Homeland Security (Defenders of Love Book 2) (14 page)

"I hope you blow eggs out your nose," he mumbled as he left the room. That made Keegan laugh even louder.

Sometimes having a twin could be such a huge pain. Kaiden grabbed a shirt from his bureau—Clara kept a full set of clothes for all her boys and now Angelina—at her place so they never had to worry about anything except showing up. Pulling the top over his head he ambled back toward the kitchen and the rest of his meal.

"Much better." His mother greeted him with a smile of appreciation.

"Sorry, Ma," he grumbled, picking up his fork and attacking his plate of food. Through the entire exchange, Katie hadn't said a word. Now she sat there smiling at him and nibbling on a piece of toast.

"What?" he asked her as he stabbed a piece of bacon.

"Nothing." She smiled more broadly and took a sip of her coffee.

"Well, I hope you enjoyed the show." He shot his mother a not-another-word look as Clara opened her mouth to speak.

"In my day…" she began.

"Yes, Ma. I know. In your day, a gentleman never came to the table half naked. In your day men respected women and manners and…"

"All of the above!" Clara chuckled as she stood and carried her plate from the table. "I raised you and your brothers to have manners and I expect you to use them at all times."

"Brothers?" Katie asked.

"Ma considers our cousin Logan to be one of her sons. She raised him like a brother to us and honestly, we feel the same," Keegan replied.

"That's nice for Logan. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose my parents and be all alone in the world as a child."

The room fell silent for a moment before Clara spoke. "Yeah, well, in Logan's case, it was nothing short of a miracle. That boy deserved a better life than…" Clara stopped abruptly and left the room.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset your mother." Katie looked stricken. Kaiden went to her and gave her a hug.

"She always gets upset when Logan's childhood comes up. It kills her that Logan has to live with the fact that his father murdered his mother after years of the old man abusing both of them."

"It was a blessing that Logan escaped a life with that man," Keegan added. "It was tough at first for all of us, he had so much anger and pain but after a while he became one of us. We really do love him like a brother."

Clara returned then, her eyes red but her smile bright. "Well, now, don't you boys have a job to do?"

Keegan rose from his seat, empty plate in hand. "Yes, ma'am, we do. Kaiden, why don't you go do what you gotta do to get some real clothes on and then we can talk shop."

Kaiden nodded. "All right. Katie? I hoped to ask you a few questions about the Marks family before we head out."

"Okay. Lead the way."

Kaiden stopped and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek. "You are a good mom, you know that, right? To all of us."

Clara smiled, a hint of sadness still in her eyes. "Thank you for that, Kaiden. I love you and Keegan and Logan more than anything. I am proud of all of you. I hope
you
know that."

"We do," Keegan added with a hug to his mother as well. "We have had a great life and we are the men we are because of you."

Kaiden saw his mother's eyes moisten as she waved them away. "You all get on with it. I'll clean up in here." She turned her back on all of them. He had nothing left to do but go get ready for the day's mission. Steering Katie toward the hall, he tried to catch Keegan's eye. His brother was lost in deep thought though so Kaiden walked out of the room.

Chapter Fourteen

"So, what did you want to ask me about Nathan?" Katie leaned against the door frame as Kaiden dug through his bureau pulling out jeans, a long sleeved black tee, socks and a pair of black boxer briefs. She liked those boxer briefs. A lot. Especially when he wore them. Regular boxers might be a little too college frat boy for her tastes and tighty whities would just be wrong. The black boxer briefs perfectly accentuated all of Kaiden's assets.

"Katie?"

"What?" She blinked, realizing Kaiden had been talking to her the entire time she had been assessing his undergarments.

"I said, I didn't have any questions. I just wanted to get you alone for a couple of minutes."

"Really? Why?"

He tossed the clothes over his shoulder and stepped in front of her. "Really, you have to ask why?"

He pulled her to him. She rested her cheek against the hard muscle of Kaiden's chest and let out a little sigh. It all felt so
right
. Nothing with Nathan had ever felt so comfortable or perfect. Kaiden rubbed his hands up and down her back slowly, setting little fires under her skin wherever his fingertips moved.

"I am looking forward to all of this being over so I can ask you out on a real date. Maybe squeeze in a surfing lesson?" He grinned down at her as he referred to their conversation two days earlier as he drove her home from, well, from wherever Homeland Security had taken her.

"I would like that."

"Where were you earlier?"

"What do you mean?"

"A few minutes ago, I had an entire conversation with you and you seemed a million miles away."

The fire from her back moved to her face as blood rushed to fill the million capillaries in her cheeks. "You really don't want to know."

"By the way you are turning red, I absolutely do want to know."

She shook her head. "Too embarrassing."

"Now I
really
want to know and if you don't tell me…"

"You'll do what?"

"I am an agent of the United States Government, I have my ways of getting what I want." She loved the way his blue eyes sparkled when he teased her. They lit up from the inside like a prism catching the sun's rays.

"Okay! Okay! I was thinking about underwear."

"Underwear?" Now he looked confused.

"Yes. You pulled out black boxer briefs and I tried to imagine you wearing tighty whities!"

"Just how old do you think I am?"

Katie giggled and patted his butt. "Definitely not old enough for old man jockey shorts. Not yet anyway."

Kaiden's cell phone started buzzing on the nightstand by his bed. "Hold that thought, young lady. We have much to discuss." He picked up the phone and snapped "James!" into it.

Katie watched his expression turn from playful to confused to hard and serious over the course of a minute. She strained to hear the other side of the conversation but all she could make out was the slight hum of a voice. Kaiden said good bye to the other person and ended the call.

"We will have to talk later." He strode toward the bathroom with his clothes. "That was my boss. He received some intel that Marks is leaving the compound earlier than we thought. We have to get a move on."

"What can I do?"

"Stay here with my mom?" Kaiden called out from the bathroom. She heard the swish of jeans being pulled on and tried hard not to imagine the soft cotton fabric rubbing along his hard muscular legs.

"You know that is never going to happen."

She heard him sigh. "I know. Just sit tight. I have to talk to Keegan and then we are heading out." Kaiden stepped back into the bedroom. Katie tried to hide her sharp exhale as she took him in. The black tee fit him like a glove. The jeans outlined his strength and form in a way she never imagined a pair of pants capable of doing. Kaiden was all business as he pulled on a pair of cowboy boots he dug out of his closet. She tried to ignore the tingling that started in places she'd totally forgotten about in recent months.

"Come on, let's get my brother and get out of here."

Keegan sat waiting in the living room. "What's wrong?" he asked Kaiden.

"My boss just called. Marks is on the move. It's now or never."

"Well, what are you waiting for then? Let's rope this bull and bring him home."

The two men headed toward the door as Katie followed. She hadn't noticed the gun on Keegan's hip before. Kaiden had added his own gun to a holster on his hip as they left the bedroom but she had never seen him unarmed so it didn't surprise her as much. Even in the hospital he had kept his sidearm near.

Kaiden jumped behind the wheel of his truck while Keegan slid into the shotgun seat. Katie climbed into the back seat and the engine roared to life. Kaiden threw the truck into gear as Clara suddenly appeared at the driver's side door.

"You boys be careful!" she called through the glass.

Kaiden lowered the window. "We will be fine, Ma."

"Take care of Katie!" Clara yelled after them as Kaiden hit the gas.

They were down the mountain and heading into town in record time. Katie watched out the window as she held on to the door handle to keep from flying all over the back seat. The seatbelt barely held her in place. Kaiden and Keegan were discussing the game plan and Katie strained to hear over the roar of the engine as Kaiden sped over the country roads.

"Will we get there in time?" she called out over the noise.

"That's the plan!" Keegan replied.

She didn't say anything else until the truck finally came to a stop on the shoulder of the two lane highway that led right past the Marks compound.

Both men checked their weapons and stuffed extra magazines in their pockets. "What about the local cops? Aren't they supposed to back you two up?" Katie asked, suddenly very worried about what they were about to do.

"No time. Hunter says they are packing the vehicles up now."

"How does Hunter know this? Yesterday he said this would be a piece of cake. Today he is sending you in without back up?"

"Look, Katie, there is nothing to worry about." Keegan turned to look at her over the seats. "This is not our first rodeo, you know."

She slumped back against the seat. "Yeah, I know. Sorry."

"We will be fine, as long as you stay here," Kaiden said.

"Stay here. Yeah, I get it."

The men jumped from the truck and quickly disappeared into the trees. Katie knew the Marks family compound to be only about twenty minutes from her home in Staunton. The Marks family were local celebrities to the Blue Ridge communities. As she sat there contemplating the past few days, Katie heard a series of gunshots followed by shouting.

Without thinking she jumped from the truck and ran into the trees in the same direction the twins had gone. A little voice in the back of her head told her to get back in the truck but she ignored it. She had to find Kaiden. She had to know if he was all right.

As she ran, the shouting got louder and several more gunshots were fired.
Oh, Kaiden. You better not go and get yourself killed. I can't lose you. Not now!

She pushed through the thick brush ignoring, or not really noticing, the brambles that grabbed at her clothes and branches that slapped at her face and body. One sharp thistle caught her on the cheek. Katie felt the sting and the warmth of blood but after wiping at it with the back of her hand, she forgot all about it.

Two more gunshots rang out. Katie ran faster. A loud crash in the trees ahead of her sent her into a thick stand of vegetation where she crouched and peered out in the direction from where the noise had come from. A full five minutes passed where she didn't hear anything. No shouting, no gunshots, and no more movement in the trees. Maybe they were done. Maybe Kaiden had Nathan in custody and they were wrapping things up. She strained to catch the sound of sirens headed their way but she heard nothing.

She slipped out of her hiding spot and started to pick her way carefully through the trees toward the Marks place. She just needed one quick glance to reassure herself that Kaiden was safe and then she would return to the truck and wait patiently for them to wrap up business.

She had a good plan. Until a hand clamped over her mouth as someone grabbed her from behind and yanked her to the ground. Her assailant dragged her behind a large boulder without removing his hand from her mouth. She tried to bite him but couldn't make purchase through the smooth, black driving gloves he wore.

Nathan had always worn black leather driving gloves.

Nathan!

She struggled to catch a glimpse of her attacker but he held her firmly facing away from him. A hot whisper next to ear gave her goose flesh, very different from the feelings she had experienced earlier when Kaiden had his lips against her ear. She still recognized the voice instantly as it spoke.

"Stop struggling! If you promise not to scream I will move my hand. I will also stab you with this knife if you make a single sound."

He held a long, sharp hunting knife out where she could see it. Nathan was an avid hunter. He owned several shotguns and knives and one well trained beagle to assist him in his hobby.

Katie nodded as vigorously as she could. She wouldn't scream—yet.

The hand loosened. She took a deep breath and tried to turn to see the man behind her. "Yes, it's me, Katherine."

Only Nathan had ever insisted on calling her by her formal name.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"Um, running away from the cops? What do you think? A hostage will give me leverage."

"That's not what I meant and you know it. Why did you steal the bacteria from the hospital?"

He shook his head. "It wasn't me."

"Maybe you didn't actually walk into the hospital but you arranged the whole thing. And you killed Mandy!"

His hand clamped down over her mouth again and jabbed her in the side with his knife. "I told you! No yelling!"

"Sorry!" she mumbled around his hand. "I won't yell, I promise." She wouldn't yell but she wasn't done getting answers.

He dropped his hold on her completely but still wielded the knife. Katie shifted so they were eye to eye. "Why Legionnaires', Nathan? It's not deadly."

"Nope but it spreads quickly. It's for research."

"Oh, come on, what do you know about research?"

"I know that if things work out, one day soon I will be a very, very rich man."

"You already have more than enough money."

"It's theirs." He scowled and she knew he meant his parents. Nathan and his parents had a strained relationship at best. Probably because he had screwed up so much of his life and Mr. and Mrs. Marks were always so put together. "Get up! We are getting out of here."

The tip of the knife pricked at her side. Katie scrambled to her feet. "Where are we going?"

"Just walk." He shoved her out of their hiding place and keeping the knife in her sights, directed her back toward the Marks compound.

***

"Where is he?" Kaiden called to his brother.

"I don't know! He was right by the SUV when we broke out of the trees."

Kaiden stood in the center of the circular drive, his gun trained on two of Nathan's body guards. "You two bastards tried to kill us! Did you know you were shooting at federal agents? You're lucky you aren't dead right now! Where is Nathan Marks?"

"I don't know," one of the guards spat out. "But I hope you find him. I am sick and tired of putting up with that little weasel's crap!"

"With any luck you hit him with one of your bullets and he ran off in to the woods to die like a wounded deer," the other guard grumbled.

Kaiden was a little confused by their responses. "Don't the two of you work for Nathan Marks?"

"Nope. We work for his father. We just drew the short straw this week to be stuck up here in this country hell hole with the boss's little prick son."

"Whoa… then why did you try to kill us if you hate him so much?" Keegan asked as he joined their little party.

"Didn't know who you were," the first guard answered. "Little Nathan is involved with some dirty dudes. Why do you think he is hiding out up here in this godforsaken mountain land?"

"So you thought we were here to kill him?" Keegan asked.

"Aren't you?"

"Not really, but it wouldn't break my heart," Kaiden replied.

"Oh. Well, sorry about that, man," the first guard said.

"I am a federal agent. So is my brother here. You two broke all sorts of laws so you better help us find Nathan to make up for it."

"Hey! You two are twins!" the second guard said.

"Give the guy a cookie," Keegan shot back. "Now tell us about these dirty dudes."

"Little prick got himself mixed up in some get rich quick scam with a pharmaceutical company that claimed it could stop an infectious disease outbreak before it became an epidemic or pandemic. They needed to test their theories on something easy to cure so he cooked up a plan to use his girlfriend to steal some stuff from the hospital where she worked." The first guard stopped and took a breath.