Page 5 of The Rough Ride

Liz checked him out on the over-50dating sites where she maintained a couple of hot mama profiles, but he hadn’t joined them yet. She declined his invitation via Dottie and steered him in the direction of the safer dating apps, throwing in a few compliments so he didn’t feel squashed by his attempt to reach out. Every once in a while, an innocent wandered onto Liz’s profiles. Most she didn’t reply to, but the divorced guy was so squeaky clean—she threw him a bone and hoped he’d move on.

On the other hand, the virginal Marion Trent received a job offer to nanny a large group of children. The pay was enormous. Liz traced the IP and came up empty. She flagged it. A front for child trafficking? Perhaps. They often hired virgins (and yes, they checked) to watch the kids.

A uniformed woman in her mid-forties stuck her head in the office. “You got a minute?”

Liz spun around in her chair, recognizing the voice of her immediate supervisor, Natalie Chan. “Major, nice to see you.” She stood and smoothed her skirt. “What can I do for you?”

The major gave her a head-to-toe glance. An old habit from years of making sure uniforms were up to snuff. “That was some great work out there today.” She cocked her head toward the bullpen. “Congratulations to you and your team. I got to know some of them. Humorous and hard-working bunch.”

“Thank you. They’re all very talented. Dedicated, too.”

“Just make sure you include yourself in the kudos. You’re their leader, and you’ve given them the freedom to take risks, to stretch their cyber legs. It’s good. They’re worth the taxpayers’ money.”

“Thank you, Major. I’ll pass your praise on to the team.”

The major retrieved a glass vase containing a dozen red roses and baby’s breath from beyond the doorway and handed it to Liz.

“Flowers?” This workplace didn’t participate in fluff. The biggest treat they could bring in was a birthday cake or donuts, and even then, security sometimes mutilated the food beyond recognition during their inspection.Hell. Liz couldn’t even have her phone during work hours. It was locked up in the security room.

“They were delivered for you earlier this afternoon. They’re safe. Security already cleared them. You’re aware of the policy of no deliveries allowed here, correct?”

Liz took the flowers from the major’s hand. “Yes, of course. My mother is the only person with the emergency contact number and address for this place.”

The major shrugged. “Just make sure your mom isn’t chatting-it-up with the neighbors or prospective men for you, things like that. We’ll let it slide this time.”

This time?Liz swallowed hard.“I’m sorry. I can’t imagine who sent them.” She set the vase on her desk.

“Don’t apologize. You obviously didn’t expect them. After you read the card, just let the person know they should send all future deliveries to your home. And relax, Liz. Forward whatever you’re working on to the next shift and go home. Beat the rush hour. You came in before dawn this morning.”

“Okay, but that reminds me.” Liz sat and tapped her computer. “I need to ask you about a post Marion Trent received today. Got a minute?”

“Of course.” The major pulled up an extra chair and read Liz’s detailed notes. She clicked into the online site. “Might bescammers looking for info for identity theft or could be an untrained recruiter.”

“I thought the same thing. Want me to forward it upstairs?” Liz crossed her arms and waited.

“I want you to go home.I’mforwarding this to the dark web guys. Last time I checked, they were waiting for something juicy to work on.” The major added her online signature, marked it highest priority, sent it off, and chuckled. “I’ll bet if I go up there in a few minutes, they’ll be all over it like a pack of beagles on a hunt.” She slid her chair back into place. “See you tomorrow.”

“Great—thanks so much.” Liz rolled her chair toward the flowers and grabbed the card to see who sent them. The message read, “Thinking of you.”

No signature.

Liz didn’t listento music as she drove home.

The flowers had to be from Nick. He’d been the only man to send her flowers for years. He always sent them on the anniversary of the date they’d met in high school, her birthday, andifshe was stateside, during the holidays. Except lately, he’d sent them every week or so because she’d been avoiding him.

But Nick always signed his name.

She could send him a thank you note, but then it would be days before she knew if he was the person who’d sent them.Damn.She’d need to text and thank him. But then, he’d start texting back, and she’d have to deal with him. And above all else—she could notdealwith Nick.

He’d given her a wide berth since they’d retired theirmilitary uniforms. He, the enlisted one and she, the officer. None of it made a difference anymore. Those protocols were simply dress uniforms hung in the back of a closet for posterity. Now, he was just her delicious Nick. The one man who could rev her engine with a glance.

She put her blinker on and moved into the lane that merged onto the D.C. beltway. Bumper-to-bumper traffic. It didn’t matter what time she left work, there was always a solid back-up. It would’ve been nice to accept the recruitment job closer to home, but the work wouldn’t have been nearly as engaging.

And it felt good to be satisfied with her work. She wasn’t fulfilled in other ways, so it may as well be work that occupied the void. Some nights, she missed Nick so much that it was a hollow ache in her gut. They’d promised each other they would give their relationship a real run once they left the military. But hell—if he found out about Ella, his world would implode.

He’d been serious about never having kids by getting that damn vasectomy when he was just a kid. His sick bastard of a father imprinted his weaknesses on Nick from a tender age. Told him he’d be a bum, never amount to a pile of crap, couldn’t do anything right, and someday, he’d understand because he’d beat his own kids. But Nick made sure he never had any kids to hit. He’d never inflict that kind of pain on a child.

All she’d ever wanted was to marry Nick and have a couple kids with him.

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