Rescuing Katherine (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (Bravo Series Book 2)

by Anna Blakely

  A job you shouldn’t be on in the first place.

  That didn’t matter. Like it or not, McQueen had chosen him for a reason, so he needed to get his head out of his ass and keep his shit straight.

  Feeling more level-headed than he had all day, Matt went back inside, sent an ‘all secure’ text to Jake and the others, and got as comfortable as he could on the couch.

  An hour later, after flipping through the few channels the antenna picked up, he turned the TV off and closed his eyes, determined to make tomorrow a better day.

  The next morning, things started off a bit more smoothly. Though still a bit awkward, both he and Kat had begun the day on a cordial, almost polite note.

  Matt had woken first, and by the time she’d showered and dressed, he’d not only made a full pot of coffee, but a decent breakfast of scramble eggs, bacon, and toast.

  Kat’s surprise was obvious when she came out of the bedroom and saw the spread waiting for her on the table.

  “Wow. I wasn’t expecting all this.”

  Brushing it off, Matt shrugged. “No big deal. Just some bacon and eggs.”

  “Still. I can’t remember the last time someone cooked me breakfast.” Kat grabbed a piece of buttered toast from the small saucer on the table and took a bite. “Actually…” she started to talk but stopped when she remembered her mouth was full. She swallowed before continuing on. “I don’t remember the last time I ate breakfast.”

  “You don’t have someone who cooks for you?”

  When Kat shot him a look, Matt realized how the question had sounded and quickly tried to recover. “That wasn’t a dig,” he told her truthfully. “I promise. I genuinely assumed you had someone to do that sort of thing.”

  Accepting his explanation, Kat pulled out the chair closest to her and sat down. “I did. But when Brian…died, I moved out of that house and got my own place.”

  Her slight hesitation made him curious, but the last thing Matt wanted to talk about was her deceased husband. One who, for all he knew, she was still mourning.

  On the other hand, he’d already opened the can of worms, so he may as well get whatever information he could. Strictly for the job, of course. Not because he gave a damn.

  After filling up his second cup of coffee, Matt took the seat to her right and began filling his plate. “How’d he die?”

  “He, uh…” Kat paused before answering, her brows turning inward as she worked her throat. “Brian shot himself six years ago.”

  “Damn.” That wasn’t what he expected to hear.

  “Yeah,” she whispered softly, putting a scoop of eggs onto her plate.

  He couldn’t help but do the math. Kat had only been married for two years, which meant…

  “You’ve been a widow six years, and you never remarried?”

  Kat shook her head, a puff of air escaping on a low chuckle. “I never date.”

  This surprised him even more than the whole suicide bit. “Ever?”

  “Nope.” She took a bite and swallowed it. “I’m pretty much married to my job. I’ve been asked out by a few of the guys at the lab, but they aren’t really my type.”

  “And what is your type, Kat?”

  Her eyes met his, but she didn’t answer. Not with words, anyway.

  Quit reading into shit that isn’t there.

  Breaking away, she looked back down at her plate. “What about you?” She moved the eggs around with her fork. “You ever get married?”

  A loud snort escaped before he could stop it. “Hell no.”

  This seemed to surprise her. She waited a few more seconds before asking, “And what about this? You being here with me, I mean.”

  “What about it?”

  Kat licked her lips nervously and shrugged one of her delicate shoulders. “I didn’t know if there was a girlfriend back in the city. Someone who might be…I don’t know. Upset that you’re stuck in a tiny cabin with another woman?”

  She’d tried to make the question sound benign, but Matt knew she was fishing. From the nervous look in her eyes, he could tell she wanted to know for personal reasons rather than casual conversation.

  I’ll be damned.

  He could shut her down right now. Lie and say he did have a girlfriend. A serious one. Instead, he decided to play with her in a different way.

  Purposely turning his voice lower, he raised a brow and locked his eyes on hers. “You asking for a friend, or are you interested in a…ride…down memory lane?”

  Kat’s lips parted in silent shock as a red hue began to spread beneath her cheeks. Her eyes widened slightly, the chocolate surrounding them becoming nearly as black as her pupils.

  Gotcha.

  “I-I was curious.” She blinked and looked away. “That’s all.”

  Oh, this is starting to be fun.

  “I bet you’re curious about a lot of things. After all, we’re not kids anymore.” Matt let the heat he was pretending meant nothing seep into his teasing eyes. “A lot can change in ten years.”

  Kat’s eyes shot back up to his. Matt gave her a wink, just to fuck with her, and it was all he could do not to laugh when she became flustered while trying to change the subject.

  “You, uh…” Her voice cracked, and she had to clear it. Finding a sudden interest in the food on her plate, Kat finally managed to speak again. “You mentioned Derek coming by today. Do you know if he’s learned anything more about the explosion?”

  He considered continuing his enjoyable taunts but decided to let her off the hook. For now.

  “Not yet. He’s supposed to be bringing me the files on all the people we’re looking into. Hopefully we’ll get a lead from one of those.”

  Matt didn’t tell her she was one of those people.

  Taking a sip of her coffee, Kat held the warm mug between her hands as if she were cold. “As much as I hate to think of Todd, or anyone else I know, being involved in something so nefarious, part of me hopes Derek finds something. At least that way we’ll know if we’re looking in the right direction.”

  “I agree.” Matt swallowed a bite of crispy bacon. “Can you think of anything that seemed suspicious or out of place at work lately? Someone you didn’t recognize, a co-worker acting strange…things like that?”

  “No.” Kat shook her head. “Like I said yesterday, we haven’t had any investors stop by for a visit in quite a while.”

  “What about your team? Any of them seem off at all?”

  She thought a moment but shook her head again. “Not really. I mean, everyone’s been a little on edge, but that’s understandable given the hours we’ve been putting in and the pressure we’ve been under.”

  “Tell me what you mean by ‘on edge’.”

  Kat shrugged. “I don’t know. Impatient, I guess. A little grumpy, maybe.”

  “Anyone in particular?”

  “You mean, besides me?” She chuckled nervously but averted her gaze. “We’ve all been under a lot of stress.”

  She’s holding something back. “What is it you’re not telling me, Kat?”

  “Nothing.” Kat shook her head, but her resolve lessened. “I-I’m sure it’s nothing.”

  That didn’t sound even remotely convincing, so Matt pressed on. “It could be something. Sometimes even the smallest details can help.”

  She bit her bottom lip as her dark eyes rose to his. “I hate saying anything, because I know you already suspect him, and I don’t want to persuade your judgment. But I overheard Todd having a heated discussion the morning of the fire.”

  That definitely piqued Matt’s interest. “Who was he arguing with?”

  “I don’t know. He was in the break room, but I could hear him through the closed door. When I walked in, I saw he was on the phone, but he immediately stopped talking and ended the call.”

  “What did you hear him say?”

  She opened her mouth to answer but closed it again. Her hesitation to reveal a potentially vital piece of the puzzle cut some serious length from his patience. />
  “Damn it, Kat. If you know something.”

  “I don’t.” She shook her head vehemently. “At least, I don’t know for sure, anyway.”

  “Not the time to be vague, Doc.”

  He didn’t know what it was about that nickname, but every time he got pissed at her, it seemed to slip out.

  You weren’t pissed when you used it last night. Ignoring the thought, Matt looked at her and waited.

  “I’m not trying to be. I just don’t want to blame someone who isn’t here to defend himself. Especially when I’m not certain what I heard had anything to do with what happened.”

  Frustrated now—with both himself and her—Matt emphasized each word when he asked, “What did Todd say to the person on the phone?”

  His temper was probably ruining the progress they’d made this morning, but one step forward and two steps back seemed to be their new thing.

  “This isn’t a fucking game, Katherine. The person Todd was arguing with could very well be the same person behind the explosion and your break-in.”

  “I know.” She stood and walked over to the front door.

  At first, Matt thought she was going to storm out. Instead, she kept looking out the decorative window with her arms wrapped around herself. Almost as if she needed the comfort.

  Part of him understood where she was coming from. Like him, she was loyal to her team. It was an admirable trait, but one that could end up costing her everything.

  Finally, he heard her sigh before turning to face him again. “Todd said, ‘Fine. I’ll do it tomorrow.’”

  Matt’s eyes felt like they were going to bug out of his head. “And this was the day before the lab blew up?”

  Kat nodded, her painful acknowledgement obvious. “Yes.”

  “Did you tell the police?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “I didn’t think about it at the time. The place was in complete chaos, and I thought…I thought the explosion was an accident.”

  He wished that were true. “Where would Todd’s phone be now?”

  “I’m assuming with the rest of the recovered items. Unless it was completely destroyed.”

  Matt pulled his own phone from his pocket and began typing out a message.

  “Who are you texting?” Kat began walking back to the table.

  “Derek. I’m relaying what you said and telling him to stop by the lab on his way and grab Todd’s phone before he comes here.”

  “It’s evidence. Will they just hand it over to him?”

  “Yep.” Matt pressed ‘send’ and returned his phone to his pocket.

  Ryker had already gotten Matt’s team full clearance to anything pertaining to the investigation, so gaining access shouldn’t be an issue.

  Two hours later, Derek’s gunmetal gray Hellcat Challenger pulled up to the cabin. After breakfast, Kat had insisted on cleaning up and putting everything away, but then she’d locked herself in the bedroom and hadn’t been back out since.

  As angry as he still was at the frustrating woman for not telling him about Todd’s conversation sooner—not to mention all the other shit he was forcing himself not to think about—he also understood she’d been through a lot and was still trying to process everything.

  There were still more questions to be asked, but he decided to let her be. For now.

  “Hey, man,” Derek greeted Matt as he opened the door.

  “Thanks for coming out here. I know it’s a hell of a drive.”

  “Gives me an excuse to open Faith up a bit and let her roar like she was meant to.”

  Faith was Derek’s car. The man was seriously in love with the damn thing. If it weren’t for the fact that D was engaged to the woman of his dreams, Matt would probably be a little concerned for the former SEAL.

  “Here are the files.” Derek handed him the stack. “This is the background I could find on the Anderson employees who worked directly with the formula. I’m still workin’ through the financials, but it’s gonna take some time. Didn’t realize scientists were so into investing and all that shit.”

  “Really?”

  “I’m tellin’ ya. They’ve got like an average of five accounts each to go through, plus a couple off-shore ones my system is fine-combin’.”

  The man’s Texas drawl became more prominent the longer he spoke.

  “I figured you could do all that stuff in your sleep.” Matt gave him a disappointed look. “I mean, Nate seems to act as though he can.”

  Derek snickered. “Nate’s full of shit. It isn’t like the shows on TV where you type in a name and two seconds later, the evidence pops up all nice and neat, the authorities make an arrest, and the credits roll. Forensic accounting takes time, my friend. Which is why I’m leavin’ all this other background shit for you to go through.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  “What? It’s not like you have anything else to do while you’re stuck here.” Derek glanced over to the closed bedroom door and lowered his voice. “Or maybe you do.” His light brown eyebrows waggled.

  Matt’s cock twitched at the thought, but he forced the fucker to stand down. “Not a chance.”

  “Oh.” Derek seemed genuinely disappointed.

  That makes two of us.

  What the hell? No. It. Does. Not.

  Oblivious to the internal what-the-fuck moment Matt was experiencing, Derek kept talking. “How’s she doin’? I heard she was at the lab when the whole thing went down.”

  Matt nodded. “Better than most. Kat’s pretty tough though, so…”

  “Oh, that’s right.” One corner of Derek’s mouth lifted. “Heard you two used to be a thing back in the day.”

  Matt closed his eyes for a few seconds and took in a deep breath. He swore some of the R.I.S.C. operatives were worse gossipers than a bunch of bored housewives.

  “Used to.” He opened his lids and stared back at the intelligent man. “Key words to remember.”

  “What happened? Your needy dick screw it up?” Derek made a clicking sound with his tongue and shook his head full of shaggy, sandy-blond hair. “Knew you were quick to whip it out now, but damn, Turner. You couldn’t keep it in your pants even back then?”

  Swinging his head to the door to make sure it was still closed, Matt ground out, “It wasn’t my dick that screwed it up, asshole. And I wasn’t the one who ended things.”

  Shit. He hadn’t meant to say that last part out loud. Matt also didn’t understand why the thought of Kat hearing about his generous sex life bothered him so much. She’d been married to another man, for fuck’s sake.

  Sympathy swirled behind Derek’s blue eyes. “Oh. Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. That split was the best thing that ever happened to me.” Liar.

  Matt could tell Derek wasn’t buying it either, but at least he dropped the subject and moved on.

  “So…I’m also runnin’ a check on Sloane Anderson’s financials since he owns the company and obviously knew about the formula. And Ryker’s getting me the names of the military contractors who sought out Anderson in the first place. Just in case this whole thing started on that end. And I’ll start workin’ on Todd’s phone as soon as I get back to the office.”

  Matt sat the files down onto the table. “You want something to drink?”

  “Nah. Charlie’s got a pretty big wedding coming up, so I thought I’d give her a break and surprise her by taking her out to lunch.”

  Charlie, or Charlotte, was Derek’s fiancée and quickly becoming one of the most sought-after professional party planners in Dallas.

  “You’d better get back on the road, then.”

  Derek grinned. “I’m thinking I may take the scenic route home. Let Faith stretch her wheels while she can.”

  Matt smiled and shook his head. “You and that damn car.”

  “Hey, man. Don’t knock her ‘til you’ve tried her.”

  “I can’t try her, because you won’t let anyone else drive her.”

  Derek steppe
d off the porch and headed for the car. “Hell no, I won’t.”

  “Not even Charlie?”

  The other man turned and smiled as he opened the driver’s door. “She likes ridin’ while I do the drivin’.” With a wink, Derek got into his car and started the ignition.

  With a roll of his eyes, Matt went back into the cabin, stopping short when he saw Kat standing inside the doorway.

  “Oh. Hey.”

  “Was that Derek?”

  “Yeah.” Matt tipped his head in the direction of the table. “He dropped those off. I was going to start looking through them now, but since you’re out here, you mind if I take a shower first?”

  Why the fuck was he asking her permission?

  “No.” She shook her head. “Not at all.”

  “I won’t be long. The space will be all yours again, soon.”

  As worked up as he was, the more space between them right now the better.

  “You hungry?” She asked. “I could make us some lunch.”

  “Sure.”

  “What sounds good?”

  Matt shrugged. “Whatever. I’m not picky.”

  Kat smiled. “I know.”

  For some reason, her remembering anything about him at all added even more heat to his confusing-as-fuck frustrations.

  Without another word, Matt grabbed his bag and headed for the shower. When he first got in, he set the water as hot as he could stand it.

  He wasn’t sure why, maybe he thought it would burn away some of his pent-up anger and frustration. The problem was, he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what had him so riled up.

  As he grabbed the soap and began washing himself off, Matt’s thoughts raced to figure out what the hell was going on inside his head. Or, more importantly, a particular organ inside his chest.

  He was pissed at Kat for not sharing Todd’s argument initially, and Derek for egging him on to the point he’d admitted he’d been the dumpee and not the dumper. Matt was also pissed at himself for letting any of this shit get to him on such a deep level.

  The thing that had his nutsack twisted the most was his conflicting emotions when it came to Kat.

  He should hate her. Did hate her. But the longer they were around each other, the more Matt was also starting to feel something else. He just didn’t want to admit it.