Polar Bared (15 page)

“You planning on killing me?” Gene asked, his gun down by his side but his posture tense.

“Depends. Are you going to gut me if I blink too long?” asked the hairy stranger.

“I think I can restrain myself.”

“Then I guess we’re both safe. Has your lady friend recovered?” Given his piercing gaze had already noted her presence, he knew the answer, but Gene replied anyhow.

“She’s fine. See for yourself. You can come out, Pima,” Gene said without looking in her direction. “Brody won’t hurt you.”

“Unlike some guys I know,” accused Brody with a pointed stare at Gene.

“I never hurt those women,” Gene answered.

“Really? Tell that to Tammy. You remember her, don’t you? The one you kidnapped and held hostage to draw Reid into a trap. The one, you know,”—Brody shot her a look—“that you
changed.
”

At the odd inflection, Vicky frowned and kept frowning as she tried to decipher Brody’s accusation. Gene hurt a woman? She couldn’t fathom it, and yet Gene didn’t defend himself.

“I won’t deny I’ve done some things that crossed some lines.”

“Crossed? More like stomped all over. It’s a good thing for you it all ended well in that case, and with all the other shit you’ve caused, or we wouldn’t be talking now.”

“Not all of Kodiak Point’s problems can be laid at my feet. I am not the only one acting against Reid and the rest of you.”

“Who is then?” Brody asked as his keen gaze surveyed the room, never straying too long on one item. Much like Gene, he was a man always aware of his surroundings.

“Trust me when I say you’re better off not knowing. And don’t dig for answers. You might not like the result. Right now,
he’s
only got part of his attention on your little corner of the world. Keep quiet and maybe he’ll forget you.”

“What if we don’t want to be forgotten?”

“Then you’re dumber than you look. This is not a fight you want to encourage.”

Brody sneered. “And I’m supposed to listen to you? A guy allied with this douchebag?”

“Was allied. No longer. You’ll be glad to know I am on his shit list. Which is why I need to get Pima’s problem dealt with before he finds me and takes me out.”

Vicky’s eyes widened. She might have only followed part of the conversation, but she didn’t have trouble grasping Gene thought he’d die. “Why does he want to kill you?”

Two sets of eyes turned her way, and Vicky clamped her lips tight, suddenly wishing she’d kept quiet.

“Who is she, really?” Brody asked. “Don’t tell me Ghost has finally settled down?”

“As if,” Gene snorted. “She’s just someone I came across who can’t seem to stay out of trouble.”

Gee, what a warm and fuzzy way of describing their strange relationship. “I’m not doing it on purpose,” she mumbled.

“Yet, that hasn’t stopped shit from happening to you and around you,” Gene rebuked, but not with his usual acerbic tone. “Say hello to Vicky. I met her while she was investigating polar bears in the Arctic Circle.”

Brody barked a laugh. “So she kn—”

Gene cut him off. “Knows they are awesome creatures.”

“Majestic,” she corrected, only to blush as Brody fell against the wall laughing so hard.

“Oh, this is fucking priceless,” Brody managed to gasp. “Majestic.” This sent him into another gale of laughter while Gene glared.

“I don’t see the humor. Polar bears are brave and noble creatures. Much better than say a mangy wolf.” It was Gene’s turn to smile as Brody sobered and glared back.

“You wish.”

“I know.”

Vicky wished she could understand the serious miens over which animal was better. She tried to alleviate the tense situation, which, despite the tenseness and the volatile size of the men facing off, for some reason didn’t send her into a panic. Despite the testosterone heavy in the air, though, she didn’t worry. These men weren’t the type to bring her harm.

More and more, she couldn’t help but see the difference in how a man could treat her and how much her father and Rick differed—not in a good way. “The polar bears weren’t the only incredible thing out there. Gene was probably the most important person I met. He saved me.”

Gene shook his head no and made throat cutting gestures.

Catching the motion, Brody stepped in front of Gene and smoothly said, “Really, how? Tell me more?”

“He’s saved me quite a few times since we’ve met. First from the bear and then the poisoned coffee that almost had me freeze to death. Then there were the guys who tried to kill me by making it look like I got attacked by a bear. The bear was the first one to actually save me there, but Gene arrived shortly after.”

“And was he by any chance naked?” Brody asked.

A frown creased her forehead. “Yes, how did you know?”

A smile split Brody’s lips. “Old Ghost here never did like getting his clothes dirty during battle. And is that all that’s happened?”

Having sidestepped Brody to take a sentinel position by the window, Vicky couldn’t help but note Gene’s resigned expression as Vicky extolled his virtues. “Well, after he found some new clothes, we ended up escaping the camp before the other bad guys could get us. But they started shooting at us. Gene took care of them when they chased us down on snowmobiles, and Gene singlehandedly saved both our lives. Gene’s a hero,” she finished with a pleased smile in Gene’s direction.

Oddly enough, his shoulders were hunched, his head was down, and he shook. Overcome with the trouble she’d caused no doubt.

Turning back to Brody, Vicky couldn’t help but note his wide eyes, eyes that got wider the more Vicky rambled on about Gene’s general awesome nature.

His incredulity when he snickered, “Ghost, a hero?” was totally uncalled for.

“He is,” she insisted, indignant enough to plant her hands on her hips and tilt her chin.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Brody asked, not of her but Gene.

“I wish. Trust me, I’ve tried to dissuade her from this foolish fantasy that I’m a decent person, but for some reason, Pima here just won’t believe it.”

“Because I didn’t imagine it. You saved me, which makes you a hero.”

“You know, I bet you could carry off those tights. You’ve got good legs,” Brody mused aloud.

“Sounds great especially since I could use them to garrote you,” Gene threatened.

“Hey, just trying to help you come up with a proper hero look. You know for when you’re called to action.”

“Blow me.”

“Sorry, bro, but I prefer honey to sausage.”

“If you’re done mocking me, mind coming back to the business at hand?”

“Business, yeah. Let’s start with yours. You need to help Vicky out because you think someone is trying to kill her? Is it your supposed ally turned enemy?”

Gene shook his head and then proceeded to relate, in a little more detail—while omitting certain intimate parts—the series of events that led them to this place. At the end of it all, Brody was shaking his head, his expression one of disbelief.

“That’s messed up.”

“A little,” Gene conceded. “And the reason why, as much as I’d like to pursue my vendetta against you, Reid and the others, I need to call a temporary truce.”

“Why does it have to be temporary?”

Gene rolled his eyes. “Oh, not you too. Boris already fed me some bullshit line about forgiving me and welcoming me back into the goddamned fold. You and I both know that can’t happen.”

A speculative gleam entered Brody’s gaze. “Why not? I’ll be honest. You don’t seem too angry to me, else we wouldn’t be talking right now and my brains would be decorating the ground outside. I saw the gun in your ankle holster, yet you chose to wrestle with me instead of pulling it and finishing me.”

“Maybe I wanted to squeeze the life out of you with my bare hands.”

“Or maybe you don’t really want to permanently hurt any of us but just don’t know how to let go of the past. You know, I remember a time when a certain group of men had a theme song.”

“A drunken jest,” Gene said, a wry grin on his lips.

“But a boisterous one, one that we all meant.”

“If you start singing Lean the Fuck on Me, I will kill you,” Gene warned.

Slapping a hand over her mouth, Vicky suppressed a giggle and struggled to hold it in, especially when Brody grinned mischievously and opened his mouth as if he were about to belt it out.

“Brody!” Gene yelled his name. “Don’t make me throttle you with my bare hands.”

“Fine. I won’t sing. It would be too cruel to your lady friend if I did. What’s even crueler, though, is letting you think you gotta keep hiding to stay alive when you’ve got buds, who, after a little one-on-one stress relief, will want to lend you a hand.”

“I don’t need help. Like I said before, associating with me puts you in danger. The smart thing for you to do right now is pretend you never saw me and walk away.”

It puzzled Vicky to hear that, and then again it didn’t. Anyone could see dealing with his old friend tore at Gene, the longing and remembered fondness shining forth whether he meant it to or not. But also all too evident was Gene’s implicit worry that he’d cause harm to those close to him.

Anything that scares Gene is something to not take lightly.
What on earth could spook a fearless man like her hero?

“I’ll admit, I’m not fond of danger, even if the adrenaline rush can’t be beat. But I also can’t just walk away. First off because my reason for being here was to find you. Can you imagine what would happen if Reid found out I’d let you go your merry way? He would skin me and use me as a carpet if I let you go.”

“A mangy one.”

“Insults won’t send me packing, Ghost. Nor will dire premonitions. You need help. You need help finding the person behind the attacks on Vicky here and help staying alive if what you say about this big, bad enemy is true.”

“Are you offering to aid us?”

“Yes. And not just me.”

“You’re not suggesting what I think you are?” asked Gene, his brow furrowing.

Once again a spectator, Vicky tried to fathom the undercurrents. But failed. She got the impression she was missing a whole layer of meaning, some vital fact that would enable her to understand exactly what transpired. Then again, given her previous analysis of men and their actions, she didn’t know squat. Perhaps she just imagined tension that wasn’t truly there.

“I think you and Vicky should come back with me to Kodiak Point.”

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Gene practically shouted.

Brody hooked his thumbs in the loops of his pants. “Nope. Last time I looked, I still had my wits. Boris, that big fucking moose, though, we’re still unsure about. And as for you, apparently they need shaking loose.”

“I’m perfectly sane, asshole, and intelligent enough to think it’s a bad idea. I’m not going with you.”

“Why not?” It wasn’t Brody that asked but Vicky. She stepped closer to Gene and placed her hand on his arm, which tensed at her touch. “We could use the help.”

His arctic gaze met hers, the ornery hero currently in charge. “You need the help. I need to stay the fuck away. If
he
comes after me, anybody in his way, anybody he thinks are my friends or allies will get hurt.”

“Unless we stop him. I don’t know who the fuck it is that’s got you so wigged out, dude, but give us a little fucking credit. We’re not some candy-assed recruits anymore. We’ve seen and done shit. We know how to defend ourselves and aren’t afraid to use deadly force. Whoever it is gunning for you—”

“You, your mates, your family, your friends. The whole fucking town,” Gene interrupted.

“Whoever it is,” Brody firmly reiterated, “he obviously has no idea who he’s messing with. Alone, we are weak, but together—”

“—we are clan,” Gene finished with a sigh.

“More than clan. Family. And family doesn’t let anyone get fucked, even stupid dickheads with a tree up their ass.”

“I earned that tree.”

At least Gene didn’t deny it, Vicky thought with an inner giggle.

“Wah-fucking-wah. You can cry me a river later. We’ve all got issues. Now’s not the time to piss and moan about them. So, we got a deal? Are you coming with me?”

A snort slipped out of Gene. “Deal? When did we negotiate?”

“Oh yeah. I guess I should lay out terms. We head back to Kodiak Point in the morning in my truck. Once there, we’ll figure out who is attacking your lady.”

“How?”

“I’ve got hacker friends,” Brody said with a sly smile. “If he left an electronic trail, we’ll find it. So once we solve Vicky’s problem, then we’ll sit down, like grown fucking men, and discuss, over gallons of beer, what the fuck happened overseas. You’re not the only messed-up one. And I think it’s about time we had ourselves an inter-fucking-vention.”

“By getting a bunch of psychotic ex-soldiers in a room together where there will be alcohol and bad blood? That’s just asking for a fight.”

Brody nodded, “Yup. A big one.”

“Just like the old days,” Gene said with a smile.

“Exactly. Clear the air. Wipe out grievances.”

Vicky could only blink as they calmly discussed a drunken riot with happy smiles.

“And then?” Gene asked.

“Then, old friend, we’re going to lay a second trap, one for a bigger prize.”

Listening to them, Vicky couldn’t help but rejoice that Gene seemed to have found an unexpected ally, yet at the same time, as they spoke, she couldn’t help but wonder what would happen to her.
Where will I be once whoever is behind the attacks is gone?

Back home where I’ve got classes to attend, papers to write, and endless hours of programming on my DVR.

The answer depressed her.

Given some of the things Gene and Brody had to discuss were of a sensitive nature—ahem, inappropriate recollections in some cases of pranks they pulled while in the service—Gene ended up leaving Vicky in the room with the firm admonition of, “Don’t open the door for anyone.”

As an added precaution, when he and Brody hit the main floor of the small bar, they glared at the humans closest to the stairs until they wisely changed seats.

Placing himself in the worn chair with his back to the wall and a direct view of anyone who might try to approach the stairs for the second floor, Gene watched and brooded. While not a big town, the bar was a hot spot for inhabitants, a gathering place for the locals to hang out, drink and relax.