SEALs of Honor: Markus (14 page)

She wasn’t sure what she was to do if she did find out where this guy was going. She didn’t want to speak to him. She’d never been able to lie and would likely blurt out that she’d seen him at the diner. Like that was going to help. And she was tiring quickly. Sad. She walked around the corner and stopped.

There was no sign of him. Damn. Oh well, it was a good idea but a short lived one. Besides she had no way to let Markus know what she’d seen. She wasn’t capable of running around looking for him. She turned to reorient herself in the neighborhood. It wasn’t one she’d been in before. She had no idea where she was. Frowning, she realized she’d gone a couple of blocks in the wrong direction and turned back. Determining the rest of her shopping would have to wait because of her flagging energy, she slowly returned to the bed and breakfast.

The owner was in the main room as she walked in.

“Hey, you don’t look so good.”

Bree gave her a wan smile. “Did too much and for too long.”

“Bed or food. The meal is on me.”

Bree stopped and had to consider. “How about food and then bed.”

“Come on to the kitchen and I’ll make you up a plate of spaghetti, it’s hot and ready.”

“Lovely.”

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had homemade spaghetti. A few moments later she was sitting down to a huge plate. Oh God, it was delicious. “This is really lovely.”

“I’m glad you like it.” The owner, whose name was Doris, chatted easily, bringing a cup of coffee over to her.

“Here.” Doris sat down beside her with her own cup. “What happened to you?”

Bree looked up. “Well, I was kidnapped, escaped, got lost in the bush and had to be rescued.”

There was a gratifying gasp of shock, and Bree was coaxed to tell the whole story. By the time she wound down, she’d finished her plate of pasta and was nursing the coffee. “When I was walking today, I actually thought I might have seen the guy who’d torched the diner. But I couldn’t see him clear enough to identify him.”

“You didn’t try to approach him, did you?” Doris cried.

Bree shook her head. “No, not really.”

“Not really?” Doris stared at her. “What does that mean? What did you do?”

Bree shrugged. “Not much. I followed him to try and confirm it was him. But of course I couldn’t. He was moving fast, and I have so little energy that the chance of keeping up was almost impossible.”

“So you never did see where he went?”

She shook her head.

Doris slumped back. “Wow. Nothing ever happens in this town. You’re here only a few weeks and look at the events.”

“I’d have been happy to miss out. I want to enjoy peace and quiet. Rest.”

Doris laughed. “Well, you’re here now, and you can eat and rest as much as you like.”

“I wonder if I will sleep. Chances are this guy will fill my nightmares too.”

“Maybe, but you’ve got a happy tummy now, so I don’t think you’ll need to worry much about him and your nightmares.” Doris patted her hand in a grandmotherly fashion as she collected Bree’s empty plate.

Bree smiled. “Speaking of which, I think I’ll head up to the room for a nap. Thanks for the meal.”

“Get some rest,” Doris called.

With a smile of thanks, Bree grabbed up her purchases from the front hallway where she’d left them and slowly climbed the stairs to her room. She was tempted to try the t-shirts on but was too tired. She dropped the bag on the floor and opened up the window as wide as it would go, then walked over to the bed, wondering if she could sleep through the night considering it was only just after seven. She didn’t think so. Chances were she’d nap for a little while.

She lay down on top of the covers. She hated to still be in her dirty clothes but unless she was going to bed for the night she didn’t want to strip and get under the covers. Determined to rest, she let her eyes drift closed.

Cold steel woke her up a few hours later.

*

Markus tried to
focus, but hell…for the second time that day, Mason was on his case. Markus needed to get into the damn game. They were back training but Bree dominated his thoughts. Was she okay? Had she slept? Had she eaten? He’d fed her breakfast but he was afraid she’d had no thought about lunch. Now if she’d slept the afternoon away then she’d need dinner…or she could still be asleep and out for the night. The afternoon was long gone with the sun already lowering in the sky. It would be dark by the time he got there.

He glanced around as the guys unloaded the gear they’d been using all day.

“Markus, we’ll handle this. Update us when you can.”

He grinned. No explanation needed. He was happy to go and check on her. She had to be doing fine. If she stayed inside she would be. He didn’t want her wandering alone around town and using up her precious energy.

He wanted to keep an eye on her. But how? He had a job. And one he wanted to keep. Several trucks headed off. He was with Shadow. Evan loaded gear into the back.

“Let’s go.” Shadow nudged Markus’s shoulder.

Markus smirked. “Got a reason to be getting home as fast as you can, do you?”

Shadow’s flat stare reached across the armory box. But Markus wasn’t fooled. He’d seen Shadow’s softer side – and the love of his life. Rainbows and unicorns indeed.

Still, it only went to show that there were hidden depths to the people around him, and Markus himself was no different.

Bree was layers of complexity. Damn if that didn’t make him wish he could peel a ton more layers away – especially her clothing. He knew he’d get furious to see her body wasting away. She should be holed up somewhere safe and doing her damnedest to put muscle and flesh back on those poor bones.

She was a sweetheart about it all too. He glanced down at the half dozen donuts that had somehow magically appeared in his hand when he’d been busy buying coffee an hour ago. They’d stopped for fuel and he’d gone inside. The thing was he’d been looking at them and thinking that they’d be a good way to put on weight. So he’d bought six.

Much to the men’s surprise and his when they reminded him he didn’t like donuts.

He shook his head. She was consuming his thoughts. Maybe that was a good thing. But he still figured she should go home to her family. And be damned glad she had one who loved her and wanted to help. Then again if they were both in California he’d be the one forcing food down her throat.

Then that wasn’t the only problem. She needed rest. No stress, as good a diet as possible, physical exercise to build up her muscle, and more than that she needed a passion. A goal. A reason for living. It’s what had made the difference to him. He’d been lost for so long. Then he’d found himself again through his brothers – his SEAL brothers. A few had a bigger impact than others. Levi for one. But they’d all been instrumental in getting his ass back in line. He’d like to repay the favor for someone else sometime.

They got into the truck. Shadow drove. Markus barely paid attention. His life had been shit for so long. He was alone. For the first time since Fiona’s death he was interested in someone else. She’d woken up his heart. Helping it to heal from the inside out.

A great concept in theory but not so much in practice. He’d been without a relationship for a long time. He missed sex. He missed the closeness. That special feeling of knowing that you were one of two people in the world and one of a partnership where the other person loved you as much as you loved her. It was seriously special and that was an impossible feeling to regain. Or was it? Did lightning strike twice? He hoped so. He was counting on it.

All around him there was evidence of love in a way he’d never seen before. Hell, Cooper had fallen hard for his doctor, and what a sweetheart she was. As high energy as a racing horse and just as precious. Markus would always have a soft spot for Dr. Sasha Childs. If only because she’d been the one to show him that there was a pathway forward even for those who had loved and lost. He was jealous of what Cooper found. What almost everyone on his team had found. Did they realize how lucky they were?

And once on that track, he couldn’t stop thinking about Bree. And that’s when he realized Shadow had driven the military rig to the B&B where Bree was staying. He turned his own flat stare at Shadow.

“Go. You’re useless until you make sure she’s okay.”

“She’s okay,” Markus snapped.

“How do you know?” Shadow countered. “Those damn donuts have been sitting here since we picked up coffee hours ago. Were you planning to let them dry out completely?” Then he grinned. A smile that lit up the interior of the cab. Markus was shocked into silence. He didn’t know the man could do that. And never thought to see it directed at him.

“Go.”

Markus shook his head. “No. She’ll be sleeping.”

“The light is on.”

Markus turned his head to look up on the second floor. True enough the bedroom Bree was supposed to be in had the lights on. But there were no lights on downstairs. So how did that work. He studied the bedroom…and froze.

“Shit.” Shadow’s soft voice filled the cab. “Does she have a boyfriend?”

“No. I don’t believe so any longer.” Markus answered hesitantly. Christ, he hoped not.

Then they saw something in the man’s hand as he crossed the room that said it didn’t matter if she did or not. She was in trouble and they had to help.

The man held a handgun.

And it was pointed toward the center of the room.

“G
et up, bitch.”

She closed her eyes briefly and gave herself a mental shake. No, this was not happening. She so didn’t need this. No way she needed this. She just wanted peace and quiet in her life.

Apparently the universe didn’t get the message.

“Did you hear me?”

“Yes,” she whispered, opening her eyes. “I heard you.”

“Then get up. Now.”

Sighing, she slowly sat up. The room swayed around her. Shit. She reached out a hand to the wall beside her to steady herself. She took a deep breath and slowly stood all the way up. She almost cried out as her sore legs buckled. Lord, she’d been better this morning than she was now. All she’d done was go for a small walk around town.

Taking a deep breath she turned to face the man holding a gun on her. “What do you want?”

He snorted. “Not you, that’s for sure. What are you, a toothpick? And weak as shit. Need solid women up here. Not breakable models.”

For some reason that hurt. She’d thought she’d done quite well so far. But apparently not. “I’ve been ill.”

“Yeah, well you should have died and saved me the trouble of killing you.”

Her heart sank and her gut twisted. “Why would you kill me?” she whispered. “I didn’t do anything to you.”

He walked over to the window and looked out. And she caught sight of his profile. It was the man she’d been following in town. The man who’d torched Boomer’s Diner. Damn it. Had he seen her? Had he noticed her following him? Had he tracked her back here?

What the hell was going on?

Dropping the curtain, he spun and stared at her. And caught the look on her face. In a knowing voice he said, “Yeah, I can see it in your eyes.” He snorted. “You recognized me.”

She swallowed hard, trying to figure out how to answer. “I might have seen you around town. I do work at a diner.”

“No, you
used
to work at a diner. And lived above it according to Boomer. Only the diner burned to the ground – right?”

Her breath balled up in her throat.

“I guess you needed a new bed for the night, didn’t you?” His grin held satisfaction and a touch of craziness. Just enough to scare her shitless.

Damn it. It had been him. “What did you do after you torched the place? Call around to find me?” And she knew she’d made a mistake.

His glare would chill anyone to ice. “What do you know about that?”

“Nothing,” she cried. “I don’t know anything. Why are you here? Why are you in my room? What do you want?”

“Not that, that’s for sure. You’re too damn skinny to ride. You’d break after five minutes.”

He turned to stare out the window. “No,” he said. “There won’t be time either.”

What did that mean? She puzzled on it while she mentally measured the distance between the doorway and the bed. Could she make a run for it? Get down the stairs and out the front door before he caught her?