Stealth

by Janie Crouch

  “So, I spoke to Mr. Smith tonight, while you were having your…fun,” Fin continued.

  Cameron kept his best poker face and feigned disinterest as he took a sip from his bottle. “I didn’t know Mr. Smith was interested in the details of that sort of fun.”

  “Mr. Smith is interested in anything and everything that has to do with DS-13. And he has taken an interest in you.”

  Bingo. Eight months undercover, and this was what he had been waiting for. “Oh, yeah? Why’s that?”

  “He was impressed—has always been impressed—with how the sales you arrange go down without a hitch.”

  Cameron nodded and took a sip of his beer. “That’s what I do.”

  “Well, Mr. Smith would like for you to start arranging more meetings and perhaps find some other sorts of buyers for some items he’s come into recently.”

  “What sort of items?” Encoding technology, perhaps?

  “Mr. Smith wants to meet you and tell you about that himself.”

  Cameron could tell Fin was watching him closely to see how he would react. How he played this off would be key. Too much enthusiasm would most certainly be reported back to Mr. Smith, and perhaps cause the whole invitation to be pulled. Not enough enthusiasm would be reported back as an insult.

  But insult was definitely better than suspicion, so Cameron took another long drag on his beer and remained sprawled in his chair.

  “That’s cool. Whatever. Just let me know when.” Cameron yawned, then got up, as if the meeting with Fin was over. He could tell Fin wasn’t expecting that.

  “Whoa, hang on there a minute, Cam. I’m not done.”

  “Oh…sorry, man.” Cameron sat back down as if he didn’t really care much about what Fin was going to say next. Which couldn’t be further from the truth.

  “Mr. Smith wants to meet you tomorrow,” Fin told him.

  That was a little sooner than Cameron expected, but not too bad. If he could find a way to get Sophia to safety.

  “Okay, that’s fine. Is he coming here? Does he want me to set up something with a buyer for tomorrow? That’s kind of hard when I don’t know what he’s selling.”

  Fin shook his head. “No, he only wants to meet you tomorrow. Let’s just say that your actions with the pretty brunette have reassured him that you’re not afraid of getting your hands a little dirty.”

  Cameron grinned despite his souring stomach. “Well, it wasn’t my hands getting dirty, if you know what I mean.”

  Fin howled in laughter again before turning serious. “Mr. Smith needs you to begin setting up some meetings with people who may be interested in doing a little bit more damage than just with a few automatic weapons.”

  “You mean like missiles or something?”

  “No, actually a specific computer program or virus or something that can do major damage to law enforcement. I don’t really understand it. But Mr. Smith says it’s going to bring in a lot of money.”

  Cameron nodded. “Okay, man, no problem. Tell Mr. Smith I can line that up for him.”

  “Actually, you can tell him yourself when you see him tomorrow. He’s having a bit of a get-together at his mountain home. Has some people he’d like you to meet.”

  Crap. “Mountain home? Where? And I don’t think it’s going to work real well to bring ‘my companion’ on a plane, you know?”

  “Cam, DS-13’s resources are much greater, and more organized, than you think. We’ll be using a small jet, owned by one of DS-13’s dummy corporations. And Mr. Smith’s house is in the mountains of Virginia.”

  “Wow. I didn’t know about all that.” Actually, Cameron did know about all that, at least all of it except the mountain house. No wonder Smith was never spotted, since he had some sort of secluded retreat.

  Damn it. All of this just got much harder for him and Omega Sector. He needed to contact them tonight and let them know about the location change.

  But most important he needed to get Sophia out of here as soon as possible. There was no way he was going to let her be transported to some remote location where he had even less control over the situation.

  “There’s a lot you don’t know about DS-13, Cam,” Fin said, smiling knowingly, self-importance fairly radiating off him. “Just be ready to go in the morning. We’ll have to figure out what to do with your little friend by then.”

  “Private jet. Cool.” At least Cameron’s cover persona would think so. Cameron himself didn’t give a damn.

  “You’ll want to be at your best when you meet Mr. Smith,” Fin told him with a grin. “So don’t exhaust yourself with other things.”

  “Roger that.” Cameron took the last sip of his beer and stood up. “See you tomorrow.” As he walked out of the kitchen he grabbed a bag of chips and one of the post-workout protein shakes the guys had lying around. It wasn’t a great meal for Sophia, but at least it was something.

  Cameron didn’t have much time. Morning would come fast. He had no doubt that when Fin said they’d “figure out what to do with” Sophia in the morning, he meant kill her. He had to think of a plan to get Sophia out of here. Quickly.

  Cameron walked as casually as he could back to the room. As he opened the door, he saw Sophia, still tied as he had left her, about to start screaming.

  “It’s just me.” He put down the food and walked quickly over to her. “Are you okay? Any problems?”

  “No, I’m fine. Just ready to get untied.”

  Cameron pulled out the knife he always kept in his pocket. He made quick work of the zip ties, first at her wrists then her ankles, allowing the plastic to drop to the floor.

  Sophia rubbed her wrists to try to get some of the blood to flow back normally. Cameron reached down and gently rubbed her ankles.

  “Better?” he asked softly.

  Sophia nodded. “Yeah, thanks. Did everything go okay out there?”

  Cameron reluctantly stopped rubbing her ankles, released her feet and went to put the chair back under the door handle. He handed her the food and she began to eat.

  He turned to her. “Yes and no.”

  Sophia drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “Yes and no? That doesn’t sound too good.”

  Cameron came and sat back down on the edge of the bed. “Well, in a rather ironic turn of events, it seems that the horrible way I’ve treated you has made DS-13 trust me more.”

  “What?”

  “Whatever doubts they had about me have evidently been eradicated since I have turned into a rapist slimeball.”

  “But you didn’t…”

  “Yeah, but they don’t know that. Evidently your screams were pretty convincing.” Cameron rubbed an exhausted hand over his eyes. He didn’t want to think about that again.

  Sophia unwrapped her grip on her legs and crawled a little closer to him, reaching out and touching him on the arm. “Cam, you did what you had to do. I thought about it while you were gone. You saved both of our lives without a doubt.”

  “Sophia…”

  She moved a little closer. “I’m sorry about all that stuff I said. I don’t think badly of you. I can’t stand you thinking badly of yourself.”

  Cameron turned so he was facing directly toward her. He took the hand that was touching his arm and held it in both of his. God, she was so sweet. He looked down at the hand in his—so tiny.

  He couldn’t stand the thought of her being in this room—around these people—a minute longer. And the thought of taking Sophia to that other house where Mr. Smith was? Totally unacceptable.

  Cameron reached out and stroked her cheek. She was looking at him so intently, so concerned about his feelings. Cameron could barely remember the last time he’d had an authentic feeling. Until today.

  “I’m fine, Soph. If anything, just glad that something go
od has come out of this situation.”

  She smiled shyly before easing away. “Me, too.”

  “It seems that the quite elusive leader of DS-13, a man named Mr. Smith, wants to meet me now because of how everything went down today.”

  “That’s good, right?”

  Cameron nodded and eased backward on the bed so he was sitting next to her. “Yeah. That’s what I’ve been trying to do for eight months.”

  “So what’s the bad?”

  Cameron sighed. “He wants to meet me tomorrow.”

  Cameron watched as Sophia obviously tried to figure out what that meant for her. “Oh, okay,” she finally responded.

  “Even worse, he wants for me to go to his mountain house. That’s not…optimal for the situation.”

  “Because of me?”

  “Partially, but not totally. I wasn’t aware of this other location until tonight. I don’t know anything about it so it’s hard to prepare for it.”

  Sophia nodded, worry plain in her eyes.

  He didn’t know if she was worried for herself or him. Probably both. “But you’re not going, so you don’t need to worry about anything.”

  “I’m not going?”

  “We’re going to get you out of here tonight.”

  Sophia sat up straighter, obviously ready for action. “We are? How?”

  “Wait until late, when everyone is asleep, then I’m going to tell you how to sneak out.”

  “But won’t that cause trouble for you? Won’t your cover be blown?”

  Cameron shook his head. “Not if we do it right. It’s going to have to look like you knocked me unconscious. I’m going to need a pretty good goose egg on my head.”

  When Sophia just shook her head, Cameron continued, “If anything, it will help. They’ll be in a panic that you’ll call the cops and will want to get out of here even faster. Anything that throws them off their timetable can only help me.”

  “That’s good, I guess.” Sophia shook her head again. “But I don’t want to hit you with anything.”

  Cameron reached up and softly touched her swollen and bruised lip. “C’mon sweetie, turnabout is fair play.”

  “Cameron.” Sophia reached up and touched his hand. “You did this because you had to. I know that.”

  “And you’ll do this because you have to. It’s the only way, Sophia.”

  * * *

  SOPHIA DIDN’T LIKE IT. She really had come to terms with what he had done while he was having his meeting with Fin. Everything that had happened from the moment she had seen Cameron in the warehouse today had been done to protect her.

  She didn’t want to hurt him. But it looked as if she was going to have to.

  “There’s no other way?” she asked.

  “Not if we want to keep suspicions off me. I’ll wake up and notice you’re gone. Then I’ll tell everyone we should leave before you call the cops.”

  “They won’t think you let me go?”

  Cameron shook his head. “Absolutely not. Especially not after earlier. Although can you do something for me?”

  “I can try.”

  Cameron leaned close and whispered in her ear, “Can you yell, ‘Get off me, you bastard’? It’s been a little too quiet in here.”

  Sophia shot off the bed. If she couldn’t do it, would he drag her back into the closet? She looked over at it, then back at him.

  Cameron wasn’t making moves toward her—as a matter of fact, he was keeping himself very casual and relaxed on the bed—but Sophia still took a step back. Then she stopped.

  Just yell. It’s not hard. Just do it.

  “Get off me, you bastard!” she yelled at the top of her voice.

  Immediately she could hear guffaws of laughter from other places in the house. Perverts.

  Cameron got off the bed and came to stand right next to her. “Thank you.”

  “Anything to stay out of the closet.”

  Cameron grinned. “Got it.” He grabbed her hand and brought it up to his lips and kissed it softly.

  They both seemed a little shocked by his impulsive gesture, but Sophia didn’t pull her hand away and Cameron didn’t let it go.

  “I just want to get you out of here. That’s the most important thing to me,” Cameron whispered. He let go of her hand, wrapped his arms around her and drew her to his chest. Sophia snuggled in. After what she had been through today his arms felt like absolute heaven. This was what she remembered about them from five years ago: a closeness that matched the burning attraction between them.

  She and Cameron had met at a diner that was just a couple of blocks from her tiny apartment in Washington, near Georgetown University, where she went to school. Hating her own cooking, Sophia had made a habit of going to the diner each morning and one particularly crowded day Cameron had asked to share her booth and they’d struck up a conversation. Then he had started showing up at the same time every morning, displaying a great deal of interest in her.

  Emotionally, Sophia had fallen fast and she had fallen hard.

  But physically, Sophia was shy and a little bit awkward, so she had taken things slowly with Cameron, thinking they would have all the time in the world. For three months, they went on dates, shared many passionate kisses, sometimes talked all night, just to end up back at the diner for breakfast the next morning.

  Sophia had thought—had known—Cameron was the one for her. And his willingness to wait so patiently for her physically had made her love him even more.

  And she thought he felt the same way. But then one morning he didn’t show up. The thought still left her feeling a little sick to her stomach. Plus, he had waited until he knew she would be at the diner to call her home phone and leave a message. Hi, Soph. Something’s come up and I’m going to have to leave town permanently. I wish you all the best. Take care.

  She still knew the message by heart. At least now, five years later, she didn’t cringe when she thought about it.

  Sophia eased herself back from his arms. A nice hug in the middle of a traumatic event was one thing, allowing herself to dive into the past and drag out all the hurts was quite another.

  Cameron didn’t try to hold on to her when Sophia pulled back. And although she knew it was for the best, it still panged her just a little.

  “Okay, so what’s the plan?” Sophia asked as she moved away and sat back down on the bed, which was as sparse as everything else in this room. She looked around. Nothing was inviting or comforting in the least. And the little she’d seen of the rest of the house as he’d dragged her in here wasn’t much better.

  Plus it was pretty stuffy in here. There was only a tiny window, covered by cheap blinds that barely let in any light at all. The bedroom was attached to a bathroom, but that room wasn’t much more appealing, even with its own window.

  Cameron saw her looking around. “What?”

  “Just…this room. This entire house. You’ve been here three weeks, you said? How can you stand it?”

  Cameron shrugged. “It’s just part of the job. DS-13 wanting me to stay here was actually a huge step in the right direction. It meant they were really starting to trust me. Took long enough.”

  “Eight months, right? Isn’t that a long time for—” she lowered her voice even further “—undercover work? Consistent work?”

  “Yeah, it’s starting to reach the outer limits. But I asked to stay on this case and keep this cover for so long.”

  “Why?”

  Cameron came and sat next to Sophia on the bed. “Let’s just say that I’m determined that Mr. Smith—leader of DS-13—is going down.”

  Fierce determination gleamed in Cameron’s eyes, as well as frustration.

  “Something in particular you want him for, or just because he’s a really bad guy?” Sophia asked,
wanting to understand.

  “Him being a bad guy is enough, but yeah, for me it’s personal. He killed my partner last year. Viciously.”

  Sophia had no idea what to say to that. She reached out and touched his arm. “I’m so sorry, Cam.”

  Cameron nodded. “Mr. Smith suspected Jason, my partner, was undercover. Then cut his throat when he found out it was true.”

  Sophia’s expression shuttered and she rubbed Cam’s arm. No wonder Cameron was so intent on arresting Mr. Smith. She didn’t blame him.

  Cameron stood, and Sophia’s hand fell away. “I will get him, Soph. Don’t doubt it.”

  “I don’t.” Sophia smiled at Cameron and stood up. “So how are we getting me out of your way so you can get your job finished? Because, honestly, I can’t stand the thought of you living in this jackass-infested rat hole much longer.” She gestured around the room with her hand.

  Cameron chuckled softly. “Jackass-infested rat hole?”

  Sophia raised one eyebrow. “Seems apt. Although perhaps my metaphor is a bit mixed. I just want to get out of here and let you get to the other evil lair.”

  Cameron chuckled again. “I’m pretty sure they don’t call it an evil lair.”

  Sophia smiled. She had missed his laugh. “Well, they should. So what’s the plan?”

  They were both startled by a loud pounding on the door again. Whoever it was tested the doorknob to see if it was locked. Cameron hooked his arm around Sophia and pulled her behind him so he was between her and the door.

  “I’m busy in here!” Cameron yelled out, making annoyance plain in his voice. “What the hell do you want?”

  “Cam, Fin said to give you these.” It was one of the men, but Sophia didn’t know which one. More plastic ties slid under the door.

  “Fine, Rick. But stay the hell out unless you’re trying to see my naked ass, you pervert.”

  They heard Rick mutter something about wanting to see a naked ass, but not Cameron’s. But at least he left them alone. If Rick decided to force his way through the door, that chair propped under the knob definitely wasn’t going to stop him.

  Cameron breathed a sigh of relief when he seemed sure Rick was gone. “We’ve definitely got to get you out of here.”