by Taylor Hart
“Harris,” Sarah said, her voice soft. “I’m sure you can find something you like.”
“Fine.” He sounded annoyed. “I’ll have the salmon as well, but make sure they don’t bake it in butter. I don’t like it soaked in butter. It’s so bad for you. And, oh.” He snapped his fingers. “I need to have plain vegetables, no spices, and the same with the potato.”
“Diva.” River rolled his eyes.
Zane nodded, hating this guy more and more for abusing waitresses.
Sarah and Harris made small talk, and Sarah asked a couple of questions about the dealerships. This guy was boring, Zane thought sourly. He felt bad for any woman who had to endure the conversations with the pretentious jerk.
Harris took Sarah’s hand. “I did have something I needed to ask you.”
She frowned. “Oh?”
“I’m going to be leaving for a couple of days to the Caribbean, and I wondered if you and Tyler would like to come.”
She let out a light gasp. “Come with you?”
Zane didn’t like talk of this nature at all.
Harris chuckled. “I know it might seem extreme, but I have some business there. I’m going to take my yacht, and … I want to have company.”
Zane jerked his head to look at them only to see and hear Harris kissing her.
Sarah was a pro, not jerking back and slapping him as Zane almost wished she would. With a sigh, she pulled back. “You know with my business and with Tyler in school how hard that would be.” She let out a fake giggle. “Don’t push out your lip. I would go if I could.”
Again, Zane seriously wanted to punch the man.
Harris kept her hand. “I know it’s a lot. Think about it. I think we would have fun. Tyler would love it. The yacht actually has a slide on it. We can put down the anchor and swim.”
“I don’t know.” She sounded uncertain.
“Think about it.” Gently, he reached out and touched her cheek. “You know, you’re beautiful, Sarah, but that’s not the real reason I was so attracted to you. You have this goodness. When I met you, I really did think that I wanted a professional matchmaker, but the more we talked and the more I saw that you’d overcome so much pain, I realized I just wanted you.”
“I don’t think I’m as great as you say, but thank you,” Sarah said softly. Zane was almost convinced she meant it.
Harris gazed into her eyes. “I never thought I’d even get a chance to tell you this. And now, I’m afraid I can’t shut up.” He let out a light laugh.
Sarah said, “Thank you. That’s a huge compliment, but Harris, I don’t know much about you. You told me you moved here five years ago, that you had divorced and started your companies, but that’s it. Please, tell me more about you.”
The food came, and Harris driveled on and on and about living in Europe, about marrying a British woman who was everything you think of when you think British. Cold. Abrupt.
Sarah didn’t interject much, just ate her salad.
Harris told a sob story about how his wife was always ill and she was broken when she couldn’t have kids. His expression turned sad, and Zane could swear the man had tears on his face. “I was devastated when we divorced.”
A punch in the face wasn’t good enough for this guy.
Sarah played the part, reaching for his hand. “I’m sorry.” She scooted her chair closer to him, and Zane knew she was using this as a positioning technique.
Zane cursed softly; the tracker still was not activating.
“I’m so sorry.” Sarah leaned in to hug him, and Zane saw her push her soup to fall on his lap. “Oh!” Sarah stood quickly.
“Ah.” Harris jumped to his feet. “Oh no.”
“I’m so sorry,” Sarah said, grabbing for a napkin and brushing at his jacket.
He slipped his phone out of his pocket and put it on the table. “What a mess.” His face was sour and Zane could tell he was trying to keep it civil, but the man looked ticked.
Cheryse appeared and Sarah continued to try to clean up his jacket. Harris went to grab more napkins off a side table. That’s when Zane saw it. Cheryse took the phone and slipped it into her waitress apron.
Obviously, Sarah saw it too.
Harris was out of sorts as he slipped off his jacket and went to put it down. “Where’s my phone?” He started searching for his phone.
Sarah suddenly closed the gap between them. “I am so sorry for all you’ve been through.” She grabbed Harris and shoved herself into him, pressing her lips to his.
For a moment, Harris didn’t move. Zane wondered what he would do. It was very in the open, a major public display of affection.
To Zane’s chagrin, Harris put his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss and holding her like she was a lifeboat.
“Crap,” Zane muttered
“Cool the jets, man,” River muttered.
Turning, Zane let out a low, guttural growl.
“It’s an act, zen master. Calm down.”
For a few moments longer than Zane would have liked, Harris and Sarah made out. When Harris pulled back, he and Sarah both fell into laughter.
“Well,” Harris said, still keeping her close. “Does that mean you’ll come to the Caribbean with me?”
She smiled and looked flushed. Zane was definitely buying the act. “It means maybe. I just saw you looking so flustered, and I felt bad, and then I wanted to make it better.”
Harris placed one more kiss on her lips before pulling back. “You did.”
They both sat, and other servers milled around them. Three were working together, taking away the old stuff and putting down new linens.
Harris kept his focus on her and laughed. “This is crazy. It will make the best story for our grandchildren.”
Zane’s hand tightly gripped his glass of water, and he had to force himself to release it so it didn’t shatter.
Sarah smiled. “It will.”
Zane could pretend to be dead for six months, could go into insurgent territory and mix with the locals if necessary under extreme duress, always with his eye on the prize—but right now, he was losing it.
Cheryse was back, looking flushed and acting very apologetic. “I’m sorry about that. So sorry.”
Sarah shook her head. “No, it was my fault.”
Cheryse put new dishes down and skirted around the table, adding new silverware and napkins. Zane saw her putting the phone down on the floor by Harris’s feet.
Zane wanted to fist-pump. They must have gotten the download. At this moment he was equal parts proud and distressed as Sarah and Harris kept murmuring to each other about the Caribbean.
Finally, after they had shared a chocolate mousse, Sarah said, “Oh, dear. I have a client I have to meet.”
Harris stood, patting his pockets and looking around frantically. “Where’s my phone?”
“Oh.” Sarah started to look with him.
He bent and saw it on the floor. “Must have dropped it onto the floor.”
Sarah acted like nothing had happened and let him pull her in for one last kiss. Then they left the restaurant together, hand in hand. Blayze and Corbin would be watching from outside, making sure Sarah made it to her car and back to the mansion.
Zane stayed where he was and repeated mantras in an attempt to soothe himself. When a sufficient amount of time had passed, he dropped some money on the table and left the restaurant without even making eye contact with River.
Chapter 21
Sarah met Zane, River, Corbin, Blayze, and Cheryse back at Sutton’s house. When she got out of her car, Zane swept her into his arms and kissed her deeply. She pulled back and searched his face. She knew the whole scene in the restaurant would be hard for him. If their roles had been reversed, she would have hated it too.
“You claiming your woman?” she asked seductively.
He narrowed his eyes and muttered against her lips. “Is it working?”
She laughed, and he trailed kisses down her jawline.
“Come on,” River said next to them. “We know she belongs to you, Thor, but let’s get inside and check out the information Cheryse copied.”
Zane grunted and let her go, keeping her hand.
Cheryse and River were still there, smiling at her.
“You did good,” Cheryse said professionally.
River winked at her. “Real good, even though I thought I might have to prevent a world war with our boy here. He was not happy about the kissing. You should have seen him. I think he broke a spoon in half.”
She laughed while River punched Zane’s shoulder good-naturedly.
Corbin hitched a thumb at him. “Man, he’s acting like me.”
Zane cocked a displeased eyebrow at him, and everyone else laughed.
When they got to the door, Sutton was opening it and reaching for the chip Cheryse handed him. They all headed to the very high-tech library behind Sutton’s office.
Sarah hesitated. “Where is Tyler?”
Sutton smiled at her. “Don’t worry. He and Agatha are playing at the beach.”
Chapter 22
Harris sat in his black limousine and peered at Sutton Smith’s new estate. He’d heard it had been burnt down a few months ago and was honestly surprised to see another one standing in its place. There were long decorative bars on some windows and heavy drop-down windows hidden above others from what he could see.
“Continue, driver,” he called out.
The driver pulled forward, taking the road in front of the estate.
Harris hadn’t quite been able to put his finger on it. The way Sarah had suddenly showed interest in meeting yesterday had felt off. Her kissing him like that in the restaurant had confirmed something suspicious was going on. Not that he hadn’t enjoyed the kiss. Oh, yeah, he had.
He hadn’t noticed when the waitress had taken his phone, but he’d seen her bring it back and slip it on the floor beside his foot. He’d felt deep disappointment that Sarah was mixed up in something she shouldn’t be and that she wasn’t really into him like he’d hoped. He knew there had been valuable information on that phone, but too bad for the people trying to get it. That shipment had to go out tonight. If they stopped the shipment, his own life would be on the line.
As he’d made the scene about the soup, Harris had taken the chance to peer around the restaurant and noticed her homeless brother in the corner trying to hide under a baseball hat. Another man sitting across from him in the booth had looked familiar, and putting the pieces together, Harris recognized him as a patron of the coffee shop yesterday. Now that he made the connection to Sutton Smith, who’d been some big shot in the British Navy, Harris was convinced that guy was special ops, or at the very least retired special ops. The operation to take down Harris was much bigger than just Sarah.
Yes, he and his ex-wife, Anne, hadn’t been close, and it’d been a messy divorce. But he didn’t think she’d go crying back to her brother. He sighed and stared at the shoreline as they drove away. Blood was thicker than water.
Just then, Harris caught sight of Sarah’s boy, Tyler. “Driver, stop.”
The limousine stopped, and Harris squinted, rolling down the window. There was the boy, wearing a swimsuit and holding some type of toy that looked like a stick. A lightsaber. He smiled, thinking that Tyler had been so precious and cute the night he’d stopped over there.
Honestly, he’d thought the bugs he’d been having his guys place in her house had been destroyed by the boy. His mind flashed through his misreading of things, and he realized he’d been played by Anne and Sutton. What an idiot.
But the game wasn’t over.
Opening his car door, he looked around and saw that the boy was a bit of a ways from the mansion onto public beach. The sun was setting, and Harris wondered why the boy was so far away from the mansion. Surely Sutton would be more careful.
“Tyler!” Harris called out, walking closer to him.
The boy froze, turning to look at him.
“Hey, it’s Harris, your mom’s friend.” He flashed Tyler a smile like he was about to sell him a car. “I gave you the lightsaber, remember?”
The boy still didn’t move.
“Hey, your mom told me how much you love your lightsaber. I have a new one for you. Do you want it?”
The boy still didn’t move, but his face looked interested.
Harris laughed. “Your mom said she told you not to talk to strangers, but remember I came over that night and gave you a lightsaber?”
Tyler frowned. “Are you friends with Zane?”
“Yeah, yeah, I am.” He would tell him anything to get him to come.
“Are you a soldier like him?” Tyler asked.
Having his suspicions confirmed made him surprisingly upset. Harris worked to keep it off his face and out of his voice. “Yeah, buddy, I just saw your mom and Zane.” At least that was true.
This seemed to seal the deal for the kid. He rushed toward him, running faster. “Hurry, before Agatha finds out, or she’ll get mad at me. I’m not supposed to leave that spot.”
Harris grinned. Thinking of Sutton’s housekeeper, an idea took shape in his mind. “Oh yes, let’s hurry.” As he and Tyler ran together to the limousine, Harris took the lightsaber the kid was holding and threw it on the road. “Let’s play a game and go buy you five new lightsabers. You in?”
Tyler processed this proposal. A grin widened his face. “Five?”
Harris nodded. “At least five.”
Tyler hopped in.
Chapter 23
Zane studied the information Cheryse had retrieved off the phone, which contained drop-off points for two separate shipments of weapons that had come in from Europe. Old Russian weapons in crates from the Cold War. Weapons that didn’t have bar codes on them. Weapons that couldn’t be traced. The drop-off locations were for Mexican military vehicles that went back and forth between the two countries, taking supplies to the war-torn cities next to the border.
“Perfect cover-up,” Zane said. Getting Mexican military vehicles past the checkpoints with crates in them that were hard to open and had American aid markings on them was the perfect setup.
Sutton nodded. “Harris is more clever than I ever gave him credit for.”
Cheryse turned to them, flashing a smile. “The drop-off is tonight. I have my people on it. As far as you all, you’ve done your job. Thank you for serving your country.”
It felt good, Zane thought. He liked the idea of serving his country again. The things he did with Sutton were always done for good, but not always so clean as this op. It was nice to have Sarah involved when it was neat and tidy.
Cheryse shook his hand and Sarah’s. “I’m glad everything worked out.”
“And I’m glad you weren’t Zane’s girlfriend,” Sarah admitted, embarrassed.
Cheryse grinned at her and jerked a thumb at Zane. “Me too.” She winked. “Although from what I’ve seen, I think he’s a good one, so hold on to him.”
Sarah blushed and leaned into Zane. He had to admit he loved having her by his side. “Oh, I will,” she murmured.
Precipitously, the door burst open and Agatha rushed in, looking out of breath. “He’s gone! He’s gone!”
Tyler! Zane rushed to her side, taking her by the shoulders. All his military instincts kicked in. “Where did you see him last?”
She heaved in breath after breath. “By the tree houses on the beach down the south side. I saw a limousine speed off.” She gripped Zane’s hand, crying. “Get him!”
Zane, River, Blayze, Corbin, and Sarah rushed out the door. Cheryse and Sutton were coming too.
“Divide up,” Zane commanded.
He and Sarah ran out of the mansion and down the beach for a few minutes. He was faster, but she didn’t care. “Go!” she yelled at him.
Turning, Zane saw the road where it cut a path through the trees. When he noticed Cheryse’s Jeep pulling up, he told Sarah to get on his back. She jumped on, and he quickly climbed up the path
to the road.
They arrived just in time to find Sutton picking up a lightsaber.
Zane swore. “He took him.”
Chapter 24
Sarah’s hands trembled with shock and adrenaline as she stared at her son’s lightsaber. She knew he would never let that toy go willingly.
All of them were talking, strategizing. Zane had dropped to the ground to inspect the limo tracks, and he and Blayze were talking about where the tires had come from.
Suddenly, she had an idea. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and pressed Harris’s number.
He answered on the first ring, his voice like silk. “Darling, I thought you might call.”
“Harris.” She felt perfectly calm. Exactly the way she’d felt when she’d discovered Jeff had cancer and there would no longer be a divorce. Exactly the way she felt when she put Jeff’s body in the ground and knew she would be raising her son alone.
Everyone around her stopped and stared at her.
“It was unfortunate that your boy dropped his lightsaber, but we’re getting a couple of new ones for him right now.”
She could hear her son in the background. “Is that Mommy?”
“Baby.” She felt herself wanting to cry.
Harris laughed. “Your mommy wants to come get you. Just a minute and I’ll let her talk to you.”
Zane leaned in close, taking the phone and putting a finger to his lips. He put it on speaker, and everyone gathered around.
“Here’s the deal, Sarah and whoever else is listening. I need some shipments to make it to the checkpoints tonight by midnight, or I’ll have some very angry people on my hands. We wouldn’t want that. All you have to do is stay clear so my aid to Mexico makes it. Then I’ll call back with details on where to retrieve your son.”
Sarah folded her arms tight. When she glanced at Zane, he nodded. “Okay,” she said.
Harris laughed. “Oh, Tyler, you are a silly boy. Want to talk to your mommy?”
“Uh-huh,” she heard him say, and the center of her chest squeezed.