UnderFire Read Online Free PDF Page A

Jake had already explained Bob’s religious
fervor. “I was tempted to kick his ass more than once.”
    Matt laughed. “That bad?”
    Jake didn’t know where to begin. “You have no idea. Kathleen
was having a hell of a time. I could tell she wanted to tear him a new one.”
    Rick said, “Can you blame her?”
    They all knew Kathleen’s background and why she’d wanted to
punch Bob Ceno. Jake didn’t mention it because it reminded him of his own
culpability. Yeah, he’d screwed the pooch way back then and hadn’t supported
her the way he should have. Was that the reason he’d wanted to protect her so
fiercely? Because he hadn’t all those years ago?
    “You guys okay?” Jake asked.
    Rick smiled and looked a bit sheepish. “Lena’s refusing to
have her ankle looked at but I’m taking her home.”
    “She drove, right?” Matt asked.
    Rick shrugged. “Yeah, but she needs someone to talk to right
now and I don’t want to leave her alone.”
    “Uh-huh.” Jake had a feeling all three of them were headed
into dangerous ground but didn’t have a damn clue how to stop it.
    “Would you look at that?” Rick said.
    Jake looked over and saw Lena, Melanie and Kathleen in a
group hug. “Women.”
    Matt chuckled and his eyebrows went up. “What, you don’t
want a hug?”
    “Fuck off,” Jake said playfully. “Come on, let’s take care
of the ladies.”
    Matt walked over to talk to Melanie and Jake had a feeling
they’d end up together tonight. Rick asked about Lena’s ankle. She tried to
brush it off but Rick lifted her into his arms.
    When Kathleen’s gaze met Jake’s, he saw raw need flare in
her eyes, a longing for something he couldn’t define. He reached for her hand
and walked away with her.
    “We’ll see you later,” he said to Melanie and Matt.
    “Where are we going?” Kathleen said as he led her toward his
rental sedan.
    “I’ll take you to your hotel.”
    She smiled at him but there was something uncertain in her
eyes. Maybe she wasn’t that different from when she was a sixteen-year-old. She’d
always had an interesting combination of vulnerability and bravado. She’d shown
both of those attributes in the storage room tonight.
    “You hungry? We can pick up some food,” he said.
    She sighed. “I’m dying for a hamburger and fries.”
    “We’ll swing by the burger place on the main street. They’re
open until really late.”
    They climbed into his sedan and as she tried to buckle her
seat belt, it defeated her. He frowned and reached for the belt.
    “I’ve got it.” She snapped the words as she recovered and
closed the belt. “I’m just a bit tired.”
    “I can see that.”
    She threw a glance at him but this time it had apology
written all over it. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m…”
    “Jumpy?”
    “Yeah. What about you?”
    “I’m a bit jumpy too. I say we have those burgers and raid
your minibar. That’ll take the edge off.”
    Surprise filled her eyes but then she smiled. “You’re a bit
wild these days. When you were seventeen you never would have raided anyone’s
minibar.”
    He laughed. “You would have.”
    She sighed, and he heard the resignation and the teasing in
her voice. “Yeah. I would have, Major Frasier. Your parents must be proud of
you and your career.”
    He shrugged. “Mom is unimpressed.”
    “I still can’t believe that. She was in the marines. That
should count for something with her, that all three of her sons are in the
military.”
    He grunted. “You’d think so.”
    His mother was a piece of work, no denying it. She’d been a
marine for twenty years, hard as nails and lacking motherly tenderness. Their
father, though, had picked up where mom left off. He’d been a house husband
most of twenty years and suffered the prejudice that went along with it. But he
was a brave, good man and had given Jake and his brothers an excellent
foundation.
    Jake started the engine and soon they’d pulled out of the
mall parking lot and onto the