by Susan Stoker
Abe repeated his question. “What’s going on? I can tell you aren’t telling me everything. You know I hate it when people lie. Tell me, Ice. Tell me now.”
Caroline didn’t like the hardness in Christopher’s voice, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to beat around the bush for much longer. She told him a watered down version of what had happened at her apartment.
“I got home from work and someone tried to break in. I hid in the bathroom until the cops got there and whoever it was left.”
Abe knew there was more to what happened than what she’d told him. Hell, she’d tried to downplay wrestling with a damn terrorist; there was no way that two sentence explanation was anywhere close to what had happened. Deciding to let it rest until they could see her in person, he informed her, “It’ll take us a bit to get over there, probably about five hours or so, but don’t you move from your apartment until we get there. Okay?”
Caroline hesitated.
“Okay, Ice?” Abe asked again impatiently when she didn’t immediately agree.
“I’m not at my apartment, Christopher.” Caroline told him in a small voice.
“Where the hell are you then?” Abe practically shouted at her.
Caroline flinched at the other end of the phone as she sat up in the chair. Her stomach hurt. This was horrible. She wanted Matthew and his team there, but she wanted them to be safe more. Why were they yelling at her? Crap. She drew her feet up and sat them on the chair by her butt. She grabbed her knees with one arm and held the phone to her ear with the other hand. She couldn’t deal with this on top of everything else. A new voice came on the other end of the phone.
Dude had taken the phone from Abe. “Ice? My name’s Dude and I’m on Wolf’s team. I take it you aren’t at home? Why don’t you tell me where you are and we can come and see in person that you’re okay.”
Caroline shook her head. “Sorry Faulkner, it is Faulkner right? I’m trying to match up everyone’s given names with nicknames. Matthew told me all about you guys, and I think I have it, but I could make a mistake.” Caroline knew she was stalling so she continued, “I don’t really know you though. I’m not telling someone I haven’t met where I am, even if you are in the same room as Matthew and Christopher.”
Silence followed her pronouncement, and yet another voice came at her from the other end of the phone.
“Ice, this is Mozart. You remember me right?”
Caroline snorted, and it came out as a half laugh and half sob. It looked they were going to keep passing the phone around until everyone on the team spoke with her. “Duh. Of course I do. You did such a pretty embroidery job on my side, Sam.” She tried to keep it light.
“That’s right. Now where are you?” Mozart cut to the chase, glad to hear her voice and know she seemed to be okay, but not happy at the way she was prevaricating. “Why aren’t you at your apartment?”
“It’s a long story, Sam, but I can’t tell you right now.”
“Why not, Ice? Please, you know you can trust us, we’ll help you.”
“I know, but I’m not allo…..I just can’t. Okay?”
“Allowed? You aren’t allowed to tell us? What the hell, Ice?” Mozart sputtered, getting more and more incensed and worried about her.
Wolf finally had himself under control and gestured for his phone back. Mozart saw that Wolf did indeed seem to have himself back under his iron control and handed the phone over while whispering urgently, “Find out what the hell’s going on and do it now. Something’s wrong.”
Wolf nodded curtly and tried to soften his tone when he spoke into the phone again. “Caroline? It’s Matthew.”
“I know,” Caroline told him softly, “I recognize your voice now.”
“I need to know where you are, honey,” Wolf pleaded, emotion coating his words, “Please.”
“Matthew, I’m not allowed to tell anyone. I’m not even supposed to be on the phone.”
Ignoring the “allowed” comment for the moment, Wolf tried to back up a bit. She’d get to it; he just had to make her feel safe with him again. In a tender voice, he urged, “Tell us what happened Caroline. Please. I’m going to put you on speaker so we can all hear you and you don’t have to repeat it.”
Caroline sighed. When Matthew spoke to her in that low urgent voice she really couldn’t deny him anything. She wasn’t happy about being on speaker, and having his entire team hear what had happened, but Matthew had a good point. She didn’t want to repeat her story a million times either.
“It was dark when I headed home from work and all the way home I felt like someone was watching me. Actually I felt that way all week.”
Before she could continue, Wolf interrupted her. “Why’d you leave work so late? Why didn’t anyone make sure you got home all right?”
Caroline hesitated; she didn’t want Faulkner, Hunter, or Kason to have to hear about how she was. “Matthew, I told you about me already. You know.”
Wolf gritted his teeth. Dammit.
Abe broke in before Wolf could say anything. “Caroline, it’s Abe. We might not have noticed you in the airport before we knew you, but any man who’s any kind of man would’ve made sure you got home all right.”
Caroline shook her head. They just didn’t understand. They were there. They’d seen the men on the plane leave with the pretty women and ignore her when she’d decided to stay at the airport. Hell, they’d left her there too. She willed the tears back. Now wasn’t the time. She had to get through this story.
“Anyway, so I felt like someone was following me, but I didn’t see anyone. When I got home, I heard someone at my door trying to get in. I opened the bedroom window that leads to the fire escape in the hopes whoever it was would think I heard him and went out that way. I then hid inside the shower in the bathroom and called 911. The lady that answered was so nice. She kept calm and tried to make sure I was calm.”
Wolf could hear the way her voice wobbled as she’d talked about calling for help while hiding in her damn shower. “You called me too,” he murmured in a low voice.
Forgetting she was on speaker and all of his team could hear her, she admitted, “Yeah. All I could think of is that if you’d been there, I’d have felt so much safer and you would’ve taken care of it…me.”
Jesus. Wolf tried to reassure her. He could hear in the tone of her voice how scared she’d been. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there. You’re right, I would’ve taken care of you.” After letting that sink in he urged her to continue. “Go on, tell us the rest.”
“Well, the police came and I told them what happened. The next thing I knew the FBI was there talking to me, telling me I had to go to a safe house.” She lowered her voice, “I don’t understand what’s going on, Matthew. The FBI wouldn’t really say why they thought I had to be put here. I don’t know who to trust and I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t think it had to do with the plane, but even if it did, I didn’t tell the FBI anything. I swear I didn’t, Matthew.”
“Shhh, I know you didn’t, hon. I promise we’ll figure this out. You trust us right? You trust me?”
“I do, Matthew. Out of everyone throughout this I trust you and Christopher and Sam.”
“Caroline, you can trust Benny, Cookie, and Dude too. Don’t trust anyone else but my team. No one. Understand?”
Caroline nodded, then remembering that he couldn’t see her, said, “Yeah, I understand. But I’ve never met your teammates, so I don’t know what they look like. How can I trust them if I wouldn’t know them on the street if I saw them?”
Wolf hadn’t thought of that. Abe spoke up.
“Ice, remember the code you used to let me know on the plane that something was wrong?”
Caroline had forgotten Christopher and the others could hear her conversation with Matthew.
“Yes,” she told him slowly.
“When you meet any of our team, we’ll use that signal in our handshake to you. So if someone says they’re Dude or Cookie or Benny, and you shake their h
and and they don’t give you the signal, you’ll know it’s not really them. Understand?”
“Okay, but is this really all necessary? You’re scaring me.” She said in a soft voice. “I’m just a chemist. Why me? I’m not cut out for any of this.”
Cookie cut in. “Ice, this is Cookie, first of all, thank you for saving my team’s sorry butts on the plane that day. And I understand why you’re having trust issues and that’s okay for now. But know while you’re deciding on whether or not you can trust us, we’ll be figuring out what’s going on and we’ll keep you safe. Okay?”
Caroline took a deep breath. “Okay, but you guys stay safe. I don’t know what’s going on, but you’d better not get hurt or caught up in whatever this is. I’m sure the FBI has it under control…Oh…someone’s coming. I have to go.”
Before she could hang up Wolf said softly. “We’re coming for you, Ice. Stay strong.” The phone connection was cut.
Wolf’s team sat there for a moment looking at each other.
Finally Cookie said, “We’ll figure this out, Wolf. We’ll keep your woman safe. We’ll stake our lives on it.”
“I’m counting on it Cookie. I’m counting on it,” Wolf responded softly, realizing again what his team already knew. Caroline was his. And he’d protect what was his. His team would protect her too. All because she was Wolf’s.
Chapter Fourteen
Caroline sat in the room in the little cabin not sure what was really going on. She’d talked to one of the FBI agents that was guarding her. He hadn’t told her much, but it was enough for her to make some deductions.
Apparently the hijacking attempt was part of a larger terrorist plan. The fact it hadn’t succeeded and airline security was heightened pissed off the terrorists and now they were after her. She wasn’t clear on how they even knew she was on the plane, nonetheless what had happened since all four of the terrorists on the plane were dead. That was the scariest part. Someone knew, and that person had passed her name along to terrorists. Terrorists for God’s sake.
Caroline felt as if she was in a movie. These things just didn’t happen to people like her. She was painfully ordinary. She wasn’t brave, she wasn’t a hero, she wasn’t cut out for this.
She worried about her job. She’d just started and now they were saying she couldn’t go back to it until they caught whoever was behind the threats and caught the people who were after her. Jesus, that could be any number of people. Caroline hated to think she might have to give up her profession, her job and be stuffed away into the Witness Protection Program. She had no idea what her new boss thought. He’d probably written her off by now and was looking into hiring someone new.
The worst thought about having to go into the Witness Protection Program was losing Matthew. She was just getting to know him. She wasn’t naïve enough to think they’d end up married or anything, they’d only started seeing each other and getting to know each other, but the thought of leaving and never getting the chance to get to know him better was depressing. Figures, just when she found the sexiest man she’d ever seen, and he seemed interested in her, she’d have to disappear forever.
She sighed. She couldn’t even talk to Matthew because the FBI agent caught her when she hung up with Matthew and his team and took her phone away. The FBI agent had been mad, but she was mad too. It wasn’t fair. What was she supposed to do in this stupid cabin? Why couldn’t she talk to anyone? How many times had people been brought to cabins for their safety only to die because someone snuck up on it? She didn’t know if she’d feel any safer in the city in an apartment, but out here she felt exposed.
She’d heard the phone ring a few times while she was in her room, but ignored it. It was the FBI agent’s phone. Caroline stayed on her bed. She wasn’t sleeping, but she was so tired. She wanted nothing more than to be able to fall into a dreamless sleep, but every time she closed her eyes, she relived the hijacking and had other dreams about faceless enemies shooting at her and trying to kill her. She hadn’t had the nightmares since she’d been with Matthew in the hotel, but after the break-in they’d returned with a vengeance.
It had been a couple of days since she’d spoken with Matthew and his team. When she’d talked to him, he’d said it’d take about five hours to get to her apartment, but she hadn’t told them where she was now. She wouldn’t, even if she knew exactly where she was. If anything happened to them because of her, she’d never forgive herself. Caroline didn’t know what was going on, but she certainly didn’t want to bring anyone else into it. And besides, she tried to tell herself, they’d just gotten back from a mission and needed their rest too. She was on her own, just as she’d always been.
Caroline didn’t know how long she’d been sitting on her bed zoning out when she heard voices in the other room. She didn’t get up. It was just the agents switching out. She waited for one to knock on the door, introduce himself and to check on her. It’d been what had happened every other time someone new had come. When she continued to hear the voices she went to her door and opened it. She was shocked. Matthew! What was he doing here? How had he found her? What was going on?
Wolf smiled at Caroline. She looked great…well, not really. She looked tired and stressed, but he was so very glad to see her. He turned back to the agent. It’d taken his team a while, with Tex’s help, to track Caroline down, and none of them liked what they’d found out in the process.
Wolf had talked to their commander back in San Diego, and convinced him there was something big going down and that he and his team needed to be here. His commander agreed there was a leak somewhere, in the FBI most likely, and promised he’d look into it discretely.
His commander told Wolf their actions wouldn’t be sanctioned by the Navy, but he’d do what he could to keep the heat off of them. He also allowed them to stay in Virginia and unofficially officially work the case. He’d greased some wheels with people he knew in both the FBI and the Navy, and they were now officially working together.
There was a double agent in the FBI. That was the only thing that made sense. Someone had leaked information back to the terrorist organization about what had happened on that plane, and had told them Caroline had a role in the failure of the mission. As a result, Caroline had a bounty on her head. The terrorists wanted her dead. They figured if they couldn’t reach the SEALs responsible, they’d kill Caroline. Wolf was furious. Unknowingly he’d been responsible for her being in the damn safe house and being in danger.
Wolf was also scared. Being scared was a new feeling for him. He wasn’t scared for himself, he never was. He knew what he could and couldn’t do and he knew he could handle anything the terrorists threw at him. He was scared for Caroline. He’d never felt that way about another human being before in his life. He always could take or leave women, but not Caroline. In the short time he’d gotten to know her he was impressed as hell by her outlook on life and how she’d handled herself on that plane.
Wolf knew there weren’t a lot of people that could’ve done what she’d done.
So he and his team, thanks to his commander back in San Diego pulling strings, were now a part of the team protecting Caroline. They had no idea who the double agent was, but at least this way they could protect Caroline while searching for the bastard.
Abe, Benny, Dude, Mozart and Cookie were currently checking out the lay of the land around the cabin the FBI had stashed her in. They were setting up perimeters and making sure that nothing could get to the cabin without first alerting them. The men would take turns being on watch. There was no question about who would be in the cabin with Caroline. That was Wolf’s woman in there, and they’d all protect their team leader and his woman.
Caroline didn’t know what the hell was going on, only that she’d been thinking about Matthew and suddenly he was there. He looked wonderful. Strong, capable…and completely out of her league. Caroline smiled back at Matthew absently then went back into her room and shut the door. This was going to kill her. She wasn’t sure what he was
doing there, but obviously the FBI agent was expecting him.
After a bit of time had passed, Wolf knocked softly on Caroline’s door.
“May I come in, Ice?” he asked. When there was no answer he turned the knob and opened the door. Caroline was sitting on the bed, her back against the wall, knees up to her chest with her arms grasping them tightly. She looked heartbreakingly vulnerable.
Wolf left the door open and walked over where she was sitting. He sat down gingerly at the end of the bed. It took everything he had not to take her in his arms and hold her tight. She scared the hell out of him with her phone message and it wasn’t until right now, seeing she was okay, that he could slightly relax.
“What are you doing here, Matthew?” She asked softly.
“I’m here because you’re here,” he answered honestly.
Caroline just shook her head. “I don’t understand. You don’t really know me. I don’t understand why you’d be here. You can’t be here.”
Matthew knew she was confused. Hell, he was a bit confused himself. He tried to explain. “There’s something between us, Caroline,” he said honestly. “I can’t explain it any better than you can. The kisses we shared were the most honest and arousing I’ve ever had in my life. You know how badly I wanted to lay you down and love you all night long. You have no idea how you tested my willpower every night when I tucked you into your bed. I wanted to join you there and show you how much I liked you, being with you.”
Caroline sucked in a breath, not believing what he was saying.
“Yeah, you heard me right. I got harder just kissing you than any other time I’ve been with a woman. But it’s not only sex. I like you. You’re intelligent, fun to be around, and I want to know everything about you. When I heard you were in trouble, there was no place I needed to be more than here with you. Protecting you. Making sure you’re safe.” When she didn’t say anything, but continued to stare at him with her big brown eyes, he asked, “Why did you really call me that day in your apartment Caroline? Be honest.”