“I’ll tone it down then. Wouldn’t want to have to live up to those kinds of unrealistic expectations,” she teased. “Too much pressure.”
“I don’t blame you.” Though she’d already far surpassed any and all expectations he’d ever had about her and this entire situation. And every minute he spent in her company he felt himself letting her in a little more. She was already under his skin, and truth was, he liked having her there. “I’ll text you when I’m on my way back, see if you need anything.”
At that a flash of pure heat flickered in her eyes and he knew she was thinking about the same thing he was—them naked together, and, hopefully, what it would be like when he pinned her flat beneath him and buried his cock deep inside her. With effort he unstuck his tongue from the roof of his suddenly dry mouth.
“Okay. Good luck,” she murmured.
“Thanks.” Tearing his gaze away from her, he turned and headed downstairs. He had to put distracting thoughts of Erin aside and get his game face on. Facing off with Schafer was going to require him to be at his sharpest, something he was definitely not capable of with Erin on his mind. Thankfully she wouldn’t be there, so that was one less thing he had to worry about this morning. The woman blew his concentration all to hell by just being in the same room with him. And when he got back here later tonight and they were alone together again, he had no fucking idea how he was going to manage to keep his hands off her.
Wade had expected to find Bill waiting for him when he arrived on the sixth floor, but instead saw the director himself when he stepped off the elevator. Robert nodded to him and gestured for Wade to follow him down the hall. “Bill tell you Schafer’s here?” he asked when Wade fell in step with him.
“Yeah. What’s he said so far?”
“Nothing, we haven’t started anything yet, though he’s declined having a lawyer present for his meeting with you. Thought I’d let you take first crack at him.”
Wade eyed him in surprise. “Why’s that?”
He shrugged. “Figured it’d be best, considering your history, and because the more personal this is the better the chances are that we’ll get what we need from him. Unless you’d rather talk to him later?”
“No, I’ll do it now.” The idea of this betrayal had been burning a hole in his gut for days now. He wanted to gauge for himself whether Schafer had done it—and if he had, why.
Robert’s lips twitched as he tried to hide a smile. “Thought you’d feel that way.” He led Wade down the hall and turned left down another, stopping at a conference room at the end. The glass windows had been electronically frosted to prevent anyone from seeing in. “He’s in here. Go find out what the hell he’s been up to.”
Wade nodded, waited for him to disappear down the hallway, aware that this was only the illusion of privacy. People would be watching a live video feed of what happened, and everything they said would be recorded and cross-checked. Realizing his heart rate was elevated, he took a moment to slow it down, getting himself in a calm headspace before he twisted the doorknob and pushed it open. He’d spent over three years in one of the most dangerous undercover assignments The Company had. He could do this.
Seated at the far end of a long rectangular table, Schafer looked up when he entered. His brows crashed together immediately and his expression tightened. Wade stilled inside the doorway as it closed behind him and took a moment to absorb the sight of his former teammate. Brady still looked the same, his reddish-brown hair cut short and his deep blue eyes steady on Wade. He folded his arms across his chest and raised an eyebrow. “What the hell’s this all about, Wade? They damn near put me in cuffs in Kabul.”
Wade resisted the urge to stalk over there and grab the sonofabitch by the throat. He took a breath, let it out silently before speaking. “Must be a disappointment to see me standing here, considering I hear you wanted me dead.”
Anger flashed in the other man’s eyes, but he shook his head, a muscle twitching in his clean-shaven jaw. “I dunno what the hell happened or how you were involved, but no, it wasn’t me.”
While he hadn’t expected Brady to come right out and admit it, he also didn’t expect the clueless routine. Though Wade knew exactly what consummate actors he and his SF brothers were. He strode over and took the seat across from Brady, enjoying a moment’s satisfaction when the other man stiffened. “So, what were you doing in Kabul?” he asked as he leaned back against the leather seat and rested his hands on his thighs.
“Working.”
“With who?”
“My clients,” he said, his voice holding an edge.
“And they are?”
Brady sighed in frustration and unfolded his arms as he answered. “Diplomats. Businessmen. Mostly foreigners. Which you and everyone else in The Company already know. So how about you tell me why I’m really here?”
Wade fought back his anger, determined to stay cool. “Word is you’re either working with Rahim, or with someone close to him.”
Brady blanched slightly, his jaw muscles flexing as he shook his head. “No,” he said adamantly. “Never.”
“That’s not what I hear. And not what the director heard.”
The tiniest hint of doubt entered the other man’s eyes. “Well, you both heard wrong.”
“That right?”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Brady snapped.
“So you didn’t call someone named Davidson over at Bagram and ask about me? You didn’t ask him when I was leaving for Kabul?”
Brady’s expression turned eerily blank. “I’d called him about transporting one of my clients down to Kabul with an armed escort, and your name came up.”
“How did my name come up?”
“I’d heard through someone at Kandahar that you came in with the Sec Def after he was rescued, and that you’d reported back to Bagram. So I asked Davidson if he’d seen or heard about you and he told me you were coming down to Kabul the next day.”
So fucking convenient.
Despite his resolve to stay calm and unemotional, Wade’s blood began to simmer. “Well that’s very interesting.”
Brady pushed out a breath. “Look, man, I dunno what happened—”
“So you’re saying you didn’t pass that information on to anyone? Maybe ‘accidentally’ leak it to someone in Rahim’s network?” he added, using his fingers as air quotes.
“No,” he repeated, glowering now.
Fuck this.
Wade shoved his chair back and shot to his feet, slamming his palms down on the tabletop as he leaned in and glared at Brady. “Well someone fucking did, because the moment we showed up at the last checkpoint before Kabul, we got ambushed. Me and the two other people in my truck. They came after us, chased us right up into the foothills firing at us, and they almost got us, too.” They’d tagged Thompson. It bothered Wade that a former teammate would set him up period, but the way he’d done it and because Erin’s life had been endangered—was still endangered—filled him with a rage he couldn’t contain. “So don’t you fucking sit there and tell me to my face that you weren’t involved.”
Rather than hold up his hands in self-defense or try to plead his case, Brady rocketed off his chair so fast it slid back and slammed into the wall with a thud. He planted his palms on the table and mirrored Wade’s stance, facing off with him across the wooden table. “It. Wasn’t. Me,” he ground out, eyes narrowed, nostrils flared. “You and I have had our issues in the past, yeah, but even you should know better than to think I’d ever do something like that.” He thrust a finger toward Wade. “I’m not only innocent of this bullshit fucking charge you’ve trumped up—I have no fucking idea what you’re
talking
about, man!”
A resounding silence followed the outburst, the only sound their accelerated breathing as they glared at each other while tense seconds ticked by. Finally Wade shoved away from the table and straightened. He whirled and stalked toward the door, running a hand through his hair. He stopped and turned to face Brady again. He’d straightened too, his arms folded across his chest now, and a worried frown creased his forehead. The guy seemed sincere and Wade almost believed him. It was true they’d had problems in the past, yet Wade honestly couldn’t see Brady doing something like this. That didn’t change the facts before him though.
“Whatever, man. All the evidence points back to you. Better find yourself a good lawyer.” He turned to reach for the doorknob.
“Wade, wait!”
Something made him pause. The desperation in Brady’s voice. The idea that SF brothers would never betray each other. He looked over his shoulder.
Brady shook his head. “I swear on my daughter’s life, it wasn’t me.”
Wade measured him, the sincerity in his face before responding. “I’d like to believe that, but I can’t.” He opened the door and walked out into the hall. As the door closed behind him, he was unsurprised to see Bill and Robert exiting Robert’s office and striding toward him.
Robert stopped and slid his hands into his pockets. “So? You think he’s telling the truth?”
“I dunno. I think
he
thinks he’s telling the truth. Or at least whatever version of it he’s sticking to.” He knew all too well just how many versions the truth had. He’d used every single one of them over the course of his career.
Robert nodded, studied him thoughtfully for a moment. “We’ll get a lawyer in here for him and get to the bottom of this. In the meantime, head downstairs and keep working your connections to find out anything about Rahim’s recent movements.”
“Has anything new come in since last night?”
The director shook his head and Bill didn’t respond. Wade gritted his teeth, resenting that he was still being kept sidelined. Until a few days ago he’d been one of The Company’s most valuable operatives. Now he was a resource they intended to keep close in case they could exploit something from him. Feeling used didn’t feel any better than being on the receiving end of betrayal.
****
By mid-afternoon it was apparent that no one was going to tell him anything relevant about Rahim or Schafer. Wade had exhausted his limited contacts both overseas and stateside, without success, and there was piss-all he could do until the director brought him in on a deeper level or a break came in.
Left with the choice of sitting here twiddling his thumbs until something happened or going back to the safe house to spend time with Erin, the decision was obvious. But he didn’t just want to go hang out with her. That would be torture and he wasn’t sure how the hell he was going to be able to keep things platonic between them after last night. He’d been thinking about that kiss off and on throughout the day. After the shitty day he’d had, the thought of seeing her seemed like the only bright spot. He wanted to see her smile again, do something that would make her happy.
As an idea came to him, he pulled out his phone and texted her.
What are you doing?
A few moments later the reply came in.
Nothing. How’s your day going?
Had better
, he typed.
Leaving shortly. Feel like going out?
Where?
How about a horseback ride?
There was a stable not far from the safe house that offered trail rides. He’d talk to the owner and see if he could get them to rent a couple of horses out for an hour or two.
YES!!!
Grinning, he texted that he was on his way back, then called the stable to arrange everything as he walked out to meet the security team waiting by the vehicle for him. By the time they reached the safe house, excitement buzzed through him. He’d barely climbed from the SUV before the back door opened and Erin shot through it. She was dressed in jeans, combat boots and a pale pink fleece jacket. Her long hair was tied into a ponytail that fell between her shoulder blades and her face shone with excitement. She looked good enough to eat as she locked the door and hurried toward the SUV. “Are we really going?”
Knowing he was responsible for putting that look on her face made everything that had happened throughout the day evaporate. “Yes, ma’am.” He held open the vehicle door for her, couldn’t help but eye her ass as she climbed in and slid across the bench seat.
She was still smiling as he settled in next to her, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “Thank you. You have no idea how much I’m looking forward to this.”
Yeah, he could, because he was too. Time alone with her on horseback seemed like the best idea he’d had in forever. “I’m glad.” If felt good to do something like this for her.
At the stable he spoke to the manager, and after some convincing, managed to get him to allow them to take the horses out on their own for a couple hours. The security team stayed behind at the barn in the vehicle but Wade had the radio with him and a weapon holstered in his waistband. Not that he was expecting any trouble out here, but he wasn’t taking any chances with Erin’s safety.
Entering the barn, the scents of dust and horses took him back to when he was a kid. Erin went over to greet her horse, a bay mare, and he went to check on the saddle of his chestnut. He tightened the girth a little, watching as Erin put her foot in the left stirrup and effortlessly mounted the horse. She turned the animal toward him, a huge smile on her face.
“You look pretty comfortable up there,” he said.
She grinned down at him. “I am.”
He mounted, took the reins and returned her smile as they rode out of the barn together. He nodded at the security team as they passed and made their way out toward the pasture and the trails that lay beyond it. The horses snorted, ears pricked forward as they started out. Several others in the fenced paddock next to the barn ambled over to watch them pass.
Wade reached down to extend the stirrups then settled in next to Erin, the creak of leather blending with the clop of the horses’ hooves and the trill of birdsong coming from the trees ahead. He pulled in a deep breath of the clear spring air and found himself smiling again. The late afternoon sun cast its warm rays down on them, the golden light catching on the damp leaves and grass, making the rain drops from earlier sparkle like jewels. Everything was so green and lush here—so different from where he’d been living, and it was nice to be able to be himself with Erin instead of constantly living a lie, even though they were still under guard.