Once Burned, Twice Spy

by Diane Henders

  Hellhound laughed. “Don’t worry, Chow can take care a’ himself. That asshole’s ornery enough to stop bullets in midair. Come on, let’s gear up at Stores an’ then grab somethin’ to eat.”

  “I had lunch already, so you’re on your own after we leave Stores. I need some time to strategize.”

  “Awright, let’s roll, darlin’.”

  At Stores we collected a pair of two-way radios for backup communication while we were on the road, and after a moment of thought I requested bulletproof vests for myself and my three boffins.

  “Shouldn’t you wear one, too?” I asked Hellhound.

  “Got mine in the Forester. I’ll be wearin’ it when I pick up my cargo, an’ keepin’ it on ’til we’re in the bunker.”

  My heart sank. I had been hoping he’d chuckle and tease me about being overly cautious.

  Dammit, now I was really worried.

  Hellhound clipped his radio to his jeans pocket and added, “I’m headin’ for the Greenhorn. Sure ya don’t wanna come?” Before I could reply, he leaned down to rasp softly in my ear. “Or we could go to your place for dessert, an’ ya know you’ll get to come.”

  His sexy gravelly voice sent shivers down my spine. The shivers magically warmed as they travelled south, and I sucked in a breath.

  Hellhound drew back far enough to smile down at me, his eyes heating up, and I realized that my indrawn breath had sounded suspiciously like a hungry little moan.

  Not surprising, since that’s exactly what it had been.

  I followed it up with a small self-pitying whimper. “God, Arnie, I want to. So much that it actually hurts…”

  He grinned and his voice coasted down into a deep rough rumble like a big-block engine with a radical cam. “I can make it all better, darlin’.”

  Every nerve in my body sprang to tingling attention, and this time there was no question that I’d moaned.

  “I can’t.” I leaned into him for just a moment, but pulled away before the heat of his hard body could ignite mine. “I have to stay here and plan. This trip was a complete surprise and I want to make sure I’m ready.”

  Hellhound nodded. “No problem, ya can take a rain check.” His voice deepened to that sexy growl again. “An’ the longer ya wait to collect it, the better it’s gonna be when ya do.”

  I swallowed hard, fighting the temptation to abandon Reggie and his crew to their fate.

  Duty won, by a shamefully small margin.

  “So I’d like to split the team between your vehicle and mine,” I said, trying to sound professional. “That way we’ll limit our liability if we’re attacked.”

  Hellhound straightened, his teasing smile vanishing behind the stony façade I’d named ‘The Killer’. “No can do. I ain’t qualified to transport personnel.”

  “Not qualified?” I stared up at him, open-mouthed. “Are you kidding me? With your combat experience? Arnie, I’d put my life in your hands without hesitation, any day, any time.”

  A spasm flickered across his face and was gone. “I know, darlin’,” he said quietly. “An’ that scares the shit outta me. I don’t want that kinda responsibility. I move weapons; an’ I kill people. That’s all I do.” He stared at his feet, and his next words were so soft he likely didn’t expect me to hear them. “That’s all I am.”

  Chapter 3

  My heart twisted. “Arnie…” I began.

  He flung up a hand. “Hell, darlin’, I didn’t mean that the way it came out. I just meant I ain’t cleared to transport anythin’ but weapons. Ya gotta be an agent to transport personnel.” He shrugged and added, “Unless they’re dead. Then I can take ’em.”

  “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  “Hope not.” He leaned down to drop a kiss on my lips. “See ya later.”

  He strode off down the hall and I followed him with my gaze, half of me enjoying the play of his hard muscles and my other half worrying about the scars on his gentle heart.

  I spent the next two hours coming up with every disastrous scenario I could imagine and planning my responses, but I had an uncomfortable feeling that my imagination had only scratched the surface.

  We’d be dangerously exposed on our trip to Calgary. Travelling across open prairie, confined by snowbanks to a highway with dubious traction, there would be no place to run or hide if we were attacked. An enemy had only to force us off the road and our vehicles would be immobilized. After that it was only a question of who had the most firepower.

  The thought of being pinned down in a snowbank in the middle of a blizzard made me shudder.

  Three o’clock came far too soon. Feeling woefully unprepared, I stopped in at Stores again on my way to the lobby and requisitioned a few more goodies, including a duffel bag containing a P90 submachine gun and more rounds of ammo than I hoped to ever use in my lifetime.

  That thought wasn’t as reassuring as it might have been, considering that my lifetime could be rudely terminated in only a few short hours.

  I sighed, put on my bulletproof vest, and zipped my parka over it. Then I slung the heavy arms bag over one shoulder and the second duffel containing our bulletproof vests over the other, and plodded down to the lobby.

  Murray and Melinda were waiting beside a small mountain of suitcases. They had spiffed up for the occasion; Murray in sharply-creased dark dress pants and a white shirt with a maroon bow tie, and Melinda in black slacks, high-heeled leather boots, and a gray cashmere sweater.

  Obviously they were all set to go. Unlike me. I directed a brief burst of annoyance at Stemp. He could have at least given me a heads-up yesterday.

  But he was such a stickler for ‘need-to-know’; and really, I couldn’t blame him. He was just doing his job. Jerk.

  Crossing to the security wicket to turn in my fob, I surveyed the lobby. A couple of well-dressed women were seated in the reception chairs and a handsome business-suited Asian man stood near the door. Probably civilians. I adjusted the machine-gun bag on my shoulder, trying to look casual. Nothing to see here, folks.

  There was no sign of Reggie, though his high-tech wheelchair lurked behind Murray and Melinda’s luggage. Dammit. I really didn’t want to hang around waiting for him.

  As I crossed the lobby Hellhound stuck his head in the door, looking even more imposing than usual in his giant black parka. I had borrowed that parka on another memorable occasion; and despite my five-foot-ten height and hundred and sixty pounds, two of me would have fit comfortably inside. Today it strained across his shoulders, filled to capacity with his powerful bulk and bulletproof vest.

  “All set, darlin’?” he inquired.

  “Yeah, everybody’s here except R-” I broke off as the Asian businessman limped toward us.

  Limped.

  …Holy shit.

  “Reggie?” I demanded, gaping at his unmarred face. No sign of the scars. The smooth skin of his left cheek, jaw, and forehead matched his right side perfectly. Even his lips had been repaired. His shiny black hair now covered his entire scalp, and he had a normal left ear instead of the featureless hole I’d seen only two hours earlier. I sneaked a glance at his pincer-hand. Four perfectly-formed fingers and a thumb. If not for the immobility of his prosthetic eye, I wouldn’t have believed it was him.

  “Let’s get this shit-show on the road,” he grated.

  Okay, that was the Reggie I knew.

  Hellhound nodded and withdrew.

  Pulling my attention away from Reggie’s transformation with an effort, I gathered my wits and addressed the group. “Stemp got us a Hummer from the motor pool…”

  I tried not to let my disappointment show. When Stemp had said ‘Hummer’, I had hoped for the badass H1 Alpha. The H2 we’d been assigned was nothing more than a glorified truck. A heavy-duty truck with aggressive tires and powerful four-wheel drive; but still. Not an H1.

  I suppressed a sigh and finished, “…and it’s idling outside. They delivered it about ten minutes ago, so we’re probably down half a tank of gas by now.
”

  Murray snickered and Melinda shook her head. “Those gas-guzzlers are an environmentalist’s nightmare.”

  “Ordinarily I’d agree,” I said. “But today I’m pretty happy to have one.”

  She sniffed but nodded and donned her parka before hoisting a suitcase in each hand. Murray grabbed a couple, too, and Reggie lifted the remaining two into his wheelchair and wheeled it toward the door. I brought up the rear with my concealed armament.

  Outside, the bitter wind made my eyes water but at least it wasn’t snowing anymore. Swirling ribbons of drifting snow chased each other down the street.

  I clicked the lock release on the Hummer’s key fob and slung my two duffels inside. “Load up,” I said to the others. “And suit up. There are bulletproof vests in the red duffel. I’ll be right back; I just have to get my winter emergency gear from my car.”

  My poor car. I’d have to leave it freezing in the parking lot for the next twenty-four hours. Good thing Sirius had block heater plugins, or it likely wouldn’t even start by the time I got back to it tomorrow.

  I jogged across the street, shivering. The snow squeaked under my boots, an audible signal of the cold.

  As if I needed a reminder. I shivered some more.

  When I returned with my backpack and sleeping bag, Hellhound was placing the last suitcase in the rear cargo bay of the Hummer. Murray and Melinda had already retreated to the warmth of the back seat, and Reggie stood with a proprietary hand on his folded wheelchair.

  “Last thing to load, just like I promised,” Hellhound said as he reached for it.

  Reggie relinquished it reluctantly. “Be careful,” he snapped. “That thing’s expensive.”

  Hellhound nodded and tucked the chair expertly into a gap he’d left between the suitcases.

  I leaned close to them to mutter, “Have you loaded the weapons yet?”

  “Yeah, they’re already in the Forester.” Hellhound matched my quiet tone. “Took ’em out through the bowlin’ alley right before I came in to get ya.”

  That explained his hasty withdrawal from the lobby. He wouldn’t leave his vehicle unsupervised with classified weapons inside.

  “And you’re armed?” I asked.

  He nodded. “Got my sidearm. Didn’t bring my snipin’ gear. Don’t figure we’ll need any long-range stuff.”

  “Okay, good. I’ve got a P90 in case we need some firepower.” I turned to Reggie. “It’s in the blue duffel I loaded in the back seat. If we get into a tight spot, can you do the shooting while I drive?”

  He nodded, brightening as though he hoped it might actually happen.

  Trying not to think too much about that, I went on, “I have to stop off at my farm and grab my overnight stuff, and then we’re good to go.”

  Hellhound nodded. “I’ll follow ya there.” He shot a scowl at the snow hissing across the pavement. “It was a shitty drive up here this mornin’, an’ this ground drift’s gonna make it even worse. Are ya okay takin’ the lead? The Hummer’s higher than my Forester an’ ya might get better visibility.”

  “No problem. So we’re heading to the secured facility first?”

  “Nah, ya might as well go straight to the hotel,” he disagreed. “I’ll split off when we get to the city limits-”

  “No,” Reggie interrupted. “We’ll all go to the secured facility so I can make sure the weapons are locked down. I have to maintain the chain of custody. We can go to the hotel afterward and grab supper, and then go back for the stupid-ass meet-and-greet.”

  Hellhound hesitated. “Awright,” he agreed after a moment. “See ya at your place, then, darlin’. Drive safe.”

  “You, too.” I reached up to give him a quick kiss.

  “Get a room,” Reggie growled, and stalked off.

  With sudden concern, I watched him limp to the passenger door of the Hummer. Would he have difficulty clambering into the tall vehicle wearing his prosthetic legs?

  My worry was unfounded. Grabbing the handle above the door, he stepped up and swung into the seat, his powerful upper body making the move look effortless.

  Hellhound was right. Reggie could take care of himself.

  “Chain a’ custody, my ass,” Hellhound muttered. “I took over the fuckin’ chain a’ custody when I picked up the weapons from the lab. He’s got some serious control issues.”

  I sighed. “Yeah, but I don’t think it’s personal. It’s not that he doesn’t trust you; it’s more that he doesn’t trust anybody.”

  “’Cept you,” Hellhound pointed out. “He requested ya special for this.”

  “Yeah…” I darted a suspicious look toward the passenger seat. “I don’t know if that’s trust, though. He’s probably got some agenda. Remember, this is Reggie we’re talking about.”

  Hellhound grunted agreement, his lips curling wryly. As I turned away he laid a light hand on my sleeve, sobering. “Hey, Aydan… that look Chow gave me when he made that crack about his nuts… ya got somethin’ goin’ on with him? I’ll back off if-”

  “No,” I interrupted. “There’s nothing going on with Reggie. We’re friends and we were just joking around. And especially no to you backing off because you think I’m getting involved with somebody else. If I ever want you to back off, I’ll tell you.”

  “Yeah, I know, darlin’; I didn’t mean that. I meant… are ya sure he knows you’re just jokin’ around? If he’s gonna be a problem on this trip, I can play it cool.”

  “No, there won’t be a problem. Reggie can be prickly and I know you don’t like him, but he’s actually okay.”

  Hellhound shrugged. “I don’t give a shit about him one way or the other. I just don’t want any fuckups on this op. ’Specially not from any personal shit.”

  “No, we’ll be fine.” I shivered, only partly due to the cold. “At least I hope so.”

  “Okay, darlin’. Let’s mount up an’ do a radio check an’ then hit the road for your place.” He dropped a kiss on my lips and strode away.

  From sheer force of habit I made a circuit around the Hummer with my bug detector, finding only the tracking unit that was standard equipment on all motor pool vehicles. Good to go.

  I drew a breath of relief as I slid into the warmth of the driver’s seat. Reggie stared straight ahead while I completed the radio check. Murray and Melinda were exchanging whispers in back seat, so I put the Hummer in gear without comment and headed for the highway.

  The snowdrifts had already begun to finger across the westbound lane despite the efforts of the snowplow, and when we turned north onto the gravel road to my farm I was glad of the Hummer’s weight and bulk as we churned along the snowy track.

  When we neared my lane, my heart sank.

  “Shit,” I muttered.

  “What?” Reggie snapped.

  I heaved a sigh. “The best damn neighbour in the world, that’s what. Dammit.”

  Chapter 4

  A plume of white marked the progress of Tom’s snowblower as he cleared out my lane. When our little cavalcade arrived, he continued down the lane to the turnaround in front of my house, then stopped and got down from his tractor to stride toward the Hummer.

  Even his heavy snowmobile suit couldn’t conceal his broad shoulders and the easy gait that somehow managed to look challenging as he approached the unfamiliar vehicle.

  I powered down the window when he was still a few paces away, and his snow-powdered eyebrows shot up. Then his face split in a grin, crinkling irresistible laugh lines around his sky-blue eyes. “Aydan! You bought a Hummer?”

  “No.” I reeled off the lie I’d hurriedly manufactured during the short drive down my lane. “This is Reggie’s vehicle.” I hooked a thumb at the passenger seat. “The four of us have to go down to Calgary for work this afternoon, but somebody…” I made a teasing nod toward Reggie. “…had drinks with lunch before he found out we had to drive this afternoon. He doesn’t drink and drive, so I get to play with the Hummer.”

  “Oh.” Tom eyed Reggie’s unsmiling
face. “Well… that’s good, I guess…”

  I was pretty sure he was calculating the number of drinks that would leave a guy still impaired three hours later, but fortunately he didn’t go there.

  “That’s a long drive in this weather,” he said instead. “I hope you’re staying over when you get there.”

  “Yep, that’s why we’re here. I’m just grabbing my overnight stuff.”

  “Okay, I won’t keep you, then. Drive safely.”

  “Thanks, Tom. And thanks for clearing out my driveway.”

  I powered up the window and reached for the door handle, only to be stopped by Reggie’s grumble. “So I’m a fucking lush now?”

  “Yeah,” I said cheerfully. “But at least you’re a responsible lush. Hang tight, I’ll be right back.”

  Kicking through the snow that had accumulated on my front steps, I let myself in. Warmth and silence wrapped around me like a comforting blanket, and I fought the urge to lock myself inside and hide from the world.

  Suck it up.

  I lifted my grab-and-go bag out of the closet and went back outside before I could change my mind.

  When I slid into the driver’s seat Melinda leaned forward, wide-eyed. “That was the fastest packing job I’ve ever seen.”

  “I’d love to take credit for it,” I replied as I put the Hummer in gear. “But I always have a bag packed.”

  “Of course,” Murray put in warmly. “A top agent is always prepared.”

  I gave him a quick smile in the rear-view mirror and didn’t admit that I’d only gotten around to creating my grab-and-go bags and secret caches a month ago, after my humiliating partnership with Holt The Magnificent.

  But I was ready for anything now.

  Really, I was.

  I’d just keep telling myself that…

  I shelved my worries and concentrated on driving, which was more than enough to occupy my mind. When we turned west on the highway the crosswind buffeted us, requiring constant steering corrections. The never-ending rush of snow across our path created the disorienting illusion that the Hummer was veering sideways.