AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Natches and Dawg Mackay were waiting on him when he entered the kitchen a short time later. Sitting at the kitchen table with Elijah, steaming cups of coffee in front of them, they looked as comfortable as they would in their own homes.
Damned Mackays.
Territorial bastards in their own space, they could be just as arrogant in another’s, he knew.
“Elijah, when did you start allowing the riffraff in without permission?” He glowered at the agent who was hanging his head in resignation where he sat at the side of the table.
“Hell if I know.” Elijah sighed. “Probably about the same time I realized they could be more dangerous than Doogan. He just gets me shot at. Mackays would actually shoot me.”
“So will I.” Graham poured coffee for himself, lifted the cup to his lips, and sipped while staring back at the Mackays coolly. “What’s happened that you felt the need to visit?”
No alert had come through and his security hadn’t picked anything up. They were probably there simply to aggravate the crap out of him.
“Lyrica called earlier,” Natches told him quietly, the color of his eyes identical to Lyrica’s. “She sounded upset and asked me to call her back. She even said please.”
“She always says please. She’s polite like that,” Graham pointed out while inwardly cursing.
Dammit, he should have anticipated that she would call her family and ask one of them to come for her.
“So why did she call?” Natches asked, strangely less confrontational than Graham expected him to be.
“I guess you’ll have to ask her.” He wasn’t about to get into explanations where that mess was concerned.
“She found out about Betts Laren, didn’t she?” It was Dawg who broached the subject as he sat back in his chair, his pale green eyes narrowed on Graham. “You can’t take solid advice, can you, boy?”
Evidently, Natches had finally broken and told Dawg what he knew about that final mission Graham had taken in Afghanistan.
Graham set the coffee cup on the counter carefully before turning back and facing the two Mackays warily.
“That’s a subject Lyrica and I will discuss when I find the time and place I deem appropriate,” he informed them both. “Until then, I’d prefer not to talk about it. That way she can’t walk into a conversation that will only confuse and hurt her without explanations. Explanations I’d like to make in my own time.” He cast Elijah a pointed look as the other man’s expression tightened in regret.
Natches grinned.
Damn, Graham hated the smirk that curled that man’s lips.
“How old are you, Dawg?” Natches asked.
“Forty-four,” Dawg answered instantly. “You, Natches?”
“Forty-three,” Natches stated good-naturedly. “Tell me, Dawg, what have we learned about secrets that those so-called intelligence agencies demand we keep?”
“Always have backup,” Dawg stated instantly, his gaze becoming mockingly questioning as he continued to watch Graham. “Do you have backup, Graham?”
Exactly how much did they fucking know? His gaze slid to Elijah’s, and he read the same question in the other man’s eyes.
“Why would I need backup?” he asked, knowing that even Natches shouldn’t know the full story behind that mission.
“Just in case.” Dawg shrugged.
“Just in case someone comes looking for five million in stolen diamonds,” Natches answered, his expression triumphant as he sat back in his chair and waited for Graham’s response.
“Are you accusing me of stealing from the army, Mackay?” Graham growled as though highly offended.
A crack of laughter escaped the other man as he shook his dark head knowingly.
“Come on, Graham, I spent too many years over there and I know people who won’t even talk to Cranston. I know what happened after Agent Laren was killed and the insurgents escaped. Army intelligence was in there within an hour. Her partner’s body was absent for a week and unidentifiable except for DNA when it was found.” He chuckled at the thought. “Did you actually buy that one? If that was the truth, then what happened to the missing bag of diamonds? There were two bags; one was missing. Where is it?”
Graham shrugged. “Perhaps the insurgents found it.”
