Page 38 of Delta Force Defender

“Live and learn,” Caradine said, and almost smiled, but she figured that would be a bridge too far. “I won’t be doing that again.”

Oddly enough, that was the most honest thing she’d said in ages.

Still, when a sharp knock came at the front door, she was pretty sure it was divine intervention.

Caradine shot to her feet and across the room, delighted to have a reason to stop... whatever this was.

When she opened Isaac’s front door, Bethan Wilcox stood there. Her hair was pulled back into a neat bun at the nape of her neck. And she wore the same sleek, tactical attire that all the rest of Alaska Force wore, as if she woke up every morning ready to leap out of planes, scale buildings, save the world, and battle off scores of villains with her bare hands. Which, as the only female member of Alaska Force, she probably did.

Bethan took in the scene in Isaac’s living room, a cool, swift assessment. Then her gaze rested on Caradine.

“You’re wanted up in the lodge,” she said.

“For what?”

Bethan only gazed back at her.

“Fine,” Caradine muttered, as if she were disgruntled.

When the truth was, she couldn’t wait to leave.

“I had no idea you were so obedient,” Everly said from behind her.

“That’s me,” Caradine said. “I live to obey.”

And then she gleefully followed Bethan, letting the other women stay and do whatever they wanted to do in Isaac’s cabin. Talk about their lives and their relationships. Hug more. All that stuff she hated.

All the stuff you tell yourself you hate,a voice in her contradicted.When really, you wish you could sink into this life and make it yours for real.

The what-ifs came for her hard. What if she stopped playing games with Isaac? What if she lived in that cabin and those were her friends and she didn’t have to disappear? What if she could stay Caradine Scott forever?

But she couldn’t break her promise. She wouldn’t.

And even if she’d wanted to, it was too late now. It was only a matter of time before the man who’d tracked her down in Camden passed the information on.

It had all been borrowed time. Every second of the past five years.

“Is something the matter?” Bethan asked.

Caradine shot her a look, surprised that a member of the self-consciously stoic Alaska Force squad would bother to inquire about anyone’s emotional well-being.

Bethan smiled slightly. “You made a strange noise.”

“I stubbed my toe,” Caradine said blandly.

That Bethan was aware she was lying was obvious. But all the other woman did was keep on smiling slightly as she led Caradine down the walkway and toward the main lodge. And everywhere she looked, all Caradine could see was Isaac. His imprint on the land here, the sprawling complex he’d made his own. All of the buildings here were beautifully maintained, which annoyed her. This was coastal Alaska, where the salt got into everything—peeling paint, warping wood, and mildewing everything.

But not here.

Any fantasy she’d had that Alaska Force was nothing more than a bunch of overgrown frat boys runningaround performing crazy high jinks to remind them of their glory days—something she’d said to Isaac’s face more than once—disappeared when Bethan ushered her into the main room of the lodge. It wasn’t quite a hotel lobby, though it had that feel. It also felt rustic and wholly Alaskan, but upscale enough that Isaac’s more well-heeled clients would feel right at home.

Here again were the hints of state-of-the-art technology in and among the comfortable couches, polished wood floors, and the huge stone fireplace.

And the collection of grim-faced men who waited for her were definitely not frat boys. They were terrifying. Her stomach twisted and her heart kicked at her ribs, because this was clearly not a friendly meeting.

She knew everyone in the room. She’d served them all food, at one point or another, and could have reeled off a list of their dining preferences—whether or not she’d ever honored them. They usually greeted her with whatever their version of a grin was.

But none of them looked happy to see her today. Some looked suspicious. Others looked as if they were trying to take her apart with their gaze.

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