Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
Ghost sighed in frustration and leaned back in his chair. The SCIF was quiet, but his mind wasn’t. The damned dream had woke him again, the wolf’s jaws around his throat, the blood starting to slide hotly over his skin. Once he woke, he knew he couldn’t go back to sleep.
He was no closer to knowing what Gannon’s “big thing” happening at the Arsenal was.
He’d listened to hours of recordings from the man’s apartment over the past few days, skipping past the jerking off to bad porn, and the even worse sexual encounters that occurred whenever Gannon brought home some woman he’d started fucking on the regular.
It was the same woman every time. Or there was more than one of them out there who called him Daddy and squealed like a pig when she came.
He’d checked in with Seth because they still had a bug at Eagle Defense Systems where Gannon worked on days he wasn’t at the Missile Defense Agency on the Arsenal.
Seth said there was nothing out of the ordinary.
Lots of meetings and phone calls, but all about business.
If there was a code being employed to talk about Athena without talking about it, then Seth hadn’t cracked it yet because absolutely nothing stood out.
Ghost had sent coded messages to Viper, got messages in return, but he was no closer to knowing who the saboteurs were. It was as if, with the president and her administration focusing on other things, whoever’d been after the technology behind Athena was focusing elsewhere as well.
Or, worse, they’d found a way in and stolen it already, and Ghost and his team were chasing their own asses.
That thought kept him up at night almost as often as thinking about the militia and how to protect Diana from harm.
Tomorrow, he had to walk into that meeting with Diana at his side and pretend he was eager to join their cause. If they got pulled deeper, then what?
He knew she was competent, but the farther he got into this thing with her, the more he worried about her safety. She was bold and ballsy, and she wouldn’t hesitate to storm into danger if it meant she’d get her shot at taking Viktor Dashevsky down. He still didn’t know why, and he wanted to.
She hadn’t shared, and he hadn’t asked. Yet.
He would, but he also knew it meant he had to share some things with her.
It needed to happen tonight. He didn’t want to walk in that meeting without knowing what her emotional triggers were. It wasn’t safe. For either of them.
They’d spent every night together since the weekend of the festival. Usually at his place, though sometimes at hers. He knew she liked her apartment in town, and he felt like he should make an effort to stay there with her, but he was more comfortable at the farm.
After he’d escaped his father in Alaska, after he’d trekked the two-plus days in ice and snow, dodging wolves and avoiding bears, he’d never wanted to be anywhere that remote again.
He’d preferred cities, preferred noise and movement.
He’d lived in apartments, never houses, and he’d fallen asleep to the sounds of humanity around him.
Of course he’d gone on missions in remote areas, lived off the land, and survived because that’s how he was wired. But he’d always gone back to the city or the suburbs when it was over.
Until they’d moved to Sutton’s Creek.
The farm wasn’t in town, but it wasn’t what he’d consider remote.
It was quiet, though, and he discovered that he’d missed quiet.
Not the quiet of a mission where he’d been huddled on the ground with his team, sleeping with scorpions and snakes, but the quiet of the country where he could hear nothing outside his windows but wind through the trees and wildlife.
He liked being at the farm. He thought, when this was over, maybe he’d go to the fishing cabin he still owned in Virginia and live there a while.
Except every time he thought of leaving, of not being in Sutton’s Creek, it didn’t feel right.
What was he supposed to do with himself then?
He was forty-two, he’d given up his military career for this mission, and there was nothing left for him except succeeding at what he’d been asked to do. Then what?
He’d built a life here, even if it wasn’t quite real, and he liked it.
What if he made it real? What if he stayed, convinced the president and her people to let him and his team buy the range for real, and made a go of it?
They hadn’t done badly. Even if money hadn’t been a factor in whether or not the range stayed open during the mission, Daphne and her organizational and planning skills meant they really were in the black without even trying.
She’d been right about the booth at the fall fest, and she’d been right about the trunk-or-treat event they’d held on Sunday.
They’d had a huge turnout, and they’d cemented relationships with the police and fire departments.
They’d had so many signups for classes that they were going to need to hire more qualified instructors to help them soon.
Besides, his friends were staying. They were entrenched. Even New Yorker Ethan, who’d bitched and moaned about the pizza not being as good as New York, was planning to move into a historic home in Sutton’s Creek and raise his daughter with the woman he loved.
All of them were planning to get married, to stay. To become part of the fabric of a small Southern town, even if it was as far from where they’d started as the moon was from the sun.
What if he stayed, too? He could. Why not?
He stood, put things right in the SCIF, then exited before the team arrived for work.
He’d left Diana asleep in his bed an hour ago, kissing her on the forehead and telling her he had things to do, and he’d see her later.
She’d murmured at him to have a good day and then turned over and went back to sleep.
He stood outside in the dawn light and breathed the cool air before he went for a run.
Daphne’s ridiculous giant skeleton and its spider dogs stood sentinel over the range, and the fields were wet with dew.
A lone figure moved through the field between the range and the houses.
He started walking, moving toward her, until they met in the middle of the dew-drenched grass.
“I thought you were sleeping,” he said.
She went into his arms, lay her head against his chest. His heart stuttered as he wrapped his arms around her. He pressed his lips to her blond head, closed his eyes as he breathed her in. The comfort of her. The rightness of her in his arms.
Jesus, what was happening to him?
“I was, but it’s lonely without you.”
“So you came looking for me. Alone.”
She tipped her head back to gaze up at him. “Where else would you be? Your commute is a short walk. And this isn’t exactly downtown Chicago in the middle of the night. Think I’m safe enough, though maybe those cows over there might get a little frisky.”
He ignored the cows. “I might have gone to town for breakfast. You’d have walked over here for nothing.”
“You’d have gone without me?”
“Maybe. I could have brought you something before you woke up.”
“I suppose you could have. But I knew I’d find you here. You also forget I could see the bowl on the counter where you ate cereal before you left. Though you’re a big enough boy, I suppose you could eat a second breakfast.”
“I could. But you could have called me instead of walking over. I’d have come back.”
She shook her head. “I didn’t need you to come back, Alex.
I just wanted to see you again before I have to go to work.
It might be a long day. Ackerman called when I was getting dressed to say we’ve got to drive to Scottsboro and Rainsville.
Meth dealers. I’m not thrilled about it, but what are you gonna do? ”
“I can come to your place later, be waiting for you with dinner and a bath.”
“That’s sweet of you. I think I’d rather come back here. Do you mind?”
“I don’t. Just figured you were getting tired of never sleeping in your own bed.”
“I like my bed. I also like waking up with Wendy Cochran’s breakfast sandwiches so close by.
But I like waking in the country, too.” She swept her arm to encompass their surroundings.
“It’s peaceful and pretty. And we can talk out here, which we may need to do before tomorrow.
” She frowned. “Are you sure you don’t want to tell the team about the meeting? ”
“Are you worried about it?”
She shrugged. “Not exactly. But I’ve spent enough time with them now to know how much you care about each other. And they’re more than competent, Alex. They might be a help if…”
“If?”
Her blue eyes fixed on him again. “You were worried I wouldn’t be good backup when this started.
I don’t want you thinking about that when we need to be focused on what’s happening out there.
I know Gannon’s an asshole, but he’s hinted whenever we’ve met with him lately that something will happen at that meeting.
I don’t want you thinking about how to protect me and not doing your job.
If you know they’re ready to help, you might not think so much about me being with you. ”
Was he that bad at hiding it? He started to explain but she put a finger on his lips to keep him from speaking.
“I know you’ve been dreaming, Alex. I know it wakes you up at night, and I know I have to be contributing to it since you’ve never wanted me involved.
But I can’t let you go alone, so please just involve your team somehow if it’s going to eat you up inside. ”
Jesus, this woman. She astounded him and intrigued him—and he thought he might never tire of her company for as long as he lived. And that thought staggered the fuck out of him.
“I am thinking about protecting you,” he said roughly.
“It’s what I do, who I am. Doesn’t mean I don’t trust you to have my back though.
I don’t want you there because I don’t trust them.
I never wanted you in the middle of this, but we’ll go in together.
You’re my backup, and I’m yours. We won’t go in completely blind.
Mendez knows about the meeting. If anything happens, he’ll send my guys after us. ”
He didn’t like looping Viper in, especially since deniably was his whole reasoning for keeping those he cared about out of it. But Viper insisted, and he wasn’t the sort of man to take no for an answer. He also snorted at the idea of cracking under pressure—or polygraphs.
She smiled. “Does this mean we’re a team then?”
“Yeah, we’re a team.”
“I feel honored. Should we have a little ceremony? Spit in our hands and shake on it? Make pinky promises? Synchronize our secret decoder rings?”
He stared at her. “Diana Corbin, are you making a joke at my expense?”
That giggle he adored escaped. “Maybe.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “But also, thank you. I feel like I’ve accomplished something big, having you think I’m good enough to be on your team.”
“I do,” he said honestly. “And I know I was a dick to you over the past few months, but the information you gave us was invaluable. We wouldn’t have known about the Dashevsky connection as quickly as we did—if ever.”
It bothered him to think they wouldn’t have made that connection, but it was entirely possible. Diana was the one with the in-depth knowledge of the Dashevsky Group, and she’d brought it to them when Callie was in danger.
“You’d have gotten there. I have to think Washington would have told you his people were involved, and you’d have put it all together without me. Just not quite as fast.”
“You’re a good agent, Diana. You always have been, even when I was pissed at you for invading my operation. And I suppose I can admit that I like you a tiny bit more than I used to.”
She squeezed him. “I like you a tiny bit more, too. But don’t read too much into it, because once you start acting all macho and ordering me around at the meeting tomorrow, you’ll be at the bottom of the likability ladder again.”
“Chance I’ll have to take, I guess.”
“Okay, I better get going. Have to meet Ackerman and get on the road. See you later, Magic Man.”
He took her hand. “Not so fast. I’m walking you to your car.”
“Oh, right. Need to protect me from those cows.”
“Tease all you like, but I’m not letting my woman walk back to her car alone when I can go with her. Kiss her properly, maybe cop a feel before she goes.”
“Just be aware she’s copping one too. If it makes you hard, that’s not her fault.”
He gave her a look. “Princess, just looking at you makes me hard.”
And somewhat unnerved about all the other things he was feeling inside. He pressed her against the car door and kissed her until they were both feeling the pain of parting.
“Gotta go,” she said regretfully. “But we’ll take up where we left off when I get back tonight.”
“Counting on it, babe.”
“Bye, hot stuff.” She got into her Beemer, started the engine, and reversed out of the space beside his truck. He watched her go, frowning as her taillights grew farther and farther away.
It was a goodbye like any other, and yet it was somehow unsettling too. As if a freight train barreled down the track, and he’d just stepped into its path.