Hot Combat. Elle James
didn’t need to know that the years before they’d moved into the little house in Grizzly Pass had been lean. Too many times, Charlie had skipped a meal to have enough money to feed Lolly and pay for the babysitter. Working as a waitress during the day kept a roof over their heads and school at night didn’t leave much time for her to be with her daughter. But they’d made their time together special. Now that she worked from home, Charlie was making up for all the times she couldn’t be home.
Her daughter shoved a bite of waffle into her mouth and sighed. “Mmm.”
Charlie almost laughed at the pure satisfaction on Lolly’s face. They hadn’t always eaten this well, and it hadn’t been that long since she’d landed a job paying enough money that she could afford to buy a small house in her hometown.
Jon took a bite of the waffle, closed his eyes and echoed Lolly’s approval. “Mmm. Your mother makes good waffles.”
“You helped,” Lolly pointed out.
“So he did.” Charlie pushed her food around on her plate, her stomach too knotted to handle anything. Not with Jon Caspar sitting at her table.
Hell, Jon Caspar, the man she’d dreamed about for years, was sitting at her table. She pushed her chair back. “If you’ll excuse me, I just remembered something.”
She took her plate to the sink and was about to scrape the waffles into the garbage disposal when Jon’s voice spoke up. “If you aren’t going to eat them, I will.”
She stopped with her fork poised over the sink. Walking back to the table, she set her plate down beside Jon’s and then ran from the room.
So, I’m a big fat chicken. Sue me.
In an attempt to take her mind off the man in the kitchen, Charlie entered the guest bedroom she’d converted into an office. A futon doubled as a couch and a guest bed. The small desk in the corner that she’d purchased from a resale shop was just the right size for her. She spent most of her day in her office, working for a software developer she’d interned with during the pursuit of her second degree in Information Systems.
The shiny new business degree she’d finished right before that summer with Jon had landed her nothing in the way of a decent job. She’d stayed in Grizzly Pass with her parents through Lolly’s birth, making plans and taking online courses.
She’d moved to Bozeman to return to school for a degree in Information Systems, looking for skills that wouldn’t require her to move to a big city to make a living. She’d chosen that degree because of the opportunities available to telecommute. It had been a terrific choice, giving her the flexibility she needed to raise Lolly where she wanted and provide the family support her daughter needed. She had no regrets over her decision and now had the time to dedicate to her work and her small family of two.
She booted up her laptop and waited for the screen to come to life. As she waited, she glanced around the small room, wondering if Jon could fit his six-foot-three-inch frame on the futon. Ha! Fat chance. But he wasn’t going to sleep in her room. Seven years apart changed everything.
Everything but the way her body reacted to his nearness.
Hell, he’d probably had a dozen other women.
Her heart stopped for a moment as another thought occurred. An image of Jon standing beside a woman wearing a wedding dress popped into her head and a led weight settled in her belly. He might have a wife somewhere. He’d said he was there for only a week. He might have someone waiting for him back home.
And kids.
Charlie pressed her hand to her mouth, her heart aching for Lolly. How would she feel about sharing her father with other children? Would she get along with a stepmother?
Her eyes stung and her throat tightened. Lolly’s life had just gotten a lot more complicated.
The screen on her laptop blinked to life. No sooner had she opened her browser than a message popped up on her screen.
You told.
Beware retribution.
“Damn.” She shut the laptop and laid her head on top of it. If only wishing could fix everything, she’d wish her problems away.
“Are you okay?” A large hand descended on her shoulder.
For a moment Charlie let the warmth chase away the chill inside her. Jon had always had a knack for making everything all right. He would help her figure out this problem. In one week, they’d solve the mystery of who was threatening her and possibly a government facility in the state of Wyoming. Just one week. And then she could get back to life as usual.
Who was she kidding? Jon wouldn’t leave for good. He’d be back. For Lolly.
Charlie shrugged Jon’s hand off her shoulder and sat straight, opening her laptop again. “I’ve had another message.” When the screen lit, she leaned back, allowing Jon to read the message.
“Do you think it’s some kid yanking your chain?” Jon asked.
“I wish it was.” Charlie pushed her hair back from her forehead. She clicked the keyboard until she found the URL she’d bookmarked and brought it up. Scrolling through the messages, she searched for the one that had started it all. She backed up through the messages from around the date and time the call to arms had been made. It was gone.
“What the hell?” Charlie scrolled farther back. “It was here last night.”
“Whoever posted it could have come back in and erased the message.”
Charlie snorted. “That’s fine. I saved a screenshot, just in case.” She pulled up the picture and sat back, giving Jon a moment to read and digest the words. “Do you think I was overreacting by reporting it to DHS?”
Jon shook his head. “With everything happening in the country and around the world, you can’t be too cautious.” He reached around her and brought up the social media site and scrolled through the messages again.
“Yesterday, there were a lot more messages expressing dissatisfaction with the way the government was handling the grazing rights and pipeline work.”
“Apparently, someone scrubbed the messages. These all appear to be regular chatter.”
Charlie sighed. “I’m beginning to think I imagined it.”
“You did the right thing by alerting DHS.” He straightened and crossed his arms over his chest. “Let them handle it. They have access to people who can trace sites like this back to the IP address.”
The phone on her desk rang, making Charlie jump. She grabbed the receiver and hit the talk button. “Hello.”
“Charlie, Kevin here. I take it you’ve met Ghost?”
“Ghost?” She glanced up at Jon.
He nodded and whispered, “My call sign.”
Heat rose in her chest and up into her cheeks. “Yes, I’ve met him.” She’d met him a long time ago, but she didn’t want to go into the details with her DHS handler. Kevin wasn’t from Grizzly Pass, and there were certain things he didn’t need to know.
“Is he there now?” Kevin asked.
“Yes.”
“Let me talk to him.”
Charlie handed the phone to Jon. “It’s Kevin.”
Jon took the phone.
When their fingers touched, that same electric shock she’d experienced the first time he’d touched her shot up her arm and into her chest. She couldn’t do this. Being close to him brought up all the same physical reactions she’d felt when she was a young and impressionable twenty-two-year-old.
She pushed back in her chair and rose, putting distance between them. It wasn’t enough. Being in the same room as Jon, aka Ghost, made her ultra aware of him. She wasn’t sure