Fiance by Friday (31 page)

“Mickey was just a kid. Wasn’t it his first time out?”

“Second. With special ops anyway. He’d done a tour in Afghanistan before meeting up with us.”

Rick rolled out his pack and laid it on the fabric covering the dirt. He bundled the bulk of the material under his head and he stretched out. “Mickey was moldable. Just what the major wanted on his team. He took his purple heart, shoved it in a box, and moved to the next mission.”

He’d forgotten about Mickey’s injury. Damn unfortunate that was.

Neil took a space by the burned-out campfire he’d shared with Gwen only a couple of nights before. “We were moldable, too.”

“Until we saw our guys get blown to bits. Tends to shake the mold.”

“And for what? Didn’t stop the war…didn’t even calm the fighting for a day.” For that, Neil left. He and his team were given base assignments for a short time and then were allowed to disappear.

Unheard of. “Ever wonder why Major Blayney let us all go?”

“I didn’t question it. Figured he knew we weren’t functioning the way we needed to. He was like family to most of us.” To Neil anyway.

“I wonder if he knows who could be behind this? He knows those above him that called the order.”

Neil already knew Chuck didn’t have a clue. “You think the higher brass is behind offing us now?”

“Never know.”

“Why would they bother leaving a token? Why go after women to get to us then?”

Rick shook his head. “You’re right. It’s personal. Someone’s need to get back at us for surviving.”

“If I believed in ghosts, I’d think Boomer, Robb, or Linden was behind this.”

Neil ran his fingers over the hair on his face. “That’s the problem with us. We have a hard time believing in anything we can’t see. Rules out ghosts.” Yet the ghosts of his past were catching up to them…to all of them.

“So what’s the plan?” Rick asked.

“First we see if Raven takes the bait and comes after us here.”

Rick glanced around. “A sharpshooter would make quick work of us right here.”

Neil agreed. “But our guy needs to make it look like an accident. A bullet to the head isn’t how this will play out. If we end up dead, or disappear, questions will be asked. If there’s someone calling this execution, they aren’t going to want that. It’s not like we’re on enemy soil, or that we’re even on the inside any longer. We can’t be classified as collateral damage.”

“So if Raven doesn’t show up here? Or if he does and he’s not alone?”

“We’ll spot him first. I’ve already set up sensors on the road leading up here. We’ll know anytime something bigger than a dog rolls by. If he doesn’t show up here then we’ll fall back and search him out.”

Rick’s brow rose. “Snagged some of our old toys, did you?”

“Old and new.”

“I brought some toys, too.” And he did. Rick removed a set of night vision goggles, multiple weapons, explosives with fuses, and even diversionary tools…smoke bombs, flash bombs.

Neil removed two wireless headsets and switched the channels to line them up. “Here,” he said, handing one to Rick. “So I can whisper in your ear.”

Rick blew him a kiss. “I never knew you cared.”

This felt good. More like the hunter than the hunted. Now all they needed was their prey.

“We need to find you a pastime,” Ruth told Gwen after her first dinner without Neil in the house. “Waiting for your husband to return to base is difficult in the best of situations.”

“What I need is an occupation.” If she were home, she’d plan a proper wedding for her and Neil. Maybe work with Eliza and Samantha on a double vow ceremony. Anything to keep her mind off the fact that Neil was chasing a murderer.

“I can always use help in my flower garden. Perhaps tomorrow—”

“Oh, yes…please. Anything.”

Ruth patted her hand. “I’ve some bulbs we can plant, and there are always weeds to pull.”

“Physical work is better than mental at this point.”

“We have a collection of movies to choose from, most are war-related documentaries the major watches repeatedly.”

“I doubt those would ease my mind.”

“I have a small library.”

Gwen’s eyes lit up.

In the den, hidden behind a closed bookshelf, Ruth encouraged Gwen to pick whatever she wanted to read during her stay.

“I read everything from mysteries to romance. There has to be something of interest in here for you.”

There had to be over three hundred books. “You’ve quite a collection.”

“I’ve packed away boxes. I’m hoping to have a small library in our next home. Charles likes things tidy and he doesn’t see books on a shelf as neat. If we had a library designed for books, he couldn’t complain.”

The more Gwen heard Ruth talk, the more controlling her husband seemed.

“A proper library is a fine addition to any home. Not everyone watches television, after all.”

“I completely agree.”

Gwen pulled a couple of books from the shelf and glanced at the covers before turning them over to read the descriptions on the back. One was definitely a romance, which she did enjoy, but reading of someone else’s love while hers wasn’t near wasn’t something she wanted to do. She placed the purple covered book back on the shelf and decided on what looked like a medical mystery. She removed a couple more titles from the shelf and noticed something hiding behind the books.

It was a framed photograph of a young couple. They were smiling and looked to be standing on the porch of the Blayneys’ home.

“Oh, where did you find that?” Ruth asked as she came up behind her.

“Behind the books.”

Ruth took the picture from her fingers and sighed. “This is our daughter…and an old boyfriend. I thought I’d thrown this away.”

Gwen glanced at the photo again. She could see the resemblance between Ruth and her daughter. The man had a military haircut but instead of wearing a uniform, he had on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.

“They look happy,” Gwen said.

“They were. Charles and I thought they would marry eventually.”

“What happened?”

Ruth blinked a couple of times. “He’d changed after returning from overseas. Annie broke it off with him. Charles was unbearably upset for months. He tried to change Annie’s mind, but she wouldn’t have it.”

“What did you think of the breakup?”

“I wanted my baby happy. I understood why she wanted something else for her life other than a moody military man. They aren’t always the easiest men to live with.” Ruth glanced over and covered her mouth. “Oh…I’m sorry. I’m sure Neil is nothing like that.”

Gwen grinned. “Of course he is. It’s something I find endearing and vulnerable about him. I’m not offended.”

“Well, Annie wanted something different.” Ruth replaced the picture on the shelf and tucked books in front of it. “Perhaps Charles is keeping this. I’ll just pretend I didn’t see it.”

What else did Ruth pretend not to see?

Dead birds weren’t going to keep her away from the kids any longer. Besides, if she didn’t explain why the police were poking into their private lives, she would lose all the ground she’d gained with them.

Karen ignored her virtual shadow that Michael and Dean insisted on. He drove her around like a child during the day and
left only if Michael was home in the evenings. Otherwise, he or one of his colleagues slept in the guest room.

The man wasn’t as big as Neil, but he had the same sunny disposition. Complete with a scowl and a hooded gaze that followed her everywhere. What Gwen found appealing about having a man follow her around all the time, Karen would never understand.

Although Karen knew it wasn’t the man’s occupation that attracted Gwen, but the man himself. She sure as hell hoped the sex was spectacular for her friend. Maybe when they forced their heads out of the sheets they’d realize no one was following them and come home. Karen couldn’t wait for a heart-to-heart with her prim and proper friend.

“Try not to freak the kids out,” Karen told her bodyguard.

He looked around them and followed her into the club.

Her gaze roamed the room, searching for Juan. When her search came up empty, she tried to hide her disappointment.

“Miss Jones!” Amy ran up and threw her arms around her.

Karen hugged her back and smiled. She loved these kids. Missed them.

“How are you, hon?”

“I aced my algebra test.”

Karen slapped Amy’s palm in the air. “Good news.”

A couple of the other kids joined them, hugging and telling her how much they missed her. She dropped her purse at her math table and looked at the work spread out for the kids. Each one was at a different level but it appeared that they had all moved ahead in their studies while she’d been away.

“Are you back for good?”

“I am.” Unless birdman arrived again. But she’d keep that to herself.

“There was a cop in here the other day asking us about you.”

Karen shrugged. “Yeah, he’s a friend of mine. Sorry about that.”

“Is everything OK?” Steve, who’d been quiet the whole time asked.

“Seems like someone out there is trying to scare me.”

The girls lost their smiles and the boys listened closer.

“Is that why they took Juan in to talk to him?” Steve asked. His voice angry.

Teenage gossip traveled fast. “The police talked to a lot of people. I’m sorry they had to come here.”

“You’re here all the time. Maybe they thought one of us saw something.” Amy was like a middle child, always trying to see reason and come between the extremes in a family.

“So who’s the goon at the door?”

Karen swiveled away from Steve’s scornful face. He and Juan were friends, and it was obvious he wasn’t happy about the police questioning him.

“He’s my bodyguard.”

“Seriously?”

“I don’t think I’ll have him for long. Just till they catch the guy following me.”

“Wow, Miss Jones. Aren’t you scared?”

“I was at first, Amy. Now I’m just pissed. You know? Like how dare someone try and get under my skin.”

Steve kept looking at the bodyguard and then back at her. “You don’t need a bodyguard here,” Steve said. “We can take care of you.”

Karen smiled. “Maybe you can convince Juan to come back.”

Steve shrugged. “Maybe.”

It was all Karen could ask for.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Gwen stretched her back and ignored the ache the gardening was creating. At least if she were tired that night, she’d manage some sleep. Tossing around and dreaming of her husband, of where he was and what he was doing, wasn’t leaving her time to rest.

To make matters worse, shortly after she and Ruth stepped on the path of restoring her flower garden, a call came in on behalf of Annie, asking for Ruth to fly to Florida. Something about her being sick, or so Charles had said.

Now it was only she and Charles in the house.

Gwen didn’t like the arrangement in the least. The man watched her, but never made eye contact. She shifted her gaze to the house and noticed him in the window watching. He dropped the curtains but didn’t move away.

He’s only helping out Neil.

Neil…who’d been gone for nearly twenty-four hours. Twenty-four long and lonely hours.

You can do this.