When he left the bathroom, he found Mark sitting on the bed. “Ready?” he asked curtly.
Mark got up and walked around the bed to put his hands gently on Walker’s hips. He tilted his head to look into Walker’s face. “What’s got you freaked?”
Walker decided to be honest. “I got a message to Doyle.”
“And let me guess, you didn’t like the response?”
“It wasn’t what I wanted to hear.”
Mark cupped Walker’s jaw with one hand. “It’s okay. We’ll work through it, I promise.
Walker placed his hand over Mark’s. “I know, but I’m feeling very inadequate at the moment.”
He was ashamed. His teammates, especially Doyle or Collins, would never admit weakness.
“Don’t be. You’re doing fine. Look what you’ve achieved so far.”
“I had a nap,” Walker said sourly.
“You dealt with two potential ambushes, extricated me from my clingy best friend, and you’re taking me on a road trip knowing there are issues. Plus you had a nap.”
Mark grinned at him and Walker bent down to briefly brush a kiss to his lips.
“Could you stay with me forever to give me pep talks?”
“I think my clients might object if I’m never at home.”
“Do you miss it?” Walker asked.
“Being an operative?”
“Yeah.”
Mark sighed. “Sometimes, and sometimes I appreciate what it’s like to live in one place and have friends I can meet up with and discuss my day.”
“I’ve never had that stability.”
“Why did you become an operative?” Mark asked.
Walker snorted. “Better money, interesting assignments.”
“And then you became a member of the Valentine team. Did you think about quitting?”
Walker bit the inside of his lip and then he shook his head. “Briefly, but then I met you.” He heard the breath catch in Mark’s throat. “I needed to discover whether I could get to know you.”
“You stayed for me?”
“You were one of the reasons. Also, I was pissed, you know? I wanted to be this hotshot operative and instead I was labeled loser. I wanted to prove them wrong.”
He would have said more but there was a noise outside the door as if somebody had knocked over a glass. They both stiffened and Walker put a finger over his lips. Mark nodded and to Walker’s surprise, went into the bathroom and shut the door without being asked.
Walker flicked the switch of the lamp on the nightstand and plunged the room into darkness. He grabbed his Glock and silently moved to the window. He waited, deliberately not moving the drapes, listening for any sign of men outside their door. The silence ramped up the tension. He could hear his rapid breathing. He made a deliberate effort to calm. This was what he was trained for. He waited, but still nothing.
Clink!
Walker’s heart beat faster.
“Get out of here!”
Walker blinked. The man’s roar came out of nowhere. He eased back the drapes and saw a dark shadow skitter past.
“Fuckin’ cat.”
A door slammed on the man’s frustrated bellow.
A cat?
Walker leaned against the wall, blood pounding in his ears and gave a shaky laugh. He’d been about to shoot a fucking cat? Christ.
Still, training told him to wait and he did. But nothing else alerted him and he went over to the bathroom.
“It was a cat,” he said.
The bathroom door opened. Mark grinned at him. “Welcome to life in the field.”
Walker’s heart was still pounding hard. If he was going to jump at every unknown noise he’d never get through the mission.
“Let’s go,” he said, his tone curt.
The sooner he had his team with him, the better. For better or worse, they were his team and they would have his back.
He finished getting dressed and laced up his boots, then he smiled at Mark who’d waited patiently for him. “You ready?”
Mark held out his hand and Walker allowed himself to be tugged into his arms.
“You’re doing great,” Mark said and pulled him down for a kiss.
Walker went willingly, taking comfort from the feel of Mark’s mouth on his. Mark swept his tongue over Walker’s lips and he parted them, relishing Mark’s tongue dueling with his. The kiss didn’t last long, but it was enough and when they stepped back, Walker felt calm enough to face whatever came next.
Five minutes later, he eased out of their room. Aside from a couple of cups on their sides he couldn’t see anything amiss and most rooms were dark, the only sounds coming from the TV in a room two doors down. He nodded to Mark who came out cautiously. They covered each other as they went down the stairs but the only thing that made Walker jump was the black cat scuttling around the corner. He scowled at the oblivious creature.
He looked up to see Mark smirking at him. Walker flipped him off and Mark snorted quietly. As they rounded the corner, Walker held Mark with one arm across his chest and pressed the key fob for the truck. He didn’t want any explosive surprises. After a moment, he moved forward cautiously. He circled the truck, looking for any signs of tampering. Then looked underneath, using a flashlight to check. He met Mark’s eyes the other side of the truck.
“Anything your side?” he murmured.
“It’s clean.”
He eased the hood open but found nothing suspicious. Mark didn’t try to rush him, and Walker appreciated that.
They opened the doors and went through the same careful procedure. It was a relief when they sat down and closed the doors on the world.
“Ready to go?” Walker asked.
“Yeah.”
The truck purred into life with no nasty surprises and they pulled out of the parking lot, Walker praying it would be one smooth ride to the safe house.
Chapter 12
It took only a few minutes for Mark to comment on the second change in direction.
"What's going on, big guy? We’re heading south again back to the I-80."
He should have known Mark would spot this.
Walker clutched onto the steering wheel. "The news from Doyle wasn't good."
"So we're going somewhere else?"
"Yeah, hopefully this will be the last change in location. My team are already there waiting for us."
Mark was quiet for a couple of miles. Walker drove silently, checking behind him and ahead of them all the time for any possible danger. He wasn't naïve enough to expect they ditched their tails completely. It would be easy to find them if someone looked hard enough.
When Mark spoke it was a shock. Walker had thought he was asleep.
"Can we talk? I can't sleep. I have no idea why Polikov is coming after me now. It doesn’t make sense."
Walker reached over and put a hand on Mark’s leg. The thigh muscle twitched under his palm. Mark was truly petrified. It wasn’t like he knew anything, but he sought to allay Mark's fears. "It's okay. I don't really know what's going on, and I’m not sure anyone does yet, but me and my team will take care of you, I promise."
"That's the first time you've spoken about your team as a cohesive unit. It's good to hear."