Backlash Read online

  “How do you expect me to feel? Every time I turn around, I find out you’re keeping another secret from me.” Irritation, hurt, and anger all vibrated through her voice.

  “Marilyn, I’m sorry.” Kel kept his hand on hers, his eyes dark with emotion. “I’m really sorry.”

  Marilyn studied him for a moment, resigned that Kel had yet to learn how to confide in her. “Is there anything else you aren’t telling me? Any secrets that I should know about or assumptions that you think I know about? I mean, you aren’t some world-famous pie-eating champion or something, are you?”

  “I don’t think so.” Kel lifted his eyebrows. Then he gave her a cautious smile. “I was thinking about buying a boat though, once we get settled at the new house.”

  “You’re assuming that I won’t spend all of your money on furniture,” Marilyn said with a straight face.

  When she saw the alarm in Kel’s eyes, she only lasted ten seconds before a giggle escaped along with most of her tension. “I’m kidding.”

  Kel blew out a breath. “I think I’d better go shopping with you.”

  Marilyn nodded. “Probably not a bad idea.”

  23

  Tristan walked into the restaurant and immediately noticed his wife sitting at a table with Amy. He also noticed the look in her eyes. Glancing back at Brent, who had followed him inside, he asked, “Do you know what they’re up to?”

  Brent shook his head. “No, but it always worries me when our wives spend too much time together.”

  “I know what you mean.” Tristan nodded. He crossed to where his wife was sitting and leaned down to kiss her before taking the seat beside her. “So what’s going on?”

  “What do you mean?” Riley blinked innocently, even though her blue eyes sparked with mischief.

  “Sometimes I don’t think they trust us,” Amy said now, grinning at Brent before looking back at Riley.

  “That’s because we’re very perceptive,” Tristan drawled.

  Brent nodded. “Tell us what you’re up to, and maybe we’ll consider playing along.”

  “Well,” Amy began. “You said that Kel and Marilyn would be moving into their new house tomorrow but that they have to get new furniture and everything.”

  “That’s right.” Brent nodded. “They’re out shopping for furniture right now.”

  “What about their clothes and personal stuff?” Amy asked.

  “They had a lot of their clothes with them since they were up in Bethesda for so long,” Brent told her. Then he gave her a sheepish grin. “And we already retrieved all of their photos from their house. I mean, we couldn’t leave pictures of them around in case someone broke into the house looking for more information on them.”

  Amy and Riley looked at each other. Both women smiled.

  Tristan looked suspiciously from Riley to Amy and then back to Riley. “What?”

  “If you’ve already sneaked things out, you shouldn’t have any trouble getting the rest of their things for them.”

  “Why?” Tristan asked. “There isn’t anything in there they can’t replace.”

  “That’s what you think.” Riley shook her head and gave her husband a knowing look. “No woman should have to replace all of her clothes and books, not to mention all of the little knickknacks you collect over the years.”

  Amy nodded in agreement. “Besides, Marilyn isn’t much of a shopper. It’s going to be hard enough for her just to find new furniture.”

  “You can’t seriously want us to plan a mission to go rescue their clothes.” Tristan stared at both women with disbelief.

  “Not just clothes.” Riley shifted closer to him and gave him that smile of hers, and he knew he was toast. “Honey, this should be easy for a couple of big, strong Navy SEALs.”

  “Surely you two aren’t afraid of rescuing shoes and underwear,” Amy added. “It’s not like they’re going to shoot at you.”

  “No, but the guys after Kel and Seth might,” Brent reminded her.

  “Then I guess you’d better take the rest of your squad with you to watch your backs.” Amy gave a little shrug. “You said yourself that you think Ramir still has someone in play here. This is the perfect opportunity to see if one of his men is still watching Kel’s house. Besides, Jay can always use another training exercise.”

  Brent looked at Amy, suddenly suspicious. “You already put this on the training schedule, didn’t you?”

  “Helping with the training schedule is part of my job.” Amy grinned. “Just think of this as a housewarming gift for Kel and Marilyn. Trust me. They’ll love it.”

  Brent looked at Tristan, who simply shrugged and said, “I told you they were up to something.”

  * * *

  “I can’t believe we’re doing this,” Tristan whispered to Quinn as they crouched together behind an ornamental pear tree in Kel’s yard.

  “I can’t believe your wife planned this,” Quinn retorted, slipping a handgun out of his shoulder holster.

  “Amy started it.”

  “Yeah, like that makes it all better.” Quinn rolled his eyes.

  Tristan ignored him, instead staring at his watch as he counted off the seconds. “Let’s go.”

  “You’d better pray we don’t get arrested,” Quinn mumbled, but he moved forward into the darkness.

  They slipped around the side of the house, opting to enter through the back door. Tristan checked the door for booby traps while Quinn studied the yard for any movement, any sound. Once Tristan was sure the door was clear, he unlocked it and moved inside.

  “Have you got the list?” Tristan asked as soon as Quinn shut the door.

  “Yeah.” Quinn holstered his weapon and pulled a mini flashlight free from his pocket to illuminate the piece of paper he held, one written in Riley’s handwriting. “I’ll start in the office.”

  “Then I’ll start in their closet.”

  “What about the dressers?” Quinn asked. “I’m not going through Marilyn’s underwear drawer!”

  “I’m not doing it,” Tristan insisted, turning to look at Quinn.

  Then both men grinned and spoke in unison. “Jay can do it.”

  With grins still on their faces, they split up to pack what they could in the limited time they had. Items were loaded into trash bags and what few boxes and suitcases they could find. They then stacked everything in the garage.

  “How much time is left?” Tristan asked.

  Quinn glanced at his watch. “Jay should be here any minute.”

  An instant later, they could hear the garage door opening, followed by the sound of an engine, followed by the garage door closing. Both men waited silently until Jay emerged into the room.

  “Are you ready to load up?” Jay asked.

  Quinn nodded. “I’ll start loading. There’s still some stuff to pack in the dressers.”

  “What?” Jay looked uncomfortably from one man to another. “I thought you would be all done by now.”

  “We didn’t want you to miss out on all the fun,” Tristan said innocently. “Marilyn’s dresser still needs to be taken care of.”

  Jay looked at him with a combination of horror and disbelief. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  Tristan shook his head and handed him two trash bags. “Two ought to do it.”

  “Thanks a lot.” Jay let out a sigh, but he didn’t bother to argue. Instead he headed down the hall to the bedroom.

  Taking pity on him, Tristan followed. “Just pull out the drawers and dump everything into the bag. That way we don’t have to look at what’s inside,” Tristan suggested.

  Jay nodded hastily. “You hold the bag, and I’ll dump.”

  “You got it.” Tristan accommodated him, stretching open the large plastic bag. When the first bag was full, he tied it up and opened up the second. When Jay turned over the final drawer, the clothing fell into the bag, but a folder dropped down and bounced onto the floor.

  “What’s that?”

  “Who cares?” Tristan quickly scooped
up the folder and a few papers that had fallen free. “Let’s go.”

  Jay set down the dresser drawer and lifted the bag Tristan had left for him. They walked outside just in time to see flashing lights outside.

  Tristan looked over at Jay. “Let’s hope that’s someone we know.”

  Before Jay could respond, Quinn stepped into the doorway leading to the garage. “Just put the stuff in the van. Come on.”

  Tristan and Jay both rushed into the garage and tossed the trash bags into the back of the van. Tristan dropped the folder he was holding into an open box as the front door opened; footsteps echoed, and a figure followed them into the garage.

  Then they heard a voice. “Let me see those hands.”

  All three men turned, and all three men let out a sigh of relief. Brent grinned at them and lowered the weapon he held.

  “Where did you get the police car?”

  “One of Riley’s friends downtown,” Brent said. “Seth intercepted a 911 call. We don’t have much time.”

  “Great,” Quinn muttered.

  Brent pulled a wadded-up police shirt from his pocket and tossed it at Quinn. “Put this on. Here’s what we’re going to do.”

  Everyone listened to Brent’s quick explanation and watched him hit the button to raise the garage door. Moments later Jay and Tristan were handcuffed and being escorted out to the police car by Brent. The moment they were safely in the backseat, Quinn pulled out of the garage in the van and started down the road.

  Seeing the van leave, a neighbor rushed outside and across the street. “Hey! What’s going on here?”

  Brent turned to face the man coming toward him. “Sir, the situation is under control.”

  “Then why did that van just pull out of here full of stuff?”

  “Evidence.” Brent motioned to the backseat. “We have some suspects in custody. I need to ask you to please go back to your house. Another officer should be by any minute to take witness statements.”

  The man looked at Brent with uncertainty, but then he nodded slowly. “Okay.”

  “Thank you.” Brent pulled open the driver’s side door. “I need to take these men downtown.”

  “Thanks, officer.”

  Brent gave him a curt nod, slipped the key in the ignition, and backed out of the driveway. They were three blocks away before the men let out a collective sigh of relief and Brent let out a snort of laughter.

  24

  Halim Karel had hardly moved from his seat since the shooting ten days before. Impatience, anger, and frustration pulsed through him as he waited. He still couldn’t believe the man he had trusted to help him move to the next stage of his plan had screwed up so completely.

  Still staring out the window into Commander Bennett’s backyard, Halim reached for an apple. The floor was littered with dishes the neighbors had brought, crumbs, orange peels, and apple cores that had been dropped into a pile beside his chair. He took a bite, finding no enjoyment in the crisp apple. He was hardly aware of what he was eating beyond knowing that he was giving his body the basic sustenance it needed to continue.

  Knowing that his time was running out, Halim gritted his teeth. As much as Akil Ramir wanted retribution against the man who had stolen his niece from him, Halim knew that Akil wasn’t going to give him a second chance at Seth. If he didn’t achieve his goals while in the United States, Akil would insist on moving forward with one of his other plans, one that would affect more than one or two Navy SEALs.

  Halim reasoned out his objectives and wondered why everything hadn’t fallen into place. His instructions had been simple. The man didn’t have to do anything except engage the men protecting the commander’s house in battle. Theoretically, once they killed or captured the man they believed to be the threat, the commander would consider his home safe once more and return to it.

  For whatever reason, the plan hadn’t worked. Imran had died in battle, but these men who had killed him knew. Somehow they knew that the threat still existed. The nightly patrols that had taken place since his arrival had ceased since the shooting, and now the house appeared to be abandoned. At first, Halim had hoped that the patrols had stopped because they believed the threat really had been neutralized and that it was safe for the commander to return to his home.

  But as the days had passed, he came to believe that the shooting had resulted in the opposite effect of what he had wanted. The commander wasn’t coming back. Neither were the men who had been determined to protect him. Even worse was the knowledge that Seth had been there the night of the shooting and had survived the encounter.

  Halim had only caught a brief glance of the big black man talking to the police after the shooting, but he was sure that it was the man he was determined to kill. Knowing that his accomplice had failed to capitalize on the unexpected opportunity infuriated him. And that fury had been building with each hour that passed.

  The cell phone that lay on the windowsill beside him remained blessedly quiet, but he knew that Akil Ramir would call eventually. He estimated that he only had three or four days at most before he would face Ramir’s wrath. Undoubtedly, Ramir would ultimately insist that he abandon his post so they could move on to something else.

  When a police car pulled up in front of the commander’s house, Halim stood and stepped closer to the window. He could see the flash of lights, but the house prevented him from seeing anything else. He debated for a moment whether to go outside to see if he could get a better look. Then he slipped his shoes on and hurried out his front door. He walked to the end of his street and turned the corner in time to see the police car driving in the opposite direction.

  The rest of the street was quiet, the commander’s house was dark, and a “For Rent” sign was posted in the front yard. Seething, Halim stared at the sign for several long minutes. Then he turned back toward his temporary shelter, a new plan already forming in his mind.

  * * *

  As far as Marilyn was concerned, moving day hadn’t come soon enough. She and Kel had gone furniture shopping the day before, and she was surprised that they’d had any success, considering that Kel had been hobbling around on crutches. The few things they had bought, including a new bedroom set, were scheduled to be delivered today. They had also managed to find a few good deals at a thrift store that were even now being loaded into Tristan’s pickup truck.

  Kel had already started stretching his knee the way the doctor had told him to, mostly trying to bend and straighten it. The swelling was almost gone, although Marilyn didn’t know if that was because he was healing well or because he still iced it frequently.

  Hoping to show her support, Marilyn had suggested turning their dining room into a workout room for the first few weeks of his recovery so he wouldn’t have to spend so much time dealing with stairs. Kel had already ordered an exercise bike and a treadmill, both of which were supposed to be delivered in a matter of hours.

  While Kel focused on the practical things he would need to help with his recovery, Marilyn had turned her attention to the basics. Although she missed her old house, she couldn’t help but feel the thrill of her upcoming move. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been excited about buying a new mop bucket or a broom, but those little butterflies fluttering in her stomach seemed to be a constant since she and Kel had signed the contract for the house. Now she couldn’t wait to start putting her new house in order.

  Marilyn took another look around the apartment to make sure she had gotten everything. Then she picked up her computer bag and walked outside.

  Brent met her at the door and motioned toward Tristan’s truck parked out front. “Okay, you’re all loaded up.”

  “Thanks.” Marilyn smiled at him. “I guess we’re ready then. I just need to swing the keys by the housing office.”

  “We’ll meet you over there then,” Brent said and moved to climb into the cab of the truck with Tristan.

  “Thanks, Brent,” Kel called to him from beside Marilyn’s car where he was leaning on his crutc
hes. Then he turned to his wife. “Are you ready?”

  Marilyn grinned at him. “Yeah, let’s go.”

  As soon as they were in the car, Kel shifted to look at her. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were excited about this move.”

  “It’s a great house,” she admitted.

  “Yeah, it is.”

  After stopping by the housing office, Marilyn continued off the naval base and got onto I-64 toward Virginia Beach. They had barely driven two miles before they got stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

  Marilyn let out a heavy sigh. “I hate beach traffic.”

  “Me, too,” Kel agreed. “Seeing this makes me grateful that the navy is letting me do my physical therapy in Virginia Beach.”

  Marilyn let out a sigh. “That makes two of us.”

  * * *

  “What a great spot,” Amy said, as she pulled up in front of Kel and Marilyn’s new house. She turned to Riley, who was sitting in the passenger seat. “Come on. Let’s see how much of this we can unload before everyone else shows up.”

  “Do you think Marilyn will mind us being in her house without her here?” Riley asked tentatively.

  “With Marilyn, you can never tell.” Amy shrugged and climbed out of her SUV.

  Riley shifted the casserole dish she held on her lap and got out of the car, stepping beside Amy on the sidewalk. “I thought you knew her pretty well.”

  Amy shook her head. “No one knows Marilyn well, except maybe her husband.”

  “Really?”

  “Marilyn is pretty quiet, and she doesn’t come out much when the squad all gets together.” Amy crossed the lawn to the front door and pulled out the key that Brent had gotten from Kel. “But Kel said it was okay for us to start taking things inside, so we might as well get started.”