Forged in Ash (49 page)

She prayed, oh God, she prayed she was wrong.

He was quiet for half a dozen beats of her heart, as though he didn’t want to answer. But he was a good man. An honest one.

“No,” he said on a soft curse. “Your brother was too damn good at what he did. A pro. He had experience. A lot of experience.”

She accepted his reasoning with a tight nod, her throat hot and restricted. The numbness settled so deep and thick, it felt like her soul had been dipped in cement.

No wonder Russ had been so determined to support them, why he’d taken over as a father figure for her babies. Whatever he and Steve had been doing had gotten her husband killed.

Steve must have known what Russ was doing, what
they
were doing. He must have been part of it. Which meant her husband had been a monster too. How could she not have seen what lurked below Steve’s and Russ’s surfaces?

They’d both loved her. She didn’t doubt that.

But it didn’t soften the realization that the two most important men in her life had lied to her, every day, about almost everything. Or that they’d been capable of horrific, cold-blooded acts all in the name of the all-mighty dollar. Or that their sociopathic ruthlessness had taken the lives of her children.

She concentrated on the warm, sheltering arm around her shoulders, on the strength of the big body burning against her side. Wolf would have recognized the rot they’d kept hidden from her. He would have called them out on it. He would have stopped them before things got out of control.

If only he’d come into her life when he could have made a difference.

Cosky watched Mac pace from one end of the strategy room to the other as Jillian finished talking. And that’s what this place was—a strategy room, Wolf’s covert ops base.

The remote, defendable location had been the first sign that the place was more than a collection of cabins; the array of antennas on top of the roofs had been the second sign, the giant gas tanks that
ran a generator strong enough to power a third world country, the third. But this room had been the biggest giveaway.

The bare log wall across from the dining room table bristled with pinholes. A cluster of desks to the far right housed half a dozen computer monitors, along with a slew of surveillance equipment, white-noise jammers, electronic scramblers, GPS trackers…There were so many top-tier electronics, it should have given Rawls a hard-on.

Except, Rawls hadn’t noticed.

Frowning, Cosky shot his roommate a hooded glance. His buddy was standing with his back against the wall. Frozen. His body rigid. His face bone white and tense. He looked like a sharp sound could shatter him.

What the hell was going on in his closed-mouthed teammate’s head?

He hadn’t been the same since Kait had healed him. Physically he was fine, but mentally he was off—jumpy as a rabbit in the shadow of a hawk. He was losing weight too. Christ, he hadn’t even touched the chocolate-chip cookies Dr. Ansell had baked. Considering Rawls’s sweet tooth, that alone was cause for concern.

But there was a bigger concern, like the fact Cosky had walked in on him shouting savagely into the empty corner of their cabin…as though somebody was in there with him.

Cosky pushed the worry aside as he turned back to Mac’s restless pacing. Rawls would talk when he was ready.

“You got the list of names?” Mac snapped at Beth, who’d been writing down everything Jillian had told them.

And Jillian had told them a lot. Her brother’s given name, the dates and branches of his military service, the names of his friends and business acquaintances. Hell, she’d even given them dates and
the countries he may have been in based on the gifts he’d brought back.

The woman had been a fountain of information.

Beth ignored Mac with cool, regal poise and handed the sheets to Zane, who paused long enough to run a hand down the back of her blond head before handing the notes off to Mac.

The byplay had Mac grinding his teeth and a grin edging the corners of Cosky’s lips. Mac still wasn’t used to Beth being underfoot. Which was too damn bad; their commander would simply have to adjust. Zane was enthralled with his soon-to-be wife, and Cosky—hell, he understood the condition.

He was pretty enthralled himself, only not with Beth.

His gaze drifted to Kait, lingering on her deceptively slender figure with its rope of braided hair. She was an odd mixture of amiability and gritty determination. Most people underestimated Kait, taking her tall, blond beauty at face value without recognizing the intelligence in her eyes, or her determination to stand up for what she believed in—be that her insistence on healing, even knowing it put her life in danger, or the emotional courage that allowed her to calmly let the men she loved disappear into battle.

It was an uncomfortable feeling, how his heart seized when he was around her. How she made him want to be a better man. A more open man. Something he’d never cared about before.

Frowning uneasily, he scrubbed a hand down his face. They needed to get away from this mob and spend some time together. Cement the bonds forming between them. He’d come too damn close to losing her—repeatedly—during the past week and a half. Christ, hearing her say she loved another man had almost brought him to his knees.

He never wanted to hear those words come out of her mouth again.

When Mac swung toward Wolf, Cosky forced himself to listen.

“I need to call these names into Radar,” Mac said, his black eyes hard on Wolf’s face, the words a demand rather than a request.

They’d been using the satellite phone Wolf had on the premises. Nobody had questioned whether the phone was clean. No way would their host want his base camp locatable.

As Mac rang Radar, Cosky headed for Kait. He snagged a chocolate-chip cookie as he passed the counter. At least Faith Ansell had found a way to combat her tension. The counter was overflowing with cookies and cakes and various sweet breads.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Mac’s voice rose.

Cosky turned, finding his commander on the phone.

“No,” Mac said tightly. “What channel?” He listened for a second and swore. “I’ll call you back.”

“What’s up?” Zane asked. He’d taken a seat beside Beth on the couch, one of his arms wrapped around her waist, his other hand resting on her belly.

Cosky had an instant of yearning as he watched them. Good God, who would have guessed he’d wind up with white picket fences on his mind.

“Radar says we’re on the news.” Mac tossed the phone on the table and headed for the bank of computers against the wall.

“Which channel?” Cosky followed him.

“All of them.” Mac sounded grim. Everyone clustered around the desks as Wolf started the computer up. It must have cost him a mint, but the building had Internet. It didn’t take long to find the breaking news report or the reason for Mac’s grimness.

Particularly with the news report titled “From Heroes to Murderers.”

A cold tension slicked Cosky’s skin.

Video footage rolled, showing a trio of armed men in NVDs cutting a hole in a chain-link fence. One of the men disappeared around the left of the building, the other around the right. The third waited in the shadows of the shrubbery for a few moments and then slipped through the building’s gaping door. Cosky recognized the three figures instantly. They were standing beside him.

Zane swore, his voice tight.

The film fast forwarded to the unmistakable sound of gunfire. Minutes later, the three figures rushed out, dragging a fourth man between them.

The scene shifted to a newsroom and a pretty brunette behind a waist-high counter.

“The men involved in the shooting have been identified as Commander Jace Mackenzie, Lieutenant Commander Zane Winters, and Lieutenant Seth Rawlings,” she said into the camera. “The victims were unarmed security guards in the process of securing the facility. Local police have issued alerts for the three men involved. If sighted, call nine-one-one. Do not approach. They are considered armed and dangerous with a possible hostage.”

“Son of a bitch.” The words were forced through Mac’s teeth. He gripped the back of his neck with white fingers and glared down at the screen.

“We’re obviously getting too close.” Zane was the first to break the dead silence as the reporter moved into the attempted hijacking from four months earlier. “They know we’re aware of who and what they were after on that plane. They’re throwing up damage control.”

Mac rounded on his LC, his face livid with rage. “And how does that do us one fucking bit of good? We’ll be arrested the moment we show our fucking faces.”

Cosky frowned. “We weren’t all named. I’m in the clear.”

“I’m not on the film,” Amy said, her face thoughtful as she stared at the computer screen. “I was there, so was Faith. We should have been on the footage.”

“She’s right.” Mac’s voice calmed. “They spliced her and Faith out of the film. Why?”

“So they can’t claim they were there, and events didn’t happen as reported?” Zane suggested, absently drawing his white-faced fiancée against his side.

“Maybe.” But Amy didn’t sound like she believed it.

Cosky sighed, suddenly craving Kait’s warm weight cuddled against him, like Zane was cradling Beth. “At least we have two avenues open. That’s more than we had two weeks ago. Branson’s background might point us toward who’s behind this. And there’s Dynamic Solutions. We need to track down Leonard Embray. The bastard’s got to be involved.”

Grim nods traveled the room.

As though tracking down the mysterious, intensely private, and obscenely wealthy founder of Dynamic Solutions was going to be a piece of cake.

Assuming the guy wasn’t already missing, or dead, as Dr. Ansell suspected.

Her chest tight, Kait listened as the men discussed strategies. Was it too much to ask for a week of calm before everyone launched into battle again? Was it too much to ask for some time to get to know Cosky before he was wrenched away?

After five long years, they were finally tiptoeing into a relationship, damn if she was going to let him take off before they took the next step.

Her feet were moving before she was aware of it. She skirted Wolf’s bulky frame, catching the knowing glance he cast her. When she reached Cosky’s side, Kait took hold of his hand and held tight.

The touch didn’t just turn his head, his whole body shifted and curved toward her. That instant, unequivocal response steadied her, made it easy to put herself out there, something she’d sworn barely a week ago she’d never do again.

“How about we get out of here for a while?” she asked, her hand clinging to his. “Wolf says there’s a waterfall up the mountain. We could pack a lunch, have a picnic.”

The gray eyes looking down at her warmed. He shot his teammates a contemplative look and turned back to Kait, his gaze glittering with intensity. “We’ll need a blanket. Does Wolf have a day pack?”

She tried to smile around the fluttering in her stomach. From the heat shimmering in those silver eyes, there’d be more than lunch consumed on that blanket. “You find the pack and blanket; I’ll make some sandwiches.” He nodded and started to turn away when she abruptly remembered his knee. “Wait—” Her hand clung to his slipping fingers. “Is your leg up for a hike?”

His face softened. “My knee’s fine thanks to you.”

Kait frowned. “You’d tell me if you weren’t up for this, right?”

The smile that twisted his hard mouth held more arousal than humor. “Trust me. I’m completely
up
for this.”

Okay, she’d left herself wide open to that zinger.

Her facing heating, Kait let go of his hand and turned toward the kitchen, ignoring his low laugh. Ten minutes later they were on
their way, a backpack strapped to Cosky’s shoulders and the rudimentary map Wolf had scribbled for them in hand. Kait tried not to think of the amused, knowing looks that had followed them out the door.

Hell, Cosky’s teammates hadn’t even asked him why he was leaving in the middle of their strategy session.

The forest was dusky, cool, and slightly damp, the pine needles a thick cushion beneath their feet as they followed the path Wolf had outlined. A mile later, they left the smell of pine pitch and rotting vegetation behind as the forest canopy thinned, and they headed up a rocky slope blanketed by knee-high alpine grass and waist-high shrubs. The last half of the hike was almost straight up the mountain with the sun burning hot above their heads.