Deadly Force

by Misty Evans

  He crossed his arms, leaned back slightly on his heels. His eyes were hard, challenging.

  Cal cleared his throat, stood, and moved to Bianca’s side. “She’s right. You can’t argue with her logic.”

  A sense of pride flushed her skin. She’d made up the calculation of the odds but as she’d pointed out to Cal on a day or two ago, bluffing was one of her strengths. If he considered it manipulation, so be it. For her, it was a way to make sure everyone was as safe as she could make them. She couldn’t wield a gun accurately and she didn’t know the first thing about being an undercover operative, but she knew how to analyze a dangerous situation in an instant, and that was one skill that could help all of them, including the president.

  She met Cooper’s challenging glare. “You keep saying I’m part of this team, so let me do my job.”

  “I’m not saying you can’t help Bobby with the prep work.” His eyes held hers. “But you’re not going to Chicago.”

  Bianca straightened her spine. “Then we don’t have a deal. You, Bobby, and the rest of the team are on your own, and Cal and I will be on our way. Know this, the team will fail. I guarantee it. You need me on this operation, and you need Cal. If you won’t use us, then we might as well go on the run tonight. Vice President Banner won’t stop until the two of us are dead, and you can’t keep us here forever.”

  Ronni started to chime in, but Cooper raised a hand to stop her. “There’s one thing I want to know,” he said.

  “What?”

  “Did you find any dirt on Director Dupé?”

  That threw her a curve. She hurried to regroup, her Command and Control training kicking in even after all she’d been through. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Cooper set his hands on his hips. “Stop lying, Bianca. Did you or did you not find anything incriminating about Dupé?”

  Who did she have to be loyal to at this point? Her government or Cooper Harris? Easy call. “I did not. Director Dupé is one of the few men in power who deserves it. He’s dedicated to his job, he loves his wife, and he’s never so much as got a speeding ticket. You’re right to have placed your loyalty with him.”

  She shifted her weight and thought about going for the jugular…throwing Cooper’s secrets in his face.

  But she was tired of blackmailing people. Tired of being the drama queen Cal had so often accused her of. All she wanted to do was help and she’d told Cooper the truth about the odds, even if she had fudged the actual percentage of success. It was probably closer to fifty percent, but that was still better than if they went without her. “Look, this is what I’ve been doing with Command and Control—analyzing situations and the odds of operational success. I can tell you when and where to strike, when and where your assassin is most likely to strike. My life is worth nothing if this fails. You have to let Cal and I go to Chicago with you.”

  Thomas broke the tension with a stage whisper behind his hand. “Tell him you’re his only hope.”

  Bianca frowned and looked at Thomas. “What?”

  “You know,” he said, “ʻHelp me, Obi Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope.’ From Star Wars? The way you’ve made it sound, Bianca, you’re our only hope of success.”

  Ronni shook her head and rolled her eyes. “I’d like nothing more than to keep Bianca safe, too, Cooper, but she has a point.”

  Cooper screwed up his mouth. “What about you, Reese? You okay with taking your wife into the heart of danger?”

  Cal placed a hand on her lower back. She was still wearing the nursing jacket with Mickey Mouse on it. Heat from his hand seeped right through the jacket and his T-shirt underneath. “Bianca knows how to handle danger.”

  Once again, pride rose like a swell inside her chest. She found his hand and grasped it with hers. A silent thank you.

  Cooper rubbed the bottom of his chin, let out a deep sigh. “All right then. It’s on. Everybody catch a few hours of sleep. We’ll meet back here at 0500 hours and figure out a plan.” He caught Bianca’s eye, gave her a nod. “The taskforce is going to Chicago. All of us.”

  Chapter Thirty

  No way was Cal letting Bianca anywhere near Chicago.

  While everyone else said “goodnight” and “see you in a few hours” as they vacated the dining room, Bianca was attacking her whiteboard again like a madwoman. He could tell by her jerky movements and the way she muttered under breath that her mind was in overdrive once more.

  Part of her process or not, it killed him to see her this way.

  Stepping up behind her, he gently wrapped an arm around her waist and halted her writing by cupping his hand over hers. “You need to rest. Let’s go upstairs. Take a break.”

  She tensed. “You know I can’t.”

  He buried his nose in her hair, savoring the feel of her body against his. She still smelled clean from her earlier shower. “I can help you.”

  “You think I need help?”

  “We all need help sometimes.”

  He felt her swallow hard. “Help as in…I’m turning into my mother and going loco?”

  Her greatest fear. “Of course not. You’re not suffering from a mental illness and compounding the problem with drugs.”

  “I wouldn’t be sure about the mental illness part.”

  “Well, I am. I know what happens in your brain is sometimes unwanted, but think of all the good you’ve done in the world. All the people in this country you’ve protected.”

  Slowly, breath by breath, she relaxed into him. “I’ve wished for this.”

  He took the marker from her hand and set it in the cradle. Moving her hair aside, he laid a soft kiss on the side of her neck. “Wished for what?”

  “You, me, working together, like I told you before. I’ve never been a team player, but you are. This was…” Her voice trailed off. “Tonight was a big step for me. I feel like a real member of the SCVC Taskforce, and I feel like you and I together, with their help, can actually stop the assassination of the President of the United States. I’m not just a desk jockey sitting in my cubicle, analyzing terrorists and giving the go sign for operations taking place half a world away.”

  “You’ve always been more than a desk jockey, and I’m sorry if I made you feel like less.”

  “You didn’t know the details about my job, and I couldn’t tell you.” She sighed, tilting her head and giving him more access to her neck. “Secrets are not good for a marriage, especially the kinds of secrets I was keeping. I saw no way out. I felt like I had to divorce you in order to keep us both safe, and then you’ve always been so devoted to your career, it seemed like I was doing you a favor. You’ve taken care of me long enough. It was time I gave you your freedom.”

  He laid his forehead against the back of her head, his heart pinching in a way he hated.

  Guilt. He’d always vowed not to screw her up more than her mother had done, and yet, somehow he had. “What’s done is done. We can’t undo the hurt we’ve caused each other, but we can start making up for lost time. Right here, tonight.”

  She turned in his arms, lifted her chin to look into his eyes. “And I want that, I do. But I only have a few hours to get the data I need and analyze it into some kind of plan. My brain is fully engaged and sleeping is out of the question.”

  He kissed her lightly on the lips and turned on the charm. If he didn’t get her upstairs, his plan would be ruined. “I wasn’t talking about sleeping.”

  She grinned, tugged at her bottom lip with her teeth for a second. “An hour. I’ll go upstairs with you for an hour. Then I have to get back to work.”

  He took her hand and led her away from the whiteboard.

  They took the stairs, but didn’t get far before their hands and lips were on each other. The circular stairwell was cool and damp, the stones rough. Bianca pushed him against the wall and kissed him, hard and long. He gripped her ass cheeks and lifted her off the ground, her legs automatically wrapping around his waist. He would have taken her right there if he didn’t need to
get her into bed.

  Fortunately, Maggie thought they were playing a game and began barking and jumping on them.

  Keeping a tight grip on Bianca, Cal climbed the stairs with her legs still wrapped around his waist. Her tongue went down his throat and her hands locked around his neck. He couldn’t see the steps but his feet found them without any problem. Maggie danced ahead of them a few steps at a time before running back and barking. At the next landing, Cal needed to catch his breath, not from the climb, but the intensity of Bianca’s kisses. He took a moment to press her to the wall and cup her breasts.

  She moaned against his lips and let her hand trail to the zipper of his jeans. Again, he had a fleeting thought to take her right there, but he needed her in the cozy comfort of the bed after their love-making in order to coax her to sleep. So he stayed her hand, lifted her once more off the wall, and carried her up the remaining flight of stairs.

  Inside the main suite’s bedroom, he tossed her on the bed, making her laugh. He put Maggie in the bathroom and came back, staring into Bianca’s eyes as he shed his clothes. Bianca shed hers as fast as he did and set her glasses on the nightstand. She reached for him at the same time he reached for her, and together, they fell into the soft mattress, lips and tongues and hands finding the other’s skin in a manic rush of longing.

  He wanted to slow it down… This could be our last time…but the fire between them flared like a bonfire and he couldn’t stop the animalistic drive to make her come hard and fast.

  She spread her legs, her body arching and her hands guiding him in. Just the touch of her fingers on his cock made him crazy. The moment he got close to her soft, silky entrance, he couldn’t help himself. He took her in one fierce thrust, her crying out his name as her body quivered around his in an instantaneous orgasm.

  He gave her a moment to enjoy the sensation, then rode her hard, drawing out the waves of her pleasure. Lowering his mouth, he sucked on each of her nipples, pulling them gently through his teeth.

  Without warning, he felt a second orgasm rip through her on the heels of the first, her body tensing, muscles clenching around him once more. This time he went over the edge with her.

  He bucked, back arching and pushing himself farther inside her. She took him deep, pressing her hips up and clasping his ass cheeks to keep him pinned there. As his release pumped into her, everything else faded away except for those gorgeous blue eyes and that blond hair splayed across the pillow.

  As the last of the orgasms drained from both their bodies, he memorized her face, now happy and relaxed. In the coming hours, he knew it would be the one thing that would get him through the choices he had to make.

  In the aftermath, they spooned together, and as he’d predicted, Bianca was soon fast asleep. He waited until her breathing turned slow and deep, and then he slipped out of bed, cleaned himself up, and dressed. After he’d let her out of the bathroom, Maggie had taken her place at the foot of the bed.

  Cal stood for a moment watching Bianca sleep. She’d never forgive him for what he was about to do, but in the end, the only thing he had left was her. He had to protect her at all costs.

  Patting Maggie on the head, he whispered, “Keep her safe, girl,” before he slipped out the door.

  The night air was cool and heavy with an approaching storm. Emit waited for him in the garden behind the winery. His friend was dressed all in black. A heavy-duty duffel bag lay at his feet.

  Weapons.

  “You sure you want to do this?” Emit asked.

  Leave Bianca? Hell, no. Hunt down Lugmeyer? Hell, yes. “It’s best this way.”

  Emit picked up the bag, hefted the strap over his head, and let it fall across his chest. “She’s going to kill you.”

  “At least she’ll be alive to try.”

  Insects sounded off in the grass. An animal—probably a fox or raccoon—moved through the grapevines. In the distance, Cal could see headlights on the road heading north to Sacramento.

  Emit kicked the bag at his feet. “Better check what I brought, see if there’s anything else you want.”

  The duffel was standard-issue Navy. Inside was a plethora of handguns and ammo in their cases. Burn phones, two-way radios, and a few other electronic gizmos Cal had no idea about, rounded out the inventory. Emit always had to have his toys.

  “Plane’s waiting at the airport north of here,” Emit said. “We’ll be there in approximately four hours, maybe five, depending on the storm system moving in.”

  Taking Emit’s private plane would strand the SCVC Taskforce, at least for a while, and it was at least a thirty-hour drive to Chicago. There was no way Bianca could get there in time for the presidential dinner.

  Cal dared not look back over his shoulder to the top floor where he’d left the only two females he’d ever cared about. “Let’s go.”

  A sprinkle of rain landed on his cheek, the grass under his boots was already weighted down from a heavy dew. They crossed the yard and headed for the pair of Emit’s Range Rovers, hidden in the nearby grape arbor. As they approached the one closest to them, a dark shadow appeared on their right.

  “Going somewhere, boys?” Cooper Harris’s voice was low but still gruff.

  Shit. They were made. Emit and Cal stopped. Cal tried not to sound annoyed. “Thought we’d do a pre-flight check, make sure the plane is ready to take off later.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “It’s not what you think.”

  “You’re going after Lugmeyer on your own. Trying to take him out before Bianca enters the picture.”

  Okay, so he did know. “I don’t want her anywhere near Chicago.”

  Even in the shadows, Cal could tell Harris was pissed. “I gave her my word that I’d let her be part of this op. Hell, this is her op.”

  “She’s not a trained operative.” And she’s all I have.

  “She’s better than a trained operative. She’s got the smarts, the instincts, and above all, she’s got guts. I’ve seen a lot in my years as a cop and a DEA agent, but I’ve never seen anything like her. You want to save your marriage? Stop treating her like a china doll. My team will be right there with her, backing her up all the way.”

  Marriage advice? Cal wanted to punch Harris’s face. “I’ll gladly sign the divorce papers and promise never to set foot around her again if it means she lives to see another day.”

  Harris let out a long breath. “Look, I get that, Reese. I was in a similar predicament with my girlfriend not that long ago. Bottom line, we can’t eliminate every threat and keep them locked up. You have to trust her skills and you have to trust my team.”

  “My senior chief, a man I trained with, ate with, and spent more time with than I’ve spent with my wife over the past six years killed three of my men. Sniped them in the back of the head. Men he’d sworn to lead and protect and cover their asses at all costs. Forgive me if trust isn’t one of my many virtues at the moment.”

  They stood, locked in silence for a long moment. Cal could sense Harris studying him, analyzing his stability, and calculating the odds of getting him to give up his plan.

  “I’ll let you go on one condition.”

  Emit, who’d been quiet, finally spoke up. “What?”

  “You can have a head start, but I want another private plane on that runway ready to go for my team at 0800 hours.”

  “I don’t have a second private jet,” Emit said. “What about your helicopter?”

  “It only seats two plus the pilot. If I have to take that, guess who the second person will be?”

  Bianca. Damn. Cal again considered punching Harris in the face.

  “And then,” he added, crossing his arms over his massive chest, “she and I won’t have my team to back us up.”

  “They could take a commercial flight,” Emit offered.

  “A commercial flight would take six to eight hours, depending on the layover, and the first one out of Sacramento isn’t until twelve-thirty this afternoon.”

  Cal’s head felt
tight. “And if we don’t agree to your deal?”

  “I won’t alert the authorities, if that’s what you’re worried about. But you can’t do this alone, and if you try, it will blow up in your face. When it does, you’ll be living with the death of your men and the death of the president on your hands. That’s a lot of red to have in your ledger.”

  The back of Cal’s neck heated even as cold rain began to fall. “You’re a bastard, you know that?”

  “And you’re not a vigilante. You’re a soldier and a decent guy who’s been through hell. Your wife needs you, and this team could use your expertise to stop a killer. You go off on your own without considering the consequences and you’ll regret it for the rest of your life. I guarantee it.”

  Emit shifted and Cal could feel his gaze on him. Cal thought of Bianca, sleeping peacefully with that look of bliss on her face. His leaving her would gut her. Reinforce exactly what she said was true…he was always leaving her.

  “We’ll take the head start,” he told Harris. “And if we find Lugmeyer or gather any pertinent intel, we’ll share it with you.”

  “And Mr. Petit, here, will find me another plane?”

  “You sure about this, bra?” Emit said softly to Cal.

  “Yeah, I’m sure.”

  “Okay, then.” Emit adjusted the weight of the duffel bag. “I’ll make arrangements, call a few people. A private jet will be fueled and ready for takeoff at 0800 hours.”

  “With a pilot,” Harris added.

  Emit’s white teeth flashed in the dark. “With a pilot, sir.”

  Harris stepped forward, offered his hand to Cal. “I’ll take care of Bianca until we meet again.”

  Cal forced himself to shake Harris’s hand. “I’m counting on it.”

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Equal amounts cold fury and disappointment ate at Bianca’s stomach. Maggie had woken her to an empty room and it didn’t take her sleepy brain long to figure out what Cal was up to. She’d run out of the suite, down the stairs, and smack dab into Agent Harris. She’d told him her theory about Cal taking off without them, and he’d told her to stay put and let him handle it.