by Mayer, Dale
There’d been no time. And she’d go home soon. Sure she wasn’t far away but it was a few hours. Same as Hawk and Mia, although there was talk of Mia moving closer. The thought of Eva a long way away was a punch in his gut. He wasn’t going to live that way. Long distance relationships were hell. Yet he could hardly move her closer. She had land together with her brother. And animals that needed her. She was country. He lived on base. Like so not compatible. He wouldn’t leave the SEALs but neither could he ask her to leave the animals. They were both important.
In Mason and Tesla’s case, the government was all over her. She could work wherever she wanted to. So the base was perfect for her and Mason’s relationship. Hawk was working on Mia, and it looked like that was going to happen. Mariella, Dane’s partner was already in San Diego so that was perfect. It was him and Eva that wasn’t.
Then his head was in the clouds and he needed to get into the game. Not her.
He groaned and leaned his head back. And once again scraped the roof of the cab. He swore under his breath.
“Did you hit your head?” She asked sleepily beside him.
“Again, no worries. It’s normal for him,” Hawk said in a teasing tone. “The guy doesn’t fit anywhere.”
So damn true and never had he felt like he didn’t fit the surroundings more than he did right now. And hated it.
“He fits everywhere,” Eva said stoutly, shifting to a sitting position. “Besides he’s special, we have to make allowances.”
Hawk gave a shout of laughter. Swede glared at him.
And that just sent Hawk off in a series of chuckles.
Swede sank as much as he could in the seat and glared out the window.
“You should be nice to him, Hawk,” Eva scolded. “He’s your friend.”
That just sent Hawk into louder laughter.
“Glad you’re enjoying this,” Swede snapped.
“Oh I am. Been there, done that, and so damn glad to be on the other side.”
“Other side of what,” Eva said. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Swede watched as Eva got mad at her brother. Good, it took the heat off him. He listened in amusement as she ripped into her bother in defense of him.
Only it was having the opposite effect. Hawk was laughing out of control with every new scold she sent him.
This had to stop.
He dragged her onto his lap and said, “You’re wasting your time.”
Only she was too incensed at her brother to hear him. Swede sighed and figured there was only one way to stop her. He snagged her chin and sealed her mouth with his and kissed her. Long, deep and hard.
The fight went out of her instantly.
And him.
Whatever was going on here – it was already over for him.
She was his. Come what may, they’d just have to work it out. Because he wasn’t letting her go.
Ever.
When he lifted his head, she collapsed against him and snapped in a voice that held no heat, “You have to stop doing that.”
“Doing what?” he said in amusement.
“Scrambling my brains,” she muttered.
“Never.”
Hawk snickered at his side.
Swede tore his glance away from the woman collapsed in his arms to her brother and his best friend. As if waiting for the judgment. Waiting for the fury. Waiting for him to say the words that showed his disapproval.
Instead, Hawk, still grinning, managed to say, “Damn well time.”
Eva straightened, opened her mouth to question her brother, but Swede pulled her back against him. “Enough,” he said. “Leave it now.”
She shot him a look. “Who died and made you boss.”
He grinned and said with humor threading his voice, “Good thing I like spitfires.”
Chapter 21
She shook her head. “You aren’t making any sense.”
Well, he was making sense, but she didn’t quite believe it. And she wasn’t sure she wanted him. Well she did, but she wanted the whole thing. The marriage, the white house and picket fence and the kids. She figured that if he ever heard that part, he’d book it back to the base and stay there. He was commitment phobic. Like her brother.
No, like her brother had been. And if Hawk had changed then maybe Swede could too. Only it was too damn confusing. All of it.
Hard pings slammed into the truck.
Hawk gunned it, but the truck ground to a hard slamming halt – as the engine died. She’d have gone tumbling if Swede hadn’t grabbed her. He was out of the vehicle, her in his arms as he hit the ground running for the trees.
Belatedly she realized someone was shooting at them.
She peered over Swede’s back to see her brother sending return fire as he raced behind them.
She clung to Swede’s neck, petrified as her brother followed. They dashed into the trees, and she was slammed against a trunk with Swede standing protectively over her, a gun in his hand. Where had he gotten that one? She shuddered as more bullets fired in her direction, then Swede returned fire.
“Hawk?” she screamed. “Where are you?”
“I’m here, sis, not to worry,” he said from beside her. “I’m safe.”
“Oh thank God.”
“Don’t be too thankful yet,” he said, “We’re pinned down.”
“Maybe not,” Swede said. “I took one out for sure.”
“I know I hit one but don’t think it was enough to kill him.”
“They’ll likely finish him off for you,” Swede said. “They don’t seem to be worried about keeping any man who isn’t fully functioning.”
“Right. Soldiers are only good as long as they can fight.”
“How far are we from the hacienda?” she asked. “Surely it can’t be far.”
“It isn’t. It’s just over the rise, but we still have to cross too much open ground to make it.”
“And they have more men they can call on,” Hawk said.
“We do too,” Eva said. “There’s Mason and Dane. And Shadow is out there somewhere.”
An odd sounding single shot rang out in the hot afternoon air.
“What was that?” she asked in a panic.
“That,” Swede said with a great deal of satisfaction to his voice, “was Shadow.”
She brightened. A second shot rang out then a flurry of gunfire was exchanged at a distance.
Silence.
“Shit, is he okay?”
“Knowing Shadow he was long gone by the time the bullet left the barrel.”
“Maybe, but not everyone can stay hidden forever. He’s been very lucky up to now.”
“Luck?” Hawk said in a pained voice. “Do I have to remind you again, we are SEALs. Luck had nothing to do with it.”
She snorted.
A bird’s cry sounded overhead.
“Good. That’s Shadow.”
“So we’re safe?”
“Yeah, he’s taken out the shooters.”
“What if others are out there we don’t know about,” she said nervously. Swede went to step out into the open, but she grabbed his hand and pulled him back. “Don’t, it’s not safe.”
He patted her hand. “If Shadow says it’s safe, it’s safe. We trust each other.”
“But he might have missed one. Everyone makes mistakes.”
Both Hawk and Swede looked at her and rolled their eyes. She groaned.
“Fine then, I’ll go first.” And before they could stop her she stepped out into the open.
Swede grabbed her and slammed her back into the bushes.
“Ha,” she snapped. “I thought it was safe.”
He glared at her. “It is. But like hell you’re going out there first.”
Hawk laughed. “Come on, we’re going to have to get her away from here. Then we’re shutting down the rebel camp. Let’s get her to the hacienda and the authorities.”
Eva had been happy to walk out of cover with the men and had even taken a few steps in the direction
of the hacienda when she heard his words. She spun on him. “What?”
Hawk winced. “Eva…” he warned.
She shook her head. “Oh no you don’t. You’re not leaving me to clean this shit up.”
“That’s not what I meant,” he snapped. “And you know it.”
With a glare meant to incinerate him, she said, “So who the hell do you think they are going to look to for answers when you’re not there? They aren’t going to listen to a word I say. They are going to throw me in jail and keep me there until this mess is sorted out.” She wound up as she spoke. “Like hell you’re going to dump me with them.”
“Now, Eva, be reasonable…” Swede started to say.
She rounded on him and poked him in the chest with her index finger. “Don’t say it. This is not a good plan. Hell, it’s no plan at all. I’m still in danger and now from the authorities as well. I’m not…” she poked him again, “going to be the only one left standing…” she rose to her tiptoes to glare up at him, “to deal with them.”
“She has a point. They’ll try to keep her until the US government clears this up.”
“Like that’s going to happen.” She turned on her brother. “Do they know you are here? Do they know what you are doing? Or is it all hush hush again?”
“Of course it’s hush hush, but that doesn’t mean we can walk into another country and do what we want without letting them know. All the countries talk. We have agreements and join forces a lot of the time.”
“But that doesn’t mean the local yahoos at the hacienda are going to know anything about it though, are they?” At the look on his face, she settled back. “Exactly. And I’m not the patsy who’s going to try and explain this nightmare to them.”
*
Swede looked from Hawk to her and back to her brother. “She’s right.”
“I don’t care if she is or not, I’m not going to take my sister into an op that’s dangerous as all hell.”
Eva snorted. “Too late.”
She was right there. “Let’s go to the hacienda so I can gather my stuff – my passport at the very least so I can get home safely.” She took a deep breath. “Then stash me somewhere safely and go do your thing.”
He glared at her. “It’s hardly that easy.”
She glanced at the damaged truck. “It would have been easier if there were still wheels so I could drive to the closest town and grab a room for the night.” She shrugged and resolutely started walking back to the hacienda. “Regardless, I have to have my wallet and ID.”
They could get her back in without it but having her passport made life that much easier. Given the circumstances they could do without it though. His prime concern was keeping her safe. Who knew who had been paid off at any level of the government? They hadn’t arrived when they should have, and who knew if the ones coming weren’t going to just shoot her on first sight.
And she had a valid point. How was she to explain the mess of bodies and exclude their presence? If the men coming didn’t know about the joint operation – and they wouldn’t – then of course they would look at anything she said with suspicion?
He fell into step. Best would be if they could get the stuff they needed and get her into town until they could return. If they didn’t return she’d be able to get home on her own.
And if they did return then they’d take her back with them. With permission or not. He didn’t particularly care at this point.
She was going home, and he was going to make sure she got there safe and sound.
Chapter 22
She crested the hill, more tired and worn out than she thought possible but using temper to keep her muscles moving forward. She stopped and looked ahead. It was there. A deceptively innocent look to the place. She shook her head. She wanted to go home and never leave again. This had been the trip from hell.
The back pasture looked the same as she’d seen it last time. With the men walking quietly behind her, she entered the first barn, grateful of the coolness of the interior and walked with Swede now slightly ahead through to the second barn. “Where have they been put?”
“They were here.” He motioned to the stall up ahead. He leaned over for a look and froze.
“What is it?”
He spun and looked around as if to reorient himself. “They’re gone.”
“What?” Hawk said. “Really?” He reached the other stall and shook his head. He quickly ran up one side and down the other, checking on each. “There’s no sign of them here.”
“The authorities,” Eva said. “They must have come and gone.”
The men looked at her then at each other before bolting for the main house. She was right behind them. In the kitchen they stopped and listened.
Eva chafed at the bit. She wanted to race to her room, grab her stuff and run. As in all the way back home.
She was tired, sore and desperately in need of some sleep. And her feet were killing her. She studied the runners never meant for hard walking in the brush. They were pretty much destroyed. And she had blisters on her heels. Still, she was alive and safe. She could live with a few blisters.
*
Where the hell were the bodies?
“They have to be somewhere,” he said. “Unless like Eva said, they’ve been loaded up and hauled away.”
“I hope so.” Hawk led the way through the kitchen into the living room, Swede on his heels. There was no one there. Swede strode to the front door and stared out the window. “There are no vehicles here.”
“Not now. Could they have been and gone and done what they needed to do in the time we were gone?”
Swede looked down at his watch. “Not in our country. This place would be cordoned off and we’d have teams of people for something this large.”
“But we’re not at home and we don’t know that the authorities have even arrived yet,” Hawk said looking around. “Where were the victims lying?”
Swede pointed to the bloodstains on the floor – at least he tried too. It was a wooden floor and from the looks of it someone had attempted to clean up the blood with some kind of hot steamer. The wood still had a moist look to the finish. “Someone is trying to make it look like this never happened.”
Eva ran forward. “How? There were bodies here and here.” She pointed out several other locations. “But it’s all been mopped up.”
Swede walked back to the kitchen. “The blood back here is gone too.”
They looked at each other in confusion. “I have to find my bag,” Eva cried suddenly. “If they cleaned up, did they remove my belongings?” She bolted for the upstairs, the men behind her. Hawk called out, “There was no visible blood in the stall either.”
“No, easy enough to throw new straw on top of the old or take the old away with them. Another few weeks of this dust, and it won’t be visible anyway.”
“Straw is used specifically for soaking up messes like that to begin with so chances are good very little if any of the blood made it to the bottom of the stall.”
“Which was dirt floor not wooden boards.”
“So even less to clean up.”
Swede stopped at the open doorway, letting Eva race inside. In a low voice, he muttered to Hawk, “We need to check on the women who went home.”
“Right.” Hawk moved off a few steps and made a few calls.
Swede turned his attention back to Eva.
“Is it here?”
“My sweater is not. My passport…” she lifted the mattress and checked the underside pocket of the sheet, “Is!” She pulled out her wallet that had a side pocket big enough to hold her passport.
“So they missed that,” he said in an admiring tone of voice. “Nice.”
“But the rest of my clothes and overnight bag are gone,” she said looking around.
“But you hid your purse? Why?”
She smiled. “Hawk’s influence to never be too trusting. With everything crazy going on, I didn’t want someone to grab my ID and run off with it.”
He nodded. “Good thing. But you’re sure your clothes and bags…”
“They aren’t here.” She slammed the door shut then walked back to the closet she’d already checked. She spun around, looked at the single bed and dropped to the floor. “Someone tried to erase the fact that I was ever here.”
“And the fact that anything happened.”
She rubbed her forehead. “What the hell is going on?”
“I don’t know. But we will find out.” He motioned at her to come out. “We’ll check the other rooms to make sure you weren’t just moved to a different bedroom while Hawk makes his calls.”
In a systematic way, they searched each of the other bedrooms. “They are all empty.”
Eva turned to look at Swede. “Let’s check Isabella’s room. And Lena’s. Surely that will answer some of these questions.”
With Hawk’s agreement they all headed downstairs. Swede had sent a message to the others letting them know what they’d found. Surely someone had answers.
At Isabella’s room, they realized there’d be no answers here.
It had been stripped clean. Including the bedding.
With a horrible thought formulating in the back of his mind, Swede went through the motions of searching the room. But it had been cleaned out.
“Why?”
“Because they didn’t want the men’s bodies bringing up questions as to where they came from,” he said softly.
She shook her head in confusion.
He didn’t blame her. This was too bizarre.
Hawk stepped up into the room. “Apparently there was a lot of publicity involved with this rescue?” He quirked an eyebrow at Eva.
She nodded. “Some for sure. Not tons as Isabella wanted none of it actually. So we tried to keep it down.” She smiled at the memory. “Isabella was quite upset when she heard that Janice had planned a media reception at the other end.”
“Well, the horses arrived safely.”
“Oh good.” Eva’s face widened into a big grin.
“But the women…” he took a deep breath and added, “are in the hospital.”
She gasped, her hand going to her chest. “But they should have been safe. They were home.”