“Ky,” she said sweetly, a tender sheen in her eyes. “I was there with you, remember? There isn’t anything you can tell me that will make me...” a gentle smile tugged at her lips, “. . . miss our first date.”
“I can’t give you what you need,” he declared hoarsely. Quietly. “You have to understand that going in. I won’t lie to you. I’m not who you think—”
She lifted up on her tiptoes, rubbing her nose against his neck like a cat. Scenting him. Claiming him. Touching him. “Are you sure about that?” she asked in her sultry, tease-me-crazy voice, the husky one he’d give anything to wake up to every morning for the rest of his life.
“Pretty sure. I’ve got scars, and those guys...” He jerked his head toward the east behind him, toward Kabul. “They worked me over pretty good. I’ve got—”
“You’ve got me,” she said firmly but quietly. No more than a whisper. No more than a promise. “You’ve got me for the hard times and the good times. Look into these eyes, Ky Winchester, and tell me what you see there.”
He couldn’t look away, because, well, he saw his whole world in Eden’s green eyes. His daytimes. His nighttimes. His every-heartbeat-in-between times. “Are you hypnotizing me?” He hoped so.
Eden shook her head. “Better. I’ve fallen in love with you, Ky.”
His heart stuttered to a screeching halt before it jumped up high and somersaulted into a perfect swan dive down his throat. “Me?” he asked, like he needed to hear it again. Because he sure as hell did.
Her gaze melted into a warm green glow there in the deep woods where light was dim and a man’s heart had grown cold and scared and bitter. “It’s been you since that night you first came to me. Only you, Ky.”
He couldn’t speak, not with the tears about to breach the dam in his eyes.
She tunneled her fingers over his ears and into his shaggy hair, touching him with gentleness. Anchoring him. He didn’t even wince at the brush of her satin skin over his scarred body Not once.
“I need you in my life, Ky,” she vowed. “I want you where I can get my hands on you. I chose to stay with you two and a half years ago. I choose to stay with you again today. Is this why you’ve been quiet tonight? Is this what you’ve been worrying about, that you might not be man enough for me?”
If it were only that simple. Ky snaked an arm around her neck to hold her in place. With her smiling up at him from the crook of his arm and the snow falling into her eyes, he bowed his forehead to hers. “I just can’t ask you to give up everything for me. You need someone better. Someone—”
Eden launched herself at him, crashing into his lips with her open mouth, growling as she licked his lips and tangled her tongue with his. The snow stopped falling. The world stopped turning. Chase’s and Becker’s voices faded until there was only the tip of Eden’s cold nose in Ky’s cheek. Her moist, warm breath in his lungs. All the pieces of his broken, damaged heart in her hands.
“I choose you, darn it,” she said, nipping his lower lip and biting like she needed to get his attention, “and you’d better choose me if you know what’s good for you.”
And there it was. Her gift freely given, Eden style. He decided to do something smart. “I choose you, Eden Stark. I love you,” he whispered raggedly into her demanding lips. “So. Damned. Much.”
The woman had the nerve to grind her body against his, matching the warmth of her core to the heavy steel shaft behind his zipper, her plush breasts flattened to his chest. “You just wait, Ky Winchester,” she declared hotly, all moist lips and steamy breath. “When I get you home, I’m going to rip all those winter clothes off of you, and I’m not going to stop loving you until you’re covered in strawberry marks and lipstick.”
His happy cock jerked to attention. The damned thing nearly climbed out of his pants. He dropped both hands to her ass, and with one tug, he hefted her boots off the ground and wrapped her delectable body around him like taffy on a stick. There was nothing else in the world. Only this woman. This now.
Damned if Chase didn’t spoil the magic. “Get your asses on the ground! They’ve got the moose!”
The what? The moose? Ky launched Eden into the snow, covering her protectively with his body while Chase snapped off three quick rounds into the trees below camp. An animal yelped somewhere in the darkness. Chase leveled another couple of shots before he lowered his piece with a grin and stuffed it into his hip holster, the cocky bastard. “You can put your goggles on now, pretty boy.”
“That’s what this was about? The moose carcass? You wanted to scare us? Holy friggin’ shit!” Ky tugged a panting Eden up and back into his arms. “Damn you, Chase. You could’ve warned us you were shooting at a wolf.”
“Wouldn’t have made much of an impression, would it?” Chase extended a gloved hand to Eden with a cocky, “There you go, kiddo. Tucker Chase, always at your service. I’ve got your back even when Junior Agent Winchester can’t perform. Are you okay?”
“Th-thanks,” she muttered breathlessly, his hand bracing her upright. “Wow. You scared ten years off me. Did my hair turn gray?”
He grinned, those blue eyes of his flashing nothing but charm. “No, darlin’. You’re just as pretty as ever.”
Ky grunted, dusting the snow off his knees. His calves clenched with the need to kick this jerk’s hairy ass down the hill. Man, Chase acted like he had a permanent hard-on for Eden, one he was never going to get satisfied. Didn’t seem to stop him from trying, though.
Chase cocked his elbow for Eden to accompany him back to the fire pit, now steadily sputtering from the heavier snowfall. “You’ll be safer with me. Bring your friend if you have to.”
Eden draped her hand over Ky’s forearm instead. “Thanks, Tuck. Save a seat for me?”
Ky could’ve kissed her for the loyalty he didn’t deserve. He pulled her in close and breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t know how, and he didn’t know when, but they were going to have that cup of coffee and a whole lot more.
But wait. He jerked back around. Moose carcass? Wasn’t that supposed to be up high where wolves couldn’t reach it? Isn’t that what Tate had said?
Chase kept flirting with Eden. “Just don’t let that lowlife contractor talk you into anything you don’t want to do.”
“Like what?” Ky called him out, his gut still full of fight, but needing to chat with Tate.
“Like taking off after your buddy, Agent Higgins.” Chase turned back around. “You ever wonder why he’s so quiet? Why he’s got nothing to say? You ever check into his background just a little bit, or do you guys believe every shittin’ thing Stewart tells you?”
“What are you talking about?” Ky had to ask. “Tate’s a decorated war hero. He’s—”
“So the hell are the rest of us,” Chase snarled, suddenly as deadly as he’d seemed before. “So were half of those guys I killed today. That didn’t stop them from drinking the Kool-Aid, did it? It doesn’t mean Higgins hasn’t been in touch with Zaroyin, either. You ever think about that?”
“He what? Not Tate. No way.”
“Tucker’s right, Ky,” Sam quietly said as he joined the standoff. “That’s another reason why we were late getting here, and that’s also why we’re here at all. Once we heard who was with you on this mission, we had to get involved. I’m not even sure Alex knows, but Zaroyin contacted Agent Higgins three weeks ago. That’s why I badgered him. I needed him pissed off enough to leave so I could talk to you alone.”
“Are you sure?” Ky asked, disbelieving every last word out of Becker’s and Chase’s lying mouths. Not Tate. The man was true to the core. But that moose carcass...
Chase nodded. “It’s a fact. We’ve been following Zaroyin’s activities for months. Had a court-ordered phone tap on his phones. Matt’s death was just a diversion to get you out of Virginia, Eden. Tell me who gave you the idea to run to San Francisco?”
She leaned deeper into Ky, and he didn’t fail to tighten his grip. She’d chosen well, and he meant her to know it. “M
att’s friend, Cameron Devine. We were talking about which field offices were safest if ours ever came under attack. I said none of them, not after McVeigh took out the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, but Levine disagreed with Matt and me. He said the San Francisco field office was actually more protected, that their security protocols were better than D.C.’s.”
As Ky listened, more puzzle pieces fell into place. Devine was definitely another snake behind the scenes.
“Cameron said the only one better than San Francisco’s was Hawaii because of NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. You know, because it utilizes the online Pacific Tsunami Warning Center and...” She shut her mouth then opened it again. “Only when Cameron showed up in Hawaii, he told me I’d be better off in Anchorage. That he’d had second thoughts. Hawaii was an accident waiting to happen. That it was too close to Japan and China, and... snap. Ky’s right. I panicked and ran. I have been set up.”
“Want to bet Levine wanted you in Hawaii just so he could plant those devices, get you rigged up so he could keep track of you?” Becker asked.
Chase nodded. “Zaroyin’s got good men in high places at his bidding. We’re just the riffraff dogging him.”
“Director Strong?” Ky asked. “Is he in on this, too?”
“No, he’s with us, but I’ll be honest,” Sam drawled. “He’s fighting an uphill battle inside his own department. Zaroyin’s idea for a highly controlled military makes sense to a lot of liberally minded folks. They don’t want the Department of Defense to have the power it does. They’re out to cut the balls off of the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps, once and for all. A cybernetically enhanced army controlled by an outside entity, maybe a defense contractor like Zaroyin makes sense, though I don’t follow their reasoning. The last thing I’d want on my ass is a mind-controlled moron with a computerized rifle and no sense of honor.”
“Shit. The Omni-9000s,” Ky muttered. It made sense—all except Tate’s part in Zaroyin’s plan. No friggin’ way was he involved.
“Exactly,” Chase muttered. “Where the hell are the weapons your buddy supposedly pulled off those dead bodies? You seen ’em yet? For that matter, where are the bodies?”
Ky had no answer. He’d been with Eden while Tate was out taking care of business. A twinge of guilt flickered through his mind that he’d too easily given Tate the dirty end of the stick on this mission. Just as quickly, suspicion lifted its ugly head. Or did Tate intend it that way?
Sam pressed his hand hard into Ky’s shoulder. “Let’s go check on those bodies your buddy supposedly hung up in the trees. If they’re up high and tight, I’ll back off. But if not, we might have a helluva problem headed our way.”
Ky shrugged Sam’s grip off. “Bullshit. Tate’s not like that. They’ll be where he said they were.” Only the moose wasn’t.
“I sure wish you’d use your brain once in a while, Winchester. Your buddy was gone a helluva long time. Do you really think he had time to hunt a moose, secure six bodies in the trees, and reinforce your tent while Tucker and I barely had time to build a crappy lean-to?”
“Tate’s no girly federal agent,” Ky growled, bound and determined to prove his buddy’s allegiance. “You guys should’ve confronted him with this stupid notion instead of pissing him off like you did. Let him defend himself, and we wouldn’t be sneaking around behind his back. Jesus H. Christ, he’s done nothing but help you guys since you showed up.”
The six bodies might not be plastic-wrapped like the previous three, but they would be heads down and feet up. Tate would have a good explanation for that moose, too. Hell, maybe the wolves tore it out of the tree. If they were anything like that black fellow, they could to it.
“Couldn’t take the chance,” Chase replied, “not if he’s confiscated one of those smart guns while he’s been out hunting. Now shut up and let’s get this over with before he comes back.”
Ky pulled Eden along with him. “I’ve got news for you guys. If Tate has thrown in with Zaroyin, we’re already dead. He’s a helluva shot. That’s why he got the moose so fast. He might not know these parts, but he knows animals and how to hunt.”
Sam grunted. “Quiet. Let’s find those bodies before this storm gets any worse.”
“In the dark?” Eden asked.
“Have to. Stay close,” Chase ordered. “No lights. Try not to lose sight of each other.”
Ky tugged Eden in closer until they were nearly tripping over each other, Sam on their right, Chase to the left. Snow kept falling. Their boots squeaked in the dry powder. A dark object laid several meters downhill from the tent.
“Wolf,” Chase hissed. “Good. I hit him solid. Keep your heads on a swivel. There was more than one. That moose carcass has to be around here, unless they dragged it off.”
Ky’s heart fought with the logical argument these guys had presented. So what if Tate didn’t talk much? So what if he didn’t like people? Most guys coming back from the sandbox couldn’t relate to civilians. A man’s silence meant nothing.
The night was too quiet. Too dark. Until six pairs of glowing eyes glowed hatefully through the snow. Chase lifted his pistol, but Ky’s hand clamped on his forearm. “You don’t have to shoot everything.”
Chase jerked his hand free. “Bet me.”
Ky left Eden behind him and stepped out in front, positive these big bad wolves were chewing on something, just not the moose carcass.
“Are all Stewart’s men as stupid as you?” Tate hissed.
“Hold,” was all Sam offered.
“Ky,” Eden breathed. “Be careful.”
He intended to be darn careful, but three steps forward and there he was, face to face with long-legged, big-footed wolves. Five silver. One black.
“You need to take off,” he told the supreme alpha predator.
Six heads lowered. Menacing growls answered. Hackles lifted straight off the big guy’s back.
Ky lifted his arms, making himself larger as he advanced. “There’s nothing for you guys here. My kill. Not yours.”
Bet me. The black wolf snarled and stepped on the carcass, claiming it while his buddies grumbled and shifted their positions from guard to attack. Paws planted. Snouts lowered to the ground. Not sniffing, though. Daring.
That didn’t go as well as Ky had hoped, but something about his wild brother called him on. Ky growled back. “Leave. Now.”
The whole facedown took a weird turn. Almost as if Chase had threatened them with an Omni 9000, the lead wolf ducked his head. He snarled low and steady, then bolted sideways with a yelp. His pack followed suit.
Ky took the opening and closed in on the carcass. It wasn’t big enough to be a moose. Sam’s flashlight beam flickered over the bizarre sight. Five fingers spread wide in the frozen air. Five chewed on, bloody stumps of fingers. The wolves weren’t fighting over a moose carcass. Not one of the drones, either.
Ky knelt and dusted the snow off the body. Shit. He’d found Charlie Sweets again.
Chapter Nineteen
Sam called the meeting, but four people inside one small tent? Not good. When Tucker climbed out to stand guard, the freed up space didn’t do a thing for Eden’s state of mind. At least the other six drones and the moose carcass were in the trees where Tate had said they were.
But Charlie Sweets? His body being out there didn’t make sense. Not one bit. Like Tate had earlier, Tucker and Sam dragged him back and hung him in a tree at the edge of camp. It took them a while getting the rope over a sturdy tree limb. Tucker cussed the whole time, but at last, Charlie was hanging high and gruesome.
Now Sam couldn’t seem to shut up. “Higgins has been spying on Alex and Strong for six months now. He’s met with Zaroyin twice. We’ve got him on video if you want to see it.”
“No,” Ky said woodenly, “I don’t believe it.”
“Shut up, Sam,” Eden insisted. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“Then tell me where he is if he’s so decent? We’ve got the money trail. Zaro
yin deposited one-point-five million into Higgins’ savings account over the last three weeks, and there’s more. He owns an Omni 9000. If we don’t move before he gets back, we’ll end up dead. He’ll sneak back and kill us in our sleep.”
“No!” Ky roared. “Not Tate. I know him. He wouldn’t do this, whatever this is. I won’t leave him behind.”
Sam brushed an impatient hand through his shaggy locks. “That’s just not smart. You’ve got no choice, son. We’ve got—”
“Stop with the son bullshit, Becker! Did you think to look at that bullet hole in Sweets’ head? You should have! There’s no fresh blood, only GSR and stippling from one close-up shot to a dead, frozen body. Someone dragged Sweets up here and shot him to make it look like he’d been murdered, but that someone was not Tate Higgins. So who did it, Becker? Who’s still out there while you and your buddy are ready to lynch Tate?”
Sam stilled. “Shit. If Tate’s not behind this—”
“Zaroyin is,” Ky finished the thought. “I’ll wait for Tate, but you and Tucker get Eden out of here. Go now before anything else happens.”
“No.” Eden glared at Ky. She was the number-one priority, and she got that, but Tate was no traitor and Eden Stark was no coward. She squared her shoulders. She meant to stay.
“Damn it to hell, Winchester. You both need to leave. Let me and Tucker track down Tate while you get Eden to safety. You have my word. We won’t kill him.”
Ky growled, his gaze on Eden. “If leaving Tate is the only way to save you, I have no choice. But I swear to God, Becker, Tate will put you and Chase down if you’re not square with him. If he doesn’t, I will.”
Sam nodded. “Copy that. You two take off. We’ll get to the bottom of this. There is one thing I’ve got to ask before you leave, though.” He dipped his head in her direction, the way polite men did to a lady. “Sorry, Eden, but you need to step outside with Tucker for five minutes so I can make sure your boyfriend’s not wired.”
Ky (In the Company of Snipers Book 13) Page 19
