Harlequin Intrigue March 2021--Box Set 2 of 2

by Nichole Severn

  “Baby, you know I understand. But you have to know that you are not leaving forever. Only for right now, and Joe and I will be waiting for you when you get back.”

  “Where are you going to take him?” she asked.

  “Once I know you’re safe, I’ll take him back to the STEALTH compound. When you are ready, you can come there too. We can plan a real wedding. Get every kind of flower you can dream of and have a ceremony at the bottom of a rolling mountainscape. We could do it this month, have the world covered in snow. Do a winter wedding.”

  She knew he was talking of all this in an attempt to give her a moment to collect herself and to think about something other than the pain she was feeling, and she loved him more for it. He had always known how important it had been to her that she stay strong, and he also knew how it was a battle she often lost—and he loved her through it all.

  “I’d love a winter wedding. Red flowers, gray mountains, white snow.” She could see the landscape in her mind’s eye. Yes, it would have been beautiful. “All I’d want is me, you, Joe and a witness. Something simple.”

  “All I want is you.” He smiled.

  “I’ll start planning,” she continued. “I have a feeling that I may have a great deal of free time on my hands when I get to Kirtland. They will probably have me doing a bit of training, but—”

  Mike’s phone buzzed, cutting her off.

  He looked down, surprise registering on his features. “Kevin is outside. He is waiting.”

  She wouldn’t even bother to wonder how or when Kevin had gotten Mike’s number and tracked her down to this hotel, but he must have figured out that she didn’t have hers with her and just as quickly gotten a bead on them.

  There was no more time for softness, no more time for goodbyes. There was only the harsh, bitter, wintery reality that waited for her outside.

  “Have a good flight.” Mike let go of her and resettled Joe’s bottle for him. “Let me know when you make it and that you got there safely. Okay?”

  She nodded as she turned, grabbed her bags, and walked out. Looking back, she gave him one more wave as the door to her world closed behind her.

  * * *

  KEVIN WAS SITTING in a blue pickup outside the lobby’s front doors. He was scowling at his phone, looking annoyed. This was going to be either the longest or the shortest trip ever. Only time would tell.

  Summer knocked on the window. He looked up and motioned for her to get in, but the annoyed look on his face didn’t lessen. Throwing her bags in the back seat, she climbed up into the front passenger seat of the truck and buckled in.

  Kevin didn’t say anything as he put the truck into gear and pulled away from the hotel. The air was heavy with angst, but she wasn’t sure if it was coming from her or from Kevin. Though she wanted to ask him about the day’s plans, she didn’t dare speak. This was his show, and he had been kind enough to offer her a safe harbor.

  They drove for five minutes before he finally cleared his throat. “What did you learn?”

  She slid him a sideways look, trying to figure out exactly what kind of answer he was looking for from such a cold, no-lead question. “I’m sorry?” she asked. “What do you mean?”

  “What has this exercise taught you?” He repeated the question in the same monotone voice.

  “Exercise?” What was he talking about?

  Kevin didn’t say anything as he pulled up to the gates of Malmstrom Air Force Base, flashed the guard his ID and answered a few questions before the gates were opened and they were waved through.

  He remained silent as her mind whirled, trying to make sense of Kevin’s question. Was he implying that what had happened to her—Joe’s kidnapping...the code exchange—all of it had been some sort of training exercise?

  She had to have heard him wrong. He couldn’t have possibly put her and her child in danger in an attempt to teach her something... Or had it been to test her?

  She didn’t understand. She couldn’t understand.

  Her thoughts came in short, fast bursts.

  If Kevin was using this to teach her something, he was a total jerk. Who would use her child? If that was what he was willing to do, then she wasn’t sure this job and the people she worked for were the kinds of people she wanted to be associated with.

  Anger oozed from her pores. She could kill the man sitting next to her. “How in the hell do you sleep at night?”

  He frowned as he looked over at her. “What?”

  “Are you telling me that all of this was your doing? That your people took my son? That you staged all this?” She tried to find the words threatening to melt together in her fiery rage. “How did you get Ben to go along with this nonsense?”

  Kevin slowed as he drove through the base, toward the airfield. “First, I don’t know who Ben is or what you think he’s gone along with. Second, it wasn’t my idea to do things this way. I have to answer to a boss, as well, and I was just told what to do and how to do it. I didn’t agree to kidnapping Joe, but your friend Mike made it all too easy for our contractors to get their hands on your boy.”

  How dare he blame this on Mike. He hadn’t done anything she wouldn’t have done. “You had to have given them the okay. No one would just take a child.”

  “I don’t have to answer your questions, but given the circumstances and how all of this has unfortunately played out, I will make an exception in telling you that those men—the contractors who took Joe—paid the price for coloring outside the lines. For this training exercise, they were given strict instructions to watch you and to learn your potential weaknesses while you dug into Mike for information about Rockwood. However, they jumped the gun. Both have been released from their contracts with DARPA.”

  “And that is all to say nothing about how you played me,” she seethed. “You made me feel like I wasn’t going to get Joe back. You manipulated me into playing their stupid game.”

  Oh crap. What have I done by bringing Mike into this?

  “Is Mike in trouble?” she asked.

  “Don’t you think you should be more concerned about your own welfare, given the fact that you brought an unauthorized person into your work with the DTRA?” Kevin asked.

  “If Ben hadn’t threatened me, and if your people hadn’t taken our son, I would have never gone to Mike for help. You forced me into a position where I had no allies. What little I told him was limited to what he needed to know. You can hardly hold that against me.”

  Kevin stared at her for a long moment. “Who is Ben and how did he threaten you, exactly? Are you talking about your ex from your days in Rockwood?”

  She shrugged. Was this another of Kevin’s sick, twisted games?

  She should quit. Right here, right now. Then she should storm off in righteous indignation.

  And yet she sat in the passenger side of his truck, unmoving. What did that mean? Was she just stunned so greatly that she was afraid to move? Did she love her job so much that she didn’t want to walk away?

  The thoughts rippled through her, creating an electric buzz that cascaded into her fingertips and down to her toes. The sad and beautiful truth was that she did...she loved this job. She loved being a part of something bigger than herself. Something that stopped the bad guys from getting their hands on the weapons that could and would hurt so many.

  Summer didn’t agree with the methods those above them had used to make her prove her worth and dedication, but if they had thought her unworthy based on their findings, she wouldn’t be sitting where she now sat. “Did I pass? Are these stupid training exercises over?” she asked, wary but hopeful.

  “We booked you on a private plane to take you back to the main office. What do you think?” Kevin asked, giving her a wink. “I seriously do hope you know that I am in your corner with all of this. I went to bat for you.”

  She couldn’t bring herself to say thank you, but
from the tired look in Kevin’s eyes she didn’t think he was looking for her gratitude. If anything, he looked apologetic. That response was something she could appreciate and understand.

  She gave him a tight nod in simple recognition of his efforts.

  “When we get to Kirtland,” he continued, “we have set up a series of secondary training exercises with several other candidates.”

  “Candidates?” she asked, taken aback. “For what?”

  “Thanks to your work, the DTRA has been working on a new program that focuses solely on worldwide IGS through nanotechnology. We would like you to take a lead role in the project and to help create a better training program so we never find ourselves in a similar situation.”

  “Am I being bought off?” she challenged. “Am I getting this opportunity because someone above you feels guilty or is it actually because of merit?”

  Kevin chuckled. “I wish I had the answers for you, but you know as much as I do in this case. If I were you, though, I wouldn’t look this gift horse in the mouth. This is the one chance you may get to advance and also get to be at home with Joe more often. After all this, do you really want to continue being a field agent?”

  “No.” There was no hesitation in her response, no need to think about her choices or about what she wanted. “I want to be with Joe. I can’t put him into a situation like this ever again. And while I’m sure the DTRA would never intentionally put him into danger again, I can see now that, no matter what steps I take or don’t take, being an agent will put him in harm’s way. That’s unacceptable. And as much as I love my job and I want to continue working with this group, I can’t take that kind of risk with my child.”

  Kevin nodded understandingly. “If I’m being completely honest, I’m surprised you are still sitting here with me and are willing to go. I would get it if you turned in your ID and quit. What happened...was a cluster of mistakes and I’m embarrassed that it even happened like it did.”

  “From what you’ve said, none of this was your fault. You had a job. I had a job. We had to play our parts. I don’t like it. I don’t like what happened. It is unacceptable and I will be requesting that there be follow-up investigations and procedural changes, but what better way to do this than from a job inside? I can be the change so no one ever has to go through anything remotely close to what I’ve had to go through.”

  “That is one hell of a great perspective,” Kevin said, nodding his head in appreciation. “I can tell you right now that it is that attitude and outlook on life that got you this job and is going to make you successful in years to come. I’m proud to be a part of your journey, but remember me and the benefits of this organization when you are looking down from your seat in Congress. Okay?”

  Summer laughed. The last thing she wanted to do was to be involved even more deeply in politics than she already was. Even though she wasn’t going to continue as a field agent and would instead move into more of a political sector role, it didn’t mean that she wanted to become a dealmaker. And yet, who knew what the future would bring? Life had a way of throwing curveballs that were so strong and swift, no one could catch them; all they could do was try to get out of the way and hope for the best.

  The plane’s crew was standing out by the stairs, waiting.

  This was her last chance to say no and walk away. But as quickly as the idea came to her mind, it disappeared. Summer’s life was about to change in ways she struggled to imagine. To top things off, she could be the wife and the mother she had always wanted to be.

  In this moment of change, she could have it all.

  “Ready?” Kevin asked, motioning to the waiting aircraft.

  She reached back and grabbed her bags, then opened the passenger-side door. “I’m as ready as I’m ever going to be.”

  Stepping out of the truck, she slung her bags over her shoulder and closed the door. As the door slammed, there was a crack. That sound. She knew that sound. Without thinking, she hit the ground.

  Someone was shooting at them.

  As her body hit the cold, snow-laden tarmac, the bags she had been carrying rolled off her back. She felt heat radiate up from her core. Reaching down, her fingers prodded her side. There was something warm and wet. As she touched the spot, it felt as if a fire was racing through her, setting her nerves ablaze with pain.

  There was a whizzing sound as another round pierced the air just above her head.

  Someone wasn’t just shooting at them; they were shooting at her.

  Someone wanted her dead. And based on the fact that they were still shooting even though she’d been hit, they wouldn’t stop until they were sure she was dead.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  After having dropped off Joe with Jessica, Mike sat at the top of the offset from the airfield. He scoped from the hill and waited as Kevin and Summer sat in the truck. He could tell they were talking and as the minutes passed, some of the anger on Summer’s face had started to diminish and was replaced with what he could best assume was relief.

  His assault rifle with its long-range scope was perched on its bipod, concealed under the little makeshift tent he’d propped up around him using a borrowed sheet from the hotel. He’d also used all the white-and-black clothes he could find in an effort to blend into the snowy landscape.

  She didn’t need to know he was watching, that he couldn’t stand by and just let her leave with a man and a team who had put them all in danger. Yeah, right.

  If anything, given how much she knew him, it was a bit of a surprise that Summer hadn’t been watching in the rearview mirror for him the entire way to the base. Sure, he’d had to borrow a late-model Buick from the hotel parking lot, but if things went right and she got on the plane without any sort of event, he would have the car and sheets back to the hotel before anyone even knew they were missing.

  Getting onto the base had been more of a trick, but given his and STEALTH’s levels of clearance, it had only taken a minute for the guard to make the necessary calls and for the gates of Malmstrom to open to him. Not for the first time, Mike found himself chuckling at the limited levels of security. Yes, he had a reason, the clearances, and a right to be on the base, but it struck him as darkly funny that he had to be there to provide cover and security for his fiancée.

  He watched as the passenger door of the pickup opened and Summer stepped out, carrying her bags. As she closed the door, there was the rip of a round through the still Montana air.

  What in the hell?

  Using his rifle, he scoped the area around the base, looking for the shooter or shooters. Was there someone else, someone camouflaged like him, waiting just outside the perimeter of the airfield?

  He looked over at Summer; she was lying on the ground. Her fingers came up from her side and, even from two hundred yards away, he could make out the distinct red color of fresh blood.

  Someone had shot her.

  How dare someone hurt the woman he loved.

  Mike moved his sights in the direction in which he thought he’d heard the shot originate from. As he did, he caught a muzzle flash from the corner of his eye as the shooter fired off another round.

  People on the base began to move quickly, like ants, as they started to make sense of what was happening and the reality that they were coming under fire from some unknown assailant.

  There was another shot, but this time Mike spotted the little orange blaze that appeared to erupt from a blanket of snow. Whoever was shooting at Summer was using cover, just like him. If the shooter had been just a little more careful in the planning, Mike might not have even seen the flash. He had gotten lucky.

  Hopefully, he would continue to be.

  Mike took aim, carefully making calculations for distance and wind speed as he lined up his target. He would likely only get one easy shot. If he missed, the shooter would be on the run at a distance, making it even more of a challenge to neutralize
the threat.

  He had to get this right.

  Clear.

  Take the shot.

  He found his mark, a tiny black spot in the midst of white where he assumed the shooter’s head would be. He aimed small, centering his sights on the tiny black spot. His finger moved inside the guard and he felt the steely, cold ridges of the trigger. He applied even, steady pressure, making sure not to engage the sympathetic movement in his hand and interfere with his shot.

  Precision. This was all about precision.

  This was the moment he had trained for his entire adult life. He was the protector, the keeper of hearts, the man in the shadows, and the hero no one could identify—if he did things right.

  The shot didn’t surprise him, he had known it was coming, but the pressure he’d applied to the trigger had been so steady and even that when the firing pin hit the primer, it nearly shocked him. The suppressor did its job as the round moved down the barrel and cut into the air. There was only the dull pew sound as the round left and sought its target.

  He stared as the bit of copper found that little black dot in which he had been aiming.

  Damn. Sometimes he was good.

  He smiled at the shot.

  But had he neutralized the threat?

  The firing stopped. No more rounds filled the air from where the shooter had been lying and taking aim at Summer.

  Just to be sure he’d done his job, Mike sent another round downrange, striking just a few millimeters to the right of his first aim. He wouldn’t stop firing until he knew his target was no longer a threat.

  Crimson blood started to seep out onto the ground near his target. The shooter moved to stand, pushing the cover he had been lying under up and off. The man was dressed in white-and-black camouflage of the more commercial type, like the kind someone would buy at a sporting goods store.

  The camo outfit was unmarred, but as the man moved, blood poured from his neck, just below his ear. He reached up and put his hand to his neck, applying pressure. But it was too late and Mike watched as he sank to his knees, his blood pressure lowering and starting to fail as the life seeped from him.