Jodie Bailey - Smokescreen

From the moment the army stationed the three of them together at Fort Carson, Colorado, they were a team, inseparable even after Ethan and Ashley moved on to Fort Drum in her home state. The hard truth was, though Ethan had fallen hard, Sean had always been the one Ashley gravitated to, the one closest to her heart.

Now her heart was in danger.

“Why would you say that?” Ethan asked, trying to gauge exactly what she knew, to stall as he worked out a plan to proceed.

Ashley didn’t answer. Instead, she dug her fingers into the back of her neck, elbows locking as she pulled tight.

Ethan recognized the move. He’d seen it in the past. She was fighting a swell of panic that threatened to drown her. More than anything, he wanted to reach down and touch her, but he’d given up any right five years ago.

He turned his focus to the road behind them, wind from the broken window fluttering against his face, to let her fight her battle in peace.

It took a minute before she spoke. “He left me several messages. The last one...” The words strangled out. She pulled in a deep breath and held it before continuing. “The man at the airport let me know this was all about Sean. Now you and your buddy kidnap me and—”

“We did not kidnap you.” Mitchum’s voice was laced with insult.

“Really?” Ashley addressed the question to Ethan. “Then take me to my car and let me go home.”

“Can’t.” In fact, it would be the worst thing they could do, driving a bullet-riddled vehicle straight onto airport property. Their whole operation would be upended faster than any of them could even state their names. The answers were so close, Ethan could see them on the horizon, and there was no way he was going to risk a run-in with local law enforcement that could jeopardize everything.

The panic must have passed, because Ashley dropped her hands and shifted her posture. “Then you’re taking me against my will. Tell me this... It’s been five years since I last saw you, since I last heard even one word from you. What makes you think I want anything to do with you? What makes you worthy of my trust?”

Mitchum snickered as he pulled into the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant, easing into the space next to Ethan’s black, four-wheel-drive pickup.

Ethan winced. He’d deserved the question. It forced him to pull out the one fact he knew would make her believe he could be trusted, even though it was the last thing he wanted to talk about. “Yes, Sean sent me. He also told me if it ever came to this I should tell you something no one but the two of you would know, something he promised you he’d never tell me.”

“Go on.”

Ethan really didn’t want to, but he had bigger fish frying than any past issues with her. “Mitchum, check your truck and pull security.”

“We’re wide open here. You sure you want to risk sitting still long enough for—”

“Just do it. Two minutes.”

Mitchum’s displeasure escaped in shades of blue as he climbed out and slammed the truck door so hard the entire vehicle rocked.

Ethan fired a silent reprimand through the window before he turned his attention to Ashley. Better to say it and get it over with than to drag it out. “Sean was about to deploy for the first time. He came to Fort Drum to see us and took you to that little steak house near post for dinner.”

“Stop.”

“He asked you to marry him. You said no. You got up and left him on one knee while the entire restaurant watched.”

There it was. The guilt grew stronger every time he felt just a little bit relieved she’d turned Sean down the first time.

“You didn’t tell him yes until later.”

“I said stop.” Ashley pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, burying her face. “He was never supposed to tell anybody. It was...”

When she didn’t finish, Ethan finished it for her. “Humiliating for both of you. I know.” As hard as any of the rest of it had been, now came the hardest part, the part she’d likely hate both him and Sean for until the day she died. “He knew telling me would prove he trusted me, and you should, too. You have to. That man didn’t just want to take you.” She had to understand the seriousness of her situation. “He’s part of a group that wants to use you as a pawn against Sean, to see if they can get him to talk and compromise an entire military operation.”

Ashley shook her head from side to side. “No.”

“Sean sent me because he knew you were in danger and I was the only one who could get to you in time.” He fought to keep his face impassive, to not let her see he was telling her half of the story. “He’s gotten into some hot water over in Afghanistan, and the bad guys are looking for any way to get to him. Including you. He doesn’t have any family, and you’re the closest thing he’s got. It didn’t take them long to track you down.” Not to mention, Sean and Ethan had inadvertently pointed them right to her. It was a bad idea from the start. Right now, he just needed her to trust him enough to get them both to safety. And if he told her everything up front, there was no telling what Ashley would do. She for sure wouldn’t trust him to get her out of this situation, and she’d probably never turn over the evidence she didn’t even know she held.

TWO

Bullets had been fired. At her.

The seat belt clicked as Ashley shoved it into place, but the sound was a thousand miles away. She hated this sensation, the feeling she was two paces behind, both participating in and watching a movie she couldn’t quite follow. It was the feeling that usually preceded a loss of control nothing could stop.

A few feet from his truck, Ethan and his partner were engaged in a heated, hand-waving discussion. Ethan seemed to be gaining the upper hand, his stance suggesting authority. It was a posture she’d seen more than once, his shoulders back, broad under the black fleece he wore, blue-jeaned legs just far enough apart to keep him from wavering. He’d filled out, grown not broader but definitely more solid, the line of his jaw sharper, more determined. He’d been dangerous enough before, but with this new maturity, he could devastate her if she let him.

With a final string of words Ashley was grateful she couldn’t hear, Mitchum stalked into the darkness, leaving Ethan by himself.

Ethan climbed into his truck and turned the key.

Ashley shouldn’t have agreed to go with him, should have insisted he take her to her car and give her her life back, but the implications of what had happened pressed in. The man at the airport had not only wanted her, he’d wanted to use her to hurt Sean. Ashley was a pawn to him, easily manipulated and eradicated if it furthered his agenda. She tugged her lips between her teeth, then thought better of it when pain pulsed through her skin.

She refused to wince. Somehow being insecure in the face of Ethan’s confidence seemed like the worst possible thing. And blowing up in a full panic attack in front of him? Not an option. Years ago he’d left her because she was weak.

She dug her nails into her thigh and tried to hang on, to keep her body and her mind from bolting out of control. It wasn’t easy with her pulse stuttering and a thin sheen of cold sweat coating her skin.

Even with Ethan’s knowledge of Sean’s first proposal, Ashley didn’t know what to think. She had no idea what Sean was involved in or what Ethan’s plans for her were.

Until Ethan proved his intentions, she wasn’t about to go along without more than a story that needed to stay in the past. “You’re speculating a lot. Maybe the man was trying to help me.” Not likely, since he’d made his threats quite clear, but if that was the case, there was no reason to panic. Maybe— please, Lord— this was all some giant mistake.