At Any Cost

by Allie K. Adams

  She turned the corner of her mouth into a grin, conveying a surety only surface deep. Inside, her very being felt like she'd gone one too many times on the teacups at the state fair. "Then there's still a chance."

  "I—" he stopped with a growl, shook his head. Knowing his attempts to convince her not to take the mission would fall on deaf ears, he turned his wrath back to Donovan.

  "Am I the only one who sees this for what it is?" Dan fanned his papers out and flipped them face side toward Donovan. "This is not a briefing. You are sending us in to take out the head of the Mercado cartel and the best you can do is tell us he's somewhere in Cartagena? Where are the schematics of the compound? The names of our contacts? The damn contingency plan? Escape routes? Talk about a needle in a haystack. We can't go down there. It's too big a risk for the payoff."

  "We've got intel working on it. You'll have your schematics by the time you touchdown. Have a little faith."

  "Screw faith. Knowing intel is working on it is not good enough. Working on it won't get her out after she sends Mercado back to Hell. I want to know everything about this guy. What he looks like, what he dresses like, what he likes to eat for breakfast. Hell, I want to know what time he takes his morning piss, for Christ's sake. That's a briefing. Not this." He threw the papers back at Donovan.

  "Weber," Donovan said, ignoring the papers scattered on the floor at his feet. He kept his voice calm and even. Danger, Dan Weber! Danger. "It's her choice. And she's made it. Get on board or walk. But this time," he added, almost as an afterthought, "if you do, it's irrevocable."

  * * * *

  Dan chose to focus on the raindrops falling on the windshield, instead of so much as glancing over at JT. He couldn't believe it. This woman had a serious lack in judgment. Obviously.

  Suicide mission or not, it was still a mission. The last mission Dan had been on, he'd blown. He'd be damned if he blew this one. What a screwed up mess. Talk about the classic mission-of-no-return.

  If he went along with their plan, JT had a chance. It was slight, but still a chance. If he walked, not only was his career officially over, but the chances of JT succeeding were between nil and zip.

  He shook his head and muttered a curse. He should have never answered his cell, should have never accepted the assignment to retrieve JT Turner. He would have never met the little vixen, never kissed her. He wouldn't feel—whatever he felt for her. He didn't know what it was, only that it seemed to be growing, stemming from deep inside his heart and shooting like little electric jolts through his system. Making him feel alive again.

  When she'd accepted the mission, his admiration for her grew by leaps and bounds. He didn't want her taking the op, but he would have done the same thing.

  He knew why she did it. She wanted to prove herself. NASSD no doubt gave her some sort of ultimatum. Up until this point, JT's career as a NASSD agent had been questionable at best. She did have one successful op under her belt, but that hardly offset the shit she'd gotten herself into ever since.

  So now he had a rookie agent in his care. A beautiful rookie agent out to prove herself. They were heading, unarmed, straight into enemy territory.

  Cartagena. He hated Colombia. Too hot, too humid. And too many damn tangos. At least there would be one less tango to worry about when Dan and JT left.

  Failure was not an option. Failure equaled death. And he didn't feel like dying anytime in the near future. He knew JT would agree.

  "Wow. One million pesos. Nice." JT flipped through her folder, commenting on anything and everything. The woman loved to hear herself talk.

  "Not really. That's about four hundred dollars." He had to come up with a plan to get her out of the compound. Intel worked too slowly, and by the time they came up with something, she'd be dead. He did have a few friends left in NASSD. He could contact them and have them...what? Sneak away? Do exactly what JT did? Look where that had gotten her. He couldn't do that to what few friends he had left.

  The few reciprocal favors he'd been saving were going to come into play for this op. Dan made a mental note to call the rest of them in the minute he could get away from JT. No need riling her up. She'd ask too many questions. Dan didn't feel the need to justify his actions to her or anybody else.

  He'd already called in one favor. He checked his pocket to make sure the diamond earrings/mic/ GPS set hadn't fallen out.

  She held up her passport and squinted at it. "My cover name is—" she paused, even turned her pouty lips into a frown. "Huh. Jessica Turner."

  "Welcome to undercover work. Keeping your ID as close to your real name as possible is crucial to keeping your cover."

  "But Jessica Turner is my real name. And I don't like it. Why can't I just go by JT?"

  He pulled his eyes off the road to glare at her. "Jessica is your real name," he mocked her words. "Until this op is over, there is no JT. You are now Jessica."

  She sank back in her seat, sulking. Dan turned his eyes back to the road, but not before he noticed how each pair of headlights seemed to bring out the shine in her hair as they passed. How they set a sexy sparkle in her emerald gaze. Dan wouldn't usually consider a sparkle as sexy, but when it came to JT Turner, she gave new definition to the word.

  He blew out a breath. Mid-morning and the skies were so dark everyone had to have their headlights on to see. It was raining so hard it looked like a damn waterfall from cloud to earth. Got to love Seattle in May.

  Due to the wonderful weather, the traffic crawled along slower than molasses. They'd be lucky to make it to the airport before their flight. The wipers were on high and still he couldn't see.

  "The hotel they have us staying in seems nice."

  "Hmm." Dan couldn't care less what kind of hotel they were staying in. They wouldn't be staying there for long. Mercado and his goons only came into town for supplies and to replace Mercado's woman of the week. Dan knew, from studying Mercado's profile, what he did with the women he no longer wanted. The list of missing persons grew weekly.

  Dan stole a glance at JT. She was busy humming and perusing through the folder, completely oblivious to the Hell she was about to delve into. He felt an odd twist at his heart. What was that? Excitement? Unease? Irritation?

  No. It was worry. Concern. Fear. He didn't want her on this assignment. It was too dangerous. He tried to see reason. She'll do fine. She's NASSD. This is what she's been trained to do.

  Why, then, did it feel like he was about to release her to a pack of starving wolves? He didn't like this. Not at all.

  He supposed that's why he went along with the insanity. He couldn't let her go in alone. She was tough, he knew that. And yet, when he held her, she seemed so fragile. Her wrist seemed so tiny when he'd grasped it. He quickly shook the feelings those thoughts stirred in him.

  "Oh, look." She held up a brochure. "It's got a pool."

  "Swell."

  "And a sauna."

  "Fantastic. I've always wanted to go somewhere really hot and sit in a room even hotter."

  "I wonder if there are any Chinese restaurants." She shuffled through the folder.

  Did this woman ever shut up? Dan couldn't think about their situation as long as she kept yapping at him. "Listen, Turner. I don't give a rat's ass what the hotel has to offer. This is not a vacation. This is not some resort. We are there on a mission. Don't lose sight of that. To lose sight of something so—" He stopped when she looked at him with that little crinkle in the middle of her brow. "What?"

  "You're nervous."

  Dan's gut clenched in denial. "No, I'm not."

  "Yes, you are. Or worried. Are you worried about me?" She batted her eyes and smiled wide, leaning into him with her chin up as if waiting for a kiss.

  He stared at her lips until his eyes blurred. He turned his eyes back to the road before he caused an accident. "Turner, it's not you I'm worried about. I don't want you to screw this up like you've screwed up everything else."

  Her smile faded. Before Dan could stop himself, he went in for the
kill. "If you want to go down to the bowels of the earth and smoke out Mercado, let's hope you don't have another one of your panic-induced meltdowns. It could get us both killed. I've saved your ass twice. It's not a cycle I want to continue, nor will I be in the position to. You're on your own with this one, sweetheart. Save your own ass this time."

  She lost her smile completely. Her eyes saddened. And Dan felt like a lump of shit. She looked at him with such expression behind her eyes Dan felt a pull in his chest.

  Regret. Goddamn it. "Listen, Turner. I didn't mean—"

  "I get it. We are here to take out Mercado. This isn't a pleasure cruise." Her lips thinned. She turned and stared forward, crossed her arms. After several seconds of deep breathing to check herself, she spoke again. "And for the record, if it came down to it, I wouldn't hesitate to save your ass, even after the way you've treated me. You know why? Because that's what partners do."

  He rolled his eyes and grit his teeth, silencing the growl growing deep in the back of his throat. "I don't want to see you get hurt." His insides liquefied at his admission. Oh great. Perfect time to show weakness, Weber.

  He watched as she turned back to him, her eyes softening. "Ditto." He turned his head to hold her gaze with his. She smiled, sending his insides into orbit.

  Without a thought, he held out his hand. She accepted and placed her hand in his. Unbuckling, she scooted closer to him on the bench seat and rebuckled using the middle strap. As she rested her head on his shoulder, an odd skip twisted in his chest. It felt natural to place his arm around her shoulders and pull her closer.

  The rain slowed and the traffic picked up. Dan felt his mood lighten with the weather. He drew a deep breath, let it out slowly, allowing some of his tension to leave his body through his breath. It was a yoga technique Raven had taught him. At least that was one memory about the woman he didn't regret.

  He looked at JT. Would he live to regret his time with her, however long it may be?

  "Pushing me away isn't going to save me, Dan. We need to stick together on this."

  She'd nailed it. He didn't even realize he'd been pushing her away until she said it. His thoughts drifted to Steve. His best friend. His partner of thirteen years. Now dead.

  "Tell me about Steve Gessler." She laced her fingers with his and traced his knuckles with the tips of her fingers. It tickled and shot currents of electricity clear to his groin. His dick woke up and started to twitch.

  Dan swallowed. Gessler. How in the hell did she know what he was thinking? He always assumed women were some sort of mind-readers, but that hit a little too close for comfort. They had nothing but time as they drove to the airport, and he really did want to share some of his better memories with her. But it had been so long since he'd talked to anyone about it. He didn't even know where to start.

  "What do you want to know?"

  "How did you two meet?"

  "Steve and I were both on the same movie set in California . We were barely old enough to buy our own liquor."

  She brought her head up. " California ? As in Hollywood ?"

  His heart skipped at the mention of his codename. She couldn't have known, and wrote her comment off as coincidence. "Stunt car drivers. Both of us. We worked a few movies together before NASSD picked us up. We insisted on working together. Our first few assignments went off just like the movies. We fell right into our roles. Hell, we were naturals at driving the getaway car." He smiled at the memory.

  "Did you two ever get into any trouble?" She went back to tracing his knuckles. More jolts to his groin. More twitches.

  Dan laughed. "Oh, yeah. We were always in trouble, actually. But it was a hell of a lot of fun. You couldn't separate us. It wasn't until—" He abruptly stopped and swallowed. A lump lodged into his throat.

  "What?"

  "Nothing."

  He felt her shoulders sink. "Come on. Please tell me?"

  Dan cleared his throat. Subject closed. "We have to get to the airport.”

  “Why? We have a few hours before we need to check in.”

  His mind drew a blank. For the first time, he didn't have a plan, didn't have a clue as to what to do. He didn't like it.

  "Can we get some food while we're there?"

  He smiled. "Always food with you, isn't it?"

  "I'm hungry," she answered easily. "We'll grab a bite to eat, and you can finish your story." She smiled up at him. He could tell by the way her eyes flickered she had no intention on letting the subject drop.

  The way she looked at him made him hungry, too. He'd never wanted to kiss her more. The traffic on the freeway had slowed again. At that moment, they were at a stop, and Dan could see no reason why he shouldn't follow his instincts. Every nerve ending had come to life, hyper-sensitive to her proximity to him.

  He lowered his head and brushed his lips across hers. He tested her, and was pleasantly surprised when she pushed up against him, brushing her hardened nipples against his chest, kissing him thoroughly. It stimulated him beyond words. She parted his lips with her tongue. Another pleasant surprise.

  Their tongues danced together beautifully, and she tasted incredible. His body pulled to be closer to her. His aching hard on, painful against the inside of his zipper, fought to break free. Not only did his physical reaction surprise him, but this kiss brought emotions to the surface he'd fought so hard to keep buried.

  Her hand on his cheek made the muscle in his chest contract. It was his undoing. Raging an assault on her lips, her mouth, he took full control of the kiss. He devoured her, consumed her, couldn't get enough of her. If he didn't get full control of the situation, he'd pull over and take her right here.

  He broke their kiss by nibbling gently on her lower lip. Perfect timing. The traffic had just started to pick up again.

  " Colombia won't be so bad. You'll be there."

  Dan nodded. "I want to give you something. For the trip."

  JT's eyes lit up. "For me?"

  Dan let her believe whatever she wanted. She seemed so thrilled at the thought. He didn't have the heart to tell her the earrings were from Brooks. He pulled out a small box. A little gift to help keep the rookie in check.

  She let out a breath, her smile causing her eyes to dazzle. With her help, the box clicked open to reveal a set of diamond earrings. "Dan. They're beautiful." As her eyes searched his, he felt like a heel. He wished the earrings really did come from him. Just to have her look up at him like that made him want to give her a matching necklace.

  He watched her as she put the earrings in. Oh yeah. "Beautiful. Very."

  Still smiling, she turned to him for approval as her eyes moistened. Nodding, she closed the box and set it next to her on the seat. "Thank you," she whispered.

  It was just a set of earrings. Dan didn't quite understand, only that he liked her reaction. She leaned up and kissed him soundly on the lips.

  Oh yeah. He really liked her reaction.

  Chapter 10

  JT hated to fly. She hated airports. And right now, she wasn't terribly fond of Dan Weber. First class, the snob. Sitting up there sipping on his champagne while JT sat back in the cheap seats, fighting for her rightful spot on the armrest. How did he get a first class ticket anyway?

  Running her finger over the diamond earrings Dan gave her, one and then the other, she pulled her folder back out. There had to be something in here about Santos Mercado. At least something more than the digital satellite photo of the back of his head. Not even a photo of his compound. They had more information about the hotel they were staying in than they did about the location of their target.

  JT closed the folder. No matter how many times she flipped through it, nothing changed. No specifics. No plan. Just a half-assed attempt at information thrown together at the last minute. She could do better in five minutes and an Internet connection.

  She rubbed her shoulder. It throbbed now and again to remind her the wound still existed. She then rubbed the newest bruise on her shin. Who knew the gate leading into the ai
rplane could be so slippery. The rain had started to blow sideways. Leave it to her to find the one slippery spot on an otherwise dry gate.

  "Those are beautiful." The rather rotund man sitting next to her stated, pointing at the diamond earrings. He wiped his brow again with the handkerchief in his hand. He bulged out in every direction, the small seat no match for his size. JT ended up pressed against the opposite armrest. Her hip had gone to sleep right after takeoff.

  JT smiled, ran her fingers over her earrings again. "Thank you. They're new."

  "Were they a gift?"

  "Yes."

  "From someone special, I gather?"

  Usually, this man's prodding would annoy JT. But right now, she didn't mind talking about it. Not at all. "Very special."

  "Is he flying with you today?"

  "No." She lost her smile and thought about her cover. Although she highly doubted this man had anything to do with the Mercado cartel, she didn't want to take any chances. "I'm actually on a little vacation." She allowed her voice to trail off and wiped at non-existent tears in her eyes.

  "Oh? What is it?"

  "I'm sorry." She sniffed. "This is the first trip I've ever taken without him."

  "Really? Are you traveling to Colombia on business?"

  "No. You see, he's my fiancé." Where did that come from? "But he's refusing to get married. I just needed to get away."

  "How long have you two been together?"

  "For—" She froze. They didn't tell her how long they'd been together. But judging on the fact he would be willing to travel to find her and bring her back, they must have been together for years. "Eight years."

  "Does he even know you left?"

  "No." Crap! That's wrong. He goes to Colombia to bring her home. "That is," she corrected. "I left a note. But he isn't home from work, yet. I bet he follows me clear into Cartagena ." She realized she'd been fondling her earring and dropped her hands in her lap.

  His eyes changed. His tone hardened. "You left a note? A note? You expect him to come after you because you left a note?" He eyed her skeptically, and in obvious disapproval.