For Her Protection

by Lauren Giordano

  “And?” She calmly took the baby from his arms and laid her in the grass to change her nappie.

  “And now we’re not. We’re so far off course it’s not even funny. What the hell were you doing? Were you paying attention?” He rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Didn’t you notice the scenery changing, the mountains popping up all around you?”

  She gasped at his insult. “I’m not the one who had to have a nap. I don’t even bloody well live here. We’re out in the back of beyond, and I’m supposed to know we’re going the wrong way?”

  Luke thrust the map in her face and jabbed at a spot in the northwest corner of North Carolina. “Do you see this? That’s where we are.”

  “So what?” She felt her spine stiffen with anger as she watched his finger drag halfway across the map.

  “And this is where we were supposed to end up…way over here.”

  “Fine. I made a mistake. My sense of direction isn’t perfect.”

  “Your sense of direction sucks.”

  Her hand clenched into a fist at her side. “Very well, then. I suppose this means you’ll have to shoot me?”

  “Very funny. Do you know how many phone calls it’ll take to reschedule all this?”

  She studiously ignored him as she finished taping Sarah’s nappie. But that didn’t stop Luke from lecturing. She continued to freeze him out as she wrapped the soiled one for the trash.

  “Do you have any idea how much trouble your mistake is gonna cause me?”

  How much trouble it would cause him? That did it. She rose to her feet, nearly knocking Luke over in her haste. “How much trouble? Let me see… Probably about as much trouble as it was for me when you jumped in my bloody car in the first place.”

  “Oh, sure, bring that up.” His eyes unsure, he took a step back, clearly preparing for the worst.

  “Probably about as much trouble as it’s been for me to be on the lam with you ever since.”

  “On the lam?” He shook his head derisively. “You’ve seen too many movies.”

  After everything else, now he was laughing at her. She advanced on him as pure frustration surged through her veins. “I can assure you that I’ve never been chased by thugs before. I’ve never had government agencies pursuing me—” Well, that one wasn’t quite true. Those damn security agents had made her life hell. But Luke didn’t need to know that. “Why, I’ve never been in a spot of trouble until I met you.”

  He snorted at that. “Trust me, sweetheart. You are nothin’ but trouble.” He tugged one hand through his hair in an obvious effort to calm himself down. But all he succeeded in doing was make the top stand up at attention. “This is gonna be a big pain in the ass to fix.”

  Hands on her hips, she slowly advanced on him. “Big deal. So you’re stuck with us for another night.”

  “Not if we hit the road—” His eyes lit up at the possibility.

  “Oh, no. Not a chance.” She shook her head adamantly. “I’m not getting back in that blasted car again. I can’t take any more driving. My neck is killing me. I’m tired—”

  “We’d only have to backtrack two hours.”

  “I don’t give a flip. The kids need a rest and so do I.” Anger spurted through her as he rolled his eyes in exasperation. “We’ve been living in that bloody car for two days now.”

  “Look, Jilly. Let’s be reasonable about this. We hop in the car, we’re there in, like, three hours.” He waved his arms for emphasis, probably in the hope that she would see just how inconsiderate she was being.

  “Why don’t you just leave us here? You can go to Charlotte and fix everything.”

  “Dammit, Jill. You know I can’t do that. Whether you like it or not, we’re together for the duration.”

  “Well then, tough. You can take us to this blasted safe house place tomorrow.”

  Luke jerked his head around. “Shh. Keep your voice down, for God’s sake. We’re makin’ enough of a scene as it is.”

  She stood her ground. “I want a hotel. I want take-away food and air-conditioning and I want to sleep for more than two hours straight. Maybe a place with a pool so the boys can go swimming.”

  “This isn’t a freakin’ vacation. We have to stay out of sight.” He looked like he wanted to pull his hair out. Either that, or he was contemplating gagging her and throwing her in the boot of the car.

  “Then find us a place where they can play.” The fight went out of her as she realized the futility of her request. She turned away, absently rubbing the back of her stiff neck as she walked back to flop in the grass with Sarah. She pulled her knees up and laid her head on her folded arms.

  Lord, she was tired. She felt completely hollow inside. Too much had happened. In the past ten days her cushiony, sheltered world had exploded. And she was kidding herself to think that this nightmare was going to end anytime soon. What had she been thinking? She’d left her home, her family, her country, for God’s sake. And in a matter of days, she’d become a fugitive on the run from drug dealers and killers. What a fine mother she was turning out to be.

  “Jilly?”

  “Forget it, all right? I’m sorry I bodged it up and got us lost.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Let’s pack up and get this over with. Tie me up, throw me in the boot. I don’t care anymore what you do with us.” Her voice was tight with the strain of not screaming…of not melting down. She wanted badly to do it—to break down sobbing and never stop—to throw herself in Luke’s arms and pretend she was someone else, someone fun and interesting. What had started out as an adventure had turned into an odyssey through hell.

  She startled at the feel of his warm hands at the base of her neck. Luke moved so silently all the time, it seemed as though he floated on the air above the ground. His fingers were gentle but firm as he massaged the knots of tension from her shoulders.

  “You didn’t bodge it up, whatever the hell that means.” He sighed as his hands continued to work her muscles. “Look, we’ll…we’ll do it your way. I’ll talk to Murphy. He’ll call the SAC in Charlotte and fix it for tomorrow. I’ll tell him we’ve run into a snag and can’t make it tonight. I guess one more day won’t kill us.”

  “Can’t I just run away from you? We’ll pretend that you lost us. That way, it’s not your fault.” She heard him chuckle as she groaned out the question. Dear Lord, he had the most incredible hands. They were large and calloused. Tough, work-hardened hands that felt absolutely delightful at the back of her neck. She couldn’t help wondering what they would feel like on the rest of her. She shivered with sudden awareness and tried to cover the reaction with a fit of coughing.

  How humiliating. If he kept stroking her like that, she would simply dissolve into a puddle at his feet. That, or she’d end up stripping him out of his clothes and taking him right there in the parking lot.

  “You don’t think I’d get in trouble for losing four people?”

  “I’ll tell them it’s my fault,” she insisted.

  “Besides that,” he continued as though she hadn’t spoken, “you’re in protective custody. You don’t have the option to leave,” he explained.

  “Really. And just what would happen if I tried?”

  “Then I’d have to shoot you.”

  “Lord, that feels good. You’d better stop before I embarrass myself.” His hands paused for a fraction of a second and Jillian cursed herself. Bloody hell, he didn’t need to know that. She felt the color rise in her cheeks and made sure to keep her gaze on the baby when Luke slowly removed his hands from her shoulders. Sarah had flipped over onto her hands and knees and was grunting with the effort to push herself through the grass.

  “Is your neck better?”

  “Much better, thank you.” She averted her eyes when his gaze lingered. His smug expression told her he was clearly aware of her growing interest in him. Damn him. Apparently when it came to matters of sex, Agent Heartthrob didn’t miss a bloody trick.

  Chapter 5

  “Okay, here’s what we’
re gonna do.” Luke cut the engine and turned to face her. “You go inside and get us a room for tonight. Better yet, get us a suite. We need a little space. How much cash are you carrying?”

  Jillian wrinkled up her nose and hesitated a moment. “Quite a lot actually, what with rental deposits and such.”

  “Pounds or dollars?”

  “No, it’s all American. I converted it at the airport.”

  He let out the breath he had been holding and thanked God for small favors. At this point, he’d take anything he could get. “Good, because I’m running low. Pay in cash, but don’t register under your name.”

  She looked up from counting the money in her wallet. “Well, whose name should I use? Yours?”

  “No, definitely not mine. Make something up—Johnson, Stone, whatever. And don’t be too specific when he asks for your plate number. Pretend that you forgot what it is.”

  “I don’t know what it is. Who notices things like that?” she muttered.

  He waved his hand to catch her attention. “I know. Tell him you’ll come back in later to give him the information on your car.”

  “Why would I do that?”

  “Well, for one thing, I’m sorta thinking we may need to ditch this car tonight and get another one. We’ve been driving it too long and I don’t want to take any chances. Not the way Sloan’s guys picked up on us so quick back there.”

  “I don’t suppose we’re going to be able to turn this one back in at the rental company?”

  “Nope. We’ll have to stash it somewhere and I’ll see that it’s returned later.”

  “But…”

  “Jill,” he interrupted. “If we turn it in, they’ll be on us.”

  “They? Who? Good guys or bad guys?”

  “Maybe both, but I can’t afford to risk it yet. Once I get an update from Murphy, we might have more options available. But until I know what we’re facing, I don’t want to take any chances.”

  He thought of yet another problem. “I’m gonna need some clothes, too. All I’ve got is what I’m wearing.” And he was tired of going commando. Luke pressed his fingertips to his eyelids in an effort to stave off the headache he felt coming on. He hated operating like this. His mind was jumping around from one thing to another. He liked logic. He liked planning. This make-it-up-as-you-go-along way of doing things was a great way to get them all killed.

  “Damn. I just thought of something else. I don’t want the desk clerk hearing your voice.”

  “Why not? What’s wrong with it?”

  He shook his head when he saw the heat flare up in her eyes. “It’s British, that’s what. Nothing memorable, remember? We don’t want anyone to remember seeing us. We can’t afford to stick out in the crowd.”

  “How about if I go in with her, Luke?” James’s voice piped up from the back seat. “I’ll tell the guy that my mom has a sore throat—that she can’t talk. You know…what do they call that?”

  He swivelled in his seat to stare at James. “Laryngitis.” He paused for a moment, mentally playing out the scene. “You think you could pull it off?” James nodded eagerly.

  “I’m not quite sure I agree that James should lie.”

  “Aw, come on, Jilly. It’s to help us, not to do something bad.”

  Luke rolled his eyes heavenward. Now was not the time to be playing Mary Poppins. She’d have the rest of her life to instill them with honesty. “It’s a pretty good plan, Jilly.”

  “I don’t know. I suppose…” She hesitated, clearly torn between doing the right thing and looking the other way. Still, she looked pretty determined.

  “I can probably come up with something else, but it’s gonna take some time.” He carefully winked at James. “You could be upstairs—” he raised his eyes to the second floor units “—lying in air-conditioned comfort on one of those big double beds.”

  Her eyes narrowed into what was becoming a familiar expression—one that told him she knew he was playing her, but that she’d go along with it. “All right. But only this once.” Her gaze locked on James. “Just this one time, James. Do you understand?”

  “I got it. I got it.” He made the mistake of smirking.

  “If I learn otherwise, you will get the bar-of-soap treatment for lying, as well.”

  “Don’t you Brits know any other form of torture?” Luke smiled when she grimaced. Hell, by the end of this op, he’d be burping soap bubbles for the next six months.

  “We’re not a creative lot. We stick with what works.”

  “Okay. Now that we’ve got that settled…” He glanced her way before turning back to James. “When you talk to the clerk, don’t try too hard. It’s gotta sound real. You can’t over-act, or it’ll look weird.”

  Jillian shifted in her seat and he shot her a look. “Think it’d work? Maybe if you fake like you’re trying to talk at first. You know, whisper and hold your throat. Then James jumps in and talks for you. How’s that sound?”

  “I think we could do that.” She nodded slowly. “James, are you sure you can do this?”

  “Yeah sure, piece a cake,” he bragged, his eyes excited.

  Luke thought of one last thing as they stepped out of the car. “Oh, yeah. Tell ’em the room is for four, not five.” At their curious expressions, he continued. “I want the guy to remember a family of four. Just one more thing to throw people off. We can sneak Sarah’s crib in after we get settled in the room.”

  “Gotcha, Luke. I can handle it, no sweat. It’ll be cool.”

  He gave him a quick thumbs-up. “Be cool, James. Be way cool.”

  James was more than cool. He was great. The registration went off like clockwork. Luke noticed that Jillian played up the story big-time and even he enjoyed how proud James was at being able to contribute. Of course it hadn’t hurt that they’d registered at a motel out in the middle of nowhere—or the “back of beyond,” as Mary Poppins called it.

  Murphy had finally called with an update and he’d informed him of their unscheduled change in plans. When his partner finished laughing, Murphy’d said the streets were quiet, that his informants hadn’t overturned anything new. That could be good news—or not. While it wasn’t quite encouraging, their situation didn’t appear to be life-threatening, either. Duncan, their ASAC, was pretty confident they’d haul Sloan in over the next forty-eight hours. Luke had difficulty believing that logic—especially since Duncan didn’t know where to find him. But he’d experienced that sort of blind enthusiasm in the past. It seemed to run rampant in the ranks of ASACs and SACs. Once they were promoted from the field, the reality of undercover work quickly took a back seat in the equation. Their knowledge of the intricacies of field operations seemed to evaporate. The attitudes of the newly promoted swiftly became Just Get It Done.

  Luke reentered the hotel room and closed his phone. His earlier recon of the motel hadn’t turned up anything suspicious. But his training couldn’t be shaken so easily. He’d probably check the perimeter half a dozen times over the next several hours. But for the moment, his gut was settled.

  Jillian, however, looked drained. Thanks to his nap, he was feeling pretty good. But she hadn’t really had a rest all day. And after burying a dead sister and a week spent baby-sitting three grieving kids, she had to be feeling emotionally and physically exhausted. Before he could stop himself, he’d offered to take James and Samuel out for a stroll in the woods behind the motel.

  “Are you sure?” She yawned as she cut the tags off his new clothes.

  Finally, new underwear. She’d even bought him a pair of jeans. Luke felt strange spending her money, but until this was over, he wouldn’t risk blowing their cover by using his credit cards. Not even his undercover card. His gut was telling him to be cautious. But the thought of clean clothes had been too good to pass up. Even though Jilly refused to hand over the receipt, he was mentally keeping track of the expenses so the agency could reimburse her.

  “Yeah, what the hel—heck.” Another security check wouldn’t hurt. He may as we
ll kill two birds with one stone. He wanted to exhaust the boys so they’d get to sleep early. With any luck, by this time tomorrow he’d be rid of all of them.

  “Figure out what you want for dinner and we’ll order when I get back,” he added.

  “Right. Is everything okay with your partner?” She laid down the scissors and flopped back on the couch, closing her eyes.

  “Yeah. It’s cool. Just had to reschedule a few things.” At least tonight they had a little more space. The sitting room was tiny, but there were two rooms. The boys had already spread their toys out on one of the beds in the next room.

  “What about your boss? Doesn’t he need to know what you’re up to?”

  “Not really. Usually when you plan an op, you cut through all the red tape up front. Once we receive our orders, the op is officially under way. We’re basically on our own until it’s done. We get help from the team when we need it.”

  “What kind of help?” She yawned again.

  “You know, surveillance, intelligence, backup, research.”

  “What about a situation like this one?”

  “Yeah. Well, when something goes wrong, then we all have to get creative.” After the update from Murphy, he’d checked in with their handler. Duncan confirmed that the desk clerk’s body had been discovered that morning, around the time he’d checked in with Charlotte the first time. The ballistics lab already had the slug that killed the clerk and with any luck would have the results in the morning.

  Luke didn’t hold out any hope the bullet would incriminate Sloan. The supplier simply wasn’t that stupid. On the other hand, he was dying to get the slug from his butt analyzed. Aside from all the jokes he’d have to endure, the information could prove valuable.

  The question of who’d shot him had been niggling his brain for nearly two days. His mind had replayed the scene a hundred times and something still bothered him. He just couldn’t figure out what. The warehouse had already begun to collapse—he and Murphy had been running from the building. There was no way one of Sloan’s thugs had taken the time to get off a shot with the damn building falling down around them. They’d cleared the building by at least a hundred yards before he’d felt the sting in his leg.