Running Off Radar, page 20
“Rose…”
“Oh. Do you have to go?” She started to withdraw her hand, but Maji caught it and held tight, weaving their fingers together.
“Not until they call. I’m one hundred percent yours, still. It’s just…I’ll miss you. I’m sorry we—”
Rose pressed their joined hands over Maji’s mouth. “Hush. This is not good-bye. I’ll get home early and have a chance to catch up before next week’s classes. And you’ll come visit as soon as you can.” She put their hands back on Maji’s chest. “Deal?”
“Yes, please. Can I see where you work, and cook with you, and…do other normal stuff?”
“If you insist,” Rose replied. “What would you like to do when you visit?”
“I don’t know,” Maji hedged. “Go to the farmers’ market without guns and backup. Use my real name.” Not lie to your friends or put you in danger. “Not rescue any strangers.”
“But that is your normal.” Rose nudged a thigh between Maji’s legs. “And now I get to help. Don’t you want my help?”
Rose’s free hand made the sort of help she was offering abundantly clear. “Yes,” Maji squeaked out.
“Mm. Try again. Ask me in Italian maybe, or Farsi.”
So Maji did.
* * *
As she zipped her slacks, Rose heard a sharp rapping on the suite door. “Rios!” a woman’s voice called.
Should she answer? Rose looked through the peephole and saw a woman’s face. “Just a minute,” she called, ready to bang on the wall for Dev.
“What’s up?” Maji called through the bathroom door.
Rose cracked it enough to get a peek at Maji’s form, naked except for the towel around her long hair. “Someone’s at the door. A woman. Tall, very blond.”
“Hold on,” Maji said, strode out without adding a stitch, and looked through the peephole. The rapping came again. “Hold on!” Maji repeated, this time as a bark. “Let her in,” she told Rose as she disappeared back into the steamy bathroom. She left the door ajar.
Rose unlocked the door and pulled it open. “Hello.”
“Morning, ma’am.” The striking woman’s bearing and formality seemed at odds with her jeans-and-sneakers casual dress. She stepped in and waited for the door to close, then extended her hand. “Lieutenant Green, Navy. You must be Rose.”
“You didn’t call,” Maji said as she emerged from the bathroom, stuffing a T-shirt into the waist of her jeans. “Anything on fire?” She headed into the bedroom.
Lt. Green shook her head. “I got a room in town too. Doesn’t come with breakfast, though.”
Rose noticed the empty plate on the table, the coffee mug by it, and guessed that Maji had fetched breakfast from the downstairs buffet earlier. This time, she’d managed not to wake Rose when she moved. “She may be ready again soon.”
“I’m good,” Maji answered, emerging with her hands behind her head, the last of her french braid in progress. She wore a fleece pullover now, and socks. “You want some coffee? Or breakfast downstairs?”
Lt. Green shook her head. “I’ll grab something at the…” She stopped herself, looking to Rose, the empty bedroom, and back at Maji. “Is there someplace we can talk?”
“Do you speak Arabic?” Rose joked.
Lt. Green tilted her head. “I understand a bit. Why?”
“Never mind.” Maji looked to Rose, not with reprimand but apology. “We can head out.”
She started to rise, but Rose stopped her. “No. It’s okay. Let me grab Dev, and we’ll pop down and get you a plate. Will that give you enough time?”
“Yes, ma’am. Thanks.” Lt. Green looked surprised but sincere.
“He’s just outside the door,” Maji added.
Rose looked through the peephole and sure enough, there he was. She didn’t ask, just went out and invited him to join her.
Dev was quiet in the elevator, the ride shared with travelers taking their luggage to checkout and beyond. In the empty breakfast room he asked, “Who’s the badass blonde?” At her look, he smiled and said, “I was in the hall when she arrived. Your suite is clean. Really.”
“I’m sorry. After last summer, I’m a little paranoid.”
“Not paranoid if they’re really out to get you,” he joked as he started to fill plates with some of everything at the buffet.
She found a tray and started loading it also. “Ha-ha. She’s a lieutenant. From the Navy.”
“Really?” He paused while filling juice glasses. “Well, good.”
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing. Only, don’t worry about Ri. She’s got great backup.”
When they arrived back at the room, juggling two overloaded trays, Maji let them in. “Wow. Tutti a tavola, eh?”
Rose smiled. “I have a few minutes, if you don’t mind company now.” A bite before her presentation wouldn’t hurt, but mostly she wanted to defer the inevitable good-bye.
“Coffee?” Lt. Green offered.
“Yes, thanks,” Rose agreed, setting the table with four plates and the trays in the middle, family style.
Dev grabbed silverware from the drawer. “Sure,” he said, extending his right hand. “Dev Goldberg. Army Reserves, here for Paragon Security.”
“Once in, always in,” she replied. “An honor to meet you, Dev.”
“Likewise, I think.”
She chuckled. “Think what you like.”
While Rose was puzzling over the odd exchange, Maji took her hand under the table. “Safe travels. That’s what they say up here, right?”
“Sorry you had to cut your trip short,” Lt. Green said. She slipped her long frame into an open seat and accepted the plate of bacon and sausage from Dev. “We do appreciate you reducing Sergeant Rios’s exposure.”
“Meaning what?” Rose asked.
Maji glared across the table at Lt. Green. “Watch yourself, Lieutenant.”
“Sorry. Nothing, ma’am. I’m sure she’ll keep her focus on the assignment better knowing you’re safe, that’s all.”
Rose knew that wasn’t quite it, but before she could press their guest, the spiky blond head bent in prayer. With a quiet “Amen,” Green set to work on her plate. She ate more like Dev and Tom than like Maji. Maybe she was in a rush to get going.
“Anybody going to videotape you today?” Maji asked.
Rose accepted the diversion. “No. This is a pretty low budget group.”
“I could use my phone,” Dev offered.
Rose stood and cleared her place setting. Between stage anxiety and all the words unspoken at the table, her appetite was dead. “Try, if you like. I’ll be ready in five, Dev.” To Maji she added, “Don’t leave without…before I do.”
Maji just nodded.
When Rose returned, Maji was sliding a comm into her ear, its transmitter pack waiting on the table for her.
Rose looked from Maji to the transmitter and back. “Do you need help with the wound dressings before you go?”
“Nah. The skin’s healing uncovered now.”
“Unless you get it dirty, or wet.” Rose looked to Green. “Don’t let Ri go in the water.”
“Uh, okay.”
“Seriously. I know she has your back. Do you have hers?”
Lt. Green pushed back from the table and stood, her full height imposing. “Yes, ma’am. We do.”
“You promise?”
Maji raised one eyebrow at her, but kept her tone mild. “She just did, Rose.”
“And, ma’am?” Lt. Green looked uncertain for the first time since she’d strode in and taken over the room. “My condolences on your loss. Staff Sergeant Benedetti was a remarkable soldier, and we will see his mission through. You have my word on that as well.”
Rose stared at her silently, then noticed that Maji and Dev were both standing at ease, hands behind their backs and eyes trained into the near distance. “Thank you, Lieutenant. Please be careful.”
As she should have expected, a single silent nod was Lt. Green’s only response.
Rose watched Maji slip her gun into the holster at her lower back and settle the fleece down to hide it. Maji wasn’t pretending to be someone else’s streetwise girlfriend now. There wasn’t the Maji she knew and loved plus this character of Ri here. Today the woman she loved and the soldier she loved were the same person, going off to face dangers unnamed with people Rose didn’t know but had to rely on nonetheless. In what world could that ever feel normal? When Maji reached for the door, Rose stopped her with a fierce hug and a quick kiss. “See you soon.”
Maji’s nod, and the soft certainty in her eyes, was her promise.
* * *
Maji felt only a little conflicted leaving Rose with Dev while she went off hunting for hidden gold. If Dev had still been Delta, rather than a private contractor with Hannah, she’d have been happy to trade places with him. He probably wished he could too.
“Lieutenant,” Maji said, “I realize you and Kim have point on this mission, but I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t upset Rose.”
Green snorted. “If she can’t handle the life, she’s got no business being married to an operator.”
“We’re not. She’s not been briefed.”
“Seriously?” Green took her eyes off the road briefly. “Then what are you doing here?”
“Trying to take a vacation together, like normal people.”
Green had the nerve to chuckle. “Good luck with that. She wants normal, you’re out of luck.”
“I know.” And around now, Rose might be figuring that out too. “You married?”
“If you can call being hitched to a SEAL married.”
Green’s tone didn’t invite more inquiry, but Maji couldn’t resist. “And she’s been briefed?”
“He, Rios. He’s a SEAL.”
Double wow. “Oh. That’s convenient, I guess. What’s that like?”
“On the rare occasions we’re home at the same time, it’s hot monkey sex heaven. Rest of the time, it’s like being single and too busy to care.” She paused. “If you’re looking for advice on civilians, look elsewhere.”
“Roger that. No, wait—aye, aye.” They crossed the O’Connell Bridge to Japonski Island, headed for Air Station Sitka. “Speaking of which, we need a quick stop on Lifesaver Drive,” she informed Green. “I stashed the boat captain there last night.”
“I know.” Green flicked a glance at her. “We’ve had eyes on her since the team arrived.”
Of course they had. Well, she still wanted to check in. “Good. Let’s see if she’s remembered anything that might be helpful.”
Fierce barking met them at Taira’s door before Maji could even knock. But when Taira opened it and spoke firmly to the dog, Jasper sat and wagged his tail expectantly.
“Morning,” Maji said. “May I?” She indicated offering her hand to the dog.
“Sure.” Taira coached Jasper’s friendly restraint as Maji let him sniff her hand and ruffled his ears. “Dee? You have company.” To the women on her doorstep, she added, “Come on in.”
Dee appeared on the stairs while Taira was lacing up her black uniform boots. Maji wondered where she found military issue shoes that small. She had to get her own uniform tailored to fit.
Dee looked down at them with some chagrin, like she’d been caught out. Her long dark hair was still damp, but she was fully dressed in fresh clothing. “Going to hide me someplace else today?”
“Not if you can stay with people you know nearby. I just wanted to ask if anything those guys said to you had come back. Or if you remembered anything else that might be useful.”
“Where is it?”
Taira turned and looked up at her. “Where is what?”
“That’s what I said too,” Dee replied. “They didn’t like that. That’s when they stuck me, I think.”
Well, that didn’t help much. Though it did confirm what she suspected, that Sirko’s men didn’t know where their payload had gone. Which made her think of Green’s disturbing breakfast update on the crew that had towed the Eagle Song in. “AET Taira, how well do you know Ensign Morgan?”
“Robin Morgan? A little, I guess. She was a giant squid for the Halloween party. Always brings a casserole to the potlucks. Seems nice. Why?”
Because the ensign had taken emergency family leave the day after towing the Eagle Song. And her family had not seen her, nor had they experienced an emergency. “She’s missing. Just wondered if she’s the type to go AWOL, or if she did, where.”
“No.” Taira shook her head. “Definitely not. But she did have a boyfriend in Arizona. Maybe if she got pregnant or something…” She shook her head again. “No. She’d still report in.”
“Thanks.” Lt. Green spoke for the first time. She looked to Maji. “We should go.”
Maji gave the dog one last ear rub and stepped toward the door.
“Wait,” Dee said. “Is Rose safe? With just that friend of yours?”
“He’s got it handled. But if you wanted to hear her talk, I’m sure she’d appreciate a friendly face in the audience.”
“I can just walk in?”
Maji nodded. “Security sucks. She’s on in…” She looked at her watch and sighed. “About twenty minutes.”
“Crap,” Dee said and hustled down the steps, lightly bumping Taira on the way. “Sorry, Liv.”
Taira stood. “I’ll drive you.”
“No.”
“Come on. I’ll stay under the limit.”
Dee looked to Maji, then back at her host. “If they’re looking for me, I don’t want you near me.”
“Sweet,” Green said. “But unnecessary. We have a tail on you, ready to move if you’re in danger.”
Dee frowned at her. “Fine. They can drive me.”
“Then they wouldn’t be an effective tail, would they?” Green seemed almost amused. “Take the ride.”
“You’ll be late for work,” Dee said to Taira. Stubborn as ever.
Taira grabbed the dog’s leash. “No I won’t. I’ll take Jasper home on my break.”
* * *
In the office that had become the SEALs’ command center, Lt. Kim met their bad news with some of his own. “Command relayed a coded message from Thumb: Bird wouldn’t sing. Wings clipped. Eggs still hidden.”
So the Russian crew hadn’t gotten the location out of her before Ensign Robin Morgan’s untimely demise. “Could the gold still be in Sitka, then?”
“Most likely. We think Ensign Morgan hid it, then ran. She caught a flight to Arizona.”
“And the boyfriend?”
“Also missing. Didn’t show up at work a couple days after Morgan arrived. They might still be running together, but I doubt it.”
Maji shook her head. “Wings clipped. Fuckers.”
“We’re getting her phone logs now, see who she contacted in her last few days,” Kim said.
Green frowned. “If we’ve thought of that, Sirko has too.”
Maji hoped their official channels for that kind of information were quicker than Sirko’s hackers. She was tired of playing catch-up to this guy. “Could Jack help speed that up?”
“Dunno,” Kim responded. “He said he had to go into town and just took off earlier.”
“A little squirrelly,” Green added. “So I slapped a tracker on his jacket.”
“And?”
Green shrugged and looked to Kim, who clicked the mouse attached to his laptop and scanned the screen. “Come look.”
The tracker showed that Jack had not gone into town, or even back across the bridge. “What’s here?” Maji asked, pointing to a spot where the program indicated he had stopped for seven minutes.
“A little Coast Guard building. Next to the boat dock and launch ramp.”
There he must have taken a boat, because the tracker showed him out in the middle of the channel. It looked like he’d passed all the markers until the largest, then paused there, circled it, and stopped at two more points a few miles to the northwest. Hiding something? Or searching? Either way he must be done, because the tracker last showed him circling back to the dock. “Hey, I think he’s headed back—”
They all looked up at the knock on the office door. “Enter,” Green barked.
“Hey,” Jack said. “Sorry for leaving you unattended. Got the parts for the helo. You need anything else before I hit the gym?”
“Nope,” Kim said. “Thanks.”
“PT?” Maji said, heading toward him. “Can I join you? I need a workout bad.” She turned back to the lieutenants. “If you two don’t mind?”
“Uh…” Jack began.
“By all means,” Green replied.
Jack gave them a smile that looked forced. “Sure. You’ll find spare duds in the women’s locker room. See you in the gym.”
Green frowned at the abruptly closed door. “Can’t picture him working for Sirko. Doesn’t seem like the type to be motivated by money. Or to get his thrills from cloak-and-dagger.”
“They never do,” Kim reminded her.
Maji remembered Jack’s argument on the plane. “Check on his wife, Tina. Flight attendant, has a place in Anchorage.”
“Will do.” Kim paused. “Watch your six with him.”
“Aye, aye.”
Chapter Eighteen
The door to the conference room opened just before Rose started her presentation. For a second she thought Maji had made it, but then she realized that the short, dark-haired woman trying to slip in unobtrusively was Dee. She gave her new friend a grateful smile and a little wave. A few heads turned in Dee’s direction as she took the chair that Dev offered to her. Bolstered by the support, Rose gave the cue for the lights to be dimmed.
She managed to show all the slides within her allotted thirty minutes, even with a few interruptions. It wasn’t her fault that Q&A ran long—this group was genuinely enthused. One of the academics gave a long, rambling statement masquerading as a question and Rose gamely pretended to give his point due consideration. All in all, a successful presentation.
The only surprise, when the lights came back up to full, was Javi. She spotted him in a chair along the back wall, as if he’d slipped in late. He gave her a hopeful smile, and she remembered that she had one more performance left to give.
