by Linda Conrad
“Costumes?”
She scooted past him and stepped out into the humid sunshine. “I’ll tell you all about it after we pick up our car.”
“Car?”
Jass laughed. “Come on…I’ve got it covered. Thanks again, Ed.” She headed up the beach.
Tarik turned to follow her, but Ed’s voice stopped him. “Just a second, Kadir.”
He held fast at the threshold and glared at Jass’s handler. “Yeah?”
“I don’t know what game you think you’re playing by horning in on the Task Force and taking over this mission, but I’m keeping my eyes on you. Jass is my responsibility and if you hurt her in any way, you’re a dead man.”
Tarik’s fingers ground into the wooden doorjamb. “Without me, there would be no mission and you know it.”
Ed glared at him but said nothing.
“But I’ve got a question for you.” Tarik held his ground and quirked a brow. “Wouldn’t this mission proceed perfectly well using Bosque, the station chief, as a standby go-between from the Task Force to us? Why is it necessary for a big-shot CIA officer to do the actual legwork?”
“I’m only here because of Jass,” Ed grumbled. “Bosque is supposed to be a good man. But this assignment may make or break Jass’s advancement. Nothing can go wrong.”
Tarik didn’t think that was a good enough answer, but he let it pass until he could talk to Jass. “Nothing will go wrong if you let us do the work we’re paid to do. Trust your own operative to do the right thing. I’ll watch out for her.”
“She means a lot to me.”
Tarik could suddenly see the man had real fatherly feelings for his operative. Ed wore his emotions on his sleeve when it came to Jass O’Reilly.
“Watch your back, Kadir.”
Yeah, that was the second time in less than ten minutes he’d been given the same warning. But as he walked out into the afternoon sun and stepped across the smooth, white sand, Tarik figured it wasn’t that his back needed watching. No, it was his raging libido that was giving him the biggest problem.
“This costume is outrageous.” Tarik squirmed in the passenger seat of their tiny dark green sedan. “Why did you ever agree to anything this juvenile for Sheik Zohdi?”
“I think you look adorable. And a pirate costume is not juvenile. It’s dashing.” Unlike her costume, which at the moment was giving her fits. “Besides, under that gia-normous hat and the eye patch, no one would ever recognize Zohdi. Relax. We’re not out to win any awards, but to blend in.”
Tarik gave her one of his charmer-style looks. “As a matter of fact, I happen to be a big fan of your costume. You pick that out?”
The sparkly red bodysuit clung to her skin like a dive suit. Not a speck of bare skin showed from her neck to her ankles. Yet after she’d put the thing on, she felt sexier than ever before in her life.
“No, I didn’t pick out either of our costumes. But at least mine is far better than all those sparkly thong getups we’ve been seeing on the streets.”
“I’d give a lot to see you in one of those getups. But some other time. That much skin wouldn’t be quite the right thing for Celile.”
“Keep your mind on the mission, Kadir.”
He chuckled and turned to look out the windshield. “Tell me again why you have to drive?”
“Sheik Zohdi does not drive. He’s chauffeured everywhere he travels. You’re not worried about my driving skills, are you?”
Tarik raised a shoulder. “No. Not unless we run into real trouble.”
“Well, I wasn’t planning on running into trouble tonight. Are you?”
“You never know,” he retorted. “I’m not crazy about the whole idea of going back to Eltsin’s offices tonight. It doesn’t feel right.”
“Why not? Everyone should be on the streets watching the samba parade.”
Tarik folded his arms over his chest as she stopped for a traffic cop. “Maybe. But I can’t believe we’ll find any useful intel here without having to fight our way out. No one with any sense leaves sensitive info unguarded.”
“I have a few tricks to use in case we run into security problems. Don’t worry.”
By the time they found a guarded parking spot a few blocks away and Jass wrestled her heavy feathered headdress onto her head, the area seemed deserted. Instead of blending in to the crowds, the two of them looked ridiculous sneaking down the darkened alleyways.
Tarik echoed her sentiments. “I’m thinking we could do better if we both lose the headgear. You with me?”
They found an empty water barrel and stashed the feathers, the oversized pirate’s hat and the fake swashbuckler’s sword. “We can pick these up on the way back.”
“Hmm.” Tarik didn’t seem thrilled with the idea.
When they arrived at the nightclub, they found guards at every entrance.
“Time for one of those toys you were issued?”
She elbowed past him and sidestepped around to the side of the building. The structure was only two stories tall on this side. And no one was guarding the alley with its lack of entrances and no windows.
“You planning on walking through the walls?” he asked with a smirk in his voice. “Those must be some high-tech toys you’ve got there.”
“How’re your mountain-climbing skills, Kadir?” She reached into her bag and pulled out what appeared in the darkness to be a flare gun. “This baby will get us inside in moments.”
She nearly laughed at his incredulous look as she fired in the air. With a tiny, shallow sounding pop, the titanium grappling hook deployed and struck the tiled roof, embedding itself deep and tight. Carbon fiber threads parachuted back toward them. With another small click, she clipped an aluminum ascender to the bottom of the thread and gestured to Tarik that it was for his foot.
“A little like Mission Impossible and James Bond,” she murmured. “I love it. Up you go. Send it back down for me.”
He looked at the contraption in the shadowed light from the street lamp. “Oh, crap. You’re not serious. I hate rooftops and ledges. Can’t we find another way?”
“Sure. You can stay here and guard our backs. I’ll handle this op alone.”
“Not on your life.” Tarik pulled off the fake eye patch and rubbed his hands against his black slacks. “Let me worry about my own back. And I’ll be guarding your back from right behind you, my love. Lead the way.”
Chapter 7
Tarik managed to step off the tile roof and ease inside a second-story window right behind Jass without breaking his neck. Though he didn’t like any part of this op, he was determined to keep up with her.
Nothing moved in the darkness of Eltsin’s penthouse offices, but the smell of violence lingered in the air. What had happened inside these rooms earlier tonight?
Jass didn’t seem to notice the odd sensations he was receiving and it was too dark to see anything more than shadows. She nudged his arm and crept off into the ominous black emptiness, undeterred from her mission. Tarik stood his ground for a second and listened. The sounds of a wall clock and the whir of an electric motor in the distance were all he could hear. Nothing he could put his finger on as out of place, and no hint of human activity he could sense.
Following Jass through what appeared to be a sparsely furnished sitting room, he noted they were passing a darkened alley-style kitchen and a bathroom. Apparently she was looking for computers or file cabinets and nothing else. But the farther into the apartment they traveled, the more Tarik wanted to flick on a light and study his surroundings a bit more thoroughly. Every cell in his body tensed with concern.
Convinced that this was some kind of ambush, he caught up to Jass as she entered the first office space she came to. “Hold on.” He stopped her with a firm grip to her forearm. “I think we need to get out of here. Something isn’t right.”
She quietly removed his fingers by using her own gloved hand. “Nonsense. We’re in and no one’s around. This won’t take me five minutes. Why don’t you look in the
next room while I break into the computer?”
Their whispered conversation seemed to echo off the walls. This was all wrong.
Too easy.
Jass sat in front of a desk computer and turned a penlight on to study the drive box. Her light was bright enough for Tarik to see that the room was totally vacant of any other furnishings besides the desk and the lone computer. No, not right at all.
He backed out the door and into the hall. Reaching into his inside pocket, he pulled out a set of night-vision goggles and slipped them over his eyes to leave his hands free. No question, he had to give the place a more thorough visual check. And he’d better do it fast.
Moving quickly, he opened each of the other doors off the hall. Nothing but empty rooms and a lone disheveled cot. No filing cabinets, conference tables or office machines. What was going on?
Retracing his steps, Tarik went back toward the sitting room. He stuck his head into the bathroom. Again, nothing. Then he turned to the kitchen and moved far enough into it to check out the whole space.
What was that, lying on the…? Damn. He nudged the object with his booted toe and found what he’d expected. A dead body.
At that exact moment he also caught the unmistakable sounds of police sirens in the distance. Great. They were being set up. But by whom? And why?
Swinging around, he made his way back to Jass in record time. She was on her way out the door of the office. He caught a smug look on her face.
“Got it,” she crowed. “Found several computer files on fissionable nuclear material. We’ve got…”
“Shussh. Listen. Hear that?” He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her through the darkness toward the window where they’d entered a few minutes ago. “Move!”
Two steps later and the sounds of sirens were unmistakable.
“What’s happening? Those can’t be for us.”
“We’ve been set up. Dead body in the kitchen.” They reached the window “Out. Now!”
Jass was a smart enough operative to stop questioning and slip out into the night air without another sound. She crept along the tile roof, not waiting to make sure Tarik was behind her. But he was. He didn’t let a botched job deter him from being her protector.
Determined to stand at her back regardless of what happened next, he dove out the window and caught up to her in a few seconds. Shouts were coming from the street below, and the sirens were still shrieking through the noisy night.
Jass was about to crawl over the ledge when she threw a quick glance down to the blind alley where they’d begun their flight. “Eltsin’s goons,” she whispered and pointed below. “We’ll have to find another way.”
“Whatever we do, we’d better do it soon. The cops will be here any second.”
She looked uncertain. As though this change of plans was so unexpected that she’d been thrown off track.
He imagined she would snap out of it any moment and come up with a backup escape plan. She was a pro and the best operative he knew. But he didn’t wait to find out for sure.
“This way.” He swung around and headed back up to the roof and then to the other side of the building. He crouched low to avoid being seen from below.
“That’s the way to the side street,” Jass said in a stage whisper. “A guard was there when we first entered.”
Tarik kept going. “Maybe not anymore.”
Sure enough, as they crawled to the roof’s edge and peered over, they discovered the guards had gone. The alley was at least temporarily empty. Apparently the guards were either over at the side of the building, waiting for them to come back down that way, or they’d disappeared into the night to avoid confronting the police.
“Now what?”
Tarik nodded to the fire escape below them. “I’ll lower you to the platform. Hurry.”
“What about you?”
“Right behind you, love. Go now.”
Jass nodded and swung herself off the edge. God, she was spectacular.
Tarik leaned down and went flat on his stomach, grabbing hold of her forearms as she clung to the edge. The second his grip was sure, Jass took her fingers off the edge, and he eased her down into the darkness.
“Good enough,” she whispered.
He hoped to hell she was right, and then he let her go. In another instant a clang and then a thump told him her feet had hit the metal fire escape.
Mumbling a curse under his breath for whoever had put him in the position of dangling over a dark abyss again, Tarik lowered himself over the roof edge and prayed he was lined up with the fire escape platform. After a big cleansing breath of air, he opened his hands and let go, dropping into yet another endless, star-filled night.
Jass managed to pull Tarik into her arms to keep him from falling into the street below as he’d dropped off the roof feet first. Out of breath and a little bruised from both her own fall and from being a cushion for his, she was grateful that they were both still alive.
But Tarik didn’t give her the time to take a break or give thanks.
“Let’s go.” He shoved her down the fire-escape stairs ahead of him. “Keep moving. Those cops are pulling up in front now.”
She scrambled down the one flight and planted her feet on the pavement. “Back to the car?”
“Yeah. But stick to the alleyways if you can. Stay in the shadows.”
Earlier today Jass had memorized the streets around the samba club. Heading off now, she wished for a pair of running shoes instead of these silly heeled boots. The boots had been okay for use on the roof, but running full out in the dark on crumbling city sidewalks would’ve been a heck of a lot easier in a good pair of Nikes.
Tarik stayed a step behind, though she figured he could easily outdistance her if he wanted to. He was moving like a cheetah. Smooth and sleek and precise. On the other hand, she was plenty fast too as her heart pumped double-time with adrenaline. In fight-or-flight mode, she ran almost a half mile out of their way, winding through the alleys and down half-deserted streets. Still, in fifteen minutes they were nearing the car.
“Hold on a minute.” Tarik stopped and jogged in place. “Isn’t this where we left the headpieces to our costumes?”
Gulping in air, she wondered how he could sound this cool. She was nearly out of breath and his breathing was barely labored.
“Yes.” She pointed at the rain barrel down the block.
“We can’t leave them for the cops to find.” He raced ahead and started pulling out feathered hats and a swashbuckler’s sword.
Exactly what she didn’t need—more stuff to weigh her down. But she took the monumental headgear under her arm when he handed it to her and started down the street toward their car once again.
The sound of sirens getting closer rang through the quiet, putting the hair up on the back of her neck. Then it hit her. Why did the streets seem deserted? It hadn’t been quiet when they’d first come this way.
As they reached their car, she gritted out, “Where the heck is everyone? Might as well be carrying a painted sign announcing our guilt.”
Tarik didn’t answer but raced to the passenger door, jerked it open and jumped in. He slammed the door behind him as she managed to crawl in behind the wheel, squished her costume down at her feet and fastened her seat belt.
“Here come the good guys,” Tarik said as he gave a quick glance up ahead at the flashing lights. “Move.”
Jass jammed the car in gear, grabbed the wheel with both hands and did a quick one-eighty in the middle of the street. She had to get off the main road. But which way to go?
Taking three quick turns in succession, she blindly roared down alleyways and doubled back over the same streets where they’d been running. But she didn’t seem to be losing the cops. There simply wasn’t any way to hide without any other traffic around. Flashing lights and screaming sirens stayed right behind them.
“Take the next left,” Tarik commanded.
She turned without question, sliding hard on two wheels. And drove ri
ght into the tail end of the traffic jam to end all traffic jams. Bumper-to-bumper cars lined the street and blocked the way.
“Brilliant, Einstein. Now what do you suggest?”
“Quick, change places with me. I’ll drive.”
“Drive where?” She gestured to the line of cars practically parked on top of each other in the street ahead.
“Just go. But don’t get out of the car.”
With a quick glance behind them and an exasperated sigh, she figured she had no choice. “Right.”
“Thank you.”
He’d better sound appropriately grateful. And this had better work to get them off the hook. She would hate facing the Rio police without any idea of who’d tipped them off or how they’d been turned in. No telling if someone had paid to get them out of the way—or if a few of those cops wouldn’t be a little trigger-happy.
No, she decided firmly as she undid her seat belt and started over the console. They couldn’t face the authorities. They needed to find a way out. If not by outracing the cops, then by hiding from them.
“What’s with the traffic jam?” she muttered as he slid his body in under hers.
Instead of answering, Tarik sucked in a breath and stilled. Yeah, she’d felt it too as the curve of her bottom brushed over his crotch. All of a sudden she was the woman on top. And he was the utterly masculine male on the bottom.
Bad timing. She sucked in her own breath. Extremely bad timing.
Fortunately, she was a pro. “Excuse me. Uh, can you keep going, please?” She laid a hand on his shoulder to help lift her weight off of him.
But that didn’t do much to help. The heat from his body seared her hand and sent an earthquake rumbling back up her arm and into her belly.
“If you’ll scoot a little farther—”
“Uff.” She threw her body into the seat he’d vacated.
Tarik maneuvered himself into the driver’s seat and locked down his seat belt. “The traffic jam is all about the parade. See the pedestrians crowding the sidewalks trying to get a better view? Nothing’s moving until the parade goes past.” He gave her a quick once-over. “Hang on.”
