Chapter 7 #2
If there was one thing Owen knew above all else, it was to listen to his instincts. They didn’t lie. For whatever reason, Orrin hadn’t listened to his and had taken the mission anyway. It had cost Orrin his teams’ lives, as well as Virgil’s and Charlotte’s.
Would it end up costing Orrin his own?
Inevitably, Owen’s thoughts returned to Natalie. In the years since walking away from her, he’d convinced himself that what he felt had been in his mind.
Then he’d come face to face with her again, and he realized how deeply he’d lied to himself. His love had only been dormant, waiting to see her again before it flared, consuming him.
That love teased him with glimpses of how his life could be with Natalie beside him. The more he saw, the more he wanted. And the longer Natalie was with him, the more it became clear that he was half a man without her.
It was a hell of a thing to realize fourteen years after leaving someone. The one good thing was that she wasn’t married. That didn’t mean she wasn’t taken, though.
Jealousy roared within Owen. Natalie was meant to be his. And he was prepared to fight for her.
Then he recalled why he’d left her the night of graduation. It all came back to his mother’s murder and Orrin’s part in it.
Natalie had always been full of life and laughter. She deserved a future with a man who was with her, not home occasionally in between assignments.
A whistle sounded, breaking into Owen’s thoughts. He turned, thankful to see Cullen walking toward him with a black duffle bag over his shoulder.
Owen took one more look around for intruders and climbed from the tree. He landed beside his brother and nodded to the bag. “What’s that?”
“Something to help out after we’re gone. This is just the start of Callie’s bag of tricks,” Cullen said as he set the bag down and unzipped in.
Owen was impressed when he looked inside and saw multiple wireless cameras. “Wish we’d known about this yesterday.”
“This will keep you alerted if visitors do drop by.”
“Good.”
“Let’s get these set up,” Cullen said.
Owen took a handful. “Has Wyatt told Callie?”
“Not yet.” There was a smile on Cullen’s face. “I think he’s putting it off.”
“He’s probably waiting for me so we can tell both the girls at the same time.”
Cullen nodded. “Probably. Natalie is at the base waiting for me to radio when the cameras are up so we can test them.”
He paused at the mention of Natalie’s name. He slung the strap of his rifle over his shoulder as they walked to the left. “All right.”
“I got a look at the logbook Dad kept of the missions. Shit, Owen. They did everything. Some I’d have liked to have participated in.”
Owen smiled. If there was one thing Cullen enjoyed, it was danger. The more of it there was, the more he wanted to be involved. Some things never changed.
“Where’s Callie?” he asked.
“Seeing to the livestock with Wyatt covertly watching her.”
Owen chuckled at the image. “That’s not going to go over well.”
“It will as long as Callie doesn’t see him. And she won’t.”
No, Callie would never see Wyatt watching her, just as Natalie had never seen the Russians. Natalie. It always came back to her.
For the next forty minutes, he and Cullen set the cameras in hidden places in the area surrounding the house, barns, and several paddocks.
Though they would take turns on patrol for a larger perimeter.
The cameras were set to send an alert to their phones as well as the computers at the base if anyone walked near.
There was the potential of receiving a ton of alerts with all the wildlife and the animals on the property, but it was worth it to know if the Russian group got close again.
“They’re all up and working,” Natalie’s voice came over the walkie-talkie. “That last one needs to be turned to the left and up just a hair.”
Owen did as requested. A moment later, Natalie gave them the okay.
He and Cullen then headed back to the barn. He found himself wondering what Natalie thought about what he’d done the night before. She hadn’t seemed outraged in seeing him kill the Russian.
Once they reached the barn, they made their way below to the base. Owen pretended to listen as Cullen spoke of his excitement at some of the weapons available to them.
He nodded, murmuring, “Yeah,” when Cullen stopped talking.
“So you want to use it to shoot Wyatt in the ass?”
Owen jerked his head up from wiping down his gun. “What?”
“I knew you weren’t listening. Your response just proved it.”
“Sorry. My thoughts are somewhere else.”
“You mean on someone else,” Cullen said with a smile. “You were so intent on getting in the barn you didn’t see her with Callie. They’re on their way here now, food in hand.”
No sooner had Cullen said it than Owen smelled bacon.
He turned as the girls walked down the steps to the base.
His gaze ran over her long hair against the black tee, and he smiled.
The black fatigues were molded to her hips and beautiful ass to perfection.
And he could honestly say in all his years in the military, no one—man or woman—had ever filled out a pair of fatigues like Natalie.
She placed a plate of biscuits next to the plate of bacon, smiling at Callie. He’d forgotten how it felt to have Natalie around all the time.
He fought back a moan when her gaze clashed with his. This was what he’d be seeing every day until Orrin was found.
God help him, because nothing had felt so right in a very long time.