He hadn’t been a SEAL but he’d been Special Forces. And he’d been a man with secrets to keep. The trouble with need-to-know information was if you knew, you didn’t want to. Secrets lived with you forever and eventually you were desperate for a way to purge them. One of these guys wished he was out but he had family to protect. There had to be at least one or two more who wanted out.
“Maybe so.” Forte spoke slowly. He had a tendency to think as he spoke and random brilliance occasionally fell out of his mouth. Most of the time, though, it was bullshit. Still, the rare jewels of wisdom were worth it. “I’m thinking anyone with enough influence to have SEALs afraid on domestic soil, not just on a mission, has a far enough reach to cause her harm the minute she leaves this property.”
So this time was one of those one in a million moments where Forte’s point was so true, it should’ve been obvious to David from the beginning.
Cruz cursed again.
“It’s too dangerous here. They’ve got eyes on her already.” Cruz couldn’t see a way to get Lyn out of this mess. “She’s got clients on the West Coast, a business to run after all this is over.”
“And she planned to be here until this project was complete, right?” Rojas asked.
“Yeah. It was open-ended, though. No idea when Atlas is going to be declared recovered.” Beckhorn had Cruz’s back on that. It was the way any of them worked. They took as long as the dog needed to be ready for the work it had to do. And every dog was different.
“I’m guessing she didn’t have clients scheduled any time soon because of that.” Rojas could be so damned reasonable. “She’s not going to have an immediate job to pick up where this one lets off.”
Great. More guilt to add to the weight in Cruz’s chest.
He shook his head. “You’ve both got good thoughts. No disrespect here, but I’ve got a gut feeling. She needs to get out of here. I’ve got no logic to go up against the reasoning you’ve put out there. It’s just a feeling.”
And even as he admitted it, he hated it. Because it wasn’t a logical decision. He didn’t have good reasons even if he’d convinced himself he did. And Lyn was a smart woman. She’d have refuted his reasons every bit as effectively as Forte and Rojas had just done if Cruz had given her a chance. Only he hadn’t. And he’d probably damaged whatever it was between them in the process.
She was very mad at him. And when she had time to cool off and really think it through, she was going to be over here to tell him exactly what his two best friends already had.
He raised his gaze and looked each of them directly in the eyes. “Something isn’t right. She needs to get someplace safe.”
They got it. He could see it in their expressions. Sometimes it wasn’t about logic. They’d all learned to follow their instincts when everything else in the world told them to do different. Following those gut feelings had seen them through hell and back, through multiple deployments each. Sometimes the world didn’t make sense.
“You could lose her if you push her out of here.” Rojas’s warning was almost inaudible. He would know. He’d lost a wife by pushing her away. “If she decides to move on before you catch back up with her, are you ready to deal with that?”
No.
Cruz swallowed. “I’m going to have to.”
This was the right thing to do. And if nothing else, each one of them did his damned best to do the right thing.
*
When Lyn came through the door, both Forte and Rojas made a break for it.
“Good luck, man.” Forte gave him a parting slap on the back.
Great thing about brotherhood: they were willing to leave a man to the inevitable without any witnesses to see him ripped to shreds. Cruz appreciated it.
Lyn strode into the kitchen and came to a stop outside of arm’s reach. The distance she left between them hit him like a brick wall. She’d changed into a fresh pair of jeans and a soft knit top. Its fabric clung to her curves and he wanted nothing more than to run his hands over her. Her hair was gathered up in a knot, looking suspiciously wet. She must’ve taken a shower. He should’ve stayed and joined her.
But no. He’d gone and pushed her away, so he needed to clear his head of things he shouldn’t be caught up in thinking and focus on what she had to say. Thing was, she muddied up his brain process without even trying.
She lifted her chin. “I’ve been thinking about what you said. Not one of your reasons holds up against good, solid reasoning.”
Here we go.
He was hoping she’d listen to him once he let her blow off her steam. Maybe she’d understand if he explained. He was willing to give it a try. She was the most instinctual trainer he’d ever met and if anyone could understand what was driving him to risk this thing they had, it’d be her. He hoped.
“I’m listening.” He turned toward her in his seat, giving her his full attention because she deserved it.
Maybe she wasn’t used to it, because she hesitated. It took her a full minute to recover, visibly gather her thoughts and open her mouth to speak.
“Sorry to interrupt.” Forte was back. “Beckhorn has been trying to get ahold of you and you haven’t been answering your phone. We’ve got company waiting at the main gate and neither of you is going to be happy with what they’re here for.”