Protecting Mari (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (Counterstrike Book 1)

by Cara Carnes

  But Tex had mentioned he was on a mission, which meant he likely couldn’t do any of that anytime soon. She hoped he was okay and being careful.

  “I’ll help fix breakfast, Mrs. Santos,” Milo offered.

  “Bueno, bueno. You are a good boy and a good cook. You chop potatoes and onions. I’ll do the rest.” The woman shuffled into the kitchen and donned an apron hanging from the stove, the exact place Mom hung hers in her kitchen.

  Mari couldn’t help but smile. Mom had already taken over the kitchen like it was hers. She flashed a grateful smile to Milo when he fell into step alongside her mom without comment or argument. He smirked as he started chopping potatoes and onions.

  “If she gets out of control, let me know and I’ll try to rein her in,” Mari whispered to Ethan.

  “She’s fine. It’s nice to have a mom in the house, to be honest. It’s been a while.” Pain glinted in his gaze when he looked down at her. “She and I came to an understanding earlier when she tried to go upstairs and wake you. She understands my boundaries, and so does your dad. We’re good.”

  She understood his boundaries and so did her dad? Questions fell into line in her brain, but she didn’t give them voice. Her heart swelled when she realized they’d worked out an understanding.

  For her.

  “Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you for everything.”

  “Sit. I’ll get you something to drink, then we’ll go over what happened yesterday. Do you want coffee, juice, cocoa, water, soda?”

  “Juice,” she decided quickly. She made her way to the table and sat beside Zoey, and across from Vi and Mary. She looked at the small table and the crush of people within the room.

  Men she hadn’t met had quietly shuffled into the room at some point and were standing in the corner the women had vacated. No, that wasn’t right. She’d seen Jud and Gage. But there were two more she hadn’t met yet with them. Voices drifted in from the other room, which meant even more people.

  Ethan set orange juice down in front of her and sat on a stool he dragged from the bar. He pushed a button on the side, and she watched in surprise as the legs shortened.

  “Cool,” Zoey breathed. “I want one.”

  “A buddy of ours designed them. We helped fund it, so we got a few as a thank you,” Milo offered. “There’s a bunch more in the garage we haven’t assembled. Grab one if you want.”

  “Sweet.” The woman grinned, then looked at her two counterparts across the way. “Tex called. He and Cord finished their part.”

  “Jacob’s already fed it into HERA. We got the alert a little while ago,” Vi said as she glanced at her cellphone. “We should have a better idea what happened soon enough.’

  “The women and Tex hacked all the security camera feeds in South and East Austin and pulled the footage. Their system is going to run through it and gather any footage that has either Chester or Samual Rivers. We’ll add other people if needed until we get some answers,” Ethan explained.

  The back door opened before Mari could respond. Jen entered. Two handsome men entered behind her. Ethan stood and met them halfway into the room.

  “Good to see you, Dax.” He shook the first man’s hand and they did a man greeting, half-hug maneuver.

  Mari froze when her gaze settled on the second man. Detective Rodriguez.

  “Detective, I have to admit this is a surprise.”

  “Mr. Davenport,” he returned in greeting. His gaze settled on Mari. “Ms. Santos.”

  “I take it this is an official visit,” Ethan said as he regarded Daxton. “Mari, this is Daxton Chambers, of the Texas Rangers.”

  She’d figured that much out thanks to the badge on his dark green, button-down shirt. The material accentuated his muscular frame well, as did the black slacks. His brown hair was cut short and he was about the same height as Ethan. The wedding ring glinted on his finger. She couldn’t help but notice the way his thumb stroked its underside.

  She smiled at him and the detective even though she wanted them gone. They’d been having a good morning and nothing they could say would add to that.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, deciding to get the point rather than let the pleasantries drag out.

  “Marisol!” Her mother shouted from the kitchen. “You do not treat guests like that. I raised you better. Forgive my daughter, she is shy.”

  The two men smiled as they headed toward the table and took the two seats Vi and Mary vacated. Ethan took Zoey’s. The room suddenly shrank as she regarded the two men who had just arrived. Then she glanced at Jen and saw the tentative smile.

  Okay, so maybe it wasn’t all bad news.

  “I’m afraid we need to ask you a few questions about your ex-husband,” Detective Rodriguez said. “Does he have any properties at his disposal not in his name?”

  “You’re looking for him,” she replied.

  “Any information you have would help,” Daxton offered.

  “He has quite a few cousins in San Antonio. I can’t remember where exactly, but their place is south of town, off Interstate 35. Cooter Rollins is the uncle’s name, I believe. He owns the property as far as I know.” Mari looked at Daxton, then over at Detective Rodriguez. “He has a lot of friends, but I don’t know all their names I’m afraid.”

  “I take it he’s being brought in for questioning,” Ethan said.

  “Yes.” Daxton looked over at the corner at the women and smirked. “I’m not sure exactly what happened yesterday evening, but the Department of Defense and Homeland Security are all over the APD now. They’ve demanded a full investigation of the Homicide Division. And the Burglary and Robbery Divisions as well. The order apparently came straight from the top, the Secretary of Defense.”

  “That Bob,” Milo laughed from the kitchen.

  Daxton quirked his eyebrows, as did Mari. She looked over at Ethan, who was grinning at the women in the corner. Vi and Mary both shrugged. The men around them chuckled.

  “Don’t ask,” Zoey supplied.

  “Investigations of that magnitude take a significant amount of time,” Daxton explained. “We won’t have a resolution for a while, but all investigations involving you and Counterstrike have been closed due to lack of evidence.”

  “They had no justification to go after you or Counterstrike, Ms. Santos,” Detective Rodriguez admitted. “I’m saying that off the record because you deserve to know. Last night’s actions are being added to the investigation into Mr. Rollins.”

  Mari breathed a relieved sigh and nodded. “I wish I could do more to help find him.”

  “You’ve done more than you realize. Your statements have helped tremendously. I’m not in your official investigation,” Dax said. “The two assigned to assist are the best around. They’ll keep the investigation on track.”

  “Thank you,” she offered lamely.

  “Did he ever mention an ex-wife by chance?” Dax asked.

  “No.” Her gut soured. “He was married? Before me?”

  She glanced around as the two men regarded one another. The information should’ve surprised her, but it didn’t. Chester was a bastard who would’ve likely gotten off on not telling her he’d been married before. “I didn’t know.”

  “I’m thinking this information isn’t in the good column,” Jud commented from the corner.

  Dax shifted his attention there. “We can’t discuss the details.”

  The man glanced down at Vi and grinned. “That’s okay. We’ll figure it out on our own.”

  “We figured as much,” Detective Rodriguez commented. “You’ll be contacted by the official investigators shortly, but we both wanted you to know the tide has shifted after last night’s…incident. I hope you don’t judge the entire APD by the actions of a few.”

  It was more than a few, but Mari remained silent. In all honesty, she had judged the entire department by the actions of those who’d tormented her on Chester’s behalf.

  “An extensive investigation into your experiences will begin shor
tly,” Dax said. “Chester is the primary concern, but the others are just as culpable. They had a duty to protect and serve you and they failed. We’ll make every effort to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

  “Appreciated,” Ethan said.

  “You’ve got a good man and a great group behind you now, Ms. Santos. Trust them and they’ll help you get through this. We all will,” Daxton said. “Perhaps when this is all over someone can explain to me how this house became a matter of national security that went as high up as the Secretary of Defense.”

  “You don’t want to know. I keep saying that and no one listens,” Zoey said. “Yeesh.”

  Gage chuckled. “Leave them be, Little Bit.”

  “For the love of all that’s holy, stop calling me that.”

  Everyone in the corner laughed. Mari smiled. Her mother approached Daxton and Detective Rodriguez. Her fingers stroked the cross around her neck.

  “What’s her name?” her mom asked.

  “Excuse me, ma’am?” Detective Rodriguez asked.

  “The ex-wife, before my hija.” She looked up at the man and flashed her ten-thousand-watt smile, the one that could conquer worlds if she wished. “I will pray for her. What is her name.”

  “I’m afraid we can’t—”

  “Sandra Gomez, from Devine,” Daxton cut in with a grin. “I’m thinking that’s enough information for God to work with.”

  “Bueno, he’ll make do.” Her mom patted Daxton’s arm. “You are a good boy. Gracias for protecting my daughter. Sit, we will have breakfast. Mijo, fix coffee.”

  Mari froze at the term for son. She looked at her mom and noted her gaze on Ethan. Oh boy. Mom was cutting corners. She’d been after her to start dating for a while now. Clearly she’d put two and two together and jumped clear to four hundred.

  “I’m afraid we must go, Mrs. Santos. Another time,” Dax said as he looked at Ethan. “You need anything, let us know. Lots of folks in San Antonio are willing to make the short trip up here if needed.”

  “Appreciated.” Ethan nodded toward the corner. “Tex has us covered.”

  The room settled into a tense silence as Ethan escorted the two men to the door. He latched it shut behind them and turned to regard his sister. “Well?”

  “It’s a step in the right direction, but it’ll be a long road mired in red tape.”

  “At least they realize last night’s move was bogus,” Milo said.

  “Bueno. Bueno,” Mari’s mom said. She pointed at the corner. “You. Sandra Gomez. Devine.” Then she pointed at Milo. “Chop. Mi hija needs to eat.”

  The women looked at one another and the men all laughed as they shuffled from the corner. One of them stooped down and picked up a laptop case. He smirked as he handed it to Mary.

  “I’m thinking you have your marching orders.”

  “Don’t tease, Dylan. She’s in protective mama mode,” Zoey whispered. “I’ve seen it before. Women can do anything when their baby’s cornered. Let’s get to work. I’m thinking her so-called prayer was a ruse.”

  Oh boy.

  Mari intercepted her mom halfway to the corner. She wasn’t sure what she intended, but there was no way all that brawn in the corner was about to let her mom lay into the women. “Mom, let’s fix breakfast. I’m hungry.”

  “God works in mysterious ways. You don’t question his plan. You do his bidding.” She shook a finger toward the corner in general. “Get to work.”

  Work. Mari dreaded the conversation she needed to have. She glanced at Ethan.

  “No way in hell you’re going to work today, Mari. Don’t even think it,” Jen said. “I backed that decision yesterday and look what happened. You’re staying here at the house, or you’re going to Counterstrike and helping us there, but you aren’t working.”

  The woman had a point. Things did technically happen while she was at work, or started there at least. And she had to admit she was more than a little curious to see Counterstrike’s headquarters. It was an important part of Ethan’s life, which meant she wanted to know more.

  Ethan leaned in until his hot breath fanned along the shell of her ear. A shiver of anticipation rolled through her as her mind wandered back to the amazing kissing they’d had. Her toes curled in her tennis shoes. “Whatever you decide to do today, sweetheart, you’re mine tonight. We’re going out on a date. A real one.”

  A date?

  Panic filled her at the thought. She had nothing to wear on a date. She hadn’t been out on one in forever. Months. No. Years. She swallowed and dutifully nodded. She’d figure it out. Surely one of her credit cards could eek out enough room for something. Right?

  Zoey trundled over and patted her on the back when Ethan headed into the kitchen to make coffee. “Don’t worry, girlfriend. We’ll sneak out and take you shopping.”

  “I don’t think I should sneak out anywhere. Ethan would probably send ninjas to come find me or something.”

  “It’ll be fine. Trust me.” The woman grinned big, like she’d just planned the heist of the century and gotten away with it. Mari couldn’t help but smile back. The woman’s upbeat mindset was infectious. “We’ll take your mom.”

  Shopping with mom and a new friend sounded fun, which was something else she hadn’t had much of lately. “That sounds perfect.”

  She glanced over at Ethan in the kitchen and noted the way he and Milo watched. She didn’t think Zoey was as under the radar for a planned shopping outing as she thought.

  But it didn’t matter because Mari had a date with Ethan tonight.

  Chapter 10

  The women entered the millionth shop. Six hours and they were still shopping. Ethan glared over at Milo as he walked into the small boutique behind them.

  “There’s a special place in hell for people who like shopping,” Mary stated as she sat beside him on the bench.

  Mary. After the first couple of hours his mind had shifted from thinking of her as Edge to seeing her as Mary. Nolan chuckled from beside him. The three had formed a ritual of sitting outside wherever the women landed. Jen, Zoey, Mari, and her mom were having a blast shopping. Vi flitted between their group and Mary’s.

  Dylan and the other men had trusted Nolan, Ethan, and Milo to keep them safe while they went through and double-checked installation on all the security cameras in the empty safehouses. Jud had joined them at the last minute.

  “Thank you,” he said. “For what you’re doing for Counterstrike. For Mari. For what you did to get me out of that jungle. Thank you.”

  “We should have some answers when we get back to the house—assuming the shopping doesn’t kill us,” Mary said. “Tex and Jacob are close to getting what we need. HERA’s pulled all the footage we needed. Now it’s just a matter of putting the pieces together.”

  “It’s a hell of a system.”

  “It’s due for upgrades. That’s on the agenda over the next few months, once things settle down at The Arsenal.”

  “Like that’ll ever happen,” Nolan muttered.

  Mary chuckled. “Trouble does have a way of finding us.”

  “More like we have a way of knocking it over, kneeing it in the nuts, and kicking its ass,” Jud said as he sat on the ground beside the bench. “The women are checking out. Mari walked in and fell in love with a dress immediately. Thank fuck.”

  Ethan smiled as he looked at the small boutique. He couldn’t wait to take Mari out tonight, to get her mind on something other than her bastard ex and the other shit swirling around them all.

  That kiss.

  His entire body tightened whenever he thought about it. Blood surged southward of its own accord. The woman was breathtaking. He’d been with more women than he cared to remember. None had ever made him react so quickly and easily.

  “I hope to hell taking her out tonight isn’t a mistake. They haven’t found the bastard yet,” Ethan said. “Twitch and Milo said they’d keep an eye on us, just in case.”

  “You’ll be covered. I’m thinking Vi needs a night on
the town,” Jud commented.

  “I could go for a steak. Baby needs a thick slab of something bloody,” Mary commented.

  “At least you aren’t puking your guts out every few minutes,” Jud commented.

  Ethan wondered what Mari would be like pregnant. She’d be a great mom. Jesus, he was in deep. He was already imagining the two of them together years from now. Married.

  With kids.

  It was way too soon for those sort of thoughts, but he was naturally impulsive. No, decisive.

  “Love happens when we least expect it,” Mary commented. “It’s something I’ve learned lately.”

  “No shit,” Jud said. “Some free advice, just go with it. Surrendering is easier. You can’t fight fate.”

  Seven hours later

  Ethan wasn’t sure whether to kick the women’s asses or kiss them all for helping Mari get ready. She sauntered down the stairwell looking like a queen adorned in a jade green dress that hugged her generous curves. Blood surged to his cock.

  Her long, curly hair spiraled around her face in softer, looser twirls that ended with a flirt across her breasts. If he looked hard enough he could see the bruising and marks left by the bastard who’d hurt her, but someone had done a hell of a job concealing them with makeup.

  Makeup. That’s what was different about Mari’s face. Pale pink lipstick accentuated her thick, lush lips. Her eyes seemed bigger, brighter. She offered a hesitant smile as she descended the last step. He reached out and took her hand.

  “You’re gorgeous, sweetheart.” He leaned in and feathered a kiss across her forehead.

  He wanted to toss her over his shoulder and cart her to his bedroom caveman style, but he didn’t think the group of people clustered around them would be down with that decision. Someone cleared their throat behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and took the thin, lacy shawl his sister offered.

  In the hour the women took helping her get ready, he’d worked out a protection detail with everyone else. Mary, Dylan, Jud and Vi would follow in Milo’s car. Getting reservations for three separate tables for the same time last minute at the trendy lakeside restaurant he’d planned had proven almost impossible.