Chapter 6

Chapter Six

K ira was chilled to her core. She sat alone in a room on base that she assumed housed Naval Special Warfare Command or base security. She and three others who'd been sheltering in the sea of cubicles had been brought here even as an ambulance was loaded with the gunman. She'd met Rand's gaze as she was escorted away while he was being questioned.

Kira and the other civilians had given their accounts separately. One by one, the other three had been dismissed. Only she remained, but she understood why.

The man had been hunting her . He'd called her by name. Shot up her car.

Investigators were bound to have more questions to which she didn't have answers.

She paced the small room, rubbing her arms as she waited on hold with the airline, once again changing her flight. The person at the call center was getting authorization to bump her to first class as that was the only seat available on the flight leaving later tomorrow. The shooting had made national news, and she explained to the airline employee that she was currently stuck on the base, having been directly involved.

After a lengthy wait, the airline associate came back on the line with the good news that their supervisor had approved the upgrade for only half the cost.

Kira swallowed and pulled out her credit card. Truth was, she'd have paid full price if she had to. She was getting the hell out of this country where men had a nasty habit of hunting her.

She was still flying tomorrow, but instead of leaving at five a.m., she would now depart at four p.m.

Nothing would stop her from catching that flight. Her car would probably be in impound, but she'd ask someone from Friday Morning Valkyries to have it towed to a repair shop when it was released. She would rent a car, drive back to DC, get her bags, then return the vehicle to the rental company at Dulles.

She had a plan. And a ticket.

The door opened. She turned to see Rand's wide shoulders filling the opening. He gave her a weak smile, and she couldn't stop herself—no matter how much she believed allowing herself to get close to him was a mistake—and flung herself into his arms.

He wrapped her in a tight hug. She buried her face against his hard chest. He was warm and comforting, and the shakes that had been plaguing her since she climbed under that desk finally faded.

Tears burned, but she forced them down. She would not fall apart in front of the strong man who'd faced down a machine gun with a rock and a pair of scissors.

The game Rock, Paper, Scissors came to mind, and she said, "Thank god you didn't throw paper."

It took him a moment, but then she felt his chest move with a silent laugh. "Sweetheart, I'm also deadly with paper."

She snickered, but then his word choice sank in, and she raised her head to meet his gaze. "Did he die?"

He nodded.

She studied Rand's face. She had no doubt he'd killed before. Probably many times. But that was different. He'd been on ops. Serving his country. Rescuing abductees. Taking out terrorists.

This guy was a terrorist too, but an unexpected one, attacking his military base. Still, he hadn't been aiming to kill the man.

"I'm only sorry because it means it'll take longer to get answers as to why he was hunting you."

She nodded. "They haven't told me anything. Did he…was anyone hit by all those bullets?"

He gave a sharp nod. "C'mon. Everyone's gathered in the main conference room. They have more questions for you."

"I don't know anything."

"Doesn't mean they won't ask."

He released her, and she immediately missed his warmth. Comfort. He'd never held her before.

He'd given her a fleeting forehead kiss before she hid, and six months ago, he'd placed a hand on the small of her back. That was it. The entire sum of their touches. The ones she could remember, anyway.

She didn't want to think about the condition she'd been in when he rescued her last time. He'd most certainly had to touch her to check for a pulse.

What had she said to him?

He'd called her sweetheart a few moments ago, triggering a hazy memory of him calling her that in December. But maybe her muddled mind had invented it?

Regardless, she liked the sound of it. Far too much. He was dangerous. So much like Apollo. All golden and shiny. Charming. Handsome. The kind of man who attracted vivacious beauties like Staci. He had the confidence of a man who simply flashed a smile, and whatever woman he wanted to woo would be caught in his web.

He probably dated multiple women at a time and convinced each one she was his one and only.

He was so not her type, and she was definitely not his.

She was flattered he wanted to date her, but she had no doubt he would crush her heart even more than her first love had. Men that charismatic and beautiful would never be satisfied with shy, mousy women like her.

They entered a conference room with several people seated around the table and more standing along the walls. Kira was surprised to see Chris, who rose and crossed the room to give her a quick hug.

She was glad for the familiar face, but still had to ask, "Shouldn't you be with Diana?"

"She's fine. Kramer's wife is with her in case she needs anything. She wanted me to be here. Make sure you're okay."

Kramer must be one of their team members. He was probably one of the SEALs standing in the packed conference room.

Kira was aware that if this was related to what happened last December, then Diana might have been the original target. It made sense that Chris wanted to be here, and Kramer's wife would help make that happen.

She settled into a seat between Rand and Chris. She was introduced to the room at large, but no one was introduced to her. She recognized a few of them from the immediate aftermath in the maze of cubicles. It had been a sea of uniforms.

She didn't mind that no one bothered with introductions. She just wanted to get this over with. She had a car to rent and a long drive home, and it was after eight p.m. already.

"We still don't know who the gunman was. He had an ID to get on base, but he wasn't wearing it when he entered the building, and it isn't in the vehicle he drove onto the base."

"Who is the vehicle registered to?" a woman asked.

"A sailor who's currently deployed. His wife said it was parked in a carport. She teaches at the community college and didn't get home and see it was missing until after the shooting began."

"Any chance she's connected to the shooter?" Chris asked.

"She's being investigated, but at the moment, there's nothing that looks suspicious."

The man who was leading the briefing cleared his throat. "We have reason to believe the shooter didn't intend to go in guns blazing."

Kira sat up straighter.

"One of the two people he shot—the event that triggered the lockdown and shelter in place order—is conscious and was able to give his account. He said he saw the shooter walking around the parking lot like he was casing cars. He wasn't carrying the gun, nor did he have the bandanna covering the bottom half of his face. But he was acting suspiciously.

"The sailor pressed the panic button on his key fob when the man looked like he was going for his truck. He just wanted him to back off. The shooter startled, then snarled at the sailor when he spotted him. He started to chase the sailor down, but then another sailor stepped out from behind a truck to back the first sailor up. The shooter then ran to a vehicle, popped the trunk, grabbed the M4, and started shooting.

"Both sailors were shot and dropped to the ground. The first sailor—the one who's conscious and talking—said he watched the guy then tie on the bandanna, grab more ammo from the trunk, and cut through the woods. We think he went straight for the building where Dr. Hanson's class had just ended. The sailor called in the shooting while doing CPR on his buddy, who, as of our last update, is still in surgery."

Kira tried to imagine what the guy would have done if he hadn't been spotted. Had he planned to trade out vehicles? Park in the lot next to the NAVFAC building? The moment he turned lone gunman, he must've known it was a suicide mission.

Unless he planned to take Kira hostage and use her as a shield to exit the base.

Maybe that had been the plan from the start. Not to kill her, but to grab her? Finish the job that had begun six months ago. But to what purpose? Her abductors faced multiple charges. Even without her testimony in their trial, she had every reason to believe they would be convicted.

Conversation circled around all these questions, but until they figured out who the gunman was, there could be no answers.

Finally, Kira stood. "I'm sorry, but I've got nothing more to add. I have a long drive ahead of me and a flight to catch."

Rand frowned. "Surely you aren't still taking the early flight to Malta?"

"I changed it to tomorrow afternoon to give me enough time to get back to DC and get my bags."

His brow furrowed. "What if it's not safe?"

She shrugged. "The person who was hunting me is here. And dead. If their goal was related to the upcoming trial, then it seems like leaving the country would be safer than staying."

"You don't know how far their reach is," Rand said. "You should stay here, where you can be protected."

She hated that he saw her as weak, but she supposed it was fair given that he'd now had to save her life twice.

"Believe it or not, Lieutenant Commander Fallon, I can take care of myself. In the two incidents that have required you to come to my aid, I was caught off guard. Now that I'm aware of the danger, it won't happen again."

"You aren't trained. Not like we are. Not like a Valkyrie."

His words cut to the quick. No. She wasn't. Valkyries were badasses like Diana. And Morgan and Freya. Even Staci was likely to be a full-fledged Valkyrie soon. Plus, Valkyries had security clearance. Today, she'd been playing dress-up in the only kind of Valkyrie job she could get: teaching.

But she liked teaching. And she was good at it. A good teacher could change the world.

"Thank you for your vote of confidence, Lieutenant Commander. Now, if you all don't mind, I need to figure out how I'm going to get off this base and to a rental car company."

A woman in uniform rose to her feet. "We'll have a marine drive you back to DC, Dr. Hanson."

"Thank you." She turned for the door.

Before she was on the other side, Rand said, "I'll drive Dr. Hanson home."

"No, Lieutenant Commander," the woman said. "Sit down. You have not been dismissed."

Kira was thankful. The last thing she wanted was hours in a car with a man who thought she was weak.