Mission: Irresistible

by Sharon Sala

East and Ally were in the air before eight o’clock that morning and heading north to the Bitterroots with a prayer in their hearts. Pulling this off depended upon the success of a very fragile chain of events.

  The supposition that the place they’d seen yesterday was truly the stronghold of the Brotherhood of Blood and the place where Jeff was being held.

  The fact that the Brotherhood had no way of communicating with the kidnapper unless he happened to call on them, therefore eliminating the possibility of anyone at the Brotherhood calling to confirm the call they had made.

  The hope that Jeff would still be alive to rescue.

  A faith that the Brotherhood would accept Ally’s authority over their own.

  It wasn’t something a wise man would bet on, but it was all they had.

  East pushed the chopper to its limit while steadying his anxiety with the knowledge that, one way or another, this nightmare would soon be over.

  Ally sat quietly, marking time as she settled into her persona as the kidnapper’s mouthpiece.

  All too soon, the familiar landmarks of their appointed location began to appear. When the rooftops of the compound came into view, East circled it once, making sure that the people below were not taken by surprise.

  “Here they come,” he said, watching as tiny figures came spilling out of buildings like beans out of a can.

  “Take it in,” Ally said. “I’m ready to play dirty.”

  He shifted the controls and the chopper began its descent, dropping straight into the enemy’s lap.

  The moment Caleb heard the chopper, he knew they were here. He grabbed his gun and came out on the run, waving the other men back who had begun to assemble. The air about them swirled like a wayward twister, blasting them with debris as the chopper dropped into their midst. Caleb jammed his cap a little tighter and turned his head, shielding his eyes. When he finally turned to look, he saw a woman getting out. His eyes widened. This wasn’t what he’d expected.

  East grabbed Ally’s arm as she reached for the door. Their gazes locked.

  “I’m here if you need me.”

  “Oh, I need you all right. I can’t fly this damned thing, so don’t go and do anything crazy and get yourself hurt or killed, or we’re all skunked. Understand?”

  He nodded.

  “There’s something else,” Ally added.

  “What?”

  “Thank you for showing me how special it is to be a woman.”

  East paled. This sounded too much like a goodbye.

  “You just keep your damned self in one piece, because I haven’t even started,” he warned.

  “Love you, too,” she said softly, then she turned, letting herself slide into that cold, hard place inside her mind. She shifted the strap on her assault rifle to a more comfortable place on her shoulder, slid a pair of sunglasses up her nose, then opened the door and jumped out.

  She moved through the blowing debris with a purposeful stride, making no attempt to duck beneath the spinning rotors as people are tempted to do, nor did she turn from the dust that must have been blowing in her eyes. Her rifle was aimed at the ground in deference to propriety, but her hand was resting lightly on the place above the trigger. It was impossible to mistake her intent. When she was within a dozen yards of the silent crowd, a man separated himself and stepped forward.

  Ah, the man in charge.

  She strode forward with a swagger, shoving her femininity into their faces and daring them to test her.

  “I came for the package,” she said. “Where’s it at?”

  Caleb frowned. “You’re not who we expected.”

  She slid her hand a little closer along the gun butt, making sure they saw her intent.

  “Yeah, and you’re not what we expected, either,” she snapped. “The boss isn’t happy and I didn’t come here to debate this with you. I’m following orders, and if you’re smart, you will, too.”

  “Simon still owes us the last half of the money,” Caleb snapped.

  Ally’s heart skipped a beat. Damn. Something they hadn’t counted on. But they hadn’t come this far to wimp out now.

  “You’ve got nerve,” she drawled. “Screwing up a vital piece of business and expecting to still get paid.” She took a step closer, putting herself in his face. “If I were you,” she said softly. “I would kiss my own ass and consider myself fortunate I still had the breath to do it.”

  Caleb hesitated, then turned around. “Anderson…Franklin…go get the kid.”

  Two men ran off to do his bidding while Ally stood in their midst. The only thing that kept her from panic was the gun on her shoulder and the man at her back. She wouldn’t let herself think of what East must be feeling. Staying in this mind-set was imperative to the success of their mission.

  She could not see where the two men went, but East could, and when they began dragging back a drop cloth, revealing a door in the ground, his mind went blank. All he could think was that all this time Jeff had already been buried…but buried alive.

  The men disappeared in the hole then came up quickly, all but dragging a figure between them. Even though East knew it was Jeff, he would never have recognized him. His blond hair was dark and matted, he suspected with dried blood. His face was heavy with a growth of whiskers, and his features were bruised and swollen. He staggered when he walked, evidence of his weak state, and it was all East could do not to bail out of the chopper and go get him.

  When the crowd parted, a muscle in Ally’s eye began to twitch. It was her only concession to the shock she felt.

  “Load him up,” she said, motioning with the barrel of her rifle toward the waiting chopper.

  Caleb hesitated, then nodded to the men, who began walking then dragging Jeff along between them.

  Ally gave Caleb a last look, making sure he knew who was in charge, then, resisting the urge to run, strolled back through the thick, swirling dust as if she were going to the beach.

  Blinded by the sun and swirling dust, it was all Jeff could do to keep moving. The urge to see what was happening was overwhelming, but impossible. The knowledge that he was being moved from the only place he’d told his father to look made him panic, but there was nothing he could do to stop the inevitable.

  “What’s happening?” he mumbled.

  “Shut up, and keep moving,” someone yelled in his ear.

  He did as they said. Then he heard a woman’s voice behind him just as they thrust him forward.

  “Put another bruise on him and you’ll wear one just like it,” she yelled.

  He didn’t know who she was, but if he’d had enough spit to talk, he would have thanked her.

  Suddenly, the swirl of dust was outside and he was in, lying flat on some kind of floor. He rolled over on his back and covered his eyes with his hands, shielding them from the unyielding glare of the sun.

  “Scoot your butt,” the woman said, and gave him a shove.

  Seconds later a door slammed, shutting out dust and part of the noise. Jeff rolled again and started to shiver. His fever was up.

  East wanted nothing more than to get out of his seat and take Jeff in his arms, but they weren’t out of the woods yet. The crowd of men was shifting.

  “Is he in?” East yelled.

  Ally gave him a thumbs-up. “Yes, East, your boy is in. Now take us home.”

  Jeff flinched as the chopper began its ascent. He groaned beneath his breath, convinced he was hallucinating, because he could have sworn he just heard East’s voice. The he felt the woman’s breath on his face.

  “Jeff, honey…you’re going to be all right.”

  Honey? He opened his eyes, shading them with his hands, and looked up into an unfamiliar face.

  “Who?” he whispered.

  Ally tapped East on the shoulder. “He wants to know who we are.”

  East glanced out the side of the window to the disappearing landscape far below, then over his shoulder to the young man on the floor. For the first time in a month, he felt like crying for joy, b
ut all he could do was grin.

  “Just tell him he’s going home.”

  Chapter 15

  Guilt weighed heavily on East’s conscience as he watched Jeff sleep. He wasn’t the same man they’d rescued yesterday. His color was improving, as was his breathing. His body had been washed, as had his hair, and the beard was gone. Asleep, he looked like a kid again, but East knew that in surviving, Jeff had crossed a threshold into manhood that few would ever know.

  He turned suddenly as the door behind him opened, but relaxed just as quickly when he saw that it was Ally.

  “How’s he doing?” she asked, and gave East a quick kiss on the cheek.

  “Good. Still sleeping a lot, though.”

  “That’s the medicine. He needs it. Pneumonia isn’t something to scoff at, especially under those conditions.”

  “I know. We were lucky,” he said.

  “We were blessed,” Ally amended, then blurted out her news before she lost her nerve. “I have another assignment.”

  “No,” East groaned, and then caught himself. Just because he saw their lives going one way, didn’t mean she agreed. He would never ask a woman to give up a career for him. “Sorry,” he said gruffly. “That just slipped out.”

  Ally wanted to cry. “Don’t apologize,” she said. “It’s what I said when Jonah called.”

  East sighed. “What did he say about all of this?”

  “Not what you would expect. He seemed horrified about what had happened to your family because of him and said to tell you that he would never impose upon you like that again. Then he wished you good luck at the resort and something about a long and happy life.”

  East looked away. “I lied to him. It’s not something I’m proud of.”

  “I don’t think he considered it a lie, East. You were simply protecting your family the only way you knew how. Besides, don’t forget that in finding Jeff, we also gave a name to the man who’s trying to take him down. I would lay odds that, as we speak, something else is in the works to find this Simon character.”

  “You’re right,” East said.

  “How will you get Baby home?” Ally asked.

  “When Jeff is strong enough, we’ll drive her home.”

  In spite of her determination not to do so, she started to cry.

  “I feel like I’m losing you,” she whispered.

  East took her in his arms. “Never,” he said softly. “You know where I am. When you’re ready, just come back to me. That’s all I ask.”

  “Oh, I’ll be there,” Ally said. “For as long as you’ll let me.”

  East cupped her face, swiping at a slow stream of her tears with the balls of his thumbs.

  “Forever sounds good to me,” he said.

  “Is that a proposal?”

  “Did you by any chance happen to memorize that Kama Sutra thing?” he asked.

  She managed to grin. “Most of it, I imagine.”

  “Then by the time you come back, have the rest of it put to memory. It will be something to look forward to on our wedding night.”

  “I love you, East.”

  “And I love you, too,” he said softly. “Hurry home to me.”

  It was nightfall and the hospital sounds were far more subdued than they were during the day. East dozed in a chair by Jeff’s bed, while compliments of Jonah, a guard stood watch outside the door. Until they were certain no more threats were forthcoming, they would assume nothing. All the information they’d learned about the Brotherhood’s illicit activities had been given to Jonah—the rest of it was up to him.

  Jeff shifted restlessly and East woke abruptly, moving to his bedside and laying his hand on Jeff’s arm, then his forehead, testing for fever. To his relief, he was almost cool.

  “Dad…is that you?”

  East grinned. “Who did you think it would be…that woman you keep refusing to discuss?”

  A faint smile slid across Jeff’s face and then he closed his eyes, opening them again seconds later.

  “I knew you’d come.”

  East curled his fingers around Jeff’s forearm and gave it a quick squeeze.

  “Thanks to your quick thinking. That little clue you dropped about crashing and burning was good. You know…if you ever decide to forego medical school, you’d make a hell of a good spy.”

  “Bite your damned tongue,” Jeff mumbled.

  East laughed softly.

  “Did I dream it, or was there a woman with you?” Jeff asked.

  Pain pierced East’s composure. “No, you didn’t dream her,” East said. “Although I’ll admit she’s a dream of a lady.”

  The remark was so out of character for East that Jeff made himself focus.

  “Sounds serious.”

  “Yeah,” East said.

  “Where is she?”

  East looked away. “I don’t know and that’s the hell of it. Now get some sleep. I won’t be far.”

  Jeff closed his eyes as East settled back in his chair. Just when East thought Jeff had fallen back to sleep, he slipped one last comment into the night.

  “If she matters, she’ll be back.”

  East didn’t bother to open his eyes. “How do you know?”

  “It’s what I keep telling myself.”

  The loneliness in that single sentence made East sad. It was just as he’d suspected. There was, or at least there had been, someone special in his life.

  As he stood, a soft knock sounded on the door. He looked up to see a nurse poke her head in the door.

  “Mr. Kirby, there’s a call for you in the waiting room.”

  He glanced at Jeff one last time, then headed for the door, leaving quick instructions with the guard that he’d be right back.

  When he got to the waiting area, the phone was off the hook, and the room was empty. Hoping it was Ally, he answered.

  “This is Easton Kirby.”

  “And a formidable opponent you were.”

  East’s blood chilled. “You son of a bitch.”

  The man chuckled. “Yes, probably. However, that’s not why I called.”

  “You leave me and my family alone, or so help me, God, I’ll find you and—”

  “There’s no need for threats,” he said sharply. “That’s why I called. I misjudged you. I don’t make the same mistakes twice. Rest assured that I will succeed in my mission, but that you will in no way be further involved.”

  “I wouldn’t have been involved in the first place if you hadn’t taken my son,” East snapped.

  “So I realized, but alas, too late. However, it’s never too late to right a wrong, don’t you agree?”

  “There’s nothing we could possibly agree upon. You won’t get away with this, and I wish you straight to hell.”

  The man laughed again, only it was brief and bitter.

  “But that’s just the point, you see. I’m already there.”

  Epilogue

  East walked out to the balcony of his apartment, eyeing the terrace below and making a mental note to have the hotel groundskeepers install some new lighting around the base of the railing. It seemed a little dim.

  The television was playing in the room behind him, but he paid it no mind. It was just noise—something to keep him from thinking about how lonesome he really was. It had been a month yesterday since Jeff’s rescue, and a month today since he’d last seen Ally. From the first day of his return, he’d awakened with the hope that she would call, or that he would have a letter from her in the mail. And each day that passed without that hope coming to fruition brought a deeper sense of pain to his life. He wouldn’t let himself think that she’d come to harm on that last assignment. He made himself remember how cool and poised she’d been when she’d faced down the entire Brotherhood of Blood. She was a professional—and a damned smart one, he reminded himself. She wouldn’t let herself get caught up in something she couldn’t control.

  But it had been thirty days—and thirty nights—and he hurt so deep inside his gut that he sometimes wondered
if the pain would kill him after all. He missed her laughter and that prim, prissy look she got when her authority was questioned. He wanted to watch her eat waffles, one square at a time, and every hour of the day he would tell her that he loved her so that she wouldn’t forget he wasn’t like her parents—so she wouldn’t forget the woman she’d become.

  He braced his hands against the railing and leaned forward, absently watching the sunset. One moment it was there, hovering on the edge of the horizon, then disappearing so quickly that it seemed as if the ocean had suddenly opened its mouth and swallowed it whole. At once, a vivid streak of color spread upward from the horizon, painting the sky in varying shades of purple and pink.

  “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

  East spun. “Ally?”

  “Is that offer still open?” she asked.

  A wide grin split the somberness of his face. “Did you memorize the rest of that damned book?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then yes, a thousand times yes, it’s still open.”

  She returned the grin and then gasped as he lifted her off her feet and began kissing her over and over on every inch of her face. She closed her eyes, deciding that being loved by Easton Kirby was a little akin to flying—a little frightening, but well worth the ride.

  A short while later, East was in the midst of explanations about Jeff’s full recovery and return to his studies, when Ally decided it was time to share her own bit of news.

  She cleared her throat and folded her hands in front of her, as if waiting for permission to speak.

  When East saw her gathering herself, and then watched that beautiful mouth slightly purse, he grinned.

  “Got something to say, have you?”

  “How do you know?” she asked.

  He shrugged, unwilling to give away the one thing he knew about her that might hold him in good stead for the next sixty or so years.

  “Psychic, I guess. So what’s up?”

  “I brought you a present…two actually.”

  His grin widened. “I like presents. What are they?”

  She headed for the bedroom, returning momentarily with a small, flat package and handed it to him.