Chapter 33
33
Standing in the kitchen the following morning, Logan poured a cup of coffee for himself, then pulled down another mug and filled it with coffee, creamer, and sweetener. Hearing the scuffing of footsteps coming down the hall, he hid his grin as he pushed the mug toward Vivian, still encased in her flannel pajamas.
“Umm,” she grunted, taking a sip before moving around the counter straight into his arms.
Tucking her head under his chin, he closed his eyes for a moment, allowing the sweet floral scent of her shampoo to tease his nostrils, finding it eased his stress. Her body fit perfectly next to his, and the feel of her arms around his waist and her cheek resting against his chest made his heart pound with joy.
“Is zombie Viv awake yet?”
“Maybe after a few more sips,” she grunted, hugging him tighter. Tipping her head back, she looked up at his face. “You still have the worry from yesterday etched on your face. Are you okay?”
“I never worried about a mission,” he began. “My team…we worked as one. We could look at each other and know what the other was thinking. We could tell by the tone of each others’ voices over the radio what the fuck was happening and what we needed to do. I don’t have that with my Keepers yet, but I will. With their training, I know it’ll come.”
He dropped his gaze to hers, his arms tightening around her back. “But yesterday damn near took me over the edge, babe. You gotta know, though…I couldn’t be prouder of you than anyone I’ve ever worked with.”
He bent and took her lips, his mouth plundering, tasting, searching as his tongue tangled with hers. She responded in kind, desperate to join with him.
Walking her a step backward, he lifted her and planted her ass onto the counter. His hands were on her shoulders, pulling her top downward, when his buzzing phone halted them.
“Ughhhhh,” she groaned. “I know you have to take that, but the timing sucks.” Hopping down from the counter, she grabbed her mug on the way back to the bedroom.
He watched her walk away before he grabbed his phone. Seeing the caller, he watched her walk down the hall before he answered Donald’s call.
“Ms. Sanders is certain it is tularemia?” Donald queried.
“Yes, she’s sure. I’m not at my computer right now, so I can’t give you the details, but she said it was a stable bacterium, and the incubation period is only two to fifteen days. It’s rarely passed from human to human, but the cell’s scientists may have done something with it.”
“I have it pulled up now,” Donald said. “Ingestion of contaminated food or water. So it could be simply added to a water supply. It says it can also be used in aerosols. Fuckin’ hell, Preacher. Fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, muscle aches?—”
“I remember Vivian telling me that many people could have it, and doctors wouldn’t know to look for it until vast numbers showed up, draining the medical resources.”
“Then destroy that house today.”
Deciding he needed privacy, he walked outside and headed toward his truck. “I need to get Vivian out of here first.”
“She’s finished with her analysis and doesn’t need anything from the Zamans.”
“I’ll take care of it, but I’d feel better if she were gone.”
“Understood. You know what to do, Logan. Take them out—everyone.”
“That’s not what this is about, Donald.”
“Do you really think that if you don’t eliminate them, they won’t go after her? They’ll know who pointed the finger at them. They’ll know who to blame. You can’t protect her if they’re still alive.”
“Fuck!”
“I trust you, Preacher. Do what you need to do.”
Donald disconnected, and Logan sat in the truck for a moment, trying to figure out his next move. Never, as a SEAL, had he been faced with such indecision. Now, he fully understood why Mace and Carson warned him about the risks associated with such an assignment. Keepers are protectors and investigators first and always. He let his past relationship with Donald influence him, but couldn’t deny that Donald was right. They could come after Viv. Scrubbing his hand over his face, he sighed heavily.
He had to keep her from knowing how he would dispatch the cell members… hell, she can’t even know I am dispatching them . But to send her home early might undermine the relationship they were building. Christ, what the fuck am I going to do? He sat for another minute, steeling his resolve, knowing that whatever happened when he went back inside would gut him, but he prayed when the mission was all over, she would let him explain—grovel if that was what it took.
Climbing out of his truck, he slammed the door harder than he meant to. Stalking to the kitchen door, he entered, seeing Vivian sitting at the dining room table, finishing a bowl of Lucky Charms. Despite his mood, a grin slipped over his face, seeing her turning her bowl up and slurping the milk.
Standing, she walked over to the sink and placed the bowl in it. " Are you okay? 'Cause you don’t seem like that was a good phone call.”
Rubbing the back of his neck, he ducked his head, staring at the counter instead of her. His mind warred with his heart.
“Now you’re not looking at me.”
His gaze jumped to hers as he steeled his spine. “You’ve done your job, Viv. Thanks to you, we know what we’re dealing with and how to move forward.”
She narrowed her eyes, peering at him, but he managed to keep his face emotionless.
“Okay,” she said, drawing out the word.
“It’s just that now things will get hotter, and I have to be able to do my job. And that’s not something that I need an audience for.”
“An audience?”
“A distraction.”
Her voice dropped slightly as she repeated, “A distraction? I’ve gone from a partner to an audience to a distraction. Wow, that’s some kind of fast demotion. Do I dare ask how me as a lover fits into that?”
“Don’t make this harder than it already is.”
Her mouth dropped open as her expression became etched with incredulity. Her chest depressed with the air that forced its way from her lungs. “Harder?”
He worked to keep his voice steady, but his gut was clenching. “I needed you to tell me what they had so I’d know how to destroy it properly and safely. You’ve done that. Now, I need to finish the job I was hired to do.”
“Turn over the information, right?” She stood with her arms crossed, her foot tapping a pattern on the floor. “Why do I need to leave for that? Won’t I be needed to testify against them?”
“I need to take care of them and destroy the lab. Me…not you.”
“Destroy how?”
“Fire,” he responded. “Nothing there will explode, so everything can be destroyed in a fire.”
Pinching her lips, she tried a different angle. “What about my makeshift lab in the shed?”
“I’ll destroy that too.”
She threw her arms out to the side. “I could help with that, Logan. Why are you pushing me out?”
“I’m not willing to risk your safety anymore. I can focus on what I need to do if I know you’re safely away from here.” Holding himself back from taking her in his arms, he clipped, “Your part in the mission is finished now, and you need to go home. That was what was always supposed to happen.”
Time stood still, seeming longer with the agony that filled the air so completely that breathing was almost impossible without choking.
Vivian made no movement other than the slight quivering of her lips as tears gathered in her eyes. Her hand formed a fist that she beat softly against her chest. “Are you telling me to leave the job…or are you telling me to leave you ?”
Sucking in a ragged breath, Logan hardened his voice as he repeated, “You need to head home.”
Her head gave a short, jerky nod as she set her unfinished coffee cup in the sink and walked past him, rounding the counter. He swallowed deeply, his heart ripping in fear she would never give him another chance when the mission was over.
Ten minutes later, Vivian returned from the bedroom with her suitcase in hand. Bypassing him without speaking, she moved to the table and packed up her laptop. Glancing around the room, she snatched her e-reader from the coffee table and added it to her purse. Taking out the burner phone, she laid it on the counter before reaching into the drawer and snatching her personal phone from where he’d placed it weeks ago. “What about Sakari? I don’t want to leave her here?—”
“She’ll be fine.”
Scoffing, Vivian shook her head. “Oh yeah. The man who so easily shoves meaningful people away is going to assure that our… the cat is fine. Sorry if I don’t believe you.”
“I promise I won’t leave her to her own defenses. I’ll find a home for her. I promise no harm will come to her.”
Pulling her purse up on her shoulder, she picked up her suitcase and moved toward the kitchen door. Stopping, she choked back a sob before swallowing it down. She turned to face him, staring as he kept up the stone-faced persona he managed to hold on to.
“I was in the bedroom packing and thinking of all the terrible things I wanted to call you…say to you. But I just can’t. I told you I didn’t do flings, but the truth is, I’m glad I was here. Glad I met you. Glad I got to work with you.” She took another shuddering breath, and a lone tear ran down her cheek as she finished, “And I’m glad I…” Choking back a sob, she shook her head as though arguing with herself. “Good luck, Logan.”
With those emotionless parting words, she walked out the door, threw her bags into the back of her little rental car, and backed out of the driveway. Logan watched her every movement, a weight heavy on his heart. Stalking out of the house, he headed toward the shed with destruction on his mind.