Page 28 of Forgiving His Past (Eagle’s Nest Securities #5)

Two days later…

Van woke to the sound of his phone ringing by his bed. Blinking the sleep from his eyes, he drew in a deep breath and grabbed it from the small nightstand to his right.

He hurried to press the small button on the side of the device in hopes of stopping the incessant ringing before it was too late. With a quick glance over his shoulder, he was relieved to find the woman lying next to him still soundly asleep.

His lips curved as he soaked in her shadowed image in. She was lying on her stomach. Arms slightly bent. Hair splayed out to the point it almost covered her face.

Even now…even like this…the woman literally took his breath away. He could easily stare at her for hours and never get bored.

The phone in his hand vibrated again, reminding him of why he was awake. Tearing his appreciative gaze away from Kam, he found Logan’s name filling the small, illuminated screen .

His smile instantly vanished. It wasn’t even five in the morning, and Logan was already calling.

Well, this sure as hell can’t be good.

Tapping the screen, Van answered the call before bringing the phone up to his hear. With a low whisper, he greeted his teammate with a hushed, “Hang on a second.”

He moved ever-so-carefully, sliding his naked form out from under the covers. Bending down, he picked up the pair of boxer briefs he’d tossed onto the floor the night before during his and Kam’s most recent round of mind-blowing sex.

For the past two nights—and a couple times during previous two days—they’d made love on nearly every surface of his boat.

The deck. The couch. His bed. The kitchen table.

After that second night—following Kam’s first experience with a whale—it had been almost like they were just a normal couple spending time together out on a boat. But the fact that he was taking a phone call from Logan at five in the morning served as a stark reminder that they were anything but.

Van silently made his way out of the bedroom to the other part of the cabin. His footfalls were silent as he padded his way up the small set of steps and out onto the stern side of the deck.

“Okay, I’m back.” He spoke a bit louder while still keeping his voice at a lower-than-normal level. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, really.” Logan sounded almost as tired as Van felt. “Just got a call from Webb, and I wanted to give you a heads up.”

“He’s headed this way, isn’t he?” Van guessed.

“His plane is slated to land in Seattle this afternoon. So you’d better head back this way.”

Van’s chest grew tight, and his stomach immediately became filled with a sense of dread. “I thought you were going to hold him off.”

“I did,” Logan countered. “At least I thought I’d bought us a little more time. Said you were working an angle to get Kam to talk.”

“So why is he flying here now?”

When he spoke to Logan on the phone the other day, Van had shared his belief that Kam was innocent of the accusations from Webb’s so-called informant. He thought he’d been pretty damn convincing and that he and his former team leader were on the same page.

But now…

“I told him we now believe Kam’s being set up to take the fall,” the other man shared. There was a pause and then, “Apparently, he doesn’t agree.”

“Well, that’s too damn bad,” Van hissed quietly through his teeth. “I’m not going to just hand her over to the prick because he says so.”

“Sorry to tell you this, brother, but you don’t really have much of a choice.”

“The hell I don’t.”

Webb was no longer his boss, and he damn sure didn’t answer to the man anymore.

Logan’s deep inhale came through the phone’s speaker before he calmly reminded Van, “The guy’s in charge of the freaking Navy. And like it or not, Kam’s been accused of some pretty serious shit.”

“None of which she actually did.”

“So you say.”

“Damn right, so I say!” Anger was quickly settling in.

“Listen, Van. I get it, okay? You’re convinced Kam didn’t do what we’ve been led to believe. So just come back to the city, and we’ll talk to Webb face-to-face. She can lay out her case to him in-person. Between the two of you, I’m sure we can convince him to?— ”

“Shh…” Van cut his friend and teammate short. With a frown, he looked out onto the water which had yet to see the first rays from the morning sun. “Hold up a sec.”

Logan remained silent for a full thirty seconds before finally asking, “Is something wrong?”

He could have sworn he heard the low murmur of another boat’s motor from somewhere in the distance. Van looked out, scanning the parts of the water he could see.

No obvious movements or lights caught his eye, so he began moving to the other side of the boat.

“I guess it was nothing,” he finally answered, making his way to the bow. “Thought I heard another boat, but I don’t see anyone there.”

“Probably just some fishermen getting an early start to their day. Anyway…” Logan continued the discussion on what to do about Kam. “Webb and his men are scheduled to land around noon. I told him we’d meet him at the office.”

“And then what?” Van kept a close eye on the horizon he could barely see. “You know how he is. The guy never listens to a fucking thing I say.”

“So we’ll make him listen. I know you don’t like him, but Webb’s a fair guy. He wants to get to the truth as much as we do. He’ll do what’s right if we just give him the chance to?—”

“Bullshit.” He interrupted his teammate again. “The guy only cares about himself and his career.”

“That’s not true, and you know it,” Logan argued.

“Shit, Van. That guy has spent the last three years helping us look into a case that, as far as the Navy is concerned, was closed the second we handed them back our damn Tridents. Do you know what kind of trouble he’d be in if anyone found out he was running an unsanctioned investigation into a classified op without any sort of authorization?

Hell, even the president has been kept in the dark on this one. And you know how tight those two are. ”

What Van knew was what he felt in his damn gut. And…what he was beginning to feel inside his heart.

Because she was in there, burying herself deeper and deeper into his soul with each day that passed. Somehow, some way, in just a few days’ time, the astonishing woman had gone from being someone he literally wanted to kill to someone he’d do anything to protect.

“You know what goes on in these types of interrogations, Logan.” Van’s throat worked hard as his back teeth clenched tightly together. “You know what will happen to her.”

“It won’t.” His friend sounded far more confident than Van felt. “I’ve been talking to Webb, remember? I may not have been able to convince him to keep his ass in D.C., but I do think he might be starting to come around where Kam’s concerned.”

A low grunt was the only response he could muster. Silence stretched between the two men until Logan broke it by speaking up again.

“I have to ask, brother…” His teammate paused. “There something going on between you two? ’Cause you sound less like a guy keeping a suspect in check and more like a man trying to protect a woman he cares about.”

Van hesitated, not because he was planning to lie. He was just trying to come up with a way to explain what had transpired between him and Kam in the last few days.

He finally settled on, “She’s different, Logan.”

So damn different.

“Okaaay…” His friend let the word drag on. “Different than…what, exactly?”

Every other woman I’ve ever known.

He opened his mouth, ready to utter those very words when the sound of a boat’s motor roaring to life caught his attention from the opposite side from where he stood.

“Someone’s here.” Van started back in that direction. “I can hear a…” His voice trailed when he spotted a light in the di stance. A dark colored speedboat headed his way. “Don’t hang up. I think I’m about to have company.”

The words no more fell from his mouth when the first of several shots rang through the otherwise silent air.

Son of a…

“It’s a hit!” Van yelled into the phone as he dove for cover.

Splinters of wood flew all around him as bullets struck the wall beside him.

“I saw two men.” He relayed all he knew to Logan.

“Dark speedboat. Automatic rifles. Shit!” A bullet whizzed just past his head. “I have to get to Kam.” And my gun.

“Braddock, wait?—”

Van didn’t wait. He ended the call, kept his phone securely in his fist, and wearing nothing but his boxer briefs, he took off for the woman he lo…

No. He didn’t love Kam. Not yet. Not this damn soon.

But he sure as hell cared deeply for her, and right now, his one and only thought was to get to her side and make sure she was okay.

Keeping his body crouched low, he dodged bullet after bullet as he made his way back to the cabin’s entrance. The two assholes trying to kill him drove circles around his boat.

Over and over again, they continued shooting as Van finally made it to the cabin door. With his head down, he reached for the door. He shoved it open and ran inside.

Slamming it shut behind him, he tossed his phone onto the couch to his right while keeping his body crouched low. Swiftly—and carefully—he covered the distance between the living room area to his bedroom. His heart pounded frantically against his ribs when he walked in to find the room empty.

Van spun in a circle, scanning the small room as the gunfire continued. After a slight pause, another barrage of bullets began striking the starboard side of the boat.

Glass shattered from the small windows, and he instantly dropped down to the floor. He looked up, and when he saw the bathroom door had been pulled shut, he knew that’s where Kam had gone to hide.

Without hesitation, Van used an Army crawl maneuver to safely carry himself toward his nightstand…and his gun. Once the weapon was in his hand, he did an immediate one-eighty.