Sizzle

by Liliana Hart

“It’s hard to disappear with a bullet wound and dripping blood everywhere. We’ll find him.”

  Audrey hadn’t relaxed since she’d gotten in the car with him, and it had only been a phone call to Declan MacKenzie himself that had assured her that Archer Ryan was exactly who he said he was. But still…the car ride had been filled with uncomfortable silence, and she’d sat coiled and ready for whatever awaited her.

  “You were lovers,” Archer said after a few more minutes of silence. “You and Salt.”

  “That’s none of your business. We should be getting close to the docks. I was only in the car for an hour or so.”

  “I told you I read your file.” He completely ignored her attempt to change the subject and her shoulders tensed as she sat up straighter in the passenger seat. “It doesn’t take much deductive work to figure out from the way you were found and your medicals that you were closer than partners. And now that I know he’s alive, I can deduce that he’s the one who shot you. That’s fucking cold. No wonder you’re out for blood.”

  “Thank you, Agent Ryan, for that analysis,” she said, her voice as frigid and brittle as the wind outside.

  She heard his sigh and ran through scenarios of how he could use the information against her. In their line of work, information was power.

  “I just want you to know I understand what it took for you to come with me. To agree to work with someone again. Fuck Jonah Salt. He’s got his own agenda and never intended to utilize your talents. His only thought was to use you how he saw fit. But he underestimated the agent you are.”

  Audrey turned to look at him and found his dark gaze steady and intent on hers. There it was again. That connection that inexplicably linked two people who’d never met and made it seem like they’d known each other forever. He was the one that broke the spell this time as he focused back on the road.

  “If he’d bothered to read your file from front to back, he’d have known what a mistake it was to let you live once he’d gotten the word you’d survived his first attempt to kill you. Your profile suggests you don’t quit until the job is done. It’s you who’s going to stop him in the end. I believe that with every instinct in my body.”

  If Audrey had the ability to cry, she might have in that moment. She felt the burn behind her eyes, but no tears formed. She hadn’t felt anything but hate since she’d died on that operating table. It had been too long since she’d been around people, and she realized how she must seem to someone like Archer Ryan.

  He seemed to be fairly laid back with an easy temperament who took situations as they came, but was able to assess them quickly. She hadn’t seen how he worked yet and she didn’t know his skills, other than his quick display back at the warehouse, but she knew the reputation of MacKenzie Security. Declan MacKenzie only hired the best agents, so Archer, whatever his skills, was no slacker and he wasn’t someone to underestimate.

  To him, she probably seemed like a stone cold bitch. A loose cannon if ever there was one. And if she’d been Archer, she’d wonder why the hell his boss was sending him on a wild goose chase to recruit an agent who was hell bent on vengeance.

  But she was still human. And though she didn’t want them, she had feelings and understood that he was extending an olive branch of sorts. She wasn’t cold, and she missed human contact.

  “Thank you,” she said softly. And that was all that had to be said. She relaxed and felt the tension leave her shoulders as they made the rest of the drive to the docks.

  It was past noon by the time Archer parked the Jeep at the edge of the docks. The snow was falling harder now and they had maybe an hour before all tracks were covered.

  There was no sign of the Russians, so they’d probably come and gone. The longer she and Archer spent retracing their steps, the farther behind Jonah they’d be, and it wouldn’t be long before more Russian agents appeared.

  “The docks are pretty deserted,” Archer said, grabbing a pair of binoculars to look further down the shoreline.

  Audrey saw the tanker in the distance where she’d taken the shot at Jonah. It had traveled a good distance, but was still visible to the naked eye. She knew now there was an explosive device somewhere underneath.

  “That’s the tanker where I found Jonah this morning.”

  “We’ll leave it as is for now. Jonah probably has sensors near the explosives and we don’t want him to detonate if he thinks there’s a team down there trying to disarm it. I’ll pass the information along to Declan and let him make the call. Come on. Let’s go see if anyone remembers seeing anything.”

  Gray clouds grew thicker as the snow fell—bulging and obese, they looked as if their seams were ready to split and dump white powder over the entire town until it was buried to the rooftops. She pulled a black ski cap over her hair and realized there was nothing she could do to cover the bruise forming on the side of her face. It throbbed like a bitch, but there was nothing to be done for it.

  “I wouldn’t mind paying a visit to that little fishershit Jerry that sold me out to the Russians,” she said, narrowing her eyes.

  “Damn, woman. If you could see your face right now.” Archer grinned and pulled on his own watch cap and then the hood of his jacket over that. “I’d be shaking in my fisherboots if I was him.”

  She groaned before she could help it and rolled her eyes. “You can’t be for real. Declan MacKenzie would not hire an idiot for his team.”

  “Just remember that, sweetheart, and we’ll be good to go. I’ve learned in this business you have to take your pleasures where you can. Otherwise you’ll burn out and end up eating your own bullet.”

  Archer grabbed a pistol from beneath his seat and got out of the Jeep, putting it at the small of his back, and she did the same.

  “Oh, and Archer.” Audrey waited until he turned to give her his full attention. “The next time you call me sweetheart I’m going to put a bullet in your kneecap. I’m not a fan of endearments.” Not since Jonah Salt had used them so freely.

  “Make sure you shoot for my left knee. The cartilage is already worn to shit and I’ve heard the R&D lab at MacKenzie Security can give me a new bionic one.”

  He turned away from her and started walking toward the docks. Audrey blew out a breath. She had no idea how to handle Archer Ryan, and it was disturbing to say the least.

  “Shit,” she said under her breath and followed after him.

  Her eyes were never still, tracking the roads and possible hiding places where Jonah or the Russians could be waiting to ambush them. Archer had been right. The docks were all but deserted at this time of the day, but there was a kid of about nineteen or twenty looping rope in a figure eight pattern around two wooden posts up on a boat.

  “Hey, man,” Archer called out. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

  The kid looked up from his ropes. His face was pockmarked with acne scars and a red bandana was tied around his head to keep his long hair out of his eyes.

  “Time’s money, man.” And then he went back to his rope.

  “So it is.” Archer pulled out his wallet and a couple of twenties and the kid let the rope fall. He jumped over the side of the boat and landed in front of them on the dock with the surefootedness of someone who spent most of their time at sea. He held out his hand for the money.

  “Information first,” Archer said, making the kid grin and shrug. “How long have you been hanging around today?”

  “My old man and me take tourists out for fishing. We had clients this morning that paid big bucks to wake up early and freeze their asses off just so they could take a picture with a fish half their size and hang it in an office on Wall Street somewhere. But we had to cancel the trip and reschedule for tomorrow.

  “Denny, he’s the police chief. He came by with a few other cops and said a couple tourists saw a lady get kidnapped this morning. The tourists were making a stink about it so Denny and the others made all the boats stay docked so they could search them for the woman.”

  “Did they find her?
”

  “Nah, it was bogus. Old Jerry told them they was crazy. That’s his boat down there,” he said, pointing to the boat Audrey had taken out that morning to search for Jonah. Her face didn’t betray her feelings. It wasn’t the kid’s fault old Jerry was a two-timing asshole.

  “Jerry told them it must have been a crank call cause nothing but fishing and tourist type stuff goes on down at these docks. We all make our living from the water, and a day wasted is money gone. Which is why if you want more information you’re going to have to add another twenty.”

  Archer peeled off two more twenties and a picture out of the inside pocket of his jacket. “Did you happen to see this man hanging around this morning? It’s possible he was hurt.”

  The kid stared at the photo and then shrugged. “I don’t know man, it was dark. Only thing weird I saw this morning was a yellow Zodiac heading north up the shoreline. Didn’t pay much attention to it. Figured it might have been one of the guys unloading some drugs or something before the cops boarded the boats. We’ve got cargo planes going in and out all the time bringing shit in and taking it out again. I wouldn’t be surprised if not all of it was legal.”

  Archer passed over the money. “I don’t suppose old Jerry is still around for the day?”

  “Nah, dude went home sick after the cops left. Didn’t look good at all. He’s a drunk, so I figure he had a bad night.”

  “Thanks for your help, man.” The kid scurried up the rope ladder and was back on deck before they’d turned to walk away.

  “Lucky for old Jerry he got sick,” Audrey said as they headed back toward the Jeep.

  “Let’s follow the north road for as long as we can and see if we can find the Zodiac. He’ll have dumped it and had a contingency plan of some kind. You know he was here almost twenty-four hours before you arrived.”

  They got back in the Jeep and he started it up, backtracking the way they’d come and following the coast road that would eventually dead end. All of the roads out of Nome led to nowhere. It was well and truly isolated unless you had means to traverse the land in other ways.

  “What will he do next?” Archer asked. “Tell me your gut feeling.”

  He’d do exactly what Audrey was afraid he might do. He was going to disappear. “He’s wounded, but he won’t need help. He’s trained in medical and he’ll know what to do to patch himself up. You’re right. He was here long enough to gather supplies and set up transportation. He’d have to do it here in town though, so we can check that out if we lose his trail. He’s going to disappear right in front of our faces. He’ll use the land and his skills to live until he thinks it’s safe to head somewhere else.”

  “Don’t forget the Russians,” Archer said. “We’re not the only ones looking for him. And they’re going to be looking for us too. Salt is going to need access to the Internet, otherwise his blackmail scheme isn’t going to work. And as much as we like to think it isn’t so, technology is the best way to find someone.”

  “Say we find Jonah. How are we going to disarm the bombs on those tankers without him blowing them first? He’ll have detonation codes and there’s no way in hell he’ll be giving them to us. ”

  “That’s the million dollar question, sweet—” Archer looked at her sheepishly out of the corner of his eye and grinned. “Agent Sharpe.”

  “And your bionic knee is put on hold another day.” She felt her lips twitch and looked out the window to hide it.

  “In all seriousness, when we get to that point, that’s when you’re going to be glad MacKenzie Security is on your side. Cal Colter is one of the best computer hackers I’ve ever seen. It makes the CIA and the Pentagon really nervous that he’s working for Declan and not in house.”

  “Never heard of him,” she said.

  “Most people only know of him as Cypher.”

  “Right,” Audrey said, impressed. “Him I’ve heard of.” And the fact that MacKenzie Security had acquired someone who was considered as much of a threat as a hero for all the good he’d done for the country said something. Cypher was a man of many talents. It only made her more curious about the man sitting next to her and what he was hiding.

  “Look there,” he said, pulling to the side of the road. “Tracks in the snow. Multiple sets by the looks of it.”

  He left the engine running and they both got out, leaving the doors open in case they needed cover. Audrey’s gun was out and she automatically covered Archer’s back as they looked around for any unseen threats. The land was open and there wasn’t a good place for cover, so they both relaxed and focused on the tracks that were quickly being filled in.

  “Blood,” Archer said, bending down in the road to get a closer look.

  “He tried to cover his tracks, sweeping behind himself, but he took a direct hit. There’s no way he didn’t leave blood behind. Looks like we found where he came back on land.”

  “And there’s the Zodiac.”

  There was a steep drop from the road to the shoreline and Archer stood right at the edge looking down. The Zodiac, or what was left of it, rippled like ribbons in the water, caught on some kind of plant. Jonah had taken his knife to it to help it sink faster, but it would’ve still been dark when he’d come ashore and he’d have been in a hurry.

  “He’s making mistakes,” she said. “He could be hurt worse than I thought.”

  “If he’s made one, he’ll make others. He had some kind of vehicle parked here on the road so he could get out easily.”

  “It looks like a snowmobile or something similar. The tracks are odd. The other set of tires are going to be from our Russian friends.”

  “Let’s follow the trail for as long as we can, then we’ll need to stop and regroup and pick up some supplies. I’ll need to check in with Declan too.”

  Audrey looked over at him and arched a brow. “And how are your survivalist skills, Agent Ryan?”

  He went back to the Jeep, but she saw his mouth twitch. “They’re passable. You won’t have to haul me through the snow on your back, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

  “Don’t worry. I’d just leave you to the scavengers. Wolves get awful hungry this time of year.” She had to admit she enjoyed bantering with him. And he might not know it, but if she had to she’d haul him out of hell. Because that’s what partners did. And until he proved otherwise, that’s just what he was, and she’d already begun to think of him that way.

  “You have a mean streak,” he said, putting the Jeep in drive and following the tracks left in the road. “I don’t know why I like that about you.”

  The laugh took her by surprise. It had been so long since she’d done it she almost didn’t recognize the sound that had come from her throat.

  “You know, neither you or Declan mentioned what your background was. Were you military or CIA? I don’t remember ever hearing the name Archer Ryan whispered among the legends.”

  “What can I say, I’m a private kind of guy.”

  “Declan MacKenzie always worked with the same team. Cypher was one of those people. Gabe Brennan was another.”

  “Gabe Brennan has opened his own security agency on the European side of things. He and Dec still work together on occasion.”

  “Kane Huxley was also in his band of merry men.”

  “Yeah, well, Kane Huxley turned out to be as big a bastard as Jonah Salt. You’re not the only one who’s been betrayed by someone you thought you could trust. By a friend you’ve known most of your life. Declan and Sophia are lucky to be alive.”

  Audrey tilted her head and looked closely at him. He didn’t give anything away. There was no emotion on his face. No outward signs that he was uncomfortable talking about the subject. But her gut told her there was more there than he was letting on.

  “If I recall, the fifth man on Dec’s team was a guy named Warlock. I don’t recall ever hearing what happened to him. Does he work for MacKenzie Security?”

  Archer braked and brought the Jeep to an easy stop in the road. Visibility was beco
ming more difficult by the second and the tracks had all but disappeared. They were going to have to stop and turn back until things cleared up.

  She kept looking at him, waiting for—something. Something that would give her a clue about the man she was entrusting her life to.

  He put the Jeep in reverse and did a 3-point turn to take them back into town, but he stopped and looked at her, his face unusually serious. She hadn’t really realized until that moment how his face had always been filled with such good humor. She wondered now if it was a mask to hide something darker.

  “You know him?” She finally asked, after the tension dragged on.

  He shook his head and turned back to the road. “Never heard of him.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The Jeep crept along the road and the windows strained as the wind blew off the water, and Archer kept his grip relaxed against the wheel, despite the pounding need in him to squeeze it hard enough to make his hands ache.

  He had no idea what had just happened, but Audrey Sharpe was more perceptive than he’d given her credit for. Just because she’d isolated herself the last couple of years didn’t mean she’d forgotten how to read someone.

  It had been years since he’d heard the name Warlock—for good reason. Warlock had been killed in Russia. And because Warlock had died, Archer Ryan had been able to live out in the open and without fear that someone would try to hunt him down. Cypher had made sure that all mentions of Warlock and Archer Ryan being one and same had been erased from history. It was still possible his past could catch up to him at some point, but it was unlikely. Cypher was the best.

  Warlock had seen and done things for his country that still ate holes in his gut if he thought about them too long. The memories still plagued him in nightmares, which was part of the reason his sex life wasn’t nearly as exciting as Declan’s. Most women didn’t care to be woken out of a sound sleep by a man screaming as if being skinned alive by Satan himself.

  He’d have to be very careful with Audrey and make sure she didn’t find out the truth about the monster he’d been, and why it had been so important for him to die and start over again.