Reckoning

He shook his head as he unzipped his fly. “Nope. None of it mattered until right this minute.”

“Because…”

He slipped off his jeans and his boxers then jumped under the covers. He found her hand and squeezed it gently. “Because now it’s you.”

KATE AND VINCE HAD COME to Boone and Christie’s room at one-thirty. The new arrivals had already checked into the motel, using other names of course, and Seth and Boone had helped them put in the security devices on the front door, the windows and the telephone. Christie and Harper were working at their waitressing jobs. Cade was due in an hour via Greyhound. None of them had heard a word from Nate or Tam.

“All he said was that she’d been compromised,” Kate related. She sat on the ugly beige couch that was the twin to the one in her room. Vince was next to her, close, touching from shoulder to knee. Milo, Christie’s golden lab, had curled up near her feet.

Seth stood in the kitchen making a fresh pot of coffee and Boone sat by the small round table in the corner. Both men looked as if they hadn’t slept in a while, and she wondered what these nighttime missions were costing them.

“Christie said he sounded tense.” Boone bent forward, leaning his elbows on his thighs. “She didn’t think Tam was taken, but maybe she was hurt.”

“That might explain why we haven’t heard anything.”

“Maybe.”

Seth came back into the room. He seemed a lot more comfortable with his prosthetic claw, and Kate figured doing his job again had made the difference. Truth be known, she still felt guilty that he’d lost his hand fighting to save her life. It didn’t seem to matter that it was Omicron bullets that had blown his hand almost all the way off. The guilt was hers and his new ease with his prosthesis didn’t take it away. At least he had Harper now. Kate hadn’t seen them for a couple of weeks, but she’d heard they were doing great.

“I don’t like it,” Vince said. “If we don’t hear soon, we’re going to have to make some decisions.”

“Like what?” Kate asked.

“Like what to do if they don’t come back.”

Kate shook her head. “They’ll be here. Nate wouldn’t let them get her, not Tam.” She turned to Boone and Seth. “What do you guys need us to do?”

Seth smiled. “Robbing a bank would be most helpful.”

Vince laughed. “I could probably pull it off, but man, don’t let ’em send me to an L.A. court.” Vince had been a detective in L.A. for over ten years.

“Seriously,” Boone said. “What we need most now is cash. Christie and Harper are working double shifts at that damn truck stop, but the tips aren’t that great.”

“I suppose,” Vince asked, “that Harper can’t let anyone know she’s a doctor.”

“Nope. Too chancy. We’re stuck paying for these rooms.” Seth got up again and poured himself a cup of coffee. He looked around questioningly, but no one else wanted any. “We thought about renting a house, but we haven’t found anywhere we could all stay that’s discreet enough. We’re too damn close to the Omicron plant to take any risks.”

“We’ll find jobs,” Kate assured him.

“No, wait,” Vince said, turning to look at her. “We’ve got some cash. I think we should put all our energy on breaking Omicron’s back. Waiting tables isn’t going to bring in enough to make a difference anyway.”

“Are you sure?” Kate asked.

“I’m sure.”

Seth frowned. “What are we talking about here? A couple thousand…”

“Over a hundred thousand,” Vince said. “And I can get it here without it being traced or reported to the government.”

Seth’s brows lifted in surprise. “Good man.”

“Selfish man.” Vince nodded at Kate. “I want her safe. That’s all that matters.”

Kate squeezed his hand, but caught Boone looking suspiciously hungry.

“So how long until the money can be here?” Boone asked.

“Already?” Kate was teasing. She knew exactly how desperate the money situation was. Besides, she was so busy being proud of Vince she could barely hide her grin. Man, was he ever going to get lucky tonight.

“There’s a room in the plant that has a biometric scanner to gain entry,” Boone said. “We’re pretty sure it’s where the gas is either stored or poured. Either way, we need access.”

“You mean it reads fingerprints?” she asked.

Seth nodded.

“How are you going to get past that? Aside from borrowing someone’s hand?”

Boone smiled. “Well, now that you mention it, Katie, that’s exactly what we intend to do. But, we’ll need some cash to pull it off.”

TAM LET THE COMFORTER fall once more to her waist as she moved closer to Nate. It took her a minute to get her breathing under control after that last statement. It hadn’t even been the lovely words. It was how deeply he’d meant them.

She’d known for a long time that he wanted her, but she thought it was because she was simply there. Because he had so few options. Her mind couldn’t quite grasp that she’d been so very, very wrong.

“What’s the matter?” he asked. He scooted closer to her, and she felt his naked skin brush against hers.

“I’m not very good at this kind of thing.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re perfect.”

“We haven’t done anything yet.”

He smiled. “Trust me. You’re perfect.”

She knew it was a line, but what the hell. She’d told him the truth about why she wanted this. She needed to be close to someone, to feel alive again. But she hadn’t told him everything.

He leaned in and she knew this was it. If he kissed her, it would change things forever. She still had a moment to call things off.

She parted her lips and closed her eyes.

His mouth brushed against hers. Soft lips, warm breath, slightly cautious. He didn’t press, just skimmed lightly, letting her get comfortable, she supposed.

It wasn’t what she wanted, however well intentioned. There was only one thing to do about that. She put her hand behind his neck, held him steady, and kissed him. Hard. Exactly the way she’d fantasized for all those months.

He got with the program right quick. His tongue slipped past her teeth, and he took over. That was fine with her. She moved her hand down his back then across his shoulders, amazed at the feel of him. She’d never been with a soldier before, or anyone who looked remotely like they could have been one. Nate’s body was like something out of a movie or a magazine. Wide shoulders, perfectly sculpted abs, slim waist and hips, long legs.

God, she had to stop thinking about it or she’d be too self-conscious to do another thing.

Besides, it was much more fun to enjoy the wonderful things he was doing to her mouth. She’d always loved kissing, but in theory, not in practice. With Nate, she was in the advanced course, and it was immediately clear that he had a lot to teach her.