by Karen Anders
“I think you’re more of a badass now than you were before.”
He laughed. Doing that felt good. She smiled.
“It didn’t occur to me when we were ambushed that we were compromised. I didn’t even entertain that possibility. It wasn’t until later, at Walter Reed, when I was recovering that it occurred to me. But my doctor told me paranoia was part of the reaction of being tortured.”
“How do you feel about going to your mother’s birthday party now? Better or worse?”
“Still apprehensive, but you’re going to be there. I’m hoping that’s going to help.”
She reached out her hand and he clasped it. “Is it formal?”
“Do you need to dress up? Yes, I guess you would. My mother always looks put together.”
“Then let’s go shopping. I need a dress that will knock your mother’s socks off. We also need presents. We can’t go to a birthday party without bringing presents.”
“That sounds so domestic.”
“Sam, you will never be domestic.”
He laughed again.
* * *
With uncertainty and dread tearing at his guts, Sam approached the home that he’d always associated with comfort and warmth.
Olivia walked beside him, and when he hit the first step, she grabbed his hand and he held on to her as they approached the door.
He turned to look at her. She looked so pretty in her dress. He’d called it purple, but she’d corrected him and told him it was mauve. It had sexy black lace at the neckline and up the sleeves. The dress left her legs bare from midthigh all the way down to the half boots she was wearing. He remembered she called them fierce.
“You look amazing, by the way.”
“Thank you,” she said. “You look pretty good in that suit. Very sexy.”
She smoothed down his tie.
“The black lace is nice, but I’d prefer it in lingerie. Something that comes off easily.”
“Don’t start.”
“I’m just stating a fact.”
“You already told me you want to keep me naked, so I’m not so sure purchasing black lace lingerie would be a wise investment.”
“I didn’t say that I didn’t like looking at you in little nothings. Black, red, mauve. Just not for long.”
She sniggered. “Typical man. I also never said I would be against wearing little nothings. Just I’d worry that it would go the way of my beautiful, expensive black lace bra that cost a small fortune.”
“It was in my way.”
“And, like the Ranger you are, you seek and destroy.”
“Exactly.”
She gave him a sidelong glance, a half smile on her lips.
He inclined his head toward the door. “You ready for this?”
“Do you mean your mother or that other thing?”
“My mother. I have a hope of at least controlling the other thing.”
She chuckled.
She squeezed his hand a little tighter. “Let’s go. We live life on the edge, right?”
He turned the handle and pushed the door open, pulling her inside. She stopped, tugging him back. “Wow.”
“What?”
“Seriously, Sam. This place is gorgeous.”
“It’s home.”
She was peeking into the living room and the dining room, leaning so that she could look up the winding mahogany staircase. “You so slid down that banister, didn’t you?”
“I’m taking the Fifth.”
She elbowed him in the ribs. He only laughed harder and dragged her into the backyard. There were a large number of people, some in the pool, tables laden with food and a bar. A huge cake sat by itself on a table.
As he hit the bottom of the stairs, Debra’s eyes lit up when she saw him.
“Sam,” she said, hugging him.
Olivia stiffened at his side, her eyes going narrow and dangerous.
He suppressed his grin. “Olivia Owens, this is Debra Winston, Trey’s wife.”
Olivia’s stormy brown eyes cleared. “Oh, so nice to meet you.”
“Owens.”
“Yes, I was his sister.”
“I’m so sorry for your loss.”
Sam moved around the pool deck, introducing her to people he knew. Thad waved to him and pointed in the corner where his mother was conversing with the director of the Secret Service, Jed Kincannon. After surviving the attempt on her life, she finally looked so good and healthy his heart contracted.
She turned her head and saw him, her eyes filling with a joy that was reserved especially for him. He smiled. Then she saw Olivia and looked down at their clasped hands and her eyebrows rose. A gleam came into her eyes that Sam knew all too well. His mother was on the warpath for grandkids. Yes, that was plural. Even though Debra was pregnant, his mother was not known to settle for just one of something.
She made her apologies to Jed and walked over to Sam, hugging him hard.
“You look beautiful. Happy birthday, Mom.”
“You look a bit more rested. Now please introduce me to this enchanting young woman.”
“Olivia Owens. My mother, Kate Winston.”
Olivia smiled and took the hand his mother offered. “Mrs. Winston, it’s so amazing to meet you.”
“Oh, please, call me Kate, and may I call you Olivia?”
The starstruck look in her eyes made him smile softly. When Sam finally dragged his eyes away, his mother’s eyes were even more keen and speculative.
“I voted for you,” Olivia blurted, and she blushed. She didn’t blush when she’d told him an erection was perfectly normal on the table or when she’d kissed him that first night. Olivia was a big fan of his mother.
“Oh, I like her, Sam.”
“Mom, I didn’t know she was one of your constituents.”
“I was trying to keep it on the down-low, you know, so that you wouldn’t tease me.”
His mother slipped her hand around Olivia’s arm. “Sam, sweetheart, why don’t you run off and get your mother some lemonade? Some for you, too, Olivia?”
Olivia gave Sam a sly sidelong look. “Yes, darling, could you get me a glass, too?”
He chuckled, sending her a now-you’ve-really-stepped-in-it look.
He walked over to the beverage table and poured two glasses of lemonade.
Thad sidled over and gave Sam a very direct look. “She’s already got her claws into Olivia?”
“Yes, I’m sure she’s getting the third degree right now.”
“There is no doubt about it, man. So what is up with you two? After that heated kiss you gave her in the kitchen, I assume you’re into this woman?”
“I...care for her a lot.”
“Way to go, Sam.”
Sam shook his head. “No, Thad. I’m still messed up and I’m going back to the Rangers.”
“Sam, if you find someone like that and you click, you should do something about it.” He looked over at Lucy. “After meeting Lucy, I was a goner. You’re a goner, too. You just don’t know it.”
In this instance, he had to disagree with Thad. He knew he was a goner, but it was an impossible situation. He brought the lemonade over to the two women. But his mother shooed him away and he chuckled at the panicked look Olivia gave him.
He gave her an apologetic look and got caught up with one of his mother’s friends who asked him a ton of questions about the army, since his son was interested in enlisting. An hour later, the luncheon was served and Sam made an attempt to extricate Olivia away from his mother.
“Olivia, you must be starving. I’m sure my mother has sweated at least ten pounds off you.”
“Don’t worry, Sam. She can hold her own. I like that. This one’s a keeper.”
“Yes, Mother. May she eat? Could I actually have some time with the woman I brought to the party?”
“Oh, all right, but I still want to ask you about—”
“Mom,” he said as he quickly got her out of there. “I have had an easier time crossing enemy lines on a rescue mission.”
Olivia laughed. “She is quite a formidable woman.”
“You held your own, huh? My mother doesn’t give compliments easily.”
“If I can hold my own with you, Lone Ranger, everyone else, including your mother, is a piece of cake.”
“Is that so?” he said, wanting desperately to kiss her. She saw the look in his eyes and smiled.
“You’re going to have to wait,” she whispered, smoothing his tie as an excuse to touch him. Unfortunately he had no excuse to touch her.
“Sam.” Trey walked toward him, and Sam nodded to him.
“Olivia, I assume?”
She looked to Sam for an introduction.
“My brother Trey.”
“It’s nice to meet you.”
Trey smiled and held her eyes for a second before he turned back to Sam and said, “Can I talk to you?”
“Sure.”
“Privately. In the study.”
Sam nodded, looking over at his mother, who was beginning to open her presents. He felt strange all of a sudden. It wasn’t time. Time for what? Something was off, but every time he tried to focus on what it was, it slipped away. “Shouldn’t we at least wait until the cake is cut, Trey? It’s Mom’s birthday.”
“You’re right. Just head for the study after she’s done.”
“He’s got your mother’s eyes,” Olivia said.
He tried to focus on what she was saying, but her face kept getting fuzzy. That beer he had must have gone straight to his head.
When his mother opened his gift, she looked over at him, her face beaming. Season passes to the Hurricanes. She loved hockey. She gave him a thumbs-up and he smiled. As she grabbed Olivia’s present, she motioned her over.
“Oh, no,” she said softly. “Time for round two.”
She squeezed his hand when she left, but Sam didn’t notice. He suddenly had an urgency to get to the library as if he would miss something deeply important if he didn’t get there in time. In time? In time for what?
He headed into the house, climbing the stairs two at a time. Then thought about going back to get Olivia. He turned away from the study, hesitating.
“Sam?”
Sam jumped and turned. Trey was standing at the door to the study. “Are you coming?”
Sam felt sweat trickle down his temple. His stomach felt jittery. He looked around for Olivia. He needed her.
“Sam,” Trey said impatiently, and when Sam looked at him again, his face was gone. There was nothing there but blank flesh.
Sam was frozen in place as his brother’s face dissolved and reformed, then dissolved again. Suddenly he was back in that white room.
Sam’s chin touched his chest, the pain racking his body as he heard these terrible whimpering sounds. He realized they were coming from him.
“Sam. Look at me.”
That was his brother’s voice. What? How could he be here? It took all his effort to raise his head. When he met his brother’s eyes, Trey smiled evilly.
“Who are you?”
“I’m your brother Trey. I’m the leader.”
“Of what?”
“A new order.”
“Sam!” He started back to the present, and that evil face looked back at him reformed into someone Sam didn’t recognize. Where was Olivia? But he was losing even that thought, the memory of her hair fading, her warm, alive eyes dimming.
Was he having another nightmare? Maybe that was what it was, just a nightmare, and he’d wake with her sweet, naked body. He had to remember this nightmare so he could tell Olivia about it. So he could hopefully understand it.
Trey turned around and walked into the study, and this time Sam followed. Trey was at the sideboard, mixing drinks.
“Thad told me about this business with Jeffers. I think we should talk about it.”
Sam’s phone buzzed. He reached into his pocket, and everything went white. Everything shattered inside his head like glass. Everything went completely white.
End game.
He walked over to the desk. Opening the drawer, he reached in and pulled out the nine millimeter he knew would be there. The grip fit his hand as if it had been custom built for him.
He faltered, his chest heaving suddenly. He whispered, “I’m on time.”
Everything slowed down for him as he pivoted on his heel and turned toward his brother, bringing the gun up.
Trey had betrayed them. He was the leader just as he’d told him back in that compound. His was the face of his torturers. His was the face in his cell.
He was the leader.
Of the Cartel.
The one who had them kidnapped, tortured. He’d killed Mike. His best friend. He’d ordered the death of Dr. Owens. Innocent, dedicated Dr. Owens.
Trey turned with the drinks in his hands. He was still talking, but Sam couldn’t hear him.
Trey was trying to hurt his Liv. His beautiful Liv. No one was going to hurt her.
He pointed the gun directly at Trey’s chest.
Chapter 15
“So, Olivia,” Kate said. “Why don’t you tell me what you think of my Sam?”
“I think I’m in love with him, Kate. I think that he loves me, too, but is worried about all the terrible stuff he’s been through. He thinks he wants to go back to the Rangers, but I don’t think he does. I think he’s ready to take his life in a different direction. I would love that to include being with me. He’s dedicated, beautiful, strong, courageous and stubborn. I can barely breathe when he walks into a room.”
Kate just stared at her, blinking several times. “You are quite a direct and honest young woman.”
“I don’t believe in beating around the bush.” A sudden chill went down her spine. She turned around immediately, looking for Sam, but then remembered he went into the study with Trey. Trey, the star of his nightmares. Trey without a face...
Her heart skipped a beat, then stopped. Trey didn’t have a face in Sam’s nightmare. Could it be because Sam was struggling with something that had been planted in his mind? That his brother wasn’t someone whom Sam knew?
Without even saying anything to Kate, Olivia took off at a run toward the house.
Trey. He was the target. They wanted Sam to kill his own brother.
Please don’t let me be too late, she prayed.
She hit the study at a dead run. When she burst inside, Sam had a gun pointed at his brother. There was no time for her to say anything. She ran into the room and planted herself in front of him.
Sam jerked back at her presence, his disorientation was clear. “Olivia...”
“No, Sam. No.”
He pointed the gun straight down and flipped on the safety. She started across the room as his gaze rose to meet hers. His eyes were confused, wary and holding on to hers like a lifeline. “Liv...” Suddenly a man appeared in the doorway and he headed straight for Sam, yelling, “Secret Service. Drop the weapon.”
“No!” Olivia shouted, as she tried to cut him off, but he pushed her out of the way.
“Henderson, stand down!” Trey shouted at the same time.
Sam went ballistic and was on the agent as Olivia stumbled away. He swept the man’s legs out from under him. Three more agents burst into the room, and before Olivia could get to Sam, they were on him. Sam dealt with each one, his movements swift, deadly and effective.
She rushed over to him and grabbed his arms. “Sam,” she soothed. His eyes were wild. She grabbed the
back of his neck, and his vision cleared. “The target was Trey.”
“His gaze swung to his brother. “Trey, I—”
“It’s okay, Sam. I’m fine.”
“Don’t move, Winston.” Another agent stood at the door with his gun on Sam.
Kate Winston fought her way through the men surrounding her. “Let me through. How dare you!” she shouted. “How dare you threaten my son?”
“He’s under arrest.”
Dan Henderson picked himself up off the floor. It was clear he was in pain. He pulled Sam’s hands behind his back and cuffed him.
“No! You can’t do this. His mind was tampered with. He’s not to blame!” Olivia shouted. “Let him go!” She pulled at Dan Henderson’s arm, but the man who’d had his gun on Sam held her back. She fought like a wildcat, but he restrained her. Sam started to struggle.
“Olivia,” he said, his voice breaking. Her chest hurt as Sam kept eye contact with her all the way across the foyer.
“Sam.” Tears pressed at the backs of her eyes, her throat constricting.
Kate glared at the man. “Let her go! Now!”
“When he didn’t move, Kate said in an authoritative voice that sent chills down Olivia’s spine, “Don’t cross me, Robert. You will be sorry. You, in the hall. Halt!”
Her voice rang out with power.
“Go,” she said to Olivia.
She raced out into the hall, straight to him. He couldn’t hug her back because his arms were restrained, but he leaned into her. She broke down, sobbing.
“Sweetheart,” he said, softly. “Babe.”
Finally Kate walked out into the hall and touched her shoulder. “Olivia. Let him go now. We’ll take care of this down at the police station.”
She looked up at him feeling as if her heart would break.
“Go, sweetheart. Do as my mother says.” He met his mother’s eyes. “Mom, I’m—”
She cut him off, her voice soft. “This isn’t your fault, Sam.”
Thad walked over and nudged the Secret Service agent out of the way and took Sam’s arm. “I’ll take care of him, Mom. I won’t leave him alone until you get there.”
Kate nodded, the determination on her face giving Olivia hope.
“Sam,” Trey said, his voice roughed with emotion. “It’s going to be okay.”