She dropped her hand away. Thoughts like that would only increase the desolation in her heart. “Your friend, Mike, did you reach him this morning?”
“Yes. He’d dug a little deeper in the computer, and he confirmed that Howard had altered your files and established a phony business number under the name Phillips. If we hadn’t discovered it, Victor could have changed everything back and no one would have ever known.”
“You mean after he had me.” A shiver ran up her spine.
There was a rustle in the bush outside the cave. Caleb went rigid, then placed his hand to her mouth, listening. The bush shook, along with the chatter of a squirrel and a disagreeing blue jay. Caleb relaxed and slowly removed his hand.
Sarah released the breath she’d been holding. “And Mike?” she whispered. “What was he going to do with me?”
“We were supposed to meet someone outside of town.” He moved away from her, farther into the darkness of the cave. “Obviously that plan’s been changed. Once I’ve picked up a few things here, I’ll have to take you in myself.”
Picked up a few things here? Confused, Sarah listened to him fumble in the darkness. She heard the snap of several metal buttons, then the rasp of a zipper. The beam of a flashlight suddenly lit the back wall of the cave. Caleb knelt in front of a large knapsack. She moved closer and watched him sort through the objects inside. Her throat went dry.
Guns.
Not just ordinary guns. Big, black rifles with strange attachments, smaller, silver revolvers with long, menacing barrels. Sophisticated, high tech weapons that weren’t intended for hunting animals. At least, not the four-legged variety, she realized with bone-chilling certainty. There were knives and what looked like explosives, too. A radio, clothes, some cans of food. It looked as if he was ready to ward off an invasion.
Or start one.
At the sound of Sarah’s soft gasp, Caleb shone the light on her. He’d been so focused on what he needed to do he hadn’t fully considered the impact it might have on her to view his “emergency kit,” his ace in the hole in case he’d ever been caught off guard away from the cabin.
“Caleb?” Her eyes were wide, her face ashen as she stared at the arsenal in front of him.
He set the flashlight down beside him and moved toward her, cursing silently when she flinched. “Sarah, there are some things I haven’t told you about what I do.”
She glanced at the guns again. “You sell insurance.”
“I’m not an insurance agent,” he said quietly. “I’m a government agent.”
“Government?” Her voice was barely audible, and even in the dim light he saw the sudden jump of fear in her eyes. He felt disgust for himself, for what he was and what he did.
“You’re with the FBI, too?” she asked weakly.
He shook his head.
“CIA?”
“No.”
“Oh, God, Caleb,” she whispered hoarsely. “At least please tell me it’s our government.”
He couldn’t help but smile at that. “Yes, but there are agencies that people don’t know about, Sarah. Agencies that are known only to a very few high-level government officials.”
“And you work for one of those?” she asked incredulously.
He nodded.
“And your friend, Mike?”
“He’s my boss.”
“Your boss? And just what exactly is it you do? No, never mind—” she shook her head and touched her temple with shaking fingers “—I’m sure you can’t tell me, and I’m sure I really don’t want to know.”
He couldn’t, and she wouldn’t, of course, Caleb knew. As it was, he’d already told her more than she should know. More than was safe for her to know. And at this moment, there was nothing that concerned him more than her safety.
Handling Victor Howard and his men would be child’s play if Sarah weren’t involved. In fact, he would actually enjoy the encounter. But she was involved, and before he dealt with Howard, he had to make sure she was out of the way. He had to get her away from here, out of the mountains, then he’d deal with Victor.
As if to protect herself, she folded her arms and sank back on her knees. “What are you going to do with me?”
He felt a knot form in his gut at the way she stared at him. As if she’d never seen him before. He remembered the way she’d looked at him last night and this morning, as no other woman had ever looked at him before. That look had made him want things, and for just a little while, even one night, he’d almost wondered if it were possible.
But the look in Sarah’s eyes, the fear, was his wakeup call. He could never have a life with her. With any woman. And he knew now that after Sarah there would never be another woman.
He grabbed a revolver and tucked it into the waistband of his jeans.
“I’m not going to do anything with you, Sarah,” he said without emotion. “I’ll get you out of here and deliver you to Mike. He’ll take care of you from there.”
In spite of the dim light, he saw a brightness in her eyes. She blinked several times and looked away. “All right.”
The quiet hurt in her voice was like a vise around his chest. The sudden need to touch her, to hold her, overwhelmed him. He reached for her, then froze.
Someone was outside the cave.
Nine
Caleb put up a hand, signaling silence. Sarah waited, breath held, then heard the sound of a man’s voice close by.
“They had to come this way,” a man said. Luther. “You search this area and I’ll head north. Victor’s gone to call for backup.”
She heard the sound of boots scrambling over rocks, then a deep, angry mumbling. She realized it was Frank; he was close, nearly on top of them. He cursed repeatedly. The wild hammering of her own heart nearly drowned out the man’s fervent complaining. Afraid to move, afraid to breathe, she waited until the footsteps faded.
Caleb moved quickly. He reached into the knapsack, then pressed a gun into her hand. She trembled at the feel of the weapon in her palm.
“Use this if you have to,” he said grimly and moved toward the cave entrance. “Just make sure you don’t shoot me when I get back.”
Terror shot through her at the thought of being alone here. “Where are you going?”
A thin, tight smile lifted one corner of his mouth; his eyes shone like black fire. “A quick business meeting. I won’t be long.”
She touched his arm as he turned to leave. “Caleb…I…” She couldn’t speak, her throat felt too tight. But if she couldn’t tell him how she felt, then she would show him. She set the gun down and pulled him to her, wrapping her arms around his neck as she pressed her lips to his. His hands tightened on her arms, and she thought he might push her away. With a low, throaty groan his arms came around her, nearly crushing her as he deepened the kiss.
He ended the kiss abruptly, then looked at her long and hard, his face like granite. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a business card and slipped it into her hand.
“If I don’t come back in twenty minutes, get out of here. Head north until you come to an empty cabin, then break in and use the phone there. Call the number on this card and ask for Mike. You can trust him.”
She nodded, then watched as he disappeared outside. He didn’t look back.
Legs crossed, she sat and stared at the gun in her lap. She’d never even held a gun before, let alone shot one. Could she? She wouldn’t know until faced with the situation. But she did know that if Caleb didn’t come back, if anything happened to him, that she certainly would want to use it, not for herself, but for him.
She glanced at the knapsack lying two feet away from her and a cold shiver rippled through her.
An agent.
She closed her eyes, trying to absorb what Caleb had told her about himself, but her mind was still reeling. An agent. How could it be possible? She opened her eyes and looked down at the gun in her hands. The cold metal burned her fingers.
But it had been there all the time, she realized n
ow. Everything about Caleb set him apart from other men. The way he held himself, the way his dark eyes were always watching, waiting, assessing. He was a man in control. Power and danger emanated from him.
What a naive little fool she was. How could she have ever believed that a man like Caleb sold insurance?
She understood now why he’d seemed so suspicious of her. If what he did was so secretive, so confidential, then no doubt he was trained not to trust anyone, not to let anyone close to him. Especially not some strange woman who claimed she had amnesia.
She jumped at the sound of a snapping twig directly outside the cave. How long had it been? She’d been so deep in thought she’d lost track of time. Her fingers tightened on the gun. Someone, or something, rustled the bushes.
Heart hammering, hand shaking, she pointed the gun at the cave entrance.
The bushes parted and the silhouette of a man blocked the light. Her finger tightened on the trigger.
“Hi, honey. I’m home.”
Caleb! With a deep sigh of relief, she lowered the gun.
“I hope you don’t mind,” he said, moving into the cave, “but I brought some company.”
Wolf bounded in behind Caleb. He leapt at her with a joyful whine, knocking her over. Laughing, she wrapped her arms around the huge animal and gave him a hug.
“Where did you find him?” she asked, tolerating a wet, sloppy kiss on her cheek from the happy wolf.
“He found me.” Caleb rubbed Wolf’s neck.
She ran her hands over the animal’s thick fur. “Is he all right?”
“He’s fine, which is more than I can say for our friend Frank. That man certainly has had a bad day.”
Sarah watched Caleb move to the knapsack and flip on the flashlight again. A box of ammunition went into his jacket pocket, then a thick wad of money. A chill went through her when he slipped a small knife into his boot.
“Did you…I mean, is he…”
“I didn’t kill him. I was tempted, but I decided it would be a lot more fun to let him wake up and re member the last thing he saw was my fist. I’d also love to see his expression when he figures out why he smells so bad.”
“What do you mean?”
Caleb’s grin was wicked. “Wolf happened along about then. I guess he figured the guy was in his territory.”
Sarah’s eyes widened. “He didn’t!”
“‘Fraid so.”
She covered her mouth in horror, but couldn’t stop the giggle that bubbled up.
Caleb crawled out of the cave, looked around, then reached in his hand and grinned at her. “So what do you say, Miss Grayson, shall we blow this joint?”
She needed no encouragement. She took his hand and followed him. They ran, with Wolf beside them, silently and swiftly, straight to the empty cabin he’d told her about. She waited anxiously while Caleb broke into the cabin, and when they couldn’t find the keys for the pickup in the carport, she waited while he hot-wired the truck.
And as they headed out of the mountains on a rarely used back road, Sarah sat back in the seat and closed her eyes, recounting the events of the past twenty-four hours.
She’d regained her memory, made love for the first time, been kidnapped, chased and shot at. She’d also held a gun, broken into a house and stolen a car.
Amazing what a difference a day made.
At the sound of the shower water running, Caleb sat on the edge of the motel bed and picked up the phone. He dialed, then glanced at his watch. Five-thirty. That made it eight-thirty Washington time. Someone picked up after half a ring.
“Yeah?”
“Mike, it’s me.”
“Caleb! Where the hell are you?”
Caleb glanced at the notepad on the nightstand. The Palm Tree Motel. But he wasn’t quite ready to give an exact location. Not even to Mike. “A motel in Los Angeles. Sorry I missed the pickup. We ran into a little problem.”
“So I heard. My men said your place looked like a shooting gallery. You all right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He heard the shower door slide open, then close. “Look, Mike, I need a few things. You can get them faster than I can right now.”
“I thought you wanted me to handle this.”
“That was before. It’s personal now.”
There was a pause. “I see. What do you need?”
He told him. Mike had him hold while he checked availability. The shower went off as Mike came back to the phone.
“You can pick them up in two hours.” Mike gave him the address.
Caleb hung up the phone, then pushed the drape aside and looked through the window of the room to the truck. He’d left Wolf in the front seat, and if anyone came near, Caleb would know immediately.
The drive back into the city had taken two hours, then they’d picked up a change of clothes and toiletries at a small department store, driven through a fast food restaurant and found this motel.
“I thought I heard you talking to someone.”
Caleb turned. Sarah stood in the doorway, watching him while she towel dried her hair. She’d changed into a white, scoop-necked sweater and brown slacks. Just looking at her, coming out of the bathroom with her bare feet and flushed skin, made his throat go dry.
He dropped the curtain back into place.
“I had to let Mike know we were all right.”
Her hand stilled. “When will they be here?”
He frowned at her. “Who?”
“The men.” She stared at the towel in her hand. “The ones you were going to take me to this morning.”
It seemed like a hundred years ago now. A lifetime. “They aren’t coming.”
She looked up at him. “They aren’t?”
“No.”
“But I thought—”
“I’m going to take care of it myself.” He’d almost said take care of you, but he’d caught himself in time.
“Oh.” Her eyes narrowed with confusion. “Why?”
He stood there, watching a drop of water as it slipped down her neck and into the neckline of her sweater. He wanted to touch her, to follow the path of that water drop with his lips and tongue. He clenched his jaw and looked at her. “You know why, Sarah.”
She held his gaze for a long moment. “Yes.”
“You also have to know that it doesn’t change anything between us. As soon as I’ve taken care of Howard, I can’t see you again.”
“Because of what you do?”
The hurt in her eyes almost had him moving toward her. But she had to understand. He had to make her understand. “Because of what I do, because of who I am. There are dozens of men like Howard out there who would welcome a way to get to me, to find a weak spot. You would be my weak spot.”
“I could live with that, Caleb.”
He shook his head. “No, you couldn’t live with it. That’s my point. And I sure as hell couldn’t let you, wouldn’t let you.”
She watched him for a long moment, then dropped the towel in her hand and moved toward him. “Such a strange way to tell me you care about me, Mr. Hunter.”
The purpose in her stride and the determination in her eyes had him taking a step back. “It doesn’t matter what I feel for you, Sarah. It doesn’t matter what either one of us feels. It can’t change anything.”
She closed the space between them, then looked up at him and shook her head slowly. “But it does, Caleb. Maybe not for tomorrow, or the day after. But for now, for this moment, it matters more than you can possibly realize.”
She touched his face, and her fingers were cool and smooth on his rough cheek. The feminine scent of her, fresh from the shower, with her skin damp and her hair wet gave her a sensuous, exciting look. He desperately wanted to touch her, to ease the ache building in him. How foolish of him to think he could have had one night with her and it would be enough. He knew now one night, one week or one year wouldn’t be enough. A lifetime wouldn’t be enough.
He kept his hands stiffly at his sides. He wouldn’t touch her.
He couldn’t. He flinched when she traced the line of his jaw.
“Last night,” she said softly, “when I thought that would be my one and only time with you, I thought I’d been given the most precious gift in the world. And now I’ve been given another gift, one that’s even more precious.” She lifted her gaze to his. “The courage to tell you that I love you.”
A motorcycle roared by outside and somewhere, in another room, Caleb heard the drone of a television. But here, in this room, in this world with Sarah, there was only the sound of his heart pounding in his temples. Every denial, every argument that had been screaming in his brain suddenly went silent.
I love you.
He’d heard the words before, even said them. But there were no names and no faces that matched those words. There was only Sarah, with her pale blue eyes and soft silky hair. Sarah, with her quiet determination and pure heart. This morning she’d offered herself to Victor Howard in order to save him. His chest tightened at the thought of what might have happened.
“Sarah—”
She touched his lips with her fingers. “Don’t say anything, Caleb. Please. I won’t try to change your mind, or force myself into your life. I just want you to know.”
She rose on her tiptoes and pressed her mouth to his. Blood raced through his body, and the feathery brush of her lips against his sent all rational thought from his mind.
He had to hold her, to feel her in his arms, to taste her again. He pulled her up against him and bent down to her, covering her mouth with his. She sighed deeply, and the warmth of her breath on his face burned him. Her lips parted, welcoming, eager, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling her body closer to his. His kiss was long and deep, hungry, and the soft sound of pleasure from deep in her throat snapped the last thread of his control.
With a sound resembling a growl, Caleb lifted her off the floor, molding his body to hers. Her breasts pressed against his chest as he carried her to the bed. She held tightly on to him, pulling him with her as they sank to the mattress.
Midnight Bride Page 11
