Guns and the Girl Next Door

by HelenKay Dimon

  “I didn’t expect you to come flying through my wall and right up to my couch.”

  She gave him an exaggerated sigh. “That again. You just can’t let it go.”

  Instead of laughing her comment off, he grew more serious. “I certainly didn’t expect to feel what I feel for you.”

  Her heart bounced. Actually did a twirl and landed again. “What do you feel?”

  “I don’t honestly know.”

  She wanted more. “There are some obvious choices. Hate, frustration, distaste…any of those?”

  “You know none of those fit.”

  He refused to break down that last wall. She wanted to kick through it. Push it over.

  “Then tell me, Holden. Put it into words.”

  He went with the pure male choice. “I’d rather show you.”

  His arms went around her and dragged her down to the bed. Her back hit the mattress as his body slipped over hers. From chest to knees, he covered her. His body heat penetrated her clothes and seeped into her chilled bones.

  Hands traveled over her while his mouth pressed against hers in a kiss so deep it wiped out every thought in her head. Lips and fingers, an erection pressing against her hips. All that mattered in that moment was Holden and the tightening inside her.

  She wanted him naked and inside her. Her hands stripped off his shirt and then reached for his pants. Tossing and shifting, she worked him out of his clothes and threw them on the floor. Her palms met with bare skin, smooth and burning hot.

  His fingers were just as eager. They pressed against her breasts, caressing and exciting until the air punched through the walls of her lungs. The other hand moved over her, peeling her sweats off as he went. Skimming against her panties before dragging them down her legs.

  Frenzied minutes later, they were naked and rolling across the bed. They landed at the bottom with his chest rubbing over hers. He nibbled his way down her neck as his hands drifted even lower.

  He touched her then. Moved in soft circles that brought her hips straining off the bed. The heat inside her coiled, pulling all her muscles tight.

  “Condom.” She whispered the word as her arms fell to the side next to her head.

  “I’ll be right back.”

  Instead of lifting up, he slid over her, igniting her nerve endings with the friction of his skin against hers. That fast he was gone and returned. The fumbling in the nightstand only lasted a second.

  A small rip echoed through the room as his hand returned to her lower body. His fingers brushed her softness, back and forth until her body clenched.

  She pulled him over her. “Now, Holden.”

  He shifted against her, inside, filling her as the words stumbled off her tongue. “Yes.”

  Then he was moving.

  Their bodies fell into a rhythm, a gentle push and pull that grew more insistent with each thrust. He went deeper, harder, touching off the fiery release inside her. Heat plowed through her as her heart pumped a frantic beat.

  When his shoulders stiffened, she knew he hovered on the edge of pleasure. She tightened her legs around his waist and brought him closer to her. His release rocked them both. The bed creaked and their breathing mixed and thundered.

  When sleep finally overtook her, she welcomed it.

  HOLDEN FINALLY RELAXED. All the tension drained out of his muscles. Tonight, after the debacle with David, Holden couldn’t control the adrenaline rushing through him. The energy bounced around inside, knocking and pinging against every organ. Just when he thought he could contain the explosion long enough to tame it by refocusing it into anger against Adam, Mia left the room. She said a courteous good-night, then started up the stairs.

  Seeing her slim hips swish from side to side did him in. The spinning through his blood kicked up again until all he could think about was getting to her. He counted to ten three times and took a walk around the property before heading up the steps after her. It took all his will and concentration not to jump on her as soon as he opened the bedroom door.

  She wrecked him. She took his ordered life with few emotional ties and ripped it all to hell.

  He’d lived every day of his life since the time in the cave a certain way: on the edge and without being obligated to anyone. He stayed detached. He vowed to avoid any situation where he’d have to watch the life pump out of someone he cared about.

  Not again.

  He made an exception for the Recovery team not because he wanted to but because it just happened. Then he added Claire to his small circle because she bulldozed into his life through her love for Luke, and Holden couldn’t shut her out.

  But he didn’t think he could bring Mia into the mix. A voice in his head warned that losing her would be the final deathblow.

  Balancing one arm behind his head, he pulled her tighter to his body with the other. They could have these moments. This was about banishing fear and loneliness. About wiping away the sadness that moved into her eyes as David hit the floor.

  In that second, in the dark room, she brought him peace. He wasn’t a man who knew much peace.

  “You’re thinking loud enough to keep me awake.” She mumbled the observation against his chest.

  “Is that even possible?”

  “Apparently.”

  He smiled because he couldn’t help but feel good around her. “Just basking in the afterglow.”

  She looked up at him. “Man, please tell me that’s not your best line.”

  “That bad?”

  “Terrible.”

  “Tell me why you stopped being a therapist.” He didn’t even know the question hovered in the back of his mind until he said it out loud.

  She frowned. “That’s what you want to talk about after sex?”

  He wanted more sex, but he knew this topic was too important to ignore. “I think so.”

  “I have to tell you I didn’t see you as the type to want to talk about my background.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I get the feeling you could find whatever information you wanted without any help from me.”

  He had checked on some parts, but this was different. This had to do with the private thoughts that couldn’t be ferreted out in an online search. “Maybe I want to hear you say it.”

  She sighed. “Honestly? I left because I wasn’t smart enough to stay away from Ned.”

  Holden wasn’t expecting that. Zimmer didn’t deserve that level of power over her or anyone. “What does he have to do with helping other people?”

  “I couldn’t save myself, so I was hardly qualified to save others.”

  Holden slipped his fingers through her soft hair because he wanted to touch her. “Are you kidding?”

  “No.”

  “So, this is about punishing yourself.”

  “Not at all.”

  “That’s what I heard.”

  “You’re analyzing instead of listening.” She swung her leg behind her as she balanced her chin on her hands and looked up at him. “Speaking of that, why are you afraid of tight spaces?”

  He opened the emotional door and couldn’t exactly blame her for pushing through. Or for wanting to know more about the man lying naked beneath her.

  He deserved this. Still, it took two full minutes before he could get out the simplest of sentences. “Because I got trapped in a cave-in in Afghanistan.”

  “Sounds horrifying.”

  “That’s pretty accurate.”

  “And?” She smoothed her hand over his chest.

  “What?”

  “I might not be practicing now, but the counseling skills are still there. I know when a person is evading.”

  “Have I ever told you how much I hate therapy?”

  “Not a surprise, but that’s not going to stop this conversation, so keep talking.”

  Minutes ticked by until the silence surrounded him. She didn’t pry or insist. She just lay on top of him, looking at him with a calm reassurance that sucked away the rest of his resistance.

&nb
sp; “The two men with me died. One immediately.” When he closed his eyes he could see the blood spurt and the light fade out of the young kid from Kentucky. Twenty and fresh from combat training. The kid deserved better. “The other took longer to bleed out.”

  “You couldn’t save them.”

  “Zach and the others dug from the outside. I shoveled through the dirt with my bare hands to try to break through.” That same sense of helplessness washed over Holden now. “We ran out of time.”

  She ran her hand over his chest. “I’m sorry.”

  “Me, too.”

  She pressed her warm cheek against his skin. “I’m amazed you could go into that tunnel under your house at all.”

  If she had fired questions at him, he likely would have shut down. Instead, she remained silent. The supportive quiet gave him the will to keep talking, to spill his most private thoughts and biggest failings. “I’d been practicing, going down a few steps at a time to see what I could handle.”

  “Not a surprise either.”

  “Meaning?” He felt her smile against him.

  “I can’t imagine you coming up against anything you couldn’t conquer.”

  Despite the faith and soothing talk, the conversation made him twitchy. He didn’t want to dissect his feelings or get stuck in an impromptu therapy session. He didn’t want counseling from her. Not at all.

  “Speaking of conquering.” He let his hand wander down to cup her backside in his palm.

  “Wow, that’s a gutsy comment.”

  “I have another condom.”

  “You’re evading.”

  If she kept throwing out psychology terms, his plans would be shot. Nothing destroyed the mood for him quite like that. “Is that a no?”

  She glanced up, her gaze wandering over his face before she smiled. “Did you hear a no?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “It’s a yes.”

  Then her lips moved to his stomach and traveled down, and they didn’t need conversation.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Holden left Mia in bed early the next morning and headed downstairs. With his muscles revived and his brain cleared, he was ready to comb through Rod’s records and put an end to the madness. He wanted more nights like that with her, and that was only going to happen if the darkness hanging over their heads cleared.

  He rounded the bottom of the stairs and realized he wasn’t the only one up and functioning before seven. Adam and Caleb beat him to the pile of documents. They’d divided it and started working.

  They sat on opposite sides of Luke’s dining table with a pot of coffee stationed between them. Heads down and papers shuffling, they worked. Adam frowned at his computer monitor. Caleb tapped a pen fast enough to launch it into space.

  “Gentlemen,” Holden said in greeting.

  “I know what we’re doing here. Why are you here?” Caleb asked.

  “I can work when I have to.”

  Adam snorted. “I’m not sure why you’d want to when you have a woman who looks like that upstairs in your bed.”

  Bed. Mia. Yeah, if his mind wandered there Holden would be running up the steps. “The only way she’s going to be safe and we’re going to find Rod is to jump on this.”

  Caleb tapped his pen against his teeth and glanced at Adam. “He struck out with Mia.”

  Adam nodded. “Definitely.”

  “I’m not playing, so don’t even try.” But Holden sure was tempted to set them straight. If he were a different guy and Mia meant less, he might engage in locker-room talk. But he was well past the age where that sort of openness held any appeal. “So, what do we know?”

  “There’s nothing about Glenna Reynolds or Penny Wain on Walters’s computer.” Adam pushed back from the table and folded his arms behind his head. “He tried to clear the hard drive but was about as effective with technology as you two would be.”

  “Meaning?” Holden asked.

  “He has documents pertaining to the Samson trial and a file on each of us.”

  After breaking into a congressional office, Holden was hoping for something more. “We expected all that.”

  Caleb flipped through some pages and checked his notes. “He also contacted the Marshal Service. Did it under the guise of needing information about their policies and procedures for a funding issue.”

  Like a man of his position wouldn’t send a staffer out in search of that information. Holden didn’t buy the interest as genuine. “Sounds like garbage.”

  “Didn’t get him anywhere, either.” Adam smiled as if he liked the idea. “But I’m still digging.”

  “We have a bigger problem.” Caleb talked to Adam but pointed at Holden with the tip of his pen. “Tell him.”

  “Got a red flag on our names. Looks like Walters is subpoenaing all of us to testify.”

  Holden dropped into the chair next to Caleb. “He’s too stuck on our team. Rod ticked someone off. Someone high up with a lot of power and a few too many secrets, if I had to guess.”

  “Agreed.” Adam nodded. “And no news on Rod either. None of the usual signs tripped. Nothing on credit cards or banking. Nothing on the back channels or our private system. If he’s out there, he’s moving on cash and not leaving a trail.”

  “Which means he doesn’t want us to know where he is or what he’s doing,” Caleb said.

  Which meant there were only so many strings left to pull. Holden knew his range was limited. He wasn’t the tech guy like Adam, or the demolition expert like Zach, or the forensics guy like Caleb.

  Holden excelled at tactics and strategy. He needed to act like it. “Is David Brennan back at work?”

  Adam glanced over at Caleb then back to Holden. “If I say no and I’m wrong are you going to crawl up my—”

  “Sorry about that. I just didn’t want any surprises when Mia was with me.”

  “Understood. I wasn’t any happier about the unexpected guest. Believe me.” Adam pulled in close to the table and typed for a few seconds. “And David is still in the hospital.”

  “So, now what?” Caleb asked.

  The plan clicked together in Holden’s head. Flushing Walters out might be the only solution. Get him worried and he’d make a mistake. Give him a target and he might misfire.

  “Without David there to ID me, I think I should pay Walters a visit,” he said.

  Adam’s smile doubled in size. “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I like it so far.”

  “Is Walters scheduled to be in the office today or is he pretending to be too upset about his chief of staff to go to work?”

  More tapping before Adam answered. “He’s in.”

  “Put me on his calendar this morning. Make it look as if I was always supposed to be there. List me as some lobbyist or bigwig he’d be compelled to see. We’ll do a bait and switch.”

  Caleb shook his head and smiled at the same time. “Luke is never going to go for this.”

  Holden had an easy solution for that. “We’re not going to tell him.”

  “And Mia?” Adam asked.

  That was one was harder. Holden glanced toward the stairs. “Her either.”

  LESS THAN THREE HOURS later Holden still thought the plan made sense. He sat on the love seat in Walters’s waiting area and ignored the commotion around him. Staffers came in and out. The phones rang every few minutes, sometimes two and three lines at a time. More than once the receptionist commented on David and thanked the caller for the concern.

  Ten minutes after the allotted appointment start time, Bram Walters strolled into his office. He read the newspaper and sipped his coffee. Not exactly the appropriate level of concern for a man who had his office broken into the night before.

  Holden just waited for Walters to notice him.

  The receptionist handed him a schedule. “Mr. Leonard is here.”

  The older man turned around, a huge smile plastered on his mouth. “I didn’t see…”

  If the sudden quiet was any indication, the offensive s
trike worked. Holden stood up, enjoying the win in this first battle. It was the ongoing war that worried him.

  “I believe we have an appointment,” he said.

  The Congressman didn’t show an ounce of surprise. “Leonard, is it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Sir?” The receptionist kept looking between the two men in front of her. “Is something wrong?”

  The Congressman snapped right into campaign mode. “Of course not.”

  He motioned for Holden to precede him into the office. As soon as his office door closed behind them, Walters’s welcoming pretense fell. An angry wash cleared his expression. Gone was the affable politician ready to schmooze a constituent.

  He slid into his big leather chair. “I’m not sure this is a wise choice on your part, Mr. Price.”

  “Why?” Holden didn’t wait for an invitation to sit. He took the chair closest to the desk and glanced around, looking for evidence of the break-in. Overnight, everything had been fixed. It sure did pay to be in charge.

  “You probably haven’t received it yet, but you’re under subpoena to appear before my subcommittee. Very soon, in fact,” Bram said.

  “I find it hard to believe you don’t have anything better to do than to drag us all in to answer the same questions.” Holden took in the photos on the wall and books lining the shelves on either side of the window. “Isn’t there a ribbon cutting or luncheon you could go to?”

  “I didn’t put you in this position.”

  “Feels like it.”

  “Your boss didn’t show for his testimony yesterday.” Walters didn’t sound upset by the slight. “If Mr. Lehman plans to avoid his responsibility, then the obligation falls to all of you.”

  “What do you think you’re going to find?”

  “The truth.”

  This guy wouldn’t know truth if it walked up and smacked him. “Clearly you wanted my attention, Walters.”

  “That’s Congressman Walters.”

  Holden chose to ignore the ego shove. “You have it.”

  “This isn’t about you.” The Congressman’s chair creaked as he leaned back.

  “I find that hard to believe.”

  “It’s about an agency being funded without congressional oversight.”