Navy SEAL to Die For (16 page)

Becca stared up at Quentin. Was he the one? He was brave, funny and sexy—everything she could have hoped for in a man. Her father would have loved him like a son.

Tears welled as she thought of her dad. “It was John Francis all along,” she said. “He was the one who hired the assassins.”

“Why?”

She shook her head. “My father, Rand Houston and Oscar Melton were involved in some kind of investigation.” She stopped talking as a thought struck her. “Damn.” Becca reached into the hidden pocket of her gown. When her fingers curled around the small, flat disk, she let go of the breath that had been caught in her throat. “He wanted the disk Oscar sent me after. Although, I don’t know what good it will be after being soaked in river water.” Becca handed the disk to Quentin. “Get it to Geek, and see if he can salvage the information on it.”

“I will.” He tucked it into his shirt pocket. “In the meantime, what’s next?”

Becca raised her good hand to push the damp hair from her face. “I think we’re going to need more help on this case. There’s something big going on for John to feel like he had to kill those who knew too much.”

“Yeah, but now your name and face will be known by anyone trying to keep this whole thing secret.”

Her lips thinned and her jaw tightened. “We can’t let this go. We have to get to the bottom of it.”

Quentin brushed the backs of his knuckles across her cheek. “Maybe we need some fresh faces in the picture. Faces that haven’t been involved so far.”

Becca nodded. “I’ll see what Royce can spare.”

“And I’ll talk with my commander. Royce seems to have some strings he can pull. I trust my team to provide backup and support.”

“You are absolutely right. We need someone undercover,” Becca mused. “Someone who isn’t known in this area.”

The ambulance stopped at the hospital’s ER entrance.

The medics unloaded Becca and wheeled her back to a room to be examined by a doctor. A nurse asked Quentin to wait in the lobby while they took care of the patient. They’d call him back when they had completed their exam.

Kat, Sam and Geek arrived a few minutes later. And behind them Royce entered, his arm in a sling. His shock of white hair stood on end. He wore jeans and had a jacket slung over his shoulders. “Bring me up to date.”

The four of them took Royce to a quiet corner of the lobby and gave him the details of all that had transpired since Quentin and Becca had stepped off the train in DC.

Quentin passed the disk to Geek. The young computer guru ran out to the communications van and returned with a laptop a few minutes later. He slid the disk into a slot in the front of the computer and waited.

Quentin leaned over his shoulder. “Anything?”

Geek pressed a few buttons on the keyboard. “An error message that the disk is damaged and can’t be read. We may have to let it dry more.” He tried a few more keys and shook his head as he closed his laptop. “I’ll take it back to headquarters and see what I can do later.”

Royce scratched his chin where the beginning of a beard showed up like a salt-and-pepper shadow. “Based on what we’ve learned from today, we still have work to do.”

They all nodded. In this together.

A nurse found them in the lobby. “Excuse me, is one of you Mr. Lovett?”

Quentin stepped out of the group. “I am.”

“Miss Smith is asking for you.”

“Could we all go back?” Royce asked. He pulled his wallet from his back pocket and flipped it open, displaying a badge. “I have a few questions for Miss Smith.”

The nurse frowned. “We usually don’t allow more than two people, but if it’s for an official reason, I suppose you can all go. Just don’t disturb the other patients.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Royce smiled. “Thank you.”

Eager to see Becca, Quentin followed the nurse through the doors marked Authorized Personnel Only. The rest of the group was only a few steps behind him.

They found Becca on a gurney in one of the rooms, her head raised so that she was almost sitting up, though she leaned slightly to one side.

* * *

B
EING
THE
FOCUS
of attention from five people, and still babying a gash in her bottom, Becca could feel the heat rising in her cheeks.

“If I’d known you all were coming, I’d have baked a cake. But then I don’t know how to cook, so that’s not true.” Becca clamped her lips shut for a second when she realized she was babbling, something she
never
did. Instead, she held up her hand. “I think I’m still fuzzy-headed from the stun gun. They cleaned the river water out of my wounds, and then stitched my hand and...other parts.”

She jerked her head toward her derriere and looked away from Quentin, suddenly and inexplicably shy around the man who’d seen her naked, and made love to her twice already. “Okay, too much information. But I’m supposed to change the bandages daily.”

Quentin smiled down at her, lifted her uninjured hand and pressed a kiss to her fingertips. “I can help with that.”

“God, I sound like an idiot.” Becca weaved her fingers with his. “And you have a unit to report to.”

“I’ll work on that,” he said. “I still have thirty days of vacation I can draw on.”

Becca’s eyes narrowed as she stared across the bed at Royce. “Are you sure you should be out of the hospital? You’re still a little pale. I mean you were shot less than thirty-six hours ago.”

“Says the woman who nearly drowned in the Potomac.” He patted her arm. “I’ll be fine.
We’ll
be fine.”

“Damn right, we will,” Becca said, leaning back. She winced and turned on her side again. “As soon as certain wounds heal.”

Royce laughed out loud. “Right.”

Becca glanced past them hopefully. “Now, if the doctor would come back in and sign my release orders, I can blow this joint.”

“I’ll leave the company car for you,” Royce said. “I’m scheduling a meeting of available SOS agents as soon as you’ve had time to rest.”

“I’m rested.” Becca tried to sit up again and fell back on her side. “As soon as I get out of this place,” she muttered, with a little less confidence.

“I have to call in some favors first.” Royce leaned over and kissed her cheek. “You did an excellent job finding John. Let someone else take the lead for a while.”

She frowned. “I’m perfectly capable.”

“But word will have gotten around that Marcus Smith’s daughter is on the case. They’ll be watching for you. I need to get people in on this one who haven’t been in the area and aren’t known.”

Becca nodded, having already thought of this.

Quentin raised a hand. “Sir, I have some ideas about that.”

A man in a lab coat stepped into the room and frowned.

Royce waved the others toward the door. “Let’s step out and let the doctor out-process the patient. You can tell me about your ideas then. Becca, I’ll see you in a couple of days.” As Royce left he shook hands with Quentin. “Thank you for doing such a good job taking care of my agent, Lovett. I think we can take it from here, if you need to get back to your unit.”

Royce’s words hit Becca square in the chest like a prize fighter’s fisted glove. No. She wasn’t ready for Quentin to leave her.

Becca suffered through the doctor’s explanation of what she needed to do in order to guard against infection. He left her with a prescription for antibiotics and orders to stay off her butt.

Becca fought the urge to giggle.

“And go easy on the intercourse. You don’t want to rip a stitch.” She gasped and glared at the man.

To his credit, he didn’t crack a smile or smirk. He tore a sheet of paper off his prescription pad and handed it to her. “You’re free to go, as long as someone drives you home.”

“Got that covered,” she assured him as she slid her feet over the edge of the bed.

A nurse pushed a wheelchair into the room.

“Is that necessary?” Becca asked.

The doctor finally smiled. “In your case, no.” He waved the nurse away with the chair. “You’re better off walking out than sitting in the chair.”

Limping, Becca followed the doctor to the exit and emerged into the lobby of the ER. Quentin was the only person left of their group. Her heart beating a little lighter for seeing his smiling face, Becca walked toward him and fell into his arms.

“Hey, baby. Are you okay?” He smoothed hair back from her face.

She nodded, unable to force air past the knot in her throat.

“I told them I’d see you back to your apartment.”

“Why?” she asked. “We found my father’s killer. I’m no longer in danger—therefore you don’t need to look out for me.”

“Have you considered I might
want
to look after you?” He looped an arm around her middle and led her toward the door.

“We’re two different people in somewhat similar occupations.” She waved a hand to the side. “Nothing we start between us would ever work or last for long.”

“So you’re thinking along those lines, too?” He tightened his arm around her. “Because I was thinking I could use a challenge and a change of pace. I might ask for a transfer to one of the SEAL teams at Little Creek, Virginia.”

“What if I told you I didn’t want you around after this?”

He grinned and shook his head. “Not a chance.”

Becca stopped in the middle of the sliding doors and cocked her brows. “You’re a cocky son-of-a-gun. Why would you think I’d want you around pestering me?”

His grin widened. “Sweetheart, it’s in the kiss.”

She snorted. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Let me demonstrate.” He swooped in to claim her lips.

Becca stood stiff for a full second, then melted against him and kissed him back. This man had gotten under her skin from the moment he made a pass at her on the plane back to the States. Why the hell was she fighting what he was proving true?

He was absolutely, undeniably correct.

It was in the kiss.

Next morning, 7:00 am

J
ERKED
AWAKE
BY
banging on her apartment door, Becca rolled onto her backside and cried out.

“Oh, baby, you have to remember the stitches.” Quentin leaned over and kissed her cheek.

“Mmm.” She twisted her head around to kiss his lips. “I wasn’t thinking about that all last night.”

“I told you it would be easier on top.”

More banging on the door brought Quentin’s head up. “I’ll get that.”

“Thanks.” Becca snuggled into the sheet, one eye propped open as Quentin rose from the bed and slipped on a pair of jogging shorts.

Quentin left the bedroom and entered the living room.

“Becca? It’s me, Marcy,” a muffled female voice called through the door paneling. “I hate to wake you up, but I have to be at work in twenty minutes.”

Quentin opened the door as a young woman raised her hand to knock again. She stopped with her hand frozen in mid-knock. “Oh.”

“What can I do for you?” Quentin asked.

The woman called Marcy let her gaze rake him from head to toes before she swallowed and said, “Oh, baby, you could do a lot for me, if I didn’t have to go to work right now.” She held a package in her hand. “Is Becca here or did you just move into her apartment? Please say you’re single, available and moving in?”

“Sorry to disappoint. Becca’s here. I’m not moving in, yet. But either way, despite what some might think, I’m a one-woman-man and that one woman is Becca.”

Marcy sighed. “In that case, could you give this package to her? The postman dropped it at my apartment by mistake a couple days ago. I’m just now getting around to delivering it.”

Quentin took the package from the woman. “I’ll make sure she gets it.”

“Thanks. And if you find yourself single again, I’m next door.”

After Marcy left, Quentin took the package into the bedroom and handed it to Becca.

“So you met my neighbor, Marcy.” Becca laughed. “She’s a mess, isn’t she? She’s never met a man she couldn’t flirt with. Did you think she was pretty?”

Quentin shrugged. “I really don’t remember.”

“Right answer.” Becca turned the package over. “That’s funny. There’s no return address on it.” She tore it open. Inside was an envelope with her name written in crisp block letters.

Becca’s face paled and she slowly opened the envelope, tears slipping from her eyes. She pulled out a single sheet of paper and a small, rectangular disk fell onto the bed beside her. It looked just like the one she’d taken from Oscar Melton’s office.

Quentin scooped up the disk while Becca read the letter aloud, her voice catching.

Becca,

If you receive this letter and disk without talking to me about it first, something bad must have happened to me. Take this disk to your boss. He might be the only one you can trust with this information. With his resources, he should have more luck cracking the codes to get to the bottom of what’s going on.

I couldn’t send this letter without telling you how very proud I am of the woman you have become. Please don’t let your job be everything to you. Take time to fall in love. Your mother and I loved each other so much, and you were the result. You’re a beautiful, smart and generous woman who deserves to love and be loved.

I will always love my little girl and I’ll always be looking out for you.

Love,

Dad

Becca stared up at Quentin with tears in her eyes.

His heart broke for her and he gently gathered her in his arms. “He loved you so very much.”

“He loved my mother, too. And all he wanted for me was to know that kind of love, as well.”

Quentin leaned over and kissed her lips with a light touch. “I think we might have a shot at that if we give it half a chance.”

She sucked in a shaky breath. “I’m game, if you are.”

“I am.” He kissed her, so happy he hadn’t taken her initial no for the final answer. This woman was the one for him.

When they finally stopped kissing long enough to form coherent thoughts, Quentin glanced down at the disk in his palm.

“Guess we’ll be visiting Royce sooner than we thought. This story isn’t over, yet.”