“We neutralize threats and sometimes break into the apartments of American women working in Paris, then throw them from one rooftop to the other.” He sounded serious but ended by winking at her.
Just talking about it spiked her fear of heights. She doubted she’d be able to get even as high as a stepladder ever again. “I still haven’t forgiven you for that.”
“I caught you, didn’t I?”
Since she wanted to look forward and not back, she ignored that. “Did Tasha give you the okay to tell me more about your team?”
“No, but I figured if you really are working with Benton you already know that much.”
“Again with that.” The air went right out of her and she let go of his hand. “You’re exhausting.”
“That might also explain why I’m single.”
She waited for a new round of questions. He’d lured her into this state of being relaxed, then verbally whacked her. It’s what she would do. Get to know her subject, establish a connection of sorts, then ease in. An interrogation had to be next.
Well, if he was going to ask a bunch of questions, so was she. “Who was the man?”
Josiah shook his head as confusion washed over him. “What?”
“In the video.”
Without warning, he stood up and walked the small space between the end of the bed and the small table by the wall. “It doesn’t matter.”
Right before his expression went blank she saw something else. A flash of pain and a brief moment when he closed his eyes, as if to block her words. She’d asked as a way of fitting all the parts together in her head and to slow down the rapid-firing questioning she sensed came next. But his reaction switched her focus off her to him.
Everything inside her shouted and begged for self-preservation, but she went to him. Stopped right behind him. Lifted her hands to touch his back, then let them drop to her sides again before making contact. “I’m pretty sure it does.”
The muscles across his shoulders tensed. She saw them bunch under his thin T-shirt.
“My uncle.”
She touched him them. Had to. The memory of the horror flashed in her mind and her palms went to his biceps. Out of instinct, she rested her cheek against the space between his shoulder blades. “Josiah, I’m so sorry.”
“He wasn’t some distant relative. He meant something to me. This game Benton has devised is designed to hurt. My uncle’s killing was a message to me and the rest of the team. Benton is coming after each one of us.” Josiah touched a hand to hers, then dragged her arm around his waist. “This is personal.”
She held on as if letting go would sink her. “I keep thinking I’ll wake up and this will be some weird wine-induced dream.”
His weight shifted, slight but perceptible, until he leaned into her. “If so, wake me up, too.”
“Are you really British?” The question popped into her mind out of nowhere.
He turned around. “After everything that’s happened and all the unanswered questions between us, that’s the one you want to ask?”
“No.” She had a hundred of them but figured that one wouldn’t send him spinning. Wouldn’t ruin the moment, which he’d proven he was quite capable of doing.
But that made her a hypocrite. She took risks every day at work and convinced others to step into that void with her, all while blocking out what she needed on a personal level. For once she let that side of her win and peeled back the shield she placed around her for protection. She let someone in—Josiah—even if only a little. That choice led her here. She didn’t know if that was good or bad, but the sudden need to seize the moment gripped her.
She slid her palms up his torso and across his chest. Let her fingers dance across his collarbone and brush against the dip at the base of his neck.
He shook his head but didn’t let go of her. “Sutton.”
“I know. You don’t trust me. You might even hate me.” She dropped her forehead against his chin and balanced it there. “Still, that tape. I don’t shake easily and that . . . it made me sick. And sitting here instead of following my instincts and watching over Bane leaves me with this desperation inside that keeps trying to claw its way out.”
Those strong arms wrapped around her. Loosely at first, then a palm slipped to her lower back and pulled her in close. “Hey, it’s going to be fine.”
“You keep saying it and it’s not believable.”
His fingers slipped under her chin and he raised her head. That gaze searched hers before landing on her mouth. “Believe this.”
They met in the middle. He leaned, then she did. Warm lips brushed over hers, light at first. Back and forth, barely touching, almost like flirting. The fluttering inside her went wild and her brain filled with images of him naked with a hand slapped against the wall as he pushed inside her.
Fantasy mixed with reality until he kissed her, really kissed her. Hot and deep, full of wanting and need. His hands traveled over her back and down to her ass. Those long legs shifted and he brought her to stand between them. Pressed his body hard against hers as a groan rumbled in his chest.
The kiss went on. His mouth crossed over hers. The heat simmered until she wanted to strip off his T-shirt. Throw off hers. Right as her fingers slipped down to his belt, he backed up.
His forehead rested against hers as he held her hands away from his body. “Yeah, that can’t happen.”
Disappointment slammed into her as her body switched from hot to cool at a rapid pace. She offered everything and he . . . Maybe she would never understand men. But she was starting to get how this one operated. “Because you still think I might be working with Benton?”
He lifted her hand and kissed the back. “Because you are a temptation I can’t afford.”
Her heart did a little flip. “What if I want you to give in?”
“Then I fear I’m doomed to disappoint you.” He glanced at the bed, then back at her with regret shining in his eyes. “Get some rest.”
And then he was gone.
12
BENTON WATCHED the video a second time. Leaned in close to the screen and followed each darkened figure in the grainy feed. He knew from experience the best way to learn about his target was to follow every movement and analyze every choice. He had to anticipate every strategy, and the more he saw the easier that became.
Josiah and Mike did not disappoint. Sutton turned out to be more resourceful than expected. Benton did not appreciate that surprise. The last thing he needed was for her to break out and go off on some tangent. Once he figured out who she was and that she’d had the nerve to follow him and somehow managed to stumble across him when no one else had put those pieces together, he’d added her to his plot to destroy the Alliance.
She would pay for the company she kept. For her continued nosiness and failure to appreciate he could have killed her at any time during the seven years.
Once he’d settled that in his mind, her job was to change the dynamic but within expected parameters. Mainly to throw Josiah off, make his attention wander so that his eventual fall would be that much harder. Benton sensed the waver in Josiah’s concentration. It looked as if he didn’t know what to make of Sutton. Benton needed Josiah’s feelings to trump his thirst for revenge. That would make the blow so much sweeter.
But all of that depended on Sutton being who Benton thought she would be. Focused on her revenge, out of her league, rushing to catch up. Led by emotion in a way that would trip up every step. So far, no. She gave herself away by sneaking into his office and assuming he hadn’t prepared for that sort of possibility. He needed her to continue to be that sloppy.
Frederick entered the second-story office of the villa with a file in his hand and without fanfare, per usual. Instead of looking around the office or engaging in insipid conversation, he walked in a direct line to the massive L-shaped desk.
He placed it on the corner. “I obtained all the reports and interviews on the incident at Iselwood.”
Of course he did. That was his job.
Benton paid top dollar for Frederick’s loyalty. Anything less than perfection would not be tolerated.
Benton glanced at the file but didn’t bother to open it. He preferred oral accounts. Leaning back in his chair, he enjoyed the warmth of the sun streaming in his window and the heat bouncing off the tiles. “What is the official story?”
“Last night was a training and emergency exercise. The official word is school officials worried the children were getting too complacent and came up with a new drill.” Frederick sounded as if he had the report memorized and was reading from it.
“An interesting choice, though it’s likely easier than explaining the extreme security violation to the parents.” Benton gazed at the video monitor again. “Though I’m sure the dead bodies scattered all over the property provided some difficulty.”
“They dumped their kids in a school and rarely fly them home. I’m not convinced these people care all that much about their offspring and what’s happening at their school.”
A touchy subject for Frederick. Benton knew his background. About his father and the demanding training schedule he used on his children to make them tougher. The skills benefited Benton. So did the rage simmering just below Frederick’s surface.
“You don’t understand how the very rich and powerful operate.” Benton did. He’d studied them for years. Learned their secrets and their weaknesses. Took advantage of every greedy, self-serving move they made.
“I guess not.”
“Children are toys. One more piece of property to haul out and impress the business associates. They don’t become valuable until they’re old enough to be bargained away in marriage or become prodigies who can create more wealth.”
Frederick clenched his teeth together then nodded. “The school insists no one was hurt and all the children are fine.”
“Well, we know that’s untrue.” Benton rested his useless hand on the armrest. Too long without any support and his shoulder ached. The pain made him want to set Josiah on fire but he’d burn the emotions out of him first. “How many bodies do we have?”
“Four. I’ve taken care of the disposal arrangements but we have the problem of the boy.”
The comment brought Benton’s attention back to the problem at hand and off the planned revenge. “What problem?”
“The Alliance removed him before we could—”
“Enough.” The kid didn’t matter. Benton had no qualms about using children and that’s all this was. A means to an end. “His acquisition would have been an interesting benefit. Watching Gabe squirm and beg for his son’s life may have been worth something, but the school threat was never really about Daniel Hiroshi.”
Confusion spread across Frederick’s face. “I don’t understand.”
“I want someone closer to the group. Someone they’re truly invested in.” A relative here. A boyfriend there. That was about toying with them. Whipping them into a panic and nothing more. He had bigger plans. One that hit the Alliance on a more fundamental level.
“Okay.”
But Frederick still didn’t get it. For some reason that amused Benton. “Getting close to the group was the issue. Now we have.”
“So, you’re not disappointed about the boy?” Frederick hesitated between each word.
“I am not thrilled with our men being killed. I’d prefer the losses to be on the Alliance’s side, not ours.” And the idea of seeing Mike in a body bag moved up on his list. “But I got what I needed.”
Frederick’s gaze flicked to the monitor and the video feed running on an endless loop. “You have them on tape.”
He still didn’t get it. That annoyed Benton because it amounted to a waste of his time. “The car, the direction of their escape. The surveillance photos showing their movements. I now possess all of it.”
“You mean they didn’t lose the tail this time? You know where they went, unlike after the airport?”
Only because he had found a solution to the human failing issue. Even Benton admired his own brilliance on that score. “It’s much harder to lose a drone flying above you that you don’t even know is there.”
Frederick’s eyes widened. “You have control of a drone?”
“I can control most things.” People would be wise to start learning that fact.
“Okay.” Frederick still sounded stunned. “Now what?”
The next phase of the plan. The one where the Alliance realized he could get to them at any time. Sneak in while they watched and steal what they cared about.
That meant it was time for another bomb.
Benton thought about the step to come and smiled. “We grab a woman. Only this time we don’t need a group of men to accomplish the task.”
“How many then?”
“Just one.” Benton smiled. “You’ll do fine.”
Josiah looked at the stairwell door for the tenth time in five minutes. He made it through the night without wandering up there and opening the door and checking on Sutton while she slept. But he’d been tempted.
That kiss. Holy fuck. Eyes opened or closed he could call up the taste of her and how right she felt under his hands. He’d overstepped, put the operation on hold and forgotten his line of questions so he could take something for himself. Now he had to figure out how to pull back.
Harlan cleared his throat, managing to sound both haughty and disappointed at the same time. “Are you listening to me?”
“Not really.” Josiah looked at the row on monitors on Ellery’s desk and her empty chair. They slept in shifts and Lucas had been up all night on watch and intel-collecting duty with Tasha. It was Ellery’s turn to man the comm. Part of him wondered if she’d slipped in to say good morning to Lucas. God knew those two seemed inevitable as a couple.
Harlan moved in front of Josiah, blocking his view of the screens. “We have everyone’s closest connections under watch but we still need Mike’s contacts.”
The conversation Josiah dreaded had arrived. They had all turned in a list of people to be protected until the Benton mess ended. Mike’s included exactly one name. “You tell him.”
“Josiah.”
“Right. His raging case of denial.” They knew Mike had been hiding and evading. Josiah had known almost from the beginning and told Tasha and a few others after Jake Pearce sat in a jail in Islamabad and hinted at knowing Mike’s dark secrets.
“It’s time and now he has no choice.” Harlan folded his arms across his chest. “There will be repercussions due to his failure to disclose and we’ll have to investigate his ability to beat the polygraph, but—”
“Anyone with a little bit of training can do that.” Josiah learned those tricks long before he threw in with the Alliance.
He and Ford Decker, the head of Bravo team, ran the men through exercises to ensure every one of them could beat the machine, could withstand torture for long periods of time, and could kill on command. The work wasn’t pretty but it was necessary. Not that they’d shared the particulars of those extracurricular with management, but then he and Ford weren’t exactly rules followers.
“It’s probably best that you keep that theory to yourself,” Harlan said. “I’d hate to have people around here view you as a security risk.”
The guy had a habit of threatening while acting as if he were being helpful. That trait of Harlan’s annoyed the piss out of Josiah. “You can be a dick.”
“And yet you answer to me.”
Josiah wasn’t really in the mood for a chain of command lecture or a personal talk with Mike, but he’d do the latter. “I’ll handle it.”
“Good. Do that and then we can figure out how to crack Sutton.” Harlan wore a satisfied look as he stood up again and walked over to the conference room table. Without breaking his perfect posture, he studied the intel that came in overnight.
Josiah knew he should join him but the upstairs kept calling to him. He turned to go up when Ellery rushed into the room. She knocked into him on the way to her desk and mumbled something. She kept pat
ting her hand over the stacks of paper and tablets, as if searching for something.
He’d never seen her flustered or out of control. She’d slipped into both. “What are you doing?” he asked.
She spun around. Her gaze bounced between him and Harlan. “We have a missing tablet.”
Harlan froze. “Excuse me?”
That didn’t make any sense. Josiah didn’t throw around words like “impossible” on this job, but losing a vital piece of information in a locked facility came close to impossible. “What’s on the tablet?”
“Most of my files. The tracking we’ve collected on Benton.”
That didn’t sound catastrophic. The benefit of a tablet was being able to pass it around. They’d all taken a look at the collected data, added what they could in the way of analysis. “Lucas was on watch duty last night.”
“I just woke him up and he doesn’t have it. I’m sure it was here earlier.” She crouched down, checking under the table through the mass of cables. “He’s on the way down to help me look. I’m going to check the video feed from the room since I left it.”
There was no way . . . Josiah’s gaze jerked back to that upstairs door. He knew in that second exactly where the vital information had gone. “Motherfucker.”
Ellery frowned. “What is it?”
“Sutton,” he answered as he took off at a run.
Taking two steps at a time, he made it to the second floor in record time. He didn’t stop when he hit the landing and arrived at her closed door. One hand on the knob and he shoved it open with enough force to make it bounce against the inside wall. He caught it before it knocked into her. Then he slammed it shut behind him.
He didn’t need to ask about the tablet because it was right there, in plain sight on the mattress in front of her. Rage poured through him. Every cell filled with his need to shake her. To pick up the tablet and whip it against the wall.
“You should have locked the door.” His voice trembled with anger as he spoke and he didn’t do anything to rein it back in.
“What are you—”
“This.” In one step he was beside the bed. Grabbing it by the edge, he shook it in the air, right in front of her face.
Facing Fire Page 12