“I won’t let it get so bad again, sweetheart. I won’t leave it so long.” She wiped her nose with the back of her glove. “I don’t have to anymore. He’s in prison.” She stifled the slightly hysterical laugh that had kept threatening to erupt ever since she had read the newspaper article the day before. “Daniela’s safe from him now.” She plucked a tuft of grass from the bottom of the stone and tossed it away. “I’m so sorry, Karen. I’m so sorry it ended up like this. That he found you.” She swallowed thickly. “That I couldn’t do anything to save you.” She dabbed her eyes with the sleeve of her coat. “I’m sorry you won’t get to see her again. We gave up so much for her. But she’s safe now. My little girl’s safe now.”
She continued to pluck grass away from the edge of the grave. “I have so much to tell you, I just don’t know where to start.” She laughed. “I guess I could start with the newspaper article. It says that William has been captured and charged with murder, money laundering, terrorism, kidnapping, and a boatload of other stuff, too. It doesn’t give a great deal of detail about the charges, especially the terrorism charge, but given what he wanted from me, I think I can take a wild guess that it involves some kind of biological weapon.” She pushed her hair behind her ears. “It also says that Daniela has testified against him.” Tears spilled down her cheeks. “She’s so brave.” She wiped the tears away. “I know exactly how hard it is to stand up to that man, and I had you to support me every step of the way. I wasn’t there for her, Karen.”
She buried her face in the crook of her elbow and leaned heavily on the gravestone. The tears fell hot and fast from her eyes, and her shoulders shook with heaving sobs. In the distance, a truck rumbled down the road, birds tweeted in the trees over her head, and slowly, her crying eased.
“I won’t let that happen again, sweetheart. I won’t let her be alone again.” She reached into her pocket for a handkerchief. “I’m going to find her.” She wiped her eyes and smiled sadly at the deep carving on the stone. “I’m going to find her, and when I do, I’m never going to let anything come between us again.”
Chapter Three
Daniela Finsbury-Sterling, Finn to anyone who expected her to answer, aimed the camera at the spoked cable spool of the Cayman Salvage Master, adjusting the focus so that it was sharpest on the soft coral formation growing on the outermost edge. She tweaked the lights to pick up the purple tones. Twenty-three meters below the surface of the water, enhancing color was no easy task, but it was a challenge she enjoyed, and for the time being it allowed her to relax and focus on anything but the other challenge facing her.
In the week since Andrew Whittaker had come to her, begging for her help in his own demanding way, she had done nothing but think, talk, and plan how to do what was being asked of her. Could she pretend to be the cold-hearted bitch her father had tried, and failed, to create? She captured the coral image and swam around to the other side. She needed to capture as many angles as possible for the website shots.
Six weeks ago, she had discovered that her father had coerced a colleague of Finn’s into corrupting her scientific work to create a biological weapon from a technique she had developed to treat cancer patients. He’d intended to sell the toxin that scientist Ethan Lyell had prepared and named Balor to a terrorist for more money than any one man should have. He was going to let half the world’s population die before “suddenly” developing the cure and cashing in. Again. Now her father was languishing in prison, his companies were at the mercy of shareholders, and terrorist Masood Mehalik was trying to find someone else to re-create Balor.
Agent Andrew Whittaker had interrupted their Thanksgiving dinner to ask her to go undercover and help get this madman out of circulation. It had to be done. He had to be stopped before he created a global disaster. It was only a matter of time before Mehalik came after her, as she was the next person in line who understood the chemistry behind the weapon. Everyone from Whittaker to Interpol, the CIA, and Oz’s family agreed on that, if little else. Now, tomorrow, next week, it didn’t matter. He knew she could do exactly what he wanted. And he wanted it very, very badly.
She kicked back to line up the long shot down the length on the wreck and waved Oz out of the picture.
She knew Oz didn’t want her to take the risk. She wanted to try to keep her safe at home and let the authorities tackle it without her. She knew her lover was speaking from the heart and not from her head or her own highly developed sense of patriotism. Oz was scared that something would happen to Finn, and she respected that. But if it weren’t for Finn, Balor wouldn’t exist in the first place. She had to do everything she could to stop it from being a threat. If going undercover and trying to get Masood Mehalik to come to her was what it took to make up for the mistake she made in trusting her father with her breakthrough, then so be it. It was the right thing to do. Even if she was terrified.
She took her last shot and signaled that she was done. Oz clasped her hand and led her back toward the mooring line to begin their ascent. She still had to pack before the flight to New York tomorrow, and she knew leaving Oz at the airport was going to be difficult. Even after only three months together, imagining a day without her was pretty much impossible, but saying good-bye and then getting on a plane, and not knowing if she would see her again…Finn felt her heart start to race. No. It wouldn’t come to that. It couldn’t.
“Did you get all the shots you wanted, baby?” Oz asked as soon as they broke the surface.
“Yes. Thanks for bringing me out today.” She didn’t want to leave the website updates unfinished. These were the last pictures she needed to leave something of herself behind for Oz. Something tangible. Maybe even something to remember her by. As much as the agents involved assured her this was a simple mission and nothing could go wrong, she didn’t believe them. She found it increasingly difficult to trust anyone but Oz and her extended family.
Oz helped her out of the water and her gear and then stripped off her own wetsuit while Finn submerged the camera housing in a bucket of fresh water to rinse it off.
“Let me get your zip for you.” At six feet tall, Oz towered over her own five-foot-three-inch frame, and the feeling of being enveloped by Oz made Finn feel safe and protected and horny. Oz gathered Finn’s long hair into a ponytail and slid it over her shoulder and pulled on the tab to Finn’s wetsuit. She followed it with a string of kisses down her spine that made Finn shudder as she pulled the clinging neoprene down her arms. She needed to feel Oz’s skin on hers.
“Thank God you insisted on us coming out here alone.” She turned around in Oz’s arms and pushed her fingers into Oz’s short, golden hair and pulled her in for an intoxicating kiss. They kissed until the need for oxygen forced them apart momentarily. Oz dropped to her knees and helped her out of the rest of her suit before scooping her up in strong arms and carrying her inside the salon.
Space was a precious commodity on the commercial dive boat Oz owned, and every inch was taken up by useable fittings. As a result, Finn found her bottom perched on the edge of the dining table while Oz removed her bikini top and wrapped her lips around Finn’s diamond hard nipple. Finn braced herself as Oz removed her bikini bottoms. She reached to take off Oz’s suit, but Oz was faster, and before she could reach the flimsy black material, it was already heading for the ground.
“I love you,” Finn whispered as Oz kissed her neck and settled her hips between her thighs. She loved the first moment of full skin on skin contact. For her it was when she felt the most loved, cherished, wanted, and desired. It was the instant she was reminded exactly where she belonged and that home was in the arms and the heart of the only woman she had ever loved.
Oz’s fingers found her soaked center with unerring accuracy and claimed her without hesitation. “I love you too, baby.” She used her body weight to add depth to each stroke and clamped her left arm around Finn’s hips, holding her in place. “I love you so much.”
Finn stared into Oz’s eyes with the intention of memorizing e
very second. The light filtered through the portholes and made the stunning blue she saw every day change color slightly. Instead of the usual cornflower blue, they took on the cobalt shade that reminded her more of the Atlantic—dark blue and stormy. Her wide forehead and cheekbones were covered in droplets of seawater and a fine sheen of sweat as she worked hard for Finn’s pleasure. Thickly muscled shoulders bunched with each thrust, and her breasts bounced tantalizingly out of reach of Finn’s lips. She licked her lips, and a knowing smile pulled at the corners of Oz’s coral pink lips.
“Do you want something, baby?”
Finn caught her lower lip between her teeth and nodded.
“Remember, all you have to do is ask, and it’s yours.” Oz twisted her hand so that her thumb hit Finn’s clit with each thrust. Finn whimpered. She wouldn’t last much longer and they both knew it. “I’m all yours, baby. Just ask.”
She knew why Oz wanted her to vocalize her desires. She’d told her several times. Finn’s decidedly British accent was a huge turn-on for Oz. The way her voice dropped an octave in the throes of passion, combined with her accent, made Oz nearly come on the spot. “I want to suck your nipple.”
Oz groaned, but Finn didn’t have time to embrace the jolt of victory at eliciting the response from her. Oz’s stone hard nipple was quickly presented for her to wrap her lips around and feast upon. She wrapped her arm around Oz’s back and firmly squeezed her arse.
“Come with me, love.” She refused to look away from Oz’s eyes and she knew they were both close. She wrapped her legs around Oz’s thighs and pumped her hips. Oz trembled in her arms, and she realized that each thrust was pushing the back of Oz’s wrist into her own clit and it would be seconds before they climaxed together.
She bit down gently on Oz’s flesh. The strangled groan alone would have been enough to trigger her own release, but the final thrust of Oz’s hand pressed upon the tender area inside her turned her to liquid. She felt hot and cold at the same time and every muscle in her body contracted. She could feel herself clamped around Oz’s fingers, and in them she could feel Oz’s heart beat. She had never felt so connected to her as she did in that moment.
They clung together, waiting for their breathing to return to normal, just holding each other, stroking soft, random patterns over each other’s skin.
“I wish I didn’t have to go,” Finn whispered against Oz’s neck.
“Then don’t.”
“Oz, we’ve talked about this. You know I have to do this.”
“Why?”
Finn sighed and pulled away. “I’ve explained that to you.”
“Explain it to me again, Finn. Why?”
“I don’t want anything to do with this.” Why did Oz have to do this now? Why couldn’t they just enjoy their last few moments in each other’s arms? The feeling of peace vanished in the wake of the second most familiar emotion she felt lately. Anger. “I don’t want to go near that lab again, or my research. I don’t want to create this…this…goddamned apocalyptic bacteria. I don’t want you to be in danger. I don’t want to be in danger. But I don’t have any other choice. If I don’t make it, I can’t create the vaccine, and I can’t control it. The knowledge of this is out there now, Oz, and at some point this madman will find someone to engineer it for him, someone who doesn’t give a flying fuck about killing innocent people.” Anger morphed quickly into fear.
“So why don’t you wait and see if someone else does create it? Maybe you’re worrying over nothing?”
“No. Trying to retro engineer a vaccine after an outbreak will be damn near impossible in the time frame we’ll be looking at, and I can’t even think about the people who will be dead and suffering by that time. Plus, if another scientist were to try, it would be different. There’s no telling the ways it could be made worse.”
“This thing would kill damn near everyone it comes into contact with. How can it be worse?”
“A faster incubation period. Then we’d have no chance against it at all. I have to create an effective vaccine to this thing or I’ll never be able to rest.”
“You didn’t create this.”
“No. But I made it possible for my dad to do so. If I hadn’t developed the protocol to merge the DNA of the E.coli bacteria with another substance this just wouldn’t be possible. I have to fix this. It’s a ticking bomb if I don’t.”
“But you’ll be putting yourself in so much danger.”
“I know.”
“No, Finn, you really don’t. You think surviving your dad means that you can come through this too,” Oz said.
Finn disagreed. She knew that the chances of her coming through this ordeal were so much slimmer than the ordeal with her father.
“Mehalik makes your dad look like a pussycat. He will eat you up and spit you out. I can’t let you do—”
“Do you know what I see after I fall asleep every night?” She held her tears back by sheer force of will. “Every night I hold you in my arms and watch Balor steal you from me.” She blinked and swiped angrily at the moisture running down her cheeks. “Even if I die trying, I need to do this. I can’t let you stop me, Oz. I love you, but I can’t let you stop me.”
“Fucking Whittaker. Why the hell did he have to drop into our lives?”
“It isn’t his fault. He isn’t the one murdering microbiologists and trying to re-create a bug that could kill everyone on the planet.”
Oz sighed. “I know. That doesn’t mean I have to like him for walking in on Thanksgiving and turning our world upside down.” She pulled away, grabbed a shirt, and pulled a pair of shorts up her long legs. “Again.” She walked out of the salon and untied the rope that had secured them to the mooring buoy.
“What’re you doing?”
“Taking us home, babe. We’ve got packing to do.”
“What?”
“I told you before. I’m not going to leave your side. Wherever you go, I go. And what I was trying to tell you a few minutes ago is that I can’t let you do this—alone.”
Finn was reeling. Oz had made it clear she didn’t want Finn to risk her life, but she hadn’t expected her to come with her. She wasn’t expecting this. She had responsibilities. “What about the shop?”
“What about it? Rudy can take care of it, and I’m only at the end of the phone if he needs anything.” She turned on the engine and started them back toward shore. She glanced at Finn and grinned. “You might want to grab some clothes before we get to shore. I mean, I don’t mind the natural look, but I don’t think you want to share that much of yourself with whoever is on shore.”
“Funny.” Finn quickly got dressed and rejoined Oz in the cockpit. “I’m not sure Whittaker will allow it, sweetheart.”
“Well, if you tell him that you won’t go without me, he’ll let you do whatever the hell you want.”
“Do you think so?”
“I know so. Where are we going anyway?” Oz asked. “You never told me where your dad’s US bio lab was based.”
“New York.”
“New York? Seriously?”
“Yup.” Finn waited. She knew how much Oz hated the cold, since she’d proposed the idea of a ski trip for Christmas. The look on Oz’s face had been priceless as she declared there was no way Finn was getting her to put stupid sticks on her feet and throw herself down a mountainside covered in ice. She’d been supremely confident in her ability to break her neck under those circumstances.
“It’s December.”
“And?”
“It’s snowing in New York.”
“I know.”
“I live in Florida.”
“Get to the point.”
“I only have a little denim jacket.”
Finn laughed. “Guess I’m gonna have to take you shopping then.”
Oz scowled and pulled out her cell phone. “Billy, it’s Oz.”
“I’m your father, Olivia, and we’ve discussed this before.”
Oz grinned. “Yeah, but you’re gonna have to get us
ed to it if this plan’s gonna work.” She laughed and even Finn could hear him growl. “Billy, I have a situation.”
“So help me, you’re enjoying this far too much.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
He sighed. “What’s the situation? You need me to come and pack your bag for ya?”
“Nope. But I think we’re gonna need some resources based on our new location.”
“I’m guessing we don’t have a huge amount of time. What do you need me to scare up?”
“Probably arctic gear.”
“Huh? Where the hell are we going? Alaska?”
“Might as well be. The lab’s in New York.” Finn heard the theatrical shiver down the phone line.
“That little runt.”
“What?”
“Junior. He’s been there before. It was his bloody team that went in to retrieve the intel before Thanksgiving. Little runt must be laughing his ass off right now.”
“Pops, there ain’t nothing little about my cousin. Even if he wasn’t a SEAL, he’s still got four inches on you.”
“Not when I get finished pounding on him.” Oz laughed at her father’s familiar empty threats and the banter that made difficult situations a little easier for them all to deal with. “Full sets of arctic gear coming up.” He hung up.
“You can’t be serious.” Finn stared at her. “Arctic gear? It’s only New York.”
“I live in Florida. I don’t do cold.”
Finn laughed at the shudder that ran through Oz. “Wuss.”
Part of her was irritated that Oz had obviously made a plan with her family without speaking to her about it. But it wasn’t like she’d given Oz any real option to stop her, and Oz was far better qualified to do the mission side of this than Finn could ever hope to be. Years of training and working as a highly skilled Navy diver had made Oz a formidable woman, and Finn had to admit it made sense for her to be with her. But it scared the hell out of her too. Just as it was Oz’s instinct to protect her, Finn felt exactly the same. She knew that physically she was no match for her lover. Nor was she likely to be a match for any of the adversaries she was likely to come up against. The only protection she could afford anyone was to keep them as far from her and Balor as she could. “You don’t need to come with me, my little hot house flower.” She smiled to take any sting out of her words, but she knew that her eyes would hold the truth of what she was offering. Even as she knew Oz would refuse.
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