by Em Petrova
Both his friends stared at him, waiting to hear it.
“I can go over there and show her how good we can be. I left her wanting last time, half-satisfied, and that was my mistake.” He was just sober enough to realize he wasn’t doing so tonight. He’d have to burn through all the alcohol in his system first. But tomorrow when she came home from her school day, he’d be waiting for her.
And he was going to sweep her off her feet this time.
* * * * *
Standing shoulder to shoulder with Jess, suffering through their captain’s glare, was at the bottom of Cav’s list of best moments.
“Are you guys even lucid enough to join this mission?”
Sully’s loud voice had him wincing on the inside. Outside, he kept his stoic façade. Giving a nod made his head pound, but he pushed through it.
“I’m fine, Sully.”
“And you, Jess? What the fuck were you two thinking? You know getting shitfaced is off limits when we never know when we’ll be called out.”
Jess looked a little green around the gills. Cav felt a little peaky himself, but he was bigger and could hold his drink better. He couldn’t diss his friend, though, not when Jess had stood by him to the end, even when it meant being hungover and having his ass chewed at O-eight-hundred.
“We’re good,” Cav said in a stronger voice.
“Don’t make me give you a breathalyzer.”
“We quit drinking hours ago. The whiskey’s through us by now,” Jess spoke up.
The rest of the guys wandered over and stood behind Sully, amusement flickering on and off their faces. The last thing they wanted was to be on the receiving end of their captain’s wrath, but Cav and Jess were giving them good entertainment.
“Get your shit together, men. You’ve got five minutes.”
Cav and Jess took off toward their lockers. Silence was unusual between them, but neither wanted to speak as they suited up. Jess finished before he did and Cav grabbed his weapon and was out the door last.
As soon as they were all seated in the SUV, Sully cranked up the music, blaring the tunes specifically for their benefit. Cav nudged Jess. “You bring any aspirin?”
“No, man. Linc?”
He tossed them a grin and a second later threw a bottle over the seat to them. Cav fielded it and cracked the lid open.
“Gimme that.” Jess took a few and swallowed them without so much as a sip of water.
For the first few minutes of the ride, Sully seemed to be taking every damn turn he could find.
“If he wants to make us puke, he’s not getting the satisfaction,” Cav muttered. He hadn’t thrown up after a night of heavy drinking since his junior year of high school, when he’d learned the hard way not to mix every type of alcohol possible into one gross cocktail.
After a while, Sully decided they’d had enough torture. He turned down the radio and slowed for the turns.
“Hold on to your asses, men. I’m about to tell you the details of our mission.” Sully’s tone was grim.
They all waited.
“We’ve got a trace on the suspected bomb maker, and we’re going after him.”
Cav straightened in his seat, listening double-time in case his brain wasn’t quick enough to pick it all up yet. He felt fine, though still bruised and battered around the edges after seeing Arielle the previous day.
“We have coordinates, which could be the guy’s home,” Sully was saying.
“You think he’s working alone?” Woody spoke up.
“Probably solo, yeah. But,” his gaze found Cav’s in the rearview mirror, “since those two explosives had differences, it’s possible more than one person is building them.”
“Another answer is he’s trying to throw us off his trail. Or he’s just experimenting with the engineering of them, tinkering till he finds something that works best. Give us the details on this guy. Background.” Cav had officially turned the corner from whiney fucker who’d just been dumped to in-control special operative.
While he listened to Sully inform them of the man’s habits right down to his favorite takeout food, Cav built a file in his mind. If he had to dig into the depths of this new type of explosive, he had to know the maker first. With luck, after today, they’d have the asshole—or assholes—nailed down and nothing like this would happen again.
His mind landed on those poor hikers who’d lost their lives because of him. Man, his goddamn shrink would have a field day if she ever got inside his head.
“How did intelligence uncover this information?” Cav asked.
“How do they ever? They dig deep. Weed shit out. Are you questioning how accurate it is?”
Cav shrugged. “Just keeping an open mind. After all, they believed that last bomb was the same, and it wasn’t. Yesterday, OFFSUS was also convinced the man who found the explosive on the Metrorail had planted it, and after a few hours of interrogation, and the man crying for his mommy and pissing his pants a few times, we knew that wasn’t the case. We all know things aren’t always as easy as they seem.”
The guys nodded, including Sully.
“Stay on your toes and we’ll find him.” He filled them in on half a dozen more details, and then threw a glance over his shoulder. “Any questions?”
“I got one. Where’s the nearest Quickie-Mart? I’m out of pork rinds.” Linc’s drawl had a few of them chiming in with requests, but Sully stayed the course and told Linc to shut his trap and eat his own dick if he was hungry, which sent them all into hysterical laughter.
Feeling a little more himself, Cav relaxed back in his seat and let his mind drift over everything he knew and all he had learned. He wasn’t as hopeful as he was skeptical, but in the end, guts and glory would prevail—there was no other course for Ranger Ops.
Now for the other topic occupying his mind. Arielle.
He rarely swayed from his gut instincts, which was why he was struggling so much over the situation. All he had to do was look into her eyes and a knowing came over him… hell, she took over him. Being with her was like picking up with an old friend where he’d left off and finding an exciting new love interest all rolled into one.
After talking the situation through with Jess and Avery last night, he knew he wasn’t going to give up so easy. He just needed time to go visit Arielle and let her know that these strong feelings, in such a short amount of time, weren’t normal for him. Knowing her, it was unusual for her too.
They had to give them a chance.
When the Ranger Ops team reached their destination, Woody let out a low whistle at the sight of the quiet street.
“This place looks so safe, they probably don’t even have a neighborhood watch,” Jess said.
“Sure this is the address?” Woody asked.
“Yeah, it’s the address. You guys know the drill. Woody, you and I take the front. Linc and Lennon, you’ve got the back door, and Jess and Cav get inside and go straight for any explosives or questionable materials. Ready?”
Five nods answered his question, and they stormed out of the vehicle, weapons drawn and moving fast. As soon as Sully kicked the door in, Woody rushed in, swinging left and right as he whipped through the space.
Cav was on his heels. He and Jess began tossing the house, dumping drawers, opening doors and scouring every inch and every item.
When he opened a cupboard under the sink, he stopped. “Well, lookie here. Not your usual cleaning products.”
Jess peered in. “Nope.”
Cav spoke into the comms, “Sully, we’ve got something under the kitchen sink.”
“Corrosive materials to mix for explosives?” came the reply.
Cav crouched before the cupboard and began pulling out bag after bag of heroin and black plastic bags, which he carefully set on the cheap linoleum and passed a device over. He looked at the screen and did not see the x-ray view of an explosive.
Jess’s eyes widened. “Fuck, that’s a lot o’ cash.”
“We’ve got a drug dealer here,
not a bomb maker,” Cav said.
A crash came from the other side of the house, and a split second later, Sully sprinted through the kitchen. Shouts sounded in their comms unit, and Cav deduced that the homeowner had been found hiding and Linc and Lennon had stopped him from sneaking out the back.
They had him on the ground, and a stream of cusses followed, each as colorful as the last. Cav carefully emptied the kitchen cabinet and spread the drugs and money out on the floor. Jess put out a call to ATF and with the house cleared and the owner in custody, Cav and Jess searched the rest of the place.
In the shed out back, they did find some of the corrosive materials they were looking for, but they appeared to be used in a legit manner.
“Who the fuck sent us out to raid a drug dealer’s house? What the fuck are we—ATF agents now? OFFSUS must be slacking. They need some better people investigating this shit if—”
Cav cut off dead as a shot was fired. He rounded, weapon raised. He didn’t even hesitate to take aim and pull the trigger. The gunman flew back, legs sprawled.
With Jess covering him, Cav approached cautiously. He already knew the man was dead—his shot was always true.
“Suspect heading into the trees out back!” Sully’s alarm went up, and the team was on it, chasing down a third man, who a minute later hit the dirt. Cav and Jess arrived on the scene beside the rest.
“Fuckers were hiding in the woods,” Linc said as he used zip-ties to bind the man’s hands together.
“Yeah, but the question is why. They didn’t know we were coming.” Cav tipped his head in a gesture for Jess and Lennon to follow, and the three of them took off into the trees. The wooded area wasn’t wide but pretty thick, with lots of underbrush.
“Good place to hide shit.” Jess’s voice came low to his ears.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised to kick up a few more guys in this thick shit. Watch your asses.” Cav took the lead, and they cut a swath through the area. In the end, there were no other men out here, but Cav did find some very interesting holes dug in the soft mulch between trees.
“What are those?” Lennon stooped to look.
Cav dragged his fingers over the dirt and then brought his hand to his nose and sniffed. “Fertilizer bombs.”
“Shit.”
“OFFSUS wasn’t completely wrong—they just sent us after a couple homegrown assholes who probably use fertilizer bombs to scare off anyone coming after them for the drugs or drug money.”
“Fuck. I’ll call it in.” Sully sounded irritated to be put on a job that wasn’t better researched before they were dispatched. This type of work was easily handled by regular feds and city cops—there was no need for special ops units to be on the scene.
Cav did another thorough sweep of the area, and all he found was more of the same. By then the police and ATF were on the scene, along with the coroner, who was taking out the two men who’d been shot trying to protect their stash.
“Thanks, guys.” One of the cops gave them a nod as they passed on their way to the SUV.
Cav gave him a single nod. Once he was seated in the back, he removed his helmet and dragged his fingers through his hair, damp with sweat. “So much for this being a guy who works solo to build explosives,” he muttered.
“Yeah, a fucking dead end. But at least we got a little action, right?” Jess was always one for raising spirits after things didn’t quite work out the way they hoped.
“Sully, what do you say about those pork rinds now?” Linc quipped.
Sully heaved a sigh and put the SUV in gear. “I’d say a pitstop is well-earned, guys. Who wants Mexican? Fucking OFFSUS is buyin’.” He grinned.
Cav peeled off his gloves, his mind on Arielle… and that shot fired at him.
Hell, maybe she’s right to steer clear of me.
The last thing he wanted to do was break her heart.
* * * * *
As protocol, all the classroom doors remained closed at all times, but sometimes after the students left for the day and the teachers enjoyed their quiet prep periods, they left them open. Usually, teachers would pop their heads in to chat for a minute or two, and Arielle enjoyed these exchanges.
So when Arielle’s classroom door closed, she looked up to see Sarah standing there, concern etched on her face.
“You hid in your classroom all day and didn’t even come to the faculty lounge for lunch. What’s up with you?” Her friend folded her arms as if she wasn’t budging till she got some answers.
Sighing, Arielle swiveled in her seat behind her desk, where she’d been looking over tomorrow’s lesson plan. “Come in and sit down.”
Sarah did, moving to a desk at the front of the room. She leaned on the metal front and stared at her. “What’s going on with you?”
She’d better come clean with Sarah or she’d never let up.
“It’s that guy.”
Sarah’s brows shot up. “Cav?”
“Yeah. You know he’s an old friend, that we went to middle school here together. But I saw him twice over the weekend.”
“That doesn’t sound like a bad thing. Unless he’s a jerk.”
She shook her head. “He’s not—he’s great.”
“So what’s the problem?”
She lifted her gaze to her friend. “He’s military.”
The words hung in the air between them like a fog she couldn’t see through.
“Oh.” Sarah knew the story about her late husband and connected all the dots.
“Yeah.” She flopped against the back of her seat and shook her head. “I told him I can’t see him anymore.”
“But you’re crazy about him.”
Biting her lip, she slowly nodded. “I am.”
Sarah unfolded her arms and tipped her head as she contemplated the situation and Arielle. “I’m sorry for you, honey. I know you’re probably fearing the worst outcome from a relationship with Cav.”
Tears sprang to the surface, and she battled against them. “I can’t put myself through that again.”
“I understand, but… if he’s hanging around here, he isn’t active duty, right? Is he a recruiter or something?”
She shook her head. “I can’t tell you the particulars, but it’s an unknown branch.”
Sarah blinked, ingesting this. “I see.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m not seeing him anymore. But… but if you had seen the look on his face and heard the way his voice broke…” She gulped down emotion and bottled it up deep inside. Then she took a cleansing breath and closed her lesson plan book. “Well, it’s all over, and it’s for the best. I’ll take a few days to work through the emotions, and then I’ll be fine.”
Sarah’s blue eyes settled on hers. “Do you believe that?”
Arielle’s shoulders slumped. “I want to. No, I will be.” She stood and began neatening items on her desk for the next day. “I’m going to stay busy. That’s what I’ll do, and it will pass quickly.”
“You know you can always talk to me. You don’t need to hide away in your classroom—which smells, by the way. Have you gone nose-blind too?”
Arielle giggled. “Probably. Half the class has gym before coming here and last period, and they aren’t so fresh.”
Sarah marched to the door and threw it open, making an exaggeration of gasping for air.
Grabbing her purse, Arielle followed her. In the hallway, they embraced.
“Text if you need anything, okay?” Sarah’s gaze was sympathetic.
“You’re a dear. Thank you.” With her purse strap over her shoulder, she headed down the empty corridor to the exit. At this time of day, there were activity buses and the parking lot still had a lot of cars. But as soon as she looked up, she spotted it.
Cav’s truck.
Her heart took off like a racehorse, galloping at a treacherous speed. And leaning against her own car was the man himself.
Big, broad and beautiful.
He wasn’t in the black uniform as he had been the other day bu
t wore jeans and a white T-shirt that sculpted to his body like a second skin.
There was no hope for it—she couldn’t stay hidden in the school all day and would have to approach him.
Setting off across the asphalt, she focused on the click of her heels rather than the thud of her heart. As she neared Cav, she made out the logo on his shirt for the local college football team—and the brightness in his eyes.
She didn’t know what to do right now. Her mind was made up about him. But seeing him had her turning inside out too.
She had come to Rose to find roots and a calm life, but Texas felt small with Cav in it.
As she neared, his chest moved like he was drawing a deep breath.
“Cav.”
“Hi, Arielle.”
“I… I thought you understood me yesterday.” She didn’t want to meet his gaze for fear she’d melt. Only a single step would put her into his arms.
Arms she wanted to be in.
“I know what you said. But I’m not going to accept it—not yet. You didn’t give me a chance, and I demand a chance.”
She looked up, surprised by his hard tone of determination. Of course she expected such a thing from a guy like Cav, but hearing him pulled invisible strings throughout her body, leaving her feeling like a puppet, and he was her master.
“I don’t know what a chance will do besides make things harder on us both.”
“It’s true that my job is dangerous and I totally understand your stance on the matter. But you can’t deny that just my being here’s got you all tied up in knots right now.” He moved forward, so close she could feel the wave of his body heat against her front.
She suppressed a shiver that shouldn’t be an issue in the Texas heat.
His eyes hooded. “I bet if I pull up your skirt right now, I’ll find your panties wet, because you’re aching for me, Arielle.”
“Cav,” she sounded weaker than she wanted, “you can’t talk to me that way.”
“Don’t push me away. Baby…” He edged closer. “I can still remember the way you taste and I want more. What are your plans tonight? I’ll do anything just to spend time with you.”
Oh God. Why did he have to be so damn hot as well as a dirty talker? Before meeting him again, she hadn’t even realized how much she loved it.
