“No it’s not dangerous, it’s really pretty boring. It’s just reconnaissance.”
“Shouldn’t the CPD be following up on leads not the Navy?”
God watching her eat with chopsticks was arousing. There was something about red lipstick, and noodles that was totally doing it for him.
“The Chicago Police Department is looking into things, but there is a dedicated unit the admiral put together two years ago when an attempt was made on Niko Evanoff. Since then, we have a pretty good network set up to track some of these groups.” Fuck!
Kali put down her utensils and patted the side of her mouth with her napkin and then slowly took a sip of her wine. “Groups?”
Fuck!
Noah was silent. He’d never wanted to share this, nobody needed to know they were a target, let alone a target for no good reason. Telling Kali’s father had been hell. Still. “There have been three groups identified who want to interrogate, capture and or kill the found.”
“Noah, I lived it. Last night you help me through a nightmare. I know the level of hate. Why did you keep this from me?”
“Because you didn’t need to know there was more than one crazy group of assholes,” he hissed. “Fuck Kali, I didn’t want to know there were groups of people who wanted to capture me, who wanted to kill me. I sure as hell didn’t want you to have to know!”
Her eyes went liquid, and she reached across the table grabbing his hand, and turning it over so their fingers tangled. “I don’t want you to know either, Noah. But I thought we were in this together, aren’t we?”
“Oh yeah, definitely.”
“Then you can’t keep things from me. I need to know these things.” He reached across the table, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Okay, I promise.”
“So, tell me what you’ve learned.” He told her. They had actually taken down one of the hate groups operating out of Idaho.
“Why are you calling them a hate group?”
“They were a break-off faction of a white supremacist group operating in Idaho in early 2000. They were convinced the found were here to take over America.”
“That’s preposterous. Only Sarah and I were found in the United States, how could just the two of us been looking to take over America?”
“It wasn’t the fact you were found, Sarah is black, Mai is Taiwanese, and Niko’s Russian.”
“So the fact Alfred and I are the poster children for Anglo-Saxon doesn’t matter?”
“Ah baby, you know you can’t use logic to try to understand them. They weren’t logical when they were hating Jews, they weren’t logical when they were hating blacks, and they’re not logical when they’re hating the found. When Marty and his team took them down last week they were armed to the teeth. They intended to blow up the hospital where Sarah practices.”
“Oh God, Noah.” Kali pushed the half-eaten meal away. He pushed it back in front of her.
“I can’t eat.”
“All of your clothes are falling off of you. You were kept for over six weeks. You need to eat.” He looked at her and saw her wince and kicked himself for bringing up her captivity. He suddenly felt echoes of her pain in her wrists, ankles and head, as she felt residual pain.
“Does it really matter to you? How I look, I mean?”
She was kidding right? He got up and walked around to her side of the booth, and wrapped an arm around her. She laid her head on his shoulder, it seemed his Kali liked sitting side by side.
“I’m sorry I brought up everything, now please, let’s finish our meal, this food is fabulous, just like you promised.”
“Really I can’t eat.”
Noah closed his eyes and as he concentrated his stomach tied up in knots. He had an idea because he was still pretty damn hungry.
“Kali, put your hand on my stomach.” She looked at him in confusion. He drew her hand to his stomach, and placed his over it. “Close your eyes, and feel what I’m feeling.” Taking a deep breath, he inhaled the aroma of the ginger, beef and noodles in front of him. Her eyes popped open.
“You’re hungry. Really hungry.”
“Yeah, but now how are you feeling? Is your tummy still tied up in knots?”
“No,” she looked at him in wonder, and he couldn’t help himself. He dipped in for a slow kiss. He wasn’t just hungry for food. He pulled away and she giggled.
“What?”
“You look cute wearing lipstick.” In for a penny, in for a pound, he leaned in again, his hand cupping the back of her neck, angling her head just so. He tasted the flavor of the food, but it was overpowered by the sweetness of Kali. He could die a happy man, immersed in the arms of this woman. Their stomachs growled in unison and they broke away laughing.
“I guess this empathic thing works both ways,” Kali said as she dabbed the lipstick off his lips.
“It does work both ways. Haven’t you noticed how in tune you are to my emotions?” She didn’t think she could feel him the way he felt her?
“Yeah, but it’s just your emotions, I didn’t think I could feel you physically, like you feel my headaches and things.”
“Beautiful, what about in bed? Haven’t you noticed how we have this feedback loop that spirals higher and higher?”
She bowed her head and mumbled. “I thought it was normal.”
“You mean that’s how it always is for you?” Noah’s voice rose and he couldn’t stop the feeling of indignation coloring his voice.
“Lower your voice. No. It’s never happened before. But I’ve never experienced, well you know. With a man. I mean, of course I’ve had. But never with a man. You mean that’s not how it always is?” She looked up at him in wonder. “Because every time we make love it’s better than the last time, and the first time was the most beautiful experience of my life. I was dying thinking you feel it every time you’re with another woman.”
“Oh Kali, it’s never happened for me either.” His fingers massaged her scalp, luxuriating in the warm feel of her satiny hair. “It’s you. It’s us.”
She dropped her head to his chest. “Oh.”
“Now we cleared that up, eat your food.” The rest of the meal was torture. Even though her lips were now devoid of paint, the slick pink color still had him thinking of her engulfing his cock. Thank God he was wearing jeans and not slacks. But maybe not, the zipper was biting so deeply into his engorged flesh he might end up with a permanent scar.
* * *
Making love with Noah might be the most spiritual thing ever, but living with him twenty-four seven was beginning to get on her last nerve. “Don’t you have to go out on a run?” It was three weeks after they became lovers and Kali found out they had two Navy men watching her, as well as CPD officers.
“Is the honeymoon over?”
“I think I’m going to go out with my friends tonight.” It was Friday and she hadn’t seen Michelle and Lexi since she had been released from the hospital.
“Great, I would love to meet your friends.”
“Nope, you’re not invited.” She watched as Noah grinned, and realized he was yanking her chain. “Aren’t you getting sick of spending all this time with me?” She saw a quick flash crossed his face, and then it was gone. She couldn’t place it, so she centered herself, reached out, and felt his hurt.
“It’s no problem, Beautiful, we both need our space.”
“Noah.” She got up from the table and wrapped her arms around him, barely able to get her hands to meet. “I’m sorry, I forget how closely we’re connected. You need to come clean if something’s bothering you. I’ll also try to figure out what the hell is going on in my mind when something is bothering me, so I can express it better. Let me be clear. I love having you with me. You give me peace. You’re my best friend, and…” It was too soon to talk about love, but she was going to explain what else was going on.
“It’s not you. It’s having you here, in my apartment. It doesn’t allow me to pretend someone isn’t still after me.
For just a few hours I want to go out and act like a normal person again, someone who isn’t the target of an international conspiracy. Having people watching me from a distance where I can’t see them is fine. Ya know?” She felt him relax, and she relaxed.
“I get it and it makes perfect sense. I should have thought of it sooner.”
“Hey, no beating yourself up.” He smiled at her, putting her world back in balance.
“So when will you be leaving?”
“We’ll probably meet up for margaritas and dinner at our favorite cantina, but not for a few hours. Why? Do you have an idea of how we might spend our time?” God, she hoped so. She’d become a sex addict where this man was concerned.
“I think I can figure out a way for us to while away a few hours until you have to meet the girls. Why don’t you give them a call to set things up, and I’ll check my e-mail.” She almost reconsidered calling her friends as she watched his ass walking down the hall towards the guest bedroom. She shook her head to clear it. She made the calls, and was happy to find out even Lynne, Michelle’s sister, could join them. It was going to be a real party.
* * *
Lexi grabbed her hand and shoved up the sleeve of her blouse staring at the scars on Kali’s wrist.
“Jesus Kelly, I knew it was bad, but I didn’t realize.” Kali looked in horror as her friend burst into tears. Lynne picked up a wad of paper napkins and handed them to Lexi.
“It’s over. I’m back and I’m safe.”
“She’s safe and banging the superhot bodyguard. Tell us more, we want to hear more stories about Lieutenant Noah, Mommy, please.” Kali laughed at Lynne’s antics, watching as Lexi gave a watery smile.
“He’s wonderful. He helps me grade papers, he listens to me, and he now knows all the names of the kids in my classes.”
“To hell with that, what’s he like in bed?” Michelle asked.
Kali tucked her head down and concentrated on her enchiladas.
“She’s blushing, you’ve got to love those Scandinavian genes.”
“I’ve never seen her blush like that before,” Lexi said, joining in the fun.
“Because she never had anything worth blushing about. Her one and only boyfriend was worthless. What was his name? Wally? Willy? Limpy?”
Kali almost spit out the food she was chewing.
“His name was Walter. He was a nice man.”
“He treated you like shit, and from everything we didn’t hear, he was useless between the sheets,” Michelle bantered.
“Remember how he told her he would have handled it when one of her kids didn’t turn in their homework? Then he had an opinion about how her dad should be supervising the men in his unit.” Lexi rolled her eyes.
“I thought the best was when he actually told Mrs. Wachowski how she might make better Swedish meatballs if she used maple syrup instead of honey,” Michelle laughed.
Kali winced and took a long sip of her margarita, trying to block out the memory of that family dinner.
“Noah gets along famously with Mom and Dad. The only real problem we’ve had at dinner is when he ganged up on me with my parents.” All three women beamed. The only man who treated her as well as Noah was her dad.
The conversations flipped around the table, going to one another’s jobs, boyfriends and families. When it came to Kali’s job, all three women were fascinated by the e-mail system she set up, and how the principal wanted to set it up for the whole school.
“What are you talking about, it’s no big deal.”
“What’s your success rate for drop outs, compared to other teacher’s students?”
“It can’t be measured because the students all have multiple teachers. It’s not like they have one teacher.”
“Yeah, but you teach social studies and algebra. Of the ones taking both of your classes, how many dropped out last year?”
“Zero.”
“What’s the drop out percentage for ninth graders in your school?”
“Eight percent.”
“Fantastic. You have 180 kids going through your classes on average?”
“More like 120 individual students.”
“That’s ten kids you saved from dropping out of high school. Do you know how much of a difference you made? If it wasn’t the e-mail thing, it was you. You did it Kelly.”
Once more Kali found herself looking down at her plate of food.
“You’re still planning on going into school administration, right?” Michelle asked.
“It’s the plan. I love teaching don’t get me wrong. But I think I can make more of a difference at a higher level.”
“I agree,” Lynne said, as she waved at the waiter for another round of drinks.
“This has to be the last round for me. I’ve got to get home to Chris and Jeffrey.”
“How is Chris doing? Does she like being pregnant again?”
“She loves it,” Lexi said talking about her partner. “I’m just lucky I have a partner who wanted to give birth. I wanted kids, but I gotta tell you, the idea of spending nine months pregnant and then giving birth never really held much appeal.” They all laughed. “So I’m going to go home, put our son to bed, and pamper my best girl.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Chapter Fifteen
“Get out! Get out now!”
“What are you talking about?” Noah slammed his beer on the coffee table and ran to the guest bedroom to grab his duffel. He pressed the speaker on his phone and threw it on the bed as he started unplugging his laptop.
“Mai. Her kidnapping was an inside job. One of Sakuro’s men was in on it. I just got done interrogating him,” Rydell said.
“Fuck.” Noah made sure his passport, gun and knife were stashed, and then picked up his bag and phone and ran into Kali’s room, and riflled through her lingerie drawer. “Keep talking Dave. Who can I trust?”
“Sakuro and our team, but they’re all still deployed. That’s it. You’re going to have to get Sarah. Sakuro said he’d find someone to take care of Niko.”
Noah closed his eyes. He didn’t care about Sarah, he only cared about Kali. There was no fucking way he was going to allow somebody to torture her ever again.
“What else did the man you interrogated say?”
“It was bad Sam. They think that the found are a race of superior beings. They intend to interbreed them with the highest bidders.”
Noah thought he was going to throw up. “Is this the same group that kidnapped Kali?”
“It was just like we thought, he didn’t know what I was talking about.”
“Just how many of these fucking groups are there?” Finally! Noah grabbed her passport and went to the dining room table and picked up Kali’s laptop.
“Jesus Sam, I just don’t know.” Dave Rydell sounded exhausted.
“When was the last time you slept?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Yes it does, you know it does. You’re of no use to Mai if you can’t think.” Noah was out the door and in his truck. “I’ve got to go. I’ll call you back.”
Tires screeched as he left the quiet complex. He voice dialed and kept the phone in his lap. “Rose, I need to talk to Mike.”
“Okay, he’s in the garage. I’ll get him.” God love a cop’s wife. No questions, just an immediate response.
“What do you need, Son?” Mike’s reassuring voice answered.
“Tell the two cops on Kali to get up and personal. I’m going to be there in less than fifteen, and then we’re going off the grid.”
“Oh shit, you’ve been infiltrated.”
“Yeah. I’m so sorry Mike.” He hated it was his people who might have been responsible for Kali’s kidnapping.
“Not your fault Son, you can’t be responsible for other people’s actions, only your own. I’m going to get a burner cell and call you. How secure is yours?”
“Nothing is secure anymore. Absolutely fucking nothing. You get your phone, but I’ll get ahold of y
ou through your precinct somehow not through a direct line.”
“You take care of my daughter.” It wasn’t a request, it was a demand. Mike Wachowski hung up.
It was the longest twelve minutes of Noah’s life.
* * *
There were four ambulances outside the restaurant when Noah pulled up. He never met Kali’s friends, but it was easy to assume they were the three other women beside Kali who were on stretchers. Kali was being put into one of the rigs, and two men were arguing with the EMT. As he got closer he recognized one of the men as Chief Petty Officer Riggs, the other he had to assume was one of the CPD officers Mike assigned to Kali. Since the EMT was just waiting, he had to assume Kali wasn’t in life-threatening danger.
“Gentlemen, do we have a problem here? What is delaying Miss Wachowski from being taken to the hospital?” He kept his voice calm, not singling out Riggs.
“Hey Noah, I knew since you weren’t here, you’d want me to go with Kali,” Riggs said smoothly.
The cop gave him a hard look and didn’t say anything. Noah didn’t know his name, so he decided to wing it. “Bob, I figure you were thinking the same thing?”
“Yep.”
Noah looked over to the EMT. “Well this is easy enough, since I’m here, I’m going to the hospital with Kali.”
“As I told your two friends, everybody needs to follow. Them’s the rules.” The EMT finished loading her into the rig, and Noah grabbed his arm. “What’s wrong with her?”
“All of the women were given an overdose of GHP. Look, this is serious man, we have to get them to the hospital, now.” Jesus. He turned to the two idiots, and realized Riggs was gone. Fuck!
“Did you see which way he went?”
“It’s okay, he and his partner came in one car and we have back-up on them. They’re not getting out of our sight.” But it still left whoever slipped the women the drugs. He had to get to the hospital. He looked up the street and saw the ambulance take a left instead of the right towards the hospital.
“The ambulance. It’s going the wrong way.” He ran towards his truck. The cop followed him. They got in, and the cop called in the ambulance’s coordinates and description.
Revealed (The Found Book 1) Page 7