Heated Pursuit (Alpha Security #1)(23)

“Are there cheetahs in Honduras?” Penny asked absently.

A grin spread across Charlie’s face as she shrugged. “Do I look like an animal rustler? Although, I have to admit that I sometimes feel like I am when I’m surrounded by those five. You have no idea how thrilled I was to actually stay behind this time around. Too much sweat takes the pink out of my hair.”

Penny chuckled and took a good look at the blonde’s surroundings. It didn’t look like an office space or have the stark, cool lines seen in most military bases. Framed photographs decorated a cherry wood-panel wall, and to the far right over the other woman’s shoulder, Penny glimpsed the edge of an ornate plate-glass window. The way the browns and golds swirled together into the form of an old-fashioned beer mug looked…familiar.

“Charlie, where did you say you’re stationed stateside?” Penny asked, her gaze narrowing on the wall behind the pink-haired dynamo.

“At our new headquarters. And I say new, but we’ve really been here six months. Renovating a bar to fit our needs takes a hell of a lot of time. And as it turns out, you can’t really hire just anyone to build secret bunkers into the mountainside.”

Penny’s gaze drifted to one of the photos over Charlie’s left shoulder. Two smiling women with arms tossed over each other’s shoulders stared back at her. Penny didn’t need to see it closer to know the one on the left wore a white tank and blue skirt, and the other wore the exact opposite: a blue top and white shorts.

She knew because she was the one wearing the jean skirt.





CHAPTER EIGHT



Penny stared at the photo, the one she knew for a fact hung on the wall of her hometown’s neighborhood bar, Hot Shots. Thousands of miles away. In another time zone. In Pennsylvania.

Around her, the room went silent. No one moved. No one spoke. No one even appeared to breathe as she registered the fact that Alpha Security’s headquarters wasn’t as secret as they thought.

When she turned her gaze on Trey, Penny felt as if the floor slid out from under her. Regret flooded his eyes. He took a small step forward before stopping. “Penn—”

“Your headquarters,” she said, cutting him off. “Your headquarters is in Frederick?”

“It’s not what it looks like.”

“No? Because it looks like despite having been back home, you couldn’t be bothered to make an appearance, much less dial the damn phone. There was talk about new owners when it was closed down but—”

“We’ve only been there—”

“Six months. Six. Freaking. Months.” Penny couldn’t listen to any more. With a hasty good-bye to Charlie, she pushed her chair back, refusing to wait around and listen to Trey’s excuses.

Tears threatened to fall, more with every second it took for her to reach the penthouse balcony. She welcomed the warm, stagnant air of San Pedro Sula, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes.

She should be used to this by now. Evasion. Disregard. Disappointment.

Her father had started her off in thinking those three things were the norm with families, but living in the Hanson house had shown her that it wasn’t like that at all. At least until Trey left for boot camp and the e-mails became more and more infrequent, first separated by weeks, then months. Although she knew he occasionally sent his mother a quick check-in, the last one Penny had gotten herself had been about two years ago.

Behind her, the sliding glass door opened and closed.

“Can we talk?” came Trey’s voice.

“Now you want to talk? Or do you just want to make sure that I don’t tell Sophie you’ve been skulking around the neighborhood for half a year without so much as a drop-in? Your secret’s safe. I won’t tell her, but only because I don’t want to break her heart.”

“Will you hear me out? Please?”

She was on the verge of saying no when her gaze drifted through the window. Four sets of curious gazes watched them through the balcony door, but Rafe’s was the one that snagged her attention. His expression was impossible to read: lips pressed tightly together, blue eyes narrowed on Trey.

As if sensing he was being watched, Rafe looked her way. Her head pounded, too overwhelmed with questions and feelings to add Rafael Ortega to the mix. Penny pulled her attention back to the street below.

“We have a lot of work to do before tomorrow,” she pointed out to Trey.

“I know.” He came up next to her by the railing. “Penn, I’m sorry. Christ, I know that sounds lame, but I f*cked up. I f*cked up when I left. I f*cked up six months ago. Hell, I’m f*cking up right the hell now.”

“If you’re waiting for me to disagree with you, you’re going to be waiting a really long time.”

“I wasn’t planning on keeping our move a secret. Why would I have done that when I was the one who suggested we use Frederick as our home base? I just wanted to give things time to settle. And before…” Trey scrubbed his whiskered face with the palms of his hands and sighed. “I actually have no excuse for my eighteen-year-old self except that he was a punk-ass kid who didn’t realize what he had and focused too much on the things he didn’t—and wanted. By the time I made it into the Rangers, I knew it would be awkward to try and make amends. And when I made Delta, I didn’t think it would be fair.”