They both settled against the bed, still joined. It felt wonderful to have her warm, sated body on top of his. He tried to close his mind to the shadow stalking his euphoria, but it wouldn’t be silenced. One day soon, he would have to leave her. His arms tightened around her shoulders. He kissed her forehead. Leaving her was going to tear a piece out of his soul.
Mandy was hard at work in the kitchen the next morning when Fee came in. “What are you doing up so early?” she asked.
Fee shrugged. “I wait tables during the school year. I figured you could use an extra hand.”
“Well, I certainly could. There are only nine men, but I swear they eat like a whole battalion. Why don’t you get a cup of coffee, then I’ll have you make the biscuits.”
Fee paused beside the coffee pot. “Thanks for letting me stay here.” She looked over at Mandy. “After hearing that Alan is being investigated, I didn’t feel safe going back there.”
“I’m happy to help, Fee.”
Fee looked around them, checking the two kitchen entrances to be sure they were alone. “What do they think he did?”
“I don’t know exactly. I’m not sure they know, but I have no doubt they’ll figure it out.”
“So how long has your brother been with these guys?”
“Not long.” Mandy was gun-shy about answering questions. “He joined this private firm when he left the service.”
Fee looked down at her coffee, then back at Mandy. “This is really happening, isn’t it?”
Mandy squeezed her arm. “I’m afraid so.”
“Who hired them?”
“I don’t know. I’m just grateful that they are here.” She filled Fee in on the crazy things that had been happening with her construction site.
“Do they think Alan is behind that? I don’t know him that well, but it doesn’t seem like something he would do.”
“They are trying to follow the threads. That’s all.”
The next half-hour passed in a blur of preparations. Fee made the biscuits and cut up the fruit. She gathered a stack of plates and silverware. When she turned to take them out to the table, the big guy who’d kidnapped her stood there. Kelan, they’d called him last night. He looked to be of Native American descent and had to be at least a foot taller than her, about twice as wide, and whipcord lean. He’d carried her as if her hundred and ten pounds were nothing.
She felt the warmth of a blush creep up her face. “Morning,” she said, in as clipped a voice as she could muster.
He gave her a curt nod, then looked her over, his gaze clinical. “You slept well?”
“I did, thank you.” She stepped around him and carried her dishes out to the table.
Mandy saw Kelan turn and watch her. “She’s cute, isn’t she?”
“She’s an infant.” He poured himself a cup of coffee.
“She’s older than you think. She’s in college.”
He sipped his coffee, squinting from the heat as he watched Fee. His gaze shifted to Mandy. “That’s what I said.” He went to the dining room. “Want help with that?” he asked Fiona.
“Nope. I’ve got it covered.”
“Fiona, I’m sorry about last night. You must have been terrified.”
“I wasn’t scared. I had the Colt-which I want back, please. That was my grandfather’s gun.”
“You may not realize this, but guns are usually more effective loaded. You should have shot first and asked questions later. If we’d been the bad guys, you wouldn’t have stood a chance.”
Fee glared at Kelan. “That gun hasn’t been fired in a hundred years. I doubt it still works. And I didn’t realize what trouble Alan was in-I thought you were common burglars that I could bluff into getting out of the apartment. What about my phone?”
“Max has it. He’ll give it to you after breakfast.” He moved away, but Fee stopped him.
“Kelan?” He looked at her over his shoulder. “Thanks.”
He gave her a lopsided grin of brilliant, white teeth. His eyes crinkled, easing his stoic mask. He nodded. “I’m glad you’re here instead of with Buchanan.”
The other guys started to congregate as she and Mandy set food out. One of them introduced himself to her. He was even taller than Kelan. He had reddish-brown-blond hair, almost the color of a malt whiskey. It was longer on top and lay in waves of rich color. His eyes were the azure blue of a Caribbean shoreline. He had dimples when he smiled, which he did as he held out his hand to her.
“I’m Valentino Parker. Mandy says you’ll be staying with us awhile.”
She took his hand and felt it swallow hers. “Valentino? Seriously?”
“I know, right? I begged my mom to rename me Sue or Jodeen. Hell, I could even have pulled off a Rachel. But no, she had to be a romantic.”
“Well, you certainly fit your name.”
His smiled widened. It was electrifying. She realized she was still holding his hand. Their palms were becoming warm-all of her was warming up.
“Don’t talk to him,” Kelan said, interrupting her embarrassing stare.
Reluctantly, she pulled her hand away. “Why?”
“Because he’s bad news. He has about twelve concurrent relationships in flight at the moment, some of them even monogamous. You don’t want to be the thirteenth. And you won’t like his definition of monogamy.”
Fee looked over her shoulder at Valentino. He didn’t seem inclined to refute what Kelan said.
“He’s jealous,” Val explained with a shrug. “He can’t grasp that his frown is not his friend when it comes to women.”
“She’s not a woman. She’s a girl. Don’t talk to her.”
“Leave poor Fee alone, you two. She has enough stress in her life as it is.” Mandy interrupted them. “Kelan, why don’t you introduce the guys before we all sit down?”
A muscle bunched in his jaw. He looked like he was going to refuse, but took one glance at Owen and relented. He called out their names in quick succession. Val pulled out Fee’s chair for her, grinning at Kelan as he stood behind it.
The guys filled the dining room with noisy chatter while they loaded their plates. No one spoke about their plans for the day other than innocuous things like exercise rotations, which they planned to do in groups of two or three at various times during the day.
“Fiona, we’ll make the call to Buchanan after breakfast. We’ll do it downstairs. I want to record it,” Owen told her.
Fee pushed the fruit around on her plate, too nervous to eat after hearing that news. She was dreading that call. She didn’t know what Alan had gotten himself into, but it couldn’t be good if a team like this had come in to investigate him.
She looked up and noticed that Kelan was watching her poke at her food. She stabbed a strawberry and shoved it in her mouth, then followed it with a piece of biscuit. He continued to glare at her until her plate was empty.
After breakfast, the men ushered her to the stairs, half in front of her, half behind her. She felt like an enemy of the state being escorted to an interrogation. When she descended the last step, she moved into a different world. Two sofas had been pushed into the middle of the room and now sat back to back to make space for tables that, loaded with computers and equipment, surrounded most of the outer perimeter.
This was no simple investigative team. They had a war room here in Mandy’s basement. It was looking more and more as if these guys were a pseudo-military operation.
The man the others called Max hooked her phone up to the one of the computers, then gave it back to her and told her to dial Alan. “Keep it casual. You’re here to work for Mandy-simple change of plans, that’s all,” he coached her.
Fee looked around the room, nervous at having an audience. Her gaze stopped at Kelan, who stood the furthest
