Breaking Ice (The Jendari Book 2)

by Delwyn Jenkins

  Jaz gave her a skeptical look. “If you say so.”

  “I do say so.” Winter waved toward the plump, only mildly tattered thrift-store couch. “Have a seat. I’ll grab the wine.”

  On the way back from the tiny kitchen, Winter took an assessing look at her best friend. No doubt about it, Jaz had happy and satisfied written all over her face and body. She’d always been beautiful—soft and curvy in a way that was totally feminine. And she had the kind of boobs Winter could only dream about.

  Jaz rocked the bo-ho chic look, from her flowing dresses to the hot-pink ombre highlights in her waist-length hair.

  Thrilled that her soul-sister was doing so well, Winter sat next to her on the couch and poured the wine.

  Jaz took a sip. Closing her eyes, she hummed in pleasure. “Mmmm. You brought out the good stuff.”

  “Yep, and there’s another bottle in the fridge.” Winter let out a gusty sigh. “I figure we’re going to need it.”

  Jaz placed her wine glass on the table. “What’s going on?”

  Winter screwed up her face. “It’s such a fucking mess. I don’t even know where to start.”

  “How about at the beginning?”

  So she did. Winter told Jaz about her idea for HEC story, emphasizing the journalistic possibilities and glossing over her desire to make those assholes pay. She explained how she stalked the mid-level players in the organization until she finally hit the jackpot with Ben. Then she told Jaz about the lab and rescuing Kasim. But when she got to the part where they booked into the hotel, the words dried up.

  She was too far into the conversation to backtrack, but now the idea of confessing all seemed stupid rather than cathartic.

  Jaz waited for her to continue, and when nothing happened, her sea-green eyes narrowed. “So the two of you were in a motel room together.”

  “Yes.”

  “And he was weak and injured from being tortured.”

  Winter suddenly found the cheese platter fascinating. “Yes.”

  “And you slept in twin beds. Separately.”

  “Yes.” Okay, that wasn’t an outright lie. They did sleep in their own beds. Nobody had to know about the Earth-shattering sex on the floor.

  “So you didn’t share bodies?”

  Winter slapped her hands over her face. “Share bodies,” she muffled under her hands. “That’s what the Jendari call it.”

  “Yep.” Jaz put her hand on the center of Winter’s back and rubbed in slow circles. “It’s a lovely phrase, I think. And it has a much broader scope that the words we use.”

  That was true. What Winter and Kasim shared had been raw and intense. It was too wild to be called making love, but there was too much emotion to describe it as fucking.

  She dropped her hands and faced Jaz. “I think he’s ruined me.”

  Jasmine laughed, but not without sympathy. “That was my reaction the first time Tallis touched me. They are something else, aren’t they?”

  “Yep.” Winter gave her a sly grin. “And what’s with the multiple orgasms?”

  “Oh, my God. When Tallis came in three seconds flat, I thought it was all over and I almost wept.” Jaz’s face flushed red and she dropped her gaze. “You can’t imagine how excruciating it was to have the ‘you came too soon but I’m totally fine’ conversation when Tallis was still … um…”

  Winter snickered. “Stop it. I’m getting an image in my head that will never go away. I still have to look Tallis in the eye at some point.”

  “And I’m going to have to look at Kasim.”

  But Winter wouldn’t have that luxury, and the truth of that snuffed out her amusement. Jaz topped up their glasses and sat back, pulling her legs up under her. “What’s really going on, Winter?”

  “I don’t know.” She rubbed her forehead, trying to ease a burgeoning headache. “I just need to talk it out, I guess. I don’t imagine I’ll ever see Kasim again, and really, when I look at things logically, I’m not sure I want to.”

  “Why not?”

  “He’s complicated on a scale that would totally do my head in.” Winter pulled a cushion behind her back and turned so her whole body was facing Jaz. “I can’t go into specifics because I don’t want to breach his privacy, but I think he’s suffering from PTSD.”

  “Did he hurt you?”

  “No.” Jaz would never tell anyone, not even her best friend, that Kasim had pinned her to the wall and scared the piss out of her.

  “And are you worried that he’ll come calling? Or are you worried that he won’t?”

  “Yes. In equal measure.” Which made her the kind of vacillating nut-job she despised. Winter was a decision maker. She made her choices, chose her path, and kept moving forward. This crisis of indecision was new territory for her. And the fact that she was obsessing over Kasim when he probably hadn’t spared her another thought only made things harder.

  “I get that I won’t see him again. I get that he’s not thinking about me. I get that I don’t need a high-maintenance guy in my life, even if Kasim was offering.” She tossed back the last of her wine. “What I don’t get, is why I can’t stop thinking about him.”

  Jaz shrugged. “They’re not like anyone else we’ve ever met. Just being in the same room as a rhe’hashan has quite an impact, and that’s not factoring any kind of intimacy into the equation.”

  “Yeah. And once you include the naked and sweaty…”

  “Exactly.”

  Fisting her hands in her hair, Winter pulled until her scalp stung. “I hate being tied up in knots over a man.”

  “I know you do, honey.” Jaz eased Winter’s hands from her hair. “I’m at a loss about how to help you. I can listen and sympathize, but I have no idea how to get you past your feelings.”

  “Well, I guess I’ll have to just grind through it until I come out the other side.”

  “I’m so sorry. I wish there was something I could do.”

  Winter raised an eyebrow. “You could help me drink the second bottle.”

  Grinning, Jaz stood up and headed for her phone. “Just let me call Tallis, and then we’ll settle in for proper girls’ night.”

  “Shall I put fresh sheets on your old bed?”

  “Yep.”

  “Awesome.” Relishing the simple joy of a sleepover with her best friend, Winter headed into the kitchen to open the second bottle of wine.

  Chapter Nine

  Glen Tucker, spokesman for the Humans for Earth Coalition, eased out of his three-thousand-dollar suit and hung it carefully in his gym locker. He removed his watch—his only piece of jewelry—and donned his workout gear. In his more optimistic moments, he felt as fit now as he was when he was in the Marines. On other days, he knew his thirty-seven-year-old body was losing the battle. The march of time and his office-bound work life had forced him to slow down more than he’d like.

  He secured his locker and did a quick check in the mirror before he headed out to weight room. He might not be active-service fit, but he was in prime condition for a man his age. A condition he maintained, in part, by going to the gym every day before work.

  He’d be starting his workout late today because he had some business to discuss with the owner. Karol Lubanski was a member of the HEC and was the brains behind all their tactical operations. Twenty years in the military had given him a valuable set of skills, but it was his service in the Special Forces that had brought him to Glen’s attention. Lubanski was smart, hardworking, and dedicated. He was Glen’s silent and invisible right hand, keeping out of the spotlight so he could go about his business unnoticed.

  Protecting Lubanski’s privacy was why Glen had joined this gym rather than one closer to home. It was also why he visited Karol in his office at least once a week.

  Glen climbed a set of stairs that led to a mezzanine, then strode down a narrow corridor. Pausing at the unmarked door second from the end, he knocked and turned the handle. The space was small, utilitarian, and smelled faintly of dust and sweat. It held a desk, a
lamp, two lumpy guest chairs, and a beat-to-hell office chair which Lubanski currently occupied. As Glen entered the room and closed the door behind him, Karol put down his pen and closed the file he was working on.

  “Morning.” His sweats were immaculate, his buzz-cut sharp, and there wasn’t an item out of place on his desk. There were also no personal touches anywhere in his office. Lubanski liked to keep his life tightly compartmentalized, and that was a habit Glen shared.

  Karol was Glen’s problem solver, and his most recent brief was to find out everything he could about Wendy Cartwright. She was the girlfriend of a mid-level HEC member, and under ordinary circumstances, Glen wouldn’t have known she existed. However when Ben Greavy had smuggled her into the lab where the HEC had a prisoner secured, and that prisoner escaped, she’d come to Glen’s attention in a big way.

  Greavy had been debriefed, but there were too many holes in his story for Glen to rest easy.

  Pulling a chair close to the desk, he took a seat. “What did you find?”

  Lubanski sat back, his hard eyes giving nothing away. “More like what I didn’t find. Wendy Cartwright doesn’t exist.”

  “Well, that’s interesting.” And terrifying. She’d seen enough to blow HEC out of the water. The question was, why hadn’t she?

  “We hacked Greavy’s phone. He has a few photos of Wendy, but none of them are viable for our recognition software. Her face is always obscured or she’s turned away from the camera.”

  “Do you think she’s a professional?”

  Lubanski raised his eyebrows. “Like a spook?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe.” FBI, CIA, Homeland Security—they all wanted to get inside organizations like HEC and dig for dirt. It didn’t matter how much good the HEC was doing, or that they were trying to protect every human being on the planet. The government had made deals with the aliens, and Glen didn’t trust them to put the needs of everyday folk before their own.

  Karol’s next words shut down that line of thinking. “She doesn’t belong to any government agency. If she did, her cover would be deep and hard to crack. Wendy Cartwright is nothing more than a name and a couple of fuzzy photos. Greavy has her phone number but that’s probably a burner. When we debriefed him, he told us he’s never been to her house, met any of her friends, or gone to her workplace.”

  Glen connected the dots. “So she honey-trapped him.”

  “Looks like.”

  What an idiot. If Greavy let himself be dazzled by a firm ass and nice tits, he was no good for anything but the most sanitized HEC activities. Glen looked at Lubanski. “Any suggestions?”

  “We need to get a look at her. Find out who she is and what she wants.” His gaze didn’t waver. “Have you made Greavy aware of just how badly he fucked up?”

  “Not yet. I wanted to have all the facts before I moved forward.” Glen planned to give Greavy a come-to-Jesus moment he’d never forget. But right now they needed him if they were going to track down the woman.

  “Do you think he’ll facilitate a meeting for us?”

  “Possibly.” It would have to be handled carefully though. If Wendy Cartwright had any brains at all, she’d be waiting for the hammer to fall. What they needed was a way to get her into their sphere of influence without arousing her suspicions. Glen caught Karol’s eye and smiled. “The gala benefit. She’ll feel safe in a big crowd at a public venue. We’ll have the home-ground advantage and, if we keep our masks on, we’ll maintain our anonymity.”

  “Except for you. Even masked she’ll know who you are.”

  Glen grinned. “Yes, but I won’t be the one interrogating her. I’m the public face, remember? I’m the hand-shaking, baby-kissing deliverer of the ten-second sound bite. Every moment of my evening will be accounted for. And when Wendy Cartwright disappears, I’ll be on the podium speaking to the faithful.”

  Lubanski picked up his pen and began making notes. “Let’s make a list of what needs to be done.”

  They worked for the best part of an hour, testing every decision for holes and weak points. Maybe Wendy Cartwright was connected and maybe she wasn’t. Either way, they couldn’t afford any cock-ups.

  HEC’s public face had to be pristine and legitimate. Glen had worked too long and hard to allow anything, or anyone, to damage their reputation.

  When the aliens had first arrived, hundreds of pro- and anti-alien groups had popped up. From the outset, Glen had understood the threat the Jendari posed. They had superior technology, which no doubt included weapons, and they refused to share anything but the most basic advances. And he didn’t believe for one moment that they were the last of their people. If one ship reached Earth, then more were coming.

  Glen had soldiered long enough to have seen how desperate people could be when it came to their own survival. He didn’t underestimate the aliens’ resolve to put down roots in their new home. Just as he didn’t doubt their capacity, and willingness, to get rid of the current occupants when the time came.

  He was a patriot. A Marine who’d spent most of his adult life in the military. As far as he was concerned, the HEC was simply an extension of his service. Only this time he wasn’t just protecting the United States, he was protecting the entire planet.

  They were at war, whether the government chose to accept it or not.

  Chapter Ten

  Winter staggered out of bed the next morning with a severe case of buyer’s regret. Her tongue was furry and didn’t fit into her mouth properly, her head was splitting, and she couldn’t quite open her eyes. A messy, squinting wreck, she shuffled into the bathroom for a drink of water and some aspirin.

  Deciding a shower was beyond her at this point, she headed into the living room, praying that Jaz had the coffee on.

  When she smelled that magical aroma, she upped her speed from snail to tortoise. Jaz was sitting at the counter with an empty plate in front of her, sipping her own morning beverage. Winter put her arms around her best friend and laid her head carefully on Jaz’s. “I love you.”

  “I know.”

  Winter stood and headed for the pot. “I love everything about you. Especially your ability to function while hungover.”

  Jaz sniggered. “You drank three to every one of my glasses. I didn’t consume enough to be hungover.”

  “Where as I, on the other hand, drank enough to earn double the damage.” Which she regretted now in ways she was too scrambled to consider.

  Taking a seat next to Jaz, Winter picked up her mug, breathed in the warm, humid scent of caffeine, and took a lingering sip. “Perfect.”

  Jaz gave her a regal nod. “You’re welcome.”

  They sat in companionable silence and Winter was grateful for the peace and the company. Right up until her burner phone starting ringing.

  When she didn’t move, Jaz cocked an eyebrow. “You going to get that?”

  “Nope. Ben is the only person who has that number, and my brain is too fuzzy to talk to him right now.”

  “Too hard to keep those undercover lies straight when you’re hungover?”

  “Pretty much.”

  Jaz and Winter had been roommates almost as long as they’d been friends. Jaz knew all the tricks of Winter’s trade, and how hard it was sometimes to keep everything together.

  And then, proving once more just how awesome she was, Jaz got up and fetched the phone. She placed it on the kitchen counter and then went to the coffee pot to organize refills.

  “I miss living with you.” And Winter wasn’t just talking about coffee-making or post-binge care. Winter was her sister in everything but blood, and it was hard not having her around all the time.

  “I miss you, too. Although living with Tallis does have its compensations.”

  Winter snorted. “I bet.”

  Pressing the numbers for her voicemail, Winter listened to the call. “Wendy, hi. I have some news. Can you call me back as soon as you get this message?”

  There was something in Ben’s voice, a sense of import that had Winte
r sitting up and taking notice. She might be feeling like crap, but her journalistic instincts seemed intact. She waved the phone at Jaz. “Do you mind?”

  “Of course not. I’ll head to the bathroom and you make your call.”

  The moment Jaz disappeared, Winter pressed Ben’s number.

  “Hi. I didn’t expect to hear back from you so quickly.”

  Closing her eyes, Winter mentally put herself in Wendy mode. “I was in the shower, I must have just missed your call.” She tried to sound chipper rather than hungover. “So, what’s your big news?”

  “Some influential people at HEC have heard about our adventure at the lab. They’d like to talk to you, if you’re up for it.”

  “Um, I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” It was one thing to infiltrate the group, it was quite another to be interrogated by the upper echelon. As much as Winter wanted to write her story, she wasn’t about to make herself a sacrificial lamb just to get a by-line. And the people Ben was talking about would be smart, suspicious, and not the least bit distracted by a blonde wig and a push-up bra.

  Ben’s voice was all reassurance. “I know how traumatized you must be, and none of us want to add to that. These people just want to meet you. And it will be in a social setting so you’ll have the chance to mix with lots of other HEC supporters.”

  “What kind of social setting are you talking about?” Winter didn’t really care, but the question gave her a bit of time to think. The trick with undercover work was to get deep enough to get a story, but not so deep that she lost her way. This meeting could provide the coup of her career, or it could expose her to the kind of people who could make her disappear. Permanently.

  “There’s a very private, very exclusive fundraiser being held next week. It’s ten thousand dollars a plate, and you and I have been invited as guests.”

  Holy fuck! Ben wasn’t just talking about HEC’s mover and shakers, he was talking about the people who actually funded the group.

  “Wow,” she said. “That’s quite an honor.”