by Katie Reus
Someone grunted and then very fast fists and something shiny—a knife maybe—flashed around her. She tried to hit the gas again, but hands were everywhere and her attacker yanked the keys from the ignition. Her car shuddered as it turned off. It all happened so fast she couldn’t stop it. Before she could contemplate an escape, rough hands grabbed her shoulders.
As she tried to pull away, the door opened and she toppled through. Then she was shoved facedown on her hard driveway. Her face rubbed against the gravel, and a sharp burst of panic punched through her like a live blow.
“Quit struggling, little puta,” the man on top of her growled in a Spanish accent. His knee dug into her back. She tried to struggle, but his weight proved too much.
“Hey!” another male voice sounded somewhere nearby.
Hope jumped inside her for a brief moment. Maybe someone was coming to help her. She tried to shout, but the man was pressing her into the concrete and it hurt to even breathe.
“Be careful with her, stupid. The boss doesn’t want her hurt,” the other voice whispered in a similar accent.
Something cold and metal snapped around her wrists before she was hauled to her feet. Pain ripped through her arms at the awkward jerking motion. “Help!” A scream so loud it burned her throat tore free. “Somebody help—”
The man who’d pulled her to her feet—a dark-haired man with black eyes that looked like empty pools and a vicious scar running down his face—backhanded her. Pain stung her cheek, but before she could scream again the man shoved something wet over her face. She tried to struggle, but everything in her vision turned fuzzy as her world tilted on its axis.
Chapter 10
Burn phone: prepaid disposable phone.
Ronald jumped in his chair as his cell phone buzzed across his desk. He answered immediately. “Ronald here.”
“Who is the man with Sophie Moreno?” Vargas snapped, his voice heated.
“I don’t know.” Clearly he wasn’t with Keane Flight as he’d said or Vargas would have known. Ronald had already betrayed her enough with his silence; he didn’t want to add more. Besides, Sophie had told Ronald she’d ditched Jack—or whoever he really was. Had she lied to him?
“My men have been unable to track her and I know she has a partner. Do not lie to me. Are you helping her?”
“No!”
“Has she contacted you?”
Ronald loosened his tie. He assumed Miguel was always watching him, so he decided to go for honesty this time. “Yes.”
“What did she say?”
“Just that someone tried to kill her and she doesn’t know why. She’s scared and on the run. She doesn’t know who’s after her, which is exactly what I told you. She’s not involved in this. You need to leave her alone.” His admission wouldn’t hurt Sophie. It was the only thing that eased his conscience.
“What about the man she’s with?”
“I have no idea who he really is. She told me she ditched him.” But now Ronald had a feeling she hadn’t. Vargas was far too interested in her, so he must have a reason.
Vargas waited for a beat of silence. It seemed to stretch out for an eternity. “She was at the hangar on Sunday night. My men saw a woman running from the building and they were able to get a license plate number when she fled. She could have taken pictures of them or my product. I don’t know what she has, but she will be silenced.”
Ronald massaged his temple as terror rippled through him. Sophie had been at the hangar? By herself? It was a miracle she hadn’t been caught by one of Vargas’s men. It was probably what she’d wanted to talk to him about—and he’d blown her off. If she’d truly been at Keane’s hangar, then there was nothing he could say that would keep Miguel from tracking her. Ronald’s only hope was that he could warn Sophie before she did something stupid. Like come back to Miami.
Miguel continued. “If she contacts you, I want you to set up a meeting with her. I need to find out who this man is. With Keane in a coma, this guy might be trying to take over our operation.”
Our? Ronald bit back a snort. He hadn’t even thought that the man with Sophie could be trying to take over Vargas’s operation. He couldn’t deal with another monster. He cleared his throat. “She might not even call me again.”
“She will and once you set it up, we will intercept her.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
Miguel made an angry sound. “Don’t try my patience. When she contacts you, you will let me know. If I find you lied to me, well, I don’t need to remind you what a beautiful daughter you have.”
It was as if invisible fingers tightened around Ronald’s neck as he fought to breathe.
Miguel continued. “Many of my men have expressed a deep interest in . . . getting to know her better. So far she has been unharmed, but if you fail me . . .”
“I won’t.” The words came out as a strangled whisper. Miguel’s not so subtle threat made his stomach heave. His family had been through enough. If he could just get his daughter back, he’d turn himself in, go to jail, whatever it took. He simply wanted his family safe. He’d have called the cops long ago if he had any clue where she was being held. She’d been kidnapped in another country, so the local cops were no good to him anyway. He literally had no one to turn to. Not if he ever wanted to see his daughter again.
“Good. I will call you this evening with further instructions. I’ll be in town in a couple days. If you use good sense, you will have your daughter back by this weekend.”
Miguel disconnected and Ronald laid his head on his desk. Would this nightmare never end?
• • •
As Jack stared at the popcorn ceiling, his watch alarm went off. Sleep had been an elusive fantasy once again. Sophie’s words had echoed through his tired brain all night, rattling around with no mercy. “If you change your mind, I’m right here.”
He sat on the edge of the bed and nearly choked when he saw her. He’d forced himself to avoid looking at her the past few hours, but a small stream of sunlight pierced the room through the opening in the curtain. The beam ran across her chest, illuminating the fact that her sheet was dangerously close to exposing her breasts. Breasts he’d kissed, licked, massaged . . . Damn it.
Control yourself.
Careful not to wake her, he grasped her sheet by the edge and pulled it a few inches higher. When his knuckles brushed against her soft skin, he froze for a moment until he found the will to move away. With a silent groan he grabbed a change of clothes and his shaving kit and headed to the bathroom. A cold shower was exactly what he needed.
The icy blast of water was the perfect shock. As the jets massaged his tired shoulders, vicious memories of the last time he’d seen Sophie played in his head, reminding him that if she knew who he really was, she’d run far and fast in the other direction.
He tried to shake the memory, but suddenly he was eighteen again and swimming in guilt over the fact that he hadn’t been there to protect the girl he’d cared about more than anyone.
“Damn it,” Jack muttered as memories of the last time he’d seen her assailed him. He clenched the bar of soap, his nails leaving half-moon indentations. He’d been doing fine for years, keeping all this shit at bay.
Being around her was just going to bring up stuff that should stay dead and buried. Just like the person he used to be. Sam was dead. He’d supposedly died in Afghanistan many years ago. Something he’d never needed to remind himself of until now. Making the choice to officially “die” had been the easiest thing he’d ever done. He’d had no one and had liked the fast-paced lifestyle. Not being able to admit his true identity to Sophie was the first time he’d ever experienced regret over his decision.
He twisted the shower knob to off, then grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist. They needed to get on the road soon, and though he hated waking her, time was their enemy.
After shaving and brushing his teeth, he eased the bathroom door open. Wearing only a towel, Sophie looked up from the small ta
ble where she was going through the clothes he’d gotten for her.
A faint smile touched her lips when their eyes locked. “Thanks for getting these. The thought of wearing that dress again . . .” She mock shuddered.
His throat dried up at her state of dress—or undress. She was completely covered, but the thin cotton towel did little more than the sheet had done earlier. Though she was short, her tanned, toned legs seemed to go on forever. He could see the outline of her hard nipples too. The thought of sucking one into his mouth, running his tongue around—
“Uh, Jack?” Sophie’s voice jerked his gaze back up to her face.
“Yeah?”
She clutched the towel tighter. “You okay?” She hugged whatever piece of clothing she’d chosen to her chest and watched him with those big brown eyes, obviously waiting for some sort of response.
He cleared his throat and motioned to the bathroom behind him. “I’m done if you want to get in there.”
Without a word she brushed past him and shut the door with a quiet click.
Jack rubbed a hand over his face and stared at the closed door. He had to get past this stupid Sophie thing. Nothing could happen between them. Didn’t matter how bad he wanted it.
While telling himself not to think about Sophie, he quickly dressed in dark jeans and a dark sweater, then turned on his laptop. Before he contacted Wesley he wanted to see if he could find out more about Levi on his own. His gut told him there was no way Wesley was involved. The man bled red, white, and blue. Still, he’d always thought the same thing about Levi.
After sending out feelers to see if he could pick up any chatter on Levi’s whereabouts, he stopped when he heard the bathroom door open. He’d heard the shower shut off, so he’d been expecting her. He tried to brace himself to see her again.
Sophie walked out wearing a snug pair of jeans and a thin green sweater. She rubbed her hands over the jeans pockets and smiled self-consciously. “These are a perfect fit.”
“Good.” As they’d arrived at the motel last night, he’d seen a drunk couple laughing as they stumbled from their room, heading God knows where. The bars in the Keys were notorious for staying open until dawn, so he’d taken a chance and slipped into their room.
Jack started to close down his computer. “You ready to leave?”
“We’re going now?”
“I want to do some reconnaissance of SBMS, you need to call your boss, and I’m going to call Wesley.”
“I thought you were going to wait to make any calls.”
“I am. I’m waiting until we’re out of the Keys. If they do track us down, there’s only one road in and out of here and I don’t like those odds. Once we hit 95, we’ll be able to blend in better.”
Her pretty mouth pulled into a thin line, but she didn’t argue. He stared at that mouth for a long moment until she nervously moistened her lips. Forcing himself to look away, he packed his stuff while she folded the rest of the clothes he’d acquired for her.
Once they were out of the motel room and on the road, Sophie was quiet, only asking him if it was okay to change the radio station.
When they hit Key Largo he stopped at a cell phone shop and picked up a dozen throwaways and two handheld radios. Sophie stayed in the car. While he hated stopping anywhere that had video surveillance, there weren’t many choices and he needed the phones. He managed to avoid looking directly at any cameras.
“Did you get everything we need?” she asked as he got back in.
Jack didn’t miss the anxious note in her voice. “For now.”
“What made you want to do . . . this?”
He shot her a quick glance as he steered back onto U.S. 1. “What?”
“You know, be a superspy or whatever. Is that the right word?”
A rumble escaped from deep in his gut and he realized he was actually laughing. “I’m not a spy. Not exactly.”
“Then what are you?”
“I do a lot of undercover work.”
“So you’re sort of a spy. Kind of like James Bond?”
“Sort of.” A smile tugged at his lips. He wasn’t a spy. Not in the sense that she was thinking. So-called spies worked for the CIA or MI6 or a dozen other countries around the world.
“So how’d you get into it?”
Considering that his boss had sent him on this mission when he should have sent him on vacation, Jack actually got perverse pleasure from opening up to her. Sophie already knew who he worked for. When this was all over, she’d be debriefed for hours—or more likely days. And they’d make her sign more than one confidentiality agreement that promised imprisonment and worse if she told anyone what she knew. “I was recruited.”
“Were you in the military?”
Her eyebrows were knit in curiosity and he wished he could figure out what was going on in her head. She couldn’t possibly know who he was, yet all the hair on the back of his neck stood up as she watched him. “Why?”
“Your tattoos. I saw one on your back. And your . . . bullet. I figured that had some sort of military connection.”
Or she hoped it did, was the implication in her unspoken words. Most of his tats had been covered or removed—and the one she was referring to he should have had removed, but he’d kept it out of pride. He’d made it work with all his cover IDs so far, so it hadn’t been an issue. The places he’d infiltrated had loved “recruiting” him when they found out he had official training. The bullet he wore around his neck—his hog’s tooth—he hadn’t worn on his last mission, but he’d snagged it before heading to Miami. He hadn’t planned to take his clothes off around Sophie, and the thing was like part of his skin. He hadn’t even thought about it this morning, but she’d obviously seen it. Even if she didn’t know exactly what it was, she was smart enough to figure it out eventually.
“I was in the Marines.” Years of training flew out the window as the admission slipped out. Yeah, he was a real superspy today. Tension hummed through him as he told her way more than he ever should have. He was having a harder time than he’d imagined distancing himself from Sam. Who was supposed to be dead. But being with Sophie made him want to be Sam. He wanted her to look at him the way she’d looked at her high school boyfriend. Not look at him as if he were a fucking stranger who could ever hurt her.
“Oh.” She bit her lip, then looked out the window.
“What?”
She looked at him again. “It’s just . . . I told you that you reminded me of someone and he was a Marine too. That’s all. It just freaks me out a little, I guess.”
“Why do I remind you of your friend?” He was playing with fire, but he couldn’t stop himself. And fuck all his years of training and even his boss, he didn’t want to.
Her shoulders lifted noncommittally. “Your eyes. They’re . . . unique.”
“What happened to your friend?” Oh yeah, he deserved a goddamn medal for his superspy abilities today.
Her jaw twitched once, but she answered, “He died. Roadside bomb in Afghanistan or somewhere in the Middle East. I didn’t know, but he’d listed me as his emergency contact, so the military automatically contacted me. I never got the full story and truthfully, I didn’t want to know the details. The fact that he’d died was hard enough to deal with.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Me too,” she said quietly.
Jack’s fists tightened around the wheel. Just because she was sorry about his death didn’t mean shit. Time to change the subject. “As soon as we get to Miami, we’re ditching this car and finding a new one. And we’re going to get into the building before the nighttime security arrives, so we’ll have time to kill before meeting with Weller.”
“How do you know the security schedule?” Her voice was cautious.
He lifted an eyebrow at her. Did she even have to ask?
Sophie just shook her head, so he fished out one of the burner phones and handed it to her. “Are you ready to call your boss?”
“I guess.” Her words didn’t inspir
e confidence.
“If you don’t think you can do this, tell me now. If he senses something’s off, we could be walking into a trap. You need to convince him to meet you. I don’t care what you say, just make sure he agrees to meet. The sooner the better. And remember, you’ve got forty seconds.” That was how long it would take someone to trace the call if anyone was trying. After being tracked down last night, he wasn’t taking any chances.
“I can. I will.” She nodded as if to convince herself and her loose hair swished seductively around her shoulders.
She had that just-out-of-bed, sexy tousled look. He knew it wasn’t intentional either and that just made her hotter. Something he shouldn’t be noticing. “Good. As soon as you hit Send, put him on speaker.”
With trembling fingers, Sophie took the phone from his hand and dialed. She did as he instructed, then held the phone in her lap as it started ringing.
Her boss picked up in the middle of the second ring. “Yeah?” he growled.
“Ronald?”
His voice softened. “Sophie, are you all right?”
She glanced at Jack as she answered, “I’m fine, but I need to meet you. Soon.”
“I thought you were going to get out of town.” He sounded panicked.
“I know but I need to see you. It’s important.”
“Sophie, you can’t come back to Miami. Trust me. It’s too dangerous,” he hissed, his words a whisper.
“I have to. I found some information on Keane Flight that looks sketchy, including pictures I took at the hangar. You need to see everything.”
There was a short pause. “Why can’t you just tell me what you found?”
“I can’t talk about any of this on the phone. People with guns tried to kill me. I think this may be part of the reason. If it is, we need to go to the police.”
Jack was impressed. Sophie kept biting her bottom lip, but her voice was strong and convincing.
Ronald sighed. “How about we meet at Dorsey Park?”
