The Broken Road (The Broken Series) (15 page)

Mickey
stilled. “Did you ever run into any wolves or bears?”

I
stirred my margarita with my straw, then sampled the drink. “No wolves. They’re
still pretty scarce. Mountain lions and bears are more common. You have to be
careful where you hike. Most people carry bear spray.”

Mickey’s
eyes widened. “What’s bear spray?”

I
laughed. “It’s a giant can of pepper spray.”

Mickey
folded her forearms on the table. “Did
you
ever run into a bear?”

I
nodded. “Once. I had run into a convenience store in Cooke City. When I came
out of the store, I found a big black bear sitting on the hood of my jeep. He
was trying to get my dog. Thankfully, I had only cracked the windows open an
inch.”

“What
did you do?” she asked incredulously.

I
shrugged. “There wasn’t much I could do. Two large dogs came ripping out of
nowhere, and they chased the bear down the street.”

Mickey
shook her head. “I don’t think I’d like living in Montana.”

I
tried to picture Mickey, the bohemian goddess, in Montana and choked on my drink.

Her
eyes narrowed. “Do any black people live there?”

I
glanced at her apologetically. “A few. Not many. I think somewhere around one
half of one percent of the population is African American. There’s not a whole
lot of ethnic diversity in Montana.”

“Black
people do not like nature. They don’t like snow or the cold, and they’re too
smart to live anywhere where they might get eaten by a bear,” Mickey responded vehemently.

This
time I didn’t choke on my drink. I snorted the margarita right out of my nose.
Just as I was mopping up my face, an incredibly good looking man strode
purposefully toward our table. Mickey followed my gaze as I stared open-mouthed
at the guy.

“That
man is F-I-N-E fine,” Mickey whispered as she watched him cross the room.

Fine
was not the right word, not even close. The guy was seriously hot. Although, he
apparently didn’t feel the need to impress anybody, since he was wearing gym
clothes. His black dry-fit shirt showed off broad shoulders, clearly defined
pecs, and what looked to be eight pack abs. Black workout pants hung loosely
from his narrow hips but still managed to show off well-muscled thighs. Like
Mickey, he was black, but his skin coloring was lighter… the color of a caramel
macchiato before you stirred the whip cream in. He had soft brown eyes and a
neatly shaved head. His whole physique screamed athlete, although there was
something about him that seemed dangerous, almost lethal, but in a really good
way.

He
walked right up to Mickey. “Hey, Mickey.”

Mickey
tucked her braids behind her shoulder as she smiled. “Hey, Kadyn. Glad you
could make it. This is Kri. She just moved into the Point at Park Center too.”

Mr.
Tall, Dark, and Deadly held out his hand. “Hi. I’m Kadyn.”

I
snapped my jaw back into place as I shook his hand. “Hi. Did you say your name
is Cade?” The crowded bar was noisy, and I wasn’t sure I’d heard him correctly.

Kadyn
slowly released my hand. “No, Kadyn. K-A-D-Y-N.” He smiled like he got that
question a lot.

The
waitress stopped by, no doubt on a mission to meet K-A-D-Y-N, Kadyn. She patted
him on the shoulder. “Hi, love. Can I get you anything?”

His
eyes remained locked on mine. “I’ll take a Sprite.”

The
waitress shot me a dirty look before walking away. I watched her walk to the
bar before shifting my attention to Kadyn.

“What
brought you to DC?” He asked as his eyes recaptured mine.

I
wondered how he knew I wasn’t from the area.
Is it that obvious I’m not from
around here?
“A senate fellowship. I'm working on aging and health care policy
on the Hill.”

“Really.
Which senator?” Kadyn asked. He still hadn’t taken his eyes off me.

Mickey’s
head was bobbing back and forth like she was watching a tennis match.

I
glanced at Mickey nervously. I wondered whether she was feeling the same
tension I was feeling. It felt like some invisible string was pulling me toward
Kadyn. My eyes returned to Kadyn when I realized I still hadn’t answered his
question. “I’m working for Senator Rockefeller.”

Kadyn
nodded. His face was completely unreadable. The Sprite was now sitting on the
table in front of him, untouched.

I
fidgeted nervously under his continued gaze. The heel of my boot slipped from
the lower rung of my stool, and I was suddenly thrown off balance.

Kadyn’s
hand was wrapped around my bicep before I even saw him move. “You okay?”

My
face was practically buried in his well-chiseled chest. I tore my gaze off his
chest and slowly looked up at him.

He
was towering over me. Heat rolled off his body in waves.

Suddenly,
the rest of the room just fell away… the noise… the people… everything. I was
definitely
not
okay. “Uh… yes. Thank you.” I could tell my face had
turned a brilliant shade of red because I could feel the heat in my cheeks. I
did an internal eye roll.
Way to go, Kri.

Kadyn
removed his hand from my arm, but he remained standing by my side.

The
proximity of his body to mine completely short circuited my brain. I suddenly found
it very difficult to think… and breathe. I tore my eyes from his and stole a
glance at Mickey. I was quite certain I had that deer-in-the-headlights look on
my face.

Mickey
studied us curiously. A Cheshire cat size smile spread slowly across her face.

My
heart did a flip. Mickey looked entirely too pleased.
Had she purposely set
us up?
I glanced around the bar.
Where were the rest of the tenants?
I tried to ignore the fact that Kadyn was standing next to me. I wasn’t about
to look at him again, especially when he was standing so close. So I studied my
margarita like it was my job.

“Kadyn
works at the Pentagon,” Mickey offered in an effort to get our conversation
back on track.

I
risked a sidelong glance at him. “Really? What do you do there?”

He
reached for his Sprite. “I manage secure travel communications for the
Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”

I
abandoned the margarita. “What exactly does that entail?”

Kadyn
smiled politely. “Most of what I do is considered a matter of national security,
so I can’t really talk about it.”

I
immediately snapped an imaginary band against my wrist. “
I will not date. I
will not date. I will not date,
” I muttered under my breath. I risked
another glance at Kadyn. “Are you in the military?”

“Yes.
I'm in the Air Force.”

“He’s
an
officer
in the Air Force,” Mickey interjected, as if I wasn’t already
impressed enough. “Hey, maybe Kadyn can help you with your stalker problem.”

I
groaned as I buried my face in my hands. I was completely mortified that Mickey
would air out my dirty laundry in front of someone who quite obviously had his
poop in a scoop.

“You
have a stalker?” Kadyn asked drily.

“I
don’t want to talk about it,” I mumbled into my hands.

Mickey
laughed. “I do! This here is a picture of the guy.” She pulled the picture out of
her purse and handed it to Kadyn. “Although, I can’t say that I would mind him
stalking me.”

Kadyn
studied the picture. He looked at me and raised a single eyebrow, evidently
waiting for some sort of explanation.

I
shrugged.

Kadyn
glanced at Mickey.

I
pasted an innocent look on my face, reached for my margarita, and kicked her
stool.

She
laughed, then locked her mouth with an imaginary key.

Kadyn
set the picture on the table. His eyes narrowed as he turned toward me. “Do you
like to work out?”

I
peered warily over the top of my margarita glass. “Yes, why?”

His
face remained completely unreadable. “Have you joined a gym yet?”

I
studied Kadyn, admittedly curious about his new line of questioning. “Yes. I
joined a gym in DC for federal employees. I usually go right after work, while
I wait for traffic to die down. It’s a very small gym, similar to the one at
our apartment complex.”

Kadyn
nodded. “I have some free guest passes for Gold’s Gym, which is where I work
out. It’s just up the street from here. They have a good size gym, and their
rates are very reasonable. You should come check it out.”

I
set my margarita glass down and shoved it aside. “It would be nice to have a
decent size gym to work out in on the weekends. There’s usually a long line of
people waiting to get on the equipment at the apartment complex, and they don’t
have a lot of free weights.”

“We're
working on that,” Mickey mumbled around the straw in her margarita.

Kadyn
pulled a business card out of his wallet.  “Do you have a pen?”

I
dug through my purse, then handed him a pen.

He
wrote his cell phone number on the back of the business card and handed it to
me. “Give me a call when you’re free, and I’ll show you around the gym. Let me
know if there’s anything else you’d like to do but aren’t comfortable exploring
alone. I’ve gotten to know this area pretty well.”

“Thanks.”
I tucked the business card into my purse. I wasn’t sure whether Kadyn was
asking me out or just trying to help.

Kadyn
glanced at Mickey. “Are you ladies ready to leave?”

“Yes,”
Mickey and I replied in unison.

Kadyn
helped Mickey from her stool as the three of us paid for our drinks. Then he
shifted his attention to me. “I’ll walk you out.”

I
glanced up at him and smiled as I tucked my wallet back inside my purse.
“Thanks, Kadyn.”

He
reached for my arm as I slid off the stool. His hand slid to the small of my
back as we made our way through the crowded bar. His hand fell to his side when
we reached Mickey’s car. “Kri,” was all he said as his eyes searched mine. Then
he turned and walked away.

There
was something about the way he said my name. I couldn’t quite put my finger on
it, but I was left with the distinct impression that Kadyn had just laid claim
to my heart.

*
* * * * *

I
was flipping Kadyn’s business card in my hand for about the fiftieth time. I
was still in my pajamas, curled up next to Cade on the couch. I wanted to call him,
but I was too scared. I didn’t have the best track record with men, and there
was no one around to pick up the pieces if something went wrong. Besides, I had
issued a moratorium on dating. “It wouldn’t be dating if he was just showing me
around. I could always drive my own car,” I commented to Cade.

Cade
didn’t look convinced.

“Well,
either way, I’m not flying in blind.” I tossed the business card on my coffee
table and picked up my cell phone. I glanced at the clock. It was noon, which
meant it was ten o’clock in Montana. I scrolled through my list of contacts. My
thumb paused over the top of Kimme’s name. I hit send, then counted the rings.
One…
two…

“Hi
stranger.”

“Hey,
Kimme! I hope I didn’t call too early.”

“Nope.
I’m on my third cup of coffee already. Besides, you know you can call us any
time. Dan told me about Michael’s postcard. Are you okay?”

I
reached for my coffee cup. I frowned when I realized it was empty. “Yes. Dan
schooled me on a few things. I’m being very careful, and I’m feeling a little safer.”

“Good.
Dan’s still trying to track Michael down. He’s been holed up in his bat cave
for the past two days, but I think he’s dug something up on Michael. He's
standing here glaring at me, like that ever works. Evidently, he wants to talk
to you.”

I
could hear Kimme and Dan scuffle over the phone. Kimme was giggling in the
background. Then Dan’s voice came over the line. “Hi, darlin'. Did you get my
package?”

I
shuffled out to the kitchen to refill my coffee cup. “Yes. Thanks, Dan.”

“The
mace is meant to be carried on your key chain so you’ll remember to take it
with you whenever you go out.”

I
set the coffee pot down. “I promise I’ll carry it with me.”

“Good.
So, look… I haven’t located Garcia yet, but I did learn a few interesting
things about him. Did you know he's wanted by the authorities in Portugal?”

My
heart skipped at least three beats. I was almost too afraid to ask, but
curiosity got the best of me. “Wanted… for what?”

“Insider
trading, money laundering, and tax evasion. Portugal has a warrant out for him.
There’s no way he’s going back to that country unless he wants to do time.
There’s some speculation among their news media that suggests he may be connected
to an Eastern European terrorist group, although I haven’t been able to confirm
that connection. I have no idea how he got into the United States, but I doubt
he’s here legally. He must have some very good connections.”