The Shadow of Mudflap (A Foxtrot Team Novel #1) (2 page)

God, he didn’t even know her, and what he did know of her told him she was a sweet, nice girl. He didn’t need to be thinking about using her that way.

Instead he asked, “Hey, I don’t think we’ve met before. Are you new?”

“Yeah, I joined the team a few months ago. I think this is the first time we’ve run across each other out in the field, though. I’m glad your partner’s going to be okay. It was crazy out there today.” She watched him curiously and he thought he saw a flash of exhaustion and pain in her eyes that said it had been a long day for her too. “Are you okay?” she asked.

He shook his head again wondering how he could even think about sex while his partner was fighting for his life in a hospital bed. Talk about low. “Yeah, I didn’t have a building collapse on me so I’m fine.” He ran another frustrated hand through his hair.

“I saw him hand you something. What was that?”

What was the story with the coin? Working to look more composed than he really was, he felt the warm metal between his fingers as he slid his hand into his pocket. He hadn’t taken time to consider it before now, with all his focus on Grant’s medical status. Something about it seemed familiar. The dread he’d felt when he saw it pooled again. “I don’t know what it is.” He pulled it out of his pocket to show her. “Something about it caught his eye, but I sure as hell can’t see that it’s worth dying over.”

“Can I see it?”

“Sure.” He handed her the coin, a tingle racing up his arm at the brush of her fingertips across his.

She flipped it over and studied the markings on it before handing it back with a negligent shrug. “I don’t know about the coin, but you know, he was right. It wasn’t your fault. You got the kids out. That was your job and those kids are alive because you did it.”

He ignored her statement, since it seemed to him that he should have been able to do both things. “Thanks for helping him. You probably saved his life.”

She gave him a soft smile and a frank look that made his blood sizzle. He had to be misinterpreting. Just because he had sex on his mind, didn’t mean she did.

“That’s just my job.”

“What?” He’d gotten lost in her eyes again and forgot what they were talking about.

She gave a soft, sexy laugh. “Helping your partner was just part of my job.” Her eyes darkened and she stepped into his space so that her chest was just a hair’s breadth away from touching his. He wanted to lean forward and see if the pressure of those nipples against his chest would feel as good as he imagined.

He cleared his throat. “Listen, I know this may seem odd considering today.” Again, he saw a flash of pain flare in her expression. “But can I get your phone number?”

Her eyes darkened. She glanced up and down the quiet corridor. “I have a better idea. Come on.” She grabbed his arm and pulled open a side door.

His pulse quickened and his shaft filled as she shoved him into the room and locked the door behind them, pushing him up against it. Her hands came to rest on his chest as she looked directly at him. Her voice dropped even lower as she said, “I’m thinking we’ve both had one of those days where we need to blow off a little excess steam.”

He nodded. He couldn’t reply because he’d just swallowed his tongue as she pressed her hips against his erection.

Wait, what was he doing? Something had obviously happened this afternoon. He kept seeing little glimpses of pain below her professional facade. Besides, they were in a supply closet in the hospital. Anyone could walk in at any time. He liked what he knew about this girl and he really didn’t want to use or take advantage of her. While blowing off some steam sexually would be really amazing, there might be something more between them if he gave them a chance. Hell, he didn’t even know her name. He stilled her hands which roamed the planes of his chest.

“While that feels amazing, darlin’, I need to know something. What’s your name?” he whispered into her hair.

“Shanae. My name is Shanae. It’s nice to meet you, Mudflap.” She lifted a small hand to palm his cheek.

He smiled at her. “It’s very nice to meet you, Shanae.”

She must have seen something in his eyes. “This isn’t going to happen, is it?” The disappointed look that crossed her face was almost enough to change his mind.

He flipped her around so they traded positions and he crowded her against the door, placing one hand to the side of her head, and the other to hold onto her slim waist. Leaning down, he brushed a kiss across her forehead. “I would really, really love for it to, but no. Today, it’s not. This was really nice, Shanae, but I’d rather have your phone number so I could convince you to go on a date with me.”

Her eyes twinkled. “You may be able to convince me. Give me your phone.”

He reached into his pocket and passed his phone to her. She keyed in her number and handed it back to him, not letting go of it until he looked at her. “I look forward to your call.” Then she laid a scorching kiss on him and slipped out of the room.

There was no denying the shit-eating grin that spread across his face. Damn, he liked that girl. Shanae. Even her name was hot. 

Halftime Texting

Mudflap
: So is this really your phone number?

Shanae
: Get fake numbers often, do you?

Mudflap
: No comment, but I’m glad this one’s real. When can I see you?

Shanae
: Come up with a game-plan and we can talk.

Mudflap
: What? Just seeing my handsome face isn’t enough of a lure for you to say yes?

Shanae
: No.

Mudflap
: Wow, you’re tough, but I like that. A woman who knows her mind is a good thing.

Shanae
: Still not going to see you until you have a definite plan.

Mudflap
: Damn.

Shanae

“The Alliance to Liberate Texas, ALT, appears to be back. They left a calling card at the cotton gin fire the EMS team responded to yesterday. A coin with their five point Celtic star was found by one of the firefighters.” Shanae Anders, aka Shadowfox, flipped the slide on the screen so her team members saw the 5-pointed star crossed with Celtic markings. “One firefighter was seriously injured and two small children were extremely lucky to walk away with only minor smoke inhalation.”

A highly skilled secret agent, she met the gaze of each man surrounding the table in the LiFT conference room so they could see the seriousness of the situation. This group of just over twenty men made up her team and two other teams within the branch of Lubbock Foxtrot Team,  a top secret branch of the Department of Homeland Security, hiding in plain sight under the guise of Lift EMS contracting.

As members of Lift EMS, they provided air and ambulance medical emergency services to the local area. Every person on the team was fully medical and paramedic qualified and trained. As Lubbock Foxtrot Team, LiFT, they were responsible for national security in the western half of Texas and Oklahoma. They were equally proficient in subterfuge and military defense and offense.

Their cover allowed them explanations for high speed deployment by land or by air, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year. No one ever questioned their mission and they did their job well. Actually they did both jobs well, as first responders to the local area’s medical emergencies and to the national emergencies they responded to as top secret agents for the federal government.

“I’m doing the briefing today because I have firsthand experience with ALT from my time at HeFT.” HeFT was the Houston Foxtrot Team and Shanae had transferred from that unit three months ago.

“I know many of you have heard of ALT and their agenda, but from my understanding the Lubbock office has never had to deal specifically with the organization. ALT is a nasty piece of work. Like their name states, Alliance to Liberate Texas, their ultimate goal is for Texas to secede from the United States. And they have no qualms about the death and destruction they unleash on the innocent citizens of Texas to reach that goal. Two years ago, we thought we’d taken down the organization when a late night raid ended with the death of the leader and several layers of their command.” She pushed the button to change the photo on the screen to show the aftermath of the raid.

“The organization disappeared at that point in time; at least that’s what we thought, but obviously we assumed wrong.”

She glanced around the room to take stock of their attitudes. “ALT has a history of creating havoc in Texas under the umbrella of other groups. They do this because, while we’ve been able to connect them peripherally to the events, we’ve never been able prove that ALT was the top group pulling the strings. They always work it so the sub-organization takes the fall and ends up taking the blame. In the south, they liked using the Mexican cartels. They used those groups to prove the federal government is inept at providing protection and Texans could do a better job taking care of their own. Whatever they had a hand in, it was nasty, violent, and vicious. We can’t allow this organization to gain momentum again. They have to be stopped.”

She took a deep breath. “What we need to find out is what they’re up to. Already, something has changed with their tactics. That cotton gin fire was minor, definitely not the big drama that ALT normally likes to create. So give me the game plan here.”

Quirk, their computer and technology guru and the only person on the team without an additional code name, pushed his glasses up his nose as he spoke. “There hasn’t been any chatter about a resurgence of ALT, although we have noticed increased chatter focused specifically in Texas that leads us to believe that something is on the horizon.” He scanned the faces in the room. “Something bad appears to be brewing out there, boys and girls.”

Andrew Wilkins, the team’s doctor and second in command, also known as Foxglove, tapped his pen on the table. At close to forty years old, he was a deadly opponent out in the field. Luckily for LiFT, he was just as highly-skilled as a surgeon as he was an assassin since he was regularly called upon to put the team back together when missions went bad. “I’m assuming we don’t have any specifics on these threats since we’re not acting.”

At Quirk’s nod, he continued. “So that takes us back to the calling card.” He directed his focus on Shanae. “We’re assuming it was left for us, but it may not have been. Our presence on the scene may have just been coincidence. What do you know about the hurt firefighter and his partner?”

That his partner made her want to rip off her panties and didn’t oblige her when she offered sex
probably wasn’t the answer Andrew was looking for right now, especially since he’d developed a crush on her.

She passed the folders holding the results of that check around the room now.

“The hurt firefighter’s name is Grant Simpson. His partner’s name is Mudflap Davidson.” She worked to maintain her cool facade, although just the thought of him sent her pulse racing.

There were several twitching mouths around the room which was unusual, especially in light of the serious nature of this meeting.

“Mudflap?” Michael asked incredulously. Also known as Firefox, he was the team’s back-up pilot, assassin, and paramedic.

The corner of her mouth quirked up. “I know, but from what I could find out, that’s his legal name.”

“Why? Was jackass taken?” That catcall came from Cord, the other paramedic in her crew, who was known as Sunfox for his California surfer good-looks.

Loud laughter broke out across the room, releasing some of the tension from the intense nature of the meeting.

“Okay, everyone settle down and let Shadowfox continue,” instructed their commander, Daniel Stanton, Foxhunter.

Shanae smiled before continuing. “I’m sure there’s quite a story to his name, but that’s not our focus today. Mudflap Davidson has served in the Lubbock Fire Department for the last four years. Eight years prior to that, he served with distinction in the Army. He was an elite sniper within the Special Forces, highly decorated, and discharged with honor. His record is completely clean, although his psych evaluation shows he had some guilt issues dealing with his spotter’s death. The investigation cleared him of all responsibility. It was just an unlucky day for both of them, since Mudflap was injured in the ambush also. Overall, he’s a regular boy scout. He grew up in Brownfield. His older brother is TC Davidson.”

“Wait a minute, TC Davidson, the former wide-receiver and now assistant coach for the Kansas City Chiefs?” That question came again from Michael. He’d just moved to the area and obviously wasn’t up to date yet on their famous local boys. But he was a huge football fan, so it made sense that he’d heard of TC.

“One in the same. There have been rumors that he’s looking for a head coaching job with one of the Texas Universities, but no one has grabbed him yet. Of course, that would require one of the current coaches to step down and with all three of the big name schools predicted to be in the top twenty-five this year, that isn’t likely to happen anytime soon,” Quirk said, as he fiddled with something on his iPad, obviously doing his normal three to five things at once.

“Regardless of the status of the football coaching staff, I don’t see any reason for Mudflap to be targeted. Maybe their focus was someone else from his station or his partner who was the injured firefighter.” Shanae glanced around the room to see if anyone else had any other ideas.

When they offered nothing, she pulled out Grant’s file. “Grant Simpson has been with the fire department for nine years. On paper, he’s been happily married to Donna Simpson for two years. They don’t have any children. Three years ago, Grant’s father died in a single car automobile accident during a bad thunderstorm. Grant pushed the police department to open an investigation into the accident, but from what I can tell, that never happened. The death was ruled an accident. His mother died when he was a child from cancer. At first glance, there are no links.”

She continued. “Right now, we’ve only been able to scratch the surface details. Maybe something else will come up once we dig deeper, but until then, I’m open to ideas.”