by Linda Conrad
Throwing the car’s transmission into low, he nosed the front bumper toward the sidewalk to their left and inched ahead into the crowd.
“Stop! Are you nuts? You’ll kill—”
She stopped talking and held her breath as pedestrians scattered. The sidewalks here had no curbs and this one wasn’t quite as wide as the car.
She flicked a glance behind them and saw two cars pulling into the space at the end of the line that they’d left. The police—or someone impersonating them—jumped out and came in their direction.
Tarik kept the car steadily moving forward. Faster and faster, heedless of the human beings in his way. By now paradegoers were beginning to complain as they were unceremoniously shoved aside by a car. Shouts erupted as holes opened in front of their car’s bumper and then promptly closed in behind them when they drove through. Suddenly they were completely surrounded by irate costumed paradegoers and the police were nowhere in sight.
Everyone was shouting and raising their fists. Jass wasn’t thrilled about putting these people out, nearly killing them and taking the chance of a riot. But she was relieved the cops had been left behind in the process.
“Don’t breathe easy yet. Those cops are now on foot. As slow as we have to go in the crowd, they’ll catch up too soon. I think we should bail. We’ll stand a much better shot on foot.”
Jass nodded and undid her seat belt.
“Put on your hat,” Tarik ordered as he turned the car off and eased open the door. “We’ll blend in.”
He was right. She bent to adjust her hat while Tarik jumped out from the driver’s side door. By the time she turned to open her own door, an angry mob was outside the window.
Trying to open her door, she muttered, “Hey, sorry. Can’t you take a joke? Isn’t this a party?”
She shoved hard against the mass of humanity pushing against the car door on the other side. But the more she put her shoulder into it, the more difficult it became to move the door even an inch. She would never get out of the car before the cops arrived at this rate.
Right then the car began to rock from side to side. Jass had visions of being caught in the front seat as the crowds turned the sedan over and set it ablaze.
She grit her teeth and worked even harder to get the door open. Nothing she did would budge it.
But all of a sudden the door flew open and her body was pulled free. But how? Before she could react, she felt herself being dragged through the crowds. The police? Was she on her way to jail?
“Keep moving.” No, when she looked up, it was Tarik.
She should have known.
He was propelling them through the throng faster than she would’ve thought possible. She chanced a glance behind them. Only a few yards from the car and it had already disappeared inside the mass of humanity.
Tarik threw his arm around her shoulders and jerked her closer to his chest. It was a protective motion that should’ve annoyed her with its macho implications. Instead, she was grateful for the cover.
The music and the noisy revelry grew to thunderous proportions. Yet they kept shoving their way forward through the crowds.
“You still with me?” Tarik hesitated only a second.
“Go,” she screamed over the din.
He pushed them out into an opening in the humanity. And suddenly they were smack in the middle of the street—right in the midst of the samba dancers as they paraded along the boulevard doing their show.
But it was open enough here in the street to actually run. Tarik almost lifted her entirely off her feet as he dashed from side to side, dodging dancers and drummers alike.
Jass expected another riot. But this time they only received a few shouts and lots of laughter and good-natured applause. Several blocks down the way Tarik stopped long enough to take a bow along with the dancers.
“Quit being a ham,” she gritted out. “Get me out of here.”
He laughed and dragged them off the street on the other side and back into the crowds. “We wouldn’t have gotten that far without the costumes. Thought we’d be clever and use them to the fullest.”
Jass tsked at him. “Now how do we get back to the hotel?”
“Are those boots made for walking?”
“How far is it?”
“Only a couple of miles. Mostly downhill. It’ll be a good chance for us to get to know each other.”
Shaking her head and trying to keep the smile off her face, Jass pulled the heavy headpiece off. “My boots are perfectly fine for walking, thank you. In fact, you’d best keep up the pace or I’ll leave you in my dust, Kadir.”
With that, she turned in a circle, looking for a familiar landmark or street sign.
“Lost?” Tarik took her by the hand and hustled down the street. “Come on. Maybe we’ll be better off with my slower pace. But whatever we do, let’s move it now.”
Chapter 8
Tarik kept hold of her hand, more to settle his own nerves than for any other reason. Jass tried halfheartedly to break away. But when he refused to let her loose, she relaxed and remained comfortably beside him, keeping up with the pace he set.
“We can’t run or we’ll call attention to our movements,” he told her. “If we stroll, we’ll look like any other tourists or paradegoers. Good enough?”
“I suppose.”
She sounded so petulant that he nearly laughed. Instead, he decided to give her an out and let her go back to being her sarcastic self.
“Don’t I get a thank-you for saving your ass back there? My driving skills saved the day.”
Narrowing her lips to tiny white lines, she simply stared at him. The quiet was unlike her and he couldn’t let it be.
“Okay, maybe it was a little over-the-top for me to head right into a crowd of innocent bystanders, but it did the trick, didn’t it?”
She shrugged—a totally uncharacteristic movement. That clinched it for him. He had to find a way to get her talking again.
He took a quick look around at the many other costumed pedestrians strolling along the sidewalks and heading toward the beach side of town like they were. Cars streamed by, going to different neighborhoods or possibly heading toward the parade in the other direction. No one paid them any attention. A pirate and the cat woman easily blended right into the revelry of the night.
“I sure wish I knew who set us up tonight.” He kept his voice down, but he wasn’t worried about being overheard. “You have any ideas on that subject?”
“Not really. The only people who could’ve been aware we’d be at Eltsin’s tonight were the local CIA operatives and the Task Force. I’ll have Ed get to the bottom of it while we stay on the job.”
Now there was a subject he would bet she’d warm up to. “Speaking of Ed, he seems inordinately cautious about your welfare. Like you’re more than simply a superior and his employee. You two have some sort of history?”
She gave him a wary glance before apparently deciding he had no ulterior motive for asking. “We go way back. Ed and my father were partners on covert missions for the Agency for many years. I first met Ed when I was a little girl, right after my mother died.”
“I understand your father was killed while on an operation for the CIA.”
She nodded quietly before clearing her throat. “Yes. I was in my first year of college at the time. Dad and I had a huge fight right before he left for the mission.” She breathed in and out. “I never got to tell him I was sorry.”
“What was the fight about?” Okay, that was too personal a question for brand-new partners, but he didn’t care. He wanted to know more about her.
Jass didn’t seem to mind his prying. In fact, she seemed quite willing to talk.
“I was switching my major at the time. I’d been in pre-law because that’s what Dad wanted. But I wanted the more hands-on approach of law enforcement. He expected a lawyer in the family. I wanted to be a covert agent like he was.”
“What degree did you end up with?”
“I almost quit
altogether after Dad died.” She sighed and he knew she was thinking back to those terrible days when she’d first become an orphan. “If it hadn’t been for Ed stepping in and offering to help me get a job with the Agency after graduation and giving me a little financial assistance, I might have ended up as a waitress or a security guard.”
She screwed up her mouth and shook her head. “I graduated pre-law, in Dad’s memory. But I went to work for the CIA immediately after getting my degree. Ed made all the difference. He coached me and cajoled me into graduating and then took me under his wing at the Agency.” Raw emotion filled her voice. “I owe him my career. And…more. I owe him for his friendship when I needed it the most.”
“Did your father ever say why he didn’t want his daughter following in his footsteps?”
She took another big breath. “Not that I can remember. He always said the job made a person hard. And too indifferent about human life.”
“From where I sit, it hasn’t seemed to make you hard,” Tarik said with a softness in his tone that surprised even him. “You were sincerely concerned for the people in that crowd of pedestrians back there.”
Instead of a smile, Jass scowled. “Right. Remind me that I’m not as tough as you are. Rub it in. I deserve it.”
“What? No, I didn’t mean it that way. You’re plenty tough when you need to be. It’s just…you’re also tender—which is a good thing in my book.”
“Humph.” Jass lifted her chin and strode ahead with more purpose.
Tarik squeezed her hand and she slowed enough to come back to his side. “You remind me a little of my mother,” he told her, more for something to say than to share something about himself.
“I thought your mother died when you were young.”
“I was five.” He did not want to have this conversation. Thoughts of his mother always made his chest ache with the memories.
“Why do I remind you of her?”
Okay, he’d asked for this. “Her family comes from a nomadic Bedouin background, same as my father’s. But unlike the Kadirs, her family is still living in the deserts today and surviving on simple trade the way they have for centuries. They exist right on the edge of civilization, only slightly shy of savagery.
“Until my grandfather passed away a few years ago,” Tarik continued. “He swore by the old ways. His sons had to be warriors and his daughters had to be tough enough to survive under the harshest of conditions.”
Tarik wished he could find a way out of this, but he knew he would have to at least be sincere with Jass—and more truthful than he’d allowed himself to be since he was a devastated five-year-old. Talking about his dead mother in intimate detail hurt.
Sighing quietly, he said the words he’d long avoided even thinking about. “My mother was raised to be tough, but she was also a princess of the tribe. Her grandmother insisted she be sent away to college, where she met and married my father.” He caught her gaze. “If you’d been introduced to her, you would never have known about her upbringing. She was sophisticated and genteel. A lady in every sense of the word. And she loved her sons with a quiet ferociousness I’ve never seen since.”
But he had a feeling Jass would love with the same kind of passionate intensity. For some crazy reason the idea made him suddenly long to be the object of all that fiery passion.
He shook off the unwelcome vulnerability. His mission could mean uncovering a threat to the entire world, and as such it was not the time or place for personal introspection and need. Maybe he should try sneaking out and getting himself laid later—in order to release the tension. In his wayward youth, a little flash-bang of a sexual nature would’ve taken the edge off long enough for him to finish an assignment and put his mind back in the game.
But he’d matured a lot in the last couple of years. Quick tumbles with complete strangers no longer held any appeal. He wasn’t looking for any kind of commitment either—his family’s covert war prevented thoughts of long-term romance. And even though both his brothers had found women to die for, he couldn’t imagine bringing someone he loved into the middle of this much danger.
Still, a woman would have to mean something to him now before he fell into bed. Something more than a way to release a little tension—despite what he’d said to Jass yesterday when he’d been trying to tease her into becoming more comfortable playacting as his girlfriend.
Though at the time, when he’d said the two of them needed to have a good old-fashioned roll in the hay, he had meant every word. In fact, it still sounded like a good idea. More than good. It sounded like paradise.
But he couldn’t help wondering why the conflict between what he thought he believed and what his body craved seemed wildly at odds when it came to Jass.
Compassion glistened in her eyes. “Your mother sounds like a special woman. I wish I could’ve known her.”
“You two would’ve had a lot in common. You’re a lot like she was. Tough when you need to be. And tender underneath.”
Maybe that was it. Maybe Jass’s personality felt as familiar and comfortable as cozy memories of the only woman who’d ever loved him. And therefore she must already mean something important to him and wouldn’t be merely an anonymous roll in the hay. But he sure wished he could figure out exactly why that had happened so fast.
As they stepped off the elevator down the hall from their hotel room, Jass felt somebody watching. She took Tarik’s arm and sidled up close to him before casually checking both ends of the hallway. She couldn’t spot anyone when she looked, but someone was there nonetheless.
As they neared their hotel-room door, the elevator doors opened again and when they turned back, a waiter stepped off carrying a tray. He came in their direction but as he came closer, she saw it was Station Chief Bosque in disguise.
Jass jumped in and went with their cover story. “Ohh, is that for us?” She managed a broad smile and turned to Tarik. “Zohdi, darling, did you order a late dinner as a surprise? How thoughtful of you. I’m famished.”
Tarik didn’t answer but used his card key to open the door and then turned to the supposed waiter. “Bring it inside.”
As Bosque brushed past Tarik, he spoke under his breath. “You’ve had visitors. Inside long enough to plant bugs. Stay in character, but meet me on the terrace.”
Once they were inside, Bosque began setting up the dining table for two. He laid out candles, a late supper and even a bottle of chilled wine.
Her brain raced with ways to get them out on the terrace without being too obvious. She waltzed over to Tarik, went up on tiptoes and planted a kiss against his lips. She’d wanted quick and flirty. Instead, the heat and the chemistry between them flared up and nearly knocked her down.
She pulled away, but lingered long enough to lick his lips and then her own. “It’s awfully warm in here, isn’t it?”
Tarik look slightly stunned, but he ran with her lead. “Very much so, my love. And it’s such a nice night.” He shrugged out of his pirate’s hat and jacket and headed toward the terrace doors. “Let’s get some air.”
He threw open the glass doors and stepped through to the wide terrace.
“Wait for me.” She started out behind him. “What a wonderful view. Too bad we can’t have supper out here.”
Bosque lifted his head and spoke while she stepped outside. “I’m sorry, madam. There is not enough room on the terrace for the setting. However—” He picked up the wine and two glasses. “You may enjoy your wine before supper outside if you prefer. If you’ll allow me to pour?”
He followed both of them out through the French doors and then quietly closed them behind him. “Did you two run into trouble tonight? We found your car abandoned.” He poured Tarik a full glass and handed it over. “We’ve received word that our man inside Eltsin’s operation was killed earlier. What do you know about it?”
Tarik set the glass down on the ledge overlooking the bay. “We found the body. But somebody was trying to set us up. We barely got out before the cops arr
ived.”
Bosque cursed under his breath. “I was afraid of that. I’ve already started an internal investigation, but it’ll take time. Do you want to call off the mission?”
“Not a chance.” Jass threw a glance toward Tarik and he nodded his agreement. “It’s possible Eltsin was only fishing. Checking to see who showed up at his place. I don’t believe he knows for sure it was us or he’d have sent goons to take us out, not to spy on us.”
“Agreed,” Tarik put in. “This mission is too important to abort. Escalating danger is all part of the job.”
“All right, if you’re sure then.” Bosque handed Jass a glass of sparkling wine. “We’d better leave the bugs in place. We don’t want Eltsin’s crowd to know we’re on to their game. I’m guessing they set up cameras or listening devices in the sitting room and maybe even in the bedroom.” He nodded once. “Assume that’s where they are for now. I’ll double-check the bath and the bedroom terrace for bugs before I leave. Keep the act on everywhere but there.”
Oh hell. Jass hadn’t thought of that. The act. She and Tarik would have to continue pretending to be lovers even while alone. All night.
It was a good thing she believed in what Tarik had told Bosque. The mission was too important to back out of their cover story now.
But later on her resolve might prove easier said than done. Starting to sweat in the sultry sea air, she took a sip of cool wine and let it slide down her suddenly dry throat. The mission was about to become particularly difficult. A long night of sharing a single bed in front of a camera with one of the sexiest men she’d ever met might be her toughest assignment yet.
But she had to keep in mind that Tarik was not Zohdi. Tarik was out of bounds. A partner. A buddy. Not a lover. And on top of that, he was still the man her handler swore was someone she should be wary about trusting.
Ed’s opinion didn’t seem as much of a problem now that she and Tarik had completed one night’s mission. But if she didn’t watch out, Tarik could easily become too important in her life. She couldn’t have that. It would interfere with her self-image as a serious, dedicated professional.
