Extreme Honor (8 page)

He paused.

“You understand, don't you? You'd have a brother's back, wouldn't you?”

Cruz considered. There was a whole lot of meaning in those questions. Overseas, deployed out in the middle of nowhere, a serviceman had to rely on his fellows to keep him safe. No man could survive in the middle of that chaos alone for an extended period of time without
someone
to watch his back.

Normally, it went unspoken. If someone had to ask the question, it was a threat.

From then on, the soldier had to wonder if the people around him really had his back. Or if they'd let him take a bullet and become just another casualty of war.

“Look, I'm just watching.” The other man held up his hands. “I won't bother you, you don't get in my way. Agreed?”

“Look but don't touch.” Cruz kept his tone pleasant. “Always happy to meet another serviceman.”

The guy smiled again. “I owe you a drink sometime. You have a nice day.”

Cruz turned on his heel and walked away.

Pulling out his phone, he texted Sophie.

Shopping trip is over. Need you two to head back to the kennels. STAT
.

In less than a minute, Sophie responded.

???

Irritated, he typed faster.

There's something wrong here. I need you to go home now. I need to know you are both safe.

Sophie was strong-willed but she also knew when to listen.

Headed to the car.

That taken care of, Cruz circled around yet again. He wanted to know if his newfound friend had a partner in town. It shouldn't have been as easy as it was to sneak up on this guy. If he was a Navy SEAL, he wasn't the best of the best. Cruz had worked with a few teams in his time deployed and guys like this one made it into the Special Forces teams but they didn't last. If Cruz could figure out who this guy was—and he intended to—he was willing to bet the man had a dishonorable discharge. There were bad apples even in the most elite parts of the service. Sad reality. And obviously, the man had either thought Cruz wasn't worth the effort of even trying to mislead or he'd been sent to give Cruz the threat in addition to keeping an eye on Lyn.

Finding a good vantage point, Cruz pulled out his phone.

“Yeah.”

“Beckhorn, you know if there are any parties particularly interested in Atlas's case?” Cruz asked the question quietly. The line could be tapped but he doubted it. At least not yet. This would let Beckhorn know that there were indeed interested parties.

“Can't imagine why,” Beckhorn responded in an uninterested drawl.

“He's been in the papers and all.” Cruz watched Sophie and Lyn emerge from another store, chattering as normal as you please. They headed straight for the parking lot and got in Sophie's car.

A small amount of tension unwound as they headed home toward safety.

“I get the occasional inquiry about him. Nothing outside the standard check-in.” Beckhorn snorted. “Come to think of it, you owe me a progress report.”

Perfect opening.

“I'll get it to you this afternoon.” And Cruz would send along a couple of encrypted pictures of his new friend, too.

“I'll look forward to it.”

“Yup.” Cruz ended the call.

Now all he had to do was be prepared for Sophie and Lyn when they caught up with him later. They'd be expecting answers once he got back.

I
'm glad I ran into you today.

Every time she remembered those words—and the look in David's steel blue eyes when he'd uttered them—Lyn's cheeks burned and other parts of her did things she didn't ever talk about to anyone.

Maybe she should feel uncomfortable. Or intimidated.

Nope. What she wanted to do was rewind back to the day she'd asked him for professional space and take back what she'd said. Or better yet, go back to the moment he'd almost kissed her and take things into her own hands.

Because every day she got to know David Cruz, she wanted him more.

If he'd been the least bit bitter or defensive or even indignant about her turning him down, she could dismiss her attraction to him and convince herself he was just another guy. Instead, he'd not only honored her request for professionalism but he'd gone on without any of the distance any normal person would create after the rejection. He'd made it easy for her to continue working with him. And she'd learned so much about him because of it.

And now she was pacing in the cabin again—his cabin—because he'd been concerned for her safety. For Sophie, too.

Sophie hadn't argued, only driven straight back to the kennels. When they'd returned and Sophie had explained to the guys, Brandon had insisted on seeing Sophie home—in a different car. All Sophie had told Lyn was that the men of Hope's Crossing Kennels didn't make requests like that unless there was a real issue.

Great. So now what? She'd have to wait until David returned to find out.

'Course, considering his military background and habits and…everything, he'd probably only tell her what he thought she needed to know. Which was next to nothing. As generous as her thoughts had been toward him a second ago, now she was thinking about him from this perspective and
everything
about David Cruz shouted military for all that he was honorably discharged.

Military equaled distance. Military meant you were never equals. Military meant you were forever shut out of a part of his life.

She'd spent her childhood watching her mom wait for her stepfather to come home. And when he was home, he wasn't. Not really.

Gah
. Frustrating. So much of what she respected about David had roots in the deeply ingrained military honor he embodied. He wasn't just a man who used to wear a uniform. He was a man who made a uniform what it was. She couldn't help admiring the qualities. And she couldn't help being wary of what it'd mean to get involved with a man like that.

She'd hated it in a stepfather and sure as hell wasn't looking for it in a relationship of her own.

Her phone rang and she rushed to answer it without even checking the caller ID, hoping it was David. Impulse now. Logic later. “Hello?”

“Miss Evelyn Jones?” An unfamiliar voice was on the other end of the line.

Her heart dropped into the bottom of her belly. Why was she so disappointed? “Yes?”

“I'm Officer Hanley.” The man cleared his voice. “I was responsible for taking your report from the night of the attack.”

“Ah.” She vaguely remembered the man. Sandy blue hair. Light-colored eyes. It'd been a difficult night, one she'd been actively trying not to dwell on. “Hello, Officer.”

It wasn't her intention to sound flat. All the warmth got sucked out of her voice. Her mouth had gone dry. Maybe he needed to ask her a few more questions about the night at the hotel.

He went on when she didn't say more. “It's not normally our practice to call, and you seem to be with good friends, but in a situation like this I felt you would want to know…”

She waited as he trailed off. After a long, drawn-out second she grew impatient. “Yes?”

“The man who was taken into custody the next morning made bail today.” The words came out in a rush, like ripping off a Band-Aid.

Stunned, Lyn almost dropped the phone. Cold fear twisted her gut and her heart rate kicked up until she heard it beating in her ears.

It's really too bad you came back.

She did a slow turn, frantically scanning the room. Alone. But the curtains were all open and the night was dark beyond the windowpanes. Any minute his face could appear, peering through the glass. The hunger in his eyes. She remembered…

“Miss Jones?” Officer Hanley sounded concerned, maybe regretful. He hadn't wanted to give the news to her.

“I'm here.” She yanked her thoughts into place, tried to pitch her tone to calm and grateful. “Thank you for letting me know.”

“Like I said, miss, it's not something we usually do but all things considered…” He cleared his throat again. Maybe it was a nervous habit. “Anyway, the guys at Hope's Crossing are good men. Stick close to them and you'll be fine. The man will see his day in court.”

Of course. Officer Hanley couldn't refer to him directly as the man who'd attacked her. Innocent until proven guilty and all that. “I understand. Thank you again.”

He blurted out a few more reassurances then ended the call.

Lyn clutched her phone to her chest. After a moment she shook her head, pocketed the phone, and rubbed her hands together. Nervous. Scared.

This entire trip had spun her world around. She traveled alone all the time! Now, she was jumpy in a cabin on private property with better security than any hotel had. She wanted to be mad at somebody. The men who'd attacked her—there'd been two, not just the one—and whoever had sent them. Thugs like that had to have some sort of boss to tell them what to look for.

Only she didn't know what she could possibly have. None of her clients gave her anything of value in print. They arranged for direct deposits to her bank accounts for her training and rehabilitation services. She never had access codes to their property or to any sorts of diagrams of their estates.

There was no reason for those men to have been looking through her things that night. And now, they were both out there. Loose. And angry with her.

Stars shot through her vision and she realized she'd been holding her breath. She let it out in a whoosh, then deliberately took air back in slowly. Hiding in the cabin like a mouse was a bad idea. They wouldn't need to come find her. She'd terrify the life out of herself.

She snagged a jacket and a small flashlight David had left for her before heading for the front door. Her hand on the doorknob, she froze. Maybe he'd known. That would explain why he'd sent her and Sophie back from New Hope earlier.

It didn't make sense, though. Telling her and Sophie would've precluded any hesitation. Not that they'd been slow to follow his request. There just wasn't any reason she could think of for him not to tell her. Unless he hadn't wanted to frighten her.

 But he'd been so serious, with so much conviction in his statement about her safety. His expression alone had been enough to unsettle both her and Sophie. The actual reason couldn't be much more of a leap. Could it?

No way to know while she was still in the cabin. It might be dark outside but all the paths between the buildings were well-lit and the dog kennels and main house were in clear line of sight. Anyone on the paths would be seen by the people in the main house and most of the dogs on the property. She'd walk quickly and get from point A to point B. Calling one of the guys to come get her seemed like overkill.

As she stepped out into the night, the dark didn't close in on her. Solar lights lined the walkways and there were overhead lights at intervals along the paths, too. She headed directly to the main house but paused as she heard the low tones of David's voice over by the kennels.

Instantly calmer, she turned toward the sound and followed the covered walkway along the side of the main house. David was within shouting distance. The others probably were inside or similarly close by. Everything was a lot calmer. All she needed to do was not be alone.

“You can't be mad because we left you alone all day.”

She stopped in her tracks. It hadn't been all day. Then she realized he was talking to Atlas.

Leaning against the dog's kennel with his broad back to her, David looked as relaxed as she'd ever seen him. Was there a single t-shirt he owned that didn't fit him like a second skin? If there was, she'd hide it or give it to Atlas to sleep on. Fitted clothing suited her just fine.

“Everyone needs a day off, including you.” David carried on his conversation with Atlas. “Definitely her. She works hard as any person I've ever met, in or out of the service.”

She couldn't help a smile. Funny, but the casual talk probably got Atlas used to the sound and cadence of David's voice. After all, she did the same thing. Dogs were good listeners.

“Besides, she took you for a walk before she left. It's not like you didn't get time with her.” He might've sounded jealous. Maybe.

Or wishful thinking on her part. Hard to tell.

“At least she likes you.” Definitely some chagrin there. “I might've broke the camel's back today. Situation came up and no time for an explanation. She's the kind of lady who likes to be informed when things are happening. So I'm betting she is not too happy with me now.”

Well, she hadn't been a while ago. Then there'd been a phone call and panic and she'd been reserving real anger until she found out if he knew what was going on and hadn't told her. But this, this didn't sound like the same thing.

David pushed off from the kennel and squatted, resting his elbows on his knees and balancing easily on the balls of his feet. “You and me, Atlas, we know what it is to be sent out into unsecured territory. Overseas, we went in ahead of anyone else. Drop zone, airfield, absolute middle of fucking nowhere. We went in to pull others out. And we're okay with it. It's what we signed up to do.”

There was a pause. Lyn thought hard about what David was saying. Years ago, other military wives would talk to her mother about safe, well-established Air Force bases well within American territory. They'd made it sound like there was minimal risk. Of course it was awful when husbands had to deploy, but there'd never been a hint of the kind of danger David was talking about to Atlas. What he and Atlas had survived—it was something she'd known some select few had to do, far removed from anyone she knew or cared for. Only, it wasn't so far removed anymore.

“But she should be able to enjoy a safe afternoon shopping. That town is a freaking tourist attraction. It's the small, historic place to go around here to walk around and have a relaxing day.” Anger was seeping into David's voice and an answering low growl issued from Atlas in response. The rapport between the two of them was getting stronger. “Instead, I see a man who shouldn't be there. Bad news. And my gut tells me she wouldn't have to worry about any of it if it weren't for us.”

Why? Who? And what did they have to do with any of it?

Too many questions. She put her hand over her mouth to keep from blurting them out. If she walked up now, it'd stop him and she was
not
about to pretend she hadn't overheard.

David sighed. “She looked like she had a good time today. Hated to cut it short.”

It took every ounce of will she had not to lean forward and listen harder. The breeze was blowing toward her, away from Atlas. But if she made any noise now or if the wind changed, Atlas would let David know she was near. And David was one of the best trainers she'd ever worked with. He'd be able to read Atlas clearer than printed text.

“Not sure how to proceed at this point, Old Man.”

She scowled. Atlas wasn't old!

But then she took a breath and counted down slowly, letting the air back out silently. She'd heard her stepfather call his war buddies “Old Man” the few times she'd been around them. It was a thing, she supposed, and even the passing point of similarity to her stepfather knocked her feelings about Cruz back into a jumbled mess.

“If it were Calhoun or any other soldier, I'd brief her. Give her the details and let her decide. But she's not a soldier. And she shouldn't have to worry about these things.” A pause. “She's a solid trainer. And she's done you a lot of good. She deserves better than being sucked into whatever shit storm we're about to go into next. Something is about to break, somewhere. I feel it in my gut and you've been on edge all day. We both know it's coming, whatever it is. And I want her clear before it does.”

“Oh no. You are
not
sending me away.” She slapped her hands over her mouth. Then wondered how the hell they'd moved while she'd been listening in the first place. Fantastic the way she didn't even pay attention to what she was doing when she heard epic statements of idiocy.

David and Atlas were both on their feet.

Since there was no sense lurking around the corner, she walked the rest of the way to them, trailing her hand against the chain-link of the kennel so Atlas could snuffle her fingertips.

“Listening long?” David didn't back away from Atlas's kennel and she decided she didn't have any issues with stepping into his personal space.

Being near Atlas was only a partial excuse.

“Well, I still have questions so maybe I didn't listen long enough.” She lifted her gaze to his.

Steel blue eyes, the color of storm clouds. Wow, but she liked looking into them. At the moment, his brows were drawn over them, giving him a severe expression. She ought to be at least somewhat intimidated by it but maybe she was building up a tolerance. Besides, being here with him was so much better than a couple of alternatives.

He came to a decision while she was pondering those. It crossed his face and then he seemed resigned. “What do you want to know?”

She swallowed. “Everything. Whatever there is. Whatever is going on. Because I'm already all sorts of caught up in it and I think you worry about what it means.”

His lips pressed together in a thin line.