Trusting the SEAL (Saving the SEALs Series Book 3) (11 page)

But that would be stupid, right? Kyle had told him he needed to stop thinking with his dick and start using his brain when it came to women and now was as good a time as any, right? No matter how craptastic it felt.

He double checked his room once more then headed out into the sitting room to call Kyle and let him know he was on the way to the Best Western.

The phone rang twice before his team leader picked up. “What?”

Usual Kyle. Mr. Un-Congeniality.

“I’m on my way.”

“What do you want? A gold star for showing up, dude?” Gage shouted from somewhere in the background which meant Kyle had him on speaker phone.

Marvelous.

“Shut it,” Kyle yelled. “We dropped Williams off at the airport. Sent him back home care of the US Marines. And I’ve arranged for a private security firm from the States to take over as Ms. Williams’ bodyguard, effective immediately. They should have someone on site momentarily.”

“Great.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. Possessiveness, hot and fierce, still bubbled inside him where Toni was concerned, even though he knew damned well he had no right to feel it. She might not want him around anymore, but she still needed someone to watch over her.

“Hey, pick up some food on your way over, buddy.” This from Scotty. Of course that guy would be thinking about food. Besides the fact he was a pretty decent chef, the guy’s stomach seemed to be a bottomless pit. “Indian sounds divine.”

“I’ll see what I can find.” Honestly, the thought of eating at all right now turned Spencer’s gut. Then again, his gut was in knots thanks to the gal in the other room. “Anything else?”

“Yeah.” Kyle clicked a button and the line went quieter, meaning he was off speaker phone. “Good job bringing Williams in and completing your mission.”

Praise from their team leader was rare at best. Spencer was taken aback and hesitated before responding. Right now, this job felt anything but good. “Uh, thanks, sir.”

“Now get your ass over here. We’re all starving. And don’t forget my potato samosas and extra curry sauce. Get a couple orders of garlic naan too. I’ll fill you in on the latest details of the Williams case when you get here.”

Spencer ended the call and waited for the arrival of the new bodyguard. The guy looked like an Arnold Schwarzenegger wannabe, complete with Terminator shades and black power suit. The thought of leaving Toni’s protection in the hands of another man made his head hurt and his heart ache, but considering this Hulk-like guy seemed to have all the personality of a teaspoon, he felt a bit better. No way would Toni be the least bit attracted to a guy like that. Plus, it would take a frigging tank to bulldoze this behemoth into the ground. Now that Spence thought about, he’d almost pay good money to see Miles Arrieta try—some time when all this mess was over and Toni’s life wasn’t at stake.

He went over all the job details with the dude, including what time Toni’s plane left the following day, then took the new guard out on the balcony and showed him the spots in the adjacent building to check for snipers. Kyle might’ve sent the guy, which meant he’d be more than qualified, but Spencer refused to take any chances with the woman he loved.

He jerked to a stop and the world around him stilled.

Loved?

Frowning, Spencer stepped back inside the suite and fished his phone out of his pocket again. Did he love Toni Williams? The area around his heart throbbed. He rubbed his chest with his hand and scowled. Yeah, it was time for him to get the hell out of Jubail.

Stalking back into the sitting room, he dialed the front desk on his cell phone to request a cab and was told there was a five-minute wait due to the departing crowds from the fundraiser gala.

Great.

The new security dude had taken his post outside Toni’s bedroom door. There was nothing left for him to do for Toni, no way to kill the time, and Spencer was sick of his own thoughts already. He stared down at his duffle, then cursed under his breath and unzipped it. Carefully, he removed each item of clothing, refolded it, then put it back in neatly arranged order. Next, he tackled organizing his toiletries with the same level of military precision. Finally, he took a deep breath and refastened the closures. Better. That was better. At least one thing in his cockeyed universe was in order. The elevator dinged in the foyer and the butler informed him his car was waiting.

“Give me a moment,” Spencer said to the man, who bowed then retreated back toward the foyer. A break in the laugh track from Toni’s TV allowed him to hear a muffled sob and, frowning, was at her door before he could stop himself.

He excused the guard, then waited until the guy disappeared into the kitchen before placing his palm against her door and leaning his forehead against the cool wood. She’d said she didn’t want anything more to do with a guy like him. She’d called him a man of war. And now she was crying on the other side of that door and it was all his fault. He’d destroyed her image of her father. Destroyed her career and reputation. Destroyed the event she’d poured her heart and soul and hours upon hours of time and effort into for her foundation. With one move by him and his team, they’d destroyed it all.

If Spencer looked at it that way, he’d hate him too.

Goddammit.

Think with your brain. Think with your brain.

Kyle’s words looped endlessly through his head, always the voice of reason.

Time. They both needed time and distance to get their worlds straight again.

They’d been living in this tiny world, under this weird microscope, for the duration of his mission. So in reality, only a matter of days, not years. Not to mention the fact he needed to come to terms with the fact she’d stood by her father’s side in that ballroom, not his. She’d sided with a man who’d clearly had ties with terrorists and who most likely had something to do with Nick’s death, the very same violent “man of war” type she’d accused him of being that day on the plane. And that kind of deliberate slight took time to absorb, time to deconstruct, time to decide if it was something he could live with or not.

After a deep breath, he returned to the sitting room and grabbed his stuff. Duffle in hand, Spencer headed for the elevators, hesitating long enough to take one last glance back toward Toni’s room.

“Goodbye, sweetheart,” he whispered before heading home.

“
D
ude
, you gonna drink that beer or stare at it all day?” Gage asked, kicking up his booted feet on an empty chair at McGruff’s Pub. This early in the afternoon, they basically had the whole place to themselves except for a few regulars bellied up at the bar. The smell of fried onions and melted cheese drifted from the place’s tiny kitchen, and the numerous neon signs on the walls buzzed and crackled as they heated. Gage’s girlfriend, Anna, pulled up a seat as close to Gage as humanly possible and Spencer shook his head. She should’ve just straddled the guy’s lap. Would’ve been easier. Especially given the way she was now wrapping herself around him in a heated kiss.

“You two need to get a room,” Spencer said, his tone peevish.

“Who died and made you the PDA police?” Gage gave him a dirty look

Spencer responded with a middle finger. “I’ve got things on my mind, okay?”

“Yeah, things named Toni Williams,” Scotty said, sitting in the chair beside Spencer then taking his girlfriend Hayley’s hand and kissing her palm.

She leaned across Scotty, her expression sympathetic. “Have you tried talking to her?”

“No.”
Yes.
These people didn’t need to know that though. Didn’t need to know about the countless messages he’d left, the sheer number of times he’d driven by Toni’s office building downtown, hung out around her last known address. Hell, if he wasn’t careful the cops would pick him up for stalking. At least he’d confirmed she’d made it home okay though.

“Don’t worry.” Hayley gave him a sad smile, just brimming with pity.
Perfect
. She thought he was pathetic. They all did. A pathetic, lovelorn idiot. Hell, he did too, honestly. “Everything will work out in the end,” she said. “It always does.”

Spencer avoided rolling his eyes at the cliché, and concentrated on peeling the wet label off of his beer bottle instead. His head hurt nearly as much as his heart from thinking about Toni and what he’d left behind in Jubail.

But it had been a month. It was time to move on and get back into life.

Alone.

As it should be.

The bell above the door jingled and Kyle walked into the pub, a newspaper in one hand and his phone in the other. “As if things weren’t crappy enough,” he said and tossed the paper down on the table. “Coran Williams just cut himself a cushy little deal with the government. Says he’ll help the FBI track down and apprehend Arrieta. Fucking feds.”

“Hey,” Hayley said, her expression indignant. “That’s my employer.”

Kyle hailed the bartender and ordered a beer then rubbed a hand over his face. “Sorry. I didn’t mean you.”

“Damn straight,” Scotty said, squeezing Hayley tight around the waist. “My girl’s the best damned hacker around.”

“Thanks, sweetie.” Hayley leaned over and kissed Scotty and this time Spencer couldn’t refrain from an eye roll. Jesus, it was like living in a frigging Disney musical around here with all the love and kisses. He half expected bluebirds to start flying around his teammates’ heads one of these days.

Gage and Anna excused themselves and headed hand in hand over to the jukebox in the corner.

The bartender brought over Kyle’s beer and he leaned back in his chair, rocking precariously on two legs while squinting at the paper’s headline. “Looks like your girlfriend went through with the sale of those books too, Spencer. Ended up bringing in a cool one-point-seven million for her foundation from one of Sheik Saaed’s friends.”

Spencer tore off another long strip of paper from his bottle, scowling. “She’s not my girlfriend.”

“Huh.” Kyle took a long drink and watched him, gaze narrowed. “Thought you two got pretty close there in the desert.”

The opening strains of
Rock the Casbah
by The Clash blared over the bar’s sound system and Gage gave Spencer a smartass smirk grin as he boogied down with Anna on the small dance floor.

Spencer straightened and gave Gage a death glare. “What the hell, man?”

“Calm down,” Scotty managed to say between bouts of laughter. “Just because your woman left your sorry ass doesn’t mean—”

“She didn’t leave me. It was a business relationship and my services were no longer needed.”

“Your services?” More snorting laughter from Scotty. Spencer wanted to demolish something. Namely his best bud’s face. “That’s the biggest pussy excuse I’ve ever heard, dude.”

Instead he squeezed his beer bottle so tight, it shattered in his hand. Glass sliced into his palm, but Spencer didn’t care. In fact, he was glad. At least it was a nice distraction from the gaping, raw hole left where his heart used to be.

He yanked a few napkins from the dispenser in the center of the table and wrapped them tight around his hand.

“Jesus, man,” Gage said as he and Anna returned to the table. “Psycho much? No wonder Toni cut and ran when she did.”

That. Was. It.

Spencer snarled and headed around the table, armed and loaded for destruction, only to be halted by Kyle’s hand on the back of his neck.

“Sit. Down.” His team leader growled then shoved Spencer back several steps. “And you two.” Kyle pointed to Gage and Scotty. “Get your shit together and keep your goddamned pants zipped. This is a place of business and we have serious matters to discuss.”

His granite-tough tone brooked no argument and the guys snapped to attention immediately. Spencer took his seat once more and stared at the graffiti-covered tabletop, his palm throbbing now from numerous small cuts. He was in a bad way and he knew it. Only trouble was, the cure for what ailed him was so far out of his orbit he’d need a spaceship to reach her.

“I got a call from Commander Brighton. He thinks we can use this new deal with Williams to find Arrieta and Nick’s real killer.” Kyle sniffed. “Not sure about that myself, but at least with Coran in custody, we’ve got one more piece of the puzzle solved.”

“Still can’t believe Williams was SHEEPSKIN all along. To think that geezer could create a world-wide secret network to track terror cells and that he was the one using Natalie’s stories as part of the scheme. Never thought that guy had the balls for it,” Scotty said.

“Looks can be deceiving.” Kyle scowled. “Just think about Natalie. All along we trusted her. Hell, my brother thought heaven and earth revolved around her, and then…” He cursed under his breath and took a long swig of beer before continuing. “Anyway, Williams is denying ordering the hit on Nick, but I’d bet a fortune he knows who did and why. Brighton said the FBIs kept the guy in twenty-four hour lock down with only closed-door interrogations since they brought him back to the States. According to the agents in charge, he’s hemorrhaging information about all kinds of stuff. Still claims what he did with SHEEPSKIN and the attack on that village makes him some kind of patriot or something.”

“How are we going to find out what he knows though?” Gage asked. “The Bureau isn’t really into sharing intel.”

“He’s right,” Hayley said. “They’ll have that information under the highest security clearance. I might be able to hack in, but it’ll take me a while.”

“Don’t bother,” Kyle said. “Brighton’s sending someone over with some new data. Someone on the inside, he said.”

“Really?” Spencer perked up a little. Another tussle with some federal agents might be just the ticket to blow off some of his excess steam today. “Want me to handle them for you?”

The bell above the entrance jangled again, and Scotty glanced over at the door. “Oh, man.”

“What?” Spencer turned to see the woman who’d haunted his dreams for weeks. He did his best not to gape. “Toni?”

Her dark eyes were unreadable as she walked up to their table, her gaze never leaving his. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Spencer said. Okay, not exactly genius-level conversation, but damn. His brain felt like pudding at the moment. He’d imagined seeing her again a million times, imagined what he’d say, what he’d do, what she’d be wearing.

Spencer looked her up and down—from the toes of her plain white sneakers, up her long, jeans-covered legs, over the purple T-shirt that clung to all of her luscious curves beneath her black leather jacket, and finally to her pretty face.

Nothing in his imagination could ever live up to the real thing.

“Uh, can I sit down?” Toni asked and Spencer felt like an ass all over again.

“Oh, yeah. Sure.” He stood and grabbed her a chair amidst snorts and snickers from his fellow teammates. He kicked Scotty’s shin hard to get him to move back, then pulled up a seat for Toni right beside his. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.” She gave him a polite smile.

He slumped back into his own chair and did his best not to stare at her like some besotted baboon, whatever game he might’ve had where she was concerned completely gone. “Would you like something to drink?” he managed to say, his throat tight with adrenaline.

“Uh, sure.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “I’ll have whatever you’re having.”

“Cool.” Spencer hailed the bartender. Once the guy brought her drink, he all but fell out of his chair, rushing to pay for it. Not good. Not good at all.

“So, Toni,” Kyle said, giving Spencer a get-it-together-man look. “Commander Brighton said you had new information we might find useful?”

“Yes.” She pulled a folder out from her designer bag and slid it across to Kyle, before folding her hands on the table and frowning down at them. “I’m not sure what you all think of me these days, and I realize my father’s actions most likely caused more harm than good, but I do believe he was trying to fight terrorism and do the right thing, in his own misguided way.”

Kyle flipped open the file and began poring through the contents.

“Anyway,” Toni continued. “You guys probably don’t care, but I’ve decided to use the money from the sale of my dad’s books to help the victims of the bombing in the Jubail village and other victims of terrorism around the world. It seems only fitting, given what my father was involved in, no matter his motives.”

“Nice,” Scotty said, raising his beer bottle. “Cheers to that.”

“Yep. Cheers.” Gage clinked his own bottle against Scotty’s then did the same to everyone else’s as they all joined in. Everyone but Kyle, who was too busy going through Toni’s file.

“Looks like your father had another meeting set up two weeks from now in Tennessee?” Kyle said, finally looking up from the paperwork.

“Yes. That’s why I volunteered to bring this over here personally today. This madness needs to end. I thought you guys would be the best ones to stop it, once and for all.” She gave a quick glance in Spencer’s direction before dropping her gaze to the pockmarked tabletop again.

The other couples soon drifted off to the dance floor as a sappy slow song came on, leaving only Spencer, Toni, and Kyle.

“So, you made it home okay,” Spencer said, finally, keeping his voice low to afford them some privacy, though—if his team leader’s laser-like attention on that file was any indication—he shouldn’t have bothered.

“Obviously,” Toni said, giving him some serious side eye. “That other bodyguard you sent was really nice. I decided to keep him on permanently, as a matter of fact.” She cocked her head toward the entrance and Spencer glanced over to see the hulking silhouette of a super-sized man outside the pub. “Bob makes a good deterrent.”

“Bob would make a good building,” Spencer said and smiled.

“That too.” Toni gave him a little wink and his insides went warm. “It’s good to see you again, Spencer.”

“You too, Toni.”

“Aw, so sweet you guys are giving me a toothache,” Scotty crooned, complete with kissy noises, as he and Hayley made their way back to the table.

“A busted jaw would give you a toothache too,” Spencer growled.

“Enough!” Kyle said. “Are you sure this information is accurate, Toni?”

“Should be, it came directly off my father’s computer at Williams Publishing. I stopped there right before I came here and copied over what files I could. Why?”

“Because this lists the location of someone who shouldn’t be found.”

Spencer frowned. “Natalie?”

“Yep.”

Gage resumed his seat and pulled Anna down onto his lap. “She’s in Witness Protection, right?”

“According to these files, Coran was able to track her somehow. There’s a trail of receipts here that leads all the way to Nashville.” He flipped through a few more pages, his scowl deepening. “And there’s surveillance shots of her too. Near the Grand Old Opry.”

“But Natalie hated country music,” Scotty said, his nose wrinkled.

“Yeah, I’m guessing she loves her freedom though.” Spencer leaned back and downed the rest of his beer, his arm brushing against Toni’s. “Anything else in that file?”

“Oh, yeah. Looks like Natalie wasn’t the only person Coran was tracking.”

“Who else?” Hayley asked.

“Well, there’s Arrieta, of course. Plus, a couple of ISIS bigwigs too. In fact, there’s five pages of intercepted radio communications between SHEEPSKIN and several of these various terror cells.” Kyle shook his head and pulled out another photo then squinted at the corner of it. “Whatever system your father was using, Toni, it was pretty goddamned effective. There’s something else on here too. With the reprinting, I can’t tell if it’s something important or just a watermark.”

“Let me see,” Anna said, snatching it from Kyle’s hand. Being a professional photographer would give her an advantage, Spencer supposed. “No. That’s no watermark.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a small magnifying lens. “Looks like Arrieta’s symbol again.”

She handed the picture and lens to Kyle, who took a look then passed it to Spencer. “Is that the same as what you saw on Toni’s letter that day?”

Spencer squinted at the tiny image and saw the circle with the letter A in the middle, the same rifle and machete and crossbow. “Yep. You think Arrieta’s using it as a secret code or something?”

“Maybe.” Kyle rubbed his eyes then signaled the bartender to bring them all another round. “I’ll have to do some more digging to be sure. The only thing I know for certain is there’s going to be a trip to Nashville in my future.”

“What about the rest of us, man?” Scotty said, waggling his brows at Hayley. “Maybe I’d like to do some Boot Scoot Boogie myself.”