It was one of the hardest things Kia had ever had to do, to walk away without consulting with Wes, but to get him involved would compromise him and she couldn’t…wouldn’t do that. She smiled as he turned off the light and snuggled up to her, waiting until his breathing went even and he dropped into sleep. Once she was sure he was out for the night, she rose and very gently kissed his slack mouth. “I love you,” she whispered brokenly.

She slipped from the bed, grabbed her packed bag and laptop. She deliberately picked up her phone and stuffed it in her purse.

Once downstairs, she rubbed Triton’s soft velvet ears and kissed him on the head, then knelt down and hugged him tight to her, her tears soaking into his fur. BFA came and rubbed up against her, as if he finally realized that she wasn’t the enemy. Tank had been spot on with his advice. Her heart heavy for betraying the men that she had come to care about, and with Wes, love with all her heart, she closed the front door quietly behind her. Once in the Jeep, her tears had flowed heavily down her cheeks as she’d driven to the airport, booked under a different name. It had been so easy for her to manipulate digital data, including a fake ID. She’d constructed, Raina Matthews on a whim when she’d been illegally hacking hardcore, worried that if she’d been caught, she’d have to run. Everything for that shadowy persona was still in place. The driver’s license, the bank account, the credit cards. The house in the Bahamas.

She’d made up a whole story for Raina, how she was a ranch owner with a big family who loved her, including a mom and dad who were so proud of her. She had been so pathetic.

Her hands had tightened on the wheel as she’d parked her car at the airport and with her bag, purse and laptop, started toward the terminal.

She squeezed her eyes closed, her insides still quivery, a huge load of anxiety trying to wash over her like a tidal wave. Doing her best to surf it, she was determined to neutralize this threat against her. Not only against her life, but she could lose everything if she didn’t play this just right. When the officials arrived, and they would, she would be placed under arrest. She would go to jail for the part she played in the security breach.

She’d hacked NCIS, knew that Bryant Anderson, the man who had seemed so damned official at the time, had duped her into shutting down security at Coronado. Unwittingly, she had put Wes and his team in danger, was an accessory to the murder of two military policemen…with families. She had to stop momentarily just at the entrance to the airport and lean against the wall to absorb what her actions had done, feeling heartbroken and sick all over again. Even though she had thought she was sanctioned in doing the job Anderson had hired her to do, they had played her. Now the weapons they had stolen, including warheads were on the open market to be used against innocent people and military personnel around the globe. What had she done?

Would Wes ever look at her the same once he found out her involvement?

She called Sally Jean and her sleepy voice answered. “Hi, sorry to wake you. I know it’s late, but could you take care of my horses and animals for a few days. I have to go out of town.”

“Of course. You know I will. And the bar, too.”

“You are the best friend I’ve ever had,” Kia said, her voice catching. Then she gave her specific instructions.

Sally Jean’s voice sounded more awake. “Are you all right? Where are you going?”

“To DC.”

“DC? Why?”

“I can’t explain, but thank you for always being there for me.”

“Kia, wait!”

She disconnected the call, turned off her phone, removed the battery and pocketed the SIM card. They could track her GPS and she was banking on that…later. She went to one of the stores in the airport and bought another phone. Then she caught her flight.

She was going to DC to make sure the man she suspected of being the mastermind of all this would get nabbed for not only his role in this fiasco, but give NCIS any information he possessed to retrieve everything that had been stolen. If he got away she was in danger of being hunted by his hired killer or helpless behind bars. Afterward, she would turn herself in and accept the consequences of her actions.

First, she had to get out from under the threat, then she could deal with the rest of the fallout. But she wanted more. Much more. She wanted time with Wes to explain her actions. She desperately needed a chance with him to talk, to sort things out. She had no idea what he was thinking in the long-term, but with this mess hanging over her, she couldn’t even begin to think of any future with him. Even if he wanted one with her. The investigation into his father’s death, Big Red’s involvement, the gun and hacking the ATF database were only a few loose ends that would have to be unraveled. Without opening up to him, without taking the risk and telling him everything, she knew deep down inside her that before they could go forward, they had to go back. And that was the most frightening thing of all.

* * *

“I need to stop at the office on the way home to pick up my phone,” Paige said, rubbing her husband’s arm.

“Can’t you just get it tomorrow? You’ll be going in.”

“It’s been three days of wonderful white-water rafting, and I’ve been out of the loop. I don’t like it.”

“Roger that. We’ll swing by, but you had a good time, right? Tell me you weren’t worrying about work while we were having fun in and out of bed.”

She kissed him on the cheek and then nuzzled his neck. “No, Ashe. When I’m with you, you’re all consuming. I was focused on us the whole time. Mostly.”

He laughed and shook his head. “It’s why you’re a good agent.”

She grinned.

She ran up, got it and then headed back to the car. It was close to being almost out of battery. She plugged it in and as soon as she saw the email, she clicked the notification and read the message. It was from a Sheriff Jerry Jones in the Reddick, Texas Sheriff’s Office.

Agent Wilder, I discovered that you are looking for any information on a suspect who matches the description of a man who attacked one of our citizens, Ms. Kia Silverbrook. She was accosted in the alley behind her bar on the eleventh of the month at approximately twelve forty-six am. The weapon he used was a military issue combat knife.

Subsequently, he then attacked her at the local high school football game. He was killed by one of our local boys. His picture is attached.

Why did her name seem familiar? Paige clicked on the attachment and pulled up the picture of Paul Lambert aka Onekill, the man who had been identified by the signature assassin’s bullet that had taken out Bryant Anderson. It was him.

A break-through in this case was what she needed. After the chilling information Ashe had given her at the beginning of the month regarding the warheads, she had renewed her investigation into the possible location of the weapons.

“But why had Lambert tried to kill a hick bar owner?”

“What bar owner?” Ashe said as he peered over her shoulder.

“Kia Silverbrook.”

“Fuck,” Kid said.

Another email dinged and Paige said. “Oh my, God.”

“Who’s it from,” Kid asked.

“Kia Silverbrook.”

“What? What did she say?”

“That she’s Quicksilver.”

“Fuck,” Kid said.

* * *

Cowboy woke up and immediately, before he even opened his eyes, he knew something was wrong. A cold wash of dread snaked through him when he realized that Kia’s side of the bed hadn’t been slept in. Driven by a fearful kind of desperation, he yanked on his jeans, his heart pounding as he searched the room. Her laptop was gone.

He grabbed his cell and called her, but it went straight to voicemail…just like it would if she’d turned her phone off.

He rushed down the stairs, his heart pounding, frantically praying he’d find her in the kitchen making breakfast. She wasn’t. But the full force of his escalating fear didn’t hit until he opened the door and saw that her Jeep was gone. He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes, so worried he couldn’t move.

“What the fuck is wrong?” Tank growled looking like a bear who had been roused from hibernation too soon with his dark beard and narrowed eyes.

“She’s gone.”

Immediate fear and concern rushed across his face. “What? She was taken under our noses! Fuck us.”

“No, her car is gone.”

“That doesn’t mean anything. Someone could have taken her.”

“No, there‘s no forced entry and if someone had come in this house, Triton would have torn him apart. Triton lay by the fire, his head on his paws as if the life had been sucked out of him. BFA was curled up against his side as if they were consoling each other.

“Where could she have gone?”

“I haven’t got a damn clue, and I’ve got a feeling if she doesn’t want to be found, we won’t be able to track her down.”

“What the hell? Why would she ditch us? She’s in danger. If anything happens to her, Cowboy, I won’t be able to forgive myself.”

“Nothing’s going to happen to her,” he said more to console himself than to allay Tank’s fears.

“I’m going to check the barn. He went back to his room and let Echo out. Got dressed and came back. The animals followed him outside and when they got to the barn and peered inside, it was clear that Kia was not there.

“Fuck! Fuck! This is a major cluster fuck! Where the fuck is she!”

Cowboy was just barely holding all his fucks in when Tank painted the air blue.

Cowboy grabbed his shoulders, the panic sliding inside him like crates on a tossing ship. “Get ahold of yourself. This isn’t helping.”

“How can you be so goddamned controlled all the fucking time. I’m sick of it. This is Kia! We’ve lost her, and she’s out there on her own.” Echo growled low in his throat, picking up on Tank’s agitation. He turned to the dog and said, “Echo. Stand down.” He licked his lips and stared at Cowboy. His loyalty was to Tank, and it was clear he felt that Cowboy was a threat. “Down,” he said giving Echo a hand signal and he flattened out. “Don’t you move from that spot.” He turned back to Cowboy, fire in his eyes. “She’s a fairy princess not a damn ninja! I’m going crazy, and I’m not the one in love with her. Are you some kind of cold-hearted bastard?”

Cowboy hit him hard. One minute he had control of himself, and the next, Tank was flat on his back on the ground. With a roar, he sprang up and tackled Cowboy, getting a good one in to his face and body. The man was a freaking Tank that was for sure. But Cowboy never started anything he couldn’t finish. He simply reacted and realized that if Tank didn’t have such good control of Echo he would be in trouble right now. The dog barked, but didn’t attack him.

They were evenly matched, trained by the same instructor—combat and close hand-to-hand, kill-or-be-killed physical contest. The SEALs weren’t called elite for nothing. Cowboy threw him off, and they wrestled for control as Cowboy worked to subdue him. Even in his anger Tank wasn’t out to really damage Cowboy. The man could crush him if he wanted to.

“What the fucking hell is going on here!”

At the sound of their LT’s voice, Tank and Cowboy broke apart, stumbling in their haste and shock.

“Attention!”

They both snapped into place, the movement so ingrained, muscle memory taking over. Blood from his cut lip slipped down his chin. Blood from a gash on Tank’s forehead made a slow descent. Neither of them moved to wipe it away.

Behind their commanding officer, Kid Chaos and his wife, Special Agent Paige Wilder stood. Kid’s mouth was agape, and Paige reached over and pushed it closed with her finger. His other teammates milled around, Blue, Wicked, Hollywood, and Scarecrow. This was bad news, not just because of the fight between them that they all witnessed, but the fact that Paige and his whole damn team was here meant Kia was in really deep trouble. Cowboy’s gut churned with an urgency that made his muscles twitch.

“There better be a damn good explanation for this behavior, gentlemen. And I use that term loosely.”

“Permission to speak, sir.”

“Granted,” Ruckus ground out, his expression of disappointment shaming Cowboy.

“It was my fault,” Tank said immediately. “I goaded him, sir. I take full responsibility.”

Ruckus walked up to Tank and got right into his face. “I saw two men engaging in fisticuffs. My two men who are on my team! Supposed to work as a team! So, attempt to take the blame, denied.”

He looked at Cowboy. “Nothing to say, Cowboy? You should know better than this.”

He gritted his teeth. “Yes, sir. I have no excuse. I lost it. Kia is missing, and he called me a cold-blooded bastard. That’s not true.” He worked to keep his emotions contained. Ruckus said to Tank. “You’re dismissed and on KP duty. Whip us up some breakfast, pronto. We’ve been traveling. We’re hungry and tired. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Yes, sir,” Tank said.

“Dismissed.”

“Blue!” LT called. “Patch him up.”

Blue came over and gave Cowboy a sympathetic grimace. The worried look in his eyes made Cowboy’s gut clench even more. He set down his kit and pulled out some alcohol swabs and dabbed at Cowboy’s face. He pulled a bottle out of his backpack and handed it to Cowboy. Rinse out your mouth and get some fluid into you,” he said.

“Thanks, Blue,” Cowboy said as the man rose.

“Go in the house and take care of that other knucklehead.”

“Yes, sir.”

Blue started walking. “The rest of you head in the house and get washed up. Shower and change if you want to. We’ll be inside in a moment.”

They all headed to the house. Kid hung back. Ruckus turned and fixed him with a glare.

“Maybe you can just give him a time out, LT.” Blue stopped in mid-stride, glancing at Kid with a resigned look on his face, his mouth twitching. There were chuckles from the porch.

“Kid, get your ass in the house before you’re going to need Blue’s tender medical attention.”

More uncontained laughter. “Maybe a spanking is in order.”

“Kid, I swear to God.”

“But I’m worried he might like it.”

Paige pulled on his arm, even as Ruckus’s eyes glinted ever so slightly. Kid sure knew how to diffuse a situation, and he would definitely go the extra mile for Cowboy. The look that passed between them said he was sorry he’d been out of the loop with his beautiful wife.

“But I still volunteer.”

“Kid!”

“He’s going,” Paige said as she tugged him toward the house.

Cowboy was still at attention. “At ease.”

He relaxed. “I fucked up, LT. I’m sorry.”

“What’s been going on here? You dealing with shit about your past? And, this woman? Where does she fit in?”

“Yes, it’s about my past, and Kia’s part of it.” He gave Ruckus a quick and brief rundown.

“I see.” He leaned his shoulder against the barn. “We’ll talk about Kia Silverbrook in the house with the team and Paige. She’s up to her pretty neck in something dark and dangerous.”

“That doesn’t help.”

“It’s reality. We have to deal. Let’s be honest. I couldn’t get along without you, Cowboy. You help drive the missions, and you shoulder additional work or help others get their work accomplished. You work smarter, harder and normally, demonstrate a lot of discipline, motivate others, lead by example. You come up with solutions to problems and most of the time anticipate them before they happen. You’re way too valuable for this incident to go any further. I’m slapping your wrist.” He peered inside the barn. “Horses. Interesting.” Then he looked at Cowboy, his face solemn. “I know why you are cool and calm in the field, and that’s an asset. Tank can be a hothead and you rub him the wrong way sometimes, but he’s a damn good SEAL.”

“I agree.”

“Use some restraint. He’s a monster, and I can’t believe you decked him.”

At first Cowboy wasn’t sure if LT was serious, but then his mouth curved up at the corners. “That’s going to get you some points with the guys. I don’t think any of them would take him on…well…except Wicked. He’s a deep-down, mean, lean, spooky machine.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t want to be on the other side of a weapon Wicked wielded, not even my fists.”

“Kid’s good crazy, that guy is bad crazy.”

“Kid’s a pain in my ass. I don’t mess with Wicked.”

“Yeah, but he’s our pain in the ass. Wicked usually keeps his shit in the shadows.”

“Too true.” Ruckus looked around. “This is where you’re from, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Beautiful country.”

“It is.”

“Come on. Let’s go shower and eat. Then we’ll get down to business.”

Cowboy actually had to wait in line as both bathrooms were occupied. Tank was in the kitchen, Kia’s Kitchen Witch apron tied around his waist, his hair damp. Echo was at his feet, and he gave Cowboy a wary look. He couldn’t blame the dog. He was still a bit pissed at Tank.

He had to admit though, the bacon and eggs smelled great.

Kid and Paige came out of the bathroom to whistles and catcalls.” She ignored them and Kid just grinned.

As soon as he saw Cowboy, he sauntered over. “Man, I can’t believe you decked Tank.” They fist bumped.

“I’m not exactly proud of it, but he had it coming.”

“Yeah, he’s such a grouch. But, he laughs at me…wait…shouldn’t that be with…no he laughs at me.”

“What’s going on? What’s up with Kia?”

“Can’t really say, but it’s not good, man. Paige would have my hide if I discuss it before the big pow wow.”

“Damn that woman. If someone needs a spanking….”

“I still volunteer.”

“Shut up. You haven’t even met her.”

“Maybe so, but she’s a badass hacker. One of the best. Paige told me they had no idea how to track her down.”

“Great. This is going to make it difficult to find her.”

“Very. If she’s off the grid…she’s a ghost—a negative entity.”

“She’s an honorary SEAL,” he muttered.

“I’d rather she was on our side.”

“I’m not convinced she’s not on our side.”

After they consumed breakfast the only way eight full-grown, badass men can, Paige was smart enough and they were gentlemanly enough to let her serve first, then all bets were off. But Tank made plenty. They cleaned up and made sure Kia’s kitchen was spotless before Ruckus gave Paige the floor.

“Kia Silverbrook was attacked several times here in town, and Cowboy and Tank took it on themselves to protect her. Cowboy killed the assassin who was after her. Because NCIS has been actively searching for him after Bryant Anderson’s death at his hands, I got an email from the Reddick sheriff.” She paced and said, “She contacted us early this morning and confessed that she was Quicksilver, and she was responsible for hacking into Naval Base Coronado.”

Cowboy stood up so fast that his chair clanged to the floor. “What? That can’t be true. Kia would never go along with stealing from a military facility. She’s a Black Hat.”

“That is confirmed by the DoD. She is a Black Hat, so why would she do something like this? We have no answers.” She made direct eye contact with Cowboy. Even with her professional face on, he could see the sympathy there. “Because of that, we had no choice but to issue a warrant for her arrest as an accessory to theft from the U.S. Government and to the murder of two military police.”

“No,” he said softly. “There’s got to be an explanation.” His fist came down on the table, and his voice boomed through the room.

He wouldn’t believe what he was hearing unless it came straight from Kia’s mouth. He didn’t for one-minute think she was capable of such crimes. Anguish washed through him thinking about losing her, her gentle soul would be crushed in prison. This couldn’t be happening. There had to be a logical explanation.

“Cowboy,” Ruckus said. “She’s a fugitive.”

“Yes, she is,” Paige said. “A valuable one, so we want her alive. We’re going to track her down. She could have valuable information on the possible whereabouts of the other five warheads that are missing and the weapons. As you all know. Many lives are at stake and not just military, but civilians. We can’t relent.”

“When we find her, Paige is arresting her,” Kid said with deep regret.

* * *

Kia stepped out of the hotel shower and grabbed a towel drying herself off. She’d strategically set up all the players and now it was just a matter of getting them all in the right location. She had already done the needed work to begin to unravel herself from this terrible mess.

For the millionth time, she thought about Wes and how he was handling all this. And, she couldn’t forget about Tank. He cared about her. She cared about both of them. But now she had to rely on herself first and foremost. Her unique ability, her thinking outside the box was going to get her out of this. And, for the first time in her life, she was so glad she was a freak.

She hoped her animals were doing all right, wondering if Catmanian Devil was behaving himself. She actually missed her daily dead animal.

She got dressed and went shopping and bought herself a cheap laptop and the devices she needed to pull this off. If she hit her mark, she’d be off the hook.

When she got back to the hotel, she donned her disguise, then checked herself in the mirror. Her own foster mother wouldn’t recognize her.

She’d already cancelled her target’s usual cleaning woman, and after monitoring the house, she discovered what time she came and the code she used. Taking a breath, she drove across the street and as nonchalantly as she could, pulled up in a white sedan with the required logo on the side. She went up to the house and punched in the code.

Her DoD contact liked security monitoring, and she was so glad he did. She went about her business of cleaning the house like she was the actual cleaning woman. But when she found a blind spot, she pulled out her laptop and got to work. She’d need to install what she had brought with her in her “cleaning supplies.” As soon as she had the security system on a loop, she got to the real reason why she was there.

* * *

Wes got up from one of the couches and stepped over numerous bodies to get to the bathroom. Days had passed, worry eating him as Kia’s house was filled to the brim with big, burly men. Cowboy had given up his bed to the two lovebirds. Kid had tried to console him, but the urgency he felt from the moment he opened his eyes had no outlet. He had no freaking idea where she was.

After taking care of his bladder, he went into the kitchen and started coffee. BFA came padding in, and he wasn’t happy, protesting and carrying on. “You miss her. Admit it, you fuzzball.”

He wound around Cowboy’s legs as if to say that he needed some tuna treats to console him. The big softie that he was, he gave them to him.

None of the animals were happy. Triton was hardly interested in eating, the horses were off their feed, and BFA was…well just as ornery as ever. The guys loved him, and he protested, but that was his way. He’d taken his harassment to a new height, literally. He’d climb up something and then ambush one of them when they were walking by. Hollywood was spooked, always looking around for him and called him Big Fucking Asshole. Kid called him BFAN (the N stood for ninja) Hollywood wasn’t exactly a cat guy, but he was the one that BFA hung out with the most as kitties tended to go to the one person in the room who wasn’t too fond of them. He accepted them all. Maybe that Catastrophe was nothing but a hard to get little bastard.

He realized he was now making up silly names for BFA just like Kia had. Fuck he missed her, was so worried about her, he’d barely slept. He pressed the heels of his hands against the counter. Then he looked out the kitchen window and noticed a car parked near the barn.

The house was waking up and there were several of the team getting ready for a PT run.

He left the house and like the curious, nosy bastards they were, most of them followed him, including Ruckus.

They came around the opening to the barn.

“Sally Jean?” he asked.

She whirled and dropped the bucket of feed, then stepped back and said, “Whoa, all the rodeos came to town.”

“What are you doing here?”

She went from one face to the next, as if she wasn’t sure where to look. “Kia asked me to take care of the horses. She told me specifically she would need me today and what time to get here.”

“You talked to her.”

“Sure. I always take care of her animals when she’s busy, and I run the bar for her, too.”

He came up to her and grabbed her shoulders. “Do you know where she is?”

“Wow, dude, back off. You’re one intense rodeo.”

“I’m sorry. Just tell me where she went.”

“To DC. She didn’t tell you?” She looked around and said. “I’m going to kill her for not telling me to look my best.”

“I think you look great,” Hollywood said, and she looked at him and smiled.

Scarecrow called from the house, “Her cell phone just came online,” he shouted.