Courting Carolina by Janet Chapman Page B

was only a thick file to me,” Sam went on as he rubbed his throat. He turned with a glare and wiped his bloody fingers on his towel. “But even after getting to know him up close and personal these last two years, I still can’t reconcile the carefree, boyishly charming Alec MacKeage with the ruthless, utterly focused weapon we just had to aim and pull the trigger on.” He shook his head. “Shit, half the time we expected you to blow up in our faces and the rest of the time we almost wished you would, because I swear the more difficult the mission was, the scarier you got.”
    “You obviously have me mixed up with someone else.”
    Sam shook his head again. “Your own parents don’t know you as well as I do. I bet your mother still doesn’t know all those packages she sent to Afghanistan through your three tours of duty were being opened and photographed in DC so you could write and thank her for the maple cream cookies and blue socks. And I’m damn certain your father doesn’t know you had a vasectomy nine years ago.” He arched a brow. “Been rethinking that decision since you got ou—”
    Alec was on him before he’d even finished, this time pressing his arm to Sam’s throat and the tip of his knife into the towel below Sam’s waist. “You know why I always cameback?” he quietly asked. “Because I had no intention of dying until I found the bastard who blew our cover on my sixth mission out.”
    Sam’s eyes flared briefly, then suddenly narrowed. “That’s why you walked away three years ago without so much as a backward glance. You didn’t get out because you botched the job and got your partner killed; it all went down exactly like you planned.”
    The phone rang and neither man moved; Alec because he hadn’t gotten all the answers he wanted, and Sam likely because he still had a knife in his groin.
    “Sam, sweetie,” a feminine voice said after the beep, “your not answering better not mean you plan to meet me at the door wearing only a towel again.” A sigh came over the line. “You promised we’d at least get to light the candles and actually eat this time before we…” Her laugh was husky. “Well, I’m just turning onto the Inglenook road. Be there in a few minutes, sweets.”
    “Ah, do you mind?” Sam said as he carefully lifted away from the knife. “I’d really hate to disappoint my lady friend this evening.”
    Alec stepped away with a snort. “Now I see why you’ve been gaining weight this summer.” He arched a brow. “You do know that Vanetta’s husband nearly beat her to death, don’t you, and that he accidentally died of carbon-monoxide poisoning when he got drunk and left his car running in their garage?”
    “I know,” Sam said with a nod as he adjusted his towel. “But what worries me is how you know. Netta told me everyone believes she moved here from Alabama and bought the Drunken Moose because she needed to get away from the fond memories of her dead husband.”
    Alec turned and walked to the kitchen. “It must be my boyish Celtic charm that makes people want to confide in me.”
    “Wait,” Sam said, causing Alec to stop with his hand on the doorknob. “If Carolina ran to you, she must be in some pretty bad trouble. Is she in danger?”
    “Not anymore, or for the time being.”
    “What in hell does that mean?”
    “It means that I took care of two of the bastards trying to ransom her back to her father after holding her for three days before she escaped. But it also means I give her a month before she gets into trouble again.”
    “Shit, she was kidnapped? But how did they even know who she was? I gave her the best cover possible.” He shook his head. “Knowing Carolina, she didn’t go quietly.” Sam’s eyes darkened. “Was she hurt?”
    “They were afraid Titus wouldn’t pay full price if they didn’t return her whole and hearty.” Alec shot Sam a warning glare. “I’m nobody’s champion, especially Carolina Oceanus’s. And when you