Heavy Artillery Husband (11 page)

They ran for the motel room and gathered their belongings, making the rental car before anyone detained them.

“I can't believe Halloran had his son come after us,” Sophia said as Frank searched for a safer place to spend the night.

“I'm not surprised,” Frank said. “He was banking on the idea that I wouldn't hurt a kid the same age as my daughter.”

“Unbelievable.” Sophia stared out at the glowing lights as Frank merged with traffic on the interstate, aiming north. “I guess we're pushing the right buttons.”

“I guess you are.”

She reached out a hand to stop him. “
We
are.”

“Right.” His smile didn't reach his eyes. With little traffic, Frank reached the airport in less than half an hour. Per his habit, he drove a circuit of the airport hotels before choosing one and parking under the awning.

When they were settled into the new room, she tried again to make him understand he wasn't alone. In this or anything else. “We're in this together, Frank.”

“Much as I wish we weren't,” he muttered. “The kid nearly hurt you.”

“And he didn't you? He had a knife at your throat!” She reined in her temper. “I knew what I was doing.”

“Sophia...” He sighed. “I'm trying to keep you out of danger.”

“But that isn't realistic. Either we take risks and gather enough material for CID to work with or we get creative and take even bigger risks.”

He slumped into a chair and raked his hair off his face. “Agreed.”

She walked over and started rubbing at the knots in his shoulders. Although it wasn't the quiet fresh-air conversation she'd intended, it was still reminiscent of other pleasant moments they'd shared. “When Halloran and Hellfire are done, we should go home and get on with our lives.” Frank's muscles tensed under her hands and she plowed on. “We had one cake tasting already. And Frankie plans to use Aunt Josie's recipe for a groom's cake.”

Frank muttered something she took as approval.

She smiled to herself. “We'll need to choose a caterer soon. I think Frankie wants me to go along for those appointments, to cast a deciding vote in case of any ties regarding the menu.” She kept working out the kinks in his shoulders and chattering about Frankie and Aidan, willing Frank to want to be a part of their future as a family.

“Sophie, hush.”

“It's adrenaline,” she said in a lame attempt to defend herself.

“It is,” he agreed. “Because I made a mess of things. I should've found a way to do this without you.”

“You couldn't have.”

“I know.”

The regret in his voice tore at her. “Tell me something.” She spoke to the top of his head, grateful he couldn't see the tears welling in her eyes. “Will you stay?” Her voice cracked on the query. Annoyed with the needs tangling in her chest, she tried again. “Will you stick around for Frankie? She'll believe me if I tell her you survived, but she'd rather hear she was right all along directly from you.”

Frank came out of the chair and caught her hands, bringing them to his lips for a brief kiss.
“Dolcezza.”
He kissed her hands again. “I promise to do what's best for all of you. I can't promise that will be staying around.”

She opened her mouth to argue. To
insist
he come back into their lives. Knowing her too well, he tugged her close, silencing her with a claiming, searing kiss. She couldn't muster any energy to resist. All these months without him, to have him back, she just wanted to wallow in the scent, taste and touch of him. Her hands came up to frame his face and the kiss, rife with need and desire, sizzled through her bloodstream, only more powerful for the memories and familiarity of their long past.

She sighed, her breasts heavy and aching as she melted against his hard, muscled chest. Deep inside, she wanted to pretend this was just one more “normal” homecoming. Preferably the way the last homecoming should've been.

Her hands yanked at his shirt, eagerly seeking his warm skin. She trailed her fingers over the terrain she knew so well.

Holding her close, he turned her and lowered her to the bed, his body covering hers, gently pinning her to the soft mattress. Delicious. Her mind blanked out their troubles when he set his lips to her throat. His thigh wedged between hers, and his erection dug into her hip. She rocked her pelvis, needing him.

The sense of belonging overpowered her. Frank was her everything, always had been. Except he wasn't promising her a future anymore. If Halloran had his way, there wouldn't be any future for the Leone family.

She savored one more kiss, sipping from his lips as tears stung her eyes. She couldn't do this, couldn't leave herself open to a repeat of the crushing loss she'd suffered when she thought he'd died. One last time, her body pleaded, but one last time would leave her devastated.

“Stop,” she whispered against his lips. “Stop,” she repeated when he raised his head to look into her eyes. She blinked quickly, unable to keep a tear from spilling over her lashes.

Frank brushed that tear away. “Are you sure?”

Her lips caught between her teeth, she bobbed her chin. At last she found her voice. “I can't do this.” She felt awful, though she hadn't meant to lead him on. As much as her body wanted him, her heart
needed
him.

She simply couldn't invite that much pain into her life again. Not without some assurance that he wanted to rediscover and reclaim the relationship they'd lost.

Chapter Nine

Thursday, April 21, 7:05 a.m.

She'd rejected him. No amount of reviewing the facts changed that. On the motel room floor, Frank had tossed and turned all night wondering where he'd gone wrong.

Sophia had leaped from that bed as though it were on fire, when he'd been burning up inside to be with her. After fighting off Halloran's boy, Frank had needed to hold her, to assure himself she was okay—they were okay. He wanted to see and feel for certain the kid hadn't managed to hurt her.

She'd apparently needed and wanted something else. How had he misread the situation so completely?

He hadn't actually misread her, he decided as he reviewed last night once more. She'd been right there with him from that kiss up to the point he'd jerked his shirt over his head and fallen on her like a man starved for affection. Which he was.

After faking the suicide, he'd hidden for a while, courtesy of Torres. When the smoke had cleared, he'd poked at the fringes of Hellfire, piecing details together as best he could. He'd stayed far away from the temptation of Sophia in Seattle and Frankie in Savannah. Knowing he was to blame for his wife and daughter drifting apart motivated him to dismantle Hellfire sooner rather than later. Being aggressive had already gotten Torres killed. He couldn't allow his impatience to kill Sophia or Frankie.

The hardest months of his life had been pretending he didn't exist. Harder than infantry school in the summer. Tougher than winter training exercises in Korea. Too much solitude was bad for the soul, he'd decided early on. Yet the only person with whom he could maintain contact was dead now. Because of Frank's mistakes.

He prepped a second cup of the bitter in-room coffee, needing the caffeine jolt after another sleepless night. He'd been running on fumes since Torres's murder. What he wouldn't give for a restful night with his wife in his arms, her body soft and pliant, his every breath scented with the fragrance of her hair.

She'd always welcomed him home with a kiss, refreshing his soul. Just the way she'd done last night. Why had she pulled away from the connection both of them clearly wanted?

Had it been the visit with Paul Sterling? He hadn't said anything, but he could hardly begrudge her for moving on. She'd thought he was dead. He knew the moment the treason charge had been aimed at him that she would have to distance herself or go down with him.

His biggest regret was the timing. He'd been incarcerated when their daughter needed him most. Hearing about her injuries secondhand had been awful. He'd almost told Torres to go to hell with the undercover plan, that he'd take his chances and expose Hellfire before the evidence had been gathered.

A lot of good that had done. Frankie had healed, but he was still far from restoring his life or ensuring the ongoing safety of his family.

Halloran would definitely up the ante. It was only a matter of when and how. A man who would use his own son was capable of anything. Frank debated the wisdom of walking into the nearest federal authority and laying out the whole story. Except they believed he was the bad guy and he didn't have anything conclusive to prove otherwise. Yet.

He knew Sophia was sending tidbits of information to the reporter, to Eddie and probably to Leo Solutions as well, dribbling out details that would keep Halloran on edge. They needed to think bigger.

He glanced to the closed bathroom door blocking his view of his wife. She'd been eager to dangle herself like bait when they were in Alexandria. He could see that it might take something that tempting to draw Halloran into the open. Would Frank have the courage to let her do it if and when they needed that kind of ploy?

When she emerged, a silk tank tucked into faded jeans that hugged her gorgeous legs, he scalded his tongue on a gulp of the bitter coffee. He ignored the sting, eager to get busy and stay that way until the case was over. Today they would see if they could find anything incriminating in or around Fort Huachuca, Farrell's last duty station. When she bent to retrieve her bag, his attention zeroed in on her backside. He was definitely glad they were getting out of this room. The sooner the better.

Once they were on the interstate, Sophia said, “I asked my assistant to pull anything on his banking records or credit card activity. Paul said Farrell didn't care about money, only power and respect. That's harder to track.”

“I've never seen Farrell accept a delivery. If he's been riding a desk in an office, I would've missed him easily.”

“With today's technology, he can probably do desk work anywhere in the world,” Sophia said. “But we'll figure it out.”

There was a piece he was missing. Frank's mind wandered, lulled by the sound of the tires on the asphalt. His brain sifted through memories and wound them up with daydreams. Why the hell had he thrown it all away?

He remembered how Frankie had come down the stairs, all dressed up and ready for her kindergarten graduation ceremony. He and Sophia had been near bursting with pride. His daughter had leaped from the next to last riser into his arms and giggled as he spun her in a big circle.

“Frank.” A familiar touch gave his shoulder a shake. “Frank?”

“Huh?” He blinked away the haze of the memory, focusing first on the road and then on the worried face of the woman who wouldn't have him anymore. Damn it all. “What is it?”

“Trouble.” The single word was loaded with urgency.

Adrenaline shot through his blood, clearing the last of the cobwebs. He checked his mirrors and came up empty. “Where?”

“Here.” She turned up the volume and held her cell phone so he could hear the video report on her phone.

A breaking news story named Frank as the prime suspect in the murder of Army CID Special Agent J.D. Torres. “Ruthless,” he said with grudging admiration. The report didn't hold anything back, including a reward for any information that led to his arrest. “They'll name you as an accomplice soon.”

“Probably by the end of the day.” She pushed her phone into her purse as if it were infected with a vile disease. “At least we know we've become more than an irritation.” She swore quietly. “I wanted to drive through the post and get a feel for the area, but it's too risky now.”

“What about the bank?”

“After that news report?” She shook her head. “I really don't want to take a chance that your face shows up on any security feed.”

“We can't give up now,” he said. He refused to hide while she handled this alone. “Whatever Halloran does, however we choose to respond, we can't leave any member of Hellfire free to keep up the operation.”

“I'm not giving up,” she muttered. “I'm thinking.”

“Think out loud, please.” No way he'd make another assumption about what either of them wanted.

“Paul said he used that bank for a reason.”

“A wink and a nod for a friend of Farrell?”

“That's my thought,” she said. “The man is always scheming. I found out last night it's a privately owned bank, under the shelter of a corporate name.”

“You didn't say anything.”

“You were sleeping,” she countered.

Doubtful, though he must have slept a little if he hadn't heard her working. “Did he trap you into opening Leo Solutions with him?”

She wrinkled her nose. “No. Just as he leaned on the friendship with Farrell, I leaned on the friendship with him.”

Frank reached over and took her hand. “You were thinking of Frankie. I do understand.”

Her mouth tipped up at one corner in a wry smile. “I think I'm starting to.” Her breath caught. “Oh, dear God. I have to get word to Frankie.”

Frank's gut clenched. “You need to convince her to lie low and stay away from reporters or anyone else asking questions.”

Sophia fished her phone. “That won't be easy.” Her fingers flew across the keypad. When she finished, she turned to Frank once more. “I'm thinking Halloran has something big planned.”

“Meaning?” he prodded.

“With your face plastered all over the media, he thinks you'll be out of his hair.”

“It does slow us down.” When she didn't respond, he kept on driving, sticking with the plan until one of them came up with an alternative.

She mumbled a colorful oath in Italian. “We can't risk doing
anything
public here,” she said. “They know we're in the area. With Lowry snagged, the contacts, text history and World Crossing employee badge, it's an easy guess we're here looking for something to tie up Farrell. One security camera and we're caught. Why else release that story that you're wanted for murder?”

“Which leaves us with no options?” He couldn't believe it, knew her mind was already racing ahead. In the army he'd been known for his superb strategic skills, but few people understood Sophia was his match.

“Turning you in would surprise him and it would backfire. Halloran would have you killed—for real—at the first opportunity.”

Frank suppressed the shudder that shot through him at her words. If he died, who would protect Sophia and Frankie from Halloran's vindictive streak?

“Turn around. We can't go anywhere near Fort Huachuca.”

He scanned the road for a place to turn around. “Where to?”

“We need another cheap motel with internet access so I can test another lead.”

“What lead?” he asked as he took the next exit, only to swing back and head north, toward Tucson.

“It's something Paul said. The bank, Farrell riding a desk, the import-export and the CID. I can almost make the connections line up.”

He was glad one of them could. Maybe he was too tired, but he wasn't following her train of thought. For Sophie it would only be a matter of time before things turned crystal clear. That small confidence was all it took to bring hope flaring anew in his chest. Sophia had been among the brightest military analysts in the CIA. Before his career ended hers by default.

“I should've brought you in on this from the beginning,” he confessed.

“You did what you had to do,” she replied, retrieving her phone from the depths of her purse again. “Head straight through the city.”

“I thought you wanted to avoid security cameras.”

“I do,” she said. “More important, I want to be where they don't expect us to be.” She put a finger to her lips as she raised her phone to her ear.

Listening to her side of the phone call, it baffled him when she asked to speak with someone. He didn't recognize the name at all.

“He'll take the call,” she said. “This is Sophia Leone, General Leone's
widow
.”

Oh, hell. Frank goosed the accelerator, joining the faster flow of traffic on the interstate. That was her determined voice, and a determined Sophia was unstoppable.

He really should've brought her into this at the beginning. All the reasons he'd kept her out of it seemed weak now.

Hindsight is always twenty-twenty
, he thought. He'd reminded his soldiers of that countless times through his career. It was important to look back only long enough to learn from successes and mistakes. Then it was time to move forward.

He slid her one more glance, hoping like hell he could convince Sophia to move forward with him through the rest of his days.