Page 71 of Red, White, and BearCat Blue

“They knew my name, Rex,” I said.

“What?”

“The bitch—” I stopped, looking around at the four bodies on the ground, blood pooling all around them from multiple wounds. There wasn’t a female among them. “Shite! There was a woman ‘ere. Ya see anyone leave?” I started to move away when Alain grabbed my bicep.

“No one else is here, Mars, and there was no time to set up a perimeter. If there was a woman here, she got away clean.”

“Bloody ‘ell.” I reached up and ran a hand through my hair as footsteps suddenly sounded from across the room. We all turned to see Lincoln Snow and his team. Almost everyone was there…Kindness, Beth, Dr. Leo Reeves, Carter Perez, and the tall Scottish American Green Beret, Mac McCallahan, who towered over everyone including Rex, the tallest man on our team at six-six.

Lincoln stopped in front of me, holding out his hand, just as Candy walked over. “Thank God you and Mr. Demarco are okay, Clifford. As soon as we got word, we deployed ASAP. What the hell happened?”

“We were followed from the office. Even though I tried to shake the wankers, I couldn’t. I opted for the next best thing, and ‘eaded ‘ere. I only knew about this place because I’d gotten lost a couple of months back when I took a wrong turn, trying to find a restaurant for the first time. We legged it for the elevator, and I stopped it between floors so we had a chance. We were outgunned.”

“You made the right call, Clifford,” Candy said. “And the elevator trick was smart.” He slapped me on the back.

“Thanks, boss.”

“Wait. What elevator trick?” Prince asked, joining the group. He nodded at Dr. Reeves, his husband.

Again, I explained what I’d done with the control panel and the Morse Code.

“Your Morse Code message was relayed to us by the company which operates the elevator telephones,” Snow said. “It’s a good thing their employee was former Army, or they might not have been able to pinpoint your location. It may have saved your life, Clifford.”

Prince grinned at me, reaching out to give me a high five. “That was quick thinking.”

I felt my face heat. “Thanks, Prince.” I glanced over at Cam, and Max must’ve noticed where my eyes strayed, because I heard him snort.

“What?” I frowned.

“You two seem cozy.”

“If ya say so.”

“I understand you’ve been sharin’ a hotel room with him.”

Normally, his slight southern drawl was charming but knowing he’d seen something in my expression toward Cam, made me want to take an axe to his head…just a little. My carefully constructed mask of indifference was slipping. I’d woken up in Cam’s arms this morning, knowing I was quickly falling for the man, but if my friends could see it, I was in trouble. No matter how hard I’d tried to emotionally distance myself from Cam, I was fighting a losing battle. He’d already gotten under my skin, and I didn’t know what to do about it. I had genuine feelings for him.

“Just because we’re sharing a ‘otel room, it doesn’t mean we’re anything more than friends.”

“Bullshit!” Nash said, coughing into his hand.

“Liar,” Rex chimed in, slapping me on the back with a wide grin.

“Is there something you need to tell me, Clifford?” Candy asked. His raised eyebrow joined the smile playing around the corners of his mouth as he tugged on his beard.

I gaped at Candy, hating the fact that all these people—my friends—could see what I was determined not to. How had it happened that I’d fallen for Cam, because clearly, I had, if everyone could see the emotions swirling inside my head…inside my heart.

Without even realizing it, Cam had wormed his way into my heart.

Well, fuck me. And I’d teased Nash, Patsy, and Rex about how easily they’d fallen for their guys. Now here I was, ready…no…willing to not only lay down my life to protect Cam but turn a temporary assignment into something approaching…permanence. God, I could barely think the word without feeling like I was about to crawl out of my skin.

I stared at the boss for a second, unsure how to answer, but I opened my mouth, ready to deny it when blessedly, Carter Perez chose that exact moment to speak up. “We’ve checked the rest of the buildings in the complex,” he said. “No one seems to be around.”

“There was a woman outside the elevator,” I told him.

“Well, if there was earlier, she’s nowhere to be found now, Mars,” Kindness said. “I’m sorry, but we checked the entire perimeter of the industrial park, and all the buildings.”

“You’re sure?”