He nodded. “She probably died on impact.”
“Oh I know she did. Her car exploded on impact; it’s still a rotten way to go.”
“How did you take it when it happened?” She seemed okay with it now. She rattled off the details as if she were giving her lunch order.
“People started dropping like flies around me when I was a little girl. My mother, some of her family…aunts, uncles…and then my grandparents. I can’t say you ever get used to it, but you learn how to cope. You learn not to fall apart because sometimes you’re the only one around to pick everybody else up when they fall apart. So I survived, as I always do.” She shrugged once again. “Anyway I am going to take my shower. I’ll be quick about it; I promise.”
Before he could tell her it wasn’t necessary to make a mad dash to the finish line in the shower she had already disappeared into the bathroom and closed the door. The depths of Carissa went deeper than he had imagined. She was so much stronger than anybody would think at first glance. Emotionally she was a survivor who picked the pieces up for everybody else; he just hoped she didn’t forget about herself in the process.
A quick call to Preston and he had learned Carissa’s father might not be as dirty as he seemed to be, but that didn’t mean they were taking any unnecessary chances with her safety. She was still going to stay in hiding, until he could get her back to Austin to retrieve the evidence she said she had hidden. He wasn’t in a hurry to get her back there because as long as they were on the road she was safe—relatively anyway. Still, even he knew he couldn’t keep her moving around forever. At some point they were going to have to face this head on, and according to Preston that point might just hit sooner than any of them thought. The death of the federal agent had the Feds in high gear and they not only wanted answers, they also wanted Carissa. She was their key to putting the responsible party, or parties, away and they didn’t seem to care too much about the risk to her safety. She hadn’t seen the murder, but in their mind she had to know who might have been behind it because she was the last case the agent had been working on. Her safety meant nothing to them. They were out for blood and it didn’t matter if her blood got spilled in the process just so long as she divulged enough information to make an arrest first.
Preston had told him to be vigilant and to make sure they didn’t have too much attention on the way to the cabin. Nobody knew of Alex’s role in Carissa’s hiding—yet, but he was sure it wouldn’t take too long to figure it out once the Feds started knocking on the agency’s door and he was the only one missing in action. If they didn’t get what they wanted then his face and Carissa’s would be plastered on every police billboard in the country. Complicated didn’t begin to describe his simple search and rescue mission. The thing just seemed to grow more complicated by the hour, and he would admit he wasn’t making things less complicated with the intense desire he felt for Carissa right now. “Keep your head in the game,” he told himself. There was no room for any mistakes. Her life and his depended on him being at the top of his game; being several steps ahead of the Feds and the bad guys—right now he wasn’t so sure they were two separate groups. There had to be a leak in the agency or in the special team Garrison was a part of otherwise covers wouldn’t have been blown and an agent wouldn’t have ended up dead in the first place.
“Shower’s yours,” she smiled at him as she emerged from the bathroom wearing a pair of fitted jeans and a tank top. He appreciated the view, but his curiosity had just hit high alert. Where did she think she was going?
As if reading his mind she laughed and said, “I want to be ready to run should we need to and I am not going out there without suitable clothes on my body.”
He nodded. He could understand that. In fact, he was planning to do the same. He just hadn’t expected her to have the same foresight.
Chapter Six
He was cute, and entirely too sexy, but Carissa knew once things were over here their relationship would be over too. She wasn’t delusional about some elusive happily ever after with this guy. She didn’t think he was using her for pleasure only, but she knew the situation she was in. If, and in her mind that was a big if; if she survived this the Feds would want her to testify. Being called as a witness was going to make more people want her dead than just the ones who already did. Once they knew what she had there would be no stopping any of them. She wondered why they hadn’t sent more men after her, but then she thought about the fact that her father knew and maybe he was trying to make her death less painful. She had mentally laughed at that idea knowing death was still death and those guys with the big guns didn’t look as if they cared about how painful it would be for her.
When Alex told her that her father had agreed to testify, that he had agreed to cooperate, she wondered why he had done it in the first place. “He had his reasons,” is what Alex had told her. Clearly he either didn’t know what those reasons were or he wasn’t going to tell her. Maybe her father thought he was keeping her safe. That was the only thing she could come up with that would allow her to have the same high esteem for the man that she had before she found out about his dealings with a domestic terrorist organization. Still, the more she thought about it, the more she thought that it was still wrong and could have and probably already had, harmed a lot of innocent people. She wanted to hate him, but she loved him too much. He was still her father.
“We’re here,” Alex pulled into the garage attached to the Spanish style home. He had taken her to New Mexico. She hadn’t expected that. She thought they were going to some remote place in the woods, but this had been good too. It was still remote. There weren’t very many houses in the area from what she could see driving in. It was nightfall by the time they arrived and he assured her this would be a safe house for the time being. One of the guys he worked with was on their way, he had said. So they would have help with them soon. She was going to miss it being just the two of them and she had every intention of taking advantage of their last night of solitude together. She just hoped he wasn’t too tired.
He checked the inside of the home first and after being satisfied that it was still secure he ushered her deeper into the abode. “It’s nice.” She had only seen a small fraction of the home, but the Indian-style artifacts and clean layout of the parts of the house she had seen was beautiful.
“It’s home for a few days. After that we’ll have to cross into Texas and go get whatever it is you have hidden.”
“It’s a digital file with a lot of names, and a lot of information about the finances they all contribute. Along with that there is a file on who did what bombing, who ordered what hit…the usual bad guy stuff.”
“Whoa,” he stepped back. “Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”
She shrugged. “You didn’t ask and I figured you’d see soon enough. Was I wrong?”
He shook his head. “Yes; you should have told me. Do you realize what you have and what you’re up against?”
She nodded affirmatively. She knew exactly what she had. She hadn’t looked at every name on the list, but she recognized a few. “You know, now that I think about it maybe my dad had it so that he could buy his way out. What do you think?”
“I think maybe he was trying to find a way to ensure your safety. Preston didn’t have a chance to tell me everything, but he implied that your father was thinking about your safety. I’ve been thinking about some things.”
“Like what?” She sat down on the loveseat and patted the cushion next to her for him to join her.
“Your mother,” he stated flatly. Her mother had nothing to do with this and she was ready to let him know that in no uncertain terms when he kept talking. “I think your father confided in her. I think he turned those guys down the first time around, and I think he wanted to get you and your mother some place safe.”
“But I didn’t go with her.”
“I think that was your mother’s idea. You said they were arguing and I was thinking maybe she wanted him to come with you a
ll.”
“So he should have came.”
“But if you all left at the same time it would have looked suspicious and I’m sure he didn’t want to risk it. Plus, he was probably trying to find the right person to contact to turn the group in. I’m guessing he had a plan and he wanted you both safe.”
“Then why didn’t he send me with my mother?”
“I think that she probably wanted you to stay. I think she was thinking about his safety and having his wife and daughter go on an apparently sudden trip—to the bad guys that is—could have made him look suspicious. I think he wanted you both to go.”
She nodded. “Maybe. I don’t know. But I guess it’s good I wasn’t on the plane because he would have lost us both.” She saw something in his eyes. Something that told her he was thinking something else too and he just hadn’t said it yet. “Don’t coddle me,” she warned him. “Just say whatever it is you’re thinking.”
“Okay,” he took her hand in his. “I think the plane crash wasn’t an accident. I think it was deliberate. I think it was a warning to him, and I think it’s why he went along with them—to keep you safe.”
“Why would you think that?”
“Because I have seen these type of men before. They go after the heart to scare, to coerce, to ensure that their goal is met. Your mother, and you…you’re both his heart. I think she was a warning to keep him in line and I think you were the last part of that equation.”
“But if I had gone with my mother then they would have gotten us both.”
“There’s no guarantee that they would have taken down the plane if you were on it. There are a lot of places between your home and the airport, the airport and your grandparent’s home, where they could have accomplished their goal. And maybe they would have taken you with them and held on to you to make him do what they wanted him to do.”
She hadn’t thought of things that way. She couldn’t imagine the guilt her father must have been living with—to know that because of him he had lost one woman he loved and could now lose his only daughter must have weighed heavy on his heart.
“It’s just a theory, Carissa. I don’t know for sure, but I’ve been thinking about it and I think maybe that was his purpose. I think he came to us to try to make sure you were saved. After those men ended up dead I’m sure he knew more would be sent. He wanted somebody skilled, yet trustworthy, and he came to us. I think he knew the truth would come out and I think he knew we’d stop at nothing to keep you safe.”
“He knew you were all honorable men.” She admitted it not just to herself, but to Alex. “He didn’t know who else he could trust, but somehow he knew he could trust you all.”
“Our code of honor isn’t shakable. We don’t give in to the enemy and we don’t go against our country. But we’ll also make sure that we pull out all the stops to deliver the package safely and I think he knew that.”
“The package?”
He chuckled. “You’re the package, honey.”
She wasn’t sure she liked that terminology at all, but if that’s what he and his friends called the people they rescued then she could have her own fun with the label. “Well then how about unwrapping this package in the bedroom?”
He growled low. “You’re killing me here.”
She laughed. “Your friend is going to be here soon and I’d really like another night with you, Alex. You and I both know tomorrow starts some serious work on all of our parts.” She could tell he knew she was right.
“Bedroom’s back there,” he pointed.
“Then we should be back there too.”
“I agree.” He pulled her up to her feet, holding her hand with one hand, picking up her small bag with the other and guiding her down the darkened hall to the master bedroom.
Chapter Seven
“Your father has already gone into witness protection,” Jet’s smooth voice dominated the room and while normally Carissa might have found a voice like that comforting today it was more unnerving. He was delivering news she really didn’t want. Of course she knew that things were going to eventually have to be resolved, but she had enjoyed her brief time with Alex and she had started to feel at peace. There weren’t any bad guys out for blood; there was just the two of them and for those brief moments she was able to forget everything. But now, Jet being here and giving her the four-one-one on what had been done and what she needed to do now and what the Feds wanted from her it was all just a reminder that her life was going to change drastically and she wasn’t ready for that. She wanted normal, but she wouldn’t ever be able to have that.
“Once we retrieve what you have and get you over to the right group of people you’ll join him. Things are going to change for you for a little while.”
“Is it mandatory that I go?” Maybe she was crazy, but she didn’t want to go into witness protection. She wouldn’t go. She was sitting there thinking about her life and she didn’t want to give it up.
“Carissa,” Alex sat beside her and took her hand in his. “You have to do this. You won’t be safe without the relocation.”
“No,” she shook her head. “I’ll help. I’ll get them what they need, but I won’t leave. I won’t go into hiding while the criminals get to roam free. That’s my choice. If they want my help that’s the deal they’ll have to take.” She wasn’t going to hide. She didn’t care how much Alex and Jet protested her decision she wasn’t going to give in.
Alex stood abruptly and started pacing the floor. Jet just shook his head. “You do realize the danger you’ll be in?”
She wasn’t making this decision blindly. She knew the consequences. “Yes,” she admitted freely. “Look they can put a cop on my door, a Fed in the house across the street from me, but I’m not going into hiding. I have a life and as long as I’m breathing I’m going to live it.” The voice she found within her sounded a lot like her mother; she had that same strong, fierce way of not cowering in fear. Carissa remembered a little more about the argument her mother had with her father that day and she remembered how adamant she had been about her father listening to her. “Come as soon as you can,” she remembered her mother saying as she applied the burn cream to her leg. She had clearly blocked most of that night out and she couldn’t understand why; in bits and pieces some of that night was coming back. She still didn’t understand everything and maybe she never would, but she did know that she was not going to run and hide. This had to end. One way or the other it had to end.
“Fine,” Alex shoved his hand through his hair. “Jet will contact Preston and he’ll see what he can do.”
“There’s nothing to see about. It is what it’s going to be; I won’t change my mind.”
“You are the most exasperating woman!”
She shrugged.
“Do you understand how big this thing is?”
She nodded. She understood very well how big this thing was; she still wasn’t going into hiding.
“Stubborn,” he mumbled, along with several other words she couldn’t make out and then she started laughing hysterically. That just seemed to anger him.
“Alex, as if you would just go run and hide.”
“That’s different.”
“Why, because you’re a man? Last I checked men die too.”
“You’re…you…”
“Look, let me make it easy for you here. We had sex; it was great, but that doesn’t mean you own me. You’ve warned me of the consequences; I’m not making this decision blindly, so you can feel completely absolved of any guilt should something bad happen to me because of it.” She stood from the comfortable couch. “Now, if you want what I have we have to get back to Texas. We’re going to need a boat, and we’re going to have to go do a little digging.”
“Don’t,” he bit out the words. “Don’t lump what we did into the just sex category,” he nearly barked.
“I’m going to give you two a few minutes alone,” Jet cautiously excused himself from the room and went toward the back of the house. She real
ized, much like he probably did, that this wasn’t going to be a rose of a discussion. Alex was pissed.
“Alex…”
“No,” he turned to face her and she could see the rage in his eyes.
“What do you think we did? It wasn’t making love. You don’t love me. I care about you, but let’s face it; we hardly know each other. Do you have any sisters or brothers? What do you do for fun? What do you do when you’re not rescuing people? Those are things we don’t know about each other. Don’t you have to know a little more about each other before you can declare love?”
She was right and he knew it; she could tell by the look in his eyes.
“Maybe we can’t say we love each other, but I do care what happens to you.”
Sworn to Secrecy (Special Ops) Page 8
