CRIMINAL CHRISTMAS: A Set of 8 Holiday Suspense Stories, page 38
“Never felt better. How about you?”
She inspected his face very carefully. “Good, I’m good.”
He hit the emergency code on the phone. The team would be here in less than five minutes. “Let’s take her outside and wait for the team.”
“Bad memories from this apartment?” Maddy’s sassiness was helping to revive him.
He smiled at her. “No, just don’t want to get trapped with only one gun and a knife between us.”
“A gun, two knives, and two pissed off Marines. That’s enough, dontcha think?”
He laughed out loud. “You’re right, my Mad Marine.”
“Clever, Hunter.” She pointed the gun back at the woman. “Start walking. Where is Abu? And what’s his plan?”
“Abu isn’t involved. Guli is in charge. She recognized your husband from TV. She knew he was in the American military and believed you were on to her and Sadia.”
Maddy shook her head. “Not believing it. Where is Abu?”
“You have to believe me. Guli is in charge. Abu knows nothing about his mom. He’s a good man.”
Hunter opened the door and checked the hall before signaling them to come.
Maddy walked behind Rasa and Cirus. “Keep talking.”
“I’m one of the many women she uses. She said she would kill my mother in Afghanistan if I didn’t do what she said. She shows us videos of our families in our country and threatens to kill them if we don’t help her.” Rasa turned and faced Maddy. “I’d never hurt you. Please believe me.” The woman cried. “You’ve been so kind to me and Cirus.”
Hunter stepped forward to intimidate the woman. “How will an old woman in the States hurt your family in Afghanistan?”
“Sadia’s husband is in our country. He is part of it all.”
Maddy wasn’t swayed from her duty by Cirus’s toothy smiles. Her gun was steady and pointed at his mother. “All?”
“Guli and Sadia are here to recruit our women for ISIS. Her brother in Jakarta is also involved.”
“Where are Guli and Sadia headed?”
“I don’t know. Maybe Jakarta or back to our country.”
Chapter Thirteen
By the time they had moved outside to the parking lot, a representative from every intelligence agency in the Northwest had arrived. SWAT teams surrounded the building. Black vans blocked every exit from the apartment complex. A helicopter hovered overhead. Darney, in his FBI Kevlar vest, stood in the middle of the storm, directing the action.
Forret, dressed in full combat gear, with a Glock 40 in hand and a Remington 700 and stun baton on his utility belt, ran toward them. Three team members surrounded them. Forret quickly inspected each person. He kept his eyes on Hunter. “Are you okay?”
Maddy lowered her gun. “Abu’s mother and sister are part of it.” Maddy pointed at Rasa. “She was threatened that if she didn’t help them take out me and Hunter her family would be hurt. I don’t believe she’s part of the bigger plot.”
With their guns still pointed at Rasa, the officers escorted the mother and child to a van. Maddy followed. At the van, Maddy leaned over and spoke softly to a terrified Rasa and stroked Cirus’s head.
Hunter quickly updated Forret about the mother and sister’s trap, the highly sophisticated equipment in the basement, and Rasa’s information about the ISIS connection.
A charged-up Forret spoke into a radio in a clipped and precise voice, directing the operation to the basement and the Hammans’ apartment.
Hunter said, “I’d put an APB out on the mother, daughter, and Abu. I’m sure they’re trying to get on a plane or ferry out of here right now.”
“Already done,” Forret replied.
Hunter tracked Maddy through the throng of men. She was now reporting to Darney, as he had done with Forret. Darney was definitely close to Maddy, too close. And judging by the animation on Darney’s face and the way he smiled at Maddy, the man was impressed.
Despite his headache throbbing from the deafening sounds of the helicopter and the fast-paced action around him, Hunter wanted to get close to Darney and explain a few salient facts.
The only thing holding him back was Maddy’s reaction. She was a Marine doing her job, and if he did his caveman stuff, she’d be pissed. But he had been beat over the head, tied up, and bundled up like a California sushi roll, and during that entire time, his focus had been only on saving Maddy. He was usually a patient man, but not with her. Not today. He needed his Maddy to comfort and love.
Forret stuck his phone into his pocket “Man, you’re pathetic.”
Hunter stiffened. He thought he was doing a damn good job of hiding his concussion. He knew the symptoms, and he’d put himself at a Grade 2 concussion, but since he didn’t know how long he had been out, possibly Grade 3. Didn’t matter, it hurt like a son of a bitch.
“The colonel was right about you two. You’ll make a good team now that you’ve worked out your feelings.”
Despite the sensation of buffalos stampeding through his head, he could possibly manage to hurt Forret. “What’s with the psychobabble shit? This job too much for you?”
Forret’s eyes darted back and forth on the movement of his troops, but his mouth curved into a smirk. He nodded to someone behind Hunter. “I’m a trained observer. You couldn’t have been any more obvious about your feelings for Jeffers. It was very entertaining to watch your reaction when I suggested I’d partner with her. And it looks like she has gotten over her objections to you as her husband.”
Hunter followed Forret’s gaze. Maddy kept turning back and checking on him. She smiled then continued to talk with Darney. His headache and Forret’s bullshit disappeared in the sunlight of Maddy’s attention.
Forret snickered. “Nothing more you can do here. Go get some rest. You look like shit.”
“Go to hell, Forret.”
# # #
Maddy gave Darney a full debriefing, but she was anxious to have Hunter assessed. It was obvious he had suffered a head injury. And the big, macho man was going to deny that he needed any help.
Forret walked past her. “Good work, Jeffers. Get Hines some medical care.”
“My next priority, sir.” Maddy pulled herself up into her full height of five feet and tucked her chin. Getting Hunter to accept medical care was going to be as hard as pointing a gun at sweet Cirus. Sometimes the job sucked and made you wonder what kind of war you were fighting.
“They’ve got Abu. He was walking down the street,” Forret suddenly shouted.
An agitated Abu was led to the parking lot by two agents. His hands were tied behind his back, his eyes wide with shock, and he kept shouting in Dari. “Where is my mother, my sister?”
Maddy walked over to Hunter. “Go sit down. I’m going to translate for Forret.”
He shook his head. “I can translate for them. Besides, Abu speaks English.”
“I’ll get more information if I speak to him in his language when he’s upset.”
Hunter’s face was pale and his pupils looked equal, but he was good at masking his pain.
“Go sit down before you fall down.” Maddy tried to give him a badass stare, but she realized it wasn’t working when he grinned back at her. “If you don’t sit down, I’ll call an ambulance and make a very big deal about your head injury.”
“If I sit down, will you promise to take me home? No hospital.”
“Only if you tell me the truth about Las Vegas.”
“Las Vegas?”
“Were you really offered a job as a comedian?”
Hunter rolled his eyes upward. “You want to know about that now?”
“Yes. While I have you in my power.” She ran her hand along his bulging bicep. After the terrible day spent believing Hunter had been captured and possibly killed, all she wanted to do was to take him home. And for the first time in her life, she could admit that she needed a man’s comfort. Not any man. Hunter.
He stepped closer, crowding her. “How unfair to take advantage of an injured man, but damn sexy. I did do stand-up comedy but was never offered a professional gig. Are you disappointed?”
“Never. I could never be disappointed in you. I’ll take you home first, but no promises about the hospital until I thoroughly assess your injury.”
Hunter gave her the sweetest, most besotted look. “I like a take-charge woman.”
Maddy wanted to rush into his arms and spill out all the fears she’d suffered, worrying that Abu had killed him.
Abu’s wretched cry interrupted. “No, no. I’m innocent.”
She pointed Hunter toward the open FBI van. “Go sit down.”
He rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say, honey.” Maddy didn’t believe his nonchalant act for a minute. For Hunter to forego control, he must be really hurting.
Maddy hurried over to Forret and Darney and the ten men surrounding Abu. She had told Darney that Rasa insisted Abu was not part of the terrorism plot. Maddy wanted to believe what Rasa said. And the fact that Abu came back to the apartment complex when his mother and sister had fled made it more likely he wasn’t part of the plan.
By the rigid stances of the FBI and Homeland Security agents, they weren’t as willing to buy Abu’s innocence.
When Abu saw her, his eyes brightened. “Mrs. Grady, please tell them. I’m not a terrorist. You know my mother, my sister. I own a restaurant.”
Maddy spoke in Dari. “Everything you say is true. Where are your mother and sister?”
Abu answered in English and spoke to the men. “My mother and sister are in the apartment, getting our dinner ready.”
An impatient Forret said, “Your mother and sister attacked our agent, tied him up, and left him in the basement where they have a tech center. Who else is working with you?”
“No, no. I don’t believe it. They would never dishonor my father’s memory.” Abu grabbed his heart. “His dream was to have us be free.”
Forret shook his head. “Get him out of here.”
“Please, we came to America to get away from the hatred, the violence. We are good people.”
Maddy watched as they put Abu in the van and drove away. Rasa and Cirus had already been taken away to be questioned. The FBI had taken over the investigation, and the FBI cyber team would spend hours in the basement with what Hunter described as their tech center.
Hunter and Maddy had done their part.
It was time for her to take care of Hunter. He sat on the back of the SUV, looking tired and rumpled, her protector and dragon slayer with a few raw wounds. But she would make it up to him. She had lots of feelings stored up and ready to spend on loving Hunter.
Butterflies fluttered in her stomach at the thought of home. She was impatient to take Hunter home. Not just a stop, but a home.
She had to stand on tiptoe to reach his injury. She felt for the contusion on the back of his head. It was at least four inches by four inches and swelling. “How is your headache?”
“Not bad.”
“That bad, huh? We’ve got to get ice on it to bring the swelling down and get you a CT scan. Are your symptoms Grade 2 or 3?”
“All of the above, but I’m not going to the hospital. I know exactly what I need, and it isn’t a CT scan.”
“What if you’re bleeding internally?”
“Trust me. I’m not.”
“And how would you know?” She put her hands on her hips. “Are you having memory problems?”
“No. I remember exactly what you looked like when you screamed my name last night.”
Maddy felt the heat burning the tops of her ears.
“And the way you—”
Maddy put her hand over his mouth, looking around. He licked her palm. She pulled her hand back.
“Okay, obviously your headache isn’t that bad.” She took his arm and tried to help him out of the van. “We’ll decide later if you need a CT scan.”
He stood and leaned down near her ear. His hot breath whispered across her face. “Later sounds perfect.’
“Stop it. Seriously, Hunter, what do you need? Don’t be all macho and on the make. They bashed you on the head.”
“I need you, Tylenol, and ice. In that order. Take me home, Maddy.”
“Home?”
“We only live two houses away. I would like to lie down.” Hunter did a pretend leer, waggling his eyebrows.
“For a man who suffered a major blow to his head, you’re sure acting energetic.”
“Come on, Maddy. You know I’m fine. All they’d do at the hospital is observe me. You can observe me at home. Take me home.”
Suddenly, it hit her that their assignment was finished. “We’re finished. We don’t have a home.”
“Yeah, we do.” Not caring whether anyone was watching. Hunter pulled her into his arms. “Wherever you are is home for me.”
“But…”
“We’ll find us a real home and be a real husband and wife.”
Epilogue
Half asleep, Maddy reached across the pillow for Hunter but came up empty. She rolled over and sat up, naked. She couldn’t suppress her grin, remembering how Hunter wouldn’t lie down and rest unless she got naked and in bed with him.
When she hadn’t been snuggled against the wounded man, she had monitored his mental status. And in the early dawn, a very lusty Hunter had woken her and made tender, gentle love. She had cried after their lovemaking. The feelings of being cherished and loving fiercely were all new, tilting her in a disorienting way.
She stretched. It was time to face the real world. Right when she was about to go in search of her pretend husband, he appeared with a tray stacked with coffee, muffins, and the fruit they had bought at the market.
It wasn’t fair that she was still naked in bed and Hunter was dressed. She wanted him to lose his clothes and get back in bed. She wasn’t ready for the demands of the day to creep into their wonderful interlude.
Since Hunter was dressed in his standard oxford shirt and slacks, she pulled the covers up to her neck. His eyes were bright and intense, warming her from the inside out. He leaned down and kissed her, a sweet, tender touch that grew into hot possession. When he stopped, she realized he had pulled down the sheet. “I like seeing you, Maddy. Don’t cover up.”
He wanted her again. She could tell by the way his breath quickened and his eyes darkened. This man had been so caring and gentle last night, and insatiable despite his injury.
“You should be in bed. I’m not the patient.”
He sat the tray down on the bed. “Having my wife in my bed cured me.”
Maddy scanned his face as he unfolded a napkin and placed it on her lap, his knuckles brushing her breast. His dark stubble was gone, and his inky black hair was combed back away from his angular face. Amazingly, there were no obvious signs of what he had suffered yesterday. The handsome man looked robust, his olive skin glowing and his dark eyes gleaming.
And when he smiled, his angles softened and relaxed. “Remember when you told me your husband would serve you in bed?”
He sat on the bed, poured coffee, and handed the mug to her. “Here is your coffee, exactly as you like it—dark, with no cream or sugar. Served to you by your grateful husband.”
Maddy took a greedy sip of the piping hot brew, in need of caffeine and grateful for a distraction from her jumbled, intense emotions. And feeling a little unsure after her outpouring of love in the desperate throes of passion. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you for taking care of me last night. I’ve never had such loving attention.” Hunter’s cheeks flushed. His voice got rough with emotion. “Maddy, I want to marry you as soon as you’re ready. We’ll have to report in, but we’re both up for a furlough.”
Maddy moaned. “Oh, shit. We’ve got to report in.” She searched the room for her phone. “What time is it?”
“I already checked in with Forret for both of us. I explained how you were up all night watching for signs of concussion. Forret might as well have laughed in my face. He’s on to us, and it seems the colonel has been, too.”
Maddy felt the heat moving up her face. “The colonel? Why? What did Forret say?”
“He said I’d be a fool not to marry you right away since there are men lined up, wanting you.”
Maddy giggled. “He did not.”
“No, but he did say they have Guli and Sadia in custody. They were trying to board a flight to L.A. connecting to Jakarta, where Guli’s brother lives. Guli embraced her brother’s radical ways after her husband’s death. She holds Americans responsible and wants revenge. Sadia and her husband are part of the network, but Guli was the one in charge of recruiting the young, displaced women for ISIS. Sadia was the tech specialist who sent embedded, subversive emails to the women she befriended in the class.”
“Oh my God. That is unbelievable. What happened to Rasa and Abu?”
“Rasa and Cirus were released, but Abu is still in custody. They are checking everything before they release him, but Forret said they don’t have any evidence connecting him to his mother and sister’s activities. They are going through his computers and email. The email to Brandon Billow was from his sister, not Abu.”
“How very sad. Guli destroyed her family with her hatred and need for revenge.”
“Forget them. Back to my question.”
Maddy lifted her eyebrows. “I don’t recall hearing a question.”
Hunter took her left hand into his. The opal glimmered all the colors of a rainbow. “Maddy, please say you’ll marry me. I love you.”
And in that moment, Maddy chose love and hope over audacity and fear. “I love you, Hunter Hines. Any man who is willing to go into harm’s way for me must be a man in love.”
“I’d risk everything for you, Maddy.”
“Me, too, Hunter. You’re a risk I can’t resist.
~A Christmas Wedding Celebration~
Chapter One
Maddy crossed her legs on the low leather couch while she tried to inconspicuously tug her tight, short dress down over her thighs.
