Hazardous Holiday (Men of Valor) Read online

  Apparently God was listening because, despite the angry yelling of a store employee, they crashed through the back door into an empty loading area, no sign of either of their tails.

  True to his plan, Zach made a hard turn, picking up speed and dragging her with him. Only then did she hear Cody laughing in Zach’s other arm. “Faster!”

  Zach obliged. Kristi rued every excuse she’d ever made for not going to the gym.

  Zach seemed to know that she couldn’t keep up. He glanced at her for a split second like he might just scoop her up and sling her over his shoulder. But then they reached the car. Zach ushered her into her seat, then whisked Cody into his booster before tearing out of the parking lot, breaking the posted speed limit that read 12 mph.

  They zipped along, Zach checking his rearview mirror multiple times as they pulled onto the interstate.

  Kristi could only dig her phone out of her purse and hold it up. “Do you want me to call the detective?”

  Zach looked in the mirror again before shaking his head. “There’s no rush. Not unless you recognized the guy in the hat.”

  “Why would I recognize him?”

  He shot her a squinted gaze, his eyebrows pulled together to reveal two narrow grooves. “Not Jackson Cole, then?”

  “Oh.” It was all she could get out as she tried to make sense of the images racing through her mind. She hadn’t expected to recognize him, so she hadn’t looked closely. Besides, he’d had his hat pulled low. But she’d seen enough. “No. It wasn’t him. Cole is a big guy. The guy behind us was too slim.”

  Zach nodded like he wasn’t surprised.

  “But what about the guy with the gun?”

  Taking a deep breath through his nose, he squeezed the steering wheel until his shoulders flexed under the pressure. “He was a decoy. Someone to throw us off, but he wasn’t a pro.”

  “How do you know?”

  “A pro wouldn’t have risked drawing the attention of the security guards by showing us his weapon. The pro knew better.”

  There was such certainty, such conviction in his words that she wanted to pull her knees up to her chin and hide until this whole situation was over.

  But that wasn’t an option.

  Just as she took a fortifying breath, the phone in her hand buzzed. She didn’t recognize the number but answered it anyway. “Hello?”

  “May I speak with Kristi McCloud?” The female voice was not at all menacing. Still Kristi hesitated before responding.

  “Who’s calling?”

  “Detective Sunny Diaz with the San Diego Police Department.”

  “Oh!” Relief washed through her. “This is Kristi. I was going to call you.”

  “You were? Did something else happen?”

  She quickly gave her the rundown of their ordeal at the mall, and she could hear the detective typing along to the rhythm of her words.

  “Was there anything recognizable about them? Any noticeable birthmarks or tattoos?”

  As Zach pulled onto the street in front of his town house, she shook her head. “No.”

  “There’s not much we can do now. I’ll check to see if there’s any security camera footage, but if these guys were as cautious as you say, we probably won’t find much.”

  She shouldn’t be disappointed. She wasn’t really. She hadn’t expected anything else.

  But there was a corner of her heart that had hoped.

  “The reason I called—” right, Diaz had called her “—was to let you know that we found two burned-out black vans that match the description of the ones that tried to run you off the bridge.”

  “You found the vans?”

  Zach parked, then leaned over as he unbuckled his seat belt. “Are there any prints? Any evidence?”

  She repeated the question, and the detective’s voice turned sour. “Not likely. They were pretty well destroyed in the fire, but we’re searching both of them anyway.”

  “Only two?”

  Zach’s eyebrows lifted, and he held up three fingers.

  She nodded. She remembered.

  “There were three vans.”

  “Huh. Well, no sign of the third yet. We’ll keep an eye out, and I’ll let you know if we find anything else.”

  “Thank you.” She hung up and crawled out of the car, meeting Zach on the walkway to the house. As had become their norm, Cody was sacked out against Zach’s shoulder.

  “She said they didn’t find a third van.”

  Rubbing his head with a flat palm, Zach scowled. “Why ditch two of them now? Especially if they’re still coming after you.”

  “Thanks for the reminder.” She tried to add a touch of humor, but her voice fell flat, weighed down with fear.

  A frown settled across his features, and she couldn’t look at him any longer. She reached for the door and grabbed the knob.

  Suddenly his hand clamped over hers. “Stop!”

  SIX

  If Zach had had any hair on the back of his neck, it would have stood on end.

  Kristi yanked her hand back, but he barely noticed as he swept the front door and surrounding shrubbery. Something was off. He knew it.

  He just couldn’t see it.

  Handing off the boy in his arms, he said, “Take Cody and stand on the other side of the car.”

  For a split second it looked like she was going to argue. But there wasn’t time for him to explain that something was off. That something had changed.

  Instead, he cupped her cheek with his callused hand, her pale, smooth skin the opposite of his. “You’ll be safer over there.”

  “Okay.” With a nod, she carried Cody to the far side of her car.

  Zach forced his attention back to the door, tiptoeing his fingers around the door frame. Nothing seemed out of place. Squatting low, he ran his hand along the weather stripping and under the metal lip of the frame. Nothing.

  He narrowed his gaze and pressed his hand flat against the door. It wasn’t warm to the touch and didn’t open.

  Maybe he was being overly cautious.

  Hanging his head and scratching at the back of his neck, he closed his eyes to picture the house as it had been two hours before. It looked just like it always did. Black door against white siding. A brick facade on the double garage. Three green bushes lined up in the mulch along the front of the house.

  He couldn’t think of any discrepancies. Maybe it was his flagging adrenaline following the chase or an overactive imagination. Maybe…

  No. Something had triggered his protective instincts.

  He shot a quick look at Kristi, who stood right where he’d told her to. Cody stood beside her, awake now and leaning into her hip.

  “Stay put. I’m going inside.”

  Kristi nodded.

  Right as his hand reached the knob, he jumped.

  A large oil smudge hooked over the side of the silver knob.

  It hadn’t been there when he’d pulled the door closed behind them on their way to the mall. Even if he hadn’t seen it, he’d have felt it as he twisted the handle.

  Someone had been here. While they’d been running from at least two thugs, someone had been at his home.

  Whether they’d made it inside was another question.

  His heart stuttered once—a telltale sign that he was geared up for whatever was inside these doors. He reached for his weapon, but his hand came up empty. He was supposed to be on leave—he’d left it in his gun safe.

  Nice work, Einstein.

  Grumbling at his stupidity, he unlocked the door and opened it a crack. It groaned, but no more than usual.

  Sunlight flooded through the open blinds in the living room, catching nothing out of place.

  He swept the kitchen and laundry rooms in one motion before hustling up the stairs. First, his—no, Kristi’s—room. He rifled through the closet. Empty. Then the master bath, which smelled of flowers. It had never smelled like that—not even close—when this was his bathroom. But what would it be like…

 
His gut took a sharp jab, and he squared his shoulders against the reminder that he would never get to share this space with the woman who made it so sweet. That wasn’t their arrangement. He’d promised to care for her. To honor her. To protect her.

  But love wasn’t on the table.

  If she fell in love again, it would be with a stable guy. She’d chosen Aaron for a reason. Steady, established, available. It’s what she’d always wanted, always needed.

  And it wasn’t Zach. He went where and when the teams needed him. Sometimes with no warning.

  He was asking for a world of hurt if he let himself fall down the trap of dreaming of a different ending with Kristi this time. She’d made the right choice at sixteen. She wouldn’t make a different choice at twenty-seven.

  Refocusing on his search, he whipped through Cody’s room and finally into his own.

  Empty all.

  Maybe their visitor hadn’t made it inside.

  The knot in his stomach suggested maybe wasn’t good enough where Kristi and Cody were concerned.

  Reaching into his closet, he opened the safe, pulled out his handgun, double-checked the safety and tucked it into the back of his waistband beneath his jacket.

  By the time he poked his head out the front door, his heart rate had returned to a steadier pace. Still slightly elevated, but not the rushing he’d known when he’d first stepped inside.

  Kristi and Cody hadn’t moved. He hustled to them and scooped Cody up. “How about we make dinner?”

  Kristi frowned, and Cody sighed. He drooped in Zach’s arms, the rhythmic chugging of his oxygen pack their constant companion. But it wasn’t enough. Cody was fading.

  “Maybe a nap and then dinner,” Zach amended. Cody didn’t seem to have the energy to argue, so he hurried them back inside. While he tucked the little guy into his bed, Kristi clanked a few pots together in the kitchen. And by the time he made it back down the stairs, she was pouring rice over a bed of chicken in a glass pan.

  She didn’t even bother looking up before she spoke. “What happened earlier?”

  The words choked in the back of his throat, and he weighed which ones he should say aloud. “I’m not sure.” He considered a few possible explanations and settled on the gentlest truth he could find. “Someone was here.”

  She froze like she knew what he wasn’t saying, and it made his chest squeeze. He fisted his hands beneath his arms to keep from pulling her close and promising her things he couldn’t deliver.

  “Here?” She dragged out the word. “You mean, inside the house.”

  It wasn’t a question. Either he hadn’t chosen his words very carefully, or she was learning to read him. Even without looking in his direction.

  And he wished she would. Look at him, that is. He had a hunch that seeing her big brown eyes might make what he had to say a little easier. But she didn’t. Instead, she pulled a tube of aluminum foil out of a drawer.

  Funny. He hadn’t kept aluminum foil there before they moved in. She was rearranging more than his schedule.

  “Yes. Probably.”

  “How do you know?” She was so matter-of-fact about it. Her words were even and unaffected. Only the twitch in her cheek told him that she wasn’t as calm as she was pretending.

  Somehow that made the band around his lungs loosen. At least if she was scared, she’d be cautious. Vigilant.

  “A smudge on the door handle.”

  Both of her eyebrows rose like she was going to need more than that.

  “It was about the size of a finger, but there was no fingerprint. I’m betting someone wearing gloves closed the door last.”

  “What did he do?”

  He pinched the bridge of his nose and hung his head. “Nothing that I can see.”

  Kristi frowned as she finished covering the casserole. “What’s the point of breaking in, then? And if the bad guys were looking for us here, who was chasing us at the mall?”

  “Good questions.” Just not ones he had answers for. He could conjure up plenty of scenarios where one bad guy kept an eye on them, but why would another one come to the house but not leave a trap?

  Easy.

  He wouldn’t.

  A cord in his stomach began twisting, winding tighter with each breath.

  Cole wasn’t an idiot. He knew where they lived. He’d tracked Kristi down at least three times. And he wasn’t working alone.

  “We know Jackson Cole has at least two other guys working with him, or they couldn’t have pulled off that stunt on the bridge.” He scrubbed at his face, needing to say the words out loud. “And just orchestrating something like that takes guts and planning. He’s a smart guy. He had a chance to plant some sort of trap for us while we were away from home. Why not take it?”

  “I don’t know.” Kristi shook her head as she picked up the pan. “Open that for me?”

  Zach grabbed the oven handle, his gaze following his hands.

  Suddenly the overhead light glinted off a thin wire wrapped around the oven door.

  His heart stopped.

  Apparently question asked and answered. Cole hadn’t missed this opportunity.

  He ran his finger along the wire, following it until it disappeared above the hinge on the lower cabinet door. Pressing his hand against the dark-stained wood, he took a deep breath, trying to slow the wild gallop of his pulse.

  He already knew what he was going to find on the other side. But he pulled it open anyway.

  “What are you doing?”

  With a quick glance over his shoulder, he squinted at Kristi, who was looking at him like he’d lost his mind.

  “You might want to set the chicken on the counter and step into the hall.”

  “What? Why? It’s ready to cook.”

  Zach slipped open the cupboard door only far enough to catch a glimpse of the brown cardboard box inside with the wire running right into it.

  Yep. There was a bomb in his kitchen, and it had been rigged to go off when someone opened the oven. When Kristi opened the oven.

  Tongue dry and face numb, he closed the cabinet door, the hinge squeaking painfully, and Kristi jumped, nearly dropping the chicken. But she didn’t set it down.

  “What’s in the cupboard?” she demanded.

  This was not the time to mince words, so he dropped it as succinctly as possible. “A bomb.”

  Her face didn’t move, except for a little twitch in the corner of her eye, which was followed by the rapid rise and fall of her chest.

  Grabbing for her shoulder, he offered a gentle squeeze and whatever comfort he could.

  Before he could even release his grip, she blinked, straightened her shoulders, put down the casserole dish and locked her gaze with his. “What do you want me to do?”

  “Get Cody. I’ll meet you at the front door.”

  She nodded, already at the kitchen’s open entrance. “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to get some backup.”

  There was no one he’d rather have in a situation like this than one of his SEAL brothers. But half of the team had turned into family men, and despite the danger they faced on every mission, Zach wasn’t going to invite them to find more of it in his home. Will had just told them that he was going to be a dad.

  The married guys were out, which left Jordan.

  Jordan would rip him up one side and down the other—in the most brotherly of ways—if he didn’t call him in for this.

  Plus, Jordan lived about a mile and a half down the road. He’d probably beat the cops by five to seven minutes.

  He snagged his phone out of his pocket and tapped Jordan’s number. The last number he’d called—besides Kristi.

  “Hey, man. How’s the shoulder?” The words seemed to dance through the phone, Jordan’s amusement on clear display.

  “Fine. Listen. There’s a situation.”

  “Like you’ve developed gangrene or a situation like you finally kissed your pretty wife?”

  Zach nearly dropped his phone.
r />   This was the worst possible time for him to be thinking about kissing Kristi. Not that he hadn’t before. Once or twice. Or a dozen times since he’d come home.

  But he needed to focus on the bomb in his kitchen. Not the pretty woman sharing his house, filling his life and wearing his ring.

  God, I need help. I have to get my head on straight.

  “More like there’s a bomb in my house. And I’m about to disarm it.”

  “More like?” Jordan sighed. “Or exactly like?”

  “The second one.” Zach closed one eye and stared at the ceiling with the other. “Can you bring your flak jacket?”

  “Aw, man! I just got a new truck.” Jordan’s laugh was free of any humor. “I’m parking two blocks away.”

  Zach nodded. “Hope your new truck can move as fast as your mouth.”

  Jordan mumbled something completely unintelligible, then ended the call. Zach turned toward Kristi, who had disappeared and reappeared with Cody within a matter of minutes. Her eyes were filled with fear, and she’d clamped her teeth into her lower lip, but she was still and silent, holding it together like a seasoned pro.

  “What will you do when backup gets here?” she asked as he ushered them out the door.

  “Disarm it.”

  “Is that safe? Shouldn’t you wait for the police?”

  He shrugged. “It’s hardly my first rodeo. I’m not the expert on the team—that would be Matt Waterstone. But I can’t call him in. He’s got kids.”

  Her gaze darted to Cody, questions filling her eyes. “Is he…?” Her question trailed off, but he had no trouble filling in the holes. Yes, Cody was in danger. They all were. His only answer was a slow nod.

  She bit even harder into her lip, but it couldn’t stop the low tremble there and it hit him like a sucker punch to the kidney.

  “But I’ve got help on the way. Jordan will be here in a minute and then—”

  “You rang?” Jordan jogged up to them and tossed a black vest at Zach.

  He grabbed it out of the air as Cody craned his neck to get a good look at the new arrival. He couldn’t blame the kid. Jordan was a sight the first, second and twelfth time you saw him. Built like a house, broad and thick and laced with steel. He didn’t know how to back down—which had saved Zach on more than one occasion—and he never crumbled.