the waves played with the pebbles on the beach. They beckoned, and some of the pebbles seemed to answer the call as they tumbled into the blue depths. Janine followed.
She let the salt water caress her skin and ease the tension from her body. Basking in the sunlight on her face and the warmth the heat provided. Her mother had died so young, Janine could barely remember her. She remembered the love her mother had for her, though. That love had helped her form this place. A place she remembered her mother taking her to. It was their special place.