Tactical Deception: Silent Warrior, Book 2 (14 page)

There was a hell of a lot more going on under the surface of her quiet demeanor than just panic attacks and shooting lessons. More than he ever really believed possible. Not that he hadn’t dreamed of being with Mari. And to his damnation, he’d fantasized it once or twice at weak moments when his determined control lapsed.

But really believing that he’d be lucky and deserving enough for her to share with him all of her shimmering beauty and gentle spirit had been totally out of the question. Still was, even though he now knew another key to what was causing her so much distress. Mari was going through hell and in a very vulnerable state. The fact that she’d developed an attraction to him was akin to some weird combination of gratitude, too much trauma and Stockholm syndrome. It wasn’t real. After all, he’d practically made her a prisoner in his apartment trying to keep her safe from Dugar—

Oh fuck!
Dugar. Roger clenched his fists and would have hit the tiled wall for good measure, but stifled the urge. Mari didn’t need anything else negative, visual or audible, for which she could put the blame on her shoulders. And the craftsmanship in buildings these days guaranteed his fist would have plowed all the way through the wall. He snapped off the water and grabbed a towel and his cell phone at the same time. The police officer on Mari’s case answered immediately.

“Cain, here.”

“Officer Cain. It’s Lt. Col. Weston. I should have called you earlier. Due to unfortunate circumstances, Mari was caught on a news camera outside the post earlier today and it’s being broadcasted everywhere. What do you want to bet Dugar will show up at the Butner Access Control Point looking for another chance at her.”

“I’d bet the jackpot you’re right. But the sniper situation has every police force in the country on high alert. We’re already on double shifts here. I doubt a stakeout is in the cards.”

“Right. I’ll see what I can do on my end and keep you posted.” Hanging up, Roger quickly dried, cursing himself for having his mind on his dick instead of his duty where it was supposed to be—assuring the well-being of Mari and the child that Neil Dalton had fathered. It was also Roger’s duty to make sure Neil wasn’t forgotten by anyone, especially him.

Duty was a soldier’s saving grace no matter what hell they faced, personally or professionally. Exiting the bathroom, he glanced at his bedroom door. The blood staining his heart and soul became darker than ever before, but he shook off the guilt and put his mind on his duty.

A few calls had Surf and Mac, men he knew could handle anything Dugar threw their way, lined up to watch the Butner Access Control Point for any hint of the SOB or Neil’s stolen ’57 Chevy. Then Roger watched the repeating video of Mari in the crowd and the ongoing sniper news as he put his mind to work on what he could do to help Mari cope with what was happening to her.

Not more than an hour later, Holly returned, but she wasn’t alone. General Dekker walked in on her heels. Roger stood as they entered the apartment, wondering if hell had frozen over. For an unguarded moment, he swore Dekker’s gaze had been centered—with interest—on Senior Airman Holly Gear’s rear. But when the man looked up, Roger decided he’d been mistaken. The man was all hard-assed business as usual. Roger owed the general an explanation about Mari and what had happened today.

“General, DT mentioned you were going to call. I didn’t expect a visit. You’ll have a full explanation of today in your office first thing in the morning. Mari just retired a few minutes ago.” Roger prayed Dekker would realize that he didn’t want Mari to hear anyone talking about what she’d been through today.

“Relax, Weston.” Dekker cleared his throat and glanced at Holly. “No explanation, other than the information I’ve already received is necessary. I decided to kill two birds with one stone since Senior Airman Gear was in need of a ride.”

Roger bounced his gaze to Holly. He’d always been able to read her expressions, but tonight her face was a straight-laced mask.

“My car apparently suffered more at the hands of the crowd than I originally thought. Had a flat when I came out of the sniper meeting. General Dekker and Beck helped me with that, then my car wouldn’t start at first, after it did, it’s making a weird engine noise. So I decided to leave it till morning. Beck is going to look it over for me and take it to a mechanic if needed.”

Damn. Beck and Dekker were together. Them having face time was not a good thing. Not as long as Beck was still reeling from Lebanon. Roger had to force himself to not ask how that encounter had gone. “There was video on the news of protesters jumping up and down on your bumpers after you followed Mari into the crowd. The car did take a beating,” Roger said, recalling the clip that had sent both him and Mari into dangerous waters tonight.

Holly moved over to the dining table and examined the leftover pizza. “They likely shook everything imaginable so loose in my car that I’ll be having issues for months. I hate to say it, but somebody needs to give those cops this morning some balls. They don’t even have to be brass, just solid enough to handle some wimp-ass puppets with signs.” She motioned at the pizza.

Roger laughed. Holly’s comments rarely failed to amuse. Even Dekker cracked a smile at that one. “Help yourself to the pizza. You too, General. Beer and Coke are in the fridge.”

Roger wasn’t sure if Dekker would accept the invitation or not. In all the years they’d worked together, Roger had had one glimpse beneath Dekker’s hardcore veneer of professionalism. It had been the day Roger came up against Dugar’s IED at Mari’s house. After hearing Roger’s predicament, Dekker had cursed and then called Roger by his first name rather than rank or last name. By the time they’d hung up, Dekker had been almost back to form. He’d told Roger to prepare for a double ass chewing, but there’d been a warmth and care in the threat. After the incident, Dekker had returned to character, a steel-eyed man as frosty, solid and invincible as Mt. Everest. He never fraternized with the men of the teams like Roger did. Roger knew Dekker was divorced. Years ago, before he became a general, his wife had split for Washington, DC, and led a very public life, first as the mistress of a senator and now as his wife. In DC, some people could get away with murder and still smell like roses while others were crucified for minor traffic violations.

Dekker started to shake his head, clearly about to refuse the invitation, but when Holly bit into a slice and made a noise of satisfaction, the man headed in Holly’s direction and the food.

Roger decided to sit down before shock got the best of him. Holy moly, General Dekker had an interest or was developing an interest in Holly. Roger studied Holly’s expression as she fished drinks from the fridge but couldn’t tell from her expression if she knew it or not.

Then she popped open a beer, drank a long swallow. A longer swallow than Roger had ever seen her take. After, she arched a brow at the general and held up her beer. “What do you want?”

Her tone of voice told Roger all he needed to know. Holly knew it. Holly knew Dekker was sniffing and she wasn’t running. Hell, she was…enticing the man?

“I’d go for the beer,” Dekker said. “But I’ve got to be sharp for a meeting in thirty and who knows how long that’s going to last. Hand me a soda.”

Holly gave Dekker the soda and a plate then sat at the table to eat. Roger would have laughed, but couldn’t afford the explanation the two would have demanded. Holly moaned over the veggie pizza and Dekker lit into the meat pizza as if there was no tomorrow. Dekker was hard to read but Roger swore the man was not thinking about pizza as he glanced at Holly on the sly.

“So I gather from DT that you had a meeting about the sniper situation tonight?” Roger wondered why he hadn’t been notified of it at least.

General Dekker shrugged. “Nothing official. I called in Gear here, Beck, DT and a couple of our other top snipers to give me their opinion of the terrorist situation. I’m sure DT mentioned NCS and the FBI are questioning Corporal Santana in Atlanta. That boy seems to be a magnet for hard situations, but I’m pulling a few strings of my own. After my meeting tonight, I hope I’ll be in Atlanta first thing in the morning with a team of our best snipers as official consultants on the investigations. Delta might not be able to see any action on American soil, but a couple of calls can assure every means and every expert our country has is being utilized to catch these bastards. While I’m there I doubt anybody will stop me from talking to my own man, do you, Lt. Col.?”

Since the general didn’t say anything about Beck’s attitude, Roger breathed a sigh of relief then grinned at the general’s unexpected power play to counteract the NCS ass going after Rico. “No, sir. In fact, with your permission, I owe my cousin, President Anderson, a call and might mention that NCS is still giving us a few problems.”

Dekker took a long swallow of his Coke after finishing his last bite. It seemed to Roger that the man’s gaze was focused on the lip of Holly’s beer bottle. She’d just set it down.

“No permission required, Lt. Col. Keeping in touch with family is a good thing, and isn’t helping each other what families are all about?” Dekker glanced at his watch. “I’d better get to that meeting.”

Everyone stood and Holly moved toward the door.

Dekker followed. “I’ll see you at 0600 then, Senior.”

“With my gear, sir.” Holly opened the door.

Dekker nodded at her then glanced at Roger. “Let me know if your cousin has anything interesting to say about NCS or the sniper situation.”

“I’ll call first thing,” Roger said. Had the general made an about-face since his earlier lecture? Roger was more than just a little confused about it all.

Dekker turned on his heel and left. Holly shut the door. Roger opened his mouth but before he could utter a word, Holly lit into him. “Don’t you dare say one word, Commander. Not to me. Not to him. And not to anyone else living in this Fort Bragg fishbowl. I get he’s a superior officer and even though I’m in the National Guard, I’m still his subordinate.” She glanced at his closed bedroom door, clearly indicating Mari. “I’ve kept my mouth shut for you and expect the same in return.”

Holly’s defense systems were on high alert and the gleam in her eye gave him more than a hint of just how deadly she could be behind a rifle scope. He wasn’t about to get into a discussion about Mari either, but… “Okay, I won’t tell either of you that it’s a career buster, or that he’s probably twice your age.” He held up his hands in surrender. “But if you ever need any advice about climbing Mt. Everest, you can count on me.”

Holly frowned then shrugged. “Everest? Don’t you know that it takes one hell of a volcano to make a mountain that big? But we aren’t talking about that. Odds are I’ll be going to Atlanta in the morning for a day or so and won’t be here for Mari.”

“No worries. I’ll be here. So Beck’s not going to Atlanta even though he was at the meeting?”

“No. Only three of the eight Dekker called in are. Something’s up between Beck and Dekker though. Beck was all in-your-face attitude throughout the meeting and Dekker had him stay after. It wasn’t much better when they walked out and found me changing my tire. Both of them insisted on finishing the job, so I hit the restroom. When I returned, they’d seemed to have settled the problem.”

Roger seriously doubted Beck’s issues could be solved that quickly. But then, the change in Dekker between the ass chewing this morning and the pizza tonight was a total surprise to him. He let it go for now. “I have some errands to run. Wake me at 0600 when you leave, I’ll be on the couch next door as usual. And call me…for anything.”

“She was still upset before she went to bed?”

“You could say that. Have you seen the news clip?”

“No.”

“Mari did. So just call me if she needs anything, okay?”

“You know I will.”

“No, I don’t know. You regularly left the base and didn’t see fit to tell me that.”

Holly winced. “Guilty as charged.”

“We’ll talk later. Just know that with her picture all over the news, Dugar is sure to come gunning for her here now. If she needs to leave the base, I’ll be taking her. Are we clear on that?”

“Completely,” Holly said. “And just so you know, I’m thirty-two. There’s eighteen years between me and Dekker. Did you know that Mari is twenty-four?”

Roger stopped dead. He’d just assumed Mari was older. Had never thought to ask her. She’d been married to Neil for several years. She…was pregnant. And he was sixteen years older than her?

“Hell,” Roger muttered. He walked out the door of his apartment with a heavy burden twisting him inside out. The age thing was a shock but not a game-changer. But Mari’s parting confession on forgetting Neil was. Guilt had cleaved Roger in half. He’d not only caused Neil’s death but now he was erasing the man’s memory?

Chapter Sixteen

Atlanta. Georgia

September 12

0400 hours

“Daddy! Daddy!” Pigtails flying, the little girl ran toward her father. Missing half his head with blood and brain matter spilling from the gapping void, the father staggered to his feet. “Go back, baby. Go back.” She ran closer. Rico ran harder to catch her. The sniper bullet slammed into her back and blew a double-fist-sized hole through her chest, propelling her into her father’s defeated arms as bits of her heart splattered him.

“Rico!”