by Allie Adams
Did she imagine the last week of her life? Did Spencer really purposely alter the search that almost killed her career, not to mention her self-esteem? Did he really let her take the fall? Did someone really break into her apartment right under her nose?
She slipped on her shoes and went to the door, for some reason feeling guilty sleeping in the motorhome. Her investors had paid a considerable sum of money for K-SAR to convert the rig into a top-of-the-line mobile communication center, not for a place for her to hide from reality.
Since she was already here, she walked over to the office and went to unlock the door, only to find it open.
Oh, shit. The guy must have followed her here. Her pulse skyrocketed and slammed in her ears.
She heard a click and froze. Wait, was that the copy machine? Glancing around for a weapon, she found a single golf club Travis liked to use to knock golf balls into coffee cups when they had down time. With the club firmly in her grasp, she tried not to make a sound as she snuck through the small reception area and turned to the right toward the copy room. Walking down the narrow hall, she paused outside the room to get up enough nerve to…what? Beat the guy with a golf club? Jump out and yell, “Gotcha!”
The copy machine fell silent and she braced herself. One. Two.
“Holy shit!” Travis walked out of the room and fell back against the doorframe, clutching his chest. “You scared the hell out of me.” He spotted the golf club she held over her head and frowned. “What are you doing? Is that my putter? Why do you look like you just woke up?”
Her hair had to be a mess. Dark circles accented her eyes, according to the reflective surface of a picture as she snuck by. She still wore yesterday's clothes, which were now wrinkled.
“Why are you here at six in the morning?” she demanded as she fought to get her heart to beat at a normal pace.
“Copying my notes from the Green search for the files. I wanted to take the day off so I thought I'd come in early and just get it done. Sheila wants to take the girls to Snoqualmie and go sledding, like we can't find a hill closer.” He eyed her up and down. “You look like shit. What the hell happened to you?”
Was he someone she could trust? They may not be the best of friends, but they were business associates and she knew he'd have her back if it came to it. Plus, she did trust him enough to confide in him with the story about Salazar and the Order. “Are you busy for the next couple of hours?”
He threw her a puzzled look as she dragged him out of the building and over to her truck parked behind the shed. When she pulled out of the parking lot, he still hadn't said anything. Not until she stopped in her parking spot at her apartment complex did he even turn to her.
“Uh, now do I get to ask?”
“Yesterday someone broke into my apartment while I was at K-SAR.”
He leaned back and frowned. “Are you shitting me? Was anything missing?”
“Just some papers.” Kat hopped out. Travis followed. As she climbed the stairs and opened her door, she finished telling him what she knew. “So then I ran out.” She threw her keys on the counter in the kitchen. Travis walked in after her.
“And you went straight to the office?”
“I slept in the Com Van.” Kat grabbed a water bottle out of the refrigerator. She didn't feel the need to fill him in on the rest of her night, as embarrassing as it was when Spencer caught her.
“Have you gone to the cops?” He opened the spring water Kat threw at him and took a long drink, then made a face and set it down. “I need coffee this early. Put on a pot?”
“No, I didn't go to the cops.”
“Why not?”
“Because it was just some papers. No big deal.” She forced a troubled smile to play down the tantrum in her stomach. If she would have gone to the cops over a break in with no sign of forced entry and only a few measly papers missing, they would have laughed her right out of the building.
“And your only choice was to bring me here? Dude, I don't know shit about break ins. You should call the cops.”
She shot him a look.
Travis brought his hands up in surrender. “Seriously. You should be talking to a cop. Or maybe some alpha male TREX agent that grunts a lot. You seem to like that type.”
Wonderful. More attitude about she and Spencer. “We aren't exactly talking.”
“Again?”
She nodded. “Again.”
“Maybe you should actually stick with that this time.”
Kat turned to him and set a fist on her hip. “Do you have a problem with me being with Spencer?”
“Present tense?”
She wished. “No. Past.”
“Then no.” When she continued to glare, he went on. “Kat, you can do so much better than him.”
But he was exactly what she wanted, even with the current state of their relationship, if she could even call it that.
“He lied to me, Travis.”
“News flash, baby. We all lie. Men. Women. Even kids.”
“But this lie was a doozy.”
“So tell me.” He rested his chin on his hand and waited.
“Remember the Haynes search?” She waited until he nodded before continuing. “Apparently TREX already had the outcome of that search planned before they even called in K-SAR. Spencer fed me false information to keep our teams away from the subject. We were there to keep the bad guy trapped. We were never meant to find him.”
Travis dropped his jaw as his face lost all color. He then stood and stormed into the kitchen. “Are you shitting me? As if I don't have enough reason to hate that guy. What a motherfu—”
“Anyway,” she stopped him before he went on, not wanting anything to add to the flame fueling her anger. “That' why we aren't talking right now.”
Travis reached across the counter and rested his hand over hers. When he squeezed it, he followed it up with a smile. A hunger darkened his gaze and changed the atmosphere, thickening it with uncomfortable tension. “You deserve someone who treats you right.”
She slipped her hand out from under his and turned from him. He looked at her differently and she didn't like it.
“Sorry,” he offered.
“You're married.”
“I know.” He said it with such disappointment. “That doesn't mean I can't want what's best for you. It's February. The month of love. Go out and find yourself a valentine actually worthy of you. That TREX asshole is not it.”
“Valentine's Day is just a single day.” And she'd spend it single.
“Spoken like a true Valentine's Day Scrooge.”
Kat lowered her eyes. The perking of the coffee filled the silence. She didn't even know what today's date was. And to think, she'd actually asked Spencer to be her valentine. It seemed a lifetime ago. Well, this year if stupid cupid tried to target her with his arrow, she'd shove it up the little cherub's ass.
After the coffee finished, she poured Travis a cup before doing the same for her. The robust smell awakened her senses.
“So, what do you think about the guy breaking in last night?”
Travis shrugged and scratched his head. “I don't know. This is way out of my league. Some guy breaks in when you aren't even home, stays until you get home, then steals some papers. Real crime of passion there.”
“I'm not calling Spencer,” Kat snapped, annoyed that he kept bringing him up.
“I never said Spencer. Call the police. Hell, call the FBI. Anybody who deals with this sort of stuff. I'm just a blue-collar worker. Talk to me about demolition and I'm your man.”
Okay, so maybe she was the one who kept bringing up Spencer. Enough was enough. Pushing Spencer out of her mind, she gave Travis her attention. “You know, I've worked with you for five years and in all that time you never told me what you did before K-SAR.”
“Demolition. It's really cool. You know, there is nothing more satisfying than watching something you rig blow up exactly as you plan it.”
Kat saw the boyish flicker of satisfaction in his eyes. “
What is it about men and blowing things up?”
“I used to stick firecrackers in my army men as a kid. I guess I just went from there. How about you? Have you always been looking for someone?”
She lowered her eyes and ignored the jolt to her heart. He couldn't have meant Spencer and it bothered her to the core that her mind immediately jumped there. “Something like that.”
“I guess you have the upper hand since you were actually the subject of a search as a kid. You know, that's why K-SAR has such a high success rate. You can put yourself in the subject's shoes. What's the story about when you got lost? I've always wanted to know.”
“I was ten. My mom asked me to watch my little brother. He was five at the time and decided to go inside and take a nap in his toy box. Of course I didn't know that and thought I'd lost him in the woods. So I went looking for him and couldn't find my way back.”
“Must have been pretty freaky. I'm thirty-eight and it would freak my shit out.”
“I panicked, as any ten-year-old would. I was actually closer to my house than anyone thought. I kept going around in circles, but I thought I was miles away.” She shuddered, lost in her memory. “When I heard my dad calling for me, I didn't answer at first.”
“Why not?”
She shrugged. “I thought I was in trouble. I'd been gone for two days without permission. But then I heard the explorers calling for me and I knew he wouldn't spank me in front of others. So I called back and there you have it.” She pushed away from the counter, not wanting to think about those two nights any longer than she had to. “Do you mind if I take a shower?”
“A what?” He cocked his brow as his voice jumped an octave.
“You stay out here.”
She didn't miss the disappointment in his expression. “Of course. Go ahead.”
Kat went into the bathroom, locking the door behind her, and undressed after she started the shower. She stepped into the tub and allowed the streams to massage her weary muscles. She felt violated after the break-in and the water couldn't get hot enough to kill the microbes crawling all over her.
After washing her hair three times before she felt satisfied, Kat turned the water off and quickly toweled dry. Her robe hung behind the door and she threw it on. Poking her head out the door, she saw Travis sitting on the couch, eating something and watching TV. She ran into her room to dress.
When she emerged, she felt rejuvenated. She'd decided on a nice pair of khakis with a light cotton sweater. Her makeup highlighted the baby blue in her eyes and when she smiled, Travis smiled back.
“If I wasn't a married man, Kat.” He shook his head and winked. “But I am, and Sheila and the girls would never understand that I have a boss who looks like you.”
“Thanks.” She smacked him in the back of the head as she passed by. “I think.”
“Ow,” he grumbled and grabbed the back of his head, laughing. “Jeez, it was a compliment.”
“I notice you don't wear a ring.” Kat grabbed a fresh cup of coffee and joined him on the couch. “Why is that?”
He lifted his naked ring finger. “Most men in construction don't so I guess it's just habit. When I got out of demo to work SAR, I never went and got one.”
“It must be too dangerous to wear one. Wouldn't want it to get caught on something you were trying to blow up.” She teased and he made a face at her.
“Yeah. Losing a finger in my trade could mean trouble. You need all ten to push that little button.”
She looked at the clock. It had only been two hours since she nearly beat him to death with his own golf club. “Well, I'd better get you back. You said you wanted the day off.” She stood and grabbed her keys before walking out of the apartment, Travis on her heels. She locked the door behind them and descended the stairs. “Was demolition good money?”
“It paid the bills.” She pushed her remote to unlock her doors and accidently pushed the lock button. Travis jumped when he walked in front of her Xterra just as the horn sounded. “You did that on purpose.”
She laughed and pushed the right button, silently unlocking the doors. “You've never hit the wrong button?”
“I'm stuck in a beat up old Blazer. I don't even bother to lock the doors. I figure if someone wants it that bad, they can have it.” He looked around as they pulled out. “It's a nice neighborhood. Why do you bother locking your doors?”
“Because I love my truck. If anything ever happened to it, I'd be crushed. It's my baby.”
Her phone beeped, letting her know she'd missed a call. She brought it up and looked at the screen. Wow. He started early today. She scanned through the missed calls. Spencer. Spencer. Spencer. Rand. Spencer. Spencer.
Odd that Rand would call her outside of a search. She dialed his number and stuck in her earpiece.
Travis turned to her. “Who are you calling?”
“Rand,” she answered just as he answered the phone. “You rang?”
“What the hell is going on?”
Her blood slowed. God, please. Not another search. “What's wrong?”
“Spencer told me he couldn't find you. He said you told him you were home last night. I couldn't reach you. He couldn't reach you. He finally went over there and your door was wide open.”
“My door was open?” She glanced over at Travis. “But it wasn't open this morning.”
“Spencer said he looked around and closed up when he left. Why weren't you home?”
“I stayed at K-SAR last night.”
Rand didn't sound pleased at that news and barked out, “Why?”
She sighed. Rand treated her like his little sister. Her head hurt from all of this testosterone-induced chivalry. At least Travis didn't treat her like a delicate flower that needed to be locked in a bubble.
“I'm fine, okay?”
“Are you alone?”
“No. Travis is here.” She looked over at him.
“Where's Spencer?”
“I don't care where he is.”
“Don't give me that bullshit, Kat. I know you better. You do care. Call him.”
Jesus, not him too. “I don't want to call him.”
“You sound like you're twelve. Stop being such a baby and call him so he'll quit calling me. You know, I haven't gotten much sleep lately. Does trouble just follow you around?”
“I think it pretty much knows where I am. Bye, Rand.” Kat ended the call and removed her earpiece.
They drove the rest of the way in silence. Kat pulled up to the office and stopped. “Thanks for coming with me.”
He laughed. “I was such a big help.”
“Just having someone there helped.”
“Next time, don't be so stubborn. If you're in trouble, go to the cops.”
Kat swallowed. Travis was right and she knew it. She just hoped there wouldn't be a next time. “See you at the next search if I don't see you before.”
He nodded. “Wouldn't miss it.”
TWENTY-FIVE
Spencer threw out a round of his favorite curses while pacing his living room. He could always try calling Kathryn again, but it wouldn't do any good. She'd already made it perfectly clear how she felt. On top of the fact that she refused to take any of his calls, it just killed him that she actually believed she hated him.
The worry drove him insane. He hadn't slept. He'd barely eaten. His gut churned with anxiety. Was she all right? Why wasn't she home when she said she'd be?
When he went to her apartment and found her door open, his heart raced at the thought of what he'd discover. With his gun drawn, he searched the apartment from top to bottom and didn't find a thing out of place. He spotted half a glass of wine on the coffee table. But no Kathryn.
What day was it? Tuesday? Spencer couldn't remember ever having a more miserable week. He longed to talk to her, to see her again. His body ached with the need to be with her again, if nothing else than just to hold her.
But now that she knew the truth, and he hadn't told her, he could count his chances
of ever being with her again on a hand with no fingers.
What the hell were the odds that Sam Green had some sort of involvement with the Haynes search? Talk about dumb fucking luck.
Spencer had received his order from HQ and had been assured the entire operation would remain top secret. Top secret, my ass. Everyone and their bald little brother now knew about that goddamn search and his role on it.
With a harsh sigh to break through the silence of his dimly lit living room, Spencer walked to the window to stare at the water. Now Kathryn wouldn't even talk to him, and who could blame her? She'd found out the man she thought she knew and trusted had, in fact, destroyed her life. She'd just had her heart ripped apart by him. Again.
Everything that had happened this week reaffirmed his belief. Agents were meant to live a life of servitude. They were never meant to fall in love, to experience the life of normalcy. Every day spent with her drew him deeper into a life he knew he'd never be able to keep. What in the hell had he been thinking gambling with the fates like that?
Kathryn was now miserable because of him. He didn't blame her. Why hadn't he listened to his head instead of following his heart? If he would have just left her alone in the first place none of this would have happened. Or would it have all gone to shit anyway?
He went back to the phone. There he paused and studied the receiver, contemplating whether to call her again. It was almost eleven o'clock at night. Maybe too late to call?
To hell with that. They used to spend hours on the phone when they weren't wrapped in each other's arms, sometimes until the sun came up.
He lifted the receiver and speed-dialed her cell number. After the fourth ring, he hung the phone up and grabbed his keys. There was more than one way to reach her. He'd corner her in that tiny excuse of an apartment and force her to talk to him. She'd had a week to come to terms with everything. Enough was enough.
As he started for the door, he passed by the TV and paused as a news report flashed across the screen.
“Joggers discovered the body of a male Caucasian on Alki Beach this morning. Officials place his age between thirty-five and forty years old. He was found next to the miniature of Lady Liberty. Here is Samantha Cook with the story.”