Encountering Evil: Dark Horse Guardians Book Two (8 page)

~ Ben ~

Swimming in the pond with Lara overloaded Ben with sensual stimulation. As a former Navy SEAL to say he loved the water would be an understatement.
He lived for the water
. But right now he did not want to come out of the pond because he needed to take his mind off the intimate kiss with Lara. His thoughts turned to Elvis and he made a mental note to contact him with the secure satellite phone once he got home. Genuinely concerned about his brother, Ben hoped he made the appointment with the urologist as Doctor Lewis suggested. Thinking of his team and missions always brought him to another place in his mind, a very unpleasant place sometimes. But nevertheless he was able to climb out of the water and flop into a lawn chair without embarrassing himself.

After a short rest, he swam laps for thirty minutes then ran five miles while Lara visited with her mother and Rusty. He would lift weights when he got home. As he came back from his run, he jumped back into the water to cool off. When he crawled back onto the beach to catch his breath, he watched Lara as she tugged at her bathing suit. Her one piece swimsuit was riding up in the back. Her long dark hair was loose and covered her shoulders and back. She looked like a sexy mermaid. She was close enough for him to reach out and pull her down on top of him. "Hey, you are even
more
beautiful when wet!" Ben kissed her brushing her hair away from her face revealing a woman both wholesome and sexy at the same time.

Lillian and Rusty were laughing again. "It's time for dinner, you two." Ben and Lara scrambled up to the patio table near the grill. "Hey, we've got salmon on the grill tonight, that's your favorite, Lara!" Lara smiled, "I'm coming in just a minute. I need to comb my hair." She searched for her sack and pulled out a wide tooth comb and ran it through her thick dark mane, then secured it into a side pony tail and slipped on a cover-up. Ben enjoyed watching Lara interact with her mother and Rusty. There was a genuine love there that could not be denied. Just like the love he had for his mother and father, which reminded him – they were invited to Newton to a fourth of July cookout. Ben's entire clan would be there, all six of them. Seamus was even flying in from Ireland. However, Seamus wasn't coming to the United States just for the family outing. Ben had business with him and wanted to meet face-to-face rather than communicate via phone or computer. He needed a few million dollars. Even Moshe and Rachel were coming from Israel. Ben smiled at the thought of seeing his good friend again…more than a good friend really. Moshe was the man responsible for saving his life at a very dark moment.

As the afternoon waned, Lara suggested it was time to head home to take Einstein for a walk. Ben watched as Lara hugged her mother, "We've got to leave, but thanks for the refreshing swim and dinner." They quickly changed into their dry clothing. Ben hugged Lillian and punched Rusty's arm before leaving. Helping Lara onto the motorcycle, Ben adjusted her helmet and goggles just so as he kissed her shimmering pink lips. Then he revved the bike. They were on the road heading home as the sun began its descent toward the horizon. Ben relished the feeling of Lara's arms around his waist. Her hands moved occasionally across his chest and he loved it when she explored him in that oh so subtle way. He slowed the bike down and took his time getting home. He wanted to savor every moment with her cheek pressed against his back and her hands on his front. She probably had no idea she was driving him crazy with her gentle gestures. There was a remarkable innocence about Lara that made him love her even more. She was seemingly unaware of her own seductive qualities. No woman ever held this power over him. Ben was a willing hostage to her sensual charms.

~ Lara ~

While riding home on the motorcycle, Lara was trying to think of a way to entice Ben to view the saltwater farm with her. She thought it would be best if she first viewed the farm that Ben had chosen near Yarmouth. She wanted to remain as neutral as possible on the subject. She could tell he did not want to live near Eliot or among the wealthy in Falmouth Foreside. Lara wasn't so much in love with the idea of living in a wealthy neighborhood herself. And she didn't really
need
to be near Eliot. She was in love with the property and all its historical details, especially the sandy ocean beach. And, more importantly, she envisioned herself living there with Ben, having children, lounging on the beach with family and friends. She imagined Ben loving the place because it was on the water. She knew he had a connection with the ocean. It was in his blood; he was a frogman.

"That was fun." Lara smiled as Ben removed her helmet and goggles and stored the bike in the garage. Heavy with humidity the summer night was without a breeze. Outside of the pink Victorian, frogs were peeping and fireflies lit up the moonless sky. Ben pulled her toward him, "Yes, I enjoyed the swim and being with you." He kissed her once more. As they held hands and walked into the house, Ben reminded her, "Don't forget to put the fourth of July on the calendar. There's a family thing in Newton and Seamus is flying in from Ireland. And, you'll get to meet Moshe and Rachel, they're coming from Israel. It will be especially good to see him." Lara nodded and logged the date onto her phone's calendar. She was excited at the prospect of meeting Ben's family once again. And, she was more than intrigued to meet the mysterious Moshe.

After Einstein’s evening walk, phone calls were made to Claire, the realtor, and to Sterling Brown and the battle of the farms was scheduled for the next day. Lara watched Ben as he sliced up fresh strawberries, added them to shortcake and topped the delightful mixture with freshly whipped cream. Ben served Lara the perfect dessert as she watched television on the sofa.  She strained to eavesdrop on his conversation on the secure phone in the kitchen, "Hey bro, are you okay?" She could only hear his side of the conversation but knew he was talking with Elvis. "Have you been to the urologist? You need to go. I’m telling you to do it and send me the bill. No, man -- I'm not your friggin' mother! I just care about you for Christ's sake!" She watched as he slipped his strawberries into the fridge for later. He continued talking in a low serious tone on the phone with Elvis and Lara assumed Ben won the argument.

After he hung up he leaned over to kiss her. Then Lara watched his perfect rear end as he left the room
. Ben announced as he closed the door, "Time for some weight lifting…need to stay in shape." Lara smiled to herself.
Yeah right…you
couldn't be in better shape
. Those running pants hugged him in just the right places. The very
thought
of Ben's perfect body gave her a hot flash. The door closed softly and she couldn't hear Ben's footsteps as he drifted down to the basement of the condo where his weight bench lived with his SEAL equipment in a sectioned off area. Einstein curled up near Lara's feet as she enjoyed the strawberry shortcake. She wondered what had happened to Elvis on the last mission and hoped he wasn’t seriously injured. Ben never told her about that part. She wondered for a moment what
else
he didn’t tell her.

~ Ben ~

While lifting weights in the basement Ben received a cryptic text on his secure satellite phone from Kip Larson, the CIA's Special Activities Division Director. Things appeared on the phone in acronyms, thus it said, "SAD: Langley tom nite 7 PM"—that was it -- another mission was on the table. He would take the direct flight to Norfolk Virginia and rent a car to drive to Langley, as usual. It must be important if it was such short notice. Ben considered the possibilities as he went through his weight training routine. There was one mission he had talked about with Larson only briefly the last time they met. He knew it would be a sensitive operation if no briefing or paperwork preceded it. All verbal. That was fine with him. He didn’t trust Kip Larson as far as he could throw a grand piano. It was better this way for both of them.

He enjoyed the guessing game; it entertained him while lifting weights. As he ticked through the possibilities in his mind, he narrowed down the options. He knew the Senate Intelligence Committee had recently published a report on drones in the hands of some evil radical Islamic bastards in a place called Islam-berg. Trouble was he didn't know exactly
which
location it would be as there were at least twenty-two known sites around the country. Islam-bergs were walled-off compounds, some as big as 300 acres, filled with Muslim-only communities who pretended to be peaceful. In reality, most of the inhabitants were former prison inmates converted to a sick radical version of Islam led by a cleric in Pakistan known as Sheikh Butani. The compounds also included multi-national terrorists who shared the same radical views. The hardened criminals made money from a number of illegal acts that included gun-running, bomb making, stealing, and selling drugs, to name a few. When gun shots rang out in these walled-off compounds no policemen dared set foot on the property for fear of being shot. They knew their bodies would never be found. Ben read in the report that the ATF and the FBI couldn't handle the "situation." Due to the politically-correct atmosphere in the United States, Ben sensed the mission to infiltrate these rat's nests would fall to people like him. He would have to wait until he had the meeting with Larson to get the details. He finished his weight routine with push-ups and pull-ups. Then he ran up the stairs two at a time to be with Lara.

Lara was on the phone with Olivia Henderson inquiring about Don's back injury when Ben got upstairs. He listened to Lara's side of the conversation and sensed she may have been talking about
him
and switched the subject when he walked into the room. Ben listened as Don got on the phone with Lara. Whatever he said made her laugh at first. Then, she proceeded to give him advice like a concerned sister. Ben was amazed at their close relationship. If he didn't know they were friends he would have assumed they were brother and sister. Lara shared everything with Don. From what he could garner from Lara’s side of the conversation, Don’s pulled muscle was healing and he said something about kicking her ass as soon as he could get back into the dojo. But, in the meantime, she was welcome to slap Bettencourt around.

As she hung up the phone, Ben pretended to be engrossed in his computer. "How's Don?" he asked. Lara
answered, "Oh, he's doing better. I miss him…the crusty old bastard…he never changes. I want to stop over to see him this week," Ben sensed she was trying to disguise the real concern she felt for her close friend. Ben changed the subject and mentioned the meeting at Langley. Lara cuddled up to him on the couch and he stroked her cheek gently. He could sense she was going into "worry mode" once again. This was the only part of his Dark Horse job that he disliked. Leaving Lara behind was becoming more difficult and he toyed with the idea of taking her along on a mission. But he was torn. What if she got hurt? What if the guys on the team felt uncomfortable with her being there? Her presence could change the whole dynamic.

~ Lara ~

With real estate viewing on the agenda, it was a warm and sunny day. Ben mounted the Indian motorcycle with Lara's arms around him as they drove toward Yarmouth Maine and the large farm with the attached barn that Ben seemed to love. Claire met them in the gravel driveway and set her sunglasses atop her head. She read from her iPad while giving them a tour of the place. Lara had to admit, the farmhouse was charming, beautiful and isolated. Twelve acres seemed like a lot of land. Ben was explaining how he could utilize the property. He needed the barn for storage of his equipment. "How much equipment do you
have
?" Lara jokingly asked. "You haven't seen half of it." Ben sounded serious. Claire rattled off the property's unique features. When Lara walked through the kitchen, she envisioned a complete renovation, $50,000 at least. The one feature that really held her attention was the beautiful screened porch off the side of the house. She could picture herself there on warm summer nights with Ben, reading or watching fire flies. The place had plenty of potential and was big enough for a future family. Lara took photos and created a checklist of needed repairs along the way.

She could sense that Ben wasn't thrilled with her tepid response. He'd been doing his best selling job for the last hour non-stop. Now he was standing in the gravel driveway looking into Lara's eyes waiting for her to speak, his blue eyes pleading. She couldn't lie to him, "It's beautiful Ben, but I can see a fair amount of renovation. It would be well over $800,000 by the time we did the kitchen. And, the chimneys need to be relined and repaired. If I added it all up, I'd say we'd have $900,000 into the place by the time we're done working on it." Ben seemed deflated, but he stood his ground, "It's
half
of what the other place costs with six times the land…" She knew he was right, but Lara tried not to appear defensive. "Let's remain neutral until we see
both
properties." Arm in arm they thanked Claire and said they'd be in touch.

Back on the motorcycle, Lara held onto Ben as he raced from Yarmouth toward Falmouth Foreside. It was a fifteen minute drive and the breeze was a relief as the heat of the day was rising. Lara could see Sterling Brown sitting in a rocking chair waiting for their arrival on the wrap-around porch. The moment Ben drove onto the property, Lara sensed he was taken with everything about it and inside she was doing a happy dance. However, outwardly she remained composed and subdued. She carefully observed Ben's body language noticing how his beautiful blue eyes lit up. Ha! She was pleased that he couldn't conceal his immediate positive response to Clearwater Farm…just as she had hoped. Lara patiently waited as Ben stood there taking in the view, the house itself, the beautiful screened porch, and every architectural detail of the John Calvin Stevens design. The property looked as if it belonged on a calendar titled, “Beautiful Homes of Coastal Maine.”