Soldier's Last Stand

by Cindy Dees

  Eve realized she’d stopped in front of Brady’s door on the tenth floor of their hotel and not her own on the sixth. He’d had their rooms keyed so their key cards worked in either door. She put hers in the lock now and stepped inside.

  Brady turned away from the window and stepped forward wordlessly to take her in his arms. She buried her face against his neck and hung on for dear life, while he buried his face in her hair and did the same. The last time she’d seen him he’d been lying facedown in a pool of fake blood. The impact of seeing him alive and well once more was staggering. It took her a minute to register in shock that he’d initiated this contact. Would wonders never cease?

  “Thank God you’re alive,” she breathed.

  He murmured back, “Thank God you’re safe.”

  “I’m never shooting you again, fake or otherwise.”

  He laughed quietly. “Never say never. You did great.”

  “I was so scared I could barely pull the trigger.”

  “But you did do it. I’m proud of you.”

  Warmth started in her tummy and spread all the way to her toes.

  “Tell me about your meeting with Annika.”

  He led her over to the armchairs by the window. She ignored the second chair and sank down into his lap. To her mild surprise, he didn’t dump her on the floor. In fact, he only looked uncomfortable for a few moments. Although he did seem to be having a terrible time trying to figure out what to do with his hands. He settled for plastering his palms on the arms of the chair.

  “She took me to her house and introduced me to three men. I can sketch them for you later. She was rude to me at first, but I think it was a test. When I threatened to walk out on her, she backed down.”

  “Did she give you any idea what she’s planning?”

  “She told me to go to the Three Palms resort, and watch for a target to show up. She refused to tell me who he is but said he’s important and I’ll recognize him when he arrives.”

  “So it’s an assassination then.”

  “That’s definitely my impression. One of the guys, Curly, was worried that he wouldn’t get to be the shooter if I was brought on to the team.”

  His left arm went lightly around her waist to prevent her from getting out of his lap while he leaned to one side and dug his cell phone out of his pocket. She laid her head on his chest as he spoke into the phone. “You got all that on the parabolic mics? That’s right. Three Palms. A male VIP who’s arriving soon.” A pause, then, “I’ll let you know.” He disconnected.

  “What are you supposed to let them know?” she asked.

  “If you give me any additional information.”

  “Like the fact that I don’t think I can do this alone, and I don’t know how to get into the Three Palms without being arrested? Or the bit where I’m frantically trying to figure out how you can be there with me plausibly?”

  His arm tightened around her. “I don’t think I can do this apart from you, either,” he confessed.

  She froze. Raised her head to stare at him. “Really?”

  Pleasure raced through her like wildfire at the notion that he couldn’t stand being separated from her. Either that or he was just terrified she’d screw up the mission. She put her hands on his face and leaned forward to kiss him. She probably shouldn’t, but she couldn’t help herself.

  He made a halfhearted effort to stop the kiss, but in a matter of seconds he met her halfway. How she ended up straddling his hips with her cover-up bunched up around her waist she wasn’t quite sure. She just knew she had to get closer to him. Break through that damned reserve of his to connect with the man beneath.

  How was it that someone so determined to keep his distance from her made her feel whole in a way that no one else ever had? It was crazy. She was crazy. Maybe she felt safe with him precisely because he was unattainable. The backward logic was messed up, but then she’d never pretended to be normal or well-adjusted.

  His desire to be with her might be a temporary thing fueled by his fear and stress, but it was enough. For now. A tiny voice in her skull warned that it might not always be enough, though. If she knew what was good for her, she’d stop this madness and give up on him.

  But when had she ever done what was good for her? What sane person volunteered to infiltrate a terrorist cell led by someone who’d kill her if she stepped even a millimeter out of line?

  He pulled back reluctantly and muttered in open annoyance, “I can’t seem to get enough of you.”

  “That’s wonderful,” she smiled.

  “Speak for yourself,” he grumbled.

  She laughed and kissed him again. “When will you realize you’re a lost cause and stop fighting this thing between us?”

  He stared at her in horror. And then he did all but dump her onto the floor as he surged out from beneath her. He turned grimly to face her. “I’ll find a way to be at the resort with you. But this thing between us ends here.”

  She just shook her head. He was fighting himself so terribly hard. When would he take an honest look inside his heart and see his feelings? She only hoped he got around to it before Annika killed her.

  Brady knew better than to kiss Eve. But he couldn’t find it in his heart to give a damn that he had. Just like he knew better than to make himself a visible part of the mission. And yet, as sure as he was standing here, that was exactly what he was going to do. Eve wanted him with her, and so it would be.

  Jennifer Blackfoot was going to have a cow.

  He and Eve both started when his cell phone rang abruptly. It had fallen down between the cushions of the chair, and the two of them laughed as he frantically dug it out.

  “Go,” he said shortly.

  It was Jennifer. “We’ve searched the government database for scheduled movements of various world leaders to the Three Palms resort and come up empty. A preliminary search of announced business executive and celebrity movements is also a bust. We need to find out from the manager of the resort who has reservations there over the next several weeks.”

  “Will do. Eve and I will work out an excuse for her to hang out at the resort.”

  “How’s she doing after her encounter with Annika?”

  “A little shaken, but she seems to be doing better.” He smiled at Eve, who gave him a dazzling response. She lit up the entire room when she smiled like that.

  “We’ll have a transcript of the conversation our microphones picked up for you momentarily. I’ll email it to you, Brady.”

  “Thanks. Anything else?”

  “Tell Eve she did well. I was worried when she confronted Annika so forcefully, but her instincts were good.”

  Brady disconnected the call. “What’s this about you confronting Annika forcefully?”

  Eve winced fractionally. “Well, she can be a bit of a bully. I remembered Viktor saying once that to gain Annika’s respect you have to push back against her sometimes. So I did.”

  “Just be careful. Don’t underestimate her, and don’t ever forget you’re dealing with a killer.”

  “I think she’s worse than a killer. I think she’s a genuine sociopath. Not only does she kill, she feels nothing when she does it.”

  Brady nodded soberly. “That would also mean loyalty or friendship from her is superficial at best. Never trust her, and never forget who you are dealing with. You’ll have to stay on your toes around her at all times.”

  If only he could do this operation for Eve, he would. He had dealt with Annika’s type before. It took a delicate touch and deft observational skills, both of which had taken him years to perfect. Eve wasn’t even remotely prepared to cope with the woman. Fear clenched his gut until it cramped painfully.

  “When are you supposed to meet with Annika again?”

  Eve frowned. “She said she would find me. She gave me no contact information whatsoever. No cell phone number, no email address, nothing.”

  Damn. Annika still didn’t trust Eve. Which meant she still might kill Eve at the slightest provocati
on. It also meant that Annika was probably not done testing Eve. He swore under his breath.

  “What’s wrong?” Eve asked. She was good at reading him and had picked up on his sudden tension.

  “Annika’s going to pull something else with you. I don’t know what. Perhaps she will want you to commit some other crime. Or maybe she’s planning to do something to you. Either way, I don’t like it.”

  “It doesn’t really matter,” Eve shrugged. “Whatever it is, I’ll just have to get through it. After all, I’m already partway in to her gang. It would be ridiculous for me to quit now.”

  “It would be even more ridiculous for you to die,” he snapped.

  “I’ll be okay, Brady. I can handle whatever she throws at me.”

  He shook his head. “I’m not so sure about that. Annika is genuinely psychotic. You have no idea how dangerous she truly is.”

  “She made a terrorist out of my brother and got him killed. She’s responsible for the deaths of dozens or even hundreds of innocent civilians. And I know she wouldn’t hesitate to kill me. What more do I need to know?”

  He hugged her tightly and wished desperately that there was some way to wrap her in a protective shell and keep her safe. But he, of all people, knew that true safety in this world was an illusion. He’d seen more death in his career than Eve could begin to fathom, and he’d personally been the cause of some of it.

  “Just promise me you’ll be careful around her,” he mumbled into her hair.

  Eve laughed. “I definitely promise that.”

  She had to stay alive for him—the thought stopped him cold. For him?

  He’d be in deep trouble if anyone got wind of just how attached he was becoming to Eve. He’d been chosen for this mission specifically because of his ability to hold himself apart emotionally, particularly from beautiful, vulnerable women. He was well on his way to spectacularly blowing this op.

  “What’s next?” she asked.

  “We have to get you over to the Three Palms and establish a cover. Did Annika suggest anything?”

  “No. I imagine she sees me posing as a prostitute and working the customers.”

  His arms tightened involuntarily around her. “No,” he said flatly.

  She shrugged. “I’m not freaked out at posing as a working girl. Some people think I must be a pro because of how I look. I know how to fend off the…monetary propositions.”

  “What you need is a ring on your left ring finger,” he growled.

  She laughed. “Are you planning on putting one there?”

  He jolted. Marriage? Him? Not in the cards anytime soon, thank you very much. Not with his job. He dedicated himself one hundred percent to his career, and until that changed, no way did he have the time or emotional wherewithal to do any woman justice.

  He shrugged. “If I were you, I’d buy a gold band and wear it to keep men from bugging you.”

  “I doubt a ring by itself would do the trick. I’d probably need a big, angry husband hovering nearby to make the threat work.”

  “It sucks being beautiful, doesn’t it?” he commiserated.

  “There are times when it absolutely does.” But then she added reflectively, “But at other times, like when I’m with you, I’m glad I’m appealing to you.”

  Appealing? The woman was downright addictive.

  “How do you feel about being my mistress?”

  She blinked, clearly startled. “Hmm. I hadn’t thought about that. But, I guess…yes. I could do that.”

  His heart leaped. Did she think he was proposing that for real? The idea of having her as his woman, anytime he wanted to be with her, of having her waiting for him whenever he came home—it galvanized him. Surely she wouldn’t agree to such a thing. She knew he was talking about the mission. Right?

  He continued, “I could pose as a businessman staying at the Three Palms. We could meet and I could set you up in your own room as my mistress. Annika could approach you easily that way, but you could also be seen with me. It would give you a big, angry man at your side to keep away the jerks.”

  She looked crestfallen.

  Something in his chest heated and expanded. She had thought his offer was a real one. And she’d still accepted it. Fierce possessiveness surged through him. Oh, yes, a big, angry man, indeed. A big protective man who would be keeping an eagle eye on her.

  “That could work,” Eve replied. “And I’d be glad for the backup. Annika’s men are really scary.”

  “They didn’t threaten you in any way, did they?” he asked quickly.

  “Not at all. Just the usual undressing me with their eyes stuff.”

  His jaw clenched. He’d watched his men go all Neanderthal in the field before over women, and he’d always told them to cool it. To keep their heads in the game. And they’d always ignored him. In a flash of clarity, he finally understood why.

  He ground out, “I’ll call the Three Palms. Make the arrangements. And I’ll also be having a word with their manager and chief of security. You’ll have all the backup you need if Annika tries to pull something with you.” More like when Annika pulled something with her.

  Eve nodded sleepily. She’d had a few big days in a row. He stretched out on the bed and was gratified when she promptly snuggled up beside him. He murmured, “Close your eyes. I’ve got you now. You’re safe.”

  She drifted off, and he savored the trusting way she nestled against his side. He didn’t know what they were building between them, but it was good, whatever it was. Now, if only Jennifer Blackfoot would see it that way.

  He napped and she slept until the sun had set and evening was settling over the island. They might have slept longer, but Eve’s cell phone rang, startling Brady from pleasant dreams of life with Eve as his mistress.

  She fumbled at the phone and got it to her ear on the third ring. “Hello?”

  As she listened, dismay blossomed across her features. “Sure. I’ll be there right away. Fifteen minutes.” She closed the phone and looked up at him, her eyes wide and worried. “Annika wants to see me. Now.”

  Chapter 9

  The bar Annika chose for their meeting turned out to be less than three blocks from where Eve had shot Brady the night before. Surely that was no coincidence.

  “I’ll go with you,” Brady declared.

  Eve sighed. “You know you can’t. Annika will have her crew there and one of them might spot you. They’d recognize you at the Three Palms.”

  “But we’ve got no surveillance set up for this meeting,” he protested.

  “Then I guess I’ll have to do my job and go in all by myself.”

  “I don’t like it.”

  She smiled to lighten the mood, but the truth was she didn’t like it, either. She didn’t have any choice, though. Right now, what Annika wanted, Annika got.

  “I’m going to put a bug in your purse.” Brady raised a hand to forestall any arguments from her. “It’s inside an MP3 player and looks exactly like the guts of the radio. It would take a microscope to tell it from the real thing. Annika can tear your player apart and still not know she’s looking at a bug. It even plays music.”

  She took the player and its jumble of earplugs and stuffed it in her purse without argument. She might be walking a tightrope, but she wasn’t quite ready to do it without a net.

  The seedy bar was a far cry from the Crystal Room of two nights before. As Eve looked around the smoky interior, she was grateful she’d dressed down. Not that jeans and a baggy T-shirt prevented the usual whistles and catcalls.

  Annika was seated in a booth in the far corner, her back against the wall just like the old gunfighters in American Western movies, wearing her usual Goth attire. Eve slid into the booth beside Curly. There was no sign of Pierre or André, but surely they were nearby.

  She glanced down at the empty table in front of Annika. “You’re not drinking tonight?”

  The terrorist shrugged. “I was just waiting for you.”

  Alarm was as sharp and bright in E
ve’s throat as a dagger to the windpipe. “Are we going somewhere?”

  “Yes. Let’s go.”

  It was another test. Eve was sure of it. Probing to figure out what Annika was up to, she asked lightly, “Are you going to show me how to do something cool like wire—”

  Annika cut her off with a violent slash of her hand through the air. “Never talk about such things, even in jest. It draws attention. Makes people remember your face. Surely Viktor taught you that.”

  Eve laughed to hide her nervousness. “Not an issue for me. People remember my face regardless of what I do.”

  Annika gave her a sour look. “I’ll bet they do. Normally, I wouldn’t use you on a team for that very reason. But in this case, I can use your looks to get into that resort. Assuming you’re alive in an hour.”

  Eve sighed. “Do you threaten all your new recruits like this? Because really, it’s getting old. Kill me or accept me, but just get on with it.”

  Annika’s gaze went black. Opaque. Hard. Yikes. The psycho terrorist was back in full force. Eve slid out of the booth and followed the woman from the bar. Curly fell in behind them. Worried she might make a break for it, were they?

  As they strode toward the part of town where Eve had shot Brady, she asked more cautiously, “So where are we going?”

  “You talk too much. Your brother used to say you were a chatterbox. I see what he meant.”

  Viktor thought her chattering was cute. He said so himself. She wasn’t going to let Annika’s cruelty sully the memory of him laughing at her when she’d recount every detail of her day to him at ninety miles per hour.

  As they walked, Eve caught a tiny movement that made her blood run cold. Annika’s right hand brushed over the bulge under her black leather jacket at her right hip. The woman had a weapon holstered there and had just unconsciously touched it.

  Eve debated whether or not to mention the weapon for the sake of the bug in her purse, but decided against it. Brady would assume Annika was armed, or at least not be surprised to learn she was. It wasn’t worth risking her cover to say anything.

  Annika’s steps slowed. Eve glanced around and recognized the corner Brady had been standing on when she shot him. Her heart in her throat, she muttered, “I thought smart criminals don’t return to the scene of the crime. Isn’t that only for amateurs?”