The Omega Team_Spurs

by Kate Richards

  Isbet sat on the straight chair, but, after only a few minutes, she yawned. Then yawned again. His big bed looked so fluffy and comfortable and maybe she could curl up on the other side for just a few minutes and close her eyes, take a catnap on top of the covers to be more alert later. She’d be close by in case Ryder needed her. She’d just take off her boots so she didn’t mess up his beautiful antique quilts.

  “Well, isn’t this cozy,” drawled Andrew’s voice, and Ryder’s eyes shot open. He tightened his arm around Isbet and glared up at his brother and his cousin who wore matching smirks. Another family trait, apparently. The warm air of afternoon had been replaced with a cool breeze blowing the light curtains at the windows, but he wanted a shower after the hiking and excitement of earlier. He’d have to wrap his leg again, but he’d gotten used to the process.

  “And we were so worried about them while we were gone.” Carson shook his head.

  Ryder shifted and regretted it. “Ouch.” His exclamation roused Isbet who tried to jerk away, but he pulled her closer. “It’s okay, just my jerky relations come to spy on us.”

  “You’re hurting my feelings,” Andrew said. “Here we come, worried half to death about you, and you accuse us of spying.”

  Carson crossed his arms over his chest. “And calling us jerky. If you weren’t such a great guy, Andrew, I’d think I might have been better without relations.”

  “Are you about done?” If he hadn’t had a leg which might break right open again and an armful of warm woman, he’d have leapt up and punched them for their lame teasing. “Isbet,” he murmured against her ear, “we’ve got company.” He’d deal with them later, once they’d resolved the more serious problems

  She was on her feet in an instant, the wicked knife unsheathed and ready for action. Nobody laughed now. Although Ryder, once he recovered his breath, wore a smirk of his own.

  “Don’t kill my relations, honey.”

  She glared at him but lowered her arm. “I wasn’t going to. I was just startled.”

  Andrew took a step back, but Carson held his ground. “Who do you work for?”

  Her lips formed a stubborn line. “I’m self-employed.”

  “Doing what?”

  When she failed to answer, Ryder sat up and moved his legs over the edge of the mattress. Easing to his feet, he tested his wounded leg and it hurt less than he’d expected. “Okay, give me a minute to get dressed. Maybe ten minutes. And I’ll meet you all downstairs in Dad’s office where we can have privacy.”

  She dropped her arm with the knife to her side. “I’ll help you get ready, Ryder.”

  “I don’t need help.” He took a few tentative steps across the room, and the ache reminded him how he’d overdone earlier. As the only known survivor of the Vibora, complete recovery had remained out of reach so far.

  Andrew nodded. “I’ll help you, then.” His brother knew he hated anyone seeing the wound.

  Crap. “No, Isbet helped me undress; I have nothing to hide from her. And if it will speed things up, she can help.”

  Andrew shrugged. “Okay, but we’ll be back up here in fifteen minutes if you aren’t downstairs. We have a lot to discuss, including why you, Isbet, were sleeping with my brother with a fine antique gambler’s dagger in your sock.”

  “Whatever. You should see what’s still in my boot.” She marched to the door and held it open. “Get out.”

  “I should take that knife with me. What if you decide to use it on my brother?”

  She snorted. “I’ve been here for weeks, and I just spent hours sleeping with your brother.”

  “After rescuing me.” Ryder paused at her side, one hand on her shoulder for balance and the pleasure of touching her. “She could have done us all in by now if she chose. But I still want answers, as well. We’ll be right down.” Closing the door in their doubtful faces, he used his hold on her to turn her toward him and bent close to speak low in her ear. “You don’t plan to kill me, right?”

  Isbet linked her arms behind his waist, tilting her head back. “No, not right now.”

  “And the gun is in your boot?”

  “Yes.” It had been in his waistband when he got in the Mule…when had she taken it back?

  He searched her face. “Good enough for me.” He kissed her. For a tough woman with a questionable background, she kissed like a movie star. Or a burlesque queen. Or a prom date. He’d never considered himself fanciful, but everything about Isbet softened the hard edges and made him feel like a teenager. With a randy disposition. His cock hardened against her belly, and he fisted a handful of curls and took the kiss deeper, parting her lips with his tongue and tasting her mouth. Her tongue joined his, twisting in erotic dance that drove everything from his head but getting her under him on the bed and making love to her all night long.

  She leaned into him as he left her mouth and dropped kisses down her cheek and the side of her throat, sweet and salty with the perspiration from their hike, but the hottest thing he’d had his mouth on for a long time, maybe ever. She sighed and stepped back.

  “We need to get downstairs before they come up after us.”

  He released her, with regret. “You’re right. Can you grab me a pair of jeans from the closet and a shirt from the third drawer of the dresser? I don’t care which one.”

  “Sure.” She opened the closet door then glanced back at him. “You want jeans on that leg?”

  “I’m okay. The bandage will protect it. I always wear jeans on the ranch.”

  She looked like she might protest then grabbed a pair of indigo Wranglers from a hanger. “It’s your leg.”

  “So far.” Although he’d begun to worry about whether he’d still have one if it didn’t start to heal better. “Thank you for helping me.”

  “My pleasure. I would do the same for any man injured in service to his country.” Isbet handed him a forest-green T-shirt.

  He pulled the shirt over his head then leaned on her while he stepped into the jeans. “I am going to take a shower after our little meeting.”

  Isbet remained within reach so he could use her for balance when he needed to but she managed not to hover in the process. She pulled her shirt away from her skin. “I’m still kind of beat, but I need a shower, too.”

  Ryder stayed in sock feet. He didn’t plan to go outside. “I sure hope I’m up to showering alone.” He eyed her in his peripheral vision, watching her reaction. “I’m still pretty weak.”

  Isbet stepped into her boots and opened the door, facing away from him, but he heard a choked sound and hoped she wasn’t angry. She still had that sticker in her sock and the gun in her boot. Finally, she turned toward him. “If you need help with your shower after our little conversation downstairs, just say so. I have decided to tell you all as much as I can about myself, and I don’t know if you’ll change your mind about wanting me around you.”

  Following her into the hallway, he turned over what she’d said in his head. “I can’t imagine what you could say that would change my mind, so it’s a date.” As they approached the top of the stairs, she held her arm out to him and he linked his through it, welcoming the support. “It’s not like you’re a hired killer or anything.”

  “Not exactly, no.”

  He dropped her arm and grabbed the railing. Holy shit. “Who are you? Are you even Isbet Gutierrez?”

  She shrank against the other side of the stairs, hurt in her hunched shoulders. “Of course I am. But…well, I don’t want to tell it twice, so after you, soldier.” She waved him ahead and followed. “In case you don’t like what you hear and toss me out on my keister, I want to admire the view one last time.”

  He clutched the banister, putting one foot then the other on the next stair down, descending like an old man. What the hell did she mean not exactly a hired killer?

  Even if she were, he thought he’d probably still want to shower with her. After an appropriate body search for deadly weapons of course.

  Hired killer.

  S
he was kidding.

  Chapter Five

  Isbet settled into the leather armchair, almost disappearing in its worn depths. So far, nobody had spoken except to determine how many fingers of whiskey went into each heavy-bottomed glass. The three men sat side by side on the couch like a panel of judges. A panel of remarkably similar justices. If not for Carson’s lighter, ash-blond hair, and his cousins’ brown, they could be triplets. Nobody could doubt they shared blood.

  “So,” she said, “where do we begin?”

  “In the interest of time, I already had my office research you, Isbet.” Carson tipped his glass back and took a swallow.

  “And? What did they learn about me?” The Omega Team employed the best investigators. As one they contracted from time to time, she had no doubt of the skill of the others. Including the one who had vetted her before Grey and Athena ever made use of her services. And they obviously hadn’t told him she was the investigator who found his family. At least, it didn’t sound like it. “Or should I tell you what you learned?”

  “Either way.” He lifted a tablet from the side table. “My results are here. Let’s see how close you get.”

  He hoped she’d give away more than they had learned. “All right. Isbet Gutierrez, the daughter of Israel Gutierrez and Mary Lou Anderson-Gutierrez was born in Tampa, Florida, five years after her father fell off a raft on his way from Cuba and nearly drowned. Her mother was a guest on the pleasure boat that rescued him and a few other people.

  “Isbet graduated with honors from a local high school and attended college at Stanford University, graduating summa cum laude. How am I doing so far?”

  “Yes.” He smiled encouragingly at her. “I have all that. Go on.”

  “Isbet went to work at a tech company in the Silicon Valley, immediately after graduation, and that is the last time she appeared anywhere until….”

  “Until?” Ryder leaned forward, a hand on his good thigh.

  “Until a year ago when she hung out her shingle—figuratively, an online shingle—and became a private investigator.”

  “Right.” Carson drank the last of his whiskey and stood. “Anyone else?”

  Ryder waved his glass.

  “Not you. I don’t think you need too much booze with your system still half in shock.” While he poured, he muttered, “The least comprehensive report I’ve ever received on anyone. If I didn’t know better, I’d say Grey is holding something back for some reason. Know anything about that?”

  “They were protecting my privacy.” She set her glass on the table to her left. “I work for them from time to time. Like when they wanted to see if they could find any relatives of a certain employee?”

  “Son of a bitch.” Carson tossed back his drink and blew out a breath.

  “I think it’s important to share that in case you all want to throw me out.”

  Carson returned and sat between his cousins. “I think I can surmise some more. You were part of some government organization, some agency, and now you work for my bosses. They hired you to find my cousins. Am I close?”

  She nodded.

  He continued. “But what I don’t understand is why you are still here.”

  She didn’t know either. But, after hearing his story, she had wanted to see the reunion. And she’d wanted to see Ryder get a little better. A lot better. “I don’t have any family, at least not in the States.”

  “Your parents…?” Andrew’s mellow drawl took the edge off a subject she preferred to avoid.

  “Daddy died when I was quite young. Mama married again, dated a lot, looked for a great guy. Finally, she got sick. Anyway, she’s gone now, too.”

  Ryder opened his arms, but she shook her head and he dropped them. If he hugged her, she’d break down, and they had to deal with the immediate threat. She could cry later. Someday.

  “Anyway, I think I was just what the organization wanted. No ties. No family.”

  Carson watched her. “You didn’t have to join them.”

  “I thought about doing something different.” She blinked back the tears every memory of her mother’s death still brought on. “But I was recruited. A man came up to me in one of the college restaurants. Told me I could make a difference in the world.”

  Carson cleared his throat. “Why you? I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but what made them decide you had more to offer than any other college student?”

  Now she smiled. “I guess Grey and Athena really did hold back. I have an IQ of 189 and a few other odd talents they were looking for.”

  “Like?”

  “A photographic memory, the ability to blend into almost any crowd, and I held several awards for sharpshooting.”

  “Sounds like a perfect recipe for an assassin.”

  Ryder jerked, and she shot him a look. “I have said all I can, but, no, I was not an assassin. Although it was the position they had in mind for me. I spent a lot of time undercover overseas.”

  Andrew rose and walked over to the window, more ill at ease than she’d seen him. “Did you work for the FBI? CIA?”

  “No. And before you ask, I cannot even name them. It’s that top secret.”

  This time when Ryder held out his hand, she let him draw her to sit next to him.

  Andrew tugged back the heavy drapery and peered out. “Did you bring this trouble here?”

  That was his real worry, wasn’t it? “I don’t know. I don’t think so. I never had anything to do with weapons smuggling.”

  The rancher dropped the drape and faced them. “I can’t help but think your arrival is coincidental.”

  Ryder draped an arm over the shoulders of the woman who had saved him. Sure, maybe he wouldn’t have bled to death, but he’d have had a heck of a time getting back without her going for help. And if circumstances were slightly different, if he hadn’t been showing off with pure macho hubris, perhaps they wouldn’t have found the criminals up there at all. The fact she’d been undercover to hook them up with their cousin? With everything else going on, he couldn’t be upset about that.

  “I wish you’d felt free to tell us.”

  “Omega did not give me permission to share what I was doing, but I think it’s all right now.”

  “Okay, then.” He refocused on the more serious matters. “Carson, Andrew, did you find anything else up in the pasture? More evidence? Signs of other stops?”

  Carson shook his head. “Not a thing. All we have is the one nasty little item you picked up. The question is, what do you guys want to do with it? It’s your land.”

  Andrew looked at him. The rest of those in the room had a history of one kind or another of military or at least Fed service and expected there to be criminals under every rock. Andrew just wanted to raise cattle and make his, their, business a success. They had to resolve the issue—preferably without flooding the property with military and police personnel who would probably tear up the pastures, certainly upset the stock and hands, and overall step on one another’s feet. He toyed with a lock of Isbet’s hair while trying to figure out an alternative solution. “Ten minutes after we call in the authorities, all hell will break loose. Even my commander would be obligated to report higher up and bring in a small army. So to speak.”

  Carson pulled his phone out of his pocket and texted, fingers flying. He nodded and typed some more. “We can’t hide the fact these are being brought into the country.”

  Ryder sighed. “My team is charged with obtaining a sample of the weapon for analysis. Once they do, they can be pulled out of the area, maybe avoid being hit by one like I was. We can’t wait any time at all before making sure this gets into the hands of the researchers. The question is, can we keep them off the ranch in the process?”

  Carson read the screen and nodded. “Athena has contacts everywhere, and she has asked me to wait until the morning before taking action. She thinks she might be able to help.”

  At the speed of government, while they might be swarming the place, no way would they do anything useful
with the item before the next day…or the next week. “Okay. But what if they come back tonight with more of the weapons?”

  “Nobody flies in and out of those mountains at night. It’s a good way to end up splattered on the cliffs. That’s why they were here in broad daylight.” Andrew smiled, but his eyes told another story.

  “In case they did leave anyone behind, Carson and I decided to send a couple of hands to babysit the stock overnight. They’ll have radios—like everyone should take up there—so if they see anything, they will hide and call for help. They are pretty strong guys, but they’ve never had to deal with anyone like we are facing. We will also inform the other night hands to keep an eye out for any unusual activity.”

  “I can get behind that,” Ryder said.

  “It seems logical, but I’m still worried. Do you think we should get everyone off the property?” Andrew shifted uncomfortably. “Anyone who could create a weapon like that wouldn’t hesitate to kill all of us.”

  “No.” Carson shook his head. “Athena and Grey said not to make any big moves to alarm them. They don’t know we’re onto them, probably. If anyone was left behind, and they see a mass exodus, they might think they needed to get rid of any possible witnesses. For tonight, we keep things business as usual and as quiet as possible. Andrew and I will stand watch, along with Sarge, in the immediate area. Ryder, you need to rest, so don’t argue.”

  Ryder stood and reached a hand for Isbet. “If we’re all done here for tonight, we’re heading upstairs to shower and try to get some rest.” Towing her behind him, he hit the stairs at a faster pace than his leg called for, but he didn’t care. “You boys have a good night.”

  “Ryder, slow down!” Isbet’s footfalls thudded behind him. “You’re going to tear open that wound again.”