Their kisses were those of starved people and the only nourishment they could get was from each other.
Kate moaned as he kissed down her neck, his fingers running through her silken hair. His lips stopped at the collar of her shirt and he lifted his head to gaze into her eyes, but they were closed. Her hands had laced themselves behind his neck and she was reveling in the sensation of his hands around her waist.
Kate knew she should be conflicted, even confused, but she didn’t care anymore. She didn’t want to think anymore. She just wanted to give in to the burning passion that had been plaguing her since she had met this man.
They fell into the seats, her head bumping into the armrest that formed a barrier between the seats. Archer pushed a button and the armrest rose. Kate slid back, allowing him to move on top of her.
A hand snaked up her shirt and cupped her breast. His thumb grazed her hard nipple. Kate sucked in a sharp gasp of air as pleasure rippled through her body.
She needed him and she needed him now.
Her hands tore at his pants, nearly ripping off the button and pulling the zipper down. She found him there, hard and pulsing.
She looked into his eyes. A low growl escaped from the back of his throat as she grabbed him. Yes, she had done that. This was because of her and she felt a thrill of pride.
Then her pants were off. She wasn’t sure when it had happened, her mind was clouded with desire and time had no meaning anymore.
His fingers ran up the inside of her thighs, goosebumps followed. He peeled off her panties and tossed them to the side.
There was no hesitation this time.
He entered her.
Kate arched her back, feeling every inch of her body tingle with exquisite pleasure. He filled her in a way she never thought possible. Her nails dug into his back.
“Yes,” she moaned. Now she felt complete. Now she felt whole.
_____
Afterwards, Kate snuggled against Archer, her head resting on his chest. A blanket was wrapped around them, covering their half naked bodies. They watched the passing world in contented silence, dwelling in the afterglow of their lovemaking.
“I’m an undercover agent for the FBI,” Archer said. He hadn’t realized what he had said until after he had said it. He didn’t even know he was going to say it. When had he made the decision, he wondered. When had he decided he was going to tell her everything?
Kate sat up abruptly, looking at him in shock. “What?”
He spoke in a level, even voice, starting where all stories start, at the beginning. “Six years ago Jonathan Bragan got into the FBI. We didn’t even realize he had bought his way in until it was too late. Almost half of our undercover operations were exposed. He sold out our men to the highest bidder and we couldn’t get anyone close enough to find out how he did it. Who had he bought in the agency? How many of them were in Bragan’s pocket? We had no idea. We didn’t even know where to start,” he paused, collecting his thoughts. It had been a while since he had exposed this much of himself to anyone. “It was decided that we needed a new game plan. There were only six of us involved. We were the only six we could trust. We called it Code Red and passed it off as an informant payment program. Of the six, only two were field agents. I was the only one with any undercover expertise. Sara Fields was my partner. The other four were high-ranking FBI officials that Bragan couldn’t touch, but he had certainly tried. We had all been carefully selected, even pulled from obscure assignments, to ensure Bragan hadn’t gotten his claws into us. The genius behind all this was Brian Briggs. He had Sara and I declared dead. Our files were closed out and new identities were generated for us. Identities that had nothing to do with the law.
“It was a long term assignment. The only people we were allowed to contact from our old lives were others in Code Red and, even then, that was on a limited basis. We weren’t allowed anywhere near our families,” he paused again. It got more difficult as he went along. “I have a sister and niece in Nebraska. We were very close. They haven’t heard from me in the last six years. They don’t even know what happened to me. Officially, the FBI told them, I was MIA.
“Like I said, I had prior experience in undercover assignments,” he continued. “The last woman I was with before this didn’t understand it and our relationship suffered for it.
“Sara wasn’t ready for something like this. She had been trained but she didn’t have the experience. We were completely cut off. All we had was each other,” he stopped. After being buried for so long, the memories came back in sharp painful bursts. “After a year we got into Bragan’s organization. Of course, something went wrong. In these kinds of things something always goes wrong. It was about a year and a half after we got in. I don’t know what it was. I don’t know if it was something she did, if it was something I did, or if it was just because she didn’t have what it took, but they saw through Sara. Marked her for a cop. She died,” Archer’s voice cracked sharply, a burst of pain escaping his tough exterior and he stopped again. He stared up at the ceiling, trying to take control of his emotions. When he was certain he could talk without betraying himself, he continued, “During the assignment, Sara and I had grown very close. We were all we had. I cared for her a great deal. Her death bought me a secured position with Bragan,” he choked out the last words, like they were poison. He closed his eyes. It hurt so much to think back to it. When he opened his eyes again he saw a wealth of compassion pouring out of Kate and he knew he had made the right choice.
“Over the last six years I’ve been working my way up through Bragan’s organization until I got to Bragan himself. I got everything. From who he had in the FBI to who he was using as his dealers on the streets. It was a gold mine of information and all it really cost was one life and my sanity,” Kate reached up and caressed his rugged face. He drew strength from her touch. “It was decided that the Code Red project was too valuable to jeopardize by bringing me in the usual way. So they cooked up a plan where I would stay undercover and ‘betray’ Bragan by turning everything over to the State. I would take the prison sentence, give my testimony and then disappear into the penal system. In reality, I’d be in jail for about six months and then be removed through back channels. You taking me to Miami was part of this elaborate exfiltration process. The only thing that went wrong was that we didn’t catch Bragan.
“We had seriously underestimated him. I don’t think he ever suspected that I was FBI, but I know that he ever believed I was truly loyal to him. Not after what happened to Sara. He most likely thought that I held him responsible for her death. He let me into his inner circle, but just enough to keep an eye on me. When I flipped for the State, he was ready. He went underground so fast we had no idea what happened. Not knowing what else to do, the Code Red team decided to proceed as planned. Maybe we couldn’t get Bragan, but we could still shut down his organization,” he smiled a humorless smile. “That was pretty foolish of us.”
“I had spent six years in deep cover, cut off from everyone and everything I truly cared about. I felt dead inside, Kate. This job, it takes a toll on your soul. But meeting you for the first time, it was all swept away and for the first time in a long time, I felt truly alive. I wanted to tell you everything, but I couldn’t risk the lives of my sister and niece and, nevermind the mission itself. Do you understand that? It’s important that you understand that.”
She nodded. “I understand, Kyle.”
He continued. “When you fell asleep at the train station it was the first opportunity I had to contact my superiors. I told them what was going on. I told them our lives were at risk and that they had to remove us from the field immediately. They said they were fully aware of the situation and that they wanted us to continue to Miami. They want to use us to draw Bragan out. It’s going to be our only opportunity to catch him, they said,” he closed his eyes again, tightly this time as though recounting the conversation caused him pain. “If this was forty-eight hours ago, I would have agreed completely. But it is
n’t and now everything’s different. Now I know you. Now I love you and I won’t put you in harm’s way like that,” he opened his eyes and looked soulfully into hers, “That’s why I want you to disappear with me, Kate. This is a fight that’s never going to end. I know that now. Let’s leave this all behind. Please, come with me.”
_____
Kate didn’t know what to say. Everything had been flipped upside down and inside out. She looked at this man she sat against, this man she had given herself to and saw someone who hadn’t been there before. Or maybe he had, but he had been cloudy, hard to make out, covered up in lies and deception. Now he was clear, bared naked before her and Kate could see Kyle Archer for who he really was.
There was confusion, yes, but it didn’t seem to matter. She had opened herself up to Archer and, in turn, Archer had opened himself to her. He had placed an enormous amount of trust in her and that alone made everything worthwhile.
She looked into his eyes and saw the pleading there. But behind that she saw the hurt. It was funny, now that she could see it, she didn’t know how she had failed to see it before. Kyle Archer was in pain and he didn’t know how to stop it. But she did.
“No,” she said after what seemed like an eternity.
Archer was taken aback. “No?” he repeated, his voice sounding hollow to his own ears.
“Your superiors are right,” Kate said. “This may be the only opportunity we have to catch Bragan. And if we don’t, we’ll be looking over our shoulders for the rest of our lives. This is what we do, Kyle. We’re officers of the law.”
“Kate,” he said, “I don’t want to lose you.”
“And I don’t want to lose you either,” she replied, cupping his face in her tiny hands. “But running from our problems isn’t gong to help either of us.”
She pulled his face down to hers and their lips met. The kiss tasted even sweeter than before.
“No more secrets,” she said.
“No more,” he agreed.
Chapter 24
“Is that him?” Archer asked.
Kate followed his finger, her eyes navigating through the slowly thickening morning crowds and settled on a short, fat Hispanic man by the luggage racks. He looked to be in his late forties. He was already balding and wore the contents of his early morning snack all over his shirt He wiped a hand across the shirt, adding another grease stain. In his other hand he held a sign that said, “Mr. & Mrs. Doe.”
She frowned. “If it’s not, it’d be pretty funny.”
Archer shrugged. “I don’t know. I think it’s still good for a chuckle or two.”
They walked over to him, making their way through a crowd of people that were all rushing to different places.
It was a quarter to six and the sun had already begun its slow ascent.
The expression on the Hispanic man brightened as he watched them approach.
“Are you Jose Santos?” Kate asked, wrinkling her nose as she spoke. The man clearly had no sense of personal hygiene and smelled like a walking garage dump.
He took a while to meet her gaze, starting at her feet and working his way up. Kate was disgusted. This wasn’t a man. It was a lecherous little troll.
“Yes, yes I am,” he said. He extended a greasy palm towards Kate. To her, it looked more like a misshapen claw. “Any friend of Jack’s-”
Kate cut him off. “Don’t touch me, unless you want to go through the rest of the life with a hook for a hand.”
Santos quickly pulled his hand back with a look of awkward surprise. Archer held back a smirk.
“Ah, do you have any other bags?” Santos asked, his voice cracking just slightly as he looked at their empty hands and behind them.
“No,” Kate replied. “Let’s go.”
He opened his mouth, as though he had more to say on the subject, but was then silenced by the look on Kate’s face. He turned and quickly scurried towards the parking lot. “I’m parked over here.”
“Being a little hard on the guy,” Archer said in a low voice as they followed Santos.
“Well, look at him,” Kate replied. “What dumpster did my brother pick him out of?”
“Have you ever met an informant that didn’t have that greasy, sleazebag look to him?” Archer asked.
“Yes.”
Archer was surprised. “Really? I guess you get a higher class of criminals in the US Marshals.”
“We absolutely do,” Kate agreed and Archer wasn’t quite sure if she was joking or not.
_____
Once they got into the rundown taxi, Santos apparently felt a lot more comfortable and forgot all about Kate’s threatening looks because he wouldn’t shut up. He had an opinion on everything and felt the need to share every one of those opinions. He talked for almost twenty minutes on neighborhood ice cream trucks and why they were a bad idea for the Latino community. When he got started on ATMs Kate decided she couldn’t take it anymore.
She leaned forward from the back seat, but not too close, there was a genuine fear that his dirt could jump from him to her. “Please shut up. You are giving me a headache. I can’t hurt you because your driving, but I promise that if you don’t shut up, when we do stop I will beat you senseless.”
Santos glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “A simple ‘Please be quiet’ would have sufficed,” he said.
Through gritted teeth Kate said, “Please be quiet.”
“Thank you,” Santos said and shut up.
Kate sat back.
“Well?” Archer asked.
“For now, we’re off the grid,” Kate said. “This gives us time to plan our next move.”
“What do you suggest? Calling him and giving him detailed directions to where we’re at?” Archer asked. “I think it’s more likely he’ll send another assassination squad before he graces our doorstep.”
“True,” Kate agreed. “But there’s still a leak in my office. I don’t see any reason why that flow of information can’t work both ways.”
“You want to call your boss and give him an update and then let it trickle down the grapevine. That’s not going to guarantee an appearance from anyone.”
“No, but it’s a place to start,” Kate said. “How are your people supposed to know when,” she paused, glancing forward at Santos. He seemed focused on his driving. She lowered her voice anyway, “How are they supposed to know when Bragan shows up?”
“They said they would be monitoring your office.”
“And they know about the leak?”
Archer made a face. “They decided it was an acceptable risk.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know who’s crazier, them or Bragan.”
“As far as I’m concerned they’ve all lost it,” Archer said. “And I’m including us in that statement since we’re going along with their crazy plan.”
“It’s not as though we have much of a choice,” Kate said. “Bragan’s gone underground and the only thing that’s going to get him to come out is a grudge he feels the need to personally handle.”
“I don’t disagree,” Archer said. “But we need to be looking out for ourselves, as well. No one else is going to.”
Kate started to say something but she noticed that they had come to a stop and they weren’t at the safe house. Rather, they were parked in front of a waterside warehouse.
Santos got out.
“Where are we?” Kate asked as Santos opened her doors. Alarms were going off in her head. “This isn’t the safe house.”
“No, Ms. Sharpe, this is not the safe house,” Santos agreed.
How did he know her real name?
Then she noticed the gun in Santos’ hand.
“Now,” he said, “please get out of the car.”
Kate and Archer stepped out. The harsh glare of the sun temporarily blinded them and they were unable to make out any details. They raised their hands to block out the brilliant rays and spotted the other figures on the dock.
“Well, what a merry little chase this has
been, Kyle. All in good fun and most enjoyable. But the time for playing has ended and now you must die.”
Archer felt his blood run ice cold at the sound of the voice. The figure stepped forward and Archer’s eyes adjusted to light.
Jonathan Bragan cut an imposing figure, standing there on the dock, dressed in the finest tropical clothes money could buy.
But what was even more surprising was the sight Ray Phillips standing next to Bragan, looking very lively for a dead man.
Chapter 25
Kate felt like she had been punched in the gut. The air was sucked from her lungs and the world around her spun out of control.
Ray was alive.
Ray was alive?
Jonathan Bragan stepped forward. He was a mammoth of a man. He towered over everyone there by at least two feet. Each hand was big enough to engulf a coconut and strong enough to crack one open. He had a wide frame that was draped in an expensive silk shirt and light Floridian-style pants. He looked perfectly at home in the tropical climate. His right hand was wrapped around the crystal clear handle of a cane, its top half carved out from an ivory elephant’s tusk. The cane was there for only style, it was hardly strong enough to support his weight. When he smiled it was a genially, friendly smile that said he wasn’t the head of a massive criminal organization. He was just an ordinary guy.
An ordinary guy surrounded by four heavily armed men.
“Kyle,” he said after a long silence peppered with tension, “my very own Judas.”
Every muscle in Archer’s body tensed. He was coiled up like a wild beast. Every instinct screamed to attack. To jump forward and tear Bragan apart like a vicious animal. End it all right then and there.
Santos gave him a gentle poke in his side with the muzzle of his gun. Archer took the hint and stepped forward.
“I may be your Judas,” he said in a strained voice, “but you’re no Jesus.”
Outlawed Love Page 12
