She must have slept, because the next thing she knew, she awakened with a start, heart pounding, at the click of the door closing.
Who was there?
Where was Carly?
THREE
Ian paced in the tiny area between the two beds and the small bathroom, glancing at his watch again. Carly had just knocked on the door to let him know Gina was still asleep and she had to get going to report in to her day job. He regretted her lack of rest, but it couldn’t be helped.
As for himself, he’d slept a little, dozing until Jase called to say he was on his way. Night had passed without incident. He could only hope the day would go as smoothly. Something told him not to hold his breath.
He pushed the curtain aside just enough to see out.
Where was Jase?
Jason Sutton and Ian had served together under Commander Mac Gold. Jase was a dedicated man and in love with patriotism; Ian couldn’t remember the guy ever making a mistake on his watch.
Three short raps swiveled his attention to the door. Crossing the room in three long strides, he knuckled back two short knocks.
One tap answered.
Ian opened the door.
Jase, tall and dark as midnight, slipped into the room, silent as mist. “I made it as fast I could.”
“Thanks, buddy.”
“Haven’t heard from you in a long time.” Ian picked up on a coolness in the man’s voice that hadn’t been there before he’d left the unit.
“I know. I’m sorry.” He left it at that.
Jase grunted. “Whatever.”
A rap on the door brought both of the men’s attention to it. Ian walked over, peeped out and then opened the door, pulling Gina inside. “Gina, what are doing? You don’t need to be out in the open like that.”
Spying Jase, she drew up short, her eyes taking on a wary look. “I heard the door shut and it woke me up. I thought…” She shuddered. “Anyway, Carly left me a note saying she had to leave and that you would be over shortly.”
“Yeah, you should have waited on me.”
“I’m sorry. I’m just ready to get back to work on this.” She looked away and over at Jase. “Hi.”
Ian saw what she didn’t offer. She was scared to be alone. He didn’t blame her. Laying a hand on her shoulder, he said, “You said you knew Jase. We were all in the same unit once upon a time. Jase transferred out right before Mario was killed to be closer to his extended family. I asked him to bring me some things. I also told him what was going on with you. Unfortunately, he doesn’t know much more than we do at this point.”
“But I told you…!” Panic glistened in her dark eyes even though she’d known he was going to make the call.
“I know, Gina, but Jason’s okay. He’s not part of that unit anymore. He was gone before Mario died.”
She wilted back onto the bed. “I didn’t mean any offense by my reaction, Jase. It’s nice to see you again.”
His lips quirked as he nodded his bald head in Gina’s direction. “Don’t worry about it. It’s nice to see some things don’t change,” he teased softly. Gina never had been very good at hiding her feelings, and Jase had gotten to know her pretty well. She flushed and looked away only to appreciate it when Jase said, “Mario was a good guy. I’ve got some contacts I can ask to put out some feelers about him, if you like.”
“Thanks.” She bit her lip, then seemed to make up her mind. “Do you know anything he might have been involved in? Anything that he might have had that someone would be after?”
Jase shrugged. “No. There’s no telling. We go undercover all the time. Sometimes as a whole unit, sometimes as a partial. And we don’t always get filled in on what the others are doing unless there’s a need. There’s just no way to know. I saw him several times over a period of a few weeks before he died and thought he was acting strange. But when I asked him about it, he shrugged it off and never let on he was having a problem.”
“Strange how?”
Jase shook his head. “Nothing I can really put my finger on. Withdrawn, moody, quick to anger—and late to a lot of meetings. Just—stuff that was unlike Mario.”
She nodded, and Ian wanted to put his arms around her; then he caught the sheen of tears in her eyes and decided he might need to offer her his shoulder to cry on.
Instead of doing either one, he held a hand out to Jason. The man looked at it for a moment, then slowly reached out to shake it. Ian couldn’t read Jase’s expression but thought he saw something soften in the other man’s eyes. Jase offered, “Call me if you need anything else. I’ll keep after the other guys in the unit to talk to me and see if any of them know what Mario was doing right before he died.”
“I’d appreciate it.”
Jase’s eyes flicked to Gina, then back to Ian. “Take care of her.”
Then he was gone like smoke on a breeze.
“He’s a little different than I remember,” Gina murmured.
Ian turned to Gina, who sat on the bed. “What do you mean? Different how?”
She shrugged. “Of course I never saw him in the field, just when we would all get together and have cookouts or eat out or whatever. But I seem to remember that he was always the life of the party, the prankster.”
“Yeah. I remember that. But you’re right. In the field, he’s like a different person, rarely cracking a smile unless the situation calls for it. Total professional.”
“So, what did he bring?” She gestured to the backpack.
Ian looked inside. “A high-security laptop, night-vision goggles, an assortment of weapons, a GPS and—” he reached in and pulled out a device “—an encrypted cell phone.”
“We’re going to need all of that?”
“I sure hope not.”
“Huh.”
She seemed to lose interest in the topic. He lowered himself into the chair across from her. “Are you okay?”
She blinked. “No, but that doesn’t matter. I want to go back to the beach house and search it. I got interrupted before I had a chance to do anything. I…didn’t exactly start searching the minute I got there.”
“Was that the first time you’d been there since Mario died?”
Lips tight, she nodded. “Yes. I just walked on the beach for a long time, remembering the good times, the fun we’d had. By the time I got back to the house, I was hungry. I fixed a sandwich and went back into Mario’s little home office. I’d just opened the desk drawer to start searching when I heard the front door squeak. It only took a moment to realize it wasn’t you.” She closed her eyes at the memory, and Ian clenched a fist, wanting to pound those responsible for her fear.
Opening her eyes, she said, “So, I climbed out the window and took off down the beach. I must have made some kind of noise—I think I knocked something over—and they were after me pretty quick. Luckily, it was dark. I think that’s the only thing that slowed them down. That and the fact that I knew the beach and where to cut through to get to the diner.”
Regret filled him. “I’m sorry I was so late. I should have been there to…”
“It’s all right.” She stood. “But now, I’m going back to the house to see what I missed—and what damage those goons no doubt did to it.