by Cat Johnson
Her gaze caught on a square outline pressing through the denim of his jeans. Sliding her hand into his pocket, she reached for it with the tips of her fingers but couldn’t quite get what she hoped was a cell phone out of the tight confines. She pushed her hand deeper and got a handful of more than just phone.
Swallowing hard at the knowledge she’d just basically stroked him pretty intimately without meaning to, she halted all motion. He groaned, moving his hips to press himself farther into her hand.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place, she decided to just go for it and fast. Reaching deep into his pocket, she grabbed and wiggled out the phone.
Holding her breath, Carly watched and waited for his eyelids to open, but he didn’t wake. Sighing in relief, she turned her attention to the cell phone.
The phone had been off, which told her he hadn’t wanted to talk to anyone. Although he had come to be with her. Of course, she did have alcohol, but as he’d said, he could get that anywhere. She was overthinking things. The man was upset and had come to a familiar place to forget whatever he needed to forget. That was all. She couldn’t let herself read anything more into it.
She powered on the cell only to find it required a passcode.
Carly mumbled a curse and hoped for the best as she reached for his hand and pressed his thumb to the cell’s front button. Lucky for her he’d had the thumbprint capability enabled. The lock screen was replaced by the home screen.
Fighting the guilt, she hit the icon for his contacts list. This was a huge invasion of privacy, not to mention probably a security breach, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
Scrolling quickly through Jack’s saved phone contacts, she found a bunch of names she didn’t recognize. Even the names of Jack’s teammates she did know from the bar, she didn’t feel she knew well enough to call about this.
Finally, when she was about to give up hope, she hit on Trey Williams. Taking a deep breath, she pressed the call button, put the phone to her ear and listened to the ringing.
CHAPTER 4
When the commander finally cut them all loose, Trey drove directly to Jack’s place. Jack’s convertible wasn’t parked out front.
There’d been no phone call from him either. Worse, when Trey called Jack’s cell it had gone directly to voice mail. He must have turned his phone off even though the commander had told them they were all on standby.
Wherever Jack was and whatever he was doing, he didn’t want to be disturbed.
He tried to convince himself his friend was a big boy and could take care of himself. Then he found himself carrying his cell phone into the bathroom with him and laying it on the sink while he showered in case Jack called. He was on standby, he reminded himself so he wouldn’t feel foolish waiting around like some girl sitting by the phone after a first date.
Worry squelched any interest in food, but the angry grumble of his empty stomach reminded him he needed to eat anyway. A leftover pork chop in the fridge was just calling his name when his cell phone finally rang.
Trey jumped to answer it when Jack appeared on the readout.
“Jack. You okay?”
“Um, Trey? It’s not Jack. It’s Carly down at the bar. Jack’s here with me but he’s had a lot to drink.”
Trey opened his eyes wide.
Carly. On Jack’s phone. It took him a second to shake off the shock.
“You still at the bar now?” he asked hoping—even though he shouldn’t be—that the answer was yes and not that they were at her place together.
“Yeah.”
“Okay. Keep him there. I’ll be right over. And don’t let him drive.” Trey was already shoving his feet into his sneakers.
“Of course I won’t let him drive. He’s drunk. How stupid do you think I am?” Her annoyance came through the cell clear as a bell.
He let out a breath of frustration. “I’m sorry. I’ve just been worried about him. Hang tight. I’m leaving now.”
She let out a short laugh. “Oh, believe me. I’m not going anywhere.”
Trey didn’t understand the meaning of her last statement until the moment he walked into the bar and found Jack passed out in Carly’s lap in a booth toward the rear.
He winced. “How long has he been like this?”
“Passed out? Or drunk?” She cocked a brow.
“Uh, both I guess.”
“He came in about an hour ago, downed four double shots of bourbon in under ten minutes, then passed out just before I called you. I didn’t know what else to do. His cell phone was right there in his, um, pocket. When I found your name in his contact list . . .” She shrugged and let the sentence trail off.
“It’s fine. I’m glad you called me.” Trey couldn’t help but notice how she kept stroking Jack’s hair even though he was well past the point of knowing it. For some reason, that really bothered him.
He walked over, squatted down and shook Jack by the shoulder. “Hey, buddy. Time to wake up.”
Jack moaned and rolled away from Trey and toward Carly. He draped one arm around her waist and snuggled deeper into her lap.
Great. That was even worse.
Trey jiggled him harder. He started slapping him lightly on the cheek and then not so lightly.
“Hey, be gentle. The poor guy’s having a tough night.” Carly frowned up at Trey.
She was right, of course.
Suitably chastised, Trey sighed. “I know.”
“Do you know what’s the matter?”
“Um, yeah but . . .” The sentence hung, unfinished, as Trey debated what say.
“You can’t tell me. Never mind.” She leaned down to Jack, stroked his face and said into his ear, “Jack, sweetie. You need to wake up for me.”
So it was sweetie now. Just great. And of course, sweetie-pie Jack woke right up for her and smiled even though his eyes didn’t quite look focused.
“Hey, darlin’.” He struggled to sit up, put a hand to his head and then blew out a breath. “This place is spinning like the tilt-a-whirl at the state fair. Oh, hey there, Trey. When’d you get here?”
“Just now.” Trey was not in the mood for conversation at the moment. He grabbed Jack by one arm and around the waist. Supporting his weight, he guided him up and out of the booth, pivoting them both toward the door. “Time for bed, Jack.”
Unfortunately, Jack wasn’t quite done yet. He dug in his feet and spun back toward Carly. “Night, darlin’.”
She smiled, an actual, genuine smile. “Night, Jack.”
“Trey, we were pretending I’m not in the military. She’s a really good kisser.”
That little gem of a revelation caused Trey to trip over his own feet.
This ridiculously surreal situation would have been laughable if he weren’t so miserable. “That’s great, Jack. Thanks for telling me.”
Perhaps Jack would vomit in his truck next, then Trey’s evening would really be complete.
CHAPTER 5
Morning came much too early and soon they were back in the team room, while the commander said, “It has come to our attention our target has a meeting scheduled with an American man suspected of small-arms dealing.”
The commander stood at the head of the table as he addressed the six men. The entire team sat a little straighter in their seats at the promise of action, even Jack, who had to be one hurting puppy at the moment.
Trey was surprised to see Jack upright at zero-eight-hundred after practically scraping him off Carly’s lap the night before.
He tried to block that image out of his mind. She’s a really good kisser. Trey gritted his teeth.
“We detained the bastard and his new wife on their way to the meet. When questioned, he said the wife knew nothing about it. She thinks he sells computer software. He brought her along as cover. Says he figured homeland security and customs wouldn’t look so hard at a married couple.”
“Real sweet guy,” one of the team mumbled.
The commander laughed. “Yeah, model husband.
Lights out, please.”
Someone hit the lights and the commander flipped the photos of a man and woman on the wall screen.
“Meet Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The target is currently unaware his associate is now a guest of the US military and we intend on keeping it that way by replacing the Smiths with two of our own. With some gentle persuasion, our guest downstairs admitted he’s never met or spoken directly to our target. They’ve corresponded only by email. We’re now in possession of his computer and all of its files, which back up his story. Although I bet the target has done his research and may have photos. So our replacements should be as close as possible in physical appearance, but at least they don’t have to be exact. With only internet contact we won’t have to worry about voice matching either. Lights on.”
The lights came back on, leaving the images on the wall screen still visible, but dull. “That, boys, is the good news. The bad news is the rendezvous with the target is tomorrow and we need to find our replacements, bring them up to speed and fly them overseas before then. This does have an important upside. The team will be flying over too, putting us in perfect position to gather information about our missing man. At that time we can locate and if necessary extract him.”
Jack sat forward at the mention of his brother. “I’ll do it, sir. I’ll meet with the target.” He glanced at the stats of the male on the wall. “We’re close enough in coloring and about the same height and weight. I can do this, sir.”
“No. Out of the question.” The commander shook his head.
“Why?” Jack asked.
“Because you’re too close to this, Gordon.”
“You can trust me, sir. He’s my brother.”
“That’s exactly why you’re not going in undercover, Gordon.” The commander turned to Trey. “Williams. It’s going to be you. You look close enough and you speak the language. You’ll be able to get around the country easier knowing the native tongue in case things go bad. Although you’ll have to pretend you don’t speak anything except English since that’s what our couple’s linguistic skills are limited to. All this info will be in the briefing materials. You’ll have to review it on the flight over. The couple’s plane is scheduled to depart this morning.”
Bull, called that because he was as big as one, raised his hand. “Sir, what about the female?”
He’d asked the exact question Trey had been thinking.
“That’s the biggest obstacle right now. I’ve already spoken to Central Command. There’s no one they can give us on such short notice who even comes close to resembling this one, even with a wig. We have one hour to get us a trained female who looks like that.”
They all looked at the image of the hot, shapely brunette on screen.
Trey silently read off the stats listed next to the image. Hair: Brown. Eyes: Green. Height: 5’2”. Weight: 120 pounds. 36-24-36.
Shit. He knew someone who fit that description. He kept his mouth glued shut.
“What if Williams tells them his wife suddenly felt ill and couldn’t travel, sir? They’re newlyweds. He can say she’s pregnant or something,” BB suggested. BB had come to the team as Billy Bob, but the team had shortened that right quick.
The commander nodded. “That’s exactly what he’ll have to do, but only as a last resort. We want to cast as little suspicion on this as we can and make as few changes as possible to our guests’ original plans. The bastard husband has been bragging by email how smart he was bringing his wife with him to avoid suspicion. The target even commented how much he’s looking forward to meeting her. I’d rather have a woman there with him.”
“Um, sir? Would you consider a civilian?” Matt Coleman, the communications and computer specialist leaned forward in his chair.
The commander raised an eyebrow, considering. “I guess that depends on quite a few things. Why? You have someone in mind, Coleman?”
Matt nodded. “Call me crazy, but you take that cute little bartender at the place just off base, throw some makeup and a little hair spray on her and you’d have the spitting image of that woman on screen.”
The commander considered this for a moment. “Coleman, run her and make sure she’s not a member of some terrorist sleeper cell pretending to be a bartender. I want to know everything you can get and I want it now.”
“Yes, sir.” Matt, never without his laptop, began tapping keys.
Jack should have had Matt with him at the bar yesterday. He and his computer probably could have come up with Carly’s name on the spot. Her eye color too, knowing Matt’s skill.
“You know this girl, Williams?” The commander turned to him.
Trey’s heart had kicked into double time the moment Matt mentioned Carly. Shit. Had his reaction shown on his face? Or was the commander asking him only because he was the one going in undercover?
“Yes, sir. I do.”
“Would you like to elaborate a bit, Williams? Does she really look like this woman? Is she discreet? Is she intelligent? Basically, can she pull this thing off without getting you both killed and losing us Jimmy Gordon in the process?”
Trey swallowed hard and saw Jack watching him wide-eyed. He could lie and say she couldn’t pull this off, but he knew she could. Especially with him guiding her.
“Yes, sir.”
“Yes to which question, Williams?”
“Yes to all of them, sir. She’s perfect, or as perfect as we’re going to get from outside the SpecOps community and within an hour.” He shot a glance at Jack, who looked like he wanted to kill him.
“Fine. Coleman, what have you got?”
“You’re not going to believe this.” Matt grinned. “She’s military. Separated from the Army shortly after the death of her father, who was also Army. Looks like she used the payout on his life insurance policy to buy the bar just off base.”
The commander slapped his hands together. “Well, look here. Something is actually going my way today. Coleman, send whatever information you’ve got to my email and to the printer in my office. Then, take as many men as you need and bring her in ASAP and by that I mean I want her here an hour ago. You got me?”
“Sir. Yes, sir.” Coleman and the others at the table sprung into action.
When Trey and Jack both stood also, the commander held up a hand to stop them. “You two both stay right where you are.”
They sat again, Jack looking extremely unhappy, Trey not feeling much better.
“I’ve got a few calls to make to clear this with the higher-ups. You, Gordon, will sit here and calm yourself down. The only way to help your brother is for you to keep a cool head, and if you can’t you’ll remain stateside. Williams, you wait here until your new wife arrives.” The commander left them and went into his private office just off the meeting room.
The commander was barely out of the room when Jack spun to Trey. “What the hell, Trey? Why did you tell the commander she’d be perfect?”
He shook his head at Jack’s question. “I don’t know. He caught me off-guard. Besides, what was I supposed to do? Lie?”
“Yes. Taking her undercover to meet the target. Are you crazy? Are you trying to get her killed?”
Trey closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “No, of course not. I have every intention of bringing us both home alive. And Jimmy too, if it comes to that.”
Jack shook his head. “You better.”
Blowing out a breath, Trey realized it wasn’t going to be fun being trapped in a room to wait with Jack.
CHAPTER 6
Trey was correct in his prediction. They spent the next fifteen minutes in awkward silence until the rest of the team finally returned. He didn’t know how they’d done it, but they walked in with Carly in less than twenty minutes and boy oh boy, she didn’t seem happy about it.
She entered the meeting room looking pissed off and confused. When she saw him and Jack, she stopped dead, hands on her hips. “Maybe you two will tell me what the hell is going on since these guys wouldn’t say a thing when they dragged m
e out of my apartment at the crack of frigging dawn.”
Trey had seen the crack of dawn on many occasions and zero-eight-forty did not qualify. She must have been out of the military for a long time. But running a bar made her schedule pretty much the opposite of his.
He could appreciate her opinion of being yanked out of bed after his own long night babysitting a drunk Jack.
Speaking of Jack . . . He had jumped to his feet the moment Carly entered the room, but before he even had a chance to say hey, darlin’ the commander was at the door of his office. “Williams. Get in here and bring the woman with you. We have exactly twenty-two minutes before that plane is scheduled to leave.”
The commander strode to his desk. He sat and addressed Carly, “Shut the door behind you.”
Trey had to give Carly credit. Even though she looked pissed as hell, she silently followed him into the office and closed the door. Then she stood there with her arms crossed, waiting.
He watched the commander appraise her from head to toe. “Not bad.”
At that comment, Carly’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline. She opened her mouth to speak and Trey jumped in before she could.
“Sir, Ms. McAfee hasn’t been apprised of the situation as yet and is a bit confused.”
She didn’t look any happier he had spoken for her, but at least he’d stopped her from laying into the commander.
“Of course. Ms. McAfee, we’re requesting your help in a matter of national security. If you decide to help us, you’ll be told as little as possible, your life will be in danger and you can never tell anyone about what you’ve done, ever. In addition, you’ll have to make your decision within the next fifteen minutes and leave for your assignment immediately.”
She surprised Trey by laughing. “Well, since you make it sound so tempting and all . . .” She rolled her eyes and then looked at Trey. “Am I necessary for the success of whatever this assignment is?”
Trey considered his answer carefully. “Your presence will increase the chances of the success of this assignment. Yes.”