Kelsey shifted to face him, surprised at his use of the word. The way his cheeks reddened slightly made her think that maybe he was surprised himself that he had said it. Hoping to put him at ease, she smiled and said, “It’s probably a good thing I came home to visit when my parents weren’t around. My mom would likely have scared you off by trying to set us up.”
“Oh, I’ve heard plenty of stories about you over the years.”
Suspicion and humor carried in her voice. “What kind of stories?”
“Oh, where to start?” Humor lit his face. “The mysterious alarms going off in the middle of the night in your brother’s room or the fact that you play dirty when you play basketball.”
Kelsey gave an exasperated sigh. “You throw one elbow when you’re sixteen and no one ever lets you forget it.”
“And your dad says you have quite the gift for languages.” Noah pulled up to a red light and looked over at her. “You studied Arabic and Hebrew in college?”
“I like to learn.”
“Those are both pretty tough languages. Were you able to get very fluent in them?”
“I’m okay, I guess,” Kelsey said, immediately shifting the focus to him. “Do you speak any other languages?”
“Just Spanish,” he told her.
“Where did you learn that? Mission?”
“Yeah. I served in the Fort Lauderdale mission, Spanish speaking.”
They fell into easy conversation as Noah drove south on the freeway. He pulled off on one of the Fredericksburg exits, and Kelsey let a flood of memories from growing up in the area wash over her. Several businesses along the road had changed over the past several years, but Kelsey noticed that the old-town section of Fredericksburg looked very much as it had when she lived there.
“I’ve always loved this part of town,” Kelsey said with a smile. “If it weren’t for the cars and paved roads, I’d swear we just drove into the 1800s.”
“I know what you mean.” He pulled up beside a bar and grill known for its all-American cuisine. “Here we are.”
“I love this place!” Her face flushed with delight. “How did you know?”
“I called Justin and asked him what your favorite restaurant was around here. I thought you might enjoy a little American food for a change.”
“You asked my brother where to take me on our date?”
He shook his head. “Justin’s clueless. He thinks I’m just taking you out to eat as a thank you for making me dinner the other night.” His shoulders lifted. “I didn’t mention that you’ve been cooking consistently for me or that we’re going out.”
“He always has been a bit slow to see what’s right in front of him.” Kelsey waited for Noah to climb out of the car and circle to open her door for her. When she stepped out, she added, “You know he’s going to take credit for introducing us.”
“But I met you before he invited me over to your house.”
“It won’t matter.”
“You’re probably right.” Noah took her by the arm, matching his pace to hers. The atmosphere was just as she remembered it: a jukebox situated in the corner, the scent of hamburgers and french fries dominating. She still wasn’t quite used to seeing women in normal clothes, especially some of the tight-fitting outfits that had apparently become fashionable while she’d been living abroad, but the images weren’t as startling to her now as they had been a few weeks ago.
The hostess showed them to a table near the window, and they settled into the relaxed atmosphere. Conversation was easy, and the food tasted even better than she remembered. When they walked outside after their meal, she noticed a horse and carriage out front.
She smiled and nodded at the man standing beside the carriage. “I always wanted to ride in one of those when I was a kid.”
“Good.” Noah took her hand and tugged her toward the carriage.
“Where are we going? You have to reserve these. You can’t just get in.”
“I know. That’s why I reserved it.” Noah greeted the man and shook his hand.
Kelsey turned to look at Noah with joyful wonder. “What?”
“Last time I brought your mom down here, she mentioned that you had always wanted to do the carriage tour around town. I thought it might be fun to do it together.”
Kelsey gave the driver a smile and let Noah help her into the carriage. When he settled beside her, she asked, “When did you come to Fredericksburg with my mom?”
“Just about every time she bought an antique that was too heavy for her to lift by herself.” Noah leaned back and draped his arm around Kelsey’s shoulders.
Kelsey chuckled. “That must have been a lot.”
“Oh yeah,” Noah said. “You wouldn’t think I would get those kind of calls since I don’t have a truck, but that never stopped your mom.”
“Of course not. She drives Dad’s truck more than he does.”
“I know.” Noah shifted, his blue eyes staring down at her. “So what are your plans for tomorrow?”
“I have a physical therapy appointment in the morning, but I haven’t really thought much beyond that,” she told him. “What about you?”
“I was supposed to play in a Church softball game tomorrow afternoon. Then there’s a potluck dinner afterward. Any chance you want to come?”
“Sure. That sounds like fun. Did you want me to make something for the potluck?”
“Maybe after you get done with your appointment tomorrow, you could come over and we could make something together.”
Her lips curved into a smile. “I’d like that.”
Chapter 15
Noah yanked the door open on Saturday morning to find Kelsey on his doorstep and congratulated himself on his good fortune of having her in his life. He took advantage of that good fortune by leaning down to give her a good-morning kiss. An uncharted sensation swept through him, causing him to draw out the kiss longer than he had intended.
He plucked her up off of his doorstep, lifted her over the threshold, and pushed the door closed behind him, already looking forward to spending the day with her. Their date last night had been as close to perfect as he could have hoped. Dinner, the conversation, a ride beneath the stars. Seeing the pure delight on Kelsey’s face had more than made up for the hours of planning. He only hoped that today’s more casual events would be just as enjoyable for both of them.
“You know, if you keep greeting me like that, the neighbors are going to talk.”
“They’re already talking,” Noah told her with a grin. “Patty Henderson stopped me this morning when I was mowing the lawn to find out what was going on between us.”
Kelsey’s expression was an odd combination of concern and amusement. “What did you tell her?”
“I asked her if she wanted to come with us when we elope to Vegas.”
Kelsey tugged on his hand. “You did not.”
“Actually, I did.” Noah laughed. “It shut her up.”
“What if she thinks you were serious?”
“I’m not terribly worried about what Patty Henderson thinks.” Noah walked into the kitchen and leaned against the counter. “So what should we make for the potluck?”
She lifted her hand to bring a grocery bag into his line of sight. “How about baklava?”
“You can make baklava?” Noah stared at her for a brief moment and then wrapped his arms around her waist. “Marry me.”
For a split second, Kelsey wondered if he might be serious. Then she saw the corner of his lips twitch up into a half smile. With a shake of her head, she said, “Vegas isn’t currently in my plans.”
He splayed his fingers across his chest. “You’re breaking my heart here.”
“I seriously doubt that.” Kelsey pointed to the refrigerator. “Come on, Noah. Time to teach you how to make authentic Turkish food.”
The process was much more complicated than Noah thought. He watched, amazed, as Kelsey measured ingredients, often using the palm of her hand as a measuring device rather than the
traditional measuring spoons he had in his utensil drawer. Whatever recipe she was working from had obviously been memorized from frequent use.
She looked up now from where she stood at the stove, stirring the sauce. “We’re almost done. Did you want to go get ready while I finish up here?”
“Yeah, if you’re sure you’re okay.”
Kelsey gestured in the general direction of the stairs. “Go ahead.”
Noah jogged up to his room and changed his clothes. He heard the oven timer buzzing when he headed back downstairs. He was nearly to the landing when the doorbell rang. Half expecting to see Mrs. Henderson on the other side, he peeked through the peephole. His eyebrows drew together when he saw Devin standing on his front porch. While they occasionally went out together after hours, rarely did his partner come over unannounced.
“Hey, Devin.” Noah greeted him as soon as he opened the door. “What brings you by?”
Devin studied Noah’s clothes and started to take a step back. “I’m sorry. I can see I caught you at a bad time.”
“It’s not a problem. I have a few minutes before I have to leave.” Noah motioned for him to come in.
Devin’s hesitation only lasted a moment before he stepped inside. He took an appreciative sniff and gave Noah a quizzical look. “Are you baking?”
“I’m just helping. Come on in. You can meet the neighbor I was telling you about.” Noah led him inside, his own mouth watering when he saw the nearly finished product of his and Kelsey’s labors on the counter. “Hey, Kelsey. I want you to meet someone.”
Kelsey turned, her expression oddly guarded.
“This is my partner, Devin Byers. Devin, this is Kelsey Weber. Her parents live a couple of houses down.”
“Nice to meet you,” Kelsey said, taking the hand Devin offered to her.
“You too.” He looked over at Noah, an unspoken question in his eyes. Then he turned back to Kelsey and motioned toward the back deck. “Would you mind if Noah and I talk shop for a couple of minutes?”
“No, go ahead.” Kelsey picked up the sauce for the baklava. “I’ll just finish up here.”
“We’ll be right back,” Noah said, his curiosity heightening. He led the way outside. As soon as Devin closed the door behind them, he asked, “Is something wrong?”
“I’ll say.” Devin crossed to the railing, looking into the yards of Noah’s neighbors as though making sure no one was around to hear him. They were all empty, but he still lowered his voice. “You know how I was following the money trails for Medrano?”
“Yeah. I thought you hit a dead end.”
“I thought so too.” Devin shifted his weight. “Until I finished tracking down all of the vehicle registrations for Medrano.”
Noah picked up on Devin’s excitement. “You found something?”
“Oh yeah. It turns out that the same account used to pay for the trucks at the warehouse was also used to pay someone in one of the Mexican cartels.”
“You think this is drug related?”
“Drugs or guns.” Devin shrugged.
“Since we found explosive residue at the scene, I have to think it was guns.” Noah raked his fingers through his hair and considered. “You know, it’s possible that Medrano is just a middleman for something bigger.”
“You think someone else is behind this?”
“I think I’d like to know who would want to buy whatever Medrano is offering.”
“I may have found someone who can tell us,” Devin said.
“Who?”
“His name is Rodney Teasdale. He works in the weapons depot down at Norfolk.”
“What turned you on to him?” Noah asked.
“He also happens to have received money from Medrano’s account.”
“I wonder if the navy is missing any weapons. This guy could be a supplier.”
“That’s what I was thinking.”
“I doubt we can get much done over the weekend, but I think we need to talk to Burt on Monday about seeing if NCIS has any open investigations against him.”
“Or if they’re having inventory problems.”
Noah took a step toward the door before he looked back at Devin. “If you knew we couldn’t act on this until Monday, why didn’t you just wait until then to tell me about it?”
“I wanted to make sure we didn’t have any extra ears around.”
“You’re still worried that we have a mole.”
Devin nodded. His serious expression faded when Kelsey crossed in front of the window. “And I wanted to see the new neighbor. Or should I say ‘new girlfriend’?”
Noah rolled his eyes.
“Was that baklava she was making?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t suppose . . .”
Noah took a quick appraisal of Devin’s clothes and the tennis shoes on his feet. “The baklava is for a potluck we’re going to after I play softball.” His grin turned wicked. “We could use a good second baseman.”
“I thought I could just grab a piece to take with me.”
“Did I mention that she also made some more Middle Eastern food?”
He glanced over to the kitchen window again, watched Kelsey stir something on the stove, and then asked, “Do you have an extra glove?”
* * *
Kelsey sat in the bleachers, Noah’s duffel bag beside her so she could guard the service weapons Noah and Devin had tucked inside. They had stopped by Kelsey’s house on the way to the field to pick up an extra softball glove for Devin to use, and she had accepted that they’d have a third wheel for their date tonight.
Noah had leaned down and whispered a quiet apology in her ear when he helped her along, apparently worried that she would be upset that he’d asked Devin to join them. She had shrugged off his concerns, already appreciating the friendship that existed between Noah and his partner.
Based on the way others on Noah’s softball team greeted Devin, Kelsey guessed he had played with them a few times before. When Noah had first invited Kelsey, she thought he was playing for the singles branch. One look at his team, with its members ranging from eighteen years old to nearly sixty, indicated that the team represented her parents’ home ward.
While several of the players discussed who would play which position, Kelsey looked around at the handful of others sitting in the bleachers. Two women in their thirties sat behind her, chatting with each other while their children played on the nearby playground. A few teenage girls occupied the front row, and a woman around Kelsey’s age stood at the edge of the bleachers, her hand on a stroller where her infant was sleeping soundly.
Noah and his teammates scattered onto the field and took their positions to warm up. That’s when Kelsey saw Heather heading toward her. Even though there were so few people in the stands, Kelsey was surprised when Heather passed everyone else and took a seat beside her.
“I saw you at church last week, but I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Heather Fairmore,” she offered.
“Kelsey Weber.”
“Weber?” she asked. “Are you related to Lynnette and Bruce Weber?”
Kelsey nodded, reminding herself that she was allowed to be herself here and that answering simple probes into her personal life was acceptable in this setting. “They’re my parents.”
“Oh, so you’re just home for a visit.” Heather glanced out to where Noah had taken position at third base. “I thought you’d moved into our ward.”
“Things are still undecided for me at the moment,” Kelsey said, deflecting the not-so-subtle inquiry. “How long have you lived in the ward?”
“I moved here three years ago when I started teaching at the high school.”
“Sounds like a tough job.”
“It has its moments.” Refusing to be distracted, Heather motioned toward Noah. “So are you and Noah dating?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Just curious.” She shrugged. “I just thought it only fair to warn you that he never lasts with anyone longer than a we
ek or two.” She gave Kelsey a smug look. “He’s had quite a string of girlfriends over the past couple of years.”
Refusing to be baited, Kelsey offered her a friendly smile. “That’s good to know.” She motioned toward the field when both teams headed for the pitcher’s mound for the opening prayer. “Oh, look. The game is about to start.”
Heather’s tone carried a trace of sarcasm. “So it is.”
Chapter 16
They were being stonewalled. NCIS knew something, and for whatever reason, they weren’t talking. Devin said as much when they went into Burt’s office on Monday afternoon. “I say we take a drive down to Norfolk and question this guy.”
“That’s not going to happen. At least not right now.”
“Are we really going to ignore this lead? NCIS sent over the summary brief, and it’s obvious that they’re going to bring this guy in. Why are they waiting?”
“I’ve already talked to their lead investigator. As soon as they have something concrete, we’ll get the details, but for now, we can’t take a chance of scaring off one of our few good leads.”
“I hate this interagency stuff,” Devin grumbled.
“Then I guess it’s a good thing Noah is the one who will be working the taskforce with NCIS and the CIA on this case.”
“What?” Devin shifted his attention from Burt to Noah. “Why didn’t I know about this?”
“Because we just finalized the details,” Burt told him. “You will keep working the case from our end. Anything new needs to be sent over to Noah since he will hopefully be able to see the big picture once the other intelligence agencies share what they know.”
Devin set his jaw. “They’d better share.”
Noah gave his partner a determined look. “I’ll make sure of it.”
* * *
“You wanted to see me?” Kelsey asked when she walked into Graham’s office at three o’clock on Monday.
“Yeah.” He motioned for her to close the door and then waved at the chair across from him. As soon as she sat down, he rested his arms on the edge of his desk and leaned forward. “Do you have everything you need for the taskforce?”
“I think so.” She tapped one finger against her right temple. “Most of what I need is right here.”
Deep Cover Page 10