Princess

by Christina Skye

  For that matter, neither had he.

  As Hawk turned off the road, he wondered why Jess was different. Why wasn’t she afraid when he glared at her? Was he getting soft or something?

  Right now she was digging in her purse, her expression thoughtful. She produced some kind of a bar in plastic wrap, which she carefully broke in two pieces, holding the bigger one out to Hawk.

  “You eat it,” he said gruffly. Seeing what passed for food at the greasy spoon back down the road had destroyed his appetite.

  “Go on, you need the energy. It’s a peanut butter caramel protein mix that I make myself. You’ll be getting twenty-one grams of protein, four grams of healthy oils, and seven grams of fiber. Tastes pretty decent, too.”

  As Hawk reached out for the bar, their fingers met. Instantly he was jolted by the memory of her body in the stalled elevator.

  Just freaking great, Mackenzie.

  Erotic memories of amazing elevator sex were the last thing he needed in his head right now.

  He took a bite of the bar, expecting the worst. “Not bad.”

  Jess smiled thoughtfully. “I tinkered with the ingredients for months. Now I send bars to my sister because she forgets to eat.” Her lips curved. “Her husband and I have a secret pact. He stashes one inside her briefcase and sends it to work with her.”

  For a moment there was something wistful in her voice.

  “Sounds like you two are pretty close.”

  “No doubt about it. Summer and I are blood loyal—when we’re not trying to murder each other for reasons too petty to remember afterwards. What about you?”

  Hawk frowned. No one he knew dared to ask him personal questions. If they did, he made sure they didn’t do it twice.

  “My parents live in Virginia,” he said awkwardly. “I told you, I’ve got one brother.”

  “Does he do spy work like you?”

  As it happened, his brother had a higher security clearance than Hawk did. But Hawk couldn’t discuss that or anything else about his brother. “No, he runs his own software firm. Travels a lot.” That was the cover story his brother generally used, anyway.

  “You mean, he makes video games?”

  “Not games. He designs commercial software for business and scientific use.” For military and strategic use, actually.

  Among other things he trained to do.

  Hawk finished the bar. When he looked down, he was surprised to see that Jess was holding out a small Thermos bottle.

  His brow rose. “Hemlock?”

  “Very funny. It’s coffee, Mackenzie. I filled this and stashed it right before the fight broke out. If things got bad, I was going to throw boiling black coffee on the big guy.”

  The woman didn’t miss a beat, Hawk had to hand her that. And when he took his first sip, he felt a little kick of surprise. She’d just added dry creamer, only a little, exactly the way he liked it.

  Hawk glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. His first instinct was that she was trying to get something from him. Why else would a woman he barely knew bother about details like that?

  Jess seemed oblivious to his train of thought, carefully packing up her bags, cups, and powders.

  If this wasn’t some kind of subtle manipulation, what the hell was it? Women simply didn’t take care of him. Women usually didn’t even talk to him.

  They generally didn’t bother to hang around for good-byes on their way out of his bedroom, even if they were smiling in satisfaction.

  She didn’t look up as she continued digging inside her purse. “Sorry I only had the dry dairy powder. I usually try to restock when I’m at a hotel. With everything going on today, there wasn’t time, but I remember you don’t like much.”

  Hawk frowned at the road. Why did a stupid thing like her making his coffee just right feel so damned important all of a sudden?

  He didn’t have a clue, and he didn’t have time to waste thinking about it. As soon as he got the quick demo on her car problem, she was getting dumped.

  End of story.

  Jess studied her mud-streaked sandals. “Forget fashion trends. What I need is major, kick-ass motorcycle boots like that guy at the diner.”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “You know, like that man’s in the bar. He had the right idea wearing those really tall ones with the cool metal things on the toes.” Jess pulled off one shoe and shook her head in disgust as a piece of dried mud fell onto her lap. “Just as well that I quit my job before I left. No one is going to believe that I’m minor royalty from Europe or anywhere else.”

  Hawk stared at her. “Say that again.”

  Jess was busy picking mud off the bottom of her shoe. “You mean, that I quit my job? Don’t worry, I’ve been planning it for weeks. I’m tired of lying to people for a living.” She took a deep breath. “I need to get back home and start looking for something else.”

  Hawk pulled off the road and cut the motor, judging each word carefully.

  She looked up and seemed to register his tension. “It had nothing to do with you or what happened at the hotel, Mackenzie. It was way past time that I quit. Most inspectors burn out after two years, and I’ve been doing this for nearly four. If you go on pretending long enough, you start forgetting who you really are.”

  Hawk had known that feeling on occasion, working undercover for long stretches. Funny how well she’d pegged the feeling.

  But he couldn’t focus on personal matters. “I meant what you said about the motorcycle boots.”

  “Only that considering all the rain and mud, they seemed like a smart choice of foot gear.” She glanced around at the quiet hillside where they were stopped. “Do you want me to show you how to clean the fuel pump plug now?”

  “In a minute. You definitely saw a man wearing motorcycle boots inside?”

  “Electric blue.” Jess shrugged and slid out of the car. “He was near the table when I crawled underneath.” Without slowing down, she lifted the hood and propped it open. “I’d better check everything while we’re stopped.”

  “Where was he headed?”

  “Across the room.” She fiddled with a hose. “The guy appeared out of nowhere. It was right after the biker dude did his thing with my butt and I stumbled.”

  “What thing with your butt?”

  “Oh, he didn’t get very far. But he seemed to be determined to touch anything and everything that he could.”

  Hawk gave his head a little shake, fighting the pleasant image of jamming a pool cue down the man’s throat. He refocused grimly. “This man you saw. Can you describe his boots?”

  “I suppose so. They had a blue leather design and big metal buckles, like the kind on ski boots. They looked really expensive. I saw them right in front of me when I was on the floor, and the toes had some kind of round metal tips with a wavy design. Silver, I think. There may have been some lettering on the buckles, too.”

  Hawk kept his voice casual. “Did you see what it said?”

  Jess stopped fiddling with the wiper hose and looked across at him. “TEC, I think. Or maybe it was TEK with a K. The man vanished pretty fast.” She stood up slowly. “This is important, isn’t it?”

  Hawk dug in his pocket and tried his cell phone, but picked up nothing but static. “Yes. Maybe the most important thing that you or I ever do.”

  Jess was still frowning at him. “And you can’t tell me why?”

  Hawk didn’t answer. He was already close to saying too much.

  “How can I help?” she asked quietly.

  “The fuel pump can wait.” Hawk tossed the cell phone onto the seat, then steered her back to the car. He drove without speaking, turning up a narrow gravel road that wasn’t listed on any map. By now Izzy would know what had happened at the bar, and he would have resorted to their fallback plan.

  “Grab that notebook on the backseat. I need every possible detail you can remember about the man who was wearing those boots,” he said tightly.

  chapter 18

 
; Jess sat tensely, reminding herself that this wasn’t a dream.

  As they bounced up the boulder-covered hill, the Jeep lurched, and she grabbed the roll bar. “You’ll get better traction in four-wheel low.”

  Without a word, Hawk shifted to neutral, engaged the four-wheel drive, and picked up speed. “Been a while since I’ve been bouldering in one of these things,” he said, scanning the hillside. As they emerged from the trees, Jess saw an A-frame building with two dark sedans parked outside. On the other side of the building, microwave towers bristled over the ridge.

  “I’m breaking about fifty rules by bringing you here,” Hawk said quietly, “but we need your help.”

  “No questions, I promise.”

  Hawk stopped behind the two sedans, and his friend Izzy emerged from the house, walkie-talkie in hand. Jess thought he looked tired as well as surprised to see her.

  “Listen carefully.” Hawk took her arm. “You’re going inside with me. You don’t look around and you don’t ask questions. Can you do that?”

  She nodded warily.

  Hawk grabbed his knapsack, then reached across and opened her door, his face grave. “This is no game, Jess. Do it my way or you’ll be in a car headed out of here before you can count to three.”

  “Don’t worry about me.”

  “I do. That’s part of the damned problem,” he muttered.

  “Cell phones are out and I need a situation report,” he snapped, not breaking stride as Izzy approached.

  “Inside.” Izzy shot a glance at Jess. “I assume you have a good reason for bringing her here.”

  “I do, but hell if you’re going to believe it. There was a brawl at the diner. Jess slipped away from your man and got into some trouble. When the fighting broke out, she landed under a table. That’s when she saw a pair of motorcycle boots.”

  “So much for flying under the radar,” Izzy said grimly. Jess was certain that his eyes narrowed slightly, though his face revealed very little.

  “You got a description?” he asked Hawk.

  “She’s working on it now.”

  Izzy held open the front door and waited for them to go inside. Jess looked around curiously at the large living room, currently occupied by a dozen desks with high-tech computers. Maps filled one wall and a fax machine hissed in the corner. Some of the maps had red circles and words scrawled on them, but she couldn’t see the place names.

  A medical textbook lay open on the desk in front of her.

  As Izzy walked by, he closed it.

  Jess didn’t ask any questions, though the curiosity was killing her. Mindful of Hawk’s warnings, she sat down in the closest chair. “Do you want me to finish my description of the man in the boots?”

  There were four other men in the room. They looked up, frowning when they heard her question.

  Izzy motioned the men into the neighboring room and shut the door. “I’m listening,” he said tightly.

  Hawk sat down in front of one of the computers and punched in some words. “Are these the boots you saw, Jess?”

  She walked behind him and studied the screen. “No question. They were covered in mud, and I think there was a tear in one of the fasteners at the ankle. He was wearing a windbreaker with a dark hood, and he had a pair of worn leather gloves shoved in his pocket.”

  Izzy looked at Hawk, then vanished into the neighboring room.

  “Do you want some coffee?” Hawk was already filling two mugs at a nearby pot.

  “No, thanks. I’m already a little jittery as it is.”

  “Take it easy, honey. You’re doing fine.” Hawk looked up as Izzy reappeared, carrying a pile of papers.

  “We need you to pick out the man.” Izzy sat down at a desk and motioned Jess to sit beside him. “It’s very important.”

  Jess suppressed a wave of anxiety as Izzy put a pile of photos facedown in front of her.

  “I’ll give you five seconds with each one. Look at them and answer quickly. Don’t think about it.” He pulled off the top photo and flipped it over. “Was this the man?”

  The face in the photo had dark hair and a straggly beard. “Not him.”

  “How about this one?”

  The second man was older, with drooping eyelids and a scar across one cheek. “Not him either.”

  Izzy flipped through three more photos. The men all looked tough and dangerous, but none of them was the right one.

  Jess shook her head. She could feel the heat of Hawk’s body as he moved closer.

  “How about this one?” When Izzy turned over another photograph, Jess shot forward.

  The hair was different. So was the beard. But the eyes were the same, narrow-set and cold. “That’s him. The eyes are right, but he didn’t have a beard when I saw him. His hair was a lot shorter than this, too.”

  “You’re sure, Jess?” Hawk leaned down, his hand on her shoulder. “This is definitely the man you saw?”

  Jess stared at the photograph, memorizing the eyes, the thin nose and thin mouth. “That’s him. I’m sure of it.”

  Without a word, Izzy gathered the photographs. His expression was tight as he walked outside, motioning to a man with a sniper rifle.

  “Damn good job, Jess.” Hawk leaned down beside her. “How can you remember his face so well? You couldn’t have seen him long.”

  “Faces are part of my job. In order to assess key management, I have to memorize photos in advance. That way I have an edge when I arrive at a hotel on assignment. Summer taught me some tricks to isolate facial features like eye shape and lip size, things that are hard to disguise. All it takes is a few seconds.”

  “Remind me to thank your sister when I see her.” Hawk’s hand traced her cheek and his jaw tightened.

  Abruptly he took a step back. “I have to get moving.” He raked a hand through his hair. “I’ll see that an experienced member of Izzy’s team travels with you to Portland. We should be done here in a few more minutes.”

  Jess felt a sudden, sharp emptiness.

  She wouldn’t see this man again. They had met through a giant quirk of fate, something unplanned, never to be repeated. If they tried, it would only be tawdry and awkward.

  Time to move on, she thought grimly.

  “I appreciate that, but it’s really not necessary. I’m sure I’ll be fine. I’ll just need a car.”

  “You’ll get back your Jeep and a driver,” Hawk said flatly. “No more mishaps.”

  She turned away, reaching for her handbag. “Be careful out there. Wherever you’re headed.”

  “Count on it.”

  The maps on the wall seemed to blur, and she lowered her head quickly. The last thing Jess wanted was for Hawk to see any sadness or regret in her eyes.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Sure.” Jess didn’t turn around, staring at the blurred row of maps. “Thanks—for the elevator. You know.”

  “Hell, I should be thanking you, honey.” His voice was rough. “I’ll never forget a second.”

  She wanted to turn around, but she didn’t. Right man, wrong time. The general story of her whole, stupid life.

  “Jess, hang on a second. I have to do something. Just wait here, okay?”

  She heard his footsteps cross the floor. The maps shimmered brightly as the door closed behind him.

  “Those were the boots, all right. The description matches the tracks I found on the ridge, and those are unusual boots. Jess said he was there for only a few minutes.” The rain had finally abated, and Hawk stood next to the Jeep, holding a plastic bag with the items he’d found in the woods. “Our pals were in a hurry, I’d say.”

  “They’re getting nervous and nerves make them sloppy.” Izzy rubbed his jaw. “I’ve sent your report to all teams. If this guy in the boots is who we think he is, you’ll have more surveillance tonight. The man’s got a dozen current warrants in three different states, plus the Canadian authorities want to chat about an armed robbery in Montreal two years ago. He’s a real motorcycle nut. Used to live in the
area and still has an ex-wife in Bright Creek.”

  “Could she be involved?”

  “Too soon to say.”

  “If these people are in the area risking public exposure, it’s because they’re looking for the same thing we are. Which means they don’t have it,” Hawk added quietly.

  “That’s the way I see it, too.” Izzy’s voice fell as he tapped the map. “The ex lives about here.”

  “How about I go talk to her?”

  “We sent two male agents, but no luck. Now the local police tell us she hates men.” Izzy frowned. “It seems her father abused her, and her husband left her flat broke with a baby. She may be a little unstable.”

  “Did you try using a female agent?”

  “She washed out in three minutes. This woman Luellen’s got a real bullshit meter. She runs a Laundromat down in Bright Creek and deals with loggers and a lot of rough types, so she knows when she’s being conned.” Izzy folded the map carefully. “But I’ve got a plan. We’re going to—”

  The door whipped open behind them, and both men turned.

  “What’s wrong?” Hawk snapped.

  Jess pointed behind her, through the open door. “You’d better get in here.” The little TV near the coffeemaker was on, blasting local news. “That man I told you about? He’s there, right on the news.”

  chapter 19

  Apparently, a local brawl was big news in the area. Hawk grimaced as the grainy footage cut to two bikers hovering around Jess.

  Without warning the camera angle shifted across the table to him, and then Bubba and his two friends went flying on their faces.

  “Nice view of your ugly mug, Mackenzie.”

  “That’s not professional footage. Look how the camera is weaving.”

  “You probably have one of the senior citizens to thank. Someone must have had a video camera.”

  Hawk shook his head. The video footage made him look like some kind of kung-fu superhero. He’d spun the big guy off his feet without apparent effort and sent him flying.