Waiting for Him (4 page)

A small smile appeared on her face as she recalled how his students were always able to lift her father’s spirits. “They loved him. Anyway, when he died, I had him cremated and told everyone he was going to be buried back east with my mom and brother, but didn’t give them any details. I told everyone it was my dad’s wish to not have a funeral and I didn’t put an obituary in the paper, even though it would be in his new name. But the students arranged a memorial at the school for him. At first it was just supposed to be his students and fellow teachers at an assembly during school hours, but then it grew and they posted it on Facebook. A local reporter saw it and ran a story about the death of a well-liked teacher. It included a picture of dad taken at a school basketball game last year before he got too sick. I think one of his students took it not knowing my dad avoided having his picture taken because the Marshals told us to. By the time I saw it, it was too late. It was in the print edition as well as online and Facebook.”

“Shit. Any facial recognition program could have found it.” Boomer rolled his eyes and ran a frustrated hand through his hair. Sometimes technological advances could be a bitch.

Nodding his agreement, Ian leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. “But the question remains—what are they looking for?” His gaze went to Kate’s face. “Any ideas? Did your father keep something as evidence in case he needed leverage down the road?”

She shrugged and shook her head. “Not that I know of, but he gave me this,” she pulled a key out of a small inside pocket of her purse, “just before he died. He was kind of out of it at the end. Hospice had him on morphine, so half of what he was telling me didn’t make sense. When he gave me this key, he told me to go home again. I asked him what he meant and he just kept saying it was ‘the key to the wells’. I couldn’t get him to explain it.”

Ian took the key from her and inspected it. “It looks like a safety deposit box key. Did he have one at his bank?”

“I checked, but they had no record of it. Maybe I should have checked another branch or another bank. But there’s so many banks in Portland, it would take days to check them all. Should I start calling them? Would they give me the information over the phone?”

“No, you don’t need to call them. It’s not in Portland.” Ian and Kate both looked at Boomer in confusion. He grabbed the conference room laptop, pulled it toward him and booted it up. “It’s in Norfolk. You’re dad said ‘go home again’, so that had to be what he meant. I remember your family used Bank of America, like mine did, but…” He paused as he tapped a few keys. “Here it is. Not far from your house is a Wells Fargo Bank. ‘The key to the wells.’ That’s where we start looking.”

‘Your house’ he’d said, but the colonial was no longer hers. Some other family was living in it now. A strange girl or boy was sleeping in what was once her bedroom and some other parents were joking with their children at the dinner table. Did they change the color of the walls? Her mother had painstakingly picked out just the right hues to go with the furniture. Was some other teenager reenacting the scene from
Risky Business,
when Tom Cruise slid across the wood floor lip-syncing to Bob Seeger’s ‘Old Time Rock and Roll’? Alex always made her laugh when he did it. She shook off the bittersweet memories. “So what should I do? Just walk into the bank and ask if my dad has a box there? Will they let me open it?”

Ian tapped his fingers on the table. “Not yet. They won’t let you near it without proper ID and a death certificate in your father’s name…his real name. And even then, it might take a court order if your name isn’t attached to the box’s account.” He eyed Boomer. “I’ll give Larry Keon a call and get what we need. The court order might take longer to get, but we’ll worry about that if it turns out we need it. I’ll also have him get me everything the FBI has on this Sergei Volkov.” Having the deputy director, the number two man of the FBI, on speed dial came in handy at times and this was one of them. “In the meantime, we have to keep Kate…I’m sorry, but I have to ask…do you prefer I call you Kate or Katerina? After this is over, if it’s possible, are you planning on going back to your real name?”

She gave him a wistful smile. “I hadn’t given it a lot of thought. I never thought…I’d like to be me again, Katerina Maier. I miss her and the life she was supposed to have.” A life which was supposed to include Benny Michaelson. “But you can call me Kat, if you’d like. It was the one habit my father was never able to break. I was always his Kitty Kat.”

He returned her smile with an optimistic one. “Then ‘Kat’ it is and we’ll do everything we can to try to get your life back. But for now, we need to keep you out of the public eye. Are you sure you weren’t followed from Portland?”

“Actually, I was.” When she saw their surprised expressions, she quickly added, “But I got rid of them. About an hour out of the city, I started thinking about all the movies I’ve seen about people being followed by the bad guys or cops. And then I remembered about the agents who had a tracking device on our car and I got a little paranoid. So I pulled into a truck stop and convinced a couple of truck drivers that I was afraid my ‘abusive ex-boyfriend’,” she made finger quotes in the air with both hands, “may be using a device to stalk me. They looked under my car for me and found one by the trunk. One of the drivers was nice enough to take it with him and it’s somewhere in Southern California now.”

“Smart girl.” Ian dipped his head in approval of her survival instincts. “Good. Then until we get you the paperwork you need for the bank, we have to keep you hidden for now. There are bunkrooms and bathrooms upstairs here, and the compound is secure.”

“She’ll stay with me at my condo.” The look on Boomer’s face told them not to argue with him.

The corners of Ian’s mouth twitched, and Kat realized he’d figured out there was more between Benny and her than just the memory of a teenage boy and his friend’s sister. “Fine. But to be on the safe side, I’m calling Tiny and having him sit outside your place.”

Benny nodded his head. “Works for me.” At her confused look, he added, “Tiny is one of the bodyguards we use when we need one. He’ll watch our six…our backs.” He turned back to Ian. “I’ll double check her car for trackers then leave it here in the garage so it’s out of sight.”

“I can get a motel room,” Kat told them. “I don’t want to put anyone out.”

Benny growled at her while Ian shook his head and stood. “You’re not putting anyone out, Kat. The safest place for you to be is either here or with Boomer. His place is secure and we’ll have someone monitoring his condo. We’re not taking any chances someone might’ve figured out you came to him for help.” He glanced back at his teammate. “After I call Tiny, I’ll call Keon and see what he can do for us. Jake or Dev will relieve Tiny in the morning and I’ll call you with a rendezvous time so we can plan our next steps.”

Nodding his agreement, Boomer stood. “Let me have your keys, Kat. You can wait here while I take care of your car.”

She handed him her keychain and then both men left her alone in the room. Well, not exactly alone. Beau was sitting next to her with a curious tilt to his head. She reached out to pet his velvety ears.
“Braver hund.”
Good dog.

Kat washed her face in the bathroom of Benny’s condo. After he’d taken care of her vehicle and retrieved the three duffle bags which were full of her clothes and necessities, they had driven in silence to his place. She felt so drained after telling the two men about the horror story which her life had become and she couldn’t find any more words to say to Benny. But it bothered her that he was just as quiet. It shouldn’t since the poor man had the shock of his life tonight, having an old girlfriend…no, an old friend…come back from the grave. She couldn’t actually classify what they were back then as boyfriend-girlfriend, since they’d only kissed that one night, and he’d asked her to be his girlfriend barely thirty-six hours before she ‘died’. The way he’d reacted upon seeing her again, she wasn’t sure if he would want to be friends with her ever again. But one step at a time. First they needed to find out who was following her and why. Then, and only then, could she think about Katerina and Benny. For now, they were Kat and Boomer, and there were twelve years of each other’s lives they knew nothing about.

She heard the doorbell ring and suddenly wondered if Benny had a girlfriend. He wasn’t married, her handler would have told her, and his condo was definitely a bachelor pad, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t dating anyone special. When she opened the bathroom door, she heard another male voice along with Benny’s and her shoulders relaxed in relief. If he
was
dating someone, she couldn’t handle meeting the other woman just yet.

Walking out to the living room, she was surprised to see a man who made Benny look small, which was no easy feat considering he was six-foot-one and about two hundred and fifteen pounds of solid muscle. Benny only came to the man’s shoulders and was outweighed by about sixty pounds. He had soft looking café-au-lait skin and was shaved bald. With his mustache and goatee, he reminded her of some actor from an old TV show, but she couldn’t remember who. She was wary about the man’s intimidating size until he spotted her and smiled a smile which probably had women falling at his feet.

Turning, Benny gestured for him to join him. “Kat, this is my friend, Tiny. He’s going to be watching the condo overnight from the across the street. Tiny, this is Katerina.”

The bear of a man extended one large paw toward her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Katerina.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Tiny.” She smiled at the diminutive nickname for such a huge man and shook his hand. “Please call me Kat. I appreciate you looking out for me.”

He gave her an ‘aw-shucks’ look and waved his mitt of a hand as if batting away a fly. “Don’t worry about it ma’am, it’s what I do. I’ll keep an eye on things so you can get a good night sleep. No offense intended, but you look like you could use it.” Tiny gave her a wink and Boomer a fist bump then headed out the door to start his watch.

Boomer locked the door behind the bodyguard and set the security system. He then turned and eyed her speculatively. “When was the last time you ate or slept?” The way she took a moment to remember wasn’t lost on him. “Forget it. Come with me.”

Kat followed him into his kitchen and took a seat at the table after he’d gestured to it. She watched as he began to take bacon, eggs, spinach, and cheese out of the refrigerator. “You don’t have to cook for me. I can make something for myself.”

He ignored her comments and continued to pull out a large frying pan followed by the utensils he would need. Placing the pan on the stove, he turned on the gas and a ‘poof’ sounded as the burner lit. He then peeled off half the slices of bacon from the package and lined them up neatly in the pan. After throwing the remaining bacon back into the fridge, he pulled out a bowl and started cracking the eggs. She assumed he was making enough for both of them when the sixth and final egg made its way into the bowl. His shoulders and arms moved with fluidity as he beat the eggs into submission. Her eyes crossed over his sinewy back from one shoulder to the other and then downward. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on him as his waist narrowed. She couldn’t help herself when her gaze went to his khaki-covered ass and her mouth watered. He was a perfect specimen of the male body. Even if he didn’t have a girlfriend, she was certain he was propositioned all the time. In high school, Alex and he had been on almost every girl’s ‘I want to kiss’ list and most of the ‘I want to fuck’ lists too. Neither one of them had ever lacked in the female companionship department and she doubted things had changed for Benny.

The silence between them was becoming unbearable. “How are your folks? The last I heard from Chris, our handler, they were living in Sarasota.”

He didn’t stop making their meal, but at least he answered her. “They’re fine.”

Okay, the two flat words were technically an answer, but she’d hoped he would open up a little more. This reunion was just as hard on her as it was on him. Not knowing what to say next, she let the silence return.

A few minutes later he brought two heaping plates to the table and set one in front of her and the other in front of the chair across from her. While he turned to retrieve knives and forks for them, she stared in astonishment at the full plate. Five slices of bacon, a huge three-egg omelet with spinach and provolone cheese, and two slices of multi-grain toast with butter, which she hadn’t noticed him make. “There’s no way I can eat all this.”

He put a set of utensils next to her plate then took one of her slices of bacon, throwing it on his own plate as if it made a huge difference in the amount of food he’d given her. “Yes, you can, and you will. Your clothes are hanging off you. Either you’re wearing someone else’s stuff or you’ve lost weight. Now eat.”

She tried to glare at him for ordering her around, but he disregarded her and pulled two glasses out of a cabinet. After filling them with orange juice from the fridge, he brought both to the table and sat down across from her. He pointed at her plate. “Eat, Katerina.”

If her stomach hadn’t picked that moment to growl and let him know it did indeed want to be fed, she would have tossed the food in the garbage just because of his attitude. But she admitted to herself she was starving, having realized she hadn’t eaten in over twelve hours. She’d grabbed two cereal bars and a coffee from a truck stop where she’d pulled in for gas and had nothing else since. Picking up her fork, she dug into the omelet and a moan of ecstasy escaped her mouth when the flavors hit her taste buds. “Oh my God, this is delicious. When did you learn how to cook?”

Clearly satisfied she was going to eat, he picked up his own fork. “Don’t be too impressed. Omelets are pretty much the extent of my culinary expertise, unless it’s meat and on a grill. Bachelorhood forces a guy to learn how to do things like cooking, cleaning, and doing your own laundry.”

His voice lacked any emotion and she wished she could think of a response which might make him at least smile, but nothing came to mind. She watched him take a bite of his eggs and was shocked when a question blurted from her mouth. “You never married?”

“No.” The answer was short and an indication for her to drop the subject. He kept his gaze on his plate and continued to eat in silence. His demeanor had her food turning bland as she quickly lost her appetite.

He finished his meal faster than she did. “Eat it all.” Ignoring her annoyed expression, he stood and began cleaning up the kitchen. After every item he’d used was either washed, dried and put away, or in the dishwasher, he turned around, eyeing the two pieces of bacon, a piece of toast and a third of the omelet left on her plate. She stared at him defiantly and he raised an eyebrow at her while crossing his arms. His eyes filled with something she couldn’t name, but a shiver went through her as he lowered his voice. “I said all of it.”

“Too bad, because I’m full.” She wasn’t the child he once knew and she refused to let him treat her like one, although she almost gave in to his sexy, deep voice. She got up from her seat and tried to push him out of the way so she could dump the leftovers in the trash, but the solid wall of muscle wouldn’t budge. “Please move.”

Benny continued to stand in her way for a few seconds and she expected him to start arguing with her. His eyes scanned her face and he must have seen the exhaustion which was taking over her body because he relaxed his stance and took the plate from her hands. The commanding tone was replaced by a softer one. “I put your bags in the spare bedroom. Why don’t you get some sleep? Ian should have some information for us in the morning.”

Her first attempt at a response disappeared with a huge yawn and she covered her mouth. “Sorry. I hope so.” She began to pivot toward the doorway, but stopped and looked up at him, her eyes filling with tears which didn’t fall. “I know me showing up out of the blue has shocked you, but thanks for helping me. I don’t have anyone else to turn to.”

Benny’s gaze turned into something from their youth, which she never expected, but only for a split second before becoming indifferent once more. “No problem. It’s what I do,” he mumbled before turning away to take care of her plate which was still in his hand. She hesitated, hoping he would say something more, but after a minute, she sighed and left him alone.

* * *

Katerina had gone to bed over four hours ago, but Boomer was still tossing and turning in his king-sized bed. As much as his body needed the sleep, his brain wasn’t cooperating. Throwing off the covers, he got up for the eighth or ninth time and walked on stealth-like feet to the bedroom door across the hall from his. He had left the light on in the guest bathroom in the hallway in case she needed it in the middle of the night. Easing the bedroom door open, he was able to observe her in the dark room without the light shining directly on her. She was sound asleep facing him.

He studied her for the first time with a critical eye. Tiny had been right. She did look exhausted. And thin. Too thin. Her light brown hair had highlights he hadn’t noticed before and he wished he could see her dark brown eyes once more. Those eyes had haunted him for years. Her pouty pink lips made him yearn to kiss her awake, like Prince Charming and Snow White. He shook the ridiculous thought from his brain. Time and the military had changed him and he was no longer worthy of the young woman she once was. He doubted he was worthy of the woman she’d become either—whoever she was.

Damn. She was more beautiful than he remembered, which was saying a lot. Although they were coming less and less frequently over the years, he still had dreams about her. About the one night she’d belonged to him and how incredible it had felt to kiss and touch her. Many times he’d debated the adage—was it better to have loved and lost or to never have loved at all? It was an argument he’d never settled in his mind.

Closing her door again, he headed out to his kitchen. Using the soft blue glow from his digital microwave clock to see, he located a bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey on the bottom shelf of his pantry. He thought about taking a swig straight from the bottle, but one would lead to another, and then another. Despite Tiny watching his six, he knew he had to keep his wits about him in case someone figured out where Kat was. So instead, he grabbed a rocks glass from a cabinet, poured two ounces into it and returned the bottle to its perch.

He sat in the seat he’d been in when she’d asked, ‘You never married?’ He’d kept his eyes on his meal, but through his eyelashes, he’d watched her try to analyze his one-word response. No way was he going to explain to her why he would never get married. There’d been a thirty-six hour timespan, twelve years ago, when she was the only woman he’d wanted to spend his life with. After she ‘died’, no other woman had ever captured his heart the way she had. No other woman could hold a candle to his Kitten.

Damn it! He wasn’t going there with his personal pet name for her. She was ‘Kat’ or Katerina, which was as familiar as he wanted to get with her again. He understood she had no say in the matter about leaving him, thinking she was dead, but the anger and heartbreak had long ago been embedded into his psyche. There had been many a night he’d cursed her for leaving him, the universe for taking her, himself for loving her.

The team would figure out who was after her and why, and when she was safe, Boomer would send her on her way to wherever she wanted to go. Because there was no way he was putting his heart on the line again. He wouldn’t survive it this time when she realized the man he’d become.

He brought the glass to his lips and drank the brown liquor before he had more than a split second to compare the color to Kat’s eyes. The alcohol burned its way to his stomach and he forced himself to put the glass in the dishwasher and head back to his bed. He had no idea how long he lay there until sleep finally overtook him and he dreamed of her—his Kitten.