Someone Like Her (A K2 Team Novel)

by Owens, Sandra

  What if he never got over it?

  The day before, she’d given up on waiting for her phone to ring and had gone to his condo. When he didn’t answer her knock, she’d turned to leave when a young woman came out of the condo next door and glanced over.

  “He’s not there. Said he’d be away for a while.”

  “Did he say where he was going?” The girl was very pretty, and Maria couldn’t help wondering if Jake had ever slept with her.

  “Just said something about a vacation.”

  He went on a freaking vacation? “Did he say when he’d be back?”

  Earlobe-length, sleek blonde hair swirled around the girl’s head when she shook it. “Nope. I’m Sugar Darling, by the way. Just moved in a few weeks ago. Jake’s the only neighbor I’ve met so far. He’s a real cutie.”

  Maria raised a brow.

  Sugar rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, and yes, that’s my real name. I love my daddy, but I’ll never forgive him for laying that one on me. He thought since our last name was Darling, Sugar would be just the cutest thing evah to name me.”

  Her grin was so full of mischief, Maria couldn’t help but like the girl. Even if she did think Jake was a cutie. “Okay, thanks.” She started to walk away, then turned. “Nice to meet you, Sugar, and your daddy’s right. That is the cutest name evah. You from South Carolina by any chance? Charleston, maybe?”

  Sugar blinked big blue eyes. “Wow, you’re amazing. What gave me away?”

  “Just a lucky guess. At least you weren’t loaded down with two names.” Maria’d had a roommate in college from Charleston, and Sugar sounded just like Emma Grace. “Count your blessings he didn’t name you Sugar Sweet.”

  A throaty laugh sounded from the girl. “Oh, Lordie, don’tcha dare suggest that to my daddy.”

  Maria took two steps before adding, “And by the way, my name’s Maria, and Jake belongs to me so don’t get any ideas where he’s concerned.”

  “Dang, all the cute ones seem to belong to someone else.”

  Maria turned and with her back to Sugar, she grinned. “At least, this one does,” she murmured. All she had to do was find him.

  If he wasn’t at the funeral, she’d make Logan tell her where he was. She didn’t doubt her brother knew, and she’d make his life miserable until he gave up Jake’s location. Deep in her bones, she knew Jake needed her and one way or another, she’d run him to the ground. The poor man had no clue how determined she was.

  Maria got to the chapel early and positioned herself in a far back corner. The glossy black coffin at the front drew her eyes. It was an open viewing and she dreaded the moment when she’d have to walk to the front and see Rick. He’d been the newest guy at K2, so she didn’t know him as well as the others, but she’d liked him.

  Her heart hurt for the life lost and for Jake—the man who blamed himself for getting Rick killed. She blinked against the burning in her eyes and opened the small pamphlet that gave a brief biography of Rick, along with his picture.

  There was so much about Rick missing from the pamplet, stuff that only a few people knew: that he’d given his life on foreign soil to rescue a misguided boy; that he’d put food out in the mornings for two feral cats living in the alley behind K2; and that he’d spent his off-hours volunteering at a boys’ club. Rick once asked her to go in and talk about college to a group of his brightest kids.

  According to his biography, he had no brothers or sisters, and only his father still lived. She glanced to the front to see an older man—his head bowed—on the first pew next to Logan and Dani. She hoped he knew his son was a true hero in more ways than just the job he’d died for.

  Her breath caught in her throat when Jake entered, so handsome and somber in a black suit. Her eyes riveted on him, she watched as he walked resolutely down the aisle, a slight limp the only indication he’d been shot in the leg. He stopped next to Rick’s father and leaned close, saying something in his ear. The man nodded and then hugged Jake.

  When the man embraced him, Jake squeezed his eyes shut and when he opened them, he looked straight at her. Frozen in place by his intense focus on her, she wanted to cry upon seeing the despair in his eyes. She smiled and fought against the trembling of her mouth. He broke the contact between them and slipped into the pew behind her brother and Mr. Bayne.

  The air swished out of her lungs. She wanted to go to him, had planned to, but now she wasn’t sure if she should. There’d been no warmth for her in his eyes, no welcoming invitation. Logan had said to give him time, but what if he couldn’t get past Rick’s death and never came back? Not wanting to do the wrong thing, indecision gripped her.

  “You should go to him.”

  Maria leaned her head against Jamie’s shoulder. “You just get here? Have you talked to him?”

  “Yes, just got here. And no, I haven’t talked to him since the debriefing. He won’t take my calls.”

  “Yeah, mine either. He’s only talking to Logan, and my stupid brother won’t tell me anything. He just keeps saying to give Jake time. Do you really think I should go sit with him?”

  “I do. He wants you with him even if he’s trying to convince himself he doesn’t deserve you.”

  She peered up at Saint. “You think that’s what he’s doing?”

  “I know it. Go on.”

  Jamie put his hand on her back and gave her a little push. Maria tossed him a grateful smile over her shoulder and, with her heart banging against her chest, walked to the front of the chapel and slid into the pew next to Jake just as the minister approached the pulpit.

  The man who held her heart and happiness in his hands stared straight ahead, his body stiff and unyielding. He might as well have hung a “Keep Off” sign around his neck. The salt from the tears welling up burned her eyes. She blinked hard and glanced at the casket. If she cried, at least everyone would think it was because of Rick, and it would be partly for that reason.

  Her tears were also for the man sitting beside her. It was hard to understand, though. If she was hurting as badly as Jake was, the first person she’d turn to would be him. She’d want his comfort, his words of assurance that somehow things would get better and that he’d stand beside her in her time of need.

  Yet, Logan had reacted the same way as Jake did—closing up and pushing her away—after Evan had been killed. So was it a man thing? Was their pride so great that if they weren’t perfect in every little thing, they blamed themselves for whatever went wrong? Of course, Rick getting killed wasn’t a little thing, and there had to be more to the story than she was privy to.

  If Jake would only talk to her, tell her what happened, maybe she could find the right words to ease his pain. Even if she couldn’t, just getting it off his chest should help him some. They’d been friends before they became lovers and wasn’t one of the benefits of having a friend to be able to lean on them during difficult times? There was no doubt in her mind that if she was going through an emotional crisis, Jake would be there for her. Why wouldn’t he let her be there for him?

  If Jamie was right and Jake didn’t think he deserved her after whatever had happened in Egypt, then that was just stupid. She made up her mind that if Jake wouldn’t let her in, she’d make Logan so miserable he’d tell her what happened just to get rid of her.

  “Please stand for the Lord’s Prayer,” the preacher said.

  “Our Father, who art in heaven.”

  As Maria listened to those around her join in with the minister’s soothing voice, she slipped her hand into Jake’s. Expecting him to shake her off, she was surprised—and relieved—when he gripped her hand hard enough to hurt. She didn’t care because it meant he did need her, if only he’d admit it to himself.

  All through the remainder of the service, he held on tightly to her hand. When the soloist began to sing “Go Rest High on That Mountain” by Vince Gill,
a shudder traveled through Jake, one she felt against her shoulder and in their held hands. Maria tightened her grip, bowed her head, and uselessly fought her tears.

  “Wait for me,” she whispered when the last amen sounded and Jake stood to join Logan, Jamie, Brad Stewart, and two other K2 employees to bear the casket out.

  He didn’t.

  Nor did he show up for the burial at the cemetery. Nor did he appear at Logan’s where everyone gathered afterward.

  “Where the hell is he, Logan? And if you say I just need to give him time, I swear, you’ll never be able to make another baby with Dani.” Three days had passed since the funeral, and Logan had steadfastly refused to tell her anything. Although she’d never thought herself a violent person, she was ready to beat the crap out of him to make him talk.

  “Ah, I’d appreciate it if you’d reconsider that particular threat,” Dani said, amusement in her voice.

  Maria stopped her pacing, giving her sister-in-law a sheepish shrug. “It was the best one I could think of. Make him tell me. I know you can wheedle it out of him if anyone can.”

  Dani blinked her eyes seductively at her husband. “Tell her, sweetie.”

  “He’s pitched a tent at St. George Island State Park. There, are you happy?”

  Deliriously. She glared at her brother. “You mean all I had to do was blink my eyes at you to get you to spill?”

  Logan snorted. “No, it only works when Dani does it.” He leaned his head back on the sofa and sighed. “Jake doesn’t want you to find him, but I think it’s time you did. Sit down and listen.”

  Maria pushed his feet off the ottoman and plopped her butt on it. “I’ve been wanting to listen to you . . . or Jake, anybody that would talk to me since everything went all wrong. What happened in Egypt?”

  Her brother exchanged a look with Dani, who nodded. That was what Maria wanted more than anything in the world, even more than passing the bar, which, until Jake, had always been number one on her list. The kind of silent exchange she watched pass between Logan and his wife—the kind that didn’t need words because they understood each other in a way no one else could. She wanted that with the man she loved and was prepared to fight for it with everything that defined her.

  As she listened to Logan, her belief that she could overcome anything Jake was facing fell. Because of the decision he’d made to come to her rescue, Jake believed—maybe rightly so—that he was responsible for Rick’s death.

  Because he hadn’t stepped off the plane with the rest of the team, their contact had spooked and it had all gone south from there. Worse, according to Logan, it had been Jake’s decision not to call off the mission when he realized Rick wasn’t ready to be back in the field. If it hadn’t been for her, Jake would’ve been on the plane with his team. Stupid, stupid Maria. Why did she have to go searching for a father who’d never tried to find her?

  The guilt of what Jake was going through because of her, the memory of Fortunada’s hands groping her, and the too-peaceful face of Rick lying in his coffin while his father stood over him and wept, leveled a hard punch to her abdomen. Her stomach heaved and she ran out of the room, barely making it to the bathroom before losing her lunch into the porcelain bowl.

  “It’ll all be all right, sweetie. There now, let me help you.”

  Maria lifted from her bend over the toilet and leaned into Dani’s warmth. “It’s my fault. Oh, God, Dani, it’s my fault Rick was killed. How can Jake ever forgive me or himself?”

  Dani brushed Maria’s hair from her face. “No, you can’t think that way. Let me have Mrs. Jankowski bring us up some tea, and we’ll have ourselves a little talk about men and why they get these notions in their heads. Okay?”

  Maria nodded. “Okay. I’ll wait for you on your deck.” Logan and Dani had a deck outside their bedroom with a beautiful view of the Gulf, and Maria stretched out on a chaise. Shaded by the deck’s roof, she closed her eyes and listened to the sound of the waves hitting the shore as a soft, warm breeze blew over her. She hadn’t slept well the past few nights, and as she felt herself dozing off, she realized she should have come out here to sleep.

  Yawning, she opened her eyes to find Dani in the opposite chaise, nursing baby Evan. On the table between them was an empty mug and a glass of red wine. She sat up and stretched.

  “I thought we were both having tea.”

  Dani chuckled. “That was three hours ago, sweetie. It’s wine o’clock, and although I can’t have any while nursing my little man here, no reason you can’t.”

  “Wow, three hours? I didn’t mean to do that.” Dani called both her and Logan “sweetie,” but when she used the endearment with her husband, there was a different sound to it. More intimate, softer. It was wrong to envy their love for each other, but she did.

  “I’m guessing you needed it. Haven’t been sleeping too good, have you?”

  “No, I’m so worried about Jake, and wish I hadn’t gone looking for a father, and . . . and stuff.” She’d almost said, “And if I hadn’t been so pathetically needy wanting a parent who loved me, Jake would have been on the plane with his team when he was supposed to be.” Everything might have gone down the way it was supposed to then. Nothing could change the fact that the blame for the screwed-up mission pointed right at her.

  She picked up the glass and took a sip of the rich red wine. Dani grew up in a loving home with parents who adored her, and one where money was never a problem. Even though she knew Logan and Maria’s life story, she could never understand the heartache of having a mother like Lovey Dovey, nor what it would have meant to Maria to find a father who wanted her.

  “You’re blaming yourself, Jake’s blaming himself, and you’re both wrong,” Dani said. “That’s going to get you both nowhere.” She shifted Evan, who’d fallen asleep, into the crook of her arm and buttoned her blouse.

  Maria pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to stop the tears pooling in her eyes. “If that’s true, then Jake and I need each other, we need to be together so we can help each other through this. If he loved me, maybe he’d see it differently, but he doesn’t and he doesn’t want me anywhere near him. How can he not resent me for his not getting on that plane? Jamie said Jake thinks he doesn’t deserve me, but I don’t really get that. I’m just me, Maria, nothing special.”

  “Oh, he loves you, sweetie, believe me. You can see it in his eyes every time he looks at you.”

  “If that’s true,” and she wasn’t sure she believed it, “then what’s his problem?”

  Dani lifted her gaze to the ceiling and shook her head. “Between you, and Logan, and now Jake, I really should’ve majored in psychology.” She reached across the small table and stroked her fingers down Maria’s cheek. “You’re an amazing girl. You’re beautiful, inside and out, you’re soon to be a lawyer, and you’re a partner in a business usually only inhabited by men. You can change a nickel into gold just by playing around in the stock market, and there’s nothing a computer can hide from you. And you claim you’re nothing special? Get real, Maria, and stop feeling sorry for yourself. It isn’t becoming.”

  Maria bit back an angry retort finishing the last of her wine. As Dani’s words sunk in, she realized her sister-in-law was right. She was holding her very own private pity party, and it was getting her nowhere. Nor had she ever listed all her accomplishments like Dani had just did. Not bad for a girl with her background.

  Gently rocking her baby, Dani continued. “As to Jake’s problem, I’d say Jamie called it right. After losing a man on his watch, Jake doesn’t think he deserves to be happy, and you’re his happy. Men have this pride thing going, Maria. When they screw up, they don’t handle it well. Not that he screwed up, but he believes he did.”

  “So what do I do about it?”

  “You do what Dani did with me. You get into his mind so deep, he can’t get you out of it.”

  Maria craned
her neck and peered up at her brother. “You been back there eavesdropping all this time?”

  “Nah, not that much into girl talk, but my advice is to get in his face and don’t take no for an answer. He’ll come around.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Love you, brat, but I’m missing my wife and son, so I’m stealing them away.”

  After they left, Maria considered all that was said and decided to give Jake one more day before she descended on him. It was a hard decision to make, because she felt so strongly that he needed her and she wanted nothing more than to jump in her car and head for St. George Island.

  She tried not to let it bother her that Jake had talked to Logan but not her. Her logical mind knew the men had a bond no one outside the team could understand. Sometimes one of them could just grunt and the rest would nod their heads as if a full conversation had just taken place. But it tore at her heart that Jake preferred solitude to being with her when he was hurting.

  Logan had reacted the same way when Evan had been killed. Even though he hadn’t made the mistakes Jake had, he still took on the burden of allowing it to happen. She had witnessed firsthand her brother’s withdrawal when he returned from Afghanistan. So, if Logan had done everything right and had still had a hard time of it, what did it mean for Jake when he’d made decisions that he believed resulted in getting a team member killed?

  She feared it was something he’d never get over, but she was going to take Logan’s advice and refuse to take no for an answer.

  Her brother better know what he was talking about.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  You in place, Elaine?”

  “Eyes on the back door,” Stewart whispered into his headset. “All’s quiet back here. No Tangos in sight. Headed your way now.”

  “Good. Tennessee, ready to rock and roll?”

  The silence stretched and Jake shifted, staring through his night goggles into the shadowed doorway behind him. The watery green image of Bayne’s body was the only thing visible, not whatever expression might be on his face. He needed to see Tennessee’s eyes, see if they held fear and panic in them. If so, he’d immediately call off the mission, and he and Elaine could come back later after making a new plan. Just as he took a step back, his headset crackled to life and he paused.