The Unseen Enemy Series

Chapter 233

Sully sighed heavily, stretched his broad shoulders. He and Mark had finally finished the paperwork on the Ferguson incident, and he was good and ready to head for a hotel. Sully needed a shower, a meal, a beer and a bed. In that order.

“You ready to get going?” Mark said. “I’m ready for a burger and beer.”

“Great minds think alike. Yeah, let’s get out of here.” Sully looked around the tiny police station. “You think we’ll have to come back?”

Mark shrugged. “Maybe. The Utah State Troopers will undoubtedly have some questions for us, since Ferguson was from out of state and was a cop. It may get messy in some ways.”

“f**k, man. It was messy from the word go.”

Mark thought about Beth, and all the other women that Ferguson had raped and brutalized over the years. “Yeah. True.”

The men left the police station and Sully let Mark drive to the hotel. The closest city was about an hour away, and they didn’t talk much on the drive over. They’d worked together for Dallas for almost six years now, and they both knew that after a kill, they needed some decompression time.

Sully gazed out the window at the stunning scenery, taking stock of how he was doing. Ferguson wasn’t even close to the first man that he’d kicked off this mortal coil, and he wasn’t even close to being the last. After almost twelve years of military service, and time all over the Middle East, and six years in personal security, Sully was no stranger to taking human life. He’d never liked it, he certainly never sought it out – but when it came time to end a life, he’d step up without hesitation and with only a little regret after.

No regret this time, though. This was one of those kills that won’t haunt me.

When Sully got to his room, he headed straight for the bathroom, kicking off his shoes and shedding his clothes as he went. He ran the water until it was scorching hot and he stepped in, ducking his head under the spray. He closed his eyes, his hands on the wall in front of him, took deep breaths as he let go of the day.

Her face came to him now: wavy blonde hair, warm green eyes the color of the sea, sharp cheekbones hinting at her Polish background, her long, slim body. And as always when she snuck up on him unawares in a rare moment of calm, Sully experienced a kick to the gut that nearly brought him to his knees with guilt and grief at how badly he’d failed her. Failed both of them.

I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.

She couldn’t hear him, of course; neither one of them could. Sully had no faith in an afterlife, and he sure as hell didn’t believe in forgiveness… not when it came to what he’d done. Or, more to the point, what he hadn’t done. He’d failed to protect Jessica and their unborn child, failed them both so completely that as he’d stood over the two coffins – one so f*****g heartbreakingly tiny – he’d sworn there and then to never be that close to anyone. Not ever again.

I had my shot at love and happiness, and I f****d it all up.

But even as he had the thought, she came to him: long dark hair, flashing dark eyes, her smooth skin a warm chocolate, her lush body begging him to touch those amazing curves. No matter how high and thick he built the wall around his heart, no matter how much control he rigidly imposed on his feelings, her smile had the power to smash right on through those things. And that confounded him.

Cordelia.

Sully thought back to their time together in Foxburg Falls, when they’d gone undercover as a married couple. For weeks, it had been just the two of them all day and every day – and he’d loved every second of it. They’d shared a room (though not a bed) and he’d watched Cordelia sleep, her beautiful face relaxed and vulnerable. They’d held hands as they’d strolled the streets, teased each other over breakfast in the local café. She’d called him ‘babe’ and stroked his cheek. In turn, he’d brushed her sweet lips, called her ‘hon’ and more than once, he’d meant it all.

That part had shaken him, badly. So many times, he’d found himself sliding a bit too easily and deeply into their roles. More than once, he’d stared down at her when he was being physically affectionate as part of their cover, and he'd wanted to kiss her. For real. Coax her lips open with his tongue, stroke her mouth until she moaned and clutched at him and begged him to f**k her slow and deep and hard.

Impatient with himself now, Sully shook his head, reached for the shampoo. No. No way he was going there. Yeah, OK, she was smart and sexy and she made him happy in ways that he’d thought he could never be again… but he was a f*****g mess, and she deserved better than him. She deserved a man who was whole, and God knows he wasn’t even close to that.

So he determined to work with her, keep his distance and stay cold and aloof, and if he found himself gazing with longing across the bustling Solid Security office at her once in a while, well, so what? He was a healthy forty-year-old man, she was a gorgeous thirty-five-year-old woman, and there was basic biology in play. It didn’t mean a goddamn thing, though.

And if it does mean something? Then I won’t ever let it mean anything very much.

My life is quick and clean and has no complications.



Just like I like it.