Chapter 11
I learned when I was a kid what it was like to play with fire. Sooner or later, you’re going to get burned.
Beast is going to be trouble.
I excuse myself before the top of his head detonates. “I’ll just be over here doing my job.”
Once I”m out of his magnetic field, I shake off the lingering effects of having Beast’s mouth on my skin.
He bit me.
The shock still reverberates through me.
Heat coils where his teeth grazed me. And in countless other places.
Places where his mouth would do wicked things.
God! I groan.
What is wrong with me?
When I glance at the bite, a wave of tingles rushes through my body. The mark is just above my wrist, right on the tender part of my inner arm.
There’s a small, dark pink area, a crescent moon shape, not as big as the ring that a pint glass leaves. But it feels gigantic.
I inhale deeply as the tingles zoom around from point to point in my body. You’d think a wolf snapped on my arm as big of an effect as it had.
There’s also the shock. Beast actually bit me.
I’ve never been bitten by a man before.
I didn’t know it would make my pussy throb.
Scrubbing my forearm against the material of my shorts doesn’t help.
Ignoring it doesn’t work.
Maybe dousing it with water will take away the sensation.
Belle glances at me as I move toward our supply of bottled water. “I’ll be right back, getting some more water. Want one?”
“Ten, please. Just kidding, but I do need to watch my hydration. I gotta take some electrolytes too.”
Another round of weird sensations set off in my body. Just the mention of electrolyte pills makes me curse Beast’s existence.
I probably sound like a grump when I say, “Gotcha covered.”
The path to the back of our truck, the one that didn’t burn, is a gauntlet of boxes and pallets of supplies. The inventory response teams carry is one thing that FamFind does right. Mostly.
I find the cases of water and pull out a few small bottles. It’s surprisingly thirst-quenching for as warm as it is. Thank god I feel better than I did.
The infuriating man’s electrolytes helped. I should have been better about taking care of myself.
I don’t know why I slipped up on that.
I’ve never had anyone to look after me.
As I sip the water, I angle myself into a spot where I can watch Beast.
He’s standing guard by the front of our tent.
The scowl on his face is enough to scare most people off. The insane amount of muscles probably does the rest.
Or the gun in his waistband.
It’s covered by his shirt, but I know it’s there. The casual observer would never see it.
I don’t think anything could get by the man.
My heart trips up when I think about Beast carrying me.
He’s strong. In a serious way.
Beast says something to Justice. His scowl deepens. The conversation goes on for a bit. It must be about their missing person case.
Unease slithers through me as I walk back toward Belle.
Little towns like Santa Rosa don”t look dangerous at first glance. But the country is unstable. I knew before I came. Was I being foolish this morning or just too eager to do my job?
I shiver. It could have been really bad.
They took me off guard. It won’t happen again.
That kind of mistake isn’t like me. I can’t fail. Life doesn’t pay off for slackers. You can never let your foot off the gas.
I give myself a shake and hop off the box.
Belle startles when I approach.
“Spooked?”
“Yeah,” she says with a grimace as she accepts three water bottles. “I guess I am.”
“I’m going to take a few moments to call headquarters about getting some security for us.”
“Besides hot daddy over there…”
I snort. “Daddy? Didn’t know you were into that kind of fetish.”
“For him, I could be into anything.”
I allow myself a quick look at Beast. He’s hot, I’ll give him that. Ruggedly handsome. There’s something about him… I can’t put my finger on it. A danger…
“Earth to Camile.”
I snap back. “I’d never call a man Daddy.”
“You just haven’t met the right one.”
She fans her face with a notebook. After watching him for a beat, she signs. “What’s his name?”
“Oh yeah, get this. Beast is his name.”
“That’s his call sign. Most military men have them.”
I toss a plastic bottle cap at her. “I wasn’t born yesterday.” As I fish around under the table for the stray cap with my foot, I say, “He doesn’t seem to want to share his real name.”
“What kind of man is called Beast?”
“A big, snarly, bossy one.”
Belle’s eyes glitter. “Could be. Could be something else. Something a lot more fun.”
My eyes bug. “Well, I’m not finding out.”
“You sure?” She twists in her chair until she’s facing me.
“One thousand percent. I generally avoid men. Where I’m from, women are expected to cook, carry beer, stay quiet, and bury their dreams in the backyard, because they’ll never be good enough to make anything of themselves.”
Her eyes round. “Harsh, Mamacita. You grew up rough.”
Belle told me enough about her past to know the street kid had more than her fair share of struggles. I offer her a shrug. “So did you.”
“I’m not sure if it was that bad.”
“It made me who I am.”
She holds her water bottle out toward me. “Cheers to that, sister. We’re no wilting flowers.”
I stand and stretch my shoulders. “I’m going to make that call now.”
She watches me go.
Unfortunately, I also feel Beast’s eyes on me.
Not going to look.
I stride to the front of the truck and grab my pack. Thank god my work satellite phones weren’t in the one that got burned. That would have been hard to fix.
As I squat down, I unzip the pack. There’s too much crap in the pocket. I need to get organized. There’s no room for sloppiness when in the field. But it was a fast-packing job, I was swimming in the deep end of the pool, trying to get ready for our last-minute mission.
Learn fast or die.
Well, I’m learning.
I drag out the sunscreen, lip stuff, bug spray, and the small sewing kit I never travel without. Then the lock-pick kit, and the small recorder. I set them aside.
“Where are you?”
I push my hand between a couple of packets of tissue, and below the… what is that?
I tug it free. “Oh.” One of my sports bras. That definitely doesn’t belong in this pocket.
Finally, I touch a phone. I drag it out.
Damn. Not the right one. I set it aside and retrieve my FamFind phone from the same bottomless pit.
It takes a minute to power-up. I take the opportunity to put on my favorite Burt’s Bees lip balm.
The cool mint feels good. I get the weird idea to put it on my wrist. Right where that damned hot spot is.
When the phone hums to life, I’ve got a couple of voicemails.
I wasn’t expecting any calls. Only my boss has the number.
Usually, I call him. Not the other way around.
When I cue up the voicemails, it’s Ralph. “Camy,” he booms, “call in as soon as you can.”
The second one is the same. Only, he sounds pissed.
I dial his personal cell. It’s Sunday, and I know he’s not in his office.
It rings for a long time. Unusually long. Like he doesn’t have voicemail set up, even though I know he does. I’ve left messages before.
“Camy!” Ouch. Right in my ear.
“Hey, Ralph.”
“I’m glad you called. I’ve been trying to tell you that I’m sending a guy to meet with your team. He’ll tell you all about it when he gets there.”
“Oh, okay. I am calling because I need something. Well, technically I need approval for something. I think this is going to go beyond my discretionary spending limit.”
He’s clanging something in the background. Whatever it is must be made of metal. “What do you need?” he yells over the racket. “Sorry for the noise. I’m at the airport and getting my plane ready to fly.”
What’s he getting it ready with, a hammer?
I frown.
Ralphflying? That’s not a pretty picture. He’s sloppy. Not that I can say much after finding my bra in the front pocket of my backpack. “I didn’t know you were into flying.”
“Just got a new-to-me plane. It’s the best.”
Weird. After six months of working for Ralph, I had no clue he had a life beyond Netflix and takeout food at night. This is especially weird because I’m supposed to know everything about the man I work for.
Mental note: figure out what the hell went wrong with my research. I get myself back on focus. “Ralph, I need to use some extra operating funds to hire a team of security guards.”
He’s silent for a second. Then he scoffs. “We’ve never done that before. Your predecessor never even brought it up. I’m sure you’re fine without any goons.”
My mouth pinches. A headache lingers in the fringes of my skull.
“Ralph, this is a real concern. There are a lot of armed rebels in the area. They’ve already stormed into our tent once, but thankfully some military-types were around to intervene.”
“Our staff guys will look out for you.”
He’s talking about Brian and Pembrook.
I narrow my eyes. “You have seen them, right? They’re wonderful and all. They do a great job at what they do. But I think they might be a little underprepared to handle armed maniacs.”
I can hear the shrug in his tone when he says, “They’ve survived this long.”
I jolt when his words sink in. He really doesn’t care. I knew Ralph was callous. I didn’t know he outright put people’s lives at risk.
Fuming, I stare into the distance, working over next steps. This puts me between a rock and a really hard place.
I have a job to do. Technically, two jobs. But things are getting more complicated by the minute.
I puff my cheeks and let out a slow breath. “Ralph, I won’t keep the team here if they’re in danger.”
“That’s not your decision.”
Something’s starting to churn in my belly.
It has the flavor of fury.
I push up from the ground and stretch my tense muscles. He’s wrong. Not just morally, he’s wrong about me.
I make that clear. “Actually, as team lead for this disaster, it is in my power.”
“Don’t press your luck, sugar. You’re replaceable. I’ll have you out of there so fast your head will spin. Marty can step up and finish the mission.”
My eye twitches. Fudgesicles. I’ve worked too hard to get into this spot. Getting fired would be disastrous. Too much is riding on this gig.
I cool my jets. Just enough to sound reasonable. “Look, it won’t be very expensive. I can divert some of the funds from the miscellaneous category and hire some local guards. And it will save you the cost of having to hire and recruit a new team. It would run you thousands of dollars and months of time. This group is good, and I don’t want you to lose them because they don’t feel safe.”
After the noise recedes, he mutters, “Alright, but keep it low. That money is earmarked for other things.”
I wonder what…
“Sure thing. I’ll check in soon. When is this person you’re sending arriving?”
“Tomorrow. He’s going to take some of your extra supplies.”
As I rub the back of my neck, I squint at the ground. “About that. That was the other reason I needed to speak to you. We had a fire here a couple of hours ago. One of the trucks was destroyed.”
“A fucking fire?” After bellowing, he sucks in an angry breath.
“The rebels. The same people I told you about. They are a real threat, and the truck fire was just a warning. I don’t know what they want yet, but they’re out to get something.”
He’s muttering in the background. “Which truck?”
“The big one.”
The brief silence on the line is electric. “Was everything destroyed?”
“No, there happened to be some guys nearby, the same ones that deflected the rebels earlier, and they got most of the crates out. The truck itself is a different story.”
This time, his reply is fast. “Did they get the wooden crates with the blue straps out?”
I step around the corner of the truck and look but don’t have a good view “Let me check. I’ll get back to you.”
“Make it fast, LaVon.”
Ralph has reverted to last name only. His cracks are showing. He’s about to blow a fuse. Belle warned me about this.
“I won’t take long.”
He hangs up.
I blow out a breath. God, I can’t wait to tell Ralph where he can stick his bad attitude.
I kneel back by my pack. Time to deal with intense boss number two. One of these days I’m going to be the boss. The BIG boss. And all the women will get promotions.
Ah. I smile as I fantasize about being free of the old boys’ club.
After turning off my FamFind phone, I power up the other one. This time, I dial the number. It’s etched in my memory.
The line opens, but there’s no greeting. Standard.
I like to think of him as Darth Vader. Mystical booming voice. Cloaked in darkness. Never showing his face.
I speak in a whisper. “Hey, it’s Calypso.”
As I hold the phone against my shoulder, I spin the other one in my hand. Inside, I tighten my gut, bracing for the coming explosion.
“About time.” Boom!
I wince.
“Travel was good. Not much interesting to tell you.”
His silence is laced with razor wire.
I’m mostly forthright with him. I’ve learned to get your facts before you speak. I need to do more work. But there technically might be two developments. One of them, I definitely need to ferret out. The other I can manage.
So, I go on with my check-in. “The family is enjoying Alaska, we haven’t caught any fish. I’ll be sure to call if we do, I’m sure you’ll want to hear all about it.”
He harrumphs. The line goes dead.
Freaking-A. I exhale. I need an aspirin. The man always hangs up on me.
“Fishing in Alaska?”
I whirl and find two very hard brown eyes locked on me. They’re not warm and chocolaty now. They’re like circles of flinty brown stone.
His lips compress as he glances down at my gear.
“B-Beast,” I stammer. “I didn’t realize you were there.”