by Tl Reeve
His gut clenched. All the air rushed out of him. He’d gone from the highest of highs to rock bottom. Certainly, she didn’t mean it. Had he been such a dick, she didn’t want to have anything to do with him? No. No fucking way. She came alive in his arms. She burned for him. Got wet for him. She couldn’t deny the attraction between them. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”
She frowned. “I meant the situation, idiot.” She crossed her arms, pushing her breasts up toward him, teasing him.
“I wish it’d been a different reason I found you, too.” He caressed her shoulders, then kissed the top of her head, relaxing marginally.
“If Lincoln is involved, this is very bad,” she whispered, rubbing her fingertips across her bottom lip.
“We can’t dwell on it now. Come on, get the rest of your shower, then we’ll grab some dinner.”
She nodded. “Yeah. I need to eat before I take a pain pill. Taking them on an empty stomach makes me sick.” She grimaced, pivoting toward the water.
“I’ll order us some chow and have it brought to my room. I think maybe you’ll like it better than here.”
She tensed. “Are you sure?”
Fuck, yes. Just thinking about her in his space had him wanting to do very nasty things with her on every surface in his quarters. “I’m sure.” He brushed his lips over hers. “Hurry up.”
Asher patted her ass before getting out of the shower. Forgoing drying off, he grabbed his ACUs and stomped back into her living space. He had to call his uncle. He still hadn’t told him about James and this shit with Lincoln…fuck. He worried if he pulled the trigger too quickly, the good senator would take over the operation, leaving him and his team on the outs. Too much depended on this mission.
The beep of his phone drew his attention. Asher crossed to it. His uncle’s code name popped on the screen and he cursed. He couldn’t ignore it. Winters would be on his ass quicker than he could say shit. He slid his thumb across the screen and answered. “Sir.”
“Status report. You were supposed to debrief with Anthony James.” His uncle went straight for the balls when appropriate, and Asher knew he’d fucked up.
“There’s been a change in status. I had to make sure what happened wasn’t repeated.” He paced the length of the room and rubbed the back of his neck.
“Well, spit it out. Or do I need to cram a shoehorn in your mouth to pry it out.” Jesus, if the old man hadn’t been pissed off at him, he’d have laughed. Unfortunately, this was no laughing matter.
“He’s DOA.”
“What the fuck happened?!”
Asher pulled the phone away from his ear and winced. Shit. “I would rather do this on the telecom so Dr. Rae can explain everything.”
“Dr. Rae?” The questioning tone of his uncle didn’t sit well with Asher.
“Yes. The American civilian there during the raid.”
“Ah, yes,” his uncle answered. “Fine. You have thirty minutes or else I’m paying you a visit.”
“Roger that.” He hit end on his phone, knowing his uncle didn’t do goodbyes, and glanced up, feeling Rae’s gaze on him.
“What’s going on?” Again, she was wrapped in that damn towel of hers. Teasing him to insanity.
“We have a date with Senator Winters. We have to explain James’s death and the cyanide pills you found in Tinsman’s mouth.” He hated pulling her away from a relaxing weekend, especially after their romp in the sheets.
“Oh. Well, one step closer. Am I supposed to tell him about Lincoln?” She quickly made her way to the locker which doubled as a closet.
“Not right now. Let’s keep it between us. We need to figure out what Lincoln’s role is in all this.”
She snorted. “What makes the world go ‘round, Rainer?” She tugged on her yoga pants.
Pussy. Alcohol. Damn, he needed to get his head in the game and stop watching her dress. It only caused problems. “Money.”
“Give the man a cigar.” She slipped on a tank top then donned her running shoes. “I hope your uncle doesn’t mind, but I am not getting dressed up.”
He chuckled. “You’ll do just fine.”
He pulled his comm from his pocket and hit the button. When Hanover answered, he spoke. “Get everyone to the conference room. We have a meeting with Winters in twenty.”
“Shit, are you serious?”
“As a fucking heart attack.” Rae headed into the bathroom, tugging on the ends of her knotted hair. He enjoyed the fact he mussed it up while rolling around in bed with her. Hell, he really wanted to do it again as she sucked his— Get a fucking grip. He fisted his hands at his side, willing the wild, desperate part of himself to settle. He had a job to do.
“Ready?” Rae appeared at his side. She’d braided her long blonde locks so it sat over her shoulder. Wariness shone in her hazel gaze. For all her bravado, she was still a terrified woman who experienced hell on Earth.
“I am.” He tucked her into his side. “When we’re done, we’ll talk about everything. I promise.”
“Sure.” She didn’t look at him, instead choosing to stare at the hall in front of them.
“Hey, don’t close down on me. We’ll get through this. Winters isn’t so bad. Once you get to know him.” He squeezed her.
“I think I’m tired. Can we grab me a snack so I can take my meds?”
Asher nodded. “Sure thing. Anything in particular?”
“No, just something to absorb the drugs.” She gave him a tight smile. “And a place to lay my head afterwards.”
“I bet. I’m an animal in bed. My appetite is voracious.”
“Asshole.” There, a spark of humor filled her tone.
A small piece of Asher’s soul relaxed. “I’m your asshole.”
“Says who?” She glanced up at him, desire flickering in her brown eyes. Flecks of green rimmed her pupils like a sunrise when the first rays touched the horizon. It stole his breath.
“Me.”
The elevator ride to the communications floor had been silent. She ate the small sandwich he grabbed for her along with a bottle of water, then watched as she took the two white tablets. She sighed, relaxing marginally beside him. There was so much to say to her. So much he wanted her to know about him, and what he liked to do when not in the field.
However, he pushed it all aside. He had to mentally prepare himself for what was about to happen. He ushered her inside the room and found his team along with Franks sitting at the table.
O’Malley smirked when Rae ducked her head and took a seat near Asher. Fucking asshole. He’d kick the dick’s ass later for making her feel uncomfortable. He hit the button on the hand-held in front of him.
Seconds later, Senator Winters appeared on the chat screen in front of them. Deep grooves lined his hardened features. The man had seen things over the years. Been on the battlefields all over the world, defending the States. His gaze held a “no bullshit” stance and the way his folded hands tensed, turning his knuckles white, didn’t bode well.
“Explain what the fuck is going on.” He flicked his gaze toward Rae then back to Asher. “And what she has to do with it all.”
Asher sighed. “She found the fake tooth.”
“What I think Commander Rainer is trying to say is that when Mr. James killed himself, a cyanide tab had been placed in a fake tooth. James and Tinsman had one. It’s being analyzed, right now.”
“What?” A look of disbelief filled the old man’s features, smoothing some of the grooves.
“It’s true,” Asher replied. “We had no reason to believe they’d carry a self-termination kit. It’s pretty fucking primitive. Not only that, but they were monitored. When checked on barely five minutes before, he was alive, reading a fucking book in his cell.”
Winters sat back in his chair. “What do you know, Franks?”
“I’m not sure, sir. To be honest, James and Tinsman were always out on their own. People always came and went from the group and if they were dressed like us, I didn’t think
twice about it. Nor did it seem suspicious. They did shit to us all the time. Hell, it scares the shit out of me to be honest, sir.
“I have a wife and child to consider. If that tooth had been in my mouth, one wrong move by any of us could have killed me or worse, them, too.” Franks glanced at Rae and nodded. “The doc is a good person. She delivered my son and she’s healing my daughter, too. I can’t thank her enough.”
Winters narrowed his eyes. “I’m sorry, delivered a baby?”
“Six-pound, five-ounce baby boy,” she answered, sitting up a little straighter.
Shit, they were getting off track. “As we were saying, sir. Barclay is working with old school techniques. I am surprised someone isn’t looking for Tinsman or James.” He glanced at Franks. “I believe they thought Franks was collateral damage.”
His uncle snorted. “I hate to break it to you, but Barclay and Lincoln are looking.” He swiped the screen of the hand-held in front of him, and articles appeared on the screen along with the first meetings of a congressional committee. “Son, they’re saying Senator Lincoln has a hand in this cluster fuck. The press is always asking questions. We need something sooner rather than later.”
“I can’t say for certain if he is or not.” The lie burned a hole in Asher’s gut. He couldn’t put Franks or Rae out there. If he gave Winters the info he wanted, Franks and Rae would be paraded through congress. Their death would come the minute they stepped outside. His intestines knotted.
Rae gasped beside him, and he squeezed her knee, stilling her. Finding out they had evidence pointing to the asshole didn’t surprise him. The fucking bastard was a killing machine. He used those who were down or stupid and brought them into the fold, effectively brainwashing them to believe what they were doing was right.
“Girl, is there something you want to say?” His uncle’s gruff tone grated against Asher’s spine.
“No, sir.” She shook her head. “I think I’m more surprised I’m here.”
“Asher thinks highly of you and you’ve proven to be an asset. I know you wanted to go home, but I am confident you are much safer here. Are you still demanding a lawyer assist you?”
She shook her head again. “No.”
“Good.” He flicked his gaze to Asher. “You need to find what the hell is going on and if Lincoln is connected with Barclay’s actions in the field. Running Out of Time.”
“Roger.”
The screen went black and Asher sat back, expelling a breath. Son of a bitch, that’d been close. When he opened his eyes, his team stared at him. O’Malley cocked a brow. He knew he owed the guys an explanation, and he’d give it.
“Want to tell us why you didn’t say something?” The hard edge in O’Malley’s voice had him bristling.
“And give away something of importance? Not happening. We don’t know how far Lincoln is imbedded in government black ops programs, including congress. I tell Winters what we know, and boom, that gets blown to shit.” He stood. “We have to play this close to the sleeve. We can’t allow Lincoln to know we’re onto him. If he hears James is dead, he might trip himself up.”
Hanover nodded, running the tops of his fingers under his chin. “You’ve got a point. We have to be ahead of this guy. It’s part of the reason shit went sideways in Colombia.”
He agreed. “We also don’t know if he isn’t trying to bait us.”
“I don’t like it,” O’Malley grunted.
Neither did he. “Time is our friend still.”
“For how long?” Rae’s question surprised him. Her soft, sure tone didn’t speak to nerves, but practicality. “Until we figure this out? Until we find what the end game is?”
They broke from their impromptu meeting and went their separate ways. He thought O’Malley would give him more shit but instead, he followed Hanover to the chow house. He needed to do the same for Rae.
“Let’s grab something to drink and talk,” he stated, coming up beside her.
“I’d like that.” She gifted him with a smile, melting any shred of resistance he might have had toward her.
“Great.” He slipped his fingers between hers and clutched them, not wanting to let go. “Because you wore me out, sweetheart.”
“You say the nicest things.”
Damn right, he did. At least for a few more hours. Whatever the hell Lincoln had planned, he had a horrible feeling shit was about to go sideways, and when it did, Rae would be in the middle of it.
14
He didn’t have to wait long for O’Malley to spout his bullshit. Walking Rae back to his room after they got a drink, O’Malley called to him down the long, empty hallway.
“Want me to wait inside?” Rae cocked a brow in response. The headache she’d been fighting earlier had dissipated, leaving her exhausted.
“Boss,” O’Malley said, “we need to talk about earlier. What the fuck is going on with you? I’m not comfortable with the fact you kept pertinent info from Winters.”
Asher reached down, pulled his phone off its clip, unlocked the screen and held it out to Jake. “If you have such a fucking problem with it, call the old man and tell him.”
“I don’t want to call him. What I want to understand is why you of all people are breaking the rules.” Jake’s gaze flicked to Rae before returning to him. He knew what the asshole was doing. Using Rae against him.
O’Malley would be dead wrong.
He chuckled.
Jake frowned.
“You think I don’t break the rules?” It pissed him off that his team had this stupid assumption he never went against the grain and was perfect.
“I know you don’t, boss,” O’Malley replied confidently.
“How about the fact I know twice a week, every week for the last year plus, when we’re on base, Hanover sneaks out to top his lover at one of the safe houses on the outer perimeter?”
O’Malley’s face blanched.
“Or how Murray used R.O.O.T. resources to locate his baby sister, who was snatched off the street in front of their home ten years ago. Or better yet, how about the time you snuck Ginger onto base and fucked her in your room. A place she wasn’t supposed to be or have clearance to even be on base,” he taunted.
“Boss,” O’Malley hedged.
“Nope. You started this. I’m stopping it, right fucking now. Who do you think wiped the traces of her being here? Wasn’t you, that’s for damn sure. You were too involved in your pussy,” he sneered. “You want to spout truth, let’s do it. Who do you think did it?” he demanded when O’Malley refused to answer
“You,” Jake finally answered.
“That’s right, motherfucker. Just like I removed all traces of Hanover’s weekly jaunts,” he snapped.
“Stop,” Rae pleaded. “Please don’t. I don’t want the two of you fighting because of me.” Her weak voice and pale face worried him. He wanted to say what he had to say and get her into bed and asleep.
“Clue in, O’Malley. Pull your head out of your ass before some other motherfucker is waking up with Ginger in his arms after he fucked her, and your baby girl is calling another man daddy.”
Rae gasped. “Asher!” She placed her hand on his arm as if to stop him.
“Is that what you want?” he snarled at his best friend.
“It’s not safe being with us. You know this.”
“Says who?” he demanded.
“Says me. I’m not stupid, boss.”
He snorted. Yeah, he was. “Do you even fucking know me? Do you think I wouldn’t have provisions for my team and their significate others in place? I made damn sure when R.O.O.T. was formed and my teams were set up, their loved ones would be protected. At all costs. Base is massive. It has an entire family floor, a cafeteria open 24/7 and a spa. It’s a mini city. For fuck’s sake, we even have a coffee shop!” he snapped.
“Ask Rae, Asher. Ask her if she wants to be confined to base. Bet the answer is no!”
“She won’t be permanently confided to base and neither would have Ginge
r. If you had asked instead of assuming, you would’ve never had to fucking cut your wife and kid free. I would have explained the parameters in place for families.”
“What fucking parameters are you talking about?” O’Malley got into his face.
“Back up, motherfucker,” he spat. “And by the way, the fact you have no knowledge of it proves my point. You just cut and run. It’s no wonder Ginger wants shit to do with you. When’s the last the time you saw your daughter, Jake? Do you want me to tell you? Because if you don’t know, I do, motherfucker.”
“Okay,” Rae stated, stepping between them. She placed a hand on his chest and gave O’Malley a dirty look. “As if I haven’t had enough stress dealing with seeing half a village murdered, upheaval in my life and job, and on top of that dealing with the possibility of being pregnant, you two just need to fucking stop!”
“You fucked her without protection? What the fuck, Asher, you didn’t learn anything from me?” O’Malley paled even more.
“Don’t go there, O’Malley. Who or how I fuck isn’t your concern. It’s mine,” he snarled, his eyes narrowing in warning at his friend.
“It is when you possibly compromise our mission with your involvement with Rae,” O’Malley came back at him.
“Fucking Rae isn’t compromising shit.” He didn’t miss the hitch in her breathing at his bluntness. “But if you feel she is, file a fucking report and take it up with Winters. If you do, remember you blow our case, because everything we’re slowly putting together will be out there for the government and the world to see. The element of surprise is something we rarely get in this job.”
O’Malley sighed, finally stepping back from Asher’s personal space. “I just want to understand what you’re thinking.”
“That’s not your job, O’Malley. This isn’t a fucking democracy. Your job is to follow the fucking orders I give,” he bit out.
“That’s enough,” Rae stated. “I’m really not feeling well. I can’t stand here anymore listening to two friends all but beat the shit out of each other.” Having said her peace, she used her card key he gave her to open the door and stepped through. The door slammed shut, echoing down the empty hallway.