Top Secret Target

by Dana Mentink

  Kendra holstered her weapon and ran to Ethan, stopping a few feet away to avoid Titus’s frenzy. The dog pranced around him, darting licks and whining, barking savagely at anyone who got close to Ethan. She tried speaking calmly to the dog, but her voice did not penetrate. He was all teeth and claws, determined that no one was going to approach his fallen partner.

  At last Ethan propped himself on his elbows, breathing hard. “It’s all right,” he panted. “At ease, boy.” Titus was unconvinced until he all but sat in Ethan’s lap, slathering him with a wet tongue and poking a nose into his face. Gradually, after more soothing from Ethan, the dog calmed enough that Kendra could get near.

  “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah,” he said, sitting up and rubbing his jaw. “I would have got him if I had better leverage.” He caressed the dog, massaging his quivering sides. “I know, boy. I should have let you go first. You’d have gotten him.” Ethan’s forehead was scratched, his chin smudged with dirt, but he wasn’t hurt, not badly, and Titus was in a state of bliss, legs sprawled in every direction as he did his best to be a lapdog.

  Tousling the dog’s floppy ears, Ethan ordered him to a sit, which he reluctantly obeyed, never taking his eyes off his handler.

  Kendra helped Ethan to a standing position. He leaned on her, his chin brushing the top of her head. She circled his waist, holding him close, secretly grateful that there had been no shots fired. They hadn’t gotten their man, but for the moment, she couldn’t care too much about that. She held on tight, willing herself not to think, just to feel Ethan’s solid presence in her arms, the steady beat of his heart, the Southern drawl echoing in her ears.

  “I’m okay,” he said.

  And it was truly all that mattered in that moment.

  “Cops are on their way,” McLear said, trotting up. “You okay, man?”

  They stepped back from each other. “Just bounced around is all. The black car must have been recently stolen. That’s why Linc’s earlier search didn’t trigger the info. Owner probably doesn’t even realize it’s missing yet.”

  “He’s got a new set of wheels now, since he just stole the Mercedes. I relayed the plate info to the cops,” McLear said. “Looks like you’re going to need a new vehicle, too.”

  Ethan sucked in a breath. The front windshield was bashed to pieces, a hole punched through the safety glass and the driver’s window shattered.

  Kendra clamped her lips together when she saw the rest. Sprayed in orange paint across the hood of his truck was a phone number.

  The dripping numbers made her skin crawl. A taunt, from a man so angry or so desperate that he’d risk everything to deliver his message in broad daylight in a very public place. Who was that kind of desperate? Sullivan? She cast a glance at McLear. He could have tipped off Sullivan about their meeting place. All the concern on his face might just be acting, pure and simple. Suspicions whirled around in her mind, dizzying. Too many suspects. Too few solid leads.

  With a look of unadulterated fury, Ethan yanked his phone from his pocket and dialed the number sprayed on his truck, stepping away from the bystanders into the shade of the trees. She followed and he put the phone on speaker.

  “Let’s talk,” Ethan growled when someone picked up. “Who is this?”

  “Hello, G.I. Joe. Too bad about your truck,” a man said.

  Kendra’s heart stuttered to a stop. It was a voice she would never forget, a voice rooted deep in her memories and nightmares.

  You’ll do what I say because you love me.

  You’ll do what I say.

  Or you’ll die.

  From the corner of her memory she heard Baby’s terrified mewing, her own harsh breathing, the sound of a knife yanked from its leather sheath, the muffled slam of a terrified heart beating against quaking ribs.

  “Identify yourself,” Ethan said. “Or aren’t you man enough?”

  He laughed. “Why don’t you ask Kendra? I know she’s there with you. I’ve been watching her play soldier. Working on a case now that you’re a fancy PI and all, Kendra?”

  Ethan looked at Kendra. Her mouth went dry and she could not produce one single syllable.

  I’ve been watching.

  Every nerve, every atom was slowly icing over, freezing her from the inside out.

  “Come on, baby,” Andy crooned. “It’s been a while and I’m dying to hear your voice. I know you’re looking forward to seeing me again, aren’t you?”

  Her brain had known he was close, circling like a shark, but hearing his voice was a nightmare come to life, as if she could feel the nip of razor-sharp teeth as they prepared to rip into her, severing her body, devouring her a piece at a time.

  “Andy...” she whispered.

  “There you are, Kendra,” Andy said. “I knew I’d find you. Piece of cake after I figured out where Jillian lived.”

  Find you.

  She wanted to scream. It could not be real. She could not be powerless again.

  “Time to settle some things, don’t you think?” Andy said.

  One cell at a time her body turned to ice.

  Well past time, she thought.

  * * *

  Ethan held the phone in a death grip. “Bleakman,” he grunted through his teeth. “Why are we talking on the phone? Not man enough to stand up to me in person? You smash up my truck and run away like a scared rabbit?”

  “Listen, G.I. Joe. This isn’t your business. This is between me and Kendra.”

  “I’m making it my business. Drive on back here right now and we’ll settle it.”

  There was a pause, a long one, long enough for Ethan to feel the stampeding blood in his veins, the bone-cracking tension in his muscles, the overwhelming need to punish Andy Bleakman, to grind him under his boot like a poisonous scorpion.

  “So it’s like that, huh, Kendra?” Bleakman said. “You left me to rot in jail while you moved on with G.I. Joe here?”

  “No,” Kendra said. “That’s not it.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Ethan barked. “You’re not gonna terrorize her, not gonna lay one finger on her, you hear me?”

  “Kendra needs to pay her debt, G.I. Joe. Everyone has to pay.” The background traffic noise revealed him to be on the freeway. He mouthed the info to Kendra, watched her text the info to Linc, who would funnel it to the police. He didn’t trust that McLear would do it, didn’t trust anyone at the moment.

  “And you know what?” Bleakman said. “Anyone who gets in my way is going to pay the price, too.”

  “Easy to spout threats on the phone,” Ethan told him. “Be a man. Come and face me.”

  “What a good soldier, just like my old man. Sheep, all of you. Follow orders and do what you’re told, a grunt to the end.”

  Ethan breathed hard. “Where are you, Bleakman? Stop running, coward.”

  Another laugh, low and slow. “I’m done talking to you, Soldier. You’re dismissed, so toddle along like a good little grunt and take your dog for a walk. Kendra,” he said and Ethan could hear a smile in the tone. “I’ll see you soon. Very soon.”

  The connection went dead.

  He pocketed the phone, noting the color fade out of Kendra’s cheeks. The rapid rise and fall of her chest made him reach for her.

  “Maybe you should...” He was going to say “sit down” but she was already turning away, wrestling a phone from her pocket.

  “Who are you calling?”

  “First the tow company,” she said, no quiver in the voice.

  “Second?”

  “I need to tell Jillian that Andy’s definitely in town.” She hesitated, her troubled eyes locked on his. “Andy will hurt anyone who gets between me and him. Including Jillian...and you.”

  He edged in front of her, fighting the urge to crush her to his chest. “I hope he does make a move, Kendra, because I’m going to ta
ke him down.”

  Now he saw her tears sparkling like morning dew before the sun, and her body shook all over. “I don’t want anybody hurt,” she whispered. “Especially you.” He went to her then and she let the phone drop to her side. For a while he held her, wrapped in his arms, and murmured comforting words into her ear.

  “We’re going to get him, Kendra.”

  She jerked and tried to back away but he held on.

  “No. No more ‘we,’” she whispered, her eyes feverish. “I can’t allow it.”

  He cupped her chin in his hand, preventing her from escaping, willing her to listen. “I know what you’re thinking and stop it right now. We’re going to get him together, just like Sullivan. No lone wolf here, no John Wayne action.”

  A flicker of a smile. “Says the guy with the accent and the rifle.”

  He kissed her, on the corner of her mouth, drinking in the soft scent of her, the strength and delicacy, the marvel. For a moment he was swept into another place where he could love again, a place where his heart was not in pieces.

  “Kendra,” he started. The luscious brown of her eyes drew him, beckoned him to trust. What would happen if he did?

  While he wrestled with the question, she answered it by moving away. The inches between them spoke volumes. She was ready for kids, a healthy relationship built with a man who could trust and love and forgive. He’d shown her he was not that man.

  “We have a job to do,” she said.

  He stared, tried to absorb the unspoken.

  “The cops,” she continued. “They’re here.”

  “Okay.” He swallowed hard. He understood what she wasn’t saying. She didn’t want to go to that place with him. Maybe she might have earlier. He thought he’d felt that in her embrace after she’d nearly drowned, and again the moment at the kitchen table over omelets. But he’d let the moments pass out of fear and now she’d put up a wall, invisible but impenetrable. She was right anyway. It wasn’t the time nor the place.

  He watched her go to the cop. “You let that chance slip away,” he told himself. Only the job stood before him now, duty, purpose, meaning.

  Get Sullivan. Get Andy and get on with your life, Ethan.

  NINETEEN

  Kendra forced her fears into a tight ball and shoved it down deep. Uncertainty clawed at her. She was not sure how to proceed, how to both escape Andy and capture Sullivan, but she knew one thing for certain: she could not allow Ethan to get hurt because of her sordid past. And he would.

  Andy wasn’t bluffing when he said he would destroy anyone who got in his way. He’d beaten senseless a man in prison who’d bumped his lunch tray. A savage, with a hair-trigger temper. How stupid she’d been not to see it sooner. She deserved to pay the price for getting tangled up with him, but Ethan did not.

  They finished with the police and waited for a tow truck. Ethan’s look was mournful as he surveyed the damage. He ran his hand over the hood. “Aw, Big Mac. Just look at you.”

  She smothered a giggle.

  He gave her a sheepish look. “Don’t you name your cars?”

  “Well, no.”

  “This truck is special. Bought it when I was seventeen.” He gave it one final pat. “Don’t you worry, Big Mac. Gonna get you all fixed up.”

  It would take a chunk out of his salary, depending what the insurance supplied, to have the glass and body work done and the repainting on the old truck. All because of Andy. Her fingernails bit into her palms.

  Ethan stopped the driver just before he drove away with the wrecked truck. He retrieved the scarf his mother made for him, quickly shaking out the glass and shoving it in his pocket, probably hoping no one was looking. She pretended not to notice but it stirred her inside. Ethan Webb was a good man. He’d make someone an excellent husband someday if he could accept who he was and forgive himself and Jillian. She fought a sudden lump in her throat.

  They rented an SUV with room for Titus in the back, and as they drove, both of them constantly checked the rearview mirror to be sure Andy wasn’t following. Every black vehicle made her breath quicken until she considered that Andy might have already stolen another car, since he knew the police had the plate number of the Mercedes.

  They finally pulled up at Jillian’s house. It was evening now, the heat giving way to a wind that blew in the clouds and promised another storm. Kendra’s legs felt like they were made of cement as she dragged herself to the front porch.

  “Stay here a minute,” Ethan ordered.

  Too tired to protest his bossiness, she waited on the mat until he and Titus had checked every square inch of the house.

  “All clear,” he said as his phone pinged. Kendra could hear the colonel’s anger clearly as Ethan held the phone slightly away from his ear.

  “Yes, Colonel Masters, I can confirm it was Andy Bleakman.” Ethan shot a look at her. “It’s a...situation from her past.”

  More angry ranting from the colonel.

  “We’re both tired, and we need to discuss strategy tonight. We’ll brief you on base tomorrow afternoon.”

  Ethan winced and she heard the accent creep deeper into his conversation along with a dark stain on his cheeks. “That will have to do, Colonel. I don’t work for you, remember? So if you wanna demote me, take it up with the air force.”

  He disconnected.

  “He has a right to be angry,” she said as they entered the house. “I didn’t tell him about Andy when I took the Sullivan case.”

  “He’s always angry whether he has a right to be or not. Your past is your business, not his.”

  “You shouldn’t jeopardize your career.”

  “Like I said, Masters is not my boss.”

  “But he can make trouble for you.”

  He gave her a cocky grin. “I can handle it. Trouble is my middle name. Ethan William Trouble Webb.”

  “Rolls right off the tongue.”

  “You got that right, ma’am.”

  That charm, the sincerity, inched their way into her heart again. She heard his stomach growl.

  “Up for some early dinner?” he said. “I can make a mean spaghetti.”

  Her heart said yes, but the fear still circled down deep and her conscience pricked her. You need a plan to keep Ethan away from Andy. “I want to be alone for a while, to think.” She scooped Baby from the floor and stroked her.

  “All right. As long as that doesn’t mean planning to go after Andy without me.”

  His eyes bored into her, but she kept her attention on Baby. “I’m doing nothing until the morning. That’s the best I can promise.”

  He huffed and folded his arms across his middle. “You’re not doing this alone, Kendra. Not anymore.”

  “I made the mess. I have to clean it up.” Because I would never forgive myself if something happened to you.

  “It’s my job to help you.”

  My job. She wondered why the words hurt. He’d never said anything, never even hinted that he wanted something else from her, no false promises, just a pledge to do his duty. As a matter of fact, he’d fought hard against working together in the first place. His job. She would leave him to his duty, and she would do hers. It was easier, better for both of them.

  “I’m tired, Ethan. I want to lie down for a while. Can we talk more in later?”

  He held her gaze for a moment more. “All right. I’ll check the yard one more time before I go to my unit. Your phone charged?”

  “I’ll make sure.”

  “Titus and I are going to do a few patrols throughout the night.”

  “You don’t—” She realized the futility of what she was about to argue. Duty.

  “Gotta keep the skills up,” he said with a grin.

  She pointed to Titus. “His or yours?”

  Ethan huffed. “My skills are sharp as a good cheddar.”

&
nbsp; “I feel safer already.”

  He laughed. “Should have come up with something better than a cheese analogy, but I’m tired, too.”

  She carried Baby to the bedroom and took a shower, pulled on some fatigues and tried to read, with no success. She knew she should be resting, but hearing Andy’s voice had stripped all her normal senses away, leaving only the naked pulse of fear.

  She went to the window, looking out into the yard now filling up with shadows. A light shone in Ethan’s unit, a pinprick of gold against the gloom. Wind riffled through the branches of the trees in the woods that bordered the property. Was Andy out there now? Watching? Biding his time?

  Forcing away the notion, she pulled the curtains closed tight and checked that her weapon was loaded and ready.

  * * *

  Ethan didn’t have to work hard to wake Titus for their first check at midnight. The dog seemed to be sleeping as fitfully as his owner. “Patrol,” he said and Titus offered the little wiggly rump dance while Ethan zipped on his harness.

  He let them out quietly. The smell of rain hung heavy in the air, which would not pose a problem for Titus unless it came down in buckets. Light rain would actually refresh any human scent and he felt confident that Titus would alert if he got a trail on a stranger hiding anywhere near the house. He let the dog have his lead and followed him around the perimeter, flashlight on to pick up any broken foliage or footprints.

  When Titus whined and sat, he drew his weapon, until he realized it was Kendra watching him from the bedroom window.

  “Goofball,” he said to his dog. Titus flapped his ears.

  Kendra slid open the window.

  “Can’t sleep?” he said.

  “No. Want company?”

  He wanted her company, craved it to be truthful, though he told himself it was foolish. “Better for you to stay in the house.”

  “I need fresh air.”

  “But—”

  She’d already vanished from the window. He sighed. “She doesn’t listen any better than her cat,” he told Titus.

  The dog offered a wide yawn.

  Kendra joined them in a few minutes wearing fatigues and armed, he was glad to see. She trailed along behind Ethan and Titus, careful to stay out of their way. She smelled of some fruity shampoo. He felt something inside slide into place, some jagged piece that seemed to find a spot to belong, and he realized it was because she was near him. He sped up, but the thoughts kept pace. He did not want a relationship, not now, so why did his emotions refuse to get the message? The clouds obscured the moon, and the porch light that they’d left on cast a glow that accentuated her resemblance to Jillian.