CHANCES ARE (Last Chance Rescue)

by Reece, Christy

  “There are plenty of other ops I can assign you. Dropping you into the deep end of the pool makes no sense. Only our most seasoned and experienced operatives should be on this case.”

  “I'm well aware that I don't have the experience, Noah. And I know which operatives you’re assigning—remember, I saw your list. Eden, Shea, Sabrina and Riley are some of our best. But you trained me just like you trained them. I know what they know.”

  “There are some things you can't get in a training session. Real world experience is a hell of a teacher.”

  “So let me go out and get that experience.”

  Noah shook his head. “We're talking around the issue. I know you've got the skills, I just don't know if throwing you to the wolves your first time out is a good idea.”

  “Then assign someone to me who'll watch my back.”

  That was a no-brainer. If he put her on this op, he already knew who she would be paired with. A former military man and ex-Chicago cop, Jake Mallory had the discipline and drive that Noah looked for in an LCR operative. He also possessed the protective, kick-ass attitude of a seasoned professional. And with the bond Noah had seen growing between the two, he knew that Jake would battle the fires of hell for Angela.

  Apparently under the impression he was considering which operative he could partner her with, she added, “Seth and Honor already know this case. Assign Seth to me. Or how about Dylan? He just came off an op and—”

  Noah held up his hand. This was the price he paid for having Angela know almost as much as he did about the inner workings of LCR. Normally he enjoyed her input but this was one thing he would decide for himself. Seth Cavanaugh and Dylan Savage were excellent operatives but not right for this particular mission. “Finding you a partner won’t be a problem. I’m just not sure—”

  “Will you ever be absolutely sure, Noah? You’ve treated me like family from the moment I walked through LCR doors and I can’t even begin to express how much that means to me. Without your generous salary, I’m not sure how my family would have survived. But that’s in the past. Being an LCR operative is my future.”

  She leaned forward, her dark, velvet brown eyes searing his. “It comes down to this. I’m an LCR employee. And I’m a trained operative. This is an operation I know I can handle. It’s time to let me be what you trained me to be.”

  Noah stared deep into her eyes for several seconds; Angela met his gaze, unflinchingly, unwavering in her determination and confidence. Finally, he took a breath and said, “Three conditions.”

  A brilliant light entered her eyes but she kept her expression serious. “Name them.”

  “No rash decisions. Your partner will be the experienced one. He tells you to do something, you damn well do it. No arguments.”

  She nodded. “Of course.”

  “You go through a two-day refresher course. Weapons, self-defense, and physical stamina. If your trainer says you’re ready, you’re ready. If he says no, then you sit this one out.”

  “No problem. And the third?”

  Noah held back a grin at her easy agreement. Lack of confidence had never been one of Angela’s weaknesses.

  “I want you to talk with Samara. If she says you’re mentally ready for the challenge, you’re in.”

  “That’s it?”

  Noah nodded.

  By nature, Angela was an exuberant, expressive person. Noah could tell it was taking every bit of her self-control not to get up and dance around the room. He had missed seeing that vivre. He just hoped to hell he had made the right decision. If anything happened to her, he would never forgive himself.

  She settled back into her seat with apparent effort and asked calmly, “Who's my partner?”

  His eyes eagle sharp to gauge her reaction, he answered, “Jake Mallory.”

  Multiple electric quivers zipped up Angela’s spine. Maintaining as neutral an expression as possible, she held her breath to keep from gasping. She knew her boss all too well…he was waiting for a reaction. She refused to give an outward sign that her heartbeat had just skyrocketed. Noah was aware of her fascination with Jake. She hadn't exactly hidden it from anyone, even Jake.

  Aware that he was waiting for a response, Angela nodded her approval and said calmly, “I'll be glad to work with Jake. He's extremely capable.”

  She wasn't fooling Noah. His slightly raised brow and little half crooked smile told her that. Okay, so what if she couldn't look at Jake without salivating or getting very heated in certain parts of her body. She was a professional and a mature woman. Her hormones didn't control her actions. Besides that, Jake had gone out of his way to show her he wasn't interested in her romantically.

  Most operatives treated her like a kid sister. Their attitude had never bothered her before since she had always looked at LCR employees as extended family members. Until Jake. There was no way she could look at him and see anything other than a larger than life sexy man. One with all the necessary attributes and equipment to make her heart flip over and her hormones stand up and take notice.

  Apparently deciding the meeting was over and the matter settled, Noah stood. Angela had no choice but to get up also. She didn’t even bother to tell herself that her wobbling knees had nothing to do with the fact that soon, she and Jake would be alone together for hours, maybe days. But this was an op…her very first. No matter her partner, she would do her job to the best of her considerable ability.

  “Send Jake up when he gets here.”

  Her unreliable, foolish heart skipped a beat. She hadn’t seen Jake in days. Still, she didn’t plan to stick around to hear what he thought about this assignment or his new partner. She would have to face him soon but not today. She needed to go home and regroup. Tomorrow she would be better equipped to deal with the fallout.

  “He's not going to like it, is he?”

  “It's not his job to like an assignment. He'll do what he has to do.”

  Not exactly encouraging words. Bad enough that Jake would be worried about her, but to have him forced to work with her wasn't going to be pleasant for either of them.

  “Maybe you should assign me to someone else.”

  “All operatives on this case will have a partner.” Noah paused a beat, and then with that adamant edge that meant he wouldn’t back down, he added, “Jake is yours.”

  A hundred different emotions raced through Angela as she silently left the room. Setting aside her anxiety about Jake for the time being, she reveled in what lay ahead. She was getting what she had wanted almost from the moment she’d walked into a small, slightly shabby hotel room and met Noah and Milo for the first time.

  After describing her qualifications, eagerness had lit up their faces like they’d just been handed their most wished-for Christmas present. Even then, her computer skills, mostly self-taught, were crazy mad.

  A few months before he was killed, she’d had a conversation with Milo about this very thing. He had understood her need to do more but told her when the time came, she’d probably have to fight both he and Noah for the chance. Not because she was so good at research but because she meant so much to both of them.

  Milo had been gone for almost four years now. An LCR operative turned traitor had sold them out. Milo had paid the price. Even now, it was still hard to deal with that loss. She knew that Noah missed him daily. Milo had been an inspiration to all who knew him.

  The elevator landed on the first floor and Angela headed to her desk. She’d clear up a few things and be gone before Jake’s meeting with Noah ended. She told herself she wasn't being a coward. She honestly did have a lot of things to do. It was just that when Jake found out, he would probably come looking for her. She had no problem holding her own with most people. Jake wasn't most people.

  Falling in love with a man who only wanted to be your friend was a sure path to heartbreak. She was idealistic when it came to a lot of things but not this. If one didn’t look beneath the surface, Angela knew she shocked people. But beneath the façade she wore for her jo
b lay the soul of a true romantic. She wanted candlelight dinners, long walks in the park, and multiple orgasms. And she wanted forever. That wasn’t anything Jake would ever offer her. Okay, maybe she could wear him down eventually to where he could provide the multiple orgasms. But she wanted much more than that. She wanted to be Jake Mallory’s everything.

  Chapter Two

  “Come on, sweetheart, you know you want it. Come and get it. I won’t hurt you.”

  It had once been said that Jake Mallory’s gruff whisper could charm the birds from a tree, the snarl off a grizzly and the panties from the most virtuous woman. He had never seen it happen but the talk had always made him laugh.

  Today he was trying to do nothing more than charm a mouse from behind his fridge. Didn’t seem fair to kill the poor thing but dammed if he wanted to share an apartment with it. The cheese, an expensive Gruyere, had been a small sacrifice. Now if only the creature would cooperate.

  His eyes scanned the miniscule kitchen with its two-eyed burner, coffee-stained sink and 1960s-style fridge. He needed to find a nicer place. The flat had been temporary digs to hang his clothes when he’d first moved to Paris. Working for Last Chance Rescue had seemed like the perfect job but he counted on nothing anymore. Everything in his life was on probation, especially the things that seemed too good to be true.

  Working for LCR had panned out so far. He’d been an operative about four months now, been on a dozen or so rescues, saved lives, and helped put bad people away.

  Nice to know that some things actually were what they seemed.

  A year ago he hadn’t trusted a soul. Betrayal and a boatload of guilt will do that to a man. And now, he trusted an entire organization. Working for LCR had restored his faith in people. Not all of them. Hell, he’d seen too much evil shit for that to happen. Even now, he stayed wary, just in case. Jake didn’t trust easy. Never again.

  His attention moved to the present as a tiny, whiskered face peeked out from behind the fridge. Holding his makeshift mousetrap in readiness, Jake stood statue still. A colander might seem like an odd device to catch a mouse but it was his best bet for a live capture and release. Giving up the cheap kitchen utensil was no problem, especially since he’d never used it.

  The creature scurried to the cheese chunk lying in the floor. Jake waited till the twitching nose touched the cheese. Quick as a cat, he dropped the colander over the small heap, scooped up the now squiggling mouse and dropped it into a waiting shoebox.

  Grabbing his keys and jacket, Jake tucked the shoebox under his arm and headed out the door. The abandoned building two blocks away seemed the perfect relocation and should offer plenty of company for the little guy.

  The cellphone in his pocket played a familiar ring, telling him that his boss, Noah McCall, was calling. He pulled out the phone and held it to his ear. “Mallory.”

  “Can you come in?”

  “Yeah. Half an hour okay?”

  “Yes.”

  The line went dead before Jake could say anything else. Phone etiquette wasn’t high on McCall’s ‘must do’ list. Most of the phone conversations they’d had consisted of one or two sentences but the tone in his boss’s voice sounded ominous and grim, more so than usual.

  His head low to battle the icy, brutal wind, Jake strode to his car. Opening the door, he deposited the box on the front passenger seat and cranked the engine. As he pulled onto the street, he reflected on his boss. Before coming to Paris, Jake had thought Noah McCall was an urban legend. As a cop, he’d heard stories about LCR’s successes but had dismissed most of them as someone’s wishful thinking. It wasn’t until he’d gotten caught up in the middle of an LCR undercover operation that he realized everything he’d heard was true.

  Jake had been a typical tourist the day he’d met McCall. He’d been in Paris for two weeks, staying at hostels, roaming the streets, soaking up the atmosphere. He’d stopped in for a cold beer and a cheap meal at a not-so-high-class establishment. What he had gotten was a busted mouth, a black eye, and a job offer.

  LCR had been running a sting. He hadn’t known that. All he knew was two men were attempting to pull a young woman out of the bar and no one was stopping them. Jake had intervened and ruined the mission. Thankfully another sting had been set up a few days later that brought down a human trafficking operation.

  Even though Jake had blown the op, McCall had been impressed with his intervention. Days later, the LCR leader had called and asked to speak with him. Though wary, Jake agreed to the meeting. And after listening intently, Jake’s world seemed to right itself at last. For two years, he had been mired in bitterness and grief, with no real purpose other than to get as far away as he could from the life he’d once lived. McCall’s offer had shown him a new path. Now he couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

  Making a quick stop at the abandoned warehouse, he unboxed his uninvited houseguest and watched it scurry away before he got back into his car. Not his usual kind of rescue, but what the hell. Killing something just because he could wasn’t his way. If it had been, there’d be at least five less sons of bitches serving life sentences in Danville.

  Twenty minutes later, Jake pulled into a parking lot five blocks from the LCR office. Probably could have gotten closer but he was counting on a long walk in the frigid air to keep his mind from wandering where he couldn’t let it go. The moment he walked into the office, he would be greeted with what he told himself he shouldn’t want and couldn’t have. Maybe this new assignment would get him out of the city for a while. Lately that had been the only way to keep his hands off Angela Delvecchio.

  The light-hearted flirting was becoming more than he could handle. The other day, she’d said something particularly provocative—dammed if he could remember the words. All he remembered was how he had responded. He’d been within a half second of pulling her to him for a hot, deep, thorough kiss—an open-mouthed, tongue battle while their hands ripped at each other’s clothes. She had been turned away from him and if not for McCall’s voice on the intercom telling her to send Jake up, he would have gone for it—and most likely regretted it for the rest of his life.

  Grateful that the freezing temperatures seemed to have stiffened his resolve, Jake pushed the door open. The instant he saw her beautiful face, every frozen part of his body was instantly heated. And the most frustrating thing was, Angela made no secret of her attraction to him. That kiss he’d been so tempted to give her the other day would have been reciprocated, of that Jake had no doubt. But what was also obvious was her innocence and vulnerability. Beneath that tough-girl persona, he’d seen the gentle, caring heart of Angela Delvecchio. A heart that could be crushed by some cruel bastard’s uncaring selfishness. Dammed if he would be that man.

  Exotic dark eyes gleamed up at him. “Bonjour, Monsieur Sunshine.”

  Figuring he looked like an ominous thundercloud, Jake grimaced a smile. “Sorry. Need coffee. Spent my morning catching a mouse and haven’t had any caffeine yet.”

  Her pretty nose scrunched up. “You need to find a nicer place to live.”

  “Can’t argue with that.”

  “Deidre just made a fresh batch of coffee.”

  “Thanks. I’ll grab a cup after I see McCall.”

  He could swear her eyes flickered with secrets at his comment. Which was damn odd—Angela was the most open person he’d ever known.

  “Something wrong?” Jake asked.

  Silky black hair swished around slender shoulders as she shook her head. “Have a good meeting. I’m running some errands, so I won’t be back today. I’ll be late tomorrow, too. And then I won’t—”

  Jake held up his hand to stop her. “I gotta get up to McCall’s office. Let’s talk later. Want to meet for coffee? Say around four?”

  Her eyes went wide at the invitation but instead of agreeing, she gave another quick shake of her head. “No thanks, too much to do.”

  Before he could respond, she pressed a button to open the elevator for him. Another oddity. It was again
st protocol. All employees had to verify their identity by pressing a sensor key on the elevator. And usually she went out of her way to keep him talking for as long as possible. He told himself he wasn’t bothered by her eagerness to get rid of him.

  She turned her back to him. “See you later.”

  Frowning, Jake walked onto the elevator and waited impatiently as it shot to the tenth floor. What the hell did he think he was doing asking her for coffee anyway? That was going down a path he’d sworn he would avoid. Stupid didn’t even begin to describe his rashness. For a man who wasn’t known for impulse, that’d been a dumb-ass thing to do.

  He’d done his best to keep their relationship on a friendly basis, but he was coming to the realization that it wasn’t going to work. Being friends with someone you wanted to strip naked wasn’t possible.

  At that insane thought, arousal rose swift and urgent. Dammit, walking into McCall’s office with a hard-on wasn’t exactly a good idea. Gritting his teeth, he concentrated on everything but Angela.

  The elevator door opened. Relieved that he’d been successful in dampening his desire, he strode to his boss’s office. He’d table the self-castigation until after his meeting. Hopefully a new assignment would get him out of town, might even get him out of the country.

  He knocked on McCall’s door and then opened it at the gruff “Come in.”

  The LCR leader stood behind his desk, looking out the giant picture window. When Jake entered, he turned and nodded at one of the leather chairs in front of his desk. “Have a seat.”

  McCall wasn’t known for his cheerfulness but the man’s grim features seemed even more austere than usual.

  “What’s up?”

  “You and Angela seem to have a good rapport.”

  Jake frowned. Where the hell had that come from? Mentally shrugging, he said, “Yes, I guess we do.”

  “She’s still very vulnerable from the loss of her family.”