Chapter 4
Haleswood, South Carolina
At home in his office, the rich scent of Allie’s marinara sauce scenting the air, Ross replayed the choppy string of videos and still shots Eva had assembled.
He’d put this conversation off for too long, hoping for better news from Talbot. Instead, it seemed the counterintel officer had gone off the radar with one particularly alive former CIA operative.
She wasn’t answering her cell phone and her email kept kicking back the ‘out of the office’ automated message.
What Ross interpreted as Garner’s ‘former’ status was the only thing that remained debatable in this situation. Going a second round with the CIA wasn’t high on his list of life goals. Once had been more than enough. Once had nearly wiped out his team and that’s when he had the Army at his back. He’d had to endure accusations that his team had been ill-prepared, that they’d screwed up the communications and gone into a delicate negotiation trigger-happy.
No one but Talbot seemed inclined to place any responsibility or blame on the dead man from the CIA.
Ross wanted answers for himself, some explanation for the families of the three men who died to protect Garner. It had taken years to let go, to accept the truth was long gone, never to be revealed.
There’d been some peace in that. An obligatory, if uncomfortable, acceptance.
He closed his eyes and let the memories batter him, let his pulse race through those hectic moments when confidence turned to dread, brushed too close to panic. One second things had been fine—Garner walked into the meeting, welcomed by his contact. The first two pops of gunfire had been the only warning and not nearly sufficient.
An explosion. Screams. The chatter and bite of automatic weapons. Orders changed on the fly as everything went to hell. When the dust settled and quiet returned to that barren corner of the world, Ross had three men down along with Garner’s burned corpse. And not one thing close to an explanation.
It infuriated him to think Garner had been doing whatever he damn well pleased in the years since. How in the hell had he waltzed back into the states with no one the wiser? And what business had he conducted with the pharmaceutical company Allie used to work with?
He heard her rap on the open office door. “Dinner’s almost ready,” she said.
“Smells wonderful.” He turned, hoping the smile on his face would hold up. “Do you have a minute?”
“Always, for you.”
He clicked on the clearest current shot of Garner’s face, putting it on one half of his monitor and using Garner’s official head shot from his personnel record to fill the other half. “Do you know this guy?”
She peered at the screen. “He looks familiar. Can you give me some context?”
“Nicole thinks you might remember him from your work in Virginia.”
Allie’s brow furrowed for a moment, then cleared. She leaned back as her lips curved into a relaxed smile. “Oh yes. That’s, umm, Jefferson Kinley.”
“Do you recall anything about him or his purpose at the company?”
Her soft gaze turned wary. “Is he part of what happened to me?”
Ross shook his head, praying he wasn’t being na?ve. The case that had brought Allie back into his life almost a year ago had been closed, all the loose ends tied off between the local law enforcement and the FBI. Neither of them wanted to think of bringing that kind of risk into Haleswood again. “I don’t think so,” Ross said, “but he might be part of something else.”
“I don’t remember much of why he was there. Just that Mr. Kinley was always friendly with all of us, bordering on flirtatious with the women.”
“Uh-huh.”
She swatted him with the hand towel she was holding. “There was no intent. Some guys are like that. Charismatic. He never asked any of us out.”
The idea of Garner relying on charm grated Ross’s nerves. Soon he’d see the man trying to charm his way around a prison cell block. “You were in public relations.”
“I remember.” She arched an eyebrow. “Your point?”
“Did he avoid pictures? Did he meet with your boss or someone else?”
“I didn’t have that much to do with him. The only time I bumped into him was near the research and development labs, never near my offices.”
“Great.” A spook and a pharmaceutical research corporation didn’t sound like a happy combination. He minimized Garner’s pictures.
“Ross, you’re scaring me.”
“I don’t mean to. It’s not anything that can bother us here.” He’d make sure of that. Reaching out, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. “Do you remember the last time you saw him?”
Her gaze drifted away as she thought it through. “I left in November.” She twisted the towel in her hands one way, then the other. “January, maybe? Yeah, that feels right. I was prepping the sponsorship banners for a community run/walk event. He gave me a hand in the elevator.”
The security records were long gone by now, Ross knew. But the alias might help Eva find another piece to the puzzle. “Anything else?”
Shrugging, she rubbed a hand across his shoulders. “Not really. There was no reason to remember him. Other than the flirting.” She winked at him. “I thought he was just another suit.”
If he was so benign, why did Nicole remember him giving off a dangerous vibe? Of course, Nicole had more reason to be attuned to that sort of thing.
“Come on and eat dinner.” Allie stepped back, taking his hand and tugging him enough to pull him out of the chair, out of his thoughts. “Talk to me.”
“It’s nothing.”
She stopped short in the doorway. “You promised not to lie to me. No more secrets.”
“That I did.” With a heart full of regret, he nudged her out the door and closer to the kitchen. “I’ll give you the short version over dinner.”
Her gaze narrowed as she weighed his reply. Ross bent his head and stole a quick kiss. “The short version will have all the pertinent details. I promise.”
“All right.”
With plates full of pasta, sauce, and salad, they settled across from each other at the kitchen table. Ross told her what he could without compromising security, but when he looked up, it wasn’t pity in Allie’s eyes, it was temper. Hot and ready to flash.
“Kinley—or Garner, rather—is CIA?”
“He was at one time. I can’t be sure if he was working for them when he visited your company.” Ross poked at his salad, his appetite gone. “It’s not like the CIA is very transparent about their personnel.”
“And now he’s in Charleston.”
“As of a few days ago. Even a few hours ago,” he amended, thinking of Laura’s brief phone call. “We’re still digging for details on the how and why.”
“You’re worried he’s here for you?”
Ross shook his head. He worried about a lot of other things, but if Garner wanted to kill him, he’d likely be dead already. “I have a few contacts left from those days,” he replied. “Nothing indicates he’s after me or the men from that team. The truth is he should be worried about me taking lethal action.”
“You wouldn’t.” Her eyes went wide. “Not until you get some answers.”
Ross felt his lips twitch into a grin. “You know me well.”
She reached across the table and patted his hand. “Goes both ways.”
And he treasured the mutual respect, awareness, and trust at the core of their relationship. “If you see him around town, call me immediately, stay in a public area, and do not speak to him.”
“You think he’s coming to Haleswood?”
Ross shook his head. “I think whatever he’s up to will happen in Charleston, but in case I’m wrong…” He paused, but there was no sense in holding back, not with Allie. “I didn’t trust myself to stay objective,” he admitted. “So I sent a friend to check on him and now she’s off the radar. I’m sure it’s temporary.”
She pointed to the space between his eyes. “You’re worried. It shows.”
He rubbed at the offending point. “I am.” If his inquiry put Talbot at risk, he’d never forgive himself. “Garner’s dangerous.”
“Well, don’t worry about me. I’ll be smart.”
“Thanks. Will you please talk to Nicole? Maybe it will jog something loose for one or both of you. If it does, pass the info on to Eva.”
“Count on it.” She spun long noodles around on her fork but didn’t raise the food to her mouth. “And you’ll be doing what in the meantime?”
“Staying busy.” Searching for Talbot and every stray breadcrumb until he found Garner. But her skeptical expression told him she saw through his evasion.
“Tell me.”
He grinned, amazed how easily she lifted his burdens. “I’m afraid that’s classified.”
“Oh, you’ll tell me.”
“Don’t think so. Clearance, secrets, and all that.” He shook his head.
“Hmm.” She set her fork aside and blotted her lips with the napkin. “I have ways of making you talk.”
He preferred all the ways she left him speechless. Wiggling his eyebrows, he threw down the gauntlet. “You think so? Let’s see what you’ve got.”
She pushed back from the table and came around behind his chair. Nuzzling his neck, her hands skimmed down over his chest and back up to rest lightly on his shoulders. She murmured sexy promises in his ear while her thumbs dug into the deep knots of his shoulder muscles.
Dinner forgotten, Garner nearly so, Ross let her touch soothe while her words and light, teasing kisses amped up his desire. He swept her up into his arms and carried her back to the bedroom, sinking into the miraculous joy they found in each other.