Code Name: Nanny (SEAL and Code Name #5)(40)

She turned stiffly, certain that her cheeks were bright red.

“Summer?”

She didn’t look around. “Yes?”

“Call me if you need anything tonight.”

Only a fool would have found a double meaning in those words. “I’ll be fine.”

Summer closed the door stiffly. If there was one thing she had learned well, it was that relying on other people was a sure prescription for pain, and she had already had enough of that in her life.





[page]chapter 14

Audra clung to Liberace, crawling along a high branch. She could see the wall, see her own window.

Sweat crept down her neck. She was grounded now, thanks to her tricks on the new nanny. But if she were caught tonight, she’d be grounded for the rest of her life.

If I don’t get caught, she swore, I’ll never sneak out again. Never ever.

She had already lowered the ladder via her rope, and as she crept along the branch she noticed a light in the new nanny’s guesthouse. Gabe was still up, too, judging by the lights in his rooms.

What if they saw her?

Seconds later the window was open, and she helped Sophy cross the sill. After that, she set Liberace down, raised the ladder and stowed it away, then tiptoed across the floor, undressed quickly, and slid into bed.

Audra’s heart continued to pound madly, but as minutes passed without discovery, she gradually began to slip into sleep.

She was dreaming about surfing when a hand circled her arm.

Sophy was standing near her bed, looking frightened. A big stuffed crocodile stuck out beneath her arm.

“What?”

“I can’t sleep. I had bad dreams again.”

Audra sighed and sat up. “What is it this time, the big orange worms or the green talking cats?”

Sophy stood very still. “This time it was a man. He was standing at the foot of my bed, watching me.” Sophy clutched her crocodile tighter. “Just watching.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know.”

Audra pulled back her covers. “Dreams don’t mean anything, silly. Come on, let’s go to sleep.”

“But he was ugly.” Sophy slid into the bed, shivering as Audra pulled the covers back up. “And this dream was different. Important, like a warning.” She lay tensely, staring through the window at the mist. “Something’s going to happen, Auddie. I know it.”

“Go to sleep,” Audra said impatiently. “Stuff like that doesn’t mean anything.”

But Audra lay awake for a long time, watching shadows move against the lawn. Sophy’s dreams weren’t like other people’s dreams. Her sister’s dreams—the ones she called important—had a bad habit of coming true.



With a curse, Gabe shoved back his blanket and checked his watch. Summer should be finishing her second security tour shortly, and then it would be his turn.

She was one hell of a woman, Gabe thought grimly. Spit-shined and buttoned-down, hungry for action and a chance to prove herself.

All job, she had told him. But there had been vulnerability in her face, just for a second, when he’d been working that damned cactus needle out of her lip. Gabe had found himself wanting to explore her lips slowly and see what it took to coax out a sigh of pleasure.

He shook his head, fully aware that Summer Mulvaney was off-limits.

Buck naked, he trotted to the shower and swung the elegant control bar until frigid water filled the air. He barely noticed the pain in his right knee or the stiffness in his leg. The scars from his last round of surgery were finally starting to fade, but he was still far from his full fighting capacity. With luck and some serious sweat, he’d be at eighty percent by the time this mission was done.

After a quick shower, Gabe cut the water and did a slow knee bend. Ligaments tightened and muscle burned, but he savored the pain like an old friend. At one time he had despaired of recovering his mobility, and a SEAL with limited capacity was bound for a desk assignment or training responsibilities. Both were crucial tasks, but not ones that Gabe had joined the Navy to carry out, and the sooner he regained his range of motion and full strength, the sooner he’d be reassigned to the dangerous work he did best.

Grabbing a towel, he dried quickly and dressed in black shorts. His knee burned as he pulled out a locked metal case, keyed the code, and located three documents. After studying two maps thoroughly, he unrolled a set of blueprints to the clinic in Los Reyes where Cara O’Connor had been a patient in 1986.

The blueprints were dated 1983.

He punched in a number on his encrypted cell phone and waited for the recorded message to click in.

“Yeah, this is Morgan,” he said. “I need a large pepperoni with double cheese, so get your butt in gear and start cooking.”

He glanced at the display and smiled when his phone rang five seconds later. “You’re late, Teague. I could be a dead man in five. What kept you—a hot date with a smoldering brunette?”

At the other end of the line, Ishmael Teague flipped off the microwave communication prototype he’d been testing and said one gruff phrase in answer.

Gabe barked with laughter. “Same to you, pal. I’d say in spades, but you’d probably kick me around the block.”

“Damned straight. And it only took me three seconds to call back.” Izzy hesitated. “How’s your leg?”