And she was home again, encircled in all that was right and true in her world. God, she needed this man. Alex always had, and would always be, her bedrock and her life force. He’d made her the woman she was today, and she loved him for it.
“I had to do it,” she whispered contritely.
“I know,” he replied, ever her most faithful companion. Ever her one true love.
“Renner has the DNA evidence I stole, only now we don’t need it, and…” She choked, all of her sins laid bare to the one man in the world she adored. “I’m sorry I borrowed Ben and your helicopter. I should’ve asked. I shouldn’t have just taken it.”
“It’s yours, too,” he said evenly. “Always. Use it whenever you need it. Ben doesn’t mind.”
“And I bought a lock for our medicine cabinet. Lexie will never get into the melatonin again. It’s a good thing she only gave you three.”
He never hesitated, his hands never stopped rubbing the life back into her shoulders and up into her neck. Finally, able to relax after the past few hectic days, she pressed her ear into the strong beat of her man, listening to him breathe. Knowing they were going to be okay.
“I knew you’d come,” she whispered, warmer now.
“Always,” he told her, his rumbling baritone the answer to all her prayers. “I ache when you ache. I smile when you smile. That’s how it works. You’re my better half. You should know that by now.”
“Which is why I had to do it,” she said honestly. “I couldn’t stand to see what she was doing to you again. I couldn’t let her keep hurting you. It had to stop.”
“Copy that,” he murmured, nuzzling his cold nose between her shoulder and neck, breathing her into his soul the same way she breathed him into hers.
“Lying to you was the worst thing I’ve ever done. I’m so, so sorry.”
His arms tightened.
“She deserved what she got, only I wish she’d died before she’d hurt Beau or Tom, before she killed Shy or... or anyone.”
“Don’t feel sorry for her.”
“I don’t. She was a monster, only now…”
Alex rocked her, swaying there in an empty parking lot with fog swirling around them. Loving her. Forgiving her. Never once doubting her.
“Now you show up and make everything better.”
“That’s my job, and I’m damned good at it.”
A tiny chuckle bubbled up Kelsey’s throat. “Yes, you are. You do an excellent job.”
“I do.”
“And you’re humble.”
“Humility’s overrated when you’re in love.” Alex eased back from her then and took her head in his hands, his thumbs on her cheeks, wiping her tears away as he ducked down to peer into her eyes. “I think that’s my best trait, Kelsey. I love you and Lexie more than I can ever tell you. Nothing is as important as my girls.”
“I don’t deserve you,” she murmured, her heart filled to bursting and her eyes still doing their thing.
Alex tipped her head a scant bit to his right, his eyes clear and dark with love. Slowly, gently, he closed the distance and kissed her, his mouth wet and warm. Softly demanding. Never rough, never harsh. Asking.
He pulled back then and snuggled her back where she belonged. Under his arm. Into his heart. It wouldn’t be much longer now. Renner and Tara would be back soon. Then Kelsey would take Alex home and love him the rest of the night.
Kelsey was exhausted, Alex could easily read that in the dark circles under her eyes. He felt it in the way she’d sighed when she melted into his arms. But DNA evidence? That she stole? That Renner had? What was that about, and why hadn’t Renner reported it?
Unless he’d told Mark, in which case Mark might not have thought to mention it when Alex showed unexpectedly at Raymond’s Kids in the middle of the night. That made sense. Alex had been out of communication for twenty-four hours. He did feel better, but come morning he’d still demand a full sitrep from Renner. He’d ask about that DNA evidence, too, but not tonight. It could wait. There was no urgency now that Montego was finally—thankfully—dead.
But what Alex wouldn’t give to have been there in Renner’s shoes, to have seen her die. Albeit dismemberment was a gruesome way to go, Alex had as much sympathy for her as he’d had for her perverted, pedophile brother. Zero.
Decent people deserved sympathy and empathy, not the Montego siblings. Those two had earned their hard deaths. It was nature at her most primal. Dog against dog. Strong against weak. Right against wrong.
But this op had hit too close to home for Alex’s comfort. Kelsey had gotten involved. Which made Catalina’s death even more satisfying. That Renner had had a hand in it, albeit indirectly, reflected on Alex and The TEAM. They stood for something, damn it. Alex was proud of every last one of his men and women.
What he didn’t care about was Kelsey’s use of the chopper. That’s what it was there for. When they’d moved out of Alexandria and settled near the Shenandoah, he’d purchased the helicopter to get them both back and forth whenever needed. He’d meant what he’d said. It was hers as much as his. Everything he owned was hers.
But Lexie gave him three what? Melatonin? What the hell was that? And there was now a lock on the medicine cabinet? Okaaaay. That was new, but Kelsey would explain in time, and if she didn’t? Well, that was where trust came in. It was kind of like the sun. A guy didn’t always need to see it to know it was there.
Right now, right here, Alex had his life back. This was all he’d wanted through the turmoil of this past year. If Kelsey wanted to stand in her parking lot all night, he’d stand here with her. This was her show, and she’d proven herself to be one damned capable woman. How could a man not love that?
Only when she called this vigil off would they go home together, and then he’d make love to her until she fell asleep. He’d hold her and kiss her long after she nodded off. He finally got it now. The rest of the world could damned well wait. It wasn’t what was truly important in his life anyway. Only Kelsey and Lexie.
Her cell rang. Still pressed tight against him, she tugged it out of her pocket, checked the caller ID and answered, “Yes, Ben.” Pause. Big sigh. “Oh, okay. Yes, I agree. It’s too dangerous and you’ve done enough. Please tell them I love them both.” Another pause. “I don’t know how to thank you. Please don’t take chances because of me. Yes, that will be fine. Goodnight.” The phone went back into her pants pocket.
Clouds heavy with the long-awaited snowstorm hovered over the city. The fog filled quickly with flakes. It was time to go home. Yet Alex kept quiet. He’d stood in stormy weather on other cold nights like this while tracking other notorious terrorists. Those nights hadn’t been nearly so lovely. He’d been alone then and in hostile territory, not standing with his arms around the only woman in the world with the power to make his heart beat. Not breathing in her unique perfume while feeling the exquisite peace that always came with the first snowfall of the season.
As a kid growing up on his grandparent’s farm in West Virginia, there’d been times he’d played in the snow all day, when he’d gaped like a turkey at the burgeoning sky with his mouth open, catching lazy, white snowflakes on his tongue. There was a yearning silence hidden within those storms of solitude. A reverence, if you will. Like the heavenly silence of that first silent night, Alex breathed in the sweet warmth and delightful scent of his wife, now mixed with the scents of snow and ice. There were those who couldn’t wait to die to go to heaven. Not him. He already had his arms around it.
“The weather’s too bad,” she murmured. “Ben’s landing at Reagan. Renner and the guys will go home from there.”
“Makes sense,” Alex replied. Still waiting on his woman. He was comfortable now. He’d planted his feet, he could stay here for hours.
“Let’s go home, Alex.”
Ah, words he lived for. “Your wish is my command,” he murmured before he tipped her face up and bussed a quick kiss to her lips.
“Dam
n, you’re good,” she said as she eased away.
He grabbed onto her hand and steered her toward the street where he’d parked his truck. “I know, but I’ll be really, really good once I get you home.”
That made her smile. She swung their joined hands between them, and suddenly, they were newlyweds again. Just married. Not a care in the world but how to undress each other fast enough to get back into bed.
“Where’s Lexie camping tonight?”
“At Squeak’s house. He’s turned into a chatterbox. You should hear him sing ‘Ghostbusters’ with Adam. Lexie loves that movie.”
Alex rolled his eyes at the song that would soon be coming to his house. “Have you ever made love when the snow’s falling?” he asked his wife at her door.
She glanced up at him, tiny white crystals on her eyelashes, bigger snowflakes suspended in her hair like so many stars. “Sure. Lots of times. When we leave the curtains open, remember? It’s romantic watching snow fall while we’re snuggled warm in bed.”
His breath caught in his heart. God, she was lovely. So beautiful. He lifted a hand to cup her cheek, threading his fingertips around her ear and into those warm chocolate tresses. She closed her eyes and leaned into his hand, her lashes like velvet butterfly wings on her cheeks, her love for him the purest he’d ever known in any woman. “No. I meant in the snow. Outside. In the middle of a snowbank with snow falling around us.”
He heard her swallow. He was pretty sure her answer to that crazy notion was a solid ‘No!’ Still, he waited.
“Wouldn’t it be cold?” she asked, her brown eyes sparkling, her brows arched.
“At first.”
“Have you ever done anything that crazy before?”
“Haven’t wanted to until now.”
“You want to? You’re serious? Would there be blankets? A fire? Something to keep us—”
“Trust me?” he asked, wanting her with all his heart. Alex didn’t know how this crazy suggestion would work or if it’d turn out like he envisioned. He just knew that making love tonight, with his wife cocooned in the crystal silence of winter’s first snow, seemed somehow holy and right.
Her face blossomed with that inner glow she seemed to carry inside wherever she went. “Always, Alex.”
And there it was, the truth their lives revolved around. Trust.
Alex swept Kelsey off her feet and into his arms. With one step onto the running board, he tucked his fairy queen into her magic GMC sleigh. They might be an old married couple, but tonight… their adventure was just beginning.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Tara watched the snow outside the helicopter swirl against its bubble windshield. She’d heard the air traffic controller at Reagan issue a winter weather warning over her headset. Guess she wouldn’t be sleeping at Raymond’s Kids tonight, which was a little upsetting. She’d been looking forward to hugging Kelsey to make sure she was okay. The whole ‘seeing is believing’ thing. Not that she hadn’t believed Renner, but in a way, Kelsey had been there with her in Montego’s lair tonight. Tara just wanted to know.
She’d also heard everything Ben and Renner told Kelsey, who’d been waiting at Raymond’s Kids for their return. That was Kelsey, for you. As vigilant and as patient as the day was long.
Renner hadn’t said much since he’d spoken with her, which was just as well since their ear protection headsets made every conversation public. Tara couldn’t believe the nightmare with Montego was finally over, or that Renner—a man she’d just met a couple days ago—had saved her life twice in the short time they’d known each other.
But what amazed Tara more was the diverse lives that had unknowingly intersected to end Montego. Aaron and his group of wounded warriors. Tom and his misfits. Renner, Seth, Beckam, and Alex. Kelsey. Even Montego herself had caused her own demise in a self-destructive, convoluted way. She was the one who’d mangled, minimized, degraded, and violated her male victims. What had she thought? That treating others like that would make them her friends? For a while, it might have made them her puppets, yet, in the end, she’d totally miscalculated those soldiers’ resilience and the depth of their hatred for her, a hatred she’d instilled with painful accuracy. That they hadn’t boiled her alive in one of those steaming hot vats in that awful room was small comfort considering what they did do to her. Those last seconds of her life had to have been horrifically frightening. Only Tara couldn’t quite believe that Catalina Montego had ever been afraid of anything. She hadn’t seemed to have even the tiniest shred of humanity. So yeah. What goes around had certainly come around tonight.
Tara leaned against Renner’s chest, needing to hear his heartbeat, to know that good men did exist. Now that she was safe, she was supposed to feel better. Instead, her heart pounded like a bat had gotten caught in her ribcage. She wanted to run away, into the storm. She wanted to hide and forget what Jorge and Montego did to her, what Tom and his men had done to Montego. She wanted the screams in her mind to stop, hers and Catalina’s. She wanted to feel good again. Clean. Normal.
Instead she curled into a ball on Renner’s lap, her knees under her chin and her arms around her knees, frightened and still alone. He said nothing, just wrapped his arms around her and pressed his chin onto the top of her head as if he understood. God, this feeling of dread was suffocating. She’d come so far. Why couldn’t she shake it off and laugh that everything was over?
Jorge was in FBI custody. Didn’t they ship creeps like him off to Guantanamo Bay or somewhere just as distant? Montego really was dead. Tara didn’t need to see what was left of her corpse to believe Renner. He wouldn’t lie. He was everything trustworthy in her life. He and Kelsey and Alex and his team. Aaron and his men. They would all stand with her. Then why was she unraveling now when she had her life back?
Because Jorge’s wicked spirit had been there tonight too, and because his evil promise lingered: You cannot escape me. I have eyes everywhere. I will find a way to drag you to Mecca, and there you will die like the whore you are.
‘But I’m not a whore,’ she thought. ‘I only did what I had to do to stay alive.’
She could almost see his cold, black eyes fill with scorn as she recalled what he’d said so many times before: You are and always will be what I made you. A dog. An American dog.
Which was pretty much what Montego had said to Tom and his men. “I made them. Look at them. They’re nothing but a sniveling, whining pack of cowards ready to do my will. My will, not yours!”
That had to be all this ugly feeling was. Montego’s words reminded Tara of Jorge. Only Renner was right. Montego wasn’t worth shit. Neither was Jorge. They were just two crazy people who hadn’t been unique or special at all. Just cruel.
At last Ben finessed the chopper onto its private pad in the secure and private area east of the main Reagan terminal. Finally, she and Renner were safe on the backseat of one of the few brave cab drivers out in the storm.
Only then did Renner say the words she needed to hear. “You’re staying with me, Tara. At my place. All night. Tomorrow too. You okay with that?”
Until then, she hadn’t been sure where he was taking her, her place or his. Her stress wheezed out of her like the air out of a leaky tire. “Oh, thank God. Yessss.”
Renner took Tara to his humble home. It wasn’t much. Tucked in the pines along an unnamed river that was more often than not just a stream, he gave the cabbie a big tip, told him to be careful driving in this wintery weather that would close the District come morning, then escorted Tara into his single-home bungalow. The rustic little house was the first thing he’d purchased when he’d returned from his whirlwind tour of America. It made his mom happy that he’d decided to stay near her, but to Renner, it was just a place where he kept important stuff. His big screen. His bike. His mail.
Once inside, he turned the thermostat to higher than fifty and the gas fireplace to cheerful. The place would warm quicker that way. Making a quick pass through his living room, he
scooped up clothes and jackets, kicked boots and shoes out of Tara’s way with a hurried, “Don’t just stand there. Have a seat.”
“Knock it off,” she teased as she peeled out of his cut, revealing her white, practical Playtex bra. “You’re a guy. I wasn’t expecting clean and tidy.”
“It’s clean,” Renner corrected as he dumped the armful he’d gathered into the hall closet to be dealt with later. He grabbed a clean t-shirt off the hanger for Tara. “Mostly.”
Yawning, she dropped cross-legged in front of the fire and tipped forward to warm her hands. “Man, what a night.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “Here. Figured you might want something to cover up with.”
The whole flight back she’d been giving him mixed signals, snuggling in close like she had at the hospital, then turning remote and stiff, curling into a ball. Despite her state of undress, he still wasn’t sure where he stood with Tara, so Renner kept his distance while she slid into his shirt. Instead of curling around her on the floor like he wanted to, he took the chair nearest the fire and let her set the rules.
“You want coffee?” he asked, surprised at his lack of needing a stiff drink. His flask had been in his jacket all night, but his jacket had been on Tara during the ride home. He hadn’t thought of it until he’d offered her coffee instead of beer. That in itself was new. Normally he would’ve drained that flask dry after what he’d seen and done today.
The universe had definitely tilted, and everything was different now. Even Tara seemed more relaxed. Renner was feeling oddly resilient. Successful. He’d fulfilled one helluva tough mission. After months of worry that had all but eaten Alex alive, Kelsey was safe. She wouldn’t be flying off another hi-rise anytime soon. Montego was dead; her threat to servicemen everywhere eliminated. No doubt there. Even rat bastard Jorge was in FBI custody and destined not to see the light of day for a very long time.
Renner still didn’t feel as good about that last item as he did the others. There was more satisfaction in a final double tap that ended evil once and for all than in knowing that taxpayers everywhere would now ‘get’ to support, feed, clothe, and otherwise pamper that murdering ISIL terrorist for the rest of his life. If the court system got it right this time and sentenced Jorge to life without parole. Which, on a good day, was doubtful.
Renner (In the Company of Snipers Book 19) Page 30
