Mommy Under Cover

by Delores Fossen

  And things had definitely gone wrong.

  The last door at the end of the hall was closed. And locked. If the guard was waiting inside, he’d likely anticipate them and use the opportunity of their forcing the door to fire. Still, they’d have to risk it.

  “Cover me,” Riley said.

  He rammed his shoulder into the door, but a hefty shove didn’t cause it to budge. Using the heel of his boot, Riley gave it a good hard kick, splintering it apart. He thanked his lucky stars for shoddy workmanship, and they cautiously went inside.

  It was unmanned.

  For now.

  But that probably wasn’t routine since it appeared to be Fletcher’s command post. A center for communications and security equipment, and judging from the monitors fixed to the wall, it was also used for surveillance.

  He located the missing guard.

  Since the monitors were labeled and motion-activated, Riley knew the man was in the clinic entrance—only one room away. He was probably waiting to ambush them. But that wasn’t Riley’s primary worry. He wondered if the guard had let his boss know what was going on.

  “Can you cut communications?” he asked Tessa while he kept a close watch on the door. After all, they had no idea how many guards were on the premises. If they could stop the information flow, that might keep Fletcher out of it for a while.

  Tessa worked her way across the room. Searching. Until she reached the keyboard.

  “Done,” she said after less than a minute. “We need to find the surveillance videos. If we can retrieve them and apprehend that guard, we might be able to bluff our way out of this and Fletcher might not figure out why we were here.”

  True. It might give them a very slim shot at continuing the investigation. Plus, there was the added bonus that there might be something on those tapes that would incriminate Fletcher. Judging from the type of equipment in the command post, there were probably at least a hundred hours of surveillance on one single tape. Since they were motion-activated, those one hundred hours could cover days if not weeks of activity.

  While he guarded the door, Tessa scoured through the equipment tucked into the far corner of the room and located the surveillance feed. She pulled out a tape, shoved it into the back waist of her jeans and tossed a second tape to Riley. He snatched it from the air and did the same.

  “Oh, Judas!” he heard her say.

  Riley glanced in her direction to see what had prompted her response and soon saw the numbers on the tiny black rectangular box just beneath the surveillance equipment. Not stationary numbers, either.

  They were scrolling down.

  Fast.

  “It’s a timer,” Tessa said, already moving away from it. “And it’s set to go off in three minutes.”

  Riley cursed. Three minutes. Probably an explosive device that would bring down the whole place. They could take the time to disarm it, but it was a huge risk.

  “Let’s go,” Riley ordered.

  They wasted no time making their way out of the command post and, still hoping they’d have the element of surprise, they rushed into the entrance.

  No guard.

  He’d either moved to another room or had left the building. Not a comforting thought. Especially since they would have to rush outside with a gunman possibly waiting for them. But they didn’t have time to go back through the building to find an alternate escape route.

  Tessa stooped low again when they approached the reinforced door that led to the front of the clinic. It was where the limo had dropped them off the night before. The limo was gone, but there were now three cars outside. Cars without passengers or drivers.

  That meant nothing, of course.

  Since they couldn’t wait any longer, Riley led them out the door, and Tessa adjusted her position so they were back-to-back. Using the building for cover, they hurried to the edge of the small parking area but soon realized they were out in the middle of nowhere. There were no other buildings, no other signs of life, just a thick wooded area that practically circled, and canopied, the clinic.

  Since it was close, and since time wasn’t on their side, Riley headed for the west portion of the property. They didn’t get far.

  A shot rang out.

  It was a loud crash of sound that tore through the air, and Riley could have sworn it missed his head by a fraction of an inch. Not a result of an explosion, either.

  But a bullet.

  He instinctively pushed Tessa to the ground, but she obviously had some strong instincts of her own. She rolled to her stomach and levered herself so that she was ready to return fire.

  Riley dropped to the ground, as well.

  And he waited.

  He didn’t have to wait long.

  The guard ducked out from the other side of the building. He had his weapon aimed and ready to kill. But then, so did Riley.

  And so did Tessa.

  They both fired at the man and both their shots found the intended target. The man tumbled into a heap on the ground.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Riley insisted. He caught Tessa’s arm, yanked her to her feet, and they sprinted toward the cover of the thick woods.

  Just as the building exploded into a ball of fire.

  Chapter Eight

  With Tessa running hard right behind him, Riley cut through a narrow section of oak trees and came to a stop at the edge of a pasture-lined country road. It was a good two miles from the clinic. A safe enough distance.

  He hoped.

  If not, then at least the weapons they’d taken meant they were armed for a second round.

  He saw Tessa press the homing device on her watch. Without Fletcher’s security measures, the device would lead the SIU recovery team to Tessa and him.

  It wouldn’t take long, either.

  Riley estimated a half hour max. But even if the homing device failed, that mammoth explosion would have certainly garnered SIU’s attention. It’d certainly garnered his. Another minute in that clinic and they would have been dead.

  Oh, man.

  They were lucky they’d even seen that denotation device in time. If Fletcher had hidden it, really hidden it, then the man might have succeeded in claiming two more victims.

  “I’m sorry,” Tessa said, gulping in some hard breaths. She sank to the ground and rested the back of her head against a tree. What she didn’t do was put down her weapon. She kept it ready in her hands. “I didn’t notice the detonation mechanism when I pulled out those tapes.”

  “No reason to apologize. I didn’t see it, either.” But he damn sure should have. He’d known from the onset that Fletcher didn’t play fair, and that device was exactly the kind of surprise he should have anticipated the doctor would use.

  Riley dropped down onto the ground and swept a vigilant glance around the woods, just in case one of Fletcher’s guards had managed to follow them. Not likely, but he’d obviously been wrong about Fletcher before.

  “Are you okay?” he asked her.

  Tessa nodded. “You?”

  He glanced down at their clothes to make sure neither had been injured in the gunfight. Tessa looked sweaty and tired, and there were smears of dirt on her face, but other than that, she seemed unharmed.

  Thank God.

  “I’m all in one piece.”

  He hesitated, trying to figure out how he should say what he needed to say to her. After mentally testing a few scenarios, he finally decided he couldn’t make it sound palatable. Best to go for the direct approach. “I want to keep looking. I want to keep digging until we have the proof to nail Fletcher.”

  With her breath still gusting from the long run, Tessa shook her head and raked her damp hair away from her face. “You heard what the director said. This mission’s been terminated.”

  It was the exact response he’d expected from her.

  So why did it rile him?

  Maybe because he thought things had changed between them. That they’d developed a sort of…fondness for each other. An empathy.
/>   But who the heck was he kidding?

  The only thing that had developed between them was a good old-fashioned case of lust.

  Wasn’t it?

  Man, he hoped that’s all there was to it. Because the alternative would complicate things at a time when he needed no more complications.

  “For once, can’t you just go with your instincts?” He tossed the question at her. “Because we’re close to getting him, Tessa. I can feel it.”

  She opened her mouth to answer but didn’t get the chance. Her watch made a soft beep. The tiny sound was an indication that someone at SIU had latched onto their tracking signal and was trying to contact them. Probably to see if they were alive. Tessa reached to answer it, but Riley put his hand over hers, stopping her.

  “We could tell them we’re in pursuit,” he suggested. Except it was a little more than a suggestion. It was more like an ultimatum. “That wouldn’t be a lie. Fletcher is probably somewhere in the area, and if we get a vehicle, some equipment and start searching now, we’d find him.”

  Tessa’s gaze stayed firmly on him and Riley watched the intense debate going on in those baby blues. What he didn’t see was surrender or any other indication that she would go along with this.

  Just as he’d expected.

  “I’m sorry,” Tessa finally said. She moved his hand away so she could press the button on her watch. “Agent Abbot here.”

  “What’s your situation?” Riley heard Tessa’s father ask.

  She glanced at him first. Just a glance. But she didn’t wait for him to respond. “Agent McDade and I are safe, but the facility was destroyed.”

  “Yes. We saw the explosion, and I have an Evidence Response Team on the way there now to lock down the area and sift for evidence.”

  “We also had to return fire during our escape. Some of Fletcher’s employees were killed.”

  “You know the regs,” Abbot commented. “Don’t discuss the incident until you’ve both given your statements and been debriefed.”

  In other words, Tessa and he would be kept apart for at least forty-eight hours. Normally that wouldn’t have bothered Riley, but this time it did. Mainly because they had a lot of unfinished business. And it wasn’t all personal, either. He hadn’t given up on convincing her to go after Fletcher.

  “What about your suspect?” Abbot asked.

  Tessa looked at him again, and Riley gave her a go-ahead nod. “He wasn’t in the clinic at the time of the explosion. At least, that’s what one of his employees told us. We did manage to retrieve surveillance tapes but nothing else.” She cleared her throat. “We’re considering whether to pursue the suspect since he’s probably in the vicinity.”

  “There’ll be no pursuit,” Abbot ordered without hesitation. “I have a helicopter en route to pick you up. After you’ve debriefed and gotten some crew rest, you need to report to the Alpha team mission director in Denver so you can close out the classified reports on your last ops.”

  Not exactly busywork, Riley knew, but it probably wasn’t mission-critical, either. It’d mean that Tessa would be stuck in a security vault for days doing paperwork. In Denver, no less. She sure wouldn’t be out trying to track down Fletcher here in Texas.

  And she wouldn’t be with him.

  “Agent McDade,” Abbot continued. “Estimated time of arrival for your transport vehicle is twelve minutes. Since this was a back-to-back ops for you, you’re to make your reports and then begin mandatory leave. I’m recommending a minimum of a week in which time you’ll do nothing that involves this or any other mission. Understood?”

  Oh, yeah. Riley understood. Abbot was ordering him to back off. Way off. And during that time, Fletcher would almost certainly get away.

  “Copy,” Riley answered.

  It wasn’t an agreement to comply. And Tessa knew it. Riley saw a muscle jump in her cheek. Thankfully she didn’t voice what had caused that disapproving facial reaction until she’d disengaged communication with her father.

  “This could cost you your career,” she pointed out. “You know that.”

  “I know. And that should tell you just how important this is to me.”

  “Believe me, I know how important this is, Riley, but turning renegade isn’t the way to do it. Return to headquarters and regroup.”

  “If I do that, Fletcher will go so far underground we’ll never find him.”

  In the distance, he heard the sound of an approaching helicopter. Tessa’s transport.

  Time was already running out fast.

  “I don’t want you to do this,” she said. Not a gruffly barked order like the one her father had issued to him moments earlier. But a request. One with an unspoken plea laced through it.

  It was exactly what Riley needed. That plea reminded him of what was truly at stake here. Fletcher had already killed at least one agent, and he would kill Tessa if he got the chance. And that was the best argument Riley could make for leaving her out of this.

  Yes.

  Even though he hadn’t immediately recognized it as such, her refusal was a gift. Now he wouldn’t have to worry about her safety. He wouldn’t have to watch his every step and pray that he could keep her safe. For once, her penchant for following the rules would make his life a lot easier.

  “I don’t want you to change your mind,” Riley insisted. “Go to Denver. Do your reports.”

  Her eyes widened slightly. Then narrowed not so slightly. Probably because she was confused by his sudden change of heart. “Is this some kind of reverse psychology?”

  He shook his head. “Absolutely not. I don’t want you anywhere near Fletcher when I go after him. That’s the way this should have gone down all along. Just him and me. That way, you’ll be safe.”

  Another muscle twitch in her jaw. “And if being safe isn’t what I want?”

  That touched him in a way that nothing else could have because he knew how much it cost her just to consider helping him. “It’s what you want,” he decided for her. “Going to Denver is the only choice I’m giving you.”

  She stared at him. Riley stared back, trying to make her understand that this was nonnegotiable. And in those moments, a thousand things passed between them. Not just mission-related things, either. Things that were better left alone and unsaid.

  Too bad he didn’t do just that.

  “I didn’t want this to happen between us,” he insisted.

  That was true. No shades of gray or doubt. Riley didn’t want his feelings for her to deepen. And it shouldn’t have been an issue because there were so many logical reasons to keep their relationship strictly business.

  But then, there were all the illogical reasons.

  Feelings. Emotions.

  Attraction that just wouldn’t go away.

  The air changed between them. Or something changed, that was for sure. For lack of a better word, there was an energy. It seemed to pinpoint all his focus solely on her. On her eyes. On her mouth. And Riley knew there was only one place for this to go.

  Cursing his lack of willpower and the insane thing he was about to do, Riley reached out, curved his hand around the back of her neck and hauled her to him. She landed against his chest. She didn’t resist, something she probably should have done, and Riley finally saw the surrender in her eyes.

  Not good.

  It was a really bad time for her to do anything involving surrender. Yet, it was the only thing he’d wanted to see in the depths of all that blue.

  Tessa made the next move. Her mouth came to his. Man, did it. Her moist, sweet, hot mouth. The kiss was hard and hungry, and in that moment, Riley knew if there was any battle against her left to be fought, he’d lose it.

  Hell, he wanted to lose.

  The kiss was a rough, swift assault. Her fingers dug into his shoulders, fighting to bring him even closer. Not possible since they were already plastered against each other.

  Riley did some fighting of his own. He battled with her, jockeying for position, as if this kiss were a life-and-de
ath matter. As if this kiss could fix everything that had gone wrong. As if it could redeem him.

  And maybe it could.

  Maybe it was the proof that he’d been looking for. The affirmation that he hadn’t died that day with Colette.

  The sound of the helicopter got louder. Much louder. And Tessa pulled away from him. Not completely, though. She kept her arms around him as the helicopter eased down in the pasture. The pilot frantically motioned for her to board.

  Hesitating, Riley felt her fingers brush over the surveillance tape that he’d crammed into the back waist of his jeans. Tessa pulled away ever farther and looked at him. He expected her to demand that he give that tape to her so she could turn it in to headquarters.

  But she didn’t.

  “Promise me if you’re around flying bullets, you’ll duck,” Tessa whispered. “Don’t follow in your father’s footsteps. No Purple Hearts.”

  “I promise,” he lied.

  Worse, they both knew it was a lie.

  She let her gaze linger on him for several too short moments before she pushed herself away, got up and walked toward the helicopter.

  Riley got up, as well. Not to follow her. He wouldn’t do that, even though every part of him except his brain wanted him to do just that.

  Fortunately his brain would win this one.

  He wouldn’t let his heart make a decision that would endanger Tessa.

  Riley watched as she stepped aboard the chopper. She didn’t even glance back. Which was a good thing. He didn’t want to have to remember the look that he knew would be in her eyes.

  Not regret. But disappointment.

  The pilot immediately lifted off, the helicopter blades whipping up the wind and sending a circular spray of slivered leaves and dirt flying through the air. And Riley just kept on watching.

  Until the chopper was out of sight.

  Then Riley turned and headed back into the thick woods. In the opposite direction from his own transport.

  Away from Tessa.

  Away from the life and the career he’d made for himself.