"Most knock-out drugs won't do lasting damage,” he assured Cable, “and she seems to be coming out of it normally. The vomiting might have helped, but they also may have misjudged the dose. She came to much earlier than she should have, it sounds like."
He ignored Cable's attempt to debate him on the meaning of “normal.” He checked Brianna's various bruises and scrapes and gave her antibiotic and tetanus shots in case she'd rolled through anything nasty. After scribbling a prescription for painkiller to be used after the drugs had worn off completely and assuring them they'd get a call about the lab results—in three days—he left them alone with the cops.
For whom she recounted her experience a third time.
"Can you tell us what nationality they were?"
She could see them clearly in her mind, but had trouble describing them in a way that would distinguish them from anyone else in this part of Florida.
She sighed. “American. None of them had an accent. One of them looked kind of like Benjamin Bratt. The actor?” she said when they looked blank. “You know, mixed origin. They could have had Hispanic or Middle Eastern blood, but they just reminded me of gang members from LA. From movies,” she added when they looked skeptical. “I saw guys like them when I was in LA, but I don't know if they were in gangs."
"Tell us again what they said."
She did. And again, in case her memory grew sharper or something.
"Why were you at the market? You're from Boston, you said?"
"I'm visiting. I was with his sister.” She pointed at Cable. “We were shopping."
"Can we have your sister's contact information, please?” Cable gave them his sister's name and phone number. They didn't act like they recognized it. Brie figured they were from a different precinct than Frank, or something. Or they just didn't care.
"Why do you think they would have abducted you, ma'am?"
"How should she know?” Cable said before she could answer. She could tell he was getting angry by the way his face turned to stone. “She's the victim here, not the perpetrator."
"We understand, sir.” The cop doing all the writing gave Cable a bland look. Cable's eyes started to burn, and he stood from his half-sitting position on the gurney next to her. She put her hand on his forearm.
"It's okay. I wouldn't be the first person to falsify an abduction report to hide something I didn't want to admit to. Right?"
They didn't respond. She sighed.
"I have no idea. All I know is that it was coordinated. There were three of them, triangulated, working together to corner me. They didn't expect me to resist, but were prepared because they drugged me. It felt like a gun,” she remembered, feeling the side of her neck. “But it was like an injection gun or something. High tech. The hospital still uses regular needles.” She grimaced. “They seemed to want me specifically. But I couldn't tell you why.” She glanced at Cable, uncertain if she should talk about Sid. He'd very briefly told her about his conversation with the ex-con, and it didn't sound like something he'd do, even if he did hold a grudge. He'd go for something more flamboyant.
Cable interpreted her look correctly and took over, explaining about the incidents that had occurred in Massachusetts and the guy at the airport, then his conversation with Carothers. They didn't seem to think there was a connection, either, but said they'd check all leads.
When they finally left, Brianna shook her head. “They won't do much, will they?"
"Probably not.” Cable helped her off the table and waited while she checked to make sure she wasn't missing anything. “You're safe, and I don't think they believed you were targeted."
"But you do, right?” She paused at the door, making him face her before he answered. “You believe they wanted me specifically."
He didn't have to verbalize his answer. It was all over his face.
CHAPTER 13
Cable would have lied to Brie if he thought she'd buy it. But he couldn't tell her the truth, either. He didn't even want to think about what it meant, never mind help her figure it out. But she surprised him.
"I don't think they really wanted me. I think they wanted you."
He closed his eyes. “I think you're right.” The pain he'd felt when he thought she was dead returned, subtly different. She'd already used potential danger to break up with him once. This was real. There was no way she'd stay with him now. And there was no way he could let her.
He looked down as Frank pulled up in front of the house, meeting the fear in her eyes. But that, too, was different. It wasn't fear for herself, despite what she'd just been through. It was fear for him.
Something clunked inside him. The worst possible thing. It flooded him, made him want to wrap her up and hide her away, so she'd remain close and safe. Frank opened her door and helped her out of the truck, eyeing Cable warily.
"You all right?"
"I don't think so.” Brianna had already started up the walk, so he didn't think she heard him. Frank nodded and slammed the door. Cable watched him follow her to the front step, where Alena hugged Brie and hurried her inside. His sister waited, watching the truck, then closed the door and crossed her arms.
Cable didn't want to get out of the truck. He'd faced terrorists and enemy combatants, people who wanted to blow his brains out and some who wanted to torture him.
None of them were as frightening as facing the next few minutes.
Finally, when Alena showed signs of coming after him, he opened the door and trudged up the walk.
"What's wrong with you?” she asked. When he just gave her a miserable look, she murmured, “Oh,” and rubbed his back. “It's okay, hon. She'll be all right."
"I know."
"But?"
He shrugged. She was a good sister and let it go, but he knew that was just for now. She'd be on him like white on rice as soon as she thought he'd recovered from the scare.
Brianna was waiting for him in the living room, still standing though he knew she was shaky from the drugs. By the look on her face, the time buffer hadn't distracted her from what she'd said. She was waiting for his response.
"Why do you think they wanted me?” he finally managed to ask.
Brianna relaxed and sank onto a chair.
"Isn't it obvious?” She ticked on her fingers. “They weren't random muggers. The location was too public, they were organized and had all that technology. Someone came after you at the airport and saw me with you. And most of all, why on earth would anyone be after me?"
Cable stayed silent. He couldn't admit he agreed, not yet. He wasn't ready to let her go. Finally, clearly exasperated, Brianna sighed and got to her feet.
"If it's okay with you all, I'm going to go to bed."
"You must be exhausted.” Alena jumped forward. “Let me show you where everything is. Towels...” Her voice faded as they disappeared down the hall.
Cable and Frank looked at each other for a minute.
"Who do you think it is?"
Cable blew out a breath and dropped wearily into Brie's abandoned chair. “It could be anyone. You don't do the work we do without making enemies. But most of them wouldn't know who I am or where I live."
"Technology changes a lot of things, Cable. Look at how Carothers found you."
"Yeah.” He looked down the hall, still focused on how this would affect his relationship with Brianna. A few minutes later, Alena returned and snuggled next to her husband on the couch.
"Is she okay?” Cable asked.
"Fine. Just wiped out. I think she'd appreciate it if you join her soon."
He would. It was past midnight. But he had to ask. “How do you do it, Leni? Knowing every day that Frank could be in danger."
She shrugged. “You just go minute by minute and hope he's not.” She ran her hand over the back of her husband's head. “I trust that he's good at his job. And history helps. Nothing bad has touched us yet. Directly,” she added softly, maybe sensing the “but” in Frank's head that Cable could see on his face. No one in law enfor
cement took home all the stuff they saw or dealt with.
"But I'm out of all that,” he growled. He thrust himself up and started pacing the room, trying to work off the frustration. “I'm a fucking kindergarten teacher. Brianna shouldn't have to deal with this."
"You think she's going to choose not to?” his sister asked.
Cable stared at her. He wanted to say, “wouldn't you?” but obviously she hadn't. “I'm a kindergarten teacher,” he repeated.
"So what?” Alena scoffed. “Kindergarten teachers don't die? Don't get hurt? There's nothing we can do that renders us perfectly safe."
"I know that. She knows that. But there are things we can do to minimize the danger. You don't touch a live wire or cross the street against the light. And you don't marry an ex-SEAL with someone after him every time he turns around."
The silence in the room was heavy, and it took him a second to realize why. He groaned, but it was too late.
"You're going to marry her?” Alena clasped her hands against her chest and looked hopeful.
"No.” He didn't add not anymore, but she put two and two together and jumped up, throwing her arms around him. “I knew it. I was telling Frank last night. I was so afraid. But I like her, Cable, I like her.” She grinned up at him. “You picked well."
"Thanks. But—"
"But nothing. You love her, you tell her.” Her expression turned fierce, and she lowered her voice but might as well have been shouting. “The bad stuff never goes away, Cable, but loving someone, being with them, is the only thing that makes it worthwhile. Don't you dare throw it away."
She might be right, but she was wrong, too. He wasn't going to throw his relationship with Brie away. But he couldn't keep it, either.
* * * *
Brianna wished she could set an autopilot while she took a shower and got ready for bed. The aborted abduction had left her weary and afraid, but her brain wasn't cooperating with her original intention to go to bed and work it out tomorrow. It raced through the problem and potential solutions.
Problem: Someone was after Cable, and they thought they could use Brianna to get to him.
Easy solution: Break up with Cable. She'd done it before, for similar reasons. But now that the danger had become real, she knew better. Maybe it was because they'd gotten so much closer in the past couple of weeks, and her feelings for him were deeper. But being without him frightened her more than the bad guys did. Even if she left him he'd still be in danger, and unless she took out an ad on CNN, the guys after him wouldn't know, and she'd still be in danger.
Harder solution: Find out who it was, and stop them. Cable needed to think of all the people who could be holding a grudge against him. She was sure it was a long list, and neither one of them was really a detective, so it wasn't going to be easy to narrow down. But they had to start somewhere.
The bathroom door opened as she was replacing her toothbrush in its holder. Cable came in, wearing a bathrobe and the same expression he'd been wearing since he picked her up.
She didn't like that expression. Despair and loss and fear were mixed up in that expression. She didn't know if he knew something she didn't, or if her experience had hit him harder than it had hit her.
Cable joined her at the sink and they moved around each other efficiently for a few minutes while she tidied her stuff and he did the usual. But his tension surrounded her, and she knew she had to act before he did.
"Are you taking a shower?” she asked him.
He shrugged. “Yeah. I'm pretty grungy."
"Okay.” She kissed him and opened the door to the bedroom. “I'll be in here."
"Okay."
Brianna hadn't been planning anything in particular when she packed The Nightgown. She didn't know the layout of Alena and Frank's house and if she'd be comfortable having sex in their guest room. But she'd been picking up a few last-minute Christmas items and had seen this in a shop window and couldn't resist.
The bodice was white lace with satin spaghetti straps. The neckline curved over her breasts and dipped between them in gathers that nipped in her waist. The skirt was long white satin, made in multiple split panels that slithered over her skin.
It was exactly what she needed to keep him from saying what he was going to say to her.
She quickly brushed her hair upside down, making it full and a bit tousled, and dabbed on Cable's favorite perfume. He opened the door just as she slid onto the bed.
His face was a little less worried, a little more pensive, as he tossed the bathrobe across the hope chest at the foot of the bed and crawled in next to her. He wrapped his arm around her waist and propped his chin on her shoulder.
"How are you?” he asked, his voice soft.
"I'm fine.” She shifted under him. “My head's clear, and my body won't hurt until tomorrow.” She pressed her lips to his. He tried to take a quick kiss and pull away, but she moved with him, clinging to his shoulder, and after a moment he gave in and deepened the kiss. It was slow and languid. They tasted each other, inhaled familiar scent, and Brianna's body grew warmer. Cable's hand started to wander, spanning her waist, then feeling the lace, then sliding down to play with the strips of satin skirt.
"This is interesting.” He examined her, as if noticing the nightgown for the first time.
Brianna rubbed her hand across his shoulders and noticed his tension hadn't abated. “You like it?"
He rubbed the satin against his midriff. “Feels good."
"So do you.” She traced his biceps, the crook of his elbow, around to his triceps. She leaned forward and pressed her face to his chest, rubbing her cheek against him. He cupped the back of her head, holding her still, and tensed even more.
"I can't protect you, Brie."
"I know that, Cable.” She snuggled the rest of her body closer. “But no one can, not really. That's now how it works."
"But—"
"We're not talking about it tonight.” She slid her hand down his back, then up his side. “We're going to celebrate the New Year with your family, and deal with it when we get on the plane. We'll figure out what to do then.” She tilted her head back against his hand so she could see his face. “Capisci?"
His smile was sad, his caresses tender and somehow full of longing. “Capisco. I love you, Brie."
Brianna's breath caught in her chest, her voice erased by her surprise.
"It's okay.” Before she recovered, he kissed her again, this time with much more purpose. And need. He deepened the kiss and the boldness of his strokes on her body, making love to her with more passion and desperation than he ever had before.
She couldn't catch her breath, or slow him down to figure out what was wrong. She wanted to believe he was reacting to her being missing for a few hours, purging his fear. But she was afraid it was much worse than that.
They came together, clutching each other and gasping. Brie wept, and Cable looked like he would have if he'd been capable. But he said nothing else, and she decided to play ostrich and pretend it would go away if she ignored it.
But she knew better.
* * * *
He didn't do it right away.
Brianna waited for Cable to break up with her in the morning, but when breakfast passed with him not getting close to her but otherwise treating her normally, she realized he wouldn't do it at his sister's house, not during a holiday visit. So she went along with the pretend and acted like everything was fine.
They had a nice New Year's with Alena and Frank. Not quite quiet, with the boys hanging around and being rambunctious, but nice. They could keep pretending to be family, though Brianna found it hard to remember that it was just pretend.
Then everything changed.
"Who?"
Frank's bark into the phone halted the conversation around the breakfast bar. Brianna held her breath when he glanced at Cable, his expression unreadable but significant. Cable moved closer to him. They all listened, even the boys, to Frank's unenlightening side of the conversation.
&n
bsp; "When? How many? What did he say? All right. Yeah, I'll find out. We'll be there in half an hour.” He hung up, pointed to the hallway, and waited for his sons to leave the room. Brianna opened her mouth, but he held out a hand. “Upstairs,” he called, and they heard grumbles from the hallway, followed by footsteps on the wooden stairs.
Frank turned to Cable. “Do you know a guy named James Omeron?"
Cable's expression didn't change. “I taught him in BUD/S. He washed out before Hell Week."
"Apparently, that was your fault."
"It was years ago. Why would he be trying to pay me back now?"
Frank shrugged. “All I know is, the guys assigned to investigate Brianna's abduction followed some leads, learned ‘Gip’ was some guy's BUD/S name. He stayed connected with some of the other guys, and over the past few years he's been building a vigilante network. No idea how he learned you guys would be here, though."
Brianna left the kitchen. She didn't know if she was more annoyed that this guy unfairly blamed Cable for his own weaknesses, or that Frank and Cable were ignoring her completely. She knew they were about to go down to the station, and she'd be damned if they'd go without her.
They were opening the front door when she came back downstairs with her purse. She set her jaw when Cable looked at her, but he only held the door and waited for her to go through.
Maybe because Frank was with them, they were buzzed right into the station where Omeron was being held. Cable's brother-in-law led them through a maze of offices and cubicles to a blank door, where they were joined by a tall, gray-haired detective with his badge hooked to his belt.
"Tom, this is Brianna Macgregor, the abductee.” Brie shook his hand while Frank introduced Cable.
"Thanks for coming down so quickly. We need you both to make identifications and sign some statements.” He shook his head. “Whatever you did, man, this guy hates you."
Brianna's Navy SEAL Page 15
