"You could have chosen to take Jay away last night when you first met me," he persisted. "But you didn't, even though it would have made your job easier."
She squirmed, uncomfortable speaking about her own choices. "I knew how Jay felt about the way you two had left things when he saw you in Leavenworth, knew it would eventually tear him apart, so I made a judgment call. I knew I could keep the operation on track—at least I thought I could. I had no idea exactly how much trouble you'd be, Westin." She said the last with a smile, nipping at his lip with her teeth.
Chase felt his body respond to her, but his mind was busy contemplating the choice he had to make now. His original plan, to leave KC here, still seemed the safest for everyone involved. Now more than ever, he wanted her as far away from Coalton as possible when the meeting with Bruno took place. KC sensed his change of mood. She sat up straight, looked him in the eyes.
"This is how it's gonna work," she started in that no-nonsense way of hers that he was learning to love. "I'll drop you off outside of town so we're not seen together. I get Neil out of the way while you finish setting up the meet. I'll tell my people we're doing surveillance only until after you and Deacon leave, then we pop Gianotti."
She frowned, her brow wrinkled in thought, and Chase took the opportunity to get a word in edgewise.
"Then I'll take care of Deacon and The Crusade and the rest is history," he finished for her.
It wasn't as good as his plan to leave her here, far away from the action, but it was the best compromise. Her frown deepened. He traced a finger along her forehead, trying to ease the tension there. "What's wrong?"
"It's too dangerous. Too many unknowns. What was your original plan? It had to be better than this."
Chase smiled. He and Lucky were pretty much making it up as they went along. "I didn't realize you're a pessimist."
She sat upright, turned so that she straddled him, her weight on his hips. Chase liked this, he had a full view of her chameleon in addition to her many other lovely attributes. He smiled and allowed his hands to roam over her body. She pushed them aside.
"I'm not a pessimist. I just don't like unpleasant surprises, that's all," she said, leaning forward, her gaze drilling into his. "Like something happening to you, Chase. If anything goes wrong either at the meet with Gianotti or afterward with The Crusade, you're the first one they're going to kill.
Chase looked away. He knew that. It was the price of doing business. You couldn't get close to maniacs like Bruno and Deacon without taking risks.
"You're a control freak," he told her, trying to lighten the mood again. "You can't plan for everything."
"I had a pretty good track record until I met you," she reminded him.
He reached a hand up to rustle through her hair. "My point exactly. I just take it one step at a time. Focus on my objective, take care of it, and move on to the next."
She leaned back on her heels, out of range of his hands, and looked at him skeptically.
"I needed to stop the thefts at Lejeune, so I did. Then we had a chance to go after Bruno, nail him. He led us to The Crusade, so I worked on that. I'm not going to stop now that we've almost got everything."
"I'd feel a lot better about things if you'd at least tell me who 'we' is," she said.
"I'd like to, but I can't. All you need to know is that we're on the same side here."
"Why is Deacon letting you drive the van to The Crusade's hide out?"
Chase sat up enough so that he could pull her back into range of his hands and began to stroke his fingers along her thighs. Talking about people who might kill him wasn't the way he intended to spend what little time they had left.
"This deal's too big for Deacon to verify the entire shipment. It's a twenty-four foot moving van, it'd take all day to check everything. The arrangement I negotiated between him and Bruno has The Crusade paying my 10% commission, but I don't receive it until all the weapons are delivered to them and authenticated."
Her eyes widened, and she shook her head in dismay. "Are you nuts? That leaves you vulnerable to either side. If Gianotti double-crosses The Crusade, it's you they'll kill. And even if Dinkum gets everything he's paid for, what's to stop him from killing you, saving some money, and silencing a potential witness? It's suicide!"
"Ye of little faith," he chided her, a hand moving up her arm to rest on her cheek. He pulled her close, snugged her into a tight embrace. Her heart raced like hummingbird wings, fluttering against his. "I'll be fine. And it's our best chance to shut down The Crusade. Trust me."
She raised her head to his. "You, I trust. It's Gianotti and Dinkum and the other nuts in The Crusade that I'm not so sure about. Maybe we can come up with a better plan, something not so risky."
"No time." He ran a finger up her side, making her squirm once more. "Because there are a few more things I'd like to do before we leave. And none of them involve any planning." She opened her mouth to protest. He silenced her with a kiss.
CHAPTER 33
Chase eased back the passenger seat of the Mustang, content to allow KC navigate them back to Coalton and the real world. The winter landscape flickered by, hypnotic as bright sunshine interrupted the shadows of the trees.
He let his mind drift, not quite dosing although sleep was a tempting idea. More tempting was the thought of a future with a woman like KC in his life.
For the first time in a long time, he allowed himself to fully relax. No. What he felt was more than relaxation. Contentment, that was the right word. At peace.
The feeling was almost foreign. He hadn't felt like this since before his parents died. After that there'd always been something to worry about: Jay, his squad, recuperating from his own injuries, the constant stress of undercover work.
Now Jay was in safe hands, his mission was headed in the right direction, and he actually had something to look forward to once he completed it.
Chase closed his eyes, the memory of KC's body nestled alongside his filling his mind. Their time had been so short. He craved more. Day after day of exploring each other, growing together—Chase could imagine a future spent with KC.
It was the first time in years that he'd thought of a future past the next hour or day or mission.
He opened his eyes, rested his hand on her thigh, feeling her muscles clench as she adjusted the gas pedal. She geared down for a curve, took the opportunity to grasp his hand in hers, her eyes darting over to his face.
"You're feeling pretty good about this," she said.
She didn't have to clarify, Chase knew she meant all of it: them, his mission, life in general.
"Yeah, I am," he replied with a slow smile that lingered.
KC rolled her eyes. "Men. You always think good sex solves everything."
He straightened at that. "Good? Excuse me, think you might want to change your adjective? You know us men and our fragile egos."
Her laughter rang through the small car. "Sorry. Great sex, superlative sex, sex that will go down in history—"
"All right, now you're making me blush."
"Seriously, Chase. I can't let you go after The Crusade alone. Maybe I could get into Gianotti's warehouse, sneak a GPS onto the moving van?"
"Too risky. I'll be fine. After six months working this job, I'm not letting anything jeopardize it now."
"So you'll drive off into the sunset with a van full of weapons and explosives—"
"Me and Deacon."
"Right, that makes me feel better. You and Lester Dinkum, stone cold killer, heading into The Crusade's top secret compound, well guarded by freaky nut cases no doubt. And no one will know where you are or if you're in trouble?"
She frowned and shook her head. "I don't like it. Not one bit. In fact, as someone who until now has had a stellar track record for planning operations, I'd have to say that in my expert opinion, this plan pretty much sucks."
He fingered the lapel of his jacket, where the hidden panic button lay. As soon as he triggered it, the cavalry would be on their way. Of course, no guarantees he'd live to see them arrive. "KC—"
"Don't you dare," she snapped. "I know what you're going to say: Trust me, I know what I'm doing, I can handle this. Any macho clichés I've forgotten?"
He looked over at her, surprised to see a single tear slip from her eye. She swiped it away and blinked hard.
"I've heard them all before, Westin, so don't try to soft soap me. Look at your friend, Lucky, what happened to him. We both know there's a good chance you're not coming back from this one."
They were silent as she turned onto Hill Avenue. Chase motioned for her to drive into the cemetery. The trees and bushes would hide them from sight. He got out of the car, still not knowing what to say to her. He'd been content to fantasize about a future, but that wasn't enough for KC. She appeared to want something more concrete. Something Chase was powerless to give her.
KC remained in the car, her gaze locked onto the steering wheel. Chase walked around and opened her door.
"Come on. There's someone I want you to meet," he said, taking her hand and coaxing her from the car. He led her down a blacktop path to a small statue of a man and a woman sitting together on a bench, holding hands, facing west.
"Mom, Dad, this is KC." Chase squeezed her hand as KC stopped beside him. "I don't know if Jay ever brought you here."
Her free hand swiped her face again before she replied. "Yeah. Me and him and Neil used to come up here. Just to talk, to think."
"It's the first time that I've been here since—well, too long."
He bent forward, surprised to find the inscription scraped clean of snow already. Jay must have stopped by, left the flowers. Then he noticed the fresh boot prints around Diana's smaller grave to his left. Much too big to be Jay's.
KC recited the words carved on his parents' headstone. "
I shall but love thee better after death."
"Thoreau was always Dad's favorite, but Mom loved Browning, so she won. Just like when they were married. Most of their fights were over in moments, without them ever saying a word. It was like they knew each other so well, they could read each other's minds."
She traced the letters as if she were imprinting them onto her heart.
"Jay and I added what is below."
"
Forever together, however long the journey
," she read. She stood up straight, tilted her head up to meet his eyes. "You're trying to tell me not to worry about the future."
Chase nodded at the grave. "They never did. Somehow they always had this quiet certainty that whatever happened, even if one of them died before the other, they would never truly be parted."
She sniffed hard as if holding back more tears. He wrapped her in his arms, cradled her against his chest, savoring her warmth. Her arms squeezed him tight, and he leaned his head forward, resting it on her riotous purple hair.
After a long moment, KC pushed back, looked up at him. "I'll say one thing, Westin. That was a helluva lot better than the macho crap I have to put up with from most men."
He tousled her hair with his fingers before he reluctantly released her. "I'm not most men, and don't you forget it."
She snapped to attention and gave him a passable salute. "Aye, Staff Sergeant Westin." Then her expression turned serious once more. "Promise me, you'll watch your back, all right?"
"Ma'am, yes ma'am," he said returning her salute. He was desperate to have her in his arms once again. Watching her walk away was one of the hardest things he'd ever done, but Chase held his ground, waited until she and the Mustang were long out of sight before leaving.
"I'll be back," he promised his parents and sister.
CHAPTER 34
KC cradled the cell phone between her shoulder and chin as she used both hands to control the Mustang. Main Street was eerily silent, except for a black Lincoln Town Car that glided to a stop in front of the life-sized Nativity scene across the street from the school. Probably one of the ministers setting up for services. In her rearview mirror she spied a white man with brown hair, wearing a conservative black suit emerge from the car. Guy looked like a mortician, someone should tell him it was Christmas, time to lighten up. He was going to scare all the kids.
Come noon most of the town would be in one of the two churches, celebrating the holiday, while across the street, Chase would be risking his life. She shook her head at the irony, tried to ignore the knot of anxiety that tightened her stomach.
"The Emergency Response Team leader says his men are in position," Glenn's voice broke into her thoughts. "Dinkum knew what he was doing when he chose the school as the meet site. Nearest cover is the trees behind it, about one hundred fifty yards away. And did you know that at noon Main Street is going to be crawling with people and kids—some kind of Christmas procession."
"Another reason not to go tactical unless we're forced. We'll keep it strictly surveillance, document everything and pick up Gianotti and his men once they're away from any civilians."
"No problem. Carson and I are on the roof of the drugstore. You need anything, just holler. Any problems, give us the high sign."
She rolled her eyes. They'd worked out all the radio codes and contingency plans days before.
"Yes, Father," she said, dropping into her teenager persona.
"Seriously, I was worried about you. Thought we'd hear from you hours ago."
His tone implied that she should have informed him about the change of plans and Chase's true allegiance before this. KC realized that she should be more grateful to Glenn and Carson for their loyalty. They hadn't questioned her inclusion of Chase as one of the good guys when she told them he was undercover with another agency.