Bliss and Jones talked for a good twenty minutes before they stood. Sky’s senses went into high alert. This was the part where he made sure Bliss got out of the building safely. It was highly unlikely that the men who’d broken into her house were here, but nobody could say for certain that it couldn’t happen.
She shook Jones’s hand. Then she walked toward the exit. Sky spared a look for Jones, knowing his team was watching Bliss. The man studied her as she walked away. Then he picked up the two ice cream cups and carried them to the trash before walking in the opposite direction, his messenger bag slung over one shoulder.
Sky dropped his food in the trash and followed Bliss. He found her in the Metro, standing on the platform and calmly watching the escalators. Watching for him. His heart did a crazy little skip thing at the sight of her. He rubbed his chest as he took the steps two at a time. It was warm in the Metro, the smell of machinery and humanity mingling into one. The platform wasn’t crowded this time of the day. He smiled as he headed toward her.
She smiled back and warmth flooded him. He didn’t try to examine why.
The lights on the platform blinked, indicating a train was coming. The people milling about were waiting for it. Watching. Not Bliss. She was watching for him. He strode up to her, and she gave him a wan smile that concerned him.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Why’d you come down here?”
“Habit. And it’s what Jones expects. I figured you’d follow.”
He slung an arm around her, enjoying the feel of her small body against his. “Yeah, but it’s a departure from the plan.”
“There are eight of you. I think it’s okay.”
“Seven of us are still in the mall.”
She shrugged. “We can go back in the mall. I just had a feeling that Jones should see me head this way. I just kept going.”
“So now you’re gonna make me jump the turnstile again.”
“You didn’t.” She looked scandalized.
“Yeah, I did.” He started to push her toward the exit. The breeze from the approaching train whooshed into the cavern. It was a hot gust, smelling of brakes and oil. The train roared like a whistle, coming closer. Bliss stumbled as they walked away from the edge.
And then she cried out as she lost her balance and went backward. Sky was momentarily surprised. He braced himself out of instinct, tugging hard in the opposite direction. Bliss flew at him, colliding with his body and knocking him back a few steps. He caught her against him, coming to a stop as he hit the edge of the Metro map that was on display for travelers.
Bliss’s eyes were wide as she clung to him. The train zipped into the terminal, hot air rushing, and then the brakes squealed as it came to a halt. A few people got off the train. A small crowd got on. The doors closed and it moaned into the distance, accelerating quickly.
The terminal grew quiet. Bliss still clung to him. Shaking.
He took a breath and set her away from him. “What happened?”
Her eyes were shiny as she tipped her head up to gaze at him. “I don’t know… but I think somebody tried to pull me into the path of the oncoming train.”
Chapter Seventeen
Bliss didn’t want to be paranoid, and yet in that final moment before the train whooshed into the terminal, she’d stumbled and nearly fallen. But she hadn’t quite stumbled on her own. She’d felt as if someone had grabbed her and propelled her back, away from Sky. Except it was silly because she hadn’t seen anyone—and nobody had said anything. There’d been no outcry, no panic, no oh my God, are you all right? from any of the passengers.
But there had been a hand on her. She was certain of it. She clung to Sky and darted her gaze over the terminal. The only people there were on the opposite side, waiting for a different train. Nobody looked at her and Sky.
Sky had an arm around her, tucking her into his side as his entire body tightened. She knew he was armed. His hand slid up to his waistband, hovering there as he turned them as one unit to look at their surroundings.
“Tell me that again,” he growled. “And tell me what makes you think that.”
“I… I think someone bumped into me to send me off-balance, and then I felt—I think I felt—someone grab my shirt and jerk me backward.”
His expression went deadly serious.
Bliss stuttered. “I-I could be wrong! I don’t know.”
He shot a glare at their surroundings. “We’re going. You copy that, Saint?”
She knew he was talking to his team through the mics they wore. She’d watched them put on earpieces and microphones back at HOT so they could communicate.
“Roger that,” he said, pushing her in front of him as they headed back up the escalator.
When they reached the turnstile, she already had her Metro card out and she fed it into the machine. Sky hopped it to the disapproving gaze of a gray-haired woman going through the other side.
“Shame on you,” she said.
“Yes, ma’am,” Sky answered, but he didn’t stop moving. He propelled Bliss forward with a hand on her back. As they reached the doors to the mall, Bliss put on the brakes. Sky stopped and stared down at her like she’d lost her mind. “What the fuck?”
“Jones,” she hissed. “He might still be in there.”
“I don’t give a fuck about Jones,” Sky said. “He got his information. Besides, he’s gone. Confirmed by my team.”
She trembled. “Okay.”
“Move, Bliss,” Sky said, more gently this time. He nudged her through the doors and then over to the parking garage entrance. She got the impression he was looking for trouble every step of the way. Once they were through and into the garage, he pushed her off to the side of the entrance, against the concrete. Then he stepped in front of her, blocking her view of their surroundings.
“Sky,” she said, staring at the wall of his broad back. “What are you doing?”
“Basic protection protocol. Nobody’s getting to you.”
She’d been thinking about everything that happened in the Metro. Maybe she’d been wrong. Hasty. Keyed up and thinking about conspiracies and men who were looking for her. Jones was probably right. Martin was dead and those guys no longer cared. If they’d been the ones to kill Martin, they had his laptop. Which meant they didn’t need her at all.
“I might have been wrong,” she said into his T-shirt. “I was startled.”
“Doesn’t matter. We’re treating this like an attempt.”
A moment later, she heard the roar of a vehicle. She shrank against the wall as it came closer, but then it screeched to a stop and Sky reached for her, urging her forward. She was handed into the van, and then he jumped in beside her. They shot through the garage as she tried to get her bearings and snap her seat belt.
Saint turned to look at them. “What happened?”
“Not sure,” Sky said. “Bliss seemed to fall in the Metro. She thought somebody pulled her back, but now she’s not sure. Still, she moved pretty sharply to me.”
“You didn’t see anyone?”
Sky shook his head. “No. I was focused on keeping her from falling into the path of the train. The train arrived, the doors opened, and people mingled as they entered and exited. It wasn’t a huge crowd, but big enough. Nobody stood out.”
Saint nodded. “Okay. Nothing we can do about it now except get her back to HQ.”
“Where did Jones go?” Sky asked.
“Wolf and Easy followed him. He got into a black Chrysler and drove off.”
“Did they tag him first?” Sky asked.
Wolf snorted. “What do you think, Hack?”
“Hey, just making sure. But I think you did.”
“Damn straight. We’ll know where he goes.”
Bliss frowned. By tag she assumed they meant they’d put a tracker on him. “Do you need to know that? I mean, he’s Jones. He’ll take that USB straight to Langley and then they’ll get to analyzing it. His destination is not going to be
a surprise.”
Wolf gave her an even look. He was a handsome guy, muscled and tattooed like the rest of them, but with weirdly gray eyes that she thought might have given him the Wolf name. Or maybe not, because who knew with these guys?
“We have to know. It’s SOP.”
“Standard operating procedure,” Easy translated.
“I know that,” Bliss said.
Easy shrugged.
“Did he act weird at all,” Saint asked. “Say anything unusual?”
“No. He was Jones. Perfectly normal. He was pissed at me for stalling, but otherwise all was good. But honestly, I’m not going back over the whole conversation. You guys already know what we said. I’m wearing a wire, for fuck’s sake.”
Sky laughed. “That’s my girl.”
But was she? Was she his girl? Or was this simply a job? She really wanted to know the answer, but there was no way she could ask the question.
“We’ll analyze it,” Saint said. “Just curious if anything seemed off to you.”
And now she felt guilty for snapping. “No, not really. He was keyed up, but aren’t we all? No threats, nothing out of the ordinary. He offered me another job. Oh, and he gave me a cash bonus. That’s not normal, but it’s happened at least once before, so it’s not totally weird.”
Sky frowned but didn’t say anything. They moved on to other topics—topics that meant nothing—as they drove back to Maryland and HOT HQ. By the time they arrived, it was still technically early but Bliss was exhausted. They traversed back to the ready room they’d been in before they left. The wire was removed. The guys talked in hushed voices.
Bliss yawned as she sagged onto a couch at one end of the room. It’d been a long few days, that’s for sure. And last night—she hadn’t exactly slept well, even if she’d had some of the best sex of her life. Sex she was still thinking about. And then there were the emotions—she didn’t know how to deal with them as they swirled in her brain. If she could just shut everything down for a while, maybe she could reset.
She needed a reset. Her feelings were all tangled up while Sky’s were probably as clear as ever. He’d relented enough to have sex with her, but that didn’t mean all was forgiven or forgotten. Or that he wanted anything from her other than a few nights of sex while they worked together on this project.
But her? She wanted everything. He made her itchy and jumpy and crazy with emotion.
Sky’s brows drew down as his gaze met hers. “You don’t have to stay, Bliss. You want me to take you to your room?”
“I can find it.” And she could. It wasn’t hard, plus it was utterly safe inside HOT HQ. She wasn’t afraid of anything. Or anyone. Not when she was here.
“You sure?”
“Yes, Sky. We just dropped off my bag there. I can find it again.”
“Okay.” He came over and squeezed her hand. “Go ahead and go. I’ll be there later.”
Her heart clenched. “Okay.”
She left the gathering, making her way out of the secure areas and down to where HOT billeted its guests. She didn’t pass anyone as she moved through the building. She swiped her key and entered her suite. The door between hers and Sky’s rooms was still open. She didn’t close the door. Instead, she took a shower and then dressed in a T-shirt and panties. She lay in bed and clicked the television, ignoring it and playing back over everything Jones had said. There were no more news reports about her and Martin. She’d meant to ask him about that but hadn’t. Probably that was Mendez’s work.
When she was done with Jones, she moved on to the Metro and what had happened there. Had she imagined it all? She’d been on edge, so it was entirely possible. She’d been focused on Sky, on returning to the parking garage with him, so had she overreacted when she’d fallen or not?
All she could come up with was that it was possible. Bliss flipped onto her side and stared at the television for as long as she could. She wondered what Jones was doing, if he had all of Langley working on breaking into Martin’s files. Damn, she wished she could find out how long it took them to do it. It’d be interesting to compare HOT’s time with the CIA’s.
Eventually she heard the click of a lock and sat up, tugging the covers up with her. Her heart kicked even though she knew it couldn’t be anyone but Sky. A second later he strode into her room, badass attitude totally in place.
“Yo,” he said. “You okay?”
Sky frowned at Bliss and waited for her to tell him how she felt. He’d stayed close in the mall, and then he’d followed her into the Metro as quickly as he could. She’d been fine. And then, when they were leaving, something had gone wrong. She’d seemed to jerk away from him, and then she’d snapped back, trembling in his arms, her gaze darting around the dark tunnel.
He didn’t know what it meant, if anything. But he didn’t like it. It’d rattled him more than he cared to admit. That lightning-fast moment when he’d thought he could lose her—he hadn’t liked it one bit. It had made his heart pound and his head throb and his breath catch painfully. What the fuck did it all mean?
“I’m fine. Why?” she said in response to his question.
He came into the room and started to shrug out of his clothing. “Just curious. That wasn’t easy for you. Plus the Metro.”
“I think I overreacted. I was keyed up—and when I tripped, I read all kinds of meaning into it.”
He stared at her. Her long hair was hanging over her shoulders, her blue eyes troubled. This was not a woman who was uncertain about things. Not usually. “So you don’t think you were pushed?”
She bit her lip. And then she shook her head. “No. I was overstimulated and seeing shadows in every corner. I’m sure you’ve experienced that before.”
“Yep. It happens.” He dropped his T-shirt and jeans, though he kept his underwear on. “You okay with sleeping together?”
She seemed surprised. “Of course. Did you think I wouldn’t be?”
He shrugged. “Anything is possible. I would never assume.”
She pulled the covers back and patted the bed. “Honestly, I don’t think I could sleep without you. Not in this place anyway.”
He felt the same, though he wasn’t about to admit it. He put a knee on the bed and then another. Her gaze crawled up his form. He wanted to sink down on top of her and thrust his tongue into her mouth, but he thought she might need something different tonight. He rolled forward, gathering her into his arms, and stretched out on the bed. She turned in to him, sighing.
Sky didn’t like the wave of tenderness that enveloped him. It was more than he’d expected as he held her close. He was mad at himself for it but he couldn’t quite stop it. Then again, what did he expect? He’d relaxed his guard with her, and she was starting to creep into his head. He was remembering too much. Wanting too much.
She snuggled against him, her breath against his bare chest. “I don’t know what to think,” she whispered.
“About what?”
“Everything. I mean, if I work for HOT now, am I just trading one master for another, or does HOT make a real difference in the world? Because Jones says the CIA does, but I can’t always see it.”
“HOT is real,” he said. “We do make a difference. And working inside the walls is a lot different than doing contract jobs outside the walls, you know?”
“I think you’re right. I hope so. I mean, I was always proud to help my country, but I’m never there for the big takedown or the moment when the good guys can say they’ve won. It’s always been here’s the target and thank you very much.”
She stiffened and then her head came up, her eyes meeting his. “Tucker. I saw that one play out, and I didn’t like it at all.”
Sky remembered the day Major Tucker had come to work red-eyed and disheveled. He hadn’t looked well, and Sky had asked him if he needed to go home. Tucker had said yes, he probably should do that. And then he’d walked out to his car, taken out a 9mm pistol, and put it in his mouth. That’s where he’d been when the MPs arrived in the o
ffice to arrest him, which was the first indication Sky had about anything being wrong.
Bliss had been there, coming to meet Sky for lunch, when they got the news that Tucker had shot himself in the parking lot. Sky closed his eyes as he held the woman who’d gotten the evidence of Tucker’s crimes in the first place. He’d been so mad, not because she’d gotten the evidence that sent a man to his death, but that she’d hidden it from him for so long. She’d continued to hide it too, right up until the office staff inquiry started.
Dark days.
“No, that was pretty ugly,” he said softly. “But sometimes covert operations are.”
“I know.”
He frowned, chaotic emotions swirling together in his head. “You aren’t responsible for his choices, Bliss. I know I probably wasn’t all that sympathetic at the time, but I felt like you’d betrayed me too. You have to know, though, that you aren’t to blame for what he did.”
“I know.” Her voice sounded small. “I’d do it again, Sky. He had to be stopped.”
Sky closed his eyes. He’d liked Tucker. Thought he was a good officer—or at least a good officer to work for. He’d been so pissed at what he’d thought was a senseless death. And then he’d been pissed at the level of treachery that Tucker had displayed. Such a lack of regard for the Constitution, the flag, the principles on which this country was founded. The man had sold out his nation so he could line his pockets.
Just like Sky’s father had sold out his clients for money. Just like Bliss had sold him out for payment. That, he realized, was the heart of the matter. He’d felt like she’d sold him out. Because she’d been paid.
One hundred. That’s what Jones had said. So what had she gotten for Tucker? He had to know. “What was the payment when you exposed Tucker?”
She didn’t move. Barely breathed. “Fifty,” she said softly.
Fifty thousand dollars. It was a lot of money. More than he’d made in a year back then. He didn’t make much more than that now—the military was infamously underpaid, though benefits made up for a lot.
HOT SECRETS: A Hostile Operations Team - Book 13 Page 16
