Operation Reunion Read online

  “Won’t be the first,” Dane said. He saw Kayla wince, and he sighed. “Sorry. I meant what I said. This gets every chance to work.”

  So if I have to walk away, I can walk away clean, knowing I gave it as much as I could.

  He hated that those were the words that formed in his mind, but he couldn’t deny them. It was the truth. For all the sweetness rediscovered last night, it hadn’t really changed anything. If Kayla couldn’t or wouldn’t give this up, or at least relegate it to second place in her life, then he would have to walk away again. No matter that it would nearly kill him to do it.

  He was tired of being that second place holder himself.

  It simmered in him as they headed back to her place to pack a small bag in case what needed to be done couldn’t be done in a single day. He’d brought his own things back inside; they’d never made it out of his car anyway.

  By the time they got there he was at a near boil. He wanted her to be crystal clear on what she was risking, what she was on the verge of throwing away. Last night’s slow, sweet reunion had been one thing, but he was in no mood for slow and sweet now. He was fighting for his life, for their life together, and the kid gloves were off.

  He grabbed her the moment they stepped inside. He kissed her fiercely, demanding her full attention. After a moment of startled surprise she gave in, kissing him back as if she understood.

  But then this was Kayla, and she always understood.

  As if that kiss had been the spark to tinder, the fire they’d always shared leaped to life. But he wasn’t satisfied with that; he threw fuel on the flames, tearing at her clothes, needing, demanding, until she was with him, yanking at his shirt, his jeans.

  They went down to the floor right there, no niceties this time. In seconds he was inside her. He felt her nails dig into his back at the sudden invasion, but it wasn’t enough. He wanted her clawing at him, wanted her as mad, as desperate as he was, wanted to stamp himself on her so completely she would never, ever be able to forget this moment. He wanted her tied to him forever, and he used his body to tell her in the only way he could express it right now.

  He clenched his jaw and held back, even as she began to go wild beneath him. She locked herself around him, as if she knew exactly what he wanted and that made it what she wanted, too. He rolled to his back, taking her with him, giving control over to her now, wanting her to show him she was as hot as he was. He needed to see it, to feel it, and somehow all the fear and frustration that had been growing in him for so long seemed wrapped up in that need.

  As if she knew, she rode him with an eager ferocity that nearly drove him out of his mind, and in the last seconds, when he knew he couldn’t wait any longer, he rolled them back and drove deep, heard her cry out, felt the first clenching of her body around him, then let himself go as her name ripped from his throat.

  * * *

  Inside the small airplane, Kayla sensed Dane’s tension, knew the effort he was making to keep his promise to her. It made her feel better and worse at the same time; better because he was keeping to his word, and worse because it was clearly an effort. She realized with a sinking feeling that he thought this was going to be as fruitless as every other trip she’d made and that he was only coming with her because he’d promised her this one last chance.

  She looked around the interior of the plane again, hoping for distraction. She and Dane had once taken a flight to Victoria, B.C., on a seaplane that had been even smaller than this, and she’d loved it. Much better than the helicopter that Dane had seemed so enamored of.

  The young man who had been working on that helicopter was at the controls of the plane now, with Quinn in the copilot’s seat. Somewhat to her surprise, Hayley had come with them.

  “I’m the unofficial flight attendant,” she said with a grin, handing out sodas.

  There was no separate cockpit, so she was able to turn and hand a can to Quinn and offer one to Teague, who declined. Hayley’s seat and the empty one next to her backed up to the pilot’s, whereas Kayla’s and Dane’s faced forward. The cabin was finished nicely, with leather seating and large, rectangular windows, and there was plenty of room for Dane’s long legs to stretch out.

  “Nice,” Dane said.

  “Quinn’s other toy,” Hayley said with a smile. “He wanted a small jet, but Charlie slapped the purse strings shut on that.”

  Dane had been looking back at the cabin, but now he leaned forward to study what he could see of the instrument panels. It looked horrifyingly complicated to Kayla, although not much different than the big-screen gaming system his friend and partner Serge had. Dane had such an affinity for things electronic she wouldn’t be surprised if he could figure most of them out simply by watching them long enough.

  “It’s pressurized?” Dane asked after a minute or two studying one section of the controls.

  Hayley nodded. “Quinn was able to justify to Charlie the need for a pressurized cabin with all the mountains around us.”

  “I thought only jets were pressurized.”

  “This is the single exception in small planes. And that,” Hayley said with a laugh, “is the sum total of my knowledge, I’m afraid.” She gestured toward the front. “You want more, you’ll have to ask them.”

  Dane smiled. “I will.”

  “Maybe on the way back you can sit up front.”

  “That,” Dane said, his eyes alight, “would be exceptionally cool.”

  His excitement made Kayla smile. For a moment she wondered if he’d come along as much for the plane ride as for the search for Chad. And why not? she asked herself. She was glad he was enjoying the flight—it made her feel less guilty.

  “Who takes care of Cutter when you have to leave?” Kayla asked.

  “Usually our neighbor, who adores him. Or he stays with Rafe, another of our team, when he insists.”

  “The guy or the dog?” Dane joked.

  “The dog,” Hayley answered, sounding dead serious. “I think he knows Rafe’s in a rough patch right now because he’s been spending more time with him. Plus, the man has never had a dog, so Cutter’s determined to introduce him to the joys.”

  Both Dane and Kayla blinked.

  “I know, I know,” Hayley said with a laugh. “But believe me, hang around Cutter long enough, and you’ll start thinking that way, too.”

  The plane bounced slightly, as Quinn had warned them it might as they went over the mountains. Kayla shifted in her seat to look out the window. The movement, and a physical awareness that stopped just short of soreness, reminded her in a very personal way of what had happened between her and Dane the moment they’d set foot in her house last night. It wasn’t that they hadn’t had wild, hungry sex before, but nothing quite like that. From the beginning Dane’s intent had been clear, he’d wanted to drive her crazy and he’d succeeded.

  Admirably.

  She felt her cheeks heat at the memory and was glad her face was turned away at the moment. Only the sure knowledge that, in the end, he’d been as wild as he’d made her let her regain some composure.

  When they reached the small airport, the plane set down with a gentle thump that Kayla barely felt. She glanced toward Teague.

  “He’s good,” Hayley said. “And almost as good with the helicopter. Quinn’s been teaching him.”

  “I always wanted to learn to fly,” Dane said, startling Kayla.

  “You never told me that,” she said.

  He glanced at her. “I have. You just weren’t hearing much at the time.”

  His tone was gentle, not accusing, but she felt stung nevertheless. Not by him, but inwardly; if he had indeed told her that, and she had completely missed it, what else had she missed? What else had been lost in the fog of grief and confusion?

  She’d always thought she remembered everything about him, that she knew him better than anyone, that if someone asked her what his hopes, his dreams, his innermost thoughts were, she could tell them.

  Now that confidence was shaken, and she
didn’t know how to feel about that.

  It was still nagging at her as the five of them piled into the rental car Hayley had arranged the day before. Teague, as the shortest of the three men at a mere five-eleven, was relegated to the back seat while Quinn drove and Dane took the passenger seat. Hayley teased him gently about it, but Teague’s crooked grin never faltered.

  “Hey, I’m back here with two beautiful ladies—seems like I’m the lucky one,” he said.

  “Just remember who signs your paycheck,” Quinn said in clearly mock warning.

  “Yep,” the irrepressible Teague retorted, “Charlie.”

  Hayley laughed, and the easy camaraderie lightened even Kayla’s mood.

  The town was close by, and it only took a few minutes to reach their destination. Kayla felt her pulse begin to pick up the moment she saw the sign for the game store. It looked like just the sort of place Chad would hang out. And when they stepped into the interior, with rows of the latest in games and equipment, and even a section for fan gear, it felt even more so.

  The man behind the counter glanced at them, then put down the game controller he’d been inspecting. Light gleamed on a smooth, bald scalp fringed by silver hair. So much for the stereotype of gamers all being geeky fan boys, Kayla thought.

  “Help you?”

  “I’m Quinn Foxworth,” Quinn said, holding out a hand. Somewhat to Kayla’s surprise, the man reached out and grasped it without hesitation, and the handshake was welcoming and hearty.

  “I’m Colin Brown. You’re the folks who helped Henry Shigeta,” the man said. “He told me you’d be coming.”

  “Yes.”

  “What you did, that did my heart good,” the man said. “They’d been fighting that bastard Inskip for a long time. Always thought he was crooked as the day is long.”

  “And you were right,” Quinn said.

  “Damn straight. Taking bribes, letting his ‘friends’ build whatever they wanted wherever, but keeping good people like Henry and his wife from building the home they’d planned their whole lives on their own property. Not sure three years in jail is enough, though.”

  “I was more concerned that he never have power over people again,” Quinn said. “And I think we took care of that.”

  The man smiled widely. “That you did. Now,” he said briskly, “you’re here about that picture Henry showed me?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ve been studying it, and the more I looked the more familiar he looked. So I went around and talked to Dustin.” He glanced at their little group. “He’s a kid who’s always hanging out here. He knows all the regulars, so when a stranger comes in, he notices. So I showed him the picture.”

  “Did he know him?” Hayley asked.

  Colin nodded. “He recognized him right off. ‘That’s that Chad guy,’ he said.”

  Kayla’s heart took a little jump in her chest and her knees went a little wobbly. In the same instant she felt Dane’s arm around her, supporting her.

  That’s that Chad guy.

  If Dane hadn’t been holding her, she might well have sunk to her knees on the floor.

  Chad.

  At last.

  Chapter 12

  “It was still three months ago,” Hayley said.

  Dane watched as Kayla nodded. She hadn’t said much since they’d left the game store. They were sitting now in a booth in the town’s only restaurant, a small place built to resemble a railroad dining car. It looked old, but Dane noticed a small alcove at one end that appeared to be an internet set-up with a single computer, and he’d seen a sign in the window indicating free Wi-Fi. They were the only people here now, and he wondered if the place got busier later on or in the evenings.

  Quinn and Teague had left them here while they went on what Teague called a recon. They would get the lay of the land, Quinn had said, then they’d all decide what to do.

  “But it fits,” Hayley was saying now. “The time frame is about right, given when he mailed the note from Redding, which is only thirty miles from here.”

  Dane realized then that Hayley was probably here to babysit them while Quinn went and did...whatever it was he did in cases like this. If Kayla had taken Quinn’s advice and stayed home, it probably would have been just Quinn and Teague making this trip, or maybe even just Quinn himself. In this small town where everybody seemed to know everyone and everyone’s business, Dane was guessing Quinn would have little trouble getting people to cooperate. After what they’d done for the Shigetas, he wasn’t surprised that the Foxworth reputation obviously preceded the man with the name.

  Dane had been a little surprised that Foxworth had become involved in such a small, relatively insignificant local case as the Shigeta’s fight with the county government. That they had only improved his opinion of them.

  They were, he thought, genuine champions of lost causes, just as they said. He liked that.

  He just wasn’t sure he liked what had just happened. If Mr. Brown and the kid he’d spoken to were right, and Dane had no reason to think they weren’t, the lead was still three months old. Yet Kayla was as wound up and excited as if they’d walked into the game shop five minutes after Chad had walked out.

  “It’s just the closest I’ve been,” Kayla said, fiddling with the salt shaker on the table, spinning it with restless fingers. He’d never seen her completely still for long while awake—it just wasn’t her nature.

  “I understand,” Hayley said. “I just don’t want you to get your hopes up too high, when we don’t know if this will really lead to anything. It could—”

  She broke off, and Dane knew before she looked that Quinn must be approaching; he could see it in the look in Hayley’s eyes. Did he look like that when he saw Kayla after even a short time apart? He was willing to bet he did.

  And then Quinn was there, sliding onto the booth bench beside Hayley, kissing her cheek before he turned to face them.

  “He was hitchhiking,” Quinn said without preamble.

  Dane heard Kayla’s breath catch.

  “How’d you find that out?” Dane asked.

  “Guy at the hardware store said I should catch up with the postal carrier. Said she’d been on this route for fifteen years and knew damn near everything about everyone. And that if there’d been a stranger around, chances are she’d know more about him than anyone.”

  “I gather you found her?” Dane asked.

  “Yeah.” Quinn’s gaze shifted to Kayla. “She recognized Chad.”

  Dane felt her tense beside him. But she said only “And?”

  “He was out on the highway. She said it was raining, and he looked pretty wet and miserable, but she’s prohibited from picking up hitchhikers.”

  “But he was all right?”

  Kayla’s voice was so full of worry that Dane felt a jab of guilt. She loved her brother and he was the only immediate family she had left, and if he really was innocent as she believed, then he was a victim second only to their parents. He shouldn’t have made it so hard on her.

  “She thought so. He wasn’t hurt or anything.”

  Kayla let out a relieved sigh as the waitress, a young, bored-looking woman who refilled their coffee, added a mug for Quinn, then vanished anew into the back, probably thinking they weren’t worth her time because they weren’t ordering lunch.

  After she left, Quinn continued.

  “She said he was only a few blocks from the senior center, so she sent him there. Said she knew they’d take him in, dry him off and feed him.”

  “We should go there,” Kayla said, making as if to rise immediately.

  “Teague’s already there. He was on that side of town, so I called him and gave him the info. He should be here soon with whatever he finds.”

  “Oh.” She sank back down. “Thank you.”

  “We’ll find what’s here to be found,” Quinn assured her, then, in an almost warning tone, added, “But as I said from the beginning, I can’t promise you’ll like it.”

  “I have to
know,” Kayla said. “But I hate just sitting here. I feel like I should be doing something. Anything.”

  “You have been,” Dane said quietly. “For ten years you have been.”

  She turned to look at him. “But I’ve never been this close,” she said, eagerness building in her voice. “Surely you see that now. This is real, this is a chance finally to really find my brother and bring him home!”

  Several things hit Dane at once. First was the fact that, until now, he’d never really thought she’d find him, so he’d never considered what would happen if she did. Bring him home? He could only imagine what that would be like. And he didn’t like the feel of it at all.

  Kayla’s expression changed as she watched him. “Aren’t you even a little happy about it?”

  No. No, I’m not.

  He didn’t speak it because he was afraid if he did he’d sound like a spoiled child who’d just been told another baby was on the way. It didn’t matter; she read him anyway.

  “Fine,” she snapped. “Why did you even come if that’s how you feel?”

  That the usually private Kayla was dragging this out in front of Quinn and Hayley told Dane volumes. He looked at her, at the set of her mouth, the rekindled resolve in her expression.

  She was as determined as ever. And he felt a slow, creeping chill overtake him as he finally admitted to himself she would keep this up to the ends of the Earth if she had to.

  She was lost to him.

  Even as he thought it she turned away. “What do we do next?” she asked eagerly.

  “We wait and see what Teague found out,” Quinn said with a nod toward the window. Dane looked and saw the pilot headed for them at a brisk pace. He looked like a man who had something to say.

  He could feel the renewed energy fairly radiating from Kayla as Teague joined them.

  “What did you find?” she asked before he’d even sat down.

  Teague glanced at Quinn. Something seemed to be communicated between the two men in the moment before Quinn nodded.

  “She wants to know it all,” he said.