Accidental SEAL (SEAL Brotherhood #1) (11 page)

“I’m looking for Kyle. It’s important.”

“Well, I haven’t seen him since yesterday. With you. Doubt he’ll be here tonight either. Not his scene.”

“If you could put the word out. I need to talk to him about a friend of his.”

“Um hum. This a message he’s going to want to hear?” The man pinned her with his eyes, being careful, protective of Kyle.

“Yes. He’s looking for someone. You know, Armando. I may have some information.”

“’Kay. So you have some information about Armando. Where should he contact you
if
I hear from him?”

Christy fished out her business card. “My cell phone’s at the bottom.”

Griz flipped the card back and forth against his other thumb, obviously thinking. He looked like he wanted to say something, but stopped himself. Christy felt the awkwardness of the two of them standing in a nearly empty room.

“Well. I’ve got to go. I’m going to drive around and see if I can spot his Hummer.”

He nodded. “You two have a little tiff?”

“That’s an off limits question.”

“Could be, but then Kyle’s a special operator and we look out for each other.”

“I know about that. Any idea where he’s staying?”

“You’re asking me? I’m surprised he let you escape.”

Griz grinned full out, but lopsided and apologetic. She saw the heart of gold inside the rough-hewn man of steel.

Christy scratched the back of her head, hoping to break the tension and change the mood. “I’m sorry I bothered you. I’ll be off now. But if you think of anything, please give me a call.”

Christy’s shoulders stiffened as she drove back and forth along the strip lined by little shops across the street from a white expanse of beach. Several times she thought she felt eyes watching her, but upon checking in the rear view mirror, she found no sign of the black Hummer. She ran into three young men in shorts and flip-flops with matching wrap-around sunglasses that screamed military issue at the frozen yogurt stand. She also gave them one of her cards since they hinted they might know Kyle but said they weren’t sure.

They’re lying.

She checked her phone to see if she’d missed a call, but her voicemail was empty. The afternoon wafted away from her, so she decided to return home. She hoped to see a black Hummer inside the automatic gate at the underground garage, but no such luck. She stepped into the elevator after parking and made it up to the fourteenth floor.

A maid vacuuming the hallway nodded a greeting as Christy let herself in the condo.

Dropping her purse and kicking off her shoes on her way to the bathroom, she automatically massaged the back of her neck, which was still so tight. She recalled how Kyle had protected her head when he leveled her to the ground that first day. This must be some resulting swollen tissue, she thought.

She slipped off her clothes and prepared a bubble bath. She placed her cell phone to the tub’s edge and picked up a current romance novel she had yet to finish. She’d just submerged in the warm bubbles and lay back against a towel when her cell rang. A strange combination of numbers, not from an area code around San Diego, appeared in a sequence on the screen.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Christy.”

A shot of electricity traveled down her spine. She’d done a pretty good job of thinking she could maintain her composure until she heard Kyle’s voice. Her will turned to butter.

“I know you don’t want to have anything to do with me, but—”

“That’s not true, and you know it.”

Damn the man.

“I went over to Armando’s house today,” she said.

“Now why would you go and do that? Not very smart.”

“No. But then you know how smart I am, don’t you?”

“I think you’re one of the smartest girls I’ve ever met, but it was dumb to go over to that house. You must promise me you won’t do it again. Ever. It’s dangerous.”

“I think I know that now. Don’t worry.”

Kyle paused. In a soft voice, he asked, “What are you saying?”

“There were two men there.”

Christy moved around in the water.

“Where are you?”

“In the bathtub.”

“Oh.” He paused. “So, what did the men look like?”

“Dark-haired. Young. They ran out the front when I went in the back.”

“You went into the house?”

“Yes. The place is a mess. I think they were looking for something. But I scared them off.”

Kyle chuckled at that. “I could see how you would make a man go weak at the knees. Even two men. Two very bad men.”

“Not funny. Don’t make fun of me.”

“I’m not. So after you scared them off, what did you do?”

“I listened to Armando’s phone message on the answering machine.”

“What the hell? Christy, you have no business getting involved. You stay out of this, understand?”

“So do you want to hear the message?”

Kyle hesitated, breathing hard into the receiver. God she wished he was breathing against the side of her face, kissing her there, looking at her and touching…

“Yes.”

“He said ‘Foothills and thirty minutes.’ Then he said ‘Got ten loaded.’ He started to say he
left
something and then the line went dead.”

Christy could hear her heart pounding, wondering if he heard it, too.

“Thanks,” he whispered.

More silence. She would make him talk next, if he wanted to. That’s what she needed to hear. Did he want to or not?

“I understand you went out of your way to find me. I appreciate that.”

“Because it’s the right thing to do, Kyle.” She hoped it didn’t sound too strong, so she added as soft and sexy as she could muster, “Because it was important to you.”

There, she’d said it. Time to figure out if she would have to do a rescue mission on her own heart. A girl’s night out? A romantic movie that made her cry all night long?

“Well, I thank you.”

She could tell he had difficulty saying it.

“So, if you’re free tonight, I am.” God, she hoped he’d say he was.

“No. We have things we have to do. I’ll give you a call sometime.”

Her heart fell to the bottom of the tub. That was the answer she had expected. At least her attempt had been worth the try.

“Okay then, sailor. You know where I live.” She found the courage to hang up on him first. She lay back in the tub and placed a wet washcloth over her eyes, which absorbed the welled-up tears and those continuing to fall.

No, she didn’t do “wait” very well. She needed to move on.

Chapter 10

Kyle stepped into Jimmy’s, the place where the Wall of the Fallen took Kyle’s breath away every time he saw it—all the faces of young, handsome men, cut short in their prime. He usually looked at every one of their pictures as if he was looking right into their eyes, and said a thank you.

Every time.

The inscription in the middle, translated from a rough-hewn carving by some anonymous artisan at the graveyard on Iwo Jima read:

When you go home,

Tell them for us, and say,

For your tomorrow,

We gave our today.

As tough as he knew his community, he didn’t know a single team guy who didn’t choke up reading that.

Being a SEAL wasn’t all about rah rah or politics. Wasn’t about highs and lows of armed warfare, man on man. Wasn’t about knowing your limits or having a band of brothers. It was about life and death.

When he and Armando got their very first tattoo together, his the band of barbed wire thorns around his calf, the old artist looked Kyle right in the eyes and said, “So you want to make friends with death, son?”

He could answer the old man today. But not that day.

Kyle sat and waited for his team to arrive.

“I’ve talked to Armando’s mom,” Kyle began, after the group had gathered, “and I think he linked up with this guy, Caesar, who Mia has been hanging around. Apparently, she’s pregnant. Armando went to go find her.”

“That could be good news. Maybe this asshole won’t hurt her.” Fredo tossed that statement into the mix.

“Can’t count on that, Fredo.” Kyle worked to keep panic out of his voice.

Gunny swore and shook his head. “The man must be an animal. I’d say put him down.”

“Whoa! Gunny. We’re not talking about doing anything like that,” Kyle shot back, alarmed.

“Be doing the female population a favor, you ask me. But then you didn’t, did you?”

Cooper narrowed his eyes at Kyle and then winced. “You think they’re still in the area?”

Kyle nodded. “The message said something about the foothills and thirty minutes away. Said there were ten. Well-armed.” He sighed. “Can you get your friend to track this cell phone?” Kyle handed Cooper a yellow Post-It note with Mia’s cell phone number.

“Sure. No problem. How old is this?”

“I think only a couple of hours. This morning there was nothing on the answering machine. But…” He didn’t want to tell them how he got the message. “Well, the message came in sometime after noon. I’m guessing he used Mia’s cell phone, since they took or destroyed his.”

“You listen to it?” Fredo asked as Cooper got up, presumably to call his friend in the DOJ.

“Nah. Someone else did. And there’s another thing. Armando’s house has been thrashed.”

“Hey, boss, you got someone else working on this job? Someone we need to know about?” Fredo asked.

Kyle looked down at his folded hands. He wanted a beer, but he knew he’d need his wits about him in case they got a location. “The lady I was with yesterday afternoon came looking for me.” He didn’t want to make eye contact.

“Uh huh. Like I said, you gotta start thinking with your other head, boss.”

“I never had that problem,” Gunny inserted, laughing at Kyle’s obvious discomfort.

“So gramps, you knew about this too?” Fredo asked.

“Shit, yes. My gym’s like a fuckin beauty parlor. I learn everything about the crap you guys get into just from keeping my ears open. Always some newbie or wanna-be who is only too quick to tell me about all your dumb-ass moves.” Gunny coughed. “Although this time, he gave me a full description of the lady in question, like she was naked.”

Kyle almost grabbed Gunny by the shirt collar. He drank water and crunched on ice cubes instead.

“So Kyle, I gotta ask. Are you okay?” Fredo looked at him hard.

Not the question he wanted to hear. Were they feeling him starting to slip? Was he starting to slip? Was it wrong to want to feel the soft flesh of a woman next to his and not be able to get her out of his mind?

No, it wasn’t wrong. It was right. But it interfered with his mental clarity, and was so unfair to her.

“No worries, gentlemen. I’m right as rain. Got all the cum lovingly worked outta me real good last night. Now I’m ready for a fight.” Kyle hoped they believed him.

“Sounds like she didn’t get enough, though,” Fredo barked.

“Oh, yeah she did.” Kyle grinned. “She just wants more.”

Finally Fredo laughed and nodded his head. “Tell her I’m available.”

Kyle punched Fredo’s bicep, this time a little harder than usual.

Coop returned with the news he’d left a message for his DOJ friend in two places. “He’ll call me back, I hope tonight.”

“Okay, so now that we know Armando’s alive, we’re gonna only have one chance to break him out. I want this kept tight, just between us. And when we’re ready to roll, we go.”

The team nodded in agreement.

“Gentlemen, we got only three days to do this. Then I’ll go it alone,” Kyle said.

“The hell you will. I’m with you all the way,” Gunny said.

There was a pause as Gunny looked back into three cowed faces. Nothing more needed to be said. “Fuck it, fellas, I can drive a car, shoot a gun, I don’t wear glasses. And the ladies don’t distract me like some people sitting at this table.”

Everyone laughed, except Kyle. He was thinking of the way Christy’s breasts filled his palm, how she tasted under her ear, and how he’d tried to sleep with the largest boner he’d ever had just from the feel of her hair on his chest as he snuggled next to her in bed. The mere memory of her scent had kept him awake all night.

Gunny snapped his gnarled fingers in front of Kyle’s face. “You’ve got it bad, kid. That kind of a lapse in concentration can get you killed, you know.”

A harsh thing to say, but it was the truth. Kyle looked at the pockmarked and ruddy red complexion of one of the ugliest men he’d ever met, and knew Gunny would give his life to protect him. Gunny had a heart the size of the Pacific Ocean and wanted to go out like a hero.

But Kyle hoped he wouldn’t have to.

Kyle decided to get a motel room and watch movies all night. He knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep. He couldn’t get drunk or go clubbing because he had to be able to hear his phone. There were some nights he couldn’t wait to press his body into a throng of strangers and dance to oblivion, but tonight wasn’t one of them. He knew what he wanted to do.

If you’re available, I’m available.

It wasn’t the right thing, but it was the
only
thing he could think about. How she whimpered under him, how he loved to watch her and feel her shuddering with climax. He loved watching how he made her feel.

A really good guy would stay away.

But I’m just a man. A dog.

So he turned around and headed off the island toward Old Town.

Christy heard a knock at her door. She’d fallen asleep and the bathtub water had turned ice cold. She got out of the tub and quickly dried off, her heart pounding in her throat. With hair still dripping wet around the sides of her face, she slipped on her flowered silk robe, headed down the hall, then viewed Kyle’s face in profile through the peephole of her front door.

She quickly ran to her bedroom and made her bed, throwing her clothes behind the closet door. She put on some hand cream and then wished she’d gotten her legs and feet as well. She applied cherry lip-gloss and a spritzer of
L’Interdit.

He came back.

She slowly walked back to the front door, took a big gulp, and pulled the door open, raising her gaze from his beltline up the hard chest encased in a baby blue T-shirt, up the thick clean-shaven neck to a square jaw, to the full lips and two light blue eyes. He stared back at her like he had the first time they made love. His need came across stronger than his control, and seeing that, she felt hope.