by Katie Reus
His eyebrows lifted, but he didn’t disagree. “We’re doing everything we can to find your friend. If Vargas did take Hannah, she won’t be harmed. They’ll need her alive.”
The small thought gave her a little hope, but the fact that a drug lord might have kidnapped her best friend erased most of her optimism. “Okay.”
Before she could blink, he’d crossed the small room until he was kneeling in front of her. He crouched down so they were at eye level. “I promise I’ll find your friend.”
She nodded, but when he started to rise, she grabbed his hand. “Jack?”
This time he sat on the bed next to her and he didn’t let go of her hand, which gave her some comfort. “Yeah?”
“Are things going to change with us now that it’s morning?” She hated the almost desperate note she heard in her voice, but couldn’t stop herself. Over the years she’d learned to compartmentalize her life. It was the only way she knew how to survive. For once she didn’t want to separate things. When all this was over—if she survived—she was making some serious changes, but she couldn’t bear it if what they’d shared last night was a one-time thing. While there was no way she’d take it back, she wanted more from this man. Admitting it to herself scared her, but she was ready to put her feelings out there.
He gave a slight nod. “Last night changed everything.”
“What does that mean?”
He shook his head and for the first time since she’d met him, he looked lost. “I have no idea.”
Okay. Not making her feel any better.
“I do know that I want more than last night. I want to spend more time with you.” He sounded almost hesitant, as if he was unsure of her response.
Relief punched through her, warming her insides. “Me too.”
They stared at each other for a moment until he leaned over and kissed her forehead. The chaste act shouldn’t do anything, but her entire body tingled and ached for more at the brief contact. Yep, she was so a goner.
“I already showered, so if you want to shower while I grab coffee, we’re probably going to be leaving soon.”
Her stomach flipped. “We are?”
“Yes, you’ll get to meet my boss soon.”
“Why?”
“It looks like Weller was telling the truth. Vargas is definitely planning a trip to the States. If we can get your boss to help, we’re going to bring Vargas down for good.”
“Okay.” She was sure there were a million other details he was leaving out, but for now it didn’t matter. If they could bring down that monster and get Ronald’s daughter back, maybe she could get her life back.
“I have more to tell you, but we’ll talk on the way there.”
Where was there?
He pushed up from the bed and grabbed a Polo T-shirt from his bag. Before he slipped it over his head, she saw something that made her freeze. He had a small birthmark on his left shoulder in the shape of a heart. It was unique and she’d only seen it once before.
Just like Sam.
She fought to draw in a breath. The mark was unmistakable. She used to tease Sam about his all the time. She’d been so focused on Jack’s tattoos—and the rest of his body—earlier that she hadn’t seen it.
He started to turn back toward her, so she wrapped the sheet around herself and bent down to grab the shorts she’d discarded the night before. She managed to avoid looking at him as she busied herself gathering her clothes.
When she heard the door click shut, she dropped the sheet and tossed it back onto the bed. With shaking hands, she dug into Jack’s bag and pulled out a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved pink T-shirt. The air-conditioning wasn’t running, but there was a chill in the room. Florida weather was erratic during the winter months, but she guessed today she’d need an extra layer of clothing. After grabbing what little toiletries she had, she locked herself in the bathroom and flipped the shower on.
Jack had the same eyes and same birthmark as Sam. Logically, it was impossible. There was no way Jack and Sam could be the same person. Could they? God, could she really be seeing what she wanted? She rubbed a hand over her face, questioning her sanity. The past few days had been highly stressful, but there was no way she was making these things up about Jack. When the room filled with steam, she drew the curtain back and stepped inside. The cascading jets beat against her shoulders in a steady stream. What the hell was going on? She had to be imagining a connection that wasn’t there, unless . . . Unless what? Sam was really alive. No way he would hide that from her. Not the boy she’d been in love with.
No fucking way. He couldn’t be that cruel.
Sam had died. Died. She knew that. So why had she felt this unexplainable sense of familiarity from the moment she’d met Jack? A strange numbness started at her toes and worked its way up to her fingers. Her fingers were so jittery it took a few tries before she could pop open the shampoo bottle.
Jack worked for the government. She supposed they could have changed his face. She shook her head and increased the water pressure, letting the jets massage away her soreness. This was insane. Maybe she was seeing things because she still had unresolved issues over Sam’s death. Maybe . . .
“Sophie? I’m back.” Jack’s deep voice from outside made her jump.
“I’ll be out in a sec,” she called, thankful her voice didn’t shake.
Instead of focusing on her crazy Is Jack really Sam? thoughts, she hurriedly got ready. She didn’t have time for any of those thoughts anyway because there was no way in hell it was possible. After washing her hair, shaving, and drying off, she towel-dried her thick hair as best she could. She hadn’t seen a hair dryer anywhere and didn’t feel like hunting one down. She smoothed on lotion she’d found at Mandy’s place before tugging on her clothes. Perhaps she should feel guilty at using the woman’s stuff, but Mandy had tried to kill her. She was way past guilt.
She glanced at her reflection in the mirror and cringed. She still didn’t have a bra or panties. The long-sleeved shirt she wore was snug enough to support her, and even though it was warm in the bathroom, she could see the faint outline of her nipples.
Sophie tugged at the shirt one more time before gathering up the toiletries against her chest and exiting the safety of the bathroom.
When she walked out she found Jack sitting on the bed, staring at that damn computer screen again.
“Any news?”
He blindly glanced at her before returning to the screen. “Yeah. We’re meeting my boss soon.”
She folded up her worn clothes and tucked them back into his bag. “Is one of those mine?” Sophie gestured to the two foam cups on the nightstand.
“Yeah, sorry.” He handed her one of the cups. As he did, he raked an appreciative glance over her, letting his heated gaze linger on her chest. A small, knowing smile played at his mouth before his eyes met hers.
“Okay, we need to make a stop before meeting your boss,” she said as she took the extended drink.
Picking up his cup, he frowned at her. “Why?”
“I don’t feel like going commando anymore and I really don’t want to meet your boss with my nipples showing.”
He choked on his coffee before setting the cup down. “Good point,” he rasped out.
She watched in amazement as a shade of red crept up his neck. She hadn’t thought it was possible to make him uncomfortable. Biting back a grin, she took another sip of her coffee, which was surprisingly good.
Once they’d packed up what little they had, they were in the stolen SUV cruising down the road. Oranges and yellows streaked the sky so that even the clouds draping across the city had a bright and cheerful tint. It seemed almost wrong with everything going on in her life.
She took a sip of her warm coffee, letting the heat flow through her. “Where are we headed?”
“A warehouse . . . Can you text your boss while I drive?”
“Uh . . . yeah.”
“Instruct him to walk outside his home and call this number.”
He handed her one of the throwaways and repeated the number as she punched in the digits.
When the phone buzzed in her hand, Sophie hit the green SPEAKER button.
“Who is this?” the familiar voice of her boss asked.
Jack took over the conversation. “It’s me. Are you still at home?”
“Yes, I’m in the backyard,” Ronald said.
Jack continued. “Did you talk to Vargas?”
There was a moment of silence before Ronald answered, “Yeah . . . I did what you said. He let me talk to my daughter.”
Sophie listened to the conversation, wishing she could feel something other than hurt. The man had been willing to sacrifice her without even attempting to contact the police or another government agency. Expendable. That’s all she was. She’d considered Ronald family, but he considered her . . . nothing.
Jack glanced at her as Ronald continued, and gave her a reassuring smile. Jack’s smiles were so rare that he gave her a boost of confidence. She wasn’t nothing to Jack. Unless sleeping with her was part of his job. Even thinking that made the coffee in her stomach roil.
“What else did he say?” Jack asked as he turned back to the road.
“How do I know you’ll be able to protect my family?”
“No matter what happens, you have a better chance with my team as backup than if you meet with him alone.”
There was a long beat of silence. “He wants to meet in hangar eight at the Opa-Lopka Airport tomorrow.”
“What time?” Jack glanced over his shoulder and switched lanes.
“At noon. He says . . . He says he’s bringing my daughter with him.”
“You and I are going to need to meet today, then.”
“What if they’re watching me?” His voice rose with panic.
“They probably are, so head to work like you always do. I’ll be in contact within the hour.” Jack disconnected and left the phone on the center console.
“Is Walmart okay?” he asked as he pulled off the main road and into a parking lot.
“What?”
“You said you needed to pick up a few things.”
“Oh, it’s fine. What are you going to do about Ronald?”
“Bring him in to meet with the team, explain that we’ll be watching the whole time, and explain how everything needs to go down.”
“How do you know someone isn’t following him?”
“He’s definitely got a tail, but I doubt he’s being tracked by satellite. It costs too much money and would draw too much attention to constantly track your boss like that. I guarantee they’ve got his house bugged, though. So far he hasn’t been a problem to Vargas, so security’s probably gotten lax. That’s good for us.” He put the vehicle in park and shut off the engine.
“You’re coming with me?” she asked as he opened his door.
His brow furrowed. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
The thought of shopping for any sort of undergarments with Jack was . . . interesting. “If you say so.”
Chapter 17
C-4: a common variety of the plastic explosive known as Composition C.
He looked up from his computer screen as Wesley walked up. “What’s going on, boss?”
“Conference room. Two minutes.” Wesley headed toward another desk, making any questions pointless.
He wiped sweaty palms on his pants, then logged off his computer. Over the past twenty-four hours, he hadn’t been able to get anything useful from Wesley, especially regarding Sophie Moreno and everything surrounding SBMS. His boss had switched phones, and hadn’t been communicating on many open channels. At least not that he could find. Wesley was paranoid by nature, but lately his boss had been taking extra precautions—as if he knew he was being watched.
And now the Abarca woman had disappeared according to Vargas. He hadn’t heard that she’d been picked up by the NSA, but for all he knew, he was being kept out of the loop. At least Vargas didn’t seem to think she’d been arrested. He was pissed about her disappearance but seemed to think she’d decided to run with what money she had. Even if she had been picked up by a government agency, the woman didn’t know much. She’d been recruited to watch the inner workings of SBMS, but she wasn’t privy to any real knowledge.
Grabbing a notepad, he headed toward the conference room, wondering if it was possible anyone was on to him. No, he’d been too diligent. He’d cleared all his tracks after running the facial recognition scans, but before that he’d even pointed those tracks toward someone else in case someone got really suspicious and managed to extract his online trail. And he hadn’t gotten any dings on his offshore accounts, so no one should know about his growing stash. Just breathe, he ordered himself.
As he walked down the hallway, he was surprised to see two other analysts and five field men heading toward the room also.
Once they were all seated, Wesley closed the door. “We’re all leaving in thirty minutes, so shut down whatever you’re working on. If it’s necessary, delegate your work to someone else. We’ll be gone for a few days.”
“Where are we headed?” one of the new field guys asked.
“That’s classified.” Wesley glanced around the room expectantly, but no one else said a word.
They all had bags packed for emergencies or special operations. That was just the way things worked. This wasn’t the first time he’d gone on a mission when he had no clue what was going on and no previous notice.
Wesley glanced at his watch. “If that’s all, everyone better be on time.”
As they all started to rise, Wesley spoke again. “One more thing. Leave work cell phones and computers at your desks. All materials will be provided on-site. There will be a security check when we get to the hangar, so don’t let me catch you with anything.”
Hangar. That meant they were flying. But to where? He picked up his notepad and exited the room with everyone else. Sweat rolled down his back as he headed back to his desk. No one was paying attention to him, so he slipped into the nearest restroom. There was one person in there, so he waited in a stall until the man left. Then he called Vargas.
“Yes?”
“Something’s going down in the next few days, but I don’t know what it is.” He kept his voice low.
“What do you mean, you don’t know?”
“It’s all hush-hush. There’s nothing on file either. I’m getting on a plane in half an hour to God knows where.”
“Call me when you know more.”
“That’s going to be a problem. They’re taking away all our communications.”
“Do they know about my arrival?” Vargas asked.
“It’s possible, but I don’t know where we’re going.” He hadn’t heard anything, but that didn’t mean shit anymore. The past couple of days he might as well have been invisible. Wesley hadn’t confided anything to him. Not that he hadn’t tried to subtly get his attention. He’d been making pointless trips to his office with excuses to talk to him. Nothing was working.
“Contact me if you can.”
“Are you still coming to the States?”
“Of course. If they try to interfere, I have another—how do you say?—ace in the hole.”
He frowned but didn’t comment. He didn’t like being kept in the dark, especially when he might need to use Vargas. “When are you going to wire the rest of my money?”
“When this job is over.” His answer was expected, but it still annoyed him. He’d put his neck on the line and now he might lose everything he’d worked so hard for. Now that he didn’t have to worry about paying off his debts, he could enjoy the benefits of his work. He deserved it. He was underappreciated here, and for how smart he was, the pay was a joke. Besides, it wasn’t as if he was actually harming anyone. He might pass on valuable information for the right price, but his hands were clean.
“Fine, I’ll be in contact when I can.”
Vargas disconnected without responding, so he slid his personal cell back into his pocket. He
’d have to get rid of this before he left.
All his survival instincts told him to disappear now, but there was no way he could get out of the building undetected, and more important, Vargas still hadn’t paid him the majority of what he was owed. Even if he managed to get to his car, they’d send someone after him, track his accounts, and freeze his money. Without all of his funds, his early retirement wouldn’t be as lush as he’d like and everything he’d done would be for nothing.
• • •
“Why did you buy all those cap guns?” Sophie asked as she slid into the passenger seat.
He didn’t miss the amused note in her voice. Jack loaded their bags into the backseat, then got into the driver’s seat. Trying to banish the image of watching Sophie pick out undergarments—simple cotton panties had never been so sexy—he said, “For the sulfur.”
“Care to elaborate?”
“I need it.”
“Again, care to elaborate?” She crossed her legs toward him as she shifted against the leather seat.
“Wesley is bringing a team in with plenty of firepower, but I always like to be prepared.”
“Like a Boy Scout?” Her lips curled up slightly, the vision seriously tempting him to lean over and take her mouth the way his body was urging him to. Last night definitely wasn’t enough. It had only enflamed his lust and need for her.
“Exactly.” He knew she didn’t understand what he was saying, but the less she knew the better.
Jack’s boss would be bringing in a good team, but he didn’t know some of the men and Jack always liked to have a backup plan in case things went wrong.
He pulled out another one of the throwaway phones as he steered out of the parking lot. Jack had contacts all over the country—hell, the world—and while he hated using this particular one now, he didn’t have a choice.
After five rings, he was about to give up when someone answered. There wasn’t an audible response, but Jack could hear muted movement on the other end. “Alexander?”
