Tamed (Corcoran Team: Bulletproof Bachelors Book 3) (5 page)

He’d handle that, but first he had to take care of the newest threat. He wanted to take the guy alive. Bring him in and let the team question him. But then the guy prepared to fire, and Shane took him down. One shot to the head and he dropped.

But there could be more, so that meant one thing. He looked at Makena and tried to figure out the best way to say it. Then he just blurted it out.

“Strip.” Even in the dark he could see her eyes widen. “I can explain, but I need everything off.”

“Did you get hit in the head back there?”

Shane lifted his T-shirt over his head and handed it to her. “They’re following you.”

She took the shirt and held it up to her face. “So?”

A countdown ticked in his head. If a third gunman lurked out here somewhere, he’d be closing in soon. “Someone—I’m betting that first guy—planted a device on you that keeps bringing them to us, so I need you...”

She had his shirt balled in her fists. “What? Just say it.”

“Naked.”

She balanced on the balls of her feet and stared at him. For a few seconds she didn’t say anything. “I thought you’d never ask.”

Before he could answer—and he had no idea what he would have said—his cell beeped in his pocket. The noise and slight vibration made no sense until he remembered he’d already called for help.

When her fingers touched the bottom hem of her shirt, he turned away from her. Tried to block out the sound of clothes rustling and not think about what he would see if he looked over his shoulder.

He answered the phone instead. Talked before Cam could. “I need a cleanup crew at my house.”

“That’s the worst phrase ever.” Her voice sounded muffled.

Shane ignored every thought running through his brain. Tried to ignore the fact that Makena stood a few feet away without any clothes on. This moment amounted to both his fantasy and his nightmare all wrapped up in one. “Connor prefers that term.”

“And, of course, he knows people who do that work.”

Shane could hear the smile in her voice. Let the sound wash over him. Could stand there for hours except for Cam saying his name on the other end of the line.

That snapped Shane back into reality and got him talking to Cam. “Meet us at the safe house by Foster’s.”

Cam would know that meant the old mill once owned by the Foster family. They had three neutral places close by they could go to if any team member hit the scramble warning. Connor made sure they always had options. Tonight, like so many times in the past, Shane gave thanks for his boss’s compulsive tendencies and called the code for one of the safe houses.

“Is that code for something?” she asked.

This time Shane glanced over and immediately regretted it. The T-shirt hung down to her upper thighs. Not long enough to guarantee his peace of mind or prevent losing control.

The long legs, the way she curled her bare toes into the ground...he was a dead man. “And bring clothes for Makena.”

Chapter Six

Makena took a deep breath as she stood in the bathroom of the safe house. The one-bedroom cottage sat at the end of a long, dark road. From the outside it looked broken-down and in need of repair. A building with fading brown wood and a crooked front porch.

Inside told a different story. Just getting to the front door meant unlocking gates and deactivating alarms. Shane did it all using his watch, and then led them through the door. The cozy interior consisted of a small kitchen and living area with an L-shaped sectional sofa. One door led to the bedroom with the bathroom tucked inside. The other opened into what Shane called an SCIF, a sectioned-off room for receiving and reviewing sensitive information. To her it looked like a bare room with a desk, computer and safe, and no windows.

Smoothing down the borrowed T-shirt, the same one that skimmed over her, and the sweatpants that were too long and puddled on the floor around her feet, she guessed Julia had handed Cam the clothing but decided not to ask. Between the stripping and the kiss, Makena’s head still spun.

She stepped into the living area with a smile plastered on her face. Seeing Shane kicked up her heartbeat. Noticing Cam also sitting on the couch calmed her nerves a bit.

Cam looked up at her and smiled. “You look good.”

“It was either this or a towel.”

His smile deepened. “I’ll refrain from saying anything in response to that.”

“Good call.” Shane sounded anything but happy.

Cam leaned back into the couch cushions. “Hey, you’re the one to blame here.”

“How do you figure that?”

“Clearly Makena being with you is putting her in danger.” Cam frowned at Shane. “Why are you shaking your head?”

“Because you’re wrong about that.” Makena knew the back and forth could go on forever and decided to jump in. She walked farther into the room and took a seat at the very end of the couch. “This is about me, not Shane.”

“You’re saying that because of the note the first attacker carried?” Cam exhaled. “Yeah, I get that, but there has to be an explanation.”

“Yeah, someone is after her,” Shane said.

“Not possible.”

Shane nodded. “Totally possible.”

They were off again. Somehow she managed not to roll her eyes at the male byplay. As much as she wanted to keep her private life private, she knew that would no longer be possible. Her connection to the side business led to a whole new list of suspects. “I do some work for this website called
Wall of Dishonor
.”

Cam’s eyes widened. “The SEAL-outing one?”

She took in Cam’s show of interest and noted a bit of awe in his tone. The support came as a sharp contrast to Shane’s reaction. “You know it?”

“Of course. I check it out now and then, and silently curse the liars who have their photos posted.” Cam leaned forward with his elbows balanced on his knees. “You work there?”

“I do research and investigate. Corroborate the charges people lodge with the site about people lying about their service.” It was a simplistic explanation, but going into the details about requests from the government for information and all the calls and contacts with people who could confirm the stories, or not, would bore them.

Cam nodded. “Cool.”

“No, not cool,” Shane barked out.

In case she hoped he’d changed his position, he dashed that. “Shane thinks I’m being irresponsible.”

Cam looked at Shane. “Why? Those guys should be dragged out to face those who really did serve. Like you, for instance.”

“It’s dangerous,” Shane said in a growling voice.

Since he’d skipped over Cam’s point, she made one of her own. “So is driving.”

Not that it had any noticeable impact on Shane. He kept right on talking. “Do you think Holt would like knowing she’s doing this?”

“Is this really about Holt?” Cam almost whispered.

Exactly the question she wanted to ask. A man did not kiss like that, hold a woman with that sort of fierce grip, if he didn’t think about her. At least she hoped that was true. “I’ve always liked Cam best.”

Shane scoffed. “Get over it.”

“Holt is in love with, and planning to spend the rest of his life with, a woman who dedicated the last few years to helping people escape a cult involved in gunrunning. How could he get upset about his sister having the same sort of bravery?” Cam asked.

For the first time all day Makena felt lighter. Some of the tension dragging her down eased. Hearing Cam give Shane a hard time shifted life back into perspective for her. “Well, Shane?”

“It’s different when it’s your sister.” Shane shifted in his seat, and then did it again. For a man who rarely struggled with nerves, he seemed to be in a battle now.

Cam’s eyebrow lifted. “Makena isn’t your sister.”

“This conversation is over.” Shane emphasized his point by standing up. He walked into the kitchen.

She watched because she couldn’t
not
watch. Something about the lazy gait that was anything but. “Because he says so.”

Cam’s amusement hadn’t faded one bit. “Apparently.”

Just as quickly as he’d left, Shane returned to the living area with a pad of paper in his hand. He scribbled something with his left hand. “We need to look into Jeff Horvath and—”

Cam frowned. “Who?”

“One of the men she exposed.” Shane glanced up, but his expression stayed blank. “The same one who knows who she is and where she lives and followed us tonight.”

“So he’s behind all this?” Cam sounded doubtful.

“I’m not sure yet, but he’s angry.” Shane lowered the pages in his hand. “Out of control.”

She bit her lip while she debated sharing the other part of the story. “He’s also a bit of a stalker.”

Shane’s gaze shot to Cam. “Do you see what I’m saying about her being in danger?”

“You’ve made your point.” And if he used the word
danger
one more time, her head might explode.

“I’ll need a list of names of the guys you exposed.” Shane flipped through the pages. “And the names of everyone you work with at the site. Work and personal contact information. The usual.”

Only in his world did any of this qualify as normal, but she had a bigger problem. “Why?”

Shane didn’t look up. “They could be in danger or part of the problem. We won’t know until we start digging.”

That was the problem. The idea of someone breaching Tyler Cowls’s privacy had anxiety jumping around inside her. He would hate it and she could lose her position. “There’s one guy, but he’s really secretive.”

Shane’s head shot up. “I don’t care.”

“What kind of answer is that?” Not the one she’d expected and not reasonable under the circumstances. At least not to her.

“What’s his name?” Shane asked, refusing to back down.

She tried a different approach. One even he couldn’t argue with, in theory. “Let me talk with him and—”

“It’s better not to tip him off, since we’re going to see him tomorrow.”

Apparently he could argue just fine. What a surprise. “Because you say so?”

“Yes.”

Cam groaned as he stood up. “On that note, I should head out.” He looked at Shane. “I need to talk with you for a second.”

* * *

S
HANE
SERIOUSLY
CONSIDERED
refusing to go out on the porch. He sensed some sort of man-to-man talk coming and wanted to avoid it. “What’s up?”

Cam leaned against the porch post and stared out into the darkness beyond. “You’re blowing this.”

“What are you talking about?” But Shane knew. He and Cam had talked about Makena before. All those years of thinking he hid his attraction proved wrong. Cam knew. He insisted they all knew, even Holt.

But wanting her and being right for her were two different things. Shane could not seem to get Cam to understand that.

“Nope.” Cam shook his head as he glanced at his shoes. “You can’t sell that level of denial. It’s not believable.”

He would never let this go, no matter how much Shane wanted that to happen. “You should go home and get some sleep and—”

Cam pushed away from the post. “Do you really think her working for the site is irresponsible?”

He loved her for it. That was what shook Shane so hard. How much everything she did resonated with him and how devastating it would be to lose her for good. “It’s dangerous.”

“So you’ve said. Repeatedly, which is annoying, by the way.”

Maybe he needed to find a new word, because that one wasn’t convincing anyone of anything. “Go ahead. Make your point.”

“You care about her, and it’s coloring everything you say and do.”

Shane had figured that out long ago. “She’s Holt’s sister and we need—”

Cam groaned. “Stop.”

“I’m not the marrying kind. Not anymore.” He’d tried it once and it suffocated him. They had grown apart almost as soon as they walked down the aisle. Disappointment and hurt feelings led to a nasty divorce when it should have been easy. Shane remembered every soul-crushing moment. Remembered every vow he’d made not to travel down that road again.

“Who is talking marriage?” Cam didn’t use the word
idiot
, but it hovered in the background.

“You think we could just fool around?” The idea sounded so good in Shane’s head until he thought about the aftermath and how uncomfortable parties and every other group meeting could get.

“Maybe you should be asking her that, not me.” Cam blew out a long breath. “Look, I know your marriage was a disaster.”

“No worse than a few of my father’s.” Shane thought about the weddings...all four of them. His father didn’t take much seriously, including marriage. He fooled around, lied, got laid off and basically ruined everything he touched. Shane fought hard not to become the man who had raised him, but the worry lingered out there.

“You’re not him,” Cam said, as if he’d heard the worry running through Shane’s mind. “I know how this feels. You lose control and someone starts to matter more than anything else in your life. You make mistakes and bumble your way through them. I’ve been there.”

Shane thought back to those early days in Cam’s relationship with Julia. Cam, one of the most competent men on the planet, had turned into a complete mess. Shane didn’t want any part of that. “Just because you and every other member of the team have paired off doesn’t mean I intend to.”

“She’s not going to wait for you forever.”

“She should be dating. Other guys, I mean.” It hurt to say the words. He got them out over the sharp pain in his gut. Just the idea of her with someone else ripped him to shreds. He half expected to see blood on the floor. “I have to be careful how I deal with her.”

“You could start with being supportive.”

Shane closed his eyes. Just for a second to try to regain perspective and wipe the memory of that stupid kiss from his mind. “I don’t want her working there.”

“How do you think she feels about you walking into danger every day?”

Shane refused to think about that, because his job wasn’t up for debate. He could handle it. He’d been trained.

“That’s different.” Though for a second he wondered if it really was. He fought for what he believed in. She claimed to be doing the same thing.

Cam shook his head. “You’re headed for a tough fall.”

“What does that mean?”

“You’ll figure it out.” Cam started down the porch steps. “Have a good night.”

Shane stood there, watching the taillights disappear down the long drive. He wanted his mind to go blank and to have a moment without thinking or feeling. But the door creaked open behind him. He smelled the scent of her shampoo the second before she stepped out onto the porch.

“Did Cam leave?” She held on to the edge of the door as she peeked out.

Not ready for a civilized conversation, Shane tried to shut this one down. “I’ll send him the list of contacts.”

“I guess I should go write it, then.”

He did that to her. Shut her down. Sucked the life and energy out of her voice. Acted like a jerk.

“Makena.” He looked at her, drinking in the sight of her postshower. Dressed but still breaking his concentration. “You know I’m impressed with the work you’re doing at the website, right? I’m just worried about your safety.”

“I could tell from the way you were yelling and gritting your teeth together.”

She had him there. “I could have handled this better. Not...you’re not irresponsible. You’re the exact opposite, actually.”

Her head tilted to the side and her hair fell over her shoulder. “I’ve wasted a lot of time in my life doing stuff just because, being unfocused. Being a failure.”

He didn’t even know how to respond to that. That’s not how he viewed her at all. “You’re only twenty-six.”

“I need to do this.”

He knew all about need. He’d been driven to join the army for financial reasons and because he wanted a place of his own. “Maybe this isn’t a risk worth taking.”

“I have enough of those in my life.”

She meant him. He got it. “I don’t want to fight with you.”

“What do you want?”

She couldn’t ask that kind of question. It would open doors and send them down the wrong path. Being thrown together in close quarters would be hard enough without adding a new level of sexual tension into the mix.

“I don’t know.” The first time he’d ever lied to her. Right there.

“When you figure it out, let me know.” Without another word, she turned and walked into the house.

It took every ounce of his willpower and strength not to follow her.