Sweet Reward-Last 9

by Christy Reece

  Taking a long swallow of water, Jared eyed his friend. This was the first time since his divorce that they had sparred. And it was also the first time that he’d even had Lucas over. He’d bought this old warehouse after leaving IDC, but it wasn’t until his marriage ended that he’d done anything with the place. It had sat empty for years. When he’d made the move back to Paris after his divorce, renovating the giant space into a livable apartment and gym had consumed most of his free time. He hadn’t seen Lucas much. His fault, not Lucas’s. He’d cut himself off from everyone.

  “McCall call you in for the meeting this evening?”

  Lucas nodded as he tossed his empty water bottle into the garbage can in the corner. “Said he was bringing in someone new.”

  Jared still couldn’t believe it. Mia Ryker didn’t belong at LCR. She was a young innocent playing at a dangerous game. What the hell was McCall thinking?

  “You don’t look like you approve,” Lucas said.

  “I don’t. You’ll understand when you meet her. She’s not cut out for this kind of life. Can’t believe McCall agreed to let her work this case.”

  “The man’s rarely wrong about people. Did this woman do something wrong or do you just dislike her on principle?”

  Dislike Mia? It’d be a hell of a lot easier if he did.

  “She did nothing wrong. She’s just not LCR material. She lives outside Chicago in a house that looks like it belongs to a 1950s sitcom family, with five dogs and a cat. Her informant was like a relative of hers—really upset her when he got killed—and she’s got no self-preservation instincts. She threw herself into a dangerous situation and didn’t even stop to consider the consequences.”

  Lucas arched a brow, his mouth twisting in a wry smile. “That so? Other than the pets and the house, sounds like someone else I know.”

  “There’s a hell of a lot of difference between taking chances when you know what you’re doing and you’re trained and being a person who dives into danger without any idea of the outcome.”

  “Ah, I see.” Humor sparkled in Lucas’s eyes. “So when you single-handedly walked into a room full of armed guerrillas a few years back, you knew what the outcome would be.”

  Jared glared at his friend. There was nothing worse than having your past thrown back at you at the most inopportune times. “I lived to tell about it; they didn’t.”

  “Yes, after losing half the blood in your body. Guess you knew you were going to live through that, too.”

  “What’s your problem? Why’re you bringing this up now?”

  “Because you’re back to your old ways, and this time, it might just get you killed.”

  Jared turned away and grabbed a towel. He’d heard this a thousand times when they were with IDC. Most government agencies had ten rules and regulations for every move they made. Working in an agency that only a handful of people in each country were even aware of allowed more flexibility. Which was one of the reasons he’d never been fired—that, and he was too damn good at what he did.

  “I gotta shower.”

  Jared ignored the disgusted sigh from his friend and headed for the stairs to his second-floor apartment.

  “Getting yourself killed won’t fix your guilt over your failed marriage.”

  Turning slowly, Jared worked to squelch his anger. Lucas was the closest thing he’d ever had to a brother; he knew his friend’s words were well intended.

  “No, but getting Lara’s daughter back for her will sure as hell help.”

  “Look, I admit you should have told her the truth from the beginning, but—”

  Jared raised his hand to stop Lucas. He knew exactly who was responsible for his failed marriage. Loyalty from his friend was nice but unwarranted. His marriage had failed because he’d lied to Lara from the moment they had met. She’d thought him a bit of a geek and a nerd, but only because he had portrayed himself that way.

  “I should never have married her.”

  “I won’t argue with that, either. You’re too different.”

  Jared shrugged. He’d lived a role he had thought he could maintain for a lifetime, but that had all changed the day he’d saved a woman’s life. Instead of looking impressed by or happy with his skills, Lara had realized that her husband had depths and secrets she’d known nothing about. After a few pointed questions, which he’d answered with the truth, she had demanded he leave.

  “I owe her,” he said.

  “I agree. And you’ll get her daughter back for her, but since you’ve been with LCR, you’ve acted as if every mission would be your last. When we were at IDC, you had heart and passion. Now you act as if you’re not even human. Like you don’t give a damn about anything.” Lucas headed toward the door and then stopped. “You might owe her, but you don’t owe her your life. Remember that.” With those words, he walked out the door.

  seven

  LCR headquarters

  McCall stood at the front of the conference room and addressed the small group. “With the list we’ve put together and the one Mia has given us, I think we’re finally going to be able to hone in on some real suspects.”

  “Where’s Mia?” Jared asked. The other three men didn’t even bother to hide their surprise. Yeah, he knew he wasn’t usually one to ask those kinds of questions. So what? Somebody had to say it. If she was going to be working on this case, he had a right to know where she was—didn’t he?

  “She’s in the gym; she’ll be here in a minute.”

  McCall had barely finished his sentence when Mia burst into the room like a small whirlwind. “Sorry I’m late. Had to take a quick shower.” She grinned at McCall. “You’ve added a lot nice equipment in there.”

  “Mia, this is Lucas Kane and Aidan Thorne. They’ll be working the case, too.”

  Glowing from her workout and smelling like an exotic flower as she stepped past Jared, she shook both men’s hands and then sat down on the sofa beside Aidan Thorne.

  Jared noted that Thorne gave her his trademark smile—the damn dashing one that seemed to have every female LCR operative sighing. It was usually amusing to watch women blush and stammer when the man turned on the charm. And though he had to give Mia credit—she didn’t act the least bit impressed—he still didn’t find Thorne’s flirtatiousness amusing. This was a serious meeting; shit like that didn’t belong here.

  Mia threw Jared a blinding smile and then looked up at the whiteboard McCall had filled with names. “Your list is about as long as mine.”

  “I’m calling in a couple more operatives,” McCall said. “I’ll make assignments once we’re done here. I’d like to see us eliminate as many suspects as possible before we go much further.”

  He sat on the edge of the table and continued: “Based on the intel we’ve been gathering for the past month, along with the names Mia brought with her, we now have eight men and five organizations that can be considered viable suspects.”

  Jared shot a look at the woman on the sofa. “How’d you come up with your list?”

  “By comparing Sandi’s case with the Hempsteads’.” She glanced around at the others in the room. “That’s the high-profile baby kidnapping.”

  Lucas frowned. “Wasn’t that child ransomed and found alive?”

  “Yes, but I still think they’re related, and here’s why.” She stood and went to the board. “Sandi’s description of the men who paid her was amazingly thorough.” She turned and placed two detailed sketches on the board. Beside those sketches, she put a photograph of a slender, middle-aged man with a striking resemblance to one of the sketches. The other sketch was of a heavier man, mid-fortyish.

  Pointing to the slender man’s sketch, she said, “This is the man who worked in the kitchen the night of the Hempsteads’ party. I showed this sketch to both Mr. and Mrs. Hempstead, as well as the woman who hired him. They all agreed it’s the same guy. Once his body was ID’d and they saw his photo, they were positive.”

  She shrugged. “I’m not big on coincidences. So what are the ch
ances of this guy buying Sandi’s baby and then, a couple of weeks later, being anywhere close by when another child is snatched, without having some kind of involvement? I’d say slim to none.”

  Before anyone could question her, Mia continued: “The day after the story breaks on national television that the Hempsteads’ child is missing, a ransom is demanded. That’s three days after the child disappeared. And, as we know, ransom demands usually come within twenty-four hours. Then, on that same day my informant was bringing me information related to my case, he’s killed and this guy takes a shot at me. Then, a few days later, this man is found dead with a bullet in his head.”

  Jared nodded absently. He’d heard this before, and he agreed with her assessment. Even though there were few similarities, this one man tied those two cases together.

  “It took a while to ID the guy, but he was finally identified as Boyd Fuller. I’ve learned as much as I could about him, including where he’s been for the past few years. The man was quite the world traveler. In the last three years, he’s been in twelve different countries, and coincidentally, ten infants disappeared in ten of those countries during that time. None have been found.”

  Her dark eyes pinpointed Jared. “He was in Paris when the Dennisons’ baby was abducted.”

  Okay, now she had his attention. And once again, he agreed with her assessment—he wasn’t a big believer in coincidences either. Jared glanced around the room and saw the sharpened interest of the other operatives. For some ridiculous reason, he felt pleased for Mia.

  As Mia returned to her seat, she was well aware that while everyone else’s attention was focused on the board, Jared’s eyes followed her until she sat down. Silly really, but she felt a small glow of pride that she had impressed him. And she had. Jared was excellent at keeping his expression blank, but she’d been trained by the best, with the best. She’d caught the slight dilation of his eyes and the small flare of his nostrils when she’d revealed that last piece of information. After his more than apparent distrust of her abilities and talents, the knowledge that she’d overcome some of his doubts felt damn good.

  “Based on what Mia brought us,” Noah said, “and the names we’ve put together over the last few weeks, we’ve drawn up another list.” He went to another board and revealed what looked like a maze of arrows and names. “Tracking Fuller, we’ve traced him to these individuals who were on our radar. Some of them we know are on the shady side; others are pristine.”

  “He had a relationship to all these people?” Mia said.

  Noah picked up a stack of papers and handed stapled pages to each person. “I wouldn’t call most of his contacts with these people a relationship. I’ve detailed how I connected him to them in my notes. Some of his connections are loose and probably won’t get past our first round of scrutiny. Such as the fact that the Mendelson Corporation was having their annual fund-raising event at the Greene House in San Francisco the same week Fuller was in San Francisco. We’ve had the Mendelson people on our radar for the last two years as possibly being involved in human trafficking. With the ‘there’s got to be more than just a coincidence’ theory, that’s how we linked him to all of these people and organizations.”

  Noah shot a glance at Lucas. “Fuller was also in Copenhagen the same time an infant was taken. I don’t have anyone to link him to there, but we’ll start digging with that in mind. I’d like for you and McKenna to fly to Copenhagen. Stay as low-profile as possible.”

  Lucas nodded. “I talked to her this morning. She and Eden are flying in tonight from their op in Thailand.”

  Mia didn’t know a lot of the newer operatives. She had worked briefly with Eden years ago and was looking forward to seeing her again. And she knew that Lucas and his wife, McKenna, had been with LCR just over a year. Aidan Thorne, the heartthrob of unattached LCR females, according to Angela, had been with the organization for just over two years.

  “Thorne, Sabrina is due in from her leave this afternoon. I want you two to head to San Francisco and do a similar low-key investigation there.”

  “Why the low profile?” Aidan asked.

  Noah swept a hard gaze over everyone. “Attracting attention with a high-profile investigation is never in our best interest, but in this case it’s even more imperative we stay low-key. Whoever is doing this baby snatching will be on high alert. If they learn LCR is anywhere near, they may shut down completely or cease operation for a while. We can’t risk that.

  “Also, I’m doing male-and-female teams for one purpose. Once we narrow down the list, there’s a high probability that we’ll have to set up a sting. I want each of you to be comfortable with your partner. Thorne, you and Sabrina have posed as husband and wife before with good success.”

  Mia watched Jared’s eyes narrow; she knew exactly what was going to come out of his mouth. “Who am I working with?”

  Noah turned to Jared. “Mia.”

  She had to give him credit. He did nothing more than nod his head. Just in the short time she had known him, she had learned that Jared had enormous control and focus. What would it be like to have that control totally focused on her? At that thought, arousal bloomed, infusing warmth through her whole body. A feeling she hadn’t had in for what seemed like forever. How ironic that it had to be for a man who thought so little of her.

  As if he couldn’t sense Jared’s disapproval, Noah continued: “I want you and Mia to narrow down the targets. We’ve done the preliminary work on making the connections, but I want you to eliminate as many as you can. Let’s try to pinpoint the most likely suspects.”

  Without waiting for comments, Noah passed out folders with their individual assignments. Mia opened hers, and though Jared looked at his as well, she knew the one thing that was at the forefront of his mind. After everyone left, he’d tell Noah he couldn’t work with her.

  Jared thought she was an untrained civilian. He had no idea who had trained her or what she could do. She wouldn’t be in the room with him when he learned that information, though she would love to see his face when he found out that not only was she a fully trained LCR operative but her skills, in certain areas, exceeded his.

  Denial made Jared want to stop the meeting and confront McCall immediately. He wouldn’t do that to Mia. Even if he didn’t think she was qualified to work this op, she didn’t deserve to be embarrassed in front of the others. Where his boss’s head was he couldn’t even begin to guess.

  As if unaware of the undercurrent, McCall continued to address Jared and Mia: “Let’s meet again in four days and review where we are. Hopefully by then you’ll have identified our prime targets, and we’ll plan our initial infiltration and strategy from there.”

  Lucas shot Jared a knowing look and walked out of the room. Jared barely paid attention to that as he watched Thorne say something to Mia. She responded with a spontaneous, totally feminine laugh that somehow went through his entire body and penetrated deep. The woman had no wiles, no subterfuge, no defenses. She was as open and free-spirited as a wild animal. And he was supposed to go undercover with her? Hell no.

  “Livingston, why don’t you stay?” McCall said.

  Though Mia had to know that he was going to refuse to work with her, she gave him an easy smile and said, “I’ll be at my apartment this evening. Noah can give you the address.”

  Jared nodded grimly. Fine, he’d tell McCall he wasn’t going to work with her, and then he’d go to Mia’s apartment and explain it to her, too. She deserved to hear the truth from him.

  The instant the door clicked closed, Jared said, “She’s not qualified.”

  “She’s more than qualified.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I trained her myself.”

  “When?”

  “Years ago—she was one of my first female operatives.”

  Mia had been an LCR operative? “Why’d she quit?”

  McCall frowned. “You don’t like her?”

  Hell no, that was the problem. He liked her
too damn much. And a day hadn’t gone by since he’d met her that he hadn’t thought of her.

  Since answering with the truth would give away more information than he wanted to reveal, he reworded his question. “What happened?”

  “That’s something Mia will tell you, if you ask her. It’s not my place.” McCall leaned forward, his black eyes piercing Jared. “You need to be able to trust your partner. If, in four days, you come back and tell me you still don’t trust her, I’ll assign someone else to you. Deal?”

  Since it was apparent that Mia was excellent at research, he wouldn’t argue. They could work together to determine their targets; then he’d get a new partner. He ignored the empty feeling in his gut that told him he was about to find out something he didn’t want to know.

  eight

  The instant Jared knocked on Mia’s door, she was there to open it. “Uh-oh. Either Noah didn’t convince you that I’m more than capable of being your partner or you’re just determined to hate me with no justification.”

  “I don’t hate you.”

  She gave a theatrical, overloud sigh. “You might as well come in and let’s have it out.”

  If he hadn’t been in such a sour mood, he might have laughed at her dramatic statement. Since he hadn’t felt like laughing in over a year, just the thought that he could actually do it made him somehow feel better.

  He stood in the middle of her living room and gazed around. “How long have you lived here?”

  “I moved in today.”

  The room was already stamped with her personality. Bright splashes of color on the walls blended with the bold colors on the furniture. Everything should have clashed, but for some reason, nothing did.

  He’d lived in his apartment for a year and a half and didn’t even have a single picture on his walls.

  She put her hands on her hips and gave him a challenging look. “So what did Noah tell you?”

  “That you’re qualified to work this op and that he trained you.”