Protecting Alabama (SEAL of Protection Book 2) (12 page)

“Promise?”

Abe smiled. She’d made him promise all sorts of things since they’d been dating, and he hadn’t hesitated to promise whatever she needed to hear. He’d lasso the moon if he could for her.

“I promise, sweet.”

She sniffed loudly and tried to bring herself under control. “Maybe I’ll call Caroline and hang out with her while you guys are gone.”

Abe tilted her chin up and kissed her passionately. He loved how sensitive Alabama was. She went from being upset he’d be gone, to immediately thinking about her friend and how she’d need some support as well.

“That’s a great idea. I know she’d love to have some company while we’re gone. You know you could also call Susie or Alicia too. I’m sure they’d love to get to know you better.”

Alabama nodded and cuddled deeper into Christopher’s arms. She wasn’t ready to meet with his sisters by herself. She knew it’d take a few more visits with Christopher with her before she’d be ready to go out with them on her own.

They were silent for a while, lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Abe turned Alabama until she was on her back and he loomed over her. He smiled. Yeah, he didn’t want to leave, but the sooner he left, the sooner he could get back and have out-of-this-world “welcome home” sex. In the meantime he meant to leave his woman so satiated they’d be able to make it through their separation.

Alabama sat at her small kitchen table twirling a fork around her fingers while she waited for her microwave dinner to finish. It’d been ten days since Christopher had left and she felt bereft. She and Caroline had gotten together several nights and talked. Alabama got a better idea what it meant to be with a SEAL. Many times the SEAL team had to leave at a moment’s notice. Caroline never knew where Matthew was or when he’d be back.

But Caroline had explained while it was tough, very tough, she also knew it was what Matthew was meant to do. Because of her experiences with the team, she knew they were competent at what they did. Caroline had told Alabama the entire story about how she’d been kidnapped and thrown overboard in the ocean. The SEAL team had come together and not only saved her life, but brought down the bad guys at the same time.

Alabama had been horrified at what Caroline had been through, but understood what Caroline was trying to tell her. Caroline trusted the team to take care of each other—she’d seen them first hand in action.

Caroline loved the other men on the team like brothers. There was no one she’d rather have at Matthew’s back then the men on the team. Alabama figured if Caroline could trust them to keep Matthew safe, then she could do the same with Christopher.

Alabama came back to the present. Work that night had been weird. She’d shown up as usual at the Realty building, but Adelaide had been there with another agent, Joni. Alabama didn’t really know Joni that well. She’d joined the company after the fire. Alabama had seen Adelaide and Joni hanging out, so she hadn’t bothered to try to get to know her. She figured if Joni was hanging out with Adelaide, she had no desire to
get
to know her. Maybe that wasn’t fair, but it was what it was.

Alabama had gone to get her cart ready for the night’s cleaning when Joni had come up behind her. She’d scared the crap out of Alabama, but she tried to brush it off.

“Hey, Alabama. How’re you tonight?”

Alabama was surprised Joni was talking to her, even more surprised than she’d been at seeing them in the office after hours.

“I’m good. How are you?” She’d gotten so much better at small talk since she’d started dating Christopher and hanging out with his team.

“Good. So, how long do you usually work each night? It has to suck working nights huh?”

“It’s not so bad. I’m usually done in a couple of hours.”

“Ah, yeah, that’s not too bad. Okay, well, I’m out of here. Have a good night.”

Alabama watched warily as Joni walked back down the hall. Not too much later she saw Adelaide and Joni leaving together. She shrugged and continued with her work. She couldn’t care too much about them. She’d learned what really mattered in life. Christopher. He was out working to protect their country; she couldn’t worry about catty women like Adelaide.

***

Alabama changed into her flannel pajamas and snuggled down into her bed. She’d had to do laundry yesterday and she felt so hollow lying in her bed now. While the sheets smelled fresh and clean, she missed smelling Christopher. His scent had permeated the pillowcases and sheets, but tonight she couldn’t smell him.

It wasn’t only the lack of his scent that made her melancholy. They’d done so many wonderful things in her bed. Alabama had gotten used to sleeping with Christopher; she’d had a hard time adjusting to sleeping alone again.

Alabama jerked awake when she heard a key in her lock. She sat up straight in bed and watched as the door opened. She shrieked a girly shriek, seeing it was Christopher. He was home!

Abe braced himself as Alabama leaped across the small room and threw herself at him. He grunted as she made contact with his body and went back on a foot. He dropped his duffel bag and gathered her close. God he’d missed her. She smelled so good. He was tired. When they’d gotten back to the base, he’d thought about going back to his place to get some much needed sleep and coming over to her apartment in the morning, but he couldn’t make himself do it. He hadn’t even taken a shower before coming to her apartment.

He needed to see her. He needed to feel her in his arms. The mission hadn’t been terribly difficult, but it seemed twice as long this time. Now that he had Alabama waiting for him back at home, the mission seemed harder. He’d talked to Wolf about it and they’d had some good discussions about what it meant to have someone at home. Wolf had gone through the same thing.

Every single thing they did while fighting for their country had a deeper meaning now that they had someone waiting for them. It wasn’t that they were careless before, but now, every single decision they made could mean their woman would never see them again. It was tough. Wolf helped Abe try to work through it in his mind.

Alabama didn’t hesitate to wrap her arms and legs around Christopher. Thank God he was home. She buried her nose in his neck…then drew back. Whoa. He stunk. He certainly didn’t smell like the man she knew and loved. She watched as Christopher grinned.

“I gotta shower, sweet.”

“Yeah, I can see and smell that.”

“I had to see you. I didn’t want to wait.”

Okay, that was sweet. She smiled, dropping her legs and standing, but not letting go of him. “I’m glad you didn’t. I love you.”

“Jesus. I love you too.” Abe gathered her close again and they stood there for a bit enjoying the feel of being back in each other’s arms.

“Okay, to the shower with you. Do you have clothes that need to be put in the wash? Do you want something to eat or drink?”

“No sweet. Thank you. It can wait until morning. All I want is to get clean then get in you.” He watched as she blushed. He loved she could still blush at his frank talk. “Go crawl in bed and get naked, I’ll be there in a second.”

Alabama nodded and backed away from him. She’d never get used to his dirty talk, but secretly she loved it. She brought her hands up to the buttons on her shirt and started unbuttoning them from the bottom. “Hurry up, Christopher. I’ll be waiting.”

She laughed as he stumbled on his way to the small bathroom in her apartment. She loved being able to surprise him. It didn’t happen very often so when it did, it was awesome.

Abe took the quickest shower he could and still get the stink and grime off of him. The bandage on his shoulder had to come off, since it had gotten wet, but he didn’t think he needed another after he was done. He whisked the towel over his body and quickly shaved the stubble off his chin. As much as he enjoyed the thought of leaving his mark on Alabama, he didn’t want to hurt her. He strode out of the bathroom with the towel draped around his waist and stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of Alabama in the bed.

She was completely naked and lying on top of the covers. She’d propped herself against the pillows and was reclining against the headboard. Her knees were bent and her legs were open. She was running her hands over her chest, up and down and occasionally running her fingers down her inner thigh. “It’s about time.”

Abe strode quickly to the bed, losing the towel on the way. It fell forlornly onto the ground, immediately forgotten. “Hell, you are amazing.”

Alabama was all ready to seduce her boyfriend. She felt awkward as hell touching herself, but if his reaction was anything to go by, it was worth it. Just as he got to the bed and put a knee on the mattress to crawl over to her, she saw the wound on his shoulder.

Alabama gasped and immediately closed her legs and stopped touching herself. “Oh my God! Christopher, you’re hurt!”

“No, sweet, it’s nothing. Now come here.”

“No! You’re hurt. Let me see.”

Abe sighed. He really needed her, but it didn’t look like she was going to cooperate, at least not yet. He could’ve ordered her to get back in place, but he didn’t have it in him at the moment. It’d actually feel good to have her fuss over him.

Alabama leaned over and turned the light on next to the bed. She seemed to have no idea how sexy she was fussing over him totally nude. Abe tried to ignore how her body swayed and jiggled in all the right places, but it was no use. He’d spent the last week and a half in a hell hole on the other side of the world missing her. He wasn’t going to be able to wait to be inside her for long.

Alabama inspected Christopher’s shoulder. He was right, it wasn’t bad, but it did look deep. “What happened?”  She inquired softly, running her fingers lightly over the stitches in his shoulder.

“A bad guy with a knife got a bit closer than I’d have liked.”

Ignoring all the implications of what he’d said, Alabama tried to tamp down her curiosity. Most likely she really didn’t want to know what really happened. She’d probably have nightmares if she did know.

“Did you guys win?”

Abe chuckled. He’d been prepared to deflect her questions about the mission itself. He couldn’t talk about it, even with her. But she’d surprised him again. He shouldn’t have been though. It seemed she understood.

“Yeah, sweet, we won.” It wasn’t like it was a contest, but he didn’t bother to explain that to her. He figured she knew that though, her words just came out wrong.

Abe clenched his teeth as Alabama leaned toward him and kissed the ten stitches in his shoulder. He’d killed the man even as the knife was glancing off his shoulder. It’d gotten him where the Kevlar vest hadn’t quite covered him. It was a lucky strike, too bad it wasn’t lucky enough. The man was dead before he’d hit the ground.

The feel of Alabama’s tongue on his skin was the last straw. Abe flipped her over and pinned her under him. She smiled up at him.

“I missed you, Christopher,” she said sweetly. “I’m glad you’re home.”

“Me too, sweet. Me too.”

They spent the next few hours showing each other how much they’d missed each other. The sun had just started to peek over the horizon when they finally fell into exhausted slumber, both secure in the fact the other was close and safe.

Alabama sat in the hard chair shaking. The tabletop in front of her was a shiny stainless steel, without even a single fingerprint on it. She wondered how they got it so clean. Vaguely, she also wondered what kind of cleaner they used on it. She tried not to think about how long it’d been since she’d been told Christopher had been called. The police officer hadn’t let her call him herself, but said he’d pass the word along she was here and she wanted to see him. He’d come soon, Alabama just had to keep telling herself that.

She was freezing. They must keep the temperature unnaturally cool so people would confess or something. She had no idea, she only knew she was cold and couldn’t wait for Christopher to come and help her make sense out of what was going on. He’d told her again and again he’d look after her. She definitely needed him to “look after her” now.

That morning was one of the best of her life. She’d woken up in Christopher’s arms much later than usual after their late night of passion. He’d sleepily kissed her and told her he loved her. He’d been exhausted. She supposed missions would do that, not to mention their late night antics in bed.

She’d gotten up and made him brunch. He hadn’t had to go in early because of their late night return, but he’d told her he had to go in to debrief that afternoon. They’d made plans to get together later after her shift at work.

When she’d arrived at Wolfe Realty, it was to find the place in an uproar. She wasn’t sure exactly what had happened, but the next thing she knew, she was in handcuffs and being brought to the police station.

Alabama was terrified. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before. Her experience with police officers wasn’t the best, and she was scared. She’d begged to be able to call Christopher, and they hadn’t let her. Finally, seeing she was losing it, she was told they’d call and explain things to him. She didn’t like that, but she supposed it was the best deal she’d get at the moment.

Alabama knew something wasn’t right when the officer who’d said he’d call Christopher re-entered the room without him.

“Is he coming?” Alabama asked nervously. He’d come. He’d be there. He promised to take care of her.

“Uh, he’s on his way, but first he’s answering some questions.”

“You can’t do that!” Alabama immediately exclaimed. “He doesn’t have anything to do with this. Leave him alone! He’s a hero to his country, he just got back from a mission. You can’t do that!”

The officer was obviously taken aback by her outburst. She knew he hadn’t expected her quick and passionate defense of Christopher.

“Calm down, lady. He was the one who wanted to have some words with my boss before he came in to talk to you.”

His words did calm Alabama down. Okay, she got it. Christopher was trying to figure out the best way to get her out of this. He’d know this was all bullcrap and he’d get her out of here. They’d be laughing about it later tonight.

When the door opened a second time Alabama looked up and sighed in relief. Finally.

Alabama watched as Christopher opened the door and kept one hand on the knob and stood by the door. She nervously stood up. She looked at him and tensed. He was pissed. She didn’t know at who or why, but it was obvious he was holding his anger in check by his fingernails.

Alabama took one step towards him. “Christopher?”

He looked away from her and at the officer still standing in the room. “Can I have a minute?”

“Sure, but you know protocol.” He pointed up at the little camera in the corner of the room. Obviously they’d be taping whatever conversation she had with Christopher.

Abe nodded tightly and stepped out of the way so the officer could leave the room.

“Thank God, you’re here!” Alabama exclaimed in relief and took another step in Christopher’s direction. She was stunned to see him take a step sideways, away from her. She stopped in her tracks a good four feet from him. What the hell? Her heart sped up in her chest. What was going on?

“Why’d you do it, Alabama?” Abe asked tensely. “Why’d you steal that crap? You know I’d give you anything you wanted. There was no reason to take it.”

Alabama stood stunned. He actually thought she’d
done
what they accused her of? She wasn’t sure what to say, but it obviously didn’t matter to Christopher, he was still talking.

“I
told
you how I feel about stealing. You heard how my nickname came about. We talked about it. You
knew
and you still did it. It feels like you purposely were trying to sabotage our relationship. What was last night about then? One last fuck? Can you explain why the hell you threw us away? Huh? Can you?”

“Threw us away?” Alabama asked incredulously in a shaking voice. What was he saying? She couldn’t gather her thoughts. If she thought she was scared before, now she was downright terrified. Christopher was supposed to be here helping her figure out what the hell happened. He should be holding her tight in his arms. In all the time they’d been together he’d always protected her from this sort of thing. He’d never let anyone raise their voice to her the way he was doing right now. What happened between the time when they’d last seen each other that afternoon, and now?

“Christopher, I…”

“
Shut up,
Alabama, I don’t really want to hear your excuses right now.”

Alabama could literally feel her heart shrivel up and die at his words. She took a step back as if he’d punched her. She felt like throwing up. He knew what his words would do to her. He
knew
. He was right, they
had
talked about it. She’d spilled her guts about her mama and the things she’d said to her. Christopher knew telling her to “shut up” was the one thing she couldn’t handle. He knew it and did it anyway, shattering her in the process.

“All I ever wanted from you was an honest relationship. I was ready to give you everything I had. You could’ve had it all. I would’ve laid it all at your feet. My protection, my love, my family; but instead you
had
to have that money. I hope it was worth it.”

Alabama really had nothing to say. After all they’d been through. She’d told him she loved him. He’d claimed to love her in return, but it was obviously all a ploy to get her into bed, or something. He was so ready to listen to others and not even to hear what she had to say and it killed her. But him telling her to shut up, gutted her.

“You promised.” The words came out soft and tortured. She looked him in the eyes and repeated, “You promised, Christopher.”

She watched as he slightly flinched at her words. But she didn’t care. She was done. She was empty inside. She’d thought she’d finally found someone who would be there for her. Who loved her as she was. Who would stand by her and help her make her way through the world and be her refuge.
Shut up, Alabama. Shut up, Alabama. Shut up, Alabama.
His words echoed through her brain over and over. Every time slicing at her as if it was the first time she’d heard them.

Alabama turned around and sat in the chair she’d so eagerly vacated at his entrance into the room. She calmly pulled the chair up to the table, clasped her hands in her lap and stared at the wall on the far side of the room blankly. Christopher’s voice morphed into her mama’s.
Shut up. Shut up. Shut up
. She cringed, remembering the feel of Mama’s fists and feet as she hit her over and over.

Alabama couldn’t think. She just had to make it through the next five minutes. Then the next. Then the next. It was how she’d made it through those awful times Mama had locked her in the closet. It was how she’d made it through most of her life before Christopher had crashed his way into her heart. She counted her breaths. One. Two. Three. She had to keep breathing.

She vaguely heard Christopher talking, but she blocked him out. Nothing he said mattered anymore. Alabama could feel her heart beating unnaturally fast, but sat still, not saying anything.

Finally she heard the door shut. She was alone in the room. She was alone, as she should’ve remembered she’d always be. It was her against the world. No matter what anyone said. No matter what anyone tried to convince her otherwise. She’d forgotten for a while. She’d forgotten the lessons Mama had taught her. That the high school football player who’d humiliated her so long ago had taught her.

Abe smacked the door to the police station hard as he left the building. Damn Alabama to hell. He’d woken up this morning happier than he’d ever been in his life. The debriefing of the mission had been tough. They’d all had to rehash their actions and make sure they’d done everything right. Through the debriefing they’d discovered some things that could’ve gone better and Abe knew those things were
his
fault. His head wasn’t one hundred percent in the game. He’d messed up.

Then he’d gotten a call from Cookie, who’d heard from his old girlfriend, Michele, that Alabama had been arrested at her job. Apparently Michele had gotten the whole sordid story from Adelaide. Alabama had been stealing money from the agents for a while now. She’d clean their offices at night and take stuff from their desks. At first it was little things, candy from candy bowls, pens, that sort of thing. Then money started doing missing. Jewelry.

They’d found some of the missing items on her cleaning cart. There was a secret pocket sewn into the side of the material. She was caught red-handed.

His Alabama was a thief. His heart broke and he felt sick. How could she do this?
Why
was she doing it? Wolf had tried to talk to him, but Abe’s phone rang. It was an officer at the police station calling to tell him Alabama had requested to see him.

He’d gone straight to the station without telling Wolf and his other teammates what had happened. He was too pissed, too embarrassed that his girlfriend was apparently a thief.

He’d spoken to the chief when he’d arrived at the station. He’d outlined the charges against Alabama and what evidence there was. They were doing interviews with some of the witnesses now, then they’d interrogate Alabama.

Jesus. Interrogate her.

Abe had seen red. All of it had been a lie. What else had she lied about? Was her pitiful story about her childhood even true? Did he even
know
her? He’d stormed into the room where she was being held and confronted her.

Abe sat in the front seat of his car with his head on the steering wheel. His heart hurt. What had just happened?

He’d been so
pissed
. He’d gone into that room not knowing what he was going to say to her and every time she’d opened her mouth to try to explain, he’d cut her off. He didn’t want to hear her lies.

Abe recalled the look on Alabama’s face when he’d told her to “shut up.” He’d seen her close down right in front of him. One minute she was there trying to talk to him, the next it was like she was gone. A veil had come over her eyes and she was just gone. She’d spoken two words to him,
you promised
, and the Alabama he’d known over the last few months was gone. He’d known she wasn’t hearing him after that. She’d gone and sat back down at the table and refused to look at him. It had to be an admission of guilt; she was ignoring him because everything he’d said was right on the money.

He rubbed a hand over his eyes a few times and then back over his head. God he was tired. He hadn’t caught up on the sleep he’d missed on the mission, and last night’s passion filled night with Alabama hadn’t helped. He couldn’t think. He didn’t want to think.

Abe pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the base. He’d think tomorrow. Tonight he just needed to sleep.

* * *

Alabama hadn’t said a word since Christopher left. There was no point. She had nothing. No one. The officers tried to get her to talk, but she sat stonily in front of them staring off into space. They’d showed her the evidence against her, including pictures of the hidden pocket sewn into the cleaning cart.              

When they’d gotten no reaction, they’d tried to scare her into confessing. Still, she sat as still as a statue, not saying a word. Finally, they had no choice but to book her into the county jail.

As Abe was settling into a restless sleep in his room on the base, Alabama was being fingerprinted and booked. She’d had to change into a pair of county-issued orange elastic pants and scrub-type shirt. She’d been roughly led to the third floor of the county building in Riverton, and locked into a small dank room that smelled slightly of body odor. Her roommate tried to talk to her, but getting no response, shrugged and settled back on her mattress.

Alabama lay on the top bunk in the jail cell wondering how her day had gone from the best day of her life to the worst in a matter of hours. A lone tear fell down her temple before she locked it down.
Shut up. Shut up. Shut up
. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to block out the words. She counted her breaths. One. Two Three…