Shadowed (19 page)

He turned his focus back to Pap. “Thank you for taking the time to do this, sir.
It means a lot.”

“You're family now. As good as blood.” Pap winked. “And even
if you didn't make my
granddaughter's face light up, I would still help you out. You aren't alone, son.”

Nick shook his hand and rose from the table. Joining the family, he dropped his arm
around Kaylan's shoulders, realizing he would officially belong to this family in
a matter of time. No matter his own background, his kids would have parents, grandparents,
great-grandparents, and uncles.

“Gran's sweet tea give you a stomachache, Hawk?” Micah punched his arm. “You're turning
kinda green.”

“That's from your company, Bulldog. I turn green in your presence,” Nick joked.

“From jealousy. I knew you would admit it someday.”

“Mark the date, bro,” Seth said as he took a bite of chicken. “It'll never happen
again.”

“Wishful thinking, Mike,” Dave said, pounding his brother on the back.

Micah threw his arm around Dave's neck. “You know you want to be me too. Get away
from that desk job and play with guns and exploding things.”

“The fact that they let you do that just means that they need their heads examined.
And I work very well at a desk.”

Micah and Seth both rolled their eyes. “I have no idea how you do that. I'm thankful
God gave you the numbers brain and not me,” Seth quipped. “Although football stats
are right up my alley.”

“Speaking of . . . ” Kaylan cut through her brothers' banter. “Y'all gonna give us
a good game tomorrow?”

Nick smothered a grin. Kaylan's accent deepened at home or when she got off the phone
in California after talking with her family. He never got enough of that sound.

“Heck, yes. Roll Tide!” Seth held up his glass, and the rest of the family followed
suit. He glared at Nick's silence.

Nick laughed. “I guess I better learn to be a Bama fan.”

Chapter 22

N
ICK HADN'T CHEERED
so loudly in all his life as he sat next to the Richards clan
Saturday night at Bryant-Denny Stadium. They all sported Alabama colors, and with
the exception of the SEAL teams, he'd never felt more at home. Seth had worked his
way up after a year as a redshirt and made several good tackles during the course
of the game. Alabama won 31–6 over the Florida Gators.

“Roll Tide!” Kaylan shouted as they stepped out of the car after hours at the stadium.

“Did you see Seth sack that guy? I may need to stop messing with him now. Our baby
brother's all grown up and playing on national television.” Micah threw his arm around
Kaylan.

Kaylan patted his arm. “Maybe there's hope for you too.” She and Micah reached the
porch first with Nick and her parents trailing behind.

Nick spotted a brown box sitting on the welcome mat.

“Huh, that's funny. It doesn't look like there is postage on this. Maybe the neighbors
dropped it off.” Kaylan reached to pick it up. “Who's Nikolai Sebastian?”

Warning bells sounded in Nick's head, the ease of the last couple days fading. “Kaylan,
don't touch it.”

Micah jerked her out of the way just before she touched the brown wrapping as Nick
leaned down to inspect the package.

“Nick, is everything all right? Why don't you just bring it into the house and you
can open it there,” Marian suggested, oblivious to the charged energy radiating off
her son and Nick as she and Scott moved past him to unlock the front door.

“I think it would be best if I opened it out here. I'll meet you inside in just a
minute.”

Scott caught Micah's expression and reached for Marilyn's hand to lead her into the
house. “Anyone interested in hot chocolate?”

“Sounds great, Dad. I'd like some in a minute.” Kaylan looked between Micah and Nick,
and Nick nodded that she could stay with them. “Be right in.”

As soon as the door closed, Nick pulled out his military-issue pocketknife and sliced
into the small box no bigger than a box of Chinese takeout. A note sat on top on
the same paper and with the same Russian script as the other notes.
You owe me a
yacht. Continue to chase me, and your debt will increase. I may just take something
you love
.

Nick's heart stopped beating as he lifted the note. Kaylan's lily necklace rested
at the bottom of the box on blood-red tissue paper.

“Hawk.” Micah's voice dripped with caution and anger. “Fill us in, man.”

Nick lifted the necklace from the box, and Kaylan caught her breath. “But how . .
. ”

Nick placed the trinket around her neck, thankful to have it back where it belonged.
But what it now represented terrified him more than he cared to admit. “Babe, would
you mind going inside while I talk to Micah? Go ahead and make us both mugs of hot
chocolate.”

“Extra marshmallows in mine, pretty please,” Micah added, his attempt to lighten
the mood falling flat to Nick.

Kaylan looked back and forth between them. He watched the
war to argue or agree battle
within her. Finally she nodded. “You got it.”

As soon as the door shut, Micah lost it. “No way. You have got to be kidding me.
They know where my family lives. What's worse is it looks like that package was hand
delivered, meaning Janus most likely knew we were here this weekend!”

Nick popped a piece of Juicy Fruit in his mouth and began to pace. “Let's talk through
this. We've received two packages: one at our place with a photo of me and Kaylan,
and one here at your family's house with Kaylan's necklace. We've also found or received
four notes: one on the boat, one in the mail at our house, one on the back of a picture
of Kaylan and Sarah Beth, and one here.” He stopped pacing and hesitated to ask the
next question. “What's the common denominator?”

Micah leaned against the porch railing, his fingers tapping with nervous energy.
“Hawk, with the exception of the note on the boat, the common denominator is my sister.
I would think the target is me since she's my sister and this is my family's place.
But the packages and letters are all addressed to you. In Russian. Like whoever
is writing knows you can read it.” He stilled completely and locked eyes with Nick,
revealing his combat-ready side that forever lurked just below his playful, carefree
exterior. “Hawk, Janus or someone close to her is targeting you.”

Nick's steps quickened as he resumed pacing. “Why would the right-hand woman of one
of the most dangerous arms dealers in the world target me? Our whole team has been
after her, but we only have the intel we've been given by the big wigs. CIA has had
a target on her back long before we ever heard her name. Why start dropping clues,
leaving threats? Why me and not someone else on the team? And why Kaylan?”

Micah shook his head. “That last question worries me the most. It implies someone
has watched you enough to know she is your one weakness.”

“How is that possible, though? She only moved to Cali in August. It's been a couple
months. The rest of the time, it's been long distance between California and Alabama
and Haiti. There's no way . . . ”

“There's no way this person would truly understand Kaylan isn't just another girl
unless they'd been watching the two of you for a long time,” Micah finished.

Nick stopped pacing and faced Micah. He fought panic and rage that Janus had somehow
reached into a safe and fun weekend to scare him and Kaylan. This wasn't how SEALs
fought. But somehow she'd managed to make it personal. They needed to end this.

“I'll call X and the Feds, let them know what's up. Janus or one of her minions is
on American soil. If they have any more leads, we need to know. Surely with the SEALs,
the FBI, and the CIA all working different angles, we can catch Janus soon.”

Nick lowered his voice. “I'm ready for this to be over. We better figure out a plan
to have eyes on Kaylan while we are gone at training.”

“I know just the duo for the job.”

They entered the house and Nick went to the kitchen for his hot chocolate, the peace
accumulated over the weekend now drained. For now, he could only pray and sit tight.
If it came down to the wire, he wouldn't let Kaylan out of his sight.

Janus studied the lake house from her position in a tree house across from the driveway.
Old books and action figures littered the corners, and Janus inhaled humidity, longing
for her yacht and the comforts of home it once offered. Well, at least the closest
thing she had to a home since childhood.

She watched as Nick and Micah finally entered the house, glancing around before firmly
shutting the door. As if that could
keep her out. They were so easy to rattle. Americans
thought their teams were so elite, but break them down, hurt them by harming what
they loved the most, and they wept like babies. They knew nothing of loss, nothing
of terror. Nothing like what Janus saw as a child in Russia. She still remembered
the door crashing open and Stasi pouring in, her brother hauled away and her father
doing nothing while her mother wept. Life hadn't been worth living east of the Wall.
No place for children.

She lifted an action figure. What would it have been like to raise a son? Like Andrei.
Or a daughter, like herself. She bolted upright, the action figure cutting into her
palm as something foreign and wet rolled down her cheek. No weakness. She'd made
her choice, the choice she'd had to make her whole life—anything to survive. And
she'd do it again. Even if it hurt someone else.

Coughing seized her lungs, and she attempted to smother the sound. She'd seen some
of the best doctors in Eastern Europe. Too much vodka, too many cigarettes, too much
running. She grew weary just thinking about it. She glanced at her watch in the moonlight.
Business called.

A plane waited for her in the morning. She had a meeting with a client regarding
weapons. Janus didn't care what they did with them. She asked few questions, her
main objective to collect the money. Her boss wasn't a patient man, and he demanded
cash up front.

She shuddered despite the warm night. If he ever knew she dipped into the payoff
from time to time, he would kill her in the most gruesome way possible. But she hadn't
survived this long by throwing caution to the wind. Except once when her emotions
overrode her good sense with a handsome soldier that set her heart racing. But that
had been a long time ago. Janus would never allow herself to experience that pain
again. No matter what.

Chapter 23

M
ONDAY CAME TOO
quickly for Kaylan as she began her rotation at a relief organization,
learning the foods to plan in case of a natural disaster. Fortunately for the organization,
and unfortunately for her, she was all too familiar with this dire scenario.

As she met with the manager and learned more about what the next month would look
like, Kaylan struggled not to flash back to the days following the quake. People
stood in line for days with buckets hoping for water or food. The deaf or impaired
were thrown out of line so that the “normal” could survive. People trampled others
in their pursuit of survival.

More than the proper food, Kaylan knew they needed proper planning to get food to
people as quickly as possible, with people on both ends ensuring the supplies reached
the final destination. As she formulated a proposal and plans, the hole in her life
that Sarah Beth once filled seemed bigger than ever. And in those moments her fear
Nick wouldn't come home magnified irrationally. Everything seemed out of control.
“See you tomorrow, Bill,” she waved as she left for the day. Already the weekend
felt like it had never happened.

Megan's car was parked out front when she got to Nick and
Micah's. Kaylan hoped things
had ended with the guy of the week. As much as she loved her brother and boyfriend,
she would love a girl around, especially one who would make light of a situation
that kept Kaylan up at night.

“Hey, babe,” Nick met her in the kitchen and bestowed a quick peck on her lips. “Can
you come in here for a second?” Twining his fingers through hers, he led her into
the living area where Megan waited with Micah in what seemed like a silent standoff.

Kaylan almost laughed. “What's going on?”

“Sidekick over here called and said I needed to come over.” Kaylan could tell her
roommate was uncomfortable being anywhere near a military base. No wonder she hadn't
wanted to stay with the guys.

Kaylan sank down on the edge of the couch and looked at her brother and boyfriend.
“All right, spill it. What's going on?” She fought to keep the panic at bay but could
tell nothing from their calm demeanors.