The Unseen Enemy Series

Chapter 186

The next morning, Dean and Dallas stood on their respective front porches, clutching their cups of coffee. They sipped and chatted, but neither man really talked about what was on his mind.

Despite the fact that he trusted Dallas with his life – and he had done exactly that in Afghanistan, and more than once – Dean didn’t breathe one word to his friend about Emma’s remission. He thought it best for her to tell their friends when she was happy about it.

To tell anyone before she was ready seemed to him to be a massive betrayal.

On Dallas’ side, he was worried about Olivia. Yeah, in so many ways she was doing better than anyone could have hoped. This was a woman who’d been a famous model, lauded for her perfect face and body, splashed across the covers of men’s magazines in little more than a bikini or a thong. This same woman was now covered in scars: on her cheek, her stomach, her hips, her breasts. Her modeling career had crashed and burned, she’d had to sell her house, she’d had to start all over again.

And Olivia had. She was happily planning their wedding. She’d thrown herself into working for her shelter for battered women and kids, heart and soul. She was comfortable in bed with him, she trusted Dallas to look at her naked, to touch her everywhere. Still, though… her inability to touch her own scars, to even look at them sometimes, that worried him. He knew it was normal, that it would take time. But he wanted to help her more, if he could. He just didn’t have any idea how.

At eight o’clock, Dallas’ cell phone rang. He glanced at it and said to Dean, “Jim.”

Dean walked over to Dallas’ porch, leaned against the railing. He’d told Dallas about Jim retrieving a drunk Kat from the bar, and how he’d stayed at Kat’s place the previous two nights. Dean had watched Dallas’ face carefully as he’d talked about Kat: he knew that Dallas knew something about the woman, but as always, Dallas didn’t let on a damn thing. The man was an expert at keeping his thoughts to himself.

“What’s up, man?” Dallas said to Jim.

Dean watched as Dallas’ lips tightened, a sure sign of anger, and one of Dallas' only tells. Dean c****d his head quizzically, and Dallas averted his eyes. He said a few more words to Jim, then hung up.

“Poker’s canceled,” Dallas said.

“Huh? How come?”

“Because we’re all going over to Kat’s.” Dallas ran his huge hand over the back of his neck. “She’s going to talk to us, and we’ll see if we can help her.”

“With what?”

“With whoever she’s running from.”

Dean set down his coffee cup with a crash. “She finally admitted that she’s hiding?”

Dallas nodded. “Yeah. But she won’t tell Jim more than that yet.”

“And she’ll tell us?”

“She will.” Dallas hesitated. “She wants to know if we can keep her safe.”

“f**k, yeah, we can.” Dean was furious just at the thought of someone wanting to hurt her. “Why is she even doubting it?”

“I don’t know.” Dallas sipped his coffee. “But she seems to feel that it’s a question. Makes me wonder just who the hell this fucker is, and what he’s capable of.”

That gave Dean pause. “You think it’s bad?”

“Dean,” Dallas said. “The woman has set up her whole life to make sure that she doesn’t officially exist anywhere. She has a packed suitcase next to her door, ready to run at any second. Nobody does that. So yeah, I think it’s bad.” He sighed. “It’s probably about as bad as it can get.”