Another image spun into my mind. Derek, Ed and Sam decked out like Taliban fighters crawled down a rocky mountainside. Explosions suddenly lit up the night sky and bullets buzzed overhead like angry bees. Derek yelled, “Fall back. Fall back.”
Hoorah! Color me proud, my Derek was a highly decorated Naval Commander who had run Seal Team until he had retired.
No, not retired. He still held his Naval commission as a Reserve Officer. He had been granted special status to continue doing some covert operations. That status gave him access to all those nifty gadgets, weapons and helicopters.
Unfortunately, the military assets he had commandeered in Afghanistan had gotten blown all to hell in his attempt to rescue Caleb and his access had been cut off. Bummer.
Derek yanked my hand off his thigh. “Invading my privacy, Angel?”
“Caleb Stone’s alive.”
He stiffened and the predator inside him looked out at me with cold silver eyes. “Is he now?”
“A Taliban warlord named Abdul Hassan captured him.”
“Did Granny tell you that?”
Bristling, I snapped, “No, I made it all up for shits and giggles.”
“Not funny.”
“No it isn’t. Hassan has been torturing Caleb for the location of the Scythain’s Tribal burial site.”
“Damn, the rat bastard actually found it,”
Derek said, genuine respect in his voice.
A light bulb went off in my head. “You want my treasure to mount your own expedition.”
“It’s the archaeological find of the century and worth over a hundred million dollars.”
“Is your archaeologist gig for real or just a CIA cover?”
He gave me an unrepentant grin. “I have a Master’s degree in archaeology and I also have a Doctor of Philosophy in archaeology. My field work allows me to do the occasional odd job for the Navy or CIA.”
Hmmm. Kinda like Fabian doing the occasional odd jobs for Uncle Aldo. “So, it’s all about the fame and glory?”
Derek eyed me speculatively and smiled. The kinda of smile that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. “It’s how I make my living.”
“Nice try, but I know you tried to free Caleb and it went south. You want my treasure to finance another rescue mission, don’t you?”
My husband inclined his head in a mocking little salute. “I do but no more snooping through my mind.”
“It’s one way to get the truth.”
“Next time just ask.”
“Okay, I will but if you lie to me I’ll know.”
“My own personal lie detector, huh?”
“Yep.” I held out my hand. “Let me have your phone. Your friend is running out of time.”
The Tomb Raider rubbed at the bristly black beard darkening his jaw. “Your family can get him out?”
“Yes.”
He handed me his satellite phone. I called Sebastian and quickly filled him in.
“Hassan’s a nasty piece of work. Aunt Alex is in Kabul, I’ll have her put out some feelers. Now, let me talk to your husband.”
“Wow, news travels fast.”
“Sloan taped the wedding and emailed your drunken escapades to us.”
I pinched Derek’s leg, hard when he grinned and mouthed, bastard. “That bad, huh?”
“Bad doesn’t even begin to describe it. Uncle Aldo’s quite upset.”
“I can explain.”
“You can try. Now let me talk with your husband.”
I gave Derek the phone. “Sebastian wants to chat.”
“You harm one hair on Zelda’s head and you will answer to the family,” I heard my cousin snarl.
“Oh for God’s sake, he won’t hurt me,” I cried.
Derek snapped, “I’ll keep her safe and out of trouble.”
Sebastian actually had the nerve to laugh.
“Good luck with that. When she was fourteen she broke into a top secret installation and stole an experimental tank.”
Derek stared at me in horror. “That was you?
They scrambled my father’s squadron of fighter jets to take you out.”
“So? The tank had a stealth mode and I wasn’t in any real danger.” I yanked the phone out of my husband’s hand and hissed. “You seemed to enjoy your birthday gift, you ungrateful jerk. How many buildings did you blow up with it? Five? Ten?”
My husband took the phone back. “I’m surprised you didn’t pay me to take her off your hands.”
Testosterone was the bane of my life. I spotted my suitcase and scooted off the bed.
Derek barked, “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
“I’m going to take a shower,” I barked back, grabbed my suitcase and slammed the bathroom door.
A hot shower improved my disposition. A little makeup, a lot of jewelry and my special black burglary clothes equipped with all sorts of nifty gadgets and I was ready to take on Attila the Hun.
Attila opened the bathroom door and surveyed me from head-to-toe. “Geared up for battle?”
I eyed his Mister Happy also geared up for battle. “Not a chance, buster. What did you do with my stun guns?”
“I put them in the gun safe.”
“Don’t trust me?”
“I’m a cautious man, Angel.”
“How much is Sebastian charging you for rescuing your friend?”
“A flat ten percent of the Scythain’s find.”
“He’s feeling generous.”
Derek walked over and dropped a kiss on my mouth. “Well, I did take you off their hands.”
“You say the sweetest things, sugar. When do I get to meet your family?”
“Dixon’s the only family I have left.”
“And you left him rotting in Sheriff Joe’s tent city, stuck wearing that awful pink underwear?”
He laughed. “You bet your ass I did. I also made sure he was assigned to the chain gang.”
“So, he could escape, right?”
“Maybe. Go eat your breakfast while I shower.”
“Breakfast? It’s midnight.”
“It’s a new day.”
Yeah, it was. I asked hopefully, “French toast?”
“With bacon and chocolate syrup.”
Standing on my tippy toes, I gave him a thank you kiss. “My favorite. How’d you know?”
“You’re my wife; it’s my business to know.”
Whoa, he got that from my background check?
He was taking this marriage business seriously. I stroked his Mister Happy. “Maybe later buddy.”
“You’re killing me, Angel.”
“I do what I can.” I came to an abrupt stop and stared in amazement. A table had been set up with fine China, a pristine white table cloth, orange juice in champagne flutes and a single red rose in a vase.
My husband kissed my neck. “Romantic enough?”
Speechless, I nodded. Aw, he really was my Prince Charming.
Chapter Fourteen
Prince Charming Derek wasn’t. The big jerk expected me to stay behind while he retrieved the stucco warrior from The Best Whore House in Vegas.
“What happened to me never leaving your side?
You know the whole eat together, sleep together, crap together nonsense?”
Derek rubbed his forehead as if he had a sudden headache. “You’re not going. It’s too dangerous.”
“But I have you the big, bad Navy Seal and all that expertise to protect me.”
That earned me a killer glare. “No. End of discussion.”
Like hell it was. “You need me there to disable the security system and flash on the next clue.”
“I’m quite capable of disabling the alarm and picking a lock. I’ll bring the stucco warrior back and you can do your woo-woo shit.”
“It doesn’t work that way.” A big, fat lie but I had to give it a shot.
Derek cocked a disbelieving eyebrow. “Really?”
“Ask Fabian, he knows.” Being family and all, he should back up my story.
“Okay, I will.” He opened the bedroom door and gestured, “After you.”
My husband escorted me down the hallway to a steel door with a heavy metal bar and high tech security keypad.
If the big jerk made any attempt to lock me in his little jail, I’d geld him. I pointed to the metal bar securing the door. “A bit of overkill isn’t it?”
“Not with your family.” Blocking my view, Derek typed in a code and opened the door.
One hundred and eighty pounds of pissed-off male slammed into him.
“No Fabian!”
The two men rolled over and over on the floor, pounding the crap out of each other.
“Stop it!” I dodged a flying kick. “Stop it right now!”
Okay, shrieking like a fishwife wasn’t working.
Testosterone had definitely rotted their little pea brains. Neither of them paid the slightest bit of attention to me and both seemed equally determined to kill each other.
“If you don’t stop, I will stop you.”
A ruthless ferocity etched into their faces, Derek and Fabian kept on exchanging blows.
Obviously, the knuckle dragging Rambos didn’t believe me.
An elbow cracked me in the jaw, knocking me backwards against the wall. Owie! Goddamn. That did it. Play time was over. Flipping my tranquillizer ring to the ready position, I waited for an opening.
Fabian slammed a fist into Derek’s stomach.
Derek retaliated by twisting my cousin into a punishing headlock and putting him in a choke hold.
“You’re both getting a time out.” I darted forward nailed Derek in the shoulder and got Fabian in the thigh.