by Dana Marton
Then a shot came from his right and he rolled before he realized it hadn’t been aimed at him. The man on the other side of the crates fell silent. The pilot had taken him out.
What the hell? He looked for the man and spotted him just in time as he jumped from behind a snowbank and rushed to Tessa’s side.
His body, the way he moved, seemed familiar.
Then he took off his helmet.
“Shorty?”
Mike came to his knees, then pushed to his feet, staring at the man. “How the hell did you get here?”
Shorty raised his pistol to Tessa. “As soon as I heard it was you those idiots took, I knew there would be trouble,” he said to her.
No! Not now when they were so close to having made it, damn it. Mike held his grip on the rifle tight as hot fury washed through him, mixed with a staggering sense of betrayal. He held back the overwhelming urge to charge at the man and let the bullets fly where they may. He couldn’t put Tessa in any more danger than she already was. The sight of the gun pressed to her skin made his heartbeat slow.
He loved her. Hell of a time to realize it now.
He wasn’t going to let anything happen to her, that was for damned sure.
He kept his eyes on Shorty. “I thought I knew you.”
“You do.” The asshole grinned. “Haven’t you always said I was the craziest bastard you ever met?”
He nodded. Yes, he’d said that enough, jokingly. Shorty had pulled his share of stunts over the years. “Not this crazy.”
The man shrugged.
“I can’t believe you would hook up with Brady.” He made an effort to talk friendly and keep the rage out of his voice. He measured the distance carefully between them. Too wide to cover in a single jump.
“We’ve always worked good together.” Shorty grinned.
Always? The words slammed into Mike with a physical force. The memory of how Shorty had begged him not to turn the man in. “He never had anything on you, did he?”
Shorty shook his head. “We were running that little business together.”
The betrayal stung. “I thought we were friends.”
Shorty shrugged. “That weekend in Vegas with the guys? I lost more than I let on.”
He had to get over it. He had to get his mind off the past and into the present, find a way to stop this insanity. “How about now? Did Brady convince you this was some noble fight against an old enemy who hasn’t lost all his teeth yet?”
Shorty sneered at him. “This time around I’m the boss. Brady did what I told him.” He looked between Tessa and Mike. “I must say, he did disappoint me.”
“At least you can be certain that won’t happen again,” Tessa said, her voice clipped with anger.
Shorty raised his eyebrow. “So that’s how it went down? The old boy is out?”
Mike nodded.
Shorty didn’t seem bothered. “Come on, now,” he said to Mike. “Don’t look at me like that. You never had a head for business. You can’t be mad at me because I have.”
Mike kept his fury in check. “Have you thought about how many people are going to die? Women and children. Can you live with that?”
“I’m pushing no buttons. Besides, nuclear weapons don’t kill people. People kill people.”
“It’s not a joke, damn it.” He heard his voice rise and took it down a notch. He could not lose his cool now. “It’s not worth it, man. If it’s money you need, let’s talk about it. We were friends once. I’ll help.”
“Not with this stuff.” Shorty shook his head.
Was that a hint of wistfulness in his voice?
“How about Vicky and the kids? This is going to come out sooner or later. Think of what it will do to them.”
“I’m leaving them taken care of. I’m not cut out for marriage, anyway. Should have never done it.” His face turned hard and serious. “I’m in trouble with the wrong people this time. I have to leave the country and I can’t ever come back. I need enough money to last the rest of my life.”
“We were friends once. You said I could trust you.”
“I lied.”
What was wrong with Tessa’s eye? She was blinking like a semaphore. Mike nodded as if to Shorty’s last words, letting Tessa know she had his attention.
She looked at his rifle then back into his eyes, to the rifle then to him again. What did she want? He couldn’t toss her the gun, and he couldn’t lift it, aim it and shoot Shorty, not when all the man had to do was pull the trigger and Tessa would be dead.
“So what now?” he asked.
“Now you help me load the crates and I won’t shoot either of you. I’m gonna have to take out the truck, however.”
Mike shrugged. “Leaving us alive won’t be much use then, will it? The weather will kill us, anyway.” He was talking only to stall for time. Shorty meant to kill them. He had no doubt about that.
“Maybe. Then again, you always were a crafty bastard. No telling what you’ll come up with.”
“Leave us the truck.”
Shorty laughed. “You’re in no position to negotiate.”
“And if I don’t help you?”
“I’ll shoot your girlfriend.”
“You touch her, I rip your throat out.”
“That’s nice. Consider this, though. I either fly out of here with the crates or blow them up right here. I’m not going to prison. And if I have to bite the dust—well, snow—you two will be biting it with me.” He paused. “Let’s see, where is the wind blowing from? The west. Too bad for the people of Alaska.”
“It would take more than that pistol to set off those warheads.”
“How about 150 pounds of TNT?”
It was his turn to sneer. “That would work if you had it.”
“He does,” Tessa said quietly and nodded toward one of the crates.
Oh, hell.
“I know.” Shorty flashed him a superior grin. “It’s not smart to transport it together with the other stuff, but what can I do? It was on the purchase order.”
Tessa blinked three times, slowly. One. Two. Three. Then she moved her feet a little.
She was getting ready to do something. On the count of three. He nodded again, as if to Shorty.
She blinked. One. Two. Three. She threw herself to the ground at the same time as Mike raised his gun. Shorty squeezed off a shot, but it missed her, she was already gone. Then the pistol was aimed at Mike. He returned fire, jerking the rifle barrel up a second later as Tessa jumped into the picture.
She threw herself on Shorty from the side, catching him unaware. Her first kick sent the pistol flying, the second broke Shorty’s jaw with a sickening crunch. The man howled as he rolled on the ground, making it hard to wedge the rifle barrel under his chin, but Mike managed.
Tessa had the pistol by then, holding it on the man. “All right, stop the drama. It’s just a broken bone,” she said.
Mike glanced at her. Damn she was tough. He picked up his glove and pulled it on. Couldn’t afford to get frostbite now. He was planning on doing some serious fondling at the earliest opportunity.
“Okay, this is how it’s gonna go,” he said to Shorty as he pulled him up. “You help me load the crates into the chopper, and I’ll leave you here with the truck.”
Shorty shook his head.
“If you don’t help, I’ll break your nose. We can keep going in that direction for a while. There are a lot of ways to hurt a man without impairing his ability to lift.”
Hate burned in Shorty’s eyes, but he nodded.
Mike handed his rifle to Tessa. “I’ll bring over the chopper. If he as much as blinks the wrong way, shoot him.”
“With pleasure,” she said, and smiled.
SHORTY WAS TALKING with his broken jaw, his words barely intelligible. Something that resembled “you take out Mike and I’ll take you with me” and another couple of words about lots of money.
“I never really liked you that much. Don’t push your luck,” Tessa said.
Come to think of it, this wasn’t the first time he’d tried to come between her and Mike. At the hotel three years ago when she had walked in on them, he could have explained the two women belonged to him. He could have backed Mike up. Instead he had grinned at her like the jackass she now knew he was.
She drew up her shoulders against the swirling snow as the chopper set down next to the crates. Mike jumped out.
“Okay, let’s do it. Remember, buddy, we are both armed and you’re not. You drop the crate, you’re dead.”
Mike slung the rifle over his shoulder, and Tessa did the same with hers. They grabbed the first crate, staggering under the weight. Shorty seemed to have taken Mike’s words to heart because he was lifting his share.
She was glad Mike had found a way to force him to help, but she didn’t feel comfortable leaving Shorty behind. He would have little choice but to go back to the evil work he had given himself to. Someday, somewhere he would pop up again. And he would do damage. She would have to talk to Mike about that.
They loaded the first crate without trouble, then the second and the third. They left the explosives for last. It was a smaller crate and went a little easier than the warheads. Then they were done, and before she could blink, Mike had Shorty on the ground on his stomach, his hands behind his back, in the process of getting tied together. When did he get the rope?
“You baftard. You faid you’ll leave me.” Shorty raged against Mike as he lifted him up and tossed him after the crates.
Mike shrugged. “I lied.”
THE CHOPPER FLEW over the icy waters of the Bering Sea.
“You know, this was fun.” Tessa leaned back in her seat. Relief softened her muscles, but she wasn’t tired. If anything, she was energized.
Mike glanced over and shook his head. “You shaved ten years off my life.”
“You need to learn to relax.”
“I’d have to be dead to feel relaxed around you.”
“Ahh, do I make you nervous?”
“Very.” But he shook his head. “With the stuff you get into—I live in constant fear for your life.”
“Didn’t seem like you worried too much over me in the last couple of years.”
“I forgot how crazy you were.”
“Yeah. I bet you forgot all about me.”
He held her gaze. “I remembered plenty.”
The heat that radiated from him made her squirm in her seat.
“I suppose you’re going to want some big ridiculous church wedding and make me wear a bow tie,” he said.
“It would be nice to be asked.” She drew herself up in her seat.
“You know I can’t ask you, Tessa. You’d say no just for the sake of fighting.”
“So you figure your best chance is to try and bully me into it?”
“Pretty much.”
“I hope you have a backup plan.”
“Don’t I always?” He flashed her a cocky smile. “If bullying doesn’t work, I’m gonna seduce you and try to get a yes out of you in the throes of passion.”
The hours they’d spent on the boat flashed through her mind, making her body tingle.
“Come to think of it,” he said, “I’ll do the seducing anyway. For good measure.”
“I never took you for the marrying type.”
“You changed me.”
Did she? Could she truly believe him? Could she risk her heart? She had to, didn’t she? Because the only other alternative was not having him in her life, and that she couldn’t bear.
“Why do you want to marry me?”
He shook his head. “I knew you were going to make me do all the mushy stuff just to see me squirm. Take over the joystick.”
She did, her heart flipping over in her chest when he took off his seat belt and went down on one knee as much as the room in the cockpit allowed.
Shorty said something in the back, the words unintelligible, his tone full of derision.
“Excuse me for a moment.” Mike stood and grabbed a glove.
There was some groaning in the back.
“Now, where were we,” he said when he came back and took up the position again.
“I want to marry you because you are the most amazing person I have ever known. Because the past three years were hell without you. Because you’re brave and strong and sexy and I am nuts about you. Tessa Nielsen, I love you, and I am going to keep on loving you for the rest of my life. Would you please just this once not be pigheaded and agree to be my wife?”
He took her hand, but she pulled it back.
“You were doing good until that last sentence.”
“Okay, let me try again. Would you please put me out of my misery and agree to be my wife?” He put on a roguish expression. “Will ye be my bonnie bride, lass?”
That sexy brogue just about did her in. “And you’ll be reasonable?”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to try to get into whatever group it is you’re working for. Are you going to have a problem with that?”
Her military career had started out of a desire to learn how to be strong and wanting to follow in her brother’s footsteps, but down the line it had turned into something more. She enjoyed it and she was good at it. She liked the feeling of making a difference. “I’m not kidding, Mike. I’m not quitting so you can take care of me and satisfy some deep-seated macho need.”
“I’ll give you a reference. I’ll put in a recommendation.”
“Okay, hypothetical question. We are home and it’s the middle of the night. We hear a burglar downstairs. Are you going to lock me in the bedroom, or are you going to let me go downstairs and beat up his sorry ass?”
“Can we go together?”
She thought for a moment. “Deal.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Yes, that’s a yes.” The fight went out of her. She had trouble catching her breath. “I love you, don’t you know that?” She had never stopped loving him.
He held her gaze. “God, I would have given anything to hear you say that. There was a time when I was scared to death you wouldn’t.”
She smiled.
“A word of warning,” he said, and she stiffened.
“Grandpa Fergus will likely want to play the bagpipe at the wedding. He’d be hurt if we said no. I’m probably going to have to get married in a kilt.”
She let out a slow breath and savored the image that came to mind. “I can live with that.”
“I’m dying to kiss you.” He leaned closer.
“What’s keeping you?”
“The fear of crashing.” He grinned.
“See? That’s the kind of stuff I’m talking about. If we are going to get married, you are going to have to put a lot more faith in me. I’ll have you know, I’m an excellent pilot.”
“In you, I have all the faith in the world,” he said and closed the distance between them.
Epilogue
“I can’t believe we’re working undercover on our honeymoon. How could you agree to this?” Mike shook his head.
“It’s just surveillance,” Tessa said and smoothed some more suntan lotion over her legs.
He swallowed, his mouth feeling dry as he watched her slim fingers glide over her calves and up to her thighs. They were stretched out on a private beach in Venezuela, the favorite hangout of Paolo Sanchez, a major international financier who had been linked recently to a certain terrorist group.
“I wonder how Sasha is doing?”
“Probably gained ten pounds by now, knowing Kelly,” he said.
His youngest sister adored the dog and had begged for the job of dog-sitting. The other huskies had been taken back into service by the U.S.A.C.E. Tessa had insisted on Sasha’s discharge and adoption.
He had a wife, a house and a dog. If that wasn’t the most freakishly normal thing he’d done in his adult life, he didn’t know what was. He loved it.
Dave walked by without looking at either of them, his large footprints following him in a neat row on th
e wet sand. The surf broke against the beach with a musical sound. The air was filled with the smell of salt water, the breeze bringing a whiff of suntan lotion now and then.
“Guess our shift is over.” Mike sat up.
Tessa followed Dave with her eyes without turning her head. “That man needs a good waxing.”
Mike flinched. “I wouldn’t mention that to him if I were you.”
“When would I have a chance to talk to your friends? You don’t let me near them.”
“We’re not supposed to know them. And even if we weren’t undercover, I wouldn’t want any of them within a mile of you. It’s our honeymoon.” He picked up his towel and tossed it over his shoulder as he glanced down the length of the beach. Other than Dave Reyburn, he couldn’t spot anyone from the team, although there had to be at least one more man watching. They were taking shifts in twos.
“You worry about Dave seducing me?” She grinned at him.
“No.” Not Dave. Short and bulky and covered in hair in the most unattractive places, Dave Reyburn was hardly a ladies’ man. But some of the others were. He’d almost had to punch Eric’s lights out the night before for staring at Tessa half the night at the bar.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” She gathered up her belongings and drew a finger down his arm, instantly setting his body on full alert. “There is only one man I’m interested in.”
He grinned, loving the sound of that.
“Pepito, the chef,” she said.
She turned, but he grabbed after her and pulled her to him, wiped the mischievous smile off her lips with his own. He kissed her longer and harder than he meant to. He could never quite get enough.
