by Elle James
Jolie gripped the armrest, tempted to close her eyes. Morbid curiosity kept them wide open.
Mad Dog fought the steering wheel, pumped the breaks and struggled to keep the SUV from flying off the side of the mountain.
Just as the tires grabbed the road and Mad Dog straightened the vehicle, the truck hit them again.
Jolie had turned in time to see the driver and gasped. She didn’t have time to shout out who their attacker was, because he pushed the SUV off the road, and it plummeted down the hillside.
“Hold on!” Mad Dog yelled. He steered as best he could over the rocks and around trees and boulders.
The seatbelt held Jolie tight against the seat as they bounced and jolted until the ground leveled out onto an old logging road.
Mad Dog brought the SUV to a halt and reached over to capture Jolie’s hand. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, her head still rattled from the wild ride down the steep embankment. Her first thought was for Six. She turned at the same time as Mad Dog to find the dog on the floorboard, shaking.
Six hopped up onto the seat and stared out the window, seemingly uninjured.
Jolie pressed her other hand to her chest and laughed. “I can’t believe we survived that.”
He snorted. “Or that this SUV is still running.”
She clutched his fingers in hers. “I saw the driver.”
“You did?” Mad Dog glanced back up the hill. “Who was it?”
Jolie followed his gaze, but couldn’t see the road above through the trees and brush. Thankfully, the man who’d pushed them off the road wouldn’t be able to see them.
“Brandon Lewis.”
Mad Dog shook his head. “The Lewis’s teenaged son?”
She nodded.
“Why would he do that?”
“I have no idea. I can’t think of anything you or I could have done to make him mad enough to want to kill us.”
“Unless he’s one of Nadir’s ‘soldiers’.” Mad Dog shifted the SUV into DRIVE and followed the road. “Any idea where this comes out?”
Jolie shook her head. “None. Most logging roads eventually come out on a highway.”
Mad Dog glanced around the cab. “Where’d that satellite phone go?”
Jolie searched the cab and found it under the seat.
“Call Hank and let him know what you saw.”
“Where are we headed?” she asked.
“I’d go to the Lewis’s, but I think we need time to set up our defenses at your place. I believe tonight will be the night Nadir makes his move.”
Jolie nodded. Deep inside, she had the same feeling. She punched the number for Hank and waited.
“I was just about to call you two,” Hank answered without preamble.
“Why?” she asked.
“Found out who the blocked call was from.”
“Would that blocked call have come from Brandon Lewis?” she questioned, looking over at Mad Dog as she did.
“Yes, it was. How did you know?” Hank asked.
“He just ran us off the road.” Jolie explained the situation ending with, “We’re headed to the Rocking R Ranch.”
“You don’t want to question Brandon’s parents?”
“Not now. We need time to set up defenses before dusk,” Jolie said. “We think Nadir will make his move tonight.”
“I’ll send a couple of my guys out to watch the Lewis’s place. That will put them close enough to get to you quickly. Don’t worry. I’ll tell them to keep a low profile and report, rather than engage.”
“Thank you, Hank,” Jolie said. “Out here.” She ended the call and stared across the console at Mad Dog, shaking inside—from tension, not fear. This was really happening. “You don’t have to stay through this.”
His lips tightened. “Yes, I do.”
But Jolie didn’t want to see him hurt. “This was my operation. I can deal with the repercussions.”
“You forget, I was assigned to be your partner. I leave no man…or woman…behind.” He winked at her. “Besides, you’ve saved my life a couple of times. I owe you.”
“You don’t owe me anything,” she said.
He slowed the SUV before the dirt road ended and brought the vehicle to a stop. “Jolie, you need to understand. You saved me before we even met. I was on the edge of a cliff, contemplating my worth in this life, when Hank showed up and hooked me up with my new boss. If you hadn’t needed help, I might not be here today.”
Her gaze met his, and she frowned. “You were considering…”
He nodded. “The bottom of that cliff looked a lot easier to deal with than a life with no purpose.” Mad Dog brought her hand to his lips. “Even if what we have between us goes nowhere, you’ve shown me that I have a lot more life to live. A purposeful life. And I don’t have to do it alone.”
How many times had she’d felt so very alone in this world? She’d been on the edge of a cliff many times—if not physically, then mentally. With no family back home, no one to call when she was feeling down and no one to talk to on a lonely night, she’d been where Mad Dog had been that day on the cliff. Her eyes stung with unshed tears. “How did I show you that? I haven’t made a commitment to you. Nor have you made one to me.”
“Your strength and determination to make things right in this world forced me to see how deep I’d sunk into my own funk. You made me realize the world does not revolve around me. I could still use my skills for good. If not with the organization I’m a part of now, then somewhere else. Maybe a deputy, a firefighter or an EMT. I can help others and, by so doing, help myself. Don’t you see? By just being you, you saved me.”
Jolie leaned across the console and pressed a finger to his lips. “Did anyone ever tell you that you talk too much?” Then she wrapped her hand around the back of his neck and pulled him close to brush her lips across his.
He cupped her face in his palms and deepened the connection, his tongue thrusting past her teeth to caress hers.
When they finally surfaced for air, Jolie laughed.
Six barked in the back of the vehicle, reminding them he was still alive and well.
Mad Dog chuckled and soon joined in with Jolie’s laughter.
Jolie wiped tears from her eyes and touched his cheek. “You realize we were almost killed, and we have a shit-load of preparations to make before we face Nadir and his ghouls?”
“I do.” Mad Dog grinned. “But for some reason, I can’t wipe the smile off my face. I’ve never felt more alive and in tune with the world than at this moment.”
“Me, either.” She took his hand in hers and kissed his palm. “Don’t think you owe me a life for yours. You came to me at just the right time. I needed you here more than you can ever know.”
“We make a good team.”
“Yes, we do.” She pressed his palm to her cheek, and then released it. “Let’s go get us a terrorist.”
13
Mad Dog surveyed the exterior of Jolie’s home.
Six had done his job and sniffed around the house for any explosive devices. The only spot he’d sat next to was the burn scar on the ground where the truck had been. The house was clear.
Mad Dog kept Six outside with him for the afternoon, figuring the dog might alert him to anyone who might try to sneak up on him while he was working.
They’d used old lumber they’d found in the barn to board up the windows, leaving enough room for clear lines of fire. With only two of them, they’d be hard-pressed to cover all sides of the house. He wasn’t even sure they should be in the house when the shit hit the fan.
They might be better off hunkered down in the tree line. But they had no idea when Nadir would stage his attack, or how many people would be involved. For all they knew, he might come alone. In which case, he’d sneak up on them, and they wouldn’t know from which direction.
Hell, he could be watching them as they worked that afternoon. That’s why Mad Dog had Jolie work inside the house. No use making her a target by having her ou
tside.
At Jolie’s suggestion, Mad Dog had turned the horses out into the pasture and shooed them away from the barn. If bullets started flying, she didn’t want the horses to take a hit for her. Neither did Mad Dog. They didn’t deserve to be caught in the crossfire.
The sun dropped below the mountain tops, taking the landscape from daylight to dusk in less than thirty minutes.
Jolie had a pot of chili cooking on the stove, the scent finding its way through the screen door to the front porch where Mad Dog was hammering the last nail into a board covering the big picture windows.
He turned to study the landscape, tree line and the road leading up to the house. Nothing moved in the shadowy gray light. Not even the crickets and cicadas had begun their nightly song.
He felt as if time had suspended, waiting for something to happen. His muscles were tense, just like they’d been before every mission into the Afghan hills or an Iraqi town.
Six whimpered, as if sensing Mad Dog’s disquiet.
Together, they dropped down off the porch, circled the barn and the house once more, before entering through the back door into the kitchen.
Jolie had two bowls in her hands, carrying them to the table. “Have a seat. We might as well fuel up.” She pointed to the bowl of dog food on the floor by the back door and gave Six the command to eat.
The dog sniffed at the bowl then dug in.
Mad Dog waited until Jolie took her seat before seating himself. Then he leaned over the bowl, inhaling deeply. “I didn’t know you could cook.”
“I don’t advertise the fact. My father and I had our specialties. Mine was chili and lasagna; his was grilled steaks, roasted chicken and mashed potatoes. We learned enough to survive and took turns.”
“I learned how to make mac-n-cheese and ramen noodles to survive when my father drank the grocery money.”
Jolie reached for his hand across the table. “I’m sorry. You must have had it rough.”
“Don’t be sorry,” he said. “I learned a lot about self-preservation. It helped me during SEAL BUD/S training.” He grinned. “Since then, a friend of mine taught me how to make chicken enchiladas and Mexican cornbread.” His smile faded. Frito and his wife had been good friends. He made a note to himself to check on Rosa and the baby once they got past this assignment.
“I love Mexican food,” Jolie exclaimed. “Will you make enchiladas for me someday?”
He winked. “You’re on.” Mad Dog liked the idea that they would be together long enough for him to cook a meal for her. Perhaps, he’d been shortsighted by not investing in a box of condoms. If tonight really was the night they bagged the terrorist, his job here would be done, the danger to Jolie would be over and they could get on with their lives.
Which also meant leaving Montana. He’d go on to his next assignment as a Sleeper SEAL and Jolie would move on to her next assignment as a CIA agent.
As he finished his bowl of chili, Mad Dog looked around the kitchen of the ranch house. It needed to be remodeled and upgraded, but it seemed homey. He could almost feel the love Jolie and her father had shared in that kitchen. It would be a great home in which to raise children.
“Are you sure you’ll sell this place once this assignment is over?” he asked. He concentrated on the chili, but, in his peripheral vision, he could see Jolie’s expression change from happy to sad.
“I have to admit, being back has been an emotional roller coaster. When I first got here, all I could think about was getting a For Sale sign up as soon as possible. I didn’t want the bad memories to haunt me the rest of my life.”
“And now?” He looked up.
She set her spoon on the table beside her empty bowl and gave him half a smile. “Now, all I can remember is the happiness of growing up here. I see my mother in the furniture, knick-knacks, pictures on the walls and the quilts on the beds. The memories of my father are strong in the kitchen, the living room, the barn and the pastures. Everywhere I look, I feel him around me.”
“It’ll be hard to let go,” he said quietly.
She sighed and shook her head. “What use do I have for a ranch in Montana? If I go back to my job, I’m based out of Virginia. I could be sent anywhere in the world. I can’t manage a ranch like that. This place has fallen into disrepair. It needs a family to run it and live in this house. It’s not right for me to keep it when I won’t be here. The only way I would keep it is if I quit my job.”
He held still. “Have you considered it?”
“I hadn’t, until I came home…” Her lips twisted into a wry grin. “I still call it home. I haven’t lived anywhere else I ever thought of as my home...that place you come back to.”
“My active duty friends with wives always say home is where the heart is,” Mad Dog said. “No matter where they move, home is where their wives and kids are.”
“For me, it’s where my memories are. I don’t have family here. They’re gone.”
“But they live on.” Mad Dog nodded toward the kitchen. “In the house, in the barn. Everywhere.”
Jolie shook her head and touched her hand to her chest. “No. They live here. But they’re just memories. I need to get on with my life. I can’t live in the past. Memories don’t keep you warm at night.”
Mad Dog stood and took her hand in his. “No, but people do.” He pulled her into his arms and held her close. There was nothing sexual in the way he hugged her. Just one human being connecting with another. “You don’t get this from a memory.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her cheek against his chest. “No, you don’t.”
“You deserve to have a life filled with love and happiness, Jolie. Don’t give up on it because you lost your father and mother.”
Her arms tightened around him. “What about you? You’ve sacrificed so much for this country. You deserve to love and be loved. You can’t stand on the edge of a cliff wondering what’s left in life.”
He chuckled. “We are a pair, aren’t we?”
“Two lonely souls in a boarded-up house in the backwoods of Montana.”
“What are the chances of finding what we’re looking for here?” he whispered against her hair.
“I don’t know. Some would say it’s too soon. We haven’t known each other long enough.”
“Sounds strange,” Mad Dog said, raising his hands to cup the back of her head and tipping her face upward. “But I feel like I’ve known you all my life. Like you’ve always been a part of me. I just had to find you.”
She smiled up at him. “Not strange at all. I feel the same.” Then she rose on her toes and pressed her lips to his.
The warm, platonic hug morphed into something completely different.
Mad Dog couldn’t get enough of her lips, her mouth...her heart. He wanted to be closer than body to body. He wanted more from one person than he’d ever imagined possible.
Jolie threaded her fingers into his hair in a frenetic dance, digging into his scalp, her mouth pressing hard against his.
The satellite phone rang several times before the sound broke through the lusty haze clouding Mad Dog’s judgment. He drew back. “We have to stop this before we get stupid and forget why we’re here.”
She nodded and rubbed the back of her hand over swollen lips. “Right.” Then she came up on her toes again, kissed him lightly and backed away. “We have a job to do. And that’s the satellite phone ringing.”
They spent a minute or two searching the house for where they’d laid it, finding it on an end table in the living room.
“Mad Dog, what’s your status?”
“So far, everything’s quiet.”
“Got news from my surveillance team at the Lewis house.”
“Go ahead.”
“The teen hasn’t returned home,” Hank said. “The only one there at this time is Mr. Lewis.” I have a man in town, keeping an eye out for Brandon and listening for any rumblings about any events going down.”
“Good to know. If he tried to kill us o
nce, he might be in with Nadir and come after us again.”
“Keep your heads down. All you need do is call if things even hint at getting hot tonight.”
“Will do.” Mad Dog ended the call.
“Looks like we might have more than just Nadir to deal with tonight.” Jolie drew in a deep breath and let it out. “Let’s get in place. I’ll take the front of the house.”
Mad Dog didn’t argue. Jolie was the better shot. He grabbed the bag of equipment Hank had sent home with them and rummaged through, grinning when he found night vision goggles.
“Take these.” He handed a pair to Jolie along with a radio headset. “I’ll walk into the living room, so we can test the communications.”
He slipped the headset on and flicked the switch to activate it. Then he settled the other set over Jolie’s ears and switched hers on before walking around the corner into the living room.
Six followed him and paced the length of the room and back.
“Hey, good-looking,” Jolie’s gravely female voice sounded in Mad Dog’s ear. “Wanna have fun tonight?”
“I think we’re going to have more fun than we can handle.” The communication devices worked fine. A glance through the cracks in the boarded windows showed dusk had turned to dark. Night had settled in on the mountain ranch.
Now, all they had to do was wait.
* * *
The roar of engines sounded nearby.
Six growled low in his throat.
Suddenly, out of the tree line burst half a dozen or more motorcycles, their headlights shining onto the front of the house.
“Break’s over,” Mad Dog said into the mic. “We have company. I’ll take the front, since I’m here.”
“Manning the back.”
“Place that call to Hank, Sweetheart. Nadir pulled out all the stops and called in his minions. We’re already outnumbered.”
* * *
Jolie hated that she wasn’t in the front of the house to see what was going on. But she could hear the engines roaring as the motorcycles poured into the yard. She fumbled with the satellite phone, finally hitting the numbers for Hank.
