Breaking Away (47 page)

“Yeah. With several businessmen.”

“That must have cost some cash, too.”

This accusatory tone Barnett adopted every time he spoke was wearing thin. “Not as much as you think. Dom is ex-military and a friend. He flew us down with the party he’d booked. He’ll fly us back tomorrow with another.”

“He used to fly Carney down all the time.”

“Yes, he did. He’s good about that. He knows the life. Knows the time restraints we have with the job and family.” James rose to his feet. “Now, if we’ve covered everything.”

“We know Lieutenant Carney is here in Nevada, Captain,” Barnett said.

Shit!
James’s heartbeat ratcheted up to jogging pace in a nanosecond. “Then why aren’t you knocking on his door and talking to him instead of me?”

“Because if we approach him, he’ll be in the wind again,” Cooper said.

Every muscle in James’s body grew tense with the need to take action. But he kept his expression under control. “You can’t blame him for not wanting to be thrown in jail over something out of his control, agent. You haven’t exactly been supportive of his efforts.”

“He has bigger issues than us, Captain.” She leaned forward in much the same pose as Barnett. “If we’ve been able to track him here, other factions probably have, too.”

James’s tone grew sharp. “Do you know they’ve located him for certain?”

She shook her head. “But we know someone’s been picking away at the persona he built for himself. We’ve been monitoring it for the last few days.”

Jesus!
He had no way of contacting Flash to warn him. “How did you find him?”

“He sent us a message, sir, stating he was ready to come in.”

Barnett and Cooper glanced toward each other in a silent exchange. “Admiral Clarence has already contacted us…well, actually, our superiors,” Cooper said.

“I don’t know what he’s said to them, but he has some major juice,” Barnett added.

James sucked in a quick breath, then stood and fished his cell phone out of his pocket.

Both agents leaped to their feet. “Relax, you two. I’m checking my voice mail for a message from Admiral Clarence.” He ran through the messages, and not finding one from Clarence, ran through his contacts and selected the admiral’s number. He put it on speakerphone.

Clarence answered identifying himself in a gravelly voice.

“I’m calling from Agent Barnett’s hotel room here at the Bellagio, sir. He and his partner Agent Cooper ambushed me on my way back in from dinner.”

“Their superiors and I are working on it, Captain. And the FBI has decided to come along for the ride. Stand down until you hear from me.”

“Yes, sir.”

Clarence’s tone was impatient. “And tell those two over-eager agents to stand down as well.”

James raised a brow at Barnett and the man frowned.

Clarence’s tone grew short. “I’ll call you back in a few hours.”

“Yes, sir.”

James looked from Cooper to Barnett. “We have nothing more to discuss until I have my orders and you have yours. Good night.”

He felt little satisfaction as he left Barnett’s room and made his way to his own. Flash was as good as arrested unless something could be done. All the two NCIS agents had to do was wait for him to show tomorrow.

Though it was nearly one in the morning, Marsha was still awake and waiting for him. She muted the television when he entered the room and slipped free from the covers.

“Can you tell me what’s going on?”

“Admiral Clarence is in negotiations with NCIS, trying to negotiate some kind of interdepartmental agreement on Flash’s behalf.” He shrugged free of his suit coat and tossed it on the foot of the bed.

“If they can’t?”

He shook his head. “They’ll arrest him when he shows tomorrow, and he’ll be transported back to San Diego and thrown in the brig.”

“After everything he’s done to try to lead them in the right direction?”

James nodded. “The only good thing is he’ll be safer in custody with us than he’d be out there with the cartel looking for him. They said someone is investigating his background. It could be them.” He loosened his tie.

“Is there anything you can do?” she asked.

“I don’t have any way of contacting him, and even if I could, I’ve been ordered to stand down until I hear from the admiral.”

Marsha put her arms around him. “I’m sorry, James.

“Me, too.” He held her close. “I really hoped we could find a way to get him back.” He knew in his gut Flash was getting a raw deal.

“If there’s a way, the admiral will find it.”

He rested his chin atop her head. “How can you be so certain?”

“He’s a SEAL just like you. You guys never give up.”

CHAPTER 35

F
lash awoke at first light to a breath-stealing ache in his chest. The recurring dream about the mission he’d struggled with for so long had been replaced with one about Sam. He didn’t need a psyche eval to understand why he’d spent the last few nights searching for her in his sleep. Still gripped by the aftermath of the dream, his heartbeat raced like an overworked engine. He tightened his arm around Sam and rested his cheek against her hair, allowing her scent, her closeness to calm him.

She stroked his arm. “What is it?” Her voice sounded drowsy.

“Just a dream. It’s okay.”

She needed to sleep as long as she could. It would save her some of the dread and worry waking was sure to bring.

He tucked his legs beneath hers to spoon and she reached back to rest her hand on his bare thigh.

Sam looked over her shoulder at him, deep shadows darkening the pale skin beneath her eyes. Proof she’d had as sleepless a night as he.

She turned. “Come inside me,” she said softly. “I need to be as close to you as I can get.”

Flash turned to cover her body with his own. She reached between them to touch him and he grew hard in an instant.

He didn’t want their last time to be painful in any way. “Your not ready—”

“You are,” she said with a smile that had to cost her. “Come inside me.”

He pushed forward entering her the first small bit and felt her body open to him, accepting him. By slow increments he eased forward until he was as deep and close as he could get.

Sam raised a hand to cup his cheek and look into his eyes. “I love you.”

Flash kissed her, hoping the taste of her lips would ease the ache in his chest. “I love you, Sam.”

Her arms tightened and her slender legs bowed around him holding him, wrapping him close. He thrust forward and rolled his hips deepening the contact as she tilted her hips in response.

A desperate need to be closer seemed to seize them both and instead of withdrawing, he rocked against her, barely separating their bodies, and each time, she canted against the movement. The slow steady ebb and flow of the motion eased his emotional pain and allowed physical pleasure to sweep in.

The hitch in her breathing mirrored his own, the soft sound of her sighs and breathy groans fed his own need and played on his arousal like nothing had before. The natural grip and release of her response drove him toward climax, though he tried to hold off.

When she breathed his name in a husky, plea, he lost his tenuous control and fell over the edge with her.

Afterwards, Sam turned her lips against his throat. “I love you,” she whispered.

Flash realized he had never truly understood what those three words meant until meeting her, loving her. But he did now.

Will had never seen Marc Zusak smile so much. His horsy teeth looked too big for his mouth and his nose hooked downward over it. The sight was nauseating this early in the morning. But Zusak had a note of excitement in his voice he’d never heard before. “We finally cracked it last night around four in the morning. We weren’t sure who this guy was at first. We both, that’s Herman my tech guy and me, thought he was either an undercover cop or a criminal. His background was layered in like it was the real deal. It was a very professional job. We were able to uncover his real name and a little info about his background, but not much. His real name is Carney. Harold Timothy Carney.”

“Real name?” Will scowled.

“Yeah. He’s living under an alias, but the real name is Carney. Which was smart as hell. If anyone questioned it he could say it was a typo or something. He’s originally from Boston but lived in San Diego. Or at least that was his last known address. And he’s a Lieutenant Junior Grade in the Navy.”

“If he’s in the Navy, what the hell’s he doing hanging here in Henderson?” Will asked.

“We don’t know yet. There weren’t any wants or warrants out for his arrest. But we’re still picking away at the info, and I’ll have more by this afternoon. I just wanted to be sure to report our findings right away.”

A lieutenant in the Navy.
God damn it!
But the fucker had something to hide, otherwise he wouldn’t be living under an alias. If he turned out to be a criminal—Will rubbed his hands together gleefully. He could take Sam to court again and file for custody, accusing her of being a negligent mother for exposing Joy to a criminal element. Once he got custody, Sam would follow. She’d be too afraid not to.

“Find me something on this fucker so I can get him out of Sam’s life for good.” Will said. “You do that, and I’ll give you a thousand-dollar bonus.”

Zusak’s smile stretched across his face, becoming downright scary. “Will do, Mr. Cross.”

Working at the law office of Hinton, Hinton, and Chase as a receptionist paid the bills, but Sam wished the pace would pick up, giving her less time to think. As it was, she kept dwelling on how Tim had touched her, held her this morning as they’d made love. There had been a desperation in the way they’d clung to one another. She’d wanted to hold him deep inside her as long as possible, to make him as much a part of her as she could. Was that how military wives felt every time their husbands left for deployment? Was that how military men felt when they left their wives behind? If it was, it sucked.

She’d left early to drop Joy at school and Tim had gone on to work, needing to finish an installment before his meeting at the hotel. How could he just go on with business as usual? She felt as though she might fall apart at any minute. He’d said he wanted to meet all his obligations before he went to the meeting. He’d encouraged her to go on to work. Sitting at the house alone would only give her more time to worry.