The Puppeteer

CHAPTER 23



FOUR DAYS LATER Ty and Dani walked into her apartment off of Central Park. Dani paused in the hall, looked around at the familiar setting, sighed, and dropped her purse onto the hall table. Because the doctors had never seen an injury like hers, they had been extra cautious, holding her for more days than she'd wanted. But she was out. And now she was home in her spacious fourth-floor, two-bedroom, renovated apartment in the vintage building she'd fallen in love with ten years earlier.

“Good to be home?” Ty asked, moving past her with her small bag in hand. She smiled and nodded as he headed for the bedroom. He dropped her bag and re-emerged to find her looking out the windows in the living room. It was June, and a hot one in the city. Ty could see people carrying iced drinks in shorts and t-shirts, probably headed to the park one block over.

“Are you hungry?” he asked. Dani turned and smiled at him and then he saw her eyes take in the subtle evidence of his presence in her apartment.

“I never even asked, but I assume you've been staying here?”

“Your sister gave me a key when they stopped letting me stay overnight with you. I hope you don't mind?”

Dani glanced around, then met his gaze and gave him a chagrinned smile. “I should have thought of it. Of course, I don't mind.”

Ty walked up to her and looped his arms around her waist. “You had other things on your mind.”

“Still, you'd think I would have thought to ask you if you needed a place to stay.”

“You didn't need to, your sister took care of it. As long as you're happy I'm here, then we're good.”

“I am and we are, aren't we?” she asked, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Yes, we are. Now, do you want something to eat?”

“Shower first and then something to eat,” she mumbled. Ty frowned. She was doing much better, but there was no doubt that the taxi from the hospital to her apartment and the general excitement of the day had made her tired.

“Why don't you shower and rest while I make something.”

“Mmm, sounds good,” she said.

Ty stood and listened to her enter her room and then the attached bathroom. When the water started running, he moved into the kitchen to see what he could scavenge. He'd been staying there but had been spending almost all of his time at the hospital, trying to keep Dani from jumping out of her skin with so much inactivity.

He opened a few cupboards and found them stocked, which was a surprise, given the fact that Dani hadn't been home in more than a month. He opened the refrigerator and was even more surprised to find milk, yogurt, and few other perishables, all recently purchased. Sam. Ty smiled. He should have known. Sure enough, when he checked the freezer and the pantry, it was all stocked. The fridge even had some prepared food from the local grocer.

“Ty?” Dani called from the shower. Her voice was faint. He froze, not sure he'd heard her at all.

And then he heard her call his name again.

His heart stammering in worry, he ran to the bathroom. “I'm here, honey. Is everything okay? Are you okay?”

Dani stood in shower, soaking wet, smiling at him. “You were worried?” she said with faint surprise.

“Umm, yes,” he managed to say. Now that it was obvious nothing was wrong, he couldn't help but be distracted by the image presented to him. It had been over a month since he had last seen Dani naked and his body was reminding him of just that fact.

He cleared his throat and dragged his eyes back to Dani's face. “You are okay, right?”

Her expression softened even more and Ty saw a hint of vulnerability in her eyes. “I'm fine. I'm lonely.”

“You want company?”

She nodded. “Yes, please.”

Twenty seconds later, he was in the shower, holding her in his arms, stroking her back, and kissing her neck.

“I've missed you, Ty,” she said in his ear. In response, he kissed her deeply. She pressed against him, against his arousal, and let out a little groan of appreciation.

“Don't mind that,” he said, thinking she was too tired to do any more than what they were doing.

“But I miss that,” she said, reaching down between them.

“Dani,” he caught her hand and drew back to look her in the eye. “You're still recovering.”

She smiled and wrapped her hand around him. “The doctor said all heart attack victims should exercise with someone else, once released.”

“Dani,” he hissed, losing his will to say no.

“Please, Ty. Make love to me,” she whispered. He looked her in the eye and saw the need. The need to be held, to be loved, to be alive, and his resolve vanished. He kissed her, taking his time, remembering how they were on that first night together. Showing her how thankful he was that she was here, that they had this chance. Shutting off the water, he grabbed a towel, dried them off, and led her to the bed. Lying down beside her, he skimmed his hand along her body from her hair down to her knee and back again, absorbing the moment and the feel of her. He glanced at her face, her eyes closed, just focusing on the feel of his hand on her skin.

He palmed her breast, tracing gentle circles with his thumb around her nipple. She gave a little shiver and then relaxed even more. Turning her on her back and easing her legs apart in the process, he moved his hand down to her stomach. He heard her breath catch in anticipation. He still wasn't convinced she was up to making love, but he could at least give her some satisfaction.

To his surprise, she opened her eyes and met his gaze with an intensity he felt in every fiber of his body.

“You, Ty. I want you,” she said.

He thought about asking if she was sure. About pointing out that it might be too soon. But he didn't. He took one look at her expression and found that he needed her as much, if not more, than she needed him. He moved between her thighs and slid inside. Dani let out deep sigh of satisfaction and didn't move, feeling him as he lay, unmoving inside her, memorizing her.

“Ty,” she managed to say on deep breath. The sound of her, speaking his name as he lay buried inside her, released a surge of love the likes of which he'd never felt before.

“God, Dani,” he said against her neck as he began to move inside her. She whispered his name and they moved together, rediscovering the passion that first brought them together. Passion made stronger by time and love.

* * *



Ty paused in the entryway of Dani's apartment to listen to the debate occurring on the other side of the door.

“They're holing up,” Sam's voice drifted through the closed door.

“They're what?” Drew's somewhat confused and exasperated voice answered. Ty had kind of the same reaction.

“Holing up,” Sam repeated and Ty could all but hear her eyes rolling. “As in, not talking to anyone, spending time together, lots of it in bed is my guess.”

“So, what are you doing here?” Drew asked, sounding like an older brother.

“I,” Sam said with great self-assurance, “am just dropping this basket of food at the door. I'll text Dani and let her know it's here to grab whenever they have a chance. I suggest you leave too, and call before showing up next time. If you want to talk to either of them.”

“You're saying I shouldn't knock on the door and tell Dani what she's been asking me about for days because she and Ty might be having sex? Which, by the way, is not an image I need in my head. You guys are like sisters to me, and the thought of either of you having sex isn't something I need to talk about.”

“Drew, I'm married to your brother. We have three kids. Do you think they came about through immaculate conception?” Sam chided.

“I don't want to talk about it,” Drew grumbled back. On the other side of the door, Ty smiled to himself.

“Are they talking about us?” Dani asked as she sidled up to Ty in the entryway. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and nodded.

“Drew wants to talk work. Sam's telling him not to bother us because we're having sex,” Ty grinned.

“She's not,” Dani protested with a laugh. Ty chuckled in response. “Good lord, Drew is going to have his own heart attack just thinking about the possibility of us naked together.”

Taking pity on Drew, Dani moved to the door and opened it. Two sets of eyes turned. Sam stood with her arms crossed across her chest, basket in hand, and Drew stood with his hands jammed on his hips. Both looked at Dani with startled surprise.

“We're not having sex, so you might as well come in,” Dani opened the door wider and gestured them in. Both stood there staring.

“What?” Dani demanded.

Ty came up behind her and rubbed her shoulder. “They might believe you if you were wearing more than a sheet,” he laughed.

Dani glanced down in surprise, forgetting that she was, indeed, wearing nothing but a sheet.

“Good lord,” she rolled her eyes and marched back to her room.

“Since you're here,” Ty said, gesturing them in.

“I just came to drop off some more food,” Sam said, handing Ty a basket.

“Dani will want to say hi,” Ty protested.

“Then Dani can call. She deserves a few days without family bugging her. She deserves a few days to hole up and spend time with you.”

“You're very understanding,” Ty replied with a smile.

“I have three kids, believe me, I understand how important alone time is with your partner,” she added the emphasis and a pointed look at Drew, who ignored her. Before anyone could protest any more, she waltzed down the hall and disappeared into a waiting elevator.

“They're a lot alike aren't they?” Ty mused as he closed the door.

“You have no idea,” Drew responded with a shake of his head, no doubt thinking of all the years he'd known the two women.

“No idea what?” Dani asked as she entered the room wearing a pair of Ty's boxers and his shirt. It wasn't much better than a sheet but, of course, Ty thought she looked good either way.

“Nothing,” Drew answered. Dani shot him a suspicious look, then changed tactics and started pawing through the bag of food.

“Sammy left?” It wasn't a real question so no one answered. Satisfied with her perusal, Dani grabbed an apple and then plopped down on her sofa and looked at Drew. “So, what's up?”

Ty watched indecision flit across Drew's face and hid a grin. He'd probably never seen Dani looking so relaxed, so happy. It threw him off. Drew cast a look at Ty who shrugged, grabbed his own apple and perched on the sofa behind Dani.

“Maybe I should come back later,” Drew spoke.

“You're here. You know I'm not going to let you leave before you tell me what you came to tell me,” Dani replied.

Drew eyed her for a long minute, looking like he was debating whether to take her at her word or not. Deciding on the former, he sat down and told them everything he'd learned from Sonny Carlyle.

“A few months after his dad was killed, Frey approached him. At first he wasn't sure what Frey wanted, but because he seemed to know so much about Sonny's dad, Sonny listened to him, even sought him out after a while. Sonny learned from Frey that his dad sometimes did work for the CIA. Nothing huge but enough that he earned some good friends and allies. But then, Frey told him, one of the allies switched allegiances and, when Sonny's dad confronted him, he killed him. Sonny said Frey told him that we, the CIA, knew who killed his father, but chose not to do anything about it because we needed the rogue agent more than we needed his father.”

“We needed a rogue agent?” Dani repeated.

“Frey convinced Sonny that this agent had enough valuable information, even though he was playing all sides of the coin, that we planned to overlook his father's murder.”

“And this agent is?” Ty prompted with a drawl.

“Fictional,” Drew replied. “Carlyle only had contact with three agents. All three have been checked out, just in case. All three are clear.”

“So Sonny thought the government his dad tried to help was protecting the man who killed him?” Dani surmised.

“Pretty much about sums it up,” Drew shrugged.

“So, what was Frey's solution?”

“Sonny wasn't very clear on this. He said that Frey suggested talking to Bradley Taylor, the guy who runs Eagle's Wing and maybe Taylor could help him 'work through it.' Taylor's not talking, but when we raided the Eagle's Wing compound, we found detailed maps of the IRS headquarters, along with security information and potential weak points.”

“Put it together with what we know they were collecting from Getz and we can assume they were going to target the tax man. Somehow that seems appropriate for an anti-government militia. But why Sonny? Why wouldn't Frey facilitate the transaction through both Getz and Taylor?” Ty asked.

Drew took a deep breath and let it out. “This is Adam's theory and, though he's the newbie, I think it has some merit.” Drew paused and looked at both of them. Ty had slid down onto the sofa and was sitting next to Dani. “We know Frey and Robertson know each other. We know Frey helped Robertson get elected and we know Frey has worked with a lot of companies Robertson and his cronies own or control. We also know Robertson's polls are low, some of the lowest in history, and there is an election coming up in a few months—”

“Drew,” Dani sat back and warned as if she could stop Drew from saying what he was going to say next. Drew cast her a sympathetic look, like he'd give anything not to have to say it as well.

“We also know Sonny holds a Saudi Arabian passport. He's not a dual citizen, since it's not allowed. He was born in the United States but applied for a Saudi Arabian passport based on his mother's nationality. He isn't a dual citizen, but he has possession of both.”

“Shit,” Ty breathed. Drew looked like he concurred.

“You think Frey was orchestrating an attack on the IRS headquarters as a favor to bolster Robertson's polls and he needed Sonny, or someone like him, because he wanted to be able to lay the blame at the feet of foreign terrorists. Even though Sonny isn't foreign,” Dani added.

“It's what Adam has suggested,” Drew replied.

“And you agree?” Ty asked.

“And what would happen when Eagle's Wing claimed the attack? How would they get around that?” Dani interjected.

“I'm not sure whether or not the attack would take place, but the effect is still the same. If it had been successful, Robertson reinvigorates the war on terrorism, calls on the country to come together, and, low and behold, we have a second-term president. But, even if the attack was foiled, it would still bode well for Robertson. He'd be able to sell his success to the press, point out that we're still at risk and that we need leaders like him to keep us safe, and, bang, we have the same result, he gets re-elected,” Drew replied with a mix of cynicism and anger. “As for Eagle's Wing, I hate to say it, but who do you think the people will believe capable of such an act? A militia no one has ever heard of before, or a young man with ties to the Middle East?”

“And, of course, the fact that Sonny has a foreign passport provides the added fodder and saves the president from the embarrassment of having to admit that some terrorists are home grown,” Dani finished in disgust. “But why Sonny? It seems like any number of people could have performed the same function.”

“We're working on that,” Drew responded. “There might be a reason, or it might be chance. Either way, we'll find out.”

“So, where does that leave us?” Ty asked, after a long silence in which they all digested the information.

“We've got some feelers out to try and figure out how involved Robertson is. We still want to go after Frey, we still will go after Frey, especially now, knowing he's involved in arms dealing as well as a planned attack against a US target. The question is whether or not we'll have Robertson's support or if we'll have to wheel and deal.”

“You think we'll get his support?” Dani asked, curious.

Drew shrugged. “I don't know. I don't know how involved Robertson is in this. We know Frey is a master manipulator. If he's been manipulating Robertson all these years, Robertson might be glad to have a chance to get rid of him. On the other hand, if Robertson and Frey are in it together, we'll have to use another route.”

“Such as?” Ty prompted.

“Extortion,” Dani supplied. Drew looked at her and cracked a smile.

“Such an ugly word don't you think?” he responded. “And it wouldn't be extortion, it would be blackmail.”

“You let us go after Frey and we won't tell the public you're an accomplice to murder and attempted terrorism,” Ty interjected, disbelief palpable in his voice. “If he's involved, I'd say that's a pretty small price to pay.”

“True,” Drew conceded. “I think we'd make sure he never ran for public office again. And once he was out of office, we probably wouldn't let things lie, but we wouldn't go public.”

“What? You'd sick the IRS on him or something?” Ty said.

Drew chuckled, “You'd be surprised how effective the IRS is at destroying a man's life.”

“What's the timeline?” Dani asked.

Again, Drew shrugged. “Hard to say, a couple of weeks maybe? Hopefully sooner rather than later, given that the election is coming up in less than five months.”

“You'll let us know?” Dani asked.

Drew nodded and stood. Dani and Ty followed suit. “Dani,” Ty said, looking at Dani. “Can you go heat up some of that pasta Sam brought?”

Dani shot him a look and let her gaze travel to Drew. She shook her head and laughed. “Yes,” she said, going up on her toes as he ducked his head down to kiss her. “But if you wanted a chance to talk to Drew without me in the room, all you had to do was ask.”

“And you would have listened?” He asked in earned disbelief.

“Probably not,” she said over her shoulder. “You just got lucky this time that I happen to be hungry, too.”

The men watched her leave and then Ty gestured Drew toward the door. When they were out in the hallway, he spoke. “I want to know everything, whenever you have it,” he said.

“Revenge is a nasty beast, Ty,” Drew said.

Ty stared back.

Drew nodded. “Right, of course,” he said with a sigh.

“I'm serious, Drew,” Ty cut in. “This man killed Dani's parents and god knows how many others and, more importantly to me, at least, he almost killed her. He knows who she is now, he knows where she works. He's a man who knows a lot of nasty people and I'm not willing to take the chance that he might know someone who would take care of her for him. And we both know she won't be able to go.”

There was a long silence during which Drew studied Ty.

“How deep do you want to go?” Drew asked, finally.

Ty knew Drew was remembering the conversation they'd had earlier that summer—remembering Ty's own internal conflicts and why he left the SEALs. If Ty joined forces with Drew on this mission, he'd be going straight back into the lion's den.

“As deep as it takes to get him out of her life permanently,” came his fast reply.

“It's been a while since you've been active,” Drew pointed out. And they both knew what he meant. Active in the military, active on foreign missions. Active with the kind of skills and training he'd had when he was a SEAL.

“I'll take care of it,” was all he said, already planning a training regimen.

Drew studied him for another long span of silence before giving him a curt nod and turning away.

“Make sure you do, because Dani will kill me if anything happens to you,” he added over his shoulder as he disappeared into the stairwell.

Ty stood for a moment in the silence of the hall, contemplating what he'd just promised. He hated the idea of leaving Dani to go after Frey, though he knew he would have to. He would hate being away from her and he would hate knowing she would, at some level, begrudge him his involvement. She would want to go herself, but there was no way he or Drew would let her. She would be pissed, but she would understand it wouldn't be safe to take her, wherever they ended up going. He wasn't worried that Frey would get her—though there was that. But it wasn't likely, given the extent of her injury, that she would ever be the field operative she was a month ago. He knew it, Drew knew it, but Ty didn't think Dani had even thought about this yet. When Drew refused to let her go after Frey—and Ty knew he would—it would be like slapping her in the face with this fact. Not only would she have to deal with her involvement with Frey and her belief, as misplaced as it was, that she let him get away, she'd have to start coping with the fact that her career as she knew it, was over.

Ty sighed and turned back toward the apartment. The time would come soon enough when Dani would have to confront her uncertain career future. In the meantime, he would spend his time working on their future.