At Close Range (Ranger Ops Book 1)

by Em Petrova

  Speaking of peace…

  She turned to her mother. “Can I talk to you and Dad about something?”

  At her serious tone, her mother eyed her. “Let’s go sit down in the living room. Your father won’t be dozing at this time of day.”

  Butterflies of nervousness hatched in Nevaeh’s stomach. She took a calming breath and followed her mother. They sat on the sofa side by side with her father in the recliner. The moment stretched.

  Nevaeh could still back out of telling them she’d gone to Mexico. She didn’t have to stir things up yet again, as so many had done over the years. She looked down at her hands in her lap, confusion flooding her.

  “What’s going on, honey? You can always talk to us,” her mother prompted, reaching over to touch Nevaeh’s arm.

  She looked between her parents. “That vacation I took… it was to Mexico.”

  Her mother sucked in a breath, and her father removed his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose.

  Nevaeh rushed on, “I just had to wrap things up in my mind. After those last Texas Rangers came to the house to question us, I just had to find some semblance of closure.”

  “And did you?” Her mother’s voice was small.

  Nevaeh nodded. “I think I did. I can move on with my life in a healthier way than I have been, and I feel like you two should as well. I want to see more smiles and hear more laughter around here. Mom, you love gardens and you’ve always wanted to visit Hawaii to see all their native plants. Maybe it’s time for you and Dad to do that.” All this time, Nevaeh had felt her parents had been talking about this trip but putting it off, almost afraid Antonio would come home if they left the house.

  They couldn’t live like this anymore.

  Her mother searched her eyes. “I thought the change in you was due to that handsome young man of yours.”

  Nevaeh laughed. “Maybe it is a little. I’m happy with him. But it’s more of a peace I feel inside, and I want both of you to feel too.”

  Her father placed his glasses back on his face and stared at her and her mother. “Well, Kathy, I guess you’d better get online and books us a vacation.”

  Her mother leaped off the couch and skipped over to the recliner, wrapping her arms around him. As her dad hugged her, he looked over her shoulder at Nevaeh. They shared a smile.

  Nevaeh stood, wanting to give them some time alone to discuss their exciting new plans. Feeling lighter than she had in a long time, she drifted back into the kitchen, smiling at the sight of her flowers in the white vase. Hopefully soon she would be seeing the man who’d gifted them to her. She wrapped her arms around her middle and recalled the feel of his lips on hers.

  * * * * *

  “Damn, your shooting sucks as much as your bowling.” Nash threw out to Jess, whose bullet had hit just left of center. The sparks of steel on steel flashed in the darkness as the lock that was his target dangled, half broken.

  “I’d get a better shot if you weren’t in my damn way,” Jess volleyed back. He squeezed off the shot, this time shooting the lock off the door. All six of them were immediately on their feet and storming the entrance to the building.

  As soon as Nash’s boots touched the floorboards, he knew this was the place—his instincts were on.

  “Jesus, look at this.” Woody braced his legs wide, his rifle in hand at the ready as he scanned the space, taking in what they all were, which was illegal weapons spread over the table, along with enough cash to make men with security on their minds take a second glance.

  “If only it wasn’t a crime to keep all this money,” Cavanagh drawled.

  Woody grunted. “We kept a bunch of Hitler’s personal items when we invaded the Eagle’s Nest.”

  Nash huffed out a laugh. “Keep alert, guys. We might have missed some of those alarm wires.”

  “Not possible,” Jess said. “I cut the whole system.”

  “Still best to be on alert. Split up.” Raising a hand, Nash signaled for them to go in pairs. He and Shaw slinked through the warehouse, keeping on the defensive each time they rounded another huge crate. What Downs had sent them to find, though, was the mass amounts of illegal arms coming in packed inside crates of clothing.

  On the backside of discovering the home base for these assholes was ambushing them when they returned from their latest shipment run. The guard at the gate had been an easy mark, and Lennon had taken him out cleanly after the man took aim at him.

  “Don’t fuck with the Ranger Ops,” Nash said quietly. A chuckle sounded in his comms unit. It was brand new, and with luck it wouldn’t crap out on him again.

  Suddenly, a faint noise hit his ears. He jerked his head to the side. Woody went still, poised to shoot. Nash twitched his fingers, asking if he’d heard something.

  Woody shook his head.

  Nash stared at a crate. Lifting a hand, he felt along it. Sure enough, one of the wood panels was loose.

  A fucking door.

  To his men, he breathed out, “They’re in the fucking crates.”

  Linc and Lennon rounded the huge crate, along with Jess and Cavanagh. Six weapons trained on the wood as Nash lifted a boot and kicked through the wood.

  Chapter Ten

  Nash’s shoulders ached. His spine ached. Hell, even his hair ached. He wanted nothing more than a hot shower and a bed. Preferably one with Nevaeh in it, so after he gathered his strength, he could turn to her and—

  On second thought, he had enough energy for that.

  He stepped into the office to debrief, and Colonel Downs was waiting for him, leaning against his desk with his arms folded over his chest. “Captain Sullivan. You look like shit.”

  A grin ghosted across his face, but even that hurt. “At least I’m alive, sir.”

  “Pull up a chair.”

  Nash was accustomed to being drilled for information on whatever crime he’d just investigated, stopped or dealt with, but sitting down for it was entirely new.

  He resisted a groan as his backside hit the seat. Either he was out of shape or the hand-to-hand combat he’d started—and finished—had gone on for longer than he remembered. Fighting for his life, he’d used every muscle group, and the way he felt, he’d dragged in a couple he didn’t even have to use against his opponent too.

  “I hope the other guy looks worse, Sullivan.” Downs contemplated him, and something about the way he eyed him reminded Nash of Lang.

  “The other guy’s dead, sir. I hope I look a sight better.”

  A wry smile tipped Downs’ lips. “I’d say you came out on top then. Keep talkin’.”

  At first, Nash’s recounting of what had taken place back in that warehouse came in stilted bursts of words. But as he spoke, he began to relax until finally he was leaning against the back of his chair and the tale flowed freely. As he drew to a close, he realized just how cathartic the telling was.

  And that it was a hell of a lot like shooting the shit with his old buddy Lang.

  He pressed his fist to his mouth, taking a moment of silence for his fallen friend and thinking too on the way Lang had preached his patience and keeping hold of his temper. What Nash had learned these past months was how to use his anger to his benefit.

  Colonel Downs cleared his throat, bringing Nash back to attention. He asked a few more details about what had resulted in one of the biggest illegal weapons seizes of the year.

  “You know this has put Ranger Ops on the radar.”

  “Does it mean more job security for us?”

  Downs ran his forefinger over his temple. “I hope to hell it does, but nothing’s been said to me yet.”

  “Be a damn shame to cut us from OFFSUS. Didn’t I hear that Knight Ops was deep in their own shit in Mississippi while we were raiding that warehouse?”

  Downs nodded. “It’s clear that two teams are essential. I promise to fight for you, Sullivan.”

  “’Preciate it, sir. If you don’t mind, I’m dragging ass and could use a hot shower and some sleep.”

  “Get
somebody to take care of that cut over your eye too.”

  He nodded, thinking of Nevaeh standing between his legs and his hands exploring the soft flesh of her waist as she tended to the cut that had been put there by a board with lethal nails. He’d come close to losing an eye, but he’d made damn sure the man who’d delivered that blow hadn’t gotten up again.

  He heaved himself to his feet and offered Downs a smile. “Thank you, sir.” What he didn’t say was he appreciated the camaraderie of their talk as much as getting things off his chest.

  They shook hands, and Nash took his leave. When he walked out into the parking lot, he found all his team, looking as worn as he felt but casually standing around talking.

  “Don’t you assholes have homes to go to?” he drawled out.

  Woody, who was leaning against Nash’s Jeep, straightened away to clasp hands with Nash. “I’m heading off. Just wanted to make sure you jerks were stable.”

  Jess barked out a laugh. “I’d like to meet a man who does this shit for a living who’s stable. We’re all fucking crazy or we wouldn’t be here.” He clapped Nash and Woody on the shoulders and then headed across the parking lot to his old pickup only a true Southern boy would drive.

  Nash said goodbye to the others and then climbed into his Jeep. Fatigue hit him like a brick wall, but he rolled down the window and enjoyed the breeze on his face as he drove to Nevaeh’s house.

  He hoped she was home—he hadn’t bothered to text. He didn’t totally know her habits, but he intended to start learning as of right now.

  When he arrived, he cut the engine and sat there a second, looking toward the house. But what he saw was a man who’d been haunting his dreams.

  Adrenaline hit his system, and he jerked open his door, striding across the street to intercept the man.

  “Antonio.” He scoped out everything around him for half a block. If Antonio had brought his men with him here to the States, it would spell danger for Nevaeh and her family, and Nash wasn’t letting that happen.

  Before Antonio had taken two steps, Nash had him by the shoulder in a firm grip. “What the hell are you doin’ here?”

  Antonio threw him a look, revealing the creases drawn across his face from years of rough living. “Am I being taken in or something? I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “We both know I can’t let you walk in that house without interrogating you first. Come with me.” He took the man to his Jeep and pushed him inside. Then he drove.

  “Start talkin’,” he demanded.

  Antonio sat next to him, curled forward slightly, his shoulders hunched. “I wanted to leave with you and your men. But I couldn’t just then.”

  “You’re speaking in Spanish, man. Do you realize that?”

  Antonio threw him a glance of surprise. “It’s been a long time since I spoke English,” he said carefully around the words that were now foreign to him.

  Nash parked in a lot at the far end, so they were well away from the shoppers coming in and out. He kept a firm eye on the man seated next to him. He didn’t trust him any more than he had the men who’d kidnapped and held him captive. To Nash’s thinking, Antonio had been indoctrinated and was no longer the man they hoped he would be.

  “Who came with you to Texas?” he asked.

  He sliced his gaze from Nash’s. “I came alone.”

  Nash wasn’t standing for this bullshit. He was tired, hungry and he wanted his girl. Besides, he couldn’t tolerate a fucking liar.

  He slammed his hand off the dash, making Antonio leap in his seat. “Goddammit, tell me the truth! Who did you come with? Was it Lopez? One of his men?” Nash had dealt with the regrets of not taking out every fucking person in that operation.

  He shook his head. “N-no. It’s a woman. Her name is Alicia. She was one of Lopez’s—well, under his rule. He brought her in to”—he fisted his hands before going on— “service us men, to keep us quiet and happy, understand?”

  Glancing at Nash again, his eyes flared with fury. A fury Nash hadn’t totally understood before he’d met Nevaeh.

  It was the look a man got when he would move hell and earth to protect the woman he loved.

  Fuck, Nash loved Nevaeh.

  He barely had a chance to register the thought before Antonio continued.

  “She was more than that to me, and we became close. I had to go back for her.” He lifted his eyes to Nash’s. “She’s carrying my baby.”

  Nash was speechless for a moment. He nodded. “Where is she now?”

  “At a hotel. We made off with enough money to keep us for a week or two before I could get a job, in case my family doesn’t want to help us. I understand if they don’t.”

  “I think you underestimate your place in your family, even after all these years.”

  His words broke down something inside Antonio. He lowered his head and tears began to drip onto his lap. “It wasn’t as Lopez told me then.”

  Jesus, the man had brainwashed Antonio.

  “I can get you the counseling you need. You and your woman both.”

  He nodded.

  “Will he come for you?”

  Antonio understood what he was asking. “I don’t know. I have a lot of information.” He tapped his temple. “In here.”

  “Then he’ll come after you. But I can put a stop to that. Look, I’m going to have to put guards around you and your woman until this shit’s over. But I can’t have you around your parents or Nevaeh until it’s all clear.”

  Antonio let out a sigh of a man with far more weight on his shoulders than anybody of his age should be bearing. “I understand what you’re saying, but I’d like to see my family before that happens. Is that okay?”

  It went against Nash’s initial instincts, though he could see where Antonio was coming from.

  “Only if I’m there too.”

  “Were you following me? Is that how you found me?”

  “No. I was coming to see Nevaeh.”

  His face blanked.

  “Your sister and I are seeing each other.”

  “Did she send you then, to find me?”

  “It’s an involved story, but one I’ll tell you later. For now, let’s see about this family reunion and then I’ll ensure you and your lady friend are safe and guarded. Has she had any medical care during her pregnancy?”

  “There was no way to get it. Nobody knew she was carrying my child either. They all believed it was a bastard. But Alicia’s no whore.”

  “I believe you.” Nash put the Jeep in drive, his mind jumping ahead to what would happen when he showed up on Nevaeh’s doorstep with her long, lost brother.

  * * * * *

  Nevaeh stepped from the shower and reached for a fluffy towel. As she dried her body and hair, it was impossible not to think of the man she wanted touching both. His hands all over her, his mouth on hers.

  Her movements slowed automatically with her thoughts, and long minutes later, she squeezed the water from her hair and wrapped her hair in the towel.

  The light robe she slipped into felt like the most decadent caress against her hungry, too-hot flesh. She needed Nash. The support and comfort he offered while he was near had given her—at last—the ability to release her tight rein on control.

  Because of it, she felt so light and free, like she was ready to take on the world.

  Even if it was just telling Nash how she felt.

  It’s too soon.

  But if she’d learned anything in her life, it was that you couldn’t tell people enough that you loved them.

  With Nash and his dangerous line of work, who knew what could befall him. Even strong heroes fell…

  She couldn’t think about that. Next time she saw him, she’d find the right moment to say what was in her heart.

  She opened the bathroom door and released the cloud of steam into the hallway. As soon as she took one step out onto the cool tile floor, a scream brought her up short. Not any scream—a shrill scream that curdled her blood.

 
“Momma!” She took off, following the sound, and when she rushed into the living room, she let out a cry of her own.

  “Antonio!” She felt her knees start to quake, but Nash was there too and he dragged her up against his chest, anchoring her. After so many years, her brother was standing in their living room, with his arms around their mother.

  She had to get in on that hug. Squeezing Nash’s arm, she gave him a glance. He nodded and released her.

  The few steps to reach her family was too many and when she gripped at Antonio’s shirt, he turned to her. Tears streaked his face, and she let out a laugh of joy as she put her arms around her brother.

  He was thinner, sinewy. He was not the same young man who’d left this house, but it didn’t matter, because he wasn’t only alive but back with them. How?

  She had to put the question to Nash.

  Her mother shook with the shock of it all, and Antonio seemed to be the only thing holding her up. Nevaeh slipped her arm around her mother’s back too, and together they sucked in the moment.

  “You’ve grown up,” her brother said to her.

  Nevaeh laughed again. How good that felt. “That happens to kids.” Her cheeks were beginning to ache from how wide her smile was. “We have to call Dad!”

  Hearing this, her mother got flustered, waving her hands. “Get me my phone! Somebody tell him to come home at once!”

  “Where is he?” Nash asked, stepping toward them.

  Nevaeh tilted her head to meet his gaze. “You’re bleeding.”

  He shrugged. “I’ll take care of it later. This is more important.”

  In his eyes, she saw the warmth anybody would after watching this reunion. “My father ran down to a buddy’s to watch the game.”

  “Where’s your phone? I’ll use it to call since it has the contact in it.” Nash dropped his stare over her attire, which was her flimsy robe and the towel on her head. She felt the stroke of his eyes over her skin. “Still on the bathroom sink.”

  “I’ll get it.” He looked as if he wanted to take her into the bathroom, shut the door and have his way with her. But he did nothing more than give her a quirk of his lips. “Stay here with your family. I’ll bring your dad home.”