Love Lies Beneath_Barefoot Bay

by Jen Talty

  He palmed her cheek, kissing her lips gently. “I had to fall into one eventually, I suppose.”

  Ring. Ring.

  They both jumped at the sound of the hotel phone.

  “It’s close to midnight,” she said, pulling the sheet over her body.

  “Let me get it,” he said, reaching over her body to get the phone. “Hello?”

  “Mitch, it’s Riggs. Sorry to bother you. I tried Ashley’s phone, but got nothing. We need to talk.”

  “About?” Mitch swallowed while Ashley mouthed ‘who is it?’

  “That information Derek gave me. Can you come to my room?” Riggs asked.

  That couldn’t be good. “Sure. Give me ten.”

  “Who was that?” Ashley asked, pulling the covers up to her chin.

  “Your father. He wants to talk to me about what happened earlier with Derek.”

  She narrowed her eyes, glaring at him.

  He’d never talked about his past with anyone since he’d been given his new life. There had been no reason to. For all intents and purposes, Marcus Nuniez was dead and gone, but something told him that whatever Derek had slipped to Riggs had to do with his past life, which could bring his mother’s wrath down on everyone he’d come to care about.

  “What aren’t you telling me? I can’t stand lying. I won’t tolerate it.”

  He couldn’t blame her for her reaction, considering. Though, how was she going to feel if she knew who he really was?

  “I’m not exactly sure. Derek implied that I was dangerous.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  Mitch hiked up his pants, before sitting on the edge of the bed. “There is one thing in my past that only half a dozen or so people know about. I’m honestly breaking all sorts of laws even mentioning it to you, but I do want to be honest.”

  “Are you a danger to me or my family?” she asked, her dark eyes laden with concern.

  “Not me personally, but my mother certainly is.”

  Chapter 8

  MITCH FINISHED buttoning his shirt as he hightailed it down the hallway. Riggs stood at the doorway, waiting.

  “What’s going on?” Mitch asked as he stepped into the room.

  “You’re not going to like this.” Riggs handed him a piece of paper with an old newspaper clipping of Marcus Nuniez’s obituary and a picture of his mother.

  “Fuck,” Mitch crumpled the paper in his fist, hurling it at the window. It hit the glass with a ping before floating to the floor unceremoniously. Mitch folded his arms, staring out the window. He always knew that one day this could happen, and he’d be plucked from his current life, and tossed into a new identify.

  Only, he knew that would never work. Once he was outed, his mother would never stop searching for him and kill him with her own two hands.

  He wa barely seventeen when the FBI agent first approached him as he hung out with some friends, cutting school. The agent had told him he had two choices.

  Help him nail his mother and get a new life, free and clear.

  Or end up in jail with his mother.

  The only thing Mitch had known for sure was that he’d already been forced to commit crimes that he could have served at least seven years for. None of his crimes included hurting anyone, but his mother was just waiting for the right time to add murder to his rap sheet.

  He’d rather die, so turning on his mother wasn’t a difficult decision.

  Only, in the end, his mother managed to escape arrest. Thankfully, the FBI held true to their promise.

  “We need to call the director of the FBI,” Mitch said.

  “He happens to be a close, personal friend, so I already called him. He and I both agree until we know what Derek wants, we do nothing.”

  Doing nothing would get them all killed.

  “You and Ashley should leave now. Take her somewhere safe, and away from me. I’ll handle this from here.”

  “Like hell you will,” Riggs said, putting his hand on Mitch’s shoulder, spinning him around. “If Derek went off and did something that stupid, I’m not letting you deal with it alone. You had my back once, it’s the least I can do.”

  “I appreciate the thought. But I won’t put you or Ashley in the line of fire. My mother shows no mercy, and my betrayal, if she finds out, will set her off on a rampage that I doubt any of us can stop.”

  Riggs held up his cell phone. “Let’s find out what Derek is up to, and then we will talk about what we should do, okay?”

  Mitch shook his hands out. His stomach churned, sending a bitter taste to his mouth. “I want to strangle that asshole. If he even spoke to one person about who I am…” He rubbed the back of his neck as he remembered watching his mother slit the throat of a lover of hers who had lied.

  “What did you tell Ashley?” Riggs asked.

  “I told her enough that she knows my mother isn’t a very nice person, but not enough that she would put it together.”

  “For now, the less she knows the better, but when this blows over, will you feel comfortable telling her the truth?”

  Mitch had no idea how to answer that question. He’d never thought he’d have a woman in his life that would last more than a few months. Any short-term girlfriend he’d had over the years told him that he kept the world at arm’s length.

  He never denied that but refused to open up.

  “Do you have your phone?” Riggs asked.

  Mitch nodded. His mind raced, unable to slow down, playing out all the worst-case scenarios, searching for one that could ensure he’d end up alive, and with Ashley in his arms.

  Not a single one had that happy ending.

  “Text her and tell her to stay put. Knowing my daughter, she’s already forming her own plan.”

  “Yes, sir,” Mitch said. His hands trembled as he fumbled with his phone.

  Mitch: Promise me you will stay put until you hear from me or your dad.

  Ashley: Now you’re really scaring me.

  Mitch: Just promise me, okay?

  Ashley: I don’t like making promises like this. You owe me an explanation.

  He wasn’t sure if he could ever tell her the entire ugly truth, something he should have thought about before he let himself fall for her.

  Mitch: I know and we’ll talk after your dad and I have a conversation with Derek.

  Ashley: Okay. I’ll stay put, but if I don’t hear from you soon, I will come looking.

  “She’ll stay in the room, for now.” His heart tightened. He should have known the moment he tried to settle down, have a resemblance of a normal life, his mother would rear her ugly head. “I need to know that if he’s tipped my mother off, that you’ll take Ashley away from here, and me.”

  Riggs nodded. “I texted Derek, and he just responded saying he’ll be up in a few minutes.” Riggs pointed to the bathroom. “I want you to stay in there until either he leaves, or I give you a signal.”

  “This is a bad idea,” Mitch said, shaking his head. “My mother could be on her way here already.”

  Riggs placed both hands on Mitch’s shoulders, much like a father would a son.

  Mitch held his breath. He never had a father, or a father figure. He’d had no positive male influences in his life until he joined the Navy. Even then, close relationships with men—well anyone, for that matter—made him uncomfortable. He could trust his brothers in battle, and he got as close to them as he could.

  But a small part of him had been locked up so tight, he’d even forgotten it was there.

  “I know this is upsetting, but we need to find out what Derek has done. For all we know, he’s just fucking with us because he can.”

  “I mean you no disrespect, sir, and you know I care about Ashley, but Derek has proven his kind of messing with people includes invading their privacy. He has a big mouth and an inflated ego. The fact he knows, or suspects, puts me in danger, and if Ashley is with me, well, the thought is unspeakable.”

  “I understand your point. I’d like to believe he isn’
t stupid enough to have unleashed the beast.”

  “Stupidity has nothing to do with it. It’s all false ego.”

  Knock, knock.

  Riggs pointed to the bathroom.

  Reluctantly, Mitch hid, keeping the light off.

  “I take it you read my note,” Derek said, his voice muffled from the thick door.

  “I don’t understand. Why would you send me information on a drug lord and her dead son?” Riggs said.

  Mitch wanted to bust into the room and rip Derek’s lungs out.

  “Marcus isn’t dead. Marcus is Mitch,” Derek said matter-of-factly.

  “That makes no sense at all. If that were true, how the hell would he manage to become a decorated Navy SEAL?”

  “I don’t know. What is important here, is the fact he’s dangerous, and I thought you should know since he’s now dating Ashley.”

  “And because you care so much about her.”

  Mitch balled his fists.

  “Actually, I did care for her very much. But that was a long time ago. The point is Mitch’s mother is on the top ten most wanted list.”

  “I’m well aware of the list and who is on it,” Riggs said, his tone even, but laced with a tinge of frustration. “I’m also painfully aware of how you hurt my girl and then tried to discredit Mitch during the investigation of our fight, which I might add had more to do with your fuck up on the op than my daughter. Unless you have some kind of proof of this crazy story, I suggest you drop it and leave.”

  “You do know it’s believed Nuniez is getting into the terrorism business, right?”

  Mitch had tried not to obsess with his mother’s dealings. He didn’t google her, ever. Whatever showed up on a newsfeed, or what the FBI told him, which was only when her known whereabouts was close to him, was all he needed to know.

  “Mitch could be part of that.”

  Mitch sucked in a breath, squeezing his fists so tight his hands turned white.

  Thud!

  “You better watch your tongue, young man. You don’t go accusing fine men of such atrocities.”

  “I know he’s Marcus Nuniez.”

  “Can you prove it? Tell me how you know this to be true? Where is the documentation?”

  “Operation Native.”

  Mitch tried to swallow but couldn’t. He could barely suck in any air. Six months ago, he’d been informed of his mother’s efforts in arming homegrown terrorists and about a joint task force to investigate and take her down. The moment the military got involved in his mother’s activities, he should have known this could happen. If his mother was, indeed, hot on his trail, he needed to get Ashley away from him as soon as possible.

  “What about it?” Riggs asked.

  “I’m on the task force, so I know what I’m talking about,” Derek said.

  “This is all bullshit, and you know it. Get the fuck out of my room.”

  A few seconds ticked by before the door clicked closed.

  Mitch stepped the bathroom, his heart pounding in his chest. Blood roared through his ears. “He knows,” he said, facing Riggs, looking him in the eye.

  “He doesn’t know for sure. He wouldn’t be given that kind of clearance. And even if he was, your current name is redacted on all files.”

  “And you know this how?”

  “I read them.”

  “Sir, that doesn’t make me feel any better,” Mitch said. “It makes me wonder how many others have seen confidential files.”

  “I’ve always known who you were.” He pointed to the scars on his face. “I was part of the raid that supposedly ended your life.”

  “That’s where the scars are from?” Mitch swallowed his heart. The raid he’d help the FBI set up went very wrong quickly. At the last minute, as she often did, his mother changed the plans and while Mitch had been able to get the FBI her changes, it had been too late for them to adjust. There were four military fatalities that day, and dozens of injuries.

  “I helped Scarpelli pull you from the building, setting up your death.”

  “Jesus,” Mitch muttered. The last time his mother had seen him alive, she’d used him as a shield to get herself out. He’d been shot twice. Once in the arm and once in the leg. They let her go to save him. A fact he struggled with often.

  “When I was put on special investigation for punching one of my men, because I knew what was in that file of yours, I was able to make sure it stayed suppressed.”

  Mitch covered his face as he lowered himself onto the edge of the bed. The first twenty years of his life passed in front of his eyes. All the beatings. Watching innocent people die at the hands of his mother. It still amazed him that anyone would lift a finger to help out the son of such a monster.

  “The last thing I remember was my mother shoving me to the side right before an explosion.”

  “When we found you, you were unconscious and near death. That’s when we knew we could make Marcus go away forever, and Mitch was born. Every once in a while, I’d check in on what you were doing from a distance, so imagine my surprise when you ended up on that op and then being the one to stand up for me. You’re a good soldier, and you’ve become a great man. I’m not going to let anyone take that away from you.”

  Mitch sucked in a deep breath, letting those words sink in. He wasn’t a little boy anymore, and he had made a good life for himself, with the help of some exceptional people. He rose, standing at attention. “Thank you, sir.”

  Riggs slapped Mitch’s shoulder. “I’m going to break you of that sir crap if it’s the last thing I do.”

  “Doubtful.” Mitch had so much more he wanted to say to Riggs, but it would have to wait. “Let’s call the Feds and find out if my mother is on the move. If she is, let’s take this bitch out once and for all.”

  Chapter 9

  ASHLEY SAT CROSS-LEGGED on the bed, staring at her phone.

  Dad: It’s nothing to worry about.

  Right.

  Ashley: Then why did Mitch tell me to stay in my room? What’s going on? Should I be worried about him? You? Myself?

  Dad: Not right now.

  Ashley: What does that mean?

  Dad: It means relax. Take a bath. Watch TV. Go to sleep. Mitch will be back shortly. We’re just checking on a few things.

  “What things?” she muttered.

  Nothing like being vague about a situation.

  It reminded her of the day her mother had pulled her from school because her father had been in an accident. Some training exercise gone wrong, only Ashley knew better. It had been a mission. She understood why he’d been vague regarding his work, but this was different.

  Ashley: Are you coming back soon?

  Immediately, her phone let her know that Mitch had read the text, and the little bubble appeared. She tapped her finger on the back of her cell, waiting for the response.

  Mitch: Twenty minutes, tops. I know you’re frustrated. I’ll explain when I return.

  Frustrated was an understatement.

  Ashley: OK

  She tossed her phone to the bed and padded her way into the bathroom, turning on the water over the tub. Might as well take a bath while she waited, otherwise, she’d drive herself nuts. A million questions buzzed in Ashley’s mind, but the one that stuck out the most was how on earth was her father and her ex-boyfriend connected to Mitch’s mother.

  “Shit.” She’d left her Kindle on the nightstand. Tugging the robe tight around her waist, she pulled open the bathroom door.

  A tall, slender woman with dark hair and a stunning dark complexion stood in the middle of the room.

  “Who the hell are you?” Ashley asked before it registered that the woman held a large handgun. Ashley stepped back, gripping the door handle.

  “I’m your worst nightmare.” She waved her gun. “Get on the bed.”

  Every inch of Ashley’s body trembled from the inside out. She tried to control it as she did what the woman asked.

  “What do you want with me?”

  “Not
hing, sweetheart,” the woman said, pulling out a roll of duct tape.

  Ashley swallowed, fighting the tears stinging the corners of her eyes. Her pulse hammered as if she’d just ran a marathon. The hardness of her cell phone pressed against her ass as she stared at the woman with the gun. Her eyes were the same royal blue as Mitch’s.

  “Then why are you in my room with a gun?”

  “Have you ever heard of the phrase collateral damage?”

  Anger roared from the pit of Ashley’s stomach. For the most part, Ashley had always been easygoing, but she couldn’t tolerate someone being condescending or treating her like an idiot.

  “I’m familiar with the term.”

  “Now that you know what you are, cross your ankles and hold out your hands.” The woman pointed the gun at Ashley’s chest.

  “You’re Mitch’s mom, aren’t you?” Ashley shifted, worried Mitch would come barreling into the room, causing her to pull the trigger. She held her shaky hands out, flinching when the woman wrapped her wrists tightly with sticky tape.

  “You mean Marcus.”

  “Who?”

  The woman laughed. “You have no idea who you’ve bed, do you?”

  Ashley narrowed her eyes, her mind trying to reconcile the idea that Mitch had been lying to her all along and the fact some woman held her at gun point. “You’re as bad as my father when it comes to riddles.”

  The woman shoved one of the chairs to the side of the bed, angling it toward the door. “My name is Renee Nuniez, and the man you are fucking is my son, Marcus. Shortly after he walks through that door, he’s going to watch you die, and then I’m going to kill him, the ungrateful son of a bitch.”

  ***

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Mitch said, wishing he could slam his fist through the wall.

  “We don’t know she’s headed here,” Riggs said, though his tone wasn’t too convincing.

  Mitch’s phone buzzed. “It’s Ashley.” He tapped the answer. “Hey, I’ll be right there.”

  Nothing. Well, he heard something. The television maybe muffled in the background, but he couldn’t make it out. Then it cut out. He cocked his head, looking at the phone.

  “Call her back,” Riggs said.