Page 12 of Waiting for Him
“What differs?”
Groaning, she bit her lip when he dug into a particular spot in her arch. “Passive tracking, the dog will lead its handler right up to the person. When you’re tracking a possibly armed suspect, you want some warning before he’s suddenly right in front of you.
“There’s a funny story about one of our graduates. His dog was a passive tracker and drug detector, but a few months ago, they had a suspect disappear into the woods, and they didn’t have an aggressive tracker available. So, they put two officers on either side of the team, with their guns at the ready, because the handler’s eyes had to be on the dog, looking for tells. This way, if the suspect suddenly appeared, they were covered.
“Anyway, they were tracking for about ten minutes when the dog suddenly sat down in the middle of nowhere. The handler tried to get him back on track, but the dog wouldn’t budge. It took a few moments, but they realized the dog was sitting on a pile of leaves, and one of them spotted the heel of a sneaker. The suspect had buried himself under a pile of leaves, hoping they’d walk right by him, and the darn dog was sitting on his back.” They both started laughing. “The handler kicks the guy’s leg and says, ‘Don’t move.’ The suspect answers, ‘Wasn’t planning on it.’”
Laughing harder, Boomer couldn’t help but be impressed. It was obvious she loved her job. “Wow. That’s awesome. Beau went through a training place like that in Florida. He was about six weeks old when Ian found him at the compound. His mother was a stray who’d just died, so Ian took him in.”
“I noticed his training,” she told him while nodding.
“Do they know where you are? Your bosses? I mean, do you still have a job after we find who’s after you?” Part of him wanted her to say no, but they would both be better off if she said yes.
She glanced out the window of the plane. “Yes. Sort of. I told them I had a family emergency.” At his raised eyebrow, she shrugged. “It was all I could think of at the time. Anyway, even though no one ever came out and told Jeremy I was in witness protection, he’s very astute, and I’m sure he figured it out. He just told me to keep in touch and call him if I needed anything. I should call him later to let him know I’m still alive.”
“Good idea. Use your pre-paid phone since they’re very hard to trace. Then we’ll throw it away and get a new one. Ask him if anyone suspicious has been snooping around asking about you.”
Kat nodded and tapped his hand with her left foot. It was a blatant hint to give it the same treatment he gave the other. He chuckled and swapped them. “Better?”
“Yes, much.” She groaned as he worked his thumbs deeper. “I can’t remember the last time I had a foot massage. I used to get them all the time when I treated myself to pedicures, but it’s been a while.”
He was glad it was a professional service where she had gotten the massages and not from a boyfriend. A pang of jealousy at her dating some guy hit him in the gut, and he forced himself not to question her about other men. Who she dated was none of his business.
Glancing down at her lap, he eyed the book she’d been reading, and . . . oh, fuck . . . it was Leather & Lace, by Kristen Anders, soon-to-be Kristen Sawyer, Devon’s wife. While Boomer hadn’t read the whole thing, he’d flipped through and read the steamy sex scenes after Devon mentioned how hot they were. It was fucking hot porn in written format, plain and simple. It also involved BDSM, and he was shocked Kat was reading it. Did she just like reading about the lifestyle, or was she into it? And if she wasn’t, would she be interested in trying it? Did she fantasize about a man doing to her the things Master Xavier did to his submissive in the book?
He shifted uncomfortably and shoved his thoughts back where they belonged—in the gutter. She was a job and an old friend, nothing more.
You might as well give up trying to convince yourself, buddy, because it’s not working.
“Prepare for landing,” CC announced over the intercom, and Jake’s eyes flew open. That was the thing about being in special ops—you got used to catnaps and waking up completely refreshed.
Boomer swung Kat’s feet to the ground so she could sit up and put her seatbelt on. He then strapped his own around his waist. They would be on the ground and in their waiting car within fifteen minutes. After he had the plane refueled, CC would get a room at the closest motel for the night, so he would be nearby if they needed him. Meanwhile, Boomer, Kat, and Jake would head into the Norfolk residential area where the two childhood friends used to live. There was a Best Western near the bank they needed. From what Boomer had been able to access online, it was the ideal motel for them. There were plenty of escape routes if things went south.
Next to him, Kat visibly shuddered.
“You okay?”
She gave him a tiny smile. “Yeah, I think so. It just hit me. I haven’t been here since I was seventeen with a bright and happy future ahead of me.”
Boomer reached over and squeezed her hand because he couldn’t think of anything to say that didn’t sound cliché. He just hoped when this was all over, she would have a happy life in her future, even if it wasn’t with him.
As Jake let himself into the adjoining room to the left, Kat followed Boomer into their motel room. He tossed his duffel bag on the bed closest to the door and gestured for her to take the other one. It wasn’t even one in the afternoon yet, and she wanted nothing more than to crawl under the covers and take a nap.
He saw the longing look on her face before he turned to unlock the go-between door connecting the two rooms. “Take a nap if you want. Jake and I will be next door working on a few things for tomorrow.”
“Okay.” Kat pulled off the blonde wig she’d donned before getting off the plane and scratched her itchy scalp. Reaching to pull the bedspread down, she kicked off her shoes at the same time. “Don’t let me sleep past three, please. Otherwise, I’ll be up all night.”
“Sure.” Boomer watched as she climbed into the bed, fully clothed. She shifted a few times, trying to find a comfortable position, and finally settled on her side facing away from him. Her long brown tresses fanned across the pillow, and his hands ached to run his fingers through the soft strands. The longer he was around her, the more his old feelings for her pounded in his chest. But there were new feelings there too. Feelings he didn’t know what the fuck he was going to do about.
Sighing, he walked into the other room and left the door ajar in case she needed him. Jake was exiting his bathroom and drying his hands on a towel. He raised an eyebrow at seeing Boomer alone.
“She’s lying down for a while.”
“Ah.” They sat down at the table for two, and Jake opened a folder with all the pertinent information they had so far. “So . . . you want to talk about work or what it’s like to have an old girlfriend come back from the dead?”
Boomer knew his friend was being sympathetic despite how his words sounded. He ran a hand through his hair and glanced at the partially opened door behind him before returning his attention to Jake. “How do you know she was a girlfriend?”
“Ian keeps me around for my sniper skills and powers of observation. If she wasn’t your girlfriend, there was a time you wished she was.”
