Show of Force

by Elle James

  Mack’s lips thinned. “I don’t trust you. But more than that, I won’t leave Charlie.” He jerked his head to the side. “Go. I’ll catch up with you.”

  He didn’t have to say it, but he meant he’d catch up to her whether she waited for him at the end of the hallway or not. His tone said he’d hunt her down if he had to.

  Riley shivered at the killer glare Mack gave her.

  Though she knew how to stop a two-hundred-fifty-pound man dead in his tracks and could cripple her foe in one easy sweep of her leg, her knees turned to jelly at just one look from the tall, dark-haired marine. He frightened her more than her mysterious Russian handler. And it wasn’t so much Mack’s demeanor and strength. It was the way he’d made her feel when he wrapped his arm around her waist. He made her feel feminine and vulnerable. She couldn’t afford to feel vulnerable. Not when the stakes were so high.

  If she were the only one at risk, she wouldn’t be as concerned. But Toby depended on her to find and rescue him. And Charlie...the woman who’d helped her so selflessly on more than one occasion. She owed the woman more than her life. She owed her loyalty and respect. Whoever wanted her dead wouldn’t stop until the wealthy widow was six feet in the ground.

  Why?

  Mack moved to the door and peered out. “The hallway is empty. If you go now, you won’t be seen.”

  Riley didn’t have time to contemplate all the questions roiling around in her head. She had to get out of the restroom before Mack’s buddies descended on him to discover why he’d given them such cryptic instructions in anticipation of an explosion. They had to be filled with questions he wouldn’t have time to answer.

  Riley eased up to the door and stood beside the big marine.

  He smelled of aftershave and seemed larger than life in his black tuxedo with the crisp white shirt peeking out from between the jacket’s lapels. Beneath the fancy clothes, the man was handsome in a rugged way that made her heart flutter.

  He jerked open the door. “Go.”

  Riley startled and rushed through. The hem of her dress caught on the door and ripped the side seam farther up her leg. She grabbed the fabric and gave it a quick tug, freeing it from the corner of the door. Then she lifted the folds in her hands and ran as fast as she could in three-inch heels. Racing down the hallway, she ducked into the room she’d found during her reconnaissance a day earlier.

  The room had two doors. One leading out into the hallway, the other leading toward the kitchen and the service elevators. If she’d done what she was supposed to do and actually killed Charlotte Halverson, she’d be sprinting to get out of the hotel, out of DC and back to her Virginia apartment, where she’d pretend she’d never left.

  Her roommate had indicated she’d be with Declan O’Neill, Mack’s team leader, for a mini vacation to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Lucky her, she’d fallen in love with the man who’d helped her find and protect Riley when her brief stint assisting the FBI nearly gotten her killed. She still couldn’t believe that her Russian handler had called her to action on an assassination, not on the data she’d developed dealing with a revolutionary aircraft design. She’d have thought they’d demand the design in exchange for her brother.

  Perhaps the assassination was their way of compromising her so much she’d be forced to hand over the blueprints for the special project she’d been working on at Quest Aerospace Alliance. She wouldn’t have a choice if they threatened to expose her to the authorities.

  Was that it? Was her handler someone she knew at Quest? Was that where her search should begin?

  She waited for two, maybe three, minutes for Mack to appear. The time stretched, feeling like half an hour instead of the few short minutes. If she didn’t leave soon, and her handler was watching for her exit, he might begin to wonder about her success.

  Riley glanced at the pretty watch on her wrist and realized it had only been two minutes since she’d left the ladies’ room. She’d give Mack one more minute before she had to leave. Soon, the entire building would be locked down, with police and firefighters swarming over the structure. They wouldn’t have the opportunity to leave at that point.

  She eased the door open and nearly screamed at the face appearing in front of her.

  “Come on, we have to get out of here,” Mack said. “The police are coming through the lobby now.” He took her hand and tried to lead her back the way she’d come.

  “No. This way.” She dug her heels into the carpet and dragged him into the little room and across to the door on the other side.

  “Do you know where you’re going?” he asked.

  “Yes. Through the kitchen and out to the loading docks.”

  Mack followed, still holding her hand as he let her take the lead. “I didn’t think you’d wait.”

  “I almost didn’t,” she whispered. “Now, shh.” She raised her free hand to press a finger to her lips. “There’s a camera located at the rear entrance. I came in this way as a blonde. I’d rather not have the camera catch us leaving.”

  “Can I reach it?” Mack asked.

  Riley gave him a measured glance. “Maybe.”

  He pulled a handkerchief from his inside pocket. “With this?”

  She tilted her head and shook it. “There’s a breeze. It’ll blow away if you try to throw it over the camera lens.”

  Mack glanced around the loading dock and took off. “I’ll be right back.” He made a beeline for a shop sink in the corner, wet the handkerchief and returned. “Let’s do this. We don’t have much time.”

  Riley stepped aside. “Go.”

  Mack peered up at the camera located on the wall over the back door to the loading dock. It pointed at the door and the loading bays where trucks backed in to discharge the supplies needed to keep a hotel as big as the Marriott in business.

  With a flick of his wrist, Mack slung the wet hanky up over the camera. It caught, covering the lens.

  Riley released the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Without another word, she led the way from the hotel out onto the pavement and pushed through the bushes into the back lot of an office building.

  “Where to from here?” Mack asked.

  “I parked my car two blocks over.”

  “You really thought this through, didn’t you?” His tone held an edge to it.

  “I had to. My brother’s life depends on it.” She didn’t wait for him to follow but took off, walking fast. Part of her wanted to leave him behind. His tone held judgment. She deserved his scorn but didn’t want to deal with it. “We don’t have much time. My handler will likely discover Mrs. Halverson isn’t dead and demand I finish the job or Toby will pay the price. The sooner we find my brother, the sooner we can get him out of danger.”

  “And once you have your brother, your handler will allow you to walk free?”

  Riley snorted. “No way. I’ll have to take Toby and go into hiding somewhere far from here.”

  “Seems to me we need to put a stop to your handler as well as find your brother.”

  “Agreed, but most importantly, I need to find my brother.” She stepped through another bush, her dress catching on the branches.

  Mack helped her untangle the fabric and pushed through behind her. They came to the back of a building that appeared to be abandoned. A small charcoal-gray four-door sedan was tucked between a stack of pallets and a trash bin.

  Riley reached beneath the second pallet in the stack, extracted a key fob and hurried toward the vehicle.

  When she pulled the handle on the sedan, the doors unlocked.

  Mack climbed into the passenger seat as Riley started the engine. He was putting his safety belt on when she pulled out from behind the building and raced out onto the street.

  “Get a speeding ticket and you draw attention to yourself,” Mack warned.

  Riley eased up on the accelerator. “
I don’t know where to start. I have no idea who my handler is and how I can find him,” she admitted.

  “Start from when you received the message with the instructions.”

  She drove toward her apartment, not knowing where else to go. At least there she could change into more appropriate clothing for finding another Russian spy.

  Hysterical laughter bubbled up her throat and threatened to escape. What did one wear when searching for a spy?

  Mack whipped his head around. “You just ran a red light. Do you want me to drive?”

  Riley pulled to the side of the street, got out and rounded the car to Mack’s side.

  He stepped out and held the door for her.

  As she sank into the passenger seat, silent tears spilled down her cheeks.

  Mack didn’t say a word, just got in and drove. He knew where she lived from when Grace had invited the team to the apartment to celebrate their little victory.

  Victory, hell. Perhaps Riley’s little venture with the FBI had brought her back to the attention of her parents’ handler. If she hadn’t gotten so entrenched in her American life and started thinking she’d been forgotten, she might not be in her current situation, and Toby would be safe in the country cabin with his nanny.

  Mack pulled into the parking lot of Riley and Grace’s apartment building and turned off the engine. For a long moment, he sat beside her, letting her gather herself.

  A hand reached out and touched her arm. “We should go inside.”

  Riley nodded. “I’m not usually so weepy,” she said, and sniffed. “Only when it comes to my family. I love my brother. He’s such a good little boy.” She looked across the console at Mack. “He doesn’t know who we are or what the Russians will want from me. He’s just a little boy who plays with toys.”

  Mack nodded and held her gaze for another moment. Then he reached out and brushed his thumb across her cheek, wiping away the tears. “We’ll find him.”

  “How?” she asked, her voice catching on a sob.

  “There has to be a trail. We’ll follow it. But we can’t do it dressed like this. Go. Change and then we’ll hit my apartment long enough for me to get out of this monkey suit. Then we’ll get to work sifting through the clues.” He unfolded his long frame from the driver’s seat and rounded the hood to open the door for her.

  Riley had the door open. When she stepped out, her heel caught on her dress, and she pitched forward into Mack’s chest.

  His arms came up around her and held her steady until she could work her heel free of the hem. She straightened, still in Mack’s embrace, and looked up into his incredibly blue eyes. A streetlight shone down, making his dark hair glow a silvery blue. “Thanks.”

  “My pleasure,” he replied. Still, he didn’t release her. “How does one become a sleeper spy for the Russians?”

  She gave a short, sharp burst of laughter. “You’re born into it, and your parents raise you with their beliefs.”

  “But you attended American schools and speak perfect American English.”

  “I’m American, through and through. I didn’t sign on to be a Russian spy. I thought when my parents died, I was off the hook. Their handler wouldn’t remember the little girl they gave birth to shortly after their arrival in the US.” Riley rested her hand on his chest and stared at the crisp white shirt beneath her fingertips. “I never wanted to be a Russian spy.”

  “But you learned about C-4 explosives,” Mack prompted.

  Riley sighed. “And weaponry, guns, hand-to-hand combat and how to pick locks. Every skill a spy would need to survive.”

  His lips twitched. “You’re scaring me.”

  “My father was with the KGB before he brought my mother to the States. He knew all the tricks.”

  “But your little brother is only six years old? That’s a big age gap between you and him.”

  “He was a late surprise to my parents in their forties. I’d just begun working for Quest when my mother told me she was pregnant.”

  “Where are your parents now?”

  “They died in an automobile accident when Toby was only one year old.”

  “Which left you to raise him,” Mack concluded.

  “Only, I didn’t want the Russians to know about him. Any more than they did. I moved him to a cabin in the country, and hired a nanny to live with him full time. I visited him as often as I could. I’d just started working on the Special Projects team at Quest. If I left, I was afraid anyone watching me would follow me to Toby.” She snorted. “Apparently I wasn’t careful enough. They found him anyway.”

  Riley led the way to her town house apartment. The damaged doorframe and broken window had been replaced from when the apartment was invaded by an intruder searching for her research memory card two weeks prior. She held the door for Mack, but he stopped inside the threshold, with the door open.

  “Are you going to stand there, or come in?” she asked.

  He leaned close and whispered in her ear, “If someone is watching you, you need to convince them I’m not a threat.”

  She frowned up at him. “And how do you intend to do that?” she asked, matching his low tones.

  He nuzzled her neck and breathed into her ear, “They need to think I’m supposed to be with you.”

  She tipped her head back and closed her eyes, all the while keeping her voice down. If she was being watched, they might also be employing some kind of listening device. “We don’t want them to think you’re a bodyguard or coconspirator, do we?” She shook her head. “They know I don’t have any other siblings, and I’ve never known any cousins.”

  “What about a boyfriend?” Mack suggested, running his hand up beneath her hair. “Are you known to have a boyfriend or lover?”

  Butterflies erupted in Riley’s belly at the touch of his hand on the back of her neck. “No. I haven’t had time to cultivate a romance. I’ve been too busy living two lives to add another to the mix.”

  He leaned back and smiled down into her eyes. “Then let’s set the stage for anyone watching.”

  “What do you mean?” She stiffened, her insides trembling, her body warming with excitement.

  “Meet your new boyfriend.”

  * * *

  MACK TOOK HER hand in his and gave it a gentle tug. If, like he suspected, her handler had eyes and ears posted wherever Riley lived or worked, they had to convince the watchers they were an item. Otherwise, why would he be at her apartment that late at night?

  She came to him, rested her hands on his jacket and raised her face to his. “Like this?”

  “Uh-huh,” he whispered. “Only closer.” He slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her ever nearer until he couldn’t tell where her body ended and his began. Her breasts pressed against the lapels of his jacket, and her hands fluttered against his chest. The back of her gown dipped low, and his hands met warm, bare skin.

  With one hand on her back, steadying her, he used the other to tip her chin. Then he lowered his mouth to just above hers. “We need to make it convincing.”

  “Okay,” Riley said, her voice barely a breath. Then her tongue swept across her lips, making them shine in the light over the door.

  What had started as a show for anyone watching had taken on a life of its own. Mack couldn’t look away from her shining lips any more than he could drop his hold. He was destined to kiss this woman who could be a national spy. Hell, she’d come to the charity event to kill the woman he worked for. Why would he be drawn to an assassin?

  But he was, and he had to kiss her.

  Cupping her cheek, he bent to brush his lips lightly across hers. They were soft. Like silk.

  She gasped, and her mouth opened, giving him all the invitation he needed.

  He swept his tongue past her teeth to claim hers in a long, sensual caress that made his insides ignite and his groin tighten.


  Her fingers curled into his shirt, bringing him closer, deepening the kiss. Her hips pressed against his, his erection nudging against the soft folds of the dress covering her belly.

  Mack groaned and lowered his other arm, crushing her to him. When he was forced to breathe again, he reluctantly loosened his hold enough to allow air in their lungs.

  He inhaled deeply and pressed his forehead to hers. “That should do the trick,” he said, wondering at the tremor in his voice.

  She closed her eyes and pressed her lips together. Then she straightened and stepped back.

  Mack dropped his arms from around her waist, planted one in the center of her back and entered the apartment, kicking the door closed behind them. He would never admit to Riley that the kiss had shaken him as much as it had. He wasn’t with her to start an affair. He’d been tasked by his employer to help Riley find her brother. The sooner they did, the sooner he’d be on to his next assignment.

  Chapter Four

  Mack waited in the living room of Riley’s apartment while she changed out of the dress she’d worn to the gala.

  She left the door to her bedroom cracked open a little—to continue their conversation or to keep an eye on him, Mack wasn’t sure.

  He searched the apartment for any signs of listening devices or cameras. Just when he thought he was chasing shadows, he found something in one of the lamps sitting on an end table. He was reaching for it when Riley came out of the bedroom pulling a light sweater down her torso. “You know, I think I know where we should start.”

  Mack spun toward her, grabbed her arms and pulled her into his embrace. “I know exactly where we should start.” Then he sealed her mouth with his lips.

  “What—” Riley tried to say as his lips moved over hers.

  She stood stiff in his arms until he softened the kiss and swept his hands down her back.

  After a long, incredibly delicious moment, he lifted his head, pressed a finger to her lips and led her over to the lamp. He pointed to the small electronics device positioned on one of the wires holding the shade in place. Then he pointed to his ear. “I think we should start with a kiss,” he said softly, but loudly enough for whoever might be listening in on their conversation.