Chapter Twenty-Four

Liz opened her eyes, and without even glancing at the other side of the bed, realized she was alone. In her room. In her bed. In her clothes.

During the night she’d awoken once, finding herself snuggled against Mitch’s side, she under the bedspread, him not. At least they had both finally been in the same bed for some sleep. Trouble was, they’d both been fully dressed. She’d liked yesterday afternoon, undressed for the seahorse ride, much better.

Right now she’d take either option. Alone, she didn’t much like.

A lot of things had been said by both of them out on the deck last night. Her panic attack had started everything; his past had finished what little they had to hold onto in their arrangement. Finally, his ultimatum that they needed to stop whatever was between them had sent her in search of sleep. There’d been only so much she could take in one gulp.

Besides, he seemed like the type who needed to have time to cool off before he could see any other direction. Last night all he’d focused on was his own all-fired sure-of-himself decisions in life. His story had been gut-wrenching…for both of them.

Today, they would need to talk again. Of course, he’d fight that, too.

She rolled out of her side of the bed and stretched, noticing the rumpled sheets from where he’d slept on the other half of the bed. His head’s indentation in the pillow was barely there, which meant he’d been up for a while. Taking her time, she showered, shampooed, shaved her legs, did her nails, her toenails, brushed on a tad of makeup, anything and everything she could think of to do in the room. Satisfied she’d stalled as long as possible, she opened the door and headed downstairs to the kitchen. The clock on the landing showed eleven a.m. She’d procrastinated long enough.

The media room door was closed, with a one-word note, scribbled in all caps with a red marker, taped to the doorframe. —WORKING—

All right. If he wanted to be that way, she could, too. She still had plenty to do with the post-it note layout of her past weeks of work that was still spread across the dining room table. First on the agenda, though, was food.

She fixed a small plate of cheese and crackers, nuts and fruit, including a water, then slid onto one of the counter stools. After the escapade with the chocolate milk, she’d had enough of the same routine for breakfast.

Noise at the door to outside caught her attention a second before it opened. Reese stepped inside, reaching to click off the security system. Mitch barreled out of the media room, gun drawn.

“Good morning, Reese,” she said, nibbling on the cheese.

“Good morning.” He stepped to the counter, grabbing a few crackers from her stash as he winked.

She glanced in the other direction, sarcasm in her tone. “Good to see you again, Mitch.”

He snarled. “Good to see you, too.

“Awwwwww, isn’t that sweet?” Reese grinned. “Trouble in paradise.”

“Shove it, Reese,” Mitch barked.

“Yeah, shove it.” She smiled along with the words. In the midst of all the danger that was happening in her life, it felt good to be flip about something. Her situation with Mitch wasn’t flip, but Reese had lightened the load with his humor.

The media room door opened again, and a man she’d never seen walked through. Dressed in a black muscle shirt and green fatigue pants, he was lean, yet the hardened biceps confirmed his strength. An angular face with a slight cleft in his chin was accentuated with piercing and hooded blue eyes, a Roman nose, and a full bottom lip. His dark hair should have been cut an inch ago.

The man nodded in her direction. “People call me Stealth.”

His voice rumbled low…and smooth, like a gale-force wind with a shot of Jose Cuervo.

Josh brought up the rear of the men coming from the media room. Serious and focused, he checked his gun as he walked. The men—Mitch, Reese, Josh, Stealth—all did a brother-in-arms forearm shake.

Now she was scared. “Somebody want to tell me what’s going on? Because I feel like I missed the memo.”

“There were a few things that changed last night, so I called the team together.” Mitch didn’t make eye contact with her. “Then, lucky for us, more things changed this morning.” He held out one of the computer panels from the kitchen desk area. “You might find this interesting.”

Taking the panel, she glanced down. “Oh my gosh. That’s…that’s my dad.” Her voice quivered. “And Drake. Where…what…”

“Early yesterday, Drake let us know he was on Russ’s trail, but I didn’t want to tell you anything until it was finalized.”

“Is this real?”

“Yeah. We’ve date and code verified the photo. They’re in Key West where Russ was on vacation. He knew nothing about what was going on.”

“So, all the messages were sent from CT?”

Josh nodded. “No system is foolproof. Somehow CT was able to use your dad’s phone number to send you texts.”

“How do you know the photo isn’t being sent by CT, also?” At this point, she planned to ask and double ask to make sure she covered all the bases in her mind.

“That’s why we date code verified the photo. It’s real.”

She swiped at the happy tears rolling down her face, then jerked when the panel she was holding binged with an incoming Skype. “What do I do?”

Mitch glanced over her shoulder. “It has the right code. Tap the accept.”

The moment she did, her dad’s image popped on the screen, and Mitch stepped out of the frame. “Dad, you’re okay.”

“Sure am, punkin’.” Russ shook his head. “I don’t know what the heck has been going on. I’m just glad Drake found me.”

“Me too.” She sighed then smiled. A weight seemed to have been lifted from her shoulders. “Drake’s OPAQUE group has been great at making sure I’m safe.”

“Looks like I’ll have a lot of people to thank for that. Who was that guy by you?”

“Mitch Gr—”

Mitch held up his hand, motioning her not to say names.

Her dad looked as if he had all the time in the world, but finally he smiled. “Oh, Drake’s telling me I shouldn’t…we shouldn’t say names over the system. His OPAQUE stuff is good, but just in case, I guess.”

Part of her was ecstatic over her dad being safe. Another part realized that meant her time with OPAQUE protection would be coming to an end. Surely, once CT realized their game hadn’t worked, they’d drop targeting her.

“Will I see you any time soon, Dad?” she asked.

“Drake said as soon as we get close, we’ll let you all know where to meet us. He’s already programmed in the GPS coordinates.” Her dad smiled. “Well, Drake’s motioning me to wrap this conversation up. See you soon, punkin’.”

“Sounds good.” Her day might have started out iffy, but she couldn’t ask for anything better. Her dad was safe. She handed Mitch the panel.

Reese scrubbed his hand in her hair. “Look at that, Short Stuff. You’re going to be rid of us soon. What do you think? You gonna be glad to see us gone?”

How could she tell him how much this time with Mitch had meant to her? And not only Mitch. It had been great to be part of a group that had cared about her. “I’ll never forget you crazy guys. Thank you all.”

Clearing his throat, Mitch stepped to the end of the counter. “There’s one more surprise.”

“I don’t know if I can take many more this morning,” she said.

“Since Drake sent the photo, and we talked to him earlier today, that means we can step back from such intense security.”

“What does that mean?”

“The messages and phone conversations with Drake and Russ indicate the situation is under control,” Reese said. “And earlier, Drake even sent a text saying all the CT chatter OPAQUE had picked up last night intimated they were gloating that they’d sent OPAQUE on a wild-goose chase. CT even sent out orders to its operatives to shut down the game.”

She still didn’t understand what that meant. CT had played a game? The past days had been nothing but a game between adversaries? “So everything is over? We’re all good to go back to our business-as-usual lives?”

The men turned toward Mitch.

“What do you say, leader?” Josh asked. “Are we good to go?”

Mitch glanced at the ceiling, the counter, the phone, the men and finally, her. His brow tensed then gradually eased the longer he seemed to evaluate the info.

“Don’t overthink things.” Stealth said in an even, emotionless tone. “Go with your gut.”

“Okay. OPAQUE has verified that all lines of communication regarding Liz have been nullified. This morning’s CT Leverage List didn’t show Liz’s name. Or mine. Plus, the contact with Drake and Russ.” Mitch fist-punched his hand out in front of him. “Hooyah! We’re good to go.”

Each of the men fist-bumped his in return.

“What does that”—she knocked her fists together—“mean?”

Reese tousled her hair. “We’re all in agreement, Short Stuff. Mission accomplished.”

What agreement? She was more confused than she’d been when she walked down the stairs. “In words even I can understand, guys. What’s the bottom line?”

Mitch picked up the house remote. “You can go for a walk on the beach.”

Her insides somersaulted with happiness. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope. The beach and the water are yours.” Mitch pushed the button to open the doors to the deck. “Enjoy your day, E-liz-a-beth.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” She felt her smile spread from one side of her face to the other. She hugged Josh, then Reese, then turned to Stealth, who stepped back from the hug but at least gave her a high-five.

She didn’t hug Mitch, but instead she looked him in the eye. The past twenty-four hours had been so intense between them, she wasn’t sure where they stood. “Thank you. Thank you very much.”

Mitch shrugged. “Glad it’s worked out for you. I told you we’d talk about it this morning.”

Stealth leaned toward Reese. “What’s going on with those two?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“You mean…” Stealth shot a sideways glance toward Reese. “They…”

Reese nodded.

“You know, I can hear you guys,” Liz said.

Stealth leaned back against the wall. “Hell, the entire world must have frozen over while I was gone.”

She heard the banter. Saw the friendship. The men were here to protect her, but at the same time they were a family. One that fought together. One that, sometimes, died together. And, even though she could enjoy the beach today, there was the undercurrent they were still there for her until they were relieved.

“There are a few rules, though,” Mitch said. “Three of us will set up a perimeter.”

Shaking his head, Stealth exhaled loud and to the point. “I knew his gut would throw in a detour.”

Mitch shot him an I’m-still-in-charge stare and exhaled right back at him. “One will walk the beach with you.”

Reese grinned then winked in her direction. “So, Short Stuff, who’s going to walk with you? Your choice. Out of all us guys, which one do you want by your side?”

There was no question who she wanted next to her on the beach. No question who she wanted by her for a lot more than a walk. Last night was gone. The words spoken had had time to settle, and this was a new day. “Mitch? Would you like to go for a walk on the beach…with me?”

…

Thirty minutes later, Mitch motioned the other guys into place—Reese and Stealth on opposite ends of the beach, Josh stationed on deck back at the house—as Liz and he dug their toes into the white sand. The warmth felt inviting, and when they walked at the edge of the water, the waves lapping at their ankles settled everything in his life that was wrong. Last night’s clearing of his soul had been exactly what he needed. Maybe what he’d needed for a good long time.

He folded his hand over hers, and she intertwined her fingers with his. She looked cute in her bikini, her hair shiny and soft as it fluttered in the breeze. Darting around him she pulled away and raced farther out in the water, then turned and splashed him.

“I told you yesterday at the pool, that kind of mischief will get you in trouble.” Without thinking, he raised his eyebrows and smiled.

Laughing, she wiggled her hips from side to side as the waves gently rushed against the back of her thighs. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Slowly, she walked toward him, leaning forward, dragging her hand across the water, splashing him again and again and again. Closer and closer and…

She looped her arms around his neck and kissed his chin. “Are the guys specifically watching us?”

“No. They’re watching the perimeter. And if they happen to turn in this direction, they’ll turn away.” That’s what they’d learned to do when protecting people.

As she slid down the front of him, she trailed her kisses to his neck, to his chest, to the edge of his swim trunks. Then, she stepped farther and farther out in the water, leaning backward until she floated face up toward the sky. Suddenly, a rogue wave crashed over her, tumbling her to the bottom. She came up sputtering at the same time Mitch wrapped his arms around her.

From there, they fell into laughter and caresses, tickles, and splashes. He tossed her upward and outward into the waves, but he always made sure to get to her before she splashed down. Neck-deep in the water, she evaded his reach before she settled in front of him, bouncing slightly with the Gulf’s steady ripple.

“Don’t go too far out.” He glanced skyward. Farther out into the Gulf. What had he heard? Seen? A hum? A speck? He searched for any sign of a drone. None. And nobody else on the team had turned in question. Like the guys said, he was just being paranoid.

“I won’t.” She bounced a couple more times, higher and higher out of the water, then she popped beneath the waves. Seconds later, she stood back up, holding her bikini bottom in her fingers. She held them out to him. “Could you hold these for me?”

His core jumped into overdrive as he shucked out of his swim trunks, grabbed her bikini bottoms, and looped both of them up his arm and onto his shoulder. “You’re playing with fire, little nymph. Playing with fire.”

She shrugged along with the pout of her lower lip. “So, maybe you should put the fire out.”

Brushing against his chest, she wrapped her legs around him, and his insides yelled for release. He shouldn’t…he truly, damn well shouldn’t…but his hands seemed to have a mind of their own. He cupped her in his palms, grazing his lips and fingers over her body as he walked farther out into the water. More than his hands had a mind of its own, and he wasn’t going to fight that, either. Arms and legs and body, they came together in the waves, and she gripped her fingernails into his shoulders, deeper and deeper, until she lost all control seconds before him.

After regaining their composure and their clothes, they walked back to the beach. He, watching the gulls fly overhead. She, gathering a few random shells that peeked out of the sand. Finally, they spread out the beach towel they’d brought down and sat, staring out at the Gulf.

They talked. Talked about their pasts. Talked about things they liked. Talked about music and art and places they’d like to visit. They never talked about the future, though. Then they were quiet. Their shoulders touched as they sat side by side, closer and closer to each other, closer and closer to the end of the day.

“Don’t just leave,” she said.

He glanced in her direction. “What do you mean? I’ll sit here as long as you want.”

“You know what I mean.” She met his gaze with her own.

Yeah, he knew what she meant. This conversation had no place in his world, just like she had no place in his world. All he could ever offer her was a life filled with worry, or danger. Sooner or later that would shatter her self being. She’d lose all sense of who she was and what she wanted. And, if they had children… What then?

He swallowed hard. End it now. End it clean. That’s what was best for her. Didn’t matter what was best for him.

“We both knew I’d have to leave some day,” he said.

“I know.” She nodded weakly. “But I don’t want you to go forever. I read Drake’s note again this morning. Thought about how my mother couldn’t face his life of danger. How she’d been honest enough to tell him she couldn’t.” She kissed Mitch’s cheek. “I’m not my mother. I’m me. And I can face whatever life throws at me. Even love with a dangerous man with a dangerous past and the promise of a dangerous future.”

“I know you can, but…” A shadow of what-if crossed his expression, but he rolled his shoulders and shook it off. “I don’t know what you want me to do, Liz. We—”

“You don’t have to do anything.” She covered his hand with hers. “Just promise me you’ll at least say goodbye. Please promise.”

He sighed long and longer. She’d mentioned love…love with a dangerous man…and that’s what he was. The love he felt for her needed to be tempered, because she didn’t deserve the danger and unknown of an OPAQUE agent’s life. But she did deserve everything he could give her to make leaving easier.

Fingering her hand in his, he pulled it to his lips for a single kiss. “I promise, Elizabeth. I promise to say goodbye.”

“My name is Liz,” she whispered, then sat perfectly still. Slowly, she laid her head against his shoulder. “I love you, Agent Granger. I love you.”

The words shook him, but he kept staring at the water.

During the next hour, life slowed, along with their energy. They still laughed, but not quite as much. Their mood had dimmed. The sun got hotter. Finally, one of the guys brought down a beach umbrella and jabbed it in the sand then walked back to the house. She lay back and closed her eyes.

Mitch went for a swim. Felt good. Rejuvenated him. He figured that’s what she had needed when they’d talked about going outside last night. When he saw her sit back up and franticly look around, he started in to shore.

“Delivery!” Reese plopped a bag of food and a couple of drinks beneath the umbrella. “Us guys got hungry, so I grabbed some wings and fries from the place down the way. Figured you all might want some, too.”

“Thanks.” Mitch toweled off. “We’ll eat and then head back inside.”

Reese nodded and walked away.

“Sound okay to you?” Mitch looked in her direction as he lowered to the beach towel.

She smiled. “Sounds good. Thank you for today. This was nice.”

“I have to admit, it felt good to be outside and—”

“Mitch! Mitch!” Josh yelled from the deck, tossing a secure phone in his direction.

Mitch dug his feet in the sand, sprinting toward the house. He caught the phone on the run halfway to the house and shoved it against his ear. “Yeah?”

“Joey here. Just landed Panama City. Should be there less than hour.”

“Why?”

“You sent an urgent text. Get there STAT. The OPAQUE pilot diverted from the Ft. Myers flight plan and flew us straight here.” Joey talked in the fast-paced clipped manner he always did when time was of the essence. “Plus there are two OPAQUE agents in a PT boat running flat-out across the Gulf from Galveston. Another taking a chopper from New Orleans.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Mitch shouted back.

“How did you find out about the CT boat?” Joey questioned without answering. “OPAQUE sonar and radar didn’t even pick it up.”

“What boat? How do you know where we’re at?”

“You sent the coordinate.” Joey rattled off the physical address also. “Text said you hoped we got there before the CT boat got in range.”

Mitch’s gut clenched. Chills raced across his shoulders. “I didn’t text anyone. Don’t come. Contact St. Louis headquarters to lock down. Notify the other agents to stay at a safe distance until further notice. Tell them to stay off any messages that say they’re from me.”

“The boat sounds like a threat. Want me to track it?” Joey was the tech guru of OPAQUE.

Keith had been the sonar expert on the Shades of Leverage team. His background had included sonar and radar during his time in the Navy. Anytime there’d been a question in OPAQUE’s tech tracking department that couldn’t be solved, they’d contact Keith for an outside-the-box idea. Made sense there might be a glitch in the system without his input.

“Yeah. Track it and get back to me. I’ll check on this end.” Mitch ran back toward Liz. “Have you picked up Cat from Ft. Myers yet?”

“Not yet. We’ll contact her to be waiting at the airfield for quick pick up and head straight to headquarters.”

“Sounds good,” Mitch said. “Sign off.”

The phone went quiet a second before he whistled loud and shrill. Circling his arm above his head, he glanced up the beach then down. As if from nowhere, Reese and Stealth ran in his direction. Josh had disappeared from the deck, and the folding windows leading inside were slowly closing.

Standing next to the beach umbrella, Liz looked puzzled.

Mitch dashed to her, grabbing her hand as he pulled his gun from the waterproof holster he’d brought to the beach. “Come on. Come on.”

“What’s wrong?” She yelled as she ran, her feet sinking in the silky white sand.

“Get in the house.” He shielded her from the Gulf side.

As Reese and Stealth closed in on them, Mitch wrapped his arm around her waist and half carried, half dragged her the rest of the way up the dune. There was no time to lose. Coercion Ten knew where they were hiding. They were luring agent after agent to this place. What the hell was going on?

Good he’d called in the reinforcement arsenal, along with Stealth last night. Things were going to get dicey and what they didn’t have, they’d improvise.

Could contacting Joey have been the start of another game? Or was the Liz game still in play? Or had Mitch been right all along that the elite of OPAQUE were the target?

Only one way to find out for sure—find the CT rat in OPAQUE.

Nobody was above suspicion. Nobody.