Page 21 of Shadow Redemption

“Yes, sir,” she snapped out in her best imitation of a soldier.

Cal glanced over his shoulder with a twinkle in his eyes.

After Ruth finished her tea, she took the mug to the dishwasher and returned to her place beside Ben.

He spread a blanket over her lap and tucked her close to his side, arm once against draped over her shoulders. “Comfortable?”

She nodded.

“Good. Just relax and enjoy the game.”

Ruth settled deeper against the cushion and focused on the slow-paced game. After three innings, her eyes grew heavy and her head wanted to loll against Ben’s shoulder. She rested her head against the back of the couch and closed her eyes. As she drifted, the noise of the game faded into the background and she felt a gentle pressure against the side of head, urging her to lean against Ben’s shoulder. Too tired to resist, Ruth gave in, sighed, and let her body slip into sleep.

CHAPTER SEVEN

When Ben was positive that Ruth was asleep, he reclined with his feet propped on the coffee table and shifted the woman in his arms so she slept with her head on his chest. His heart lurched when she snuggled closer and went boneless in his arms.

He was getting in too deep with Ruth, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. She felt perfect in his arms. How would he give her up when the mission was complete? No matter what his battered heart told him, he couldn’t keep her.

Cal looked at him, a smirk on his face.

“Shut up.”

A soft chuckle. “I didn’t say a word.”

“But you were thinking it.” He was, too. Didn’t make the words more comfortable to think about or say.

His friend turned back to the window. “Sleep, Ben. I’ve got this.”

“Wake me in three hours.” If he didn’t wake himself up with nightmares or the internal alarm clock in his head.

“No need. I don’t have another assignment yet. Take the chance to sleep while you have it.”

Although he wanted to refuse the offer, Cal was right. When this case heated up, and it would sooner rather than later, he’d be short on sleep. All the shuteye he banked now would keep him on his feet while protecting Ruth. “Thanks.”

Unsure if he could sleep with someone other than his teammates close by, Ben was surprised to find himself going under easily. Sometime later, he woke when Cal said his name.

Alert, he looked at the other operative. “Problem?”

“Maybe. I need to scout around outside.”

“Go. I’ll take the watch.” He glanced at his phone. Four hours of sleep. Not bad.

After Cal left by the back door, Ben eased Ruth to the couch cushions, lips curving when she frowned and moaned. She sounded like a grumpy kid.

He tugged the blanket over her shoulders and allowed himself to stroke her silky blond hair once, then walked to the window and eased the curtain aside. A black Camaro was parked across the street three houses away with the engine running and lights off.

Might be a neighbor going to work early. If so, why sit with the lights off? The car was a newer model, one with automatic lights. The driver turned them off deliberately.

Nothing else had changed on the street except lights were beginning to glow in windows at houses up and down the street.

A dark figure walked around the corner of a house one block up the street and walked down the sidewalk toward Ruth’s home. Cal moved closer, cell phone in his hand, screen lit up as though checking or surfing the Net while he walked. When he drew closer, the operative adjusted the positioning of his phone without slowing and walked past the idling car. He glanced at the car as he continued down the sidewalk.

Headlights turned on and tires squawked as the driver raced away from the curb, hung a fast right at the next corner, and disappeared from view.

Cal jogged across the street toward Ruth’s home, and Ben unlocked the door to let him inside. “Did you get the plate?”

“Of course. Windows were tinted too dark to see the driver. No passengers from what I could tell.”