Hearths of Fire (9 page)

Catori let Kane walk away, his voice deep and resonating over the volume of the machines. Complaints about Sully could be heard loud and clear as he sought out the man in question. That wasn’t her concern and frankly she hadn’t had quite enough caffeine to have to deal with this. She leaned against the trailer, knowing the white crisp-starched shirt she pulled out of her suitcase this morning would be black from the dirt that was caked onto the siding. Waiting for one of the construction crew to walk by, she was finally able to stop one of the men and motioned with her hand that she wanted his walkie-talkie.

Catori bided her time and waited for just the right moment—which was when Kane was about to climb into a black Ford 150 truck that looked brand spanking new. She lingered a moment more for him to open the door and set a boot-clad foot onto the runner before she pressed the button on the side of the radio.

“Gunny, I have a team assembled and they are awaiting orders. Your orders.” Catori released the button and observed Kane’s reaction from afar. He stopped and slowly lowered his foot to the ground. Although she couldn’t see them from here, she knew his hazel eyes now bore into her. She pressed the switch one more time. “Unless you’d rather stay here and, you know, build a bridge. I wouldn’t want you to miss all this action.
Interrogative
.”

It didn’t surprise Catori when Kane walked back her way and his stride struck her like a predator on the prowl. The use of the single word on a tactical radio channel meant she had asked a question and expected a response. She remained where she was until he was standing in front of her, the intensity of his stare trying to gauge what she meant. She maintained his gaze as she held out the radio to the man still standing beside her, who looked like he’d rather be anywhere but here. He looked at Kane before slowly reaching for the walkie-talkie and quickly walked away toward the bridge.

“Seems like you run a tight ship here, although your talents are wasted in my opinion.”

“I don’t care about random people’s opinions,” Kane replied, surveying Catori from head to toe. He kept his judgments well hidden. “You’ve captured my attention though. No one has called me Gunny in a couple of years. I take it this is a government sanctioned job?”

“Does that mean your skills are rusty?” Catori asked, ignoring his question. She gave as good as she got and took her time looking Kane over from top to bottom. He was a very attractive man, although not her type in the slightest. Red’s face flashed before her eyes, bringing her back to why she was here. “I’m sure there are other Gunnery Sergeants who served and whom can still step up to the plate.”

“Like I said, you’ve got my attention.” Kane reached for the handle of the door, which was to the right of where Catori was standing, and opened the flimsy access. He motioned for her to proceed before him, and once both of them were inside the trailer he shut them inside. Other than the whirl of the AC unit pushing air into the room, it was fairly quiet. It took time for her eyes to adjust and she was surprised to see that the depth of the trailer was actually bigger than it appeared. “Coffee?”

“No, thank you.” Catori took a seat at a small wooden table that had seen better days. She knew from his attitude that Kane wasn’t the type of man who liked to sit for long moments of time, so she cut to the chase. “In your email you’ll find a five year contract for the position of lead operator working for me at Red Starr HRT. We take hostage rescue missions that the Bureau won’t touch or can’t legally touch. To answer your question, we’re not government sanctioned—however, we do have a license to operate in the US and abroad. I don’t have to tell you that some of the assignments that we’ll take will be risky, whereas others should be a piece of cake. Luck of the draw—you see, Red Starr HRT is a private contractor. Our services don’t come cheap. You come highly recommended and from what I’ve read in regards to your assignments, your skillset is well matched with the team that I’ve assembled.”

“Red Starr HRT.” Instead of sitting with her at the table, Kane leaned back against a counter that appeared as if it would crack from the weight of his body. He crossed his arms and she wasn’t surprised to see the size of his biceps. He wasn’t the type of man to let his body get out of shape and she had to wonder if he’d always known he would get back into the combat life somehow, someway. “I met your husband Red a while back. I was sorry to hear that he had come up MIA.”

“You don’t have to fill his shoes,” Catori said in reassurance, although she knew Kane hadn’t given his condolences for that purpose. She didn’t really care. She wanted a team. He was that last spot, and if he didn’t want to take it that was fine by her. “Your job will be to lead and train a freshly assembled tactical team. Are you interested?”

“Do I get a say in the members of this team?”

“Within reason—however, I make the final call on every team member.” Catori could just make out the tightening of Kane’s jaw, indicating his displeasure at not having the definitive decision on the men that he would be responsible for. “Make no mistake, Kane, I make the final call as to who is on our crew as well as all of the assignments. When you’re in the field, the tactical decisions are solely yours. You trust me to give you the tools and training you need and I’ll trust for you to get the job done with the least amount of casualties to our team.”

Silence descended over the small trailer, and while Catori allowed Kane time to digest the information that she’d laid out in front of him she glanced at her watch. She had set up a meeting with a heavy weapons supplier later this evening and as of right now she was doing okay on time. Before Kane made a decision, she wanted to go over one more thing that she was well aware wouldn’t be a pleasant topic. She knew this from personal experience.

“Your sister was killed during a deployment over in Nigeria.” At this point, Catori was sure that Kane’s jaw would crack under the pressure he was employing on it. This was something she had to cover, so she continued. “I understand that Sidney had been chosen for an op and that you were against it. You’ve ruffled some feathers lately in wanting answers that no one seems willing to give.”

“This isn’t a topic that I’m going to discuss with you.” Kane kept his reply short, as if he thought that would end this conversation. “Much like Red is off limits around you, my sister has the same status.”

“Duly noted.” Catori felt each and every one of his words as if she’d just taken a bullet to her chest. It didn’t change the circumstance of needing to have this discussion. “
After
you give me the reassurance I need, we don’t need to bring this up again.”

“And what reassurance would that be?” Kane inquired, his voice void of any emotion.

“You won’t use Red Starr’s operational access to obtain the answers you seek.” Catori stood and slipped her hands into the back pockets of her jeans, conveying a relaxed appearance when she felt anything but. She knew exactly how Kane suffered and there was nothing on the face of this earth that could give him the closure he needed. “We have military and government contacts that have extremely high and very special clearances, even as contractors. We’ll utilize them for our missions, such as our secure Siprnet server, encryption systems, and feeds from NRO for Tactical Data. These relationships that I’ve cultivated and hardware I’ve gained access to aren’t to be used for personal reasons. I won’t risk the lives of my team because you’ve burned bridges we need to operate.”

“And if I can’t guarantee that?”

Catori distinguished from reviewing Kane’s dossier that he was a man of honor and spoke only the truth. She respected that and had been prepared for it as well. Men like him were the reason others survived situations that would otherwise have failed. She was always willing to compromise, given that it benefited both parties.

“I give you my word that
I
will look into your sister’s death if you give me your word that you won’t jeopardize the affiliations that we’ve worked damn hard for at Red Starr HRT.” Catori waited for her words to sink in, and when the brown of his hazel eyes became more golden, she knew they had a deal. That didn’t mean she didn’t want a verbal promise. “I’ll need your word.”

“It would be hard for me to turn down that kind of offer, Starr.” Kane slowly extended his arm. “Which is why you have yourself a deal.”

Catori firmly shook his hand, emotions swirling inside of her that she’d actually just solidified her Alpha team. She wasn’t in the mood to sort them out, nor did she want to. There were still things that needed to be done and the effort to get this collection organized into a cohesive fighting unit would keep her and him busy.

“My team…I want to look over their profiles.”

“As I stated, their details have been emailed to you. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me. My cell phone number is included. You have forty-eight hours to sign and return the letter of intent.” Catori headed for the exit and opened the door, allowing in the loud construction noises as well. She stepped down and then turned on her heel to find Kane still leaning up against the counter. “Your team reports on the first of August at exactly zero seven hundred. I suggest you arrive the week before so we’re able to go over their training schedule, inventory the team bunkhouse, inspect the hardware that will be available to us, and the software that we’ll be using. We have a support system staff of well over fifty personnel and that doesn’t include the ship’s crew or the flight crew for our new Knighthawk.”

“I’ll be there.”

Catori closed the door, giving Kane the privacy he needed to digest what she had offered him and the agreement that he’d made. She was confident that he wouldn’t change his mind, but she also knew that the next time she saw him he’d question her about what she’d discovered regarding his sister. Catori had already put feelers out and the preliminaries coming back weren’t good. Something FUBAR had occurred and Sidney Taylor had gotten caught in the crossfire.

Walking to her car, Catori pulled out her phone and skimmed through her contacts. Finding the one person who might be able to help and highlighting their name, she pressed the call button. As the line rang, she pulled on the handle of her convertible and settled into the driver’s seat. She continued to stare at the trailer while she waited for her contact to answer.

“Catori Starr,” Schultz Jessalyn announced, as if he was surprised to hear from her. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Cut the bullshit, Schultzy,” Catori replied with a smile as she saw Kane finally leave the trailer. “We both know you are well aware that I am forming another team. My bet is you have a list of my crew already on your desk and you know the precise reason that I’m calling.”

“You never were any fun.” Schultz Jessalyn was currently the Special Assistant to the National Security Advisor for the President of the United States. His title was a mouthful and fit his personality to a tee. He was a complex man and one that she would never want to make an enemy of. She’d lucked out though, and Schultz happened to be a damn good friend, which was the only reason she had his personal phone number. “Leave it buried.”

Catori didn’t take any pleasure in being right and she felt her frustration mount. She understood and could sympathize with Kane in regards to his sister. She leaned her head back against the padding of her seat, hearing the warning that Schultz was giving her but also knowing when something wasn’t right.

“I can’t afford to be kept in the dark on this one, Schultzy—especially when it involves the family of my new lead operator.” Catori watched as Kane walked up to a man carrying a set of blueprints and start up a conversation. She tried to word her inquiry carefully. “If whatever happened has the potential to cause damage to Red Starr HRT, I have a need to know right now…her brother has a right to know if some shit-stain blew his assignment and greased his sister.”

“Not everything should be public knowledge, Starr.” Schultz wasn’t going to budge on this. If it was one thing Catori hated, it was not seeing the hand she was playing with. “This is one that you need to let go of for everyone’s sake.”

“I can’t do that.” Catori tried to figure out a way to negotiate for the information, but having taken two years off had depleted her resources. “Taylor deserves some answers, Schultz, even if it’s just a thread.”

“We both know that one lone strand can lead to a complete shit storm breaking loose.” A long pause blanketed the phone and Catori resisted the urge to pull the cell away from her ear to see if the line was still connected. She remained silent, hoping he’d cave but knowing he was protecting his interests. Because of that, his next statement surprised her. “I’ll have something for you by the end of the week.”

The only reason Schultz would divulge classified and potentially threatening information was if he wanted something in return. An ominous cloud was settling over her mood and her gut reaction said she wasn’t going to like the outcome. These men deserved better—Taylor deserved better—and she would see to it that nothing blemished their new beginning.

“Favors are returned in kind,” Catori reminded Schultz, wanting to make her position clear. “I expect sufficient information…enough to ease Taylor’s mind.”

“I’ll obtain what I can, but I can’t guarantee it will be what he wants to hear.”

Catori closed her eyes, wishing that Schultz hadn’t added on that last part. If Sidney Taylor had been used as a chess piece by the higher powers involved, Kane wasn’t the type let justice escape from his hands. This was setting up to become a clusterfuck of mega proportions and she had a decision to make. Did she get out of the car and rescind her offer? Would it be better for the morale and safety of her team? She immediately rejected that thought, knowing full well that Taylor deserved justice. If she got her hands a little dirty helping him achieve that, so be it.

“I would say thank you for your assistance, but I have a feeling this is going to cost me.” Catori watched as Kane headed to his truck. His eyes had caught sight of her red convertible the minute he’d stepped out of the trailer and he made no effort to hide his scrutiny now. She hoped like hell that no one was alive that had a hand in his sister’s death. If they were, they’d be begging for mercy soon enough. “Try to keep it unproblematic.”