Brianna's Navy SEAL (16 page)

The thought made her breath catch and she glanced forward, wondering how much longer they had. It made her uneasy to think about him loving her, or her loving him, because neither one of them had said it. But it seemed like they
should
be saying it by now. That they must be feeling it, and if they weren't, why were they still together?

Not being together would hurt. So it must be love.

Right?

She figured as long as she kept having to ask the question, she knew the answer. But it was close enough for now.

The plane bounced on the tarmac and settled down. She could see the flaps moving on the wing and feel the abrupt braking of the plane. A few minutes later, they were taxiing to the jetway.

"Ready?” Cable stood and opened the overhead compartment to get their other bags. They'd packed light and carried everything on to avoid the delays in baggage claim. They slowly made their way up the aisle to the exit and through the jetway. Cable seemed to know exactly where he was and where to go, so Brie just hung on and followed until they were through the security barriers to the main area of the airport.

A woman with Cable's strong features and three quarters of his height zoomed toward them on unbelievable stilettos, and Brianna immediately wished she'd stayed home. Her colleagues often talked about how men seemed to measure the women they dated against their sisters, and Brie couldn't see how she could possibly measure up. Alena was
gorgeous
. She had smooth, long, waving hair in six different shades of blond that was probably two hours in a beauty salon but looked like living in the sun. Her medium-heavy yet perfectly applied makeup was just icing over a bone structure that could have made her an instant supermodel. But Cable had told Brianna that his sister worked at home as a medical transcriptionist while her two teenagers were in school.

And she loved Cable as much as he loved her. It showed in her smile, the tightness of her hug, the squeal she made at something he said. She bounced with glee.

Then she turned to Brianna, who felt like she should apologize for intruding on their reunion. Before she could say anything, Alena had bent to hug her just as tightly as she'd hugged Cable.

"So good to meet you, Brianna.” She straightened, and the fleeting moment of welcome faded as once again, Alena towered over her. Brie stifled a sigh and resigned herself to a long weekend of feeling inadequate.

"Frank working?"

They started following Alena out the main doors. Or rather, Cable and Alena headed that way side by side, and Brianna followed. She tried hard not to get churlish. Cable hadn't seen his sister in a long time. This trip wasn't about her.

But Cable turned and tugged her up next to him as soon as they were through the doors. Amazing how much more included that made her feel.

"He's coming off shift now,” Alena said. “The boys are at a friend's overnight—kind of a mini-New Year's celebration, since I won't let them out of the house on the real thing."

"What—"

Cable shoved Brianna behind him and pushed Alena to the left. She fell next to a trash can with a look of pain.

It happened so fast, and Cable was so tall, that Brie wasn't sure what was going on. Cable seemed to be fighting with someone, and she knew if he backed up he'd step on her. Or worse, fall on her. So she scurried to Alena.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes. Scraped elbow, that's all.” The women looked up in unison. Cable had his attacker by the scruff of his jacket and his left arm. The guy was still swinging, but looking more like he wanted to get away than land anything.

"Carothers?” Brianna breathed. The scrawny man had a rat-like demeanor and a pallor that she figured could come from having been locked up for years.

"No. I never saw him before."

A cop shouted from down the terminal and started to run toward them, getting ready to draw his weapon. Cable held his ground. Brianna scrambled up, ready to defend him if the cop assumed he was mugging the other guy or something.

But Cable was grinning. “Hey! Marco! What you letting this dung hang around here for?"

"Cable?” The cop shook his head and tucked his thumbs into his belt. “You're lucky it was me. Someone else mighta popped you."

"Yeah, right.” He shook the guy a little. He was just hanging in Cable's grip now, looking disgusted. “You know this guy?"

"He don't know you, that's for sure. He wouldn'ta thought he could get to you if he did.” Marco circled the pair and shook his head. “Danny, now, what the hell you doin'? Who put you on this guy?"

Danny pressed his lips together. Marco shook his head and reached for his handcuffs.

"Hang on, Marco.” Cable's voice was pitched low, but serious enough to make Danny shiver. “What do you know about me?"

Danny didn't respond. His eyes kept flickering around to empty spaces, not landing on any of them, including Brianna. Alena finally stood and moved next to Brie with her hands on her hips, and Danny's eyes went huge.

"Yeah, I see you know who
I
am,” she said. “Frank Ralls is my husband. Which makes him Cable's brother-in-law.” She advanced on the man, who was trying to retreat. “You think that's scary? Cable's a hundred times more dangerous than Frank. He was a SEAL, you moron. You think you're more to him than a mosquito?"

Finally, Danny got it. “I didn't know, man, I didn't know! Some guy comes to me, says I'll get five Cs to come to the airport and watch for this guy. He gives me a pit-cher. I come ta try to catch ya before you get to the parking lot, and next thin’ I know I'm gettin’ clobbered."

Brianna stifled a laugh. His whine actually sounded like a bid for sympathy.

"This guy,” Cable said in the same soft voice. “Sid Carothers, by any chance?"

"Uh, I don't know. I don't ask names.” His eyes shifted left, though, and Brie knew he was lying.

Cable dropped him, and before Marco could do anything, he ran.

"Let him go,” said Cable. “He'll take a message back to Carothers. And the paperwork would be a bitch. He didn't do any harm."

But his gaze was speculative when he looked at Brie. “You okay?” He stroked her shoulder and then gripped the back of her neck as she nodded. “You?” He looked at his sister, but didn't seem as concerned, and she was the one who'd gotten hurt. Brianna felt annoyed. She could handle herself as much as Alena could. Maybe. But even if Alena had martial arts training or something in addition to her stilettos, it was a matter of inner strength as much as physicality.

Cable thanked Marco, who waved them off, and Alena started toward the parking garage again.

"What a welcome home,” she said. Brie noticed she was rubbing her elbow. It needed attention, but she didn't think it was too serious. Nothing that could really be done right now, anyway.

"You think he was doing that for Carothers?” Brie asked Cable. Something about it didn't ring true, but she couldn't say why. And he was the expert.

"Might have been. I won't know unless I flush Carothers out, and that's not why I'm down here."

They went silent the rest of the way to the car, and brother and sister both looked worried. And Cable worried wasn't something Brianna was used to.

Cable and Brianna pitched in with dinner preparations, assembling the pre-prepped lasagna materials and tossing salad, while Cable tried to figure out how he could slip out of the house tonight without Brianna asking a million questions. Alena wouldn't need to ask them, but she wouldn't be any happier about him going.

He should have expected this. He'd suspected Carothers was having him watched, if not watching himself. He'd gotten complacent with nothing happening for the last several weeks. Complacent got you killed. Or someone else killed. And this wasn't a team member who knew the risks. This was his family. This was Brianna.

He was as much afraid that she'd leave him as he was that she'd get hurt. The danger might prove to be too much. Even if he stopped Carothers before he did anything, he'd still be out there. Him and who knew how many others? He hadn't really considered this when he took up teaching. Neither the reality of old enemies, or the reality of going soft.

Five years ago, he'd never have considered bringing Brianna down here when someone was mouthing off about him. He wouldn't have let Danny get the jump on him, as ineffective as it was. Why had he not considered that leaving the service didn't mean leaving his past behind?

"Don't you think, Cable?"

Brianna handed him a bottle of wine and a corkscrew along with a knowing look. Alena, oddly, seemed oblivious to his reverie.

"Sorry, think about what?"

"Yellow candles. They match the centerpiece."

"What?” He looked at the centerpiece, a mishmash, as far as he could see, of moons and stars shaped in wax and coated with something rough and sparkly. Two taper holders stuck out on each side. “Yeah, I guess. Fine.” Like he cared what color candles they had. He caught Brie looking at him and knew she saw right through him. He winked, but she didn't smile.

"Hey, he here?” A deep voice bellowed from the front hall, followed by the front door slamming. Cable braced himself when his brother-in-law walked through the door, his arms wide, his bald pate gleaming as brightly as his smile.

Cable was big. Frank was bigger. A little bit. And he liked to hug with the force of a python.

"You made it!” Frank moved in. Cable grunted and slapped him gamely on the back, then moved between him and Brie to save her from the same treatment.

But Brie had taken the measure of Frank already, and she wasn't going to take shelter. Grinning broadly, she ducked into his embrace, and to Cable's surprise, he didn't squish her.

"Thrilled to meet you. So glad you came down!” He inhaled deeply. “Lasagna? Brilliant. Let me just go clean up.” He lumbered out of the room, whistling.

"You okay?” Cable asked Brianna, who nodded.

"I love him already."

Alena beamed, and Cable knew she'd won them both over. One obstacle overcome.

He hoped they'd all be so easy.

Frank waited until they were nearly done with second helpings to bring up Carothers.

"I'm not thinking that guy at the airport was on Carothers’ orders,” he told Cable as he swiped his garlic bread through the sauce on his plate. “We'd be talkin’ ten degrees of separation there, and that's pretty far for a guy who's been in prison this long."

"You hearing anything on the street?"

"Not much.” He shrugged his big shoulders, now covered in an old department T-shirt. “He's keepin’ his nose clean."

"Have you seen him?” Brianna had asked the question. Cable rubbed his hand reassuringly on her thigh. She covered his hand with hers, and it was steady and dry. So she wasn't freaked out by the conversation, at least.

"Nope. His territory isn't my beat. He's got some buds on my side a town, but they haven't seen him, either. At least, not that they're sayin'."

No one said anything else until they were all finished eating, forks and knives crossed on all four plates, crumpled napkins on the table.

"Dessert?” Alena stood and started collecting the dishes. “I made mousse."

"I'll help ya, hon."

Alena made settling motions with her hands when Cable and Brie both started to rise. When they were out of the dining room, Brianna threaded her fingers through his and gripped his hand.

"You're going out to find him, aren't you?"

His chest aching a little, Cable leaned forward to kiss her forehead. “You're a smart woman.” He leaned back, and all the words he'd been rehearsing came pouring out. Or started to. “It's the only way to stop him from whatever he's trying to do. Or keep it from escalating. I need to flush him out, let him do his thing, say his piece, whatever. I know what I'm—"

"It's fine."

He stopped abruptly. “No way."

She nodded. “I understand all that. I'd like to go with you, but I know how foolish that idea is. You go. Get it over with. Maybe then we can move on. I hope you're taking Frank."

"Yeah, and a couple of old team members are in town. I won't be unprotected."

She smiled a little, but it didn't ease the worry in her eyes. “You'd be well protected just by yourself. It'll be fine.” But her hand trembled a little as she let him go and turned to the mousse Alena had just set in front of her.

"Ice cream,” Alena announced an hour later, just a few minutes after Cable and Frank had met three guys as large as each of them on the front lawn, then disappeared in a huge pickup truck.

Brianna, who had been foolishly staring out the front window with her arms across her stomach in the classic worried-wife-left-behind pose, chuckled and forced herself to relax.

"We just had mousse."

"So what? We need ice cream. And shopping. There's an outdoor market that's open until ten. I think a little distraction is in order."

"You sound like a pro.” They collected purses and jackets and headed out to Alena's sedan.

"I am. Obviously, Frank's job isn't the same as Cable's was, but there are nights.” She unlocked the doors with her key and they climbed in. “You distract yourself however you can. Some nights popcorn and a movie.” She winked at Brie. “Some nights, it takes more."

"Thanks, Alena."

"Don't thank me. I'm an interrogation pro, too, and I'm at my best while shopping. I'm gonna know all your secrets by the end of the night."

"I don't have any I wouldn't share,” Brie said, hoping she was right.

As they drove down the street, Alena launched into her interrogation. Within an hour, Brianna had laughed more than she had in a year, and said so.

"Doesn't say much for my brother.” Alena pulled a top off a rack and held it up to Brie. It was completely sheer except for the sequined band that would go just under her breasts.

"No. Maybe for you.” Brie selected an embroidered tunic with bell-shaped sleeves and beadwork. “This is more my speed.” She held it up to herself. “Cable makes me laugh. But he's a more serious type."

"True.” Alena sighed and stuffed all the clothes in her arms back onto the metal tube. “Let's go look at handbags. They've got some good designer knock-offs here."