Page 12 of Only Her (K2 Team)
The pilot opened the cabin door, and Cody followed Ryan out onto the tarmac, where a man wearing a rental car–logoed shirt handed him the keys to a black Range Rover.
“Gimme.” Ryan made a grab for the keys.
Cody fisted them. “Nope.” He slid behind the wheel before his teammate took it in his head to wrestle for the keys. “Sweet,” he said, checking out the interior.
“I’m driving tomorrow.” Ryan tapped his phone to bring up the hotel coordinates for the place that Kincaid had booked for them for the first night. Before leaving the Des Moines area, they got a bag of burgers and two large coffees to go at a fast-food restaurant.
After turning onto the highway in the direction of Fort Dodge, Cody took a sip of his black coffee. One thing he liked about a mission was that he didn’t crave a drink. He supposed it was ingrained in his brain that alcohol and missions don’t mix, not that the one they were on now was risky. But boots on the ground was a whole different mindset, whether it involved dumb love-struck kids or bullets whizzing past his ears in the middle of some hellhole desert. Or maybe being on an operation meant he wasn’t sitting at home in the dark, afraid to go to sleep, needing the scotch to dull his mind.
“What’s the latest on Layla?” Ryan asked as he munched on a handful of fries.
At the mention of her, Cody swallowed the lump of hamburger that now felt like a jagged rock scraping its way down his throat. He drank some coffee to help it go down before answering. “The dog Wizard thought might be her wasn’t. He’s got everyone looking for her.”
“Wizard won’t quit until he finds her.”
“If... if she’s still alive.” He was losing hope, but Ryan was right. Cody had saved Wizard’s life, and the man believed he owed Cody, so he wouldn’t give up. Problem was, Wizard’s time in-country was about up. If Layla wasn’t found soon, then she wasn’t going to be.
Thinking of the dog he’d left behind always sent him to a dark place, and he didn’t need to go there in the middle of an operation. He passed a slow-moving car, a classic Mustang, a couple out for an afternoon ride, it appeared. The woman’s hair reminded him of Riley’s, and he filled his mind with her. As soon as he did, the churning in his gut eased.
“So there Jake and I were, about to get it on for the first time, and in walks Saint.”
“No kidding? What did you do?” Riley needed this lunch with Maria. She’d been laughing from almost the time they sat, and it felt good to get her mind off an animal serial killer for a while.
Maria grinned. “Gave my brother a piece of my mind for interfering in my love life. He’d sent Saint to replace Jake as my bodyguard ’cause he knew exactly what Jake and I were up to. Logan finally came around when he realized Jake and I loved each other, so we’re all good now.”
Riley pushed aside the last few bites of her chicken taco salad, while watching Maria devour a platter of cheese enchiladas. “How is it you don’t weigh a thousand pounds?”
“Jake makes sure I get a lot of exercise.” Maria winked, giving a lecherous grin.
“Lucky you.” She’d met Jake once when he came into the clinic with Maria to drop off their cat for boarding. The man was crazypants hot, but he’d only had eyes for Maria, which Riley thought was really cool. Not that she blamed him. Maria was strikingly beautiful with her olive skin, dark sloe-eyes, and wavy black hair.
“Still no love life for you?”
Her sexy neighbor with the cowboy name popped into her mind. Nah. He was heartache on a stick. Still... “There’s a guy I’m attracted to, but I think he’s got issues.”
“Those are the kind you want to avoid.” Maria signaled for the check. “Although I’m not one to talk. Jake’s middle name wasissuesfor a while there.”
“You’re right, but he’s my new neighbor, so he’s going to be hard to avoid. Not to mention, his picture is in two places in the dictionary. Once under eye candy and then again under, oh my God, he’s got a hot bod.”
“Want me to check him out?”
“You mean like look at him?”
Their waitress set the check on the table, and Maria grabbed it before Riley could. “You paid last time. No, I’m talking about running his name, see if he’s got a record. At least you’d know if he’s trouble as far as the law is concerned.” She put a credit card on top of the bill and pushed it to the end of the table.
“Isn’t it illegal for you to nose into someone’s records?” Even though Riley was tempted, it didn’t feel right.
“No, records are public knowledge.” She shrugged. “Up to you.”
“I don’t know. I think Cody’s the kind of man who wouldn’t appreciate me checking on him like that.”
Maria’s eyes widened. “Cody? What’s his last name?”
“Roberts, but let me think about it before you do anything.”
A wide grin lit Maria’s face. “I don’t have to check into him. He works for us. Oh man, this is going to be fun.”
“That’s your company, K2? You never said exactly where you worked, come to think of it.” Wow, she could get the scoop on Cody, but she still felt uneasy about prying into his life. “Exactly what is K2?”
