Top had run every test imaginable, investigating to find out what caused his amnesia, but they never found an answer. As a result, Neal had no idea where he came from, who his family was, or if he even had family. The only thing he’d emerged into the world with was the huge scar on his face.
He awoke as a naïve boy, but the government built him into a hardcore man. Training agents happily took him under their wings, stating he could easily be molded into almost anyone. His ability to learn fast and to execute with first-rate precision was what drew their attention the most.
Neal harbored another ability that he had discovered during his training. He told no one about his discovery, not knowing if it was something he’d inherited from wherever it was he’d come from. He couldn't go around telling people he believed he had the ability to jump through space. He couldn't explain what he could do, so he was reluctant to reveal it to anyone for fear of being locked away or diagnosed as crazy.
Although he never revealed his secret ability to Top, he couldn't help but wonder if they already knew. It hadn’t been lost on him that Top only recruited people that were a bit unusual, those that seemed to have something special lingering below the surface of carefully crafted normalcy.
Neal never found answers to any of his questions, but he vowed to never give up the quest to find out about his past. The disturbing idea that Top may be the reason he lost his memories in the first place surfaced from time to time.
Despite his lingering apprehension towards the agency he worked for, he couldn’t deny that they provided him the best training in the world and gave his life a sense of purpose. He had so easily latched on to the world they exposed him to that it seemed he was built specifically for it.
His thoughts lingered back to Dana. There was something special about her he hadn’t quite put his finger on.
Knowing she couldn't see him from where he sat, he watched her get back to work. He couldn't help wondering what she did during those secret times she managed to get away from him.
Where had she picked up those bruises she wore?
He wanted to gain her trust rather than force her to tell him her secrets, so he delayed questioning her. Nevertheless, he wondered what was so important she couldn't tell her own family.
He was deep in thought when he glanced up into the beautiful face of the woman that was surrounded by so much mystery it left him confused. He was the one missing nineteen years of memories, yet she possessed more intrigue. She hadn't lied when she stated her thoughts would probably confuse him.
Another interesting revelation about Dana was her ability to sneak up on him, seemingly appearing from thin air. She was standing so close, Neal inched his chair back a bit, playing it off like he was stretching his legs.
“I would like to go to the mall. I need to pick up some earrings I ordered and perhaps a bite to eat as well.”
“Sure.” He smiled despite lingering thoughts. “As long as you don’t have plans to ditch me while you're there.”
She smiled before walking away, but didn’t reply.
Neal followed Dana to the parking garage without a word. He preferred for her to sit in the back when he drove, but she was the kind of woman that sat where she wanted.
He wasn’t looking forward to keeping his eyes on the road and off her. She parked herself in the front seat next to him, wearing a skirt that rose considerably when she sat. Neal had met a lot of beautiful woman, but she was the crème de la crème and could seduce a man with one glance, if she chose to. She was the most distracting woman he’d ever met.
He started the car and kept his mouth shut. He hoped that giving her enough space to do her secret business, whatever it was, would win him a few points and hopefully a clue—or glimpse—into what she was up to.
He didn’t know all there was to know about women, but there was one thing he was certain of about this one—she held firmly to her secrets.
He believed she had many.
Chapter 11
Chasing Danger
Neal was doing a remarkable job by William Diallo's standard, but Neal knew better. He'd left him with a parting brief before departing for Afghanistan, ensuring that Neal was going to stick around.
William repeated himself several times, emotion crossing each syllable of his words. “Keep my baby girl safe, Neal. She means the world to me.”
Neal left William’s office to prepare himself for a long night. With her father gone, there was no telling what kind of stunts Dana had up her stylish sleeves.
Neal let his determination to track Dana override his affinity for being distracted and charmed by her. It would be impossible to protect her if he couldn’t find out what she was up to. If she decided to sneak out tonight, he believed he had a way to get a leg up on her.
He came to the conclusion that someone must have been picking her up when she snuck away. The house was isolated and Dana didn't use any of the three vehicles she owned in the garage. Since he'd discovered her first disappearing act, his last three attempts at following her was a bust. He lost her trail even when he briefly spotted her sneaking through the darkness. No one could just vanish.
Or could they?
He'd walked the perimeter of the property, several times, trying to find out how she’d been getting out. How had she plotted her escape routes? How had she gone unnoticed by the guards?
A mixture of determination and curiosity kept him searching to figure out Dana's secrets. Filling his backpack with a few of his high-tech spy toys, Neal put on his all-black, stealth wear and prepared to catch the sneaky seductress.
When he turned on the reflective properties of his all-black jumpsuit and put on his hood, he could literally go undetected in darkness and in dim light. The suit acted as a mirror, reflecting the night back into the atmosphere, making its occupant virtually invisible. He wondered if Dana had access to this type of technology. It would explain her disappearing acts.
As he made his way past the guards without so much as a loose twig breaking, he faded into the darkness to the inside of the fence line at the front of the house. Dana was forcing him to treat her like a target, one who harbored as many secrets as the agency he worked for.
Neal decided to unleash his training on her. He was also willing to use his ability, if it came to that. It may be the only way he could catch her and get answers.
After about a thirty minute wait, his night vision gear picked up what could have been a person. The object moved as a blur. Neal adjusted his gear, twice, before the person—or object—fell out of sight.
Could it have been Dana?
The movement was extremely fast, appearing as a blip through his lenses.
Neal adjusted his vision settings, to ensure he’d seen a person and not shadows of dancing light. Hearing footsteps thumping at a rapid rate and not seeing what made the sound was perplexing.
Clearly hearing movement, he removed his night goggles in time to see a figure leap over the area he squatted in. Whatever it was, it was moving so fast the wind gust swept the shrub’s leaves into his face. He'd strategically chosen this area because it was the only place he spotted fresh footprints.
The faint but unmistakable fragrance of Dana's perfume helped to expose at least one of her secrets. The figure he thought he saw, the one that moved too fast for him to track, was Dana. He hadn’t a clue as to how she pulled it off, but it was another secret he added to the list of mysteries he was left to figure out about her.
She hadn’t noticed him hunkered near the fence, thanks to his special government-issued stealth gear. The gear was so good at keeping him hidden that it even concealed his heat signature from other tech devices. If there was any spyware out there better than what he had, he was certain that Top knew about it and acquired it.
He stood, listening and searching. She was gone.
How had she gotten across the nearly ten-foot metal fence?
He didn’t have time to waste, trying to figure it out. If he were to track her further tha
n the yard, he had to keep moving. Determined not to lose her this time, he got himself to the other side of the fence in time to pick up a familiar sound. The crunch of breaking rocks against pavement and the unpleasant intake of exhaust fumes alerted him that a car was on the move.
Although he couldn’t see anything, the creaks and cracks of rolling tires suggested she hadn’t gotten far enough away for him to lose her trail. Adjusting his night gear, he picked up the heat signature of a small dark car traveling swiftly away. Following a car that was nearly invisible wasn’t going to be an easy task. He also had to remain far enough in the rear that Dana didn’t see him trailing her.
When she had driven far enough away from the house, the lights of her vehicle came on and nearly blinded Neal. He discarded the night goggles and kept up his pursuit. He used the residual light from her taillights to keep himself on the road. He had a thousand questions, but had no intention of losing sight of the diplomat’s mysterious daughter. This was the closest he had gotten to seeing what she was truly up to.
If Dana caught him, he imagined he would have a difficult time trying to explain how he was trailing her car on foot. Based on what he believed he saw of her through his lenses, she had some explaining to do as well.
****
Neal followed Dana for nearly forty minutes. While catching his breath, he took in their surroundings. They ended up at Lamy Bridge. The bridge appeared to not have been in use by humans for years, so Mother Nature was taking it back. Vines and all sorts of shrubbery stake their claim on the bridge.
The bridge had obviously been decommissioned and was likely scheduled for demolition. It was the perfect place to conduct illegal business, if that was what Dana was up to. The moon peeking through the clouds gave the bridge an eerie feel. A few shimmering rays of moonlight lit the dark water below, making it dance and wave with life. At a distance, the bridge appeared to be swaying, hanging by tethered cables that were stretched and ready to snap.
Dana drove past reflective warning and caution signs meant to stop access onto the bridge. She drove cautiously, traversing a steep incline until reaching a leveling point at the center of the unsafe bridge.
The few lights that scarcely illuminated the bridge showed her driving an all-black compact car. The car seemed to have some type of reflective paint that made it look invisible at certain angles. He’d learned about this type of paint, but assumed it was something only the government used. The general public had similar paints but not as scientifically advanced.
Since he worked for Top, he owned spy equipment and everyday improvements of many items that the rest of the world would never see and would never know existed. This paint was one of those items. The stealth gear he wore was another.
Since Dana was surrounded by secrets and her father had ties to the government, Neal wondered if she had special privileges on that front.
He followed Dana on foot, getting as close as he could without rousing her suspicion. She sat in the running car waiting for someone, and he wasn’t going anywhere until he saw who it would be. Finding the perfect spot, Neal climbed atop one of the bridge’s wide beams and positioned his body flat on his stomach, facing Dana’s position.
An approaching vehicle caused his head to turn, and a hint of concern climbed into his body. The dim lighting revealed a dark colored Hummer. It drove up, facing Dana's car, and sat running for a stressful moment.
Five men exited the vehicle when the hum of the engine stopped. They were all armed and none made attempts to hide their strapped on weapons. Although he holstered his 9 millimeter, Neal was glad he brought his sniper rifle, too. He unslung it from his back and carefully set it in place. He'd failed to bring the tripod to stand it on, so he used the edge of an adjacent beam to hold the weapon in place.
As he zoomed in on the men, he found that the dim lighting wasn't deceiving his eyes. These men were strapped and prepared for battle.
Chapter 12
Sinister Intent
Dana exited her vehicle. The clicking of her heels echoed across the concrete as she stepped around to the front of her car.
What is she doing?
She was dressed in an all-black, tight-fitting jumpsuit, reminding him of a sexy superhero.
Is she wearing a wig?
She stopped feet in front of who must have been the leader of the group. The man took a step closer to her, and his men followed like he controlled them all by remote. They hadn't taken out their weapons, but their hands rested on cold steel.
Neal figured he could have been reading it wrong, but the men almost appeared threatened by Dana. He, on the other hand, was worried. He wasn’t sure what Dana had gotten herself into, but it wasn’t looking good for her right now.
How could she be naïve enough to meet these unsavory-looking characters alone, at night, and in a location where no one could hear her if she needed help, a location where she could be easily killed and disposed of? How was he supposed to protect her, if these were the kind of situations she subjected herself to?
The leader's voice carried across the bridge, a dreary echo that harbored sinister intent.
“Ms. Paxton, where is your backup? You are either the bravest woman I have met or the most naïve. You do know that we are dangerous men?”
Although he couldn't see her face clearly, Neal sensed a smile in the condescending tone of Dana's voice. He also noticed she’d been addressed as, Ms. Paxton, definitely an alias.
“I certainly know that you are dangerous, Mr. Drago, but I’m not afraid of you, or your men.”
Hearing her address the man as Drago made Neal lose his breath.
It can't be.
The government had been after Luther Drago for years. He was so elusive, agents rumored that he might have the ability to shape-shift.
It can’t be the same Drago.
It didn’t take but a second for Neal to zoom in on the man’s face, and the image that returned made his heart pump faster. What Neal couldn’t understand was how Dana had gotten involved with someone so dangerous.
He took aim at Drago's head. Logically, if he killed Drago, the rest of Drago’s crew would have time to hurt—or kill—Dana. He had no idea if Dana had backup on the way. Judging by their posture, and the way the crew was staring, their intent was to hurt—or kill—her.
The sound of Dana's voice sailed across the bridge, once more.
“You got what I asked you for?”
Drago motioned one of his men forward. The man went to the rear of their SUV and returned dragging a large, wheeled chest. He sat the chest between Dana and Drago, but closer to Drago’s feet.
Dana stepped forward and bent low to inspect what was in the chest. From Neal's vantage point, there appeared to be a body inside the chest; but he couldn't be sure.
Drago asked her, “You got what I asked for.”
She handed her briefcase to one of Drago’s men. When Drago confirmed what was in the case, his smile grew wide.
He asked, “Where is the rest?”
Dana pointed at her car. She seemed to have no regard for the weapons that were clearly visible to her. The men placed their hands, seemingly readying themselves to shoot if she tried anything. She actually waved the men off like they were in her way. The men all stared around at each other, probably wondering if the pretty lady was crazy and why she didn’t seem frightened.
Her voice danced across the bridge.
“By the way, will you have one of your men help drag this chest to my trunk while I grab your other case? I'd appreciate it because I don't want to mess up my manicure trying to get that thing into my car.”
Drago gestured for one of his man to move the chest and watched him drag it towards Dana's trunk. Neal was confused. Dana was walking around like she didn't have weapons semi-drawn on her. She opened the hatch of her car and retrieved another briefcase. She remained at the rear of her car, waiting for the man to arrive with her chest.
Speaking to someone, Neal noticed—for the first t
ime—that Drago had someone on the phone, likely listening to the exchange he'd been having with Dana.
Upon her return, Drago shot a threatening stare her way.
“I just got an update on you. You are not who you say you are. Don’t try anything because I've had a man posted here for hours before you arrived. He tells me you were actually stupid enough to come out here alone with no backup.”
At those words, Neal searched the darkness for the extra man Drago mentioned.
Dana shrugged casually.
“I came to do business and could care less about being alone here with you and your men.”
Neal noticed Drago's threatening smile without his scope.
He waved a hand towards her car.
“Why did you have us kill him, anyway? He was a nobody.”
Drago must have been speaking of the body in the chest that Dana had traded him for. She closed the space between her and Drago.
“The one in the chest, he was my target. He’s the lucky one.”
Hearing this, Neal didn't know what to think. Drago’s face tensed. He appeared as confused as Neal felt.
“I can’t wait to rid this world of things like you.”
Neal grew more confused.
Things?
An unholy growl filled the air. It made the hairs on Neal's neck stand as the sensation of ice racing up his back registered. Spying through his scope, he searched for what made the bloodcurdling wail. His sights landed right back on Drago. The hair-raising howl came from him, and it wasn't something human.
Drago’s voice roared across the bridge, casting bizarre echoes.
His dangerous eyes roamed the expanse of Dana's body, like a wolf stalking prey. He continued to speak in an aggressive tone that Neal believed Dana needed to take seriously.
A smile broke through his unpleasant glare.
“You are so damn sexy. I almost hate to kill you. But I can't wait to taste you. You smell delicious. The first time I got a whiff of your scent, I wanted to rip into one of your veins so badly, I had to leave the room. Now, I finally know why your scent caught me off guard.”
Sevyn: Adult Paranormal Romance (BWWM Romance) (Supernatural Thriller) (The Smoke & Fire Series Book 4) Page 6
