Top Gun Guardian

He scanned the darkening skies and settled back into his seat as he pulled on the throttle, sending the nose of his plane toward the heavens. He hadn’t filed a flight plan with air traffic control, since he didn’t want anyone picking up his trail.

The CIA wouldn’t come after him, at least not yet. The Agency wouldn’t want to anger President Okeke and if the president trusted his daughter’s safety to him and Raven, the CIA would just have to deal with it…for now.

The plane climbed to cruising altitude and Buzz stretched his legs. He could use a cup of coffee about now. Too bad he wasn’t flying one of the big commercial jets. He glanced over his shoulder at Raven flipping through a magazine she must’ve had stashed in that huge bag of hers.

He preferred the company on this small plane to a bunch of overworked flight attendants anyway…even without the coffee.

Raven peeked over the top of her magazine. “Are we in for a long flight?”

“About seven hours.” He pointed to Malika curled up in her seat, the blanket tucked up to her chin. “You should follow Malika’s example and take a nap.”

“Seven hours?” She dropped the magazine to her lap. “I guess I can’t just land and turn around then.”

“I didn’t know that’s what you’d planned. You volunteered to get Malika settled, remember?”

“Settled where, Buzz? Where are you taking us?”

He took a deep breath and shifted his gaze back to his control panel of blinking lights. “Oklahoma.”

Raven gasped and then laughed, but the sound held no humor. Buzz had noticed that about Raven before. She could laugh but it didn’t mean she was happy. That kind of laughter always made him uncomfortable, and it hadn’t changed.

He twisted in his seat to find Raven’s head touching her knees and her shoulders shaking from the laugh that wasn’t a laugh. Buzz raised one eyebrow. “Why are you laughing?”

Not that he minded. He preferred it to her throwing things at him, especially when he was trying to fly.

Raven jerked her head up. “Come on, Buzz. Don’t play the slow cowboy with me. You know why Oklahoma is significant.”

“Because it was my home. Because I wanted to take you there after we married. Because it’s where I wanted to raise a family…with you. But now it’s just a safe place for Malika until Burumanda’s political situation cools down and she can be reunited with her father.” He shrugged. “Not significant at all.”

“It was your home?” Raven brushed strands of her hair from her face. “You didn’t return to Oklahoma after leaving Prospero?”

“No. I live in Dallas now, but I still have my folks’ ranch in Oklahoma. I figure I can protect Malika there.” He patted the empty co-pilot’s seat next to him. “Do you want to join me up front? You were getting good at flying before…”

Before she’d taken off like a scared rabbit once he mentioned marriage, family and forever. Raven had never had an example of any of those things in her life. Her wealthy family had lived abroad, dropped Raven off at boarding schools and stashed her with nannies.

Obviously not wanting a trip down memory lane, Raven scrambled from her seat and lurched toward the cockpit. “Just tell me what to do.”

“Nothing. Relax and enjoy the view.”

After fifteen minutes of companionable silence as the Jetstream cut through the night sky, Raven tapped his shoulder. “Why didn’t you settle in Oklahoma? It’s all you ever talked about.”

It’s all he’d ever talked about? No wonder he’d scared her off.

He lifted the shoulder where her hand still rested. “Wasn’t ready.”

Once he retired from Prospero, he’d discovered all his plans for the ranch had become meaningless without Raven. And all the women he’d met since lacked Raven’s spunk, her beauty, her sexiness, her…

She squeezed his shoulder. “Well, you’ll get there one day. I know the ranch meant a lot to you after your parents died.”

The transponder beeped and Buzz flicked his radar screen. “There’s another private plane in the area. We’re too low for a commercial airliner.”

Raven slouched to peer out her side window. “Is it close enough that we’d see it? It’s clear out here.”

“It’s behind us. You might be able to see its lights if you went to the back of the plane, but it’s okay. He’s not going to run into us or anything. We both have transponders.”

Buzz tried to contact the other plane on the radio, but the pilot didn’t respond. A muscle ticked in his jaw, and he clenched his hand on the steering wheel.

Raven’s gaze took in his white knuckles and the straight line of his mouth. “Are you sure it’s okay? Could that be the CIA after us?”

He shook his head. If it were the CIA, the pilot would be all over that radio giving him orders. If it were…someone else, the pilot might want to follow him silently.

“Buzz, you never told me what a commercial airline pilot was doing at the U.N. during President Okeke’s address. And how did you get so chummy with the president that he’d let you fly off with his daughter?”

Buzz blew out a breath. He might as well tell her the rest. “Jack Coburn is missing.”

“Jack?” Raven gripped the arms of her chair. “What happened?”

“We’re not sure. He took a job as a hostage negotiator after Prospero. He disappeared in Afghanistan while on a job trying to negotiate the release of some doctor.”

“What does President Okeke have to do with Jack’s disappearance and why are you involved?”

“It’s Jack.”

She hugged herself, hunching her shoulders. “I know you guys would do anything for each other, but how is his disappearance related to President Okeke?”

Buzz rubbed his eyes. “It started with a drug deal between a Mexican cartel and a group of terrorists out of Afghanistan. Jack’s name came up in the chatter. Riley was able to link the terrorists with an arms dealer.”

“Riley Hammond, the Navy SEAL from Prospero? I thought he was taking tourists out on a dive boat in Cabo?”

“He took a detour to help out. We all did. Ian Dempsey located the weapon the terrorists bought with their drug money—turned out to be a biological weapon.”

Raven covered her mouth with her hands. She’d worked with them at Prospero for a time, so Buzz felt sure not much shocked her. She’d been tough…and brittle since the moment he’d met her. The brittleness—that’s what had sabotaged their relationship.

“If Ian had something to do with locating that weapon, it must’ve been in the mountains. Did he leave his job leading mountain-climbing expeditions?”

Buzz cocked his head. She sure knew a lot about his former comrades. “We all dropped everything as soon as we got the call from Colonel Scripps.”

“I’m sure you did. And what’s this third link? What does the biological weapon Ian recovered have to do with President Okeke?” Her eyes widened. “You don’t think he’s in the market for this biological weapon, do you?”

“I wasn’t sure—” he glanced back at the slumbering Malika “—because it was rumored he had ties to some terrorist groups, but after I met with him I think he’s clean. The Agency also believes Okeke has the means to deliver a virus, weaponize it.”

Raven hugged herself. “That’s scary.”

“That might be what the rebels are after, or maybe someone is using the rebels to get to Okeke. The region of Burumanda, before it was a country, was a hotbed of terrorist training activity. A lot of terrorist groups around the world wanted to keep it that way.”

Pressing her fingers against her temples, Raven closed her eyes. “Why isn’t anyone else looking for Jack? Why is it up to you guys? None of you is even on active duty anymore.”

Buzz ground his teeth together. This was the hardest part. “The CIA thinks Jack turned. They think he leaked information to the terrorists, is maybe feeding them intelligence about the delivery method for this virus.”

Raven’s eyelids flew open. “No way. That’s not possible.”

“That’s exactly why I’m here.”

“I-is the CIA, I mean, are they going to suspect you kidnapped Malika to get information about Jack?”

“Kidnapped isn’t the right word.” He scratched his chin and yawned. “I took her with her father’s permission, but I’m sure they’ll suspect I did it for my own reasons.”

“And did you? You’re not using that little girl, are you?”

Buzz shook his head at Raven’s sharp tone. She’d become very protective of Malika in a short space of time. Must be because she’d saved her life, or at least saved her from a kidnapping. “You know me better than that, Raven. I’m the kid-friendly one around here. If I didn’t think I could do a better job of keeping Malika safe than a bunch of by-the-book spooks at the Agency, I wouldn’t have taken her.”

“You’re right.” She sighed and pushed her hair back from her face. “I’m still on edge…and I missed my date.”

“Aww, I’m sorry. Let me guess. Broadway show and a hip new restaurant? Or a tapas bar and some club in the Meat Packing District?”

“It all sounds so shallow when you put it like that, Buzz.” She unbuckled her seatbelt and slid from her copilot’s perch. “But a helluva lot more fun than sitting on a porch sipping lemonade and watching horses run around. Now I’m going to try to get some sleep before we arrive in Nowheresville, Oklahoma.”

Six hours later and with no other planes invading his air space, Buzz landed his Jetstream safely at the small White Cloud municipal airport. The morning sun streaked across the broad expanse of sky like a runny egg yolk. His stomach rumbled and he figured their first stop would be breakfast at the Arapaho Café.

He taxied to a stop next to the hangar and completed his post-flight check. Rubbing his eyes, he turned in his seat to face his sleeping passengers. Raven had reclined both seats, and her long legs were stretched out in front of her while Malika was curled into a tight ball, her head resting on Raven’s shoulder. At least she wasn’t drooling this time.

He should get a picture for blackmail purposes.

Hunching forward, he entered the cabin and nudged Raven. “We’re here.”

Raven started and grasped the arms of her seat, digging her long nails into the leather. “What? Already?”

“We’ve been flying for six hours. It’s morning, or almost.”

Raven stretched out a hand and touched Malika’s cheek. “Malika? Time to wake up.”

Buzz squinted out the window, running his tongue across his teeth. If only he’d had time to pack a bag with a toothbrush. And if he felt that way, Raven must be itching for a shower and some clean clothes. Of course she wouldn’t be able to buy any designer duds in White Cloud, and they needed to get that little girl something to eat first.

Malika opened her big brown eyes with a flash of fear, until her gaze settled on Raven and the anxiety melted away.

“Are you hungry?” Raven tweaked one of Malika’s pigtails. “Buzz, we’re going to need something to eat before anything else.”

Buzz raised his brows. Who had stolen his tough-as-nails Raven and left this squishy marshmallow in her place? “Sure. I was thinking the same thing. After I check in with the ground crew, we’ll hitch a ride into town. I doubt there’s anything to eat at the ranch.”

They disembarked, and Buzz bundled Raven and Malika inside the hangar while he secured the plane. One of the guys at the airport agreed to loan Buzz his truck.

As Buzz squeezed Malika between himself and Raven in the front seat of the truck, Raven’s jaw dropped. “You mean this guy who’s a stranger is letting you take off in his truck? How does he know we’re not going to hit the highway and steal it?”

Buzz chuckled as he threw the beat-up truck in Reverse. “He has my Jetstream. I’d say that’s a fair trade.”

“How does he know you didn’t steal that plane?”

“It’s called trust. There’s a lot of that in a small town. Besides, there are no strangers in White Cloud. That guy is cousins with my best friend’s ex-girlfriend.”

Raven rolled her eyes. “If you say so.”

They bumped along in the truck for a few miles before they careened into town. The streets were mostly empty at this time of morning, except for a couple of trucks parked in front of the Arapaho Café. Retired ranchers up at their customary time and looking for a little company.

And Buzz probably knew all of them.

Scratching his chin, he shot a glance at Raven and Malika. He couldn’t exactly tell the good people of White Cloud that he was hiding an African president’s daughter in their midst. The assassination attempt at the U.N. had been splashed all over the news, but Malika’s picture hadn’t been splashed anywhere. The government had suppressed any news of her attempted abduction and Raven’s role in her rescue.

He blew out a breath and squared his shoulders. The plan came to him in a flash and Raven might even laugh about it…someday.

He pulled up to the curb and pointed to the restaurant. “I hope you ladies are hungry.”

Buzz yanked his coat around his wrinkled suit and opened the door of the truck for Raven. She hopped out and scooped Malika from the seat. “Ahh, I can smell the bacon from here.”

“Bacon, eggs, biscuits and gravy. The Arapaho has it all.” Buzz pushed open the door and several pairs of eyes turned in their direction.

“Well, if it isn’t Buzz Richardson.”

“Must’ve dropped out of the sky.”

“It’s Steve’s boy.”

Raven stiffened beside him as he raised his hand in greeting. “Hey, guys. It’s good to be back.”

“Whatcha doing here, Buzz? You gonna take up residence at the ranch?”

Buzz shrugged out of his coat and hung it on the rack by the front door. “Just thought it was time to bring my wife and our new daughter home to White Cloud.”

Chapter Four

Raven squeezed Malika’s hand so tightly the girl whimpered. She immediately loosened her hold, but still had a death grip on the back of the chair with her other hand. If she squeezed any harder she’d snap the wood.

Raven’s stiff face formed a wooden smile as she met the curious gazes of the old men seated around a red Formica table. She peeled her fingers from the chair and waved like a queen from her motorcade.

She’d kill Buzz.

Buzz winked at her and grabbed her hand, pulling her toward the group. He performed a round of introductions, but the names whirred through her brain, replaced by the surprise at the warmth of their greeting. After each introduction, the men jumped to their feet and pulled her in for a kiss on the cheek, their gray whiskers tickling her chin.

Then they turned their attentions to Malika. They tugged lightly on her pigtails and chucked her beneath the chin. She seemed to take it much more in stride than Raven. At the end of the introductions, the old guys had Malika grinning and giggling as though she’d just discovered a roomful of doting grandfathers.

Buzz held up his hands. “That’s enough socializing. My girls are tired and hungry.”

The men grumbled but went back to talking about…whatever old men talk about in a diner in the wee morning hours.

Raven glared at Buzz as he pulled out her chair. She even flared her nostrils for added effect. He grinned at her and lifted Malika into her seat.

After the waitress took their order, Raven folded her hands on top of the plastic menu. “Why did you tell them we were married?”

“It was the best cover I could think of on short notice.” He slid a blue crayon toward Malika, who had her head bent over a children’s menu, ready for coloring. “Until I saw that bunch sitting at the table, it didn’t occur to me how suspicious I’d look marching into town with a woman and a little girl from Africa at my side.”

Raven snapped her brows over her nose. “I thought it was your job to think of things like that. You had an entire seven-hour plane ride to think of a story.”

“It’s a good story, Raven.” He shrugged. “Nobody in White Cloud needs to know we’re hiding some African president’s daughter. The world at large doesn’t even know she’s missing. Most people in diplomatic circles don’t even know President Okeke brought her.”

“Have you had contact with the president?”

“On his orders, no. He doesn’t want her location to be compromised at all. We’re supposed so stay here with her until further notice.”

Malika glanced up from her coloring through dark lashes. “My father does not want me to talk of him.”

Buzz patted her hand. “We know that, Malika. You’re a smart girl.”

Raven’s nose tingled. How easily this little girl adapted to subterfuge. She shouldn’t have to live her young life like that.

“Do you understand our game, Malika?” Raven tucked a stray curl behind Malika’s ear. “While we’re here in White Cloud, we’re going to pretend we’re a family. Just until we can get you safely back to your father.”

Malika lodged the tip of her tongue in the corner of her mouth while she colored in a tiny bird. Then she looked up. “I understand…Mama.”

The tingling in Raven’s nose spread to her eyes, which flooded with tears. She scrabbled for a napkin from the dispenser on the table and pressed it to her eyelids. Then she blew her nose.

Avoiding Buzz’s gaze, Raven rapped her knuckles on the table in front of Malika. “Our food’s going to be here in a minute. Let’s wash our hands.”

Malika dropped her crayons and hopped from her chair. Raven crossed the small dining room to the restroom, her high heels clicking on the floor. If they were going to stay here for a while, and it looked as if they were, she’d have to buy some clothes for her and Malika. High heels and silk suits wouldn’t cut it in this little backwater town.

They finished washing up and pushed out of the ladies’ room. As they passed the old men, one called out. “So where’d you meet Buzz, Raven?”

“Umm, at work.” Might as well keep this as close to the truth as possible.

“What are you, a stewardess?”

“Ah, I meant at his previous job.”

The man’s shaggy gray brows shot up. “You were in the military?”

Oh boy. Nothing was going to be simple. Of course, Buzz could never be open and honest about what he did. He was in covert ops. He was a spy. He’d lived his life in the shadows with secrets that could topple governments.

And she’d helped him. She’d been a member of Prospero. Translating, teaching, training.

Falling in love.

“Oh, on the civilian end. I’m a translator.” She waved her hands as if to brush off his question and stumbled back to the table toward the heavenly scent of bacon.

Buzz waved a knife at the old ranchers. “Giving you the third-degree back there?”

Raven spread a napkin on her lap and pointed to Malika’s lap. “Asked where we met. I said we met at work, where I was in a civilian capacity.”

“That’ll do.” He slid a basket of biscuits toward her. “Biscuits and gravy?”

She gave a slight shudder and plucked a biscuit from the basket. “No on the gravy, but I might try one with honey.”

She pulled the biscuit in half and drizzled a little honey on one side. She bit into the biscuit and closed her eyes as it melted into her mouth. “I may have to shop for one size up if I stay here and keep eating like this.”

Buzz held his fork suspended over his plate. “That means you’re staying?”

“You pretty much sealed my fate back there.” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder at the table of gossiping men.

“You could always find an excuse to leave, Raven.” He dropped his fork and handed a napkin to Malika. “You did before.”

Heat flashed across Raven’s cheeks. He was the one who’d changed the rules. She slid a glance toward Malika, who was clutching her fork between coiled fingers. Could she sense the tension at the table? Hadn’t Raven always been able to sense the tension in her family?

“Nope.” Raven brushed the biscuit flour from her fingertips. “No excuses. We’re in this together. This is our make-believe, right, Malika?”

Malika smiled, nodded and shoveled some scrambled eggs into her mouth.

When they finished their breakfast, they said goodbye to the men still nursing their coffee in the corner. As Buzz swung open the door, a short, stocky man barreled through it, almost colliding with Buzz.

“Sorry…” The man trailed off and his eyes narrowed beneath his cowboy hat. “Buzz Richardson, hotshot pilot.”

His sharp tone cut across the café and Raven took a step back. Guess not everyone in White Cloud was friendly.

“Lance, how have you been?” Buzz stuck out his hand but the smaller man ignored it.

“Could be better, Buzz. Could be better.” He turned on his heel and stalked to an empty table.

With his jaw tight, Buzz ushered Raven through the door. They stepped into the chilly Oklahoma morning, and Raven pulled her coat around her body.

“What was that all about? I thought everyone in White Cloud was your best friend.”

“That’s Lance Cooper.”

“So?” She circled one finger in the air. “I’m supposed to know him?”

“He’s the brother of Josh Cooper, the man who was flying my parents in my plane when it crashed.”

Raven gasped. “Buzz…”

He shook his head and opened the passenger door of the truck. She understood that signal.

Raven cleared her throat. “When do the stores open? We’re going to have to get some basics and Malika and I need some clothes.”

His shoulders relaxed. “It’s Saturday. The stores open around nine. We’ll head out to the ranch first and make the place livable for the next few weeks.”

“Few weeks?” Raven buckled Malika into the seat between them. “Is that how long you think this is going to take?”

Buzz cranked on the engine of the old truck. “I’m not sure, Raven. We’ll see how things work out.”

In less than five minutes, they hit open road. Raven gazed across the flat landscape with a few low hills in the distance. The sky was wide open and looked as if it could gulp up everything in its sphere. The rising sun gleamed on the dusky browns and golds and then shimmered across an expanse of aqua blue, the color of Buzz’s eyes.

She tapped her window. “What’s that?”

“That’s Lake Unega. There’s a lot of activity around the lake during the summer—fishing, waterskiing, boating. Luckily this isn’t summer.”

Raven shivered and tucked her arm around Malika. “No kidding. It’s not going to snow while we’re here, is it?”

“We don’t usually get much snow, maybe a light dusting.” He tweaked the folds of her cashmere coat. “That old rag should do you just fine.”

“Don’t pull that down-home crap with me, Richardson. You’re the best-dressed cowboy I’ve ever seen.” His gloom after running into Lance Cooper seemed to have lifted, and she was happy to give it the heave-ho. This sadness was a new side of Buzz she’d never seen before.

“See many cowboys in New York City, do you?”

Malika bounced on the seat between them, enjoying the lighter mood. “Where is your hat? Where is your hat?”

Buzz laughed and the sound warmed up the car. “I have one at home, and I’m going to get you one, too. Would you like that?”

“Yes, and those, please.” Malika pointed to Raven’s high heels planted on the plastic mat of the truck.

“You’ll have plenty of time for those.” Grinning, Buzz met Raven’s eyes over the top of Malika’s head.

His smile encased her in warmth and she suddenly felt as if she had been locked in a deep freeze for a long time. Two years and eight months, to be exact. Since the day she’d left him.

Her bottom lip trembled, and she turned and pressed her forehead against the cold glass of the window. She hadn’t even been there for him when he’d lost his parents. “Almost there?”

“Willow Road Ranch is just around the next bend.”

“It has a name and everything?”

“Thought I told you all about it.”

His clipped words made her bite her lip. He’d told her all about the ranch where he’d grown up. The more he’d talked about it, the more evident it had become that he planned to stash her there after their marriage. So the more she’d tuned him out.