P.J.’s brows drew together in confusion. “What am I missing here?”
“Nothing important,” Steele said. “What is important is that Garrett feels that there’s a wild card and that someone other than Lattimer is after Sarah Daniels. The problem is they don’t know who. Yet. Garrett is stashing her here until they know what they’re dealing with. It’s our job to make sure she stays safe.”
Cole nodded. “Ain’t no thang. Another day at the office.”
P.J. pulled her pack over her shoulders as Cole did the same. As they turned to head up the incline toward the lodge, Steele called out, “One more thing.”
Both Cole and P.J. turned and Cole was surprised by the amused glint in Steele’s usually stoic expression.
“Watch out for the bears.”
P.J.’s eyes widened. “Bears?”
Steele struggled to maintain a straight face. “Yeah, they have Kodiaks here. Big-ass fucking bears. Make grizzlies look kind of friendly.”
“Well, shit,” P.J. swore. “Nothing like being trapped on an island with BAFBs.”
Cole shot her an inquisitive look.
“Big-Ass Fucking Bears,” she said patiently, echoing Steele’s description. She cast him a sideways look and mischief danced in her eyes. “We can always use Cole for bear bait.”
“You’re all heart, Rutherford. All heart,” Cole said.
“VAN, when was the last time you heard from Garrett?” Sam asked as he strode into the war room.
Donovan rotated in his chair and stared back at his brother. “He checked in a few hours ago. Said Sarah was sleeping and as soon as she woke up, he was getting them the hell out of there.”
“Bring me up to speed. I hate feeling left in the dark.”
Donovan grinned. “A new baby will do that to you.”
Sam rubbed a hand over his unshaven jaw and barely managed to stifle a yawn. He was deeply and madly in love with his new daughter, but she was a whole new experience. Sophie was tired and trying to do it all in her quest not to interfere with the goings-on at KGI since Garrett was off on a mission, but Sam had nipped that in the bud quick.
She had exhausted herself by trying to do too much too soon and he’d put her to bed and taken over baby duty. Only Charlotte hadn’t expressed a whole lot of interest in sleeping. She’d alternated fussing with wide-eyed staring at her father. She seemed perfectly content to be held. As soon as Sam tried to put her down, she put up a fuss that had him scrambling to soothe her before she woke Sophie up.
“Nothing in my years in the army prepared me for having a baby,” Sam said wearily. “It’s not for pussies, that’s for sure.”
Donovan chuckled. “Think how Sophie feels.”
“Yeah, I know. I don’t know how she does it. I had to make her take some downtime. She was running herself ragged trying to do everything.”
“I thought Rachel coming over was nice,” Donovan said. “I have to admit, I was a little worried about how she’d take Sophie having a baby. She was so devastated when she remembered having the miscarriage.”
Sam ran his hand over his face, wiping some of the sleep from his eyes. His younger brother’s wife had spent a year a prisoner in South America, leaving Ethan and the rest of the family to think she was dead. When they discovered she was alive, KGI had gone in with the full force of their resources and rescued her, but she’d come home missing memories of her life—and of her difficulties in her marriage to Ethan.
“I was worried too. I wouldn’t have her hurt for the world,” Sam said. “Sophie was concerned too. She was reluctant to take the baby over to Mom’s because she was worried about hurting Rachel.”
“Sophie’s a doll,” Donovan said. “You’re lucky to have her.”
Sam smiled at that. “Yeah. Damn lucky.”
“And Rachel has handled it well. She and Ethan have been doing so much better. She seems ... stronger lately. I’m seeing more and more of the Rachel we knew before she disappeared.”
The security doors opened and Sam swiveled to see Ethan walk into the war room. “Hey man,” Sam greeted. “What are you doing here?”
“I was under the impression I was on your payroll now, even if I do still draw the pussy missions,” Ethan said dryly.
“We were just talking about Rachel,” Donovan said by way of subtly reminding Ethan why he was still drawing the light-duty tasks.
“Yeah? Any reason in particular?”
“No, just remarking on how much better she seems to be doing,” Sam said. “I’ll be honest. We were worried how she’d take the new baby. I worried it would upset her. Bring back bad memories.”
Ethan shoved his hands into his pocket and rocked back on his heels. His expression was bland, but Sam could see the unease in his brother’s stance. Rachel’s miscarriage had been a catalyst for a chain of events that had led to the complete unraveling of Ethan and Rachel’s marriage. Ethan still struggled with the guilt for what his wife had gone through and what she continued to battle on a daily basis.
“I think she’d like to try to get pregnant again.”
Both Sam and Donovan exchanged surprised looks and then Sam went back to Ethan to check his reaction. He didn’t look thrilled.
“How do you feel about that?” Sam asked.
“Christ but I hate these conversations,” Ethan muttered. “She hasn’t said anything. It’s just a feeling I get. Or maybe I still just feel like a shithead and I’m projecting. Don’t you love all the new words you learn in therapy?”
Donovan chuckled. “Okay, but you didn’t answer the question. Are you guys ready for that kind of step?”
“No,” Ethan said bluntly. “She’s not ready. Damn it, she’s still so fragile. If ... if she got pregnant and miscarried again, I don’t even want to imagine how she’d react. I don’t think we can deal with that right now when she’s getting better. It’s like ... God, there are times when it’s just like old times. Before I fucked everything up. I feel like I have her back, the way she was before she forgot so much. I don’t want to do anything to mess that up. I don’t want her hurt again. I just want to protect her and make her happy.”
“That’s understandable,” Sam said. “I get it, man. I really do. I’d do a hell of lot to make Sophie happy.”
Ethan cupped his nape and glanced over at Donovan. “I didn’t come over for couples therapy. I wanted to check in on Garrett and see what the hell is going on. No one’s said jack to me beyond the fact Garrett was taking a job that Resnick asked him to take.”
Donovan provided the details while Sam stood to the side and listened in. Damn but he was tired. And if he was tired, he couldn’t imagine how wasted Sophie had to be. Her labor, despite its quick beginning, had actually gone longer than expected. And then there had been complications afterward. Not serious, but it had taken a lot out of her.
She and Charlotte were his world. And for the next few days, he was going to become even more intimately acquainted with his daughter, because her mother was going to do nothing but rest, if he had to all but tie her to the bed.
It took him a moment to realize that Ethan had asked him a question. He blinked and tuned back into the conversation. “What did you say about Rusty?”
“I talked to Sean yesterday. I wondered if he’d told you about what happened,” Ethan said, a scowl darkening his face.
“About the Winfree punk roughing Rusty up and wrecking her car? Yeah, he told us. He also told us he threatened the little prick and scared him shitless,” Sam said.
Donovan’s eyes hardened. “I want to go over there myself. I may not see eye to eye with Rusty. Hell, half the time I wonder if Mom’s lost her damn mind for taking on that project. But no little teenage bastard is going to get away with fucking with one of the family, Kelly-born or not. Any guy who goes around manhandling a teenage girl ought to have his balls removed and shoved down his throat.”
“Part of this is our fault,” Sam said evenly. “We haven’t exactly been accepting of Rusty. Most of the time, we ignore her existence. That’s created two problems. One, she doesn’t feel like she can come to us with a problem like that. Hell, if Sean hadn’t come up on her right after it happened, she probably never would have told anyone. And the little bastard probably would have went after her again and succeeded. Two, because we haven’t been accepting of her, others pick up on our disinterest. We’ve done her a disservice. Whether we approve of her or not, she’s a part of this family. She deserves our protection and she damn sure needs to feel like she can come to one of us if she’s getting grief from some asshole at school.”
Ethan sighed. “You’re right. We’ve made her an outsider despite the fact that Mom has declared her a member of the family. No matter what our feelings, everyone else needs to know that she’s one of us and no one fucks with the Kellys.”
“That deserves a hooyah,” Donovan said with a grin.
Ethan looked at him in mock horror. “Garrett would kick your ass over that. A Marine allowing a navy salute past his lips?”
“Garrett’s too busy corralling his lady to worry about me,” Donovan said with a smug grin.
Sam and Ethan looked at each other and then back at Donovan. “Okay, what’s the deal? And you better spill,” Sam threatened.
The look of unholy glee in Donovan’s eyes made Sam feel instantly sorry for Garrett before even hearing the situation. Whatever it was, he was probably already taking some heavy-duty shit from Donovan.
“Come on, give it up, Van,” Ethan said.
“Sarah Daniels has Garrett chasing his tail and not in a fun way. He’s been acting awfully strange about her. When I volunteered to take over the mission when he was home a few days ago, he damn near took my head off. He’s got that possessive caveman thing going.” Donovan looked at Ethan and smirked and then yanked his thumb in Sam’s direction. “You know, like lover boy over here got when Sophie landed in our backyard.”
Sam scowled. “Fuck you, Van.”
“I’m hearing that a lot lately,” Donovan said with exaggerated hurt.
Ethan rubbed his jaw in a thoughtful manner. “It’s not unusual for Garrett to get all growly over a woman. He’s extremely protective of Rachel. He’d take off someone’s head if they posed any sort of threat to her.”
“He didn’t like Sophie at first,” Sam pointed out.
“This is different,” Donovan insisted. “I’m telling you. There is something going on with Garrett this time. He gets awfully tense over Sarah Daniels. They’re heading to Alaska as we speak. I sent Steele and part of his team ahead. I don’t have a good feeling about this.”
Sam frowned. “Think we should go then?”
“I think the both of you are fine right where you are for the time being,” Donovan said. “Your wives need you. I still have Rio and his team on tap, and I’m free if he needs more. Steele, Cole and P.J. are there and are providing protection. I have every confidence that they’ll more than be able to handle anything that comes up.”
CHAPTER 23
SARAH melted into the front seat of the black SUV and waited anxiously for Garrett to walk around to the driver’s side after he closed her door. Thanks to his caution, she was now fully convinced people were poised to jump out of the trees at every turn.
Garrett tossed her bag and his into the backseat and then slid into the front. He quietly shut his door then cranked the engine. As he put it in gear, he glanced over at her.
“You okay?”
She gave a nervous nod.
“We’ve got a drive ahead of us, so get comfortable, but don’t let your guard down. If I tell you to do something, do it. No questions.”
Again she nodded and he started forward, navigating around the heavy tree cover where he’d parked the SUV.
They rocked and bumped over the broken-paved road toward the small village several miles away. But he turned off about a mile out of town and took an even smaller, one-lane dirt road to the north.
As if sensing her question, he said, “I want to stay off the main roads as much as possible and out of towns if I can help it. If I found you, so can others.”
She grimaced. “I made it that easy to find me?”
“Sorry, sweetheart, but it wasn’t that difficult. There isn’t much my brother can’t find out about someone. He probably knows your bra size.”
She glared over at him. “I see. And did he share this information with you too?”
Garrett grinned. “No need. I plan to find out that one myself.”
Her eyes widened and then she laughed at the blatant flirting. Just when she thought she had him figured out, he always did something to unbalance her. He might appear to be the uptight, grumpy person he swore his brothers labeled him, but he was also fun and a huge flirt. He was also extremely sensitive though if she told him that, he’d probably shoot himself. Or her.
