by Leslie North
“I second that.” Spencer again.
“Third.” Gage raised his hand then lowered it and placed his arm protectively around Anna’s shoulders. They were so sweet and affectionate it damned near made Scotty’s teeth ache.
“What are we voting on?” Kyle asked, coming back into the room. His shoulders were tense and the faint lines around his eyes and mouth looked deeper. He slumped down onto the other end of the sofa and rubbed a hand over his face.
“Whether Scotty’s an ass,” Spence supplied helpfully.
“We actually need to vote on that?” Kyle snorted. “I just got off the phone with Commander Brighton. Filled him in.”
Scotty cringed on his leader’s behalf. No wonder the guy looked exhausted. They were on thin enough ice as it was with the higher ups. The fact they’d had just a very public run in with the FBI, dirty agents or not, wouldn’t bode well for Brighton’s continued support. Kyle’s stellar negotiating skills aside, it would take a damned miracle to talk their way out of what happened earlier. “What did he say?”
“He wants us to go talk to Natalie while she’s still in the hospital. He thinks we might still be able to get something out of her about where those files are and about what happened to Nick. Maybe about Becks’s whereabouts too.” Kyle leaned his head back against the chair and closed his eyes.
“What do you think?” Scotty asked, catching Hayley’s hand and bringing it to his lips for a quick kiss.
“I think it’s our only option at this point.”
Hayley pulled free from his grasp and cleaned up her supplies. “Is she well enough to have visitors? She was in pretty bad shape at the row house.”
Kyle squinted open one eye to peer at Hayley. “Doctors say she’s stable. Single gunshot to the shoulder. Through and through. Brighton talked to them and they said Natalie could speak to someone for short periods this evening.” He lifted his wrist and checked his watch. “Visiting hours end at seven.”
“Damn.” Spencer tried to reach a bloody area on his right upper back without much luck.
“Here.” Hayley walked over to clean and patch the abrasion up for him. The sight of her hands on his buddy nearly did him in. Still, Scotty did his best to be proud of his angel of mercy and resist the urge to punch Spence in the jaw. She cleaned and bandaged the area efficiently, then stood again and grinned down. “Better?”
“Much.” Spencer winked at Hayley and Scotty growled low in his throat. Maybe slamming his fist into the guy’s face wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all. Spencer gave Scotty a droll look and raised a brow as Hayley walked away. “Jealous, bud?”
“She’s mine.”
“I heard that,” Hayley called from the bathroom.
“Good,” Scotty yelled back. “And don’t you forget it, Red.”
“Listen,” she said, coming back into the living room. “I get that maybe you guys have gotten a little ‘caveman’ since going rogue, but I am not a steak, okay? You can’t just order me. I’m a strong, independent woman who can date and sleep with any man I choose. Got it?”
Scotty frowned. “I thought—”
“You thought what?” Hayley continued. “That because we slept together you could claim some kind of ownership? That because you helped rescue me I owed you something? I can take care of myself, all right? Been doing it a long time now, and I’ll keep doing it long after you’re gone.” She swiped the back of her hand beneath her eyes.
“Okay, Red. You want walking papers, you got ‘em. From me and the FBI,” Scotty said, trying to make it sound like even floating an idea like that didn’t touch him at all, didn’t gut him.
Her color went up. “Do you have any idea what it was like for me to see you on your knees on that dock, a gun pointed at your head? Do you? You could’ve died, Scotty. Then where would that leave me, huh? Where? I happen to care about you, you big, dumb idiot.”
Before he could answer, she stormed off back to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. Flabbergasted, Scotty pursed his lips and cocked his brows, gazing around at the stunned faces of his SEAL team mates.
“Well, then,” Kyle said, his gaze lowered.
“Yeah, buddy.” Spencer shook his head and frowned. “Wow.”
“I like her,” Anna said, still cuddled beside Gage. “She’s got guts.”
“That she does.” Scotty rubbed a hand over his bruised jaw. “That she does.”
“Right.” Gage checked his watch. “It’s almost six now. If we’re going to get to the hospital to see Natalie, we should get going.”
“Yeah, I wonder where Michelle’s at now?” Hayley said, standing. “Probably holed up in some seedy hotel somewhere contemplating her shitty life choices. God, I hope her son’s all right.”
“I’ve got Commander Brighton working on it,” Kyle said. “Her son will be taken care of.”
“Do you think she’s hooking up with Becks?” Scotty asked, grimacing.
“If she is then she’s got even worse judgement than I gave her credit for,” Hayley said.
The men pushed to their feet. Gage picked up Anna and kissed her thoroughly before letting her slide down his side. Scotty averted his gaze from their obvious intimacy. He’d always been in relationships for the fun, the adventure, the cheap, fast thrill. But with Hayley he wanted more.
“Let’s go.” Kyle stretched and blinked his eyes several times as if to wake himself up. “I’ll drive.”
Scotty gave him a dubious look. “You sure? You look ready to drop.”
“Are you questioning my abilities?” Kyle scowled over at him.
“No, sir.”
“Good. Don’t.” Kyle stomped off for the kitchen and pulled an energy drink out of the fridge. “Never underestimate me. Ever.”
Well, fuck. The guy had been unusually touchy since they’d discovered Natalie was still alive. Deservedly so, Scotty supposed, but it didn’t make Kyle any easier to get along with. They were like the brothers Scotty never had and he’d give his life for them, knowing they’d do the same for him. Outsiders didn’t always understand their unique bond, but it was a connection forged in sweat and steel and battlefield blood.
Instead of getting into again with his buddies, Scotty headed over to the bathroom door and knocked softly. They were all tired and irritable and grouchy as hell and picking a fight right now would be a bad, bad idea. Still, if Hayley was going to go with them to the hospital, she needed to get a move on. “Red, you coming out anytime soon?”
“Fuck you, Scotty.”
Any time, darling.
Behind him, Spencer snickered. “Your way with the ladies is impressive, dude.”
Scotty gave him the finger. “We’re going to the hospital. If you want to come along, you need to get out here. Now.”
Nothing.
He almost preferred the “fuck you” to stone cold silence. An eternity of seconds ticked past and he’d just about given up hope of her emerging when the door whooshed open and Hayley rushed past him, in a bluster of attitude and sweet strawberry scent. Scotty’s body tightened involuntarily and his heart squeezed with tenderness. He could smell strawberries every day for the rest of his life and never tire of it.
He couldn’t believe it, but he wanted forever.
Now clearly wasn’t the right moment to tell her. And maybe he needed a minute to get used to the idea. But yeah. He was a goner. One of those guys he’d swore he’d never be—head over heels and hopelessly devoted to a woman who had the power to destroy him with just one look.
As he trailed across the living room after Hayley, admiring the lovely view of her ass in those tight jeans, he couldn’t help but grin. Hells yeah, she could destroy him, but what a way to go.
“All right, kids. Let’s head out.” Kyle checked and holstered his weapon and the rest of them did the same, as they all followed him out the door, including Anna. Downstairs, Scotty and Spence did a quick check of the perimeter before they hustled over to their beat up SUV parked near the curb. Kyle climbed in t
he driver’s side and Spence took the passenger front, while Gage and Anna and Scotty and Hayley filled the rear seats. “Everybody buckle up.”
Groans and whines ensued, but they did as he instructed.
“When we get to the hospital, Gage, I want you to keep a lookout in the lobby. Spence, you stay with the van. Scotty, you and Hayley come with me to the room. Brighton thinks your girl might have the best chance of getting something out of Natalie.”
Hayley frowned. “What about the FBI? Won’t they be looking for us?”
“I doubt it.” Kyle signaled, then pulled out into traffic. “Brighton said that boss of yours has a warrant out for her arrest, along with what’s left of her team. Her career at the Bureau’s over.”
“That makes two of us.” The dejectedness in her tone made Scotty’s heart ache. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if anything ever happened to his SEAL team and he knew Hayley felt the same about her career at the Bureau. He tried to take her hand, but she shook him off. “Did your Commander Brighton say anything else? Like why he thinks I’d be able to get something out of the widow?”
“You mean other than the fact she’s been asking for you, specifically?” Kyle met Hayley’s gaze in the rearview mirror, and Scotty felt her posture stiffen beside him.
“She asked for me?”
“Only you. Won’t see anyone else.”
“Huh.” Hayley slumped back in her seat and her shoulder bumped against Scotty. This time when he reached for her hand, she let him take it. “I wonder why?”
“Maybe it had something to do with the fact you were going to help her escape.” He glanced sideways at her and smiled. “I did say we were going to talk about that later, right?”
“I couldn’t just let her go down like that, Scotty. Like some kind of trapped animal. Everyone deserves a fighting chance.”
“Even husband killers?” Kyle’s tone had turned decidedly frigid.
“She said she didn’t kill Nick and I believe her. She loved him. That much is obvious. After all, she went to jail to keep his cover from being blown.”
“She did?” the guys asked in unison.
“Yeah. I told you she had a criminal record and this is what I meant. When you guys were pulling that job out of South America last year, the one in Venezuela? Somehow some cops showed up at their house with a search warrant. At first I couldn’t figure out how a random search warrant would just happen like that, but now I think Becks set it up. He wanted to get inside that place and snoop around.” Hayley shrugged. “Anyway, the cops claimed to have found some unlicensed firearms and paraphernalia on the premises. She claimed all of it was hers and went to jail for three days until she could post bail. Never said where the weapons came from or the fact they were military-only, special ops kinds of equipment.”
“Nick never said a word about it.” Kyle frowned.
“I doubt she told him.” Hayley wrinkled her nose. “But she did it for him. And if that’s not a show of love and loyalty, I don’t know what is.”
“Well, she trusts you, Red.” Scotty laced his fingers through hers. “You will, of course, share all of the information you gather with us afterward, right?”
“And if I don’t cooperate?” she teased.
He raised her fingers to his lips and kissed each fingertip before turning her hand over and tracing his tongue along the delicate lines of her palm. “Then I’ll just have to torture you to get it. Your choice.”
“I’m sure this is in violation of some Geneva code somewhere.” She squirmed in her seat and tried to pull away again, but nothing could hide the flare of desire in her emerald eyes or the quickening of her breath as he concentrated his efforts on the thudding pulse point at her wrist.
“Torture takes many forms. Any violating that happens here will be mutually enjoyable.”
“Okay, eww.” Spencer said from the front of the van. “Get a room, will you?”
Scotty chuckled and straightened, placing their entwined fingers atop his thigh. “I’m almost hoping she doesn’t share intel.”
“I bet you are,” Hayley said, squeezing his fingers slightly.
Perhaps there was hope yet for this day, Scotty thought as they sped toward the hospital.
*
Half an hour later, Hayley nodded her head at the officers standing guard outside Natalie’s hospital room then stuck her head around the door. “Hey.”
“Hey,” Natalie said, her voice weak.
Various monitors beeped all around her and there were IV tubes coming from her arm. A bright white bandage covered her right shoulder and arm. She looked tired as hell and her dark hair stood out in disarray around her head. Hayley took a deep breath and stepped inside, closing She pulled a chair up next to Natalie’s bedside and took a seat. “How are you feeling?”
“Like shit.” Natalie snorted, then winced. “How are you doing?”
“Okay.” Hayley lifted up the edge of her shirt to show the bandages covering her left side. “It still stings like a son of a bitch though.”
“I bet.” Natalie gave a small smile then fiddled with the covers on her bed. “So.”
“So.” Considering everything that had happened over the past couple of hours, this would be the last quiet time the woman would have for a while. In fact, she’d passed several police officers and military investigators on her way to Natalie’s room, all of them chomping at the bit to get in here and question Nick’s widow. “It’s nice in here.”
“Yeah, if you like the industrial school of decorating.”
“Listen, Natalie. I—”
“No.” She held up a hand to silence Hayley. “I know what they’re saying about me and that there are men out there who can’t wait to get in here to drag me over the coals, but I have to know you believe me when I say I did not kill my husband or have anything to do with his death. I loved Nick. More than life. There’s nothing I wouldn’t have done to save him, if I could.”
Hayley hesitated, staring at the widow a long moment. Someone had killed Nick Matthews, but it was not this woman. “I do believe you.”
“Good.” Natalie stared at the window on the other side of the room, her expression wistful. “Growing up, I always thought I’d find a nice man, have a few kids, live happily ever after. But life hasn’t turned out that way for me.”
“You’re young,” Hayley said. Lame, but she didn’t know how else to respond. “You’ve got time.”
“Not me. I’m not starting all over again. At least romantically. Nick was it for me.”
“What are you talking about?” Hayley frowned. Maybe they’d given her some pain medicine that was making Natalie loopy.
The widow laughed, a short unpleasant sound. “Commander Brighton called me and offered me a deal. They report me dead from a gunshot wound and I get into Witness Protection—a fresh start, with a fresh identity in a fresh new place. Sounds perfect, right?”
Honestly, there were times Hayley had wished for that exact same thing herself. Especially now that her job at the FBI was essentially over. Except, if she left, that would mean leaving behind Scotty too, and he wasn’t something she was ready give up. From the widow’s melancholy expression, though, leaving her current life behind wasn’t exactly something Natalie embraced wholeheartedly either. She narrowed her gaze. “Why are you sad? This could be good.”
“Yeah, but it’s a start without Nick.” She blinked away tears and stared at the ceiling. “I should be thankful, I know. But it’s so hard, you know?”
“Yeah. I know.”
Natalie sniffed. “All he asked for in exchange is the letter Nick gave me right before he died.”
“A letter?” Hayley’s instincts went on high alert. Once an agent, always an agent. “What kind of letter?”
“Just a note Nick gave me, about a week before he left on his final mission. It didn’t say anything important, certainly nothing to get him killed over. There must be something valuable in it though. Otherwise, why would all these bigwigs be after it?”
“Good question. Do you have it with you?”
“No. I’m not an idiot.” Natalie gave her a disgusted look. “And I’m not giving it to them either. Just like I didn’t give them those files either. Hid them real good.”
Hayley’s ears perked up at the mention of the files. “And how are you going to get them to fulfill your deal then?”
“Nick was a romantic guy. He wrote me all sorts of letters.” She gave Hayley a smart little grin. “I’ll just slip them one of those instead while I keep my prize under lock and key.”
“Won’t they know the difference?”
“Yes, but not until I’m long gone again.” Natalie winked. “I like you, Agent Stevens. You remind me a lot of myself.”
“I do?”
“Yep. Smart, snarky, good in a crisis. Not to mention the fact you’ve fallen for a sexy SEAL.”
Hayley sighed, trying to suppress her smile and failing miserably. “We do have a lot in common, huh?”
“More than you know.”
“Say, I’ve been meaning to ask you. Who did you train with? From what I saw at the row house, you got some serious skills, girl.”
“No one local. And that was a long time ago. I’m strictly on my own these days.”
A knock sounded, interrupting their conversation
Special Agent Michael Carson, chairman of the FBI cyber-crimes division and Michelle’s supervisor, peeked his head around the door. “Hello, Agent Stevens. I was told you were here. I wondered if I might have a moment of your time.”
Eyes wide, Hayley glanced at Natalie again and they exchanged a look. She swallowed hard and forced a nervous smile. “Yes, sir. Of course. Give me just a moment.”
He nodded and left, the door creaking shut behind him.
“Natalie, is there anything you can tell me about Michael Becks? About the files you were hiding in that e-reader? Anything useful that might help the team clear their name and find out the truth about what happened to your Nick?”
“I—I wish I could, but I can’t.” What little color had stained the woman’s cheeks drained away and her eyes darted about the room, wild and scared. “Please don’t ask me to say anything. I wasn’t kidding before. These people are animals. They’ll kill me without a second thought.” Tears welled in her cheeks. “They killed my Nick. I wish they would’ve killed me too.”