Obsession and Desire: SKULL Book One

To Albuquerque

    Damien watched as Gabrielle went up the stairs to get ready for their trip. “That asshole…  I know what it’s like to have someone mess with your family, to hurt them.”

    Jace looked at Damien. “Yeah, I know.” When Damien and Jace were stationed in Afghanistan, Damien’s parents and brother were murdered by a trio of burglars looking for items to fence for drugs. His brother, Sean, came home for lunch and tried to protect their parents. Once the squabble was over, one robber was mortally wounded and fleeing with the other two. In the end, they were all dead from gunshot wounds. Damien never talked about what happened.  

    Jace sighed. “You know, if it hadn’t been Gabbie’s sister it would have been someone else.” His jaw set. “He needs to be stopped.” 

    Damien heard the slight anger in Jace’s voice. Not too long ago, a serial killer was after not only Jace's wife, Riley, but her cousin, Gemma as well.  In both instances, he and his twin, Jordan, dealt with the killer known as the Love Talker.  While Riley’s brush with that maniac was not extremely dire, Gemma had been kidnapped by that asshole – twice, mind you – and hurt physically. Jordan became enraged at the second attempt of a madman trying to keep Gemma forever. Gemma survived, and now she and Jordan were on their honeymoon.

    Honeymoon. For some odd reason that word left a pang of sadness in his heart. He didn’t know why, and he didn’t know why he should care. He was the one with a penchant for one-night-stands, never staying with any one woman longer than necessary, three weeks at the most. He kept his heart closely guarded.

    Especially after the last time, he would not get played again. He wouldn’t let another take his heart, or his love, and use it to hurt those close to him. Never again.

    However, there was Gabrielle. Petite, strawberry blonde, ass-kicking, no nonsense Gabrielle. He liked to tease her and call her by that hated nickname that she had come to loathe.  Hell, he just liked to annoy her in general. Like some six-year-old school boy who picks on a girl he likes.

    And yet…. Damien saw her as just beyond his reach. The one woman that made him want to be better and strive to be the man she could be with. She was different. She didn’t put up with his s**t, didn’t take his jokes and jabs seriously. And he actually wanted to be that guy for her.

    f**k! What the hell, I thought I’d left those feelings back in Afghanistan…

    He’d seen something different in her today. Something he’d never have thought he’d see in the spunky Marine Corporal. 

    Vulnerability.

    Sorrow.

    Damien never thought he’d see those things in her. But there they were. Plain as day. Worry and anger because some f*****g asshole got his rocks off by tormenting her sister? 

    No. I will not let that happen.

    As Gabrielle spoke about Christiane, Damien had the sudden urge to go over and put his arms around her for comfort. But he didn’t. He didn’t want to embarrass her,  didn’t want her to feel like she needed to be coddled. And, yet, the more she spoke, the more his heart hurt. Not just for her sister. For her.

    Holy s**t… f**k!  What in the hell? 

    “So, we’ll stop him,” Damien said at last. “Put him in his f*****g place.”

    Jace raised an eyebrow. “Fine. But do me a favor?”

    “What’s that?”

    “Don’t let her do anything… questionable. I know that’s her sister she’s helping. If she gets mad at the jerk and goes off half-c****d, it won’t do Christiane any good.” Jace stated. A knowing look was in his hazel eyes, a look that Damien knew all too well. “And ease up on the jokes.”

    Damien let out a heavy sigh. Jace was right. This was no time for his antics or ribbing. 

    “Got it,” he said, and went to the stairs.  He nearly bumped into Riley. “Oh! Hey there, sexy!”

    “Yes,” Riley said, raising her eyebrow “But this sexy, you can’t have.” She grinned when he clutched his chest in a mock heart-attack. “Hey,” she said, turning serious. “Go easy on her, okay? Cut down on the jabs and jokes while you guys are in Albuquerque, yes?”

    Damien nodded, a grin quirking his mouth. “Hey, I’m an asshole, I know. But I do know when not to be one.”

    Riley rolled her eyes. “I’m serious, Mr. Shea.” Her lips thinned. “No jokes.”

    Damien’s blue eyes became sombre. “So am I,” he said gruffly. “I know she’s smarting right now.  And I know I need to tread lightly with my humor.” He looked at Riley in earnest. “I won’t misbehave.”

    Before Riley could say anything, he went up the stairs.

INTERLUDE:

    Charles frowned.  

    He couldn’t find Christiane and that was making him extremely irate.

    He knew she had come back to Albuquerque. Traced her there. But to his eternal annoyance, she was nowhere to be found.

    She’s hiding again.

    He sat quietly on a bench facing the duck pond at the University of New Mexico’s campus, contemplating. Where would she hide? The envelope -- which he did not open because it was a federal offense -- went to Argent, NM. To her sister, who worked for SKULL.

    That would be a problem.

    Surely he could evade them if he had to. Or make them go away.  

    Nothing would keep him from Christiane.

    Did she go to Argent, where her sister lived? No, she was still here, in Albuquerque, he was sure of it. He just needed to find out where in Albuquerque she was hiding.

    Charles stood, stretched, and tossed his drink cup into the trash can nearby. He threw some of the bread crumbs from his sandwich to the ducks resting in the shade.

    Where to look? Where would his darling Christiane be? Where would she hide in order to be away from him? Although he couldn’t imagine why she’d want to be away from him.

    A thought occurred to him. Adjusting his sunglasses, he walked back to his car, humming.

    Oh, Christiane, I know where you are.

    The drive from Argent was a very long six hours. Almost too long for Gabrielle’s taste.

    Damien drove, of course, as they were in his black Dodge Ram. And he didn’t talk much, which surprised her somewhat. He usually talked non-stop on road trips. But not this one. At one point, he did make a comment about a small murder of crows pecking at some road kill. But for the most part, his conversation was sparse.

    She had managed to steal a glance at him. His blue eyes were shaded by sunglasses, she saw that his brows were knitted together and his jaw ticked. She looked away before he could notice she was watching him. Somehow, though, she knew he was aware of her eyes upon him.

    When they stopped at a gas station with a McDonald's, they had lunch. Gabrielle didn't usually eat fast food, unless it was a Blake's LottaBurger. But, boy, that Big Mac tasted good! She sat and watched in amazement as Damien wolfed down two sandwiches, fries and her leftovers.  She wondered at his metabolism, which must be strong and fast for him to eat like that.

    She bought four bottles of water as he topped up the gas in the truck. The temperature was high -- past one hundred --  as it always was in the hot, dry New Mexican desert. So, water would be needed. And, maybe some ice cream? She went to the cooler section of the gas station market and found some frozen foods. Among them, some ice cream sandwiches. She bought two big sandwiches.

    Damien grinned at her as she emerged from the convenience store with her bag of goodies.

    "Hey," he greeted. "Ready to hit the road again?"

    "Yep," she said, climbing up into the truck, the door shut, she felt like she was shutting the door on any conversation they could have.

    Of course, Damien's conversations normally consisted of jokes and smart-ass remarks. Not to mention the s****l innuendo. It was no secret he was randy as hell, but she didn't really want to have those kinds of conversations.

    The driver's side door opened, and Damien's six foot two frame slid in behind the wheel. 

    Sure, I have to climb a mile to get in this truck, and you just slide right in!  

    He smiled at her as he put on his seat belt. "Off we go!"

    Gabrielle busied herself with the items in the grocery bag. "Got you something," she said, silently cursing herself for sounding shy and school-girlish.

    "You did?" He actually sounded pleased by that information.

    She pulled out a bottle of water and set it in the cup holder. "This," she smiled. "And! This!" She handed     him an ice cream sandwich. "Here ya go!"

    He steered the truck onto Highway 285. Once able, he took the ice cream. "f**k me! Gabbie! Thanks!"

    Gabrielle took out her own ice cream. "Well, I figured something cool and refreshing would be nice." She smiled at him. "It's too hot."

    "f*****g hot," he added, opening his sandwich with one hand. He then took a big bite of the desert.  "Mmm!  Thanks, Gabbie."

    She stopped in mid-bite. Gabbie, he'd called her Gabbie. Not 'Gabs', the hated nick-name he'd given her. She blinked. "You're welcome," she said at last. She took a bite of the ice cream. "And thank you for helping me with this."

    Damien's jaw tightened. "No problem," he said. "That fucker has no business doing that to anyone, let alone your sister." He popped the last bite of ice cream into his mouth.

    "No," she said quietly. "No, he doesn't." Don't you cry. Not in front of Damien.

    He glanced at her. "We'll get him, Gabs, promise."

    Gabrielle cringed. He managed to use that name anyway, the impossible man. "Thanks," she mumbled, frowning at him.

    That quirky grin graced his stubbled face, those blue eyes shone brightly. "Aw, you like it."

    And the thing was, she did like it.

    Brett Rogers greeted Damien and Gabrielle as they entered the Albuquerque headquarters of SKULL. "Hey, there, ya big monkey!" He clasped Damien's hand.

    "Right back at ya," Damien grinned. "Colt in?"

    "No," Brett shook his head. "He had to step out for a minute. But Jace called, informed us of the case." He turned his gaze to Gabrielle. "I'm to help with any paper trails."  He eyed them both.  "And Miguel will be your back up, should you need it. He's with Colt at the moment."

    Gabrielle looked at him. "Thank you." She took out the envelope Christiane had sent her.

    "Maybe this will help?  It's everything Van Ness has ever done to her and such. The only thing she couldn't figure out is who he really is or where he came from."

    "I'm sure it will," Brett said. "I'll use my old FBI connections to see what turns up. He looked back at Damien. "Colt set you guys up at the Marriott down the street." He gave Damien a voucher from the desk nearby.  "Just give them this. Your rooms are already set up."

    "Awesome!" Damien grinned.

    Brett smiled, eyes glittering. "Get cleaned up, grab some food, get rest. Meanwhile, I'll start digging." He placed a gentle hand on Gabrielle's shoulder.

    Damien frowned when she smiled at Brett with a smile that Damien wished was for him. Too many times, he'd wished that. But then, she turned and slapped his belly with the back of her hand. "Come on, monkey man. I'm starving!"

    Brett snickered as Damien flinched from the slap. "Hey!" Damien said proudly, "She likes me!"

    Brett let out a bark of laughter as they left the building.