by Cat Johnson
“But you are.” Lightly, she stroked his sandy-colored hair. It felt softer than she expected against her fingertips.
“Yeah, I am, but maybe just for tonight you could pretend I’m not.” He opened his eyes, which she noted were hazel and glassy with tears.
She had a feeling the tears weren’t over her, but caused by whatever had brought him here so upset in the first place. Because of that, she nodded. “All right, Jack. Just for tonight.”
Reaching up, he pulled her head down to his. He gave her the sweetest, gentlest kiss she’d ever been given by any man. Suddenly, she felt more than pity for him.
He cupped her face, ran his thumb over her lower lip and smiled. “That was nice.”
Carly swallowed hard. “Yeah, it was.”
“Have one dinner with me. In a public place. Nothing more. That’s all I’m asking. What d’ya say, darlin’?” His sad eyes showed a glimmer of hope.
Her heart twisted for him. “I’ll think about it.”
“A maybe is better than a no. Thank you.” A small smile curved his lips and his hand captured hers. He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed them gently before his eyelids drifted shut again. “I’m just gonna close my eyes and rest for a sec.”
“That’s fine, Jack. You go ahead.”
Almost instantly his breathing became deep and regular. Carly glanced down helplessly. A two-hundred-pound drunk and sleeping man had her pinned in the booth. Though it had been a really, really long time since a man had had her pinned anywhere, she’d need to get up eventually, especially if customers came in. Not to mention she had to get Jack home somehow and she didn’t even know where he lived.
Her glance 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. Then 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 deeper into his pocket, she grabbed and pulled 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 and scrolled through the address book. This was a huge invasion of privacy, not to mention probably a breach of national security, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
It had been turned off, which told her he hadn’t wanted to talk to anyone. Though he’d 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.
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, she hit on Trey’s name. Taking a deep breath, she pressed the call button, put the phone to her ear and listened to the ringing.
***
Trey drove past Jack’s apartment on his way home, but his convertible wasn’t there. There’d been no phone call from him either, not on Trey’s cell or his house phone. Worse, when Trey had called Jack’s cell earlier 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 both his cell phone and his portable house phone into the bathroom with him and laying them 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. A leftover pork chop in the fridge was just calling his name when his cell phone finally rang. He 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’s eyes opened wide. Carly. On Jack’s phone. It took him a second to shake off the shock. “You still at the bar now?”
“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 traversed the phone lines perfectly clearly.
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 understood the meaning of her last statement 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 pants. When I found your name in his call 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, it was really bothering 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.
He sighed deeply. “I know.”
“Do you know what’s the matter?”
“Um, yeah but…” Trey debated what to tell her.
“You can’t tell me. Never mind.” She leaned down to Jack, stroked his face and spoke softly 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 sat up, put a hand to his head and then blew out a breath. “This place is spinning like a 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 toward the door. “Time for bed, Jack.”
Unfortunately, Jack wasn’t quite done yet. He turned to Carly. “Night, darlin’.”
She smiled, an actual, genuine smile. “Night, Jack.”
“We were pretending I’m not in the military. Trey, 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 Trey 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 Four
“It has come to our attention our target has a meeting scheduled with an Amer
ican 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 him upright at the meeting at O-eight-hundred after practically scraping him off Carly’s lap the night before. He tried to block the image out of his mind. She’s a really good kisser. He 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 have corresponded only by email and we are 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 in coloring and about the same height and weight. I can do this, sir.”
“No. Out of the question.”
“Why, sir?”
“Because you’re too close to this, Gordon.”
“You can trust me, sir. He’s my brother.”
“That is 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 language in case things go bad. Although you’ll have to pretend you only speak English since our couple’s linguistic skills are limited to their native language. 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. We have one hour to get us a trained female from somewhere on this base who looks like that.” They all looked up at the image of the hot, shapely brunette on screen. “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. Unfortunately.”
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 immediately.
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? Do you have someone in mind, Coleman?”
Matt nodded. “Call me crazy, sir, 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 there 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 Coleman, never without his laptop, opened the lid and began tapping keys immediately. At the same time, he whipped out his cell phone and started to quietly make phone calls.
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 his 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 his skills 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 off base and within an hour.” He glanced at Jack, who looked like he wanted to kill him.
“Fine. Coleman, what have you got?”
Matt smiled. “You’re not going to believe this, sir. She’s ex-military. Went to college on the GI bill. Resigned, honorably, immediately after the death of her father, also military. After his death she took the insurance money and bought the bar just off base.”
The commander slapped his hands together. “Well, looky here. Something is actually going my way today. Coleman, send whatever information you’ve got 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.
“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 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 was not going to be fun being trapped in a room to wait with Jack.
Trey was correct. 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 me out of my apartment at the crack of frigging dawn.”
Trey had seen the crack of dawn on many occasions and O-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 hey, darlin’ her, the commander was at the door of his office. “Williams. Get in here and bring the girl with you. We have exactly fifty minutes before the 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 stopped her from laying into the commander.