by Cindy Dees
Tom answered for her. “Hey, Superman. Put out the fire in your tights. The lady’s not in play.”
Tex might be exhausted, but he still gave his boss a steady, assessing look over his mug. A single eyebrow went up questioningly.
Annie watched Tom frown back. The silence stretched out until she couldn’t stand it any longer. “What? Do you guys read each other’s minds, too?”
All three men looked at her blankly. Tom voiced their thoughts. “Read minds?”
“You guys are staring at each other like you’re using a psychic phone link or something.”
Tex grinned. “It’s an old Indian trick.”
Dutch rolled his eyes. “Yeah, and he uses smoke signals, too.”
Tex sat up indignantly. “Hey, they worked didn’t they? You guys saw us on our side of the river from your side of the river. It would’ve taken us hours to find each other without my smoke signal that day.”
Tom chimed in. “Yeah, and half the Bolivian army found us, too. That was one of the worst egresses of my career. I had to crawl on my belly through mud for three days because of your bright idea.”
Tex shrugged. “We made it out, and that’s what counts.”
“Yeah, we did, didn’t we? Speaking of making it out, what’s going on out there?” Tom jerked his head in the direction of the street.
Tex answered him. “It’s corn-poppin’ hot out there. The Americans started pulling out of the embassy about a half hour ago. That’s why we hoofed it over here. We thought y’all might want to know in case Miss Annie has reconsidered and is going out the easy way.”
Annie jerked as if she’d been slapped. The Americans were leaving now?
“I was at the embassy not more than two hours ago and everything was fine! What in the world happened?”
Dutch answered her. “Rumor at the newspaper office has it the Americans got a big bomb threat. One of those get-out-now-or-you’re-all-gonna-die things.”
Tex nodded. “The Americans are loading their nonessential personnel into helicopters as fast as they can and doin’ the boot-scootin’ boogie on out of here.”
Tom spoke thoughtfully. “Annie, did you see Ambassador Kettering today?”
“No, but I did see my boss, Colonel James. He didn’t say a word about any evacuation.”
“He’d have kept you at the embassy to leave with them if he knew about this. Especially since you’ve lost your diplomatic protection. Whoever threatened the embassy must have done it in a big way. And it’s someone Old Ironsides Kettering takes seriously.”
Tex nodded. “The only serious players in town right now are the government and the rebels.”
Annie interjected. “No matter how hard the Gavronese government’s trying to distance itself from the United States, no government would threaten another’s embassy. There’d be too many repercussions to their own embassies abroad.”
Tom nodded. “Good point. It must’ve been the rebels, then.”
Annie frowned. “What kind of armaments could the rebels possibly have that would smoke out the Americans so fast?”
The three men exchanged another one of those pregnant looks before Tom spoke. “We didn’t see everything the rebels have while we were out in the jungle. But what we did see made them just about the best outfitted terrorist group I’ve ever seen. I wouldn’t put it past them to have anything up to and including cruise missiles in their arsenal.”
Annie recalled with a shudder the high-tech radar she’d dodged when she’d flown over the jungle and the shoulder-held missiles that had greeted her there. “And we have to make our way past that arsenal to get out of here?”
Tom grinned. “Don’t sound so skeptical. Hardware is only as smart as the people using it. We’ll just have to outthink them.” Abruptly Tom changed the subject. “Tex, does Annie still have time to get to the embassy before they’re done evacuating?”
“It’d be tight. They looked like they were in a plenty big hurry.”
“Dammit!” Tom exclaimed.
Annie piped up. “I won’t go to the embassy, anyway. You need me here.”
He glared at her. “You’re crazy to risk yourself unnecessarily for me and my guys. We can handle ourselves. And besides, I need to get rid of you.”
“Yes, but I can help. You and your men don’t know Gavarone like I do.”
She was nuts for saying it. Goodness only knew she was in over her head already. It was insane to swim even deeper into these shark-infested waters. But she couldn’t just abandon them. She couldn’t abandon Tom.
“I’m sure you could help us, Annie. But it’s more important to me that you get out safely than it is for you to stay with us.”
Tex and Dutch nodded. “We have to agree with the major, there, ma’am.”
“Thanks for your concern, both of you. But my answer is still no.” She folded her arms across her chest belligerently. “I’m not leaving.”
“How long would it take you guys to get Annie to the embassy? Maybe it’s worth a try.”
Tex eyed her critically. “If she’s in as good shape as she looks, we could make it in a half hour on foot. But that doesn’t take into account getting around our friends outside. With them parked in front of your building, it could take a fair bit longer.”
She interjected, “Excuse me, but what part of the word no didn’t you guys understand?”
Tom ignored her outburst and asked her, “How many people will the embassy lift out?”
She scowled. “There were about twenty staff members there this morning, I’d guess about four will stay behind. And then there are the marines.”
“How many of them are there?”
“A dozen or so.”
Tex interjected, “All of the marines will stay to hold the fort until the staff weenies get out.” He threw her an apologetic look. “No offense, ma’am.”
“None taken. I am, in fact, mostly a staff weenie.”
Tex grinned. “And a cute weenie, too, if I do say so myself.”
Tom cleared his throat. It sounded suspiciously like a growl.
Tex threw a Who-me? look at Tom. “Hey, at least I didn’t throw in any cracks about her buns, now, did I?”
Annie stifled a smile. So Tom was jealous of Tex flirting with her, was he? The notion warmed her insides.
Reality check, Annie. Tom’s not for you.
Tom sighed. “Well, my dear Annie, you’re in luck. I don’t think we’ll be able to get you to the embassy in time. Plus, if we make a mad dash across town, we’ll draw way too much attention to ourselves. You’re stuck undercover with us.” His rapier-sharp gaze shifted to Tex. “And no cracks about getting under covers with the lady.”
Tex threw out his hands. “Li’l ol’ me? Why I’d never…”
Tom grinned. “Uh-huh. Why don’t you go crash in the bed for a while, pal? You look like day-old roadkill.”
“Gee, thanks, boss. I think I will. Wake me up before the sun goes down, will you?”
“Have you got somewhere to be tonight?”
“I need to relieve Howdy. I’ll send him over here when he’s done with his shift on the spyglass.”
“What’s he watching?” Tom asked.
“Rebel headquarters.”
Annie gasped. “You’re that close to the rebels? Are you nuts?”
Tex gave her a lazy, west-Texas grin. “Being nuts is our job, ma’am.”
She shook her head. “You guys are certifiable.”
“Guilty as charged, Miz Annie.” Still grinning, Tex ambled off to bed.
Dutch rose and shrugged into a photographer’s vest. He shouldered the camera he’d been carrying when he came in. “I need to shove off, sir. I’m supposed to be out covering the rebels and doing a piece on preparing yourself to survive in a war zone.”
Tom grinned. “That’ll be a real stretch for you to write.”
Dutch shrugged. “It’s a cover. And I can travel among rebels and government troops pretty freely with my press credentials.”
“Which are beautifully forged, by the way.”
“Thanks. They’re some of my best work.”
Annie looked at the laminated pass around his neck. She’d seen dozens of them at the American embassy. “You made that?”
The big man smiled proudly. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Wow. I’d have never guessed it’s not real.”
“It is real. Just the name and pictures are fake.”
Annie started. “How in the world did you get a real American press pass? If there’s a breach in security at the embassy, I’d certainly like to know about it….”
Tom laughed. “I wouldn’t worry about it, Annie. There’s about to be a breach in the embassy’s wall.”
Chagrined, Annie watched Dutch leave, her thoughts with her colleagues as they fled for their lives. If she had half a brain she’d be doing the same thing.
Annie jumped as Tom’s big body loomed close on the couch. He was so…male. Just being near him was a bit overwhelming.
Oh, come off it, Annie. He’s only a man, she told herself. A little voice in her head whispered back, Yeah, but what a specimen.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t get you out of here today, Annie. It leaves you in a bit of a pickle, doesn’t it?”
He didn’t know the half of it.
“You were about to tell me something when Tex showed up.”
Annie gulped. The other half of her pickle. She couldn’t afford to alienate him now by admitting that she’d withheld information from him. They needed to work together if they were going to get out of here alive. Nope. She dared not risk telling him about being the pilot who nearly killed him.
“It wasn’t important, Tom. Never mind.”
Those piercing blue eyes of his looked right through her. “You seemed to think it was important a few minutes ago.”
Crud. He wasn’t going to let her off the hook. “I, uh, just wanted to thank you for looking out for me. I know I’m a burden to you guys, and I appreciate what you’re doing for me.”
He reached up and smoothed her hair back from her face, following the strands down to her shoulder with his fingertips.
“It’s my pleasure.”
His smile sizzled Annie’s already-raw nerves with more sexual promise than she could bear calmly.
“Why don’t you try to get a little rest before nightfall, angel? It’s going to be hot and heavy out there tonight, and you may not get much sleep.”
“Great. And what about you? You were supposed to stay in bed today.”
“I haven’t gotten my kiss yet.”
Annie bridled. “Then what do you call what we did over by the front door?”
“Oh, that? That was just a little welcome-back peck. That wasn’t a real kiss.”
Her eyes narrowed. “So then, you’re telling me you can do better than that?”
His blue gaze danced. “Most definitely.”
“This I’ve got to see.”
Tom leaned toward her, and Annie’s heart swelled alarmingly in her chest, pounding furiously as he drew near.
“Hey, boss!”
Annie jumped away from Tom as guiltily as he did from her. Tex stood in the doorway to the bedroom.
“I forgot to tell you the Navy arrived last night. The Independence carrier group is sitting off the coast, just over the international waters line.”
“That’s good news, Tex. All we have to do now is get out to it.”
If her ears didn’t deceive her, Tom was breathing a little hard. Good.
“Boss, the bed’s too soft for me. If you’d like to grab a little shut-eye in it, I’m gonna sack out on the floor.”
“Do I look like I need a cushy mattress? Am I turning into an old lady or something?”
Tex’s usually smiling gaze went dead sober. “You nearly died not too long ago, sir. Doc said he’d never seen a guy who was hurt so bad pull through. And if you’ll forgive me for pointin’ it out, you’ve still got a little hitch in your git-along. I just thought you might want to rest a spell.”
Tom accepted the rebuke gracefully. “I might at that, Tex. Now that you mention it, a little shut-eye does sound good.”
As the two men retreated into the bedroom, Tom looked back over his shoulder at her and mouthed the words, “You owe me a kiss.”
Grinning, she stuck out her tongue at him and stretched out on the sofa for the nap he’d suggested.
When Annie woke up, she felt wrung out, more tired than when she laid down. Between the blankets Tom had hung over the windows in preparation for the coming night and the unrelenting steam heat outside, the apartment was stifling.
Unbuttoning the top buttons of her dress as she went, she crossed the room to the refrigerator. A blast of chilled air hit her as she fanned the door back and forth. She fished a couple of ice cubes out of a cheap plastic tray in the freezer and pressed them against the back of her neck. The cold wrenched a gasp from her, but relief from the heat soothed her shock.
The ice cubes dripped between her fingers messily, sending cold rivulets down her wrist and between her shoulder blades. And then something hot touched her neck. She jumped and would have turned, but Tom’s hands closed on her shoulders and held her where she stood.
His mouth traced the path of the melted ice, stealing the cold greedily from her skin, replacing it with a fire that made the room seem cool by comparison.
She let her head fall forward and gave her neck to him while goose bumps rose on her skin that had nothing to do with cold.
“I could eat you alive, sweetheart.”
She twisted under his hands and came up against his chest. Her arms went around him, hugging until he took a sharp breath.
She released him instantly. “I forgot about your ribs, Tom. I’m so sorry!”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine, and I wish you’d stop pretending you are.”
“And I wish everyone would stop treating me like I’m going to break if I even take a deep breath.”
“We’re worried about you, Tom. Is that such a bad thing?”
He frowned, considering Annie’s question. He could get used to having a beautiful, smart, funny woman around, especially one who gave a damn for his well-being. It was such a tempting distraction. And such a deadly one.
Annie relaxed him. When she was around, he couldn’t stay wired tight. A man in his work had to stay sharp if he wanted to live long. But one thought of her coming apart in his arms, and all his self-discipline evaporated.
Not only was he going to get himself killed, but he was going to get her killed, too, if he didn’t get control of himself. It was starting to fall into a deadly pattern he knew all too well. She’d get under his skin, seduce him and then lead him into disaster. Just like Jackie.
Reluctantly he set her away from him.
“Annie, is there any chance you could make Tex a bite to eat before he leaves? If he hasn’t slept in a couple days, it’s a good bet he hasn’t eaten much, either.”
“Good grief! Of course I’ll fix him something.”
“Protein and carbohydrates if you’ve got them, and lots of both. He may be lean, but he can really chow down.”
Tex was up and around by the time she finished making an industrial-size batch of spaghetti and meatballs. The man called Howdy arrived just as they were sitting down to eat.
He was medium in height and lean of build, with light-brown hair and medium-brown eyes. Annie’s gaze had a way of passing right over him, even though he sat beside her at the table.
She’d prepared enough food for at least six people, but between Tom, Tex, and Howdy it all disappeared in short order. At least Tom was getting his appetite back.
Throughout the meal, Tex was almost as quiet as Howdy. Immediately afterward, Howdy headed for the couch and went horizontal, and the lanky Texan slipped out of the apartment with no more than a murmured word of thanks.
She asked, “What was up with him, Tom? Did I do something to up
set him?”
“Not at all. He was gearing up for tonight. Putting on his game face, as it were. Behind all those down-home quips, he’s actually a pretty serious guy. Best spotter I ever worked with.”
Annie reached across the table to squeeze Tom’s hand briefly. “You’re worried about him, aren’t you?”
He gave her a candid look and lines of worry etched themselves in his brow. “Yes, I am. This is a dangerous situation, and my men are out there, split up and incommunicado.”
Tom helped Annie clean up after the meal while Howdy slept on the couch. The man had appeared to go unconscious the second his head hit the cushion. That worried Tom.
His guys looked and acted worn-out. While he’d been snoozing in a hospital, they’d been living under high-stress conditions, building impromptu covers and trying to watch a revolution unfold, all without getting caught.
They’d been in the jungle for a solid month before his accident and were tired the night he got hurt. Now, on top of that, they’d had to play spy for two more months. Espionage was not what his men were trained for. It had to be draining their nerves badly. He needed to get them out of Gavarone before one of them slipped up.
Tom sat at the kitchen table for an hour doodling on a piece of paper, trying to come up with ideas to get out of the country, but he couldn’t concentrate for squat.
He watched in appreciation as Howdy woke up from his nap, gathered his gear soundlessly and slipped out, ghost-like. Tom had never known another person who could move so quietly and completely unnoticed.
He gave up trying to work and went into the bedroom. Troubled, he pulled back the corner of the blanket to observe the street outside. Even though he looked long and hard, he didn’t catch so much as a glimpse of Howdy as the man left.
Annie banged around in the kitchen for a couple more minutes, and then her soft footsteps scuffed across the bedroom to his side.
The deep sense of isolation that had overcome him seemed to reach out to embrace Annie, too. She was unnaturally still and silent beside him. Maybe she’d been in a position of leadership before. Maybe she, too, knew what it was like to worry about her troops, hoping she’d taught them well enough to deal with what she’d sent them into.
Command sat heavy upon him tonight.
