Afterburn

by Kira Sinclair

  13

  DONALD STARED down at the unsmiling face on the newspaper print. It was similar to the photo Amy had taken upon completing basic training, but this one was clearly Carden’s Thunderbird publicity photograph.

  The flight suit and cap made him want to scream. He’d spent years of his life serving next to pilots, protecting them, and working in the security forces. And now this one, this same breed of man—who seemed to think he was better than everyone else simply because he could invert a plane in the clouds—had taken his baby girl.Donald’s eyes skimmed the words on the page again. He’d read the article in depth repeatedly; now his gaze simply jumped from one fragmented word to another.

  Hero…savior…President…ceremony.

  His eyes landed on a quote from a Captain Rina McAllister, the public affairs officer for the squadron. “Major Carden is a hero to this nation and the United States Air Force is proud to honor him with the Distinguished Flying Cross.”

  He had to stop the ceremony. One way or another. Perhaps she could help. It was her job to protect the image of the air force, the image of the squadron. Surely, if she knew the truth, she’d put a stop to this farce.

  But he’d also set plan B in motion. Next to the rest of the crooked and crinkled newspaper lay a card, snow-white like the ones he’d sent Carden. Only this one had the air force coat of arms, the Thunderbirds logo and a personalized invitation to the medal ceremony he was trying to stop.

  Reaching beneath his seat, he checked to make sure both of his Berettas were safe and secure. He’d gotten on base several times now and no one had stopped to inspect his car. He’d drive onto base, to the location printed in black curling letters, and hide one of his guns.

  Just in case. An airman was always prepared. Even a retired one.

  HOME. It wasn’t the same anymore, damn it. Rina had spent the morning getting ready for work, trying not to remember what she and Chase had done on her sofa. And in her bed. And on her kitchen counter. And in the shower this morning before he’d left for his own apartment to grab a clean uniform.

  She’d been fighting the urge to look for him all morning. It scared her.She couldn’t concentrate. And this couldn’t have happened at a worse possible time. His ceremony was this Friday. It needed all her attention and focus. Instead, her mind kept drifting back to the weekend they’d just shared, how he’d comforted her, cherished her, made her feel beautiful and sexy—something she’d never imagined about herself…except with Chase.

  If anything, the realization that he was taking over only cemented her resolve more. She couldn’t let that happen. They had no future. Their relationship couldn’t last for so many reasons.

  They’d put the cart before the horse and now there was no going back. Marriages needed a hell of a lot more than sex to make them work.

  Look at her parents. They’d loved each other at one point—or so her father had said—and everything had still turned to shit.

  Sure, she and Chase might have been able to have a few weeks or months. If it weren’t for the effect it could have on their careers.

  They had a spark, a connection but it would fizzle out. Just like her parents had. The blaze of sexual attraction felt amazing but she didn’t want to stick around for the crash and burn.

  So why did she care that he hadn’t come into her office this morning?

  She didn’t.

  Gritting her teeth, Rina vowed to make the statement true.

  And she sure as hell wouldn’t seek him out. No, that was an urge she couldn’t give in to.

  The phone rang. Rina jumped with guilt. She’d been staring blankly at her computer screen for at least fifteen minutes. The air force didn’t pay her to dissect her relationship…or lack of one. Shaking her head, she picked up the phone.

  “Captain, you must stop the medal ceremony.”

  Sabrina’s eyebrows wrinkled. “I’m sorry, sir. I don’t understand. Who are you?”

  “That doesn’t matter. Major Carden doesn’t deserve that medal. You must stop the ceremony. If you knew what he’d done…”

  Realization smacked Rina flat across the face. This was the man, the man who’d hit Chase with his car.

  She wanted so badly to scream in his ear, to tell him what an excuse for skin he was. But she couldn’t do that. Not if she hoped to keep the man on the line long enough to learn something useful.

  “Sir, I’m sure you understand—the ceremony is in four days. Arrangements are well underway. I can’t simply cancel a ceremony, specifically one the President is planning to attend, without something more concrete.”

  Silence met her words. She waited, her heartbeat speeding to something resembling Mach one—or what she imagined breaking the sound barrier felt like.

  “He killed my baby girl.” The words were soft, before they came again, more forceful and louder. “He killed my baby girl.”

  “That’s a very serious allegation.” Rina’s mind was racing. How to get him to give her his name…at least if they had that they could get the authorities involved and do something. As it was, she was calling the commander the minute this conversation was over whether Chase liked it or not. The man was obviously delusional. She ached for his loss…but he clearly needed help. Before he did something drastic like really try to kill Chase.

  “Can you be more specific?”

  “Just…just look into the events of that night. He wasn’t a hero. He left people alone, in the dark, to die.”

  The line went dead. Rina cursed. Slamming it down into the cradle, she immediately snatched it back up and made two phone calls—the first to Chase, the second to their commander.

  Chase arrived first.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  “What you should have done weeks ago.”

  Following just minutes behind was Commander Wright.

  Rina motioned him into the chair behind her desk, knowing that giving him the power position could only gain her points—precious points she and Chase might need. She was about to make the man pretty angry. He wasn’t known for his easygoing personality. He was somewhat of a stickler for the chain of command…something he had in common with her father.

  Chase had stomped all over it by not reporting the threats when they’d first arrived. And she’d helped him so they were both about to get tarred with the same brush.

  It wasn’t going to be pleasant.

  Walking across the room, she closed her door as Chase stared daggers at her.

  “Want to tell me what’s going on? What do you mean a security breach? The President of the United States is going to be here in less than four days.”

  “Sir, in recent weeks, Chase has received several threatening letters.”

  Wright’s gaze swiveled to take in Chase, now standing at stark attention, staring straight ahead.

  “Is this correct?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And you’re just now telling me about this? Both of you?” His voice rose to a pitch loud enough to rattle the windows in their frames.

  She could have mentioned that she’d only found out about them herself but it didn’t matter. She’d decided not to contact Wright immediately so she was as much to blame as Chase.

  “I didn’t want to cause the person any more pain, sir. They lost a loved one the night of my crash.”

  “That’s bullshit, Major, and you know it. You put lives at risk by not reporting this. I want details and I want them right now. After that we’ll discuss the ramifications of this little stunt.”

  HE WAS ANGRY with her. She knew that. But, given the chance, Rina would have done the exact same thing over again.

  They had increased the security detail surrounding the squadron and specifically for that night. The Secret Service had been informed—they hadn’t been any happier about being kept in the dark than the commander had been. And people with more investigative experience than they had were now trying to track down the name Chase had reluctantly given them.For the first
time since she’d watched that car barrel into Chase, Rina began to breathe easier; not perfectly, but a little lighter at least.

  She’d followed him to his place. It was the second time in their weird and tumultuous relationship that she was the pursuer instead of the pursued.

  How many times had he sought her out when she hadn’t wanted to see him?

  Well, tough cookies if he didn’t want to talk to her right now. It was his turn.

  At his front door, he turned and stared at her with cold, blank eyes.

  “Go home, Sabrina.”

  The words hurt less than the expression on his face.

  “No.”

  Unwilling to leave things the way they were, she grabbed the front of his shirt, shoved him back against the door and fused her mouth to his.

  She could taste his anger and a self-torment beneath that made her heart ache. She didn’t understand exactly what he was going through, but she understood the guilt, felt it each and every time she thought of her mother.

  Her mere existence had contributed to her mother’s unhappiness. She could no longer focus on her own whims…she’d had to focus on a child’s. A job that in the end she’d decided she didn’t want. The fact that her birth had made her mother’s life difficult hadn’t been Rina’s fault but that didn’t stop the emotions, the guilt. Just like the death of those six soldiers wasn’t Chase’s fault, but it didn’t stop him from dwelling on them anyway, of feeling that he owed them, their families, something he really didn’t.

  Her heart fluttered painfully in her chest, like a bird tearing at a wire wrapped around its foot, until Chase’s hands finally reached for her. They weren’t soft and coaxing, but grasped her around the waist and dug in as if he never wanted to let her go. Then and only then did her pulse settle back to something normal—at least normal for being wrapped in Chase.

  Her lips were battered and swollen but she didn’t care. Tears, she had no idea where they’d come from, welled in the corners of her eyes.

  Jerking back, she took a long, deep breath.

  “I’m sorry, Chase. But I couldn’t take the chance of anything else happening to you.”

  “I was just hoping it wouldn’t come to this. I knew if anyone else got involved I wouldn’t have control over it anymore. I can’t help feeling that somehow I’ve taken something tragic and turned it into a catastrophe.”

  “No, Chase. He turned it into a catastrophe. He needs help. And that’s what he’s going to get when we find him.” Hopefully before the man hurt Chase again.

  His phone rang. Glancing down at the cell hooked to his waist, he said, “It’s the commander,” as he pulled it out to answer. He listened slowly, his eyes narrowing, before saying, “Thanks for letting me know.”

  He hung up and looked at Rina. “They’ve found the motel where Blankenship is staying—the Desert Sand. But he isn’t there and the guy at the front desk hasn’t seen him all day. The room appears almost empty—no suitcase or bag. They’re worried he’s left.”

  “Damn it!”

  She swirled away from him, anger and frustration coursing through her body. When was this going to end?

  His arms wrapped around her. Gently, he pulled her back, tucking her head beneath his chin.

  “So, does this mean you were worried about me?”

  “Of course.”

  “Does this mean you’d be upset if I disappeared from your life?”

  She let the answer slip quietly from her lips into his shoulder. “Yes.”

  “Does this mean you’ll let me be your husband for real? That you’ll tear up those papers and forget about an annulment?”

  “Maybe.” She was willing to think about it. “But not until after the ceremony. Let’s get this whole thing behind us. Besides, I think if the commander found out right now that we’d been keeping this a secret, too, there’d be no help for it. We’d be booted on our asses so fast our heads would spin.”

  “Fair enough.”

  Reaching behind him, Chase pulled open the door to his apartment.

  “Can we at least practice our conjugal rights until then?”

  A smile tugged at the corners of her lips as desire melted slowly through her body.

  “Absolutely.”

  THEY’D FOUND HIM. That wasn’t good. At least he’d been taking his most important things in the car each time he left—if for no other reason than he was afraid someone might break in and steal everything he owned. The Desert Sand wasn’t exactly in the best part of town.

  Donald stayed low in the front seat of his car—a rental he’d picked up so Carden wouldn’t recognize it. The windows were open and, from his vantage point in front of the man’s neighbors, he’d been able to hear every word they spoke on the front porch.What worried him was that they knew his name. They’d obviously finally called in the big guns. He’d have to be extra careful now.

  But something else had stuck out from the conversation he’d just overheard, something that surprised him.

  Carden was married. Nothing he’d read about the man had ever mentioned a wife. In fact, he knew for certain that Oprah had asked about his personal life six weeks before and he hadn’t mentioned it.

  The woman was obviously air force; she was in uniform. He wondered who she was.

  It wouldn’t take much to find out. A quick trip to the marriage bureau. He’d go first thing in the morning. Having information was never a bad thing.

  If nothing else, it sounded like Carden wanted to keep his marriage a secret for the moment.

  They’d see about that.

  14

  “BITCH!”

  The single word roared into Rina’s ear, drowning out everything else and leaving her speechless.She gripped the phone in her hand and dropped like a rock into the chair behind her desk. She’d been busy handling details for the ceremony, about to go and look at the auditorium and check to make sure the advance team from the Secret Service didn’t need anything.

  She hadn’t been prepared for this. In fact, after spending last night with Chase, she’d been pretty happy.

  “I gave that information to you because I thought you’d do the right thing. I should have known better. You’re married to him. You’d never do the right thing. You’re covering it all up. You’re just as guilty as he is.

  “What would everyone say, what would General McAllister say if he knew about your marriage? You’re going to be sorry. Both of you. I’ll make sure of that.”

  Rina opened her mouth over and over like a fish out of water. Nothing came out but a squeak. And then the line was dead and she had no one to say the words to anyway.

  Oh, shit came to mind.

  It had obviously been Blankenship. He’d been angry. Screaming at her. Mindless with rage. Her heart pounded fast in her chest, the same feeling of fear she’d gotten when she’d heard about Chase’s crash, when she’d seen that car clip him.

  “Son of a bitch.” The man knew that they were married.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She hadn’t heard Chase come in. She hadn’t seen him in…four hours? Somehow it was fitting that he’d chosen this precise moment to walk into her office. The precise moment she wanted him most, the moment she should be pushing him away.

  Standing up from her chair, she walked over to her door and shut it tight. Taking him by the arm, Rina pulled him over and pressed him back against the wood.

  A familiar fire lit in the back of his ocean blue eyes, a sparkle that started an instant chain reaction inside her body. Sex wasn’t what she needed right now, although it probably would have bled off some of the adrenaline pumping into her blood.

  Instead, she wrapped shaky arms around his waist, laid her head on his chest and buried her face into his body. He immediately grabbed for her, cocooning her in his warmth, his protection, his scent.

  “You’re scaring me. What happened?”

  Rina just shook her head. In a minute she would tell him. Right now, she needed some of his strength. Just a tiny in
fusion for her own.

  “Your father. Is he okay?”

  “Yes.” The word was muffled against the starched cotton of his shirt.

  “Sadie?”

  “Fine.”

  Apparently satisfied that no one was in immediate danger, Chase tightened his hold on her and simply waited. After a few minutes, she slowly let go, disengaging herself from his body inch by reluctant inch. When she was finally one giant step away, she looked up at him.

  He stared back, silent and intense. He looked ready to chew nails or kick some serious ass, whichever would fix what was wrong. In that moment, he reminded her more of her father than she’d thought possible.

  “Now will you tell me what’s wrong?”

  “Blankenship called back. He’s mad. At me. And he knows we’re married.”

  Chase wanted to smash something. Preferably the asshole who’d just called Sabrina and scared the hell out of her.

  He’d never seen her like that. Vulnerable, yes. Sick and miserable, yes. Shaken to the core? No. She was one of the strongest people he’d ever met. Nothing fazed her. Whatever Blankenship had said to her…it hadn’t been good.

  He’d been willing to take some shit off the man; he deserved it. He’d been willing to take some measure of risk with his own safety and well-being. But he sure as hell wasn’t willing to stand by and let the man threaten and scare his wife.

  That was where Chase drew the line.

  “Tell me everything. Word for word.”

  She walked across her office once before backtracking to sit down in her chair. She tugged at the hem of her skirt, straightened the lapels on her shirt. He could practically see the internal armor she was putting back in place.

  “He opened with bitch.”

  “Son of a—”

  “No. Just plain bitch. He screamed it in my ear. Then he basically told me I’d betrayed him because I hadn’t done anything with the information he’d given me yesterday and that my father would not like that I was protecting my husband instead of doing the honorable thing. And then he threatened us both.”