“She’ll get the truth out of him.” Hawk would love to be there to witness the interview, but it was more important to spend time with Charlotte and make sure she really was okay.
“No doubt,” Cole said.
“Tell her that Helene is Kimball’s weakness.” Hawk told him about the man’s reaction to Charlotte’s threat of her being busted.
“I’ll pass that on to her.” Cole climbed into the empty front seat and raised his voice enough to be heard over the helo. “Oh, by the way, Boone Langston accepted the job offer, and he’ll be joining Dark Ops in two weeks.”
Cole had been trying to hire Calliope’s half-brother ever since learning about his background.
“Does Calliope know yet?” Hawk asked.
“Yeah, she’s pretty happy about it. She’s assumed her new role as his big sister with her usual balls-to-the-wall, hold-nothing-back style.” One corner of Cole’s mouth tilted up. “I get the impression Boone is a pretty agreeable guy, so he doesn’t seem to mind her overprotectiveness.”
Calliope had only learned of her younger brother’s existence a few months ago. When she was about two, her mother took off and divorced her dad via mail. A few years later, she got pregnant by another man, gave birth to a son, and gave him up for adoption.
Boone was one of the lucky ones. He was raised on a ranch by a wonderful couple who weren’t able to have children of their own.
“His background with Air Force Special Recon will be a great fit for the team.” Hawk had crossed paths with a couple of those guys in Afghanistan.
Special Recon Airmen, SRAs, were trained in multiple specialties and worked deep behind enemy lines, similar to what he’d done as a Marine. SRAs were not the kind of men to be messed with.
“Agreed.” Cole reached out and wrapped his hand around the door handle. “Hawk, this thing is far from over, so watch your back.”
“Always.” He stepped back.
Cole nodded and swung the door shut.
Hawk turned away to protect his eyes as the helo rose up off the ground, banked to the left, and flew away.
Once they were out of sight, he hurried up the steps and into the house. He locked the door, tapped in the security code, and followed the wonderful smell of stew coming from the kitchen.
“Hey, the stew should be ready in about ten minutes.” Charlotte set bowls on the counter right next to the holstered 9mm he’d given her earlier. “Are they gone?”
“Yeah, they’re taking Kimball to the Dark Ops facility. Andi flew in a few hours ago from our PacNW location to interview him.” As a deputy, Hawk had always referred to them as interrogations. Andi preferred to call them interviews. She said it sounded less combative and hostile. “She’ll find out what he knows.”
“Helene is his Achilles heel, ya know.” She reached into a drawer, grabbed a couple of spoons, and set them in the bowls. “You should use her as leverage against him.”
Hawk walked up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist, and rested his chin on her shoulder.
“I told Cole about the reaction you elicited from Kimball, so that’s exactly what they’re going to do.” He kissed the side of her neck. “You’re very smart, you know that?”
“Not really.” She tilted her head to one side to give him room to nibble on her ear. “Kimball is impulsive and really bad at masking his emotions. What I don’t get is, what’s in it for Helene? I know that woman—there is no way she would be interested in someone like him.”
“They’re bringing her in for questioning.” Hawk pressed a kiss beneath her ear. “Do you think her boss put her up to it?”
“Considering what we’ve learned about Pennington, I wouldn’t put it past him.” Her pulse quickened beneath his lips, and her head dropped back against his shoulder. She reached behind her and weaved her fingers through the hair on the back of his head. “He—he—” She swallowed. “He has a lot of money and power—both things Helene is drawn to.”
Hawk dragged his lips down the side of her neck.
“I’m going to take a quick shower.” He whispered in her ear, “Care to join me?”
She wiggled from his hold, hurried over to turn off the burner beneath the stew, then grabbed his hand and started toward his bedroom.
He chuckled and let her pull him down the hall.
Someday, they’d get around to eating that stew. But right now, he couldn’t think of a more pleasurable way to work off post-op adrenaline than sharing a hot shower with Charlotte, then burying himself deep inside her. That was a hell of a lot more fun than running ten miles.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
