Strategic Engagement

Daniel hooked a hand on his knee, boot propped beside the trailing hair, and lost himself in the hypnotic sway of red. "She miscarried early, before we had a chance to get married. I would have married her though. No way would I have let her down."



But he had, in so many other ways, both of them too damned young. He'd been knocked on his ass by how much a few short weeks of making love to her had shaken him. So he'd run like hell the minute she'd given him the green light.



"And here you two are again."



"Not for long. She'll settle back in Savannah and I'll be in Charleston."



"All of two and a half hours apart," Tag's dry tones mixed with the rumble of four engines. "Might as well be on different planets."



Daniel snorted. "I think I enjoyed you more when you stayed quiet."



"My wife likely disagrees," he answered, his dry wit more parched than normal. Not that the guy looked open to making the current sharingfest a two-way deal.



Tag canted forward, elbows on his knees. "While I'm on a roll, here's some hard-earned wisdom you can take or leave. So you had a thing going once? But you were too young to hang on to it. Makes sense. That Mars and Venus stuff is hard as hell for an old guy like me to figure out. It can be damned near impossible when you're younger."



Daniel shook his head, half believing, yet knowing he couldn't let himself off the hook that easily. "Where were you eleven years ago when I wanted to hear something like this?"



"Making my own mistakes," Tag answered with fatherly wisdom, even though his forty-one years made any true parental connection impossible.



"She and I are history."



Tag stayed silent.



Crap. Did parents go to a school to develop that look?



Daniel followed Tag's gaze. Straight down to Daniel's hand that had somehow found its way back into Mary Elise's hair.



He untwisted his finger from the strands, not a speedy proposition. The hair unwrapped and unwrapped in a long unraveling stretch.



"History," Daniel repeated as if he could will it so.



"Sure. You can take that route. Let go, quick and easy like. Or you can use the second chance to get your head on straight about this woman. Your choice. Don't screw it up—" he grinned, standing "—sir. I'll be back in a half hour."



Tag swept aside the curtain and ducked out of the small quarters, his hard-earned wisdom lingering long after the curtain stopped rippling.



Daniel watched the pendulum swish of Mary Elise's hair and thought of that wary flash in her eyes at the mention of her ex. More cause to be careful around her, and it wasn't as if the woman wanted a commitment from him anymore.



He did "no commitment" damn well.



Tag's talk of second chances had merit. Now was Daniel's chance to right the past. He may have taken the easy route and let her send him packing eleven years ago. But he wasn't running away from her now.



With a cool determination that had carried him through countless secret test missions, Daniel fixed his mind on a dual goal. Nothing would happen to his brothers on his watch. And no one, most especially himself, would ever hurt Mary Elise again.



Kent McRae gripped his steering wheel until it hurt. From the comfort of his Mercedes, he watched the C-17 circle above the thick band of evergreens. Night sounds and darkness wrapped around him while he waited, tucked just outside the main gate of Charleston Air Force Base.



The drive up from Savannah after the call from the economic attaché in Rubistan had given him time to think, to strategize. He didn't like it when plans went off-kilter.And Mary Elise had skewed his life once too often.



He forced his hold on the steering wheel to relax. No losing control. Stay steady and focused. If only she'd been inside that rigged car with Ambassador Baker as he'd been led to expect. That she'd survived, then turned to another man to help with the boys, stirred a cold wrath.



One explosion and his life could have been back on track, the past cleared away so he could start his future with a new wife. However, the week's events would only prove a minor setback for a persistent man.



Kent raised binoculars for a better view of the circling plane. Persistence paid off, after all. If only Mary Elise could have believed him about that. But her defective body housed a defective mind. She simply didn't comprehend, no matter how often he'd told her to keep trying and eventually they would have their perfect family.



He'd loved her, damn it. So much. And she'd left him. He'd thought he could win her back. Finally accepted otherwise. And if he couldn't have her, at least he would have a clean slate to begin a new life with a more malleable woman.



And Baker? Every crime needed a fall guy. The appearance of a murder/suicide between old lovers should satisfy authorities.



The oversize cargo plane straightened out of the turn, lining up with the runway, lower, closer, roaring overhead. Kent watched and waited. Patient.



Persistent.



Chapter 4



Her patience had worn thin.



Mary Elise wanted to call this day over. Now. The cargo plane had finally landed in Charleston, and they were seconds away from exiting the metal cavern that had grown more claustrophobic with each minute closer to the States.Hitching the sleeping Austin higher on her hip, Mary Elise followed the loadmaster's lead through the belly of the plane toward the hatch. The remaining hours of the flight had dragged, drawn tight by anxiety over what awaited her once she exited the front gate. What would she do with her life and how would she deal with the possibility that Kent might find her?



Moreover, how would she handle a week alone with Daniel?



She tried to shake off the jangle of emotions. The fear of the unknown had to be worse than reality. Surely once she had a good night's sleep she could restore her boundaries and do away with the awful vulnerability pricking her insides.



The seal popped and swooshed as the hatch swung open. Her brief nap in the airplane barely made a dent in her weariness. Not that landing put her much closer to crawling into bed and sleeping away the exhaustion and frustration of the past hours. Trey still needed to check in with a doctor about his asthma.



The doctor. Kathleen. The woman who would drop everything just for Danny. Of course if he had someone else in his life, that would free her.



Yeah right, like she'd ever been free of this guy's ghost. Surely it had more to do with him being her first lover that earned him a special spot in her memories.



Daniel stepped into sight from the stairwell leading up to the cockpit. She eyed the stretch of his shoulders as she made her way toward the exit hatch. What about her spot in his memories? How much importance did she want there?



Daniel pivoted to her. "Let me take the little slugger." Austin clung tighter in his sleep, his grip firm around her neck and growing dangerously tight around her heart. "I can carry him."



"The steps are steep. A tumble will land you both hard." He leaned to whisper against her ear, his warm breath scented with chocolate and the promise of passion. "Temporary truce. Everything doesn't have to be a battle between us."



Score one for Daniel. She passed over the sleeping child and forced herself not to smooth the boy's tousled curls.



Or the stray lock brushing Daniel's brow.



Steadying her hand on the metal rail, she descended the steps and inhaled the familiar Southern aromas in front of her mingling with Daniel's bay rum behind her. The early afternoon sun crested over the band of pine trees and live oaks bordering the stretch of cement. Nostalgia nicked her, the low country of South Carolina so like her Savannah home. A hungry longing filled her to inhale greedy gulps of both the place and the man.



Rubistan's isolation from temptation had merit.



Mary Elise steeled herself to move forward. The hum of engines from a distant bus, truck and ambulance mingled with the symphony of crickets and June bugs. Autumn in South Carolina resembled the summer heat in many Northern climes. Her silk shirt clung to her back by the time she cleared the last step.



A byproduct of the temperature, damn it, not the lure of home. She had to stop the past from dinging her control.



Guiding a groggy Trey to the side, she waited for Daniel and the others to clear the craft. She flipped a mental switch within herself, shifting from a too-vulnerable woman to analytical reporter mode. She would observe the world around her without getting involved.



One of the copilots, the young guy with a devilish twinkle in his eyes, strutted across the cement, guitar case slung over his back. "Need any help there, sir? I've got extra seats in my car."



He tossed a wink her way, his flirting complimentary without a threatening edge. She allowed herself a smile. Detached, but participating, interacting in normal human exchanges. Something she hadn't done in so long.



Daniel stepped closer. "No, thanks, Bo. My truck has an extended cab. We'll be fine."



"Okay, then. Take it easy, sir." Bo backed away, morning sun glinting off the copilot's jet-black hair and perfect features, increasing his fallen-angel air.



Actually more like an impish fallen cherub since the guy was probably all of twenty-five, making Daniel's hundred-percent adult male hard lines vibrate tension through the air.



Jaw set, Danny cupped her elbow as he guided her toward the waiting crew bus. "Did you want to ride with him?"



Jealousy laced his words. Surprising her. Thrilling her.



"Of course I didn't." The answer fell free before she could think to say something that would put more distance between them. Instead she just stared back as the thrill tripped through her, all the while blaming the yearning on a weakness born of exhaustion.



Running footsteps jarred her back to the present. The copilot, Darcy Renshaw, sprinted by toward the waiting military truck. The passenger door opened and a man stepped out, a civilian if his unconventional clothes and spiked hair were anything to go by. His seafoam-colored windbreaker clashed with flowered, knee-length swim trunks. Darcy dropped her flight bag and flung her arms around his neck seconds before he kissed her. Really kissed her, like a man who couldn't get enough of that one woman.



Screw distance. Analytical observations went up in flames as embers of long-dead dreams sparked. What would it be like to inspire that kind of passion? She and Daniel had been on fire for each other during those uninhibited weeks of lovemaking. But sometimes she wondered if years apart might have painted her memories a deeper shade of red as her discontent in her marriage grew.



Daniel cleared his throat.



Mary Elise glanced up. "They're married?"



"Nah, still in the newly engaged stage."



A rush of heat swelled through her. Yeah, she and Daniel had fallen well into that can't-get-enough engaged state. "Oh. Uh, they seem well suited."



He patted Austin's head to soothe the yawning child back to sleep and charged forward, the path past the necking couple the only route toward the waiting ambulance. "They met last summer on a joint mission to Guam."



"He's Air Force?" She eyed the man's nonregulation hair with curiosity, hair currently getting a finger comb from an amorous lady copilot who wasn't overly concerned about public displays of affection.



"Was CIA. Now he's a civilian employee with the OSI—Office of Special Investigations. Kind of like the Air Force's own CIA." Daniel cleared his throat and urged her forward, not even breaking stride as they drew alongside the embracing couple. "Thanks for your help, Spike. I owe ya one."



Without slowing the kiss, the man pulled his hand off Darcy Renshaw's waist and held his palm up for a high-five.



As they strode past, realization crept over Mary Elise. Wren's spiky-haired boyfriend who looked more like a beach bum than an OSI Special Agent had played a role in the boys' escape as well.



Had known exactly how much danger his fiancée flew into.



Mary Elise couldn't resist glancing over her shoulder. The air crackled. Desire derived from a day filled with life and death stakes licked the air, scorching her even from a distance.