Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
Archer woke with Jolie beside him and forgot—for one quiet minute—that the world still demanded things from them.
She slept curled on her side, one hand tucked beneath her cheek, dark lashes resting against skin still pale from the drugs and shock. Rivers had patched her shoulder and ordered rest, and for once Jolie had obeyed without argument.
In sleep, she looked softer than the woman who mouthed off to a kidnapper, toppled a chair to avoid a bullet and fit into a room of hardened SEALs.
He stared at her long enough to make his chest ache. Long enough for the thought to take shape before he could stop it.
Keep her here, safe inside the base.
He wanted to keep her here for himself, where he could hear her laugh trickling through the halls, making the base so much warmer. Making his life so much fuller.
Could he have that?
Could he and Jolie build something here the way Ellory had with Angelo Ash? Could a woman exist alongside him, when his life was built on danger and not be consumed by it?
As he stared down at the beautiful woman who’d stolen his heart, he wanted the answer. But it would have to wait. His phone vibrated with the order to report to the war room and bring Jolie with him.
After helping her dress, holding out an oversized shirt she’d found in the box so she could slip her injured arm into it, he kissed the crinkle in her brow as he buttoned her into it.
“I can tell Cannon you’re not feeling up to a morning meeting.”
She settled a hand on his chest. “I’m okay. Maybe he has new developments to share.”
They walked into the war room and took seats with the rest of the team. A box of doughnuts sat in the middle of the table along with a pot of fresh coffee and some foam cups.
Jolie eyed the box. “Where did you get doughnuts? I didn’t see those in the pantry.”
Younger shot her a crooked grin. “I have connections.”
She reached for the box, dragging it close enough to snag a frosted one. “You have super-secret doughnut dealers?”
The tension in the room eased by a degree, men grinning into coffee they’d been drinking like medicine moments earlier.
He bobbed his head. “That’s right.”
In that moment, Archer’s chest couldn’t feel fuller. Jolie didn’t only seem to belong with him—she belonged with all of them.
O drew attention by standing with a tablet in hand. “Update from the tunnel search. Dogs are stumped. They found discarded gloves and the thermal blanket.”
Archer pushed out a breath. “I thought he used the thermal blanket to muddy his heat signature long enough to get away.”
Jolie’s hand trembled as she attempted to pour coffee, and Archer reached to take it. Their fingers brushed, and hers were cold.
Cannon took note of her response to the topic but continued. “The blanket was dumped near the opening of one mine. Several shafts intersect there, and the dogs lost the scent trail.”
Rome muttered a curse.
Townie wagged his head. “He planned for escape.”
“DNA on the items?” Archer asked.
“It’s being processed.”
The bastard had thought ahead enough to plan a route. Enough to bring gear and leave them with evidence that would take time to get answers.
Jolie heaved a low sigh and stared into her coffee cup.
He rested a hand on her back. “We’ll find him.”
“Don’t worry,” Rome added.
Archer nearly laughed. He’d spent the night with Jolie’s pulse under his fingers, checking it every time she shifted in her sleep. Worry had moved into his bones.
Archer looked at O. “You pull the camera footage from the restaurant in Chicago?”
Jolie whipped her head to pierce him in her astonished stare. “I didn’t realize you could do something like that. There must be thousands of people on camera. How would we ever find one?”
He squeezed her hand. “We have programs.”
“I need to talk to Stina.” Her voice wavered.
“You will—soon,” Archer said with force. “We won’t let anything happen to her.”
Cannon leaned forward. “We need you to provide a description of the man who took you in more detail. We have an artist lined up to work with you.”
She shook her head. “I wish I remembered more.”
“Anything you remember will help,” he assured her. “Even the things that seem small.”
Archer covered her hand with his, not caring that the team saw or what they thought about it.
He squeezed once. The action made him think of when he left her at the motel, how he had wanted to do far more than squeeze her hand. But the touch had meant something then, and it meant even more now.
Cannon’s attention settled on her. “I know you’re going to be upset about this, Jolie.”
She tensed.
“But you’re going to be with us for some time while we figure this out.”
Archer watched her face as she processed it.
Even though Cannon told her she had to stay on base, she wanted to be here. She’d spent years being what everyone needed. Choosing Archer wasn’t abandoning the people she loved.
It was finally refusing to abandon herself.
She lifted her chin. “You’re going to have to tell me about the aliens.”
One of the guys snickered. Younger coughed around a bite of doughnut he almost choked on.
Cannon gave her a flat look. “There are no aliens.”
“There are always aliens in secret military bases.”
Rome coughed into his fist.
“Underground,” she added.
Townie’s mouth twitched.
She pointed around the room at the screens and systems. “If you’re not bringing aliens here, what are you even doing?”
Cannon looked pained. “Ghost ops team.”
Laughter moved around the table, a sound every one of them needed. Archer felt some of the tightness leave his chest as he looked at Jolie. She always resorted to humor when times got tense, and for that, he loved her more.
She sat in the middle of it all—bandaged, bruised, tired and still making hardened men laugh. What he felt for her was breaking every rule he used to keep his distance and maintain control. But maybe he didn’t need it as much anymore.
She was becoming part of them. Part of this place.
Part of him.
He didn’t know what the future held for them, but he already knew what she felt like.
Home.
* * * * *
Jolie had expected to wake up after a kidnapping with nightmares fresh in her mind. Instead, she woke with a strange sense of calm that morning and the next few days after it.
She stood in front of the bathroom mirror and tested her shoulder, lifting her arm and rolling it carefully, feeling the skin pull across the healing graze.
The sharp sting turned into soreness and finally a low tug she only experienced when she moved too fast.
Even her eyes lost some of their hollow look as the days passed—proof she was getting back to her old self.
Well, not exactly her old self. While she was still Jolie, she was becoming a different version, one she liked more and more every time she looked at her reflection.
Her family still sat at the top of her list of important things, and every time she spoke to one of her siblings, relief flooded her again. They weren’t cut off from her and they all assured her they were doing fine.
What Jolie knew that they didn’t was that they were safe and protected from the harm that had come bursting in through that motel room door.
If this had happened even six months before, she’d be carrying the weight of their safety alone. Not anymore.
She had Archer and an entire SEAL team backing her.
And to her great relief, word came that Stina was safe and unharmed too. Without even knowing it, her friend had been given a guard who watched over her while she went about her life, but there were still so many questions about how Jolie’s kidnapper was connected to her and Stina.
The biggest change in her world was Archer.
Being near Archer felt insanely easy, like she could finally set down burdens she’d carried too long, which scared her because she didn’t know who she’d be without them.
She’d fallen for the man in a maelstrom of snow and danger and stolen moments. She never expected her knight in shining armor to ride in on a snowmobile and sweep her off her feet, but that was exactly how she’d tell her family it went down.
If she ever got the chance.
Being stuck on the base left her with another worry—her restaurant job was behind her for the time being, and she had countless hours of time to fill. For the past week, she’d spent a lot of time with Archer.
It should have been enough to keep her content.
That only lasted until breakfast on the seventh day.
She sat at the big table, watching the base move around her in a current of activity.
Guys drifted in for coffee and toaster pastries.
She listened to boots in the hall and the distant clink of weights in the gym.
Cannon’s voice projected from his office before the door slammed, cutting off any sensitive information.
Everyone had a task. Everyone had a place.
She was just the rescued civilian with a bandaged shoulder and too much time on her hands.
When Townie strode in to grab more coffee, she pointed to a chair. “Sit.”
He sputtered. “Excuse me?”
“Sit. I’m calling a meeting.”
With a new purpose and a tingle of excitement in her spine, she went to round up every man she could. She found Rome in the gym with Archer and ordered them to the dining room.
Rome elbowed Archer and said something to him under his breath that made Archer shove him.
“That’s my girl you’re talking about, asshole.” But there was no heat in his tone.
Jolie located the rest of the team, leaving only Cannon shut up inside his office. She briefly thought about knocking and then moved away from the door, unwilling to interrupt important military business with her personal request.
When she returned to the dining room, the guys were all watching the door for her entrance.
With her head held high, she walked to the head of the table and sat down. At that moment, Cannon appeared in the doorway, his expression registering his surprise at finding them all there.
“What’s going on?” He looked between his teammates.