Jodie Bailey - Freefall

“No. And I doubt you will see him again anyway.” Shane had waited forever to make this reappearance in her life, so why had he picked today? Weary with the day, weary with Shane’s intrusion and weary with life in general, Cassidy dug for a sense of normalcy that would take away the dull throb in her head. “So, who told you I could use a friendly face?”

Jackson relaxed and ran his hand through thick blond hair. “Word travels fast. Heard you had a little excitement over here and thought I’d come over and check on you.” His brown eyes grew dark with concern. “You okay?”

“Other than thinking I was back in Baghdad for a few minutes, I’m fine.” I’d be even better if the past hadn’t picked today to intrude.

“Yeah, I’d imagine that kind of noise would trigger a flashback or two.” He aimed a finger at her forehead. “How did you get the bruise?” Anger flashed in his eyes, and he straightened. “It wasn’t that guy, was it?”

“What? No, not at all.” Shane had never laid a finger on her, nor had she ever feared he would. If anything, he was overly protective. Cassidy pressed her fingertips to a spot above her right eyebrow and winced at the sting. “Desk diving.” She grabbed her laptop and shoved it into the case as she glanced at her desk for her ID card. “At least it wasn’t a car bomb. More like mechanical ineptitude.”

“So they know what caused it?”

Cassidy nodded, relieved to talk about anything but Shane, even if it was an exploding vehicle.

Jackson relaxed and leaned back in her chair. “A little too much power in those modifications, huh?”

“Boys and their toys.” She shrugged and glanced at her computer, wanting nothing more than to mark this day down as a distant memory. “Hey, see if you see my ID card anywhere.”

Easing the chair back, Jackson eyed the floor beneath her desk. “You lost it?”

“Actually, I’m not sure. I had just pulled it out of the card reader on my computer when the explosion happened. I must have launched it somewhere.”

Jackson laughed, but it was different from his usual, easy laugh.

Cassidy looked at him, but he was doubled over, searching under her desk. With a shake of her head, she wrote the cold tingle in her spine off to postexplosion adrenaline and Shane-induced emotions. “Not funny, my friend. You try thinking you’re under attack on home soil sometime.”

“Been there, done that, liking my cushy contractor job over at Brigade now, thank you very much. So far, nothing’s blown up outside my building.”

“You’re lucky I like you.” She scanned the baseboards behind her desk.

“Got it.”

Cassidy looked up to find Jackson holding her ID card between two fingers. “It was under your desk.”

“That’s a relief. It would be an international incident if I lost that thing.”

“Ah, it’s not that bad. It’d just raise the domestic terror threat level to red for a couple of hours.” Jackson winked as he straightened and ran his hand down his polo over his chest. “Want to grab some dinner? You can tell me all about your visions of chaos, and I can tell you all about how Lauren dumped me last night.”

This time Cassidy winced. “Ouch. She did?”

He cocked his arm and swung like he was taking a major league pitch. “Strike three. I’m out. Reese takes the walk of defeat back to the dugout.”

“Yeah, okay.” She ushered him out of the room and flipped off the light, then pulled the door shut behind her. “If I know you, there are six more in the bullpen waiting to pitch to you.”

“You one of ’em?”

Her laugh was hollow as she tested the door lock. What made him bring that up today? Of all people, Jackson knew best that she would never be involved in another relationship, not without some sort of lifetime guarantee. Something that said if it broke, she could get her wasted years back. “You know better. I’ll let you take me to dinner. Then I’m going home to start my weekend. My nice, quiet weekend.”

* * *

Shane slipped the back door closed and stopped. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and the late-evening light outside faded. He stared across the kitchen, listening for sounds of movement in the house.

He’d left her office determined to make her see the danger she faced. If she refused to believe the truth and something happened to her that he could have prevented...

It hadn’t taken much effort to find out where she lived, but his intention to wait in the driveway and try to talk to her was thwarted when he drew near the house and saw the man he’d chased earlier slip into the side door of the garage. His only thought had been to protect Cassy, so he’d parked down the street and edged along the side of the travel trailer sitting on the lawn to the left of the garage, noting it still bore the bumper sticker from when Cassy and he had taken it on their first trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

A rustling above his head stilled his movements. For an instant, he thought about charging up the stairs to play hero, but he had no idea of the layout of the house. If the intruder heard him coming and hid, he wouldn’t have a prayer of getting out of this without a confrontation he’d have to explain to the police. Shane couldn’t see that one ending well. They’d forget all about the arsonist he’d followed and want to know what he was doing uninvited inside his ex-wife’s house. Know what the penalty is in North Carolina for stalking, son?

There had to be a way to draw the guy out, get eyes on him. Shane let his gaze travel the room again as a soft thud drifted through the ceiling. And there was his answer, lying on the counter in front of the toaster oven. A garage door opener.

Shane crept along the granite counter, snagged the opener and slid into the short hallway between the kitchen and what appeared to be a dining room. Pressing his back against the wall, he pushed the button and shifted into a defensive position as the garage door’s movements rumbled through the walls.

A curse and a flurry of noise echoed from above, then silence engulfed the house.

Trying to discern slight sounds, Shane held his breath. No footsteps thudded toward him. Surely he wasn’t headed for the front door. Maybe...

Adrenaline jerked at his muscles. Was the guy lying in wait for Cassy? Shane narrowed his eyes and hit the button again, listening as the door ground into place, ready to defend if necessary. If it was Cassy they wanted, it was Cassy they’d think they were getting.

Easing around the corner, Shane opened what he judged to be the garage door and slammed it, then slipped back to his hiding place.

A man stood in front of him, silhouetted by the dining-room windows. Muted light glinted off the blade of a knife.

Shane judged the other man’s bulk in an instant. His adversary had two inches and twenty pounds on him. That, and there was the blade of the knife that made height and weight irrelevant.

Well, nobody had ever said going against a drug smuggler would be easy. Ducking his head, Shane lowered his shoulder and charged.

TWO

“You have got to be kidding me.” Cassidy dropped her head against the back of her SUV’s seat and stared through the Trailblazer’s windshield into thick, gooey darkness. It was like Murphy and his laws followed her around, blowing up cars in the parking lot, inviting her ex-husband into her office, knocking her power out in a storm just as her garage door closed.

There wasn’t a tornado warning she didn’t know about, was there? Because it sure wouldn’t surprise her if she blinked and found herself in a storm-tossed Kansas cornfield.

Maybe she’d forget the idea of her bed and sleep right here. The way things were going, her cell would ring and the soldier on twenty-four-hour staff duty would call her back into work anyway.