Designated Target

by Karen Anders

  “No, I’m just naturally graceful.”

  He gave her a skeptical look, and she gave him a smug, noncommittal one. He stepped into the boat and cast off. She settled down on a seat, and he stepped over her to the motor.

  He took the boat down the river to a place where he’d had quite a bit of luck.

  “What kind of fish are we hunting for?” She was sitting in the middle of the boat, the wind playing with the ends of her long hair. It fell in a braid over her shoulder.

  “Cold water smallmouth, and they’re holding not far from here.”

  “‘Holding.’ A term that means fish remain motionless and just hover.”

  He smiled. He never got tired of her agile brain. “They’re usually plentiful in areas that offer ample forage and cover, have decreased current speed and receive the most favorable sunlight during shorter winter days.”

  “Smallmouth, as in bass?”

  “Right.”

  He stopped the boat and anchored it. “Do you know how to fish?”

  She gave him a wide-eyed look. “My ancestors may have been very good fishermen, but I’m afraid they wouldn’t be very proud of me. Not a whit.”

  “We’ll have to fix that, then,” he said, reaching for a rod. “Take this.” He shifted, so he was sitting behind her.

  She accepted the rod, and their hands brushed. He’d just had her, literally less than thirty minutes ago. But all it took was the brush of her hand to make him think about how she had felt in his arms.

  “What are we going to use as bait? Worms are dormant in the wintertime.”

  “We’re going to use lures.”

  He bent down and reached for the tackle box and flipped the lid open.

  She reached out and moved around the lures with her index finger. “Wow, there are a lot of choices.”

  “Plenty, but I prefer just the plain brown plastic worm. You’ll have to work it very slowly,” he said softly in a low voice.

  She leaned back into him, and he kissed the side of her neck. “Are we going for sexy fishing?”

  He chuckled. “Stop distracting me.”

  She leaned her head on his shoulder, her hair soft against his face. “You’re the one who’s doing the distracting.”

  He brushed a soft kiss across her lips. She sighed into him, accepting his kiss, then returned an impossibly sweet one of her own. His heart dipped, then squeezed tightly. “Okay, we’ll mutually agree to stop distracting each other. Let’s focus on slimy pretend worms. That should help.”

  “Ick, that helps a little.”

  “Okay, bait it by threading it on the hook.” He handed her the worm and the hook. “Be careful not to snag your finger.”

  She sat up straighter, and he missed the weight of her body against his. Concentrate, he ordered. Once she’d threaded the hook, he said, “You’re going to need to cast it into the area over there. Once you do, you’re going to reel very slowly, but allowing the worm to lie motionless and shaking the rod tip occasionally can work, too.”

  “I’ll try both. It’ll be an experience.”

  He slipped his arms around her and leaned his chin on her shoulder as she cast the rod. “That’s good, Sky. You can jiggle it every so often.”

  “Distracting, but it feels good, so I’m not going to complain,” she said, her voice indulgent. “How often do you come up here?”

  He shrugged. “Not much in the winter, but more frequently in the summer. It’s a quick trip from D.C., and it’s good to get out of the city and away from the job to decompress.”

  She shook the rod. “I bet it’s beautiful here in the spring and summer.”

  “It is. Very peaceful. But now my memories of this place will be filled with you.”

  Her voice hitched a little, and she shifted against him. He tightened his hold on her as if that would keep her here with him. “It was a good place to hide out.”

  “I’m thinking we might need to find some other place.” He was getting increasingly worried. Chris and the team weren’t any closer to finding those bastards. Vin was getting antsy. He bet they weren’t just sitting around drinking vodka. They had found the safe house once. He still wasn’t sure how, and that bothered the crap out of him, too.

  “Where?” The rod wobbled a bit, and he wasn’t sure if it was her nerves or if she was jostling it to animate the bait.

  He kept his voice calm and casual. “I’m not sure. I have an aunt who has a beach house on the cape and I know Chris and his wife have a place in Norfolk.”

  “Virginia? That’s a trek.”

  “We probably shouldn’t stay in one place too long.”

  “You’re probably right. Is this ever going to be over?”

  “It will, Sky. We just have to figure out who is behind it and then track them down.”

  For a full thirty minutes they sat together and fished. Well, she fished and he held her, the stillness broken only by her movement when she cast again or jogged the rod. He thought about what he might do once this was over and she was safe. He tried to get his head around not being with Sky. He couldn’t. Made him not want this moment to end. He’d avoided telling her about his family difficulties. He’d had preconceived notions about how she would react. Maybe part of it was that he didn’t want to go back home and have to make decisions. He had no intention of giving up what he was doing to take over. But he also didn’t want to see his family’s business fail.

  She twisted her head to meet his gaze over her shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

  She was picking up body cues he didn’t even realize that he was sending out. It brought home to him not only that he felt comfortable with her, but that he was still distracted. The obstacles to any kind of relationship with Sky were dragging at him; he wasn’t sure if she would accept not only what he did, but who he was. And he couldn’t bear to disappoint another woman he loved. His mind stumbled over that thought. He groaned inwardly. He’d said the L word to himself. Either it was a momentary lapse or he was in love with her. And that did make it doubly bad about their situation. He didn’t want to see disappointment in her eyes when he had to make the choice that was best for him. “Why do you think something is wrong?”

  “You keep tensing up. I thought fishing was about relaxing.”

  “It is.” He should tell her what he was holding back. If he couldn’t trust her with his heart, what was the point?

  “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

  “Yes.”

  Trepidation thick in her voice, she said, “What?”

  Suddenly the line pulled, and she jerked upright. “Oh! What was that?” It pulled again, and the reel started to grind. “Oh, I got a bite! What do I do?”

  “Pull back,” he said. “Set the hook.”

  “It doesn’t feel small,” she said. “I thought you said these were smallmouths.”

  “Supposed to be.”

  “Feels like a whale.”

  “Just start reeling,” he said, chuckling.

  She did, and he watched as the pole bent toward the water. “Ease up or you’ll snap the line. Geez, maybe you do have a whale there.”

  “Wow, he’s a fighter,” she said, looking at him, the excitement of catching her first fish bright as fireworks there.

  Something leaped from the water, and the powerful body thrashed against the surface, sending water splashing all around. The light caught the scales, and Sky gasped. Rainbow? he thought. Trout here? There was only one ginormous rainbow in this river.

  He looked down at her, and she was momentarily struck by the beauty, and the rod dropped, the line tautened and the fish started to run again.

  “Sky, the line...” She came back to her senses and grabbed the spinning reel and stopped the fish’s momentum, but now she would have to fight him all ove
r again.

  “Take it slow. I think you’ve got Monster on the line.”

  “It sure feels like a monster.”

  “No, not a monster. Monster.”

  “What are you saying?” she asked, carefully pulling and reeling.

  “It’s a rainbow trout and huge. Everyone around here who even thinks to call themselves a fisherman wants that fish.”

  “Really? Wow.”

  Finally she got him close to the boat, and he scooped up the twenty-pounder. “You caught Monster.”

  “That’s awesome! He’s beautiful.”

  “He’s exhausted. He put up a tough fight, but you landed him. Way to go, baby.” He carefully removed the hook from the fish’s mouth.

  She took the trout from his hands. “Get a picture of me with him. I want to remember this.”

  “Dammit. These burner phones don’t have picture-taking capability.”

  “Oh, darn. That’s okay.” Before he could stop her, she bent over the boat and set him into the water. He floated for a few minutes and swished his tail. It looked as if he was looking up at her; then with a power flick, he disappeared into the murky depth.

  She turned the reel and he could feel her shaking. “Are you all right?”

  “I had no idea fishing could be this much fun.”

  “Not as relaxing as you thought, huh?”

  “No. It was exhilarating fighting that fish. Just him and me against the odds. One mistake and he would have been gone. You were great.”

  He shook his head. “All I did was bark orders. You did all the work.”

  After that excitement, they caught several smallmouth bass and headed back to the house. He filleted them, and Sky made her delicious dish.

  “What do you call this again?”

  “Fish Adobo, and it’s cooked in adobo style, which means soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, pepper and bay leaf.”

  “I can’t believe you’ve never been to the Philippines. It’s where your father is from. Why wouldn’t you want to go there?”

  She looked away, got up and walked to the darkened window overlooking the front porch. He immediately regretted his words. He got up, thinking he should give her some space, but he couldn’t. There was a battle that she fought inside. He knew it. “I’m sorry.”

  She stood with her back to him, and he wasn’t able to sit there when it was obvious she was in pain. “No, it’s all right. You’re right. My father was born in this small fishing village in Donsol. It’s beautiful.... Well, the pictures on the internet are, anyway. They have whale sharks that you can swim with. How cool would that be?”

  He crossed the room. “Pretty cool.” He touched her shoulder, but she didn’t go into his arms. She turned to look up at him, her eyes shadowed by some emotion he could only guess at. There went his heart again, rolling over and twisting hard. “Were you afraid that you’d somehow feel worse if you connected to the country where your father was born?”

  She shook her head. “I was afraid that it would only make me miss him even more. I was afraid of those feelings.”

  He slipped his arms around her rigid body, and she finally relented and went into his arms. He felt her shudder as his arms closed around her in a comforting embrace. He realized then how lonely she must have been. How lonely she really was. It was her emotions that she’d buried right along with her parents. Because feeling them hurt too damn much.

  He drew her over to the fire and pulled her down with him onto the couch. “Someday, you’ll go,” he said. “When you’ve worked it all out. I’m sure of it.”

  “You’re more confident than I am. Ever since I met you, I’ve been floundering, confused and insane.”

  “That makes two of us.”

  “Are you just being a gentleman? Because I can’t imagine you being anything but.”

  All he could remember was the way she had clutched at him this morning, holding on to him so tightly, and the way her body had taken his, holding him there so tightly, too. He wanted more, so much more, already knowing it would be, between them, the way it had never been for him with anyone. Sky was one hell of a woman.

  But could she be his?

  It was getting late; they were both tired. Although they were safe, that didn’t alleviate the stress of being hunted, even if they tried to ignore it.

  “Only with you,” he whispered.

  “Right. On bad guys you use a very scary knife and a gun.”

  “That’s right. Is that a comfort, or does it cause you nightmares?”

  “A little of both.”

  “Damn,” he said. “I didn’t mean to...”

  She covered his mouth. “Shh. You did what you had to do. Nothing about this whole situation is easy. I’ll get over it.” Her eyes focused on his mouth. Her thumb pressed there. “I can easily say that you are also giving me fever dreams.” She kissed the corner of his mouth, then moved her fingers along the line of his jaw and softly kissed his lips. “I had a really good time today. Thank you for making me have fun.”

  He smiled. “You’re welcome and thank you,” he said, never more sincere.

  “For?”

  “Trusting me. I know it’s not easy for you.”

  “Actually, it’s so damn easy with you.”

  He smiled and brushed her mouth with his lips.

  “Come on. Let’s get to bed. Somebody woke me up at the crack of dawn.”

  She yawned then, and they both laughed.

  “That was a very inconsiderate person.”

  They laughed again, and he felt as if he was falling. He caught the doorjamb and spun into her as he backed her against the wood, taking her mouth again, this time not as softly or sweetly.

  It was only later after they were satiated and warm and cozy under the blankets that he asked her the question that had been at the back of his mind ever since she’d caught Monster.

  “Why did you let him go?”

  She stirred beside him, but he couldn’t see her face in the dark. Her voice was pensive and quiet. “Because he’d survived for so long. I just couldn’t eat him. Is that dumb?”

  Cradling her against his chest, he smoothed her hair back off her face and kissed her temple. “No, I don’t think that was dumb at all.”

  He wanted her to be his, but was their concept of how to live life too divergent?

  He knew her intimately and she knew him. But was that enough?

  Fighting against the attraction and the chemistry because she was dedicated to a promise she’d made when she’d been young and vulnerable. Lost and alone. It hurt his heart to think of her like that. He wanted her to get in touch with everything she’d shunned. All those feelings that made a person alive and strong and real.

  Denying them wasn’t healthy.

  He wanted to change her mind. He wanted to make her understand that what they were building was solid, so solid it could last a lifetime.

  If she would let it.

  She could be his, if she let her past go.

  He wasn’t sure she could.

  He wasn’t sure where that would leave them.

  Chapter 14

  “Dmitry?”

  The younger man rubbed the back of his neck and sat back from the computer.

  “Anything?” Alex growled in Russian, so frustrated he wanted to punch something.

  “I broke into his personal email, and there was correspondence with a friend of his about a cabin.”

  “Where?”

  “I’m still going through the emails, but so far there has only been a reference to it. It’s possible he’s already deleted the emails that described it in more detail.”

  “Shit!”

  Dmitry typed on the keyboard and stared at the screen. “I’m trying to backtrack and f
ind out who the friend is. Then I can search for properties. I need more time.”

  Alex grabbed him out of the chair and slammed him against the wall. “We’re running out of time! We are supposed to deliver her tomorrow. Find that damn cabin. I am not going to be bested by some smart bitch and her lapdog! Find them!”

  Dmitry started to sweat. That was a good sign—he realized that Alex was dead serious. “Agent Fitzgerald graduated from MIT. I’ll try to find an address in their database. That will at least lead to his family, where we might get some leverage.”

  “His name is way too common to search for him that way. Where is MIT?”

  “Cambridge, Massachusetts.”

  “Massachusetts? Do we have anyone in that area?”

  “Not at the moment.”

  “Hack the university and see if you can find a home address for him. And his parents most likely paid for his education. Track them that way, too. There’s always a money trail.”

  “Yes, sir,” Dmitry said, looking as if Alex had given him the incentive he needed.

  “I’m going to contact our employer for any insight from him.”

  Alex walked away from the kitchen table, leaving Dmitry to work. They still had the possibility that Dr. Baang would act true to form, demand her laptop with the hidden microdot that contained a GPS tracker that would lead them right to her, but so far she hadn’t. Alex wasn’t any closer to tracking down Agent Fitzgerald’s family. That could be a damn dead end. If he put stock in Dmitry’s skills, then getting leverage against Agent Fitzgerald would be in the bag, as the Americans said.

  He dialed and waited for the call to go through.

  “It’s me,” he said.

  “Do you have her?”

  “Nyet. Can you do anything to speed up process? You know girl better.”

  “I tried, but I haven’t heard from her. They might get suspicious if I push. She’s got to be getting pretty antsy right about now.”

  Alex heard a phone ringing in the background. “Speak of the devil. Got you, sweetheart.”

  “This is good news? She grabbed bait and will lead us to her. Call if you have lead.”