Secret Love Page 8

  “What do you mean it’s worthless? This is an antique!”

  “It’s a hunk of garbage, dude,” Caleb says with a scoff. “You’d make more selling it for scrap metal.”

  I step forward, listening closely as I walk toward the back counter. Caleb’s face comes into view and I almost smile at the familiar, annoyed expression weighing on her eyelids. I study the man — but it doesn’t take more than one glance to figure him out.

  “Just…” He lets out an exasperated sigh. “A hundred bucks.”

  “No,” she says.

  “Seventy-five.”

  “No.”

  “Fifty.”

  She glowers. “Seriously?”

  He rolls a fist by his side. I take an extra step closer. “Lady, why are you being such a bitch?”

  “Because I don’t buy from tweaked-out druggies looking for quick cash. It’s called standards.”

  I smirk. Caleb’s never been afraid to say exactly what pops into her head at any moment. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t the biggest thing I miss about my deployment.

  Hell, it’s the only thing I miss about my deployment.

  The man reaches behind his back and I exhale. Caleb is more than capable of handling this herself, but I’m in a hurry here.

  “Hey, buddy,” I say.

  He twists his head around and glares at me.

  I gesture at his hand to be sure he knows I noticed. “I wouldn’t.”

  “Mind your own fucking business, pal,” he spits at me.

  As he turns back toward Caleb, she reaches out and digs a taser into his chest with her willing finger lying along the trigger. “You heard the man,” she says.

  He stiffens and slowly raises his hands. “Okay…”

  “Piss off, please.”

  “All right.”

  He grabs the object off the counter — some metal contraption that I don’t get a good look at — and bolts past me to get out as quickly as possible.

  Caleb taps the trigger twice and the taser comes alive with sparks. “Damn,” she says with a sigh. “I was really looking forward to finally using this…”

  I walk up to the counter. “Charming as always, Caleb.”

  She points it at me. “Are you volunteering?”

  “Maybe some other time.”

  “Fine.” She stashes it away beneath the counter. “So, how’d your little mission go?”

  “It went…” I pause to think of the best word. “Okay.”

  “Did you bring my gun back?”

  “Yeah, but I need it for a bit longer. And a few more things from your back room.”

  “I dunno.” Her eyes narrow. “I’m still kinda mad at you.”

  I deflate. “I thought we were cool,” I say.

  “Yeah, I changed my mind.”

  “Caleb,” I tilt my head, “I said I was sorry.”

  “I know.”

  “I died. It wasn’t my fault.”

  “I know,” she says again with a sigh. “I have the right to feel bitter about it for a little while longer.”

  I nod. “You do.”

  “It’s pretty fucked up.”

  “I know.”

  “And it’s not fair that you won’t tell me what’s going on.”

  “I know,” I say again. “I’ll explain everything to you after, but I can’t right now because it’s not—”

  “It’s not safe,” she says with me, looking annoyed.

  “What can I do to make you trust me again?” I ask.

  Caleb bites her cheek. “You can let me tase you,” she says, her playful eyes returning.

  I smile. “How about you help me out again and I’ll have Boxcar wipe out some of your debt. That’s a fair trade, right?”

  She scoffs and brushes a few auburn bangs away from her eyes. “I’d rather tase myself.”

  “Hey, he’s useful,” I say, sensing her tension at the mention of his name.

  “So are lobotomies. Still wouldn’t recommend one.”

  I chuckle. “Help me out and I’ll tell him that I found you spread eagle with some beefcake in the back room. That should piss him off.”

  She finally drops her head and lets out a defeated breath. “What do you need?”

  “A few boxes of those Win Mag rounds, a bowie knife, and that Model 60 I saw yesterday.”

  She hisses. “That’s my special occasion gun.”

  “I wouldn’t ask for it if it weren’t one.”

  “Going hunting?” she asks with a raised brow.

  “On defense this time.”

  “What are you defending?”

  “Bit of unfinished business.”

  “Let me guess…” She leans forward to speak with a deep whisper. “Black hair? Red lips? Scary-looking gash on her left cheek?”

  I pause. “What makes you say that?”

  “Because she followed you in here and it’s pretty obvious she doesn’t give a shit about my antique fishing lures.”

  I turn around to see Dani standing in the corner behind a tall tower of lures. “Dani.”

  She twitches at my tone. “Hey.”

  “I told you to stay in the car.”

  Dani wanders over to the stand next to me. “And I objected to it. You’re not my father.”

  “Go back outside.”

  “No.” She looks at Caleb. “Hello.”

  “Hello, there…” Caleb greets her with a knowing twinkle brushing her green eyes. “Don’t I know you from somewhere?”

  “I just have one of those faces,” Dani says, shrugging.

  Caleb smirks. “Don’t we all?”

  “So, how do you know Fox?”

  I hang my head in annoyance. “We don’t have time—”

  “Army buddies,” Caleb answers.

  Dani’s eyes grow wide with interest. “You were in the Army?”

  “Once upon a time.”

  “Why did you leave?”

  “Got boring without Foxy here.”

  Dani twists in my direction. “Foxy?”

  “Can you please just go take a look around?” I ask Dani, gesturing away from the counter.

  She rolls her eyes and walks off, once again lingering around the fishing lures with zero interest.

  I turn back to Caleb and she tilts her head at me. “Don’t encourage her, Caleb.”

  She laughs, her lips dancing into a long grin. “I should have known. Who else could bring Fox Fitzpatrick back from the dead?”

  “It’s a complicated situation.”

  “Yeah, no shit.”

  “Please don’t tell anyone you saw her,” I add.

  “Fox, come on. It’s me.” She leans forward, lowering her voice. “If this was all about her, why didn’t you just say so?”

  “Because it’s a—”

  “Complicated situation,” she finishes with a happy sigh. “Take whatever you need.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I’m sure Boxcar will prove his usefulness once more.”

  “I’ll make sure he does.”

  Caleb’s eyes follow a trail behind me, ending with a presence hovering over my shoulder. I glance to the side and Dani’s elbow brushes my ribs.

  “I want a gun,” she says.

  I spin in her direction. “You what?”

  “I want a gun,” she repeats, her little blue eyes sparkling with innocence.

  “No.” I shake my head. “You don’t get a gun.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because you don’t know the first thing about handling a gun, Dani.”

  “Yes, I do,” she says. “I did thirty hours of training with LAPD officers for Backseat Driver.”

  I blink with disbelief. “Backseat what?”

  “Backseat Driver. Come on, you saw it. Everyone saw it.”

  Caleb grins. “I saw it.”

  “See?” Dani points at her.

  I play dumb, bringing annoyance to her eyes. “I don’t have time to watch movies.”

  “Just ask my dad if you d
on’t believe me.” She sighs with frustration. “Or throw up a target and I’ll prove it right now.”

  I glance at Caleb’s amused face then back at Dani. “No,” I say again. “You can’t have a gun.”

  “My life is in danger, Fox. No offense to you or your skills but I’d feel much safer if I were armed.” She looks at Caleb. “I want a gun. And not a dinky little girl gun either. I want a Glock.”

  I look at Caleb in defeat. “And a Glock for the lady, please.”

  Caleb turns, amused. “I changed my mind again,” she says to me. “I like her.”

  She walks off into the back room, snatching a black duffel bag off the wall as she goes.

  “She didn’t like me?” Dani says. “Why didn’t she like me?”

  “Don’t worry about it, Dani.” I glance at her again and she looks up at me with those perfect eyes. “Thirty hours?”

  She smiles and my knees turn to jelly.

  “Here you go.” Caleb drops the black bag onto the counter.

  “Thanks again, Caleb.” I grab the bag, taken back by its surprising heft.

  She grins at Dani and holds out a Glock by the barrel. “And for you…”

  Dani steps forward to take it. I snatch it away from her and drop it into the bag with the rest of it.

  Caleb chuckles. “If you get busted with that stuff, you didn’t get it from me.”

  “Come on, Dani.”

  “And if I don’t get my Model 60 back, I’ll kill you myself.”

  I shrug. “You know I’d just come back.”

  “Yeah, yeah…”

  Dani lingers behind me and waves to Caleb. “It was nice to meet you.”

  “Take care of him for me,” Caleb replies, flashing a quick wave in return.

  Dani gives her a short smile before following me outside. “What did she mean by that?” she asks me.

  “Nothing,” I answer, popping the trunk open and setting the black bag inside.

  Dani hovers over my shoulder with her arms crossed. “I sensed some friction there…” she hums. “You wanna talk about it?”

  “It’s not what you think.”

  She slides in closer as I inspect the bag. I grab the bowie knife and smile at the ankle holster Caleb tossed inside, along with enough extra ammo to take down a small army. That’s her style, I suppose. All or nothing.

  “Did you two have some torrid desert love affair or something?” Dani asks.

  “No,” I answer, zipping it closed.

  She scoffs. “Oh, come on.”

  “We didn’t,” I say. “She and Boxcar, however…”

  “Who’s Boxcar?”

  I close the trunk. “Boxcar is our next stop.”

  “The guy in Denver?” I nod and gesture for her to get back in the car. We walk around opposite sides and climb in. “What happened between them?”

  “Caleb and I met Boxcar in Afghanistan during my second tour.” I start the car and the engine roars with life. “We received intel that an American journalist with knowledge of a secret weapons cache was being held captive in a warehouse in Kabul. We go in but find nothing. No enemy combatants, no weapons, no journalist. Just Boxcar and his laptop. The roof collapsed on the building, trapping him inside. Turns out, he hacked our equipment with a distress signal so we’d come dig him out.”

  Her eyes narrow. “Why make up a story about a weapons cache?”

  “Because he thought we wouldn’t come otherwise.” I shrug. “Honestly, he was right.”

  “I can’t imagine the top brass being happy about him wasting their time.”

  “Oh, they weren’t. Boxcar is a good hacker but hacking government equipment is generally considered a no-no. Instead of shipping him back to the States to do jail time, they assigned him to our unit as a civilian intelligence freelancer.”

  “And he and Caleb hit it off?”

  “Nope.” I chuckle. “Not at first, anyway… Box is a bit of a card but by far the smartest person I’ve ever met. And Caleb, well, she doesn’t fuck around.”

  Dani smiles. “I got that vibe.”

  “Last I heard they were done but if you talk to them separately you can just see it. They aren’t really done.”

  “Sounds romantic.”

  “Try telling them that.”

  We take off down the road, passing through early-morning traffic at a snail’s pace. Dani leans back in her seat, her eyes flush with deep, silent thoughts until we make it out of Los Angeles. Every so often, her eyelids flutter closed, and she leans her head against the window. She didn’t sleep much last night. Neither did I.

  Even now, in the most innocent and vulnerable of poses, I can’t keep my eyes off her. Here we are, closer in proximity than we’ve ever been in our adult lives and there’s no one around to intervene. We could have picked up where we left off five years ago and part of me suspects she wants to. Maybe it was just the booze in her or the adrenaline from getting attacked, but there was something in her eyes. I don’t want to act on it in case I have it all wrong.

  I can’t imagine losing her twice in one lifetime.

  Chapter 17

  Fox

  “Can I drive?”

  A truck passes us on the left. I stiffen in the driver’s seat.

  “No,” I answer.

  There’s a man driving it with a small girl in the passenger seat. No real threat there. I relax.

  “Why not?”

  I look at Dani. Her sunglasses sit on top of her head, buried inside the short, black bob. She was passed out asleep just ten minutes ago, but her eyes show a fresh, wakeful enthusiasm now.

  “Because no,” I say.

  “That’s not a reason.”

  “You’ve never heard Bennett say because I said so before?”

  “Of course. It’s his catchphrase.”

  I chortle. “Do you even have a driver’s license?”

  “Yes, I have a license.”

  “On you?”

  “No, but that’s your fault, isn’t it?” She glares. “Didn’t have a chance to grab my purse while fleeing my apartment in nothing but a bathrobe.”

  I picture it all again. Of course, I do.

  Tattered hair and exposed thighs.

  Fast movement brings my eyes to the rearview mirror. A black car makes a dangerous pass around a vehicle a few hundred yards behind us. I grip the wheel, preparing for the worst.

  “All the more reason to let me drive, Dani.”

  The same black car revs its engine and weaves around us. The driver is young. Male. Red, puffy eyes. Not an assassin. Just an idiot.

  Dani lays her head back in defeat. “Can I listen to the radio?”

  “I’d prefer silence.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I need to concentrate.” I glance over at her again. She bends forward to slip her shoes and socks off. “You should leave those on, just in case.”

  “Fox, it’s been almost eight hours.” She stretches out her tiny toes, wiggling them free. I force myself not to stare at the ballerina-like arches of her feet. “If someone were following us, we would probably know by now.”

  “That’s not necessarily true.”

  “How so?”

  “Dani, please just shut up and let me do what I do.”

  She laughs, throwing her head back. “Damn, Fox…”

  “What?”

  “So serious.”

  My annoyance flatlines with the sound of her laughter again. Christ, I’ve missed that sound.

  But I can’t afford to relax. Not yet.

  Maybe not ever so long as we have a target on our backs.

  “How you find this so amusing, I’ll never understand,” I say.

  “I’m sorry…” She tries to stop laughing but her lips twitch. “I don’t know why I’m laughing. This is all just so…”

  “Surreal?” I suggest.

  “Fun.”

  “Fun?”

  “Maybe not fun, but…” She pauses, biting her lip. “I don’t know what I mean.
I guess that says something about my life, though, doesn’t it? Having a near-death experience is what it takes for me to have some fun.”

  “Oh, come on. You have access to everything in the world. Any girl would kill to be in your shoes.”

  Her smile fades. She falls silent and looks out the window. The setting sun casts an orange glow on her face, but I catch the darkness hiding behind her blue eyes. I look back to the road and my stomach lurches with hunger. Has it really been eight hours? I’ve forgotten how quickly time flies when all my senses are on high alert.

  “You hungry?” I ask.

  “Starving.”

  I smile. “Okay. We’ll stop soon.”

  “How much farther do we have?”

  “We’re about halfway to Denver,” I answer. “We should get there around two or three in the morning—”

  “Can we stop for the night?”

  I shake my head. “We should continue through the night, Dani.”

  “You’re exhausted, Fox.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Fox…” she leans over and points at her face, “look at who you’re talking to. I’m Roxie Roberts. I know a little something about exhaustion and even more, I know what it looks like when you try to hide it. The only difference is that I have a fully-staffed cosmetic team to hide the dark circles under my eyes.” Her finger swoops around her face, drawing little ovals beneath her lashes.

  I glance up at the rearview mirror. She’s right. I might not feel it now but once the buzz in my nerves wears off, I’m sure I will. “We’ll see how I feel after we eat.”

  “Or you can just let me drive.”

  “No.”

  She laughs. “Damn, I thought that would work…”

  I smile and look over at her again. She lays her head back and gazes out the window. Her lips stay locked in an upturned grin, almost like she doesn’t even realize she’s smiling. I’m scared to look away, knowing that sooner or later it’ll fade again, along with this moment.

  It’s been a while since I’ve had any fun, too.

  I almost didn’t recognize it myself.

  Chapter 18

  Dani

  Then

  Waves crash against the shore and slap the dock beneath us at Santa Monica pier. Children laugh and scream as they play in the sand. Seagulls squawk as they steal bits of old food off the ground. Arcade games. The Ferris wheel.