Shrouded in Secrets

by Kim McMahill

  “Zara?”

  Cash nodded. “She’s ruthless and skilledthe best I’d ever worked with. Together we were a force to reckon with, but when she turned, the smart ones got out of the way. I didn’t, and a lot of people diedall the wrong ones. I’m still here, and apparently, so is she.”

  Olivia could see the pain, guilt, and anger etched on Cash’s face. She placed a hand over his heart and felt the strong, rapid beat. His flesh was warm and his muscles hard beneath her touch. The power in this dangerous and reckless man radiated from his body, but at the moment, he seemed lost and distant. She loathed seeing a warrior’s spirit so beaten down.

  Sliding her hands up his chest, lacing her fingers around his neck, she pulled his lips toward hers and kissed him gently, stealing his mind back to the present. Slowly she sensed him edge away from the pain of the past, his focus no longer scattered, as he returned her kiss, deepening the intimacy, gathering her closer in an embrace that made her knees weak.

  “I’d better be sleepwalking and this is just a nightmare, or someone is going to regret getting out of bed this morning.”

  Diane’s voice made Cash jump back like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He was impressed with how Olivia maintained her composure as she turned and smiled at her sister.

  “Good morning, Diane. Did you sleep well?”

  “Don’t ‘good morning’ me. Who initiated this? I don’t want to cold-cock the wrong person.”

  Cash and Olivia both raised their hands, grinning at each other as Diane gritted her teeth, mumbling threats and turning on her heel to leave the room.

  “Wait. I talked to Benny while you were in Mexico. He agreed to meet with you and Cash, but no one else.”

  Diane stopped and spun around. “Why would we need to talk to the chief? What haven’t you told us?”

  As Diane closed the distance between her and her sister, Cash recognized the fire in his partner’s eyes signaling war. When the warning signs appeared, he usually got out of the way and enjoyed the spectacle. Catching him with her sister made her temper flare, so he felt obligated to intervene. He stepped between the two women and held out a hand to ward off Diane. She swatted at him, removing his extended arm from her path.

  “Hold on. Hear your sister out. Don’t make me separate you two,” he said with a crooked grin.

  Diane glared at him before backing off a few steps.

  Olivia eased out from behind Cash’s broad shoulders, trailing her fingers slowly across his warm skin. She smiled at Diane, but kept her hand on Cash’s back.

  “As I’m sure you know, a relatively small group of crystal skull hobbyists exist who speculate, chat on the Internet, and, contrary to their goals, have inadvertently helped to discredit the legends rather than prove their theories, coming off like a bunch of lunatics. But, there is some truth mixed in with a lot of fiction, and in the past few months, the interest has increased, and some of the information is starting to hit too close to home. After you guys came, and I learned that someone is trying to amass the legendary sacred relics, I went to Benny for advice. I was concerned and he has agreed to meet with you.”

  Cash was relieved as the last remaining doubt about Olivia evaporated. Obviously, she had withheld information from them to seek guidance from someone she trusted. When Diane showed up on her doorstep with five strangers, all but Marjorie representing various government agencies, demanding information, he could understand her reluctance to share her knowledge.

  “Well, let’s get going. We’ll leave a note, but I’ll bet we’re back before tall and geeky and short and dorky even wake up.”

  Cash tried to suppress his laughter. Diane worked to sound so tough, but he had already recognized the pattern. She only gave nicknames to those she was fond of, in an attempt to conceal her true feelings.

  “So, which one do you have the hots for? Pete or Ian?”

  If looks could kill, Cash would be dead, but she didn’t say a word as she stomped out of the room, leaving him once again alone with Olivia.

  “That was close. Now, where were we?” Cash asked as he pulled Olivia back into his arms and pressed his lips to hers.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  September 27, 1:00 P.M.

  Cusco, Peru

  ZARA SAT ALONE in her room, holding the relic retrieved in the Bahamas, but her thoughts wandered from the object’s unique features. The largest her team had acquired to date, this one harbored a green tint around its eyes. The crystal’s temperature, like the others, never warmed, no matter how long she held and caressed the smooth sculpture. Searching the object’s surface for tool markings, she found no hint as to the craftsmen’s identities. Despite her success so far, her concentration drifted from the artifact’s origin and purpose, honing in on Cash Luker and his betrayal.

  Contempt for the man whom she once loved had remained deeply buried for years. The hatred simmered to the surface, consuming her with rage. She had refused to think about him since her staged death, but now he was back in her life. If the tall, skinny man made it out of the tunnels alive, her secret was exposed. No one knew her better than Cash, which changed everything, forcing her to alter the way she operated and exercise additional caution. They had encountered no resistance in acquiring the relics—until Cash entered the picture. Now, one of her team was dead, and the CIA was likely aware she was alive.

  They would try to hunt her down, but that didn’t concern her. Except for Cash, no one could match her skill. Being sought again was kind of ironic. Her mind wandered back to how the CIA had recruited her. The first time they wanted her help and this time they would want her dead. At the time, she was in America going to college, and her father was an ambassador to the United States, which is how he had met her American-born mother. She, too, was born in the U.S., giving her dual citizenship. Her mother was a beautiful woman, but too American, despite deep family ties to the Middle East. The CIA believed the fatal accident which claimed her mother’s life while visiting Washington D.C. was orchestrated by her father, but they had no solid proof, and he had diplomatic immunity. Assuming the daughter who had spent much of her life in the U.S. would be bitter toward the man who had killed her mother, they aggressively pursued her, needing someone who could get into an Afghanistan University for a simple one-time assignment. The huge payoff gave Zara financial independence from everyone, including her father, something she coveted. She completed that first assignment to perfection, and after several years of exceptional performance on low-security-clearance missions, providing the agency no reason to doubt her loyalty, she gradually worked her way into more complex jobs. Eventually she was partnered with Cash, and after gaining his trust, the rest were easy. Despite knowing her background, the CIA needed agents who could slip into foreign societies, so becoming a part of the agency had been far easier than most would imagine.

  Shaking off thoughts of her past, and of Cash, Zara placed the mesmerizing Bimini skull in its special lead-lined box and returned it to the chest next to the one her brother retrieved in Mexico. Losing one of her team infuriated her, but she never mourned the loss of the weak, it was just nature’s way of weeding out inferior pieces of the world’s puzzle. Fortunately, the departed was one of the Egyptian men recently recruited for the mission, and not her brother. Still, Cash would pay for that crime, along with all those he had committed against her. He had tried to set her up, but she’d been tipped off. He hadn’t even cared enough to hear her side, not that he would have understood family loyalty came before allegiance to any agency or country. He didn’t love her enough to put her before his misguided values. Worst of all, he had left her for dead. For those transgressions, he must die.

  As she left the room, locking the door behind her, Zara smiled, glad Cash hadn’t gone to Bimini. A quick death was not enough punishment. She wanted him to suffer the way she had and experience the pain of betrayal. Her father had warned her about loving or trusting any man—she had refused to listen, but would never commit the same mis
take again.

  “Mustafa, what have you found?” she demanded, entering the common area.

  “No new leads on numbers twelve or thirteen, but we discovered two members of Cash’s team left for Argentina. Perhaps we should focus on that one for now.”

  “Since they all departed from Arizona, I imagine they have reassembled there. Heinrich, I want you and Marabout to go to Arizona. Mustafa has been to the Navajo woman’s house, so he can brief you on what to expect. Do not make contact, just follow, listen, and attempt to find out if they know anything on the whereabouts of the last three relics. Unless, of course, the opportunity presents itself to confiscate another, and in that case, use whatever means necessary to meet our objectives.”

  Heinrich nodded his large shaved head, indicating his comprehension and acceptance of his assignment. He wasn’t thrilled about having to babysit Marabout, preferring to work alone. Marabout wasn’t helpless—he and Ahmed managed to retrieve a crystal in Mexico—but he lacked the willingness to die for the cause. Marabout’s resolve was weaker, and therefore, he added risk and unwanted responsibility.

  “Reza and Ahmed, you go to Argentina and track the members of Cash’s team. I have some other business I must attend to, then we will meet back here.”

  Zara felt confident Reza and Ahmed could find, follow, and seize the artifact from the two in Argentina. As much as she wanted to go with Heinrich and Marabout to Arizona, her confidence in her ability to avoid confrontation and resist the compulsion to kill Cash was low, and for now she wanted him alive. If Mustafa failed to locate the last three relics and uncover how to unleash their power, she felt certain Cash, with unlimited resources at his disposal, would unravel the secret and lead the way.

  She needed time to sort through her feelings and put them into perspective. She never allowed emotions to interfere with a job and wasn’t about to let it happen now, when their goal was within her grasp. Besides, Heinrich was more than capable of handling the surveillance job while protecting her brother. Thinking about how close Marabout had been to Cash made Zara shudder. Fortunately, he survived the encounter. Heinrich was the best, and she trusted him. It had taken her a long time to regain confidence in a man again, after Cash, but Heinrich was more machine than human, which made it impossible to sway his loyalties.

  “I’ve done some experiments with quartz crystals, and a lot of research, and I believe the answer to unleashing the power lies in the piezoelectric properties of the crystal. The chemical structure of piezoelectric material allows charges on the surface to shift when mechanical stress is applied, generating voltage,” Mustafa stated, interrupting Zara’s thoughts.

  “What exactly does that mean?”

  “Pressure distorts crystal, causing unbalanced electrical forces. Mechanical strain can be converted to an electrical signal. It’s a simple and common concept, actually. For example, when you press the button on a cigarette lighter, a tiny spring-loaded hammer hits a tiny piezoelectric crystal, and the high voltage produced ignites the gas as the current jumps over a small spark gap. What I can’t figure out is how we can apply enough stress to cause the massive destruction of legend, or why all of the relics must be used together.”

  “Maybe the story is a foolish myth or maybe you just need to create a lighter of epic proportions,” Zara stated as she approached Mustafa and peered over his shoulder at the computer screen. “But, first things first. We need to find the last three relics, then we must solve the riddle of their power.”

  “I’m back in communication with Desert Blaze, which is probably my best lead at the moment. I doubt she knows the locations, or she wouldn’t have contacted me. She was fishing, and if she catches anything, Heinrich will be there to reel it in.”

  Zara snorted at his analogy. “Your speech is becoming too American. I hope you are not beginning to enjoy their vulgar ways.”

  “Not to worry. The world will never be at peace until the Americans are out of the picture, or at least contained. I adopted the Americanized lingo in order to lure Desert Blaze into conversation. She is cautious, so I’ve led her to believe I’m an educated, but harmless Jamaican party boy.”

  Zara laughed. “You are many things, my friend, but harmless is not one of them. Guard the crystals with your life and keep searching. I’m going to Virginia.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  September 27, 3:00 P.M.

  Sedona, Arizona

  DIANE’S FINGERS CLENCHED the steering wheel of the rented SUV. Cash seldom let anyone else drive, but she hadn’t given him any choice, and she hadn’t spoken to him or Olivia in the last hour. She still couldn’t believe he had moved in on her flighty sister so fast. Staying in Olivia’s house and leaving them alone in the same room together the previous night had been a lapse in judgment on her part. Cash was a sucker for a pretty face, and Olivia was a pushover for a tortured soul, and Diane could think of few men more damaged than Cash. She had never held his demons against him, since few escaped the job with their sanity intact, but that didn’t mean she wanted him anywhere near her sister.

  “Are you still mad you caught your sister kissing me?” he said to break the silence.

  “Would it kill you to pass up one beautiful woman? Your relationships wouldn’t end so badly if you looked for something more substantial than a pretty face and perfect body.”

  “Your true opinion of me finally spills out? I realize you’ve always thought my study of tribal lore was frivolous and my lifestyle flaky, but I believed deep down you respected my intellect and were proud to be my sister,” Olivia said as tears clouded her eyes.

  Cash glared at Diane as he reached over the seat and grabbed Olivia’s hand. He laced his fingers through hers and squeezed before releasing his grip to wipe the tear sliding down her cheek. He hadn’t meant to start a fight between the sisters, and he certainly had no desire to cause pain to the amazing woman who had opened her home to them, and who had been nothing but gracious. Earlier in the kitchen, Olivia had freely offered comfort, and he didn’t possess the willpower to push her away. When her arms slid around his neck and she pressed her body to his, wearing nothing more than a couple of thin layers of silk, he lost his ability to think clearly.

  “I didn’t mean it the way it sounded. You’re smart and kind, and I love you. It’s just that Casanova here doesn’t stick with anything or anyone for long, and he usually doesn’t pick his playmates for their intellect. I don’t want you hurt.”

  “Wait a minute. That’s not necessarily true. Just because the women I date are generally attractive, you’re assuming they’re all bubble-heads. It’s not nice to stereotype.”

  “So, you’re saying Mandy, Tammy, Ashley, Courtney, and Jocelyn are scholars, and their stimulating conversations and inquisitive minds hooked you, for as long as your short attention span would allow?”

  She had him and he couldn’t think of a way to deny the facts. They were beautiful and voluptuous, but he doubted any of them could balance their own checkbook. Contrary to Diane’s belief, he hadn’t dated much since Zara. Unfortunately, the five Diane mentioned had all worked at pubs and restaurants they used to frequent. When Cash tired of the women, he and Diane had to find new places to hang out, so he imagined to Diane those short-term, poorly-ended relationships added up to a lot of trouble.

  “You make me sound like a real pig. Olivia, don’t believe a word your sister says. I’m not shallow. I just don’t run into many quality women on the job or on my few off hours…until now, that is,” he said with a wink directed toward Olivia.

  They rode the rest of the way to Benny’s house in silence. Cash had no idea why Diane was so angry. It wasn’t as if he had slept with Olivia, not that the thought hadn’t crossed his mind. Olivia was unlike any woman he had ever met. Yes, she was beautiful, but she was also kind, passionate, and intuitive, knowing when to comfort and when to give him space. He didn’t doubt her intelligence, only her loyalty. He believed her motives were pure, but he wasn’t sure they interpreted the current
situation in the same way, and he feared their methods of protecting the relics might place them at odds with each other.

  There was something unique and refreshing about Olivia, making him want to get to know her better. He just hoped for the chance and to not be forced to choose between his friendship with Diane and his desire for Olivia.

  “Here,” Olivia stated, pointing.

  “I know where I’m going. It hasn’t been that long since I’ve been home,” Diane grumbled as she eased the vehicle off the road and drove down the lane, leaving a cloud of dust in her wake.

  Cash stared at the modest, earth-toned painted house surrounded by a tidy yard and the new fuel-efficient vehicle parked under a shaded carport. He had expected something larger and flashier for the chief’s residence and his mode of transportation.

  As they got out of the SUV, three old dogs rushed out to greet them, tails wagging. The trio ran past Cash and Diane and plopped down in front of Olivia, begging for attention. Cash watched as Olivia bent, scratched each dog behind the ears, and cooed at them in a loving, soothing voice. They panted and rubbed their scruffy bodies against her legs, desperate for another pat of approval.

  “Oh, look how thin you three are. Is Benny feeding you enough? Hold still, Jack, you’ve got a burr in your paw.”

  Olivia pulled the annoyance out of the dog’s foot and gave the one called Matilda a big hug. She picked up the smallest of the three, and her eyes met Cash’s as she stood and smiled at him while nuzzling the mutt.