by Em Petrova
Maybe she just needed to kickbox harder, work out some of these sexual tensions she had pent-up for a man who probably didn’t return the sentiment.
She could swear she’d caught him staring at her mouth more than once, though. At the time, it had been during lunch, so it could be he thought she chewed weird or had lettuce in her teeth.
The instructor turned down the intensity dial, and they moved into a cool-down phase. Avery felt as if she could go on for another hour at least. Her early days with the ROTC had provided her with stamina, and since she had nothing better to do with her time, she had a water break and then hit the gym’s track.
Her run started as determined, but soon became a leisurely jog, allowing her time to reflect more on her situation. Thing was, on top of the internal review, she still had to deal with the ramifications of shooting a man.
That was stuff that sent big, brawny cops to therapy. She’d seen it before. Maybe it was time for her to talk to someone as well, find a shrink on her own and not one ordered by the board.
The decision helped her find a sense of calm for the day, which she had been hoping for by physically exhausting herself. Funny how the mind and body and spirit were rarely one. Typically, her body was a screaming drill sergeant while her mind overthought things and her spirit told her to just have some caffeine and brush it off.
Damn, she was a mess.
After hitting the showers, she left the gym, her hand going to her phone. But once she looked at the screen, she thought twice about texting Jess as she’d originally planned.
Last thing she wanted to do was crowd him. A man like that wouldn’t invite such clinginess into his life—she’d only drive him away, and she didn’t want that.
She liked him.
A lot.
Everything was more confusing when added to the rest of her messy life. But she hadn’t enjoyed the company of a man like Jess in forever. If she was honest, she hadn’t allowed herself to get close since the attack back in college. It was hard to trust anybody after that.
Jess was different.
He also was totally uninterested in her. He’d only had coffee to be nice and provide a listening ear.
Ugh—if she had a girlfriend, she could run all this by her, but all her friends were guys. Reggie would just laugh and tell her to go for it, but that wouldn’t exactly be helpful.
Now she was right back where she’d started, her body telling her to work off some steam, that she wasn’t nearly tired enough yet.
Maybe once she got home she’d take a walk around the park and try to clear her mind again. Problem was, if she didn’t deal with everything, in time she’d run out of places to escape.
Chapter Four
Jess dressed in silence, but around him the Ranger Ops team were bullshitting about their kids and significant others. Down the line of lockers, Cav’s voice reached Jess as he reported on his latest conquest.
Lennon laughed at what he was saying and asked if she was jailbait. Cav chuckled in return and told him she was twenty-six. Lennon gave a nod. “Much better,” he said.
“Well, she’s got more experience in bed,” Cav responded.
Jess turned his face toward his locker, but it was mostly empty, all his gear strapped onto his body.
He closed the door and turned to walk away.
Sully was already finished and waiting for them all to load into the SUV and hit the road for parts unknown. The briefing would come during the trip.
Whatever the threat, Jess wasn’t afraid of staring it in the eyes.
But he was terrified of messing up with his daughter.
He’d lain awake for three nights thinking about it. Somewhere before dawn that first day, he’d risen from his twisted sheets and subscribed to an ancestry website to help with his research. That was as far as he’d gotten, because the past few solid days had been spent on Moreno.
When he finally got a free moment, he hadn’t even typed in his father’s name before he’d gotten the call to arms from Sully.
As he approached his leader, Sully grabbed his shoulder. “You all right?”
“Yep.”
He looked at him hard. “This about Moreno?”
“No. Though now that’s weighing on my mind too, thanks.”
Sully released his shoulder. “If you’re not up for this—”
“I am. Just let me do my job, okay?”
Sully compressed his lips and gave a nod. He let him pass, and Jess walked out of the building. He climbed into his usual spot in the very back of the vehicle and waited for the others.
Cav got in first. He shot Jess a look before landing heavily in the seat next to his. “You good, man?”
“The fucking best.”
“You sound it. What’s going on? More women troubles?”
“Could say that.” His daughter was practically a woman, right?
But now that Cav had suggested it, a perfect image of Avery floated across Jess’s mind.
The woman was everything he would have gone for months ago, but he was too gun-shy to make a move. Besides, she didn’t need more complications in her life, not with what she had going on.
Cav asked him another question, which he answered in a monosyllable. Taking the hint he wasn’t feeling very talkative, Cav joined into Lennon and Linc’s conversation instead.
When they hit the highway headed south, they all groaned, except Jess who didn’t give a fuck where they were going, let alone back to Mexico.
“Man, we’ve spent so much time in Coahuila that I feel I should be a resident there by now,” Woody griped from the passenger’s seat.
“Dual citizenship at least, right?” Sully responded, stepping on the gas and overtaking the produce truck ahead of them.
Jess barely listened to their talk. His mind skipped over his own issues, mainly how to get into his daughter’s life. Was it too late to have that relationship with her? God, he didn’t know.
He had a hell of a lot of guilt about his own failures with Madison. That started him thinking about another father… Moreno. They were no closer to finding Ortiz’s killer, but all that seemed dimmed by the fact Moreno had done exactly what they’d expected from him—he’d delivered sensitive information into the hands of a radical group known for two bombings of major cities.
Moreno’s hours were numbered.
His time with his children numbered.
“That woman who shot the guy in the supermarket parking lot.” Cav’s statement had Jess’s head snapping up.
“Yeah, tough break for her. Makes me glad I’m not walkin’ the beat again,” Lennon said.
“Thing is, if she’d walked away from that scene and not gotten involved, she would have been crucified for it if anybody had found out she was there. Not to mention not being able to live with herself if something worse had happened to the woman involved in the domestic.” This from Linc.
Jess clenched a fist on his knee and listened without adding anything of his own. The guys all agreed Avery should be supported for it and the internal review shouldn’t have taken more than thirty seconds to deliberate—Avery had stopped one more abuser, and the fewer the better, in the Ranger Ops’ opinion.
With Avery in his mind now, Jess had to seriously think about what he wanted out of a friendship with her. Great coffee, amazing conversation?
Hell, who was he kidding? He wanted to bend her over the table by the window and fuck her right there for everyone to see.
Jesus, that was a little stronger reaction than normal, even for a guy like him.
And he was known for getting in deep quick.
Bottom line—he couldn’t trust his feelings about Avery. She was beautiful and available, but that didn’t mean she wanted more with him, and he couldn’t risk complicating her life more than it already was. He kept telling himself that, but he wasn’t really listening.
The rest of the drive went by with more talk he did not join into. Nobody asked him anything, and he was grateful to be overlooked.
When they arrived at their destination, Cav blew out a breath.
“Jesus, even the air stinks here,” he said.
Jess grunted.
Cav glanced at him. “You good, dude?”
“The best. Let’s get this shit over with.”
Sully’s instructions during the ride replayed in Jess’s mind. They were facing a couple of weapons dealers who’d recently dabbled in some darker shit when they traded weapons for women. One of these women had been sold to an undercover, and the entire operation had been broken open like an oozing, filthy wound.
The minute the undercover agent had leaked their position to the government and the Ranger Ops had been called in, the undercover had been executed. They were down here to not only stop these guys but to recover their own agent’s body and take it home for a proper burial.
The mission wasn’t as dark as they sometimes dealt with, but it added to Jess’s mood. He remained silent, focused.
After they got into position, Cav nudged him. “You’re worryin’ me, man. You never stay this quiet for this long.”
“I’m fine. Just got some things on my mind.”
At that moment, Sully’s order came, and there was no more time to talk. He and Cav rushed the door. He shot the lock off while Cav kicked it in. Jess ran inside first, swinging left and right, searching the building for threats.
Cav’s heavy footfalls sounded behind Jess. There was a sudden shout as their presence was discovered, and Jess turned his adrenaline into action.
He whipped around a corner, took aim and fired. The man fell, howling in pain, the leg Jess had shot out from under him twisted to the side. Before he could reach for a weapon, Jess was on him, Cav as backup.
“Tie him up,” Jess said roughly.
The man cussed at him, and Jess pressed a boot down on his broken leg. As the guy’s eyes rolled up in his head and he passed out, Jess spun away, watching for other threats. Shouts volleyed throughout the building. Another shot rang out.
Cav got the unconscious man bound and gagged. They wanted this one alive, because he was one of the ringleaders, and any information they got out of him was needed to locate the rest of the group.
Cav hoisted the man up and over his shoulder as if he weighed a hundred pounds instead of two hundred. They started out of the room, when Jess caught a sound.
He did another sweep of the room, but it was empty, just as he’d first thought.
“There a closet somewhere around here?” he ground out to Cav.
The man over his shoulder came to and barfed. The sick fluid splashed down Cav’s back and hit the floor.
“Jesus Christ. Why do I always get the pukers?” Cav tossed the man to the floor, and he groaned.
Jess turned his head to listen harder. There, under the rhythm of his own heart, was a faint cry.
“Fucking hell.” He strode to the wall and put his ear to it. A small thump sounded again. He met Cav’s stare. “There’s a door. Check the other room.”
A minute later, Cav was back, shaking his head. “No doors.”
“You don’t think… Fuck. They’re hiding them in the walls.”
Into his comms unit, he said, “Do not shoot into any of the walls. They’ve got some hidden there!”
The knocking that followed had the hair on the back of Jess’s neck standing on end. Cav was screaming at the man on the floor, demanding he tell Cav everything he knew, while Jess started circling the room, a hand on the wall to feel for a cutout panel or any way of getting inside.
The pounding sound was weak. He followed it, ear pressed to the plaster. When he turned to look at Cav, he found horror on his buddy’s face.
“Fuck. Get her outta there, Jess.”
He gave a nod and smashed his rifle butt into the wall several feet above where he’d heard the sound.
The space between walls was thick, or at least this one was. His rifle sank deep. Plaster crumbled at his feet.
When a muffled cry sounded, he tried to see inside the hole he’d made. It was dark, so he shined his light in and nearly had a fucking heart attack at the sight of three pairs of eyes.
“Two women and a child here. Help me, Cav.”
They started bashing apart the wall using their rifles and gloved hands to tear away the plaster. When the hole was large enough for a woman to squeeze through, he reached inside to take her by the hands. She slipped out onto the floor—dirty, half-starved, blinking at the light.
“Holy fuck,” Sully said from the doorway. He stormed up to the man who was tied and ripped the gag down to his chin. “How many fucking more are there?” he screamed into his face.
The man glared defiantly at their captain, and Sully wasn’t standing for it. He pointed his rifle at the man’s uninjured leg. “Tell me or I’ll give you a matching bullet hole!”
When silence was the only answer, the shot rang out. Roars of pain sounded, along with a number in Spanish that had Jess’s gut clenching and Sully giving the order to open up every single fucking wall in the place.
The other two women were pulled free, and it turned out the child was an adolescent boy. All three were dressed in rags.
Jess gave them his water bottle. “Can you speak?” He squatted before one.
She nodded and took a sip.
“How did you get in the wall? Where is the door?” he asked fluently in her language.
She pointed downward.
He swung his gaze to Sully’s. “Under the building.”
“We’re on it. Woody, you’re with me,” Sully called out, and a second later Woody met him outside the door of the room.
The women threw her writhing captor on the floor terrified glances. Jess moved to block him from their view. “He can’t hurt you anymore. Where are you from?”
After some prodding, he learned they were taken out of their cousin’s home and brought here in exchange for a case of guns. They had been kept in a holding space beneath the house, where it was all dirt floor and had bugs and vermin. They were told to move upward into the spaces between walls at certain times a day or when they heard visitors come. Inside the walls were small ledges where they could rest and get footing.
“They’re told to wait in hiding in case anybody raided this place,” Jess said, getting up from his crouch. He reached into his pack and came out with two MRE rations. He handed them to the trio and they tore into the food to share.
He approached Cav, who still stood guard over the man on the floor.
Jess glared at him. “I’d love to blow his balls off.”
Cav gave a resigned nod. “Fucking deserves it if we peel them each like an egg then cut them off and feed them to the rats.”
Acknowledgement slid into the man’s eyes. He understood what they said.
“Sixteen. We’ve got sixteen coming out,” Woody’s voice projected into their comms units.
Jess began to interrogate their hostage. Each question more demanding than the last. When the man failed to answer quick enough, Jess threatened to feed his balls to the rats like Cav suggested.
Finally, Lennon came into the room. He threw Jess a look and then exchanged one with Cav before walking over to the trio they’d rescued and leading them outside. When Linc entered, he walked up to Jess and gripped his shoulder.
“We’re takin’ him alive. You can stand down,” Linc said.
Jess’s jaw hurt from grinding his teeth. He spat at the man. “Not yet. I think he deserves to be just as frightened as the people he’s kept captive, don’t you, Linc?”
Linc’s grip tightened on his shoulder, his fingers digging into the tendons. “Go outside and leave this to me and Cav.”
Jess stood there a moment, rigid. Then he stalked out of the room on what felt like wooden legs. He continued through the front door and past the people huddled in the yard. Two more men were tied up and gagged, held at gunpoint by Woody.
Sully watched Jess continue by without stopping him.
He had no fucking idea how to feel about any of
this. As Ranger Ops, he saw a hell of a lot of stuff. Shit worse than this. But for some reason, right now, he couldn’t deal with it. He wanted to slit the throats of the men responsible and watch them bleed out like the pigs they were.
Cav was at his side. “Jess.”
He whirled on his friend. “Back off.”
Cav’s brows shot up. “I’m not the enemy, man. You haven’t been yourself all day. What the hell’s going on?”
“What’s going on is there are too many goddamn evil people in this world.”
And he couldn’t protect anybody he cared about from them. His daughter… even Avery. She was dealing with her own evil, had been suspended, restricted from stopping more of the same.
“We do that every single day, Jess. One at a time. We can’t save the world, but we do our parts.”
Cav’s words penetrated through his haze of anger.
“Now,” Cav drawled out, “tell me what the fuck’s really wrong, because I’m not letting it go till you do.”
Jess’s shoulders slumped. He rubbed a hand over his face. “Guess it’s a lot of late nights recently.”
Cav eyed him. There was a reason he was known as the weapon of mass destruction on the Ranger Ops team—one glare could send a man into his grave. But Jess was far from intimidated.
“The phone calls?” Cav asked.
Jess’s gaze shot to his buddy’s. “How do you know about it?”
“We all fucking know. Each one of us is deep in each other’s business. It’s how we watch each other’s backs, remember? Now is that really the issue, because I sense it’s more.”
“That’s it,” he lied, not wishing to get into the other things weighing on his mind. For one, none of the guys knew he even had a daughter let alone a teenaged one. And Avery was a whole other reason for them to get in his business, and he wasn’t up for that.
Yeah, he wasn’t himself. But he intended to fix that—as soon as he was back on US soil.
* * * * *
Avery had attended nine classes at the gym in six days, and she’d run about twenty miles, by her estimate. Her body could handle it, but her mind was another story. If she didn’t find a new place to channel her energy, she’d go crazy waiting on this review board to come to a conclusion.
