Troublemaker

CHAPTER 25

INVITING KILLERS TO COME AFTER HIM MEANT MORGAN had to do some serious strategizing, not just for himself but for Bo and any of the Hamrickville officers who elected to help. He went for a run, needing the automatic physical activity that would free his mind to worry and pick at the situation like a wolf picking at a carcass. He put on his shorts and running shoes, told Bo how long he’d be gone, and set out over the hills, pushing himself to a dead run.

He was afraid Bo was going to be a problem. His instinct was to make sure she was far away from any potential harm, and he expected her to fight him every inch of the way. He respected that, up to a point-the point at which he turned hairy and started dragging his knuckles on the ground. The bottom line was that she was precious to him and he’d do anything and everything he could to keep her safe, no matter how much of a battle she put up.

One step at a time, though; if he’d learned anything from all his missions over the years, it was that events never played out the way they were originally anticipated.

That was worrisome because it meant that no matter how he strategized, he couldn’t cover everything. He had to play the odds and plan for the most likely avenue of attack while staying alert for something-anything-different.

This could go down several different ways. Yeah, it would be great if Homeland Security showed up and arrested him, because that truly would be the best outcome for both him and the country. He wanted Congresswoman Kingsley to be innocent, to be working for the country rather than against it. He liked her. She seemed warm and genuine. Big deal. He went with facts, not emotion.

At any rate, he didn’t have to make any preparations for Homeland Security-likely the FBI. He was good there.

The possibilities after that were trickier, and far more likely.

The bad guys might use the Russian mob again, but he’d bet against that for a couple of reasons. One, they’d already tapped that asset, and it hadn’t worked out well. Using them again established a pattern, one that pointed to Russia, which could lead to Yartsev. And while the Russian mob could blend in with a large metropolitan population, it was a different story in Hamrickville, West Virginia. A Russian would stand out like a hyena in a wolf den. Hell, someone from New York would stand out.

Which left the Kingsleys and Yartsev with two or three options: hire a home-grown hit man-which had a higher probability of success but meant bringing in a stranger who might or might not be reliable and who would represent another possible security risk-or involve the SVR, which had taken the place of the KGB.

If Homeland Security and FBI involvement was Morgan’s best-case scenario, the SVR was his worst. The organization could bring to bear measures he’d have a difficult time countering: FLIR imaging, for one, which could literally tell them how many warm bodies were in the house and where. Overwhelming force was another possibility, in which every living thing in the house would be obliterated. A massive explosion was another possibility, as was a trained sniper taking him out any time he ventured out of the house.

On the other hand, if the Kingsleys were dealing state secrets to the SVR, the Russians wouldn’t want to call attention to the organization or the connection. If anything went wrong-and something almost always went wrong, in some way-the repercussions would far outweigh the benefits.

Morgan mentally rolled the situation around, decided the SVR’s involvement wasn’t likely. Neither was the Russian mob’s. Higher on the probability scale was a professional, but when secrecy was essential, involving others was a risk.

The most likely move they’d make was much closer to home. One of them personally would come to do the job.

Again, he necked down the probabilities. Joan Kingsley was the least likely, with her husband only slightly more likely, because he knew both of them on sight. Then again, maybe they both had unsuspected skill with weapons, which they would count on to take him by surprise. Yartsev himself was another possibility. He for certain would be weapons trained, and likely also trained to disguise himself. Though Morgan would have photographs and possibly video to study soon, he’d seen Yartsev in the flesh only once, and at a distance.

So-Yartsev was the most likely, followed by Dexter Kingsley, then Joan Kingsley. Or Yartsev and Dexter working together. Or all three of them.

Despite Yartsev’s training, Morgan thought that was something he could handle. His own training was far beyond anything Yartsev would have experienced, at least in weapons and strategy. The SVR man dealt with espionage and intelligence; Morgan dealt with devastation-two very different disciplines.

He would prepare for three shooters; if only two, or even just one, tried to take him out, he’d be overprepared, which wasn’t a bad thing.

While he’d been mentally sorting through all the details he’d been running full out, and now he slowed to a jog to cool down. A glance at his watch told him he’d been running for an hour; he was soaked with sweat, but all in all he felt pretty good. He was all systems go, heart and lungs working hard but smoothly. His legs weren’t up to snuff yet after enduring two months of enforced inactivity, but every day he was adding distance to what he’d done the day before.

If they came here expecting to find a broken-down wreck, they were in for a surprise.

That said, he couldn’t afford to feel cocky about his chances. His good physical condition would be easy for them to find out if they did even the most rudimentary fact-finding before acting. He had to assume they would if Yartsev was involved. The Russian wouldn’t walk blind into his own bathroom. The Kingsleys… maybe, if they were acting on their own.

He took an easier pace heading back to the house, and halfway back ran into Bo and Tricks on their walk. As soon as she saw him, Tricks whirled and raced toward him, barking happily. He knelt down and gave her some vigorous ear rubbing and chest scratching, which evidently felt so good she almost collapsed in bliss.

Bo approached at a slower pace, Tricks’s pink leash hooked through her belt loop out of her way, her green tank top baring the gleaming skin of her shoulders to the bright morning light. She was smiling as she watched him and Tricks. “Did you get everything worked out?” she asked, and when he stood, she linked her arm through his despite his sweatiness.

Morgan looked down at her and everything coalesced inside him in a blinding moment of light, the color around him flaring in brilliance before fading back to normal. In the trees a mockingbird began running through its repertoire of trills, whistles, and warbles, the sweet tone sinking into his bones. “Not yet,” he said, feeling as if he were in an alternate universe and liking it. “The main part is up to you.”

“Me?” She looked both puzzled and pleased. “I thought you didn’t want me to help. Okay, what can I do?”

No hesitation, he thought, just a willingness to throw herself into the fray and do whatever she could. “You can marry me,” he said.

She froze and actually turned white. Her big dark eyes widened until they eclipsed her face. Her mouth worked, but nothing came out.

He figured the turning white wasn’t a good sign, but he knew the battle he had to fight was also one he had to win, and he was ready to go to war, right here and right now, to get this woman. “I’ve been playing it cool,” he said, “not putting any pressure on you because I know you’ve dealt with some shitty people who let you down, and I wanted to give you time to realize you can trust me. But now I may be running out of time, and I want you sewed up and locked down, legally, in case this thing doesn’t have a good outcome.”

If anything, she went even whiter, standing stock-still on the narrow trail in the woods. The mockingbird sang some more, and a few other birds got in their own whistles and calls. Tricks dropped her ball at his feet and backed up, tail wagging, inviting him to throw it for her. For once, the humans in her life ignored her.

Bo’s mouth worked again, and this time words came out. “That’s not fair,” she croaked.

He clamped his hands around her waist and turned her to face him. “I don’t give a shit about fair. I give a shit about you. Oh hell, that wasn’t very romantic, was it?” He bent his head a little to peer into her eyes. “Do you want romantic? I can try. I’m more of a see-it, want-it, go-for-it type of guy, and I did: see you, want you, go for you.”

Her chin wobbled, and alarm spiked through him. “Are you going to cry? Don’t. Please don’t. Just say yes, and we’re good.”

She looked around wildly as if expecting to be rescued by a bush or a tree, but his hands were firm on her waist and he wasn’t about to let her go. Finally she half-shrieked, “You want me to marry you because you might die?” but at least she was talking and not crying.

“No, I want you to marry me because I’m… I’m-” To his consternation, the words clogged in his throat, and it was his turn to look around for one of those rescue bushes. Damn it. He thought he’d said them before, when he’d been engaged, but if he had, it was because they’d been expected and he couldn’t remember for certain. This was completely different. This was important. This was the rest of his life.

He looked down into those big dark eyes, so solemn and so scared, and his pulse leaped through his body. He grabbed a deep breath and went for it. “I’m crazy in love with you. That’s why I want to marry you. I want to marry you now so if anything happens to me, everything I own will come to you, no question. I’m not rich, but I have some savings and a good pickup truck, plus an old boat. What do you say?”

Annoyed that they were ignoring her, Tricks gave an indignant bark. He glanced down at her; she used her paw to bat the ball to his foot in case he couldn’t figure it out. He gave a rough laugh. “I just hope you love me half as much as you love your dog.”

The seconds ticked along in silence, going on and on until Morgan began to wonder if he’d overshot his target. Then her lips moved, and she said in a low voice, “I do.”

He knew he had it bad when he didn’t balk at coming in second to a dog. He was already used to it. Besides, Tricks wasn’t an ordinary dog.

“So you’ll marry me?”

She gave a jerky nod. “Though you could just make out a will leaving everything to me.”

Yeah, she’d think of that.

“I’ll do that, too. But I want to marry you, and you nodded yes, so it’s a done deal. Is there a waiting period in West Virginia?”

She shook her head. Then she said, “You’d have to use your real name. But West Virginia isn’t an open-record state, so marriage certificates won’t turn up in an online search.”

“That’s convenient. I was already working out how I could finesse the timing, but it’s good that it doesn’t matter. I’d like to get it done tomorrow.”

“I can’t,” she said, still looking dazed and more than halfway panicked.

“Why the hell not?”

“People.”

“What people-oh. The ones who would be mad at you if you didn’t tell them, right?”

She sighed. “Like Daina and Loretta and Jesse and half the town.”

“Yeah, like them.”

“I can’t plan a wedding overnight anyway.”

“Then we’ll get married and have the wedding later.” Shit, had he just said that? He’d been off the hook until he opened his big mouth. What had he let himself in for? Men looked forward to big weddings with less enthusiasm than they did a visit to the dentist. On the scale of things he didn’t want to do, weddings might rank above seeing a proctologist. Maybe.

“I don’t want a big wedding,” she said, still in a tone that said she was in shock.

If anything, he fell even more in love with her. “I don’t either, but what will the town let us get away with? I can tell you straight up they’ll want Tricks to be a bridesmaid.”

She gave a choked laugh. “You’re probably right.” She looked down at Tricks, who had abandoned her ball to sniff around some undergrowth. “What about you? Your mother, for instance. Will she want to be here? Come to think of it, have you been in contact with her at all?”

“I haven’t, but we thought of that. Axel has sent a couple of emails that she thinks are from me, telling her I’m all right but busy, that kind of thing.”

“Does she even know you were shot?” Bo asked, her tone a little shocked.

“No. I’m fine with her never knowing.” He rubbed the side of his nose. “You think I should tell her I’m getting married? Ah, hell, don’t bother answering. But I’m still not waiting; she can come to the after-marriage wedding. What about your parents?”

She looked off, thought it over. “I’ll let them know, but really, there’s no point in inviting them. They won’t come. An announcement after the fact will do.”

“If you want them here, they’ll be here.” If he had to twist arms and break heads, they’d be here. He’d have them escorted under armed guard, if necessary. His friends weren’t the type of people who messed around.

She shook her head and gave him a wry glance. “You’d make them be here, wouldn’t you? I appreciate the thought, but-no. Having them here would just stress me out. I’d rather be happy.”

Making her happy was his new life’s mission. He released her to lean down and pick up Tricks’s ball, then linked his hand with hers and headed back down the trail toward the house. Her slim fingers felt as fragile as a bird’s bones in his rough hand, and for the first time in his life he was acutely aware of the trust being offered to him as a man. His previous relationships, abbreviated and fairly uncomplicated as most of them had been, had been straightforward and based mostly on sex. This was more. She was giving him something incredibly special-herself, her trust, inviting him into her life.

Pragmatically she said, “We can’t get married yet anyway. We have to get the license here in this county, where we live. Even though the courthouse isn’t in Hamrickville, too many people know me. The people we’ll tell will keep it quiet, but the average person in the county courthouse won’t know they shouldn’t Google your real name, and trust me, at least one of them would.”

He said something very graphic and pithy, not at all happy to see his plans put on hold.

She gave him an amused glance. “In a hurry to get me into bed?”

“You bet. I’ve never had married sex before. I wonder if it’s different.”

She laughed, and he used his grip on her hand to tug her closer and drape his arm around her shoulders. “Okay. I’m not happy about waiting, but I don’t see any way around it. I’ll be busy the next few days anyway: get a bank account set up in the Caymans. Bring the guys up to speed. Ammo to buy, security to set up, things like that.”

She digested all of that and asked only one question. “The Caymans?”

“A blackmail attempt won’t look legitimate unless I’m asking for serious money, which brings up the problem of how I’d report that to the IRS. They’ll expect me to know about things like that, which I do; I can’t have them wire the money into a regular stateside bank. The blackmail has to look real from every angle, so I have to have an offshore account for the money to be paid into.”

“How will you avoid getting into trouble over it?”

“Everything I do will be coordinated with Axel and documented. Yes, there are gray areas, but what matters is stopping them. I’m assuming their guilt until I’m proven wrong.” He paused. “I don’t expect they’ll ever appear in a court of law. This will be handled on the down low.”

“Meaning… what?”

“Meaning they may negotiate their way out of trouble by double-crossing the Russians, though they may not be in any position to do that. The flow of information may be all one way, in which case their asses are in a sling. However it ends, that’s not my problem. My job is to stop them.”

“Our job,” she corrected quietly. “We’re in this together.” She gave him a crooked smile. “That’s what being married means.”

They weren’t quite a mile from home; they strolled, they threw the ball for Tricks whenever they were in a clear patch. There was plenty of time before Bo had to go to work, so they weren’t in any hurry. He enjoyed holding her hand, teasing a grin out of her, watching the sun dapple her face as they walked through the trees.

He felt both drunk and sober, elated and nervous, numb and so hyperalert he was aware of everything, every bird song, every breeze, every rustle of the trees.

Damn. This must be what being in love felt like. No wonder it made people act like fools. The guys would never let him live this down-and he didn’t care.

Of all the things that had happened since Morgan Yancy turned up in her life, this morning had left Bo with the biggest sense of unreality. She couldn’t believe he’d asked her to marry him, but even more startling was that she’d said yes. But he had, and she had, and she still hadn’t recovered from the shock.

There were a lot of questions that needed to be asked and decisions that had to be made, but for now she couldn’t concentrate on any of them. She would deal with those later-after she’d come to terms with the fact that she was getting married. And not just married, but married soon, as in whenever he was freed from the need to conceal his real name. To him the delay was annoying; to her, events were progressing at breakneck speed. She was both dazzled and terrified; they were going from strangers to lovers to married in just two months? Well, a little over two months, by the time they actually got the deed done. Dear God, what was she thinking?

She was thinking that she loved him. She was thinking that living with someone was different from the on-off of dating, that she had gotten to know him faster than she would have from a year of dating. She was thinking that she relied on him, that he’d risked his life for both her and Tricks, that he always stood ready to back her up if she needed him. She didn’t know his birthday, or his mother’s name, or about a million other things about him-but she did know the important stuff, and she’d learn about the unimportant stuff as it came up.

When they got back to the house, he said, “I’ll grab a quick shower and help you with lunch.”

“Are you going to town with me today?”

“Not today. I’m going to do some thinking about beefing up the security here, walk the hills behind the house again to see if I overlooked anything, that kind of thing.”

He was serious about the security, and given that he was setting himself up as bait, she was all for taking any precautions they could. The thought of danger coming here, to this place she’d made her own, sent chills up her back. He truly could die. He’d nearly died before she ever met him, but he wasn’t hesitating to wade back into the fray, risking himself yet again. That was what he did, and who he was. She might fear what he did, but she wouldn’t change what he was.

She put some bacon in the oven to bake, then began tearing up lettuce and dicing fresh tomatoes into it. Morgan came down the stairs two at a time as she salted and peppered the mixture. “I smell bacon,” he said.

“BLT wraps. The tortillas are in the refrigerator. Hope you like them.”

“I’ve never seen a BLT I didn’t like, except for one that had avocado on it.”

“You like avocado.”

“I like guacamole. Two different things. And it’s called a BLT for a reason, not a BLAT.”

“With that kind of reasoning, you’d leave off the bread.”

“Bread is understood. And it starts with a B, so that’s taken care of. Even when it’s a tortilla, it’s still bread, just flat.”

His guyness when it came to food never failed to amuse her. On the other hand, he wasn’t picky, which would have driven her nuts.

He set the table and kept watch on the bacon while Bo finished up with the lettuce and tomato part. Tricks stood watching it all with intense interest, positioned by her bowl as a reminder not to forget her when the food was doled out.

“As if I’d forget,” Bo chided gently, keeping one eye on the clock because she didn’t want to feed Tricks early. Tricks looked at her bowl and back to Bo, then nudged the bowl with her foot.

“It isn’t time.” Though it was just two minutes early, a rule was a rule, because if you bent it Tricks would devote herself to bending it even more. When the digital numbers changed, Tricks barked.

“Scary,” Morgan commented, having watched the performance yet again. When the numbers changed, Tricks recognized the magic ones that signaled Food Time.

Bo measured out the food and set it down. Tricks wagged her tail in approval, then began eating. Bo petted her, then a thought struck and she straightened to give Morgan a narrow-eyed look. “Are you marrying me just to get my dog?”

“It’s a thought,” he replied without hesitation, then laughed. “As if marrying you would make any difference. She’s yours and as far as she’s concerned, no one else is even close. I know how she feels.” He winked at her. “I’m yours, too, remember?”

The silver-tongued devil, he knew just what to say. She chuckled and returned the wink, a little amazed at how easy it had become to flirt with him. She didn’t think she’d ever winked at another soul before Morgan.

After lunch she noticed she was running a little tight on time, so she hurried to take a shower and get ready. Morgan would be busy, which meant Tricks was going with her. She would tell the important people in her life about her and Morgan, and put her head together with Daina to start making plans. Now that Morgan’s desire to get married tomorrow had been thwarted, there wasn’t any need for both a quick marriage and then a ceremonial wedding later. They could make some quick plans, Miss Doris would bake them a cake-nothing fancy, but when something tasted as good at Miss Doris’s cakes, it didn’t have to be fancy-and she could go shopping for a dress. A simple ceremony, maybe in the park; simple refreshments and treasured friends. His mother could be here for the actual ceremony. What could be better? But if the situation with Morgan hadn’t resolved itself by then, they’d have to be extra careful and not have the ceremony outside.

A chill went down her back. How many weddings were planned with the idea that a sniper might take out the groom?

Thinking of that precaution led her to think about the larger security areas they had to address. Both she and Morgan would have to be extra careful. As soon as he was cleared to make his “blackmail” call to set events in motion, she would have Daina keep Tricks. She couldn’t bear the idea of Tricks being in danger again-Morgan, either, but this was his show, his job, and his decision. Tricks was as innocent as a child. Being separated would be difficult for them both, but better that than Tricks being harmed.

Because all that was on her mind, she felt uneasy as she went downstairs. “Be extra careful,” she said to Morgan, her brow furrowed. “Take your cell phone, and your weapon.”

He nodded to the Glock lying on the kitchen counter. “Planning on it. How about you? It’s never too early to start getting in the habit of taking extra precautions. Where’s your weapon, Ms. Chief of Police?”

“In my bag.” She’d bought a holster that she could clip to her waistband, but the only time she ever used it was if she and Tricks were going on a walk by themselves, something that seldom happened these days.

“Takes too much time to dig it out of a bag. Get it out, and keep it handy.”

His voice always took on a matter-of-fact coolness when he slipped into what she thought of as action mode, but he knew what he was talking about so she didn’t argue. She got the holstered weapon out of her bag and clipped it to her waistband. “I feel as if I’m masquerading as Lara Croft, Tomb Raider,” she muttered as she pulled her shirt down over the bulge.

“Naw. You’re way cooler,” he said with a quick grin, though his hard gaze swept down her form. “Carry your bag on your right shoulder, and no one will be able to tell you’re packing.”

She got her cell phone and Tricks’s leash. Tricks bounced to the door and stood there looking eagerly at the door handle, concentrating as if she could open the door by force of will alone. Bo figured that in Tricks’s mind that usually worked because if she stared at the door long enough someone would open it for her.

“I’ll call you when I leave,” she told Morgan, stretching on tiptoe to kiss him.

His arm went around her and he pulled her close for more than one kiss. “Drive safe. Love you. See you tonight.”

She hesitated, then said, “I love you too,” a little shyly, because saying the words still felt so strange, because feeling free to say them was nothing short of earth-shattering. She could feel herself blushing as she went out the door, with Tricks darting ahead of her, barking in an excited frenzy as she dashed around the vehicles.

“Tricks, load up!” Bo called as she used the remote to unlock the doors. She opened the passenger door for Tricks and tossed the leash onto the console. Tricks was still barking, and Bo started to turn to call her again.

Something hard jabbed painfully at the back of her skull, and a man said, “Don’t make a move, or I’ll blow a hole in your damn head.”