LITMIR.BIZ

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      “I think so.”

      Kate sat down. She looked tired and anxious. Christie had the feeling this was harder for her than it was for Boone and Seth. Kate wasn’t a soldier. She’d clearly been involved in some horrible things, but the guys, they were used to all this covert stuff, trained for it until it had become second nature. Kate had been with the UN, and there was no way covering up dead bodies was part of that protocol.

      “We’ll have to replace the carpet. We’ll remove it now, and we’ll have someone we can trust come in with a new one. You want the same thing?”

      Christie sat back in her chair, laughter bubbling from somewhere deep. Carpet choices? Now? “Yeah, the same carpet will be fine.”

      “Great. It’ll all be over soon. You’ll have your life back. That’s gotta feel good.”

      “I don’t believe it. Not yet.”

      “Sure,” Kate said. “That’s understandable.”

      Christie leaned a little closer to her as the men carried the body bag through her kitchen. “Do you really think he was a spy?”

      Kate shrugged. “Best to cross all the t’s and dot the i’s. None of us can afford to leave it like this. But for what it’s worth, I think he was obsessed with you. I heard him, and even over the speakers, there was a lot of twisted passion in his voice.”

      “Yeah. I heard it, too.”

      “There’s no way this was anything but self-defense. You’re not getting away with murder. Got that? You did good, and with any luck at all, you’ll be able to put all this behind you.”

      Christie leaned back on her chair, suddenly so tired she could hardly hold her head upright.

      “Why don’t you get some rest? We’ll take care of things out here.”

      “Milo.”

      “We’ve got it covered.” Kate stood up. “He’s going to be fine. And so are you.”

      Christie wanted to believe her.

       17

      BOONE STOOD BY HER BED, watching Christie sleep. He’d swallowed a couple of aspirin, which had taken the edge off, but he still hurt, though not as much as looking at her. Christ, her mouth was open, her hair was a mess and she looked too pale and thin to deny the stress she’d been under, but he thought she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

      This was it. Yeah, they still had to find out about her bank accounts, and make sure there were no complications over at the prick’s house, but it was over. He’d be leaving, going back to the business of scraping out a living and doing his damndest to out those bastards who’d tried to kill the team. Before this, before Christie, taking them down was all he cared about. Now he just wished he’d never been in the service at all.

      Other men could look back at a woman as the great heartbreak of their life. For Boone, it was the army. He’d given the service his heart, his soul, his body. And it had betrayed him in every way a man can be betrayed.

      Until he’d gone to Kosovo, he’d had an exemplary record. Delta had recruited him, and they’d competed with the SEALs to win him. He and Nate had gone head-to-head, and they’d kicked everyone else’s ass. It had been great.

      It had gone to hell so quickly. One assignment. It had looked like a cakewalk up front. Then they’d met Tam, and she’d shown them exactly who they were working for. A government agency that was unconnected to the army or Delta Force, funded as an offshoot of the CIA. They had no compunction about breaking the law, about subverting the principles of the Constitution or international treaties. They’d turned Nate’s unit into assassins for profit, and lied with every word out of their corrupt mouths.

      The moment of discovery had been their last free moment.

      Boone had gone home, met his father in secret, hoping for counsel, for support. His dad, the Major, had slapped him across the face and told him not to come home again.

      Since then, he’d lived every day as if it would be his last, and not particularly cared. Yeah, he wanted justice, but mostly he wanted to rest. He wanted to get a regular job, maybe doing some high-tech security, maybe open a store in a quiet part of Tennessee.

      Mostly, though, he wanted Christie. If things were different, he’d like to take her to his hometown, show her around. She’d like it there, in the mountains. So would Milo. That dog wouldn’t know what to do when he saw some of those homegrown squirrels.

      Christie shifted on the bed, her arm moving closer to her pillow. It ached, wanting her. Knowing that it might be years before he could come out of hiding. That it might be forever.

      Just his luck he’d finally found someone he could love, when there was no hope of doing a damn thing about it.

      “Hey.”

      He smiled at the soft, fuzzy voice, still half in sleep. “Hey, yourself.”

      “What time is it?”

      “Almost eight.”

      “In the morning, right?”

      He nodded. “There’s someone here who wants to see you.”

      She sniffed and fought a yawn. “Can it wait till I brush my teeth?”

      “I don’t think he cares.” Boone turned and patted his leg. Milo, tail wagging hard, came down the hall, his nails clacking on the hardwood.

      Christie sat up, her smile so beautiful it made Boone’s chest hurt, and when Milo jumped onto the bed, she hugged him so hard he almost fell right back down again.

      Boone had to leave, to turn away from her. She’d come on out when she was ready, and they’d take off. He’d called Larry to find out where he was with the IRS business, but he’d only gotten the machine. Seth was going to stop by later, after they’d finished their search at Dan Paterson’s house.

      Kate had called an hour ago. Dan’s place was a suburban one-story in Santa Monica, and the preliminary search hadn’t turned up squat. No electronics, no mention of Christie, nothing. They’d all agreed that made no sense, so they were digging deeper.

      As he passed the living room, his gaze went to the bare patch Seth had cut out of the carpet. If they couldn’t make the replacement seamless, they’d take out the whole damn thing and put in a new one. That wouldn’t happen until tomorrow, though. First things first, but damn, Boone wanted to get Christie back to her rightful life as soon as possible.

      Already, they’d removed most of the surveillance equipment. He wanted Seth to go through the house again, though, to make sure nothing was left behind. Then he wanted to change her locks and replace the bedroom window. They’d found the crawl space, where Dan had waited to spring his trap. He’d had earphones and a small monitor down there, which Seth had taken with him. Before he’d left, they’d nailed the access doors shut both inside and outside the house.

      Everything was coming together, and once her finances were back in order, she’d be fine. She could work again, have her friends back in her life, see her parents. Her nightmare would be over.

      “Boone?”

      He turned to see her standing by the bathroom door, holding a bundle of clean clothes. “Yeah?”

      “How about whipping me up one of your wonder shakes for breakfast.”

      He grinned. “No cookies? No ice cream?”

      She wrinkled her nose. “Perish the thought. And double up on that wheat germ, would you?” She laughed as she closed the door behind her.

      His smile faded as he went into the kitchen. For the thousandth time, he cursed the bastards who’d stolen his life, and swore, once more, that he’d

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