“I'm... I'm doing everything that I'm... Uh... I'm translating. I'm working. Can you just—”
“What are you doing?” asked Chuck.
“What?”
“Read it out to me.”
Mira scrolled to the top of her new document, reading a rough translation which summarized the details of a deal going from bad to worse. The language from his Kenyan contacts had become increasingly hostile. Threatening, even.
“Your lack of response... timely response, has led us to assume... negligence... That negligent action on you, your, uh...” Mira sighed. Exhaustion was starting to wrestle with her fear, and she felt it seep into her bones.
“And then what?” asked Chuck.
“That's it.”
“That's all it says?”
“It's as far as I’ve gotten.”
Chuck shook his head, saying, “Mira, Mira... I'm sorry, but this whole process is taking way too long. I don't know if you're sandbagging or what, but you’re really starting to annoy me.”
“I'm trying! I'm trying, but... I'm scared.” She looked down at her screen, to a small window in the lower corner which meant that Tansy was still in contact with her.
“Were you scared when you copied our files?” asked Chuck with a sneer. “Or when you sent in that virus? You seemed to handle that pretty well.”
It was all a matter of buying time, that much she knew. The longer she held out, the more time Jackson had to locate her. “I'm going as fast as I can, Chuck. I am.”
“You can understand why I'm upset, right? I mean, here I am just working, just trying to make a living. And then you come along and ruin all of my business deals. My relationships.”
“I'm sorry,” Mira said, doing her best to sound meek, compliant.
“You're sorry?”
“I mean... I had no idea you were involved.”
“Okay, stop. Stop what you're doing. Okay? Forget their messages. Forget translating them.” Chuck reached into his jacket breast pocket and pulled out a small silver vile. “What I need now, is for you to write and encrypt a response for them. Can you handle that?” He unscrewed the vile and tapped out a line of white powder on the top of his hand. And then he turned to his guards. “Here, you guys want some, too? Nah, I'm just kidding. Alright, anyway...” He brought his hand to his face, consuming the powder in a loud snort. “Anyway, Mira, get on that. Apologize to them, and then explain that we've had an infiltrator.” He licked the rest of the powder off his hand. “But now we've neutralized it.”
Mira started writing out the words. Out of a combination of disobedience and fear, she did a half-assed job, presenting him with an intentionally misleading interpretation. But sending it, actually putting him in contact with his Kenyan criminals to have the weapons released was a different story. She couldn’t let his message actually send.
“In case you're wondering,” he said with a smile, “that's you. The infiltrator. And you've been neutralized. To what extent we further neutralize you and your father is still up in the air. And I guess it depends on how well you cooperate from here on out.”
Mira knew exactly how far she’d cooperate. If she did anything to actually help facilitate the arms deal, even if the whole ring eventually got busted... No, she couldn’t do it. And as much as she loved her father, she knew he’d feel the same way.
“Mira? Did you hear me?”
“Yes, I'm cooperating.”
“No, you're not. You're just sitting there, staring at me like an idiot.” Chuck started pacing around the room, his face sweaty and flushed. “Well, go! Get busy!”
Mira went back to work on the laptop, opening up a new window.
“See? That's exactly what I mean. You're stalling.”
“I'm not!”
“It's so funny how fast you were to fuck me over. You jumped right in. But now you—”
“Can you shut up!?” Mira felt herself unraveling. “Please! I'm working as fast as I can!”
Chuck stood still for a minute, just long enough to dump out another line of coke on his hand. “Do you know how quickly you ruined everything for me?” He snorted it as fast as he'd laid it out. “It happened like that”—he snapped his fingers and a tiny remnant of fine white powder flew into the air—“Just like that. And it had nothing to fucking do with you! That's the part that kills me. It absolutely kills me, Mira.”
“Well, get over it,” she said, her voice cold.
“I don't know,” said Chuck, standing menacingly over her father. “I just don't know if I can.”
Mira didn’t like how he was looking at her dad. “Alright, Chuck... Who do you want to get in contact with? Tango Man? Fisherking? The Fox-Trotter?”
“Who the fuck are they?” asked Chuck, walking over to her. “What are you looking at?”
“Well, who am I trying to reach?”
“Mark Dyson,” he said.
Mira let that sink in, a new name to add to her list.
She lost herself for a minute, imagining the glorious day when all of Langhorne's scumbags would be carted off to jail. Then Chuck's hand smacked the back of her head.
“What is that?!” he screamed.
Oh fuck... She’d left the dialogue box with Tansy open.
“You fucker! You fucking whore!”
“What?” cried Mira, feigning innocence. That was about the only hope she had left.
He grabbed the laptop away from her and inspected it. “Why is the fuckin' webcam light on?!”
Mira felt something cold and hard pressed against her temple. There was a blinding flash and then everything went dark and quiet.
22
Jackson
Jackson had approached the room silently. He'd opened the door just wide enough to slip in a stun grenade. And after its concussive force had rocked the small wine cellar, Jackson's crew had five seconds before the room's occupants would regain their senses. It was cleanup time. And first on the list was Chuck, who dropped immediately from Jackson's .40 caliber double-tap before he could do anything with the gun he had aimed at Mira’s head. Instead, he died as he lived, like an ignorant schmuck.
Tansy and Matthias were assigned the other two combatants, but they were smart enough to drop down on their bellies in the prone position. They either had a lot of experience being out-gunned by tactical units, or they just weren’t being paid enough by Langhorne.
Mira...
Jackson rushed up to her chair before the smoke cleared.
She was moaning, bruised, and disoriented, but alive.
Thank God she’s alive.
He untied the straps biding her to the chair as fast as he could. “You're okay, baby. You made it,” he said, crouching next to the chair as he loosened the bonds. “We made it.”
She was squinting hard, her eyes looking through Jackson as if she was blind. His panic returned and he ran his hands over her, looking for injuries.
“Are you hurt?”
“I can't see” cried Mira, her hand coming loose from the straps and clawing at her eyes. “I can't see!”
“Mira, stop.” He grabbed her hand away from her face. “It's okay. It's just temporary.”
She reached out through her blindness and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Jackson,” she wailed. “Oh my God, Jackson...”
“It's okay, Mira. It's all over.”
“No... ” Her shaking body slid off the chair and collapsed into him. “They killed my dad!”
Jackson craned his neck around. “Someone check on—”
“He's breathing,” Tansy called from across the room. “EMT's are on their way.”
“Oh my God,” Mira kept saying over and over as she held tightly onto him. She buried her face into his chest, her shoulders heaving with sobs, but then she quickly backed off, startled, as if she'd just heard something. She wore a strange expression. “What about Chuck?” she asked.
“He's gone,” said Jackson, not even having to look. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
&
nbsp; A haunted expression remained on her face. She looked sickly white.
“What?” he asked. “What is it?”
“Langhorne...”
“We're on it.”
“Where is he?”
“Not here.”
And then Mira started looking around for something, patting the ground around her. “His laptop. Get the laptop. For evidence.” She was starting to sound frantic. “What about the deal? We've gotta—”
Jackson grabbed on to her, quieting her down and halting her search. He could feel Mira's heart racing against his, her chest heaving as she started crying again. “Mira, trust me,” he said, holding her tightly. “It's over.”
23
Mira
Mira dropped the airport paperback and rolled onto her side, her feet slipping off the blanket and burrowing luxuriously into the hot sand. Without looking, she reached behind her back and grabbed a hotel towel from the wicker beach basket. She tried rolling it up with one hand, but someone snatched it away. The towel returned a few seconds later in the form of a plump pillow sliding gently under the side of her face. It was warm from the sun and she nuzzled into it while thinking of the three pages she'd just read, deciding that it was more than enough work for the day.
She closed her eyes, letting the sounds of waves and seagulls finish the job her book had already started. There were other sounds, too, like the thudding of a volleyball, samba music from a crackling radio, and then another kind of music, her favorite.
“Make sure you don't burn on your first day.”
She felt his hand on her leg, caressing up past her knee.
“That would be a real shame,” he said.
And then the crack of a sunscreen bottle. The smell of cocoa butter.
Jackson's hand was back on her leg, running smooth with lotion from her ankle to her knee, and then back down again, gently massaging her muscles on the way. Mira rolled onto her stomach as he worked her calves. She let her legs fall open slightly, inviting his hand to come up a little higher.
“I never knew your hands could feel so smooth,” she said, thinking of all his hard-earned calluses hiding behind the lotion. “You should start moisturizing yourself.”
“Maybe if it didn’t smell like... like whatever this is.”
“Cocoa butter?”
“Yeah. I wouldn’t hear the end of it at work.”
“So? I'd make it up to you.”
“Here's a better idea,” he said. “Why don't I just keep flying us out to Brazil?”
Mira giggled. “Okay. You win.”
His hands were now up on her thigh. “You're damn right I win.” He was massaging her, squeezing her ass. “Mmm,” he groaned. “Damn, you look good in this bikini.”
“Hey,” Mira laughed. “Keep it movin'. You've got some more real estate to cover.”
“All right, all right,” Jackson said as he applied more lotion to her back.
“Thanks. I don't think my butt will get a sunburn ever again.”
“Oh. That wasn't my intention,” said Jackson, his hands rounding her shoulders. “I had a better idea for that.”
“I'm sure. You've got an idea for everything.”
“Well?” he said, rubbing her arms now. “Haven’t they always worked out?”
They had. From Annica, who wrote a great story while keeping her name private, to the systematic dismantling and prosecution of Langhorne and his cronies. Yes, his ideas worked. Mira wouldn’t have been laying on the beach with him otherwise. She wouldn’t have been alive. But she didn’t say that. The sun was warm and she wanted to just enjoy the moment.
“I'm excited for this next idea,” said Jackson.
“What? Surfing?”
“No,” he said. “You. As my partner.”
Her eyebrows raised in surprise.
“In life, or at work?”
“Both.”
Mira chuckled. “I'm actually still on the fence about that.”
“What?” He stopped rubbing the lotion.
She laughed outright now. “About the work partnership, at least.”
“No, no, we need you at DARC Ops. After seeing what you can do? Jesus...” He joined in with her chuckle. “I mean, I'll pay you to stay home if you want to. I just can't have you working for my competitors. You're that dangerous.”
“I thought you were going to say valuable.”
“Same thing in my world.”
Mira tried not to think about her work situation. But this vacation would only last so long. Returning to her post at the Hart Senate Building would be impossible, even with Langhorne and Chuck gone. And doing that kind of work anywhere else seemed similarly impossible now. She wasn’t sure she even wanted to. How could she work in that environment again, without wondering what was going on behind closed doors?
“Well,” she said. “If they’d give you a rough time about cocoa butter, what would they say about me?”
“Nothing. They like you.”
“Yeah, but as your... partner?”
“Sure. I already told them about it.” Jackson finished up with the lotion, pulling his hands away.
“What?” asked Mira, trying to comprehend what he'd just said.
“Yeah, you're all set. Now who's gonna spread lotion on me? I guess I'll just do myself now? All by myself.” He laughed, squeezing the bottle until it made a loud splat. “Stop worrying, Mira. We’re on vacation.”
“Okay,” she said, turning her head to watch Jackson lubing up his chest with the lotion. He winked when he caught her looking. And then he bounced his pecs for her with a laugh.
Silly man. He was fun in and out of the bedroom. How they'd work together, professionally, was still anyone's guess. But maybe she could just trust him on that one.
He was definitely right about his ideas working out—especially the Rio de Janeiro getaway. After playing nurse for her father's week-long recovery, Mira's own recovery was long overdue. A psychological recovery. Jackson called it decompression. She called it chocolate strawberries with champagne for breakfast, multiple orgasms before noon, and Jackson working all the bad memories away until she was sore. Until the only sensible option was the beach.
Tanning. Teasing. Not reading her book.
It hardly mattered. Nor did it matter what she did for the rest of the day—just as long as it ended, like all her days thereafter, with Jackson.
THE END
Thank you so much for reading Mira and Jackson’s story. Click here to find out first when the next DARC Ops books is published.
Also by Jamie Garrett
Marked By Desire - Romantic Suspense Series
Books 1 - 5 (first book free!)
The Dreamcatchers Series
Emily
Keila
Payton (coming soon!)
Riley Reid Mystery Series
Books 1 - 3 (first book free!)
Acknowledgments
A huge thank you to you—all my readers, subscribers, and social media followers. Thank you for choosing to read my books!
Thank you to my ARC team, for all your support. You’re all amazing!
A special thanks also to Anette King and Kristine Piiparinen, for all that you do. You are both incredible ladies.
Thank you to Nicole Bays for naming Lashay. I hope you love her.
Come and hang out with me, plus authors Lisa Ladew and Adele Huxley, along with the fabulous badass babes in our Facebook romance group, Books, Babes, and Badasses. We talk about anything and everything, and there’s plenty of yummy eye candy too. Stop by and say hello anytime! You can also subscribe to my newsletter, send me an email, find me on Facebook, or visit my website.
About the Author
Hi, I’m Jamie. I live with my husband, two beautiful children and three cats. I loves to read almost as much as I loves to write, and can’t imagine anything better than getting to be an author and writing every day. There is at least one cat draped over the keyboard at all times.
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Dark Secret (DARC Ops Book 1) Page 18
