Surrender in Silk

by Susan Mallery

  He knew it was three days because the nurse had told him when she’d brought his lunch. He was still on a “clear” diet, which meant broth, a flavored gelatin and tea. Although he longed for real food, just getting the broth down was hard enough. He was going to have to wait a couple of days for steak.

  “You’re awake.”

  He turned toward the sound of the voice and saw Winston walk into the room. As always, his boss was impeccably dressed, from his lightly starched oxford shirt down to his shined wing tips.

  Winston grinned as he moved closer. “You look pretty bad, Jones. But at least you’re alive. We weren’t sure there for a while.” He patted Zach’s shoulder. “Welcome home.”

  Zach raised the bed so he was sitting up. “Thanks. It’s good to be back. How’s it going?” he asked, and was surprised when his voice came out scratchy.

  “That’s my question.” Winston pulled up the cloth straight-back chair in the corner of the private room, then settled next to Zach. “I spoke to your doctor. She said you’ll live.”

  “Comforting thought. Did she also say how long I’d be stuck here?”

  Winston shook his head. “You’ve been awake, what—” he glanced at his watch “—maybe an hour, and you’re already trying to get out of the hospital? Slow down, Zach. You’re fighting several bad infections, not to mention healing from some nasty bruises that might go down to the bones. You’re suffering from dehydration, exposure and a whole list of other things I can’t even pronounce. According to the good doctor, you’re going to be in here at least three weeks.”

  Zach grunted. Figures. He hated hospitals. With the danger inherent in his line of work, he’d spent more time than he would like to think in them, too.

  “She says your recovery time at home is going to be three to five months. You’re going to have to take it easy. I know you’re not very good at that, but you’re going to have to make an effort. I need my best agent back at a hundred percent. So don’t even think about cutting your recovery time short.”

  “She’s overestimating the time,” Zach said. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fit and back before you know it.”

  “Have you thought about what you’re going to do when you leave the hospital? Do you want me to look into private nurses?”

  Zach grimaced. “No, thanks. I’ll be fine.”

  The last thing he needed was a stranger hanging around, fussing over him. He had a lot of places he could go, although at the moment he could only think of one.

  The cabin.

  It was isolated. He could retreat to his cave and lick his wounds. With enough supplies, he wouldn’t even have to go to town. It made perfect sense. After all, no one even knew about the place. Except Jamie.

  He closed his eyes and fought back a groan. But this one didn’t come from pain. It came from deep inside, from the place where the ghosts lived.

  The cabin had once been his favorite retreat. He’d always looked forward to going back. Until seven years ago when he’d brought an innocent young woman there and she’d changed everything. Now he couldn’t spend more than a couple of days at the cabin without remembering her, them and the time they’d spent together. Then he started to want her, ache for her, until want and ache gradually turned to need. Then he had to leave.

  Could he risk the cabin for several weeks? Did he have a choice? Maybe this time it would be easier to forget her. Hell, who was he trying to kid? He hadn’t been able to forget her in all this time. He wondered if he ever would.

  He glanced over and saw Winston watching him. “It won’t take me five months,” Zach said at last. “Once I’m out of the hospital, we’re talking two at most.”

  “But the doctor said—”

  Zach cut him off. “I’ve been injured before, Winston. I know what to expect from my body. She’s used to civilians. I know how to train and I know how to rest. Trust me.”

  Winston frowned, but didn’t disagree. “Tell me when you’re feeling up to an official debriefing. We have reports from all the men who survived, so your information can wait. I was thinking about a day or two before you’re released from the hospital.”

  “Fine. I don’t have a whole lot to tell you. I spent most of my days unconscious.” He thought for a moment, remembering the pain of the last beating. He’d been ready to go then, willing his spirit to give up on his battered body. “How’d you get me out?”

  “It wasn’t easy.” Winston leaned forward in his seat. Pale blue eyes brightened. “I sent in a team right away. Half of them couldn’t get close, and the other half didn’t make it back.”

  Zach closed his eyes and swore under his breath. He didn’t need any more souls on his already heavy conscience. “Who?” he asked quietly.

  “No one you know.”

  “Liar.”

  “Calling your boss names isn’t a great way to get a raise.” Winston’s light tone belied the seriousness of their conversation.

  “I don’t recall asking for one.” Zach forced himself to push the disturbing thoughts away. He would deal with them later, when he was alone. “So how’d you get me out?”

  “A couple of operatives came to me with a rather unique plan.”

  Before he could continue, there was a knock at the door.

  “Come,” Winston called.

  Zach was expecting a nurse or maybe his doctor. Perhaps even one of the guys he knew from the agency. He was almost right. The person stepping through the door was a fellow employee, but it wasn’t one of the guys. After seven long years, Jamie Sanders stepped back into his life.

  Her hair was long again, more than halfway down her back. The sight of the dark blond strands caused a memory to nibble at the edge of his mind, but he couldn’t place it. He brushed his fingers against the back of his hand, as if something there tickled.

  She was lean, leaner than she’d been in training. High cheekbones defined her features. Her mouth was full, her eyes almond-shaped. She wore a black T-shirt with the long sleeves pulled up to her elbows. Through the thin material, he could see the definition of her muscles. He’d heard about her victory on the obstacle course. Seeing her now, he knew the talk hadn’t been exaggerated.

  She walked into the room. Worn jeans hugged slender thighs and narrow hips. She moved with the grace of a panther. He returned his attention to her face. There was a time he’d known everything she was thinking. While she’d been his student in training, he’d been aware of her mixed feelings. Sometimes her hazel eyes would darken to green with resentment at the way he pushed her. Other times, when he’d turned quickly and caught her staring at him, those same irises had shifted to blue and deepened with interest and affection. He’d been battling his own attraction. He’d wanted her from the first moment he’d seen her, and their six months together in training had done nothing to change that.

  As her instructor, he’d had a responsibility to keep his personal feelings to himself and he had. He’d been tough, just as he was with all the recruits. He’d ridden Jamie extra-hard. Because he was hard on all his recruits and because he saw in her the potential to be the best.

  She’d done them both proud. She was an excellent agent. A lean, strong, thinking, killing machine. She was everything he’d known she could be.

  “Here she is now,” Winston said, rising to his feet and crossing the floor. He wrapped his arm around Jamie’s shoulders. “Here’s the agent responsible for your rescue.”

  The simple sentence caught Zach unaware. Jamie? Why the hell had she risked her life for him?

  It was like taking a sucker punch to the belly. All his air rushed out. Every part of his body ached. He stared uncomprehending.

  She met his gaze. Her body wasn’t all that had changed in the past seven years. She’d learned to hide what she was thinking. He knew what she’d become. While he was proud of her, he knew the price she’d paid. What had she lost along the way?

  Without wanting to, he remembered being with her, holding her, being inside her. Making love to her. Fighting al
l the emotions that invoked because he knew the risk of feeling anything. He’d let her go because it was the kindest act he could offer. He’d let her go because he’d cared about her.

  Looking at her now, he knew he’d made the right decision, but he wasn’t sure she had.

  Pleasure and pain mingled in his gut. Pleasure at seeing her again, at being close to her…and pain, for all the same reasons.

  But she wasn’t the only experienced agent in the room. He molded his features into a neutral expression and raised his eyebrows. “A couple of operatives? Wasn’t that risky?”

  Jamie shrugged. The movement freed her of Winston’s arm, and she stepped away. “The other team had failed. We figured we’d travel better light.”

  “We?”

  “Rick Estes and me.”

  Zach remembered Rick. He’d worked with him several times. He was a good man. “What was the plan?”

  Winston stepped close to the hospital bed and grinned. “They blew up the munitions depot next to the compound. While everyone was distracted, Jamie carried you out.”

  In one moment, he realized two things—the vision of her standing over him in the plane hadn’t been an illusion, and the fact that she’d risked her life for him.

  He glared at Winston. “You approved this plan? What the hell were you thinking about? Last I heard, no one was sure exactly what was stored there.”

  Jamie squeezed the jacket she held in her hands. “There was a calculated risk. We were willing to take it.”

  He didn’t want to think about what could have happened to her, but he couldn’t think about anything else.

  “If it wasn’t for the two of them, you’d be dead right now.” Winston sounded cheerful about the fact.

  Zach ignored him and focused on Jamie. “Why’d you do it?”

  Once again, she met his gaze easily. She’d changed so much, yet he would have recognized her in the dark. He could inhale the scent of her body. He wanted to touch her and find out if her skin still felt the same, if she would respond as quickly as she had before. But he didn’t dare let her know what he was thinking. Seven years ago, he’d been too dangerous to her well-being. Nothing had changed.

  “I owed you,” she said quietly. “I always pay my debts.”

  Two simple sentences. Amazing that they could cause as much pain as they did. Foolishly he wanted her to say more. He wanted her to confess she hadn’t been able to forget him. He wanted her to be as torn up about this meeting as he was.

  No such luck.

  “You’ve got what you wanted,” he said. “You’re a damn good agent. Congratulations.”

  “Funny you should say that,” Winston said.

  Jamie shot him a look and shook her head.

  Winston’s pale eyebrows arched. He nodded, then continued. “She’ll probably move up to your place on the list, while you’re in here.”

  “You’ll be the best, then. You earned it,” Zach told her. He’d warned her, and she hadn’t listened. There was nothing he could do about it now except try to forget.

  Winston said something, but Zach didn’t hear the words. Exhaustion descended, and the drugs kicked in. He just wanted to sleep.

  Jamie moved to his side and touched his hand. “Are you all right?” Concern straightened her mouth. One strand of her dark blond hair brushed against his wrist.

  He hated that she’d been able to read him almost as much as he hated still feeling connected to her. Dear God, why hadn’t he been able to forget?

  “Get out,” he ordered with as much force as he could muster.

  Her body stiffened, then she slowly withdrew her hand.

  “Zach,” Winston said, walking toward him.

  Zach speared him with a glance, then returned his attention to Jamie. “You’ve done your good deed,” he said. “You’ve proven what a great operative you are. Great. Congratulations. Now get the hell out of my life.”

  Jamie picked up her leather bag and handed the cab-driver his fare plus the tip. Airport crowds moved around her. Normally, being with too many people made her nervous. Just one more legacy from her training. Today she ignored the businessmen, the woman traveling with a toddler and an infant. She ignored the families on vacation and the automatic announcement about the area in front of the terminal being for unloading passengers only. She was going home.

  Usually that excited her. Home meant long days resting, building up reserves to face the next mission. But this time home meant something else. Facing the past, which was always kind of scary, and facing the future, which terrified her. How was she supposed to know what to do with the rest of her life? How would she know which was the right decision? What if she chose poorly? The thought of spending the next couple of months in her solitary apartment in San Francisco trying to figure everything out was more than she could bear.

  She turned toward the terminal and stepped inside. The television screens showed departures. She stared at the flight numbers and destinations. The letters and numbers blurred.

  She wasn’t crying; she just couldn’t see for a minute. How was she supposed to make a fresh start when she couldn’t let go of the past? How was she supposed to get over a man who still had the power to rip her to shreds?

  She drew in a deep breath, but it didn’t help. Her stomach churned, and her skin felt as if it had been scrubbed with sandpaper. There wasn’t a part of her that hadn’t been affected by Zach’s words.

  Get the hell out of my life.

  As long as she lived, she would never forget the impact of hearing them, of seeing the disdain in his eyes. He hadn’t been happy to see her. He’d hated her touching him. Why had she bothered?

  As she stared at the television screens, she reminded herself that she’d accomplished all she’d set out to do. Zach was alive and the debt was paid. Surely that was enough.

  But it wasn’t. She’d foolishly hoped for more. Some kind of miracle, maybe. Or just the tiniest hint that seven years ago she’d meant something to him. That he hadn’t gone back to his life so easily that time. That maybe, just maybe, he’d thought about her and regretted losing her.

  Foolish fantasies, she told herself. She should know better.

  She walked toward the airline counter. There was a long line. She got in place and set her leather bag on the ground. As usual, she traveled light.

  She should just let go of the past. But it had been seven years, and she hadn’t been able to get him out of her mind. There had been something about him, a link she couldn’t shake. Maybe she was an idiot for not letting it go.

  Forget the maybe—she was an idiot.

  When she reached the counter, she smiled at the attendant. “I don’t have a reservation but I’d like to buy a ticket.”

  “Where to?” the young woman asked.

  Jamie paused. San Francisco. Home. She opened her mouth. “Denver,” she said, then swore silently. Denver was a couple of hours from the cabin. Zach’s cabin. She would be crazy to go there. He’d made it clear he wasn’t interested in her or being with her. What was she thinking?

  “We have a flight leaving in about forty minutes,” the clerk said. “There are a few seats available. First-class or coach?”

  “First-class,” Jamie said, and pulled out a credit card. The agency paid her well, and she didn’t have many needs. After the morning she’d been through and what she was about to face, she deserved a little self-indulgence.

  Ticket in hand, she went through security, then headed for the gate. By the time she arrived, they were beginning to board. Jamie stowed her small bag in the overhead compartment, then found her seat. She settled into the wide, leather-covered cushions and leaned against the window.

  She was making a huge mistake. Zach was going to stay with the agency until he died. She had decided to get out. They had nothing in common. He’d lost his humanity years before, and she wanted to find hers again. He had nothing to offer her, so why was she going to the one place where she knew he would show up?

  “You’r
e a fool,” she murmured, then refused the wine the flight attendant offered. She just wanted to sleep. At least there she could escape the confusion of her life.

  Jamie parked the rented Bronco in front of the cabin and stepped out into the crisp spring afternoon. She could feel the difference in the air from being at a higher elevation. But instead of feeling winded, she felt invigorated.

  She turned in a circle, taking in the tall trees and deep blue sky. Last time she’d been at the cabin, it had been fall.

  Everything had been readying for winter. Leaves had littered the ground with a blanket of brown and gray. Now the trees budded. Brilliant green leaves shimmered in the sunlight. Birds chirped. New life struggled to come forth.

  Snow covered the ground, but the guy at the rental-car agency had said they were close to done with snowstorms for the season. Jamie continued to turn, stopping only when she faced the cabin.

  The small house looked exactly as she remembered. Compact, well made, welcoming. Even after all this time. She smiled slightly and hoped Zach would be as friendly when he arrived. The doctor had said he would be in the hospital three weeks. Jamie doubted he would stay that long. Zach didn’t like being confined. She figured she had at least a week to prepare herself for his arrival. A week to decide what she was going to say when he asked what the hell she was doing here. Not that she hadn’t asked herself the same question a hundred times already.

  “What are you doing here?” she said aloud as she moved to the rear of the Bronco and opened the back. She didn’t have an answer yet.

  She grabbed a couple of grocery bags and headed toward the front door. There was a small knot in the door frame, just below waist level. She pressed it twice, and it popped open, exposing a compartment just large enough for a key.

  After unlocking the door, she stepped inside. The cabin was cold and musty from being closed up. She wondered how long it had been since Zach had visited the place. She would like to think that her presence that week had somehow affected him so he found it difficult to return here, but she would also like to think a lot of other things that weren’t necessarily true.