by Han, Barb
Her lip curled when she shivered again, and he noticed a small freckle above it. It was sexy.
“Yes.”
“How much trouble is he in?”
He’d swear he just saw her tense expression become laced with anger and bitterness. If she knew, she sure covered it well. Either she truly didn’t know or was one hell of an actress.
“Money laundering. He’s been one of the top men in North America for the last couple of years.” He wouldn’t share the intel he had about Max having dropped out of sight six months ago, suspected of trying to get his act together and leave the trade behind. Which made even less sense why anyone would kidnap him unless his “dropping out” was a scam.
“I didn’t know.” Hurt darkened her eyes as she took a moment for that news to really sink in. The catch in her voice had him doubting his initial judgment. Had the news taken her by surprise?
Then again, there was another possibility.
Maybe she told the truth. Maybe she was as devastated as she looked. Maybe she did love her brother and she was just that demolished by him. A little piece of him believed in her integrity. The whole rest of him, and especially the part which had just been shot, railed against the idea of trusting anyone.
Not that it mattered. Sticking with her would lead him to the men who’d killed Bryce. Lauren James had just found herself a new best friend. And this would all go a lot smoother if she trusted him.
“Sometimes you want to believe in people,” he said, shaking his head wearily. “They can be damn disappointing, can’t they?”
Her expression solemn, she nodded without speaking. Then came, “You radioed your agency before. They coming to pick us up?”
He nodded.
“Back there I saw a man get shot. Did you know him?”
Perceptive. Street smart. She seemed the type to read straight through any situation, or man. He needed that about as much as he needed another bullet hole through his shoulder.
“This job doesn’t allow for many friends if that’s what you’re asking.” He paused, not wanting to reveal just how much it hurt to say that. “What about your buddies back there? Why were you bringing them a briefcase full of money?”
“To exchange for my brother’s life. And they’re not my friends.” Her voice rose and shook in anger. “Where are you taking me?”
“To find your brother.” They could re-engage on the south side of the island, and then he could set up a meeting with Gunner for more men and supplies. There were only a few spots on the island where they could be holding her brother. “Unless you have a better idea.”
“You think I like this? You think I want any of this?” Angry, frustration had her blinking back tears and her voice quivering as a look of repulsion crossed her face. If pressed, Jaden would have to admit he didn’t like being the one who put it there.
“They’re going to kill him now, and it’s because of you,” she said.
“Just how do you figure that?”
“They told me to bring money to buy him back. That’s what I was doing. Until you came along and messed it up.”
“Unless being kidnapped and probably killed was part of your plan, then you should be glad I ruined it, sweetheart,” he said. “Besides, we’ll find them.”
***
A shudder ran down Lauren’s spine at the word killed.
“How? How on earth will we do that out here?” she asked, eyes focused on the man who’d just saved her life. His face, sturdy and angular, brought a sense of maturity and dignity to the near-boyish pucker of his full lips. His body could’ve been ripped off a Calvin Klein underwear billboard, for all she knew. Perfectly muscled, tanned skin highlighted by his white V-neck. He was physically intimidating and had a certain predatory magnetism radiating from him. His cool blue eyes put her at ease.
They shouldn’t have.
He glanced at the bag. “They get the money?” His voice was dark, edgy and commanding, charging the air around him. No question he was used to being the man in control.
“No.”
“Then they’ll find us. Besides, your brother’s still alive.”
“How could you possibly know that?”
A slow smile spread across lips far too full for a face of sharp planes and hard angles.
“This is not my first rodeo.”
“Why would you help him? Me? Is that why you were hired?”
“I catch bad guys for governments and private agencies. It’s what I do,” he said.
This was his job. He was a professional. That she knew. What she couldn’t figure out was if he would help her or hurt her? She wasn’t sure if she should fight him or thank him.
Best she could figure was he’d just saved her life. It was the first time in years someone had come to her rescue and taken care of her. And it felt nice to know someone had her back — a dark knight with sex appeal in buckets. Plus, he was the one with the gun.
“Thank you.”
“We’re safe,” he said. “For now.”
“What’s going to happen to my brother?” she asked, hating the quiver in her voice.
A thump threw her forward. Panic gripped her as the engine ku-clunked before dying.
“What was that?” she asked.
His hands went to work on the controls. “A bad sign.”
The engine whirred but didn’t catch. He picked up binoculars from the hook next to the steering wheel and scanned the area. “We can’t stay here. You know how to swim?”
Her heart beat in her throat. “Um, yeah. Why? I thought your people were planning to pick us up.”
“We’re going to ditch this dead weight and swim ashore.”
Lauren glanced around and didn’t see any sign of land. A loud crack of thunder unhitched her nerves. She let out a yelp. “In this? Wouldn’t it be safer to stay right here and wait?”
“No choice. There’s a boat heading this way and it’s not mine.”
“Could be Coast Guard. It’s probably someone coming to help.” She folded her arms.
“It’s not. The US Coast Guard doesn’t wander around the Caribbean. If it was my agency, they’d be signaling by now.”
“Are you sure?”
Impatience shot from his glare. “Every other boat is heading to shore to get away from the storm, which leads me to believe the men who tried to kidnap you probably found one of their own by now and picked up our distress signal. Unless kidnapping you was part of your plan.”
Lauren couldn’t stop herself from staring at the gun tucked in the waistband of his jeans as he rumbled around picking through equipment. She had no choice but to do what he said.
He gathered up a pile of equipment and set it in the middle of the deck.
“Find a wet suit and some gear.”
Fear seized her. She shook her head furiously. “I can’t.”
“Do it anyway,” he ground out. “Now.”
The edge to his voice sounded more like a warning than a threat. He’d barked, but he wouldn’t bite.
She scanned his face for a moment, for some emotion that would give her a clue as to what he was really thinking, something that might reveal his agenda. His stone-cold features gave away nothing.
“Why did you save me back there?” she asked, moving toward the pile of supplies.
“It was part of my mission.”
“Are you going to use me to get to them?”
“No. But you just found a new best friend.”
“How’s that?”
“A guy I knew is lying dead back there on the beach. You’re the connection. I plan to find out why.”
She located a shorty — a suit made for warm water dives. She looked up in time to see Jaden unzipping his jeans, shedding them not more than a second later.
Her heart stuttered, heat climbed up her throat. She diverted her gaze to the pile of equipment in front of her, ignoring the impulses heightening all her senses.
“I don’t have a bathing suit,” she said quickly. A little
too quickly.
“You have the next best thing.”
Surely this complete stranger didn’t think she’d strip down to her bra and panties right in front of him? “I don’t think so.”
“In the water, your clothes will turn to lead weights in a matter of minutes. I have no idea how long we’ll be swimming. But I’m certain of two things. Stay here and you’ll die. Wear those and you’ll drown.”
His shirt was crumpled on the floor. His muscled chest glistened from the light rain.
“Fine. Then turn around at least,” she said stiffly, before turning to face opposite him as she heard a zip.
“Nothing I haven’t seen before, sweetheart.”
Feeling more vulnerable than she wanted to admit, she slipped off her pale green tank top. The tiny hairs on the back of her neck pricked as she slid her skirt down past her hips and turned just in time to catch Jaden boldly staring at her.
The breath stalled in her throat as she stepped out of her skirt. Her heart thudded against her ribs. Not just because of the unexpectedly provocative stare, but because of the way he looked at her, like she was Helen and he’d just won the Trojan War. She’d never seen a gaze so full of secrets and promises, never seen eyes turn that dark. They’d deepened practically to the color of a night sky.
“I told you not to look.”
He grinned a devastating little grin, said nothing.
“Besides, how do I know you’re not working for one of those jerks who’s trying to get my brother killed for his territory?”
He stepped closer, using his body to crowd her against the side of the boat. “You really think I’m the kind of man who does other people’s dirty work?”
She jolted at the nearness of his voice. He was so close now she could smell the woodsy scent of his aftershave. For the first time she was keenly aware of just how tall he was. He had to be at least six-three, maybe more. Standing this close to her, he nearly dwarfed her frame at five-four.
“No.” She didn’t think that. If Jaden Dean had dirty work to do, he did it for himself.
It was high noon. The temperature was warm and humid, causing clumps of her long hair to cling to her neck. She pushed it away and drew a breath, craving fresh air, but only succeeded in piloting in the scent of him. Musky and male.
Her heart beat too fast in her chest. “I don’t know what kind of man you really are.”
“You don’t need to.”
“If you’re trying to scare me,” she said, “it won’t work.”
“I suppose you’re not trembling, either.”
Frustration shot through her, because damn it, he was right. Refusing to give an inch, she shot back, “I’m cold.”
“Try again.”
With trembling fingers, she zipped her shorty and then struggled to buckle her buoyancy control vest. Thank God he’d turned back to the pile of equipment, no doubt searching for anything useful. She needed a second to pull it together and calm her rattled self.
“I never could figure this thing out,” she said, hating how uneven and shaky her voice sounded.
“Tighten it here,” he said, moving closer, his tone dropping an octave lower.
His finger brushed across her stomach causing heat to swirl low in her belly. “Should be snug across the belly but not too tight under the arms.”
The wind wound through his tight black curls.
Lauren slipped on her weight belt, followed by her tank, ignoring the sensations igniting her nervous system from his slightest touch. He was dark and dangerous, and he’d just saved her life. Her body was simply reacting to that.
“I don’t know anything about you aside from your name.”
“No. You don’t.” He tanked up without breaking rhythm; his gruff tone suggested they were done talking. “If you want to stay alive, you’d better follow me.”
She clutched the overnight bag.
“You can’t swim with that.”
Panic widened her eyes. “This is everything I have. There’s no more. I told you, I don’t bring this and my brother’s dead. I have to —”
“You bring it, game over, you die.” As if to punctuate his sentence, Jaden picked up his gun and fired off a round into the water, emptying the chamber, and then tossed the clip overboard before securing his gun back inside his shorty.
“What are you doing?”
“Bullets on a Glock and water don’t mix,” was all he said. Then came, “And I’m serious about losing the bag.”
Lauren flinched as she set it down, cleared her throat, and positioned herself on the edge of the boat preparing for the backward spiral into the water. The sound of a boat engine roared in the distance. Panic gripped her. They were getting closer.
If they got the money, would they kill Max?
“Hold on.” She grabbed the fire extinguisher, tied it onto her piece of luggage, and tossed it overboard. “That might buy Max a little more time if they find the boat.”
Jaden winked approvingly, and her heart stuttered. She shouldn’t care what this man thought.
She took her seat on the edge of the boat again. Normally, the water in the Caribbean was like glass, providing a clear view to the sand below, but the storm-churned seas had her diving in blind. Glancing down deep where the blue water darkened, she said a silent prayer nothing scarier than men with guns waited down there.
Jaden looked capable of handling any situation that might come up under the surface or otherwise. That was comforting. The notion she felt comforted by the presence of a complete stranger with a gun struck Lauren as odd.
“Stick close by me.”
He fell backward, motioning Lauren to follow, looking half unsure if she would. She did and found herself on a rocky bottom inside of forty-five feet. He turned and navigated her through a gully.
Blackness loomed overhead.
When they’d swum a great distance, thumbs up, Jaden gave the signal to ascend.
Lauren surfaced, and immediately a gale blew her backward. She spit out her regulator, gagged on seawater. The roar of a boat engine sending waves of panic rippling through her.
“Must be a thirty-knot wind,” Jaden said, kicking his feet hard to stay afloat. “Sound travels further. The boat isn’t as close as you think.”
A six-foot wave churned, swelled, washed over Lauren, and then pushed her back under. She broke the surface again and immediately searched for any signs of life on top of the waves. Nothing.
No doubt about it, they were lost at sea. Waves broke over her head. Rain came down in buckets dropping visibility to a few feet.
“What’s going on?” She had to shout to be heard over the howling wind, terror vibrating her tone.
Jaden raked his fingers through his hair. “We’ll figure something out.”
The skies darkened by the minute, and the swells rose to unbelievable heights. They were too high.
Lauren whipped from left to right increasing the splash. Her expression grew increasingly desperate.
“Are we lost?”
Panic welled in her chest, causing sharp stabs of pain with each beat of her pounding heart. She scrambled to keep her head above water. Breathe. The long, slow breath she took in caught in her throat, causing her to choke on thick saltwater as it scorched her lips. She battled fatigue and stiffening muscles. Water sloshed overhead threatening to pull her under with the wave’s sheer force. Fighting against the onslaught of foam and whitecaps, she craned her neck left and right.
Someone or something had to be around.
And the seas? Angry. Bitter. Pounding out Mother Nature’s version of a wild temper tantrum.
Muscles stiff with fear made it increasingly difficult to tread water. Scared, she could do nothing but struggle to keep her head above water. If she died, who would help Max? They had no real family. It had been the two of them against the world, until she learned what he was getting into. From that day on, she’d been all alone.
“They’re going to find us and kill him,” she shouted
. Her stomach cramped as she felt the burning, metallic taste of vomit in the back of her throat. Trying to hold position near Jaden, she turned to meet his focused gaze.
“No. They won’t,” he said.
“How can you be so sure?”
“I’m good at what I do. Trust me. He won’t die. Once we make it back to shore, we’ll meet up at the safe house. I’ll gather my team, and we’ll figure out who has your brother and where.”
“We won’t make it. I hear the boat. It’s only a matter of time before those jerks find us.”
She felt an arm wrap around her waist before being pulled toward Jaden, the heat from his body warming her as he pressed her body against his. “The rain will kill their visibility. They won’t find us if we keep swimming.”
Rolling, dark clouds swelled overhead.
“Inflate your BC,” he said. His voice was controlled, providing a small measure of comfort while Lauren was freaking out.
“Right.” Good idea. Her buoyancy control device would make her float, keeping her on top of the water without her wasting valuable energy. Lauren located the knob and squeezed the inflator button a couple bursts. She pushed her legs forward, flattened her back, and allowed herself a moment to get her bearings.
“I probably shouldn’t even care. I mean, I know what he is.” She didn’t respect her brother. How could she? But he hadn’t always been like that. There was a time when he’d been her salvation, her protector.
Why couldn’t she save him back?
“He was my hero when were kids. He saved me from a lot of … bad … things.”
Jaden’s expression changed. His pupils dilated as though he was suddenly very angry. “He saved you from things or people?”
Compared to young Max, Superman was just a silly-looking guy in a cape. “People. It’s the reason I came.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll get to him. I promise.” Jaden’s hand went up, his expression set with more determination than ever. “The direction of the wind should blow us ashore —”
“Which way is that?”
Jaden pointed, seemed sure of himself, but how he could tell was anybody’s guess.
“It looks too far. And the current is tugging us out to sea.”
