It's Always Been You

by Paige, Victoria

  Dmitry’s phone buzzed and he frowned when he saw its caller ID. He walked over to the balcony attached to the dining room and answered his phone.

  “This is not a scheduled call, Belov.”

  “Things got a little out of hand, but I’ve rectified the situation.”

  Dmitry felt tension coil through his spine. “What happened?”

  “Our man got greedy, and Blake had apparently pissed him off in an earlier encounter.”

  “Explain.”

  “Instead of harmless mischief, he took it too far. He had a temper, and I think he wanted to strike back against Blake. I did more digging into Marko’s file because something about him didn’t sound right. Turns out the man’s a megalomaniac, but I’ve already set him loose.”

  “Tell me Ms. Kincaid is unharmed.”

  “She’s fine. But there was a shootout.”

  It took all of Dmitry’s willpower not to burst into a string of expletives.

  “I took him out,” Belov continued. “He was threatening Ms. Kincaid, thinking because we’re concerned about protecting her that he could get more money out of us.”

  “The fool. So Blake knows something is up?”

  “That is correct. The man’s not stupid. He’ll be leaving town soon.”

  “You know this for a fact?”

  “No, but I’m keeping an eye on the place.”

  “Good. I despise messy, but if the end result is the same, then I’m good with that. Keep me apprised, Belov.”

  Dmitry ended the call and rubbed the phone on his chin contemplatively. His eyes drifted to Zorin. His Pakhan was a patient man. That was how he’d become one of the most notorious Russian arms dealers in the business. Zorin weighed his options, preferring to let his competitors make the mistakes, and then he would swoop in for the kill. Dmitry must tread carefully. One misstep could find him in the company of the former security chief—cold in the ground, buried in some field off the beaten path.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  It was almost midnight when Nate and Sam walked through the doors of the B&B escorted by two Iron Skull members. They looked weary from the drive, but their eyes were watchful. Nate walked up to Travis and clapped him on the back.

  They exchanged chin-lifts. No words required.

  Nate’s eyes shifted to where Caitlin stood. He walked over to her, hugging her tightly. “You okay, sweetie?” Nate whispered.

  “I’m good.”

  Travis, knowing it was irrational, still couldn’t help himself from reacting when Nate’s arms lingered around Caitlin longer than he liked. He pulled her from his friend’s embrace.

  Nate grinned at him and shook his head. “Let’s talk outside. Fill me in on what’s going on. Sam, stay with Cat.”

  The younger man nodded and immediately moved to Caitlin’s side.

  When they made it to the backyard, his best friend said, “Looks like you need a remedial class on how to be low key and invisible.”

  “Fuck off, Reece.”

  “Oh, see here, Blake,” Nate shot back. “You need me. You’re insanely in love with your wife, and it’s been clouding your judgment. First day in a small town and you go on radar with a motorcycle club, and now, you’ve instigated a shootout involving the Fuego gang. What the fuck?”

  “Caitlin’s a magnet for trouble,” Travis muttered.

  “Or maybe her husband couldn’t keep himself detached enough not to let her run circles around him.”

  Travis hated that Nate was right. He and Caitlin were pissed at each other the night of the bar fight. But this thing with the Colombian gang was baffling. He mentioned this to Nate.

  “Are you square with their leader? Are they coming after you?’

  “Yes. No,” Travis answered the questions in order. “Marko is the nephew of the gang leader, but he has fallen out of favor in recent years, especially after costing the alliance between the Iron Skulls and Fuego by fucking with Crane’s daughter. I bet he was cashing out with what he could get out of kidnapping Caitlin and going to disappear into Colombia where most of the gang members are originally from.”

  “You know we may be in over our heads here,” Nate admitted. “Have you talked to Porter?”

  “I’m too pissed to call him right now.”

  “You think he’s involved with what’s happened today?”

  “My gut tells me he is.”

  “Fuck.”

  “They’re keeping Caitlin alive for a reason. I just pieced it in my head. I bet they have Pavlo Milekhin in custody to prevent him from coming after Caitlin while she works on hacking through their files.”

  “Why not just tell her what to look for?” Nate’s brow furrowed. “Get this over with.”

  Travis rubbed his hand across his face. “I don’t understand the whole science behind it. But I think, with this kind of situation, it’s better for the person with amnesia to find things out on her own rather than have it suggested. I think it might cause confusion. There’s an order that the brain processes information.”

  “You think Porter won’t give you a straight answer?” Nate asked. “It’s simpler just to ask him, don’t you think?”

  “I’ve asked him about Milekhin. He straight up denied involvement in his disappearance. The thing is, Nate, he knows I’ve seen him lie through his teeth. I thought I admired the man then for playing people so well. Not so much now when I’m the target of his manipulation.”

  “This is going to be awkward with Bee in the mix.”

  “No shit.”

  “You think Bee’s involved?” Nate asked.

  “That woman is a terrible liar,” Travis said, grinning. “She tries to fib, but she’s in no way at the caliber of her old man. Besides, she’s too blunt to lie; no filter on that mouth.”

  They stood in silence for a while, both lost in thought. Finally, Nate said, “Look, you may not agree, but I think you should let me and Sam handle Caitlin’s security. Stay out of it.”

  Travis expelled a shuddering breath, rubbing his eyes in frustration. “Just so fucking tired. I can never seem to catch up on keeping her safe.”

  “You’re not looking at this logically, Travis. You protecting your own wife wouldn’t even fly in our security protocols.”

  “Don’t you think I know that?” Travis snapped. “I can’t fucking trust her to anyone else, but after all these near fuck-ups, it’s killing me that I have no choice. Tell me, Nate.” His voice turned ragged. “Tell me I have no choice.”

  “Fine,” Nate said firmly. “It’s out of your hands, Travis. I’ll take charge. But I’m warning you, if you question any of my orders or argue with me, I’m going to ask you to separate yourself from Caitlin.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’m taking her to a safe house away from you.”

  Travis glared at his friend. “The fuck you will.”

  “The—fuck—I—will,” Nate fired back. “Caitlin has become a client. Her best interests are my concern now. And my friend, I hate to tell you this, but right now, you’re not in her best interest.”

  “Fuck you, Nate,” Travis muttered, no heat in his curse.

  “Good. Glad we’re on the same wavelength,” Nate said. “Let’s go inside. I’ll have Sam do a perimeter check. Suggest you and Caitlin catch some rest. She’ll be riding with me tomorrow. You ride with Sam.”

  Travis was ready to protest, but catching Nate’s warning glare, he kept quiet.

  He would let Nate play it his way. For now.

  *****

  It was hard for Caitlin to say good-bye to the town of Iron Ridge and the friends she’d made in the four days she was there. Meghan and Celia, the bartender at Foster Bar, Ms. Betty, and all the other folks whom she had known in such a short time, all came by the inn to see her off. Even as Ms. Betty protested, Travis compensated the innkeeper for their planned two-week stay. Caitlin agreed. The B&B shouldn’t bear the loss brought about by her problems.

  Crane showed up with Ashe the morning of the
ir departure. For some reason, the Iron Skulls president had taken a shine to Travis. Ashe was, well, just Ashe the big scary guy. But now that he wasn’t trying to act intimidating, the thirty-two year old VP was actually ruggedly handsome. Surprisingly, Duke showed up. Travis was ready to go nuclear except the biker prince walked up to him first.

  “Wanna apologize,” Duke said. “I was sloshed that night and didn’t believe this beautiful woman was your wife.”

  Nate raised a brow in interest, avidly listening. Apparently, Travis had not shared with his best friend the events leading to their introduction to the Iron Skulls MC.

  “Listen, Duke, you could’ve hurt her,” Travis replied.

  “I wasn’t gonna—”

  Travis leaned in. They were the same height, so they were eye to eye. “You—could—have—hurt—her. Regardless if she was not married to me, you don’t have the right to haul off a woman like a caveman.”

  “Hypocrite,” Nate murmured, prompting a glare from Travis.

  Duke’s eyes slid to Caitlin’s. It was then that she felt an odd sense of nostalgia. Jase. Blond braids, ice blue eyes, and the relaxed slouch of a surfer dude. To her horror, the back of her eyes stung.

  Duke grinned. “Aw, your wife’s gonna miss me.” Travis’s gaze cut sharply to hers, his face darkening in a scowl.

  “You’re a laugh a minute, Duke,” Caitlin said, proud of her swift recovery. “I just got something in my eyes. I don’t have Stockholm Syndrome. No matter what your crazy brain tells you.”

  Duke’s grin turned wistful. “Well, you take care, doll face.” And risking Travis’s wrath, the young blond biker bent forward to give her a quick friendly hug.

  “You guys stay alert and take care of this young lady,” Crane said, shaking hands and exchanging back thumps with Travis, Nate, and Sam. With Caitlin, the MC president gave her a bear hug, lifting her a couple inches off the ground.

  “Maybe when this is all over, y’all can come back for a visit,” Crane said. “We could use some excitement every now and then.”

  When all goodbyes were said and done, the bikers revved up their Harleys and waited for the SUVs to be on their way.

  Caitlin gave Ms. Betty one final hug and was about to get into the passenger side of Nate’s SUV when Travis grabbed her, slammed his mouth down on hers in a possessive, hard kiss. It lasted a tad too long because Nate cleared his throat.

  When Travis lifted his head, there was a proprietary gleam in his eyes as he whispered, “See you in a bit, sunshine.”

  He kissed the top of her head and turned to stride to the Suburban where Sam had the engine idling.

  “You’ve got our man riled up,” Nate murmured, amusement in his voice as she hefted herself up beside him.

  “Don’t know what you mean, Nate.”

  Nate checked both sides of the road before pulling into traffic. “Don’t play coy with me, missy. It hasn’t escaped my attention that the guy, Duke, could have been John Cooper’s younger brother. The similarities are uncanny. You thought of Cooper right then, didn’t you?”

  “Was I that obvious?”

  “Yeah, you were,” Nate said. “Now I don’t think you did it on purpose and neither does Travis. I think he’s still insecure with what went on between you and Cooper.”

  “Jase and I were over a few months before you guys met me in Berlin,” Caitlin said stiffly.

  “Travis doesn’t know this, does he?”

  “No.”

  “You should tell him, Cat.”

  “How? He goes batshit crazy every time Jase comes up in conversation. Not to mention unreasonable.”

  “I know it used to eat at him,” Nate said gently. “But these past two weeks, I think he’s gotten a handle on it. Tell him, sweetie. It’ll go a long way. Believe me.”

  Caitlin nodded. She leaned toward the console and peeked out at the Suburban that was trailing them. She owed him that, at least.

  *****

  The glare of her laptop taunted her. The cursor blinked in a steady cadence that matched the pounding in her head. Caitlin couldn’t sleep, so she tossed and turned. Travis tried to trap her body underneath his so she’d quit moving, but she was too strung out to have her body encumbered by warm, hard, ridges of muscle. So she slipped away. Travis protested sleepily, but she told him she was thirsty.

  The minute she stepped into the kitchen though, she picked up her glass of water and padded straight to the TV room. That had been two hours ago. She’d been frustrated ever since.

  “Hey . . .”

  It was Nate.

  He and Sam slept over tonight. Going forward, Sam would be occupying one of the guest rooms until all the threats against her were eliminated.

  “Can’t sleep either?”

  “Yeah. Any progress?” Nate nodded to her laptop.

  “Nope.”

  He sat down beside her. “That’s some fucked up shit.”

  “That’s just hex code.”

  “Tell me you don’t read that.”

  “Not really. But I can identify patterns and headers to identify encryption.”

  “Then what do you do?”

  “Try to guess the password or figure out the cipher?”

  “That simple?”

  Caitlin giggled, “Not really. Sometimes I try to write an algorithm to guess the passwords.”

  “Fascinating.” Nate yawned.

  There was a movement by the door. Travis walked in, an unreadable expression on his face. “I didn’t know there was a party.”

  “Caitlin was educating me on hacking. Turns out it’s just a guessing game.”

  Caitlin rolled her eyes. “No, it’s not. It’s more of an educated guess.”

  “Exactly, a guessing game.”

  “If it were that simple, no one would keep their money in banks.”

  Nate shrugged. “Show me your magic, sweetie.”

  Caitlin was about to retort when she caught Travis’s eyes observing the exchange between her and Nate. He was not pleased.

  She cleared her throat. “So, have I told you guys . . . about the words Hephaestus and Carpathian?”

  Travis insinuated himself on the opposite side of Caitlin, forcing her to nudge Nate over to make room. Warm bodies on both sides; she never felt more secure.

  “What about them?” Travis stretched his arm across the back of the couch and touched his lips to the side of her head.

  “Hephaestus is the God of smithing, metal works etc. So this is telling me we’re dealing with some kind of metal,” Caitlin shrugged. “Maybe even precious metal.”

  Nate sat up straight. “Gold?”

  “Probably.”

  “The other word, ‘Carpathian,’” Travis asked. “Isn’t that a group of people?”

  “Or the mountain ranges that span Central and Eastern Europe.”

  Caitlin brought up a three-dimensional map of the mountain ranges that also showed their depth and contour.

  “It encompasses the countries of Slovakia, Ukraine, Poland, and the majority of Romania. I’m thinking the information encrypted is either coordinates or an old-fashioned map itself.”

  “Getting a warm fuzzy about it?” Nate asked.

  “Sure am.”

  “Are we talking about gold bullion?” Travis asked. “Are we talking pallets of them?”

  “We’re not even sure it’s gold,” Caitlin said. “So let’s not jump the line.”

  “The gun,” Nate murmured. “It’s ‘jump the gun’.”

  Nate got up, stretched, and began to pace the room. “We’re thinking the CIA is involved. It may not be gold. Unless it’s some kind of agency money laundering again.”

  “I’m beginning to lose faith in the agency,” Travis muttered.

  “They’ve been cutting funding for covert ops; they’re probably finding more creative ways to sustain whatever operations are already in play. Some of them take years to plan. Imagine if you lose the resources to finish the job,” Nate said.

  “I find
it hard to believe Porter is dirty, but my gut’s telling me he’s somewhat involved, and we’re not considering the bigger picture.”

  “National security?” Nate said.

  “Exactly.”

  “Why not just bring us in the loop?” Caitlin asked.

  “Sometimes they’ve got agents who are deeply embedded,” Travis said. “The fewer who know about them, the less likely their agents will get compromised.”

  “Or they can throw their agents to the wolves,” Caitlin said sadly, remembering what happened to Project Infinity.

  “Son of a bitch,” Travis snarled and jumped to his feet.

  Nate eyed him warily; so did Caitlin.

  “What?” Nate asked when Travis didn’t say anything, yet his face was mottling in fury.

  “He approached me about that security job,” Travis could barely get the words out of his mouth. “The one to protect the senator.”

  Nate’s eyes widened in understanding. “Son of a bitch.”

  Travis was breathing hard. “The fucker set me up.”

  “What, Travis?” Caitlin asked anxiously.

  “He arranged it so I would encounter that specter agent, planting the seed that you may be alive. He was the one who encouraged me to open a security company. Stuck close to me.” The words tumbled out even as bitterness flashed through his face. “Became my mentor . . . friend.” Travis stared at Caitlin. “He was waiting for me to find you. He planned this all to find you, Caitlin.”

  Caitlin felt goose bumps rise on her skin as she tried to comprehend the enormity of it all. “Travis, that’s just too absurd. I may not even figure out the whole cipher. He really may be only trying to help you. Look at where you are now.”