Wanna Play (Ghost Unit, Book Three) (16 page)

Apollo was Charlie’s K-9 partner, a huge shepherd who adored the Morgan children as much as Charlie did. He was a highly trained search and rescue professional and pretty much better than the humans at guarding. He’d hear or smell anyone getting close to the kids long before a man would. Left with the guard command, he’d alert to a stranger immediately.

He also had firm doggie ideas about parenting the twins. No one but their mother was allowed to correct them when he was around. When they were infants and just learning how to crawl, Apollo had appointed himself child herder. His worried gaze followed their every move, which was difficult since there were two of them. If one of them neared a dangerous object, he’d gently pick the child up by the padded bottom and carry it back to the middle of the room, carefully placing it down and usually having to go check on the other one.

As toddlers they were too big to pick up so he’d stretch his long body out between them and the danger. Invariably the child tried to climb over him using his collar to pull themselves up. Once they were straddling his back, he’d carefully stand and carry them to wherever it was he thought they should be. The children caught on immediately and did it for the rides now.

The kids’ room was probably the most secure area in the house right now.

By four in the morning the house was quiet. Deep sleep had settled over the building. A guest room door opened abruptly and the man sleeping in front of it was instantly alert.

Blaster regarded the ten painted toes in front of his face and debated the wisdom of speaking to her yet. He knew he’d fucked up badly. After cooling down, it’d become very clear to him that he might have gravely damaged their fragile relationship. In essence, destroying the trust she’d been willing to invest in him with one stupid sentence.

There were no excuses. Respecting her boundaries was his job. Being crazed with fear that she’d been injured didn’t make it okay. The relationship between them depended on an equal exchange of trust. He’d never experienced a woman like her before. That wasn’t an excuse for trying to force her to submit to his will. He knew better. If he wanted to stay with her, he’d have to share the power exchange. She needed control as much as he did. Until that moment they’d been working that unique relationship out. Forcing control was the quickest way to get rid of her.

He knew all that but he still couldn’t be sorry for being concerned. He was sorry for how he’d acted, sure. Yet a part of him was wounded too. She should have understood. If they were going to be equals, she could have given him a little slack.

When he’d stomped in the house with Jas’ bags, Kathryn had been in the kitchen again. The little woman had given his still furious face one look and marched herself right in front of him.

“Get over it, Blaster,” Kathryn directed firmly. “You were wrong on a baseline level. If you think you ever want to get next to her again, you’d better realize that she needs as much space as you do. As much respect, dammit!”

Jackson came through the door behind Blaster. Kathryn glanced at him, frowning darkly and included him in her dressing down. She wasn’t done yet. “I could beat both of you with a belt. Selfish bastards. If you can’t manage respect, you don’t deserve any woman, much less someone like Jasmina Carson!” she stated directly.

“Are you even aware of the incredible charity work she does for battered women? She’s opened an amazing center in Southern California. I saw a special on it the other night. And let me tell you, she’s one of the most generous, kind persons I’ve ever seen. Her foundation is focused on the lost, forgotten women with no resources and no way to fight back.” Kathryn took a breath, but still wasn’t quite finished. “And then, God knows,
what
she’s been though tonight! But you two Neanderthals act like bullies and have the nerve to stomp out of here!”

Kathryn knew exactly what it meant to be a forgotten woman with no resources. Blaster was more aware than Kathryn was that she and Jas shared a lot in common. Apparently there was no need to tell her. She’d already fully identified with Jas.

Kathryn had been right. He was a little bit terrified Jas would agree with her. It seemed everyone knew more about Jasmina Carson than he did. Jackson had caught him with her awards, now Kathryn was talking about her charity work as if Jas walked on water. The woman he knew was a tough fighter, wicked wit and dangerous lover. Not that he knew near enough about the lover part.

“Get up, Huck. Something has come up,” Jas whispered softly.

“We have several issues, Sheena. Me having to sleep on the floor. People trying to kill us. General mayhem. Which one has you outta bed?” He rolled over on his back to look up at her.

“You sleeping on the floor didn’t get me out of bed. You screwed up and deserve it. But it’s cute as hell.”

She was wearing black leggings that molded her muscled legs in a faithful second skin that ended on her firm belly below her navel. A black sports bra was the only other scrap of clothing. Her generous breasts filled it out completely. Her firm, muscled body was clearly outlined and Blaster sighed. Smelling of the shower she’d taken earlier and faintly of iodine was as appealing as ever to him.

His body reminded him how appealing she was with an instant hard-on. He wished his genitals luck with that freaking pipe dream. His brain was damn sure they were not getting lucky tonight. Those were the three amigos that’d gotten them sleeping on the floor in the first place. His brain reminded the rest of him that they were too old to enjoy this shit. However, no fucking way was he acting as if he belonged in any other bed in the six guestroom-equipped house.

Stacking his hands behind his head, he regarded her solemnly. “Yep, I screwed up. But so did you. Glad you appreciate the sleeping on the floor effort. What drove you out here then? It’s drafty you know,” he added to see if sympathy would get him some points.

Jas crossed her arms. Her eyebrows climbed her forehead as she looked down at him. “You’re losing the cute thing, Huck. Whining just sucks it out of the room. And how did I screw up?”

“You doubted your team. We overreacted but you abandoned us.”

“Abandoned you? Did you need cover getting to the plane and back? Was it dark and scary?”

“You had no faith in us.”

“Damn right. You were acting like jerks. Besides, when did we become a team?”

“I’m sorry for being a little outta control with worry.” He ignored the team question. Answering that would involve explaining too much. Most of it she already knew and might not be willing to admit yet. He was unwilling to put her on the spot where she’d have to agree or not. Nothing in this world was gonna make him give her a choice. Choices meant it was possible to give a negative response.

“That’s it?”

Blaster grinned his sleepy, Southern-boy smile. “You still can’t resist me.”

Directly across the hall from them the door opened and Jackson stood there in shorts rubbing his eyes with the heels of his palms. “Don’t you two ever sleep? If you’re gonna fight, go outside or something.”

“Good, you’re here. I don’t want to explain this again.” Jas beckoned him over.

Jackson scowled at her and the grogginess fell away from him as his eyes narrowed. Abruptly he strode across the hall, taking her arm he turned her a bit to examine her side. Soon as Jackson touched her, Blaster was on his feet. Realizing what Jackson was doing, he leaned in to have a look too. Jackson grunted and let her go.

“I told you it was just a scratch,” Jas hissed.

“If you’d bothered to tell me about it in the plane, we could have avoided the nasty scene last night,” Jackson retorted, obviously not as repentant as Blaster.

“Okay. You’ve had your look.” Jas frowned and waved a hand dismissively. She was about to continue but the thunderous expression on Blaster’s face was comical as he interrupted.

“That’s it?!” Blaster demanded indignantly. “He’s the one who said it and he gets an ‘okay’ while I have to sleep on the floor?”

“You could have slept in there with him, Huck,” Jas shot back, indicating Jackson’s door across the hall. “No one said you had to sleep on the floor.”

“Hell
no
!” both men responded.

Jas laughed softly, her eyes dancing at the two disgruntled male faces. Happiness radiated off her. “Come in here, both of you.”

Scooping up his bag from beside her door, Blaster let her grab his other arm and drag him in her door with Jackson on his heels.

As the door shut, she beamed at them. Jas explained. “Jose just called me on the ranch line. He’d gotten a call from Liana. She’s alive but thought I was dead.”

“What? She’s alive? Those weren’t her fingers?” Blaster demanded.

“No. She was a little out of control at first and wouldn’t believe I’m alive. Jose said she couldn’t be convinced he’d just seen me. I think she knows who the bad guy is and went into hiding. She’s somewhere in Kansas. She was calling him because she didn’t know where to turn and needed some help. Jose rang me just before he stepped out the door to go get her.

“She said something about some sort of threatening message left with her mother. Liana’s gone deep cover. Jose doesn’t know the whole story so he couldn’t understand what she meant by most of it.”

“He can join the fucking crowd,” Jackson sighed. “What is happening?”

“Okay, okay, I’ll explain it as clearly as I can. After an evening at a club in Atlanta with Liana, I woke in a room I didn’t recognize, tied to a bed. In the room was a Marine officer—Robert Larkin—and my friend Liana Allacosta. Liana was bound in a sex swing. Larkin had his back to me. Liana was unconscious and bleeding and he appeared to be trying to get her out of the swing. It was obvious that I was coming out of some drug-induced state that he’d expected to last much longer. My bindings were knotted leather straps and easily escaped. Waking up restrained and naked gave me the adrenaline push to get out of there.

“I disabled Larkin, cut Liana out of the swing and pulled on some clothes. She was still unconscious and bleeding. There was a digital video camera on a tripod and I took the disk out of it, wrapped Liana in a blanket and took Larkin’s keys. Getting her to the hospital was my first priority. We were in a cabin in the north Georgia foothills.

“Using the evidence I’d confiscated coupled with the medical records which included semen samples as leverage, we both secured an honorable discharge. I was aware neither of us would live long if we tried for a court-martial so we gave copies of the disk and a full account of events as we knew them to a trusted attorney along with the medical records. Copies were made to be sent to the press should anything happen to one or both of us.

“As you know, I’ve become an actress. I’m also heavily involved in abused women’s charities.

“I incorrectly assumed Larkin was getting nervous because both Liana and I are becoming public figures. Liana runs a woman’s center that just received several awards and is getting national attention. My film career is rising. If we choose to level charges now with evidence in hand, he couldn’t quietly kill us.

“The truth is, the visual evidence I took that night isn’t conclusive. DNA on the semen samples would be but I’d have to have a matching sample. I’m now aware that match would not be Larkin. The man on the disk wears a ski mask and though his body type is similar to Larkin’s, the only defining features are a couple discolorations on his back and legs. If it’s enhanced, there might be a scar of some sort on his body. It wasn’t something either Liana or I were interested in pursuing.

“My first indication of real trouble was the news report yesterday that a plane went down in the Everglades killing everyone aboard. Our lawyer who held the evidence was on that plane. Like us, his situation has changed and risen rapidly and he’s now part of that presidential commission or whatever. When we were in the Laundromat, I tried to reach Liana but could only contact her mother who said she’d been missing for two days.

“One of the few things I remembered about the interior of the cabin from my first visit was seeing a shelf of disks like the one I pulled out of the camera. Yesterday it seemed someone was playing an ‘end game’ with me. Even you guys knew Larkin probably was not the mark. He was the cleanup boy.

“You both know I wasn’t supposed to leave the cabin. The yard around it was a minefield. Even if I’d gotten out of the house before it blew, I shouldn’t have made it across the minefield.

“Now you know everything I do. The good news is Liana’s alive and Jose is on his way to her. Bad Guy thinks I’m one of the bodies in the Georgia foothills.”