by Donna Young
Charmed, Julia grinned. “Is this a private hangar?” She noted the scrap metal and engine parts scattered in the far corners.
“Yes,” Renalto answered. “But we don’t have to worry about the owner.”
Julia noted the cot against the back wall. “Are you staying here, Renalto?”
“Yes.” Renalto followed her line of sight. “Since my place was destroyed.”
“Who is the owner?” Cal asked. The words held just enough arrogance to give Julia the impression that Cal knew the answer.
“Me.” Renalto grinned and slapped Cal on the shoulder. “It always pays to have alternative transportation.” He nodded to the taxi just beyond the hangar’s opening. “Especially when your other vehicle is rendered practically useless.”
“I’ll buy you another,” Cal stated.
Obviously Cal decided not to hide his bank account now that his Learjet had been outed, Julia mused.
“Did Jason know about your plane?” she asked, curious as to how close Renalto was to her ex.
“No,” Renalto stated. For the first time since she’d met him, Renalto’s voice took a hard tone. His features slanted into sharp edges. “The only reason you do, is because I have a score to settle with Delgado.”
CALVIN PROPPED HIS SHOULDER AGAINST the bedroom door. The early morning moisture from the jungle still clung to his clothes.
An hour past dawn brought slices of morning light through the cracks of the curtains. Somewhere during the heat of the night, Julia shoved off the comforter, leaving it a mangled mess at her feet. She slept on her stomach, her backside up, her head buried under the pillow. That, Cal thought, amused, hadn’t changed.
Many times in the past, he’d run his hand over the curve of her backside, slowly bringing her awake when his fingers wandered into the sweet spots between.
Her T-shirt had ridden up her back sometime during the night, leaving the feminine line of her spine almost entirely exposed. The silky skin, flushed in a sleepy pink hue, tempted him to rediscover what he’d walked away from so long ago.
Desire reared, biting at the back of his spine. Its sharp teeth gnawing, forcing Cal to straighten from the door. Forcing himself to remember why he’d walked away in the first place.
Julia was just another casualty of war.
And Calvin understood war. He’d spent a short stint in the midst of the desert conflict overseas, returning with a few medals pinned over the scars he earned. The recognition bought him a large chunk of time in the jungle. His job was neutralizing the low-level humans who worked for Cristo Delgado, Esteban Alvarez and many more of the same. Killing them, he corrected silently. Years of it.
It didn’t matter anymore that these men murdered innocent children, whole families, including pregnant women. He’d been drowning in his own immorality. Until Julia.
When Cal had started dating her, it had been a casual thought. To take care of a serious attraction. What he didn’t expect was to fall in love.
Or that he’d make her a contracted target for Delgado’s revenge.
Left no choice, Cal walked away.
And when she’d followed him, he’d hurt her.
Better hurt than dead, Jon Mercer reasoned with him at the time.
Julia turned over, her eyes blinked open. Shadows darkened the delicate skin beneath her eyes.
For a moment, she’d forgotten their circumstance. Her smile was warm and lazy and inviting. Oxygen caught in his chest, making it tight. Then slowly reality blossomed and dimmed the amber of her eyes, tightened the soft features into sharp edges.
“What time is it?” she asked, her tone flat.
“Just after eight,” he said, suddenly wanting the smile back, the invitation there. He clenched his jaw. “I’m getting ready to make some eggs, toast and coffee. So if you want, you have time to take a shower.”
“All right.” She stretched her arms above her head, then froze when his eyes drifted over her. Slowly, her arms returned to her sides. “When do we contact Alvarez?”
“In about two hours,” Cal replied, with a briskness he didn’t feel. “After, I’m to meet Renalto at the airport so we can take off.”
“You seem pretty sure Alvarez will agree to your terms.”
“I am sure.” Cal tried to keep his gaze neutral and off her bare shoulders, the curve of her neck. “I’ve negotiated these kind of deals before.”
“Is that what you did when you were with MI6?” she asked.
“Among other things.”
“What other things?”
“Ugly things. With nasty people,” he mused grimly. “Years of it.”
Slowly, she slid her legs across the bed and sat up. “I’ll accept that I have to stay behind on this leg of the trip. If you promise me to come back—alive.”
She tried to smile, tried to make light of her request. But the smile didn’t quite mask the concern that haunted her eyes.
“Any promise I make would be a lie. And we both know it.”
“Even if it’s a lie, Cal, promise me,” she insisted.
“I can’t,” he said softly. “Not this time, Julia.”
He fought the impulse to gather her close, hold her tight. To promise her anything to make them both feel better.
“Take a shower,” he ordered, his tone grim but determined. “I’ll see to breakfast.”
JULIA STEPPED OUT OF THE RENTED Hummer and braced her legs to keep them from buckling. The vehicle had hit every jut and groove on the two-track road, setting her teeth on edge, leaving her neck muscles aching.
The humidity had solidified with the noon sun’s heat. Thick and wet, it coated her skin like a soggy wool blanket.
Logic clashed against loyalty. Jason’s son’s life was at stake, but Julia had promised Jason she would not tell Calvin about the boy. Jason said he knew too much about Cal to trust him.
Julia couldn’t help believe that Jason was wrong. That Calvin would find a way to save Jason’s son if he knew of his existence.
Esteban walked from a nearby building and clasped both of her hands in his. “Ms. Cutting, I have decided to take Calvin up on his offer.”
“So it seems,” she replied, then tugged at his hold. “And considering the circumstances, Julia seems more appropriate.”
“Julia.” He inclined his head, his eyes glinting with amusement. But Esteban didn’t release her.
“I think first names are appropriate considering,” Tessa added and stepped forward. Her outstretched hand forced Esteban to let Julia go. “Good morning, Julia.”
“Tessa.” Dressed in a cool, white, sleeveless blouse and sea-foam-green skirt, the woman appeared as if she was on a casual stroll down New York’s Fifth Avenue.
Julia glanced down at her own lightweight beige cotton pants, white tank top under a moss-green cotton shirt and a darker blue bandana tied around her neck.
Not the height of fashion, but Cal insisted when she donned her new pair of hiking boots.
“If the helicopter is shot down, you’d better be dressed for it,” he’d warned.
“I am looking forward to the company of another woman,” Tessa added lightly, obviously seeing Julia’s swift assessment.
“Thank you.” Julia smiled and realized under different circumstances, she could have been friends with Tessa.
“Do you have luggage?”
“Right here,” Cal announced from behind the group. He handed the small black overnight bag to Esteban.
“The helicopter is already being prepared.” The drug dealer nodded to the tarmac where a brand-new Black Hawk helicopter sat.
“Nice ride. Nicer upgrades,” Cal commented, noting the high-back chairs and leather interior. “Hard to come by. Most governments aren’t good sharers when it comes to this kind of transportation.”
“I have friends who have a few of these, but many more vices. It is a good trade,” Esteban replied matter-of-factly. “We’ll take it out to my private retreat. It’s about an hour’s distance from here.”
<
br /> The four started toward the helicopter.
“You’ll be annoyed, Cal. But we’ll be flying over Cristo’s villa.”
“Coincidence?” Cal asked.
“Certainly not.” Esteban tsked, then patted the breast pocket of his navy striped tailored suit. He brought out a long, thin cigarette and lit it. “It was more…convenient… when our business dealings were more interlocked.”
“How many business dealings do you have with Delgado now?”
“None,” Esteban admitted.
“When was the last time you visited his villa, Alvarez?” Cal asked.
“Two weeks ago for dinner.” The other man’s gaze sharpened, even as his features relaxed, and his mouth slid into an easy smile. He took another drag of his cigarette and then tossed it to the cement. “It’s best to keep up appearances, don’t you think, Mr. West?”
“Or your enemies close,” Cal commented, then stopped several feet away from the helicopter.
He turned to Julia. “I’ll be back in a few days.”
When she said nothing, he stepped close and tipped her chin up until their faces were mere inches apart.
The breath caught in her chest. He will come back, she told herself. With Jason. Then they’ll rescue Argus together.
Cal’s gaze skimmed her features, locked on to her eyes. “Don’t worry, Julia, I’ll get Jason back.”
“I’m worried about both of you, Cal. Just make sure you come back, too.” She didn’t close the distance between them. The urge to kiss him goodbye vibrated through her, but she refused to give in to it.
The pilot—a small, slim man with a pointed goatee and saggy blue eyes—approached the group. “Señor Alvarez, we are ready.”
“Very well, Malachi. See to Ms. Cutting’s valise, please.”
“Here.” Cal handed over the bag to the pilot, but his gaze stayed on Julia.
Esteban gave Julia a short bow. “After you.”
“Thank you.” She turned on her heel and took a step. Suddenly, Cal grabbed her arm.
“Bloody hell,” he muttered. Then tugged her into his arms, brought her lips beneath his.
Her world blurred into the heat waves of the tarmac, the heat of his mouth on hers.
She parted her lips, wanting more, needing more, hoping the reassurance she sought could be found in the depth of his kiss.
All too soon, he pulled back, leaving her with little more comfort than she had that morning.
His thumb stroked her chin, then nudged it up. “Stay out of trouble,” he murmured against her forehead.
“Oh, my.” Tessa cleared her throat. “I think now we’re ready to go.”
Cal released Julia and stepped away. “I’ll see you soon.”
With that, he started back toward the Hummer.
“Your Calvin West must either be a very smart man or a very stupid one,” Esteban remarked, his tone loud enough to be heard over the chopper blades. “He’s taking one hell of a chance leaving you with me.”
Julia glanced at Tessa, then back at Esteban. “I don’t think he takes chances. I think he understood the situation that we’re in and adapted.”
“But you are not pleased,” Tessa inserted. “Because his decision left both of the men you care about in danger and out of your reach. Did it not?”
Julia didn’t say anything. That had been the problem all along. While she’d known Jason most of her life, dated him through college and then married him, life had turned them into strangers, but still, she cared for him deeply.
Something she was sure Cal didn’t understand.
“Don’t judge West too harshly, Julia,” Esteban commented.
The rush of the wind from the helicopter blades kicked up the dust and grit from the tarmac, sent the tips of the nearby trees swaying.
Esteban took her elbow and helped first her, then Tessa into the helicopter.
Both women placed the headsets over their ears. “He’ll be fine, Julia,” Tessa said, once they’d both settled in. “Both he and your ex-husband are very good at what they do. They’ll be in and out before Cristo is aware of what hit him.”
Julia nodded, but the knots in her stomach tightened. What if they couldn’t go back? Cristo would certainly double his security once Cal breached his compound.
Julia realized the huge miscalculation she made. One that put a boy’s life more at stake.
“You’ll have another chance with him,” Tessa added, understanding. “Just make the next kiss better than the last.”
“I think I will,” Julia agreed, deciding. With urgent fingers, she unsnapped her safety belt. “Esteban, I will be right back.”
CALVIN WATCHED THE THREE OF THEM get into the helicopter. Two bodyguards followed, each the size of human tanks. But it was Malachi who drew his attention.
Wiry and thin, the pilot flicked a cigarette nervously while he waited for Alvarez to board. Then every so often, the man’s gaze darted to the jungle’s edge and back again.
The hairs stood at the back of Cal’s scalp. It could be he was overreacting. After all, Cal admitted silently, he wasn’t happy about letting Julia out of his sight.
But taking her into the jungle with him and Renalto would be unnecessarily exposing her to danger.
Cal slid into the Hummer’s driver seat and turned the ignition. The air-conditioner hit him full in the face, but did little to relieve the heat from Julia’s kiss.
Cal glanced in the rearview mirror for one last reassuring look and noted the pilot’s position outside the belly of the helicopter.
Suddenly, Julia jumped from the opposite door, escaping the pilot’s notice.
She started running toward the Hummer.
“Bloody hell.” Cal shoved the Hummer door open again.
Malachi’s cigarette slipped from his fingers and fell to the tarmac.
Warning whispered across the base of Cal’s neck. His eyes narrowed on the pilot. Malachi reached for the butt, but rather than just pick it up, the man looked around, then flipped a latch on the belly of the copter.
It was then the pilot noticed Julia running across the tarmac.
The helicopter’s engine sputtered.
Cal pulled his pistol out of his shoulder holster, threw the Hummer in Reverse and hit the gas.
GUNFIRE BURST FROM THE JUNGLE, peppering the airfield, pinging off the helicopter’s tail and rotor.
Esteban jumped from the helicopter, machine gun in hand. “The jungle!” He strafed the jungle’s edge with a burst from his gun.
Julia scanned the treeline as she ran toward the Hummer. “They are shooting from the jungle,” she screamed the warning.
Two guards scrambled out of the helicopter behind Esteban and fired their machine guns into the dense foliage.
Cal swerved back, hit the brakes. The Hummer spun one hundred and eighty degrees until it stopped between Julia and the crossfire. He hit the button, lowering the window. “Get in,” Cal ordered.
He watched, his pistol raised. A body appeared, scrambling for cover behind a tree. Cal fired. The man screamed and fell to the ground.
“If we stay, we’ll be boxed in,” Cal acknowledged. He glanced back toward the hangar, saw Renalto dive back through the side door. A barrage of bullets struck the door moments later.
No help there.
Cal hit the gas. The Hummer raced across the tarmac toward the jungle.
“What are you doing?” Julia screamed.
“We’re surrounded by a small army of guerillas from the looks of it. But whoever they are, they don’t want us dead. Otherwise we would be already. The field is too open for them to charge us for a while.”
“Esteban’s men can’t hold them off much longer,” Julia urged.
“Then we get lost in the jungle.”
Gunfire exploded from behind them, the tires gave out from underneath them.
“Hold on!” Cal jerked the wheel, putting the car into a full spin.
“What’s the backup plan?” Julia asked after the Hu
mmer came to a stop.
“We use some of the toys Renalto left in the back of the car for cover and head into the jungle.”
“The same jungle where the bullets are coming from?”
Cal nodded toward the open airstrip toward the hangars. “I can get us lost in the jungle. Out there on the tarmac we’re sitting ducks.”
Chapter Ten
“Did you see West race back to the Cutter woman? Somehow the pilot gave himself away.” Carlos spat at the ground, revealing a row of decaying, brown teeth. “Considering how much it cost us to buy him off—”
Without warning, an explosion hit the ground twenty feet away, sending two of Solaris’s men flying through the air.
Carlos swore and peered through the brush. Calvin and Julia abandoned the Hummer at the edge of the rainforest and slipped between the trees on foot.
“Grenades! Take cover!” Solaris yelled as another went off nearby. The blast knocked Solaris off his feet. He shook his head and looked up, only to see Carlos’s eyes wide open, a gaping hole of bone and muscle in his chest.
“Find West and the woman. Bring them to me,” Solaris yelled. But when he turned around, he realized his men had scattered.
“ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?” Julia shouted, letting her anger take over, rather than dealing with the fear and relief that made her legs jelly. “What were you thinking? Taking on an army of men?”
“Maybe that it’s my job. That I’ve been trained to take down terrorists and guerillas. And that you haven’t. Yet you run across a bloody airstrip after me. No guns, no protection. I’ll ask why after I cool down a bit.”
“It’s no longer important. I—”
“No longer important?” He pulled her up until they were eye to eye. “If you value your life, you won’t say another word for the next five minutes.”
When he released her, Julia stumbled back. It was then she noticed the dead bodies. Some dressed in fatigues, others in street clothes or a combination of both. “These were Delgado’s men?”
“Or hired locals,” Cal confirmed. “Although I’d be hard-pressed to believe that Cristo would want to hire amateurs.” Cal scanned the trees. “Even if we searched the jungle, the dead won’t tell us who hired them. And anyone else is long gone now.”