Callaway Country

“I don’t know what to think, Clay. You practically looked through me all evening and then you—you—well, you crawl into my bed and…” She paused, apparently unable to give voice to what had happened.

“I know we need to talk about this,” he finally said when she didn’t say anything more, “but frankly, I don’t have the time right now. I’ve got to get downstairs.” He almost told her why, but if she didn’t know about the planned meeting and that he was going to be working with her, he did not want to be the one to break the news to her. The situation was volatile enough as it was.

He hastily gathered his clothes from the floor, retracing his trail from the night before. Hell, he scarcely remembered coming into the room, much less undressing and getting into bed.

How could he have made such a stupid mistake?

He found his bag, opened it and pulled out the first clothes he could find, which happened to be underwear, a pair of well-worn jeans and a faded knit shirt. Without looking toward the bed, he retraced his steps and went into the bathroom. He quickly showered before getting dressed.

He returned to his bag and grabbed a worn pair of running shoes and put them on. Then he left the room. What in the hell had he been doing in Pam’s room? Hadn’t Melanie told him room 937?

He stopped in the middle of the hallway and rubbed his aching head.

Or had she said 973?

Damn.

He must have gotten the room numbers confused. And of all the people that he might inadvertently end up spending the night with, why did it have to be Pamela McCall?

When he spotted room 973 on his way to the elevators, Clay impulsively paused before the door and knocked. Within a short time the door opened. Melanie stood there in a filmy negligee, her expression puzzled.

For a very good reason.

“Good morning, Clay,” she said, taking in his casual dress, a far cry from the tuxedo he’d been in the last time she’d seen him. Instead of commenting on his clothes, she lifted an eyebrow and drawled, “When you said you were going to be late getting to bed, you weren’t kidding.”

He leaned his hand against the doorjamb and scrubbed his face with his other hand. “This has been one hell of a get-together. I’ll explain everything after I get back from another meeting.” He straightened, trying to think of something to say, something believable, something—forgivable?

“I know when you hear my story, you’ll be able to see the humor in it, but right now—” He shrugged. “I’m already late for a meeting and—”

“Your meetings are definitely getting in the way of our reunion,” she replied, eyeing him with a wary look.

“As soon as we’re through, I’ll be back to see you. I promise.”

“It’s a good thing I haven’t been holding my breath for you to keep your promises, Clay.”

He shook his head. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am,” he murmured, aware of the terrible truth of that statement. He gently squeezed her hand. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He hurried to the elevators and pushed the button. He glanced over his shoulder and watched as Melanie closed the door.

The pinging sound of the elevator caught his attention. He stepped inside and pushed the lobby button, glad that at least for the moment he had the car to himself.

What in the world was he going to do? How could he possibly explain to Melanie what he couldn’t fully explain to himself? Plus, he still had to face Pam.

The doors opened and he crossed the lobby in long strides toward the coffee shop. He spotted Carruthers at the last booth, sitting with his back to the wall, as soon as he stepped inside the room. Clay wondered how the man could look so polished and alert in his casual clothes this early in the day. Sam wore a light blue T-shirt the same shade as his piercing gaze. Clay walked past the row of booths and paused at the last table. Another man sat across the table from Sam.

The two men stopped talking when he approached. Sam glanced up at Clay, picked up the carafe near his elbow and poured coffee into a third cup on the table.

“Sit down,” he said with a half smile. “You look like you could use this.”

The other man moved over and Clay sat down beside him. He propped his elbows on the table and dropped his head into his hands. “You have no idea,” he muttered, wishing he could redo the past twenty-four hours.

Sam cleared his throat and said, “Clay Callaway, I want you to meet Joe Chavez. Joe’s from Florida, one of the best reconnaissance men I’ve ever worked with. He kindly volunteered to help us out here.”

Clay raised his head and looked at the man beside him. Dark eyes bored into him before Joe offered his hand. “How’s it going?” Joe murmured politely.

Clay heard himself chuckle with a sense of disbelief that he could exhibit any sense of humor. “Believe me, you don’t want to know.” He briefly shook Joe’s hand. “A volunteer, huh?”

“The colonel has a fine sense of humor,” Joe replied with a deadpan expression.

“No titles here,” Sam said. “We’re on a first-name basis on this little party. No need to be too formal since we’re supposed to be army buddies enjoying a little R and R.”

Joe rolled his eyes, making Clay feel better by the minute. So he wasn’t the only one commandeered to work this job.

Sam checked his watch. “I finally reached Pamela McCall. I left a message for her when I arrived last night but she didn’t return my call. Since I didn’t have her room number, I had the hotel put my call through a few minutes ago. She said she’d be down as soon as possible, but not to wait on her for breakfast.”

The waitress came and took their orders. As soon as she left, Sam said, “Joe’s been briefed on what’s happened here recently. We’re agreed that it would be a relatively simple matter to set explosives on land, but it took some tough professionals—some-one trained as we were—to do the underwater demolition work on the offshore rig. So it’s possible we’re going to find that Uncle Sam trained whoever did this.

“My biggest concern was to pick investigators that I could trust absolutely in any given situation. That’s why you two are here. You work well alone, you’re damn good explosives men, and you can put yourselves in the perp’s head to figure out how it was done.

“It’s up to us to find out why, as well. We’re going to do just that, which is why Ms. McCall is part of the group. She knows how to analyze records and do background checks, which will relieve us of that much.”

“Does she know who she’ll be working with?” Clay could no longer resist asking.

Sam shook his head. “Most of the time she’ll be working alone gathering information. Clay, I’m assigning her to you because she may need to do some fieldwork. I know she’s a trained operative, but most of her experience has been in the office. I’d feel better knowing you were with her in case we run into unexpected trouble. We’re also going to need to set up a command post that’s centrally located.”

Clay said, “The families have condo units in Austin we could use. There are several of them in one building. There shouldn’t be a problem with our staying there.”

Sam nodded thoughtfully. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll speak to Cole about that as soon as we finish here. Plus, we’re going to need some transportation,” he added, looking at Clay. To Joe, he said, “You’ve got the rental car you picked up at the airport for your use.”

Once again Clay spoke up. “My dad has a couple of pickup trucks we could borrow.”

Sam smiled. “I intend to rent a car, but I may wait until I get to Austin. Cole said something last night about having the company plane available for our use. He suggested we meet in the lobby at noon. By then, he’ll have arranged transportation for us to the airport where his plane is located. I figure that’s how we’ll go to Austin.” He looked at both of them and asked, “Do either of you have any questions?”

Chavez took a sip of his coffee. “What are the local authorities saying about this series of events?”

“They’re scratching their heads,” Sam replied. “I’m not much into trusting local authority. We’re going to be working independently, and we’re not going to be sharing anything we get with the locals.”

Chavez nodded.

After a moment, Sam said, “We’ve got a man who’ll get hired on at the offshore rig. He’ll be able to report anything he finds there. We’ve got to know quickly if this was an inside job or not. Chavez, you’re going to be covering the border area in south Texas, and your story is that you’re looking for family members. It will be a good cover for asking questions.” He paused while the waitress placed their orders in front of them. Once she was gone, he said, “Callaway, you and Pamela will be working with me in the central Texas area.”

He glanced past the men and stood. “Good morning, Ms. McCall. Glad you could join us.” He held out his hand and shook hers before motioning for her to sit down next to him.

Clay reluctantly looked up. She wore a pair of soft green tailored slacks and a cream-colored long-sleeved silk shirt. She’d woven her hair into a single braid pinned in a coil at the nape of her neck. She looked pale this morning, which wasn’t surprising, given the circumstances.

She also looked calm, very cool and ultrasophisticated.

“I want you to meet your teammates, Pam. This is Clay Callaway and Joe Chavez. Pamela McCall.”

Clay had to give her credit. If he hadn’t been watching her carefully he wouldn’t have noticed the slight tightening of her facial muscles as she nodded to each of them.

“Gentlemen,” she said quietly, sliding across the bench seat and folding her hands together on the table. Her gaze didn’t quite meet his.

Sam filled the last empty cup on the table with coffee and handed it to her. She took it gratefully, lifting it to her mouth without looking at either of the men across from her.

The waitress returned to the table. When she looked at Pam for her order, Pam shook her head and said, “Coffee’s fine for me.”

Sam glanced at her and almost said something, then shook his head. The three men quickly made short work of the meal in front of them while Pam had a second cup of coffee.

After he finished eating, Sam refilled his cup and looked at Pam. “I was just telling them that we need to keep our cover story simple. Clay’s on leave. I’m retired and visiting old friends. Joe is looking for extended family members. I was told that you know the Callaway family. I thought it would make sense to have you and Clay paired off. I doubt that anyone would think anything of seeing you together as a couple.”

She cleared her throat. Without meeting Clay’s gaze, she said, “Is that really necessary? My work doesn’t call for me to interact with another person. My guess is that Clay will be needed more in the field.”

Sam nodded. “That’s true. But you’ll need to stay in constant contact with each other. I don’t want you sneezing without his knowing about it. This thing is going to take long hours because we’re going to be thorough. If you have a problem working with Callaway, you need to tell me now.”

Pam darted a quick glance at Clay. He smiled at her, daring her to tell the colonel about their shared past. He knew he sure as hell wasn’t going to mention it.

“Whatever you want to do is fine with me,” she replied, absently nibbling on her bottom lip. Clay was immediately reminded of his erotic dream last night—the dream that had become immensely real. He remembered touching her soft lips. He remembered doing all kinds of things he now wanted very much to forget.

“All right,” Sam said. “Here’s what you need to know about my background. I’m from Virginia. We met some years back. I’m retired from the army—currently keeping an eye on the family farm. I’m here visiting friends.” He looked at Clay. “You heard I was in town and invited me to visit you.”

“Uh, yes, sir. And my reason was…?”

Sam’s lips quirked. “You wanted to see me again, perhaps? Maybe renew our friendship?”

Clay leaned back in his chair and looked at Sam. “I guess that works,” he replied. He looked at Pam. “Is that what we’re doing…renewing our friendship?”

Pam glanced quickly at Carruthers before replying, “It doesn’t really matter, does it? The most important thing is to get to the bottom of this situation as quickly as possible and get on with our lives.”

“Exactly,” Sam said, nodding. He looked around the table. “Any other questions?” When no one answered, he said, “Then that should do it for now. Chavez, you’d better take off. You’ve got a long drive ahead of you.”

“Yes, sir.”

Clay stood to let Joe get out of the booth.

Sam continued. “You’ve got the number to my cell phone. Call me any time and we’ll get onto a secured line.”

Chavez nodded and walked away.

Clay turned to sit down when he heard a feminine voice behind him say, “I thought that was you.” With the way his luck was running this morning, Clay froze and apprehensively glanced over his shoulder.

Katie Henley paused beside their table. “Oh, I was hoping I could join you for breakfast, but it looks like I’m too late.”

Clay, wondering what to say, glanced around at Sam and was startled by the look on Sam’s face. He was staring at Katie as though the Christmas tree angel had come to life right before his eyes.

Sam had immediately stood as soon as Katie first spoke. “By all means, join us,” he said with a warm smile. Clay stared at Sam, amazed at how his warm expression thoroughly changed his looks.

Clay allowed Katie to slide into the seat recently vacated by Joe before he sat down again. He introduced her to Sam, and using their new cover explained that they had met a few years ago when Sam was still in the army and that he was visiting the area.

Katie smiled at Sam. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said, before allowing her gaze to rest on Pam. “It’s so good to see you again, Pam. I never managed to get over to your table last night to say hello.” She leaned against Clay and playfully nudged his shoulder. “It’s wonderful to see you two together again.”

Sam quirked a brow. “Again?”

Katie looked a little uneasy, suddenly realizing she might be putting someone in an awkward position. “Clay and Pam grew up together. In fact, I think at one time there was talk about a marriage, but they were so young back then—still in school. I guess it was called off…” she finished.

Clay was glad his talkative cousin had caught herself before the hole she was digging for him buried him alive.

Sam looked at him with speculation in his eyes, but came to his rescue nonetheless. “If I’d known that Clay had a cousin as beautiful as you, I’d have come to visit him long before now,” he said, his eyes gleaming.

Katie actually blushed at Sam’s compliment, Clay noticed with surprise. She was much more animated this morning than she’d been last night. This was the Katie he remembered when he was growing up. He was glad that meeting Sam had been able to put some color back in her cheeks. He could almost forgive her for bringing up the past at a very delicate time.

“You’re very kind,” she managed to say.

Sam chuckled. “Me, kind? I’m sure Clay would agree that that description doesn’t fit me at all.”

Memories of some of the situations this man had dreamed up for the recruits flashed in Clay’s mind. No. Kind was not the word that first came to mind when he thought of Lieutenant Colonel Sam Carruthers.

He knew there would be no more discussion in front of Katie. Taking a chance on irritating his superior officer, Clay said, “If you will excuse me, I’ve got some errands to take care of before heading out of here.”

Katie laughed. “Don’t let me run you off, Clay.”

Pam spoke up. “Actually, I need to go as well.” She looked at Clay. “I believe we need to finish that discussion we started earlier, don’t you?”

Clay glanced at Sam, who moved so that Pam could get out. “I’ll stay here and visit with you,” Sam said to Katie, “if that’s all right. No sense in you having to eat alone.”

Katie looked up at Pam and Clay before glancing uncertainly at Sam. “If you need to go, of course I’ll understand.”

Sam shook his head. “I’m in no hurry.” He nodded at Clay and Pam. “I’ll see you guys a little later, I’m sure.”

As soon as they left the coffee shop Pam said, “Did you arrange this, Clay?”

He glanced down at her. “What? Having Katie show up?”

She shook her head. “No. That Sam would have the two of us work together.”

“Don’t flatter yourself. I didn’t know until last night that you worked for the government or would have anything to do with this assignment.”

“Oh.”

“How long have you been with the FBI?” he asked as they crossed the lobby to the elevators.

“Five years. Why?”

“No reason. What were you doing before then?”

“Getting my education. I spent some time working overseas with a humanitarian group before I returned to the States and applied for the position I now hold.”

They reached the elevators and stepped into the open door of one.

“Which floor?” she asked.

“Ninth. I need to get my bag out of your room.”

“By the way, what happened to your date last night? Does she know where you ended up spending the night?”

He looked at her without smiling. “I’ll deal with Melanie. Don’t worry about me.”

She looked away without speaking.

When the elevator doors opened they stepped out together and came face-to-face with Melanie Montez.

Sam Carruthers sat across the table from the vivacious Katie Henley, feeling like a middle-aged fool. The truth was, he’d never had much time for women. At forty-two, he had long ago decided that his bachelor status would stay intact indefinitely.

The last thing he’d expected was to come to Texas on an assignment and turn to mush because of a killer smile and expressive, extremely vulnerable golden eyes.

He scarcely noticed when Clay and Pam left the table. They’d finished their meeting for now. Katie held his attention to the exclusion of all else. Had a terrorist burst into the coffee shop, he doubted that he would have noticed.

Katie gave her order to the waitress before she said, “Thank you for allowing me to join you. Are you sure I’m not keeping you from something?” she asked, her gaze dropping as though struck by a bout of shyness.

He grinned, feeling lighthearted. “Not at all. Tell me, do you live in Dallas?”

She shook her head. “Austin. In fact, I’ll be leaving for home as soon as I finish breakfast and check out of the hotel.”

An alarm suddenly went off inside his head, and he quickly glanced down at her hands…and her bare fingers. “I, uh, suppose a woman like you is married,” he muttered, feeling completely out of his depth.

Her smile faded and her eyes no longer sparkled. “I was, Sam. I’ve been divorced for about six months.”

The surge of relief he felt at her admission made him pause. What the hell was going on with him, anyway? He’d just met this woman and he was already damned possessive of her. His stomach knotted at the thought—much the same way it did before he made a jump.

Not a good sign.

When he didn’t say anything, she continued. “I have five-year-old daughters who manage to both help me keep my sanity as well as convince me I’m on the verge of losing it.” Her smile widened. “Do you have children?”

“Uh, no, ma’am. I’ve never been married.”

“Really?” She tilted her head and looked at him as though trying to solve a puzzle. “Don’t you miss having a family?”

He smiled. “Oh, I have a family. I was the oldest of several kids. We had a tough time surviving on the farm. I did whatever I could to make sure we all had enough to eat. I figured no woman would be willing to live that way if she could help it.”

Katie looked down at her hands folded on the table. “I suppose you have little use for people like me, who never had to go through something like that.”

He grinned, amused by her attitude. “Not at all. I don’t wish that kind of life on anybody.” He knew he needed to get going, but he hated to leave her without getting some kind of signal that she might want to see him again. Since he didn’t have a clue how to do that, Sam continued to sit there feeling helpless, staring at her.

The waitress soon returned with her order. Sam sipped on his coffee while she ate. He asked her casual questions, hoping to learn more about her.

She mentioned a much older brother—almost sixteen years’ difference in their ages—plus twin brothers three years younger. He got her to tell him about growing up in Texas, about meeting her husband while she was in college and getting married not long after her graduation.

Before he knew it, he was also answering questions about his early life. She seemed to be sincerely interested. So he told her what it was like being the oldest of six children, about losing his dad when he was nine, and doing what he had to do to hang on to the farm and make sure his mom and the children were taken care of.

He didn’t tell her that his biggest reason for joining the army was to be able to send his money home to the family.

When Katie glanced at her watch and announced the time, Sam was surprised to discover how long they’d been there.

“I really need to be going,” she said with what he hoped was regret coloring her voice. “Thank you for letting me join you this morning.”

He picked up her ticket. “Let me get your breakfast for you.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” she said, obviously flustered.

“I want to, Katie. I hope to see you again.”

“Are you planning to come to Austin?”

“As a matter of fact, Clay invited me to spend some time at the family’s condos in Austin.”

“Oh!” She smiled with obvious delight, causing him to swallow hard. “Well, in that case,” she said, digging into her purse, “Let me give you my phone number. Be sure and call and I’ll have you out to my place for dinner some evening.”

“A home-cooked meal sounds like something I only dream about.”

Katie laughed and handed him a card that she’d hastily written on. After he took it, carefully inserting it in his pocket, he stood with her, took her hand and shook it, causing her to blush.

He felt as if he’d received an electric shot, himself. Reluctantly he let go and watched her turn away. She gave him a little wave before she hurried out of the restaurant.

Sam tossed some money on the table for the waitress and went up to the cashier to pay for the meals.

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