“Fuck.” Stick ran both hands over his face as if this were a hard decision. Catori wasn’t seeing it, but if he’d like to make a production out of it that was his choice. She wouldn’t claim to understand what it was like to have a sister who’d been paralyzed from the neck down in a car accident. What she could do was offer him enough money that his family wouldn’t feel the effects of having to care for someone twenty-four seven. She finished off her coffee and then signaled once again to the waitress, although this time she indicated a to-go cup. “It’s a good offer, Starr.”
“Any reason you’re hesitating?”
“Other than it places me back in the same situation as I was before? It wasn’t necessarily a bomb that had my name written on it. A bullet would do the job.”
“It could,” Catori agreed, not able to make Stick the guarantees he obviously wanted. It wasn’t like he thought he would get them, but she could understand his uncertainty. That didn’t mean she wouldn’t get the answer she wanted. “Or you could drown out in the middle of the fucking ocean on some shit box oilrig.”
Stick laughed, the weight of the world easing from his shoulders slightly. He took responsibility to heart and his familymeant the world to him. She knew from his dossier that he felt the same about his unit and even to this day still kept in contact with some of them. He would be an asset to her team in many, many ways. When he smiled and leaned back, lacing his hands behind his head, she knew she’d won another round.
“Green. Count me in.”
Chapter Ten
‡
“Kane Taylor.”
Catori grimaced when the machines kept roaring, drowning out her voice and everything else with it. The construction crew must have already had their morning break seeing as they were all actually working and doing their jobs. This must be one hell of a ramrod for a foreman. Orange vests and hard hats were the only thing visible as the crew went about rebuilding a bridge. She didn’t want to know what they were doing, not caring in the slightest. As long as what was already up didn’t fall into the damn water she’d consider the morning a success. It wasn’t that she wasn’t prone to dangerous situations, but purposefully walking a metal plank to her death wasn’t going to be one of them.
“Taylor’s over in the trailer. Now get the hell off my site.”
At least that’s what Catori thought the hard-edged foreman said. She breathed a sigh of relief as she walked back the distance to where the trailer was situated off the side of the road, far away from the bridge and nestled into a patch of grass. The cloud coverage kept the heat at bay, and if anything the air had a slight chill to it. She’d just reached for the handle of the door when it sprang open, revealing the man she was looking for.
“Who are you?” Kane barked, not bothering to pause in his stride as he pushed past.
“Catori Starr.” She looked Taylor over as he stepped down from the trailer and turned. According to his basic information his formidable form was six foot three and two hundred thirty pounds of solid muscle. His dark brown hair was still cut with the same military style as the day he’d retired a rank below her as a Gunnery Sergeant. He was older than the others on her team, although not more senior than she was, and he’d also seen more action and knew how to lead a squad into Indian country. He was a born leader of warriors and she was about to give that opportunity back to him. “Mind if we step back into the trailer where we can have a conversation without losing our voices?”
“Talk all you want, but I’m not buying what you’re selling.” Kane didn’t bother stopping to see if she’d catch up with him. Hell, with his attitude he probably thought she’d scurry off due to his rude manner. She could appreciate where he was coming from, but ground rules were about to be set into place. She would get final say when he was under her employment and that was about to become apparent. Kane pulled the cheap Motorola Talkabout from his belt and shouted into the transmitter. “Sully, did you get those blueprints like I asked? The rest of this bridge isn’t going to build itself and we can’t do shit without those plans.”
Catori let Kane walk away, his voice deep and resonating over the volume of the machines. Complaints about Sully could be heard loud and clear as he sought out the man in question. That wasn’t her concern and frankly she hadn’t had quite enough caffeine to have to deal with this. She leaned against the trailer, knowing the white crisp-starched shirt she pulled out of her suitcase this morning would be black from the dirt that was caked onto the siding. Waiting for one of the construction crew to walk by, she was finally able to stop one of the men and motioned with her hand that she wanted his walkie-talkie.
Catori bided her time and waited for just the right moment—which was when Kane was about to climb into a black Ford 150 truck that looked brand spanking new. She lingered a moment more for him to open the door and set a boot-clad foot onto the runner before she pressed the button on the side of the radio.
“Gunny, I have a team assembled and they are awaiting orders. Your orders.” Catori released the button and observed Kane’s reaction from afar. He stopped and slowly lowered his foot to the ground. Although she couldn’t see them from here, she knew his hazel eyes now bore into her. She pressed the switch one more time. “Unless you’d rather stay here and, you know, build a bridge. I wouldn’t want you to miss all this action.Interrogative.”
It didn’t surprise Catori when Kane walked back her way and his stride struck her like a predator on the prowl. The use of the single word on a tactical radio channel meant she had asked a question and expected a response. She remained where she was until he was standing in front of her, the intensity of his stare trying to gauge what she meant. She maintained his gaze as she held out the radio to the man still standing beside her, who looked like he’d rather be anywhere but here. He looked at Kane before slowly reaching for the walkie-talkie and quickly walked away toward the bridge.
“Seems like you run a tight ship here, although your talents are wasted in my opinion.”
“I don’t care about random people’s opinions,” Kane replied, surveying Catori from head to toe. He kept his judgments well hidden. “You’ve captured my attention though. No one has called me Gunny in a couple of years. I take it this is a government sanctioned job?”
“Does that mean your skills are rusty?” Catori asked, ignoring his question. She gave as good as she got and took her time looking Kane over from top to bottom. He was a veryattractive man, although not her type in the slightest. Red’s face flashed before her eyes, bringing her back to why she was here. “I’m sure there are other Gunnery Sergeants who served and whom can still step up to the plate.”
“Like I said, you’ve got my attention.” Kane reached for the handle of the door, which was to the right of where Catori was standing, and opened the flimsy access. He motioned for her to proceed before him, and once both of them were inside the trailer he shut them inside. Other than the whirl of the AC unit pushing air into the room, it was fairly quiet. It took time for her eyes to adjust and she was surprised to see that the depth of the trailer was actually bigger than it appeared. “Coffee?”
“No, thank you.” Catori took a seat at a small wooden table that had seen better days. She knew from his attitude that Kane wasn’t the type of man who liked to sit for long moments of time, so she cut to the chase. “In your email you’ll find a five year contract for the position of lead operator working for me at Red Starr HRT. We take hostage rescue missions that the Bureau won’t touch or can’t legally touch. To answer your question, we’re not government sanctioned—however, we do have a license to operate in the US and abroad. I don’t have to tell you that some of the assignments that we’ll take will be risky, whereas others should be a piece of cake. Luck of the draw—you see, Red Starr HRT is a private contractor. Our services don’t come cheap. You come highly recommended and from what I’ve read in regards to your assignments, your skillset is well matched with the team that I’ve assembled.”
“Red Starr HRT.” Instead of sitting with her at the table, Kane leaned back against a counter that appeared as if it would crack from the weight of his body. He crossed his arms and she wasn’t surprised to see the size of his biceps. He wasn’t the type of man to let his body get out of shape and she had to wonder if he’d always known he would get back into the combat lifesomehow, someway. “I met your husband Red a while back. I was sorry to hear that he had come up MIA.”
“You don’t have to fill his shoes,” Catori said in reassurance, although she knew Kane hadn’t given his condolences for that purpose. She didn’t really care. She wanted a team. He was that last spot, and if he didn’t want to take it that was fine by her. “Your job will be to lead and train a freshly assembled tactical team. Are you interested?”
“Do I get a say in the members of this team?”
“Within reason—however, I make the final call on every team member.” Catori could just make out the tightening of Kane’s jaw, indicating his displeasure at not having the definitive decision on the men that he would be responsible for. “Make no mistake, Kane, I make the final call as to who is on our crew as well as all of the assignments. When you’re in the field, the tactical decisions are solely yours. You trust me to give you the tools and training you need and I’ll trust for you to get the job done with the least amount of casualties to our team.”
Silence descended over the small trailer, and while Catori allowed Kane time to digest the information that she’d laid out in front of him she glanced at her watch. She had set up a meeting with a heavy weapons supplier later this evening and as of right now she was doing okay on time. Before Kane made a decision, she wanted to go over one more thing that she was well aware wouldn’t be a pleasant topic. She knew this from personal experience.
“Your sister was killed during a deployment over in Nigeria.” At this point, Catori was sure that Kane’s jaw would crack under the pressure he was employing on it. This was something she had to cover, so she continued. “I understand that Sidney had been chosen for an op and that you were against it. You’ve ruffled some feathers lately in wanting answers that no one seems willing to give.”
