RunningScaredBN (3 page)

She turned away from the mirror, pulled on a loose shirt and a pair of jeans. Justin would never be interested in someone like her…with so much baggage. She wasn’t normal and never would be. She had stopped living in fantasyland on her eighteenth birthday. She could never return.

When Riley opened the bathroom door, dressed from head to toe and with that closed-off expression on her face, Justin wanted to curse at the change. When she’d opened the door earlier, he’d been stunned. For once, the expression on her face had been open and vulnerable. There had been a small smile on her mouth, and her eyes had held a dreamy quality.

Unfortunately, giving her time to get dressed had also allowed her the opportunity to put her armor on. LCR Elite operative Riley Ingram now stood before him.

“We’re still leaving at oh-three-hundred?” she asked in that straightforward, businesslike tone.

“Yeah.” His eyes raked up and down her body, assessing for himself before he asked, “You’re sure you feel okay? You want me to bandage your ribs tonight?”

Alarm flared in her eyes, and though she didn’t back away from him, he wouldn’t have been surprised. Her wariness had never been so overt.

 
“My ribs are fine. I hadn’t expected to have to run like that. Should’ve done some stretches to prepare. I’ll be ready tomorrow.”

Suggesting that she sit this op out wasn’t an option. They would need every person on the team to rescue the women. He trusted her to tell him if she wasn’t up to the task.

An awkward silence filled the room. He should be used to it. This had been their relationship for years. If they didn’t talk LCR business, they didn’t talk. He used to be okay with that. But things were changing between them. He knew it, and she did, too. Their awareness of each other on the job made for a great partnership. This awareness on a personal level was new and evolving. And one he wanted to explore.

Determined to get beyond the seemingly impenetrable wall she’d erected, Justin settled into the wooden chair beside the small desk. The chair squeaked in protest at his weight. “Where’d you grow up, Ingram?”

If he’d pulled his gun out and shot her, he didn’t think she could’ve looked more shocked.

“Wh-what?”

“You’ve got a slight accent, just can’t place it.”

Midnight-blue eyes flared with immediate indignation. Justin had the fleeting thought that he was glad she wasn’t wearing her colored contacts. She favored brown lenses, but he liked her real eye color. It reminded him of the night sky. And when she was angry, as she was now, her eyes could sparkle like stars.

“I do not have an accent,” she snapped.

Yes, she did, but only when she felt tremendous stress, as she was apparently feeling now. Which made her all the more intriguing. Why did she need to hide an accent? Was that the reason she wore colored contacts so often, too? Why?

He decided to cut to the chase. “We’ve been working together for over three years now, and we still know almost nothing about each other. Don’t you find that odd?”

Riley wasn’t a tall woman—about five-four. She stretched every inch of that petite frame now as she went into haughty mode.
 

Justin held out his hand. “Before you get into your snooty ‘my personal life is none of your business’ mode, let me tell you a few things.”

Her glare could’ve melted a glacier, but he continued, “I grew up in Parkersville, Ohio, right outside Cincinnati. My mom and dad still live there. My dad is a pharmacist. My mom is a schoolteacher. I’ve got three younger sisters. I joined the Army when I was nineteen, got tapped for some special assignments. Didn’t make it home very often.

“A few years back, Lara, my youngest sister, was kidnapped by a gang of human traffickers. LCR rescued her.”

That was more than he’d told just about anyone about his life. McCall and several LCR operatives knew because they’d been the ones to rescue Lara. His first meeting with Noah McCall and his team had not been a pleasant experience, but he owed them a debt of gratitude for rescuing his little sister. For that, and several other reasons, when he’d left the military, it had been an easy decision to join up with LCR.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I want to know more about you.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re partners.”

“We’ve worked together just fine without knowing anything about each other. Why do we need to change?”

She had him there. They did work well together. A few LCR people had joked that they seemed to share the same brain while on an op. It wasn’t that close of a connection, but it was a good one. Did he really want to screw around with that? The answer came back, quick and decisive: Yes, he did. He wanted…needed to know Riley Ingram, the woman. Yes, he was attracted to her. She was beautiful, intelligent, and one of the gutsiest people he’d ever known. So yeah, he wanted to know her, but it wasn’t just that.
 

He could lay some line on her about wanting them to work even better together. That wouldn’t be the truth, though, and she would know it. “I want to know you, Riley. Not as a partner, but as a person.”

Fear flickered in her face, and Justin told himself to drop it. He was about to do just that when she said softly, “I like music.”
 

Her voice was soft, a little breathy…nervous. But she’d shared something personal, and he felt as though he’d been given a million bucks.

“What kind?”

“Ballads, mostly. The older ones. And the singers, like Lena Horne, Etta James, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone. Their music speaks to me more than any I’ve ever heard.”

“Do you play an instrument?”

A small, wistful smile came and went so fast he almost missed it. “Piano. I could lose myself for hours.”

Riley had opened up myriad avenues Justin wanted to pursue. He couldn’t push her, though. This was the first time she’d offered even the slightest information about her past. If he asked something she didn’t want to answer, he figured she’d shut down completely, and he’d never get her to open up again. This was a good start.

Deciding the best way to lower her fear was to talk about himself a little more, he said, “My parents love country music. They tried to get my sisters and me to love it, too. It didn’t take.”

“You don’t like music?”

“Yeah, I do. Rock. Blues. And—” He could feel a light warmth creep up his face, and the thought of it embarrassed him even more. Hell, when was the last time he’d blushed?
 

She tilted her head. “And?”

He rarely shared this information. Most of the guys he knew would’ve given him hell for it, and even the women he’d dated had seemed to be put off by his preferences. But he wanted to share this information with Riley. “Opera.”

His confession did something to her. If he’d thought Riley was beautiful before, he quickly amended that to breathtaking. Her face glowed, her eyes sparkled, and the most delighted smile he’d ever seen on her tilted her full lips.

“Seriously? My parents took me to see
Madame Butterfly
when I was eight. It was the most wonderful night. My father had season tickets. My favorite is
La Bohème
, but I loved
La Traviata
, too.”

“Do your parents still go?”

Her expression went blank, and he knew he’d gone too far and asked a question she didn’t want to answer.
 

She responded, but her voice was dull, lifeless. “My parents died when I was a teenager.”

“I’m sorry. I—”

“It was a long time ago.” Her gaze shifted to the bedside clock. “It’s getting late. I need to get some shut-eye.”

Though Justin regretted the change in her demeanor, he couldn’t help but be encouraged by what he’d learned. He hadn’t been sure he’d ever get to know anything more about her other than she was intelligent, courageous, and good at her job.

He stood and headed to the door. Before opening it, he turned back to her and said, “I had another purpose in coming here. To tell you again that you did the right thing today. Fighting back against those thugs was your only choice.”

She nodded in that solemn manner he was accustomed to seeing. For now, that was okay, but if she thought they would go back to having monosyllabic conversations after this was over, she was wrong. Riley Ingram had opened several windows tonight. Justin intended to make sure they stayed open.

Chapter Three

Justin crouched behind a boulder. A few feet away, hidden behind another large rock, was Elite operative Jake Mallory. A dozen yards below them, positioned strategically in the middle of the narrow dirt road, stood a dilapidated-looking truck. All traffic was blocked. Anyone wanting to get around the truck would have to first find a way to get the vehicle off the road.
 

Riley sat in the front seat of the truck. Beside her was Angela Delvecchio, Jake’s partner and wife. As soon as the alert came, the women would emerge from the truck and play their parts. Then the fun would begin.

The plan was in place. Now all they needed was the target to arrive. Their lookouts, Fox and Thorne, were a few miles back. The instant the truck holding the abducted women was spotted, the two operatives would alert Riley and Angela, then follow at a distance. Even with the roadway blocked, the kidnappers wouldn’t expect trouble until it was too late. Capture the kidnappers and rescue the women. Should be a simple rescue mission.

Justin had been involved in these ops too often to believe it would be as easy as it sounded. Careful planning could prevent disasters, but no one could predict every scenario.

Raising his high-powered binoculars, Justin narrowed his eyes in on his partner. Riley looked better today, as if she’d gotten a good night’s sleep. When she’d come out of her room this morning, her expression had been exactly what he had expected. The implacable mask was back in place. He hadn’t expected anything else, but the minute he saw her, he’d wanted to kiss her and see that expression melt into something else.

Frustrated, Justin shoved his fingers through his hair. Yeah, that would’ve gone over real well.
 

Jake Mallory’s gruff voice broke into Justin’s troubled thoughts. “Heard you had a little trouble yesterday.”

“Got a little hairy. But we got what we needed. Got a couple of extra passengers, too.”

“Yeah. Thorne told me about them. Good thing McCall’s got the right connections.”

“He’s working to relocate all the families to a safe place. If there is such a place these days.”

 
“Ain’t that the truth.” Jake jerked his head toward the truck. “Riley’s ribs still bothering her?”

“Seemed to yesterday. Once we finish up this op, I’m going to recommend a few days off. She needs some downtime to recover.”

A smile tugged at Jake’s mouth. “Good luck with that.”

Yeah, he’d need it. Didn’t matter. He wouldn’t back down.
 

The silence from Jake caught his attention. Justin glanced over to see the man’s head cocked, speculation in his eyes.

“What?” Justin asked.

“She know how you feel about her?”

The question floored him. Not because he wasn’t aware of his growing feelings for Riley, but because he’d worked so hard at masking them.

“That obvious?”

“Probably not to her. Or to most people.” Jake’s gaze went to the woman in the truck sitting beside Riley. “Maybe because I happen to be in love with an operative, too. I know what the symptoms look like.” His smile grew. “Not the easiest thing in the world to handle, but damn worth it.”

“You and Angela make a good team.”

“Took some work, though. Still does. But like I said, damn worth it.”

“Riley’s got a lot of baggage.”

Jake gave a derisive snort. “And you don’t? Give me the name of an operative who says he doesn’t, and I’ll show you a liar.”

Yeah, he had baggage. Hell, who didn’t? And Jake was right. The majority of people working for LCR had been through their own hell. Still, the hurt he’d seen in Riley’s eyes was something he couldn’t yet reach. Didn’t take a genius to know that someone had damaged her badly. Penetrating that thick veneer was like chipping away at granite with a plastic fork.

Static crackled in his ear, and then Aidan Thorne’s voice came through their earbuds. “Two trucks headed your way, about a mile back. Two guys in each cab. Can’t tell how many are in the back with the women.”

“Roger that,” Justin said.
 

From their vantage point, he and Jake would be able to spot them from at least a quarter mile away. Still, Riley and Angela would take no chances. Justin watched as they exited the vehicle and then lifted the hood. Angela climbed up on the fender, and within seconds a convincing head of steam rose, billowing through the air. By the time the trucks arrived, there’d be no doubt that the vehicle was disabled and unmovable by the women.
 

Would be interesting to see if the men would actually try to help or, being the dirt-wad, perverted creeps that they were, see two vulnerable women and try to kidnap them, too. Didn’t matter really, because either way, these bastards were going down.