Talon: Combat Tracking Team (A Breed Apart) (31 page)

“Hey!”

Aspen jolted at the shout from behind.

On his feet in a flash, Dane erupted in a storm. Brows tightly knit, fury rippled through his arms held to the side.

“You sorry son of a—”

“Timbrel!” Aspen shoved upward, planting herself between Dane and Timbrel, her hand on Dane’s chest. His pulse hammered under her palm. Fists balled, jaw tight, he was ready to fight.

Candyman walked behind Timbrel, who trembled as she spoke, “I told you,
told
you to stay away from her or I would hurt you.”

“Excuse me,” Aspen snapped. “You don’t speak for me.”

“I do when you get played.”

Candyman stood there, not speaking. Watching. As if…as if he knew something—they both knew something she didn’t.

“What do you mean?”

Another man stepped from the back, only then noticeable.

Timbrel thumbed over her shoulder to the brawny man in ACUs. “This is Will Rankin.”

Aspen’s mind ricocheted off the name. “You’re…you were Austin’s fire buddy.”

    Twenty-One    

W
hat do you mean, you left it in the dirt for her to find?”

With a glowering look, he climbed into the truck. “I know what I’m doing. You take care of your responsibility, Admiral, and I’ll take care of mine.”

“What’s wrong with you, leading her straight to you?”

He smirked. “How else do you kill a mouse than lure it out of its hole?”

“But she’s with Burnett’s pawn.”

“Don’t worry.”

“Do you realize who he is?”

Seething, he stared across the room at the woman with raven hair and sky-blue eyes. “I know exactly who he is.” He let himself smile.

“And how to take care of him.”

Still reeling from the near collision of good sense and
passion—what
got into him?—Cardinal wasn’t sure what this was about. And secretly, he was glad he’d been saved from caving to his carnal desires, to compromising himself, Aspen, and the mission with weakness.

Cardinal shifted everything in him to the man Aspen had just named as her brother’s partner. “Lieutenant.” He nodded to Rankin.

The man skirted a look to Timbrel.

She crossed her arms, defiance granitelike on what could be a pretty face without all that attitude. “He doesn’t know you.”

Cardinal inclined his head and cocked it. “Is he supposed to?” Why did it make his heart thump a million different ways that Aspen had hold of his forearm.

Timbrel frowned. “You said you were on Austin’s team.”

Ah. “Actually, no. I said I was with him in Kariz-e Sefid.” He looked at Rankin. “You weren’t there that day, were you?”

The man shrugged. “No, I was sick. Heat exhaustion or food poisoning. Docs weren’t sure.”

Cardinal returned his gaze to Timbrel. “Your point is…?”

“He doesn’t know you, and you claimed to be friends with Austin.”

Aspen turned to Rankin. “Hi, I’m Aspen.” She stuck out her hand and the L-T shook it, a blank expression glued to his face. “Do you know who I am?”

“Well, no, ma’am.”

She smiled. “I’m Austin’s twin sister, Aspen.”

“He had a twin?”

With a rueful look to Timbrel, Aspen nodded.

Rankin’s face reddened. “Well, Austin didn’t talk much, so I’m not surprised I didn’t know about you.”

The man was covering his tracks—badly. Which worked well for Cardinal. Really well. He offered his hand. “We’re sorry to have wasted your time, Lieutenant.”

“Look,” Rankin said, his deadpanned mask falling away, “I’m real sorry about Austin, but he was a good friend to me. A combat buddy, so I just—if I can help, I want to.” He pointed to Cardinal’s hand. “You two married?”

Cardinal slipped an arm around Aspen’s waist. “Newlyweds.”

The guy grinned. “Guess that’s why we caught y’all lip-locked.”

“Actually, we hadn’t…he…” Embarrassment made Aspen all the more appealing. Even if their lips hadn’t made contact yet, the accusation was enough to make her jittery.

“Guess so.” Cardinal would not let Rankin think anything contrary about their cover story. It also served as a really good reminder to not slip up like that again.
Never work the women. No matter what you feel
.

The words left a hot streak down the back of his neck and into his shoulder, tightening like a noose.

They said their good-byes to the lieutenant and waited for the door to close. And that’s when Cardinal turned on Timbrel. “If you have a problem with me—”

“Oh, I do.”

“Then take it up with Burnett, but get off my back. And keep this between us. This op is top secret—you drag in everyone you think it takes to prove whatever whim you have against me, and we’ll end up with no answers or dead.” He pointed to Aspen. “We’re trying to find her brother. Get with us or get off the team.”

Eyes narrowed, Timbrel seemed to feed off his anger. “Don’t you dare make yourself into a Boy Scout. I’ve seen the way you watch her, the way you ogle her.” She waved a hand at Aspen. “I knew she’d fall for you with all your charm and good looks. You’ve been working her from day one, and I warned her.”

Candyman gently rested a hand on Timbrel’s arm.

“Get off me!” She flung her arm up, free of the touch. “Stay away from her. She’s not a plaything.”

“Enough!” Aspen snapped. “Timbrel, I get that you don’t like him, that you don’t like men in general, but that gives you no right to act like this. I am a grown woman. I can take care of myself.”

“You’re naive.”

The words sliced through Aspen’s anger, leaving a gaping wound that showed clearly on her face. “I may be less experienced than you when it comes to…relationships, but I think I know my own mind. I know when I like someone and he likes me.”

Timbrel’s nostrils flared. “He’s got one thing on his mind—like all men. And when he’s done here with this mission, he’s done with you.” Her lips flattened as she nailed Aspen with a piercing look. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. I won’t pick up the pieces when he proves me right.” She stomped out of the building.

Candyman started after her. “Tim—”

“Bug off!” she shouted as she punched the door. As soon as she stepped into the blinding sun, she vanished.

Pulse ratcheting down, Cardinal hung his head. He’d lost it—really lost it with Hogan. “I’m sorry.”

As he turned so did Aspen, and her hand came to rest on his side. Her fingers danced off then back on. “No, it’s not your fault.” Rubbing her forehead, she looked back to the door. “I’m tired of her attitude about men, especially when she tries to destroy something special in my life. I mean, I understand she’s trying to protect me, but…” She smiled up at him. “There’s nothing to protect me from. I feel safe with you.”

Cardinal’s breathing shallowed out.

Another smile, this one slow and coy. Aspen tugged his shirt and gave him a smirk. “I trust you.”

The words detonated like a nuclear blast against his conscience. “Don’t.”

She almost laughed as her brows slid in and out in question. “What?”

God, help me!
He was doing it—using her, manipulating her. Like he vowed not to do. She’d fallen for every play he’d dealt. Trust him? That would be the biggest mistake of her life. “Don’t trust me.”

This time, the smile lost its flirtation and became nervous. “What do you mean? Of course I trust you.” She reached toward his face.

He grabbed her hand. Hated to do this. It had to be done. “Don’t. Trust. Me.”
Leave. Walk out. Sever this thing that’s growing between you and her
. “Don’t ever trust me.”
Just tell her everything and get it over with
. It was a sarcastic thought, but it slingshot back at him.
Tell her
.

Cardinal stepped back. Stared at her. Studied her. Memorized her confusion. Thinly veiled fear speared his heart. She
didn’t
trust him.

“I…I don’t understand.”

Of course she didn’t. Couldn’t. Because she only knew a small piece of the truth. “I have things to take care of.”

“Dane.”

As he walked away, he let his eyes slide shut briefly. It wasn’t even his name, or even his identity. Dane was the man she married. Not Cardinal. Not the real man behind the religious moniker. She didn’t know
him
. That was good—it meant she was safe from that man.

The truth wounded him. Strange, he thought as he pushed open the door, that he even cared. He shouldn’t. It took only one small step to become the man he hated. To blur the ethical and moral lines between doing a job and abusing it.

Embroiled in the heat and dust that was distinctly Djibouti, he let the brilliance blind him. If only it could sear the image of Aspen Courtland’s hurt from his mind.

But no, he wanted to remember that. To memorize it. So he’d never forget. And never make the mistake again.