Next Exit, Dead Ahead

by CW Browning

  “You still live out there, in Oklahoma?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  Damon finished his salad and reached for the pasta, glancing at Alina as he did so. She was sitting back in her seat, her wine glass in hand, studying him.

  “I'm sorry?” he asked.

  “Why?” Alina repeated. “You could live anywhere in the world. Why stay home in Oklahoma?”

  “Why did you come back to New Jersey?” Damon countered swiftly. He instantly regretted it when her eyes narrowed and her mask slid swiftly back into place.

  “Raven seems to like it here,” Viper answered smoothly, setting her wine glass down and reaching for the garlic bread. “Besides, thanks to Regina, all my other houses were exposed. Until I finish establishing new living arrangements, this is the only location not compromised.”

  “I love it when you try to lie to me,” Hawk told her, digging into his pasta.

  Alina clamped her back teeth together briefly and took a deep breath, counting to ten before reaching for the pasta. She scooped it into her dish silently and set the dish down gently. Damon shot her a quick glance under his lashes. She appeared perfectly calm, but he hadn't missed the flash in those dark eyes of hers or the clamped jaw. He hit a nerve, and that amused him. He was getting to know his Viper well.

  “My father passed away shortly after we met in Paris that first year,” Damon spoke after a few moments of silence. Alina looked up, her face unreadable. “My mother decided to sell the ranch and move in with my sister. She got an outstanding offer from a group of developers, but I couldn't stomach the thought of the land I grew up on being turned into a shopping mall or cookie-cutter houses. I decided to buy the ranch through a middleman and outbid the developers. She has no idea who owns the property now.”

  Alina digested that for a moment, chewing thoughtfully. She didn't know Damon had a sister. Somehow, the idea of him having family seemed absurd. He was too big for something as mundane as a family.

  “Have you seen them recently?” she asked, glancing at him. Damon's face was unreadable, his jaw tight.

  “Not since his funeral,” he answered. “It's safer for them that way. Have you seen your parents?”

  “No.” Alina picked up her wineglass. “I decided when I joined the Organization it would be safer not to have any contact with them.”

  “What did you tell them?”

  “Nothing.” Alina sipped her wine. “They think I work for an international security corporation, running the European division. We exchange emails occasionally.”

  “Same here,” Damon agreed.

  “Have you been back to the ranch?” Alina asked, pushing her empty pasta dish away slightly and sitting back in her chair.

  “Of course.” Damon sipped his wine and grinned. “It's home, when I'm home.”

  Alina's eyebrow soared into her forehead.

  “You actually live there?” she demanded. He nodded.

  “It's perfect, really,” he said. “It's a nice little spread, out of the way. No one knows when I come and go, except the twins.”

  “The twins?” Alina prodded, catching the thread of affection in his voice.

  Damon nodded and got up from the table, going into the kitchen. He returned a moment later with the wine bottle.

  “My dogs,” he explained, refilling her empty glass.

  “You have dogs?” she asked, surprised.

  “Mmm. Two.” Damon refilled his own glass and sat back down, setting the bottle on the table. He sat back with his glass, his eyes dancing. Alina looked stunned. “Bull mastiffs.”

  “Of course you have bull mastiffs,” Alina muttered, sipping her wine. Her lips were twitching reluctantly.

  “Meaning?”

  “They fit you,” she told him. “Who looks after them while you're gone?”

  “I have a housekeeper and there are plenty of people in and out all day. I kept the family business going when I bought the property, so there are about fifteen people there during the week. The dogs are spoiled rotten.” Damon sipped his wine and shrugged. “I got them as pups, with the intent for them to be guard dogs. That didn't work out quite as planned.”

  “They're not good guards?”

  “Oh, they're wonderful guard dogs,” Damon told her. “They were supposed to live outside. They took over my bedroom instead.”

  Alina laughed.

  “I can't imagine you with pets,” she said. “I wouldn't think you're home enough to give them the attention they need.”

  “You have Raven,” Damon pointed out.

  Alina shrugged.

  “Raven's different,” she murmured. “He takes care of himself. He hunts for his food and comes in to sleep when he's full. He doesn't need me.”

  “He guards you like it's his job,” Hawk retorted. “That bird needs you, just as much as you need him.”

  “You're in a strange mood tonight,” Alina said as she set her glass down. “What's the family business?”

  “I'm in a strange mood?” Damon countered. “You're asking a line of questions I shouldn't be answering.”

  “Then stop answering them,” Viper said with a faint smile, her eyes glinting.

  Damon met her gaze and grinned.

  “Horses,” he told her, laughing when she rolled her eyes.

  “Good Lord, you're a cowboy,” she muttered. She stood up and gathered their empty dishes.

  “Was there ever any doubt?” Damon demanded, laughing harder when she shook her head in disgust and headed into the kitchen with the dishes. He got up, picked up the salad and pasta bowls and followed her. “You knew I was a country boy when you met me. Do you remember the first thing you ever said to me?”

  Alina set the dishes in the sink, her lips curving with the memory.

  “'You look like a good, old-fashioned redneck,'” she said softly.

  Damon set the bowls down on the island and turned toward her. Without thinking about it, he dropped his hands to her hips and rested his chin lightly on top of her head. Alina caught her breath. The back of her shoulders rested lightly against his chest and she was suddenly surrounded with the musky scent she loved.

  “I knew you were going to be trouble for me from the very beginning,” he murmured with a smile in his voice. “You and your feisty attitude reminded me of my favorite horse.”

  “No, you did not just compare me to a horse!” Alina exclaimed. She drove her elbow back and landed a hard, solid hit to his gut. Damon grunted in reaction, lifting his chin from the top of her head.

  “She was a good horse!” he retorted, laughing. He pulled her hips back sharply, clamping her arms to her side. “She used to try to fight me too,” he added with a grin.

  “Oh, you're living dangerously,” Alina murmured, leaning her head back and inhaling deeply. She didn't know what it was about Hawk, but the scent of his skin made her feel safe and powerful all at once. Turning her head, she pressed her lips to the side of his neck gently, his skin warm on hers. “I'm not a good horse,” she added huskily as she twisted her right arm swiftly and closed her fingers around his wrist. She twisted it sharply as she turned in his arms, forcing him to move his arm with her or risk snapping his wrist. Once he did, she brought up both arms and pushed him away from her.

  Alina started to turn back to the sink and the dishes, but Hawk had other ideas. He grabbed her arm to pull her back to him, and Viper gave in to the impulse to fight back. She stepped back and to the side swiftly, using the force of his own arm strength to throw him off balance. With one fluid movement, she twisted his arm up behind his back and forced him forward, against the counter.

  “Maybe it was a poor choice of words,” Hawk admitted, as she yanked his arm up behind him painfully with one hand and applied pressure on the back of his neck with the other.

  “You think?” Viper asked sarcastically.

  She just had time to hear his chuckle before he turned his head and shoulder, forcing her back with sheer strength. When her grasp on
his arm loosened, he twisted quickly and was able to catch hold of her free hand. He leaned into it, forcing it down, and spun her around. A moment later, he had her pinned to the floor in a wrestling hold.

  “Now that was just too easy,” he murmured in her ear. “Are you slipping on me?”

  Viper made a noise suspiciously like a hiss and Damon felt his hold slipping. A second later, he was flipped onto his back and found himself staring up at her with no clear idea of how she had done it.

  “I wouldn't dream of it,” she said breathlessly, straddling him and holding him down with a hand on his throat.

  “Nice,” Hawk commended her.

  “Thank you.” Viper smiled faintly.

  Her dark eyes met his and her heart started thumping as she took a deep breath. Sparring with Hawk was always a challenge. He was so unpredictable and had no compunction about fighting dirty, even with her. It made him a good training opponent, but a formidable foe.

  “I think I like this view,” he murmured, his eyes darkening slightly.

  He slid his hand softly up the arm that had his neck pinned to the floor, watching as goosebumps followed the light brush of his fingers. He smiled slightly and shifted his gaze back to hers. Alina's lips were parted slightly and her pulse was beating a rapid tempo at the base of her throat. At the brush of his fingers, her breathing increased and Damon felt desire shoot through him like a bolt of lightning.

  Alina saw his eyes darken and her breathing grew shallow as her heart pounded in her chest. How she had ended up on top of him on her kitchen floor seemed irrelevant. All that seemed to matter was that she was drowning in a sea of blue glittering with passion and promise.

  Catching her wrist with his fingers, Damon took advantage of her distraction. Swiftly pushing her hand off his neck, he threw her off balance and forced her down on top of him. When her lips touched his, he flipped her onto her back, one hand protecting the back of her head while his other arm supported some of his weight as he came down on top of her.

  “I've been wanting to do this since I saw you walking toward me outside that old prison,” he whispered as he lowered his lips to hers.

  Alina caught her breath as his lips touched hers and a shock of desire shot through her. She had missed him. The past two months had been a blur of activity and work, but she had missed Hawk and this feeling of freedom mixed with passion he evoked every time he touched her. He made her feel emotions she never knew existed, passion she thought had died inside her over ten years ago. With Hawk, Viper let go of herself and rediscovered the woman she buried long ago. She lifted her arms and wrapped them around his neck, parting her lips beneath his and sighing into him.

  Blinding passion rolled over her, causing her world to tilt precariously, and the only steady thing was his shoulders beneath her fingers and his heartbeat pounding against hers. Alina moved her hips instinctively, trying to get closer to him, and he groaned. The cold, hard floor faded in the face of raging desire and the only thing that existed was Damon. His body, his skin, his heat was all that filled Alina's senses. She couldn't get enough of him.

  Damon lifted his head, his eyes dark with desire, and he smiled faintly.

  “What's with us and kitchens?” he asked huskily.

  Alina blinked and laughed breathlessly.

  “I have no idea,” she confessed.

  Damon smiled slowly and was just lowering his lips to hers again when his cell phone started ringing. He groaned, closing his eyes and resting his forehead on hers.

  “Ignore it.”

  Damon chuckled deep in his throat and kissed her swiftly.

  “I can't. It's Harry,” he told her.

  He pushed himself up and reached into his pocket to pull out his phone.

  Alina closed her eyes and took a deep breath, willing her heart to slow down. Her senses were throbbing, her breathing uneven, and Viper wanted nothing more than to rip the phone out of Hawk's hand, throw it against the wall, and pull him back into her arms. She clenched her teeth and concentrated on taking deep, even breaths until her heartbeat slowed and her desire cooled.

  “Hey.”

  Damon answered the phone, rolling off her and sitting up. He glanced down at Alina, breathing deeply with her eyes closed, and shook his head slightly. Harry couldn't have planned worse timing if he had tried.

  “You're a never-ending source of heartburn,” Harry greeted him. “What the hell are you doing in New Jersey?”

  “Enjoying local attractions,” Hawk murmured, sliding a finger along the edge of Alina's tank top. Her eyes opened and he found himself staring into their deep, chocolate depths.

  “Hmm.” Harry sounded amused. “Give her my love.”

  “I will,” Hawk smiled faintly. “What do you have for me?”

  “You're about to have a lot of company,” Harry told him, growing serious. “Be careful. You have two other agencies with a presence there, and neither of them will take kindly to your interference.”

  “Do they know I'm here?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Then what are you worried about?” Damon watched the pulse at the base of Alina's throat increase as he slid his finger under the edge of her shirt.

  “I know you,” Harry retorted. “You have a habit of taking things into your own hands.”

  Damon grinned as Alina smacked his hand away and sat up, shooting him a glare.

  “That's what I'm paid to do,” he answered, watching as she stood up fluidly and moved away toward the sink.

  “You're paid to do it offshore,” Harry replied. “Be careful up there. I'm sending you all the information I have, but there's one thing you should know now.”

  “What's that?”

  “If you get compromised, so does the local attraction,” Harry said bluntly.

  Hawk's gaze rested on Viper as she turned on the water.

  “That's not going to happen,” he murmured.

  Chapter Eleven

  Stephanie glanced up as the elevator dinged loudly and the sound echoed through the deserted floor. She had been the only one in the building, besides security, all afternoon and evening and she had grown used to the absolute silence. Now, the sound of the elevator ascending seemed deafening. She stretched, yawning widely as there was another ding and the elevator doors slid open. A minute later, John appeared carrying a brown bag in one hand and carrier with two soda cups in the other.

  “Please tell me you're having more luck than I did,” he said as he set the soda carrier down on her desk and turned to his own desk across the aisle.

  “No luck on the guide?”

  “Nothing.” John set the brown bag down on his desk and dropped his keys next to it. “She's just disappeared.”

  “I have a bad feeling about that,” Stephanie said. “Rodrigo just disappeared too, and now look how he's showing up.”

  John nodded in agreement and opened the bag, pulling out containers of sushi.

  “I stopped at your favorite sushi place,” he said, handing her two containers of rolls. “I got you spicy salmon and a Boston roll.”

  “Thank you! I'm starving,” Stephanie said, taking the containers. “I made some progress, though.”

  “Tell me.”

  John pulled his chair over and settled down with his own sushi. He ripped open a pack of chopsticks and glanced at her expectantly.

  “Phillip Chou works in the IT Department at New Federal Bank,” Stephanie said. She opened the spicy salmon roll and lifted a piece out with her chopsticks. “He's been there for two years and has a stellar employee record. Before that, he worked in Arizona for a small software company. Guess who else was on the payroll?”

  “Rodrigo,” John said, biting into his dinner.

  “Yep.” Stephanie reached for one of the sodas and turned to her computer screen. “They worked together in Arizona for four years before Phillip left the firm and came to New Jersey to take a position with New Federal.”

  “How did Rodrigo end up with a different bank in the
same state?” John asked, his mouth full of sushi.

  “That's where it gets interesting,” Stephanie told him. “The software firm suddenly closed its doors and went out of business. The weird thing is that, on paper, the company was increasing profits and growing at a rapid rate. There was no reason for them to close up shop. They were doing well.”

  John glanced at her and raised one eyebrow in a motion eerily reminiscent of Alina.

  “So why did they go out of business?” he demanded.

  Stephanie shrugged and sipped her soda.

  “That's just it,” she replied. “I can't find any reason why they should have.”

  “What did they do?”

  “Designed security software and firewalls for corporations,” Stephanie said softly.

  John whistled.

  “Well now, isn't that interesting,” he murmured.

  Stephanie grinned.

  “Oh, it gets better,” she promised. “When the company closed down, the founding CEO, Jared Yang, disappeared. Rodrigo packed up and moved to New Jersey six months later to take a position with One District Bank. He was hired by their new Regional Vice President of TRMIS, the security operations branch of IT.”

  “Ok....” John poked a straw into the second soda and stared at her. “So what? We knew this already, didn't we?”

  “Well, it took some digging, but I finally tracked down Jared Yang.” Stephanie paused to eat another piece of sushi. “He changed his name. Well, to be more precise, he changed it back.”

  “Huh?”

  “Jared Yang was born Lowell Mitchel Kwan,” Stephanie explained. “His father was North Korean and his mother was an American Red Cross worker in Vietnam. They married, but it was not a happy marriage. According to court documents, the father was an abusive drunk who threatened to kill her and their son if she ever left. When Lowell was eight, his mother finally had enough. She took little Lowell and ran. She changed their names, got them to the United States, and hid from her husband in a little town in Arizona. Eventually, she remarried. Meanwhile, Lowell grew up and went to Stanford University on a full academic scholarship.”