“No matter what?” Max gave her one of his no-bullshit stares.
“No matter what.”
Max returned to his seat. “Logan, let’s go over the intel for Shae.”
Maddie cleared her throat, one eyebrow arched upward.
“And Maddie. Although, I’m not sure why.” Max shrugged.
“I’m here to do the contract and to make sure Shae is making the right decision to trust you guys.”
Shae laughed. “So, am I?”
Maddie looked around the room. “I’ve never seen a more trustworthy bunch of cowboys in my life.” She winked at Travis.
“Aw, shucks, ma’am.” He grinned and winked back.
Shae and Maddie returned to their chairs and settled in while Logan explained everything to them, from the costs to the recon intel they’d found.
“Well, I’m impressed.” Maddie sat back and looked at Shae.
“You’ve done a great job, gentlemen.” She stood. “I hope you’re right and that man you spotted was my father. Any idea if any new data has come in?”
Travis clicked on his keyboard a few times. “No emails to the company. Looks like that stream has dried up.”
Max stood. “Shae, I want you to check your email every couple of hours, in case they try to contact you.”
“You still think they might?” Shae didn’t want to get her hopes up, but with all the information they’d shown her, it was hard not to.
“There’s always a chance. It would probably be our best scenario. If we could trust them to take the money and not kill him.” Max certainly didn’t coddle her, and she was glad of it. Being treated as an equal, not as a frightened female, gave her a small measure of strength. She could do this, would do this, as long as her dad came home.
“I’ll be sure to check. When do we leave?”
Logan cleared his throat. “As soon as we finish purchasing the rest of the equipment and secure the flight arrangements, we’ll head out. You have your passport?”
Shae nodded. “When I thought I’d be going by myself, I stopped by the bank and exchanged a few hundred dollars, in case we needed it as soon as we landed. And I have a thousand in US dollars. I can get the ransom money once we’re there.” She patted her purse.
“You clever girl.” Maddie grinned.
Travis smiled. “What are your plans for this evening, ladies?”
Shae looked at Logan before she answered. “Maddie and I will be getting a hotel in town until it’s time to leave.”
“Maddie?” Max cocked an eyebrow. “I thought she was here to write the contract.”
“I am. But Shae and I agree. I’m staying until you’re off the ground.”
“Then what?” Travis asked.
She shrugged. “Not sure. Go home.”
Travis walked over to Max. “Captain, if we’re all going, we have to shut down operations. No emails, no phone calls. Important stuff might happen, and we can’t be answering cell phones in the middle of the mission.”
“So?”
“Well, if Miss Maddie hasn’t got anything to do or no place to be, maybe she could stay here. Run the shop for us while we’re out of town?” He scratched his chin.
Maddie winked at Shae. We’ve got a winner! Another man had fallen to Maddie’s fast-talking charms. What was so bad about it was that she knew.
Shae wondered if Maddie would keep Travis dangling on her string for very long, or would she cut him loose and throw him back like an undersized bass. After Maddie’s last heartbreak, she’d been on the catch-and-release program as far as men were concerned.
“I’m not sure.” Max rubbed the back of his neck. “We’ve got some confidential clients.”
Maddie coughed, and the two men turned to her. “Look, I could take some time off while you’re gone. My practice is slow right now. Not that I’m not an excellent lawyer, I am. But for my girl Shae, I’d do anything. If you need someone to hold down the fort and circle the wagons, I’m your girl.”
Travis’s grin split his face and lit his eyes.
Logan chuckled. “I’d rather trust a lawyer to handle things than just leave them dangling.”
Travis snorted. “Nothing worse than things dangling.”
“It’s the worst. If a stiff breeze comes up, they’re left twisting in the wind.”
Maddie had the nerve to blush. Shae elbowed her and hissed, “Calm down.”
Max gave Travis a glare. “You too.”
Shae and Maddie said goodbye and headed out the door.
They’d reached Shae’s car when Logan came up. “Can I talk to you?”
“Sure.” Shae tossed her keys to Maddie. “Here, I’ll just be a minute.”
They stepped over to the side of the building. Logan leaned in. “Look, I’m sorry about earlier.”
“We were both…” Shae shrugged.
“Yeah. We were. Are we good?” Logan looked down into Shae’s eyes, and she fell into them as the heated memory of that incredible toe-curling kiss made her pussy clench hard.
“We’re good.” Logan’s face edged closer until all she could see were those lips. Coming closer. He kissed her, soft and tender, and then backed away. “So good,” she purred.
“Ask Maddie if she wants to have dinner with Travis tonight.”
“Sure.”
“And ask her if she minds if you and I tag along. For Travis’s sake. I get the feeling your friend has quite a few cowboys under her belt. Travis, not so many cowgirls.” He grimaced.
“Right. I gotcha.” She winked. “I’ll call you later.”
“Later.” With that, he turned and strode back to the office.
Shae got in the car.
“So, what the hell was that lip-lock all about? What happened to ‘he’s Billy’s best friend. It’s just business. He’s just helping me?’” Maddie sing-songed in a mocking voice, but the twinkle in her eyes gave her away.
“Oh, that went right out the window when he pushed me against a truck, I wrapped my legs around him, and he kissed me like I’ve never been kissed before.” Shae sighed and sank back into her seat.
“I knew I should have come! If not, you would’ve fucked him in the bed of that pickup truck.” She slapped her hands together.
Shae laughed. “Yeah, I’da rode him hard.”
“And put him up wet.” Maddie held up her hand, and they high fived.
Shae started the car, backed out, and headed toward Hockley.
Dinner with Logan. And Maddie and Travis. She’d agreed to keep Travis safe from Maddie, but who was going to keep her safe from Logan?
Or Logan safe from her?
Chapter Ten
Shae and Maddie stood at the registration desk of one of the chain hotels out on the highway.
“Separate rooms, right?” Maddie leaned over and whispered to Shae.
Shae rolled her eyes. “Sure. Expecting anyone?”
Maddie snorted. The desk clerk appeared from an office. “Welcome. Can I help you?”
“I’d like a room.” Maddie shot her gaze sideways at Shae. “A king.”
“And I’d like a king also. Can they be near each other?”
“Adjoining?” The clerk typed on her computer.
Shae looked at Maddie. “No. Just same floor is fine.”
The clerk nodded, and in a few minutes filled with getting their information and the exchange of credit cards and room keys, they headed up to the second floor and their rooms.
“Let’s relax a bit before dinner. Text me when you’re ready.” Maddie slipped her room key card into the door, the light turned green, and she opened it.
“Fine. I’m going to call Logan and tell him the dinner is on, okay?”
Shae stood in the hall, holding onto the handle of her rolling bag. She’d slung her laptop case strap over her shoulder. “This is right, isn’t it?”
“Going to dinner with two hot ex-military types?” Maddie shot her eyebrows up. She snorted. “Uh, yeah.”
“No. I mean yes, tha
t’s okay. I meant, going with them to find my dad.” Shae hoped her best friend would give her the truth, or at least her honest opinion.
“Yes. If it were my father, I’d be on the plane.” Maddie took Shae’s hand and gave it a hard squeeze. “Your dad would move heaven and earth to find you, Shae. Hiring those guys, well, I can see him doing that to save you.”
Shae smiled as relief surged through her. She’d done the right thing; she just needed to hear it from someone who knew her and her dad.
“Thanks. See you in an hour. I’ll text.” Then she turned and walked down the hall.
When she reached her room just two doors down on the opposite side, she turned back. Maddie hung half out of the door.
“I hope you brought your good undies.” Maddie winked. “I have a feeling you’re going to need them.”
“Girlfriend, you are shameless,” Shae called back. She opened her door and went in as the door down the hall closed.
Shae rolled her case into the room, tossed it on the bed, and lowered her laptop case beside it. After unpacking, trying to keep her mind off her father, she took inventory of the room. King bed. Large dresser that doubled as a TV stand, with cubbies for the microwave and mini-fridge. TV on one side and coffee maker and fixings on the other.
Near the window was a club chair, small side table, and opposite that was a chrome and glass desk with a computer chair. She placed her laptop on the desk, opened it, got out her computer, and plugged it in. She sat and signed into the guest internet.
First, check email. She closed her eyes, praying for a ransom email. Please. I’ll pay anything.
Nothing, other than a few spam ads. She deleted them.
Shae sat back and sighed. What if her dad was dead?
Tears welled in her eyes, but she dashed them away. No, she wasn’t going to go down that path. Giving up hope he lived was pointless. It would destroy her ability to act and to think clearly. And right now, with her attraction to Logan front and center, she needed all her focus on this mission.
Mission. Wow. She'd fallen into the team’s military mindset calling it a mission. But she couldn’t think of another word to fit what they planned on doing.
This was the wildest thing she’d ever done in her life. She was going to break God knew how many laws. She was starring in a real life action movie.
She had to be out of her mind, right?
They were going to go to Brazil, hunt down a band of eco-terrorists, and free her father. Or find his body. Or find him…
Shae closed her eyes tight. “Maybe they were wrong about spotting him in the jungle. He could be anywhere.” She breathed deep, letting the air fill her lungs, and then let it out long and slow. “Trapped in a whorehouse. On a friend’s yacht.” Her mind spun different scenarios to account for her father’s absence. “On a jungle safari. Or touring the Amazon.” Sure. He could be anywhere, right?
Deep in Shae’s heart, she didn’t believe any of it.
She tried to stop thinking, but it wasn’t working.
“He could have met someone. A beautiful Brazilian woman. And fallen in love again. He’s so lost in her that he’s lost track of time.” Shae smiled, her eyes still closed. That would be the best. Her father finding someone again after being alone for so long since her mother’s death. He deserved it. After losing her mom. After losing Billy.
Shae shuddered and rubbed her hands over her arms. The room had grown chilly. It set into her bones, aching, lonely.
She’d lost too, right along with her father. Her mother, her brother.
Losing her dad? The idea sunk into her, taking over her body, chilling her core to arctic ice. No, she couldn’t lose him too. It would be too much to bear. Losing her mother as a small girl had been hard, but the memory of her death and loss had grown distant. Billy’s death? That had hit hard. She’d understood the loss. Felt the pain of imagining him dying, lying in the dust of an Iraqi road in the middle of the desert.
Dying in Logan’s arms.
How the hell did Logan cope with that? Did he see Billy every time he closed his eyes? Did he dream of Billy? Dream of saving him?
Did he relive that awful moment over and over in his head?
Logan looked and acted normal, but Shae knew you didn’t go into a war, do whatever Billy and Logan had done, and not come out changed. For better or for worse.
How had Logan changed? For that matter, if Billy had come home, would he have changed too? Would he have worked with the other men at Maximus Garage? Would he have been one of those vets who came back, found his place again, and continued his life? Or would he have been devastated by what he’d seen and done?
The idea of Billy alone, living on the streets and unable to readjust to civilian life, made Shae’s guts twist. No. Not Billy. But Shae knew the odds and the reality of the men who returned not quite whole inside. Unable to deal with what they’d done and seen in combat.
Billy had never told her what he did with his “special” team, but Shae suspected it had to be very dangerous and very hush-hush. Like that Seal Team Six group.
The only people who knew the answers to all her questions were the men she’d just hired to find her father.
Shae opened her eyes and sat up. Until this moment, she hadn’t realized she wanted the answers to those questions. She needed them, and perhaps so did her father.
The answers could be his path to healing, to finally coming to terms with Billy’s death, to realizing his hadn’t been a wasted life. And maybe, just maybe, Logan could tell her everything she wanted to know.
She got up, undressed, and then started the shower. Once she got clean, she’d feel better. And make her mind up about asking Logan to tell her exactly what happened that horrible day in Iraq.
»»•««
Maddie opened the door and let Shae in. “Wow. Looking hot.” She touched Shae’s shoulder with a finger and shook her hand as if it had been burned.
“Not too much?” Shae spun, and the almost knee-length red skirt did a flirty twirl. The deep cut cream blouse accented her cleavage perfectly.
“The kitten heels are perfect. He’s not going to be able to keep his hands off you, girl.”
Shae snorted. “He still thinks of me as Billy’s little sister.”
“I think the truck incident, as it shall forever be named, and that outfit will set him straight.” Maddie laughed. “Did you call Logan?”
“Not yet. I thought I’d do it here.” Shae went to the computer chair and sat. Maddie’s room was a duplicate of her own, right down to the artwork on the walls. Maddie sat on the bed and picked up the remote.
Shae leaned over and looked at the television. “What show is that?”
“I’m not sure, but it’s got some hot lumberjack men.” Maddie grinned and wiggled her eyebrows.
“Girl, you are whatever is the female version of a horn dog.” Shae laughed.
“And that’s bad because?” Maddie deadpanned. “Besides, it’s not like you’re an angel, Miss Dressed in Red.” She waved a hand at Shae.
“So…uh, Travis?” Shae rolled her eyes. “Seriously. He met you for all of what, five minutes?”
“Hey, what can I tell you? He’s a sucker for a redhead.” She patted her hair. “I don’t fight it anymore.”
“I see that.” Shae took a breath. She wasn’t sure how her bestie would take this, but she had to say it. “Listen, Maddie. These guys? In case you haven’t noticed, they’re a little…damaged. If you’re just playing with Travis, maybe you should cool it.”
Maddie lowered her gaze to her feet. “Well, that’s just it. I sort of like him. I mean, it’s not like I’m in love or anything. I don’t believe in that love at first sight bullshit. Lust at first sight, maybe. But he’s…I don’t know. Funny? He makes me laugh. I’d like to get to know him, that’s all.” She shrugged.
Shae laughed. “God. That’s the most sensible thing I’ve heard you say about men in ages. Since Tony.”
Maddie winced at the mention o
f her ex-fiancé’s name. Shae knew it still hurt to bring it up, but she’d hoped Maddie would get over the blow of calling off her wedding at the last minute due to her cheating fiancé.
“Tony is history.” Maddie waved her hand as if shooing a fly from a Sunday dinner table. “Ancient history. Bad history.”
“Sure he is.” Shae rolled her eyes.
“What about you and Logan? You stringing him along or playing out that high school crush?”
A flash of burning inflamed Shae’s cheeks. Damn, if she blushed just hearing his name, how the hell would she keep him from seeing her reaction at dinner tonight?
She put her hand to her face. “I hate this.” She patted her cheek and then slumped. “He’s going to know how I feel about him.”
“Honey, after that scene with the truck, I think that horse has left the barn.” Maddie winked. “Now, call him. I’m getting hungry, and I want steak.”
Shae got out her phone and hit Logan’s number. After two rings, he answered.
“Logan, it’s Shae. We’re on for dinner tonight. Where should we meet you?”
“Do you want us to pick you up?”
“No, I think we’d prefer to just meet you at the restaurant. Maddie wants steak, by the way.”
“We can do steak. There’s a great steakhouse in town. Nothing fancy, but they know how to cook a steak.”
“Sounds good. Give me the address, and I’ll get the GPS to guide me.”
Logan told her, and she wrote it down on the little hotel notepad on the desk.
“Got it. We’ll see you at seven.” She disconnected. After tearing off the page, she stuffed it in her purse. “All set. Steak tonight.”
Maddie pumped her fist. “Yeehaw! I can taste the fully loaded baked potato now.” She rubbed her flat belly and licked her lips like a silly kid.
“I swear, where the hell do you put all the food you eat?” Shae worked to keep her figure, but Maddie never had to diet.
“If I was a guy, I’d say my dick.” She looked down at her ample bosom. “My tits?”
“Lord, girl, you can be so coarse.” Shae tossed the pen in her hand at Maddie, who ducked out of the way. It hit the wall behind her, bounced, and landed on the bed next to her.
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