Her Very Strict Captain

by Carpenter, Maggie

Working undercover in L.A., she’d vowed to bring Conchello down.

  Her mission would continue.

  Just as she’d hunted for the treasure in her dream, she’d hunt out his new base on the island. Even if she stumbled across one of Conchello’s men, she’d appear to be an average tourist out for a stroll. No one would suspect she was a DEA agent.

  Sending a short text to Scott saying she was off for a walk, she hurried into the bedroom, slipped her camera into her bag, and headed for the front door, but as she passed the security room, she paused.

  She was used to walking into situations carrying.

  Though she didn’t think the scouting trip held any real threat, she felt unprepared without her gun.

  It was a safehouse.

  There were bound to be weapons in the security room.

  Punching in the code and walking back in, she placed her phone and bag on the desk and opened the folding plantation doors. Rows of drawers and closed cupboards reminded her of an old-fashioned secretary. Pulling out drawer after drawer, she was beginning to think it was a fruitless search, until opening a cabinet, she recognized a handgun case. Lifting it out and popping the lid, she broke into a smile.

  The sub-compact double action pistol was exactly what she needed. Checking the magazine and finding it loaded, she slipped the weapon into her bag, left the room, and marched down the hall to the front door.

  But as she stepped outside, her heart sank.

  Palm fronds and bits of foliage were scattered everywhere. The storm had made any hope of finding plowed vegetation leading off the trail virtually impossible.

  Then it hit her.

  The speedboats had just left.

  The men’s footprints in the sand would be fresh.

  If she went down to the beach and followed them, she might get lucky. Buoyed by the brilliant idea, she set off.

  In spite of the abundance of debris on the trail, she was able to keep a decent pace, and accompanied by myriad bird calls and unidentifiable noises that were slightly unnerving, the time quickly passed.

  Reaching the pristine sand, she stopped and stared at the inviting water. The idea of a swim was immensely appealing, but spying footprints, her mind swiftly returned to the task at hand.

  They didn’t lead from the water’s edge to the trail, but off to her right. Hastily following them, she discovered they stopped in front of a dense forest. Carefully pushing aside a tall, flowering plant with huge leaves, she found herself staring at a wide path.

  “Don’t move.”

  Though the voice behind her had been soft and feminine, she froze.

  “That’s good, now hands behind your neck and slowly face me.”

  Her heart leaping, Elizabeth cautiously turned, only to find a short, gray-haired, elderly woman grinning up at her.

  “Hello, Elizabeth. You can drop your arms now. My name’s Emily. I’m Scott’s housekeeper.”

  “You scared me to death,” Elizabeth exclaimed. “Why didn’t you just say so? Why the drama?”

  “I’m sorry, dear, I’ll explain, but please step carefully toward me.”

  Instinct told Elizabeth to do as the woman said, and she stepped cautiously forward.

  “Goodness, that was close,” Emily said with a relieved sigh. “I didn’t mean to frighten you, but I couldn’t let you make any sudden moves.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “You were about to walk through a trip wire. Lord knows what would have happened. It could have dropped a net around you, shot off a gun, maybe even ignited a small bomb, like a landmine.”

  “Oh, my gosh, I don’t know what to say,” Elizabeth muttered, her heart suddenly racing again. “How did you see it?”

  “Experience. I bet there were cameras set up as well, but the winds would have taken care of them last night,” she remarked, squinting as she looked up at the foliage. “I certainly don’t see any. You’re very fortunate I came along when I did.”

  “I assume Scott sent you,” Elizabeth murmured, feeling as though she’d just been scolded by a nanny.

  “Apparently you sent him a message saying you were going for a walk,” Emily replied as they started back toward the trail. “He was worried about you leaving the house with the speedboats coming and going. He tried to reach you, but you didn’t answer your phone.”

  “I have it right here,” she exclaimed, reaching into her bag. “Oh, no, I must have left it in the security room.”

  “It’s not much help there.”

  “I was going to put it in my pocket, but I dropped it on the desk while I was looking for something. I can’t believe I didn’t pick it back up.”

  “Your mind must have been on other things.”

  “It was, coming down here; speaking of which, how did you know where I was?”

  “When I arrived I saw you heading down the path. You certainly have a quick walk.”

  “I suppose I do.”

  “I didn’t want to yell and draw attention to us in case those drug dealers were nearby. I’m glad you stopped for a few minutes when you reached the bottom. I was able to catch up. But then you followed those footprints. I had to make sure you didn’t get into trouble. I’d just reached you when I saw the wire.”

  “Thank you so much,” Elizabeth said gratefully. “I take it you’re more than just a housekeeper. Are you part of Scott’s team?”

  “Unofficially,” Emily replied with a smile. “I was in the game for years.”

  “The game?”

  “The spy game, and I loved it, but it was different back then. I’m not sure I’d want to be involved today. I’d be at odds with all the high-tech gadgetry.”

  “You haven’t lost your touch,” Elizabeth declared. “I had no idea I was being followed, and I have eyes in the back of my head.”

  “It was one of my specialties,” Emily said proudly.

  “Did Scott say when he was coming back?”

  “He should be on the water now, and I need to let him know I found you. I didn’t want to pull out my phone while we were exposed on the beach. Bad guys are paranoid, and if there were any eyes on us…”

  “Yeah, I know,” Elizabeth muttered as Emily paused her step to send the text.

  “He says he’ll be docking in about thirty minutes,” Emily declared after a moment or two. “That means he’ll be at the house within the hour.”

  “Great, I can’t wait to see him.”

  “When we get home we can have a nice cup of coffee. I’d love to hear about your work.”

  “He told you what I do?” Elizabeth asked, surprised Scott had talked about her.

  “Oh, yes, he thinks very highly of you, and apparently the feeling’s mutual.”

  “It’s that obvious?”

  “To me it is, but I can read people.”

  “Another of your specialties?” Elizabeth inquired with a grin.

  “Indeed it is. As a matter of fact, I was once known as a human lie detector. I used to win quite a lot of money playing poker.”

  “I bet you did,” Elizabeth quipped, laughing out loud, “just like a female James Bond.”

  “I must admit, I did have a few of my own Casino Royale moments.”

  “Will you tell me about some of them?”

  “You won’t be able to shut me up,” Emily replied happily as they neared the house.

  “Uh, Emily, there’s something I need to take care of in the security room.”

  “I’ll start the coffee and make us something to eat.”

  “That would be terrific. I had a bowl of cereal, but I’m hungry again.”

  “Cereal is nothing but reprocessed sawdust. I’ll whip up a tomato and cheese omelet.”

  Entering the house, Emily continued on to the kitchen as Elizabeth stopped at the security room. Hurrying to the plantation doors, she returned the gun to its case and let out a relieved sigh.

  She’d had a near miss with a trip wire—a horrifying thought—and suddenly borrowing the gun seemed like a terribl
e idea. Moving across to the windows and looking down at the tranquil water lapping on the pristine beach, no one would ever suspect the blissful island had been invaded by nefarious criminals.

  The memory of Manny’s death flashed through her head.

  Unexpected heat burned the back of her throat.

  “I’ll have my revenge,” she muttered under her breath. “I’ll get Dan and Jim, and somehow I’ll get Conchello too.”

  * * *

  Gliding through the calm, clear water on Jack’s yacht, Scott approached the island and sailed close to the beach. There were no speedboats in the area, and the small cove looked tranquil, but hidden behind palm trees and exotic plants, Conchello’s soldiers had almost finished setting up a new base of operations.

  Scott had no doubt Elizabeth had left the house on a reconnaissance mission. She was a skilled, trained undercover agent whose partner had been killed in her arms. He understood her desperate need for justice, and her thirst to do everything in her power to hunt down the men responsible, but emotion was clouding her judgment.

  It was something he needed to deal with before she became another of Conchello’s victims.

  Chapter 15

  Deciding to jog back to the safehouse from the small dock, Scott powered up the steep track to the top of the island. In each hand he held a plastic bag containing weights. One also contained the wad of money with the disabled tracker, a small towel, swimming trunks, and his phone. Reaching the peak and pausing to catch his breath, he scanned the water in search of approaching speedboats.

  Earlier that morning, Frank had called. The drone had returned surveillance footage of three cigarette boats traveling at high speed from an island Scott had pointed out to Elizabeth six months before. The men had unloaded on the small beach below the safehouse, and carried the crates into the tropical forest. Continuing its fly over, the drone’s sophisticated imaging equipment identified the encampment in spite of efforts to hide it under camouflage nets. Adding to the valuable intel, David Clark had started to offer up detailed information about the new base.

  In an ironic twist of fate, the ruthless drug lord had set up his new camp under Scott’s nose.

  Operation Justice was suddenly breaking wide open.

  But standing on the summit, Scott didn’t see a trio of boats speeding through the water, or any sign of them on the beach, but it was possible they’d already come and gone. Resuming his run, he started down the hill, jogged past the safehouse, and continued to the beach for a swim—and some quick reconnaissance. Slowing to a walk as he neared the bottom, he listened keenly for any foreign noises.

  The rush of wings caught his attention.

  Startled birds burst into the sky.

  He checked his watch, took note of his location, and set the distance tracker. Arriving at the beach five minutes later, he’d walked almost a quarter of a mile. Though he saw no signs of life, there were plenty of footprints in the sand leading to an area off to his right.

  He could follow them, but suspecting surveillance cameras, he placed the bags he’d been carrying on the sand, quickly changed into his trunks, and ran into the water. Diving beneath the surface and swimming parallel to the beach, he popped up his head and eyed the lush foliage for hints of an opening. There was nothing to see, yet beyond the abundant vegetation lived a nest of vicious vipers.

  In spite of the intelligence, he still didn’t like the setup.

  Security cameras would be difficult to spot.

  Booby traps easy to miss.

  If they wanted the evidence to survive, it would have to be a stealth operation with only a few men, followed by backup dropping from helicopters—assuming they reached the base successfully.

  * * *

  Long after Elizabeth and Emily finished the delicious omelet, they remained at the kitchen table. Over cups of cinnamon coffee, Emily captivated Elizabeth with hair-raising espionage tales. Even when Elizabeth thought the story may have been embellished, she remained spellbound. When she heard the front door open and close, she was tempted to leave and welcome Scott home, but Emily was relaying a harrowing incident in London.

  “I see she has you in her clutches,” Scott declared, entering the kitchen.

  Cloaked in the smell of the ocean, water still trickling from his disheveled hair and dribbling tantalizingly down his ripped, naked torso, Elizabeth thought he looked like a mystical warrior from Atlantis. She wanted to lick the salty droplets from his skin, and feel his cool, wet body slide enticingly over hers.

  “Emily, I keep telling you to write a book,” Scott continued. “You could be the next Ian Fleming.”

  “Hardly,” Emily muttered modestly.

  “He’s right,” Elizabeth agreed. “You have great stories. I was riveted. I still am.”

  “I’m glad you enjoyed them,” Emily said with a happy smile as she rose to her feet. “Now I must take my leave.”

  “Thank you, Emily,” Scott said gratefully, ambling over and pecking her on the cheek. “I’ll walk you to the door.”

  “No, wait, you have to finish,” Elizabeth said urgently. “Were you followed when you walked away from the Embassy?”

  “I’m sure I’ll see you again soon and I’ll fill you in then. In the meantime, maybe you can figure out who the mole was.”

  As Scott and Emily left, Elizabeth pushed back from the table, picked up the few dishes, and carried them to the sink. She had just finished washing up when Scott returned.

  “What happened with David Clark?” she asked eagerly. “Did he give you any information? I have stuff to tell you too. Important stuff. I know where—”

  “Everything is under control for the moment,” he said firmly, taking her hand and leading her into the hall.

  “But I want to know what he said, and I found the entrance to the camp.”

  “I know you did, and I’ll tell you about David later.”

  Moving into the bedroom and swiftly lifting her T-shirt over her head, he tossed it aside, walked her backwards, and pushed her on the bed.

  “Can’t you at least—”

  “Stop talking,” he ordered brusquely. “Lie back and close your eyes.”

  Her butterflies bursting to life in her stomach, she squeezed her eyes shut and waited. She heard rustling, then his footsteps as he approached the bed. A blindfold slid over her eyes, and he swiftly pulled off her shorts and panties.

  “Arms over your head and lock your fingers together.”

  As she nervously followed his instruction, only a few seconds passed before he’d laced her wrists together and tied them to the slotted headboard. Wordlessly trailing his fingertips across her breasts to tweak each nipple, he carried his touch over her stomach and into her pussy.

  “Wet already,” he muttered. “Spread your legs and keep them there.”

  Quickly following the brusque order, she caught her breath as he tickled her inner thighs, then whimpered as leather cuffs were swiftly buckled in place around her ankles and secured to the footboard.

  “Now I have your attention,” he began sternly, sending a quiver of anticipation through her body, “I’m going to talk, and you’re going to listen. Clear?”

  “Yes, Captain,” she managed breathlessly.

  “You want to nail the bad guys, I get that, but you’re being ruled by your emotions, and that’s dangerous.”

  Two hard slaps suddenly landed on the inside of her thighs. Yelping loudly and instinctively trying to close her legs, she strained against the cuffs.

  “You almost got yourself captured, possibly even killed today,” he continued, delivering two more stinging slaps, eliciting a loud squeal. “If Emily hadn’t found you when she did, you wouldn’t be with me right now. Think about that, Elizabeth. You wouldn’t be with me right now,” he slowly repeated. “Let those words sink in.”

  She cringed under his sharp rebuke.

  There was no defense.

  She was guilty as charged.

  Following the footprints had been
reckless.

  Letting out a heavy sigh, she swallowed back her tears.

  “Ah, I’m getting through to you,” he remarked, his voice unexpectedly kind. “You must be patient and calculating, like a predator watching its prey, stalking, scrutinizing, planning, watching and waiting for just the right moment to pounce.”

  The image of a great cat crouched and ready to attack flashed through her head.

  She nodded.

  It was how she usually operated.

  Cautious, crafty, and always on guard.

  “You know that,” he continued, “but when revenge has you in its grip, rational thinking takes a back seat. You need to quiet those angry voices. They’re drowning out your logic, your cunning, and your most valuable asset, your instinct.”

  His finger touched her clit.

  “You know I’m right, don’t you, Elizabeth.”

  “I do.”

  “Elizabeth, call me Sir.”

  “Yes, Sir, I do.”

  “Working undercover you were operating as a free agent, making your own decisions, choosing what to do and when to do it. That’s not how it works here, not with me. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, S-Sir,” she stammered, trying to wriggle against his rubbing finger.

  “You must learn to take orders—and when I say take orders, I mean without question. I imagine you went head to head with Jim if you didn’t like something. Am I right?”

  “Yes, Sir, I did.”

  “Those days are over,” he declared, moving his hand from her pussy and landing another hard, stinging slap against her thigh. “Understood?”

  “Ow, yes, Sir.”

  “You can only be part of this operation if you follow my orders. The first time you don’t, you’re out. No second chances. Am I clear?”

  “Yes, Sir, and thank you.”

  She heard him take a breath. “For what?”

  “Including me in your plans. I won’t let you down.”

  “Don’t expect too much. Your involvement will be safe and minimal, but you don’t have to worry, I’ll keep you informed. Waiting and wondering is torturous. I won’t do that to you.”