TRACELESS

by Helen Kay Dimon

  The world tilted on him. It was as if everything he knew to be true went flying and crashed at his feet. “Wow, I must suck at being a husband.”

  “How did you get to that conclusion?” Her hand rested against his chest, right over his heart.

  “You’re stunning. Like, steal-my-breath pretty. I see you and everything else washes away.” He lifted her hand and kissed her palm. “The idea you don’t know that or how much you mean to me tells me I’m as bad at communicating as you say.”

  “Connor.”

  Before she could respond or he could ruin the moment by saying the wrong thing, he leaned in. This kiss wasn’t hot or deep. Just a soft brush of his mouth over hers. A promise of more to come. A light touch to let her know he wouldn’t push. That he would wait.

  He lifted his head and stared down into those big eyes. “There.”

  Her fingertips skimmed over his chin and the stubble growing there. “What was that for?”

  “Just because.” Not touching her killed him. The endless fighting exhausted him. “But I’m not getting sidetracked.”

  He loved when she pushed him and insisted on equal ground in their marriage but when it came to her safety he had to be in charge. And getting her to understand that took its toll on both of them.

  One of her eyebrows lifted. “From?”

  As if she didn’t know. “You shouldn’t be working in a building, all alone, in the middle of nowhere.”

  Her head tilted to the side and her hair fell over her shoulder. “I agree.”

  No way should he have won that fast. “Okay, I give up. That was too easy and could only mean one thing. I’m being set up for something.”

  She tapped her fingers against his chest. “Paranoid.”

  “But not wrong.”

  “I can admit when you’re right.”

  Anything he said would only mess up the moment so he went for noncommittal. “Uh-huh.”

  “Now you sound skeptical.”

  Apparently not as noncommittal as he thought. “Cautious.”

  She balanced her back against the lip of the stone. The position had her facing him but she kept sneaking glances out over the barren landscape. The dry brush and scattering of trees. A formation of boulders, rocks larger than garages, piled as if someone had dumped them there.

  The dirt scraped and crunched as she rolled a stone under her shoe. “I stayed back last night to reconcile vaccine shipments. When I couldn’t, I got lost in the work and—”

  “Wait.” An alarm sounded in his head. “Go back. The vaccine shipments are off?”

  “A set amount every so many distributions.” She eyed him then. “Yeah, I know what you’re thinking.”

  The problem sounded so familiar it had a nerve twitching in the back of his neck. The charity got the all clear from the international community after some trouble years ago. Marcel commanded respect and donors lined up to help him keep kids healthy and safe.

  But this wasn’t the first time Connor had heard about an irregularity there. Only Marcel’s reputation and positive reports from people on the ground receiving the drugs kept the doors open.

  “You mean how the last time that happened someone was syphoning off vaccines and selling them on the black market? Yeah, I’m thinking it.” Connor took down the group heading up the scam. One sat in jail and two others had died in a shootout.

  That time almost got Jana killed. He’d been there on a job and found her. Rescued her then stayed with her while she got checked out in medical.

  She winced. “I figured.”

  From the start, her intelligence and dedication floored him. Add in the face and spectacular smile, along with a body that had him thinking very unheroic thoughts, and his priorities had shifted almost on the spot.

  She’d spent her early life on the road, at her father’s side while he helped people. She understood danger and didn’t flinch at the black ops work. She’d been the perfect woman in Connor’s eyes. Still was.

  “The paperwork is off by a fairly inconsequential amount compared to the overall shipments. What we send on one end isn’t matching up with what arrives on the other, and...” She’d been talking with her hands but they dropped to her sides now. “Well, I admit it’s not random. It’s happening at regular intervals.”

  He wondered if she realized how lame her justifications and explanations sounded and how she circled back to the bottom line fast—there was a problem at the charity.

  The same information that would have put him on a plane earlier if he’d known. “I see.”

  “What do you see?”

  Trouble. “What did Marcel say?”

  “I just found the problem. He thinks it’s a math error.” She bit her bottom lip as she looked everywhere but at Connor. “We were going to look over it all today.”

  “But you were kidnapped first.” Connor decided not to harp on the part where she left out this pretty important piece of information before.

  Their past tied them together and to the charity. Could be whatever popped up now to cause trouble snaked back to that.

  “Are you jumping to a conclusion?” she asked.

  One that centered on Marcel and how he was the black hole of disaster, yes. “No.”

  “Sounds like it.”

  This is what happened when you loved a smart woman. She didn’t fumble around and you couldn’t gloss over things. She picked up on every nuance and made every connection. It was hot but in this instance it was also a problem. He’d rather figure out the puzzle and gather the evidence. Because if he implicated Marcel and was wrong, Connor feared he’d lose her forever.

  But he did have more information than she did. “I’m guessing something is happening on this end since I know the distribution train isn’t being raided.”

  “How?” When he stayed silent, she poked him in the chest. “Connor Bowen, answer me.”

  “It’s nothing.”

  “It is almost always something when you say that.”

  She had a good point there. “I need you to stay calm and listen to me.”

  “Talk.” She ground the word out between clenched teeth.

  With one last look at the horizon, he closed down the sensation that something wasn’t right out there and focused on her. This whole conversation could go sideways on him and...well, he didn’t want to think where that could lead.

  “A guy I used to work with, someone who was in on the original raid and rescue with me, is watching over Boundless’s operations overseas.” Connor said just enough but not so much that she’d go off. Or he hoped that was true but when she didn’t blink he grew concerned. “You’re staring.”

  “I’m trying to figure out why you would do that and how furious I should be about it.”

  “This was a precaution only. You kept contact with the charity and did work for them even back in Maryland. And, for the record, there’s no reason to be furious. I was doing what any husband would do.”

  “You think most husbands would use their overseas contacts for oversight on an international charity?” She shot him a “be serious” look. “Really?”

  “This is not—” The black dot he’d been watching moved.

  Connor squinted against the sun’s rays and concentrated all of his attention on the mark. Yeah, no question about it. The space between the tree and that dot increased. Then the dot shifted again.

  Her gaze followed his. “What is it?”

  “How did they find us?” He didn’t realize he’d said the words out loud until he saw her shoulders tense.

  He’d walked for a few hundred feet in the opposite direction, laying an alternative trail then covered all of their tracks. He didn’t have wireless or satellite or anything that could connect them to a system of locate them. Yet in the thousands of miles
of open land, they’d been followed here.

  He didn’t get it. “Seems pretty random.”

  The dots—three of them—moved in a synchronized march. And they were more than dots now. At this distance it was hard to make them out, but the figures looked like men in battle gear. They walked at a good clip and closed the distance fast.

  “They are headed straight for us.” She patted her hip then looked around.

  He assumed she was searching for the extra gun he’d handed her when she asked for protection. She turned and he looked at her butt and her shoes and the answer to how they’d been found clicked in his head. “Come here.”

  Fast and rougher than he intended, he ran his hands over the outside pockets of her pants and across the collar of her shirt. He felt for any bump or anything out of the ordinary.

  She tried to pull away from him. “What are you doing?”

  “Looking for a tracker.”

  She grabbed his hand. “You mean...”

  “Yes.”

  He heard a rip and the protective vest fell to the ground. The shirt came next, leaving her wearing only a thin camisole. She slid her fingers around the waistband of her pants and kicked off her shoes. When her body tipped and she lost balance, he grabbed on, keeping one eye on her and one on the men coming over the ridge and right for them.

  His pulse pounded and blood thundered in his ears. He didn’t panic. The energy soaring through him fueled him. He’d need the adrenaline rush in order to wipe out the wall of attackers heading toward them.

  He also needed her out of the small cave. Trapped in there she didn’t stand a chance.

  “Move.” Grabbing the extra gun off the ledge and the vest and shoes off the ground, he pulled her out of the space and led her down the long tunnel of rocks that opened to the wide expanse of brush at the far side.

  She turned and held out her hand. “Shoes.”

  Lights bounced around them and he could see an escape ahead where she could crawl out. He put the extra gun in her hand as she stumbled around putting the shoes back on. “Take this and use it if you need to. Do not hesitate.”

  If she stayed low and ran, she could find another place to hide. Everything depended on the timing. If there were other men around the side, she could get caught. If he couldn’t hold them off or shoot them down, she might not get away. But first they had to find that tracker.

  She’d scooped up her shirt as they went. Her hand clamped up and down the material as she searched. When her gaze lifted and traveled over his shoulder, she moved even faster. “They’re coming.”

  “I’ll handle them.” He pulled out his gun and gave her one last look. “Find it.”

  She tucked the weapon in the waistband at the back of her pants. “What will you be doing?”

  “Shooting.” He turned away from her then. Seeing the worry in her eyes would slow him down. And he needed her on the move.

  Less than a minute later, the first bullet pinged by his head. The next lodged in the rock by his shoulder. He flipped back, hiding behind the edge of the cave opening. With a quick glance, he looked down the tunnel and didn’t see her. In his mind he had to believe she got away. Now it was his turn.

  Shadows moved and footsteps shuffled around him. The gravel made it tough for them to move in quietly, and that was his advantage. Gunfire rang out around him, chipping stones and kicking up a combination of dust and dirt. He ignored it all, biding his time.

  When the first man tried to slip around the corner and angle in, Connor nailed him in the head with a bullet. The guy went down in a whoosh. His gun fired and the bang echoed around Connor, but he stayed focused.

  One down. Two to go.

  He’d just had the thought when a second man popped up in front of him. Connor fired without thinking. The bullet hit the attacker’s shoulder and spun him around. The second one went through his neck. The man let out a yell as his hand went to the wound.

  As the man fell to the ground, Connor heard a scrape behind him. He turned out to be a beat too late. Before he could shift, shoulders nailed him in the back and knocked the air out of him. He grabbed for the side of the rock in order to stay on his feet but something whacked into his shoulder blades and had him doubling over.

  Connor heard the cock of the gun. He stayed down, waiting for the right moment.

  “You’re lucky the boss wants you alive.” The guy leaned in. “Your woman won’t be so lucky.”

  Connor lifted his elbow and slammed it into the guy’s jaw. He heard a crack and a roar of anger. Before the man could fight back, Connor went in low, pounded into the guy’s stomach and pushed him back into the rock wall.

  Punches flew as both men kicked and clawed. Fingernails dug into Connor’s flesh through his pants then a hand jerked him behind the knee and off his feet. He felt the warm air rush around him as he went down.

  He shifted, trying to spare his back, and his butt and palm took the brunt of the freefall. He hit the hard surface and his gun went flying. It skidded right out of his hand. Lunging for it, he reached out but the attacker beat him to it.

  They fought for the weapon, rolling in the dirt, but neither got a good grip. Missing it, Connor settled for pushing it farther away from the other man’s grasp.

  An elbow rammed into Connor’s stomach as he tried to catch the other man’s head and pound it into the ground. They flipped and the man’s weight crushed him.

  Hands, legs—he used it all to gain leverage. The air filled with grunts and moans. The shuffling of their clothes and bodies against the pebbles drowned out every other sound.

  In desperation, Connor reached for his knife. The move left him vulnerable for a second and the guy moved in. He punched once, twice into Connor’s stomach, causing him to bend over double.

  In the battle, the attacker ended up on top, pinning Connor to the dirt as the guy reached over and grabbed his gun. Connor hadn’t even realized there were two free for the taking until one filled the attacker’s hand.

  “I’m going to enjoy your wife before I kill her. Just wanted you to know that.” The guy’s smile was feral. Sick.

  Rage swept through Connor. The thought of Jana being at this guy’s mercy gave Connor the push he needed. He gathered all of his energy for one last push. The simple plan lacked finesse—nail the guy between the legs, turn him over and shoot him in the head.

  “No, you’re not.”

  Jana’s voice had them both turning. The attacker stilled and Connor reached for the gun. Jana beat him to the shot. She fired once and the attacker dropped.

  Dead weight fell against Connor. He shoved and pushed until he rolled the guy off.

  After a quick check for a pulse, Connor looked up at his wife. She had her feet planted and her arms up, still aiming as the smell of hot metal surrounded her.

  Scrambling to his feet with the aches and soreness fading into the background, he stood beside her and lowered her arms. He had the gun out of her fingers but couldn’t get the stiffness out of her hands. “You okay?”

  Her body shook with the force of the aftermath. “Not really.”

  “You saved me.” The fact stunned him, leaving him humble and grateful and more in love with her than he’d ever been. And that was saying something.

  She finally blinked. “All your training paid off.”

  As gently as possible, he put a hand on her chin and turned her to face him. “Thank you.”

  Those beautiful eyes cleared. “I couldn’t let him hurt you.”

  He kissed her forehead because it was killing him not to. “You didn’t.”

  “Okay,” She leaned into him as she nodded her head. Every few seconds a tremor ran through her.

  He held her through it all. Reality would smack into her later. Taking a life would imprint on her. She did it for the right reasons a
nd didn’t have a choice, but she’d need to work through it.

  He just wanted her to hold it together now. “You’re okay now.”

  “I found this.” She pulled a small black square out of her front pants pocket.

  “Nicely done.” He dropped it to the floor and ground it under his heel. “And now it’s gone.”

  “I don’t recognize any of them.” Her fingers tightened in his shirt. “Get us out of here.”

  Chapter Eight

  Luc lowered the long-range binoculars as his first man went down in the distance. The shuffling moved out of position but it didn’t start out well. He stood with Bruce, Rich and Reno more than five hundred feet away and out of sight. Keeping Reno from rushing in fell to Bruce. He whipped out a knife to make his position clear.

  As they listened in on the radio and minutes passed, Luc heard grunts and shots. Gunfire echoed through the canyons. The men they sent in were too busy fighting to give a status report. They didn’t call out directions or ask for reinforcements. They clearly thought they had the situation under control and for a few seconds, Luc believed them.

  Then silence. Whispered voices and nothing more. Absolutely nothing that sounded like an all-clear signal.

  Reno shoved Bruce’s hand away. “What the hell was that?”

  “Failure.” Bruce’s comment said it all.

  Luc had been in the business a long time. He worked for the boss off the books. He carried out plans and made sure the shipments moved smoothly. Someone else handled the stupid paperwork. They were supposed to, anyway. But a mess up there trickled down to Luc and now he had a disaster on his hands. A woman who wouldn’t stop digging and never seemed to be where he needed her to be.

  The boss was going to be ticked off. He didn’t like incompetence and he hated Connor Bowen. Losing to Connor and his team would set the boss off. Have him looking for someone to blame. Luc vowed to put Bruce in the firing line. He was the boss’s muscle and he couldn’t get trained men to do a simple job.

  It all came down to Jana. Something about her inspired loyalty in the Corcoran Team. Her husband put his body in front of hers once. He’d do it again. For Luc, that meant killing her was his first priority.