Chapter 45

Eileen French looked up at the tall man standing in front of her, all six foot four of him.
"It's nice to meet you, Lieutenant Commander Amendola." She shook hands with him.
"Please. While I'm here, it's just Dix. I'm out of uniform physically and mentally."
"Well, then, Dix, welcome to Newport, Maine. I know you'll enjoy your stay here."
"I'm sure I will," he agreed "I'm really looking forward to it."
She cocked her head. "I didn't ask you, but how did you happen to choose Newport? It's not exactly on everyone's bucket list."
He laughed. "One of the SEALs in my squadron is from Bangor. When he knew I was looking for someplace off the usual tourist track he suggested Newport. I drove around for an hour before this, just to check the place out."
"And?" she asked, smiling.
"I believe it's just what I want." Out of the way, he told himself. No place where he'd be likely to meet anyone he knew or run into a complement of beach bunnies. He could do his exercises and repair both his body and his mind.
"Well, good, then."
Dix gave himself a mental shake, unaware the woman had still been speaking to him. He handed over a check for a month's rent and accepted the keys from her.
"One for the cottage and one for the storage shed," she told him. "The boat's pretty low key as is the motor. You'd have to work hard to capsize, but I don't guess that's a problem for you, right?" She grinned at him.
"Right. Not a problem." He shook hands with her. "Thanks for setting this up for me."
"Enjoy yourself."
"I intend to."
At least he hoped he would, he thought, as he climbed into his truck. Double checking the address on the rental agreement, he programmed it into his GPS, cranked the ignition, and pulled away from the curb.
He had a game plan for this month-long hiatus from the teams. Technically, he was on medical leave, recovering from a bullet wound in his thigh. He had a lot of work to do to recondition himself to rejoin the teams. Swimming and running and the exercises the therapist had given him were supposed to be a guarantee of that.
However, no one yet had been able to tell him how to recondition his brain. As Lieutenant Commander, he was the leader in his team of eight men, although he was sure any one of the others could step in if asked. They all had great leadership skills. But he was the one with the responsibility and the clusterfuck was his to bear, regardless of what his CO said. All the conditioning in the world wouldn't get rid of that demon haunting him.
Even now, he wasn't sure how the damn mission had been compromised. It seemed like a straight-up assignment. Go in and capture two high-value targets in an encampment in Yemen. The word was the talking heads wanted to interrogate or use them for bargaining chips. The orders were to get in, get out, and get home. The sub had surfaced, disgorging them and their rigid boat. They'd come in very quietly, stashing the boat in a hollowed-out place in the rocky cliff, hidden but accessible. They'd climbed the cliff stealthily until they reached their target location. Everything went well until just before they reached the camp when it all went FUBAR - Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition.
He still hadn't gotten a satisfactory answer as to how the details of the mission got out. The only thing Dix knew was that two members of his team were killed and he took two bullets in his thigh. The guys who were unharmed had to hustle their asses to get everyone out of there and rendezvous with the sub without incurring any further injuries.
He'd been through the worst of it already - the hospital and the surgery. The rehab sessions with the therapist, the visits to the families of his men who were killed. Their commanding officer had done his best to convince Dix it had not been his fault, but the guilt rose heavy in his brain and his heart.
They had identified the new location of the targets, and the mission had been rescheduled for one month from today. They'd pulled the edges in on this one, on the most stringent need-to-know basis Dix could remember. He was determined to be fit and ready to lead it. He needed to lead it, to find redemption in its success. He had plans for after that, but, right now, his entire focus was on passing the physical to take his place at the head of the team for this.
He rounded a curve in the dirt road just as his GPS announced, "Your destination is on the left." The outside of the place was exactly as he'd seen it in the photo online. The boat Eileen had told him about was already tied up at the little, short dock. The soft breeze drifting in through his open window carried the fresh scents and sounds of the area, instantly soothing him.
What was jarring was the car parked on the so-called grass next to the cottage. What the fuck? He hoped it wasn't a nosy neighbor just waiting to give him an eager welcome. Socializing wasn't on his to-do list. He pulled in next to the vehicle and grumpily opened the door and got out. He was just looking around to see where the owner of the car might be when the side door opened and a woman popped out.
Okay, maybe woman was too mild a term. She looked like a miniature lush goddess. If he'd been the least bit interested in female companionship, he'd think maybe his day was looking up. This one couldn't be more than five foot five, with hair in a rich shade of red framing a heart-shaped face. Her hair bounced around her head in wild curls, in time, he noticed with her breasts that bounced beneath her T-shirt. The strap of a cross-body purse lay in the valley between those breasts, emphasizing their roundness. Shorts accentuated nicely rounded hips, and when she turned to pull the door shut tightly behind her, he got a view of an ass his hands itched to cup.
Whoa there, mister. This is a no-sex time out. Reconditioning, not relaxation. Maybe he should tell that to his cock that suddenly wanted to make its own appearance and deliver a greeting. It was sending him a very painful message which took all his famous discipline to control.
"Are you the housekeeper?" He didn't even know if Eileen had told him there'd be one, but who else would be here, and with a key?
"Housekeeper?" She stared at him. "Not quite. Who are you?"