by Katie Reus
Levi stood next to an oak tree as Selene talked to Wesley on one of the burner phones he’d bought at the airport. This was one he’d be ditching soon enough. They were at a park about five blocks from one of his safe houses. In a safe part of Coral Gables at this time of night, it was quiet and secluded. Perfect for their privacy needs.
From her half of the conversation he’d gathered that the equations she’d sent to Wesley were legit. According to the team of scientists the NSA was using, Schmidt was on the right track with the antitoxin to the toxin.
The toxin he’d created. Not that Levi would throw stones. It was clear the man had done it to protect his daughter, but what else had he done to save the girl and his own skin? All Levi knew was that Meghan had been going to see Schmidt before she died. She was dead and Schmidt was alive and working for Tasev.
Levi wanted to know if the man had been involved in her death. For all Levi knew, the doctor had lied to the NSA. Maybe he’d gone into business with Tasev, then realized how dangerous the terrorist was and now needed a way out.
From what he knew of the man Levi didn’t think so, but he didn’t care either way. He just knew that if Schmidt had been involved in Meghan’s murder, he was dead too.
With a sigh of annoyance, Selene ended the call and handed the phone to him as she stood up from the metal bench. He took out the battery and shoved the pieces into his pocket. He’d been listening to her conversation with Wesley and she hadn’t given any indication that she was leading Wesley to them.
“You know they could probably figure out where we’re going if they wanted to track us,” she said.
He shrugged. Maybe, maybe not. They wouldn’t be using satellite or drone resources right now if he had to bet. Levi doubted he was worth that much to Wesley, especially when he had bigger problems to deal with. And there was no other way the NSA could track them. They were in a suburban area with no CCTVs. Of course, they could use another angle and try to figure out where his safe house was based on unoccupied homes in the area. But he hadn’t picked an empty home this time.
An old asset was allowing him to use his own home while the man was out of town on business. If the NSA managed to link Levi to his asset, then he could see them finding him and Selene, but that was a long shot.
“I want a few hours of sleep without worrying that Wesley will bust me.”
Selene rolled her eyes. “Let’s get out of here. I want to record everything I remember from the drive. Does this place have Internet?”
“Yep.”
“Good. Then what are we waiting for?” She still held on to the blue-and-white tote bag, clutching it to her side as she watched him warily.
He knew he should wait until they were at the safe house for this conversation but if he did, he’d end up kissing her and then they’d end up naked. Which he hoped happened, but first he wanted to hash some stuff out. “I want to discuss the fact that you assumed I’d leave you.”
“I did . . . until I realized you haven’t figured out where Tasev’s home is either.”
He gritted his teeth, angry at her, even though he couldn’t blame her reasoning. The truth was, if she was anyone but Selene, he’d seriously consider ditching her. But he couldn’t hang her out to dry. Even if he could let a countless number of people die—which he couldn’t—he’d never leave her to deal with the fallout because he’d left her. She’d vouched for him to Wesley and while Wesley still made the final decision about ops, she’d stood behind him instead. For all he knew it could seriously damage her career or call into question her competence. He couldn’t be sure what the fallout would be, but there would be consequences. “Believe what you want, but I promise that I won’t fuck you over. We’re a team until this thing is through and we both get what we want.”
Her pale gaze locked on him for a long moment before she nodded. “I won’t screw you over either.”
“Because you think you owe me?” She’d still never explained what she’d said to him at Shah’s party, though Levi could guess it was because of Meghan helping her.
Selene shrugged. “At first yes, and, okay, yes, that’s still why but I think you got a raw deal when everything happened. I’d never say this to Wesley but I don’t think the agency handled things the way they should have. I think he was stunned by your wife’s death and even though he’s been looking for her killers for two years, I don’t think he should have kept you off the investigation—even if it was protocol. And I know he tried to keep you out of the loop. If someone pulled that crap with me, I’d have gone off the reservation too and taken things into my own hands. Meghan deserves justice. It doesn’t matter that almost no one knows what happened to her, her killers got away with it, and if they know she was an agent, they think they got away with fucking over our government in the process. Which means others will know too. All terrorists need to be aware that there will be consequences to their actions, that we will hunt them down to the ends of the earth if they come after our people.”
He blinked in surprise at the passion in her voice as she finished. “That’s quite a speech.”
“It’s how I feel,” she snapped, her tone defensive.
Even though talking about his dead wife with the woman he wanted more than his next breath should have been weird, it wasn’t. It was freeing. He liked that Selene knew exactly who he was, what Meghan had meant to him. Acting a part and lying all the time to maintain his cover was damn exhausting. “I believe you.”
“Well, I guess I’m going to have to believe you too.” She played with the hem of her tacky tourist shirt as she eyed him, still a little wary.
“So reassuring.” His voice was dry.
She shrugged and changed the subject. “I want to get out of here. We need to start on the mapping.”
Knowing she was right, he nodded. Everything else could take a backseat until they figured out where the hell Tasev was located.
• • •
Wesley stood next to Karen’s desk with his arms crossed over his chest. Urgency hummed through him and he didn’t fight the sensation. He knew that Selene would figure out where Tasev was located soon. He’d heard it in her voice when he’d asked her.
She hadn’t said so directly though and it was because she was with Levi. And Wesley was done letting her go completely dark with him. Not when they were so close to discovering Tasev. He needed eyes on Selene. Now. She was one of his best agents and more than that, he worried about her in a way he didn’t other agents. Not because she wasn’t capable—he’d never have put her in the field if she wasn’t so damn good—but because he loved her like a daughter. He’d never had a family other than the Navy and now the people he worked with and Selene meant more to him than anyone. He’d never forget the first time he’d met her; she’d been scared and still defiant as hell. And she’d had all sorts of demands of what she wanted if she agreed to work for him. It had been mostly bluster though, her attitude. Something he understood about her now. After losing her family she’d been alone and had put up walls against everyone in an effort to protect herself.
“The phone went dead but I pinged their location,” Karen murmured as she continued typing commands into her computer. Her words pulled Wesley out of his head. “Patching Carafano in now . . . Carafano, you’re on with me and Burkhart.”
“Hey Stafford,” Eric Carafano said, his voice light and teasing. “Miss me?”
She snorted. “What’s your location?”
“The drone’s closing in on the coordinates you gave me. Just one . . . minute. All right, we’ve got three subjects visible. Your screen up yet?”
“No,” Karen said, frustration in her voice as she continued working her magic on the computer.
It didn’t matter how much technology they had, sometimes delays were inevitable. Wesley didn’t react because there was nothing he could do as they waited for the same screen to pop up on their end. Carafano was manning the Miami drone all the way from Maryland.
“That’s all right, I’ve
got a clear visual of the neighborhood. Not much movement this time of night. I see two subjects moving together east and one subject with what appears to be the heat signature of a very small animal. Which one am I following?”
“The two subjects,” Wesley said.
“On it.”
“Our screen is up,” Karen said almost simultaneously.
Wesley looked up from Karen’s computer to the bigger screen on the wall behind it.
Carafano continued tracking the two heat signatures leaving the park where Karen had last pinged Selene’s cell phone signal. Now all they had to do was wait for them to stop somewhere. And Wesley knew they’d have to. It was late and they’d need rest. Levi might be trained and highly motivated, but he was still human and needed to recharge.
Karen was silent as she pulled up another screen with a map of the Miami neighborhood where the drone was tracking. The couple passed a few more heat signatures as they made steady progress down various streets. Eventually they stopped at one house and from the angle of the neighborhood map, it appeared as if they entered through the back door instead of the front.
“Stay on them another twenty minutes,” Wesley said to Carafano. He wanted to make sure it was them and that they stayed put.
Before he could ask Karen for the address she said, “E-mailing you the address and coordinates now.”
“Good. Run a check on the owner of the house and any connection to subject one.” Wesley didn’t say Levi’s name out loud since Carafano was still on the comm. He hadn’t been read in on the op because it wasn’t necessary. Wesley just needed him to be his eyes in the sky right now. For all he knew the house was abandoned, but something told him Levi wouldn’t use the same MO two times in a row. He’d want to mix things up.
“On it now,” she said, moving into action.
“Get me if you need me,” he said to her. Then, “Thanks, Carafano. Appreciate the assistance.”
“Anytime.”
Wesley clicked off the secure channel and headed for his office. First he called Ortiz and ordered him to head to base. Then he dialed Jack. It was late but the man should be up. Wesley just hoped he was willing to take a last-minute mission.
Wesley didn’t even know if he’d need Jack, but he believed in being prepared. And if it became necessary to detain Levi there was no one he trusted more than Jack.
Chapter 17
Blown: discovery of an agent’s true identity or a clandestine activity’s true purpose.
Selene looked at the map on Levi’s laptop, then the foldout map he’d found at his asset’s house. Levi hadn’t actually said they were staying at an asset’s house but he’d had the security code and didn’t seem concerned about anyone returning home. He also wasn’t concerned with keeping the lights off so no one would know they were inside.
A man definitely owned the house, considering the heavy masculine furniture and the ridiculous oversize flat-screen television on one of the living room walls. That and the surround sound were dead giveaways. She guessed it could belong to a friend of Levi’s but she doubted it. He hadn’t had many associates listed in his files and none of them were in Miami so it stood to reason that whoever owned this house owed Levi or Isaiah Moore—or one of his other aliases—a favor.
“What do you remember next?” Levi asked as he traced a pencil along one of the streets.
“I . . .” She closed her eyes, trying to recall how many seconds had passed from the last turn. “Maybe ten seconds of driving, then we stopped, but not for long. After that we took a left-hand turn.”
When she opened her eyes, she found him nodding as he eyed the map critically. “It should be this street then. I can’t tell from either of the maps, but I’m guessing it was a stop sign.” They’d narrowed down Tasev’s house to a specific area southwest of downtown Miami. Tasev’s place had to be in Coral Gables. Where exactly, she wasn’t certain.
But she had her suspicions. Unfortunately for Levi, she wasn’t going to tell him. Guilt swelled inside her but she couldn’t reveal the location yet. She didn’t want to screw him over and if she had to kill Tasev off the books a couple of weeks from now after the op was over, she would. She just . . . couldn’t tell him her suspicions on the location yet. For all she knew he’d leave in the middle of the night and mess up their entire op in his quest for revenge. She trusted him but she also knew that she wasn’t exactly objective right now. And the truth was, right now wasn’t about her. She had to do what was best for the op, for the hundreds of thousands of innocent people out there. If that meant holding back information, she had to do it.
“What next?” he asked, zooming in on the online map.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I started to panic a couple of times because of the hood.” Which was actually true. But she did remember what direction they’d gone in next and she was almost a hundred percent positive that Tasev was staying in the same damn neighborhood as Shah: Tahiti Beach.
It would make sense, considering how exclusive and cut off the area was. And she remembered them slowing down for a guard gate, so the neighborhood Tasev was in was gated. There were a lot of gated communities in Miami, but not many in the area they’d narrowed it down to.
Levi watched her for a long moment, his dark eyes unreadable. She couldn’t tell if he believed her or not so she remained expressionless. Finally, he scrubbed a hand over his face and turned back to the computer. She resisted the urge to let out a relieved breath. Now was not the time to relax.
“We need some fucking sleep,” he said, more to himself than her.
They’d been going over what they remembered for almost an hour and comparing it to their maps. Some things were impossible to say with certainty so they’d had to guesstimate driving times.
“We need to rescue Dr. Schmidt and his daughter.” Selene hated the fear she’d seen on that woman’s face.
“If he had anything to do with Meghan’s death, he’s dead too.” Levi’s expression was almost defiant as he watched her. As if he expected or wanted her to argue with him.
Selene just rolled her eyes and collapsed back against the leather couch, throwing an arm over her face as she leaned her head back. “Think you can hold off killing him until we get the antitoxin?” she muttered. She was mentally exhausted and didn’t have the energy to get into anything with him. It was always like this after an undercover situation. She’d get a dump of adrenaline, then not exactly crash, but slow way down. Even with how tired she was she still couldn’t turn off her attraction to him. It still simmered right under the surface, that awareness of him driving her insane.
“Where do you want to sleep?” he asked. She felt the couch depress as Levi sat next to her.
She dropped her arm and tilted her head toward him. “You don’t want to keep going?”
He shook his head, something in his gaze making her stomach flip. She ignored it . . . for the moment.
“I need to send what we’ve got to Wesley. They might be able to narrow it down faster than us.”
“We’ve still got two days according to Schmidt’s message, right?”
“Yeah.” But that didn’t mean anything. Tasev could split town or decide to send out another team to poison another water source and they might not get a tip this time. Anything could go wrong and they needed the NSA on this.
Levi didn’t respond, just watched her like he was picturing her naked, his train of thought clearly different from hers. It was jarring and erotic at the same time. She didn’t want to want Levi like she did, but there was no fighting it.
But she knew what she had to do. She had to tell Wesley her suspicions about where Tasev’s base of operations was.
Levi would see this as a betrayal, she knew that. It wasn’t actually one but she had a feeling he wouldn’t care.
No matter her feelings for him or how raw a deal he’d gotten, she still had to put innocent people first. Damn it, she had to send the information to Wesley. She also knew that as soon as she went behind L
evi’s back, things would be over between them. He wasn’t the forgiving type even if her actions were justified. He wouldn’t care.
No matter how much her gut told her Levi didn’t want innocent civilians hurt any more than she did, he was still a wild card. Grief made people unpredictable. She couldn’t take the risk that he would let his rage get in the way. Because if she trusted him and she was wrong . . . no way that was going to sit on her soul. She’d been wrong about people before, specifically a man she’d been involved with, so she knew it was easy to be blinded to what was right in front of you. She simply didn’t have the right to risk that many people’s lives.
She opened her mouth to convince him that they needed to contact Wesley. A last-ditch effort before she did it anyway. Before she could speak Levi moved faster than she’d imagined possible, covering her mouth with his in a dominant, possessive display that stole her breath.
She’d been aware of him all damn night but this was a shock to her senses.
His slid his big hand around to the back of her neck, cupping her nape gently. His hold made her feel too many things.
The most selfish part of Selene didn’t care that she was breaking all sorts of rules by doing this. She wanted Levi in a way she’d never wanted anyone.
She ordered herself to shove him off, to put an end to this but as his tongue flicked against hers, she realized she had no self-control. He’d completely stripped it from her.
When she found herself clutching his shoulders she knew she’d lost her damn mind. But not entirely. She snapped her head back, her breathing erratic as she stared into his dark eyes. “Levi—”
“I want to hear you shouting my name as I thrust into you,” he whispered darkly. “I want to taste your release on my tongue as you ride my face.”
She felt her face flame at his words. She’d never thought a man talking dirty to her could be a turn-on, but there was something so primal about the way his voice shook and the way he looked, as if he wanted to devour her.