Soldier's Last Stand

by Cindy Dees

  “Since when did you turn into such a man-hater?”

  “Imagine going through life with men hitting on you morning, noon and night. And not just any men. The crude morons who think their stupid lines will work because beautiful women can’t possibly have any brains or taste in men.”

  The other woman nodded. “I see your point.” Apparently, the sentiment put Annika in a friendly frame of mind. “I just wanted to let you know André will be taking over watching you for the next day or two.”

  “And what exactly will I be doing?” Eve asked.

  “What you’re already doing. Pick up johns. Pay for your fancy hotel room, and pass the remainder to me.”

  Right. As if she’d give this woman one red cent of her earnings if she was actually having to sleep with men for money. “And what will you be doing while I’m working hard?”

  “Waiting.”

  Eve could not believe the hypocrisy of the woman. She’d send Eve out to sacrifice her body, her dignity, her soul, while Annika lounged around doing squat in the name of her cause?

  Maybe it was the aftereffects of last night, or maybe she was just damned grouchy after being waken up so abruptly, but Eve snapped, “And when can we expect you to actually do something in the name of our glorious cause? Or are you all smoke and mirrors and empty words while the rest of us put our necks on the line?”

  Annika sucked in a sharp breath. Her gaze went opaque. Hard. “You would dare?”

  “I’m out here prostituting myself for you while you do nothing. Until I see you take concrete action to make a political statement, you better believe I’d dare.” Screw Brady and his mission, and his stupid orders to play nice with Annika. She didn’t feel like being nice to anyone this morning, particularly some bitchy French terrorist who thought it was good sport to sic a rapist on her.

  “I’ll have you know, little Miss Sunshine, that I’ve done plenty.”

  “Like what?” Eve challenged.

  “You know that nightclub bombing in Jamaica a few weeks back? The one that killed thirty-three people?”

  Eve nodded. Not only had Brady briefed her on it, but it had been splashed all over the news for days. Dead victims from a dozen countries had ensured global coverage for the attack.

  “Yeah, well, I did that,” Annika declared roughly.

  Eve blinked. She hadn’t actually expected a confession out of Annika. Belatedly, she remembered to look impressed. “Really? I apologize, then. I didn’t know.”

  “Of course you didn’t know. Why would I hang out a sign to every police force in the world that says, come arrest me?”

  “Good point. Your secret’s safe with me. Any other headlines you’d like to take credit for?”

  Annika shrugged. “What’s the point? What matters is the headline I have yet to make.”

  “How forward-thinking of you,” Eve replied dryly. Thankfully, Annika seemed to miss the sarcasm behind the comment. Eve continued, “Speaking of which, I suppose I’d better get myself on down to the beach to see if this important person I’m supposed to recognize has shown up yet. And you’re sure he’ll show himself around the resort? He won’t just head for one of the private villas and hide there the whole time he’s here?”

  Annika grinned wolfishly. “Oh, no. He’ll show himself. He’s here to meet someone and the deal won’t happen unless he makes his presence known.”

  Oo-kay. Whatever that meant. Eve looked over at Annika. “Have you eaten breakfast? I’m about to order.”

  The other woman snorted. “It’s nearly time for lunch.”

  Eve shook her head and tsked. “That’s why you’ve got me doing this job for you. In this world, it’s barely a decent hour to be awake, let alone eating.”

  Annika shook her head back. “The useless, beautiful people. Parasites, all of you.”

  Eve arched a sardonic eyebrow. “Maybe not so useless if I can spot your target for you.”

  “Don’t get cocky. You haven’t found him yet,” Annika snapped.

  “Have a little faith in me. I got into this resort, didn’t I?”

  Annika didn’t bother to answer and left the room scowling. Man. And Eve thought she was grumpy in the morning!

  Brady cursed under his breath and picked up the phone to H.O.T. Watch. “Did you get that? Annika just confessed to the Dred-Naught bombing.”

  “Roger, Commander. We got it.”

  He didn’t give a damn if his techs were annoyed with him for making sure they did their jobs. He was in a foul mood this morning, and Annika’s confession was huge. Part one of the mission had just been accomplished. If they ended the thing now, they’d still be able to arrest the Frenchwoman and put her away forever. Eve would be safe and the entire operation could go the hell away.

  “Brady, are you still on the line?” It was Jennifer Black foot.

  “What do you want, Jenn?”

  “Do you have a minute to talk? In private?”

  Crap. He could guess what she wanted to talk about. He had no desire whatsoever to rehash his mistakes in handling Eve, up to and including last night’s fiasco. “Yeah. Sure,” he replied.

  “I’ll be there in a sec.”

  Huh? The line went dead. Moments later a knock sounded on his front door. He swore under his breath. When did Jenn get into town? He opened the door reluctantly and gestured for her to come in.

  “Breakfast?” he offered.

  “Already ate.”

  “Do you mind if I eat?”

  “Not at all.”

  He filled a plate from the spread of fruit and rolls on the buffet and carried it to the table on the back porch facing the ocean.

  “Plush hideout you’ve got here,” Jennifer commented.

  He shrugged. “Someone’s got to do it.” And who was she to talk? She worked in a tropical paradise, herself. He surgically sliced and sectioned a grapefruit that fit his mood this morning.

  Jennifer waited until he was spooning the tart citrus sections into his mouth to ask, “So did you sleep with her?”

  Brady inhaled wrong and the acidic juice burned his sinuses. Coughing, he spluttered, “Jeez. Could you time your question a little more carefully next time?”

  She stared at him levelly. “I timed it just fine. And you’re dodging the question. I gather you did, then?”

  “I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”

  “I’ll take that as a definite confirmation. What were you thinking? I chose you for this mission because you wouldn’t sleep with her!”

  “Clearly, I wasn’t thinking at all.”

  She swore long and freely, and he was able to finish his croissant in the time it took her to wind down. Finally, she said more calmly, “What’s the damage?”

  “I’d have told you the mission was blown if she hadn’t just extracted that confession from Annika. Eve seems prepared to continue in spite of last night’s attack by Curly and the…events to follow.”

  Jennifer sighed. “What did you do to piss her off so badly? Leo, the security chief, said she was all but spitting nails when he saw her last night. And she didn’t sound anything like her usual self this morning.”

  “She decided that I seduced her to keep her from bailing out on the mission after Curly freaked her out.”

  “Did you?”

  He shoved a hand through his hair. “How can you think that of me?”

  “I didn’t think you’d seduce her at all,” Jennifer snapped.

  “Fine. I deserve that. I suppose it doesn’t help that I fought like hell to stay away from her.”

  “Maybe to her, but not to me.”

  He rubbed his temples where a headache was beginning to form. “How badly have I screwed things up?” Whether he was referring to the mission or his relationship with Eve he wasn’t quite sure.

  Jennifer’s response left no doubt as to where she thought his mind should be. “What matters now is salvaging the mission. You and I both know we’re going to come under intense pressure to arrest Anni
ka immediately now that we’ve got her confession on tape.”

  Brady’s mind raced. As much as he’d love to pull Eve out of danger and get her away from Annika and company, gut intuition warned him to see this mission through. Torn between duty and desire, he answered bleakly, “We need a little more time.”

  Jennifer huffed. “I know that, and you know that. But how am I supposed to convince a congressman with the parents of dead college coeds breathing down his neck that we need more time?”

  “Remind them that crackpots take credit all the time for acts of terrorism they didn’t commit. Tell them we’re still building our case against Annika.”

  “That might buy us a week at most. Is that going to be enough time to wrap this thing up?”

  “I don’t know. But you’ve got to get us the extra time. We’re so close. And this mission has already cost so much….” He trailed off. He wasn’t talking about money, but she knew that without him having to say it.

  “Brady, Brady. What have you done? Did you go and fall in love with her?”

  He lurched violently. “Hell, no!”

  She studied him with her wise, dark, all-too-perceptive eyes. Dammit, what did she see when she looked at him like that? Surely not some lovestruck fool approaching middle age falling for a hot babe who made him feel young again. His relationship with Eve was a lot of things, but it was not that. She’d been as attracted to him as he was to her. And it had nothing to do with their twelve-year age gap. They’d been attracted to each other in spite of it, not because of it.

  Jennifer said nothing, but her expression gradually changed to one of compassion. “You’ll have to deal with that after the mission is over. What I need to know is can you do the job at hand? Can you be her handler, and will she work for you long enough to finish this thing?”

  “Eve would probably be more comfortable with you acting as her handler from here on out,” he admitted reluctantly. The words burned like acid on his tongue.

  Jennifer nodded briskly. “All right. Once Annika clears out of the hotel and we get visual on this André fellow who’s supposed to watch Eve, I’ll approach her.”

  His gut felt like it had just fallen into a bottomless hole. It was over between them, then. He’d blown his chance with Eve. Jennifer would finish out the mission and Eve would leave, never to have anything to do with him again. How could things have gone from so perfect to so bad so damn fast?

  Chapter 13

  Eve was alarmed to spot Annika stretched out on a chaise lounge on the Three Palm’s private beach. What was she doing here? Eve’s nerves were still too raw from last night for her to keep up pretenses under Annika’s watchful eyes today. No way was she up to playing the hooker and picking up men again. Ignoring the other woman, Eve spread her towel on a chaise lounge at the other end of the beach, lay down and closed her eyes to let the sun’s warmth soothe her. Thank God the swelling was mostly down in her face this morning. Only faint redness remained from Curly’s slaps. She needed this break from the mission.

  Even with Annika nearby, glowering at her. Eve’s thoughts kept straying to Brady. How could he have turned something so beautiful between them into a tawdry piece of manipulation? Why did everything always have to be about the job with him? If only they’d met under other circumstances, maybe they would have had a chance. Nah. Under other circumstances he would’ve been working on another job and not given her the time of day.

  How was it, with all the men who’d tried to win her affection over the years, that the one man she fell for wasn’t capable of loving a woman? There must be something wrong with her, some flaw that prevented her from having a healthy, loving relationship with a man. Whatever it was, it sucked.

  “There you are, Eve. I’ve been looking all over for you. I’d begun to think you were hiding from me.”

  Ohmigod. She cracked open one eye to glare up at Brady murderously. “Do you seriously have the nerve to face me after last night?”

  He took out his cell phone and pointed it at her as if to take a picture. “Smile for the camera.”

  She got the message loud and clear. His headquarters was listening to this exchange. Since she didn’t particularly want to air her dirty laundry to the entire U.S. armed forces, she satisfied herself with merely scowling at him as if she wished him dead.

  He sat down on the empty lounge next to her and leaned in close, smiling intimately. For a moment she forgot to breathe before she remembered this was all an act.

  “What do you want?” she snapped.

  He spoke low under the steady background noise of the ocean. “It appears that Annika is going to be keeping an eye on you herself today. And that poses a small problem for us.”

  “How’s that?”

  “I’ve arranged for a colleague of mine to handle you for the rest of this mission, but we don’t want Annika to see her. I can’t bring her on board until your favorite terrorist clears out.”

  He might as well have just punched her in the gut with his fist. She choked out, “You’re bailing out on me?”

  He answered past a clenched jaw, “You made it crystal clear last night you didn’t want to continue working with me.”

  “I never knew you were a coward as well as a cad.”

  “I was only trying to do what was best for you. What you wanted.”

  “What I wanted—”

  Brady cut her off. “Smile and look like you’re enjoying talking to me. Annika’s looking this way.”

  Eve pasted on a brilliant smile and hissed, “Screw Annika.”

  “That’s the whole point, darling.”

  “Don’t call me that.” She sounded childish even to her own ears, but it was so hard, sitting here trying to act like her heart wasn’t shattering into a million pieces at the sight of him.

  She would never have guessed he’d be the one to run out on her. He was actually prepared to walk out on the mission to get away from her? Wow. He must really hate her. The old feelings of abandonment flared up. First her father, then Viktor and now him.

  “What’s wrong with me?” she whispered.

  Brady blinked rapidly. “I beg your pardon?”

  “Never mind.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with you. Nothing at all. You’re pretty darned near perfect.”

  She pulled in a half-sobbing breath. “Right. And that’s why you’re beating a path to the door as fast as you can possibly get there.”

  “Aw, honey. I was an idiot and spoke without thinking last night. I didn’t mean it the way you took it—” He broke off, swearing under his breath. “Annika’s looking this way again.”

  Eve tensed. Why on earth would Annika be so conspicuous about watching the two of them? What was her game?

  “Flirt with me,” Brady ordered.

  Her gaze snapped up to his. For just a moment they looked, really looked, into each other’s eyes. Eve was staggered by what she saw there. Apology. Caring. And maybe even a hint of desperation. Had she misjudged him?

  He wanted flirting? Fine. She’d flirt. She passed him the bottle of suntan lotion and rolled onto her stomach. He groaned quietly as he commenced rubbing the lotion into her back. Ha. Take that.

  But then she was distracted by his big, warm hands kneading away the terrible tension in her muscles. Oh, my. That felt fantastic. How could she be so mad at him and yet crave the feel of him touching her? Her body was a fickle creature, curse it.

  His fingers were the perfect blend of strong and gentle as he massaged her shoulders and neck. The exquisite pleasure those hands had given her last night flooded her body once more with yearning. He made a low, pained sound and she glanced back over her shoulder to see if touching her was so abhorrent to him. But what she found was a look of such desire in his eyes it bordered on wild.

  Oh.

  Stunned, she sat up slowly, turning to face him. “What’s going on with us?”

  “As much as I’d like to answer that, now’s probably not the optimal time to discuss it.”

>   She sighed. The mission. Always the mission with him. And she supposed that said it all.

  He reported past a fake smile, “Annika just stood up. She’s moving this way. Time for us to earn Academy Awards.” And with no more warning than that, he leaned forward and kissed her. In fact, he all but gave her a tonsillectomy while he was at it. It was exactly the kind of crude kiss half-drunk men laid on her when they were trying to pick her up. Brady’d never kissed her like that before. The slap in the face it represented nearly broke her right then and there. Since when had he developed a cruel streak?

  She must have made a sound that reflected the agony she felt because, as Annika’s red bathing suit retreated into the trees, Brady spoke quickly. “I’m sorry about that. But, I had to make her think I want a repeat of last night with you.”

  Her eyes filled with tears as Brady continued frantically, “You know what I mean. A paid date. She thinks I’m a customer of yours. I was just playing a part.” He shoved a frustrated hand through his hair and mumbled in chagrin, “That’s not what I meant, either. Please stop looking at me like that, Eve. You know what I’m trying to say. Kissing you like that wasn’t real. Surely you know how I feel about—” He broke off yet again.

  She’d never seen him so flustered. Frankly, it was kind of cute. She couldn’t resist poking. “I’d love to see how the guys on the other end of the radio must be reacting to that mouthful right now.”

  He rolled his eyes, and if she wasn’t mistaken, his face was turning red. He closed his eyes briefly. He opened them and spoke once more, enunciating each word carefully. “I’m messing this up completely, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry I had to kiss you like that. I was trying to convince you-know-who that I’m still interested in hiring you. I would never kiss you like that in private because I respect you too much to treat you like that.”

  She studied him closely. He looked sincere. But did she dare believe him? Was she ready to give them another try? But what if he chose the mission over her again? Could she survive that?

  Brady stood up. “Now that Annika has cleared out, I’m going to go get Jennifer and send her to you. She’s slender, a little shorter than you, is Native American and has very long, black hair. She’ll approach you in a few minutes.” He paused, and then added so quietly she barely heard him, “It has been a pleasure working with you. Good luck, Eve. I wish you all the best.”