Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Near San Isidro, Puerto Jardin

Present Day

FINN STRUGGLED to remain outwardly relaxed. He understood why Ski was driving as carefully as he was. The road between Trujillo and San Isidro was narrow with almost no shoulder, and every time an oncoming vehicle approached, they had to slow farther to make it safely past. The continual flow of logging trucks only made it worse, and Finn was close to blowing his rep of always being cool and in control. He needed to reach Zo. Now.

At least he was armed and fully outfitted, and the captain had told Ski to drive him to San Isidro. The offer came with strings—there'd be another sales pitch to work with his former Special Forces team, this time from his best buddy—but it got him to town hours earlier than he'd make it on his own, so he'd listen.

And then say no.

Pienkowski tapped the brakes as a pickup truck approached, pulling Finn from his thoughts. He muttered, "There isn't this kind of traffic when Zo and I drive to town."

When they were past the other vehicle, Ski shot him a look but otherwise ignored the grousing. "Do they still think you're a gunrunner in San Isidro?"

Here we go. "Why do you want to know?" Finn countered.

"Just curious."

That was bullshit, but Finn didn't call his friend on it. "They believe that Zo reformed me. It was too dangerous to let anyone know the truth, especially with Alfonso Ramos regularly turning up. Even the Alvarezes don't know."

Ski grunted. "How did San Isidro avoid being drawn into Ramos' orbit, anyway?"

"It probably has a lot to do with Se?ors Alvarez, Otero, and Garcia being former members of the presidential brigade. The town declared itself neutral, and at the time, the men were young enough to enforce it. I think it became a fact of life for everyone in the area."

"Even with their Special Forces background, it's fucking strange. Ramos and Bianchi have their own armies."

Finn shrugged.

The silence lasted for a while before his friend said, "The team hasn't been able to replace you, you know. It takes a certain mindset for covert ops, and to do what you did…?" He scowled. "We're on the third guy now—the first two bailed and returned to regular teams—and number three is struggling, too. We could use your help on this one."

"No."

"You can't tell me that you don't miss the work."

"Zo is the only adventure I need."

"Some of those illegal arms have found their way to Ramos."

"So what? Ramos has been working with arms dealers for years."

"So the M4 replacement is the latest technology—it's barely out of prototype status—and no one wants it in the hands of a drug lord."

Finn froze. He'd heard rumors about that particular weapon. "Precision-guided," he guessed.

Pienkowski didn't react, but he didn't need to. Finn knew by the change of atmosphere in the Jeep that he'd nailed it. From what he'd heard, the accuracy of these high-tech pieces was frightening, and it didn't matter if both shooter and target were moving. Weapons that devastating didn't belong in the hands of Alfonso Ramos or his hit squad.

"Interested in working with the team now?" Ski asked.

Shaking his head, Finn said, "You can complete the mission without me. Zo is more important."

"Once she's in LA—"

"You know Zo better than that," Finn interrupted. "How long do you think she'll stay in the States before she's back down here to help me?"

Ski huffed out a breath. "Can't you control your woman?"

Finn turned his gaze from the road and stared at Ski. "Who would come down as her sidekick if Zo told her what she was up to?" His buddy stayed silent. "Let me answer for you. The hellcat. The only reason it isn't going to happen is because Zo won't say anything to your wife."

"The hellcat wouldn't—"

"Really? As loyal as she is, you think she'd let Zo come down here alone?"

"Fuck. Why'd we introduce them?"

His lips quirked up before Finn could stop it. "As I recall, the two of you showed up to make sure Zo wasn't using me. She and the hellcat were friends before twenty-four hours passed." They weren't using Langley's name as a safety measure, but there wasn't the same issue for Zo. Too many people in Puerto Jardin knew her and knew them as a couple. "I'm not sure which of them is the bad influence."

"Your woman, dude. It's definitely your woman. "

There wasn't much Finn could say. Zo did have a job that routinely put her at risk. It was why the Paladin League had hired him—to keep her safe. Finn sighed. There was another logging truck approaching.

After slowing the Jeep, Ski said, "Word is Ramos is looking for more of these weapons. I wasn't lying when I said we could use your skills."

"The last time, it took months to get anywhere, and once things kicked into gear, I ended up in a Puerto Jardinese prison for nearly six weeks before you assholes got me out."

"You keep bitching about that."

"I bitch about it because even the good section of a Puerto Jardinese prison is a hellhole, and I have no desire to end up back there again, not even to help out the team."

The logging truck didn't slow, and the Jeep shook as it roared by. Finn waited until they were back at a faster speed before he added, "None of that matters now. I'm not interested. My sole concern is getting Zo home safely and making sure she stays that way."

"You know," Ski said slowly, "the way you talk about rescuing Zo, you'd think she was important to you or something."

Finn stiffened. "What the fuck does that mean?"

"Nothing. But as agitated as you are, a person would think you cared enough to ask her to marry you."

"Mind your own business."

"The way you minded yours when I was a moron?"

"You asked for my opinion. I didn't ask for yours."

Ski sat up straighter, his fingers tightening around the steering wheel, and shot him a quick glare. "I maybe told you a few things, but I never asked for any input from you about the situation."

"Maybe not directly, but—"

His buddy cut him off. "Wait a second. I see what you did. You're not getting me off topic this easily. You've been living together for two years. Why haven't you proposed?"

"We don't need a marriage license to be committed to each other."

With a scowl, Ski asked, "Is Zo your person, or are you killing time with her?"

Finn clenched his jaw so hard that a muscle began to jump in his cheek. It took more than one deep breath to loosen up. "Zo's forever."

"If you know that, then it must be her you're unsure of. What did she say when the two of you talked about living together?"

He remained silent.

"Well?" Ski prompted.

Grudgingly, he admitted, "We never talked about it."

"Bullshit. You couldn't move in without some kind of discussion."

Finn ran his hands over his thighs to keep from tensing up again. "I did. I put my things in her bedroom, and it was a done deal."

Ski looked incredulous. "What the fuck did she say when she noticed? And knowing Zo, she probably spotted this quickly."

"She did." Finn released a deep sigh.

"Do I have to drag it out of you? I want to hear this story. Did she roast you alive?"

As much as he didn't like sharing his personal business, Finn wouldn't mind getting a second opinion on this. Slowly, keeping his eyes on the horizon outside the windshield, he said, "The morning after I put my things in the bedroom, I came out of the bath and found her standing in front of the closet. The door was open, and she had a hand on her hip."

He could see Zo plain as day. She'd been dressed in a pair of shorts and a tank top for their run. For an instant, he'd been mesmerized by her long, bare legs, but a few seconds later, his brain had flashed danger, danger, and he'd focused on her face. Her carefully neutral expression had pushed the alert level from yellow to red.

Ski's impatience filled the Jeep.

"I waited a few seconds, but Zo didn't speak," Finn continued at last. "I was trying to figure out what I wanted to say when she finally pointed to my things hanging in the closet and asked, ‘Does this mean you're living with me now?'"

"How'd she say that? Calmly, or like hell was about to be unleashed?" Pienkowski asked.

"Calmly."

"That would have scared the shit out of me."

He nodded. He'd gone still and braced himself. "Yeah," Finn admitted to his buddy.

"You would have deserved it if she'd ripped you a new one. Who the hell moves into a woman's condo without so much as a word of warning?" Ski shook his head.

"If you don't ask, she can't say no."

Ski shook his head again, but his expression suggested he was trying not to laugh. "What did you say when she asked you point-blank what the fuck you were doing?"

"I said, ‘Yeah, problem?'"

"Dude. I'm amazed you're breathing."

Finn ran his hands over his thighs again. "Sometimes I am, too, but Zo shook her head and said, ‘No, I just wondered.' Then she turned and left the bedroom. I'd been expecting an argument. I stood there staring after her and then caught up to her near the kitchen. I asked her, ‘That easy?'"

"And she said?"

"Zo said, ‘Yes, did you want to make it difficult?'" And then he'd lifted her onto the kitchen island, and there'd been no more talking for a while, but Finn wasn't sharing this part.

"Of course, you said no, because you'd gotten what you wanted without having to battle for it." Ski smirked and then laughed. "Yeah, you got what you wanted, but it ended up being a double-edged sword because you are unsure of her."

"There's nothing funny about this," Finn growled.

Ski laughed harder. "God, this is rich. You've always smoothly maneuvered through every relationship you've been in while everyone else on the team struggled, including me. Then you found your person, and you fucked up as badly as the rest of us."

"Did I laugh when you messed things up with the hellcat?"

"No, but you wanted to. You have better control than I do." Ski sobered. "I don't know if this is any consolation, but if Zo didn't want you around, you wouldn't be there. That woman gets shit done."

Yes, she did, and she handled everything on her own. That was part of what had him uneasy. He wanted her to need him, but she needed no one.