Captain's Call of Duty

“It’s too far out of your way,” she protested.

“I’m wide awake and too pissed off at Chandler to go back to sleep any time soon.”

“Fine. Then head south on I-395 to the Beltway.”

He followed her directions to a nondescript apartment complex in suburban Virginia that looked like every other apartment complex around it. She reached for her door handle to jump out, and he stopped her with a hand on her left forearm.

“Hey, Al. Thanks. You did good tonight.”

She nodded and then all but fell out of his car. He grinned. That girl was a mess. He drove home thoughtfully. Why on earth was Chet Chandler mixed up in something as dangerous and potentially career-ending as kidnapping?

Jim’s gut said that Chet Chandler’s strings were being pulled by the same person or persons the kidnappers had worked for. His father believed the Raven’s Head Society was behind Lana’s kidnapping. According to Hank, the Ravens included some of the richest, most powerful, most influential people on the planet. But then, according to Hank, the Ravens also had a plan to rule the world in secret.

Who was the unseen player pulling Chet Chandler’s strings? All the signs pointed to there being one. Who in this town had the raw power to force United States senators to dance for them? What had Mendez stumbled into the middle of?

Chapter 2

It was a strange feeling planting a bug in a man’s computer while he stood over her, watching. Not to mention the man being grateful to have her do it.

“What would I do without you, Alex?” Senator Chandler commented as he sat down at his now-functioning computer.

She laughed. “You’d be on a first-name basis with the Congressional I.T. support guys.”

“You’re way better than those idiots,” Chandler declared. “And faster.”

She shrugged modestly. I ought to be better than those guys. I trained a bunch of them. “Just give me a shout if it acts up again, sir.”

She backed out of Chandler’s office. It was likely he wouldn’t notice her existence again until the next time his computer had a problem. She was good at being invisible. Of course, it was easy enough to do with everyone bustling around here as if the world would stop spinning if their current personal crisis didn’t get solved in the next two minutes.

Come to think of it, she’d been pretty invisible on the ranch, too. She’d been just one of the passel of kids and puppies who’d run all over the place in the summers. She and Lana had been the only girls. But nobody had ever doubted that Lana was all girl. She wore pretty clothes and didn’t like snakes or worms or touching fish, and she’d refused to rough-house with her brothers. Alex had been willing to do any of that stuff if it meant she got to spend time with Jim Kelley. And then there was her dad, of course. After the accident, he’d never been the same …

“Thanks for working your magic, Alex,” her supervisor in Chandler’s office said warmly. “I owe you one.”

Alex smiled. “Speaking of which, I’ve got a dentist appointment this afternoon. Will it be a problem for me to take a long lunch?”

The harassed chief-of-staff, Trevor McKinley, replied, “Are you kidding? You saved my life getting the boss’s computer up and running again so fast. Take the rest of the day off.”

Alex smiled and slipped out of the office. When she stepped onto the sidewalk, she pulled out her cell phone and called Jim’s office extension.

“Captain Kelley,” he answered shortly.

“Hi, it’s me. I’m done.”

“Perfect. Can I pick you up somewhere?”

She blinked, startled. He wanted to come get her? Vividly aware of not wanting to talk about sensitive information over an unsecured phone, she replied lightly, “How about I meet you?”

“Kirby’s. Noon. Lunch,” he bit out.

A lunch date with Jim Kelley? Holy cow. “Uhh, okay. See ya there.” She disconnected the call in minor shock. It was just work, but still. She was having lunch with him! She glanced down at her clothes in dismay. She looked like a prison guard in these severe gray pants and white Oxford shirt. No help for it. She didn’t have time to go home and make it back downtown before noon. So much for acting more like Lana Kelley. Abandoning the Beast in its outrageously expensive spot in the parking garage around the corner, she opted to grab the Metro to the other end of the Mall and Kirby’s Diner.

When she walked into the crowded joint at five minutes till twelve, Jim was already there. She was thankful that he subscribed religiously to the army theory that if you weren’t five minutes early, you were late. He spotted her and waved. Somehow, he’d managed to snag a postage-stamp-sized table that optimistically was supposed to seat two. She made her way through the noisy crush to join him.

She sat down and gulped as her knee promptly banged into his. She levered herself sideways to avoid physical contact with him. No way could she eat a messy hamburger while rubbing knees with the man. She’d choke to death for sure. She picked up the glass of ice water he’d already ordered for her and took a sip.

“How was your morning?” he asked.

“Productive. Yours?” she replied more breathlessly than she liked.

“The same.” Grinning, he reached into his pocket and fished out a set of keys. “Here.”

“What are these?”

“Keys to the love nest you and I are about to borrow on Capitol Hill for a little while.”

She inhaled sharply, which was unfortunate given that she was still sipping at her water. She coughed violently enough that Jim reached around to thump her on the back, which didn’t do a darned thing to help her breathe.

“Jeez. Don’t say things like that to a girl when she’s drinking.”

Abruptly grim, he murmured under the din around them, “We’re green-lighted.”

“For what?”

“Full-blown op. Looks like you’re finally going to get your wish to play soldier, and I’m going to get mine to go after Lana’s kidnappers.”

She jolted. He doesn’t know about all the things I’ve done to finagle working with him, does he? Belatedly, she realized he was talking about their argument yesterday. She scowled. “I still want to go to a war zone. Experience real combat. A ‘love nest’ on Capitol Hill hardly qualifies.”

“I dunno. The halls of power in this town can be pretty cutthroat.”

She rolled her eyes as a waitress came to take their orders and left again.

Jim leaned close. “Whatever you want, you’ve got it. Sky’s the limit.”

If only.

“Any gear, any cool gadgets you need. Just say the word.”

Whoopee. Gadgets.

“The place is furnished. All we’ve got to do is move in and go for it.”

Does he have to keep saying things like that? I’d love nothing better than to go for it with him.

“You think you’re up to this, Al?”

“Uhh. Yeah. Sure.”

“I can’t wait to nail that guy.”