Protecting the Enemy

by Christy Newton

  ***

  Reid forced himself to remain calm. It would all be over soon. The doorman had given up Julianna for a hundred dollars. She really should have chosen someplace more secure to call home. Especially if she were going up against ETE 7.

  The low hum of a hairdryer sounded from the bathroom. He stood behind her closet door in her bedroom… waiting. The scent of milk and honey lingered in the room. The fragrance surrounded him making him uneasy. Julianna never wore perfume, but the body wash she used had made him crazy. Obviously it still affected him the same way. He closed his eyes and indulged in a deep breath. Fresh with a hint of sweetness. Little things were proving to him that she was still his Julianna, even if she didn’t realize it. They were happy once, a team, how had they switched sides? A lump formed in his throat.

  The bathroom door opened, snapping him out of the past. He peered out of the cracked door into the steam filled room. Julianna removed her towel and slipped a red silk gown over her creamy skin. God, she was beautiful. He lifted his Glock, his finger steady on the smooth trigger. Her face turned in his direction to showcase wet cheeks glistening with tears. His heart dropped making his finger slip away from the trigger. He took a step back and tripped on a pair of shoes, making just enough noise to alert Julianna of his presence. Son of a bitch.

  Too fast, she went for her gun.

  Reid stepped outside the closet with his arms raised. “Don’t shoot!

  She narrowed her eyes. “You!” Her hands were secure around the Glock. “How did you find me?”

  He swallowed. With one arm still raised, he bent over and slowly placed his gun down on the carpeted floor. The knife was still inside his pocket if he needed it to defend himself. “Don’t shoot me, Julianna, please.”

  Her face went as pale as the white velvet drapes over the tall window. “How did you get in here?”

  If he made one wrong move he was dead. “That was easy. The place isn’t as secure as you think. But, Julianna, I don’t want to hurt you. You don’t remember me,” he tried to keep the desperation out of his voice, “at all?

  Her hand trembled a bit and she blinked her long wet eyelashes. “What are you talking about?”

  “Before the explosion, we were a team.” He took a step toward her with his hands raised. If he could only talk some sense into her. Maybe could he trigger her memory before it was too late.

  For a brief second a spark lit up in her eyes. “Liar! You’re the enemy. A spy and a murderer. And I will stop you.”

  Julianna’s words hit him like a truck. The exact words Boss had spoken about her. “No, I’m not. I’m on the right side, your side… at least I will be.”

  Her mouth fell open. Had they been played? He stared into her eyes, searching them. “Look at me, Julianna. I’m Reid Castleton. You don’t remember anything?”

  Her forehead crinkled and she wavered.

  Without hesitation, he lunged and grabbed her arm. She dropped the Glock and it slid under the edge of the bed. Before she could grab the gun, he pinned her down. She kicked him in the groin, making him fall to the floor. Pain seared through him, but he fought through it and grabbed her again. They tumbled around on the plush carpet. His body pinned down hers. She tightened her long legs around his thighs. If she hadn’t just kicked him, he’d be turned on. Her heavy breathing and determined look was one he’d seen many times before. “Wait. Just stop for a minute.”

  She swallowed and looked up at him with wide eyes, her blonde hair fanned around head like a silk halo. “Why? So you can tell me more lies?”

  He resisted the urge to trace his thumb over her delicate cheek. Jewels wasn’t just gorgeous, she was exquisite. “We need a truce, so we can figure this out.”

  She licked her succulent lips and turned her head. He watched the pulse in her neck. “Fine. Get off of me. I’ll make us a drink.”

  Reid cringed. “A drink. I’ll pass.”

  Julianna narrowed her eyes at him.

  He let out a laugh. “I don’t want one of your poisonous cocktails.”

  Both their cell phones rang at the exact same time confirming what Reid suspected. “I’m going to get off of you so you can get dressed. I think we’re both in danger.”

  Her lips turned upward and pressed into a smirk. “Seeing that we’re trying to kill each other, I’d say you’re right.”

  “I think we’ve been set up.” He sighed.

  Julianna shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.”

  Reid pushed up his arms, removing his weight from her. “Get dressed. We’ll talk.”

  She looked toward the edge of the bed where her gun had fallen. Don’t even think about it, Jewels. He shook his head and pointed to her closet door.

  Julianna rolled her eyes and got up to go to the closet. After grabbing both their Glocks, he listened as she tugged something off the hanger and got dressed.

  She walked out wearing tight, black jeans and a thin, pink sweater stretched taut over her perfect B cup breasts. A pair of black sneakers suggested she was going to make a run for it. Another gun was in her hands as she smiled. “You know, you’re not too smart.”

  He grinned back. Was it wrong to enjoy this game they seemed to be playing? “If you look, you’ll discover I’ve already removed the bullets.”

  She looked down as a snap sounded. Smoke filled the room through an air vent. He covered his face with one hand and grabbed Julianna with the other. Both coughing and gasping for air, he pulled her out the door. They got to the hallway and a man he didn’t recognize, pulled a gun on them.

  Reid shot him in the head before the other assassin could pull the trigger. Boss had always said that Reid was their best shot. The silencer muffled the noise of the gun, but didn’t snuff it out completely. They ran past the lifeless perpetrator to the stairwell. Julianna’s hand tucked inside his felt like home. To touch her skin again made him whole. Everything Boss had warned him of, didn’t matter anymore. He had to protect her, even if it cost him his own life. They took the steps two at a time.

  Adrenaline surged through every cell in his body. “Smash your phone.”

  Julianna hesitated and gave him a questioning glance.

  He took his phone and threw it down on the landing, then stomped on it.

  She nodded and did the same.

  A door slammed above them on the next floor.

  “The parking garage is through there,” Julianna told him.

  He shook his head. “You think our cars are safe? That they haven’t been compromised?”

  She frowned. “I loved that car.”

  They made their way down to the first floor. Reid shot at another perpetrator, but the bullet only slowed the man down. On high alert, they took the hall to the employee exit. Once outside, Julianna pulled her warm hand from his. “This is where we part ways.”

  He grabbed her arm. “We’re safer together. Follow me. I’ve had a contingency plan in case something like this ever happened.”

  ***

  Julianna matched Reid’s fast pace. She didn’t know what was going on, but her survival instinct had told her to go with him. He hailed them a taxi and told the driver to take them to Penn Station. They both sat in silence, knowing better than to speak in front of the driver. She kept her hand on the door handle just in case.

  Twenty minutes later, Julianna stared up at the tall aluminum Male/Female statue that was centered in the plaza in front of the station. Some people loved it, some hated it, but everyone seemed to have an opinion. She didn’t mind the statue that most considered an eyesore. Then again she didn’t mind things that most people did.

  Reid paid the driver in cash and they went inside the busy station. They walked past the huge columns into the crowd. She glanced up at the circular, stained glass ceiling. Agitated, she stood beside Reid as he purchased two tickets for the first departing train. Only when they were sitting on the polyester seats and in motion did she feel free to talk.

  “I’m not sure what happened back there, but
it had to be some sort of mistake. The people I work for wouldn’t hurt me.”

  Reid closed his eyes and sighed. “Don’t be so sure.” He opened his eyes and stood up. “I’m going to make certain we’re secure. Sit tight.”

  Julianna watched as he made his way down the narrow aisle. What the heck was going on? If Reid was going to kill her, he’d had plenty of opportunity before they got onto the train. Her gut that had been so sure to follow this man was now having second thoughts. Maybe he was taking her someplace to try to get information out of her about ETE 7, maybe even to torture her. Chills slid down her spine and landed in an icy pool on her lower back. Jumping off a train was one thing she hadn’t prepared for. She’d have to wait until they stopped to make her escape.

  The woman across from her opened a prescription pill bottle and took a couple of white tablets out. When she tossed the bottle back into her bag, which set on the floor, Julianna kept her eye on the plastic container. A hint of sandalwood wafted through the air as Reid sat back down next to her. How did the man still smell good after all they’d just been through?

  “We’re clear.” He folded his hands behind his head and looked upward. “We need to lay low for now. I have enough cash in my wallet to get us through a day or two, but after that we’ll have to make our way back to Maryland, so I can get to my funds.”

  She was sweaty, had blood spatter on her jeans and just wanted to go back home and crawl into her cozy, memory foam bed. “Why didn’t we just get money first?”

  “Because they’ll be all over the city looking for us. When they find out what we’ve done, that we are together,” he paused. “Well, I think you know.”

  She swallowed, not sure if she really wanted the answer to the question she was about to ask. “Who is this they you’re referring to?”

  “Who else? ETE 7.”

  The seat seemed to be spinning and she couldn’t get enough oxygen into her lungs.

  His eyes widened as grabbed her head and shoved it between her legs. “Whoa, deep breaths.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut and did as he instructed. After she was sure she wouldn’t faint, she lifted her head. “You’re part of ETE 7? You answer to—”

  Reid nodded. “Boss.”

  Julianna dropped her face into her hands and moaned. The only family she had and now they were gone, too. “Why are they trying to kill us?” She searched his face for a clue. Like her, he’d been trained not to show emotion in tough situations. “Maybe they are just after you, because I didn’t get the job done the first time.”

  He shook his head. “Think… what happens if you don’t succeed?”

  You became a traitor. The reason that until tonight, she’d never failed an assignment.

  He propped his left ankle on his right leg. “Think about it. You were my mark, I was yours. They wanted both of us dead, not just one of us.”

  He was right. “But why? I’ve always done what was asked of me.”

  “I don’t know, but we have to find out. You know that they’ll never stop until we’re both erased.”

  Chapter 2

  Reid watched Julianna pace the hotel room they’d gotten right inside of Delaware. She looked over at him and shook her head. “I shouldn’t have come here with you.”

  It pained him that she didn’t remember. “If I wanted to kill you, I could have already.”

  She studied his face for a few moments. “Still, letting you take the lead was against my better judgment. I could have gotten to my money and hid out someplace on my own, until I could find Boss and make him explain what is going on.”

  Holding her gaze, Reid approached slowly. “As much as you want to believe that you’d be better off without me, you came with me, because deep down you trust me.”

  “I don’t trust anyone, at least not anymore.”

  That made two of them. “We have no choice. We have to trust each other or we’re both dead.”

  Her eyes lowered to the blood splattered on her jeans. “I’ll be back.”

  “I’ll be here.” He raked his fingers through his hair.

  She disappeared into the bathroom and closed the door.

  Reid suspected that ETE 7 had found out about their relationship. But why go after both of them now? Why didn’t they just eliminate him when Julianna was missing? He couldn’t tell her that yet, not until she trusted him. Surely Boss wouldn’t want them dead for that reason alone. Frustrated, he pulled the thick drapes closed on the hotel window. Without trust the stay in the hotel room would be tricky. How would either one of them get any sleep?

  With one eye open for sure.

  After he took her empty, standard issued ETE 7 gun out of his jacket, he tucked it underneath the chair cushion. He kept his loaded Glock tucked in the waist band of his pants. He glanced at the closed bathroom door and bit down on his lower lip as he narrowed his eyes in her direction. At least this time she wouldn’t get away, the bathroom didn’t have a window. He’d checked when they first arrived. The fact that there wasn’t a window and not that they were up three stories high, was the only confirmation that she wouldn’t escape.

  At least not by way of the bathroom.

  Reid rubbed his jaw. Julianna really might not remember him. On the other hand, it could all be a damn good act, if she really was working with the enemy. He hadn’t made a mistake by saving her. At least he hoped. His life depended on it. He sighed and glanced at the queen-sized bed. Even though, there would be plenty of room for them both without having to touch, he’d take the recliner by the door. He didn’t intend on sleeping much anyway.

  Reid took a blanket from the bed back to the chair before turning off the overhead light. He was switching on floor lamp beside the recliner when Julianna emerged wearing only her sweater. The pink knit fabric against her bare thighs, barely long enough to cover her panties caused him to suck in a deep breath. If she still slept the same way she had when they were together, the sweater nor the panties wouldn’t stay on for long. Desire rushed to the lower part of his body. He’d neglected his libido for entirely too long.

  “What are you looking at?” She hurried toward the bed not waiting for an answer. “I tried to wash the blood out of my jeans, but now they’re wet.”

  He shook his head as she pulled the comforter up to her neck. “I wasn’t looking. I’m just keeping an eye on you, in case you decide to take me out.”

  She rolled her gorgeous eyes before blinking her thick lashes. “I thought we went over this already, when you told me we have to trust each other or we’re both dead?”

  Reid’s forehead crinkled and he laughed. “Oh, so you trust me now? Just in the ten minutes you were in the bathroom, you’ve decided I’m not the enemy after all?”

  Julianna fluffed her pillow and laid her head down. “You prove Boss set us up and I’ll believe you’re not the enemy.” She pulled the sheet up to her neck. “Until that happens, I guess I have no choice except to trust you.”

  He sighed. “Get some sleep, I’ll watch the door.”

  She closed her eyes and mumbled, “About as much sleep as a mouse in a field full of hungry owls.”

  Reid couldn’t help grin as he leaned his head back on the makeshift bed. He’d almost forgotten how spirited she could be.

  ***

  Dressed in semi-stained, but dry jeans, Julianna kneeled down in front of Reid and reached strategically under his chair cushion as if she were playing Jenga. She’d played the game by herself many times. Without family or friends, one runs out of ways to stay entertained. A single wrong move and the whole plan would come tumbling down, just like with the wooden blocks. She held her breath. Her fingertips grazed the metal of the gun. His warm brown eyes flashed open and his strong hand closed around her wrist. She exhaled. Their faces were only inches apart.

  “Tsk, tsk, tsk.” He gripped her hand and brought it up to his lap.

  She swallowed as she looked into his eyes. “Sorry, I just don’t like being…” She licked her lower lip. “Vulnerab
le.”

  He held her hands with one hand and grabbed the gun with the other, never breaking eye contact. After tucking it behind his back, he crossed his arms.

  She stood up, frustrated. “What kind of assassin would I be if I didn’t try to get my gun back?”

  “I’d have done the same.” He looked at the clock next to the bed. “All right, I think four hours is enough rest. Are you ready to go?”

  She nodded. So much for trust. Why did he get a gun? Sitting in one place for too long wasn’t a smart move if ETE 7 were really after them.

  Reid stood up and stretched. His shirt lifted just enough for her to catch a glimpse of his lower waist and a dusting of hair, reminding her that she hadn’t been with a man in a really long time… four months to be exact. She chastised herself and tore her eyes away from him.

  “We’ll check out and find some food, at the very least some coffee.”

  Coffee sounded good and she could always go for something sweet. Especially now. “Okay.”

  ***

  Rosie’s House of Pancakes was as dead as Julianna’s last mark. Even the waitress had resembled a zombie. Julianna brought the ceramic mug to her lips and took in the invigorating aroma before taking a sip of her coffee—Reid ordered his black and healthy oatmeal. Blah. Julianna felt no remorse when she finished off three chocolate chip waffles with whipped cream and syrup. Sugar made most people hyper, but it calmed her.

  The tired waitress brought their check and walked away.

  Julianna finished her brew and looked up at him. “So, now what?”

  Reid nodded toward a man that had just walked into the restaurant. “Now it’s time to go.” He threw down a twenty and stood up.

  She followed him out the door. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her around the corner of the building with a finger to his lips. Seconds later, the man that had just come in the restaurant, walked outside and looked around as if searching for something or someone. By the illumination of the street light, they could see that his jacket pocket was pointed outward, concealing a weapon.