When he got to the base he was sure she wouldn’t show up today. Hell, he was sure she wouldn’t return at all and it would be his fault. He couldn’t blame her. Who would want to work with a man who basically accused her of being a prostitute?
The fact that she was hoping it was him who she jammed her fist into last night said loads about her feelings toward him. As much as he hated to admit it, it hurt. He walked past the mess hall and heard someone say her name. Curious, he stopped and peeked in. There she sat at the table with Pearson and Nelson, eating like nothing had happened.
He felt relief blossom in his chest. Was he relieved she was continuing with her training, or just relieved to see her? He was afraid of that answer too so he walked away.
“Ricochet.”
Sam’s voice came from behind him. “Hey, girl, what’s up?”
“Can I talk to you?”
“Sure. I’m just headed to the weapons barracks.”
“I’ll walk with ya.”
“How ya feelin’?” he asked.
“Good. A little weak and tired. I go see the doctor next week.”
“That’s good.”
“Ronnie called me late last night.”
His step faltered. “She did.”
“She was so upset.”
“What’d she say?”
“She said that guy attacked her again last night. At least this time he went to jail. That poor girl was a mess.”
“Is she okay?”
“I think so. But something tells me there’s more going on with her. From the sounds of it she leveled the guy without any trouble but she’s still rattled about something.”
“She did level the guy. You taught her good.”
Sam stopped and grabbed his arm. “You were there?”
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
“Did she mention anythin’ else about last night?”
“No. What’s going on, Rico?”
Okay, she was keeping their one night a secret and his asinine comment to her. He, on the other hand, needed to talk to someone about it and Sam was the perfect person. Scrubbing his hands down his face, he sighed.
“Two nights ago I ran into her at the club. We sat, barely talked and then out of no where she said she wanted to have sex with me.”
“You’re kidding?” Sam replied in a flat tone, not surprised at all.
He looked at her curiously and continued. “I was stunned, she left and I followed. Next thing I know we’re in her hotel room gettin’…”
“Spare me the details please,” she interrupted.
“I ended up spendin’ the night. Sam, it was the perfect night. We talked, laughed watched TV. I was so comfortable with her. Too comfortable.”
“Let me guess, you panicked and snuck out during the night?” she said putting her hands on her hips.
“Well, early mornin’. Then all day yesterday she acted like nothin’ happened. So did I. So I figured cool, no strings, no unspoken attachments, right. Then I see her at the club last night. Two guys, one on each side of her, actin’ all intimate.”
“And you jumped to conclusions. She said she went to meet two old friends and their boyfriends.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t know that. I said some things to her, mean things. She put me in my place, nicely I might add.”
“What’d she say?”
“She reminded me that I was there with another woman,” he muttered in shame.
“Oh, Ricochet,” she said putting her hands over her face. “I swear sometimes you men don’t have the brains God gave a cricket.”
“I know. Then I found out they were just friends. I followed her out to apologize and that’s when the guy jumped her. You’d be proud of her, Sam. She pile drivered him right in the nose with her palm, hooked him with a right to the mouth and then dropped him with a knee to the balls.”
“Well, at least she learned something from me.”
“Yep, then she told me she was hoping it was me she dropped.”
Sam gave a hearty laugh. “I bet she did.”
“Right about now I wish it was me she dropped. Sam, I feel like a fool.”
“Well let’s look at this, shall we? You must have been attracted to her because even you don’t go around having sex with just anyone.”
He gave her a sarcastic smile. “Gee thanks.”
“So there was something there, right?” When he didn’t answer she asked again. “Right?”
“Yes.”
“You two hook up and it’s not bad.”
“It was incredible.”
“So incredible you stay when normally you would book out of there.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Now you’re scared. Somehow this turned out to be more than a one-night stand.”
“Ooh no. That’s all it was,” he said backing away from her like she was diseased and shaking his head.
“Really? So why were you so jealous when you saw her with another man?” She stepped toward him not giving him an inch.
“Jealous? Pfttt,” he said waving his hands in the air. “I wasn’t jealous.”
“So why did you feel the need to say something to her about it when you were sitting there with another woman?”
“’Cause she was being reckless. Just a few weeks ago she was attacked by a guy in that bar. She was settin’ herself for another and I was bein’ a dumbass.”
“Being a dumbass aside, you were jealous and the sooner you accept that the easier this will be on both of you. Look, Rico, she’s not dumb. She knows you aren’t a permanent thing. Even if she wants it to be, she won’t tell you. When she woke up that morning alone the stage was set. She just picked up where you left off.”
He listened, didn’t want to but he listened. What Sam was saying hit home. Didn’t Veronica say something last night about not asking for more even if she wanted it? Oh man, he was in so deep he couldn’t see the light of day. If he’d just kept it in his pants none of this would have happened.
“I gotta get ta work,” he said walking away and leaving Sam standing.
“Think about it, Rico,” she shouted after him.
Think about it? He didn’t want to think about anything.
He was getting ready to take over Sam’s training slot and waiting for Veronica, Pearson and Nelson to arrive. They jogged up, stood at attention in front of him and awaited their instructions. She did a good job avoiding his apologetic glances. That was fine, he wasn’t sure he could stand it if she gave him that hurt look again.
“I don’t suppose ya heard about Holter’s take down last night?” he asked the two young men.
He watched her stiffen her spine and set her jaw. His intention wasn’t to humiliate her but use her tactics as training. She was fast, precise and deadly. Everything a good operative needed.
“No, sir,” the two answered.
“Last night your teammate was attacked in a parking lot. She used three very good moves to subdue her attacker. What I want to do today is work on those moves and maybe show you guys more. I bring this up not to embarrass her but to demonstrate somethin’. She was quick, dead on and could have killed him if the mood struck her. Those qualities are exactly what you need.”
He backed up, rolled up his sleeves and gave her a stern look. “Holter, front and center.”
“Yes, sir,” she snapped.
“We’re gonna show these guys how to do it. You ready?”
She gave him a curious look. “You want me to punch you?”
The delighted look in her eyes gave him pause. “I want ya to try.” He turned her around. “Set up like you were last night.”
She gave him her back, bent over like she was unlocking her car door and waited. He grabbed her arm and in a split second her hand came up and stopped dead just below his nose.
“Finish,” he barked.
She gritted her teeth, brought her hand back again and couldn’t do it.
“Next punch,” he yelled.
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She fisted her hand and again swung it, stopping before she made contact.
“Next move,” he growled. He should have known, the evil smile on her lips should have warned him.
She brought her knee up hard into his groin. Vibrant bright lights flashed in his eyes, pain like nothing he’d felt before consumed his body, crawling in every nook and cranny until he couldn’t bear it. Doubling over, he gasped for breath and crumpled to the ground. Pearson and Nelson came to his side.
“Sir, are you okay?”
He pushed them back and waved them away.
“What the hell, Ronnie?” Pearson asked, panicked.
“Ya couldn’t punch him but ya could ball bust him? You’re cold,” Nelson snickered.
“He had it coming,” she told her teammates, not feeling the least bit guilty.
“Oh I get it. This was some kind of payback,” Pearson said rubbing his chin. “Remind me not to get on your bad side and I hope we don’t pay for this.”
“You won’t pay for it.” Ricochet said wheezing. “She’s right. I had it comin’. Go do some laps until I can breathe again.”
Pearson and Nelson took off, muttering to each other. Veronica stepped up beside him.
“Go,” he snapped. Right now wasn’t the time for talking. He was still waiting for his parts to return to their normal position.
“Why?” she asked standing there.
“What?” God he thought he was going to die, right after he puked his guts up.
“Why did you do that?”
“You feel better?” he asked sitting down on the grass.
“A little.”
“That’s why.” Sweat oozed from every pore in his body. Even his head was dripping.
“You’re telling me you let me do that to you to make me feel better?”
“Uh-huh. Now go.” He wanted to roll around on the ground and whimper like a baby but he wasn’t going to do it with her standing there. His humiliation level was high enough.
When she sat down on the ground next to him he groaned. “Look,” he said trying hard to hold back tears, “I really need you to go away right now.”
“It takes a big man to allow that to happen to him,” she said picking at grass.
She was doing it on purpose. She knew he wanted her to go and she purposely stayed to watch him suffer. What the hell was he thinking letting her do this to him?
“I still wish it was you that I creamed last night though.”
Yeah, him too. At least he’d be icing his sore balls right now instead of wishing he was dead. “Can we talk about this later?” He fell back on the ground and rolled to his side with his knees pulled up in the fetal position.
“I’d better stay here in case you pass out,” she said looking down at him.
Please, God, let me pass out, he screamed inside his head. “Nelson’s right, you are cold. Just go do somethin’, let me alone for a while. When my nuts come down from my throat then we can talk.”
“Okay. If that’s what you want.” She stood and ran off.
He spent the next fifteen minutes rolling around groaning and whimpering. Just when he thought things were getting better, he looked up to find Boomer standing over him.
“What the hell ya doing?”
“Wishin’ I could die. What’s it look like I’m doin’?”
“What happened?”
“Holter gave me a knee to the sweet spot,” he said in a strained voice.
“What the hell for?”
“Cause I let her. I just had no idea how hard she could do it.”
“You let her bust your balls? Are you crazy?” Boomer’s laughter wasn’t helping matters.
“Yeah, I think so.” The pain was subsiding enough for him to breathe. He no longer felt like he wanted to puke and color was beginning to return to his vision. “Help me up, would ya?”
Boomer reached down and grabbed him by the arm, jerking him to his feet. “Ya know if you two would just have sex and get it over with you wouldn’t be fighting all the time.”
“That’s what started it,” he said brushing grass off his clothes.
“You already did have sex and she still tried to de-nut ya? Must be losing your touch,” he laughed.
“You’re just a funny little man, aren’t ya?”
“What happened?”
He opened his mouth to begin the story when a recruit jogged up.
“Sir. There’s an important phone call for Holter in Cannon’s office,” he barked.
“I’ll send her.” He watched the kid run off. “Do me a favor and call her over. I don’t think I have the breath to do it,” he said to Boomer.
A loud, ear-piercing whistle split the air. Boomer waved and motioned her come over.
“Did ya have ta do that?” Ricochet asked holding his ears. “Man, it feels like every nerve in my body is crackling.”
“Sorry.”
“Yes, sir,” she panted running up to them.
“There’s a phone call for ya in Cannon’s office. Go get it,” he said wiping the sweat from his brow onto the sleeve of his shirt.
“Yes, sir.”
When she turned and left he looked at the smiling Boomer. “What?”
“Nothing. Never thought I’d see it happen.”
“See what?”
“You want me to take over so you can go spy on her?” he said, ignoring the question.
“Spy on her? Like I care what it’s all about. I wouldn’t mind gettin’ some ice though.” Boomer knew him too well.
“Go. I’ll put the kids through their paces.”
“Thanks, buddy.” He walked gingerly across the field as fast as he could. Every move sent pain rippling through his thighs and up into his abdomen.
By the time he reached Cannon’s barracks she was gone. He sat down in front of Beth’s desk to catch his breath.
“Where’d she go?” he asked.
“Not sure. She just took off.”
“Everythin’ all right?”
“I don’t think so.” She glanced around the room, leaned forward and whispered. “Whatever that call was about wasn’t good. She paled, began to shake and hung up without saying a word.”
“Any idea what it was about?”
“You think I eavesdrop?”
“Come on Beth, you and I both know you aren’t as dumb as you would have people think. Cannon wouldn’t have you if you were. Tell me what ya know.”
“All I know is she got a call from the police in Virginia. She hung up, asked for a piece of paper and scribbled a note to Walt and then took off on a dead run.”
“Where’s the note?”
“Carl!” she shrieked.
“Beth, I don’t have time for this. If somethin’s wrong, I need to know.”
She huffed, clucked and then handed him the piece of paper. All it said was there was trouble at home and she had to go. She would call him when she could. What kind of trouble?
“You say the call was from the police?”
“It was.” Beth took back the note and put it in her drawer. “That was some kneeing she gave you,” she said with a smile.
“You see everythin’, don’t ya?”
“I see more than you people think I do. Like you said, Cannon wouldn’t have me otherwise.”
“Don’t ever change, Beth.” He stood and made his way out of the office in time to meet Cannon outside.
“Veronica got a call from the Virginia police. She took off without sayin’ anythin’. You have a way of findin’ out what’s what?”
“You think it’s serious?” Cannon asked.
“Number one spy in there does,” he said thumbing toward the door.
“Gotta love Beth. She knows, sees, hears everything.”
“Ya should consider puttin’ her out in the field. So what about it?”
“Give me a few minutes. What’s wrong with you?”
“Ask Beth, she’ll fill ya in. I’ve gotta find some ice.”
He went to the
mess hall and grabbed a plastic bag of ice, sat and plopped it gently between his legs. It went miles toward relieving the throbbing. As he recuperated, he pondered what could possibly be going on. She didn’t have any family left, so it couldn’t be an accident. Maybe there was a problem with a case she worked on?
The possibilities were endless. She was probably on her way to the airport right now. Would she come back?
“Hey, found out what’s going on.” Cannon said walking through the door. “I also heard what happened to you. Are you out of your mind? That woman isn’t like a regular trainee, she knows how to kick.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Beth also thinks you two have been hitting the sheets and that’s what brought this on.”
“Like I said, ya should put her in the field.”
“I see. Well then, this will interest you. It seems someone torched her apartment last night. Everything she owns is gone. Cops think it’s a professional job. No other units were touched. Fire was contained to her area and her area alone.”
“They have any leads?”
“No. So I made another phone call. Remember the liaison fed you guys worked with during that mission she was a hostage in?”
How could he forget? “Yep.”
“He thinks it has something to do with the leader of the militia group.”
“Get the hell out. Really? The old man is looking to finish the job?”
“Possibly. I took the liberty of getting the plane ready.” He handed Ricochet an envelope. “Her address, license number everything you need to know to find her is in there. You go alone and find out what you can. If backup is necessary I’ll send it. Sam doesn’t need to go running around right now, not until we find out what’s wrong with her, and Lowe isn’t going to want to leave her.”
“Yeah, don’t blame him. When do I leave?”
“As soon as your balls are ready.” Cannon said standing. “Don’t hesitate to ask for help, Underwood. If it is him, he’ll be happy to kill two birds with one stone. This guy is sick and has the money to get what he wants without any questions.”
“Gotcha.”
“Watch your back and bring both your asses home safely.”
“Will do.”
After Cannon left Ricochet opened the envelope and flipped through the contents. Among the mundane paperwork was a photo of her. He picked it out and stared at it.
Ricochet's Rogue (Agent of Mercy, Book Three) Page 14
