SEALs of Honor: Dane (16 page)

He laughed. “That tomcat is just fine. Besides, you’ll see him in a few minutes.” He turned the SUV to the left and then a quick right.

She recognized the street and the long line of pretty maple trees lining the block. “The trees here are beautiful.”

“They are.” He pulled the SUV into the driveway and turned off the engine.

“We’re home.”

“If that’s what you call it.” She hopped out, grabbed her bag and walked to the front door. And found the door ever so slightly open. She backed up one step then another. “Dane?”

“Get behind me,” he snapped, pulling his gun out from behind his back.

A gun she just now noticed. He pushed the door open and took a half step inside, gun at the ready. She tucked in behind him. Surely with all the men here nothing could have gone wrong. Masters. Oh no. She’d left him behind. If anyone had seen him they’d know she was here.

Was Masters okay? She wanted to race inside and find him but knew she had to let Dane go first. She needed to take some self-defense courses if she survived.

And that was what she’d just wanted to explain to Dane. Under the curtain of normalcy this nightmare continued. Life was so normal looking. And at times normal feeling – but in reality her world was a long way from normal. It was a light veneer of normality that was fake. She’d get comfortable and think the danger was over then something else would happen and she’d be caught up in the same damn terror.

Panic, calm, panic. Her body was ready to stay in panic mode and that couldn’t be a good thing.

“Psst.”

Startled she looked over at Dane. He was motioning for her to come behind him. She took several steps, her heart in her throat. She didn’t want to know what was inside, but could hardly stay outside. She took a deep breath and ran up to him. He reached out and grabbed her hand and tugged her up against him. He crept around the corner. She followed.

An odd noise sounded from deep inside the house. She swallowed. Had Hawk returned with them? Was he back up in the tree where he’d been earlier? She hoped so but where were the others? Always watching. Always on guard. Shadow and Hawk had taken those roles more often than not, but then who was here now?

Then she heard a sound that chilled her heart.

A loud meow. She went to race past Dane, but he grabbed her and tugged her backwards. “Stay here.”

She glared at him, but he forced her behind him as he did a thorough sweep of the downstairs. No one and nothing. In the kitchen Masters was sitting on the counter, his tail flicking in irritation. “Oh, I think he’s hungry.”

She ran over and picked the cat up, giving him a huge hug. She ran her hands over him, checking he was okay. “He seems to be fine.” She opened up a cupboard and pulled down a can of food. “I forgot to feed him before we left.” She quickly opened the can and dumped it in a bowl. “He must be starving.”

Masters’ head disappeared into the bowl instantly. She laughed. “See. That’s what he wanted all along.”

She reached out and stoked Masters’ back. “What a beautiful boy.”

He couldn’t be bothered lifting his head. She smirked. “That’s okay, I understand. A cat is king.”

She turned, looking for Dane, who she’d thought was still standing behind her. And found no one. Damn. Had he gone upstairs to check that the house was empty? It would make sense. His team was here somewhere?

As she turned back to Masters, she realized Dane was there, but with an angry look on his face.

He walked toward her. She ran toward him. “What’s the matter?”

“Leave, right no–”

“She’s not going anywhere, are you Marielle?” A dark face slid out from the shadows. One she recognized from her lab at Tenesco.

Marielle shook her head. “Dr. Hoerner? What are you doing here?” she stared at the one man she really enjoyed working with. How could this be? Was he involved? Was she such a lousy judge of character? How could this man be on the wrong side of the team?

“You shouldn’t have come back to the labs if you hadn’t wanted to see me again.”

That made no sense. At the obvious confusion on her face he sneered, “I never could see why they kept an eye on you. Your mental process is so damn slow. It makes no sense that you made the discovery.”

“I process differently,” she said in a low voice, her mind already racing on the implications. “Besides I wasn’t looking for this discovery. It just happened.”

“And that’s the really sad part,” he snapped. “It’s only after you stumbled in that discovery…” he twisted his face while his tone made the word sound like an insult to the hard working chemists around the world, “that the company asked me to keep a particular eye on you.”

She wanted to shake her head again but figured he’d really get mad at her slowness. Yet what he was saying versus what she understood wasn’t the same thing. “Why?”

He snorted and waved a snub nosed gun around. She glanced at Dane’s face, but with the bored look and his crossed arms, he made it seem like this was just an irritation in the day. She’d trusted him so far so she decided to take her cue from him.

“That’s what I mean. You just don’t get it, do you? Nothing is secret and everyone wants to know when something interesting happens. Especially something this interesting. And there is always someone there ready to pay for the information.”

“So Tenesco isn’t part of this nightmare, or it is?” she cried, wanting something clear for once. “I love working there, thought they were honorable.”

“Hell, they are. At least this branch but they have no idea what is happening at other branches and the other two offices have hooked up with a bigger badder company into some major shit.” He smirked. “Spying is lucrative and having an innocent arm in the US has given the big company entrance to a whole new sea of research. Only now you’re meddling in shit you aren’t supposed to be.”

“I’m not doing anything. I went for a holiday to Germany to spend time with a favorite professor and everything blew up.”

“That’s because you’re so stupid. It wasn’t a holiday. It was a grooming session. To see what the company could offer you to make you work for them willingly. Only Michaels wasn’t so sure anything would work with you being so moral and upright. I see you stole his cat though, so maybe you’re not so high and mighty after all.”

He snickered gleefully as if having found her weak spot.

When the right fist smashed into his nose, and the left came up under his chin, Dr. Hoerner had no time to react. The gun flew through the air harmlessly, landed and skittered across the floor. Marielle raced to grab it, snatching it up. She turned to look at the men, but Dr. Hoerner was already down and Dane stood over him. Not even winded.

Swede and Mason raced in from opposite sides of the room, guns out, ready for action.

“We saw him enter the house,” Mason said. “We were getting into position when you pulled in.”

“Glad he didn’t get you two. When the house was empty I was worried.”

Mason snorted. “Not happening.”

The men grinned.

Marielle stared as they joked and laughed at the thought of someone sneaking up on them and taking them out. It could happen.

Dane caught her look.

He held out his hand. She ran over to him and gave him the gun gingerly, hating to even be holding it. He switched the gun to his other hand and held out his hand again. This time she smiled and placed hers in it. He tugged her close. “Are you okay?”

“Now I am.” She stared down at the unconscious man. “It never occurred to me he would be involved. He was always so interested in my work. So friendly.”

He squeezed her hand again.

“Like he said, they were keeping an eye on me.” She swallowed hard and gripped his hand. “That really sucks.”

“Maybe and maybe it also releases Tenesco from being an active part in this. That they have employees who are potentially on the wrong side makes them a large corporation involved in research that is highly sought after.” He nodded at the unconscious man. “He is not unusual. He’s weak and looking for an easy payout. This time, you. Next time, who knows? These activities always start out small and then grow. Once a moral code is broken and the legalities blur then it’s much easier to take the next step on the dark side. Murder might be one step away or it could take twenty steps to get there. But given the right reward, they get there eventually.”

She shivered. “That is a very difficult way to view the world.”

“I’ve seen it over and over again.” He dropped her hand and crouched down to the man’s side. He checked his wallet and made a check of his ID. There was nothing new. “Interesting. He appears to be who he says he is.”

“And you were expecting…”

He quickly ran his hands over the prone man, searching the pockets. He rolled him over and carefully studied the man’s face. “No cosmetic changes. No body modifications. No major identifying marks.”

“But why are you looking at that?”

“Because often in espionage there are disguises used. Men with indistinct features so they blend in more.”

“Nice. Not.” She shuddered. “What do we do with him?”

“He’s going to be picked up soon and taken for questioning.”

“You don’t want to question him yourself?”

He smiled. “I’ll leave that to someone else.”

She stared at him in surprise. “Now that I don’t understand.”

“Shadow is a wizard at getting information out of suspects. And I’d hate to take a treat away from him.”

She laughed. “So now that makes sense. You like Shadow.”

“I really respect the man. He can talk to beasts of all kinds – including human ones.”

“And if he can’t talk to this one?”

Dane grinned, but it was a feral movement that made her realize the man would talk – one way or the other.

She stepped back, needing to distance herself. “I forgot how the underbelly of the world worked.”

“It works. That’s key.”

A sound came from behind her. She spun around and found herself peering around Dane as he moved so quickly to stand in front of her.

Shadow and Hawk walked in, guns drawn. When they saw Dane, they relaxed. When they caught sight of the prone man their gazes hardened. “I see you had all the fun while we were gone.”

“What took you so long?” Dane asked with a grin. “Mason and Swede watched him arrive and were just coming in after him when we got here.”

“Cooper and Bradley are on their way. Jace has joined in on the fun.”

“Good. We could use the help.”

“Where were these men before?”

“They were tugging other strings.”

She nodded. He’d mentioned he worked with other SEALs earlier. Besides, it was all the explanation she was likely to get and maybe that was enough. They were all working to bring this to an end. And that’s what she was looking for. An end.

“I appreciate it.” She really did. “How many of you are there?”

“We usually work in groups of four or eight.” He gave her a lopsided grin. “It can change. Depends on the situation.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Glad you have more men to draw on.”

“We have all the manpower we need, when we need it. However,” he shot her a look. “We rarely need it.”

At that, she had to laugh. “Of course you don’t.” Her grin widened. “You are SEALs.”

*

D
ANE GRINNED AT
her. “Very true.”

Then he turned his attention to the man at his feet. “Shadow?”

His buddy nodded. Shadow reached down and grabbed the man’s collar and dragged him to the kitchen and the chairs.

Dane watched as they tied him up. Catching sight of Marielle staring in horror, her face already imagining something worse than what would actually happen, he walked over to stand between the two of them. And tugged her up against his chest.

“Let’s get you upstairs, it’s nap time.”

She turned her gaze toward the stairs, eager, energy in her step. By the time she hit the stairs she was almost running. He understood. She needed to get away. To get out.

He followed her up the stairs. At the bedroom, she bolted toward the window where she tugged the curtains back and looked out. She was trying so hard to stay in control. But he could see the tremor. He stepped behind her and wrapped his hands around her shoulders, tugging her back against his chest.

“It’s going to be okay.”

“Are they going to hurt him?”

“Not likely. He’ll talk way before it comes to that.”

She gripped his hand. “Are you sure? And does that change anything? Does it make it easier to know that?”

“Of course it does. Life isn’t easy.”

“And when it goes bad, it goes really bad.” She sniffled.

Shit. He hated a woman’s tears. They broke his heart every time. He turned her around and tucked her up close against his heart. “It will be okay.”

With a shake of her head she said, “No it won’t be. The things that have happened.” She sniffled again. “Are still happening…they won’t be erased from my memory. They are stuck there for life.”

“As are all the good things in life.” He smiled down at her, trying to reassure her. “Remember that. There are two sides to everything. And in this case there are many really good things in life to keep in your mind as well.”

She studied his warm gaze and asked, “Like what?”

He smiled and leaned over to kiss her forehead. “Like us. Like this.” He kissed her again on her chin. Then on her cheek. And again on her nose.

She closed her eyes. He kissed first one closed eye, then the other. She tilted her head up higher. He brushed his nose against hers in a slow loving movement. She gave a gentle happy sigh. He kissed the tip of her nose. Then reached up a gentle finger and nudged her chin higher. He kissed the tip of her chin. Then pulled back slowly.

She whimpered in protest. She tugged him closer and laid her head against his chest.

“Nice,” she whispered.

“Very nice.”

“Hmmm.” She smiled and nestled closer. He wrapped his arms lower and cuddled her close.

“Being together like this is a gift,” he whispered. “And I for one want to enjoy it. Life is too precious. It’s too damn short.”

“And it’s ugly as hell.”

He chuckled. “Remember that the good stuff is there too.”