Wanna Play (Ghost Unit, Book Three) (21 page)

Jas took two steps toward him and dropped to haunches, holding out a hand below the dog’s muzzle for sniffing. “And who is this?” she asked with a smile.

“Friend,” Charlie murmured to the dog, releasing him to get acquainted with the woman asking for an introduction.

At his master’s release, the magnificent dog didn’t move but his tail wagged twice in acknowledgement. He leaned his long nose forward to investigate Jas’ hand. She remained perfectly still, letting the dog come to her if he wished.

“This is Apollo,” Charlie said as he watched Jas greet the dog correctly, not trying to pet him until Apollo was ready. Everything about her radiated pleasure as Apollo finally got up and walked into her reach with tail wagging, ears back in doggy approval and joy at having a new friend.

Charlie made no move to touch her. In fact none of the men had except Gray, who’d shaken her hand.

Standing after her introduction to Apollo, Jas glanced at Blaster and resisted a private smile. His friends were good men. The respect they extended to her was the same brand Blaster handed out. But more impressive was the respect they displayed for her hillbilly. Not touching his woman unless invited to in old-fashioned deference. A level of feudal regard she wouldn’t have understood a few days ago.

“Everyone has been introduced, right?” Jas asked as she looked around. Standing in the room were Samuel—Blaster—Calloway, Jackson St. James, Remington Morgan, Gray Winston and Charlie Campbell. Beside the couch where Liana had been sitting was Jose, who hadn’t moved. A more intimidating group it’d be hard to find.

“Yes.” Liana nodded.

“Good, ’coz I’m starved. Can we move the discussion to the kitchen? I’ll eat cereal if you have any?” Jas looked at Charlie.

Charlie chuckled and turned to the kitchen. “No chance, Carson. Dry cereal will wither your bones. Come on in here and we’ll see what we have. Anyone else hungry?” He received assenting noises from all the men and they followed him into the kitchen.

In the remodel of the bungalow, Charlie had preserved the beautiful, fifties-style kitchen while expanding it to modern proportions. It was large with two back doors, one to the Florida room on the deck and one to the laundry room, which also had an outside door. In middle of the floor was a large chrome and Formica table with six matching chairs. There was plenty of counter space and the sink was under a bay window that looked over the lake.

Charlie went straight to the oversized refrigerator and pulled out two double cartons of eggs, a couple packages of bacon, and from the freezer, an oversized bag of hash browns and two more packages of breakfast sausages. The food created a pile on the counter that looked a bit mountainous to Jas.

Jackson efficiently retrieved mixing bowls and skillets from cupboards while Rem took charge of the eggs. Charlie, Rem and Jackson moved around the kitchen smoothly while the rest of them pulled out chairs at the table.

Jas sat with Liana on one side and Blaster on her other. Jose didn’t seem comfortable enough to sit. He leaned in the doorjamb, watching the activity. Gray sat across from the girls. Apollo stretched out in middle of the space below the wide table.

“Miss Allacosta, I realize this is difficult but while we’re waiting for the chefs, could you tell us the events of the last couple days from your perspective. The Unit has been involved with Jas and we’ve heard about the events several years ago that started this. We’d like to assist in ending it for you two ladies.”

“It’s time to tell us, Liana.” Jas smiled into the tired face of her friend. None of the men spoke, obviously listening to the conversation at the table.

Liana nodded and took a deep breath. “He’s some sort of important person in Homeland Security. Now you see why I say we’re not safe anywhere?” Liana leaned forward to emphasize her point. “He can find us anywhere and arrest us for anything.”

“How did you recognize him? I don’t understand. How would he know you did?” Jas asked as Liana started trembling.

Jose handed her a bottle of water. She took a long drink and smiled softly at him before turning to Jas. “I was at the awards ceremony. Recognition happened through a combination of things. His voice, his touch and his scent. When he leaned in to shake my hand and congratulate me, I knew exactly who he was. I froze and stared at him for a horrified second. He must have recognized the look. He knew I knew. He didn’t miss a beat though, just kept on talking smoothly with a smile on his face. But his hand, he squeezed my hand very hard. It sort of snapped me out of it. His eyes were so cold, Jas. I felt like puking on the spot. But I was too afraid to.

“Oh God. I panicked and left the event. I drove home and called Cable Bourne’s cell phone. I was terrified and wanted him to know. I don’t even remember the man’s name, but I told Cable he was in Homeland Security. Cable said it was really important that I didn’t tell anyone else. If this man really was who I thought he was, things could be dangerous. He said the man’s DNA would be in government records. If the sample we have could actually be matched to him, it’d come up on any military-type search.

“Cable told me to lock the doors and windows and not open for anyone. He’d be back in Washington in the morning and we’d figure out what to do. But the next morning Cable was dead.” Liana covered face with her hands. “I killed Cable by calling him.”

“No! No you didn’t. None of this is your fault.” Jas pulled Liana’s hands away from her face, leaning in to look her in the eye. “You know what victim mentality is, stop it. Don’t give the abuser even this much of you. Not again.”

Jose couldn’t take it. “
H
ijo de puta!
Son of a bitch! That one is not worth another tear from your eye,
querida mía
.” His body folded onto his haunches beside Liana while he wrapped an arm around her as if he’d like to envelop her into his being. “You should have told me instead of running from me, princess. I know we’d just split, but hell, I didn’t expect you to vanish. We could have worked things out. Even this.”

Jose looked around Liana at Jas. “And why didn’t you tell me? I had a right to know. You knew the breakup was temporary. I thought you were my friend, Jas.”

“I was busy trying to keep us alive, Jose. It was dicey at the beginning,” Jas snapped in irritation. “Besides, wasn’t my call. If Liana refused to tell you, I had to leave it alone.”

“Hey,” Blaster interjected coolly. “The problem is right now. Let’s focus on fixing it. If I understand correctly, Liana remembers more than Jas does of the actual events and now she can identify the perpetrator and make it stick with DNA evidence. The bastard knows she made him and he happens to be in Homeland Security. That would normally make him one formidable motherfucker. What we need to do is work with our advantages and use them against him.”

Calmly Blaster outlined the strengths of their position as he saw them. “We have several things he doesn’t. One is knowledge. We know Jas is alive, he doesn’t. We know who he is. He incorrectly thinks Liana is alone and running scared.

“Liana is not alone and she now has a damn nasty Unit of men on her side. We’re not helpless. We’re the fucking scary ones. We can move faster and harder than he can. He’s handicapped with having to justify himself to a government.

“The thing we need to come up with is a plan to take care of him. We should move fast before they figure out Jas isn’t several million body parts on that mountain.”

Blaster continued, looking into Liana’s eyes. “This Unit is retired from the military. That doesn’t mean we’re dysfunctional. At this moment you have one of the most elite forces on the planet at your disposal. I’m not bragging. I’m trying to impress you with the fact that you two are not going to be running from this guy. He’s going to be fucking running from you. Besides,” Blaster raised a brow and indicated Jose with his chin, “this guy is damn formidable himself. Even if Jas didn’t bring the Unit into this, he would have taken care of it.”

Jose sighed and nodded slightly at Blaster. “He’s right,
cariña mía
. The fool only thinks he’s working his problems. He’s going to learn the cost of playing shortly.”

Liana smiled and wilted back into her chair. “You’re all trying to wrap me in cotton so I don’t break. All I need is some sleep but even without it, I’m not that breakable. I’ll be fine. I wish I could remember his name. I don’t think he told me because I froze. He knew I recognized him and he just kept talking but he wasn’t saying anything. Then I left. I didn’t think to ask anyone his name. Next morning, the first thing I saw was the news of the airplane crash. I borrowed a car from one of the women at the center and took off.”

Jackson
was flipping the hash browns, he asked casually, “Your cell phone? Did you bring it, Miss Allacosta?”

“Yes, but I took the battery out. I’m not stupid. He could have tracked me with it.”

“Excellent,” Jackson approved.

Gray searched Liana’s face for a moment before he asked, “Miss Allacosta, have you seen the news recently?”

Liana frowned. “No, why?”

Gray glanced at Jose then back at Liana. “I didn’t realize you two hadn’t heard yet. Carman Allacosta was arrested early this morning by Homeland Security. It was done with full network coverage.”

“Oh my God!” Liana turned pale as she stared at Gray.

Gray reached across the table, his large hand covering Liana’s as he continued into her stricken face. “It’s bad, I know. But it’s also the best thing he could have done. No, let me finish so you understand.” Gray gently tightened his hold on Liana’s hand. “This is an obvious move to force you to come to him. But it’s also a huge lie. It gives us documented evidence of his abuse of office when the time comes. Rest assured he can’t afford to hurt your mother. She is his bargaining chip with you.

“As soon as he made that move he told us who he is. His name is Harry Kauffman. He holds a slightly higher than middle management position in Homeland. The action proved that he doesn’t know who we are or that we’re involved. Right now Miguel, the missing member of the Unit is shadowing your mother’s position. Miguel is Latin American. He can communicate clearly with her if he needs to get her out on an emergency basis. According to Miguel, she’s fine so far. They’ve not spoken to her and she’s afraid but all they did was put her in a cell.

“We’d rather not break any laws to get her out. It’s better if all the lawbreaking is done by Harry Kauffman. Your mother is in no jeopardy. We can have her out or at least out of this man’s control at any time if we need to. His leverage over you is an illusion.”

Liana stared at Gray, her face pale and set, eyes narrowed. “You’re sure she’s safe? This man—Miguel—has seen her?”

“Yes,” Gray answered flatly. The lack of elaboration made the statement ring with honesty.

“Your team is really that good? You already have a person on her, you know who the rapist is and you’re all willing to help us? Willing to get my mother out even if you have to break laws to save her? For strangers?” Liana pressed.

Gray sat back releasing Liana’s hand and glanced at Blaster with a raised brow. “You want to explain? I believe this is your family, Samuel.”

Blaster’s arm rested along the back of Jas’ chair as he shifted sideways so his legs straddled her seat, his other hand on the table lightly stroking her arm which rested there as he looked past her to Liana. “Not strangers, Liana. Tell me something, before the incident in Atlanta you and Jas were simply close friends, right?”

Liana nodded.

“After going through hell together you were sisters by a right deeper than blood. You didn’t abandon each other. You found trust lives on a whole new level. That’s how a combat unit becomes welded together. We know for a fact that these few men will be at our back even as we march through hell because they’ve proved it. It’s also how abuse survivors become brothers regardless of parentage. Barry, the director of the movie Jas is working on, is my brother by right. Just as Jas is your family by right.

“Barry called me because the movie was having serious security problems involving his star. Barry’s problems are my problems and I come with this family, these other men who are my brothers as well.

“But it’s more than that now. Your sister Jas makes it more. She and I are involved and it’s not causal. So you see? You and your mother become my family because you are Jas’ family. These brothers of mine will risk life for my family because I am one of them.