by J. L. Drake
“You have fun last night, Black?” I feel an elbow to the ribs by Orange, who points at Keith.
I nod, hoping he won’t ask me another question.
Keith looks at me strangely then shrugs as he stands.
“Heads up, guys. Lopez says he saw Savannah by the stables.” I freeze. “So, stay clear of that area.”
Everyone nods, and I find myself mimicking them. I feel a little loved that they are watching out for me.
“Is she wearing a dress or pants today? I want to know if I should be on high or low ground,” York calls out, and I tense again.
“When will you learn, York? She’s just not into you,” Keith shoots back with a sigh. “Leave the poor woman alone.”
I jump to my feet when I see my time is up. I race out of the room, not wanting to hear any more. Just as I’m crouching under a table, a loud siren goes off, and people start walking out of the building.
As soon as I’m outside, I see why the siren went off. No way! I see that the orange team is flying the flag. They are all cheering, holding beers in the air.
Everyone comes together and removes their helmets. I almost lose it when I see the orange teammate with the dripping green on his arm and chest sitting right next to me is Cole.
“Game’s over, Black,” York shouts. “Helmet.” He knocks on my head.
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. Finally, Mark comes to my side with John. Everyone stops and looks at me, then John, then me some more…
“I recruited one more.” Mark laughs and nudges me to remove the helmet. I unclip it and pull it off slowly, making my messy hair fall all around me. The looks on their faces are priceless.
“Hi.” I beam at them.
“Wait,” Keith holds up his finger at me, “was that you on the ground right before I got shot?”
I smile and repeat the wave.
“Oh, my God.” He starts to laugh but stops when he sees Cole’s face.
“That wasn’t smart, Mark,” Cole bites out. “We’ll discuss this later.”
Mark moves in front of me, blocking Cole’s stare. “He has a job to do. Don’t worry, he’s not mad at you.” He grins. “Well, fuck me sideways, how much fun was that?”
“It beats a day at the office.” I laugh, high-fiving him. “I have to admit I was going to kill you when I saw the inside of the ‘barn.’ You sent me to war!”
“Pretty cool, though, right?”
I burst out laughing again. “Yeah, it’s something I’ll never forget. Oh, wow. Thanks, Mark. I kind of needed that.”
“Anytime. All right, I’m going to go take the heat.” He hands me a beer, then leaves to face the music with Cole.
Keith comes to my side, and I ask, “How much trouble is Mark in?”
“Cole and Mark are tight. Normally, he’d get watch duty for a night, but now—” He stops himself. “He may get a little more.”
“Why?” I fumble with the beer cap. Maybe it isn’t a twist off. He takes out his wallet and removes a silver looking card. No, it’s actually a bottle opener? Cool. He flips the lid off with a smile.
“Handy little thing,” he says, tucking it away, but not before I notice the letter S engraved on it. I wonder if they all have one. He waits until it stops foaming and hands it back.
“Thanks.”
“We’re cracking down on the rules now.” He gives me shrug.
“Ah, I see. Because I’m luring The American closer.” His face flinches. “It’s okay, Keith. I get that I’ll be here for a while, and I’m on the top of ‘The American’s most wanted to re-kidnap’ list.” I sigh, taking a sip of the beer. “Any word about the poison?”
“Cole is the one you should be talking to about that. Sorry, Savannah, but we have rules.”
The conversation around the dinner table is pretty interesting tonight. Cole has yet to join us.
Abigail is floored that I had participated in ‘the battle,’ as they call it.
“You think that was a wise idea, Mark?” She narrows her eyes at him.
“It was worth the punishment.” He winks at me.
I love that Mark took one for me so I could have a little fun. I’ll have to make it up to him somehow. I heard that he took all the heat, not wanting John to get in trouble as well.
“What you get, anyway?” Keith asks, chewing on a roll.
“Three nights at the Peak.” He shrugs.
“Shitty,” Keith responds.
“The Peak?” I ask, not following.
“It’s the worst post to be assigned, and it’s normally reserved for the rookies,” Keith explains, “especially this time of year with the wind and rain. Makes my bones ache just thinking of it.”
“Oh, Mark, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. The look on the guys’ faces when you took off your helmet is worth every minute up there on that cold, cold hill.” He holds his beer up. “To Agent Black, someone not to turn your back on.” He eyes Paul, who I had hit two times in the back. Everyone raises their glasses to me as we all start laughing.
“So, when is the next battle?” I’m joking, but everyone grows quiet. “Come on, you said I could shoot.”
Cole comes to the head of the table, looking less than impressed. “Sorry I’m late, Abigail. Dinner looks great.” He glances around the table. “Please don’t stop the conversation on my account.”
“Tell me, Savi, how did you manage to pop me in the back?” Paul bravely asks.
“Hubcap. I could make out your movements in the reflection.”
“Impressive.” He chuckles.
“Paul,” Cole wipes his mouth with his napkin, “tell Savannah how you hurt your neck.”
Paul sighs loudly. I guess I won’t like this. “Keith dropped from twenty feet above me, slipped a disc in my neck. Hurts like hell when it rains.”
“Keith, tell Savannah about your knee.” Cole turns to where Keith is sitting.
“I got plowed from the side by Mike. We both fell ten feet off a beam, and he landed on my knee.”
Cole points to Mark. “Left shoulder.”
Mark turns, pulling up his shirt and revealing a jagged scar across his shoulder.
I gasp and cover my mouth. It looks terrible.
“Fell on a metal peg, got dragged a few yards. Tore right through my gear.”
Cole focuses back on me. “My point, Savannah, is all this happened during our training in paintball. We didn’t know it was you in Black’s uniform today. Any one of us could have seriously injured you. You will be involved in no more battles.”
Chapter Nine
Cole
Cole watches everyone go their own way after dinner. No one seems up for socializing tonight. He is fine with that. He’s still reeling from what happened at training.
John appears and drops his duffel bag at the door next to Cole’s and signals he is ready.
Cole nods at him and heads for the stairs, knowing what he is about to say isn’t going to be easy—at least not for him.
Savannah’s door is open. He peeks in and sees her sitting in front of the fireplace, the glow of the flame casting shadows on her face. Her hair is in a messy bun held up with a pen. A few pieces have come loose, and she looks sexy as she leans over to study a photo.
“Savi,” he says quietly so as not to scare her.
She glances up and gives him a sultry smile.
“May I come in?”
“Sure.”
He walks in and notices papers and photos fanned out in front of her.
“Is this what you wanted to show me before?”
“Yes, I found something.” She hands him the picture she was just studying. It’s of her father at a charity event. “Look who he’s toasting with.” She points to the bracelet. “He knows the girl who took my picture in the pub.”
Well, damn, she found something.
“This was taken four months after my kidnapping. They must be close, because my father doesn’t smile like that with just anyone.”
Huh—i
nteresting.
She tucks a piece of hair behind her ear. “I tracked down the number of the charity event coordinator. I’ve met him before. I thought I could call him.”
“No, Savi—”
“I won’t give my name or anything, but I could get the guest list. I’ve been to these things enough times to know who’s who, and I could start the process of elimination.”
“I’ll get you the list,” he says a little harder than he intended to.
“Fine.” She dismisses his tone.
“What’s this?” He picks up an article about a woman who was kidnapped.
“Well, I’ve been researching Los Sirvientes Del Diablos and found a few stories of the victims who were returned unharmed. Shocking how few there were.” She rubs her stomach. “Their ransoms were huge—like a couple million. One woman was only gone a month, and they got one-point-five for her.” She sighs. “Cole, my ransom just doesn’t make sense. Their pattern changed with me, but why? I’m wracking my brain. Why was The American involved in my case?”
“Okay, slow down. This is a great find,” he says, holding up the picture and studying it. “I’ll make the call and get the guest list. This is all one giant puzzle, and you’ll go mad asking all the questions at once. You need to pick one and start there. If you hit a dead end, put it aside and pick up another. A path will soon show itself, then a picture will start to form. Have you had any more flashbacks?”
She bites her lip, debating telling him.
“I remember my first proof of life,” she finally whispers, “when I met Maria.” She looks really uncomfortable. She bends down, picking up a small piece of paper. “Here’s the number for the charity.” Her face is flushed, and her eyes are watery. “His name is Gary. He’s really friendly.”
“Hey, what’s wrong?” he asks, stepping toward her.
She shakes her head and hands him the paper. “Some flashbacks are harder than others.” She lets out a shaky breath.
Before he can ask any more questions, John sticks his head in the door. “Hey, Savi.” He grins at her. “Logan, the chopper will be here in fifteen. We’re good to go.”
“You’re leaving?” She looks up, clearly startled.
“We got a lead that needs to be followed in TJ.”
She shakes her head and steps away from him. He doesn’t like it when she does that.
“Who’s all going?”
“John, Paul, Mark, and I.”
“For how long?” She looks unhappy, almost nervous.
“Three to four days at the most.”
Her eyes go wide as she processes his words.
“Savannah, it’s—”
“I don’t want you to go,” she blurts out, and his lungs freeze. “I-I don’t want you to go, Cole.”
He reaches out and pulls her to him.
She comes willingly into his arms.
She trembles as her arms tighten around him, and he breathes in deeply, her apple shampoo making his heart ache.
“Don’t go,” she whispers.
“Ahh, Savi, I don’t want to, but I have to,” he murmurs into her hair.
“It’s not safe. What if—”
“We don’t use ‘what-ifs.’ We check in once in the morning and again at night. I’ll be back in a few days.”
She pulls away slightly to look up at him. “Promise me you’ll be back.”
He knows he shouldn’t. He never would have before, but looking into her eyes—feeling the way he does—he cannot stop the words.
“I promise.”
She closes her eyes and leans her head on his chest.
He reaches up, removing the pen from her hair, and runs his fingers through it. “You have no idea how hard it is to walk away right now.”
“Then don’t.”
Oh, God, she’s killing him. His brain is firing off so many things, but he cares about only one.
She lifts her head, almost like she can hear him. “Cole.”
“Yes.”
“Kiss me.”
He dives down and presses into her soft lips.
She wraps her arms around his neck, pushing her body into his. The first swipe of her tongue makes him dive deeper, and she moans as she becomes jelly in his arms.
He can’t get enough of her. She tastes so sweet. One hand travels down to her waist. His fingers run along her velvet skin, and his knees go weak. She feels so tiny in his arms; he has to remember to be gentle. His hands slide around to her back, then down over her ass, giving it a firm squeeze.
She nibbles at his lower lip, and he grows painfully hard. “Cole.” She leans back, and her hands travel down his stomach.
He shivers, pulling her back to his lips. He needs to taste her.
“Logan, choppers are here,” John shouts from down the hall.
She doesn’t stop the kiss, so he puts everything he has into it until he finally finds the strength to pull away, leaving her off balance.
“See you in a few days.” He kisses her once more, quickly, unable to hang around any longer. He knows he has to get away from her. She is like a drug, sucking him backward.
“Be safe,” he hears her whisper. Damn it. He turns, gives her a smile, then leaves.
You’ve crossed the forbidden line, asshole! He smiles a little, though, as he rushes down the staircase, her taste lingering on his tongue. His head is swimming as he squints, making his way toward the chopper, flinging his bag inside, and jumping into his seat.
Mark gives him a questioning eyebrow then joins his grin like he just figured out where he was.
Cole closes his eyes and lets himself have a moment to relish the past ten minutes.
Savannah
I flop down on my bed, staring at the ceiling. I want to laugh, cry, and scream—my body is firing sparks all over. I have never been kissed like that before—or is it that I’ve never felt like this about a man before? Either way, it is amazing. Now he has four days to think about it. What if he realizes it’s a mistake? I’m technically a client. No, don’t go there, Savi. Enjoy your high. I cross my arms over my head, smelling him on my clothes as I close my eyes and drift off to sleep.
Autumn Ball, Manhattan, 2014. I hit enter, and my fingers strum the desk. I have decided my first task is to find out who the silver bracelet woman is, why she took my picture, and why she was following me. Everyone is a suspect, so I wonder if it was a coincidence that she was there the same the day I was taken. I decide to Google the events I know my father would normally attend. The Autumn Ball was a few days ago. I click on images, scrolling through six before I spot my father. He’s shaking hands with some people in one photo, in another he is standing at a podium, and in a few pictures, he is with the chief of police, who is making a speech.
I keep clicking and clicking, and it becomes pretty tedious, but I decide to keep at it. Just as I am about to give up and try another tactic, something catches my eye. I lean in to get a better look. I click on the image to make it bigger, then click print and grab it from the tray the minute the machine lets go. Holding it under the light, I’m able to make out my father’s table off to the right of the picture. He is sitting beside a woman. His body is blocking hers, but I can see her wrist, and there it is—that bracelet again. I rub my head, trying to take in what I’m seeing. Not only did this woman take a picture of me, but at two different events since I was kidnapped, she’s been photographed with my father. What the hell?
I need a break to clear my head. I know something isn’t right here, and I’m not really sure what to make of the whole thing. I need time to mull it over. I scribble down the number for the event coordinator and leave the room.
I find myself in the kitchen, measuring out ingredients for my mother’s famous chocolate chip cookies. I tripled the batch because I know one would hardly be enough. I love baking. I love how my brain goes into idle mode and lets my hands do all the work.
“The guys mentioned they smelled something good, but I think I may have died and gone to heaven.”
Keith snatches a cookie off the cooling rack and shoves it in his mouth. “Mmmmm, warm cookies.”
I laugh and pour him a glass of milk.
“Thanks.” He takes a swig. “Damn, those are good, Savi.” He takes another.
“Thanks. I love to bake.”
“I love that you love to bake.” He grins.
I transfer the last twelve cookies to the rack, not looking at him.
“Any word from the guys?” I ask casually.
He nods and sets his empty glass in the sink.
“Checked in this morning. They crossed the border and are heading to the location now.”
“Cole said they check in twice.” I want him to know Cole spoke to me about it.
“Yes, they’ll check in again when they’re back at the safe house.” He pauses, watching me. I pretend not to notice, then he clears his throat. “Should be around seven, our time.” He grabs a few more cookies. “I need to go get some stuff done. I’ll see you later.”
The dinner table has a few new faces. I’m assuming they step in when Cole’s group is gone. I notice York takes over Cole’s seat at the head of the table. He can’t possibly be in charge while Cole’s away, can he? The thought makes me ill.
“Savi,” York greets me with a superior tone, “meet Two, Three, and Four.” He waves at the new guys at the table.
Two rolls his eyes. “We also have names. I’m Al, this is Dell, and that’s Quinn. Nice to finally meet you. We’ve heard all good things.”