by Linda Conrad
“Ms. Kocak. Sheik Zohdi.” A male voice coming behind a knock on the door to the sitting room had both her and Tarik racing into the bedroom for their weapons. “I’ve brought your breakfast. Courtesy of Chef Langdon. Please to join me?”
Chef Langdon? As in Ed, her handler? Jass reached for her robe instead of the Glock and nodded to Tarik to don his robe, too.
She’d never been more glad in her whole life for an untimely interruption.
By the time Tarik drew on his robe and opened the bedroom door, the supposed waiter had set aside his breakfast tray and was standing on the dining table checking out the chandelier. The fellow turned out to be Bosque, the Rio CIA station chief they’d met yesterday.
The guy had a disturbing way of turning up at the oddest times. He was beginning to get on Tarik’s nerves.
Bosque had one of those high-tech bug-detection devices in his hand. When he saw Tarik, the station chief raised his other hand to indicate Tarik shouldn’t say anything until he was through with his check.
Jass came out of the bedroom right behind Tarik and stood silently while they waited. She had her arms protectively folded over her chest again, and Tarik would bet she was wishing she’d never come out on the terrace to confront him.
That made two of them. He was still battling the coil of longing that had settled in his gut from touching her. But their situation was becoming intolerable. They needed to find a way past whatever discord lay between them.
The more he considered it, the better he liked his bright idea. They should have a quickie fling. Get past all the sexual tension and get on with their mission.
“Looks clean,” Bosque said as he jumped down from the table. “Langdon’s in town. And we have a couple of messages for you.”
Bosque held out the hand with the bug detector. “Here, Kadir. Keep this device and check for bugs wherever and whenever you think it’s necessary. Run over this room periodically.”
“You believe Eltsin will listen in or record the Messenger and her sheik lover? Why?”
The station chief shrugged a shoulder. “Maybe Eltsin. Maybe your Taj Zabbar friends. The whole lot of them are paranoid as hell.” He turned to the breakfast tray, pulled off a large white tablecloth and placed it over the table. “Help yourselves to coffee or açaí berry juice, while I give you the rest of Langdon’s instructions.”
Tarik opted for coffee while Jass picked up a toasted baguette with melted cheese and popped it in her mouth. He debated having the papaya but decided against it. He’d lost his appetite on the terrace earlier.
“We’re not getting anywhere on figuring out what the item that’s up for bid will be,” Bosque told them. “But we have our ears to the ground. You can bet someone in the Brazilian criminal community has heard what’s for sale. Particularly if it has something to do with nuclear weapons. You can’t keep that kind of thing quiet.”
Jass nodded and lounged in one of the dining chairs. Bosque joined her at the table. Tarik decided to remain standing. At the moment he was full of left-over nervous energy, enough to power his own nuclear weapons.
“Langdon wants you two to check in periodically with him. He’s setting up a Fruti Vita stand on the beach and expects your first rendezvous this afternoon.” He cleared his throat. “We’re working on a plan to get you inside Eltsin’s mountain retreat early. Maybe you can gather more info there.”
Tarik didn’t like the idea of working blindfolded. “Does the Task Force know the Taj Zabbar are already here?”
Bosque stared for a moment, then shook his head. “I have men taking pictures of everyone coming and going from the club. But there’s hundreds of photos to go through. You’re sure it was the Taj?”
“Definitely. I ran into a couple of them last night at the club. A man in a tux with another man dressed in a black suit. They shouldn’t be too hard to spot inside that casual nightclub.”
“I’ll get someone on it. Meanwhile—” Bosque reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew two pairs of sunglasses. “Here. Each of you wear these at all times, even at night if possible.”
Jass took hers and flipped them over, studying them in her hands. “What are these? They feel weighted.”
“Signaling devices,” Bosque told her. “Here, let me show you.”
He stood over Jass and showed her how to slide the side piece forward. “Doing that sends us an alarm, along with your GPS coordinates. If you practice, you can do it surreptitiously without taking them off.” Bosque bent close and eased the glasses onto her face. “Like this.”
Tarik felt his blood pressure soar when the station chief touched Jass’s face. A green haze clouded his vision.
Geez, get over yourself, Kadir.
He didn’t know which would become the bigger danger on this mission. The Taj Zabbar, or the tempting woman who was now his partner.
Chapter 6
Heading for the beach, Jass darted across the boulevard in front of the hotel with Tarik in her wake. Damned man hadn’t let her out of his sight all morning. She understood his possessive act was in keeping with Zohdi’s character. But sometimes he laid that act on a little thick in private and it was beginning to feel all too realistic.
She was having trouble decoding her true feelings for Tarik. On the one hand, they had a few things in common. He was a dreamer and good at being a chameleon on the job. But she only wished she knew for sure when he was acting and when he was being himself.
He also seemed to have as strong a sense of loyalty as did she, though his was to his family and hers was to her country. Logically they should be able to develop a relationship based on those few facts alone.
Still, on the other hand, a couple of things about him continued to bother her. She had relied on Ed’s opinions for most of her adult life. Her handler had saved her back end more times than she could count and was nearly always right. Ed remained unconvinced that Tarik was one of the good guys.
Then there was the matter of that nagging physical tug-of-war between them whenever Tarik got too close. When he touched her, those old reliable gut instincts of hers kept screaming to run away from him before he pulled her into something that was bigger than she could handle.
Frustrated and wishing she could make a decision about him and get on with their mission, she came to the conclusion Tarik may have been right about one thing this morning. Maybe what they needed was a quickie fling. Slam bam, thank you, ma’am. It wasn’t her style. She didn’t do sex for sex’s sake. Yet, she needed to step out of her comfort zone with him somehow in order to get over her jitters.
This assignment was too important to her career to let a little thing like being sexually uptight ruin it.
Hanging on to the brim of her straw hat in the wind, Jass tried to act casual as she strolled the colorful and wide pavement at the edge of Copacabana Beach. She could feel Tarik walking right behind her and her nerves kept jangling with mixed messages.
He was safe and familiar. He was mysterious and a complete stranger.
She gritted her teeth as she searched for Ed’s Fruti Vita stand. Seeing her handler should help calm her down and put things in perspective.
“Do we have any idea where this juice stand is supposedly located?” Tarik came up next to her and whispered in her ear so no one else could hear.
Turning to him, Jass opened her mouth to speak, but the mere sight of him in the bright sunshine struck her dumb. He was stunning. Handsome and virile enough to make her weak in the knees. In his lightweight suit, panama hat and the aviator sunglasses that Bosque had supplied, he looked every bit the part of a larger-than-life Middle Eastern terrorist.
“Uh…uh…” She bit her tongue to keep from stuttering and tried to rein her anxiety. “No. Keep looking. It has to be up here on the beach close by.”
The beach seemed almost deserted for the middle of the afternoon during Carnivale weekend. A few bikini-clad women sunbathers snoozed on blankets here and there, and she thought she spotted a volleyball game starting up a hundred yards d
own the beach. Everyone else must be napping or resting up for the night’s festivities.
She took a couple more steps and found herself absently fanning her face with her hand. “It’s really scorching hot on the beach today, isn’t it?”
Tarik was staring out over the huge expanse of beach sand and didn’t turn. “February is the hottest month in the southern hemisphere. But I noticed you still look cool and in control. Celile would be proud of you.”
Jass didn’t feel cool or in control next to Tarik. Not in the least. And the last thing she cared about today was what Celile would think. Celile would probably screw him and get on with her life. But that wasn’t something Jass could jump into as easily as she’d learned to shoot a gun.
“The bay is a beautiful deep green today,” Tarik suddenly announced in the phony half accent of Sheik Zohdi. “Pretty, though different from the blue Mediterranean we love, yes? Nice day for a beach stroll. But I’m becoming thirsty.”
She threw him a look of utter frustration, wondering what the hell he thought he was doing. But as she turned, she spotted a line of wooden stands right ahead on the sand at the edge of the sidewalk pavement.
“Oh, yes, I agree. Let’s see if we can find a Fruti Vita stand that’s open.” She marched out onto the brilliant white sand and headed down the line of stands.
Most of the food and drink stands were closed down for the afternoon. They’d probably been jumping during the morning what with the tourists in town for Carnivale. This afternoon in the heat everyone seemed to be taking a break until the evening parades began and their customers returned.
She’d about given up on finding the right one when she darted around the last stand and found her handler there in disguise as the juice vendor. Immediately, Jass felt a bit more stable than she had only a moment ago.
“Everything under control?” Ed asked.
Before she could respond, Tarik came up beside her. “Isn’t this spot too wide open for a meeting?”
Ed nodded his head and closed the wooden flap on the front of the stand, shutting them out. A moment later he opened a side door and shuffled them both into the tiny, sweltering space inside the booth.
“This suit you better, Kadir?”
Tarik’s eyes went cold in the heat, but he said nothing.
Ed scowled at him, though when he turned to her, it was with a smile. “Still no word on what’s for sale this week. But we’ve come up with a new plan for finding out. Tonight is the first of the Carnivale parades and the first of the Samba schools’ competitions. A good chance to obtain intel unnoticed.”
“What competitions?” Jass wasn’t sure she understood.
“The whole purpose of the street parades is for local samba schools to compete with rival schools to win the title of best school of the year.” When she still looked confused, he continued, “It’s a big frigging deal with all the locals in Rio. Tonight the samba school that Eltsin’s bicheiro controls will have its first shot at a parade entry. He’ll have no choice but to attend.”
“I get it,” Tarik chimed in soberly. “While he and most of his men are gone, we break in to his offices and see if we can find out what’s coming up for auction.”
“Right.” Ed reached under the counter and hauled up a designer, satchel-style handbag. “The Task Force lent us a few high-tech toys to assist…”
“I don’t like it.” Tarik interrupted him and turned to her. “Neither of us is an expert in breaking into computers and that’s where our best shot of finding info in his office would be. There isn’t a chance in hell of us stumbling over the item itself during a B & E attempt.”
“True, the item is no doubt at Eltsin’s mountain retreat,” Ed agreed, taking back control of the conversation. “But the techs came up with some toys that will make your jobs in his office easier. I know Jass at least can become an expert with only a few minutes of instruction.”
Ed hesitated, seemingly watching for Tarik’s facial responses. But Tarik’s face had become a mask of serious intent. Not even a hint of his usual grin was anywhere to be seen.
“Look, Kadir.” Ed’s tone changed all of a sudden as he spoke casually to Tarik. “Why don’t I give these toys and the instructions to Jass while you contact your brothers? A Darin Kadir has been calling the Task Force and is anxious to speak to you. Is it true that you have an encrypted satellite phone that you can use?”
Tarik nodded sharply in response. “Fine. I’d like to see what Kadir intel has come up with anyway. I’ll step out on the beach where I can get a better signal and still keep watch in case anyone is within earshot.” He turned to Jass. “Take his instructions but don’t agree to anything until you talk to me. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Jass’s temper flared for a split second. But almost immediately after he was out the door, she decided Tarik was being a good partner and not trying to run the show.
Ed, it seemed, was not quite as generous. “What’s he been up to, anyway? Has he been trying to convince you to do something you’re not comfortable doing?”
“No, Ed,” she lied. “We’re learning to become friends. For the sake of the mission. That’s all.”
No sense enflaming Ed any further. Jass would make up her own mind whether she and Tarik would become anything more than friends and partners.
“Don’t try to be friends with a snake, little girl. If you try, the guy will only let you down,” he warned her. “You might find yourself involved in something that could be a career-ender or something even worse—like a life-ender. Stay away from him.”
Ed sure disliked Tarik. Jass could sort of understand his hesitance to trust a man who’d quit the Task Force and was heading up his own covert operation doing heaven knows what. But…
“Ed, I have to be his partner. It’s in the job description. How can I play his girlfriend and still stay away from him?”
Ed pulled off his ball cap and ran a hand over the bald spot underneath. “You’re a pro. You can pull off anything. I care too much about you to see anything happen to your career.” He sighed. “I do trust you, Jass. But be careful.”
How could she resist when he was so concerned for her welfare?
Trying to calm his fears for her, she cooed, “I will. And I am the pro here. You know I can watch out for myself. Don’t worry about me.”
“I can’t help worrying.” Ed took a deep breath and shook his head. “But okay, for now we have work to do. Let me show you how to use these gadgets and then suggest a plan for tonight. You can run rings around that Kadir guy. But don’t forget what I said.”
How could she forget? Every second of this mission seemed consumed with nothing but thoughts of Tarik Kadir. Something was going to have to give soon.
She only hoped she wouldn’t be the one to break first.
Tarik swallowed down his annoyance over the handler’s remarks as his brother Darin picked up the call.
“Can you talk?” Darin asked.
Tarik threw a quick glance at his surroundings as he adjusted his covert earpiece. He stood near the shore on a particularly isolated stretch of beach. The nearest person was a nearly nude woman, sunbathing about a hundred yards away. He wasn’t worried about anyone trying to listen in to his conversation unseen, because Kadir phones all had special encryption coding.
“Yeah. I’m good. What have you discovered?”
“We’ve made a couple of good initial contacts in the criminal community around Rio. I have one particularly solid lead who claims Tuesday’s auction is about nuclear fissionable material.” He hesitated. “But the informant also said some of the same things you overheard last night. Everyone in the know there in Brazil is aware the whole deal is a sham. Seems it’s only the American Task Force and the local CIA who’re supposed to believe that’s what this meeting is all about.”
“Do we have any idea what’s really going on?”
“Not yet.” Darin sounded as though he had something more to say.
Tarik waited, knowing his
brother would eventually get to whatever was concerning him.
Finally Darin cleared his throat and began. “Cousin Karim asked if you had a thumbnail drive and wireless transmitter and if you know how to use it to transmit the data back to us.”
“I know how to use them in a pinch. You want me to try accessing Eltsin’s computer system?”
“Perhaps. If you have the opportunity and the access to the equipment. But my guess is the computer we want will not be located in his main offices. Eltsin is street smart. He would keep this kind of info close. In a laptop or a BlackBerry he carries around with him.”
“Right. I’ll see what I can do.” It was now Tarik’s turn to ask a tricky question. “What’s your best guess, brother? Do you think this whole charade is for our benefit as much as for the Task Force? Is it possible Eltsin has gotten word the Kadirs are close and is waiting to ambush us somehow? The Taj secret police officer I ran into last night seemed overly confident when I overheard his conversation.”
It took a moment for Darin to answer. “All things are possible. Shakir is on his way and we’re putting together a stealth backup team to help with surveillance at Eltsin’s fortress in the mountains. Give us a little time to see what we can come up with.” Skepticism filled his voice. “I can’t quite buy that Eltsin is partnering with the Taj, but we’ll wait and see. In the meantime, watch your back.”
Tarik thanked his brother, bid him goodbye and headed for the handler’s Fruti Vita stand. He always watched his back. The trouble on this mission was centered more around keeping his eyes off his beautiful partner’s back long enough to keep them both alive.
He knocked once and entered, finding Jass in the process of kissing her handler’s cheek in a much too intimate manner. Jealousy ran through his mind.
Hell. What the devil was he thinking? Jealousy was out of bounds. She was his partner, not his lover.
Besides, this mission was all about the Taj Zabbar and their nuclear ambitions. Not about his partner.
Jass looked up at him with those big brown eyes of Celile’s. “Glad you’re back. I was getting set to take off.” She patted the purse under her arm. “I have toys and instructions. And we need to go get fitted for our costumes before it gets any later.”
