No Regrets

by Rebecca Deel

  She scowled when she saw almost every shot hit the heart or head. He grinned and dropped a quick kiss on her lips, then showed her how to clean the weapons and load the magazines.

  Once they were outside, she threw her arms around his neck. “That was fun. I’d love to do that again when we have time.”

  Cade settled his hands on her waist. “Sure. Would you like a weapon of your own?”

  “Do I need one?”

  “You will if you decide to have one at the shop or your home.”

  “What would I need to do?”

  “Take a gun safety class and apply for your carry permit. We teach the safety class at PSI at the end of the month.”

  “Sign me up. We’ll see how it goes from there.”

  Cade tightened his hold. “You don’t know how much that means to me.”

  “I don’t want you to worry about my safety while you’re deployed.”

  “I may deploy more than normal the next two months. With Josh and Alex’s wives about to have their first babies, Bravo is taking their missions plus our own. Maddox wants to give them time with their families.”

  “Will I hear from you while you’re gone?”

  “Depends on what’s happening. I’ll try to call.”

  “It’s okay, Cade. Focus on keeping yourself and your teammates safe.”

  He kissed her. “You are a treasure, Sasha.”

  “Hope you think so on days when I’m tired and grumpy.”

  Trent walked up to them. “Gym next. How did Sasha do?”

  “With training, she could be a sharpshooter. I need a Beretta for her.”

  “Talk to Josh. A friend of his owns a gun store and will cut you a good deal.”

  The rest of the afternoon, Bravo ran through a series of close-quarter-combat drills with trainees as attackers, hit the obstacle course, and ran their miles.

  Once he’d cleaned up, Cade found Sasha in the kitchen helping Nate with dinner preparations. “You ready?” he asked.

  “As soon as I chop the celery and carrots.” Two minutes later, she scraped diced vegetables into a waiting bowl.

  “Thanks, Sasha.” Durango’s EOD expert gave her a one-armed hug. “Enjoy your date.”

  In Knoxville, Cade took Sasha to an Italian restaurant for dinner and drove to the mall she selected. Sasha was a power shopper. She knew exactly what she wanted and went for it. Thirty minutes after entering her favorite store, they left with three bags of clothes.

  At the exit, Cade handed her the bags. “I need my hands free.” He wrapped one arm around her shoulders, his weapon easily accessible.

  They had almost reached his SUV when a vehicle revved its engine. He turned. A dark-colored pickup raced toward them.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  One minute Sasha was walking with her boyfriend, looking forward to a quiet ride to Otter Creek. The next her back was against the vehicle, her body covered by Cade. His gun was in his hand, the barrel aimed at the truck racing away from them.

  Cade fired one shot. Although windows shattered, the driver didn’t stop. He careened from the aisle, turned toward the main thoroughfare, and sped away.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  She nodded. “They tried to kill us, didn’t they?”

  His head whipped toward her. “You saw them?”

  “The driver. I didn’t see the passenger well.”

  “Could you describe the driver to a sketch artist?”

  “I’ll try. Do you have one on staff at PSI?”

  “No, but I know someone who can help us find one.” He stepped back. “We need to go in case they take another run at us.” Once she was settled, he placed the bags behind her seat.

  She fastened her safety belt after several failed attempts. Sasha’s shaking hands annoyed her.

  Cade circled the vehicle with his plastic gadget in hand. A minute later, he drove away from the mall. She expected Cade to head for the interstate. He didn’t.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Taking a few detours. I don’t want them to follow us or try to run the SUV off the road.”

  “Would you take the risk if you were alone?”

  “What do you think?”

  That’s what she thought. If he’d been by himself, he would have drawn them into a trap of his own and perhaps stopped the madness tonight. “I have another question.”

  “Shoot.”

  “When we were at the gun range, you told me never to fire a weapon unless I knew where the bullet would stop.”

  “You want to know why I fired at the truck.” He gave a short nod. “Good observation. The truck was heading toward a high, dense berm of dirt. No civilians were in the area and no other vehicles were in the line of fire. I aimed for the center of the back window in case there was a passenger. With both front and back windows blown out, the truck will be more noticeable.”

  Wow. All Sasha had noticed was the truck and driver. Cade assessed the situation in a split second and acted. “Why didn’t we call the police to report the incident?”

  “They would have taken me in for questioning. With my background in the military and now Fortress, I would have drawn a lot of suspicion. I don’t want to be separated from you for any reason. We’ll report the incident to Ethan to have it on record, but we can’t offer much information yet.”

  “Yet?”

  Cade activated his Bluetooth and placed a call.

  A moment later, Zane’s voice filled the cabin of the SUV. “Murphy.”

  “It’s Cade. You’re on speaker with Sasha. We ran into trouble at a mall in Knoxville. Hack the traffic and security cameras in the area. A truck almost mowed us down in the parking lot. I want to know who was in the vehicle and the license plate.”

  “Name of the mall?”

  Cade gave him the information and answered other questions about the make and model of the truck. Sasha was amazed at the amount of information Cade had gathered in less than a minute.

  “Did either of you see the driver or passenger?”

  “I saw the driver,” Sasha said. “I’m not sure I could identify him.”

  “Let me see if I can find a shot of the driver or passenger. If not, we’ll locate a sketch artist.”

  “How long, Z?” Cade asked. “This is the third attempt on Sasha’s life in four days.”

  “Two or three hours. I’ll contact you as soon as I have something.”

  A soft voice spoke in the background.

  “Claire sends her best,” Zane said.

  “Give her a hug for me. Talk to you soon.”

  Sasha sighed. “This is crazy. I run a coffee shop in a small town. I don’t hang out with the wrong people or put myself in dangerous situations. This shouldn’t be happening to me.”

  “We’ll figure it out and stop it.”

  “Since we’re driving in circles, can we stop at a coffee shop? I’m craving hot chocolate.” She was desperate for a comfort drink.

  “We’re turning squares to spot a tail.” Cade found a coffee shop with a drive-through and ordered her drink plus coffee for himself and two bottles of water.

  While they waited for the order, he asked for her cell phone. To her surprise, he popped the phone from the case and took out her battery. His expression darkened as he fished something small from her phone case and flicked the item from the SUV.

  He activated his Bluetooth again. “Zane, I need a secure cell phone for Sasha. How fast can I get one?”

  “The Shadow unit is leaving Nashville in a few minutes. I’ll divert the plane to Knoxville. Expect the jet in 90 minutes. Same number as her current one. I’ll handle the details of switching her carrier.”

  Cade grinned. “You had the phone ready.”

  “Guilty. Later.”

  Sasha eyed Cade over the rim of her chocolate as she sipped. “Why am I receiving a new phone now?”

  “Hart or his buddy placed a tracking device in your phone. I got rid of it. Should give us some breathing room.”

>   When he returned to the main road, Cade headed in the opposite direction. Sasha thought they were continuing the squares until she saw the interstate sign. “Are we going to the airport?”

  He nodded. “No sign of a tail.” His lips curved. “If Black Dog is behind this latest incident, they know we’ll drive to Otter Creek eventually.”

  “I hope they wait to engage us until I finish the hot chocolate. It’s fabulous.”

  Cade laughed. “The coffee isn’t half bad, but it’s not yours.”

  Pleasure filled her at his words. “Am I turning you into a coffee snob?”

  “You’re helping me develop discerning taste in coffee.”

  “I like that. I’m glad we’re going home soon. The early morning is catching up with me.” She twisted to face him. “You didn’t have a chance to nap today.”

  “Noticed that, did you?”

  “Hard to miss. Are your days usually this busy?”

  He glanced at her. “I’ll always have time for you.”

  They parked near the airfield for private jets and Cade turned to Sasha. “We have a few minutes before the Fortress jet lands. You must have questions. Ask. I’ll answer if I can.”

  She considered her choices. One topic topped the list of questions. “Tell me about the woman you planned to marry.”

  Cade’s hand fisted on his knee. “It’s not a pretty story.”

  “She hurt you.”

  He inclined his head in silent agreement. “I don’t know where to start.”

  “At the beginning. When and where did you meet?”

  “I met Emily Whitfield at a fundraiser for combat-modified veterans eight years ago. She was the event coordinator and ran into me, literally. Emily was hurrying to another part of the ballroom and plowed into me. We talked. I asked her to dinner the next night.”

  He grimaced. “We dated for three months. I thought I was in love with her and asked her to marry me. She accepted. My unit deployed a week later. We were gone for six months. When I returned, something had changed between me and Emily. I didn’t know what was wrong. I asked if she was having second thoughts about marrying me. Emily said everything was fine, that I was having trouble adjusting to being stateside again.”

  Sasha scowled. “I hope you denied that.”

  Humor lit his eyes. “You don’t believe I had a problem?”

  “Oh, come on. You’re deployed often with Bravo, sometimes for weeks at a time, but you never have problems adjusting to Otter Creek.”

  A huff of laughter escaped him. “Yeah, I denied it. She blew off my protest. I knew something was wrong, but couldn’t figure out what. Two months later, I was sent out of the country for a short-term assignment and returned after six weeks.”

  When his knuckles turned white, Sasha laid her hand over his, sorry now she’d asked about Emily. This wasn’t a case of two people in love drifting apart. “What happened, Cade?”

  “After reporting to my commander, I drove to Emily’s house. Her front door was ajar. I went inside, afraid someone had broken into her place. While checking the house, I walked down the hall toward her bedroom. I expected Emily to be at work. I had planned to wait for her on the porch.”

  He drew in a deep breath. “She was home and in bed with another man.”

  Oh, no. “What did you do?”

  “Backed away and waited in the living room. I wanted to know who she was seeing behind my back and to break off the engagement. I could have waited until later, but she would have denied the whole thing and I needed answers.”

  His gaze locked with hers. “She was sleeping with my best friend. I’d been transferred into a different unit a year earlier. That’s why he was home when I deployed with my Ranger unit.”

  Sasha’s grip on his hand tightened as ice water flowed through her veins. She knew without asking the identity of the man Emily betrayed Cade with. He needed to tell her, though, and to see her reaction. “Who was he?”

  “Your brother.”

  Knowing the probable identity of Emily’s lover didn’t stop her jerk. “I’m sorry he hurt you, Cade.”

  “Emily lied to Dean, Sasha.”

  “About what?”

  He looked haunted for a moment. “She was lonely while I was gone. I understand that.”

  “I don’t.” She frowned. “If she loved you, she would have connected with other military wives who understood what she was going through, not turned to Dean for comfort. That doesn’t absolve Dean of responsibility. He knew she was engaged to you, and still he betrayed you.”

  “You haven’t been involved with a military man. The absences are hard on the families.”

  “If our dating relationship doesn’t work, I won’t betray you. I’ll tell you face-to-face when you return.”

  “And if we’re married?”

  Sasha’s heart leaped at the thought. A dream come true. “No betrayal, ever. Marriage vows are for life. If I fall in love with you, I would never hurt you like Emily did. We work together to resolve issues. I would treat you like the gift you are until one of us draws our last breath.”

  Cade stared at her. “Do you have any idea how much those words mean to me?”

  She squeezed his hand. There was more to the story. “Tell me the rest.”

  “Emily told your brother I had PTSD, that I was hitting her and verbally abusive. She convinced Dean she was afraid of me.”

  Sasha’s mouth gaped. “Are you serious?”

  “When I confronted them in Emily’s living room, he threatened to kill me if I touched her again. I denied everything, but Dean didn’t believe me. When it became obvious I was wasting my breath trying to convince him, I told Emily to keep the ring. I would never marry her, even if she came clean about the lies and wanted to resume our relationship.”

  “Why didn’t you ask for the ring?”

  “I wouldn’t place that ring on another woman’s finger.” He shrugged. “Sounds stupid, but she dishonored the ring. I won’t dishonor another woman by placing it on her finger. I could have traded the ring for something different later, but I didn’t want to see it again.”

  “How could you avoid Emily and Dean? You lived on the same base.”

  “The military moved my Ranger unit to another base soon after I broke the engagement.” He trailed the backs of his fingers over her cheek. “Now you know the whole sordid story, you understand why your brother jumped to the wrong conclusions.”

  “How long were you and Dean friends?”

  “Seven years. We went through boot camp together and were assigned to the same unit until I became a Ranger. Dean applied, but didn’t make the cut for Ranger school.”

  “What happened to Emily?”

  “Last I heard, she and Dean were married.”

  Shock reverberated through Sasha. “He married her? Why didn’t he tell us?” Her head dropped against the headrest. “Oh, man. That means I have to be nice to this woman when I meet her.”

  “I don’t know if they’re still together. I didn’t keep up with them after my unit changed locations. Three years later, I mustered out and joined Fortress.” He sat up, his attention focused on the plane taxiing down the runway. “That’s the Fortress jet.”

  He came around to open her door. “I’ll introduce you to the Shadow unit.”

  “What’s with the name?”

  “The team is assigned some of the toughest cases Fortress handles. They spend a lot of time in the shadows, hence the name.”

  “Can you tell me what kind of cases?”

  “Human trafficking, especially those involving children. They also specialize in rescuing kidnapping victims.”

  “They can’t work those difficult cases all the time.”

  Cade slipped his arm around her waist as they walked toward the concourse. “Maddox controls how many trafficking cases they take on. He intersperses them with bodyguard duty and other types of cases, even the occasional canine protection. He doesn’t want to burn them out.”

  She could
n’t have heard that right. “Canine protection?”

  “Many people treat their pets as members of the family. Most of the time, dognapping is less risky than kidnapping.”

  They waited for the jet to stop. Within five minutes, a broad-shouldered man about Liam’s height walked down the stairs to the concourse.

  Cade placed his hand on Sasha’s lower back and guided her forward. “Good to see you, Nico. Sorry your team had to detour.”

  “Our mission is a protection detail this time. We’ll arrive in plenty of time.” He tipped his head toward Sasha. “Introduce me to your friend.”

  “Sasha Ingram, this is Nico Rivera, leader of the Shadow unit.”

  Nico smiled and handed Sasha the phone. “I’m glad to finally meet you. Ramsey won’t shut up about you when he’s in town. I was beginning to think you were a figment of his imagination.”

  Sasha grinned. “Next time we see each other, you’ll have to tell me what he’s saying about me.”

  “Deal. It’s all good, though. My team would love to meet you, Sasha. Do you mind?”

  “I’d like that.” She and Cade followed Nico up the stairs and into the cabin of the Lear jet. Three men and one woman glanced up.

  “Look at that.” The speaker shook his head. “She is real.”

  “Unless she’s a ringer,” the woman said, sending the others into peals of laughter.

  “Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up,” Cade grumbled. “Sasha Ingram, meet Trace Young, Joe Gray, Ben Martin, and Shadow unit’s medic, Sam Coleman. This is my girlfriend, Sasha.”

  Stunned silence greeted his pronouncement. Nico whistled. “You moved fast, Cade.”

  “Fast?” He scowled. “I’ve been wanting to date Sasha for months. Her kidnapping and rescue gave me the opportunity I needed to convince her to take a chance on me.”

  The Shadow unit turned as one to look at Sasha. “What happened?” Sam asked. Her eyes registered concern.

  Cade gave the operatives a short version. By the end of the explanation, his friends were frowning.

  “Black Dog, huh?” Joe rubbed his jaw. “Never thought I’d see them make a move on Fortress.”

  “We don’t know if they are.”

  “They haven’t bothered us before now. If this latest incident is tied to BD, I’d say we have another security firm attempting a hostile takeover.”