Bound by Danger (32 page)

“Are you going to shoot me, too?”

His eyes widened with surprise and he hesitated.

“How will you explain shooting a defenseless woman in your office?”

“We’re going for a little drive.”

The drawer slid open.

She dove for the desk and slid on her belly across the top, shoving his wooden actions’ trays onto his lap. He jumped back slightly in reaction, then jammed his hand into the drawer. His fingers wrapped around the handle to his weapon, but she grabbed his wrist with a fierce grip.

His muscles tightened in his wrist, and she knew his finger anchored on the trigger, squeezing as he turned the weapon toward her. A loud crack shattered the quiet. The bullet discharged through the drawer into the backside of the desk. A second shot fired as the door to the office kicked open with a bang.

She couldn’t look back to see who had come to her rescue. Her fingernails dug into her boss’s flesh. All of a sudden, the desk she leaned her body over was shoved back against the wall with her riding on top as though she were surfing on a body board. Her boss cried out in pain as the desk pinned him against the wall. Still he wouldn’t release the gun, and she wouldn’t let go of him.

“Damn it, Deidre!”

She recognized Dave’s voice at once and realized he was the one who had shoved the desk against her boss. She dug her nails deeper into her boss’s wrist. “If somebody would break the colonel’s arm, we’ll be done with this.”

“Now!” Dave shouted to Johnson.

Immediately, Johnson broke Ramstodt’s grip on the gun while Dave pulled Deidre off the desk and out of harm’s way.

Dave’s face was red with anger as he handed her to Bill. “Johnson, Bill, take Miss Roux home.”

“
Captain
Roux,” she corrected him, annoyed.

As Johnson and Bill led her down the hallway, she saw the sergeant and her personnel team from the exercise. “Sorry, Ma’am,” the sergeant said. “The FBI agents wouldn’t let us get near the G-1’s office.”

“It’s okay. Thanks. It was better that way. They’re armed.” She smiled at them before Bill and Johnson hauled her the rest of the way out of the building. She took a deep breath, relieved to be done with the business. But physically, her body hadn’t adjusted to the notion as her knees remained weak from panic and her body still shook from the experience.

Bill sighed deeply as he helped her into the SUV. “You sure can rile the boss. He had a hell of a time getting back here to rescue you.”

MPs swarmed into the building.

“I tried to call.” Her voice sounded defensive, though she hadn’t meant for it to be.

“Yes, well he got the call.”

“The line was dead.” She couldn’t believe he’d really heard her.

“He heard enough, then contacted us, and had us call the military police, and everybody else he could think of, who might get to you more quickly.”

The first sense of realization fluttered to her brain that they’d actually closed the case. Yet the sense of relief she felt was overshadowed by the recognition the end of the case meant the finish for Dave and her, too. The world was sure to come crashing down around her once he left.

“It’s truly all over then.”

Chapter 21

For nearly two hours, Deidre paced across the floor as Johnson sat on the couch, and Bill watched her from the dining room. She’d paused to check her emails—of course,
now
her Internet was back up and running—but then she was back to pacing across the living room.

“He’ll be here soon,” Bill said.

“Yes, but what’s taking him so long?”

“It takes a while to wrap up a case like this,” Johnson said.

Johnson and Bill cast each other a conspiratorial smile. Neither would tell her what was truly going on and she had given up asking.

The front door handle jiggled and Johnson and Bill drew their guns. Dave threw the door open and grinned broadly at Deidre. “We’ve got some great news and some even greater news. Which do you want first?”

He closed the door.

Scowling, she folded her arms. “I can tell from that grin on your face, you’ve been up to something. But the guys wouldn’t tell me what it was.” No kiss, nothing, and she was irked beyond reason.

“I was wrapping up business.” He handed her an envelope.

It looked like official Army orders. Heart pounding, she ripped the envelope open. Her lips parted as she hurriedly read the orders. “I’ve been reassigned to Fort Meade, Maryland?”

His brown eyes were bright, his dimples showing. “Told you, you should get a reassignment. I already checked into it. You’ll be wearing skirts, if you want, the whole time you’re there. No crawling through the dirt or anything. Strictly office work. You’ll be the Chief of Personnel Actions—highly respectable job.”

“You didn’t.”

“Happy?”

She dropped the orders on her coffee table and flung her arms around his neck, not being able to contain her joy. “I just knew I was going to be stuck at Fort Hood for another three years. How in the world did you manage it?” She loved him from the bottom of her heart. Could she maybe reconsider a long-distance relationship with him now?

“Friends in low places.”

He was her knight in shining armor, beyond a doubt. She kissed him, tears in her eyes, never wanting to let go. Dave seemed to feel likewise, wrapped her up in his arms, kissing her back as if he couldn’t get enough of her.

The phone rang. Deidre took a breath, but then she saw it was Charlie. Worried about him, she grabbed up the receiver. “Hello?”

“Hey, Sis. How’s it going?”

“Charlie.”

Dave winked at her.

“Listen, I need to ask a favor of you.”

“Sure, Charlie. What do you need?”

“I’ve got this new girlfriend—”

“What happened to Marilyn?”

Dave chuckled. Deidre placed her finger on her lips to shush him.

“She’s not the kind of gal who’s interested in settling down.”

Deidre rolled her eyes. “Sorry to hear that.”

“So, Dave tells me you’re transferring to Fort Meade.”

“He told you before he told
me
?” She gave Dave an irritated look.

“That’s only forty-five minutes from where I work. When you return, we could all get together and have dinner out and—”

“Go dancing? Somehow this sounds familiar. But, I haven’t a clue where Dave’s next assignment is.”

Dave nuzzled her face with his as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Didn’t he tell you? He owns a condo in Glen Burnie, only a few minutes from Fort Meade.”

She glanced back at Dave as he waggled his brows. She poked him in the shoulder. “No, he forgot to mention that he lives in Glen Burnie.” She couldn’t believe he’d actually gotten an assignment for her so they could be together.

“Have we got a date?”

“Ah, Charlie, I can’t always tell about these women you—”

“Yes! It’s a date. As soon as you return home, give me a call. My number is 286-321-4590. I’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing.”

She shook her head. She never could say no to her brother. “All right, Charlie. Try to keep yourself out of trouble until I get there.”

She hung up the phone, then turned to Dave and folded her arms. “You arranged this whole thing so I could be near you. Why didn’t you tell me?”

He looked more pleased than she had ever seen him.

She wrapped her arms around his neck again and kissed him generously on the mouth.

He replied with a greedy response. Taking a deep breath, he stopped. “Okay, the even greater news is you don’t report to your new job for two weeks. We’ve got airline tickets and rooms reserved. You need to pack your bags.”

Her head still spun with the realization she was leaving Fort Hood. That she was going to be living close to Dave. That she could continue to see him. And even be close enough to her brother to keep tabs on him. Nothing else was sinking in. “What are you talking about?”

“We’re going first to Las Vegas, if that works for you. Later, we can have a fancier wedding, but…” He fished a velvet box out of his pants pocket. “I’m getting this all out of order. I couldn’t live without you in my life, so say you’ll marry me.” He opened the box for her.

It was just too much. Too good to be true. She was still reeling about Fort Meade! She looked at the sparkling solitaire diamond. “This is for real?” He was just smiling down at her, looking like he couldn’t have been happier. She smiled up at him. “That means I need to cancel on Josh Henderson’s date?”

Johnson and Bill laughed. She’d forgotten they were in the room.

Dave chuckled. “Yeah, that’s kind of a given. You don’t like his kisses anyway.”

“I love you.” From the bottom of her heart she did. He kissed her again and then slid the engagement ring on her finger.

His dark brown eyes twinkled as he led her into the bedroom. “We’ve got to hurry though. Pack bathing suits, sunscreen, that sexy black dress. We’re going to Hawaii after a quick trip to Las Vegas.”

“You can’t be serious.” Her heart pounded wildly. She was really going to Hawaii with the man of her dreams? And she was going to be married? She still hadn’t gotten used to the idea. “I don’t have any bags. My others were lost when the flood swept our SUV away in Florida.”

He smiled and clicked his fingers with authority. Johnson and Bill hurried out of the apartment.

“I…I need to call my parents.”

“Done.”

She stared at him. “You told my parents we were getting married?”

He grinned at her. “Well…I said I was proposing and I was sure you were accepting, but I just wanted to ask them if it was okay.”

“What did they say?” She couldn’t believe it. She just could imagine how shocked they’d be.

“Once they heard I’d been the one keeping you safe, and your brother had already called them to tell them what a wonderful guy I was, kind of setting the stage, your father said it was about time someone was there to protect
you
.”

Deidre brushed away errant tears and hugged Dave tight. “I love you.”

“I love you, Deidre. You don’t know how relieved I was you agreed to marry me. Especially with Johnson and Bill watching. Your mom wants a wedding though. We can plan for it after we get back.”

She shook her head. “I take it you’ll want to invite your friends.”

“They wouldn’t miss it for the world. And my boss wants to come, too—just to see who all his agents are talking about. He said he knows me to be strictly an all-business kind of guy, and wants to know what happened this time. You, is what happened.”

Smiling, she shook her head.

Johnson and Bill carried a brand new set of matching red canvas luggage into the bedroom.

Bill gave her a peck on the cheek. “Have fun for me.”

Johnson shrugged. “He wouldn’t let us come, but we’ll sure be thinking about the great time the two of you are having. And we’ll see you later.” He gave her a brief hug.

Tears brimmed in her eyes as the agents left the apartment. “Dave—”

He kissed her lightly on the lips. “We’ve got to go, Deidre. Hurry and pack. We don’t want to miss our flight.”

***

Now a married woman on her way to Hawaii with the man she loved most of all, she was going to play in the white sand beaches and crystal clear blue water. Deidre sipped her champagne while her hand interlocked with Dave’s as they reclined in their airline seats. She fully intended to cherish every moment with him.

“What are you thinking, Deidre? You’ve been awfully quiet the last hour.”

“I didn’t think I’d ever find someone who would believe in me and not shun me.” Her voice cracked with emotion. A tear rolled down her cheek.

Turning her head toward the window, she stared into the ocean of blue sky mottled with wisps of fluffy, white clouds. But her thoughts were of him, his ever-attentive ways, his determination to keep her safe at all costs and those dark eyes she knew were studying her now with concern. She hoped that in the future, he wouldn’t be upset with what she could do or how she had to deal with situations as they arose.

The armrest between them was pushed up and out of the way, and he drew close. His warm breath caressed her neck. He leaned farther into her seat and kissed her cheek. “Deidre.”

She wiped a tear away. “Damned allergies.” Her voice was soft.

He chuckled. His fingers caressed hers, and he sighed in resignation. “You’ve stolen something from me.”

She turned to face him. Stolen?

“When I arrived in Killeen, I was told I had to protect a Cpt. Deidre Roux. Well, actually, Marilyn was supposed to, but we drew straws and I—”

“Lost.”

Dave smiled. “I’d expected a woman with short-cropped hair, no makeup, smelled of sweat—”

“Did you know many female officers like this while you served on active duty?”

“Just one. But the way I get assignments, that’s what I figured I would have been stuck with.” He ran his hand over her denim skirt. “I watched you walk across the parking lot—those long shapely legs in those killer short shorts. And a blouse that hugged the most delectable part of you.”

He knew how to make her smile.

She kissed his cheek. “So you did know Charlie was in my apartment after all when you came to my rescue.”

“Scouts honor, no. We knew he was on his way. We found he’d forwarded his mail to your address. But we’d lost track of him in traffic in Dallas. Bad eighteen-wheeler accident. I really thought one of the guys who had killed the literary agent was in your apartment.”

“How did you know about the hang-ups?”

“Phone was tapped. But still, like I said, the way you answered the phone, then hung it up without a word, I knew right away, it was a hang-up. We figured the killers were calling to see if Charlie was there yet. There wasn’t any reason for them to search your apartment until he arrived as he still had the manuscripts.”

“What about the author of the manuscript?”

“Your boss finally told us the lieutenant had worked for him and had written the story. He tried to blackmail your boss. Then when that didn’t work, the lieutenant mailed the disk to the faux literary agent. Your boss had already paid for a hit on the lieutenant. After he had the lieutenant killed, he discovered the young man had sent the information to the agent. More heads had to roll—the literary agent’s and three of his editors.”