Warriors,Winners & Wicked Lies: 13 Book Excite Spice Military, Sports & Secret Baby Mega Bundle (Excite Spice Boxed Sets)

by Selena Kitt

  Whiplash twisted away from Sling. "About time."

  The lackey wasn't a threat, but Alexander was. Cardinal followed him across the deck. He struggled to stand. Cardinal kicked him in the stomach and he fell back on his ass. She kneed him in the face. His nose crunched, staining her fatigues. Alexander groaned and didn't try to get up again.

  Sure enough, Cardinal found her pistol under the captain's seat storage. She checked its load, cocked it ready, and trained her vision across the boat. Alexander lay on his side, coughing blood. Whiplash was on her back, still tied, but with her legs up in Sling's direction, ready to fend him off.

  There was no need. Natalie was there, tying his hands behind his back. That had to tweak his injured arm. She pushed him to a bench and tied his feet as well.

  Cardinal shoved her gun in her holster and rushed to Whiplash. "Alexander's down but not out."

  Whip growled, "Get me untied."

  Cardinal tore through the closest bench storage for a knife, saw, shiv—anything remotely sharp. Natalie put a hand on her shoulder and offered a pair of nail clippers. "Here."

  "Thank you." Cardinal breathed. She helped Whiplash up.

  Whip grimaced. "You're going to have to tie him—oh my god, it hurts."

  Cardinal held one of Whip's wrists gently and rubbed above the white ring where the zip-ties had pressed for four days. Never once undone. Whiplash leaned heavily against her, trying to breathe evenly, cursing quietly in Russian.

  Natalie said, "Uh ... Cardinal."

  "Sec," she said, rubbing life back into Whiplash's other wrist.

  "Cardinal ... um ... Alexander?"

  Cardinal looked up. The man, his nose still bleeding enough to paint with, crawled across the deck toward the captain's chair.

  "Tie him up, Natalie."

  "What? Me?"

  "Go on." Cardinal helped Whiplash stand under her own power. "He hurt you most. You should do it."

  "He ... I ... it wasn't really that b--"

  Whiplash grunted. "Lady, if you start making excuses for him, I will deck you."

  Natalie's eyes went wide. Cardinal laughed a little. "She means well."

  "But ... I ...?"

  "Hun, what he did is wrong." Cardinal made sure Whiplash was good to stand on her own. She walked to Natalie and drew her toward Alexander, doing his best to stain the entire deck. "Where we're from, the country you're a citizen of, we call it assault when we're trying to be nice." Natalie stepped on the captain's seat before Alexander could grab it and dig around inside. She knelt over him. "Otherwise we call it rape."

  Alexander spat blood on Cardinal's bare feet.

  That, more than Cardinal's words, seemed to spur Natalie into action. She pulled Alexander's arms back and tied them tightly. He didn't try to resist.

  Whiplash came up beside them and put a hand on Cardinal's shoulder. "You okay, Cards?"

  Cardinal nodded and stood up. She and looked to Natalie but the woman wouldn't meet her eyes. She flicked over to Whip. "Game plan?"

  "Turn around, I guess. Head back to the marina."

  Natalie cleared her throat. "There isn't enough fuel to make it all the way back. You could continue to the island. There's a phone line there. Real beds. Food. Fuel."

  "Pirates," Whiplash grunted.

  "No." Natalie disagreed. "It's only used by us."

  "I'm not walking into another trap—"

  "I wouldn't do that!" Natalie snapped. "Not after all this. Not after we–" She looked down, startled herself with Alexander's presence, looking back up with a hard edge in her eyes. "I wouldn't do that."

  Cardinal put a hand up on her shoulder. "Natalie—"

  "Don't call me that!"

  Cardinal tightened her grip. "It's your name, dammit. The one your mother gave you. Not that aborted half-identity these people forced on you." She gestured hard at Alexander. "Natalie."

  "No!"

  "Natalie."

  "Stop!" She twisted away from them both.

  Cardinal grabbed her wrist before she could go far. "Why won't you even consider another life than this?"

  Natalie yanked weakly at Cardinal's grip and choked on a sob.

  "Why?" Cardinal insisted. She stepped over Alexander.

  Natalie sank slowly to the deck, tears running down her cheeks. "I don't know what to do."

  Cardinal crouched. "What do you mean?"

  "I don't know how–" she sniffed, "—to not be a pirate. I don't know how to be Natalie."

  Cardinal's heart broke. She wiped tears away with her thumbs and hugged Natalie close. "We can teach you." Natalie clung to Cardinal's arms and wept. "We'll teach you, babe."

  They sat like that for several minutes, rocking gently with the boat on open water. Whiplash gathered Alexander and his lackey together and made sure they were secure. She rinsed the deck of blood and restarted the boat in the direction of the island.

  Cardinal hugged Natalie tight and whispered, "You'll always be my Wildflower."

  Chapter 16

  They reached the island before nightfall and as promised, the beach and dock were deserted. It wasn't a very large space cut into the natural jungle, but it had a small hut and what appeared to be an outhouse. It was enough for now.

  Natalie helped tie the boat at the dock. Cardinal followed her onto dry land. "The telephone first," she said.

  The hut consisted of two rooms, a bare bed, and a small desk in both. One desk held an old wired telephone. Cardinal listened to the dial tone for several seconds with a wistful smile on her face. It was almost over. She dialed.

  "Name?" A male voice asked.

  Cardinal recited, "ID number six, five, six, seven, three, nine, four."

  "This line is insecure, are you compromised?"

  "Yes. Situation is stable. Can you track this call?" She sat heavily in a flimsy plastic chair by the desk.

  "Affirmative."

  "Pass the coordinates to our Aries. Requesting extraction." She looked up at Natalie who held her fingers tightly together. Cardinal swapped the phone to her other shoulder and squeezed Natalie's hand.

  "Hostiles?" the anonymous man asked.

  "Two known. Secure. We're on an island. We have not cleared the territory."

  "Confirmed. Any additional in—"

  Cleo's happy voice broke into the phone call. "Ha! I knew you were alive!"

  The anonymous male voice barked, "Get off this line!"

  "Like hell, I haven't talked with her in days. Six five six, I've already got a Pisces team en route. Sit tight, we'll be there in a few hours."

  "You will hang up that phone Ari—"

  "Take it up with the Commander." Cleo sighed. The anonymous voice spluttered and then was cut off permanently. "I've been awake too long for this crap," Cleo muttered.

  Cardinal sighed. "Oh, thank god." Then, "How were you tracking us?"

  "Educated guesses, I'll tell you all about it when Pisces get you on a secure line."

  "Good ... that's good." Cardinal rested her head on the wall and spotted Natalie hovering in the doorway, not quite listening in, but unable to leave. "Hey, confirming three for extraction."

  "Seems like you have some telling to do as well."

  "Yeah ..."

  "You okay?"

  Cardinal stood. "I have some stuff to sort out before your boys get here."

  There was a pause. "Understood. Leave the phone off the hook."

  "You got it, Boss." Cardinal set the earpiece down on the table. She drew Natalie deeper into the shack, into the other room.

  "Are they coming to get you?"

  "Yeah, you, too." Cardinal sat with her on the spare bed, and stroked her cheek where Alexander had struck her. "You ok?"

  Natalie looked away. "I've had worse."

  "Hey." Cardinal pulled her chin back. "He's tied up and Whip's got him under guard. You don't have to be afraid of him anymore."

  "I know. I just …" Her eyes firmed and she blurted. "He always told me what to do and now I don't know.
" She bit her lip. "Who tells me what to do now?"

  "Well, for a little while, Zodiac will tell you what to do. If you come back with us, they'll want to talk about what happened here. They'll train you for a job, probably a customer service position like waiting tables at a restaurant. And they'll give you a place to stay, an apartment, that's just yours."

  "Mine?" Natalie gripped her hands. "Can you visit?"

  "Sure, if you want me to. Anyone can visit. Or no one. You'll be the only one with a key so you get to decide." She stroked her hand down Natalie's back. "And then at some point you'll know how to do your job really well and you'll be the one who tells yourself what to do. You can do whatever you want."

  "Like … grow a flower garden?"

  Cardinal bumped their shoulders together and she grinned. "Exactly."

  "How does a flower grow?" Natalie ran her palm down Cardinal's arm and laced their fingers together.

  "Well, you plant a seed in the dirt somewhere sunny and you water it every few days. And a flower grows in like two weeks."

  "That's it?"

  Cardinal squeezed her hand. "I'm honestly not sure. I've never grown flowers. But when you learn, you can teach me, how does that sound?"

  Natalie whispered, "I think I like that."

  Cardinal made a mental note to buy one of those flower-in-a-mug-just-add-water kits as soon as she was home. It couldn't be that hard and they came with instructions, right? Man, there were so many things she wanted to teach--how to barbecue a good steak, for one. A lady could exist on chicken and veggies but it wasn't living. If Cardinal never saw another chicken breast, it would be too soon. She grinned at herself.

  Natalie giggled and Cardinal bumped their shoulders again. "What are you laughing at?"

  "You. You were smiling and I like it. It made me happy."

  "Nerd," Cardinal said fondly. She leaned over and pressed her lips to Natalie's and they both giggled.

  Natalie leaned against her, bending her head to Cardinal's shoulder, and she sighed. She played with Cardinal's fingers. "I'm going to miss Milleflori. She's a good boat."

  Zodiac was going to requisition the craft. Cardinal kissed the top of Natalie's head. "Do you want to keep her?"

  "No." Natalie said, a little wistfully. "But I'll miss her."

  "Maybe you'll get a new one."

  Natalie sat up. "A new boat? I can do that? I want a catamaran. Can I grow flowers on a boat?"

  Cardinal laughed. "Yeah, you can do that. And you can grow flowers in pots if you want. You'll just have to tie them down."

  "I want to do that. Grow flowers and have a new boat."

  Cardinal smiled, but as their conversation paused, her smile faded. There was still a small matter to resolve. One that had put Cardinal on this course in the first place. One that could break them. "Natalie ... before we showed up you were a part of their crew. You drove the boat. You participated."

  "I grew up on this boat—"

  "I'm not accusing you of anything. Just ... there's no way you missed the ivory we tracked here. Whip and I have been through every inch of the craft—there's nothing stored on board." Cardinal met Natalie's wide sunflower-colored eyes and refused to flinch at the understanding dawning in them. She knew this was coming the whole time. That didn't make it feel any better. It didn't twist the knife any less. What was the phrase? This will hurt me more than it hurts you. "Where's the ivory, Natalie?"

  Natalie's expression sharpened. "You said you tracked me by the message in the bottle."

  Cardinal nodded. "We found a message. We talked briefly to your father. The fact that you were on the ship we were tracking was just an accident."

  Natalie's breath rushed. "You lied to me."

  Lies by omission. Big lies. Gaping, massive, ocean-sized lies. "Yes."

  "I thought ... then this whole thing ..." She made a drifting gesture between them. She yanked her hand free of Cardinal's and stood from the bed. "None of this is real." Natalie gasped for air. "How could—I don't even …"

  Cardinal tried to grab Natalie's hand. "This is real—"

  "No! Don't keep doing this. Don't keep lying–" Natalie turned away.

  Cardinal grabbed her wrist, her shoulder. "I'm not lying about this." She turned her around and held her face steady. "Look at me. I love you. I didn't want to. I'm not supposed to. Yes, I lied to you, I needed you on our side or you'd never let us go. I needed to keep Whiplash and me safe. I needed your help—"

  "So you twisted me!"

  "Yes! I thought I could stay out of it. I tried to just talk you into it but you're so unaware of the bigger world, it wasn't making any sense. The very idea of leaving this boat behind is foreign to you. I had to make you fall in love with me ... but I had to fall in love with you to do it right. Don't you see?"

  "Let me go." Natalie was shaking.

  Cardinal was afraid she'd run away. The island didn't seem to be that big, but what was out there? Could she fix the damage holding on would do? She let go.

  Tears finally broke down Natalie's cheeks. "Go," she said hoarsely, only composed by a thread. Her finger pointed at the dock.

  Cardinal walked away, her heart in her throat and falling to pieces. She made it back to the boat before she realized she'd never received an answer about the ivory. Cardinal kicked a nicely coiled rope down into the water then cursed as she hauled it back up, dripping, onto the dock. She stomped down the stairs and past Whiplash keeping watch on the pirates. "Pisces will be here in a few hours," she grumbled and slammed the berth door behind her.

  She was going to vomit. Cardinal emptied her stomach into the toilet then brushed her teeth thoroughly. Hardly a surprise that Natalie felt betrayed. There had to be a way to fix this. Cardinal wrenched the head door back open. Whiplash raised an eyebrow in her direction. She stormed up to the first pirate she saw. "Where's the ivory?" She scowled at Alexander. He was gagged.

  "I already tried." Whiplash sighed. "He doesn't seem to care about a reduced punishment for cooperating. What about your girl?"

  "She's not–" Cardinal snapped her mouth shut at Whiplash's sharp look and turned away.

  Whip pushed, "Is she with us or not?"

  "I don't think she knows." Cardinal climbed up on the bed and lay down. She reached out to trace the wildflower carved on the wall, imagining all the nights Natalie had done the same, waiting for Alexander to visit. Had he slept here with her afterward? Held her like he loved her?

  Had she believed it and held him back?

  There was a sound on the steps. Cardinal started up, wiping tears away and paused at the berth door. Natalie.

  Whiplash crossed her arms. "Welcome back. I don't know what kind of deal you've struck with my partner but you haven't tried to kill either of us so you get a few points for that. You want me to put in a good word about you with my commander, you can start with the ivory."

  Cardinal winced. "Whip—"

  "Quiet, Cards. If she wants to change, here's her first chance."

  "I know," Natalie said softly. She met Cardinal's eyes hesitantly. "That's why I'm here. We did have a load of ivory and rhino horn, like you say. I never liked kidnapping people and smuggling is profitable enough to get by. You were too close. Alexander didn't like it. You must have realized the bag we taunted you with was full of junk."

  "After a day spent digging it up." Whiplash grumbled.

  Cardinal said, "Shhh."

  "We have ... had an arrangement with a local tour boat to dump our cargo and bring it into the marina. He refused. We never figured out why."

  "You scuttled the boat," Cardinal filled in, remembering Frank's story about the argument.

  "Alexander's idea. Wanted to teach him a lesson."

  Whip asked, "What did you do with all those people?"

  "Brought them to shore. Let them go. We weren't equipped to keep them all."

  Whiplash uncrossed her arms and leaned forward. "That's why there were no police—you'd answered your own SOS."

  Cardinal presse
d, "But the ivory?"

  "We didn't have time to do more than ditch it. Every slip in the marina has a storage bin on the walkway. It's locked with a padlock."

  "You secured a fortune with a padlock," Whiplash said flatly.