Seven Days to Forever (20 page)

The men’s gazes shifted toward her.

Abbie had never been more conscious of her size. She was surrounded by hard-muscled, grim-faced soldiers who towered at least a head above her. As always, they were wearing ordinary clothes rather than uniforms, but that made no difference. She couldn’t forget they were trained fighters, waiting for the chance to go into action. What made her think she had anything to contribute?

Sarah caught her eye and nodded once, a silent gesture of encouragement.

Abbie drew herself up to her full five foot four, crossed her arms and tipped her chin to look at the major. “I’m here to return Matteo Vilyas safely to his family,” she said. “And if I can do that by being a diversion, I will.”

“Thank you, Miss Locke.”

“Abbie,” Flynn said. “You don’t understand what this means.”

She kept her gaze on the major. “I’ll be wearing the same communication equipment and bullet-proof vest as the last time, right?”

“Yes, of course. We will have sharpshooters around the drop point, as well.”

“Then I can do it,” she said.

Flynn swore under his breath and caught her elbow. “It won’t be the same as the last time, Abbie. The situation could deteriorate too fast. I won’t let you do this.”

“O’Toole, you’re out of line.” The major’s voice was low, as ominous as a roll of thunder.

Flynn seemed to take no notice of the reprimand from his superior officer or the glances from the other men. He continued to stare at Abbie. “Use your head. You’re too involved. You’re not thinking objectively.”

“Are you?” she asked.

Her question made him pause. A muscle in his jaw jumped. Before he could reply, there was the scrape of footsteps behind them. Rafe and Jack stepped forward from the group to move on either side of Flynn. Rafe gave him a solid nudge in the ribs. Jack caught him as he staggered and neatly moved between Flynn and the major.

“Major Redinger,” Rafe said. “There is an alley that runs behind the north wall of the butcher shop. The meat locker is in the northwest corner of the building, correct?”

Redinger gave a crisp nod.

“If we could devise some form of cover that would allow us to be in the alley,” Rafe said, “we could drill a small hole through the wall of the building into the locker and insert a cable cam.”

Sarah spoke up quickly. “That’s an excellent idea, Major. If we can get a visual confirmation of the Vilyas boy’s location with the camera, we would be able to move on the base well before the next ransom drop.”

“Good. Do it.” Redinger stepped back from the table and skewered Flynn with a look. “Sergeant O’Toole, I’ll see you outside. Now.”

* * *

Flynn finished cleaning the last piece of the submachine gun and set it on the cloth he’d spread over the wooden pallet in front of him. The black lacquer that coated the parts had been developed for durability. The pistol grip was ambidextrous, so the gun could be fired with either hand. The suppressor that fitted over the end of the barrel reduced the noise of a shot to the decibel level of a light tap. It was a versatile weapon, perfect for close-quarters combat, both silent and deadly.

With movements that had the choreographed grace of an action repeated countless times, Flynn assembled the gun. When he was finished, he held it loosely, feeling the familiar weight settle reassuringly into his hands.

Every man in Eagle Squadron had been drilled in the use of deadly force. They knew the stakes and they accepted the risks. This was what Flynn was trained for and what he was good at. It was the life he’d chosen. He didn’t know what he’d do without it.

Rafe squatted beside him to reach the ammunition case on the floor. “You okay?” he asked.

Flynn put the weapon down. “Fine.”

“The major looked pissed. I thought you’d be pulling guard duty at Bragg for the next year.”

“Redinger’s fair. Guard duty would be too easy. He figured the worst thing he could do to me is leave me where I am.”

Rafe chuckled. “Yeah, that sounds like the major.”

“Is the camera in place?”

“Norton and Lang are still working on it. First they’ve got to reposition a dumpster from farther down the alley so it butts against the wall where the meat locker is located.”

“Are they going to drill from inside the dumpster? Is that the plan?”

“Uh-huh. Jack wasn’t too crazy about that part.”

“As long as it works. It was a good idea, Rafe.”

“You probably would have thought of it yourself if you hadn’t been so wrapped up with Abbie.”

Flynn leaned a hip against the corner of a packing crate and raked his fingers through his hair. “Thanks for the save back there. I owe you and Jack.”

“You were digging yourself a pretty deep hole with the major. We couldn’t stand by and watch you fall in.” Rafe paused as he counted out thirty shells and lined them up in neat rows on top of the crate. “And you don’t owe me. I was returning the favor.”

“What favor?”

Rafe stood up from his crouch and slanted him a look. “I seem to remember one briefing about a few months ago when I couldn’t keep my mind on the mission. You didn’t pull any punches when you reminded me about my priorities.”

Flynn frowned. He knew what Rafe was referring to. They had been planning a raid on the Caribbean island stronghold of the notorious drug lord, Leonardo Juarez. Flynn had been blunt when he’d pointed out Rafe’s attention hadn’t been with them 100 percent. “That was different.”

“Uh-huh. How?”

“You weren’t listening to the major’s briefing because you were thinking about Glenna.”

Rafe picked up the first shell in the closest row, wiped it carefully and inserted it into an empty magazine that would fit the submachine gun Flynn had just assembled. “And how is that different?”

“You were serious about the woman. You ended up proposing to her. I was concerned with Abbie’s safety, that’s all.”

“Yes, so you said.”

“It’s not the same.”

Rafe picked up a second shell, cleaned it and put it in the magazine. “Yeah, she’s not your type.”

“Damn right.”

“You told me tall women fit you better.”

Flynn thought about how Abbie had curled up in his arms on the cot, and how she had swayed into him as he’d held her against the wall last night. He hadn’t thought about fit. Size had been irrelevant. Their bodies had flowed together as naturally as if they’d been designed for each other.

“She looks like a nester,” Rafe continued. “I hope she realizes you’re not the man for her.”

“She knows. We’re straight about that.”

“Once you get serious about a woman, you lose your edge, isn’t that what you told me?”

“I might have.”

Rafe cleaned several more shells. He didn’t speak again until he’d finished filling the magazine and had handed it to Flynn. “The rest of the guys figure they know why you’re hanging all over Abbie. They think it’s the challenge that’s got you hooked.”

“They’ve got too much time on their hands.”

“Is it?”

“What?”

“The challenge.” Rafe fixed him with a steady gaze. “Do you consider Abbie sport? Any bets on how much longer it’ll take before you get into her pants?”

Anger stiffened Flynn’s spine. He remained where he was with an effort. “You’re lucky you’re already so ugly, Marek,” he said quietly. “Otherwise, I might have to rearrange your face for that comment about Abbie.”

“Funny, I seem to remember rearranging your uniform when you made a comment like that about Glenna.” A dimple folded into the scars on Rafe’s bad side. “But go ahead and try, O’Toole. I’ve always thought you’re too pretty for your own good, anyway.”

Flynn focused on Rafe’s half smile and felt his anger deflate as quickly as it had arisen. Rafe was a good friend, the best man to have at his back in any fight. His crude remark about Abbie had been an attempt to jar Flynn into revealing how he felt.

Problem was, he wasn’t sure himself.

You’re too involved. You’re not thinking objectively.
That’s what he’d told Abbie. He should have listened to his own advice. “It’s my duty to keep Abbie safe,” he said. “I don’t want her to get hurt.”

“I can see that. But are you sure you’re not serious about her?”

“I have other plans for my life. I like my freedom.”

“That’s what I thought until I met Glenna. Loving her opened a whole world of possibilities, made me look at life from a new perspective.”

“Geez, can we change the subject? This touchy-feely stuff is giving me hives. Next thing you know you’re going to take up knitting.”

Rafe continued to look at him, his smile dimming. “Changing the subject won’t change what’s happening, Flynn. There’s something special between you and Abbie. Just think about it, okay? I didn’t until it was almost too late. I could have lost Glenna.”

“This is different. Nothing’s going to happen to Abbie. I’m going to make sure of it.”

“Uh-huh. And what happens when the mission’s over?” Rafe clapped his hand on Flynn’s shoulder and gave him a shake. “Better think about that, too.”

* * *

A ragged bush grew beside the loading bay. Its branches scraped against the cement platform in the breeze, a light scrabbling noise. A cricket chirped among the weeds that grew through a crack in the pavement. Answering chirps sounded faintly from the corner of the warehouse. To one side the rusted hulks of derelict cars were heaped behind the fence of a junkyard. On the other, the dark outline of an abandoned factory was silhouetted against the glow of the city. Overhead, the blinking lights of a plane mingled with the stars, its engines a faint rumble in the distance.

Abbie pulled her jacket more tightly around her shoulders as she turned her face to the breeze.

“Abbie?”

“Over here, Flynn,” she replied softly.

He walked past the loading bay to the edge of the lane where she was standing. “I thought you’d want to know the camera’s working. They penetrated the meat locker.”

Chief Esposito had shown her the device they were going to use. It was a glass lens that had been fitted into the end of a flexible metal-sheathed cable no thicker than her little finger. She’d thought it looked like a toy, but he’d assured her the camera was fully operational. Her grip on her jacket tightened. “What did it show?”

“Nothing.”

“I thought you said it was working.”

“It is. It showed an empty room.”

“Matteo isn’t there?”

“No.”

A small and cowardly part of her was relieved—she didn’t want to see the image of Matteo that haunted her made real—but the relief was quickly submerged by worry. They still didn’t know where he was. “Does this mean the raid on the base is off?”

“Not entirely. It’s an option of last resort if we don’t locate Matteo by Friday. There might be documents or other evidence there that could lead us to him.”

“What do we do now?”

“We wait.”

“For the next ransom drop to be set up,” she said. “I’ll be a diversion, just as we discussed this afternoon.”

He was silent.

“I’m going to do it, Flynn. I trust Major Redinger. He doesn’t strike me as a careless man.”

“He isn’t. He’s the best commanding officer I’ve served under. He hasn’t lost anyone on his watch yet.”

“He seemed angry. I hope you didn’t get into trouble because of me.”

“Redinger believes in doling out lessons more than punishment. He didn’t relieve me of duty, he clarified my orders.”

“What orders?”

“He told me he’s trusting me to put my personal feelings aside and keep you safe within the mission parameters.” His arm brushed hers as he shoved his hands into his pockets. “It would have been easier if he’d just reassigned me.”

“If that’s what you’d like, I could talk to him myself.”

“You know what I’d like, Abbie.” His voice was rough as it cut through hers. “You know and Redinger knows. Hell, everyone on the team can see that I can’t keep my hands off you.”

He wasn’t touching her. He was merely standing beside her in the darkness of an October evening while crickets chirped in the weeds and the starlight gleamed from the cracked windshields of the wrecks beyond the junkyard fence. There was nothing romantic about the situation.

Yet every nerve in her body was attuned to him. His warmth, his scent. She didn’t
want
him to keep his hands off her.

She shouldn’t be relying on Flynn’s touch. She was growing too accustomed to him as it was. What was going to happen when he left?

The same thing that had happened the last time she had fallen in love with the wrong man. Her heart would break, but she would go on. Older, wiser, more cautious than before…

Oh, God. In love? She couldn’t be in love with Flynn. These feelings had developed too fast. He was completely wrong for her. It was the stress, that’s all. A combination of adrenaline and proximity resulting in lust.

“You were right before, Abbie,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking objectively this afternoon. I have a problem doing that when it comes to you.”

“What does…” She hesitated. “What did you mean by the mission parameters?”

“It’s my responsibility to get you through the mission unharmed and return you home as soon as it’s over.”

“And then?”

“We let the diplomats handle the fallout from the kidnapping. Delta’s part in this will be finished, so we’ll go back to Fort Bragg.”

Right. She would go back to her life, and he would go back to his. Well, she’d wanted him to be honest.

Another silence fell between them, this one much longer than the last. She tipped her head to follow the progress of another plane, trying to remind herself of the real world,
her
world, that lay only a few miles away.

“That’s Perseus.”

“The type of plane?”

“The constellation. I thought that was what you were looking at.”

She focused on the stars, grateful to have something else to think about. “I don’t recognize much more than the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper. Where’s Perseus?”

He took his hands from his pockets and lifted one arm to point overhead. “It’s roughly in the shape of a K. That curved line of stars forms the left leg.”

“Oh.”

He pointed higher. “That star is Algol. It represents the head of Medusa that Perseus is holding.”