“I’m not done yet. As for personal, I have his 1040-As for the last five years.”
“That’d be great if he was a political candidate,” offered the third guy. But he still sounded disgusted.
“If you don’t find anything there,” the first man said, “the three of us will scope out Ben Williams’s place. He might be a better possibility because he’s known Larry Duke for...how long?”
Man Two looked up. “Emails stretch back almost four years.”
“Four years. Of all the people around here, he might have had Larry Duke’s trust. Better than those poker buddies we’ve been trying to track down.”
The two others nodded. “Then what?” asked Man Three.
“We plan. We might be able to go in tonight.”
The second man looked between the other two. “What the hell happened last night?”
“Somebody chased us while we were leaving Keller’s place.”
“Daniel Duke,” said the first man.
“Then you know him?” asked Man Two.
“Only ran into him once.”
“So he won’t recognize you.”
“No reason he should. But if he gets in my way again, I’m going to take him out.” The first man held out his hands and squeezed them into fists repeatedly.
“But you said...” The second guy trailed off. Then he changed course. “If we don’t find anything at this Williams guy’s house, what then?”
“Then I’m calling the jerk who sent us out here, and I’m telling him we quit. I’ve had enough of this, and I’m sick of the three of us being exposed on a mission that’s poorly directed and conceived.”
For once, nobody mentioned the money.
Then some snowflakes began to fall. Another complication.
CAT WOKE FROM some unexpectedly steamy dreams about Duke. Oh man, she thought as she scrubbed her eyes awake. She had believed she’d managed to put all that away in some locked box in her brain. It was a complication neither of them needed—not that he’d be in any kind of mood for it, considering why he’d come out here.
She shouldn’t be in the mood for it, either, but it seemed she was. The man had leaped past too many of her defenses in such a short time. When she thought of him now, she no longer felt the spark of irritation. Instead it was as if a kitten had curled up with her.
Dang, he was no kitten. A lion for sure.
She forced her feelings back into the mental safe, then remembered a couple of times when she had thought Duke’s gaze reflected desire. She must have been mistaken. He couldn’t possibly want her, and not under these circumstances.
She indulged a few minutes remembering how broad his shoulders were, how narrow his hips were. The way he smelled after a run and a shower. His comfortable lope when he ran, and his equally comfortable walking stride.
Quite the figure of a man. But more than that, she’d watched him deal with horrific things, watched him face emotions that must have him knotted inside. She was impressed.
She showered and donned some civvies, her favorite jeans and a sweatshirt against the cold that seemed to fill the house.
She paused at the thermostat and turned the heat up a couple of degrees. Reassuringly, the furnace started.
She’d half expected to find Duke in the kitchen, and there he was, phone pressed to his ear, a mug of coffee in front of him, along with some croissants.
At least she didn’t have to think about food yet. She grabbed a croissant for herself, along with a mug of coffee, and sat down with him. She buttered her pastry while he talked.
“I’m just wondering if there’s any scuttlebutt about who is pushing back at me. I know my CO is involved in some way because he signs the reports, but there’s got to be someone higher, and I can’t ask Jeffries. He’d deny it.”
He paused then said, “Thanks, Crash. Whatever’s in the wind.”
“Crash?” Cat asked as Duke put down his phone.
“Nickname. He and I became buddies back at the academy. Good man.”
“You trust him not to tell anyone you’re asking?”
“Absolutely. I phoned a handful of others I feel the same way about. Maybe we’ll get some intel. I don’t expect it right away, though.”
“Nope,” she agreed and bit into her croissant. She was glad he had people he could trust with this. One of the things she liked about living here was that the people she spent the most time with were people who seemed totally trustworthy. Duke’s friends probably went back a lot further.
“Is there some kind of code?” she asked.
“I’m getting skewered on it right now. The code not to talk. But that’s no guarantee that lips are always zipped. Obviously. And things can be said within the Army that should never be shared with nonsoldiers.”
She’d pretty much gathered that from an earlier conversation, but she felt edgy now that he’d made the calls. Word might get back to the wrong ears.
Nothing she could say or do now, however. Not that she could have argued him out of the calls. He probably would have turned into a brick wall again. “So you think your CO is involved?”
He shrugged. “It’s possible. He is, after all, writing my performance reports. On the other hand, he may be getting some pressure and not even know why. He’s got a career to consider, too.”
That sounded ugly. She tried to shift to something less disturbing. They already had plenty of reasons to be disturbed. “Did you sleep?”
“I snagged a few z’s.”
Her landline rang, and she went to answer it. A short time later, her stomach plummeted to the ground. She hung up and faced Duke, braced for his reaction. Her mouth turned so dry she wasn’t sure she could speak. “Larry’s body is on the way back.”
His entire face tightened. “Good.” The word came out sharply, edged in darkness.
“They’ll take him to the funeral home, the only one here. Do you want him shipped back with you?”
It took him a few minutes as he seemed to stare into some bleak place inside him. “I think Ben
