Holding Out For A Hero: SEALs, Soldiers, Spies, Cops, FBI Agents and Rangers (169 page)

Across the table from him, Cassie sat silent and contemplative. She stared out one of the numerous windows, and the perfect silence was only broken by the clank and ting of their utensils. Her silence disturbed him when it shouldn’t have. Emotion seemed to slam him with deeper intensity since he’d met her. Hell, since he’d had sex with her. He’d never expected that. Sex for him before had never been indiscriminate and he never had one night stands. Yet she’d done something to him he couldn’t define. All the care he felt for those who needed protecting amplified in her presence. The thought of anyone threatening her again made everything male, primitive and violent within him threatened to uncoil. He shivered and yet he didn’t think it was the pervasive cold. No, it was thinking too much about that moment when he thought one of those men would hurt her. Perhaps take her away from him. Whether he liked it or not, he felt a connection with her he hadn’t experienced with any other woman. As a result, he gave a damn what that tiny frown on her face meant.

“You okay?” he asked her.

She pushed aside her plate. “I’m wonderful now. I was starving.”

“Good sex will do that to you.” He said it with a straight face.

She laughed, the worry on her face replaced with genuine humor. “Well, if good sex causes an appetite like that, I’d better stop having sex with you. I’ll gain a lot of weight.”

Her statement felt heavy. Laden with layers women put into conversations. Damn. That meant he could be in trouble if he breathed the wrong way or looked at her a certain way. He wondered if she wanted distance between them. Perhaps he should find that appealing. It would mean she couldn’t become clingy when the time came for them to part.

Give me a break, dickhead. She’s not the clinging type
. A small idea tickled at his consciousness, and he didn’t like it. What if he was the one being clingy? After all, he knew he couldn’t leave her anytime soon. She didn’t have the skills to protect herself against gun-toting, thick-necked asswagons like the Nazi group. Everything else she could handle, especially if he taught her all he knew about survival.

She took a slow sip of water. “What about you? Are you all right?”

“I’m good.”

“So what’s our plan for today? What else do we have to do?”

“Nothing. Damn, for a girl, you don’t mind getting your hands dirty.” He smiled and kept the tease in his voice.

She snorted. “When I was a little kid I loved to make structures with mud. My parents thought I might be an architect in the making. So much for girls not wanting to get dirty.”

She kept him smiling, and he felt the result of that smile in the pit of his stomach. She’d tied her long, thick hair into a ponytail once more, and it enhanced her sculpted cheekbones, the slight shape of her eyes that suggested the exotic.

“What is it?” she asked.

Fuck. She was too perceptive. He swallowed hard and bit the bullet. “I was wondering if you have Native American in your ancestry.”

This time her smile was full and warm. “Arapahoe. My great grandmother on my father’s side. My mother doesn’t appear the least Native American, but I do.” She sniffed and tapped the side of her water glass with her fork. “That jerk said Kovac sounded foreign. I’m probably more freakin’ American than he ever thought of being.”

“Makes me wonder what we don’t know about…” He lowered his voice as he glanced around. “What we don’t know about Penny. She said she went to high school with her, but there’s something else there I can’t put my finger on.”

“You think she’s hiding a secret from us?”

He scratched his head. “I feel like she’s not everything she’s portraying herself to be.”

She lifted one dark eyebrow. “Are you suspicious of a lot of people?”

“Cynical. Afraid I grew up in a family that—” He cut himself off. Damn. He needed to shut up.

She tilted her head to the side. “A family that what?”

He closed his eyes and tried to banish memories. “Was highly dysfunctional.”

“Is that why your sister got pregnant at such a young age?”

“Diane’s life was hosed up by our family situation. She believed a lot of things my father told her about herself. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy. He got to her when she was young. Berating her, calling her names. As a little kid, she believed it.”

“Your mother couldn’t stop him?”

“No. My mother is a whole different story. It would take a week to explain her.”

Her mouth popped open, and that frown was back between her eyebrows. “What did he say to your sister?”

Griff hesitated. “It doesn’t matter. He was a jerk. He…” God, his throat went tight. He almost strangled on the memory of what his father had done. Guilt twisted inside him, as it always did when he thought of Diane. “Dad is in a penitentiary.”

He waited for her reaction. It wasn’t what he thought it would be.

She reached across the table and touched his hand, fingers curling around his in a comforting gesture. Her eyes held warmth and concern. “I’m so sorry. What an awful situation. That had to damage your sister and your mother. And you.”

Her compassion and sympathy shook him, and made him feel things he’d rather not. He accepted her gentleness and let it slide into his heart where it started a warm, delicious appreciation. “It’s the past, and it needs to stay there. I don’t spent time whining about it.”

“Of course not. You can’t let it dictate anything for you now. You’ve done well for yourself. Sounds like your sister has, too.”

Little did she know their lives had changed in a hundred ways. “Our childhoods made us stronger. We’ve had to bounce back, to work harder and longer than the average person to get by.”

Was that admiration he saw in her eyes? He liked it way too much.

“Well, as far as Penny goes, I’ve noticed she’s started to hang on to you since this EMP event.”

An inkling came to him. “And you don’t like that?”

She pursed her lips a little, then smiled. “Well, I think maybe she is competing with me.” Her face reddened. “I mean, that she thinks she needs to take you away from me. A jealousy thing.”

He drew in a deep breath, not one hundred percent sure how to respond to that idea. “Not any chance of that. I’m not interested in her. Sure, we’re all freaked out and maybe she wants my help. That’s okay. But if she thinks she and I are going to hook up, that isn’t going to happen.”

“I’m sorry you had a bad family life,” she said. “It does make things harder to work out. It’s too easy to give up. To pretend circumstances can’t be changed. You’ve proved that’s not true. Where’s your mother now?”

A rock sat in his chest at the thought of his mother. Could he answer this? Did he want to?

Before he could answer, Penny walked in from the kitchen with a serious expression. He was pretty sure she couldn’t have heard their conversation.

Penny’s smile lacked warmth. The old saying about a smile not reaching the eyes worked in her case. “I found an old radio in the attic of this place. Don’t know why I didn’t think to look there before. You said an old radio might work if it wasn’t plugged in during the EMP?”

“Sure.” Griff stood up. “Show me. I just wish someone around here had a crank radio.

Cassie also stood and rubbed her eyes. “I’m going outside to get some fresh air. I’ll see you in a little bit.”

She left them, and Penny eyeballed him with interest. His skin crawled. Maybe what Cassie had said about Penny was true. Maybe the woman did have designs on his body. Too bad. His cock belonged to Cassie for the near future.

“Let’s see that radio,” Griff said.

Griff went upstairs with Penny following. He hoped this radio proved useful for when the electricity returned. When the electricity would return he didn’t know, but it probably would take a week or more. When they’d learned that hope was on the horizon, when the entire grid hadn’t been fried, he’d also felt another sharp and penetrating emotion. Being with Cassie seemed even more important now. Yes, they’d come through the worst part of the adventure, but he knew there would be more bumps along the way before they could call the all clear.

They arrived at the third floor, and when they reached the small door at the end of the passageway, she opened it. It wasn’t completely dark, but it was murky and dust motes flew here and there. It smelled musty and old.

Penny waved him forward. “Please go ahead of me. I’m scared of the dark.”

He smiled in disbelief, then reminded himself many people didn’t like gloom. So he hurried, eager to get the radio. He took the rickety-looking stairs eagerly. At the landing two windows provided minimal light. He peered into the semi-darkness. Shapes loomed, furniture covered in sheets, boxes here and there, a pair of old high-top women’s shoes in one corner. He saw a small table amid a jumble of half open cardboard boxes. On it a stood a radio that looked at least thirty years old. He started forward when pain exploded in the back of his head and neck, and the world turned to midnight.

* * *

Cassie went upstairs and collected her coat before she went outside. Temperatures had dropped this morning. Although the resort had cooled down considerably inside, with the work they’d done lately Cassie found layering a couple of sweaters sometimes worked better than a coat. Going outside, though, was another matter. It felt around forty degrees outside. She returned downstairs and stepped out of the back of the resort and walked toward the parking lot. She made it a few steps before a hand grabbed her shoulder and swung her around. She gasped.

Benson stood there, grinning from ear to ear, his hair a mess of tangled black. His eyes were dark and hot with emotions that threatened to boil forth. In the two or three times she’d seen him, he’d never smiled, so his jovial appearance now took her off guard. She’d also never paid much attention to what they looked like, but this time she was shocked into paying attention. He wasn’t much taller than her, but he wore a winter coat and she couldn’t be certain about his build. He’d looked ordinary when she’d seen him last. He tightened his grip on her shoulder, and it pinched. Pain pierced her shoulder.

“Ow. What—” she started to say.

“Quiet. He’ll hear.” His voice had a thick quality, as if he had a cold or hadn’t spoken in a considerable time.

“Who?” She pulled out of his grip, but he latched on to her bicep.

“Your lover.”

Shit.
Apprehension tingled through her and danced over her skin with a cold shiver. Whatever this was, it wasn’t good. “Let me go. You’re hurting me.”

Before she could pull away, he produced a handgun. She froze as the trepidation of a second ago turned to outright fear. If she screamed he’d probably shoot her. If she didn’t resist God only knew what he planned.

His smile faded, and the delight in his eyes went crystal hard. “I don’t think you’re going anywhere yet. Come on.”

“What are you doing? Where are we going?”

He didn’t answer, and his silence proved far more chilling than anything else could have. He gripped her bicep so hard, she winced and knew she’d have bruises. “Try to get away, and I’ll just shoot you. Don’t talk. Don’t say a word.”

While the handgun poked her in the side, Cassie’s mind raced. She’d heard all the advice that suggested she struggle. Anything to get away. If he took her somewhere more isolated, he would kill her. She had no doubt of that. He herded her toward a bright orange sedan sitting next to Griff’s Charger. In a split second she decided her alternatives. Run and perhaps die. Stay with him and probably die. Better to take a chance and maybe survive. She kicked at his shin, using a sideways motion. He yelled as she connected with the side of his knee. She tore away and made a run for the side of the resort. If she could get into the street there had to be people. She poured on the speed, wishing like hell she’d been an Olympic runner.

Heavy weight slammed into her back, her head hit something so hard it felt like concrete. Pain lanced her skull, and night came early.

Cassie awakened to a nightmare. Or at least at first she thought she’d fallen asleep upstairs.
God, I have a headache. Aspirin.
The surface under her felt hard and rough and sent an ache through her body. She shifted and realized her arms and legs were splayed out. She shivered as a cool breeze enveloped her legs and traveled upward. She drew her arms into her body and crossed them, stuffing her hands under her armpits for warmth. With relief she felt her sweaters and jeans still on. She hadn’t gone to bed in her clothes.

Wait. No. This didn’t feel like her bed.

Panic started to rise. Wait. If she wasn’t in her resort room, where—

Her eyes snapped open.

The house on the Point.

“No.” She stared around the room, each movement of her head a throbbing ache. Light streamed under the shutter slats and threw striped shadows on the walls. She listened hard but didn’t hear anyone.

The house hadn’t changed since she’d seen it with Griff a few days ago. She couldn’t hear signs of life, not even wind outside. Taking more stock of her surroundings, she felt the rotten rug under her fingers. The nubbly texture made her shiver and wonder how many feet, how much death had crossed this material. The non-descript dark wood laminate coffee table sat half on the rug in front of the funky couch. It occurred to her, in a strange flash of annoying banality, that she might be trapped in a seventies nightmare. Before, when she’d been in the house with Griff, she hadn’t taken in the colors as well. Of course, it had been dark. Now she had sunlight to illuminate the room.

She listened hard. Was Benson in the house? She didn’t hear him. Fear collided with her common sense. She needed to discover a way out of here and fast. She tried moving her head again and the pain darted from the base of her skull to the top of her head. What had he done to her? Shot her? No. He’d chased her and landed on her. Plowed her into the ground. She turned her head to the right and noted an ugly paint-by-numbers quality picture of a kitten on the wall to her right. The wood paneled walls reminded her of somewhere. Sometime. She fought to understand why all this felt familiar. It couldn’t. Before the furniture had seemed unfamiliar. Before…