He whirled on her. “But I don't want to go to Washington. I want to go back to Cinci and wait this out."
"That's not an option. I've been given an order."
"I'm not in the military anymore. He can't order me around."
"Be reasonable, Aiden. Sonny found you, he almost killed you. If you won't do it for yourself, do it for your children.” It was a low blow, but she'd play as dirty as she had to.
His eyes held her captive. “There was a time when you wished I'd either drop dead or fall off the face of the earth. Why do you care now?"
"That was a long time ago.” Her heart slammed against her ribs. This conversation needed to wait until she had more control over her emotions and her lust.
"Was it? Right now, it seems like yesterday.” He broke the tension between them by filling the mugs on the counter and held one out to her.
Their fingers brushed as the cup changed hands. Heat that had nothing to do with the contents seared her palm. He grabbed his mug and moved to the table. Without any conscious thought, she followed him.
She felt cocooned with him, marooned in the darkness only illuminated by the fringes of the stove's light. It would be easy to forget Chad slept close by and ... and what?
Chapter 3
The look in Erika's eyes shook Aiden to his core. Gone was his warrior woman, hell-bent on keeping him safe, the one he'd seen since he opened his eyes to find her on top of him. In her place sat a vulnerable girl. One who'd been hurt too many times in her life, including by him. His body shifted forward, closer, his eyes lingering on her mouth, plump and lush and oh-too-kissable. Her tongue darted out to caress her bottom lip, making him long for intimate contact. He wondered if her lips were as soft, if she tasted as heavenly. He wanted nothing more at that moment but to find out.
Warning bells clanged in his brain. What the hell was he doing sitting half-naked in a strange kitchen with a raging hard-on thinking about kissing a woman who'd probably castrate him for his effort?
Not exactly the scenario he'd imagined when he gave up trying to sleep. Thoughts of his ex-wife and the twins tormented him. No matter the differences between him and his ex, he hated putting her through all this. If it weren't for their safety, he'd say screw it. He couldn't do that to his children, or their mother. He imagined Nancy opening the door to find the police bearing grim news. By now, with his car a melted piece of metal and him nowhere to be found, he imagined the authorities were assuming he'd been cremated in the fire. He wondered if she'd mourn him beyond the loss of the alimony and child support checks. He conjectured if she'd call his parents and the law firm, or if she'd ask the police to make the notifications. Would she plan his funeral, or would she turn that odious task over to his parents? He really should have changed his will when the divorce became final. Then again, dead men weren't supposed to be stressing over the details.
He'd damned Sonny to hell so many times in the past few hours, he'd lost count. Aiden thought the bastard had inflicted all the damage possible that long-ago winter day. But the fucker really busted him in the balls this time. Because of Sonny, his family would go through emotional hell. Still, it was better for Sonny to think he'd succeeded and for his family to consider Aiden murdered than to leave them as targets.
"Thanks for the milk. Maybe now I can get a couple of hours’ sleep. I'd like to leave first thing in the morning. The sooner we get on the road, the quicker you'll be safe at Bolling."
Great, here he'd been thinking of kisses and she'd been hard at work, figuring out what to do from here and how the hell to get there. “What happens once we get there?"
"You stay safe on the base and I head back out to track down Sonny."
Just the way it should be. He no longer craved the danger and the intrigue. He'd keep his ass covered until she gave him the all clear. Then, he'd reclaim his quiet life.
But—
Marilyn seemed to think he'd lost his balls somewhere along the way. If that were true, Aiden knew exactly where they'd been shot from his body. It was when Sonny gunned down First Lieutenant Natalie Bend in order to punish Aiden for getting too close. Aiden lost a part of himself that day when he watched her go down and knew not only couldn't he do anything to help her because she was as good as dead, but he'd put her in that situation in the first place.
Sonny paid for his crimes when Aiden captured him and turned him over to Cancuen authorities. Bend paid for Aiden's mistakes and misjudgments with her life.
With Erika in charge, Aiden simply needed to sit back and wait for the game of cat and mouse to end. He needn't be involved this time. No responsibilities, no mistakes, no regrets. Safe, just the way he'd been living his life since he'd left the Air Force.
Hell, who was he kidding? He hadn't been involved with his life since that horrible day. He'd been a spectator, a dickless wonder. All this time he'd thought he'd been playing it safe, being wiser, learning from his mistakes. Instead, he'd let life happen to him, and look where it led him—a failed marriage, visiting his own children, and a boring, although lucrative, career.
Good God, Marilyn was right. Wasn't that a kick in the ass?
"Aiden, are you all right? I want to go back to bed, but you have a strange look on your face."
"I'm fine, go on. I'll see you in a couple of hours and we can hit the road."
He watched as Erika slipped out of the kitchen, her jogging shorts cupping her lovely little ass. Had the time come to grow a new set of balls and reclaim his life? Man, Erika was going to be pissed as hell if he decided he had no intention of being secreted behind base walls or sneaking back to Cincinnati to wait it all out. Well, she'd been mad as a raving hornet at him before. Look how fantastic she did for herself that time, when she'd channeled her anger and moved forward.
Miguel “Sonny” Ramos stole his life from him that balmy winter day, as surely as he'd stolen Natalie's. If he was finally being fucking honest with himself, Aiden had handed it over to him, living in his own prison. Well, no more. The time had come to strap on a pair of brass balls and take control of his life. If Sonny wanted down and dirty and personal, Aiden planned to give it to him. Anything but roll over and play dead a second time.
Aiden rinsed out the mugs and put them in the dishwasher. He stretched his arms over his head, relaxing the tense muscles in his neck and shoulders, feeling better than he'd felt in years.
He padded down the hall to the office Marilyn had shown him, intent on gathering some information of his own from the Internet. Sinking down in an office chair in front of one of the computers, he booted up and began searching. Hopefully, the subject of his search wouldn't attract too much attention from the people monitoring Internet usage. Then again, they'd probably think it was Erika or Marilyn and wonder what they were doing.
"What on earth are you doing in here?” Erika's voice shattered the quiet.
Until that moment, he'd failed to notice the early morning sun shining through the window. “I couldn't sleep after you left, so I came in here to do some surfing and pass the time.” Not quite the entire truth, but he wasn't prepared to face her head-on just yet. He'd spent his evening researching Sonny and his holdings, those he remembered, trying to get a new grasp on the man. Once he'd sorted through that information in his own mind, he'd present his plan to her.
"I'd like to get going.” She glanced pointedly at her watch, then out the window.
"I'll take a quick shower before we head out. Can you make some coffee, please?” He needed to clear his history just in case she got nosey. He didn't plan to tip his hand before he was ready.
A loud sigh preceded her pivot out the door, and he could have heard her grumble about not being a secretary. Aiden quickly deleted all evidence of his expedition and followed her to the kitchen. Telling her he'd grab a five minute shower, he kept walking right up the stairs.
True to his word, he returned downstairs less than ten minutes later to find Erika filling travel mugs full of coffee and Marilyn sitting at the table reading
the morning paper. Without saying a thing, she handed him the hot beverage and headed for the door to the garage.
Aiden turned to say goodbye to Marilyn and found him staring, a curious look on his face. “It was great seeing you again. Thanks for the advice. I needed that swift kick in the ass."
Marilyn held out his hand, an approving gleam in his eye. “Too bad I wasn't around when everything went down all those years ago. Maybe I could have kept you from getting out. You were a hell of an officer."
Aiden pumped his friend's hand. “I wish you'd been around, too.” With that, Aiden proceeded to the front door, feeling confident in his decision to get back into the game.
* * * *
Aiden tried to convince Erika to let him drive, but she'd insisted that a civilian was not allowed to drive a government-issued vehicle with authorization papers in her name. So he clicked his seatbelt and attempted to get comfortable in the unfamiliar passenger seat. Attempted not to notice the fullness of her lips or the curve of her breast. It promised to be one hell of a long day unless he got behind the wheel.
"I thought we'd go to the base first, and get you some clothes. Unless you want to keep wearing those.” She wrinkled her nose.
He hadn't liked putting them back on, but he hadn't had a choice. It wasn't like he'd had time to pack a suitcase before embarking on this little adventure.
With a turn of the key, the car roared to life. Erika shifted the car into reverse, looking over her shoulder as she backed out of the driveway. She paused at the bottom, waiting for two cars to pass.
Glass shattered beside him as the car moved to the street, making small cuts on the side of his face and neck. His heart beat furiously in his chest, the urge to reach out and protect Erika overwhelming him.
"Get down. Get down.” Erika sounded tense, angry. She threw the van in drive and sped back up the driveway as the back window shattered and shots pinged the back panel. “Dammit to hell."
They were sitting ducks in the car if the gunfire continued. He remembered some of his training. Something had to be done. The soft click of Erika's seat belt echoed in the car. Grabbing her wrist, he captured her gaze. His warrior protector looked fierce and determined.
"Are you—"
"What—"
They both stopped talking when they realized they were talking over each other. Aiden gestured for her to go first.
"Are you all right? You have blood—” Concern filled her eyes as she pointed to the side of his face.
He rubbed his fingers along his cheek, staring at the sticky red blood on them. “I think I'll live."
"That's not fucking funny.” The anger in her voice surprised him. “You could have been killed just now."
"Tell me about it. I'm a lawyer. The most deadly thing I do these days is writing briefs. And those are just deadly boring."
Her fingers brushed back the hair hanging in his face, causing a shiver to race straight to his cock. “Damn, you've been shot."
Marilyn burst through the front door, gun in hand, a Kevlar vest covering his torso. His eyes scanned the neighborhood as he yanked open the driver's side door. “I called the base SPs and the colonel. Are you both okay?"
"No, Aiden's been shot.” Her voice shook.
"Come on, you need to get inside."
Marilyn punched in the code to open the garage for them. As the door began to lower, he waved them in, still scanning for any signs of danger. Aiden's knees wobbled as he made the short run with Erika's assistance.
Once the door lowered completely behind them, Aiden felt her reach for him, touch him. They'd been shot at. He hadn't heard the gun itself, not the first time, but he'd known with absolute certainty that they'd been shot at. Some memories never died, no matter how deep he buried them. And given the quiet, predominantly student neighborhood, he'd bet the left nut he'd just reclaimed that it wasn't a drive-by shooting.
"Are you all right?” Marilyn slid his weapon back in the Kevlar vest.
"We're fine.” Erika answered for the both of them. Her hands completed a thorough assessment of Aiden's body, the sensation almost too much to bear. “From what I can tell, Aiden was nicked by a bullet, but it's a minor wound, despite the amount of blood. I'll clean it up."
"I heard the gun shots. What the hell happened?"
"We were ambushed.” Erika continued to speak for both of them, which was fine with him. With her hands in his hair and his face in her breasts, rational thought proved difficult. “There's a leak somewhere, Chad. That's the only explanation I can come up with."
Aiden watched, once again impressed at Erika's professionalism. The emotions he felt radiating from her moments before disappeared, replaced by a very in-control woman. What he wouldn't give to shatter that self-control. Aiden jerked away from the inappropriate thought. Holy shit, where had that come from?
"There's no other way to explain this second attempt on Aiden's life. According to intelligence chatter just yesterday morning, Sonny's organization had not been able to locate Aiden. In spite of that, two attempts have been made on his life. Last night could have been a fluke. But not this. Not twice. Aiden is supposed to be dead. That's the way I left it last night. So someone, somewhere, is passing on information or acting on info on Sonny's behalf."
The blood slowly returning from below his waist back to his brain, Aiden listened with rapt attention as Erika laid out her suspicions, but had no prime suspect. The only people who were supposed to know about Aiden's presence at the safe house were the CO, Marilyn, and Erika. She questioned his computer usage, but he assured her that he knew better than to leave any type of trail. Just because he'd left the Air Force didn't mean he'd forgotten everything he'd learned. Besides, anything he'd surfed could just as easily been attributed to Erika.
Marilyn motioned for them to follow him back into the house since they had to wait for the SPs to arrive. Erika wanted to place a call to the CO herself. As she headed down the hall to the office, she grabbed Aiden's hand, tugging him behind her. The simple gesture sent heat waves up his arm.
Aiden stopped, keeping a tight grip on her fingers and ignoring the rightness of the contact. “What's the deal?"
"The colonel may have questions for you, too. This way, I don't have to go searching for you."
When she'd shut the door behind them, he settled into the chair he'd vacated only a short time earlier. He had one question he needed answered before she picked up the phone. “Why don't you suspect Marilyn of being the leak? Because right now, from where I sit, he's a wild card."
"Chad?” She looked at him as if he'd lost his mind, making him wonder if the two of them had ever been involved. He didn't like the feeling that thought produced and pushed it aside. “I don't know what he's involved in, but it's very top secret and very important to national security. He'd never jeopardize his work to sell you out to Sonny."
"Unless Sonny is part of what he's involved in."
Well, at least that gave her pause. He hadn't been an intelligence officer because of his looks, dammit.
"No, that's not possible. Because I'd have been briefed on at least that part of it, since it might have impacted your safety."
If she said so. Since everyone knew the government never kept secrets. Hell, but who was he to second-guess her? She'd been active duty a hell of a lot longer than him. She even outranked him, since she'd made major and he'd gotten out as a captain. For now, he'd trust her instincts.
Aiden listened in as Erika placed the call to her CO and briefed him on the basic facts of the incident. His participation in the conversation consisted of answering questions through Erika, but never directly talking to “the colonel,” a man he now realized she never identified by name, only by rank. Could he tell where the shots came from? Had he seen anyone? Did he need medical attention? Unfortunately, he had to answer the first two questions in the negative. Even if he hadn't been drooling over the woman sitting next to him in the van, he doubted he'd have seen anything. Erika responded to the third ques
tion, letting both men know that Aiden appeared to have a couple of nicks, but nothing more serious.
A knock on the door and a shout from Marilyn cut the conversation short. The base police force waited for Erika and Aiden in the living room. The colonel indicated that he'd be on alert until they reached Washington, D.C. and signed off.
Two hours later, the preliminary investigation had been completed, Erika had bandaged him up, and Marilyn had returned with a new rental car. Aiden laughed when he looked out the door and spied a Chrysler Sebring sitting in the garage. So much for Erika's make-sure-I-blend-in must-get-the-standard-military car. The look on her face when she saw her new car sent Aiden into another fit of laughter. Marilyn explained the flashy car by saying that they stood a better chance of throwing off any tail if they drove a car that didn't stick out as standard military rental fodder.
Just in case the would-be assassin continued to lurk outside, Erika and Marilyn put on their BDUs in hopes of throwing off anyone with the matching camouflage battle dress uniforms. With hats down low over their faces, they'd be damn near impossible to tell apart and the gunman would only have a fifty-fifty shot of tailing the correct car. Aiden would go with Erika in the Corvette and Marilyn would take the Sebring. In the Corvette, they would head south before circling back to meet Marilyn, who would head north. They'd switch cars and be on their way to Bolling.
"Please be careful with my baby.” Marilyn paced as Erika slid behind the wheel and Aiden slouched in the passenger seat.
"I know how to drive a car, Chad.” She glared at him.
"Yeah, but this is my baby."
"I'll hand her back to you in one piece in three hours."
"Do you know how to drive a stick?"
"Yes, and you've already told me the brakes are touchy and the steering is tight. I'll take care of it."
"Her. Take care of her. Just be sure you do. Good luck, you two."
Aiden saluted his friend. He didn't need luck. He had Erika.
* * * *
For the first hour of the drive, Erika concentrated on making sure no one tailed them. Her eyes darted from mirror to mirror as she maintained constant surveillance of their surroundings. She drove on and off highways, in and out of shopping centers, and around housing developments. Anywhere and everywhere in order to confuse anyone following them. As she flicked another glance in the rearview mirror, she took comfort in the fact she saw nothing suspicious.
The Class of '93 Trilogy: Deadly Briefs Page 4