Razor's Edge (25 page)

 

 

The four men posed in front of the RV-turned-MCC for Roxanne to photograph them.

Tanner could feel his brother waiting for a moment to pounce, and decided it was better to just get it over with than to wonder when he'd strike.

Gage and Clay had gone inside the MCC to work on some details, and Roxanne was on the phone with Payton. Tanner walked around outside to the back of the vehicle to find some privacy, just in case Reid needed to yell. He really didn't want an audience for this.

He hadn't even stopped walking when his brother hit him with, “You slept with her, didn't you?”

Tanner turned around, counting to five before he responded. Reid could make his temper flare like no one else, and it didn't serve the mission, or help Roxanne, for him to give in to the temptation to shout. “I wanted to. I didn't. Don't ask me about it again.”

“She's into you. I can tell by the way she looks at you, by the way she stands closer to you than anyone else. She wants—”

No way was Tanner going to let Roxanne's reputation get called into question. “Maybe she just trusts me. We've been working together. I saved her life. More than once. Maybe you should thank me for that, rather than slinging accusations.”

“This wouldn't be the first time your dick hampered your judgment. Remember—”

“Lisa is nothing like Roxanne. And I was sixteen at the time. She didn't want you. Get over it, already.”

Reid stepped in close, getting right in Tanner's face. He lowered his voice. “Do you have any idea how close Mom is to losing the house? If you fuck up this job, you'll—”

“I'm not going to fuck anything up. Just back off and treat me like an—”

“Starting acting like an adult and I will.”

“What the hell more do you want from me? I quit the military. I came home. I'm working where you want me to work, living where you want me to live, giving Mom nearly my entire paycheck. What more could I possibly do to appease you?”

“You could have taken Dad fishing.
You could have died instead of Brody.
”

The life seemed to drain out of Tanner's body. He went cold and started shaking. How many times had he screamed at himself for not having been the one with Dad that day? He was a better driver than Brody. Maybe he could have avoided the drunk who just had to make that cell call on the highway.

After all, it had been his turn to take Dad on the annual trip. He should have been the one to die, not Brody. And now Millie and Lyle were going to grow up without a father because he'd put his duty to his country over his duty to his family.

“I'm sorry,” said Reid, scrubbing his hand over his face. “I shouldn't have said that. I didn't mean it.”

“You did. But that's okay. I don't blame you. I know you and Brody were tight.”

Reid's eyes teared up, and he blinked fast to keep those tears from falling. “I miss him.”

“Me, too.”

Reid cleared his throat and wiped his eyes. “We should head back. I don't want to leave all the work to the others.”

Tanner nodded, wishing he felt he could safely hug his brother, but he knew better. Reid stayed mad a long time, and now that he knew his brother had thought the same things Tanner had, it was clear that the gap between them wasn't going to shrink anytime soon.

Grief sucked, and Reid had to deal with it in his own way, in his own time, just as Tanner was doing. He just hoped that when his brother was done dealing, the two of them would still be on speaking terms.

He turned to find Roxanne standing there, looking stunned.

“This is a private conversation, Razor,” said Reid.

Her face turned pink. “Sorry. I didn't mean to eavesdrop.” She turned and fled, slipping into her motel room.

“Well, shit,” muttered Reid as he stalked off. Tanner stood there watching both of them walk away. He couldn't bring himself to follow either of them. He couldn't take Reid's anger, and he couldn't face Razor with the weight of his guilt crushing him.

He stayed outside and shoved his damn emotions into a box so he could do what he needed to do. He'd deal with his baggage later—much, much later.

 

 

Roxanne leaned against the motel door, letting the cool air wash over her. She hadn't meant to overhear Tanner's conversation with his brother, but now that she had, she couldn't get the image out of her head.

Reid had apologized for his remark, but she'd seen what it had done to Tanner. There was so much guilt between them, so much anger and grief.

She ached to go after Tanner and hug him. Not that he'd want that from her. He had his pride, and she didn't want to take that from him—not on top of everything else he'd suffered.

Roxanne briefly considered having a talk with Reid. What he'd said was way out of line, even for a grieving man. Then again, what kind of anger would spew from her mouth if something happened to Jake?

All she would do was make things worse if she interfered, so she'd keep her mouth shut and leave their family problems to people in their family.

She had enough problems of her own to worry about.

G
age, Clay, and Reid had spent the rest of the day poking around Dry Valley while Tanner and Roxanne stayed behind in the RV. Used as a mobile command center, the vehicle was equipped with all the communications equipment they'd need to talk to both the men on the ground, as well as staying in touch with Mira back in Dallas.

Tanner turned off the microphones that transmitted to the receivers in the men's ears so they wouldn't be distracted by any chatter back in the MCC. He and Roxanne could hear the men talk, but little else could be heard through the earpieces.

Roxanne's head drooped into her hands, and she seemed to wilt in defeat. “No one seems to know anything.”

“Give them time. It's a small town. Someone will have seen something.”

“What if Jake was never there?”

“Have a little faith. Reid's good at his job.”

She was only two feet away. The cramped confines of the RV practically had them sitting in each other's laps. Not that he would have minded having Roxanne on his lap.

That was the problem.

He could smell her skin and the herbal shampoo she'd used. It reminded him all too much about last night and how far he'd let things go before putting on the brakes.

He could have let things go further. He could be sitting here right now, knowing exactly how she sounded when she climaxed. His curiosity and his regret at not taking what she'd so willingly offered were driving him mad.

Sure, he still had his honor, but right now, with her sitting so close, suffering, all he really wanted was to pull her in his arms and make them both forget everything else.

He'd never forget the look of devastation on his brother's face as he'd uttered those words. Reid had claimed he hadn't meant it, but Tanner knew otherwise.

Roxanne sniffed, pulling him out of his bleak thoughts. Her face was hidden, and he had the distinct impression she was crying.

“You okay?” he asked, his voice tight with his own emotional baggage.

She sucked in a long, deep breath and plastered a too-bright smile on her face as she looked up. “Yeah. Just frustrated.”

“We'll find him,” said Tanner.

“Or we could let them find us.”

“What do you mean?”

“You said yourself that they weren't trying to kill me. The man who broke into my room probably wanted to take me to wherever they're hiding Jake. Maybe I should let them do it.”

Just the thought of her putting herself into that kind of danger made outrage and anger swell inside him. “I won't let you do that,” he growled.

One of her blond eyebrows lifted in challenge. “You won't
let
me? Did you seriously just say that?”

“You heard me. It's stupid and risky. You have no idea what would happen to you if you put yourself in their hands; nor do you know if it would even help us find Jake. Or that you'd live through it.”

“True, but I also know it's my call. Not yours.”

No. Tanner couldn't let it happen. If he had to knock her out and sling her over his shoulder like a caveman and lock her in a room at the Edge until Bella could talk some sense into her, he would. Even if it meant she never spoke to him again. “Don't push me on this, Razor. You won't like what happens.”

“I'm not going to push you at all. I'm simply going to do what I see fit. With or without your approval.”

This was getting them nowhere fast. He couldn't put himself at odds with her and still expect her to trust him. And he needed her to trust him—at least enough to keep him in the loop on what she planned to do.

If she was foolish enough to walk willingly into a trap, he had to at least be there when it sprang.

It was time to use diplomacy. “We need to give the men more time.”

“They've been in town all day. How many more days do you think Jake has?”

“He's tough and well trained. He'll survive until we find him.”

Reid's voice came over the speakers. “The VFW was a bust. No one there's seen him, and we nearly didn't escape the gravitational well of conversation. I've never heard men talk more than those old-timers.”

Tanner flipped the microphone on as he watched Roxanne's reaction to the news. “Did they say anything of use?”

“Nothing much,” said Clay. “They've seen a few strangers around town, but that's not much to go on in a town so close to a major highway.”

Reid spoke again. “One of them is convinced there's something strange going on southwest of here. Of course, he thinks it's aliens, so I'm not sure how valid his claims are.”

“He wasn't lying,” said Gage, his low, quiet voice rough with disuse.

“I'm sure he believes every word he says,” said Reid. “That doesn't make it true.”

Roxanne's body seemed to sag in defeat. Tanner placed a reassuring hand above her knee, realizing his mistake too late. The slender strength of her thigh beneath his palm made him want to stroke higher, or to delve beneath the fabric of her jeans so he could feel her bare skin. He remembered how soft she'd been, how fast she'd responded to his touch. He remembered all the little sounds she'd made, and how her mouth had moved against his.

Desire hit him hard and fast, making sweat break out along his spine. His hand tingled and heat slid up his body as his cock hardened painfully against his fly.

Tanner shifted in his seat, trying to ease the ache, but all it did was make him look twitchy.

“We've got one more place to hit,” said Clay. “There's a bar on the north side of town that is apparently the one and only source of nightlife in this area. We'll go there and see what we can dig up.”

“Do you want us to come get you?” asked Roxanne.

“No. Stay put. We're going to walk over. It's not that far. We'll see you in a bit.”

Tanner flipped the switch controlling the microphone and turned down the volume on the speakers. He didn't want Roxanne hearing them talk about anything that might upset her more.

“It's going to be another dead end,” she said. Defeat rang hollow in her voice, and a hint of grieving made her eyes glisten with tears.

She was spiraling down fast, losing hope. Hopeless people were desperate people, and Tanner couldn't let her become desperate. She'd do something foolish and get herself killed.

“Stop it,” he ordered her. “We are going to find him. We are going to save him. And if you can't stay positive, then you need to go back to the Edge and let me finish the job without you.”

That got her spine straightened out. She shot up from her chair, fury darkening her cheeks. Her blond hair framed her face, and the waning sunlight flowing through the pale curtain over the window made it glow like a fiery halo.

She loomed over him, shoving her finger hard against his chest. “If you think I'm backing off, you've lost your mind. This is
my
mission.
My
friend. We'll do things
my
way.”

Roxanne looked like some kind of ferocious goddess in her anger. She radiated power, and her possessive talk only served to heighten the lust Tanner kept trying to fight off. Her lips were pulled back in a feral snarl, and all he could think about was kissing them again.

He stood, crowding her in the small space. The fact that she had to look up to him did nothing to diminish her ire. She was still radiating the power of her fear, worry, and determination with every beat of her heart.

Tanner took the hand she'd jammed against his chest and flattened her fingers with his palm until they were splayed over his heart. His body was buzzing with energy, his blood pounding hot and hard through his veins. He could no longer hear the men chatting over the sound of his own pulse.

Her fingers curled slightly, digging into his muscles.

He stepped closer, closing the space between them and holding her elbow so she couldn't easily back up. Not that there was anywhere to go. “As long as doing things your way doesn't get us killed, I'm game.”

“Do you think I don't know what I'm doing? That I don't know how to run a mission?”

“No, I think you're emotionally compromised. I think you're understandably upset.”

She blinked and spoke in a whisper. “I can't lose him, Tanner. He's all the family I have left.”

His heart squeezed, shoving out a wave of grief for his brother and dad. He'd lost so much, but not nearly as much as Roxanne had. He didn't know how long it would be until he could think of them without pain. Right now, that kind of miracle seemed impossible. He wasn't sure how she'd made it through her grief alone. At least Tanner and the rest of his family had one another to work through their loss. “You're not going to lose him. I won't let it happen.”