by Pamela Clare
“You fool. I am the one who saved you and your men. I am not helping those people.”
She thought she had a right to be pissed off? He’d set her straight. “Like your showing up with Pang and Har wasn’t about needing us to get you out of North Korea?”
“I did not say that.”
“That’s because it’s the truth, something you’re not acquainted with, are you?”
“I am not the liar you make me out to be.”
“But you did lie about why you wanted to come here, didn’t you, Jin? You had no plans to defect, right?”
“Yes and no.”
“It’s a yes or no answer,” he growled, tired of playing mind games, tired of waging war with an unknown enemy and just plain tired. “You know what? I’m done.” He was pretty sure someone was using a baton to pound the inside of his skull. Maybe she was innocent in all this, but he couldn’t spend the time finding out. He took the next exit, slowed down and turned right. “I don’t know what your game is, but I’ll give you one free piece of advice. Put the gun down, turn yourself in, tell us the truth about why you’re here and they may go easy on you if we get Pang and Har back.”
Did she just sigh?
“Listen to me, cowboy. I have been waiting to be sure of whose side you are on before I say too much.”
“I’ll make that easy. I’m not on your side.”
“That is too bad since you need me. Your country needs me.”
That was it. He whipped onto the shoulder and shoved the gearshift into park, swinging around to face her. “So now you’re going back to the defection plan? You think we need one more freakin’ scientist?”
“I told you. I. Am. A. Researcher!”
“I don’t fucking care.”
“You should.” Fire snapped in her gaze.
“The only value you have right now is if you tell us how to find Pang and Har. Beyond that, we don’t need another researcher.”
She leaned in, pushing that damned gun against his neck. “I am not just a researcher either.”
“Big surprise. Another fucking lie.”
The end of the gun shook against his neck, but not from fear. She yelled at him, “You don’t need me to find Pang and Har, cowboy. You need me to stop them.”
The way she said that raised the hairs on his arms. “What are you saying?”
Maybe it was the change in his voice to a calm tone or maybe she was terrified about more than he’d realized, but her next words came out in a shaky voice.
“They were not kidnapped. Your team did what no one in North Korea could. Pang and Har are not here to defect. You brought in two men who are part of a plan to destroy your country.”
Pang and Har were terrorists. Fuck. Me.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jin’s arm ached even though she had it propped on the back of the cowboy’s seat. “I will help you, but not if you turn me over to your government.”
“You won’t shoot me.”
“Do not underestimate me, cowboy. We both want to save something for different reasons, but trust that my need is as great as yours.” She had to make him see. Had to find a way to cut through his suspicion and make him really listen.
Now that Pang and Har were gone, locking her up would be as bad for America as it would be for her. She swallowed hard. “I was trained to fight and to withstand torture. I can assure you that if you trick me into being captured, I will tell you nothing about the people behind Pang and Har.”
“So you’d give aid to those willing to cause the loss of innocent lives?”
That’s what I’m trying to prevent. How much could she say? What would he believe? “I have never harmed an innocent person intentionally, but if you prevent me from saving the one I came here to save from dying, then your country will suffer an equal fate.”
“Who’re you working for?”
She shook her head and her eyes lost focus for a second. God, she wanted to close them. Her head ached from lack of sleep—and probably from not eating. From racing to escape the soldiers back home, from panic over flying, from being attacked tonight. The list just kept getting longer.
Her destiny had never been her own to choose, but suddenly she felt so small. Too small for the task ahead of her. Her stomach ached from hunger, but she could not keep food down if she tried.
Get hold of yourself and focus. She gripped the gun tighter. “I will help you, but I want your word you will not hand me over to anyone who will lock me up while we search for Pang and Har.”
She started to say more, but held off until she got his agreement. She needed that agreement. Had to have it. This was for his country as much as for her sister.
“Why would you accept my word?”
Because you’re the only man of honor I’ve ever met. “You said you never give your word unless you intend to follow through. You gave it to me on the boat and you brought me here.”
“You would just accept that?”
“From you? Yes.”
He reached up and scratched his head, looking out at the dark night. “I can’t do that. I have a duty to uphold.”
Stubborn mountain. “What about a duty to protect your people?”
“That’s what I’m talking about.”
“You would arrest me knowing I am the only hope for stopping an attack on your country?”
“So it’s a bomb?”
She wished. That would be easier to stop. “No, it is not nuclear.”
He shrugged. “We’ll find these people. We’re better at protecting national security than you give us credit for.”
That was probably true, if there were more men like this cowboy. But it was not enough to risk so much on. She shook her head again. “You assume this is a normal terrorist situation.”
“There are no normal terrorist situations,” he snapped, leaning forward so quickly she sucked in a breath and jerked the gun.
That caused him to freeze and speak calmly. “Easy there.”
Jin felt herself go dizzy at what she’d almost done. Her heart jumped all around in her chest. “Do not move like that or they will be cutting bullets out of you.” She spat the words, but her voice caught and she clamped her lips shut. What if she’d actually shot her mountain?
He studied her, that stubborn mind of his working. His eyes softened and the devil slid into his gaze to taunt her. “Would you care if you shot me, Jin?”
He was doing that on purpose to make her jumpy. It was working, but she couldn’t let it. Couldn’t let him be more important than her mission. “Just as I told you in the tunnels, I am only concerned because you are of no use to me dead.”
“Liar.”
How did he know? “I want your word.”
“I still haven’t heard anything to convince me.”
She took a deep breath, weighing how much to give him. How much would it take to convince this man to give her a small bit of his trust? She let the breath out and hoped what she said would convince him. “Pang and Har were trained as physicists to do their duty once they were called upon. That is why they were sent here.” His face drew into a hard frown and she nodded. “All I will tell you now is that without my help you will not find them before they unleash something on this country. It will last a long time and your people will never recover from it.”
“Jee-sus, Jin. What the hell is it?”
“You know my price and we have maybe two days before they activate their project.”
“Then tell me now what is going to happen.”
“Not until I have an agreement.”
Those clear blue eyes of his held her gaze prisoner through the tense silence. He was also weighing a decision, just as she’d expected. Accepting his word was a risk, but everything about her plan had involved gambles and the possibility of an ultimate sacrifice.
There was a very good chance she would die within two days. She wanted to ask, would you care if that happened, cowboy? Of course not. She was not American. Not Korean. No one wante
d a half-breed.
If not for her intelligence, she would have no value anywhere.
The cowboy scratched his chin where his skin was dark with the shadow of a new beard. “What’s your dog in this race, Jin?”
“I don’t understand. What dog?”
“Who is it you’re doing this for?”
Giving him too much information would be dangerous. “Why is that important?”
“If you’re helping a terrorist, then I won’t give you my word.”
Hope flared in her chest at the hint of his cooperation. “I am here to save my sister. She was brought here three years ago. She has no idea that they plan to use her, then kill her.” Patty had been marked as disposable when they were children. Jin had spent many late hours sneaking around to find out anything she could after Patty had been brought to the US. Blood had frozen in Jin’s veins when she’d heard the plan that included killing her sister.
Jin would find a way to protect her sister, but if she failed, and odds were good that she might, she would be stuck here and would die along with everyone else.
Either way, as the Americans would say, she was screwed. “What will it be, cowboy?”
“Here’s my deal. If you can convince me we need you to find Pang and Har, I’ll give you my word not to hand you over until we find them. No promises after that, because I won’t be in control of what happens to you.”
That should have given her relief, but one look at him told her she had no reason to celebrate. He would not break his word, but giving it was causing him anguish that she regretted.
Before she could start explaining anything, he said, “Now that we have a business deal, drop the gun so I can drive to a hotel and get some rest. You do know I could have taken it from you at any point?”
She would have lied had the truth not been so obvious after watching him in North Korea. “Yes.”
Pulling the gun away from his neck, she sat back while he put the SUV in gear and drove away.
A hotel.
She hadn’t thought past gaining his agreement.
The city swept past her window, blurred colors and tall buildings.
What would happen at the hotel? Would he offer her shelter there? Would she stay there with him? And if she did, what would he want as payment?
All men expected favors from a woman, especially those who gave up anything in return. She wouldn’t be so concerned right now but she’d kissed this one and hadn’t forgotten the feel of his lips on hers.
Would this man take advantage of her?
No. He was not like that, plus one look at him back in Seoul after he’d shed all his combat gear and showered was all she’d needed to realize this man could have his choice of women. Yes, he had deep-blue eyes and dark brown hair she found attractive, but those physical attributes were not as appealing as his confidence.
Any woman would be drawn to a man such as him.
Even her.
Especially her. The men she’d been around had no backbone when it came to standing up for a woman, or treating them as an equal. They would never have listened to her in the tunnels or brought her along when she hadn’t been part of the original plan.
Confidence was attractive and this cowboy’s every move and action embodied it.
She’d thought about that kiss over and over.
She shouldn’t think of it—shouldn’t dwell on it—after what happened to the one person she’d shown attention four years ago.
Her superiors had found out she’d become involved with a young man in her lab. When they’d met secretly at night, he liked to call himself Ben, the name he’d chosen for when they escaped to America. She’d made plans, hoping to bring her sister to live with them.
But someone had figured out that she actually cared for Ben.
She and Ben were taken to a place deep underground where she was made to watch as one of the Orion Hunters swung a sword and cut off Ben’s head.
“Jin!”
Her head snapped around at the sharp order. She sucked in a gulp of air. “What?”
“Why are you breathing like you’re having another panic attack?”
“I am fine.” But she laid the gun down on the seat so she wouldn’t accidentally discharge it.
Bo parked at the entrance to a tall hotel and said, “Guess I don’t have to tell you to sit tight, ninja.”
“My name is Jin. That is more than you have given me. I doubt Bo is your real name.”
He had opened his door and stepped out, but he paused and stuck his head back in. “You didn’t negotiate for my real name in the deal.”
Then he went inside. A few minutes later he returned with a small shopping bag.
Once he parked the car, he opened the back door and without asking, reached across her to get the gun she’d used. He returned it to the duffel bag in the rear.
When she stepped out, her legs felt like cooked noodles. She held the door for a moment to gain her footing. “Where will I stay?”
“With me.”
Jin searched the area around them, trying to come up with another option. She’d been hiding in the back of Bo’s huge vehicle since last night, and hated the thought of more time there, but the seats were soft enough.
She was standing there, staring at the open car door when Bo put the duffel and the shopping bag down, then pulled her around to him.
She didn’t have the strength in her to do anything except concede. “What?”
A balmy wind tossed a lock of hair over his forehead. He studied her with eyes that yielded no insight into his thoughts. His big hand came up to cup her cheek. “I wish I knew everything inside that head of yours, but I understand protecting someone you love. Let’s call a truce and get some rest. I give you my word that you’ll be safe with me.”
The idea that he would harm her had never taken root, but the sincerity of his declaration tugged on her heart. If she was not careful, she would make a big mistake with this man.
She nodded. “Thank you.”
They entered the hotel together, not stopping until they reached the elevator. Once inside, she asked, “What did you buy?”
“A few incidentals for you … unless you have luggage I haven’t seen?”
She’d held a gun on him and he bought her things? What man did that?
She followed him off the elevator on the tenth floor and entered a room with two large beds and a sitting area with a desk. Her entire apartment was not this big.
She stayed next to the door after he’d closed it. He walked over to drop his duffel in the middle of one bed. He flicked a look over his shoulder at her, held her gaze, then dug into his bag.
When he walked back to her, he handed her a T-shirt. “It’s clean. We both need to shower. Should be soap and shampoo in there.” He held up the small shopping bag. “I told a woman in the gift shop that the airline lost your luggage with your bathroom bag and to put whatever she thought you’d need in here.”
All at once, it hit her that she’d lost everything. She hadn’t had much to begin with, but now she had nothing. Not even her own toothbrush. Tears stung her eyes. Do not lose your composure over something so ridiculous.
She felt the weight of his gaze and blinked away her moment of weakness, then lifted her eyes to his, but when the words would not come she stepped up and hugged him.
He could have just stood there and let her take what she needed, but his arms closed around her.
To be held was such a small thing compared to all that was happening in her life, but she’d forgotten entirely what it was to be held in arms that she knew would protect her. Had not felt that since she was a tiny child.
When she finally regained her composure, she eased away and lifted her eyes to him. “Thank you for … everything.”
Warmth flitted through his expression before he locked down whatever thought had softened his gaze, but his voice had a gruff gentleness to it when he spoke. “Go on and shower so I can.”
She carried the bag into th
e bathroom, spending a moment to take in the size and amenities offered guests. In fifteen minutes, she’d scrubbed every inch of her body, washing away not just the grime from the past twenty-four hours, but the layers of desperation that had grown on her skin over the last three years.
The cut on her scalp stung from the shower water, and later, when she dried her hair.
When she pulled on his gray, short-sleeved shirt, a hint of his scent curled around her, warming her and feeling as intimate as a lover’s caress.
She wrapped her hair in a towel and walked back into the room.
He lifted a small leather bag and clothes then swung around and froze.
With a slow sweep, his gaze roamed over her from the towel around her head to the way his shirt clung to her breasts and down to her bare legs.
Heat burned away the exhaustion in his eyes. She shivered in response to the animal hunger prowling behind that gaze. Her body reacted as if he had his hands on her. She should be feeling uncomfortable under that raw perusal, not … excited.
What was wrong with her?
Jin fidgeted with the T-shirt, unsure what to say or do. “Your turn.”
That broke the moment. He grunted something and walked into the bathroom.
By the time he came back out, she sat in the middle of the empty bed and had the towel off her head. The shopping bag probably had a brush or comb in it, but she’d neglected to bring the bag out of the bathroom with her.
She’d been finger-combing her waist-length hair, but the silence pulled her attention to him.
Her cowboy wore a pair of jeans and no shirt. He’d been toweling his hair and let the towel fall around his shoulders.
Even with the reading lamp casting only a soft light over the room, there was plenty to see. His chest and arms were carved with muscle. His skin had the bronze tone of someone who spent time in the sun with his shirt off. Or did that tan go further? He had that look in his eyes again, the one that said he might pounce on her.
