Navy Justice. Geri Krotow

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СКАЧАТЬ dove gratefully into her work. She felt a flash of regret that she couldn’t appreciate this day in its entirety, but she kept going. There’d be time to enjoy her new job later. After she’d helped Brad and his worries were behind him. Behind both of them.

      Would that be it? Would Brad go back into the netherworld of her fantasy life, only a memory?

      More likely she’d find herself in a deeper emotional pit than the one she’d been in after Norfolk.

      As tears threatened to spill, she blinked and opened the top file on her stack. Usually she had no problem dredging up enthusiasm for her cases, no matter how menial. But she’d been a fool to think she could become invested in anything with the worry of Brad’s predicament looming.

      But Brad’s problems were just that. His. She’d help him and then he’d leave. He wasn’t the settling-down type. And Joy was done with moving, as much as she was done with men whose work took them around the world.

      She’d had enough of it as a child with all the State Department moves her Foreign Service parents had made. They were currently posted to France for the second time.

      “Oh, Joy, I forgot to mention there’s a fresh pot of coffee in the break room. I’ve been making it every day after lunch, but now that you’re the most junior staff member, perhaps you’d like to take over?”

      “Sure.”

      Only someone as nice as Serena could point out so sweetly that Joy was the current low man on the totem pole.

      Concentrating on something as mundane as coffee would keep her from drowning in the chaos that Brad had brought into her life mere hours ago.

      * * *

      JOY KEPT HER trip to the grocery store after work as short as possible, but she couldn’t skip it. Not with Brad needing to eat. She hurried through the crowded aisles, wondering what to feed a trained killer. Did that make her an accomplice to murder? He’d had to “take out” the man in the boat. The SAM shooter. Would he have to kill anyone else on this particular undercover mission?

      Stop it.

      He’d be hungry after a day at her place. She’d planned to get Indian takeout tonight, to celebrate her first day back at work. Instead, she was harboring a probable fugitive and wondering if she should stock up on canned goods in case they had to hunker down.

      “Excuse me.” She pushed her cart through the pasta aisle, throwing boxes of elbow macaroni into the basket. From the dairy cooler she took a half gallon of milk and some cheese, then made her way to the meat case, where she picked out the leanest ground beef she could find. She hadn’t eaten red meat regularly in years, but she suspected Brad would wolf it down.

      And she could freeze the leftovers for hearty meals later.

       Later?

      Her life had gone from controlled and serene to preparing for the apocalypse with the explosion of a small fishing boat. Only because she’d witnessed it.

      Oh, and because Brad had scaled the West Beach cliff to her house.

      “Credit or debit?”

      “What?” She looked at the empty belt where she’d placed her groceries.

      “Credit or debit?”

      “Debit. I mean cash.” Digging in her wallet for the extra cash she’d withdrawn while she was on base, she sent up a silent prayer of thanks. The withdrawal from the ATM had been a last-minute decision, just in case.

      Just in case she had to go off the grid with Brad. She shook her head. Her imagination was getting the best of her.

      A gust slammed into her as she pushed her cart through the parking lot and to her car. Good thing Brad had made his climb before the winds picked up.

      She almost laughed aloud as she loaded the groceries into her trunk. She’d never done anything remotely illegal before today, which was in direct contrast with going back on base and requesting files she had no official business having. She was the lowest of the low in the eyes of the military justice system. A traitor, even.

      The drive home seemed unusually long as sheer exhaustion washed over her.

      Cold dread at her decision to allow Brad respite in her home didn’t help. Sweat broke out on her forehead, and she tightened her hands on the steering wheel.

      She had no desire to dig deeper into her own psyche, to examine whether her fear was simply the result of her situation. Or was it because the man of her dreams was finally in her life again, in her home? Unlike real life, dreams were safe. Maybe she should ask him to leave...

      No, no, no! She’d made her decision and besides, this wasn’t permanent. These circumstances had to be more straightforward than either she or Brad thought; the most seemingly complicated scenarios were often far simpler than panic or anxiety blew them up to be. Case in point—Farid. He’d been a kid who’d wanted to save his village and gotten caught in a firestorm of political and military brass. His stint in prison had ended, rightfully so.

      If she had anything to do with it, the files would help her put Brad’s problems behind both of them within forty-eight hours.

      Once inside her garage she killed the engine and hit the button to lower the garage door. Only after the door was firmly closed did she get out of the car and grab the groceries from the back hatch.

      “Hello?” She walked into the kitchen and stopped, listening for any indication that Brad was still there.

      “Over here.” He walked in from the sun porch wearing a USS Abraham Lincoln baseball cap she recognized as hers.

      “Is that all my clothes you’re interested in, or am I going to find you’ve been through my underwear drawers? Please tell me you aren’t wearing my Wonder Woman panties, too.”

      Brad’s eyes narrowed but his reply was calm, unruffled.

      “I make it a policy never to cross-dress while on mission.”

      His humor made her smile, but she noticed that his eyes remained wary. She’d missed him, missed his joking. Their banter.

      “Just as well. Cross-dressing could complicate things at the moment.” She took in the papers strewn on the sofa and his boots next to the end table.

      “I thought you were going to lie low. Aren’t you worried about someone seeing you from the sun porch?”

      “With this hat on and sitting between your two potted palms? No chance. Everyone’s focused on the area of the explosion, trying to determine if it was a terrorist action.”

      “What have they been saying on the news?” She put the perishables in the fridge and pulled out a baking dish, saucepan and frying pan. It might be bland and predictable, but her homemade macaroni and cheese spiked with the ground meat was an easy dish to make, and she suspected Brad would appreciate something that resembled comfort food. She could use a warm meal, too.

      “Nothing much.”

      He maintained eye contact with her.

      “I СКАЧАТЬ