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Eric reached out and touched her face, cupping her soft, rounded cheek in the palm of his hand. “I didn’t know you were awake.”

Joan cleared her throat. Eric pulled back his hand and stood, turning to face Joan, who met his stern gaze with her practiced wide smile.

“Well, I do believe Abby’s statement here should finish it,” she said. Feeling a little out of sorts at witnessing such an intense moment, Joan gave herself a mental shake and focused her attention to closing up this case. “I think that’s all I need.” Standing up, she paused in front of Abby. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Abby, and thank you for letting me hold your baby.”

The captain frowned at Abby. She in turn smiled lovingly at him.

“It was nice meeting you, Commander,” Abby said. “I hope I was able to help clear up any accusations against Eric.”

Joan couldn’t discuss any details, so she inclined her head and gripped her file, turning to leave.

“Just a minute, Commander. If you don’t mind, I’d like to speak with both you and Lieutenant Commander Reed in my quarters now,” Eric said.

Joe just rolled his eyes as he gently swayed with the baby in his arms. He winked at Joan, breaking the astonishment she felt at the sharp order.

Eric turned to Abby. “I’ll be back right after I meet with these two,” he said. “Give her to me.” He took Rachel possessively from Joe’s arms, stealing a quick sweep of her with his eyes as if examining her for some injury she may have suffered.

Joan was stunned, watching, and Joe muttered under his breath, in a voice low enough so as not to alarm the baby, “I didn’t harm her, you know. I do know how to look after one. I have three of my own.”

Abby choked back a chuckle and shared a moment with Joan. Their eyes met, and Joan felt the silent thank-you from Abby.

***

Closing the office door, Eric walked with arrogant purpose around the desk and then sat in his chair. Without a word, he stretched out a hand, palm up, gesturing to the two chairs. On the walk back to his cabin, all down the passageway, with each step and each nod to the passing crew members, he’d managed to work off some of the annoyance, but his irritation at the betrayal was still there. He refused to allow this incident to pass without addressing it.

Joan directed a cautious look at Joe, who only raised his eyebrows as they both sat down in the proffered chairs. Eric said nothing for the longest time. He flipped through a file on his desk, read for a bit, and slapped the file closed.

Joan held up the flat of her hand in mock surrender. “Captain, I’m sorry. I told the lieutenant commander here a later time. He didn’t know I was going there an hour earlier. I needed to be able to talk to her without interruption.”

“Let me make something perfectly clear to you, Commander Foxworth.” Eric kept his tone steady but added a bite to it, relaying to her that if she
wasn’t careful, she would find herself bounced right off this ship, regardless of whether the investigation had been completed. Coloring slightly, she realized that in that moment, she had made a dreadful tactical error. “No one pulls that kind of crap on me, no bullshit. To be quite frank, I’m very disappointed in you. I honestly started to believe that I may have misjudged women in the military, but I believe that from your current behavior, you have just proven me correct.”

She
was obviously stunned by his accusation. Anger colored her cheeks. She opened her mouth to say something but stopped and shut it again. “Captain, I agree that what I did wasn’t right. I do regret my earlier actions and would like to apologize.”

Eric glanced over at Joe and
was startled by the sympathetic look he gave the commander. It was a warning glance to end this now and not say another word. She, being a very smart woman, picked up on the cue and turned back to the Captain, looking properly chagrinned.

She spoke to Joe in an apparent attempt to gain his support. “I’d like to talk about the statement from Abby.” Opening the file she had been clutching, she referred to her hurried notes. “Abby seems to corroborate your story, and, taking into account the other statements we have, it appears pretty clear that Gail, with malicious intent, created the incident as some sort of revenge or retaliation against you.”

Crossing his arms, he scrutinized her. “So what now? I presume you’ll be in touch with the admiral.”

She gave the captain a curt nod. “I want to meet with Gail again, too. I need to discuss…a lot of things with her, to give her a chance to recant her story.”

Eric furrowed his brows. “Why would you want to give her any kind of chance?”

“I plan on having her brought up on charges, filing a false report and malicious mischief, just to name a few, but until I talk to her I won’t be able to ascertain all the charges. I need to give her a chance to come clean.”

“Keep me informed. Make sure Joe’s with you when you talk to her.”

Eric was relieved to have this almost cleared up. It had been like a weight hanging over him with the constant fear of when the ax would fall. He hadn’t admitted to anyone, especially himself, just how terrified he really was. Expelling a heavy sigh, he closed his eyes tight and focused on a bigger issue: keeping Abby on this ship and away from the base in Bahrain.

Gail Carruthers
had been confined to her quarters. She’d yelled and screamed the minute she was put in there, and she’d even pounded on the door, demanding to be set free. Everyone heard her, and it was obvious she’d go down fighting, taking anyone or anything with her.

Joan stood outside the room with Joe. She gave a nod to the guard and opened the door. The first thing Joan saw was a woman filled with such fury that she appeared to be trembling. She was breathing hard and held her arms so rigidly that Joan wondered for a moment whether she was about to spit on them. She had a wild, caged-animal look about her. This happened to some people who
were locked in four walls, even for a short time.

Joe turned to the guard and said in a low voice, “See to it we’re not disturbed.”

The bulky guard nodded and pulled the door closed. Joan crossed her arms and stared at Gail, trying to figure out what was going through her head. She appeared to be sweating, her eyes widened, and she jerked her head over to the XO now standing beside Joan. Joan lifted the thick manila folder against her chest, and Gail’s eyes flew to it immediately. Of course she was wondering what was in it—who wouldn’t?

Joan cleared her throat. “Do you understand why you’re being confined to your quarters?”

Gail looked straight at her and shook her head. Joan could see the heavy lump in her throat and that she was having trouble swallowing. Joan let her gaze flicker to Gail’s sides, and she realized her fists were clenched.

Joan tapped the folder with her fingers.
“We’ve collected statements from several crewmembers. First of all, they address your public admission that you wanted to get back at the captain. Second, we have a witness to the day and time in question who corroborates the captain’s report of the incident.”

Joan watched the shorter woman’s eyes widen, and her face tinged pink. Gail leaped at Joan and scraped her fingernails down her cheek, and Joan fell back over the chair beside her to the floor. The file spread everywhere. All Joan could hear was the filth that was Gail shouting at her like some raunchy sailor. It was hurtful, and Joe grabbed Gail and dragged her back right before she tried to hit Joan with her fist.

Joe launched his body between them, giving Joan a moment to rise. Her blouse was open. The top two buttons seemed to be missing. She pulled the cloth closed as the lace of her bra showed, and maybe that was what distracted Joe, as Gail kicked him and wrenched free, grabbing Joan’s hair. Joe pulled her off and slammed her into the locker, holding her there. Joan got to her feet and set the chair back up. Then Joe heaved Gail into it and yelled, “Just stay down there if you know what’s good for you, and keep quiet!” His voice was controlled, but the warning was clear.

“That is bullshit. I
’m being railroaded. Who dreamed up the conspiracy against me? You?” She aimed a finger at Joan, but Joan did nothing but pull her shirtfront closed again. Gail then shouted at Joe, “Or was it you? There was no witness; you know it and I know it. There was just that—”

Joan watched the instant alarm fill her expression, and then she snarled, “There is no way that woman saw anything. She was practically unconscious. Anyway, she would lie and say anything he wanted her to. She’s nothing but a terrorist and is probably
in cahoots with that guy she says kidnapped her. I bet she made the whole thing up.”

Joe’s hand shot out and grabbed Gail by the shirtfront. He yanked her from the chair and held her mere inches from his face. “Shut your mouth, you lying piece of trash.”

Joan pushed herself between them. “Put her down, please.”

He did, and Gail sank to the floor, her knees buckling under her weight. Joe’s expression changed, and he stared with such disgust that Joan prayed he’d never look that way at her.

“It was you who started that rumor that Abby was a terrorist,” Joe said. Gail looked away and appeared to clamp her mouth closed.

“Gail, I’m giving you a chance to come clean,” Joan said. “A second chance, as it were. We know you filed a false report. The evidence and statements we’ve gathered—several of them, in case you’re interested—support that. What I don’t understand is why.”

She wouldn’t answer, but tears were now swimming in her dirty brown eyes.

“Gail, we will be bringing charges against you, but we’re willing to be lenient if you’ll confess to what you’ve done and show true remorse.”

Still, Gail didn’t speak. Joan looked over to Joe, who was standing much like a fighter does, waiting for his opponent to lunge. Joe offered a slight shrug. With a sigh and shrug of her own, Joan turned back to Gail. She was done. She’d given this girl all the chance she could stomach.

“We’ll leave you to think about your choices. You are relieved of duties, confined to quarters. Under no circumstances are you allowed to leave this room.”

Joe followed Joan out the door, and before the door closed, a pillow was flung. In the hall, Joan winced and touched a hand to her stinging cheek. When she pulled her hand away, she saw traces of blood. She tossed a sheepish look at a silent Joe beside her.

“Thank you for your help in there. I guess the captain was right about sending you with me, huh?”

“He generally is right, regardless of his views. There are just some things with him I’d never question.”

***

The wardroom was full that night, the mood considerably lighter than it had been since Gail’s ugly accusation. There was a steady buzz in the room, as the officers present were all discussing Gail Carruthers, everyone with a different theory on why the woman had filed her complaint and on how many other women in the Navy would do that. The captain had not officially been cleared, as of yet, but every one of the officers remarked that this was a mere formality.

Joan felt awkward and smiled stoically while she received appreciative thanks from many of the officers and made excuses for her wounded face. She took her hat off to this man. He
was well respected by his crew, even with his primitive views of women. It still set her teeth on edge that he had evidently read a situation better than she had. Where she should have used better judgment, he had the foresight to recognize a problem situation. Although she was still sporting a bruised pride at the upbraiding she had received from him, she realized it was time to swallow it and congratulate him.

Joan spotted the captain across the room, pouring
himself a cup of coffee. He wasn’t mixing with his officers. He was thinking, doing, overseeing, and for a moment she found herself a little in awe of the man who towered over her. Why hadn’t she noticed before? He was one of the hottest men she’d ever met, and his brown eyes shimmered with something that appeared deep and old, like a survivor who had seen far too much. That deepened the aura of mystery around the man.

She glanced at his full lips and wondered how it would be with
him, to be kissed and held in those powerful arms…consuming was the word that came to mind. He had a deep tan, with tiny lines around his eyes, a dark shadow of hair on his cheeks. As he stood there watching her, she could almost feel his power, and she wondered if this was how Abby saw him. God, any woman would be lucky to have him, but it would have to be on his terms, with no compromise. That was so clear. He didn’t even have to open his mouth for her to get that. She also realized he was unavailable—he had found his mate, and that was stamped all over him.

She cleared her throat, preparing to speak, and he raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to say something. “Captain, I wanted to thank you for having the foresight to send Lieutenant Commander Reed with me to see Gail Carruthers. I underestimated the situation, and…”

He set his coffee down and touched her elbow, gesturing across the room, where there was more privacy to talk. “Commander, you don’t need to thank me, but understand it’s my responsibility to see to everyone’s safety on this ship. And that does include you. Don’t be too hard on yourself for misreading the situation, but when you don’t play by the rules, that’s when slip-ups happen. Remember that.”

Joan stopped for a minute when his meaning set in. He was angry still for what she’d done, slipping in early to see Abby, his Abby. She started to leave but then said, “Oh, and Captain, I understand the admiral will be in touch with you. I have filed all the reports to have the charges dismissed against you.”