Yes, she definitely needed another shower, but uneasiness slid through her. When they reached Luke, the two men nodded and Brody told him the same thing. “Give me a minute. I want to get Shannon inside.”
They didn’t shake hands or greet each other in any way two friends should have. Luke followed them up the stairs, which meant she couldn’t ask. At the door, Brody opened the apartment. “Wait with Luke a second.” Then he headed inside.
Of course, he would check it before he let her go in. A moment later, he returned.
“You’re good. Go shower.” He gave her a light nudge. “I’ll be right with you.”
She wanted to argue with him. His expression remained tight, and Luke’s stony silence practically shouted something else was going on, but Brody held the door open for her and waited.
“You’ll tell me if something is wrong, right?” She couldn’t leave it alone.
“If you need to know, I will,” he said and, though not a real answer, she couldn’t ignore the quiet urging in his eyes. Acquiescing, she gave Luke a small smile and brushed her hand to Brody’s chest. Whatever was going on, he wanted to talk to his friend alone. She could give him that much.
The door closed behind her, but if the men said anything, she couldn’t hear them. For a split second, she was tempted to lean her head on the door and listen, and then shame flushed through her. Spying on Brody suggested she didn’t trust him.
No, she wouldn’t disrespect him in such a way. Trusting him was easy, so she held onto the feeling and marched back to the bedroom they’d shared the night before. In the shower, she tipped her face up to the water and sighed.
If nothing else, the run had proved her alive and capable. Between that and Brody, her week definitely had taken a turn for the better.
Still…whatever he and Luke needed to talk about, she hoped for no more bad news.
Luke rounded on Brody seconds after he closed the door and locked Shannon inside. “What the hell were you thinking?” Fortunately, he kept his voice pitched low and quiet. They knew how to talk and not let it carry.
He didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “You didn’t need to know.”
“Yes, I did.”
“No.” Brody shook his head. “What you don’t know you can’t be charged with, and it can’t blow back on you.” He wasn’t an idiot. Mike’s Place had a lot of private funds, but it also had generous government grants and support from those in uniform. The last thing Luke needed was to be associated with Brody’s illegal choice.
“Lieutenant, don’t be an ass. You’re still one of
my
men whether you report to me or not. You didn’t think this through.” In leveling the charge, Luke was absolutely correct.
“She needed me.” Brody wouldn’t apologize or make an excuse for it. “When she’s secure, I’ll report in.”
Sighing, Luke leaned against the railing and looked thoughtful. Civilian life agreed with him. He’d let his hair grow out and he appeared less careworn than in his last tour. Maybe marriage, not civilian life, did it for him.
“I’m sorry I put you in this position,” Brody said. His former captain deserved that much at least. “And thank you for taking care of her.”
“Yeah, she’s yours, so that makes her ours, but if I’d known you were going to pull this crap, I’d never have called you.” An empty threat.
“Bullshit.”
Luke laughed, but it had very little humor. “You need to get off property today. There’s an inspection coming through, two generals and one colonel. They’ll have aides with them.”
Nodding once, Brody met his gaze. “Understood. I’ll rent a car.”
“No need.” He held out a set of keys. “Logan and Zach picked up Shannon’s car when we brought her to the property. We’ve been over it. No unpleasant surprises waiting. When you get to the vehicle, you might find a couple of burner phones in the front seat and some supplies—and some walking-around money.”
“You could get in a hell of a lot of trouble….”
“For giving you keys?” The man may have retired, but he’d lost none of his edge. “I doubt it. Don’t get stupid. And take care of your girl.” Pivoting on his heels, Luke headed for the stairs, but paused a few steps away. Without turning, he said, “Give me a heads up when you’re good to go. I’ve still got friends. We’ll see you through this.”
No way in hell would he ask Luke to go out on a limb for him.
“That’s an order, Marine.”
Brody smiled faintly. “Sir, yes, sir.”
The man disappeared down the steps and left Brody holding her keys. Yeah, the men in his unit were family. If he needed them, he had no doubts about whether they would be there.
Pocketing the keys, he pulled out his phone and memorized the detective’s information before shutting it off. In the kitchen, he opened the phone and stripped out the battery. Doing so probably blew the warranty, but better than having them activate it remotely. He hid the phone debris in his bag before detouring to the bathroom. Shannon stood in front of the sink, wrapped only in a towel.
His cock twitched, almost hopeful, and he sighed. Yeah, he’d love to strip the towel off and play for a while, but they had work to do.
“Is everything all right?”
Meeting her questioning gaze in the mirror, he gave her a small smile and paused to kiss bare shoulder. “It will be.” Not a lie, and he meant it. “You did great on the run.”
“Pfft, I didn’t even make it that far past mile three. I held you back.” Still, her face lit up at his compliment.
“Can’t hold a man back when he’s where he wants to be.” He stripped out of his clothes and reached over to turn the shower on. Shannon’s gaze stroked over him like a caress, and he resisted the urge to puff out his chest. The fact she liked looking at him did wonders for his ego. “Behave,” he told her sternly. “We have to get dressed, grab you car and some food, and then head back to your place.”
Excitement thrummed through her, but he kept an eye on her as he stood under the spray. As swiftly as her joy at being able to go home appeared, it vanished. “Brody…what if he comes back?”
Fine with Brody. He wanted the son of a bitch to show up while he was there. Life would be much simpler, but it would only scare her. “I’ll take care of you.”
His girl didn’t bite, however. She pivoted, hands on her hips, to face him in the shower. “He had a gun.”
“Having a gun and keeping a gun are two different things.” Brody let the sweat sluice away. Soaping up thoroughly, he rinsed off and glanced toward her. She remained silent. “What?”
“Confidence is sexy, you know.” She chewed her on her lower lip and then let the towel drop. “Really, sexy.”
With a groan, he shut off the water and stepped out of the shower. “We’re going to be late.” That didn’t stop him from picking her up or her from wrapping her legs around his hips. Ignoring the water dripping off of him and soaking her, he carried her to the bed.
“I can totally skip the bagels,” she said before her mouth closed over his and Brody twisted, falling onto the bed and ensuring he landed on bottom. Skipping the bagels definitely worked for him.
It was after nine before he carried their bags to her car—a basic, four-door Toyota Corolla. Her surprise at finding it in the parking lot drew another smile from him. As promised, the phones were in the front seat along with a small case. He put their bags in the trunk and added the cash to his. Luke had left him almost five thousand dollars.
Yeah, he owed the captain.
“I can’t believe they thought to get it for me.” Hesitation filled her expression, and she studied the sprawling buildings. “I feel like I should tell them I’m sorry for being so…freaked out when they were simply being kind.”
“They understand,” he said. They had the same training as he did to recognize the symptoms, and most specialized in treating wounded bodies and souls. Her damaged heart meant they took extra care.
Nudging her in the direction of the passenger seat, he held the door open until she seated herself in the car. “This has been a really insane week.”
“It’s going to get better.” No matter what it took, he’d make sure of it. “We need to go. Detective Foster will be at your place at ten.”
She made a face, but Brody waited until he’d circled the car and climbed in the driver’s seat to question it. “What?”
“It’s nothing,” She waved it off, but the tapping of her fingers on one thigh and the bounce of her other foot were nervous ticks.
Scanning the area around them, he noted their surroundings and the people in them before starting the car and backing it out of the parking spot. “What, Shannon?”
“He doesn’t like me…and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t believe me.”
For clarity’s sake, he asked, “Detective Foster?”
She nodded once and fidgeted. “I think he thinks I’m making this up for some kind of publicity stunt.”
That would be the dick approach to take, and Foster hadn’t sounded like an asshole on the phone at all. “Why do you think so?” One benefit to their delayed start meant lighter traffic on 75. Well, second benefit. The first had been having Shannon again.
“Because I think it.” The words rode out of her in a stampede. She clenched her hands and leaned her head back. “Brody? I’m a
nobody
. Yes, I’m making a name for myself with people who patronize the arts. The work is getting noticed.
Her Marine
got picked for a lot of human interest articles. Fans of it remember the
piece
, not me. I live in the real world. I’m a sculptor. I do commissions, and I create art. But I’m not someone who gets a crazy fan hunting them unless I want my name in the paper and to get some kind of notoriety.”
Not an implausible argument, except…. “Did you do all this to get your name in the paper?”
“Of course not!” Frustration ripped through her voice like razor wire. “But why else it would be happening?”
She didn’t see why anyone would value her for her, so he attacked from a lateral standpoint. “So, you didn’t do this to get your name in the paper. Would Henry or Jeanine?” The couple managed her career and served as an agent to get her work out there. They were the frontline to get to Shannon from a professional standpoint.
“No,” she said with a frown of horror. Twisting sideways in the seat, she stared at him. “They’re my
friends
.”
“Convince me.” He switched lanes to pass the truck.
Confusion filtered through her outrage. “What?”
“Convince me. If you think this is the perfect way to get your name in a paper, who benefits?”
“Brody—”
“No,” he said and held up his hand. “You get your name in a paper and some notoriety. Who benefits?”
“Well, if I’m not dead, then me.” She cleared her throat.
“What about Henry and Jeanine? They still earn money off your work.”
“No,” she said with a quick shake of her head. “They might get their commissions. But once the work is gone, they wouldn’t get anything.”
“You have about as much family as I do.” He frowned. “You told me they had power of attorney in the event something happened to you.” The topic came up during an odd conversation one long evening in Florence, brought on by his increasing need to protect her. “They manage your finances, ensure most of your bills are paid, help negotiate your contracts, and they get a percentage of your success.”
“Yes, but they don’t have power of attorney anymore.” With an impatient shift, she went back to drumming her nails on her thigh.
Brody reached over and caught her hand. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“I gave you my power of attorney—in the event of anything medical or…or if I died. You get it. They don’t.”
The news punched him in the gut, and he relaxed his foot on the accelerator. “When the hell did you do that?” It came out far harsher than he’d intended, and she flinched. “I’ve been in a war zone more often than not, why would you give it to me?” The moment he asked the question, he realized the answer. A connection. She’d wanted a tangible tie to him, even if it were as intangible as a piece of legal paperwork. “Shannon.”
She tried to tug her hand away, but he held it. “I wanted…I wanted there to be a reason for you to come home. If you had to make the decisions, maybe they would have to bring you back. It’s stupid, and I know it doesn’t work that way, but….”
Lifting her hand to his lips, he brushed a kiss to her knuckles, and she fell silent. “You didn’t want to be alone.” But more…. “You didn’t want me to feel alone.”
Face flushing, she glanced down. “Except you didn’t know about it…and you wouldn’t have found out unless something bad happened to me.”
Something bad had happened to her, but she needed to know she wasn’t alone in this choice. “You’re listed as my next of kin.” He’d also added her name to his accounts, allowing her to collect on his savings in the event anything happened to him. The news startled her, and she jerked. Smiling, he kept her hand hostage and stroked his thumb along the callous at the heel of her palm. “Maybe I needed a tie, too.”
With a wobbly, watery laugh she said, “We’re a little messed up.”
“Nah.” He shook his head, and as much as he wanted to pursue this part of the discussion, it would have to wait. “Still, it does eliminate Henry and Jeanine from benefiting if something happens to you.”
“So, I convinced you?”
Yes, she had. “Yes, unfortunately.”
“Why unfortunately?”
“Because now we need to dig into your life and see if there is anyone else.” Or if it really was some crazy fuckwad who’d decided to fixate on her. Zealots were the worst kind of enemy—unpredictable and violent—and the kind likely to strike whenever it pleased them.
“Don’t you think I’ve tried to figure out who it could be?”
“I know you have, but you’re too close to the situation.” And too nice. “So let’s start with old boyfriends.”
“I haven’t had a boyfriend since high school.”
Saying nothing, he merely raised his brows. What did that make him?
“You know what I mean.” She banged her head against the seat. “Boyfriend is a label. It means dates and gifts and you know…stuff.”
“Uh-huh.”
Irritation replaced her earlier embarrassment. “You’re my
lover
, Brody. Not my boyfriend.”