by Barbara Gee
“Did you just take a shower?”
“I did when I got home. You should be grateful for that, considering I was with the horses all afternoon.”
“What soap did you use?”
He grinned and the effect was devastating, making Izzy feel positively weak in the knees.
She jabbed an accusing finger against his chest. “You used that stuff that smells amazing. I told you not to do that.”
“It’s what I had in the shower,” he said, raising his palms defensively. “There was no plotting. I didn’t even know I was going to see you this evening, remember?”
“Well you should take it out of the shower and replace it with that bar of soap, just in case I’m kind enough to cook for you again.” She snapped the lid on the leftovers and put them in the fridge. Geez, like the man wasn’t already attractive enough without smelling like absolute heaven. She glared up at him. “It makes me feel all flustered,” she grumbled.
He was decidedly unrepentant. “I kinda like when you’re flustered,” he said.
Izzy stood in front of him and folded her arms. “Well you shouldn’t. You know I can’t go there.”
His smile stayed put. “Go where?” he asked softly.
She glared even harder, seeing the tell-tale twinkle in his eyes that told her he already knew exactly what she was alluding to. Was he playing with her? Did he think she wouldn’t admit her struggle?
“To the point of no return,” she said boldly. “To the place where I find you too attractive, maybe even irresistible, and I develop feelings. Then you disappear and leave me here pining for you.”
Izzy noticed he gripped the edge of the counter a little tighter. She’d expected him to laugh it off, because fantasizing about a relationship with a man as unattainable as him was laughable, in a sad sort of way. Instead her words caused a new, weird tension between them, making her hyper-aware of him.
He gave a slow, thoughtful nod and dropped his gaze to the floor before speaking again. “I looked for you today, you know.”
She wasn’t sure what he was getting at. “Why? Did you need something?”
“Nope. I just wanted to see you. I was crazy busy showing people to their rooms and giving tours, but I still found myself looking around for you. A lot.” He raised his eyes to hers, and his voice was soft and low. “I think you’ve cast a spell on me or something. I can’t seem to get you out of my head.”
She stood as still as stone, not even breathing. “Really?” she asked, her voice coming out as a disbelieving squeak.
“That surprises you?”
She took a much-needed breath and cleared her throat. “Of course it does.” She gripped her upper arms protectively. “I don’t feel like I’d be your type.”
He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. “To tell you the truth, it’s been a long time since I’ve thought about what my type is.” His quick, teasing smile made her stomach do fluttery things. “Apparently, cute little curly-headed physical therapists with big hearts do it for me. Who knew? It just wouldn’t be wise to act on it. I’m not in control of my destiny, remember?”
Izzy was hit with an intense longing for things to be different. Not just his mysterious, dangerous job, although that was the biggest thing, because it put him in peril. She also wished he knew the Lord, so he could turn to Him when the going got rough. And she wished he didn’t carry so much baggage. She was convinced he had lived through a lot of darkness, which would affect him going forward, even when he was done with his present line of work. She wished so badly for an easier life for this beautiful man, even if she wasn’t destined to be a part of it.
Once again she found herself trying to swallow around the lump in her throat. “It is what it is, I guess,” she said finally, noticing how his biceps stretched the fabric of his black tee shirt when he folded his arms, and wishing she hadn’t.
“Yeah, I guess. So….to get back to the original subject,” he said firmly, breaking the spell. “Are you gonna call your grandma back and tell her you’ll accept her offer?”
Izzy gave herself a mental shake and tried to switch gears. “Um, yeah, I think I will, and then I have to call Gloria. I need you to tell me how much to offer.”
“You sure you don’t want to look at anything else before settling on the duplex?”
“I’m sure,” she told him. “I’m actually even more sold on that one now, because I’ll still have the rent income, but won’t need it to make payments. Which means I can put all the rent into a savings account so I have money for repairs and stuff as needed. Or maybe even save it up to buy another rental property or something.”
He nodded approvingly. “Sounds like a good plan. If that’s the way you want to go, I’d recommend offering fifteen grand less than the asking price, and see what they counter with.”
She nodded, beyond grateful for his willingness to give her advice. “That’s what I’ll do then. Thanks.”
“Thank you for dinner. It was great.” He started walking toward the door, and she fell in beside him.
“You’re welcome. I might get around to eating some of it myself in a little while.” They went out onto the porch and stopped. “I hope your day goes well, tomorrow. You’re in for a treat when you see the magic those horses work on the vets.”
“I’m looking forward to it. I hope I’m more of a help than a rookie hindrance.”
“You will be, you’re a capable guy. I’ll say a prayer for you, though.”
He grunted. “Guess it can’t hurt.”
“But you don’t think it’ll help, either,” Izzy surmised sadly. “God does care about you, Tanner, I believe that with all my heart. He cares all the time, no matter what. I wish you could take comfort in that.”
“I’m glad you have that comfort,” he said kindly. “Good night, Izzy. Let me know if you get the house.”
She promised to do so and closed the door behind him, deciding right then to put the plan she’d been toying with over the last few days into action, starting tomorrow. She was going to send Tanner a daily text first thing every morning, with a Bible verse that addressed God’s love and concern for His people.
Tanner might see it as more of a bother than anything, but if there was just the teeniest, tiniest chance it would make a difference to him when he left the ranch, it would be well worth the effort.
***
Back in his own cabin, Tanner sat down at the table and stared off into space for a while. He wasn’t at all sure what to make of his growing bond with Isabella Harding. Nor was he sure what to do about it, or how to stop it.
He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. That was actually the crux of the problem right there, and he knew it. He didn’t want to stop it. He wanted more, even though he knew it wasn’t in Izzy’s best interests. How selfish and despicable was that?
Irritated by his weakness for the girl, he ground his palms into his eyes, trying to rid himself of the image of her sweet smile as she bid him goodnight. As before, it had been nearly impossible to turn away from her without going in for a kiss. How long before he gave in to that urge?
Emitting a low, frustrated groan, he reached for his iPad. Time to do something other than brood about his neighbor. His email icon showed seven new messages since his last check, so he opened his inbox and scrolled down the list, stopping cold when he saw a message from his bank, informing him they were checking into a suspicious transaction from his account. Only they weren’t—there was no such transaction. That particular message was actually a coded message from Luther signaling Tanner to call on his secure phone at his earliest convenience.
Tanner’s gut clenched and for a long moment he just stared at the screen. Would this call be his summons back, or just an update?
Regardless, putting off the call wasn’t an option. He went over to the small chest of drawers by the bed and took his secure FBI phone from the middle of a stack of tee shirts. He dialed the number and lowered himself to sit on the edge of the bed, trying to push past
the dread that had settled in at the sight of the email.
Neil Luther answered after two rings. “Hello, Tanner, thanks for getting back to me so quickly.” His voice sounded relaxed rather than urgent, and Tanner felt the tension in his shoulders ease fractionally. “How are things going at the ranch?”
Although Tanner hadn’t told his boss where he was going, Luther of course knew exactly where he was. Tanner would expect nothing less, especially since he hadn’t tried to hide his destination.
“It’s going well, boss. You gonna pull me away just as I’m getting settled in?”
Luther was silent for a bit. “Before I answer that, I’d be curious to know what you’re hoping to hear. Are you anxious to get to your new assignment, or would you appreciate a little more down time?”
“Does it matter?” Tanner asked shortly.
“You know it doesn’t. I’m just curious to see if you’ve been able to pull away at least a little bit.”
Tanner let out a long breath. “Believe it or not, I’m getting there, but it’s hard to completely embrace it when I know it could end tomorrow. Or tonight. So I’ll ask again. Is that why you’re calling?”
“No, I’m actually calling because I figured you’d be on edge about the upcoming job, and I can finally give you some idea of what we’re looking at.”
“I’ll be glad to get some details,” Tanner replied, “but I have something else I need to ask you first.” It was the question he’d been stewing over ever since he’d walked out of the computer lab that last day.
Steeling himself, he finally gave voice to it. “Why were you so adamant about me living as a regular citizen for a while, boss? I’ve been working for you for a long time, and it’s never been an issue before. You never cared how many hours I put in, or whether I had a social life. Now you’re suddenly determined to make me put what I do for a living on the back burner, which doesn’t seem to be in my best interests, considering I could be good and rusty by the time I get called back.”
“Rusty?” Luther asked, a note of disbelief in his voice. “Not you, Tanner. I have no doubt you’ll be able to get back into character at the snap of a finger, just like always.”
Did he really think it was that easy?
Tanner had to let that one go, as there were only so many things they could discuss in one phone call. “I still want to know why you cut me loose. Why was it an issue this time?”
Another short silence, then Luther cleared his throat. “Your next assignment is going to be in Washington, DC,” he said tersely, “and I don’t expect it will be easy. Not that they ever are, but this one could be worse than most. We’ve identified a terror cell led by a home-grown man the bureau has had its eye on for a few years. He goes by the name of Ahmed Khalud, and he was radicalized during a prison stay for robbery and assault. He was released six years ago, and came to the attention of our guys when he started recruiting at the local mosques. At first he was trying to get young men to join Al Qaeda in Iraq. Getting them out of the country is pretty difficult, though, so he decided to set up his own cell and try to attract the attention of terror leaders over there. According to the guy we have monitoring them, Khalud isn’t content to just have a lone wolf kind of attack. Now he’s got six men, and has finally gotten ISIS to notice him.”
“Who do we have on the inside?” Tanner wondered.
“He’s not exactly on the inside. He’s a retired agent who the bureau contracted to work in a convenience store near where Khalud has his house, where all seven of them live. There are other semi-active cells in the area and he keeps an eye on them too, although none of them are nearly as organized as Khalud’s.”
“So our guy has gotten to know them over time? Well enough that they say things they shouldn’t in front of him?”
“Exactly. He’s become everyone’s best friend. He appears totally harmless, a fixture in the community for a couple years now. He’s Muslim, speaks fluent Arabic, and has built relationships with most of the community. Knows hundreds of people by name. And of course, he’s good at asking leading questions with no one being the wiser. Friendly chit-chat is a great source of information, you know.”
“And he thinks something is going to go down?”
“He’s pretty sure Khalud is going to be instrumental in something big. We don’t know how, what, or when, but we know his men are highly trained, and they’re in the process of gearing up for something. Fortunately, one of them likes to brag about being a big bad jihadist, and our agent in the store has made a point of getting to know him very well. He found out recently that Khalud is on the lookout for a bomb builder.”
“So why am I not already on the way?” Tanner asked tightly. And why did you send me away in the first place? I should be preparing for this job, not falling for the cute girl next door!
“The DC guys want to wait until they have a better idea of the timeline,” Luther replied.
“What if they don’t figure it out in time?” Tanner ground out. “It takes a while to get in, you know that. I need to come up with a cover and then lay the foundation, make myself known in their circles, make them seek me out instead of the other way around. Planting the information I want them to find takes time.”
“I know that, but the DC agents are confident their man in the store will know when the time is right. When it is, he should be able to cut down your lead time considerably so you won’t have to report any sooner than absolutely necessary. We’ll have your cover ready to go, and the files planted. Our guy will drop your name to his buddy, who we believe will go to Khalud immediately, because your credentials will make you a highly valued commodity. We’ll make sure he knows he has competition for your skills. That’ll make him work faster.”
Tanner rubbed his jaw, the three-day stubble rasping against his fingertips. “Not sure how I feel about that, boss. What if they leave it until too late, and I can’t get in in time to make a difference?”
“I do this for a living too, Tanner,” Luther reminded him brusquely. “All the intel we have so far indicates the operation is still a ways off. If we get you in too soon, there’s more chance of your cover being blown. As you well know, time can be your enemy when you’re living every day hoping you don’t say or do something that raises suspicion.”
“Or hoping someone else doesn’t,” Tanner said bitterly, referring to the operation where his cover had been blown by an incompetent agent, and he’d very nearly paid the ultimate price. He would have, too, if not for Ryan.
“Yeah, I know what you’re saying, Tanner,” Luther said heavily. “That’s one none of us will ever forget, but it also proves my point. The less time you’re in, the better. We just need to make sure it’s the right time. I need you to trust me and the DC personnel I’m working with to determine when that is.”
“I trust you,” Tanner assured him. “I always have. But it sounds like you’re not the one calling the shots this time.”
“No, but I’ve insisted on being kept fully briefed, and I won’t hesitate to voice my opinion. They owe me for loaning you to them, so they’ll listen.”
“Why do they need me? I know good and well the DC offices have some experienced undercover guys of their own.”
“Not with your cyber skills. We’re hoping once you’re in the house, you can tap into whatever communication system they’re using. Someone is serving as the go-between for Khalud and Iraq. If we can find out who that is, we could get a gold mine of information.”
“I’m not the only undercover guy who knows computers.”
“No, but you’re the best. I know that, and so does DC. And the best is what they want for this job.”
And here I thought being the best was a good thing, not something that could get me killed doing someone else’s job.
Again, Tanner chose not to give voice to his thoughts.
“You still haven’t answered my original question,” he said instead.
Another brief pause. “The one about why I wanted you to leave town
?”
“That’s the one.”
“I guess I’m just getting soft in my old age,” Luther said evasively. “I want to treat my guys better. Especially my best one.”
“Do you really think I’m going to buy that?” Tanner asked incredulously. “Come on, boss, just admit you want me to live a little now, because you don’t think I’ll get the chance again. You don’t think I’ll survive this one.”
There was a much longer silence this time, then Luther grunted. “You always cut to the chase, don’t you, Tanner?”
“Am I wrong?” Tanner pressed.
“Not entirely,” Luther replied heavily. “I do expect you to survive the assignment, but I’ll admit the odds are worse than usual. This is a bad group of people. Extremely radical, ambitious, and dangerous. Capable of doing a lot of damage, which is why we need you. Believe me, Tanner, if I felt I had a choice, I wouldn’t send you in.”
Tanner rubbed his eyes wearily. “Don’t worry about it,” he said gruffly, “It’s your job to do whatever’s necessary to keep our country safe, and it’s my job, too. I’ll go where you send me. How long do you think I have before it’s time?”
“Best guess? At least a month. Maybe six weeks.”
Tanner closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. It was longer than he’d expected.
The big question now—was that good or bad?
CHAPTER 11
The first verse Izzy chose was very familiar, but such an important one. She had no idea how Tanner would react, so she typed the text quickly and sent it before she could chicken out.
Izzy: Good morning, Tanner. Because I’m the best neighbor ever, I’ve chosen a “verse of the day” for you. You’re welcome! Here it is: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16. (And you can look forward to a new one tomorrow—lucky you!)
His reply came within a few minutes.
BFF: I’ve heard that one. Nothing wrong with eternal life I suppose. Thanks for thinking of me. Let me know if you’re cooking tonight. ;)
