The Hero

by Donna Grant

  Cullen’s gaze held a cynical edge, showing suspicion that only someone who had been neck-deep in war would understand. His hair was kept in the typical style of the Marines—high and tight—with the sides shaved close to his head and only a quarter inch spiked on top.

  “Damn, it’s been a while,” Cullen said with a bright smile.

  He playfully slapped Cullen on the cheek, but he couldn’t hold his smile. Not when he knew what had brought them together. “You’ve grown up, little brother.”

  Cullen’s laughter died as his gaze moved over Owen’s shoulder. The grin was gone, the hardness back in place. “Wyatt.”

  Owen turned around to find Wyatt on the porch, watching them. Life as a Loughman hadn’t been easy for any of them, but particularly Wyatt. Owen still remembered being a young boy, how people used to be envious of their ranch. For a few years, the siblings had lived a life of wonder and joy.

  But it all shattered one stormy day.

  None of the boys had been the same since. Owen looked between his two brothers, hating that the tension was already back.

  “What’s going on?” Cullen asked as his sharp gaze looked around. “Where are Uncle Virgil and Aunt Charlotte?”

  Wyatt leaned against the post. “Dead.”

  Cullen’s eyes become intense. “How?”

  “I’d say at least five men,” Owen said.

  Wyatt added, “Six.” He walked down the steps and pointed to the ground. “Two came in the front. Another two from the back, and I spotted two more sets of footprints around the barns.”

  Owen scrubbed a hand down his face. This was a hit. Pure and simple. But against his aunt and uncle, who were some of the best human beings he’d ever known? This wasn’t about Charlotte and Virgil. This was about something else. He immediately thought of his father. But it could be because of one of them, as well. He and his brothers had enemies of their own.

  That soured his stomach. Hadn’t he sworn he wouldn’t allow such things to touch his family again?

  He walked back into the house and to the living area, followed by Cullen and Wyatt. He looked at the recliner where their uncle had been killed to the fireplace where one of the shotguns hung.

  “It’s untouched,” Cullen stated.

  Owen glanced around the room. “Virgil never got to it.”

  “He didn’t stand a chance against such firepower,” Wyatt stated.

  Cullen strode to the kitchen and stood quietly for several minutes. When he spoke, his voice was low and filled with raw fury. “I’ll not stop until I find out who did this.”

  “We feel the same,” Owen said, fully understanding how Cullen felt.

  Cullen released a breath and faced his brothers. “I was in the middle of a mission when my team was pulled. No way was I picked up and immediately brought here just because they were murdered.”

  “You weren’t the only one, kid,” Wyatt said. “I was on a mission, too.”

  Owen crossed his arms over his chest. “Make that all three of us. I can’t think of any of my enemies who would know to track me here.”

  “Me either,” Cullen replied.

  Wyatt gave a single shake of his head.

  Owen’s anger burned brightly. “This involves Dad. It has to.”

  A muscle ticked in Wyatt’s jaw. Owen ignored the telltale sign that Wyatt was furious and frowned when he heard the sound of an automobile approaching. The three instantly fanned out. Cullen took the back door while Owen positioned himself at the front. Wyatt squatted behind the sofa in the formal living room.

  The motor shut off, and a moment later, a vehicle door closed. Owen glanced out the window and caught sight of the front of a dark gray BMW 6 Series.

  Seconds ticked by without the sound of anyone approaching. Wyatt turned his head toward the back of the house when the front door was thrown open, and someone stepped inside. Owen stilled a second before he grabbed the slim form.

  He had the intruder flipped onto their back immediately. In the next moment, Owen found himself on the floor, staring at the ceiling. He jumped to his feet and tried to look beneath the baseball cap of the person, but he couldn’t make out anything.

  Owen didn’t waste any time getting the advantage and slamming the person against the wall. There was a gasp that sounded distinctly feminine as the air in the intruder’s lungs was forced out.

  That caught his attention. With a shove, he knocked the hat off. A wealth of light brown hair tumbled free.

  All the breath left him as he stared into green eyes he feared he’d never see again.

  “Natalie?”

  “Hi, boys,” she said off-handedly.

  He frowned, suddenly furious to find her there. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “She’s looking for me,” came a voice behind them.

  “Callie?” Wyatt asked in a strangled voice full of surprise and annoyance as he stood.

  Callie Reed glared at each of them as she walked around Owen and nodded to Natalie. He released Natalie, and she moved to stand beside Callie. He exchanged a look with his brothers, though Wyatt couldn’t stop staring at Callie.

  “Someone please tell us what’s going on?” Owen demanded.

  Callie shrugged. “I work here.”

  Green eyes met his. “I came to help.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  Natalie had known the black helicopters she spotted on her way to the ranch could be transports for the Loughman boys. It gave her a little thrill to think Owen might be on one.

  Then she remembered that he’d left her. Suddenly, she didn’t want to see him again. But things she couldn’t change had been set in motion—and it was out of her hands now.

  “I see it,” Callie said through the speakers in Natalie’s car. “It’s a military chopper.”

  “I wanted to get to the ranch before them.”

  Callie grunted in agreement. “You don’t want to see him.”

  “I really don’t.”

  “Welcome to my world,” Callie murmured.

  She grinned but didn’t comment as she continued driving at breakneck speed. “Where are you?”

  “I should get there right behind you. Shit. Hang on.”

  Natalie grimaced when she heard the squeal of tires through the phone connection. She waited until she heard Callie let loose another string of curses before she released a breath.

  “Dumbasses can’t drive,” Callie stated irately. “If I didn’t drive as well as I do, that could’ve ended up killing someone.”

  “Save it for those responsible for Charlotte’s and Virgil’s murders.”

  There was a pregnant pause before Callie said sadly, “Yeah.”

  The days of Natalie going back to her house to have a glass of wine and watch episodes of Criminal Minds or Doctor Who were long gone. Ever since the day she saw Ragnarok in that report and called the number Orrin had given her, her life had changed.

  That’s when she and Callie had begun talking several times a day.

  The sound of another chopper flying low overhead caused her to glance up. It looked like another military helicopter, which immediately made her think of Owen. Again.

  She sighed. After all the wasted years, she thought he’d be gone from her thoughts. It seemed she was forever wrong when it came to him.

  “There’s another one. I’m betting it’s them,” Callie said.

  “Think there’s any way I can look around without them knowing?”

  “You mean without Owen knowing? Doubt it.”

  She knew Callie was right, but that didn’t mean Natalie had to like it.

  “How’s work?” Callie asked.

  Because she worked for the Russian Embassy, and she wasn’t sure if they listened to her conversations, she and Callie never spoke of her work. The fact that Callie brought it up meant there was a reason.

  “Busy. I had a hard time getting away.”

  “Time isn’t on our side.”

  Of that, she was clearly aware. “How long do y
ou think we have?”

  “I don’t know. Everything hinges on finding it.”

  It being Ragnarok—a bioweapon.

  How different her life would be if Orrin hadn’t contacted her in July. She wouldn’t be embroiled in kidnapping, espionage, and murder.

  And yet … it felt as if this were the exact place she needed to be.

  Then again, that could be her heart trying to convince her this all led back to Owen. As far as she was concerned, men were pigs. She’d had enough of the lies, the cheating, and the bullshit that always went with dating.

  She was happy living the single life, not having to clean up after anyone, share her closet, compromise on where to eat or if she got to watch her favorite shows. There was no one taking her covers, snoring, or—

  “Natalie?”

  “Sorry,” she told Callie. “I was thinking.”

  “About Owen?”

  “About all of it. The shit is about to hit the fan as soon as the boys learn what’s going on.”

  Callie snorted loudly. “Then let it. Where have they been these last ten years? Have they even bothered to send a fucking text? No. They have no idea how badly that hurt Orrin.”

  “I doubt they think about it.” She should know. In the year she’d been with Owen, there were two things never discussed—his mother’s murder, and his feelings about his dad.

  “Which just pisses me off,” Callie said tightly. “If I had a dad like Orrin, I’d never be far.”

  “I know.” Callie was another who didn’t discuss her family. And with a family as infamous around Hillsboro as the Reeds, it was no wonder.

  The Reeds were drunks and criminals of the worst sort. It had been Orrin who helped Callie escape all of that. And why she thought of Orrin as a father.

  “We have to find him,” Callie said.

  Natalie slowed the car and put on her blinker as she prepared to pull onto the Loughman Ranch. “We will, Callie. We will.”

  “Even if we have to do it on our own. If the jackasses Orrin calls sons won’t help, then I’ll make sure they’re not around to interfere.”

  That made Natalie smile. If anyone could do that, it was Callie. What she lacked in height, Callie made up for in intelligence and talking rings around people. Few could keep up with her.

  “I just turned into the ranch.” She felt a flutter in her stomach.

  Excitement or dread? She wasn’t sure she knew.

  This wasn’t the first time she’d been on the ranch since her breakup with Owen. In fact, she’d been there several times since discovering Ragnarok, but this time was different.

  This time, Owen could be there.

  “I’m close,” Callie said.

  The line disconnected. Natalie didn’t see the black fence that lined either side of the drive, or the cows and horses that grazed peacefully.

  Her gaze was locked on the white house that drew closer with each second. By the time she parked in front of the two-story ranch home with its wide, wrap-around porch, all she could think about was the dinner she’d had the week before with Callie, Virgil, and Charlotte.

  She put the car in park and glanced around. There was no sign that anyone else was there. Since she expected someone to come out at the sound of her car, she assumed Owen and his brothers hadn’t yet made it to the house.

  Or perhaps, luck was on her side, and those choppers hadn’t been bringing the brothers.

  She got out of her car, but it was more difficult than she imagined making herself go up the steps to the porch. She might be involved in all of this, but she’d never witnessed a murder scene firsthand.

  Frankly, she didn’t want to.

  But Orrin’s life was on the line. Everything she and Callie could discover only helped their chances of learning who took Orrin and where Ragnarok was.

  She reached the front door. At least she wouldn’t have to see Virgil’s and Charlotte’s bodies. They had already been taken away.

  That was her last thought as she walked through the doorway and found herself flat on her back. Natalie knew the instant the large hands grabbed her that it was Owen.

  Her heart skipped a beat, even as she instinctively reacted and used her momentum to pull Owen over her head. She got up, but in the next heartbeat, he had her pinned to the wall.

  The heat of him was the first thing she felt. Then it was his hard body trapping her. She felt herself softening, needing to feel him after all these years.

  She thought he would threaten her. Instead, he knocked off her cap. His dark brown eyes widened in shock.

  How she wished her heart didn’t feel like it was about to explode out of her chest. He was … breathtaking. She drank in the very sight of him. Sharp, chiseled features that looked as if they had been fashioned from granite stared back at her. Gone was any hint of the teenager she’d known. Before her stood a man in all his masculine glory.

  He’d always been tall, his muscles honed at an early age from working on the ranch. Now, however, Owen filled out his wide shoulders. His light tan tee stretched tightly across his chest, molding to every ripple of muscle in his arms and shoulders. The shirt was tucked into camo pants she imagined were for the desert by their sand and khaki color. His hair was longer, the dark strands shoved away from his face in long waves.

  Her surprise at having Owen against her was quickly hidden. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted two more figures. How she wished she would’ve waited for Callie.

  “Hi, boys,” Natalie said. It was the only thing she could think of.

  Owen frowned, the irritation clear in his sensual chocolate gaze. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “She’s looking for me.”

  At the sound of Callie’s voice, most of the apprehension left Natalie. Now she wouldn’t have to face the Loughman men on her own.

  She barely paid attention to anything going on around her. She was too intent on staring into Owen’s eyes. It was obvious that he was irritated to find her there, but he had yet to release her.

  And she didn’t remind him of that fact.

  Her allowing him to keep her pinned was an indication of how long it had taken her to get over him. And how she hated herself for it. After all she’d suffered, she should be shoving him away.

  Her body had other ideas, however. With her blood burning through her and her nipples hard, she ached for his touch.

  Yearned for it.

  His eyes dropped to her mouth. Her breath hitched, caught in her throat. Yes! She wanted his kiss. It didn’t matter where they were or who was around.

  Dimly, she heard Callie and Wyatt talking. Much to her annoyance, Owen released her. She was more hurt than she wanted to admit.

  Perhaps it was for the best. She’d sworn off all men. Especially Owen. She quickly moved to stand beside Callie.

  “Someone please tell us what’s going on?” Owen demanded.

  Callie shrugged. “I work here.”

  Natalie looked at Owen and said, “I came to help.”

  * * *

  Owen’s breath locked in his lungs as he stared at Natalie’s long, brown hair streaked with strands of copper. He wanted those deep green eyes of hers to land on him again, to fill with desire … again.

  She was even more beautiful than he remembered. The years had transformed her into a seductress who left him breathless and needy.

  The girl had become a woman, and what a woman she was. He knew the weight of her breast in his hand, knew how it felt to sink into her body and hear her scream in pleasure.

  And yet, the woman before him now held a hint of wariness that hadn’t been there before. What happened to her to take away that lighthearted girl he once knew?

  He glanced down at her dark green flannel button-down, rolled up at the sleeves. The shirt hugged her breasts before drifting inward at her waist to fall, untucked, against light blue denim.

  Never could he resist Natalie in a pair of jeans and cowboy boots. He bit back a groan. Owen wanted to run to her, to yan
k her against him and plunder her sweet lips until the world faded away. Instead, he remained where he was, realizing too late that he was screwed six ways from Sunday.

  “Sucks to be you,” Cullen murmured.

  He didn’t bother to respond because he could barely wrap his head around the fact that she was actually there. Beautiful, vibrant, confident Natalie.

  “What the fuck do you mean you work here?” Wyatt demanded of Callie in a callous voice.

  Owen watched Callie’s blue eyes flash angrily. It was always the same between them. Ever since Callie was thirteen and Wyatt seventeen when she’d come to work at the ranch during the summer. They’d butted heads immediately, and rarely were they together when they weren’t fighting.

  He stepped in before Callie could tell Wyatt where to go and how to get there. “You’d think all these years away would change you two.” His gaze then moved to Natalie, who now wouldn’t look his way.

  “I’m not the one with the attitude,” Callie said with a cold look in Wyatt’s direction.

  He leaned a shoulder against the wall. “You came back after college to work at the ranch?”

  “No.” Callie shook her head and bent to get Natalie’s cap. She handed it to Natalie and straightened. “I work for your father.”

  “Fucking wonderful,” Wyatt muttered as he strode past them out to the porch.

  Cullen shook his head as he came to stand beside Owen. “What do you mean, you work for Dad?”

  “Orrin is running a private ops team here,” Callie said, glancing at Natalie. “Whitehorse. He’s been doing private, off-the-books missions for the government for the last several years.”

  Owen was staggered by the news. His father was no longer with the Navy? That wasn’t possible. Just as it seemed improbable that Natalie now stood in his living room. “Dad would never resign his commission.”

  “He did.” Callie sat on the arm of the sofa. “He and his men have been going on missions the government couldn’t send any of its forces to do.”

  “Why?” Cullen asked in a soft voice.

  Callie shrugged, her gaze lowering to the floor. “He had men taken captive in Yemen, and despite his rank, his orders to send in a SEAL team to get them out was shot down. The men died, and he’d had enough. He put in the paperwork to retire.” She looked up at Owen. “Until the DOD came to him with an offer.”