At Any Cost

by Allie K. Adams

  "No way are you going to kill me, you bastard." She wiped the sweat off her upper brow and jumped across the bed to the other side of the small room, to the window on the opposite side. Same thing. It wouldn't budge.

  Double damn .

  "Turner."

  JT swallowed to force her heart back into her chest. So much for remaining calm in any situation. She looked around the room and rested her gaze on the vent above her. If she jumped on the bed, she just might make it.

  "Don't even think about it."

  JT hopped up on the bed.

  "Turner, you aren't going anywhere."

  "The hell I'm not." She raised her arms and started bouncing on the bed. The motion brought such an intense pain to her shoulder it almost took her down. But she continued to bounce, to get enough of a lift to reach the vent.

  She felt a hand on her ankle. With a swift kick, she connected with his chin. Her foot exploded in pain. Ouch. She forgot she wasn't wearing any shoes. Just her luck, she probably broke her foot on the man's iron jaw.

  "Damn it, woman!" He growled, holding his chin. He grabbed both her ankles, knocking her off-balance. With the grace of an Albatross bird's landing, JT tumbled back, Dan on top of her.

  "Get off of me!" She struggled under his weight. Bunching up her fist, she tried to throw a punch. He caught her wrist. JT tried to shove at him with her free hand, but did nothing more than give him the advantage of grasping that wrist, too.

  "What is the matter with you? Stop struggling. Look what you're doing to your shoulder."

  To hell with her shoulder. She'd live through that. If he won, she wouldn't live through the day. That thought gave her a little more fight.

  His hard body suffocated her. She squirmed to try and break free, but he shifted his weight so she couldn't move. Hell, she couldn't breathe. His lips twitched as he looked down at hers. She could feel his breath tickling her face. With a blink, she brought her eyes up to his.

  If the air hadn't already been sucked out of her lungs when they landed, she would have lost her breath. She stopped struggling at the sight. He was looking at her. Not just looking at her.

  Gawking at her.

  "I'm not going to hurt you," he said, his breath warm against her cheek. His dark, sexy voice made his chest rumble. JT felt a tremble wash through her in response, settling between her thighs. It would be so easy for him to close the two-inch gap between their lips and seize her mouth with his. She licked her lips and swallowed.

  He watched the gesture with interest.

  Get a grip, Turner. Stop thinking of him as a man. He wasn't a man. He was an assassin. Just like her. She was his target, and she had the distinct impression he never missed his target.

  He dropped his head down another inch, settling his lips right above hers. She felt his breath catch as she flexed her butt cheeks to bring feeling back to her backside. His body responded and when she felt the rigid shaft of his cock pressing down on her, her clit started to throb. Oh how she wanted him to kiss her right now, to cover one of her aching breasts with those enormous hands of his.

  With his knee, he parted hers, resting it on the bed between her legs. His breath came out is shaky rasps, the warmth tickling her skin and washing delicious chills across her body. She could feel herself quiver and swell as she softened. "W-What are you doing, Weber?"

  She watched as he swallowed, his eyes never leaving her lips. "I don't know." His lips lowered, whispering an intimate caress over hers. The world around them seemed to slow. Her blood turned to syrup. She wanted those lips on hers fully. Now. Lifting her head, trying to establish the contact she was desperate for, Weber stiffened with a jerk and blinked at her. He rolled off and hurried off the bed.

  Feeling robbed, embarrassed, and down right horny, she sat up and turned away from him. Blinking back the burning behind her eyes, she sat perfectly still for several seconds as she regrouped. Agents did not cry, damn it.

  She rubbed her foot. It didn't feel broken, but holy hell did it hurt. Good luck running now. Hell with running. Good luck walking. Damn. Couldn't she even escape without botching it?

  "Let me see that." Dan scooted her around and pushed her hand out of the way to examine her foot. Against her better judgment, she let him. Even though a few moments ago she attempted to somehow escape through a six-inch square vent. Go figure.

  But then he touched her, gawked at her as he looked down at her. It did incredible things to her resolve. She wanted him, wanted him to rip the borrowed clothes from her back and take her without restraint. She wanted to feel him inside her, filling her completely. She'd never wanted anything more.

  And then, without warning, he simply turned it off. Her mind still reeled from their close encounter. She still felt the effects of his body over hers. She still ached to be touched, to be loved. She bit on her lower lip as she looked down at her foot. Following his arms up with her gaze, she parted her lips when she realized he'd been staring at her.

  Clearing his throat, he went back to the task of checking out her ankle. He turned it this way and that, working all of the movable parts. "Ouch! That hurts." She pulled her foot back. He resisted at first, then let it go. "Thank you."

  "You'll have a nasty bruise, but you'll live."

  JT stood and started toward the door. It hurt to walk on the foot, but she'd manage.

  "Where do you think you're going?"

  "My disc, please." She held out her hand.

  He lifted his brow, mocking her very statement. Hell, if the roles were reversed, she would have done the same thing. "Your disc?"

  "Yes, my disc. I stole it. That makes it rightfully mine."

  To her astonishment, he pulled it out and handed it over. She stared at it in her hand, not really believing what she just witnessed. Did he really just give in to her?

  She didn't want to rationalize what he'd done, or why. So he had a temporary lapse in sanity. Why look a gift horse in the mouth? Holding her breath, she took a step out of the RV.

  The sound of his voice stopped her. "Hold it."

  She knew it had to be too good to be true. Turning back to him, she sighed. "You aren't getting the disc back."

  "I don't want the disc." Weber's lip twitched.

  That statement gave her pause. "You don't?"

  "No." He refused to meet her eyes. For some reason, the man who couldn't keep his eyes off her now wouldn't even throw a glance her way? Odd.

  "Then what do you want?"

  He shook his head, cursing under his breath. With a deep breath, he finally looked at her. "I want in."

  In on what? On her? Although the idea definitely had her intrigued, and somewhat aroused, now was not the time for them to do the horizontal bop. As much as she wanted to. "Come again?"

  "You heard me. I want in on the deal. I know how much LEON is worth." He pointed at the disc in her hand. "Let me in on it. I'll make it worth your while."

  Oh, Jesus. Oh no. She'd succeeded. Her realization chilled her to the core. She just found the mole.

  * * * *

  JT kept her eyes on Dan, obviously waiting for the punch line. The mixture of emotions toying with his body and soul annoyed him. Rage. Anxiety. Fear. Excitement. Want. This woman drew all kinds of things out of him, most of which he didn't appreciate, including the goddamn hard-on he hadn't been able to lose since seeing her run across the parking lot earlier.

  Christ. The look in those feline eyes told him so much. Much more than he wanted. His request confused her. Then surprised her. Then scared her.

  And now he couldn't tell what was going on in that head of hers. She paled, though her cheeks were splashed with color, and seemed to be breathing faster. So fast, in fact, that her pupils started to dilate. "Why do this, Dan?"

  Dan almost broke after catching the pain in her eyes, her tone. He had to look away. Jesus, she wore all her emotions right there on her beautiful face. "I told you, I know what it’s worth. And I know who the highest bidders are. Give me a cut and I'll bring in tw
ice what you were going to get for it."

  He glanced back over his shoulder. The look of disbelief in her eyes hit Dan like a punch in the gut. No, not disbelief. Disappointment.

  Tell me about it . Dan hated himself right now. Having to act like he wanted in on the deal made him sick. And seeing that disappointment in her eyes didn't help any.

  Dan pushed down any feelings attempting to surface. This was for the guys. Nothing personal. He couldn't allow his personal feelings to interfere with an assignment. He wore a scar across his chest as a permanent reminder of what happens when he forgets that ever so important piece.

  You couldn't tell that when they were on the bed. He was this close to giving in and kissing her like he so badly wanted to. He wanted to touch her, to love her. God, his body ached to be in contact with hers.

  But she'd already seen too much of Dan's softer side. Time to harden up, Weber.

  Never let a woman see your emotions. They can and will be used against you in any and all future situations. Dan cursed under his breath. He had to play this part carefully. Getting Turner to trust him would be a challenge in itself. But to have her trust him enough to let him in on whatever her plans were for LEON would be damn near impossible.

  He had to stay sharp, focused. If she had anything to do with the deaths of his men, he'd find out. And God help her if she did.

  "You, uh, know a lot about this disc?"

  Dan couldn't bring himself to look at her. Hell, he couldn't even face himself in a mirror after this. He felt like a traitor.

  For Fish. Sandman. Doughboy. And of course, Broadway. The thought of his friends now pushing up daisies helped him through the struggle with his conscience. They were dead because of the contents of that disc. If he had to lie a little, cheat a little to avenge their deaths, then so be it.

  If it meant sleeping with the enemy, then he'd do it. His gaze found its way to JT. The way her shapely legs poked out under those baggy shorts made him hard all over again. He didn't know how much more of this he could take before he snapped. The sound of her voice shot right through his scar, into his groin. And into his heart.

  She sure as hell didn't look like a mole.

  "Yep." He was annoyed. At him. At her. And it showed in his voice, which irritated the hell out of him.

  "How?"

  The words Donovan wanted him to say fought against his reason. What he was about to say could blow everything if he wasn't careful. It could be signing his death warrant. It could also give him the slight advantage he needed to get her to trust him enough to find out who she's working for.

  But admitting he knew what he knew could be a fatal mistake. "JT,"

  "Don't." She brought her hands to her ears, her face pinched in a look of pain. "I don't want to hear it."

  Dan watched in confusion as JT squeezed her eyes shut. What was she? Twelve? "What are you doing?"

  "I can't believe this. I didn't think you were—I mean—I didn't want to believe it. You're the great and powerful Dan Weber. You're what they all try to mold us into. If they only knew what you'd become."

  Ouch. Talk about a sucker punch.

  She rubbed her hands over her face, drew a deep breath. "Okay. You want in? Let's make a deal."

  He should have been ecstatic she agreed to bring him in. Yet knowing if he failed this assignment, if LEON slipped through his fingers, millions of innocent people would die.

  He'd succeeded with odds worse than that. Of course, he'd never been up against someone like JT Turner. But he doubted she'd ever been up against someone like him. Dan smiled inwardly.

  Let the game begin.

  Chapter 5

  There had to be a catch. This man didn't seem the type to sell out his country. If he did anything to screw this up, she'd punch his lights out. Hell, she'd shoot him. Well, if she had a weapon.

  Neither spoke as he drove them to the rendezvous point. JT couldn't stand the silence and reached over to flip on the radio.

  "What are you doing?" He demanded.

  "I hate quiet."

  "I like it. No radio."

  "Fine. What do you want to talk about?"

  He reached over and flipped on the radio.

  "Today's top story: Police have cordoned off Alaskan Way from Bell Street to Vine Street after a shooting outside of The Edgewater Inn on Seattle 's waterfront. According to witnesses, an unknown number of men shot a woman in the upscale hotel's parking lot. She was able to get away, but police have been unable to locate her. If you know anything about the shooting, or the woman, you are urged to contact the Seattle Police Department."

  "Swell," Dan growled. "Which terminal did you say it was?"

  "46." JT glanced up at the painted terminal numbers on the cement pillars. "It's down on the southeast side of Elliott Bay , just north of the railroad car repository."

  "Thanks, MapQuest."

  "I happened to look it up on the Internet, Smart Ass," JT snapped back. "I also found out it's on seventy acres, with the potential expansion of another eighteen. It has six cranes to move the cargo from the dock to the ships."

  "Fascinating."

  She frowned. She found it fascinating, even if he didn't. Surely something she'd learned about the terminal would impress him. She didn't know why, and she shouldn't even care, but the need to impress this man ate at JT's brain. "They close at five o'clock ."

  "Big surprise."

  Screw him. She didn't need to impress him, even if the guy was a legend in NASSD. "We'll take the dedicated in-gate lane to the dock nearest the rail yard and meet our contact in the far south corner."

  JT kept a close eye on Dan as he turned down Alaskan Way toward the piers. She looked behind them, but couldn't see the police block. "It looks like we're far enough down to not be affected by the shootout."

  He looked at her.

  "You know what I mean. There are things we need to look for."

  "Let me guess," Dan jumped in with his condescending tone. "He'll be in the only building with an open bay door. Oh, and let's not forget. The single light above the deserted building will be out. That's your signal." He shot her a sideways glance. "Am I close?"

  Okaaay . Now he was starting to freak her out. How did he know all that? All the way down to the light?

  It didn't matter. He was just trying to rile her up. "It's up here on the left." She leaned forward in the passenger seat of the beat up motor home. Not exactly an inconspicuous ride, but it at least got her here on time.

  Stevens and Brooks stayed back at the warehouse. Dan told them he and JT were going on a food run and would be back within the hour. They didn't even question him. He was that good of a liar. Straight faced, it was unnerving. JT almost believed they actually were going on a food run. She didn't want to think about whether Dan being a convincing liar was a good thing or not. "Stay in the shadows. I'm supposed to come alone."

  "Alone. In a deserted building. On the shortest pier. In the dark. You've got to be kidding me."

  JT knew what he meant and decided to ignore him. Yes, it did sound like the perfect setup. But she was meeting HQ. They were on the same side.

  Right?

  Dan scanned the area before grunting and shaking his head, pulling into a lot across the street. He scanned her body, a slight curl of appreciation on his lip. JT felt herself flush. His gaze rested on her breasts, and her nipples hardened in response. His lazy curl grew into a full grin.

  "Happy to see me?"

  She crossed her arms in front of her. "No. It's cold."

  "Right. Cold." Dan grabbed a .45 and shoved it in his belt. When she looked at the gun, and then looked at him, he replied, "I'm not willing to take the risk. Sometimes going on trust alone can get you killed."

  JT ignored yet another comment about trust. "Let's go." Jumping out of the RV, she waited for Dan to jump down next to her. When he didn't, she glanced back inside.

  He was gone.

  Damn it ! They weren't even there ten seconds and he'd already deviated from the
ir plan. When she found him, she'd tear into him.

  A bird chirp caught her attention. At night? She glanced over to see Dan standing against the building on the other side of the street. He looked around before motioning for her to cross.

  Are you kidding?

  Easy, Turner. Time to go to work, to prove why you were handpicked for this assignment . Disc in pocket, she crossed the dark street into the parking lot of Terminal 46. The moonlight reflected off the road, thanks to a fresh coat of rain. With the clouds quickly dissipating, the moon shone bright in the starry sky.

  JT shivered, and she felt it clean through the canyon in her shoulder. Dan had done a bang up job of patching her up, and the pain had lessened to a bearable throb. Like he told her more than once, she'd live.

  She was counting on that.

  Her skin pricked with goose bumps. Even in May, the nights in western Washington could dip into the forties. And the t-shirt/shorts combo she sported didn't do much to protect her against the elements. Her bare feet stung as they slapped against the wet pavement.

  The building looked deserted, just as her contact said it would. The cars whipped above her on the Alaskan Way Viaduct. A ferry blasted its horn in the distance, filling the air with sounds she grew up with.

  JT drew in a deep breath, taking in the smell of the salty sea air. The moisture in the air tickled her face, reminding her of coming to work with her mom, collecting money at the ferry terminals. She smiled.

  "What are you smiling about?"

  She almost jumped out of her skin. She whipped her head toward the voice. Dan was there, standing behind a bush next to the open bay door, glaring at her.

  "How did you... Never mind," JT whispered, careful not to be heard. She looked down at her wrist and cursed. She'd left her watch back at The Edgewater with the rest of her belongings.

  She squeezed the disc in her pocket and stepped through the only open bay door of the only building under the only non-working light post. Okay, so now she started to understand why Dan felt a bit apprehensive about the meeting. A chilling, black silence enveloped her as she took another step.