Page 21

Chapter 21

Cate

“ S heppard and I have to go back to the cleaners tomorrow.” I should probably resort to calling him Jaden when in a room full of Sheppards . But I wanted to keep him at an emotionally safe distance. “They had an “equipment malfunction” after hearing him beg me to go to Wynd Star.”

“Adam mentioned they have a friendly, low stakes game in the area. He seemed eager to invite me,” Jaden added.

“As you know, we’re posing as a married couple.” I paused long enough for everyone to laugh.

While I waited, I realized I was still wearing my wedding band.

No, my fake wedding band.

I glanced over. So is Jaden .

We took them off and shoved them in our pockets, much to everyone’s amusement .

When they quieted down, I filled them in on the new developments.

I left out the kiss, praying Jaden wouldn’t feel the need to mention it.

When Jaden added in his two cents, he left it out. Thank God.

I don’t know why he didn’t take the opportunity to embarrass me, but I was grateful. I really didn’t need another team looking at me like I was the type of woman who slept her way to the top.

“I’ll update my timeline and get the information to everyone,” I said.

“Do we know where Richard Roman is, or what he’s doing?” Jaden asked.

“No, he’s been laying low since we…” John paused. “Rescued Blake.”

Roman going underground wouldn’t help us. We needed to know where he was and what he was doing.

I was about to leave when John said, “I want everyone checking in every hour when you’re not here. We’ve poked this hornet’s nest before and know how far he’ll go.”

“Yes, sir,” we answered together.

“Sir?” Jaden asked. I could only imagine what stupid shit would come out of his mouth.

“What is it?” John asked, humor and exasperation mixing in his voice.

“What about while we’re sleeping?” Jaden asked .

“Except when you’re sleeping. Check in before you go to sleep and after you wake up.” He explained it like he was talking to a child.

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” Jaden saluted, making everyone laugh.

John pointed at the door. “Get out of here.”

Jaden was two steps past the door when John called out, “Be careful.”

“Copy that,” Jaden said without breaking stride.

Jaden was being a wiseass, but there was no tension between him and his father while they teased one another.

We greeted everyone in the lobby when we reached the bottom of the stairs. Meg was sitting in the lounge with Blake and Emily, laughing. Sammie and Eric, two of our three part-timers, were standing nearby. John would keep at least one of them on duty, to watch over the girls, until their husbands could take them home.

In some ways, I envied them. I only had one close friend, Charlie, but she lived in Arizona so the only way we could hang out was via video chat or by taking a vacation.

It’s better this way . Even though I knew in my soul the people at SSI weren’t like the men I’d had the misfortune of working with in the FBI, I wasn’t ready to let them in.

Back in our office, Jaden and I updated the timeline, organized our notes, and emailed the team.

We heard AJ before we saw him run into the lobby. You’d think Blake was dying the way he called out for her.

“I’m right here, no need to yell,” she said. Not at all bothered by his obsessive need to protect her. I’d misjudged her, I think we all did, when her father first brought her here. She’d come off as being a bratty, spoiled rich kid, but in reality she was just scared.

Blake’s small frame all but disappeared when AJ wrapped his arms around her. Meg and Emily shook their heads in amusement.

A few minutes later AJ knocked on our door. “What do I need to know? And what do you need me to do?” No greeting, no small talk, just down to business. I’d wonder what was wrong with him, being the jokester of the team, but I knew his behavior had everything to do with the woman he loved being in danger.

I briefed AJ and sent him to work with Doug. AJ wasn’t as savvy as Doug when it came to tech things, but there was a lot of footage to go through and the second set of eyes would help.

“I emailed everyone, and messaged Darling asking if we can meet tomorrow,” Jaden said.

I appreciated mission-mode Jaden; he was focused and a team player. Skills he would’ve needed as a Raider, but rarely demonstrated at SSI unless shit got real.

But I still had a bone to pick with him.

Knowing someone could be outside the door, I chose my words carefully. “We need to get a few things straight. First, don’t ever pull another stunt like you did earlier.”

He grinned. “Unless it’s to protect our cover.”

“No. Never. Find another way.” I didn’t trust my body to remain faithful to my heart and brain if he kissed me like that again .

And just like that, mission focused Jaden was replaced by his normal irritating, sarcastic self. “Afraid you’ll fall in love with me?” The mischievous glint in his eye told me he was teasing, but it still hit too close to home.

I rolled my eyes. “Obviously. Because there couldn’t possibly be another reason a woman wouldn’t want to be kissed by you.”

“No one’s ever complained before.”

Did he just puff up his chest? Typical playboy, he thinks no one can resist him.

“There’s a first time for everything.” I shrugged and turned my attention back to my monitor.

“Admit it, you liked it.”

“I didn’t.” Liar, liar, pants on fire .

“Sure.” He drew out the ‘u’ far longer than necessary.

“What, your ego can’t handle being turned down?”

“My ego is just fine, thank you.”

“It’s inflated.”

“It’s earned.”

I bet it is . My eyes roamed down his torso to his… Damn, now my mind was thinking of changing sides.

“Whatever, Sheppard.”

“Whatever, Mrs. Bishop,” he said, reminding me we were going undercover again.

I took a calming breath. “Just don’t do it again.”

He laughed. “Fine. I’ll let our cover get blown.”

Lord, give me patience.

He flipped a switch and asked, “Can we plan now? ”

Gotta love spec ops guys, they could switch off and on a dime.

“Our cover isn’t strong enough to withstand any kind of search, so we need to go in with our eyes open.” That was the problem with on the fly cover stories; they didn’t stand up to scrutiny.

“Do you think they’ll piece it together that quickly?”

“Hard to say. Richard Roman isn’t an in-the-trenches guy, so it’s not likely we’ll run into him at the Quick Wash.” Possible, but not likely. So far, we’d only dealt with Adam, but I wasn’t worried about him, he was just a recruiter. And Robert Roman had been MIA for days. “We need to stay the course at the Quick Wash for now. It’s our only solid connection to Wendy.”

“There is no greater danger than underestimating your opponent.” Jaden impressed me by quoting Lao Tzu.

“We won’t. Adam’s a recruiter so he just wants to bring you into the game and collect his cut. And just because he suggests it, doesn’t mean you’ll get an invite.”

“I wonder if I’ll be interviewed by one of the Romans?”

“Let’s hope not.” Lucky for us, men like Richard usually stuck to the shadows and had their lackeys do the work. “I have a feeling Richard’s memorized every face from SSI.” And he’d want revenge for the destruction we caused. “The sooner we get this over, the better.” Knowing our adversary was Richard Roman meant the clock for solving this case was ticking faster than normal. And Wendy’s wasn’t the only life on the line .

“We should talk to Dad about taking the who’s who page down,” he said more to himself than to me.

“It’d be a good idea, given recent activity,” I said. If SSI was entering the undercover game, we needed to keep our faces off the internet as much as possible. “Can you shoot him an email?”

Jaden and I decided we’d go to Fort Worth before lunch to pick up our laundry, and to ask Adam when the next game would be. We agreed I’d act hesitant, and Jaden would sway me. In an effort to lure Adam to my side, I’d try to get a moment alone with him. I wanted to play up the concerned, this has happened before with a bad outcome, wife role.

The only sound was the clacking of our fingers on the keyboards until Jaden asked, “What was the second thing?”

“What?”

“You said, first, when you told me to never,” he looked at the door, “do the thing again.”

Oh for fuck’s sake. Was he like this with his teammates? If he was, how the hell was he still alive?

“I don’t remember.”

“Right.” He lingered on the i.

“I’ll tell you when it pops back into my head, but right now, I’m busy. You should be, too.”

“Aye aye, Captain.” He saluted.

Refusing to let him upset me, I played along. “That’s lieutenant to you.”

“Aye aye, Lieutenant.” He exaggerated his salute.

“And stop fucking saluting.”

“Aye aye- ”

“Oh for the love of God, will you let me get back to work?”

He grinned and winked, but didn’t say another word. And damn if that wink didn’t stir up a few butterflies.

When I finished my research, I asked Jaden what he’d found.

His search on Bill turned up nothing, so we chalked his presence up to coincidence and crossed the boyfriend off the suspect list.

“Adam’s history is clean, too. Not squeaky, but nothing suspicious popped up.”

“He’s just a foot soldier,” Jaden said. “Or in this case, the gate keeper.”

“I’d feel a lot better prepared if I knew who was in the office with him earlier today.”

Jaden agreed.

A shadow filled the doorway a second before a knock sounded.

“We’re taking the girls to our place,” Jack said. “You’re welcome to join us and work from there.”

Jaden accepted. I declined.

“You sure? Meg’s making her famous bacon mac and cheese,” Jack tempted me.

That sounded a lot better than eating at my desk again. My hesitation gave Jaden an opening.

“Come on Maxwell, it won’t kill you to relax for a few minutes,” Jaden teased.

“Thank you, Jack. It sounds delicious. If you’re sure I won’t be intruding, I’d love to come. ”

“Christ, even your acceptance is stiff and formal.” Jaden said, rolling his eyes.

I ignored him. Having manners didn’t make me stiff or formal.

Jack ignored him too. “Of course you’re not intruding, we’re happy to have you. And you’re in for a real treat. Meg’s bacon mac and cheese is to die for.”

“Thanks. Can I bring anything?” I asked.

He nodded towards my desk. “Just you and your case files.” He turned to Jaden and pointed. “You can grab some beer.”

“I figured as much,” Jaden laughed. Watching them I saw a hint of the brotherly banter I often witnessed between Jamie and Jack.

The kind Jaden wanted but pretended he didn’t.

Jack was right, Meg’s bacon mac and cheese was to die for. The cheese, seven kinds according to her, was so rich and creamy I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. It was a good thing I didn’t eat like that at every meal or I’d have to go to the gym twice as much. I allowed myself one beer with dinner, more to keep Jaden off my back than anything else. Dinner was lively, with people crowded around the table, talking and laughing. I observed more than I interacted.

More than once, I felt Jaden’s eyes on me.

More than once, I looked up and made eye contact.

More than once, I ignored the questions I saw reflected in his gorgeous amber eyes .

After dinner, I offered to help Meg clean but she ushered me and the rest of the team away. Emily and Blake backed her up.

“You guys go save Wendy. We got this,” Emily said.

I loved how everyone in the group supported each other. I knew from experience the guys wouldn’t hesitate to clear the table or wash the dishes, so it wasn’t a big deal to let the girls do it today.

We took over the living room, using every surface we could find to work. Doug came over after dropping Beth and Chase off at John’s. He said they were happy to spend time with Mary and John, who’d be watching over them.

“Leave it to Dad to slack while we’re all slaving away,” Jack joked.

AJ pretended to fold a note and put it in his pocket, “I’ll just pack that away for the next time I fuck up.”

“Dude, you’d throw me under the bus like that?” Jack asked.

“To save my own ass, hell yeah,” AJ answered.

I laughed with everyone else. SSI reminded me of the Marines. Having no siblings, and being a military brat, the sense of brotherhood quickly became one of my favorite things about serving. Another thing Gavin took from me, my ability to trust my teammates on a personal level.

“Let’s focus,” Jaden said.

“Damn, I expect that from your big brother…” AJ trailed off.

“Fuck you, Andrew,” Jaden said with a shit-eating grin.

The room went quiet. AJ glared at Jaden. Jaden smirked at AJ.

Jack broke the tension. “Let’s not poke the bear, shall we? Ma’ll kill us if we let AJ kill you.”

Jaden displayed the trademark Sheppard grin, the left side lifting a smidge more than the right, while holding eye contact with AJ. “He could try.”

AJ laughed, diffusing the tension.

“Can we get back to work?” I asked. “Please.”

“Back, we haven’t started,” Jamie said with a hint of humor. “What do you need from us?”

We worked late into the night, until Jamie insisted it was time for everyone to get some rest.