Badger Read online

  She turned to look at him in surprise. “What?”

  He motioned to his leg and the crutches.

  She stopped and stared at him for a long moment. “Do you think for one moment I give a damn?”

  There was a steely hurt tone to her voice, and he realized he’d let his own insecurity be the filter by which he had judged her. He shook his head. “It’s not you. It’s me.” And he gave her a lopsided grin.

  She took several steps forward and glared up at him. “Don’t. Don’t make fun of this. I won’t make fun of your wounds, your injuries, the pain you’ve been through. But neither do I intend to knock the man you have become because of it. This”—she waved at his new form—“is beautiful, with or without the second leg. And don’t ever forget that.”

  She reached up and kissed him hard, adding, “And don’t ever say that again.”

  Chapter 16

  Kat woke in the morning slowly, with a sense of well-being deep inside. As she opened her eyes, she found herself wrapped in Badger’s arms. She wasn’t a small woman by any means, but he was huge. With her head on his shoulder and her arm across his chest, he looked like a mountain of muscle beside her. She smiled, rolled her head toward him to see if he was awake. He was lying on his back, staring at the ceiling. Although he was resting, his gaze was open, and she could see the wheels of his mind turning.

  “Did you have a good night?” she whispered.

  He tightened his arm around her and cuddled her close. He leaned his head to the side and kissed her on the forehead. “The best.”

  She chuckled. “As much as I really enjoyed our nighttime activities, I was more concerned as to whether you got any rest.”

  His lips twitched in a lopsided grin. “I got enough.”

  She sat up and stretched, uncaring when the sheet fell to her waist. When his hand slid up her back and around to cup her breast, she leaned over him and smiled. “Surely you’re not still in the mood.”

  He gave her an innocent look. “I’m male. That means I’m in the mood.”

  She burst out laughing, kissed him and said, “That may be. But think of the pool as foreplay.”

  She sat up, clipped on her leg and went into the bathroom. When she was done, she stood and stared at the image in the mirror. She looked happy. She looked well loved, her hair tousled, a sleepy slow-eyed look to her eyes, and a rosy flush to her skin. In truth, she had never looked better.

  She wandered back out to the bedroom to find Dotty lying on the bed where Kat had been lying. “She’s quite the opportunist.” She glanced around.

  When he didn’t answer, she turned to see him sitting on the edge of the bed, wrapping the cloth around his stump.

  She stopped, put her hands on her hips and said, “Crutches not the prosthetic.”

  He glared at her. She pointed at the inflamed flesh. He looked back at his stump and nodded.

  She walked closer, her fingers gentle as she examined the puffy skin. “Do you have any cream for this?”

  He opened a night table drawer and pulled out an antibiotic cream.

  She brushed his hands away and gently coated the angry tissue. “Better if you wear shorts and pin it back to leave this open and free for the air.”

  “Only if we’re staying home. If we’re going anywhere, that’s ugly as hell.”

  She frowned but kept her own counsel. She’d much rather he did what was better for his body than worry about what it looked like. But she understood that not everybody appreciated seeing something like this. She straightened and stepped back. “Speaking of that, what are we doing today?”

  “Well, apparently we’ll start with a swim,” he said, complaining.

  She laughed and looked around. “I would ask where my bathing suit is.”

  At that, he chuckled. “Probably where my shorts are,” he said drily.

  She winced. “There’s nobody down there, right? Nobody would have seen that?”

  “I live alone. I don’t have a gardener who comes in unannounced. Although I do have somebody who comes once a week to clean the house. It’s not her day today.”

  “Good. Shall we go down in our birthday suits and find our clothing?”

  He nodded, grabbed his crutches and straightened up on his good leg. “Lead the way.”

  She snickered. “You just want a view as you walk.”

  “Damn right I do,” he said cheerfully. “My mama didn’t raise no fool.”

  She walked slowly and carefully, feeling an odd sense of freedom with the fact that she was completely nude. She’d wondered about grabbing something to cover up with, but it seemed a little odd to dress just to go downstairs so she could put her bathing suit back on. In fact, it would feel very strange to put a bathing suit back on when they’d been nude up until now.

  Down in the kitchen, the big double doors opened, and she peered outside. Dotty raced into the morning light. No one else was there. Kat stepped out, loving the feel of the fresh air on her skin. She found one of her bathing suit pieces on the edge of the pool; the other lay on the bottom of the shallow end. She stood and stared at it. “There seems to be something logistically wrong about going into a pool nude in order to grab clothing so I can put it on.” She turned toward him.

  He had his shorts in his hand as if about to step into them. He looked at her. “You don’t have to get dressed for my sake.”

  She stared at him and realized she’d never in her life gone swimming in the nude. She unclipped her leg and with a big grin took several hops forward and jumped into the pool. She gasped at the cold water. She rolled and swam and frolicked. She put on her bathing suit bottoms, then retrieved her top. With that back on again, she said, “So weird to think this is a much more natural feel.”

  “Considering I think I hear a vehicle out front, it’s probably a good idea too.”

  She stared at him in horror and glanced around the pool. “Five minutes ago, they would have gotten an eyeful.”

  “As far as I’m concerned, you’re still an eyeful in that outfit. It doesn’t hide much.”

  She glanced down at her long lean form and said, “In truth I don’t have much to hide.”

  “But what you have is prime, so I’d rather the guys didn’t get a look.”

  With her cheeks fire-engine red, she plunged back under the water and started to swim. She set herself up into a rhythmic motion of laps. Going from one end to the other until she could feel her muscles tire. She finished at the shallow end and turned her face out of the water as she just floated in place.

  “Kat, the guys are here.”

  She looked up to see the men staring down at her. She smiled. “You could come in.”

  “We would have if we’d realized you would spend the morning lazing about,” Erick said with a grin, crouching at the side of the pool, cuddling Dotty, who was ecstatic to see them.

  “It was a good way to start the morning.” She swam toward the steps, grabbing her towel from the railing. She didn’t remember it being there before so presumed Badger had placed it along the metal pole.

  “We’ll meet you inside,” Badger said, as the men followed him, Dotty tagging along at the rear.

  He was giving her a graceful exit from the pool to put on her prosthetic. She hopped out, drying off a bit before attaching her prosthesis. Then she wrapped the towel around her and entered the house. “What plans have we got for the morning?”

  “We figured we should run past your house first,” Badger said quietly. “You probably want to check in just to see that everything’s okay. Plus we can call to find out what the police have found, what we have to do to secure your property so you can move back in again.”

  She knew he was right, but the thought of leaving this wonderful idyllic paradise was a little more than she wanted to comment on right now. “Before we do all that, I need food.”

  She left the men talking while she walked into the kitchen. She vaguely remembered the contents of his fridge but didn’t know if Badger needed somethin
g substantial or just a bite. She stood in front of the open door and wondered if she should make another omelet.

  He called out, “Not sure how hungry you are, but there’s yogurt, fresh fruit and granola, any of the above. If you find something you want, grab it.”

  She wandered over to the pantry, found the granola, headed back to the fridge, grabbed blueberries and yogurt and quickly made herself a decent-size bowl. She put on coffee while she was here, grabbed a spoon and headed outside where the men were gathered again. She sat down on the lounge she’d been on last night, and, with the towel still wrapped around her, she ate breakfast. Then she caught something about Erick leaving. “Where are you going?”

  “I’m heading overseas, where we were injured. Tesla caught the sound of something else in the background. A repeating station was over there. She said she could hear it in the background.”

  Kat stared at him, slowly lowering her spoon to her bowl. “What good will that do?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. But I can’t quite let go of the fact somebody did this. Especially after hearing the audio myself.”

  “I get that. But what will going back to the scene do? It’s not like any evidence will still be there after all this time, would it?”

  He shook his head. “No, probably not. And I hate to say this, but I have nightmares that just don’t quit. I was thinking, if I went back, I might be able to put some of those to rest.”

  “And check with the locals to see if anyone knows anything helpful, I presume?”

  “Not the locals,” he said with a hard smile. “It’ll be the rebels who planted that antitank land mine.”

  Badger started beside her. “I wonder if it was planted on purpose.”

  She turned to look at him. “Of course it was. It’s not like that was an accidental land mine,” she half joked.

  He looked at her, and she could see the darkness inside.

  “Are you thinking it was actually planted, buried for your vehicle? Not just that someone knew it was there and sent your vehicle in that direction? That’s a whole different level of ugly.”

  His gaze shifted to the other men. “What do you guys think?”

  There was tension in the air as everyone contemplated such a betrayal. Erick nodded. “It’s very possible. I’ll go have a little talk over there on my own.”

  “I’m coming with you then,” Cade said. “I don’t have anything happening anyway. I’ve got no job, no money to burn, and, like the rest of you, it’s hard to move forward until this is settled.”

  The two men high-fived each other. They both turned to look at Badger. He nodded. “I think it’s a great idea. We know a supplier too. He might have a lead on who bought the land mine. I think I should go too.”

  “No.” Kat’s voice was calm and sharp. “You need to get that leg fixed.”

  He’d tugged on his shorts, the length covering his stump. He glanced at her. “It can wait a few weeks.”

  She shook her head. “No. That flesh is inflamed, and it’s not getting better. If you lose any more of your leg, I won’t be able to put a prosthetic on it. You’ll be left with much less than you have now. Everything we lose at this point will impact your mobility down the road.”

  He glared at her.

  She glared back. “You know I’m right.”

  His fist clenched, and he opened his mouth to say something, but the words didn’t come out.

  She reached a gentle hand across and placed it on his hand. “No. Erick and Cade can take care of this part. You took care of London. Let them do this one. A few weeks, a few days even, will make a huge difference to your leg.”

  “They can delay this for a few days. And then I can go with them,” he growled.

  She shook her head. “I think they want to go now.” She turned to look at them.

  Both men shrugged their shoulders and nodded. “Yeah, we kind of do.” They looked at Badger. “I know you don’t want to go back in a hospital, and I know you don’t want to give your body the time it needs because you’re done with all of that,” Erick said, his tone understanding, yet implacable. “We’re all in the same boat. Not one of us wants to sign up for more of what we’ve been through. Not one of us wants to lie in a hospital bed again. And you can bet not one of us wants to go through any more therapy. But the fact of the matter is, your rehab is not done. And you need to complete it. You found the first pieces of information and a lead. That lead has led to something else. Let somebody else step up and take care of the next part. We often went off one or two at a time when we were on missions because we had assigned jobs. Let this be Cade’s and mine.”

  Badger gave a heavy sigh. “When are you planning on leaving?”

  The two men glanced from Badger to Kat and then back again. “We’ll go with you to Kat’s house this morning and take a look. We’ll try to leave this afternoon.”

  Badger stiffened.

  She squeezed his fingers and said, “Accept it.”

  He sagged in place and nodded. “You call if you need any help. I don’t give a shit if I’m in the hospital or not, you know I’ll come.”

  The men nodded. “That we will. We’re kind of hoping you might run the control center on this one. Stay here, be at the end of your phone at all times, get us information. You know what transmissions and communications are like over there. I don’t want to put Mason or Levi in any position of having some of this come back on their shoulders. If we contact you, you can contact them.”

  Kat watched and listened as they worked out the details.

  When Badger asked, “Do you need any funds to make this happen?” both men shook their heads.

  “We’re good. If we need bribe money, we’ll call you.”

  Badger nodded. “Just make sure you go in with enough to get through the first part. Who’s to say where this one will go? But, if you do find anything about that land mine …” and he let his voice trail off.

  Cade nodded. “That we can do.” He walked into the kitchen and returned with coffee on a tray for everyone.

  Kat realized these guys knew Badger’s house better than she did. They had been here many times over the years. Proof of their friendship. Proof of a life she didn’t know anything about. They were also very well loved by Dotty. Something she knew would develop over time with her if she were here long enough too.

  As soon as they finished the coffee, she went upstairs and got changed. She wanted to go to her house and get that part of her life together. As much as she loved being here with Badger, she didn’t want to push the relationship. She was already prodding him for that surgery and to take the proper time to heal. She was in a hard place as far as becoming his girlfriend. They were lovers, but, in this day and age, what did that mean? Back downstairs again, she collected her stuff, put her wet bathing suit in a plastic bag, and, when she was ready, set everything at the front door.

  By this time Badger was dressed and coming out of the office. He was using his crutches, which was good for him, but she knew he was only doing it for her sake. When he saw the bag with a bathing suit, he shook his head. “You’re not staying at your place tonight.”

  She frowned at him. “Why not?”

  “You don’t have a kitchen window for a start. And we don’t know what we might have to do to get your security back online.”

  She glanced around and said, “I didn’t want to be a burden here, to overstay my welcome.”

  “Enough of that talk. Put your bathing suit outside on the back of the lounge so it’ll be dry when we return. You can hit the pool a second time then.”

  She was torn. But it didn’t make any sense to leave her wet bathing suit in a plastic bag if she couldn’t leave it at her house. Silently she followed his instructions.

  When she met him at the front door again, all the men were gathered around. They drove two vehicles over to her house.

  Pulling into her driveway, her gaze locked on the busted window, hating the desolated appearance the house had, the prop
erty, the neighborhood. When she glanced at Badger, his gaze was on everything but the house. He was still in protective mode—his eyes searching and missing nothing. She hopped out and waited until he joined her. With Erick and Cade beside them, they walked slowly through the property.

  She brushed her hair back. “I need to phone the insurance assessor.”

  “And see if he was actually here,” Badger said. “He might not have come if you weren’t here.”

  “He was supposed to.” She pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed the number. She walked through to the living room. When she got the assessor on the line, she got confirmation he had been here.

  “We are clearing your claim,” he said. “I suggest we get a restoration company, and they can do it all for you.”

  “Yes, I’d rather have that. They can handle all the rest of this headache and get it back to rights without me losing hours contacting contractors.”

  “Let’s do that then.”

  With an appointment set for that afternoon with the restoration company, she wandered about, noting the flooring had been gouged by the shattered glass. The linoleum in the kitchen had several recent cuts in it as well. How very sad. Upstairs she stood in the doorway to her bedroom, crying out in shock.

  From behind her Badger called out, “What’s wrong?”

  “Somebody has completely messed up my bedroom,” she cried out. “In other words, people came in and took what they wanted while I wasn’t here.”

  “Definitely a problem.” He approached from behind her, took one look and said, “Whoa, this is more than somebody just messing up the place. What’s the chance somebody was here looking for those coins?”

  Her breath caught in the back of her throat. “It’s very possible. But they sure as hell aren’t here.”

  A voice from the spare room said, “Where the hell are they?”