“Have chow with me tonight. How about 1800?” Kell asked, enjoying touching her velvet skin, watching her eyes grow drowsy with desire.
“I’d like that. Don’t you think gossip will start, though, Kell? The last thing I want to happen here is for Hayden to realize we have a relationship.”
“Don’t worry. Everyone on this small base knows I rescued you. They would expect us to have a friendship of some sort. I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.”
Leah roused herself, not wanting to leave the circle of his arms and knowing she had to. “Okay, I’ll see you at 1800.”
He gently tousled her hair. “With bells on, Sugar.”
*
“IT’S DONE,” LEAH told Kell, weariness in her tone, the next evening. She sat with him on the hay bale in the barn, darkness surrounding them. Her head ached and she rubbed her brow, wanting to will away the pain. “How did the JAG session go for you and Clutch?”
Kell slid his arm around her shoulder. “Probably a lot less stressful than when you and Harper were grilled by her.” He heard the exhaustion in her voice, wanted to hold her.
“Major Reid is like a laser-guided rocket,” Leah told him, allowing her hands to drop into her lap. “She questioned Harper first, then me and then Markley.”
“And then she came over here and talked to Clutch and me. She asked Ax questions, too.”
“Do you like her?”
“Yeah, she’s fierce. Seemed really focused. But she’s a woman and she’s been harassed and knows the drill. I think you’re lucky she was assigned to Harper’s case and not some male JAG.”
Leah could barely see Kell’s darkly shadowed face except for the glitter of his alert, intelligent eyes. “Did she ask about us?”
“No, only in terms of the rescue. Nothing else. She was more interested in me going back to get that flight recorder. I’m sure she knows about Grant wanting to hang you for that crash. Ax knew about it, had talked to Grant directly, and he said he told Major Reid about his allegations that you were at the controls when the helo crashed.”
Rubbing her arms, she was cold. At night, at an elevation of eight thousand feet, the forward operating base could dip to freezing.
“Relax,” Kell whispered against her hair. “Everything’s going to work out in the end.” He maneuvered her across his lap and guided Leah’s head to his left shoulder.
She sighed, closing her eyes. “It feels so good being this close to you, being held by you…”
Hell, he thought the same thing. She had to feel his arousal, but this wasn’t the time for what he really wanted to do. Leah kissed his neck and nuzzled against him, her hand sliding slowly up across his chest. Though he’d like nothing more than to strip off their clothing, lay her down and take her in the barn, Kell knew he couldn’t. Not here. Clutch was already in place, guarding their six from around the corner of the building. Still, Kell would never open Leah up to the possibility of being embarrassed if they were caught.
Kell eased her away just enough to drown in her wide, sultry-looking eyes. Leaning down, he took Leah’s mouth gently, knowing that was what she needed on such a hard-edged day, the events of which were probably going to spin out of control sooner or later.
Grant wouldn’t take the charges lying down if the JAG decided there was a case. He’d come after Leah. And that was when Kell would start standing between her and that sick, perverted bastard.
He cupped her jaw, angling her slightly, taking his kiss deeper, making her forget today and the tomorrows to come. Her mouth tasted of chocolate and he smiled to himself, coaxing her lips open even more. His mother had sent him a package of her homemade fudge this morning. Kell had kept some for Leah, who had been delighted with the gift. Women seemed to love chocolate, no question.
“Mmm,” Leah said as he broke their kiss. Her whole body was on hot alert. The man was such a good kisser. Her breasts were tight, nipples achy from wanting Kell’s touch, his mouth upon them. She felt his large hand reverently gliding down her back, coming to rest on her hip, pulling her tightly against him. Opening her eyes, Leah drowned in Kell’s glittering, narrowed gaze. Her body vibrated with desire and she felt so damn tense, so ready to experience another climax. “I wish this were a cave…”
Kell smiled faintly, bringing her against him, burying his face into her loose hair that smelled of almond shampoo. “You know we’re desperate when a cave sounds good.”
Leah shook with laughter and lifted her head, smiling up at him. “You’re good for my soul. Do you know that?” She leaned up and kissed his jaw, the beard beneath her lips.
“You’re good for my heart.”
Leah became serious. “I never told you, Kell,” she began, her throat tightening, “but I want to continue to build on what we have with one another. I don’t know where it’s going…what will happen. But I want to find out what we have, even though I’ve stepped into a hornet’s nest just now.” She saw his eyes change, tenderness burning in them.
“I knew that from the first night I got you into that cave. When you opened your eyes, darlin’, you stole my heart.”
She was touched by the sincerity in his voice. “But—how?”
Shrugging, Kell made her comfortable in his arms and said, “I just knew. My ma always said to us boys that one day, we’d meet the right woman and we’d know in our heart she was the one.” He caressed her lips and whispered, “You’re the one.”
Her whole world fell away as she languished in his strong embrace. “It isn’t that easy for me,” she admitted. “I was drawn to you, Kell, but I was so damned afraid. I was still running from my shadow.”
Leah opened the first button on his cammies, moving her fingers below the material and across the soft hair of his chest, beneath the strong column of his neck. “But you—” she shook her head, feeling his flesh tense, the muscles leap beneath her fingertips “—you make me want to live again…to hope…”
“Kentucky boys are a pretty persuasive lot when we want to be,” Kell drawled, holding her radiant eyes. He groaned as her hand moved lightly across his upper chest. Leah’s fingertips felt so damn good across his skin. He wanted her to explore every inch of his body. And he wanted the time, the space, to love her properly. Not in a cave. Not in a barn. But at his condo, in his bed, back in Coronado.
“I’m torturing you,” Leah apologized, sadness in her tone as she pulled her hand from beneath his cammie shirt. She felt him laugh, heard the rumble in his chest, saw the gleam in his eyes, wanting her. Now.
“It’s the sweetest torture I can think of,” Kell admitted, kissing her brow as she rebuttoned his blouse with trembling fingers.
Leah rested her head on his shoulder, her arm curving across his torso. “I worry what will happen when Major Reid decides to move forward with Harper’s case.”
“You’re here at Bravo. Grant is at Bagram,” Kell reminded her. Leah was tensing up, as if trying to protect herself from her ex-husband. “You’ve got forty badass SEALs who would do anything necessary to protect you and Harper. Okay? You two are not alone, Leah. Not ever.”
Closing her eyes, Leah clung to Kell, the beat of his heart so strong and solid beneath her ear. She nodded, but she knew how much of a monster Hayden really was. He was going to strike out at her and Harper—but mostly at her. Hayden would blame her for all of this. He was more than capable of killing her. He’d put her in the hospital too many times already. One day, he wouldn’t pull his punch. One day…
*
LEAH WAS IN the squadron office near noon, taking over for Markley while he went to the chow hall. Where had three weeks gone? She had passed her physical and been approved to go back on flight duty by the flight surgeon two weeks ago. Major Reid was instrumental in the request for the surgeon, Major Armstrong, and he’d agreed to fly in to Camp Bravo to see Leah. After the hours of examination, she’d been cleared to fly once more, to her utter delight and relief.
Leah had taken Harper under her wing, and she beca
me her copilot trainee. Together, they’d been flying nearly every day or night, working with black ops groups in the area. She was putting the finishing touches on her night-mission report on her laptop when the door opened. She looked up. Her heart banged into her throat. It was her father!
“Leah?” David Mackenzie snapped tightly, shutting the door. “We need to talk.”
She stared, stunned for a moment. Her father was in his Army BDUs, a cap in his left hand, his face hard and unreadable. As always. At forty-nine years old, he looked every inch the soldier he’d always been. His black hair was short, his dark brown eyes narrowed upon her. He was five feet nine inches tall, standing only two inches taller than her. In her opinion, Colonel David Mackenzie was the perfect soldier for recruiting drives. His thin mouth was a hard line and she could see anger in his eyes.
She stood. “Why didn’t you let me know you were coming here?”
“You’re part of my command,” he said. “I can drop in without any announcement.”
The door opened.
Leah’s eyes widened. Kell. Why was he here?
Kell closed the door and noticed the confusion on Leah’s face. He turned to see the man, “Mackenzie, D., Colonel, US Army,” above his pocket.
“Sir,” he said, coming to attention.
So, this was Leah’s father. Kell wondered if he’d dropped in on her without notice. Judging from the look on Leah’s face, he had. And he knew the connection between him and Grant. What was he snooping around for? The protector in him was on alert.
Mackenzie glared at him. “You have official business here?” In the awkward silence, the man looked back at his daughter, making the connection. And then he stared at the SEAL again. “You’re Ballard. You’re the one who rescued my daughter?”
“Yes, sir, I did.” Kell stood a lot taller than the colonel and he was glad to be putting eyes on Leah’s father. He didn’t like the man’s authoritarian attitude.
Mackenzie offered him his hand. “I’m in your debt, Chief Ballard. Thank you for saving her life.”
Kell gripped the man’s hand and found it strong. “She was worth saving, sir.” He released the colonel’s hand and gazed over at Leah. She appeared to be in mild shock.
“Chief? If you don’t mind? I need some privacy to speak to my daughter.”
Kell glanced over at Leah. “You know where to reach me if you need anything.” He wanted to stay, but knowing he couldn’t he respected Leah’s nod, excusing himself.
Out in Ops, Kell moved to the opposite side of a large area where the Shadow Squadron office was located and sat down in one of the many rows of chairs. He had a perfect line of sight on Leah and her father. A bad feeling moved through him. Kell picked up his radio and called Ax, alerting him. Ax told him to stay where he was, play sniper and observe. That, he could do.
*
“SIT DOWN, LEAH,” Mackenzie said, gesturing to the chair behind her.
She sat down and watched her father set his black leather briefcase on the desk in front of her. He remained standing. Adrenaline was coursing through her.
“This is about Hayden, isn’t it?” she demanded grimly. Her father’s thin black brows drew down in reaction to the question.
“Here,” he said tightly, pulling a manual out of his briefcase, “just tell me what the hell this is all about.” He threw the JAG indictment of Hayden Grant down on her desk between them.
Containing her shock over her father’s closeted anger, Leah turned it around and studied it. The indictment listed all the names involved in Hayden’s assaults. “Where did you get this?”
“I’m the battalion commander. Major Reid had to send me a copy of the indictment.”
“I haven’t seen this yet,” Leah muttered, riffling through the pages. Hayden was indicted not only for the assault of Harper, but rape of one of the other Army women who were named on the document. Her heart started to pound. Twisting her head, she stared up at her father, who was so damn tense she thought he might snap and shatter at any moment.
“Everyone will get their copy tomorrow,” he grated. Jabbing a finger down at her, he said, “What in the hell is going on? Hayden’s a good man! He’s a damn fine officer!” He sat down opposite her.
“Why the hell didn’t you ask me that years ago, Father?” Leah stood up, hands rigid at her sides, breathing unevenly. He was blaming her for this?
“What do you have against Hayden?”
Her nostrils quivered. “Stop yelling at me. If you can’t talk civilly to me, I want you the hell out of here.” Leah watched him react, as if she’d slapped him.
For a moment, her father looked contrite. And then he snapped the briefcase shut and said, “I apologize.”
Her heart wrenched with pain. “I know I’ve been a pain in the ass to you since I was born,” Leah told him in a growling tone. “And I know when I married Hayden, he took the place of Evan in your life.”
“That’s not fair, Leah.”
“Yes, sir, it is,” she ground out, her hands clasped tightly in front of her. She held her father’s narrowing gaze. “You have no idea what Hayden is like. I spent all those years getting abused, getting raped by that sick bastard. I was too afraid to come to you and tell you about it because you made it very clear Hayden was first in your life. I was not.” Leah’s voice quivered. “If I’d had the guts to turn him in after I was married to him, Father, he wouldn’t be out there prowling around like the sexual predator he is, raping other women. But I was too damned beat down. I worried you’d believe him, and not me.” Her voice broke, and she fought back the tears. “I was afraid you’d side with him. Do you know what that did to me? It made me feel alone. Like I had no one who would believe me, who would believe what Hayden was doing to me on a weekly basis.”
Leah pulled out a file from a drawer, opened it and spread out the color pictures of Harper’s bruises that Hayden had inflicted upon her. “Did you see these, Father?”
He scowled. “Yes.”
“This is what Hayden was doing to me every month! You didn’t see any of my bruises. Hayden was always smart and gripped me where it couldn’t be seen by anyone. I wouldn’t show them to you, anyway. I knew Hayden had your trust and that he’d tell you that, hey, it was a little rough sex between the two of us was all. You’d believe him, not me.”
David Mackenzie sat there watching her. His hands moved over the briefcase in his lap. He opened his mouth to speak, but then shut it.
Leah stood stiffly, her fingers curling into fists at her side. “You still believe him, don’t you?” Hurt rifled through her, tore at her heart as she saw her father’s gaze and read it accurately. “That’s fine. You believe the sick bastard and not me. I know you’ll be there for the trial. You’re going to hear four women, including me, giving evidence that your golden-haired boy, the one you consider your replacement son, is not innocent.”
“Now, look here—”
“No,” Leah snarled, leaning forward, her palms flat on the desk, “I get it, Father. I really do. Your whole life was wrapped around Evan. You had so many big dreams for him. You never once saw me, much less had a dream for me. You never held me, or kissed me. You paid attention to your son, not to your daughter. Well, I’m done with you, but the sad truth is, you were done with me from the minute I was born. Go defend Hayden and see just how far it gets you. I hope this not only brings him down, but you, too. You’re alike in some ways, do you know that? Always chasing the brass ring, the next rank. It was always more important to you than your own family.”
Leah eased out of her hunched position and stood, struggling to remain strong. Collecting the pictures and sliding them into the file, she said, “We have nothing more to talk about. But then, we never did.”
The colonel stood, his face pale, his eyes intense with anger. “You can’t speak to me like that.”
Leah put her hands on her hips, giving him a challenging look. “What are you going to do, court-martial me? Well, you do whatever it is you thin
k you have to do. I can be kicked out of the Army and still fly a helicopter in civilian life and I won’t have to answer to you or the Army anymore.”
Colonel David Mackenzie said nothing, turned on his heel and strode out of the office.
Leah sat down after he left, tears burning in her eyes. She heard the door open. Thinking it was her father again, she jerked a look toward it.
“Rough?” Kell asked quietly, walking over to her. He placed his hand beneath her elbow and helped her stand up. “Let’s go back to the ready room. We can be alone and talk there.”
His drawl tamped down her anger and heartache. Leah nodded and Kell followed her down the hall toward the rear of the building. She pushed the ready room door open. Her heart was broken regarding her father. As she shut the door, Leah turned and Kell opened his arms to her. Her heart swelled fiercely with love for this man. He offered her sanctuary. He believed in her, believed what had happened to her at Hayden’s hands. Without a word, she made the step forward, wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing her face against his chest, her eyes closing.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
HAYDEN PLACED A bullet into the chamber of his .45.
It was time.
At dusk, he’d hopped a ride from Bagram to Bravo on board a medevac helo returning from delivering a gunshot-wounded Delta Force operator to the hospital. No one thought anything of him asking for a hop. People did it all the time. After he showed his fake identification, he was happy to sit in the rear jump seat of the Black Hawk. He’d brought a duffel bag with food, water and enough ammo to fulfill his plan. His emotions seethed with a mix of hatred and rage.
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