by Karen Anders
Austin rubbed his tired eyes. “I don’t like unanswered questions.” He couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept. He stretched his back, watching Derrick through the interrogation window while he grilled Kruger, who kept shaking his head. They had caught and arrested Kruger as he was fleeing his Kabul office. Jesus, Derrick could look scary, deadly when he wanted to...and relentless. They’d been going at these guys for two days. Finally, the flunky, Patrick, had broken, implicating both White and Kruger. After that, it was just a matter of who could talk the fastest.
“Anything else?” She sounded impatient.
Derrick’s a dad. But that wasn’t the kind of information you spilled on your fellow agent to your boss. It was personal. Obviously. Austin still was processing this information. Whatever Austin thought he’d known about Derrick “007” Gunn, it was deeper and darker than he could have guessed, a huge secret he was harboring. He’d fathered a child with a beautiful Afghani woman who was, uh, married...oh, about eight years ago, when he couldn’t have been very wet behind the ears. But as they loaded up the three dead bodies into the back of the Jeep and shoved the revived Patrick into the backseat with White, Derrick gave Austin the type of look that said: If you ask, I will kick your ass and you’ll be bruised and sore without me telling you a damn thing because it’s none of your damn business.
Austin did not ask.
“I’m getting ready to drive to Charikar and speak to Dr. Blessing Contee. She’s the WHO doctor who Afsana Jamal told us stitched up Kaczewski and drove him and the senator to Kabul. Hopefully we can get a location on them.”
Kai lowered her voice. “When you do find them, keep that under wraps.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“In the meantime, I will start the extradition of Kruger, White and Patrick. Nationalities?”
“Kruger is South African and White is Australian. Patrick is American. I’ll send a team over to Outcast and go over their files and computers with a fine-tooth comb and get it all shipped back to San Diego.”
“Roger that,” she said. “Austin, good job, and watch your back.”
“Thank you, and yes, ma’am.”
Hours later after he’d spoken to a closedmouthed and apparently clueless Dr. Contee, he called Talbot back.
“She says she doesn’t know where they went,” he said, hearing his own irritation blowing back at him. “But on the drive back, I figured the senator has some pull. Maybe she chartered a jet. So I drove over to the airport and, sure enough, she has a jet company on retainer. They took off twenty-three hours ago for DC. Looks like she’s going home to work out this problem.”
“Resourceful. Which means they’ve already landed in DC.”
“Yeah, she’s got that SEAL with her.” That much Contee would cough up. Her husband, Pierre, a mountain of a man, was quite intimidating. “I called Kaczewski’s commanding officer and he’s not heard one word, but I didn’t give him any information because I’m not sure who we can trust. It’s not good if the guys gunning for her hear she’s back on home turf.” The SEAL had kept her safe this long. Maybe it was better for them to follow up leads and try to find out why Tyler Keighley had been targeted.
“Agreed. Extradition orders came through for Kruger and White. You and Gunn get back here and then you’re on the next military transport to DC.”
He’d better get his z’s on the plane; he sure wasn’t going to get an opportunity in the next couple of days for a deep bed rest. Hell, REM sleep was overrated.
Washington, DC
As soon as Piper and Dex breezed through the charter airport security, he changed into jeans and a T-shirt, ditching the suit into the waste bin, while Piper changed into a pair of black capri pants and a multicolored crop top along with a baseball cap and dark glasses. She refused to throw away the gorgeous outfit she was wearing and stuffed everything into the suitcase. She pulled her hair into a short ponytail and it peeked out of the back of the cap. She looked like a teenaged tourist. He bought them two burner phones.
Piper called her car service, relieved to be home, but she still felt like she had a target on her back. Until they discovered who was trying to kill her, she wasn’t exactly safe just yet. They waited inside the airport until it pulled up. They got inside and she told the driver to take her home. As soon as they were in the stop-and-go of downtown DC, they slipped out of the car and escaped into the subway, traveling to the Cleveland Park Public Library.
Dex went to the desk and asked to use one of their private reading rooms, and with a smile the woman nodded and directed him down the hall.
They entered the room and closed the door. Dex called his dad and pushed the speakerphone button.
“Admiral Kaczewski.”
“Dad.”
“Dex!” He pulled in a hard breath and let it out. “Son, it’s good to hear your voice. Where are you?”
“In DC.” His father’s response made his chest a bit tight.
“What?” he said sharply, then lowered his voice. “Where?”
“I can’t tell you. It’s safer if I keep Piper with me and only I know where she is.”
His father sighed. Using his best admiral voice, he said, “I’ve been getting updates from NCIS. Let them handle this.” It was his father’s way to mitigate the situation, but turning Piper over to NCIS was like condemning her to death. He wouldn’t, not even for his father.
“No, I can’t,” he said firmly, needing his father to understand how much she meant to him without actually voicing it. Piper was standing there listening to everything he said. “If something happened to her because I walked away, I couldn’t live with that. We don’t know how far this goes and NCIS isn’t immune. Somebody with deep pockets and a lot of pull is trying to kill her.” Her face went white and he wasn’t sure if it was because his father wanted him to walk away or the fact that she was in so much danger. He didn’t care. He wasn’t going to turn her over to anyone.
There was silence and then his father’s resigned voice. “I see your point.”
“You just don’t like that I’m in harm’s way.” Dex tried to lighten the tense situation, but his father would find nothing amusing about Dex with a target on his back.
Surprisingly, his father chuckled as if he knew his own kid too well. “Son, I know you’re always in harm’s way, but I understand that you feel responsible for this woman.”
Dex clenched his jaw. He felt way more than just responsible for her. Their eyes met and he smiled encouragingly. He knew her, knew she was churning inside, knew her in a way that went beyond carnal knowledge to some other place that defied rational thought or logic. He was utterly himself with her, in a way he’d never been with Melissa or Suzy. No walls, no guarded moments. He was realistic and understood that he would walk away when this was over. But he wasn’t sure he could handle losing Piper, having her reject him and what he did for a living. Most women would.
Right now, he simply said what was true. “I’m all she has. All she can trust right now. I can’t abandon her.” He reached out and brushed his fingers over her downy cheek. “She saved my life,” he said simply with heartfelt emotion tingeing his words.
His father’s voice was subdued. “All right. Then I’m on board. What are you going to do?”
“Track down possible leads.”
“All right, and your wound?”
Dex smiled and said, “I’m okay, Dad.”
“If you say so.” He sniffed. “What can I do to help?”
“I need a safe place to stay.”
“Actually, I’ve got something for you,” his father said eagerly. “Your mother is house-sitting for a very good friend.” He rattled off an address. “I’ll get the key to you. Anything else?”
“Yeah, I need cash and a weapon. Oh, and, Dad, can you rent a car for me and leave it in the rental lot?”
<
br /> “Okay. I’ll make sure you get all this when you have the keys to the house. How is Senator Jones holding up?”
“She is...” He paused.
“I haven’t ever heard you speechless about a woman before. If I remember correctly, she’s about your age.”
“Yeah, Dad, she’s amazing and she shoots like a SEAL.” Piper was just...Piper. Strong and brave. He knew that more than anyone.
“Sounds like your mother,” his father said with a wry lilt to his voice.
“She’s got a lot of Mom’s qualities.”
“Well, she sounds like a keeper. Give me your number and I’ll call you when everything is ready.” There was a pause, then his father said, “It’s not going to be easy to hide a senator, especially when her face is all over the news. They’ve kept you out of it.”
“I know it won’t be easy, but I’ll keep her under wraps.” He met Piper’s gaze for an instant and tried to reassure her with his eyes. There were delicate purple shadows beneath her sepia eyes and a vulnerability around her mouth he was certain she didn’t realize was there. He ended the call.
“What now?”
“We just have to lay low until he gets everything situated.”
She took a tremulous breath and nodded. “What if he’s being watched?”
Dex laughed. “My dad’s a navy SEAL. The day he can’t outwit a tail is the day he’ll be in the ground.”
“It must be great to have that kind of faith in someone.”
“Don’t you have that kind of faith in me?”
She stared at him for a moment and he held his breath. He wanted that, her unconditional trust. “You’re right. I do.”
“It’s your turn. Call Edward, but don’t give him any details and make sure that you don’t cave,” he said firmly.
“The day that I can’t outwit my brother will be the day I am in the ground. If that won’t work, I’ll bully him. My nickname isn’t Bulldozer for nothing.”
He laughed again. “Hell, woman, you even have a nickname, or as we call it on the team, a call sign. You are a SEAL in the making.”
She dialed and when her brother answered, she said, “Edward.”
“Oh, my God, Piper...” Dex could hear the relief and love in Edward’s voice over the speaker Piper had set when she’d put the call through. “I should never have let you talk me into you going over there, Bulldozer.”
Her voice was strained when she answered. “I’m okay. I had help.”
“Well, whoever it was has my undying gratitude. Where are you?”
“I’m safe. How’s Tyler?”
“He’s stable and in one piece. He’s looking at some major recovery time, and I don’t know if he’ll ever be physically able to continue military service. He’s pretty worried about that. I took precautions and got him somewhere safe with medical attention after I got this anonymous tip. I think I owe that to the lieutenant.”
The knot of worry eased in his gut, but they weren’t out of the woods yet. It hurt Dex to think his big, strong teammate and friend was going to have to go through a lot of rehab, but he never doubted for a moment that Tyler would come out of this stronger. He would be back. He was a SEAL. Broken bones and internal injuries would heal.
“Why did you do that, Edward?” she said.
His voice hardened. “I heard from NCIS. They’re actually going to be here tomorrow. Two agents. Derrick Gunn and Austin Beck. They were looking for you in Afghanistan. They said that Tyler’s team was intentionally ambushed and he was the target.”
“What?” She threw him a shocked glance and rage exploded in Dex. He clenched his hands at his sides at this news. Someone was going to freaking pay for this. “Why?” she asked.
“There’s only one thing I can think of that he’s doing that may cause someone to worry about anyone digging deeper.”
“What?”
“He’s never been happy with the result of the police report regarding the accident that killed Brad. He hired a PI to look into it.” Dex heard some papers shuffling. “Doug Utley.” Edward rattled off a number. “As of right now, Mr. Utley’s following some leads. It just worries me that as soon as Tyler starts digging, he gets ambushed. NCIS said that insurgent attack was faked and they were there to finish Tyler off and take you out, too.”
“Because of the accident?”
“What else could it be?”
She rubbed at her forehead, her voice angry. “I don’t know, but we have to figure it out. Until we do, I’m not safe.”
“Who are you with? That navy SEAL, Tyler’s friend and leader?”
“Yes, his name is Dex.”
“Thank you, Dex. I’m sure you’re listening. I owe you, man, for saving my sister. Now it’s best for you to come home. I took leave and I’m at the mansion. We’ll get you protection.”
Dex grabbed the phone. “That would be a bonehead move.”
“You do realize, Lieutenant, I’m a trained government bodyguard. I can take care of my sister.”
“I don’t give a damn. Piper is safer with me. It’s too risky because of the DS connection,” Dex said flatly.
She took the phone back with a glare. “Edward, Dex is right. I’d be safer off the grid. I can’t really trust anyone right now.”
“Not even me?” He sounded hurt, but Dex didn’t care. This was about a lot more than a trust between brother and sister. He couldn’t protect her like Dex could.
Dex said, “No,” and she shushed him.
“Yes, of course, I trust you, but they’ll be watching everyone I’m close to. Here’s my number.”
“Got it. And maybe you’re right, but, sis, I was out of my mind with worry when you disappeared five days ago, so forgive me for being overprotective.” He sounded frustrated and Dex didn’t doubt he loved Piper, but she was sticking close to him.
“I forgive you,” she said, her voice softening.
“Keep me in the loop and updated. I’d like to know my baby sister is alive and well. Let me know if I can help.”
“I will. Bye, Edward. I love you.” She ended the call.
“So this is about that car accident.” There had to be something there. Something someone was trying to cover up or... He didn’t want to mention to Piper at this time that her husband could have been involved in something shady, too. This was Washington, DC, and there was plenty of money and power to be had here. Maybe Brad Jones had wanted more and it had gotten him killed. “What do you remember about it?”
“Not much. I’ve tried to block it out, Dex,” she said as he pulled her out of the small room and back outside. He clasped her hand and crossed the street. “I’ve had dreams about it.” She blushed and he knew she was remembering the first time they made love right after he’d woken her up when she was having a nightmare. She had been reliving the accident. “But I can’t be sure what I’m dreaming is real or an illusion.”
His cell phone rang and he fished it out of his back jeans pocket. His father said, “Son, I’ve got everything delivered to the safe house. It’s in the mailbox. It’s gated, but you shouldn’t have any problems. The key code to the gate is in there, too.”
“Thanks, Dad. Stay alert and keep me posted.” Dex ended the call. “Let’s get to the safe house, get something to eat and some rest. We’ll need to break all this down, get in touch with your brother’s PI and put the pieces together.”
She nodded.
Whoever was after Piper was going to rue the day they attacked her. He was beyond livid that someone had gotten their secret op info, kidnapped marines and killed and wounded his men, not to mention maybe ruining Tyler’s promising SEAL career. Those people were going to pay, and he wouldn’t rest until he unearthed each and every one of them and neutralized this threat to Piper, regardless of the means. Even if it was the deadly
force of one pissed-off SEAL.
Stephen J. Montgomery’s Office, The Montgomery Group, New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington, DC
Stephen Montgomery sat looking out the penthouse office straight down New Jersey Avenue to the sight of the Capitol Building, nestled among the height of the summer greenery. He’d just gotten off the phone with Edward Keighley.
He’d filled him in that Piper was alive and right here in DC.
Stephen had been one of Edward’s father’s closest friends, his confidant and golf partner. He’d had his fingers in the political pie for some time with the innovations and government contracts he’d procured through his “contacts.” He’d watched Edward, Piper and Tyler grow from small children to adolescents with their braces, get involved in soccer games and Scouts and through their teen years and college years. He attended Brad and Piper’s wedding, had been there when Edward’s wife had died of cancer and when Tyler had chucked the whole political thing and gone into the navy. He’d been there when both of their parents died.
There had been plenty of times when Piper’s father, Randolph, had given him inside information, stating that Business was business. Sometimes it was ugly, sometimes it was messy and sometimes it was downright...deadly. He’d used whatever means he had at his disposal to leverage the Montgomery Group into the billion-dollar company it now was. He intended to keep it right where it was.
His phone buzzed and he answered. “Yes.”
“There’s a Senator Robert Mullins here to see you, Mr. Montgomery. Should I show him in?”
“Yes, Ms. Collins,” he said, totally curious as to why he was being graced with the presence of the top candidate for the next presidency of the United States. “I’ll see him.”
“Yes, sir,” she said.
