Collateral Damage

by J. L. Saint

  Who she thought her husband was had suddenly twisted into an unrecognizable mass of deceit. As if she had gone to bed with a dashing prince and woke up with something worse than a toad, she’d awoken to a horrible devil—a terrorist.

  The implications and repercussions of it all were just now bubbling into her shocked brain and her stomach churned with questions. Would people think she was involved in Bill’s treason? Isn’t that what citizens who acted against the United States were charged with? Would her family be reviled? Would her children be outcasts? Were their lives destroyed?

  It was more than she could absorb.

  A terrorist.

  She just couldn’t believe it. Still didn’t believe it.”

  “Hey.” Jack touched her arm and made her shiver, making her even more aware. “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah.” Her voice was thick with emotion.

  He studied her a moment. “Bad memories?”

  “And worried about what you said and just how devastating it will be to our lives.”

  “No one stops to consider the collateral damage their actions can cause. I’m going to do everything in my power to keep you and the boys as insulated as I can from what Bill did.”

  She studied Jack a moment and knew he meant what he said. That she could rely on his word more than any man she’d known other than her brother. There was a solid strength to him that went deeper than his physical presence. It was an essence of something different about him, something stable and good. Maybe it stemmed from the code that he’d committed to live his life by in serving his country. She tried again to draw a deep breath, but couldn’t. Not because of fear this time, and not because Jack’s reassuring words didn’t help, but because they did. They reached inside her and stirred emotions she didn’t want to feel. Surely, she’d lost her mind. She’d just met this guy and there was no way she could really know those things about him. Right?

  “Listen to this,” Jack held up a wireless phone and pressed a button. Several recorded messages played. Two from friend’s asking Bill to call them. The last was from his Brazilian squeeze, it was a voice and accent Lauren would never forget. “Please, I know you say to only call here for emergency. But I so worry. I sent everything as you asked today. To friends. To family. Now please be okay. Call me.”

  “Bill’s latest. She lives in Sao Paulo. Angie spoke to her yesterday. Bill’s a week late for their date.”

  “She left the message five days ago. I also found this brochure in Bill’s office. It’s about a Brazilian wildlife preserve. It just seemed out of place with the high end golf resorts and spas and it could have some connection to BioLogics.”

  “Good thinking.” She looked down at the mail in her hand. “Brazil…sent everything…Oh My God! Bill’s letter!” She dropped the mail and dug into her back pocket to pull out the letter. “It must have been delivered with the boys’ birthday presents yesterday. They came from Sao Paulo. In their excitement, the boys had likely knocked it into the bushes I found it in this afternoon.”

  “And you haven’t opened it, yet?”

  “It’s not like nothing else has been going on. And, to be honest I almost ripped it up and threw it away.” She held up the letter. “He wrote My Dear Lauren on the envelope. And I…” She paused. “Didn’t want to read it after that. After all of his indiscretions, after all of the pain he’s caused, after all of the disrespect, those words pissed me off so much that I didn’t want to hear anything he had to say. Even if—” her breath hitched, “—even if he was dead. I’m awful. That’s awful, but that’s just the way it is.”

  “No,” he said without a trace of condemnation. He stepped closer to her, brushing his thumb along her jaw. Every inch of his rough-edged nearness grabbed her attention and made her want to be closer to him, despite the chaos inside her. He was a rock solid port in a storm, an attractive port that appealed to her on a base level, for sure. But there was more to it than animal attraction and her own starved state. She was drawn as much to that element of honor she sensed in him as she was to everything else. She breathed in his enticing scent and drank of the determined warmth of his appreciative gaze. With her world reeling, he was an anchor she couldn’t resist.

  “Not awful,” he said. “While you were getting the boys ready for bed, I did some internet searching on BioLogics and Bill. The pictures of him with other women pissed me off.” His intense gaze darkened and his jaw set to a rock hard angle that she’d hate to meet in a dark alley. He moved his hand to cup her chin. “So, no. You’re not awful at all. But him doing that while married to you made him the biggest idiot in the world.”

  His touch stirred her even more and his anger comforted. She nodded. It had been so long since she’d been touched or comforted that she wanted to lean into his hand to feel more of him, but stepped back instead and opened the letter.

  My Dear Lauren,

  Considering the way things are at the moment, I know this letter will come as a surprise. But I have to let you know that I still love and miss you very much. Our times together have meant everything to me and I’d love to give you all of the riches in the world. Your share is only the beginning. Just remember how happy we were in Paris, our visit to the Coliseum in Rome and the kiss we shared despite our “suspicious minds” this “July”. NBT if you can believe it. The trip was just like our love me tender honeymoon in “blue Hawaii”.

  I know you are looking forward to our trip to Vegas with the gang. Everyone will have a piece of the action to win the “Grand Jackpot”. Yahoo! “Viva Las Vegas!”

  Please don’t stop loving me. You know all there is to know and you are the key to everything.

  Love, Bill.

  With every word she read her heart pounded harder and her anger shifted to something darker as outrage sent a sharp pain ripping through her gut—not her heart. His infidelities had killed whatever part he had there. She’d thought she was over all that. Over the hurt. Over the tears. Her hands shook as she crumpled the letter. Tears stung her eyes.

  “What’s wrong? Can I read it?”

  “It’s…Dear God…it’s…everything is wrong with it.” She reached deep and steadied her insides. “Yes, you can read it. It’s nothing but a huge pile of bullshit.”

  Surprisingly, he grinned as he slid Bill’s letter from her numb fingers. “Having grown up where cow patties were a menace, I can appreciate the adjective. Not just a pile, but a huge pile.” She could tell he was deliberately searching for a way to shift her from the shadows pulling at her and she latched onto his levity, blinking back her tears. It was a lifeline.

  “Where was that?” she asked, realizing that her own farm roots had exposed themselves. Bill would have been appalled.

  “Kentucky. Bluegrass, prime horses and sweet tea. You?”

  “Georgia. Peaches, grits and even sweeter tea.”

  “So tell me what’s up with the letter,” he asked as he opened the crumpled paper and looked over it.

  “He’s playing some sort of sick game. How dare he tell me how much he still loves me and how much he misses me! He’s also totally delusional. He’s fabricating memories that never happened. We’ve never been to Paris nor “to the Coliseum in Rome” or had a “kiss we shared despite our suspicious minds this July.” And what does “NBT, if you can believe it” mean?” She fisted her hands and paced across the plush floor. “Bill and I honeymooned in Bermuda, not Hawaii. Perhaps he mixed me up with one of his bimbos. I’ve never been to Vegas with him and his buddies, so why would he say I’m looking forward to going with him and his buddies? Bill would have never been caught dead using either of those expressions. And this last part makes me want to scream. Where does he get off asking me to please don’t stop loving him?”

  She blinked at the burn of more tears and turned away from Jack, embarrassed.

  Jack clasped her shoulders and turned her to face him. A fierceness had sharpened his chiseled features. His green eyes burned. “Bill Collins was a fool and completely unwo
rthy of anything to do with you. Don’t waste any more of yourself on his stupidity.” He slid his thumb along her bottom lip, sending fiery need right to her core. Her stomach clenched and her body wept for more. “Another time, another place, I’d back you to that wall right there, or any place you wanted to go, and do everything in my power to wipe him from your mind.”

  His voice was deep and rough, giving her a good idea of what he’d sound like in the bedroom. She tingled. Something inside her loosened and flared hot, making every erogenous zone she possessed jump to attention. Do it. The words rang in her mind. A directive to her. A command to him. Let him do it. Right here. Right now. Toss everything you know and believe about yourself and take Jack up on his offer to forget about Bill.

  What did it matter that she’d known Jack less than a day? She had no doubt he was capable of fulfilling his promise to wipe Bill out of her mind. In some ways he’d already done that. She was more aware of Jack on a sensual level than she’d ever been of Bill.

  Jack demanded it. He was so much more primal, so much nobler, so much more everything. He had flung open a sexual door between them so hard and fast that she could still hear the echo of his enticing promise slamming against her. I’d back you to that wall right there, or any place you wanted to go, and do everything in my power to wipe him from your mind.

  She opened her mouth, ready to cross the threshold. But before she could say “do it”, he turned away from her.

  “Let me amend that statement,” he said. “Were I a better man than Bill and we were in another time and place, I’d do that.”

  She didn’t get the chance to reply because she heard a key turning in the lock to Bill’s condo.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Jack heard the lock tumble open and moved fast. He snuffed the lights and palmed his P226 as he pocketed Bill’s letter. Grabbing Lauren’s hand, he led her to the master bedroom before the men entering could have possibly seen or heard them. But then one of the men was speaking so loudly, he and Lauren could have been elephants. Making his way through the condo was easy. The upscale décor was very Zen in style, almost sterile, and left very little clutter to bump into in the dark, letting him focus on the intruders’ conversation.

  “I’ve never had to open a tenant’s door for the police before. Are you sure you have the right man, Officer? Bill Collins is an affluent business man and his wife does a lot of charity work for children.”

  “As I said, we suspect his involvement in a crime we are investigating. But right now we are just worried about locating him. We think something may have happened to him. When did you last see him?”

  “I’m not sure. A week, maybe two. He travels a lot for his job so that isn’t unusual. Have you checked with his wife? I know they’re estranged but she might know something. Might have even spoken to him.”

  “We’ve tried, but haven’t been able to our hands on her, yet.”

  Jack not only saw red at the man’s choice of words, but he itched to smash the guy’s face.

  “I’ll be a few minutes looking around. Do you want me to stop by your unit when I’m done?”

  “I’ll just wait on you. Without Collins here, it seems the right thing to do. What are you looking for? I watch CSI. Maybe I can help.”

  “No. Just have a seat.”

  Footsteps then the sound of cabinets and drawers opening followed.

  Lauren tensed and Jack pulled her body tight to his as he unlatched the balcony door. His heart hammered and it had nothing to do with the men down the hallway or the danger of their situation and everything to do with the woman against him. Her lavender scent, her softness, and whatever the pheromone else they called it these days, his attraction to her was visceral.

  Jack slid the balcony door open and eased them out into the night. He inched the door shut behind him as he scanned the area. They were three stories up on a twenty story building. The fire escape flanking the right side of the balcony was a welcomed sight. Before being injured in Lebanon, he could have scaled the three stories to the ground in a heartbeat, but now it would take him longer, and guiding Lauren along would have been rough.

  The slight chill to the night gave the air a biting edge and the urban noise teeming from the surrounding city pulsed with excitement. Cities had energy and Atlanta’s came with a bit of a southern flare to it. They had exited to the side of the building and were hidden from the street as well as from observers by a larger condo on the side.

  “Stay close and make as little noise as possible.” He led the way down to the second floor where the stairs ended. To go farther would mean unlatching and lowering an old iron ladder, which would likely wake the dead with its screeching.

  “Jump when I ask.” Jack went over the side of the rail and a thud echoed as his feet hit the pavement. The slim alley way was empty. Their escape had been pretty anticlimactic when compared to the day and a welcomed relief for Jack. All he had to do was keep away from the front of the building by leading her to the car via the back alley.

  “Okay jump.” He held out his arms.

  She looked down at him, her expression horrified. She hesitated. Geez, it wasn’t all that much higher than climbing a tree. “Come on.”

  She shook her head, but then the sound of men’s voices overhead had her climbing over the railing and letting go. He caught her easily then took his time setting her on her feet. She clung to him, her heart racing hard. “Are you afraid of heights?”

  “Afraid would be an understatement.” She shivered hard and he had to fight the urge to kiss her before he let her go. The voices had come from an upper floor and not Bill’s condo, but they still needed to get off the street. Taking her hand, he headed back to the car they’d left in a public parking lot a block away. The contact with her soft skin only amplified his want of her. All he kept seeing was the look in her eyes when he’d told her what he would do to wipe Bill from her mind. That look had him wondering what would have happened if they hadn’t been interrupted.

  Oh man. He sucked in air at the thought of letting go with her—a visual of him and her naked, enjoying a full sexual feast flashed before his eyes. Not that she wasn’t attractive to him on every level, but hell, something about her stroked his primal side but good. Which had him wondering what in the hell was wrong with him? Not that he shouldn’t find her attractive. Not that he shouldn’t want her with some urgency. He’d been without for a long while. It was the strength and depth of that want that were out of proportion and weren’t held back in the least by all the reasons he should avoid her like the plague. She was the widow of a terrorist he was investigating. He should be focused on protecting her ass and not holding it. And most of all, he’d killed her husband and had yet to tell her that. He needed to get his mind back on his mission. Period. He bolstered his strength and control and quickened his pace.

  “I need the fake cop’s license plate.” He led her to the car, determined to ignore the burn inside him. “And he might not have come alone. Our shooter could be in a car nearby or on the street. I want you to drive to the Varsity down the street and wait for me, okay? I won’t be long.”

  Letting her go off into the night would bite, but would be safer than with him. She’d be okay for ten minutes in the restaurant’s parking lot. There had been a number of cars parked both in the parking lot and at the old-fashioned drive-in stations. Besides, he needed a breather to clear his head. Alone with Lauren was not a good situation and he thanked God her friend and sons were waiting back at the hotel.

  “I don’t like the idea of separating. What are you going to do?” Matching the hurried pace he’d set, she still managed to gaze at him, clearly worried. He bit back a smile. Considering the depth of danger he operated in on a regular basis, he literally was just going to walk down the street. Her reaction was amusing and touching.

  “Depends on what I find. Mainly just get close enough to read his license plates. There’s a real good chance I won’t be recognized, but they’ll make you in a heartbea
t.”

  “Just be careful. Okay?”

  “Always.” That was one rule he lived by and drilled every day into the men under him. It took a certain breed of man to be in special ops, a man willing to go that extra hundred miles without question, a man willing to lay everything on the line at all times, but that didn’t mean to kiss off caution. If anything it meant the opposite. A dead soldier did nobody any good. And a half-cocked one endangered everyone.

  They reached the car and Jack waited until she had taken off before he left on foot. He found the cop’s car parked on the street and as he suspected, he spied another man in the unloading zone up ahead, leaning on a black sedan. It was the same make and model as the one that had chased them from Angie’s. The guy, same size and build as their shooter, smoked a cigarette and kept looking at the entrance to Bill’s condo.

  Jack thought about sneaking up behind the SOB and putting him in the hospital for a good long while and would have if Lauren and her kids were tucked safely away and he had a back up to take care of them if things went wrong. As it was, he couldn’t take the chance. He was smart enough to know that no matter how confident and proficient he was at hand-to-hand combat, anything could go wrong. He’d get the guy. Soon. Just not yet.

  He jotted the numbers to both license plates down on the back of Bill’s letter and met Lauren at the Varsity. Once they were back on the Interstate, he handed her Bill’s letter. “Take another look at this. I think he may have sent you a coded message.”

  Turning on the map light, she re-read the letter. “I honestly don’t have a clue as to what he’s trying to tell me. The only thing that I can make a remote guess at is what he wrote about Vegas. About me going with him and his buddies. Maybe I’m supposed to contact them, or meet them.”

  “That would be my guess. Maybe Bill sent them letters too. The woman on the phone said she’d sent what Bill had asked. Sent it to his family and friends.”