Honor Among SEALs
Page 27
“What do you mean, he agreed with me?” Blake touched her shoulder and gently tugged her around to face him. There was kindness in his eyes she hadn’t thought him capable of showing.
“He said if it had been his sister, he’d have felt exactly the same as you. ‘Blood is blood, no matter what.’ That’s what he said. He’s entitled to his opinion, and I’m glad I know how he feels, but I’m not going back in that box—not even for him. I carried the guilt for way too long, but I’m done. Seeing condemnation in MacGyver’s eyes would be the final insult. I won’t put myself through that.”
Blake stared at her with narrowed eyes. “MacGyver did say that, but you stopped listening too soon, sweetheart. Because, right after that, he landed on me with both feet. Said it was your job to protect that girl from men like my brother, and you’d done what you had to do. He asked me how I’d feel if the Iraqi girl had been my sister.” Blake paused and rubbed his hand across the back of his neck. “It’s too bad you didn’t hear that part. He read me the riot act, and it wasn’t because you and he were sharin’ sheets, either. MacGyver went to bat for you because he believed every word he said, and it was the honorable thing to do. That’s how he rolls.”
Blake was right about that. MacGyver was the embodiment of honor and integrity. That was why his opinion had hurt her so much. If what Blake said was true, she’d made a huge mistake. Without so much as a thank you, she’d walked away from the best man she’d ever known.
MacGyver had been shot, and Kellie hadn’t bothered to visit, call or even send flowers. How’s that for appreciation! She’d been too busy trying to resolve her own problems. Was she guilty, as everyone she’d known seemed to think? Or had she been a victim as well?
After much soul searching in the past ten days, she’d come to the conclusion she’d reacted appropriately to the threat Christian Sorenson had posed to Zariya and her. The result had been a tragedy she’d have to live with for the rest of her life, but, if she had it to do over, she wouldn’t—couldn’t—do anything different.
Somewhere along the way, she’d made the decision to follow MacGyver’s example. Run toward the battle instead of away. She had to meet Christian, in the flesh, and not only seek absolution for herself, but grant it as well, even if he didn’t ask.
“Answer me this.” Blake broke into her thoughts, regarding her with obvious misgivings. “If you can’t face MacGyver, how will you stand in front of my little brother?”
“I’d like to know the answer to that question, too.” Christian Sorenson’s voice echoed through the mostly empty hanger and instantly wrapped her in the sights and sounds of Baghdad, wind blowing hot sand through the dusty gate of a city at war.
She caught the abrupt lifting of Blake’s eyebrows just before she whipped around. She wasn’t ready. Christian wasn’t supposed to be here yet, scheduled to arrive in a day or so, his brother had said. Nonetheless, he was. Halfway between her and the overhead door, wide-open to the hot, dry Vegas day, sat Christian in his wheelchair. His facial features were the same as Blake’s, but that was where the resemblance ended. He was clean-shaven, his dark hair meticulously trimmed and combed. His thick biceps and pecs filled out the neatly pressed navy blue polo shirt with no room to spare, and his denim jeans encased long legs, braced, unmoving, against the footrests of his chair. Arms crossed, he stared.
Kellie swallowed and straightened slightly.
“You’re a day early,” Blake said. “I’d have picked you up if I’d known.”
“I took an Uber.” Christian never took his eyes off her.
Blake grumbled something barely audible. “You’ve got company. You remember—”
“I know who she is. Why is she here?”
Hello! I’m right here! Typical. Kellie strode toward him, stretching out her hand. “We’ve never officially met, Private Sorenson. I’m—”
“I’m not in the Army anymore, Corporal Bowman.” Christian didn’t even glance at her hand, his piercing gaze battering away at her determination.
She let her arm fall to her side. “It’s Greyson now…and please call me Kellie.”
“Married?”
“No.” It was none of his business, but the quirk of his brow was his first sign of interest in anything she had to say, so she’d grant some latitude. “It’s my mother’s name. I…we…” Where did she start? “You know what? It’s a really long story, and if you still want to hear it after we talk about…the elephant in the room, I’ll be happy to tell you.”
He glanced once at Blake over her shoulder, then back to her, and five long seconds ticked by. “Okay, Kellie Greyson, let’s take a walk.” He wheeled around and started rolling toward the hanger entrance.
Kellie flinched at the verbal reminder that walking was something he could no longer do. She glanced at Blake, and he winked like it was just another day. With a roll of her eyes, she hurried to catch up with Christian.
* * * *
Charlie ignored his question—not for the first time—and handed him another beer. MacGyver took the bottle, twisted the cap and sucked down a third of the brew before he set it on the coffee table in front of the couch, where several empties already waited.
The house Kellie had shared with her stepdad since returning from Iraq was spacious and open, with living room windows facing west, where the current sunset splashed across the horizon. Kellie had apparently stayed long enough to help Charlie clean up the mess Palazzi had left when he’d tossed the place, looking for clues to their location. Then she’d taken off with God-knows-what-kind of a plan.
Kellie had refused to return his calls for seven straight days—ever since he’d been released from the hospital. He was going nuts not knowing where she was or what had caused her to disappear after the firefight at the airport. He needed to see her—hold her—make things right.
A road trip had seemed in order, two broken ribs and all, but when he arrived at Charlie’s house, Kellie had been long gone.
“She had some thinking to do,” Charlie had said, and the stubborn old man wasn’t giving up anything else.
Meanwhile, not knowing what kind of trouble she was getting herself into was making MacGyver crazy.
Shit! This is getting me nowhere…except closer to a DUI.
“I know what you’re trying to do, Charlie. Getting me drunk won’t make me forget why I’m here. I need to know where she is. What if she’s off on another scheme to right some wrong? Do you really want her out there with no one watching her back?”
“I’m sworn to secrecy, Son. I’d tell you if I could, but I won’t break that trust. I have her promise to be back in a week or so, when Jeremy brings Anna home for a visit. Until then, she checks in every couple days. You’ll be the first to know if there’s trouble.”
“Jesus, Charlie! You’re killing me here. What can you tell me? Do you know why she won’t return my calls? Why she didn’t come or at least call when I was in the hospital?”
“No, but she’s been through a hell of a lot in the last couple weeks. It’s going to take some time.” Charlie stood and motioned toward the kitchen. “I’m hungry. How about you?”
MacGyver would probably choke on anything he tried to swallow, but common sense told him he had to keep Charlie talking. “I could eat I guess.”
“I’ve got some steaks thawed. Why don’t you start the gas barbeque out back while I get them ready and pop some bakers in the microwave?” Chip was right on his heels as Charlie headed for the kitchen.
MacGyver scrubbed his hands down his face, the rasping of whiskers reminding him he hadn’t shaved or showered in a few days. The bullet he’d taken had broken one rib on the way in and one on the way out. Between the discomfort every time he moved wrong and worrying about Kellie, he hadn’t been sleeping either. After dinner, he’d find a motel room, clean up and try to get some sleep. Maybe a brilliant idea would strike him if he wasn’t so damned tired.
With two fingers, he lifted the device from his back pocket, hoping against all odds it was Kellie. He should have known better. Blake’s name and number appeared on the screen. He’d been at the airport shoot out, but MacGyver hadn’t spoken to him since they’d patched up Kellie in the woods after they found her. MacGyver shook his head. Seemed she was damned hard to keep track of.
“Hey, Blake. How’s it going? Listen, I should have called and checked in with you a week ago. I owe you big time, pal.”
“I figure we’re just about even, MacGyver. Call me anytime you need a hand. Obviously, you need someone to keep you out of trouble.” Blake laughed, but it lacked his usual enthusiasm.
“I’ll remember that. You should fly down to San Diego. I’ll give you the five cent tour of our new offices. Private security is where it’s at in this day and age, Blake. You should consider applying for a job.”
“Yeah…yeah, maybe I will.”
Concern for his friend piqued MacGyver’s curiosity. “Everything okay when you got home?”
“Actually, I called for a reason, MacGyver. What’s up with you and Kellie? Did you have a fight?”
His relationship with Kellie wasn’t any of Blake’s business, but his friend’s unusual seriousness concerned him. And why the hell was Blake asking if he and Kellie had argued? What other tidbits of information did he have?
“What’s going on, Sorenson? Do you know where she is?”
This time Blake’s laugh was genuine. “Does that mean you lost her again?”
MacGyver heaved a frustrated sigh. “You could say that.” Silence for the space of three long seconds met him on the other end.
“I know where she is.” When Blake finally spoke, his voice was a notch above a whisper.
For a moment, MacGyver stood open-mouthed. Surely he’d misunderstood. Blake was the last person he would have thought to ask. His association with Kellie was cordial at best—outright hostile at its worst. Sure, Blake had come around in the end, but Kellie still didn’t trust him.
It went without saying that Kellie keeping MacGyver in the dark while letting Blake in wasn’t a good sign. “Where is she? Is she all right?” He needed to know that above everything else, and Blake would tell him the truth.
“She’s here…at the hanger.”
Shit! “What’s she—”
“She came to talk to Christian.”
MacGyver’s heart dropped to his stomach. “How’d that go?” It couldn’t have been easy for her. Damn it. He would have gone with her if she hadn’t pulled her disappearing act.
“Far better than I imagined. Right now, they’re playing chess, and Kellie’s kicking his ass.”
She was okay. Relief poured through MacGyver’s body. “Let me talk to her.”
Blake paused for a heartbeat. “She doesn’t know I’m calling you, but I figured you’d be going psycho looking for her. Kellie overheard us talking at the cabin. Because of something you said, she thinks you agreed with me—that she shouldn’t have tried to stop Christian from attacking that girl.”
MacGyver sifted through his memories of the conversation he’d had with Blake, but all he could remember was coming down hard on his friend for the way he’d treated Kellie. “Why would she think that? It’s not even close to true.”
“I know, man, but she stopped listening before you started chewin’ my ass. She didn’t hear any of that. I told her what went down, but I’m not sure she believes me.”
MacGyver started pacing as the need to talk to her consumed him. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
“No. Not tonight. This is their time—her and Christian. You should see him, MacGyver. He’s a different person.” Even though his obvious pride shone through, Blake’s voice cracked, and he stopped to clear his throat. “I’m taking her back to the house to spend the night, but we’ll be here in the morning. I talked her into playing mechanic with me.” He chuckled. “Come any time after ten…and bring coffee.”
Blake was gone before MacGyver could argue. For thirty seconds, he stared at the blank screen. He had to get his act together. Kellie was safe with Blake and Christian. That was the important takeaway from Blake’s call. She didn’t want MacGyver there. If she did, wouldn’t she have asked him to go? And Blake wouldn’t have had to make his call behind her back. Maybe MacGyver would be crowding her if he showed up there tomorrow. Maybe the smart thing would be for him to go home and give her the space she obviously needed.
Then again, he’d never been widely known for his common sense.
Chapter Twenty-three
“Augh! Christian, you cheated!” Exhilarated, Kellie jumped to her feet and stopped the rolling of her aviation creeper with her foot. The wheeled, plastic sled, intended to allow the viewing of a plane’s undercarriage in comfort, had carried her to second place in a race with a field of two.
Stretched across his creeper on his stomach, the toes of Christian’s tennis shoes dragged the concrete as his powerful arms shot him over the finish line. She could hear him laughing from where she stood. Almost stopped, he rolled from the creeper, landing with a whomp on his back and threw his fists in the air. He’d given her no special treatment in their contest, and now he was gloating over his victory.
She’d learned two things about Christian Sorenson in the past eighteen hours. Everything was a competition for him, and he always gave everything he had to win. That was exactly how she liked to operate too.
Kellie couldn’t help but laugh with him. His enthusiasm for life was contagious. Blake, who’d been charged with videotaping their race, strolled by her, a huge grin on his mug, pushing Christian’s chair.
Christian raised his head and pointed at her. “How did I cheat?”
Kellie watched as he practically vaulted off his arms into the chair. “Just look at you. There’s a huge difference between your guns and mine.”
Christian shook his head as he rolled to within six inches of her and grabbed her arm, holding it up for inspection. With a cluck of his tongue, he let it drop. “You’ve got a ways to go before you can even call that a gun.”
Kellie snorted. “You didn’t just—I can’t believe you said that.” She smacked his shoulder playfully as he skirted around her.
“I could help you work on those if you come visit me in Frisco. My girlfriend, Meg, would love to meet you.”
“Hey. How come I’ve never gotten an invitation to meet the girlfriend?” Blake winked at Kellie as he bent to retrieve the rolling aviation tool Christian had ridden to victory.
She smiled at Blake as he picked up her creeper, returning both of them to the plane, where she and Christian were supposed to be helping him pack wheel bearings. Kellie was pretty sure she’d gotten more grease on the oversized coveralls Blake had provided for her than on the wheels, but it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered today. She was free.
“Be careful what you wish for, Christian. San Diego is my next stop, so I just might take a drive up the coast and crash at your place for a while.”
Christian cocked his head at Blake. “See there. If you ever get this bucket of bolts back in the air, you could fly Kellie over and stay for a visit.” He glanced toward her. “What’s in San Diego?”
“I am.”
Kellie gasped as the familiar timbre sent tingles of anticipation whispering across her skin. MacGyver is here? How? Why? She spun to face him.
He stood just inside the hanger, holding a cardboard tray with four steaming cups of something from Starbucks.
His other arm was tucked protectively against his side, the only outward sign of the wound he’d received. With the bright sun at his back, she couldn’t make out his features, but she’d recognize those shoulders and that voice from a crowd of thousands. Her heart jump-started into double time.
“At least I hope I’m why you’re going.” He took a few steps toward her but halted a dozen feet away.
* * * *
MacGyver heard Kellie talking and stopped just outside the hanger to listen. Music to his ears. He hadn’t realized how uptight he was until the vise that pinched his gut suddenly let go.
Blake was inside with her, and the unfamiliar voice must be Christian’s, which meant it was Blake’s brother who’d just invited her to visit him in San Francisco. Hell no, that wasn’t happening. MacGyver didn’t care if the guy did have a girlfriend.
He nearly dropped the carrier full of coffee when she said she was going to San Diego. His hometown. His alter ego immediately raised the idea she was making the trip to see him. Why else? Jeremy’s uncle also had a home in San Diego, which meant Anna could be there. His emotions yo-yoed up and down so fast they were making him dizzy. By the time Christian posed his question about why she was going, MacGyver had already stepped inside the hanger with no recollection of moving.
He must have spoken the words out loud that he’d been thinking, because everyone turned at the same time to stare in his direction. MacGyver smiled and let his perusal roam over her, assuring himself she was all right. Aside from her lack of a smile, everything was where it was supposed to be.
Dressed in baggy coveralls, the sleeves and legs rolled up, she was covered with streaks of grease. She even had a smudge on her cheek. Despite that, she’d never looked more beautiful. Her silky blonde hair, pulled back in a low ponytail, framed her perfect face. The incredible green of her eyes, wide with surprise, filled the empty places in his heart with an ache he’d never felt before.
“Kellie? Can we talk, baby? I need to explain something I said that you might have misunderstood.”