Montana Secrets

“I’m Trace Gallagher. I just returned to the States a few weeks ago from an extended tour of duty in Tabari.”

Her face paled again when he named the Middle Eastern nation, so he hastened the rest of his explanation. “I was good friends with Marc and Ryan.”

Cat’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t remember either of them mentioning you.”

“They wouldn’t have. I was on assignment for military intelligence, working as a bodyguard for Prince Asim. Since Marc and Ryan were working undercover, too—”

“No one was supposed to know that.” Her eyes had widened with alarm, and he hastened to reassure her.

“As members of the intelligence community, we shared information. I kept them informed of what happened at the palace. They kept me abreast of what went on in the embassy.”

Skepticism was evident in the slant of her lips, the glint in her eyes.

“Look, I don’t expect you to take my word for this.” He dug into his pocket, pulled out an envelope and handed it to her. “Here’s a letter of introduction from Colonel Barker at the embassy—”

“Colonel?” Cat took the envelope and pulled out the letter written on official embassy stationery. Her dubious expression disappeared. “So the major’s been promoted. I’m glad. Marc and Ryan both thought a lot of him, and he was especially kind to Dad and me…after.”

She read the letter quickly, inserted it in its envelope and handed it back to him. “Looks like you’re who you say you are, Mr. Gallagher.”

He repressed a flinch at the ironic error of her words. “Call me Trace.”

At that instant, Cat gazed past him to the door, and Trace turned to find the principal he’d met earlier in the hall standing in the doorway.

“Everything okay in here, Catherine?” the man asked.

“I’m fine,” Cat said.

“You’re sure?” the principal persisted with a proprietary air that told Trace the boss considered Cat more than just another teacher.

“Trace is an old friend of Marc’s,” Cat explained. “He’s stopped in for a visit.”

The principal looked wary. “I’ll be around for a while. Buzz me on the intercom if you need me.”

Catherine smiled warmly at the man. “Thanks for looking out for me, Todd. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Good friend?” Trace fought back a pang of jealousy.

“The best,” Cat admitted. “I don’t know what I’d have done without him the last few years.”

Trace crushed his irrational anger against a man who had been there when he couldn’t be and tried to be grateful that Cat had had friends looking after her.

Cat’s expression sobered. “You still haven’t told me why you’re here in Athens.”

“Intelligence work is a stressful job, so my handlers decided I’m due for R&R. Marc and Ryan always talked about this corner of Montana as if it were God’s country. Since I’ve never been West, I decided to see for myself.”

“You’re on vacation?”

“A much-needed holiday,” he said with feeling.

His statement wasn’t intended as a deception. A vacation was exactly what the Pentagon had dubbed his Montana trip, even though he was on assignment.

Shortly after he had confronted Colonel Barker at the embassy, Ryan had been hustled out of Tabari aboard a military transport. Upon his arrival in the United States, a Pentagon limousine whisked him away from Andrews Air Force Base and delivered him into the hands of Colonel David Wentworth, head of counterterrorism.