Headed for Trouble - By Suzanne Brockmann Page 0,25

asked me what I want? I want what you have with Alyssa, Sam. I want what Max has with Gina, what Jack has with Scott. I won’t have that with Ben. Or with Robin, who’s in fucking London right now promoting his latest movie, so I’m not going to London with you, even if it’s only to catch a flight to New York, thanks but no thanks.”

Maybe Alyssa was right. It sure seemed that all roads led back to this Robin guy.

“I remember,” Sam said, “being in love with Alyssa, but she didn’t want anything to do with me. I was so desperate not to think about her, and … Nobody could compete. Messing around with other women didn’t help. It only made me miss her more. Plus the other women usually ended up hurt, which sucked.”

“I hear what you’re saying.” Jules nodded. “And I appreciate your candor. But you need to go, or you’re going to miss that plane.”

Sam grabbed his bags. Opened the door. “Thanks again for everything.”

“I’ll give you a call in a coupla days,” Jules said. “Kiss the shit out of Alyssa for me, okay?”

Sam laughed. “Absolutely.”

Alyssa wasn’t waiting for him at LAX. She was in San Diego, at the Troubleshooters Incorporated office, organizing the gear her team—Sam included—would need for this next assignment. It was cold where they were going, and they’d need to stay hidden, which meant camping without the benefit of fire.

Freeze-your-balls-off-style camping was definitely not Sam’s favorite thing to do, but this time, he absolutely couldn’t wait. A pup tent, a two-person thermal sleeping bag, and his incredible woman …

Yeah, he’d find a way to keep plenty warm.

Traffic was heavy, not just on the Five, but off it as well. He finally arrived, and, yes. There she was, in the parking lot. His wife. Working to fit three truckloads of supplies into two tiny packing crates. And getting the job done with room to spare.

Sam just stood there for a moment, watching her, just letting his heart swell. Her dark hair was long enough to pull back into a ponytail, but tendrils escaped, curling around her face. She was, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman in the entire world, even without any makeup, dressed down in forest cammie-print BDUs and lumberjack boots for two weeks of stomping around in the woods.

She was using her former-naval-officer voice—no-nonsense with a hint of dominatrix. But then she turned and saw him, and smiled. When she spoke again, her voice was honey. “Sam. You made it.”

“Thanks to Jules,” he said. She seemed happy to just stand there and look at him, too. He was grinning at her like an idiot.

“He called me,” she said. “Told me all about the thong incident. Poor Chloe.”

“Poor Chloe?” Sam protested. “What about poor me?”

“Poor Sam, having such a trying few weeks, in the most beautiful part of Italy, with naked women throwing themselves at you.” She was trying to sound sarcastic, but her amusement bubbled through. She mocked him even more. “It must’ve been terrible, like … like … working in a Girls Gone Wild video!”

That was it for the just-let-me-look-at-you part of their long-awaited reunion. Sam dropped his bag and went for her. She met him more than halfway. He knew she’d missed him badly, too, because she didn’t even bother to look around to see who might be watching them—they were, after all, at work. But she didn’t care.

She just kissed him, and as he kissed the shit out of her, he thought of Jules, of how lonely he was. You asked me what I want? I want what you have with Alyssa …

It didn’t matter to Sam where they slept tonight—in their own bed, or in a five-star hotel, or even in a tent. As long as Alyssa was beside him, Sam was home.

WHEN JENK, IZZY, GILLMAN, AND LOPEZ MET TONY VLACHIC

2005

This story takes place slightly before Into the Storm.

“Weirdest lesbian encounter ever,” Izzy said as he dealt the cards around the desk that he’d helped Mark Jenkins move into the middle of the shabby motel room. “This girl comes up to me. I’m in a bar in Boulder, Colorado, and she is unbelievably beautiful. I’m talking a fifty on a scale of one to ten. Seriously Victoria’s Secret gorgeous. Long dark hair, a face like Natalie Portman, a body like a porn star.”

Gillman rolled his eyes. “You are so full of shit.”

They’d been garrisoned in some low-rent places before, but this one, remote and located