Angel on Fire

by Jacquie Johnson

  She lifted her head to look at him. “Not really. Just for something that looks good. I’m in the mood for something sweet.”

  “Would toaster pastries do?”

  When she nodded, he tossed her a box.

  “Thanks!” She tore open the package just as Sean placed a toaster in front of her.

  “Goes in the cabinet next to the sink,” he informed her just before he bit into an apple and left the room.

  A few minutes later, Angela wandered out on deck where she was greeted by her four legged-friend from yesterday. “Hey, Taz.” She knelt down slowly and held out her hand. After receiving a few eager licks, she stood and glanced around before inquiring, “Okay, girl. Where are they?” Taz bounded a few feet away but stopped when Angela didn’t follow. Turning her head, she released a single bark before taking a few more steps.

  “Okay. You want me to follow you?” Angela smiled. She couldn’t believe she was talking to a dog. Taz bounded off, and Angela chased after her, laughing at the absurdity of the situation. About a minute later, she heard loud male voices and breathed a small sigh of relief. Smiling, she stopped and rubbed Taz’s ears. “Good girl. You led me straight to them.”

  “Hey, babe.” Chase leaned over the edge and looked down at her.

  “Hey!” she called back. “Taz showed me where you were, but how do I get up there?”

  “Go inside. There’s a staircase to your right.”

  Angela could hear the laughter in his voice. “Don’t laugh,” she retorted, meeting him at the top of the stairs. “This boat is huge.”

  “She,” Chase stressed, “really isn’t that big. Think about it. A cruise ship is much larger. Surely, you’ve been on one of those.”

  “Heavens, no,” Angela replied. “Dad didn’t like leaving the country. Hmm, was that because of his military background? I never really thought about it before. He said it wasn’t safe.” Wrinkling her nose, she continued, thinking aloud, “I never understood that. My friends went on cruises and to Europe even, but Dad wouldn’t let me go. My French teacher begged him to let me go on the school exchange trip, but he wouldn’t consider the possibility.”

  Chase waited until she finished with her ramble. “I can’t say for sure, babe, but it likely had to do with his past. With his kind of history, you’d be at greater risk outside the U.S.”

  “Why do you think he never told me?” she wondered, still hurt that he had kept an important part of his life from her.

  Before Chase could respond, Sean interrupted, “Because he was protecting you.” Angela turned to him prepared to snap that she didn’t need to be protected when he held up his hand, signaling for her to wait. “I know. You probably think you didn’t need to be protected. But your dad wanted to be your dad. He needed you to love him. If he’d shared some of the things he’d done, you might not have loved him anymore. I’d say that was a risk he wasn’t willing to take.” Pushing back from the helm, Sean gestured for Chase to take over. “I’m going to grab some shut-eye. Just keep us on course, Chase. See you later, Angela.” Abruptly, he left the deck leaving an uneasy silence in his wake.

  “Did he know my dad?” Angela asked after a few minutes. Chase held out his hand and pulled her into his lap, keeping one hand on the wheel.

  “No,” Chase answered, “at least I don’t think so.”

  “Then?” she pushed.

  He remained silent for a few minutes and Angela suspected he was debating how to satisfy her curiosity without betraying his friend’s confidences. “I’d say he’s guessing. He’s putting himself in your dad’s place.”

  “Sean has a daughter?” Angela tried piecing together how Sean could relate to her father’s position.

  “No,” Chase answered slowly. “But there’s a woman he loves. He’s loved her for a long time, but he refuses to tell her. He’s afraid that one of his enemies might use her to hurt him so he keeps her at arm’s length in order to keep her safe.”

  “Oh,” Angela replied softly. “Is that something you worry about too?”

  “Yes,” Chase acknowledged, “that’s why I told you I didn’t do relationships.”

  Angela stiffened, hurt and anger warring inside of her at his words. He had warned her, she knew that, but she thought she would change his mind. She pushed against Chase wanting to get up, to get away from him, but his arm tightened around her waist like a band of steel. Despite her struggles, she wasn’t going anywhere until he released her.

  “Settle down, Angel,” he ordered.

  “Let me go!” she demanded, needing to escape so she could regain control of her emotions.

  “Never,” he insisted holding her tightly until her struggles ceased. When she sagged against him, acknowledging that resistance was futile, he turned her face toward his, lifted her chin with a fingertip and kissed her thoroughly. “I didn’t do relationships. With my line of work, emotional entanglements are a distraction I don’t need. Plus, as Sean mentioned - albeit indirectly - we make enemies who won’t hesitate to hurt the ones we love. All that aside, I am emotionally involved with you, and we already have a relationship. I haven’t figured out how we’ll handle all of this, but I figure we have time to sort things out once we’ve resolved your problems. Are we clear?” His vivid green eyes held her enthralled as he spoke, filling her with hope. “Angela?” he prodded, his gaze penetrating when she failed to answer.

  She nodded, her voice trembling with relief as she added, “Yes.”

  “Yes, you understand me?” he confirmed, and she nodded once again. Smiling, he added, “Yes, you agree with me because I know all?”

  She started to nod, still staring into his darkening eyes but stopped mid-nod as his words registered. Shooting him a dirty look, she looked away, trying to restart her thought processes before retorting, “Yes, I agree with some of the things you said, but you certainly don’t know everything.”

  He chuckled. “How about I know almost everything?”

  She poked his chest before shaking her head. “You’ve got a lot to learn, buster.”

  “Well, you’ll just have to take pity on me and show me the ropes, I guess,” he teased as she relaxed into his embrace, her head resting on his shoulder.

  “I’d like that,” she agreed, thrilled that Chase had admitted that he wanted to continue their relationship after they found the chip.

  Chapter 32

  As they traveled north on Lake Michigan, the two men along with Angela tossed around the various scenarios they might encounter upon reaching Maddie’s cabin. Sean insisted that they wouldn’t find anything at Maddie’s house. He just couldn’t see the military legend he’d heard about over the years sending a key participant or a critical piece of software to an untrained friend of his daughter’s. The mere idea was ludicrous. Angela concurred, which is why she believed her father had taken that kind of action. No one in the government would think of that scenario, she argued. Although he’d originally agreed with Sean, Angela was slowly convincing Chase that her idea was at least viable. However, with that thought, he now realized that instead of taking Angela somewhere safe he could be bringing her smack dab in the middle of the hornet’s nest.

  Two days later, the group reached the outskirts of Thompson and Sean slowed the yacht to start the grueling task of finding the small canal that Angela remembered.

  “This is like finding a needle in a haystack,” Sean complained after an hour of watching the shoreline while keeping the yacht at a crawl.

  “I know,” Chase muttered back, “but I don’t know how else to find this damn canal.”

  “How the mighty have fallen. You’re taking orders from a slip of a woman.”

  “That woman is stronger than she looks,” Chase reminded him. “She’s got great instincts too.”

  “Did she really take out a man in her apartment or is that just FBI propaganda?” Sean asked.

  A black look flashed across Chase’s face as he recalled Angela rushing down the hall in complete panic, blood covering her
shoulder. Though it was healing and she hadn’t complained, he could tell it was still tender. “She did. He attacked her inside her home, and she defended herself. Naturally, the FBI wants her to be viewed as a public threat so someone will turn her in.”

  “You think Monroe plans to use her as a bargaining chip?” Sean’s voice was tight. Chase knew Sean had had his own run-ins with Monroe as the owner of Equitable Securities. It was one of the reasons Chase knew Angela would be safe with Sean. Sean thought Monroe was lower than pond scum.

  “Hell,” Chase folded his arms across his chest and scowled. “You know Monroe would throw her to the wolves if it made him look good.”

  “Same self-serving bastard as always.”

  “Yep,” Chase concurred. “He’ll never change, man. He’s no different than many of the bastards on the other side. Out for himself and his own glory.”

  “Guys!” Angela shouted. She waved her arms and gestured toward the shore, her voice drowned out by the Taz’s piercing barks. Chase and Sean exchanged quizzical glances, not seeing anything unusual.

  Chase hurried down the stairs to the lower deck where Angela had been pacing as Sean reduced their speed to a crawl. Angela pointed to a small area a few hundred feet away. Chase smiled and nodded, even as he eyed the small channel warily. He made his way back to Sean.

  “There’s a small inlet about three hundred feet back.” Chase advised Sean, gesturing toward the shoreline. “Angela thinks it leads to a river which will take us to Maddie’s cottage.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding,” Sean grimaced, reversing course and heading for the area Angela had found. “I thought we’d be able to see the cottage from the lake.”

  Chase shrugged. “Apparently, Maddie owns the property right up to the lake, but the cottage itself is set back a ways.”

  With some expert maneuvering and lots of colorful vocabulary, Sean steered the yacht down the narrow channel, while Chase silently prayed that they didn’t run aground. He couldn’t help but wince as he considered the kind of payment Sean would demand if they damaged McGuire’s new toy.

  “For heaven’s sake! Can’t you hurry it up a bit?” Angela complained, stomping up the stairs. “Ships full of logs used to travel this stream. Your precious yacht will be just fine.”

  “And you know that how?” Sean snarled, and Chase shot him a worried look. He understood Sean’s fears but didn’t appreciate Sean taking his anger out on Angela. “You have no idea when this channel was last dredged or if this is even the right canal. I don’t like going into situations blind folded with my hands tied behind my back.”

  Angela glared at him for a moment before looking away. Chase could see the moment she processed what Sean had said. Her cheeks heated with embarrassment, and the guilt she felt was written all over her face.

  Biting her lower lip, she apologized, “I’m sorry, Sean. I really didn’t think about it. You’ve done so much to help me. If you want to turn around, that’s okay. Maybe you can drop me off here, and I’ll try to walk in.”

  “Angel.” Chase placed a comforting hand on the back of her neck and rubbed.

  Sean took a controlled breath before nodding, silently accepting her apology. “We can’t turn around in here anyway, and backing out would be a real challenge.”

  Angela stared out over the water as the Dochas inched forward. Chase kept a careful eye on her as he worked alongside Sean to keep the yacht on course. The next few minutes passed in silence. “Is that Maddie’s cottage?” Sean yelled.

  “Yes, thank goodness.” Angela relaxed. “And we didn’t get stuck. Look, Sean, there’s even space for you to turn the ship around.”

  “Boat,” both men corrected her in unison.

  “Ship, boat, what’s the difference?” She waved off their correction.

  Both men groaned. “There’s a big difference,” Sean protested. “As a general rule of thumb, a ship is a vessel which travels on the ocean. A boat is a smaller craft which travels shorter distances.”

  “Hmm,” Angela replied. “So this yacht couldn’t travel on the ocean?”

  “Short distances near the shoreline, yes, but I wouldn’t recommend crossing the Atlantic in it,” Sean responded as he stopped the Dochas a few hundred feet from shore.

  Chapter 33

  Chase dropped the anchor and lowered the yacht’s small dinghy before gesturing for Angela to hop aboard. Just as he started the engine, Sean joined them, holding enough weapons to mount a full scale invasion. Angela’s mouth dropped open as Chase quickly concealed two guns and three knives on his body before passing her a third gun. “Just in case,” he promised her. “Hopefully, we’ll just have a nice visit with your friends.”

  Angela rolled her eyes at his comment. As if he could read her thoughts, Chase offered her a reassuring smile. “We just like to be prepared.”

  “Be prepared is the Boy Scouts motto,” Angela teased. “I can’t see either one of you as a Boy Scout.”

  “Doesn’t matter, babe. I promise I’m always prepared.” Chase smiled, his hot gaze leaving her no doubt what he was referring to. Her cheeks heated and a full body blush soon followed. Chase’s grin widened when she looked away from his predatory stare.

  As soon as the dinghy came to a stop, Angela jumped onto the beach and fell on her butt. Chase laughed and she glared at him. “Sorry,” he mumbled as he picked her up. “You can’t go rushing off like that.” He sobered, his green eyes staring into her blue ones.

  Sean motioned toward a grove of trees on the south side of the cottage, and Chase steered Angela in that direction without another word. She frowned when Chase whispered for her to stay, before disappearing from view to play soldier. Annoyed at their actions, Angela considered stomping off and heading into the cottage, sure she was safe here, but a little voice inside her reminded her that Sean and Chase had gone to a lot of trouble to keep her safe. The least she could do was follow their instructions for the moment. After five minutes of standing still, she gave up and glanced around for a better position. Spying a tree with a stout trunk, she sauntered in that direction and slid down to the base of the tree, resting her back against the trunk. The minutes dragged by, and her eyes drifted shut. She woke to the sounds of two hushed male voices.

  “Any sign?” one voice called, the sound barely audible over the wind.

  “Over here, I think,” the other called back. As sleep slowly seeped from her foggy mind, Angela looked up into Chase’s smoldering green eyes.

  “Damn, babe.” He brushed a few leaves from her tangled hair. “What happened? Why did you leave?”

  “Sorry,” she blinked. “I guess I fell asleep. I thought I’d just sit down and wait. I got tired of standing still.”

  Easing her to her feet, Chase pulled her against his body and rubbed his hands up and down her back as if he were reassuring himself that she was safe. “Shit,” he sighed, “I thought someone took you.”

  “I didn’t mean to scare you.” She brushed a soft kiss across his firm lips, apologizing without words.

  “How about we move this party inside?” Sean interrupted. “No one’s home, but I found three cups in the sink.”

  “They probably went into Manistique for supplies,” Angela explained as she walked swiftly toward the log structure. As she stepped out of the forest, she stopped for a moment and appreciated the beauty of the setting. The two-story dwelling made of roughhewn logs with a dull honey finish stood on a small rise. Its large bay windows offered views of the artificial bay, the small but steady stream that ran toward the back of the property, and the grove of trees.

  Angela tugged on the heavy wooden handle to the front door and stepped inside. “Was it open or did you guys perform magic?” Both men cast her looks which implied, “what do you think?” and she shook her head. “Well, at least you’ll come in handy when I lock myself out.”

  Chase wrapped an arm around Angela’s waist. “Some cottage.”

  Honey toned hardwood graced the floors and walls, creating a fe
eling of warmth and spaciousness. The lightly stained knotty pine kitchen cabinets and breakfast bar added character to the open room concept. The kitchen flowed directly into the great room, decorated in colored plaids.

  Angela opened the stainless steel refrigerator and selected a can of soda before offering the men a drink. When both shook their heads, she announced, “I’m going to take a long, hot shower,” and she hurried toward the wide, pine staircase. Chase started following her so she looked over her shoulder from the top of the stairs and tossed him a smile. “Sean checked the house, didn’t he? Unless you plan to join me, I think I can handle taking a shower by myself.”

  Angela watched Chase’s hand tighten on the banister, and his eyes heated. She could imagine what he was thinking and she couldn’t help the sassy smile that cropped up. Chase took a step toward her and groaned before closing his eyes. “Actually, Sean and I need to keep watch to make sure Maddie doesn’t have any unexpected company. Are you sure you don’t want to wait on that shower? You won’t have any clean clothes.”