by Angi Morgan
“Why?” His voice was soft and warm against her neck.
“It was your story to tell. I couldn’t put a bandage on the wound you caused each other.”
She suddenly wanted to kiss him and be kissed by him. Maybe it was better they weren’t facing each other. Because if she started, she wouldn’t want to stop. When he kissed her, she forgot the rest of the world and what was happening in it.
Lauren was too important. Get her back, then worry about kissing Johnny Sloane!
“Thing is, no one at the party would have left that fire going. Especially you and Brian. I’ve said that since the day you left.”
* * *
JOHN’S BODY ACHED.
In training, he’d taken more brutal beatings than what Brian had dished out. For some reason this one had hit him hard. And then there was the fact that he was holding Alicia. He bent close enough that the hot summer breeze blew her hair against his cheek. He didn’t want to move away, so he widened his stance, straining his already exhausted legs.
Alicia had never doubted his innocence. Nothing to worry about after all. Unlike his brother, who had jumped to a guilty verdict before ever talking to him. But he’d acted guilty by running off. He could admit that.
All his earlier resolve to blame his brother faded like a cloud covering the moon. He knew it was there, but couldn’t see it clearly anymore. Believing John had been irresponsible, Brian had come rushing in to help again. Sure, he was full of blunder and guilt trips and better solutions, but bottom line? He knew his twin had his back.
They could trust each other again because of the woman in his arms. Probably a good thing they weren’t face-to-face, since he wanted to kiss her till she couldn’t think—among other things.
“Is that all you needed, John?”
“Needed?”
She rotated her body, negotiating the circle he’d created with his arms, letting his fingers drag around her waist. She lifted her left arm above him and skimmed just behind his ear with her finger. If she got much closer, she’d know exactly what he needed.
“Grass.” She flicked something quickly away from them. “Must have been from the fight.”
When her eyes tilted toward the heavens, they were nose to nose. Which also meant their mouths were just about on the same level, too. Alicia flicked her tongue across her bottom lip and rolled it between her teeth. He could feel his insides tightening at the thought of holding her even closer. It had been a long time, but he knew how soft her lips would become after he crushed them to his.
Not the spur-of-the-moment connections they’d achieved since he’d been home. He was remembering serious kissing. They’d both explored each other in a first kiss. He’d suffered through her years with braces. The scrapes on his lips had been worth it. In high school, they’d spent hours practicing everywhere. They’d joked about how kissing should be a game and kids could earn a high school letter jacket just like Brian had in every other sport.
How many times had he held her exactly the same way, not caring about the future? Dreaming of far-off places to explore—but only with her. That had changed after one argument and his stupid pride. Right here, right now, he just wanted her.
A future without her wasn’t something he wanted to step into again.
His arms tightened, bringing her body flush with him. Sliding his fingers under her T-shirt, he connected with the flushed heat of her lower back. They were pretty much sharing the same space when his mouth devoured hers. Lips—slick and cool compared to the hot silkiness of her flesh under his fingertips. Soft and welcoming instead of contoured muscles, honed while working with patients.
Her body had changed, become more of everything good he remembered. He wanted her—it didn’t matter if his brother was inside the barn or if Dev would be there any minute. He wanted to throw her over his shoulder and haul her to the far tree line so they wouldn’t be found. They needed to be alone so she could cry out as much as she wanted. Or he could capture all her joy with his lips, savor it for the time they’d be apart.
The picture of her covered in perspiration as the moon shimmered over her naked flesh was vivid for him. He couldn’t stop himself. He wanted more of her.
Their relationship had never been more than occasional young-love petting. Everyone thought they’d be the couple to get pregnant and forced to marry when they were sixteen, but it hadn’t happened. Not that he hadn’t wanted to, tried to, gotten elbowed in his gut a time or two.
“Johnny,” Alicia said when he glided his lips along the V of her neck.
His thumbs skimmed the bottom curve of both breasts through the smooth satin of her bra. How many times had he fantasized about this moment? How many times had her face gotten him through a long night on a mission? Or through a long night rocking in his bunk, wondering what if they hadn’t broken up?
“We have to...” Alicia sighed his name again and tipped her head back. “Oh, my.”
He stopped thinking about teenage petting and dragged his thumb across the silky cup of lace. Her nipple immediately pebbled under the caress.
“We should... We can’t.”
“Why? Do you have a curfew?” he teased, stopping her questions with another long kiss. Tasting her unique combination of warm and cool and sweet.
His hand fully closed over her breast, and her hips surged into his. She knew exactly what he wanted. No doubt. He couldn’t hide it. Her hand circled his wrist and gently tugged him away.
“No.” Alicia’s hands were planted firmly against his chest. Body contact lost.
John relaxed his hold, allowed her to step back. He should never have asked her a question or released her lips. They were adults, the only ones responsible for their actions.
“We can’t do this—”
“You’re right.”
“You don’t know what I’m about to say,” she whispered, shaking her head.
“Yeah, I do.”
She crossed her arms, tightly closed her mouth with a harrumph and shot him a look he couldn’t really catalog. If Texas hadn’t been in the middle of a triple-digit heat wave, the air would have frosted up as she stomped past.
She marched toward the barn, then did an about-face, sticking her finger in his face so close he could see her fingernail polish chipping.
“You have a lot of nerve coming back after twelve years and trying to pick up like nothing ever happened after you left.”
He opened his mouth to apologize, but—
“No. Don’t interrupt me. I’m finally going to say this without the fear you won’t help me find Lauren.” She closed her eyes, inhaled deeply and slapped her jeans. “I get it. You’re a naval officer who probably has a gal in every port. Well, Lieutenant Sloane, my little part of the world doesn’t have a dock. It’s centered around a four-year-old child who has never had a father. I’m it. Her whole world. And I don’t take risks with it. I loved Dwayne very much. It was real and something I’ll never forget.”
“I get it.”
“No, I don’t think you do. I have responsibilities to Lauren and have no intention of jeopardizing that by dating. Let alone having sex in a dried-up field with a man I haven’t seen or heard from in over a decade.”
“Don’t worry about Lauren. We’ll get her back. I’ll call for the rest of my SEAL team if I have to.” He forced a grin. “I understand, Alicia. Don’t think anything about it.”
“I don’t want you to hate me.”
Her hands shook. He noticed the tremor when she stroked his cheek before she walked briskly away. A smooth stroke down his jawline, just like she’d given Brian after their fight.
“Never.” He’d never hate her. He’d never stay in this part of Texas. He’d never stop wanting her with every part of his being. Never.
His phone vibrated with a text. Slick. It was Brian, wat
ching from the barn. Lights at the gate.
Probably Dev, but they couldn’t be certain, and he’d been completely distracted by the beauty in his arms. Damn! He had to get this desire crap under control. If he didn’t, he’d get them all thrown in jail. Or worse...dead.
Chapter Twenty-One
John hid the car Dev had “borrowed” at the back of the property in the far grove of trees he’d wanted to drag Alicia to just a short time ago. When he entered the barn, said woman was silent in the only chair, her forehead crinkled in thought while his best friend and brother held a discussion loud enough to be heard over the air conditioner.
He’d been gone only a few minutes, but it seemed they were all deep in contemplation. The men had parked themselves on either side of the rattling AC unit.
They all stared at the wrecked car that had belonged to Dwayne. The same car he’d crashed over four years ago, dried bloodstains on the tan seat. Nothing more of importance was inside the barn, other than hay for horses waiting in another paddock, to be sold at auction tomorrow.
His brother’s thumbs were hooked in his belt loops as casually as his ankles were crossed while leaning against the barn wall. A big change from the way he’d paced like a caged animal an hour earlier. Dev’s hand rested against his chin, one finger tapping across his lips.
John knew that look. The team knew to prepare for an onslaught of random brainstorming ideas until a workable solution was obtained. If they could reach that point and come up with a plan, he’d endure any number of questions from Dev.
“We’re assuming Roy Adams came to this barn, probably turned on that clattering air conditioner, sat in that chair and what? Stared at the vehicle where his son died? Why?” Dev asked.
“And is answering that question worth our time before we figure out a plan to rescue Lauren?” Brian asked.
He didn’t know.
“That’s one mangled piece of junk.” Dev half pointed with his tapping finger to the car they’d found. Hardly missing a beat, the tapping to his face resumed. “No drugs? No alcohol?”
“Toxicology screen was clean. Absolutely no alcohol in his system, man,” Brian stated. “I’m telling you, he wasn’t drunk. A friend of mine looked at the autopsy for me.”
“You never mentioned you requested that, Brian,” Alicia said softly. She looked straight ahead, through the missing driver’s door of the car.
Brian shot John a plea for help, but there was no need. Dev’s processing wouldn’t be sidetracked.
“So they assumed he fell asleep,” Dev mumbled, “but it wasn’t late at night. Sort of a strange assumption, even for the cops.”
“Shauna told everyone within earshot that he fell asleep at the wheel because he’d been up all night with Lauren.”
“Had he?” Dev asked.
“Not more than usual. I worked all night and he was with her. He would have called if she hadn’t been sleeping. She slept pretty soundly for a six-month-old. Still does.”
There was a visible lack of emotion coming from Alicia. For a woman who had been so passionate less than twenty minutes before, her stare was disturbing.
“Did you think that he’d fallen asleep at the wheel?”
Alicia shrugged. John signaled to his best friend to cut the talk by making a slicing motion against his throat. He didn’t want her to travel down the path of being responsible for the car accident.
“I don’t get it. Why would Roy keep Dwayne’s wrecked car? Do you think he was going to fix it up?” Brian asked. “That’s the only reason I can think of. Or was he just sick with grief before—”
Both ideas turned his stomach. He could see how upset she was. A blank stare where he couldn’t tell if she was aware he’d returned. He couldn’t see inside the car, but it looked mangled.
“Did your father-in-law think he was responsible somehow? Is that why he killed himself?” Dev’s question hung in the air.
John could only guess that Dev’s research had turned up that information. He didn’t know the answer. The man they’d known their entire lives would never have taken his own life. But none of the past mattered. People change after losing someone close to them. Only one person in the room could begin to understand what was in Roy’s mind, but she remained silent. Not even a quick gasp of breath.
“We’re missing something,” Dev continued in his analytic mode. “Why wouldn’t he get rid of the constant reminder of his son’s accident?”
“Could he have thought there was a clue in the wreckage?” She looked hopeful and jumped to her feet, searching inside the car. “Could it still be here? Maybe you were right. Maybe that’s why they killed him.”
He quickly pulled her away to stop her. “If there had been, Roy would have turned it over to the cops.”
“But—”
“I’m not following.” Brian cut her off.
She turned to his brother, appearing ever hopeful for answers. “John thinks it’s possible that Roy believed Dwayne was murdered. And then he was murdered to keep him from finding anything.”
“Murdered? By who? Why?” Brian shouted.
No longer relaxed, his shoulders-back “fight me” stance called to John to respond in kind, but he held himself where he was. “I’ve got nothing but a gut feeling, that’s all. Definitely not enough to base a plan on.”
Brian hit the wall with his fist and the pacing began. “Son of a bitch, that’s a giant place to leap for someone who hasn’t been around for twelve years. Why are you doing this to her?”
“You weren’t there tonight,” Alicia said. “You didn’t see Patrick and what he did. He killed Tory. Just shot her in cold blood right before the police pulled up. Yes, John’s been gone. But maybe that’s why he can consider what no one else has.”
“You honestly think Roy Adams could commit suicide and leave Alicia here to fend for herself?” John asked his brother.
Brian drew a deep breath and turned into that mature son who helped their dad. “No one thinks it could happen to their family. I’m a paramedic. I see disbelief on people’s faces all the time. Suicide, drugs, drunk driving. They all ask for proof. I’m sorry, Alicia. Guess I’m in the habit of not thinking much about it. I should have been there for you.”
“You were,” she answered softly, and returned to the chair.
“Did you say Weber shot someone named Tory?” Dev asked. “Could her real name be Victoria, um, Strayhorn?”
“I think so.” Alicia shrugged, leaned back and slipped out of her shoes. “She worked at Lauren’s day care, and I can’t remember her last name.”
“Let me look at something.” Dev walked to his gear just inside the double doors.
“Did you find the money?” John asked.
“What money?” Brian asked, following Dev and lifting electronic cases.
“No. But Patrick and Shauna are converting all their assets into cash,” Dev said casually.
“We knew about the sale of property and horses.” He didn’t find anything strange in Shauna’s getting rid of things that didn’t interest her.
“I mean, everything. Stocks at a loss. Dissolving business partnerships for any amount of cash that can be forked over. That kind of cashing out.”
“What money?” Brian asked again.
“Mind catching him up to speed, Dev, while I...?” He nodded to Alicia, who stared zombielike into the car again.
Followed by Brian, Dev went to the rental. He opened his laptop on the hood and began assembling whatever portable equipment he’d managed to bring from the cabin. If John knew the SEAL who prepared for everything—which he did—he knew the guy had the capability to hack the White House from his cell phone.
Brian asked questions. Dev answered. Alicia stared. Their conversation faded into the background. Should John get her out of here? Or make her
face the demon rusting in the jumbled metal? He laid a hand on her shoulder and she jumped.
“Sorry. I... You see, no one really told me much when the accident happened. All the details were shared with Roy. It didn’t matter to me since... I mean, he was dead, so it just didn’t matter.”
“I get it. Closure is different for everyone.” He did understand. He’d written letters when he’d lost a man and then received answers from a couple of parents. One man wanted every detail he could divulge about the fight, while his wife had sent a letter to John’s commander, asking why he’d commended her son’s performance in battle. He got it, all right.
“I remember that he crashed and they couldn’t get him out of the car. That’s probably why there’s no door. They probably had to pull it off, right? He died at the scene.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “Roy handled everything.”
“It’s all right.” He lowered his voice and knelt beside her. “This isn’t a good place for you to be. If I’d known the car was here, I wouldn’t have brought you.”
“You can’t protect me from the fact that my husband died, John. Accidents happen. Life happens.” She squeezed his hand and he realized he’d been patting her knee. “In your line of work, you’ve probably seen your own share of tragedy.”
He couldn’t talk about what he’d seen. It wasn’t fair to burden her with his nightmares. She had enough of her own. Dev’s low voice wafted through the background as he explained to his brother what he’d been searching for in cyberspace.
“Something happened to you, John. I can see it. Every once in a while, you drift, and your sadness makes me want to snatch you back. You can tell me about it. I’m still here for you.”
“Maybe someday.” Or never. He stood, but she didn’t release his hand. “We should get started, and you should get some more sleep.”
“You need it more than me. How are you going to think of a great rescue plan while you’re running on empty?” She crossed her legs and tugged off her socks.
“I’ll catch twenty after Brian leaves.”
