by Jenny Penn
“That’s because he’s thinking with his heart, not his brain.” Amos’s glance shifted to the back door as he sighed and shook his head. “Believe it or not, I hired him because he’s one of the best damn agents I ever saw in action. Man’s quick on his feet and got great instincts, just like his buddy Jack does, but you exist to prove that a woman can turn a capable man into a useless one.”
“Is that a fact?” Kathy knew when she was being bullshitted, knew, too, when a man’s compliments shouldn’t be taken at face value. Right now Amos wanted something from her. Kathy didn’t need three guesses to figure out what.
“It’s not that shocking. You are after all a very pretty woman.”
“Pretty?” Kathy lifted a brow at that word choice. “Not beautiful? Or perhaps devastatingly gorgeous? Not even sexy enough to make a gay man go dumb?”
“No.” Amos laughed out that denial, shaking his head at her. “But I could have said cute.”
“Oh, God,” Kathy groaned. “I hate that word. Puppies are cute. Babies dressed up like pumpkins for Halloween are cute. Grown women who you are trying to butter up are not cute.”
“Sorry.” Amos didn’t sound or look it. “I’ll remember that for the future, but I’d like it noted that I’m not trying to butter you up.”
“Please.” Kathy waved away his denial. “We both know you want something from me. The only difference is you know what it is and I don’t.”
“Actually, it’s you who wants something from me,” Amos corrected her.
“If you say help—”
“I was going to say information.”
That cutting retort shut Kathy up as she considered the possibilities of just where that statement led. “What kind of information?”
“The kind I’d only share with those who worked for me.”
Amos paused to offer her a small smile with that bit of bait, but Kathy didn’t bite. Instead she let her silence settle over the room until finally the old man broke and got to the point.
“Of course, I’m willing to rectify that small matter.”
“Oh, you are?” Kathy tried to keep her lips stiff and straight but it wasn’t easy. “So this is a bribe.”
“No, it’s a job and given the money I’m willing to offer, you’d be a fool to turn me down.”
Despite her determination not be charmed by the old man, Kathy couldn’t hold on to her anger. There was a jovial quality to his voice that softened the blunt edges of his arrogance, making him a little more endearing than Jack or Collin were with their highhanded mannerisms.
“You’re not that stupid, are you, girl?” Amos pressed, all but daring Kathy to disagree with him. She couldn’t, but that didn’t mean she agreed either.
“No, but that doesn’t make me buyable.” Kathy wouldn’t betray Amanda, or anybody else. She didn’t care how much Amos put on the table. “I have people I care about and people who care about me. No paycheck can buy that.”
“And that’s just why I want to hire you.” Not put off in the slightest by her rejection, Amos’s grin only grew wider as he agreed almost instantly with her. “Loyalty and intelligence are the two things I can’t teach a person to have, and two things in my line of work that are necessary for survival.”
“Yet you’re trying to buy me out of mine, which means this is either a test or you’re full of shit.” Kathy paused to give Amos a moment to squirm under the weight of that suggestion.
The old man didn’t give her that satisfaction, but instead threw his head back and laughed. Acting as if she’d made some kind of joke instead of an accusation, he didn’t offer her any assurances.
“You certainly look for the worst in a situation, which is another good trait for people in my kind of work to have.”
“And just what is your line of work?” While Kathy suspected she already knew the answer, she also knew better than to take anything for granted.
Of course, Amos couldn’t simply answer that relatively straightforward question. Instead he pursed his lips and considered the matter with a thoughtfulness that could only be an act. Kathy saw right through it and knew he was just looking for the right one to appease her. “We help clients solve and prevent security issues.”
Amos finally settled on a relatively simple explanation that, no doubt, covered a wide variety of complex problems. Kathy sensed this man liked to get into trouble. That was kind of her specialty, but that still didn’t make her qualified to work for him.
“I’m not exactly a ‘securities issue’ unless you want to talk about causing them.” That might have been brutal, but it was also honest as was the rest of Kathy’s summation of her abilities.
“I’m not qualified to drive anything other than a regular car or shoot anything other than a handgun. I’m not big enough to kick down any doors or intimidate any witnesses. I only know how to use a computer, not how to hack into one much less how to install or override security systems. So, I’m kind of wondering what the hell you want with me.”
“You’re smart, you’re curious, and you got balls.” Amos clicked off a short list of what he clearly considered her major attributes, before landing on the one Kathy could believe he meant. “Most importantly, you know how to research something.”
Amos leaned across the table, his smile dipping along with his tone. “Before I kick in a door I have to know it’s the right one and while I have hackers who get information, that doesn’t mean they know what to do with it, but you do. Don’t you?”
She should have been honest and told him “no,” but Kathy wasn’t that dumb. Instead she ducked the answer by responding with her own question. “And Amanda?”
“Is not relevant to this deal.” Amos straightened, his features hardening into a scowl. “The job is yours now or later, whatever fits your schedule, though I might point out that now might help your friend more than later.”
“Yeah?” Kathy lifted a brow, not surprised by that bit of advice. Amos had his agenda. While she didn’t blame him for it, Kathy still felt obliged to make him justify it. “And how’s that?”
“Because no matter how smart you are, without access to information, you’re just spinning your wheels.” From the way he spoke to the gleam in his gaze, Amos clearly had something he wanted to share. Kathy didn’t think it would take too much to make him blab.
“As in…” Baiting him with that slow prod, Kathy didn’t have to wait long before Amos finished the rest of her sentence.
“The Feds have a Judas.”
Cold shivers rippled down her spine. The frigid wash of fear had Kathy pulling back, unwilling to accept his words at first. Amos countered with his own lean forward.
“You want to hear a story?”
Kathy really didn’t, but had no choice in the matter. All too soon Amos had her head spinning with tales of federal safe houses getting hit and of a money runner being kidnapped only to show up dead down in a run-down motel just outside of Humble.
So many things started to make sense, one of which was just how much danger Jack was actually in. That realization only solidified Kathy’s determination to find out who was really behind all this mayhem. It wasn’t just about saving Amanda anymore.
* * * *
Jack pulled to a stop in front of Kathy’s house and stared at the vehicles crammed into her driveway. Kathy’s little hatchback was dwarfed by Collin’s monster-size truck, which itself almost completely disappeared behind the two black SUVs that had managed to pack themselves onto the cracked, concrete path. Jack didn’t have to wonder who the SUVs belonged to, already having gotten that call from Tagger.
To say the other agent was pissed would be putting it mildly. Between Kathy riling Marion and Amos’s sudden appearance, Tagger had damn near crapped himself he’d screamed so loudly. The agent’s real problem was that he didn’t know what to do. A free Kathy could lead them to more clues or end up helping out Amos. Of course, an imprisoned one could cut a deal and end up helping them out.
While Jack might have b
een all in favor of hauling Kathy’s ass out of the line of fire, he knew she’d never give under the pressure of an interrogation. That kind of force would only have Kathy digging in and becoming more stubborn. Worse, she might end up hating him. Jack couldn’t tolerate the thought of that any more than he could stand the idea of her ending up hurt.
Honestly, he didn’t know what the hell to do beyond confronting both Amos and Kathy. Jack shoved out of the truck and headed for her door. He ignored the muscle men clearly watching him as they lingered around the SUV’s bumper. While he didn’t catch them in the act, he bet the boneheads had already alerted Amos to his arrival. His suspicion proved right as the stocky ex-general opened the door just as Jack reached for the handle.
“Jack!” Amos’s face split wide open with a smile as he stepped forward, pushing Jack back onto the porch. “Well what do you know? Isn’t it funny running into you here? I thought you were supposed to be protecting Amanda Johnson.”
“And aren’t you supposed to be in Montana?” Jack shot back, ignoring Amos’s question altogether.
“The boys are handling it.” Amos shrugged, not appearing to be miffed by Jack’s rudeness.
“I could say the same.”
“Well, that’s what they’re there for,” Amos admitted. “Got all sorts of men to handle all sorts of problems, got a town full of men who specialize in all sorts of things…all sorts of options, especially for an intelligent lady like Miss Coben. She’ll have her pick of the boys once they get a look at her.”
The implications in Amos’s words hit Jack the same second his hand clenched around the ex-general’s throat. Before Jack even realized what he’d done, he had the old man pinned to the door, dangling about four inches off the ground. Less than a second later, hands latched onto his arm as Amos’s men dragged Jack back.
“It’s all right.” Amos fell back to his feet, laughing and coughing as he waved the men away. “Go on and give us a minute.”
His men grumbled over obeying that and Jack took a lot of heated looks, but Amos’s muscle men finally retreated back down the porch steps leaving Jack alone with their boss. He still wanted to hit the older general, and no amount of deep breaths would rid Jack of that urge. He managed, though, to control it even if his fingers still flexed into fists.
“Please, tell me you did not offer Kathy a job.” Jack finally managed to ground out words through his clenched teeth. It came out gravelly and harsh sounding, a threat implied in his tone, not that Amos looked the least bit concerned.
“And why wouldn’t I?” Amos retorted, looking confused by Jack’s request. “She’s good at what she does.”
“What? Getting into trouble?”
“Putting things together,” Amos corrected, though Jack considered it the same thing. “You know, it’s not always about force.”
“Go back in there and take it back.” Jack didn’t care about Amos’s reasoning, real or not. All he cared about was keeping Kathy the hell away from the risks that came with working with the man.
“No.” Amos shook his head, refusing Jack and then daring to brush past him. “If it helps, she didn’t say yes. You still have a chance to go in there and charm her into your way of thinking, if you can.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Jack demanded to know, turning to watch as Amos sauntered down the porch steps.
“It means we all know you aren’t going to sink your career or your case over your latest conquest.” Amos paused at the bottom to look back and offer Jack a smirk. “Something Kathy will figure out soon enough…or maybe she already has. That would explain a lot of things.”
“Damnit, Amos—”
“Think of it this way,” Amos called back over his shoulder as he turned to head toward the waiting vehicles. “Everybody knows you never did want to be stuck to some clinging female. I’m just taking her off your hands.”
That crack hit low and hard, making Jack growl with pent-up frustrations. He couldn’t deny Amos’s words, but he wanted to. The case was all important, but part of the reason he was so damn mad at Kathy was because he thought of her as part of his team—a wayward, irresponsible member in dire need of a spanking, but a member nonetheless.
The same held true for Collin, who came sauntering around the side of the house. He hopped the railing and landed on the porch in time to watch Amos’s caravan start to pull out of the drive. Neither man spoke until the black vehicles had disappeared down the street.
“I’m almost afraid to go inside,” Collin finally admitted.
“He offered her a job.”
“Well, shit.” Collin smirked, glancing up at Jack. “Did she take it?”
“Apparently not.” Jack turned to study his old partner before asking, “You didn’t know he was going to offer her one?”
“It’s like I told you, man. I’m not technically on his team.” Collin paused before correcting himself. “At least not yet. I have a feeling that Amos’s offer to hire Kathy isn’t a direct attempt to help make up both our minds, not that it matters. My mind was made up the moment I heard about the cartels.”
“What about them?” Jack hadn’t caught any new news on that front. Given Collin’s smirk, he had to figure that’s because there really wasn’t anything to know.
* * * *
Kathy cringed when the front door exploded inward. Jack stormed in, bellowing her name loud enough to shake the rafters. He had either just learned that she’d talked to Marion, had been offered a job by Amos, or had drug cartels spying on her every move. Kathy smiled as she realized she’d accomplished quite a bit with her day and silently wagered on which secret would cause the vein in Jack’s forehead to burst.
With his fingers clenched into white-knuckled fists and his nostrils flaring with each heaving pant he managed to gasp out, Jack looked like a bull ready to charge. When his eyes lit on her that’s just what he did.
“You!” Jack stormed through the living room, one finger clicking out as it came to poke her in the very center of her chest. “You are packing a bag and leaving, as in now.”
Cartels. Kathy silently congratulated herself on accurately guessing the first words out of Jack’s mouth once he heard that bit of unpleasant news.
“And I don’t want any sass from you.” Jack’s finger lifted up to force her chin back and her gaze to his. “Do you understand me? No more babbling on about how Amanda needs you.”
Though, he could have, at least, popped a real vein. Then again, that would have killed him and she would feel guilty. So things probably had worked out for the best. At least for the moment.
“And let me make this real clear, if you don’t stop your meddling, I’m going to be the one having a talk with Amanda!” Jack pulled back his arm, settling his fisted hands on his hips and puffing up his chest in a clear attempt to intimidate her. “And don’t even think about giving me that look.”
Kathy blinked, not aware of making any face. She turned to cast Collin a questioning gaze, already knowing it would be pointless to ask Jack. He appeared to be lost in his own little world.
“And speaking of talks, you can forget the one you had with Amos,” Jack informed her before continuing with all sincere arrogance. “You are not taking that job.”
Collin, on the other hand, just appeared to be lost. Kathy didn’t wonder where he’d wandered off to. The bang of drawers and jingle of hangers coming from her bedroom spoke for itself.
“Are you listening to me?”
Before Kathy could tell Jack she really wasn’t, he tore back into his list of grievances. It didn’t take a great deal of intuition to figure out that nothing she could say would change either man’s attitude in that moment. They were panicked, and only time would wear them down. Until then, Kathy still had things left to do with her day.
Mistaking her silence for acquiescence, Jack followed in her wake as Kathy headed for her bedroom, threatening her even as he pressured her to do what he wanted. Collin had clearly decided to take a more direct app
roach. Just as she’d suspected, Kathy found him with her suitcase open and half packed already.
He’d shoved her clothes in haphazardly, without any care not to ball or wrinkle the fabric. As if he hadn’t been caught rooting through her underwear drawer, Collin grinned at her and then proceeded to crush her delicates, pounding them with his fists to cram them all the way into the corners.
Offering both men a smile, she reached up to begin undoing the buttons on her blouse. Neither man paid her any mind. Too busy with planning her great escape, Jack and Collin didn’t spare her a glance when she pulled her shirt off, or even when she shoved her skirt to the floor. Despite the fact that he passed right by her, Jack appeared as oblivious to her stripping as Collin, who simply tucked the shirt she threw on top of the suitcase into it.
Kathy got all the way down to her panties without either man pausing as they rushed to pack her bags. It would have annoyed her but for the fact that it proved they cared more about her safety than getting their dicks wet. Still, if she wanted to stop this craziness, she needed to distract them, which she couldn’t do if they didn’t notice her.
“It’s not big enough.” Collin shook his head as he glared at her suitcase. “We need the other one.”
As he turned to retrieve another bag from the closet, Kathy stepped up to block his path. Collin crashed right into her. Before he reclaimed his balance, Kathy took advantage, wrapping her hands around his shoulders and pressing deeper into the strong arms that lifted to steady her.
Like a swift kick in the gut, his scent filled her head, drugging her, warming her. Heat flared through her blood, pooling in her breasts and cunt as her curves flattened against the hard ridges of Collin’s muscular frame. The soft cotton of his T-shirt tickled her puckered tits as she rubbed herself against him, sighing with the pleasure that streaked from her breasts to her cunt. Her pussy creamed, heating with the need to feel the thick bulge of his erection freed from the denim she humped against.
“Kathy, I don’t—”
