HeatedMatch

by Lynne Silver

  Halfway to the dining room, a hand landed on her shoulder, nearly giving her a heart attack. She whirled around to see who it was, surprised she hadn’t heard any footsteps crunching on the gravel path. A middle-aged, portly man stood off the path on the grass, which explained his stealthy approach. He was a friend of Adam’s dad. What was his name? Keen? Keel? That sounded right.

  “Ms. Stanton.” He gave her a genial smile.

  “Captain Keel, right?”

  “Just Keel, or Jonathan. We don’t go by formal military rank around here.” Something in his tone said he was disgusted by that lack of adherence to military structure.

  She took a step back, forcing Keel’s arm to drop off her shoulder. For whatever reason, his touch made her uncomfortable.

  “What can I do for you?” she asked and took a step toward the dining hall, hoping he’d take the hint. Or her rumbling stomach would do it for her.

  “I thought I could escort you to lunch,” Keel said with a smile. “Adam’s caught in a meeting, so I thought I’d see if you want some company.”

  “All right. Maybe I can ask you some questions about my father. You knew him, right?”

  He didn’t meet her eyes. “Yes. I knew him.”

  They entered the three-story red-brick building and Loren grabbed a tray, loading it with a tuna sandwich and an iced tea. She followed Keel to a two-person table far away from the fracas and camaraderie of the larger rounds in the center of the room and smiled as some of the guys waved and shouted greetings. Apparently, she was somewhat of an anomaly around here with her willingness to eat with the boys and participate in their missions.

  After living an only child’s quiet life, she loved participating in the boisterous activities of Adam’s comrades. She’d always imagined a fraternity or large family would be like this. Her four college years had been spent questing after two majors and multiple internships and never partying like a rock star or joining a sorority. An opportunity to hang out and be one of the guys had fallen in her lap and she wasn’t squandering it this time.

  Today, she sat with her back facing the rest of the room and concentrated on her tuna sandwich. “Tell me about my dad.”

  “You were his daughter.” Keel shrugged. “What could I tell you that you don’t already know?”

  “After the past few days, I worry that I never really knew my father at all,” she said. “I’d love to hear anything you remember about him. When did you meet him? Why did he leave here?” Excitement built in her as she realized Keel was an untapped source of information and memories of her dad.

  “Your dad was in the first cohort of trainees I worked with. I was recruited straight out of the CIA to work with the teenage soldiers.”

  “So, you’re not one of them…us?” Something unidentifiable flashed in his eyes. Rage? “Sorry to interrupt.” She hoped he wouldn’t think she apologized for him being only human. He seemed defensive about it. “Please go on.”

  “As I was saying, I was brought in to teach the teenagers tactics and military history.”

  “I’m surprised they brought an outsider in. They seem to have some trust issues.”

  Keel blinked at her. “Well there was a shortage of trained military professionals with my knowledge. They took a chance, knowing they’d kill me if I ever spilled secrets.” He shrugged, obviously unimpressed with the threat on his life. It had been decades ago, so she supposed the immediacy of the scare tactic had lessened.

  “Can you tell me about my father? Were you close with him?”

  He smiled, but he didn’t answer her question and instead threw out some of his own. “Your father never mentioned his work? Or his first wife? Did your parents ever tell you how they met?”

  His questions were starting to feel more like an inquisition. Loren tried to push the conversation back to her father while her mind spun with his rapid questions. “My parents always told me a friend introduced them. They must have felt a very strong connection for my dad to leave a wife and son behind. He was always gung-ho about families sticking together. It still blows my mind that he had a whole other family I knew nothing about.”

  He nodded. “It was tragic when Chase’s mother killed herself. Though I saw it coming and tried to warn people. She was depressed once your father ran away.”

  “Wait, Chase’s mother committed suicide after my father ran away to be with my mother?” She started to lose her appetite and pushed her plate away.

  “Well, not ran away, as much as abandoned his responsibilities. He had a wife and a kid here. I was shocked when Commander Silver, the commander before Shepard, allowed him to continue running missions from off campus.”

  She didn’t want to hear about protocol and such, now that she knew her dad had abandoned a family to start a new one and it had caused such a catastrophic impact on Chase’s family. It was a wonder Chase didn’t hate her. For the first time, her family history seemed tragic and sordid and unlike the idyllic childhood she’d always thought she had. Lost in thought, she nearly missed Keel’s next words.

  “I’ve always felt a bit responsible, since I was the one who introduced your parents to each other. And then when Marie killed herself, well, it was terrible around here.”

  “You were the one who introduced my parents?”

  He tipped his head slightly, but didn’t look happy about it.

  “Poor Chase,” she said. “His happy childhood ended in a moment and precipitated the beginning of my happy childhood.”

  “Don’t feel too badly,” Keel said, “your father and Chase remained very close. He was forever coming back on campus to toss a football with Chase or help with homework. At least until Marie killed herself. Then Chase blamed your father and I never saw them spend much time together after that.”

  A distant memory tinkled a bell in her brain. She’d been ten when the phone rang one night during dinner. Her father answered and listened for a few minutes then had collapsed at the dining table and placed his head in his hands. When he’d come up for air, tears streamed down his face. She remembered horror filling her. It was the only time she’d ever seen her heroic father cry. What terrible news could make him do such a thing?

  She looked at Keel’s face and quickly calculated. The timing was right. Could the phone call have been from Chase or someone on campus telling him of his first wife’s suicide?

  Her mom and dad had disappeared into their bedroom for a few hours, and her father emerged with a suitcase packed, ready to leave on one of his many trips for an indeterminate amount of time. Strangely, he’d arrived home late that same night. She remembered being awoken when the front door slammed and her father’s footsteps tread up the carpeted steps. She’d closed her eyes and feigned sleep as her dad had come into her room and kissed her forehead.

  She poked at her sandwich and took a sip of her iced tea, not really tasting anything. Her mom must know about Chase. How could her father have hidden a son for all those years? And if she didn’t, was it her responsibility to tell her mom now? Would it spoil her mom’s memories of a happy marriage?

  Keel seemed to know where her thoughts lay. “Your mom never mentions me?” he asked.

  “Um, no. This whole place and Chase were a complete shocker to me. I mean, I read the news stories when they broke a few weeks ago, but never had any idea I was connected.”

  His fork paused midair en route to his mouth, and he leveled a penetrating gaze at her as if searching her mind for something. Then he smiled. “Would you like to see pictures of your dad? I think I have some from the early years. They’re in my apartment.”

  Eagerness rose up like a flower reaching for the sun. “Yes, definitely. Can we go right now?” Together they rose to clear their trays then headed out of the dining room. They emerged out of the building and blinked against the bright summer sun. Keel placed a sweaty, pudgy palm on her forearm to steer her toward one of the single-family homes down the path from the bachelor pad, as the single-male dormitory was called.

  T
eenage boys halted their soccer game to pay their respects to Keel.

  “You’re a popular man on campus,” Loren observed, though she also noticed there was none of the banter and invitations to play that Adam garnered.

  He gave her a prideful smile. “I’ve taught the teenagers for more than twenty years. I could’ve accepted promotions at any time, but I like to make my mark with young minds.”

  “Umm-hmm,” she said. “Do you hear someone calling my name?” She stopped to listen for a minute, but the shouts of the boys drowned out anything else.

  “No, I don’t hear anything, but then I don’t have super hearing like you.”

  He made it sound like a bad thing.

  “Let’s keep walking. My house is the first one on the end.” Keel picked up his pace.

  “Oh, I’m staying in that one.” She pointed out her house, while straining one ear, listening for her name. She could’ve sworn she heard it. Suddenly the crunch of gravel grew. She whirled around as a large hand landed on her shoulder.

  Her smile faltered as she saw Adam’s expression.

  “Where have you been?” he asked. “I’ve been running my ass all over campus looking for you.”

  “Eating lunch with Mr. Keel. And you could’ve called my cell phone. Oh wait, Shep still hasn’t authorized its return.”

  He ignored her unsubtle dig.

  “I’m going with Mr. Keel to see old photos of my dad. Perhaps you’d like to stick a GPS device in me so we don’t have this problem again?” she asked.

  They both looked at the older man, and Keel smiled at Adam. For the first time, Loren noticed his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

  Adam gave Keel a cursory nod then turned his attention toward her again. “Stop the sarcasm. We need to talk.”

  She softened and placed a conciliatory hand on his biceps. “I’m sorry, I should’ve left you a note. I got really hungry, and you were at your meeting much longer than you said you’d be, so I went to lunch and then Keel found me. We got to talking about the past. Do you want to come with us to look at pictures of my dad?”

  “We can’t. I’ve been looking for you because Chase got back a little while ago. He’s hurt.”

  Loren’s heart dropped into her stomach. “How bad?”

  Adam shook his head, his tone flat. “Badly. They’re checking for internal bleeding.”

  Loren gave an inarticulate cry. Her brother. She’d met him only a short while ago, but family was family. “Where is he? Will he be okay? Don’t just stand there, let’s go.” She turned and threw an apologetic look at Keel.

  He gave her a wave, urging her to on. “Go ahead.” He paused, seemingly lost in thought. He must have been upset Chase was injured. How sweet. “We’ll look at photos another time. Go to your brother. I’ll find you later.”

  She grabbed Adam’s hand and they took off up the grassy hill, bypassing the gravel path. She stumbled once or twice since she was stupidly wearing flip-flops, which slipped on the grass. Without breaking his stride, he picked her up in his arms and continued at breakneck speed toward the infirmary. The medicinal stink of iodine, bleach and bandages filled her nose as they burst into Chase’s infirmary room. A doctor hovered over Chase’s form, injecting something with a needle in his upper arm.

  “Oh Chase.” Loren gasped at a glimpse of his bruised and bloodied body. “What happened?”

  Chase turned a bleary face to her. “I’m fine. Sh…should see other guy.” Then he grimaced and turned his head away.

  Adam rolled his eyes at Chase’s lame attempt at humor, though it was probably true. Even if Chase had been taken by surprise from the back, he still would’ve put up one hell of a fight. Somewhere in London, another person was breathing shallow from broken ribs and punctured lungs the way Chase was. He’d been lucky to have enough strength to make it back onto their private plane and back to campus. A stranded, injured soldier in a foreign city was Shep’s least favorite thing to deal with.

  He met Loren’s quizzical, horrified gaze across the bed. She wanted answers, and he only wished he had some for her. He had no clue who had done this. Not a civilian, that was for sure. How else could he explain why Chase was lying battered in the sick ward when he should’ve been able to take on any normal human with ease? Adam motioned for her to take a seat in the one chair in the corner, and then he left the room to grab another chair. Once they were both settled a few feet away from Chase’s sick bed, they kept a watchful eye on the patient and chatted quietly.

  “Chase is going to be fine. He looks like shit now, but we heal pretty quickly and can take a hell of a beating.”

  “You say this from experience,” Loren observed.

  Adam looked away. Now was not the time to tell her about the beatings from classmates from the ages of five to ten. The only white kid in school tended to get a lot of attention, not all of it friendly. He’d been forced to toughen up until he was the leader of his pack of friends.

  “Who did this? Did Chase recognize his attacker?”

  He shook his head. “He hasn’t been in a condition to tell us much, but we think he was ambushed. That they were expecting him.”

  Loren held a hand to her mouth. “What? How could they have known?” She looked over at Chase and bit her lip. “He looks bad,” she whispered. “How could a regular human beat him like this? He should’ve been stronger and faster than anyone sent after him.”

  He shrugged. “Not if he were taken by surprise.” But her concern warmed him like chicken noodle soup on a cold day. Around here, unless you were matched or your mom was still around, no soft feminine voices murmured over you in the sick ward. No lips gently kissed your brow and wiped away sweat or blood. As Loren fawned over Chase, he clenched his fists over the desire that socked him in the gut.

  A desire more than simply sexual. Desire for a little softness, a little kindness in the harsh world he lived in. If it were him lying bloody on that bed, he’d be alone except for a brief interlude with his father probably demanding a recap.

  Dammit. He swallowed down the pity party threatening to make a pansy out of him. He had his job and his team. They should be enough. Life was full of things you wanted and didn’t get. Just ask his mom or dad. Oh wait, you couldn’t ask his mom. She was dead. The doctors called it cancer, but he knew it had been her broken heart that killed. She simply hadn’t had enough fight left in her to conquer the cancer.

  Even though he wanted Loren more than he wanted his next breath, he’d never use her like that. She had a life outside this compound. He refused to drag her into a life of waiting and worrying for her man to come home. Look how upset she was over Chase’s injuries.

  Besides, his DNA was damaged goods. Who knew if he could even have healthy, whole offspring? His family had proven deficient before. He’d make a crap candidate to reproduce. He knew Doctor Wise and Shep didn’t see him that way, and he couldn’t figure out why not. Why would they take a risk on him? Loren deserved more than that.

  A soft hand landed on his, shaking him out of his reverie. More like misery.

  “Adam, he’s going to be okay. Chase is strong, right?” Her sympathetic smile reassured him more than he deserved.

  “I know that.” His voice came out rough as sandpaper over wood.

  “You looked worried and withdrawn now,” Loren said.

  “I’m fine.”

  She raised an eyebrow, but didn’t probe further into his mental state. “Will you send someone else to the fertility clinic?”

  Chase had barely been coherent to debrief. All he knew so far was that Chase had been attacked from behind in the airport parking lot from someone who knew his name. It was the shit hitting the fan. Unease settled on those in the know, because someone on the inside was a leak and needed to be plugged. Now.

  He crossed his legs then uncrossed them. He shifted in his seat, looking for a comfortable position, but no matter how he adjusted, his shoulders twitched and his legs itched with the need to move. He rose from his seat and e
xtended a hand toward Loren. “Let’s get out of here. I need to run or swim or just…go.”

  She gave a last worried look at Chase, but rose to her feet and followed him out the room.

  “He’s drugged and will be sleeping it off for a few hours. There are doctors and nurses on staff. We’ll be back in an hour at most, I need to move. Do you want to run or swim?” Adam asked.

  *

  Keel’s carefully constructed world was falling apart. First Loren Stanton showed up, and now Chase returned to campus bruised and battered. He’d dialed Paulson’s number repeatedly, but no answer. Damn it. He slammed the phone on the cushion of his couch and focused on his plans.

  If they hadn’t come to question him yet then either Chase was not coherent or Paulson hadn’t ratted him out. Nothing he could do except stay cool and act as shocked as everyone that Chase had been ambushed. They weren’t stupid. Especially Adam. He had to know now someone had blabbed that Chase was investigating the fertility clinic.

  And as for Loren, she didn’t seem to be the threat he’d originally feared. After all, she’d known very little about her parents’ history when he grilled her at lunch today.

  He sat in his favorite lounger in his living room and stared out the window. It had been difficult to hear about Robert’s marriage to Julia from their daughter. Sure, he’d known they’d married, but it was one thing to hear about it through the grapevine. It was entirely another matter to hear the resulting child of the marriage talk about her parents as a loving unit. Even after all these years his temper flared when hearing his former lover’s name linked with the bastard who stole her.

  Loren hadn’t noticed anything amiss when he mentioned Julia or that he’d introduced her parents. It had taken all his composure not to rail against Robert, but that would’ve ruined any chance of her trusting him. And she seemed to.

  But what if she ever spoke about him to her mother? Would her mother speak against him? Turn her daughter against her former lover? Or even worse, if Loren’s trust turned to suspicion of him, more than his job was at stake. His reputation, his life was in jeopardy.