Chapter 3 #2
“You always worked overtime for coworkers when they needed time off. You regularly went in early and stayed late,” Smiley continued. “You visited the retirement home down the street from your apartment every other week.”
“Smiley…”
“I know you,” he told her. “I’ve spent the last several months learning everything there is to know about you.
I’ve talked to your neighbors, your coworkers…
everyone and anyone I could, trying to figure out where you could’ve gone.
Where you were hiding. Not one person had anything bad to say about you. ”
“Then you must not have talked to the old fart who lived in the apartment beneath mine. He always complained that I walked too heavily. That I stomped around purposely just to disrupt his life,” she murmured.
“I did talk to him,” Smiley countered. “He was shocked that you’d disappeared.
Yeah, he told me that he bitched about you walking too loudly, but admitted that he only did it because you’d bake him homemade cookies to apologize.
And since his wife died a few years ago, and he can’t cook to save his life, he missed having home-baked sweets. ”
“Oh my God,” Bree whispered.
“I know you,” he repeated. “And as far as you not being my responsibility, I suppose you’re right.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t want you to be.
The man who’s hunting you was going to take Josie away as well.
Anyone who hurts one of our own isn’t allowed to get away scot-free.
And the last thing I’m going to do is allow him to take someone else who’s important to me—you.
So I’m going to circle the wagons, use every resource I have to make sure you’re safe, and take that asshole down.
But in order to do that, I have to be here.
Not in a foreign country taking out some terrorist.”
Bree blinked—and Smiley was alarmed to see tears in her eyes.
“Oh shit, don’t cry. I can’t handle it.”
She let out a cross between a snort and a chuckle. “You take out terrorists on a regular basis and don’t bat an eye, but you can’t handle a few tears?”
“No.”
“If you ever have a daughter, she’s going to have you wrapped around her little finger.”
“I don’t want kids,” he blurted—then wanted to smack himself in the head. This wasn’t the time or place for a conversation about hypothetical future children.
“You don’t?”
“No.”
She stared at him for so long, Smiley shifted uneasily.
“Are you saying that because of all the research you did on me?”
Smiley frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“I don’t want children either. Most people think I’ll change my mind once I fall in love. That my biological clock will start ticking or something. But…I don’t think I will. I’ve never felt a need to have kids. I love them, like playing with other people’s kids. But don’t want any of my own.”
That was the moment Smiley knew this woman was meant for him. He already lusted after her. Was intrigued by her. Was desperate to make sure she was safe from the asshole searching for her. But hearing that? Hearing her say exactly what he felt in regard to kids?
He was done for.
“I didn’t know that about you,” he said.
“Smiley? You gonna stand in the hall all morning or get your ass down here?”
Looking up, he saw his commander’s head peeking out from the meeting room. He sounded irritated, which wasn’t a good thing.
“Coming, Sir!” he called out.
“Smiley?” Bree asked.
“Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
“Nope. What did I say about thanking me? Come on. Let’s get this done,” he said gruffly, uncomfortable with the feelings coursing through his body.
He wanted to snatch Bree up and run away with her.
Stash her in a cabin in some remote mountain region, so no one could touch one hair on her head.
But he also wanted to integrate her with his friends.
Make certain she didn’t even consider going back to Vegas once her pursuer was caught.
His fingers brushed the small of her back as he urged her to continue down the hall. He opened the conference room door and gestured for her to precede him.
Entering the room, Smiley wasn’t surprised to see not only the commander, but his entire team as well. He hadn’t known they’d be there, but since he’d told them about the meeting that morning, it wasn’t a huge leap to think they’d want to be here to have his back.
But Bree obviously wasn’t expecting to come face-to-face with so many people. She stopped in her tracks just inside the door.
“Oh,” she said under her breath.
“I’ve got three more meetings this morning,” the commander said brusquely. “I should’ve stayed in the field, it would beat sitting on my ass all day, talking to idiots. Not you guys,” he added quickly, to clarify.
Smiley led Bree to a seat and took the one next to her.
And for the next twenty minutes, Bree went over her story—how she’d broken up with her boyfriend, then was abducted in the parking lot of her apartment complex, ending up in the car where Smiley and Blink had found her.
How she’d gotten scared and run from the scene during the capture of her and Josie’s kidnapper…
and that she’d been on the run ever since.
She also explained that she was no longer able to access her bank accounts because every time she did, she suspected she was being followed.
The men she’d noticed following her often changed, and that’s why she assumed it was some sort of organization after her, determined to get what they’d paid for.
Her ex-boyfriend, Carl, was found dead in Vegas shortly after she’d escaped the city, something Bree only discovered after Kelli had googled the man for her.
All-in-all, she didn’t have a lot of concrete information that would help figure out who was after her. The why they knew: someone had paid a lot of money for her, and he or she wasn’t happy that they’d been stiffed. They were obviously determined to retrieve their merchandise—Bree.
She also had a lot of feelings and speculation about being followed, but not a lot of hard evidence.
Some people would dismiss her as being paranoid.
Would scoff and tell her that she was being ridiculous.
But since Smiley and his team often staked their lives on those kinds of “feelings,” they were the last group of people to tell her everything was in her head.
“So, Smiley, you want out of the deployment rotation?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“For how long?”
“Until we figure this out,” Smiley told him without pause.
“That’s what I thought. You’re talking to Tex this morning?” he asked.
“Yes, Sir. Immediately after this meeting.”
He nodded. “With Tex on this, hopefully it won’t be too long before it’s finished. I assume the rest of you want off the schedule as well?” the commander asked, looking at the other men.
Sounds of “yes, Sir” rang out around the room.
“I have been working your team pretty hard, haven’t I?” he said, smirking. “And rumor has it that three of you are getting married soon. Figure you might want some time off for honeymoons, huh?”
Smiley’s lips twitched as everyone agreed with their commander.
“Fine. Two months. I’ll be able to take you out of rotation for two months—but any longer than that, I can’t guarantee. Will that be enough time, Smiley?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“If you need me for anything, you know where to find me. But being out of rotation doesn’t mean time off. You’re still expected to be at PT every morning, and you’ll have to participate in more meetings.”
Everyone groaned but nodded.
“Good. Miss Haynes, I’m glad you’re all right. You’ve found yourself some damn good champions. Do yourself a favor and don’t hold back any information about your situation. No matter how uncomfortable it might make you.”
“I won’t,” Bree said softly.
With that, the commander nodded at the men around the table, then stood. “Tell Tex I said hello,” he added, before walking through the door, shutting it behind him.
The room was quiet for a moment before MacGyver broke the silence. “I haven’t said it officially, and this seems as good a time as any. Thank you, Bree. For what you did for Ellory and Yana.”
Bree gave him a small smile. “I didn’t do much,” she told him.
“Bullshit,” Safe said sternly. “From what we understand, you took a hell of a beating for helping the kids get away.”
“I can never repay you,” MacGyver said. “But anything you need. Anytime. You’ve got it.”
“Same goes for me,” Flash added. “Getting into that car with Kelli and her kidnapper was reckless, dangerous, and stupid—and one of the bravest things I’ve ever seen. If you hadn’t been there…hadn’t given Smiley updates as to where Kelli was being taken…” His voice trailed off.
“You guys have to know, I was only in both those places because I was stalking you and your girlfriends,” Bree admitted.
“The commander said not to leave anything out. Well…there you go. I started following you guys around because I wanted to know the kind of people Smiley hung out with, trying to decide if I could trust him. Then I continued following you because I was bored. I saw all your cars racing away from MacGyver’s house and joined the caravan, that’s why I was at that shipyard at the right time.
I snuck in through a hole in a fence and just happened on the two girls.
I hadn’t planned on doing what I did. And I was in the parking lot of Smiley’s apartment complex because I was going behind his back and hanging out with Kelli. ”
“Don’t care how it happened, just that it did,” Flash said firmly.
“Same,” MacGyver agreed.
“Anytime you want to stalk Josie, go for it,” Blink added.
Bree’s lips quirked up.
“But how about instead of stalking us behind the scenes, you join us instead?” Kevlar said.
“Blink and I are getting married in a couple weeks, and we’d love to have you there.
If Smiley hasn’t already told you, we’re having a party afterward at Aces Bar and Grill. I’m assuming you know where that is?”
Bree nodded.