A SEAL to Save Her (12 page)

He grinned to alleviate the thickness in the air. “All better now.”

“Dex.”

“I barely felt it,” he said, leaning down and kissing her softly.

Lieutenant Dexter Kaczewski had unraveled for her and she couldn't get enough.

Big, bad navy SEAL. An officer, no less, and that put him a cut above. The elite's leader. That was so sexy; all that brilliance, combat-ready focus and intensity. He was so
hoo-rah
ready, such a tough piece of work, tempered steel. It took a lot to make steel melt. She shivered and he buried his face in her neck.

Slowly their bodies relaxed as they breathed together, still locked in each other's arms, him smelling oh-so-good, all overheated male.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Oh, yeah. You know how to carry out some orders, Lieutenant.” She rubbed her face hard against his jaw and he grinned.

“Yeah, I got that overwhelm-and-conquer thing down.”

“Hoo-boy, do you ever.”

Piper attended to her hair and it felt so good to be squeaky clean, and what a way to take a shower. She highly recommended it. Back in the bedroom, she could see Dex standing before a mirror, already dressed in the black slacks, white shirt and slim black tie that Blessing had purchased. Hot damn, the man was stone-cold gorgeous.

The garment bag was open on the bed and there were delicate, lacy, navy blue undies, an exquisite matching bra, a white and navy striped short-sleeved T-shirt and a pair of navy linen pants. She'd also included a pair of flat red sandals. “Blessing has quite good taste,” Piper said as she fingered the material and gave him another appreciating glance.

He sat on the edge of the bed, his eyes trailing over her shoulders and the white terry cloth wrapped around her. He reached out and gave the towel a tug. As it slipped off her, he smiled. “You better get dressed because, from what I remember, you were quite a good taste.”

She reached for the panties and slipped them on. “You cheeky devil. Do not distract me.”

“Okay, I'll just watch.”

She had the bra half on when she felt his warm fingers on her back, then him hooking the clasps. “I thought you said you were only going to watch.”

“I couldn't keep my hands to myself,” he murmured, sliding his fingers down her back.

She stepped away and finished dressing. Sitting down next to him, she slipped on the sandals.

“Could you tie my shoes?” he asked. “It hurts to bend over.”

“You didn't seem to have a problem in the shower.”

“I was crouching in the shower. This is a little different...oh,” he said when he saw the gleam in her eyes. “You're teasing me.”

“A little.” She moved off the bed and in front of him. Taking the shiny black oxfords, she slipped the shoe on one foot and tied it, then the other.

He slid his hands under her arms and dragged her up, kissed her and let her go. “One more thing I need help with.” He fished the leather gun harness out of the backpack and she took it out of his hands. He spun around and she fitted the straps up his arms and over his broad shoulders. She moved around him and with unsteady fingers fastened the buckle.

“Thank you,” he said as she smoothed her hands over his shirt. She moved behind him and picked up the jacket, setting it so he could easily slip his arms into the sleeves and adjust the collar.

He dumped out the contents of the backpack and picked up the wallet, gun, badge and passport, pocketing everything. The last thing he reached for were the dark shades. He put them on.

Her purse was ruined, but Blessing had provided her with a pretty navy clutch.

She walked over to the tumble of clothes on the floor and fished out the head scarf Afsana had given her. The print was beautiful, the cloth finely woven. She smoothed her hand over it.

“Are those my bars?”

“Yes, I kept them safe. Do you want them...?”

“No, Piper, you keep them for now.”

She shook the
keffiyeh
out and folded it neatly. This had protected her and saved Dex's life. She wanted it.

She tucked it into the small black suitcase, nestling it along with the gorgeous lacy black nightwear, a change of underwear and a pair of gray cotton men's shorts.

“She really is very thoughtful.”

He nodded. “A gem.”

He threw the now-empty backpack with the discarded Afghani clothes in the waste bin.

Without looking back, they left the room.

They hailed a cab at the curb and Dex said something in Pashto. The cabbie eyed her in the rearview and she kept her eyes straight ahead, putting on her professional face. Her palms still got moist, but she was probably reacting to the fact that someone wanted her dead.

He put the cab in gear and they navigated the congested streets of Kabul. At the checkpoint, Dex flashed his DS badge and they got through. Dex spoke again, and the cabbie took them to the commercial charter area of the airport. Dex grabbed the bag and they exited the vehicle, paying with money that Blessing had provided.

There was some delay in getting Dex approved because he was carrying a firearm, but once they saw his DS badge and her senatorial identification, they boarded with no issue.

Once inside, they settled in the posh, cream leather seats and buckled up.

They were headed back to DC and Piper was even more nervous. At least here she knew her enemy. But now Hatch and Markam were dead, the other men with him also eliminated by Dex's brute force and the skills her brother taught her.

But at home her enemy was unknown, and the city felt just a tad more dangerous than Afghanistan.

Chapter 11

City Jail,
Kabul,
Parwan Province, Afghanistan

“K
ai Talbot.”

“Boss.” The supervisory special agent in charge and Austin's superior might be as gorgeous as a runway model, but her no-nonsense tone told Austin that she was one top-notch agent, which he'd seen firsthand. He had great respect for her.

“What have you got for me, Beck?” she said, and it sounded like she was outside.

“Two suspects and news on Lieutenant Kaczewski and Senator Jones.” Their coup in Safid Darreh had netted them a wealth of information and one shocker of a secret.

“Excellent. I'm listening.” The muffled sound of her car door opening and closing came through the receiver. Then it was much quieter on the other end of the line.

Austin leaned against the wall in the small room. “They're both alive, as far as we can tell. We tracked them to a village about ten miles from Bagram where they were holed up for three days. Kaczewski had his stitches pulled out and got a fever. The senator walked all the way to Charikar dressed as a man to get him antibiotics.”

Kai whistled low. “Wow, the senator's got moxie.”

Exactly what Austin thought. She was brave as hell.

“We got two live ones at the village. One of them is the co-owner of Outcast, Ted White. They're up to their eyeballs in trouble. The other guy, Aaron Patrick, works for them off the books, if you know what I mean. And so did Martin Carter.”

There was silence on the other end of the line. “Martin Carter, the dead merc the SEALs retrieved from Kaczewski's op. Those marines were used to lure the SEALs into an ambush. The director and SECNAV are going to be pissed.” The sounds of her getting out of the car and the closing of elevator doors were audible. “Kaczewski was the target?”

Austin shifted. “No. Tyler Keighley.”

“The plot thickens.”

“It gets more interesting. No wonder Kaczewski is keeping Senator Jones off the radar. He's not sure who he can trust and, Talbot, neither am I. Someone high up had to have worked the deal.”

She huffed out a breath. “Do we have any names?”

“Unfortunately, no. White and Kruger don't know, so they say. They are pointing fingers at Markam. But Kaczewski killed him in Safid Darreh.” It frustrated Austin to no end, but there was no way to get any information out of a dead guy. “Markam apparently recruited DS Agent Hatch. Markam, who met Kruger when he was working in Kabul during deployment as a marine, was the one who came to Outcast with five mil. And get this, the client apparently changed the deal to include the senator
after
they bungled the mission and Tyler survived. They upped it to another five mil for her death. Two targets with one stone.”

Austin rubbed his tired eyes. “I don't like unanswered questions.” He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept. He stretched his back, watching Derrick through the interrogation window while he grilled Kruger, who kept shaking his head. They had caught and arrested Kruger as he was fleeing his Kabul office. Jesus, Derrick could look scary, deadly when he wanted to...and relentless. They'd been going at these guys for two days. Finally, the flunky, Patrick, had broken, implicating both White and Kruger. After that, it was just a matter of who could talk the fastest.

“Anything else?” She sounded impatient.

Derrick's a dad.
But that wasn't the kind of information you spilled on your fellow agent to your boss. It was personal. Obviously. Austin still was processing this information. Whatever Austin thought he'd known about Derrick “007” Gunn, it was deeper and darker than he could have guessed, a huge secret he was harboring. He'd fathered a child with a beautiful Afghani woman who was, uh, married...oh, about eight years ago, when he couldn't have been very wet behind the ears. But as they loaded up the three dead bodies into the back of the Jeep and shoved the revived Patrick into the backseat with White, Derrick gave Austin the type of look that said:
If you ask, I will kick your ass and you'll be bruised and sore without me telling you a damn thing because it's none of your damn business.

Austin did not ask.

“I'm getting ready to drive to Charikar and speak to Dr. Blessing Contee. She's the WHO doctor who Afsana Jamal told us stitched up Kaczewski and drove him and the senator to Kabul. Hopefully we can get a location on them.”

Kai lowered her voice. “When you do find them, keep that under wraps.”

“Yes, ma'am.”

“In the meantime, I will start the extradition of Kruger, White and Patrick. Nationalities?”

“Kruger is South African and White is Australian. Patrick is American. I'll send a team over to Outcast and go over their files and computers with a fine-tooth comb and get it all shipped back to San Diego.”

“Roger that,” she said. “Austin, good job, and watch your back.”

“Thank you, and yes, ma'am.”

Hours later after he'd spoken to a closedmouthed and apparently clueless Dr. Contee, he called Talbot back.

“She says she doesn't know where they went,” he said, hearing his own irritation blowing back at him. “But on the drive back, I figured the senator has some pull. Maybe she chartered a jet. So I drove over to the airport and, sure enough, she has a jet company on retainer. They took off twenty-three hours ago for DC. Looks like she's going home to work out this problem.”

“Resourceful. Which means they've already landed in DC.”

“Yeah, she's got that SEAL with her.” That much Contee would cough up. Her husband, Pierre, a mountain of a man, was quite intimidating. “I called Kaczewski's commanding officer and he's not heard one word, but I didn't give him any information because I'm not sure who we can trust. It's not good if the guys gunning for her hear she's back on home turf.” The SEAL had kept her safe this long. Maybe it was better for them to follow up leads and try to find out why Tyler Keighley had been targeted.

“Agreed. Extradition orders came through for Kruger and White. You and Gunn get back here and then you're on the next military transport to DC.”

He'd better get his z's on the plane; he sure wasn't going to get an opportunity in the next couple of days for a deep bed rest. Hell, REM sleep was overrated.

Washington, DC

As soon as Piper and Dex breezed through the charter airport security, he changed into jeans and a T-shirt, ditching the suit into the waste bin, while Piper changed into a pair of black capri pants and a multicolored crop top along with a baseball cap and dark glasses. She refused to throw away the gorgeous outfit she was wearing and stuffed everything into the suitcase. She pulled her hair into a short ponytail and it peeked out of the back of the cap. She looked like a teenaged tourist. He bought them two burner phones.

Piper called her car service, relieved to be home, but she still felt like she had a target on her back. Until they discovered who was trying to kill her, she wasn't exactly safe just yet. They waited inside the airport until it pulled up. They got inside and she told the driver to take her home. As soon as they were in the stop-and-go of downtown DC, they slipped out of the car and escaped into the subway, traveling to the Cleveland Park Public Library.

Dex went to the desk and asked to use one of their private reading rooms, and with a smile the woman nodded and directed him down the hall.

They entered the room and closed the door. Dex called his dad and pushed the speakerphone button.

“Admiral Kaczewski.”

“Dad.”

“Dex!” He pulled in a hard breath and let it out. “Son, it's good to hear your voice. Where are you?”

“In DC.” His father's response made his chest a bit tight.

“What?” he said sharply, then lowered his voice. “Where?”

“I can't tell you. It's safer if I keep Piper with me and only I know where she is.”

His father sighed. Using his best admiral voice, he said, “I've been getting updates from NCIS. Let them handle this.” It was his father's way to mitigate the situation, but turning Piper over to NCIS was like condemning her to death. He wouldn't, not even for his father.

“No, I can't,” he said firmly, needing his father to understand how much she meant to him without actually voicing it. Piper was standing there listening to everything he said. “If something happened to her because I walked away, I couldn't live with that. We don't know how far this goes and NCIS isn't immune. Somebody with deep pockets and a lot of pull is trying to kill her.” Her face went white and he wasn't sure if it was because his father wanted him to walk away or the fact that she was in so much danger. He didn't care. He wasn't going to turn her over to anyone.

There was silence and then his father's resigned voice. “I see your point.”

“You just don't like that I'm in harm's way.” Dex tried to lighten the tense situation, but his father would find nothing amusing about Dex with a target on his back.

Surprisingly, his father chuckled as if he knew his own kid too well. “Son, I know you're always in harm's way, but I understand that you feel responsible for this woman.”

Dex clenched his jaw. He felt way more than just responsible for her. Their eyes met and he smiled encouragingly. He knew her, knew she was churning inside, knew her in a way that went beyond carnal knowledge to some other place that defied rational thought or logic. He was utterly himself with her, in a way he'd never been with Melissa or Suzy. No walls, no guarded moments. He was realistic and understood that he would walk away when this was over. But he wasn't sure he could handle losing Piper, having her reject him and what he did for a living. Most women would.

Right now, he simply said what was true. “I'm all she has. All she can trust right now. I can't abandon her.” He reached out and brushed his fingers over her downy cheek. “She saved my life,” he said simply with heartfelt emotion tingeing his words.

His father's voice was subdued. “All right. Then I'm on board. What are you going to do?”

“Track down possible leads.”

“All right, and your wound?”

Dex smiled and said, “I'm okay, Dad.”

“If you say so.” He sniffed. “What can I do to help?”

“I need a safe place to stay.”

“Actually, I've got something for you,” his father said eagerly. “Your mother is house-sitting for a very good friend.” He rattled off an address. “I'll get the key to you. Anything else?”

“Yeah, I need cash and a weapon. Oh, and, Dad, can you rent a car for me and leave it in the rental lot?”

“Okay. I'll make sure you get all this when you have the keys to the house. How is Senator Jones holding up?”

“She is...” He paused.

“I haven't ever heard you speechless about a woman before. If I remember correctly, she's about your age.”

“Yeah, Dad, she's amazing and she shoots like a SEAL.” Piper was just...Piper. Strong and brave. He knew that more than anyone.

“Sounds like your mother,” his father said with a wry lilt to his voice.

“She's got a lot of Mom's qualities.”

“Well, she sounds like a keeper. Give me your number and I'll call you when everything is ready.” There was a pause, then his father said, “It's not going to be easy to hide a senator, especially when her face is all over the news. They've kept you out of it.”

“I know it won't be easy, but I'll keep her under wraps.” He met Piper's gaze for an instant and tried to reassure her with his eyes. There were delicate purple shadows beneath her sepia eyes and a vulnerability around her mouth he was certain she didn't realize was there. He ended the call.

“What now?”

“We just have to lay low until he gets everything situated.”

She took a tremulous breath and nodded. “What if he's being watched?”

Dex laughed. “My dad's a navy SEAL. The day he can't outwit a tail is the day he'll be in the ground.”

“It must be great to have that kind of faith in someone.”

“Don't you have that kind of faith in me?”

She stared at him for a moment and he held his breath. He wanted that, her unconditional trust. “You're right. I do.”

“It's your turn. Call Edward, but don't give him any details and make sure that you don't cave,” he said firmly.

“The day that I can't outwit my brother will be the day I am in the ground. If that won't work, I'll bully him. My nickname isn't Bulldozer for nothing.”

He laughed again. “Hell, woman, you even have a nickname, or as we call it on the team, a call sign. You are a SEAL in the making.”

She dialed and when her brother answered, she said, “Edward.”

“Oh, my God, Piper...” Dex could hear the relief and love in Edward's voice over the speaker Piper had set when she'd put the call through. “I should never have let you talk me into you going over there, Bulldozer.”

Her voice was strained when she answered. “I'm okay. I had help.”

“Well, whoever it was has my undying gratitude. Where are you?”

“I'm safe. How's Tyler?”

“He's stable and in one piece. He's looking at some major recovery time, and I don't know if he'll ever be physically able to continue military service. He's pretty worried about that. I took precautions and got him somewhere safe with medical attention after I got this anonymous tip. I think I owe that to the lieutenant.”

The knot of worry eased in his gut, but they weren't out of the woods yet. It hurt Dex to think his big, strong teammate and friend was going to have to go through a lot of rehab, but he never doubted for a moment that Tyler would come out of this stronger. He would be back. He was a SEAL. Broken bones and internal injuries would heal.

“Why did you do that, Edward?” she said.

His voice hardened. “I heard from NCIS. They're actually going to be here tomorrow. Two agents. Derrick Gunn and Austin Beck. They were looking for you in Afghanistan. They said that Tyler's team was intentionally ambushed and he was the target.”