“I'm not worried about that, boss.” She told him as she put the gun back where it belonged. “I just want to know why you're here.”
Ethan sat up straighter, allowing the sleeping bag to fall around his hips and reveal more of his naked torso in the process.
Karleigh almost forgot what it was they were talking about.
“You were a mess last night after you said goodbye to your sister, so I stayed to make sure you were going to be okay.”
“You've been here all night?”
“Yes.”
“Sleeping on that bag?”
“Yes.”
“Did I ask you to stay?”
“Yes.”
“Oh. Sorry, Sir.”
Ethan just smiled and told her, “Don't be.”
Karleigh was about to say something else when her phone rang. Grabbing it off the nightstand, she checked the number on the screen and felt her heart skip a beat when she saw who it was.
If he was calling this early in the morning, it couldn't be good news.
Four
She was almost out the door when Ethan managed to catch her.
He'd seen her reaction to the call she'd gotten, but she hadn't told him what was happening. She'd simply gotten dressed, grabbed a set of car keys and raced off.
But he wasn't about to let her face whatever it was she had to face alone.
“X, slow down.” He said, adding, “Tell me what's wrong.”
“I have to go.”
“Go where?”
Karleigh looked up at him and he saw fear in her eyes. “It's my sister. She's missing.”
Ethan frowned. “How can she be missing?”
“I don't know. Jones didn't give me much.” She replied. “I just need to get over there.”
“I'm coming with you.”
“I can't let you do that, boss.”
“I'm not asking for your permission, X.” He told her. “If I'm with you, I can vouch for your whereabouts that are going to make you late for the ship's departure this morning.”
“My career isn't my concern at the moment.”
“A dishonourable discharge from the Navy could mean trouble for you.”
“I've given the RAN eight years of perfect service. If they can't back me when my sister needs me, I don't want to be RAN anymore.”
“I understand this, Lieutenant.” Ethan told her. “Just let me help you.”
“I ...”
“Don't make me order you.”
Karleigh relented. “Alright.”
Outside her house sat a silver 2013 BMW 335i sedan. Karleigh got behind the wheel and Ethan had to hang on as she raced through the near-empty streets, obviously desperate to reach the safe-house where her sister was meant to be under the protection of the AFP. She handled the powerful sedan with ease, changing gears without any trouble as they headed into the city.
The thunderstorm from yesterday was still in full force and Ethan wondered if the Sydney's departure for the Arafura would be delayed or go ahead as planned.
Looking at Karleigh, he asked, “How did your sister get involved with Ian Morton?”
“They had an affair when she was in her early twenties, and the relationship has been on-off ever since.”
“Morton's a killer. Do you think he's the one who really killed Schofield?”
“Yes. My sister isn't a killer, despite what Jones thinks.”
“And the information she has on him?”
“I don't know what it is, but my sister told me it will help put him away for life.”
“Which explains why he's after her.”
Karleigh clenched her jaw and sent him a look of helplessness mixed with anger as she said, “He may already have her.”
For Karleigh's sake, Ethan prayed that wasn't true.
Five
Rain was still pouring down as Karleigh parked the BMW in the driveway of the AFP's safe-house. Two agents in blue windbreakers stood on either side of the front door, their expressions perfect poker-faces.
Karleigh ignored the cold rain soaking her to the bone and demanded, “Where is Agent Jones?”
“Inside, ma'am.” One of them said.
The other opened the door and told her, “He's expecting you.”
Inside, Karleigh found Doug at a large table that was covered with hundreds of pieces of papers. She didn't wait for him to acknowledge her presence; she just demanded, “What is going on here, Agent Jones?”
Doug turned to face her and said, “Your sister has decided to leave the care of the AFP.”
“What are you talking about?”
“At 0500 hours, the guard detail changed. As per regulation, the new guard on duty went to wake your sister so she could sign the roster.” Doug explained. “But he didn't find Miss Greene.”
“What did he find?”
“An empty room and the window wide open.”
“You're telling me my sister is missing?” Karleigh asked, her voice squeaking on the last word.
“I'm afraid so.”
“How is that even possible? She was in a house crawling with federal agents!”
“I'm still looking into that.” Doug replied.
Her frustration and anger reached the surface and, before she could stop herself, Karleigh had slapped a federal agent. The slap was hard and rang out in the house, ceasing all work as everyone fell deadly silent.
Ethan moved up to her side and grabbed her arm, restraining her as he said, “Calm down, Lieutenant Greene.”
Karleigh ignored him and glared at Doug, who now had a red cheek. “You're supposed to be protecting her!”
“Miss Greene didn't exactly make that easy.”
“It's your job to protect her whether she made it easy or not!”
“We can't protect someone who wants to be with the person we're protecting them from.”
Karleigh frowned and demanded, “What the hell does that mean?”
“It means we believe your sister has more then likely gone off to find Ian Morton.”
“What?!” She shrieked. “Are you insane?”
Ethan tightened his hold on her and said, “Karleigh, calm down.”
“Take her outside, Conrad.” Doug ordered. “She's obstructing our investigation.”
She tried to protest and get out of Ethan's hold on her, but it was no good.
The man was insanely strong and he managed to take her outside into the rain with little effort.
“I know you're upset about your sister, but you're not going to do her any good if you end up in jail for assaulting a federal agent.” He told her, keeping his hands on her shoulders to restrain her.
“He doesn't even know what happened to her!”
“I know. But you need to calm down so we can come up with a way to locate your sister before Morton has a chance to do anything to her.”
Karleigh looked at him and asked, “Are you saying … what are you saying?”
“We're going to look for Francine ourselves.”
“But the ship ...”
“The Sydney and her crew are due for an extended stay at base. We can take the week to search for her before we're needed back on board.”
She couldn't believe her CO was offering to do something so generous and it made her relieved to know that something would be getting done about Francine. She wouldn't have to sit around and wait for the AFP to do their damn job.
“Thank you, boss.” She said with a smile.
Question was, where did they start looking?
Ethan took over driving and drove the BMW to a police station located in the heart of the Cairns CBD.
“What are we doing here?” Karleigh asked as he parked.
“Seeing someone who can help.” He replied.
They waited in reception for a few minutes before a detective in plain clothes came to collect them. The resemblance between the two men was unmissable and her suspicions were confirmed when Ethan introduced her.
“X, this is my brother,
Detective Brady Conrad. Brady, Lieutenant Karleigh Greene, the ships XO.”
Brady shook her hand, his smile warm and friendly as he said, “It's nice to meet you.”
“You too.” She replied.
They entered his small but well-kept office and, after everyone was seated, Brady asked, “What brings you two here today?”
“In short, the AFP screwed up.” Ethan said.
Brady just snorted and asked, “What else is new?”
“A young woman's life is in danger this time, B.” Ethan said.
“Whose?”
“Francine Greene.” Karleigh answered. “My sister.”
“I'm sorry to hear that.” Brady said. “How was she involved with the AFP?”
“She was in their WPP unit.”
“When did she go missing?”
“Early this morning.”
“Is it possible the person behind her joining the WPP got her?”
“No.”
“Is it possible she went with the person trying to get her?”
“No.”
“Is it possible you have no idea what's going on and you're flying blind?” Brady asked with a kind smile.
Karleigh smiled and nodded her head.
“Alright. Let's get started on finding her before anything happens.”
Karleigh looked at Ethan and smiled, mouthing thank you to him as he just smiled back.
Once they found Francine, they could focus on keeping her away from Ian Morton and getting her out of Cairns.
Six
Brady came through for them.
Francine still had her phone with her and a search of the number and GPS locater gave them a search area in the Bungalow area.
“Oh, God.” Karleigh breathed when she got the location.
Ethan and his brother frowned as Ethan asked, “What's wrong, X?”
“That's proof right there that she's with Morton.”
“What?”
“How can you be sure?” Brady asked.
“Bungalow is where Francine was living when she had her encounter with Schofield. The place has too many bad memories for her and she vowed to never go back there.” She explained. “If she's there, it's not by her free choice and she's either in trouble, or about to be.”
“The location is a general fix. The subject – in this case, your sister – could be within twenty k's of where it's saying she is.” Brady told her. “We could be getting Bungalow because that's the nearest hub.”
“You think so?” Karleigh asked, hoping he was right.
“Let's go check it out before we start thinking the worst.” Ethan suggested.
“Good idea.” She agreed.
They left Cairns and headed south, Brady staying behind because he couldn't interfere with a federal case if he wanted to keep his career. Karleigh appreciated his help and wasn't about to ask him to risk anything just for her and her sister.
“Brady is older then you, right?”
“Only by fourteen months.” Ethan replied. “He was born in January, 1980, and I was born in March 1981.”
“No one could ever doubt that you two are brothers.” Karleigh commented as she joined traffic on the highway. “Everything about you is almost identical. Your hair and eye colour. Your height and body shape and size. Even your careers are almost the same.”
One thing they didn't share in common was good looks; Brady was rugged and attractive, while Ethan was sexy, dark and down-right handsome. But she wasn't about to tell him that. After all, he was meant to be her CO and if things got weird between them, the Sydney and her crew could suffer.
Looking at him briefly before turning her attention back to the road, Karleigh said, “By the way, thank you for brining him in on this, boss. I know Francine would probably be dead if we left it to the AFP to find her.”
“Ethan.”
“What?”
“We're not on the ship, so you don't have to call me boss or sir.” He told her.
She smiled and nodded. “Then I'm Karleigh.”
He grinned. “I know who you are, X.”
She smiled at his remark before turning the radio on. They drove the rest of the way in comfortable silence, each of them familiar enough with the other to be relaxed and who they really were.
And Karleigh secretly admitted that she was starting to see her CO as something more then a boss. Something that involved a lot of nakedness and was against RAN regulations. Something that could make them both feel good but could spell trouble for their careers.
She was attracted to him sexually, but that attraction couldn't go anywhere and she told herself she needed to focus on finding Francine.
Her sisters life depended on her acting professional.
In Bungalow, the GPS in the BMW took them to a part of town that wasn't a place anyone could want to live in.
Houses were falling apart or burnt to the ground. The street was filled with trash, starving cats and burnt out cars that had no doubt been stolen from the city and stripped for parts before being set alight to hide the evidence if the police came looking. Scrawny, underfed children played in parks and yards that were nothing more then dirt and weeds while a good section of the neighbourhood was made up of tents that stood on land once belonging to houses.
It was a dump, as simple as that.
“I can't see Ian Morton living here.” Ethan commented as Karleigh drove through the streets, the BMW being eyed by more then one local.
“Why not?”
“It's not a place a man involved with terrorism would put his roots.”
“He could be using this place as somewhere to hide out from the law.” Karleigh suggested as she turned down a side street where the GPS was indicating Francine's phone was.
A band of teenagers who looked to be up to no good watched them as she parked, their eyes moving all over the expensive BMW as they no doubt saw dollar signs on every removable part that could be fenced.
But when Ethan got out of the car, they moved off in a hurry.
Not only had he had no time to change – which left him in his Navy uniform – but he was over six feet tall and built like a tank.
He was a threat without even trying and Karleigh was happy to have him on her side.
The neighbourhood they were in wreaked of broken sewerage, bad body odour and wet dog. Loud rap music filled the vile air and they were passed by more then one group of teenagers who gave them the once over.
Ethan didn't want to hang around too long before someone decided to see if they could bolster their street-cred by taking on a Navy man, but he also wasn't about to make Karleigh rush through the search.
She was determined to find her sister and he'd help her in any way he could.
As they searched the streets, looking for any sign of Francine, they came across a brand-new Ford Explorer that looked entirely out of place.
“That could belong to Morton.” He stated. Looking at Karleigh, he told her, “I'll get in contact with Brady.”
Karleigh nodded and kept her eyes peeled for Ian or Francine.
While they waited for Brady to run the plates, a scrawny little brown dog that was covered in mud came running out from a near-by house and plopped down at Karleigh's feet.
“Well, aren't you just a little cutie.” She said, going down on her haunches to pet the mutt. “You could use a bath and a feed, but that doesn't make you any less cuter.”
Ethan smiled.
The dog whimpered and looked up at her with sad eyes. Right before she picked him up – mud and all – Ethan knew she was going to him. It was just in her nature to do that sort of thing.
Knowing that only made him feel like a real idiot when he got jealous as he watched the little mutt snuggle into Karleigh's breasts. Get over it and stop thinking with your dick, Conrad! He told himself just as Brady came back on the line. “Okay. Thanks, Brad.” Hanging up, he told Karleigh, “The car isn't registered to Ian and it hasn't been reported stolen.”
A Hero In Uniform - The Complete Series Page 16
