by AJ Quinn
“In fact, I think we should get this out of the way.”
With a deft move, she captured Jessie’s face between her hands and lowered her mouth. Her lips hovered there for an instant, a whisper away. She nipped Jessie’s bottom lip with her teeth. And then she captured her mouth completely. Darien felt an instant of pure electricity, followed by a rush of heat. She responded to it, her hands diving deeper into Jessie’s hair as she gave herself up to the exquisite pleasure of her mouth. Drawing Jessie closer, she brought their bodies into contact.
Damn. Jessie tasted of coffee and heat and desire. Her lips were as soft as Darien had imagined they would be and tasted every bit as sweet. They were everything she’d wanted—and she wanted everything.
It was the last coherent thought she had as the kiss deepened and someone—possibly both of them—moaned.
They broke apart almost as quickly as they’d come together. Darien let go of Jessie and moved back until they were a couple of steps apart. For a moment, all she felt was the fire still raging inside her, consuming everything in its path. Fighting to regain composure, she saw Jessie shut her eyes and keep them closed for a second or two, before opening them again and licking her lips.
One look. That was what it took for her to know Jessie wasn’t unaffected by her touch. Her kiss. The thought pleased her…maybe a little too much. “That was even better than I thought it would be.”
“Was it?” Jessie’s voice was huskier than usual, her eyes were shining, her breathing slightly ragged.
Darien swallowed and took another step back, creating more distance between them, and dropped onto a stool. “We both know it was.”
Jessie was an intelligent woman, and she clearly interpreted and understood her retreat for what it was. “It was just a kiss,” she said lightly. “A damn good kiss, mind you. But it was just a kiss. And now, I guess we won’t have to wonder. Just please, whatever else you might do…don’t say you’re sorry.”
“I wasn’t going to.” Darien hesitated. “I’m not.”
For the first time in as far back as she could remember, she felt a need to explain herself. But having never done it, she had no idea what was involved or what she should say. And then it no longer mattered. Anything she might have said, any conversation they might have had was lost as Elle burst into the kitchen in a clatter of footsteps and a blaze of anger.
“What the hell did you do with my computers?” she demanded, shaking off a restraining hand as Ben followed her into the kitchen.
“Elle?” Jessie tried to intervene. “What’s going on? What’s the problem?”
“I’ll tell you what the problem is—she’s the problem.” Elle pointed a finger at Darien, temper clearly getting the better of her. She reached for Darien and grabbed her arm as she rose to her feet. The height difference caused Elle to pause as she looked up, but only for an instant. “Answer me, damn it. Where are my computers? What have you done with them?”
Darien’s body tensed as fury outdistanced common sense and she curled her hands into fists. Then it was gone. Control returned and she stared dispassionately. “This is getting tiresome,” she said, the threat implicit in her tone. “You’ll want to step back and keep your hands off me.”
It took only one long stare to have Elle releasing her hold and inching back. “I’m still waiting for an answer,” Elle said with considerably less bravado.
“Dare?” Ben moved closer. “What’s going on? Did you do something with Elle’s computers?”
Darien directed a look of angry defiance in Ben’s direction and lifted her shoulders as if to say What if I did? But Ben continued to stand in front of her, waiting for her to respond. Frustrated, she ran a hand through her hair, pushing it out of her face.
“I put them in boxes and stored them in the hall closet.” She could feel her temper still spiking, but the initial rage was leveling off and she managed to keep her voice calm.
Jessie gave her a hard stare. “Did you change your mind about helping us?”
“Not at all.” Inexplicably, the question and accompanying tone of disappointment stung, and Darien forced herself to take a steadying breath as she met Jessie’s eyes. “It was a judgment call. I happen to believe if you’re serious about tracking the list of arms dealers you showed me last night, you’re going to need better technology than what you’ve been using.”
“Better technology?”
“That’s right. And it just so happens what I can provide is the latest from R and D. State of the art.”
“State of the art,” Elle repeated with a small sneer of disdain. “I’ll have you know what I got from the agency is—”
“What you’re using isn’t bad.” Calm once again, detached, Darien looked back at Jessie. “What I’m offering is better. But you don’t have to take my word for it. Nor do you have to use it. If you follow me upstairs, I’ll show you what I’ve got and you can decide for yourself. And if you’re not happy with it, your old equipment is still here and I’ll be glad to set it back up.”
When Jessie continued to hesitate and seemed to struggle with a decision, Darien impatiently tapped a hand on her thigh and aimed a long, level look. “It’s not that difficult a choice, Jesslyn. What have you got to lose?”
“You’re right,” Jessie said. “Okay, show us what you’ve got.”
Without another word, Darien led the way back into the hall and up the stairs, not stopping until she reached a room on the fourth floor. After she tapped a lengthy alphanumeric code into the security pad located behind a framed black-and-white photograph on the wall, she flattened her palm against a biometric panel, then stepped aside as the door opened.
Silently cursing Ben one last time for getting her involved in this, she stepped into a room that was high ceilinged, relatively spartan, and painted a soft white. At its center was a sleek espresso-colored console. Horseshoe-shaped, it held several interconnected computers and two large monitors, while on the wall beyond it was a bank of large flat-screen televisions.
Taking a seat at the console, she spoke softly to unlock the keyboard and placed her hand on a second biometric panel. She then drew the keyboard closer and quickly typed the command which initiated jammers and inhibitors, preventing any external signal from penetrating the room. As she worked, she explained some of what she was doing for Jessie’s and Elle’s benefit.
“I’ve been in secure rooms”—Jessie gave a sharp laugh—“but this…you seem to have thought of everything.”
“I certainly hope so.” Flipping one final switch, she turned to Jessie. “I’m going to need you to look at the camera.”
“What camera?”
Darien pointed toward a small blinking red light on the console. “It’s connected to a three-dimensional facial recognition program that’s set to capture all the necessary information. Things like the shape of your face and eyes, the texture of your skin. And I’ll need you to say something.”
“Anything in particular?”
“So long as it’s natural, I don’t need much. That’ll actually do it. I’ll also need to get a retinal scan and your handprint. Same goes for Elle.”
Elle’s eyes narrowed. “What for?”
“Security clearance. It’s the only way you’ll be able to get in the room, let alone access any of the equipment. Within reason, of course.”
“I’m guessing access doesn’t come with administrator privileges,” Jessie said lightly.
“You’d be right. But you’ll still be able to access all the information you need, and I can guarantee it will be more than you’ve been getting until now.”
It took a few minutes to get it all done. Once Darien was satisfied she had what she needed, her fingers danced across the keyboard as she entered a new series of commands. One by one, the television screens came to life, showing real-time satellite images and endless streams of data.
“Okay, I need you both to listen, because I’m only going to explain this once. Getting into the room is just the beginni
ng. Face, voice, and retina—in that order—will activate the system, but it’s the handprint that’ll let you input anything on the keyboard. If the keyboard isn’t activated within twenty seconds of system activation, the whole thing shuts down and the room goes into lockdown. At that point, there’s no way to get out, and the door can only be opened with very specific overrides.”
“All right. Good to know.” Jessie frowned, still staring at the information dancing across the screens. “What is that? And why does some of it look familiar?”
Darien glanced at the screens. “The one on the left is currently running a search on Langley’s database. On the right, we’re tapping into DGSE. But you’re not limited to only those two. From here, we can access a number of classified systems. MI6, Mossad, SVR, ASIS. You get the idea.”
“Wicked cool,” Elle whispered. “How the hell are you doing all of this without getting caught?”
Darien shrugged. “That won’t happen. Even as we speak, the signal’s bouncing around satellites like a pinball, much too fast for anyone to track it.”
“Jesus.” Her anger and resentment clearly forgotten, Elle looked and sounded as if she’d found the holy grail. “This is so amazing. I think there are only about a dozen hackers that could pull something like this off.”
“Probably, but I’m better. I don’t leave tracks,” Darien responded in all seriousness and fought not to laugh. Elle looked suitably impressed, while Jessie rolled her eyes. “Sorry. Sometimes I can’t help myself. The truth is I do work for all the agencies whose systems I routinely access. It’s part of the deal. Quid pro quo. But by accessing their systems the way I do, I can also let them know where their areas of vulnerability are and what they need to do to stop others from gaining entry.”
“Have you ever been stopped?” Jessie asked before her voice softened. “Or come close to getting caught?”
“No. At least not so far.” She shrugged again. “A couple of more things, and then we’re done here.”
“Okay. What’s first?”
“If things start to go south for any reason, if you feel threatened or this location becomes compromised in any way…” She flipped a small switch and a wall opened up, revealing an impressive cache of weapons. Martial arts weapons including nunchakus and a Japanese katana were clearly visible, as well as more traditional weapons. Knives, handguns, several sniper rifles, and boxes of ammunition.
Jessie’s eyes widened. “Gotta love a woman with her own private arsenal. Are you sure you don’t have a Stinger missile or two in there?”
Darien turned and stared at her for an instant, not unaffected by Jessie’s attempt at humor, but not yet willing to give. “No Stingers at the moment, but it can be arranged if you think it’s necessary.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. You said there were a couple of things. What else?”
“This one’s simple. For as long as we’re obliged to work together, if you want to know something about me, you need to do it the old-fashioned way and ask. Doing end runs and deep searches on the computer won’t work, unless you don’t mind my finding out. And just so we’re clear, that kind of activity tends to irritate me, so you might as well save yourselves the trouble.”
Jessie flushed and gave a halfhearted shrug. “Sorry. We didn’t mean—” She stopped and muttered something under her breath but quickly pulled herself together and gave Darien a cheeky smile, clearly trying to take any possible sting out of her words. “Actually, I guess we did mean to check you out. And obviously, that was you on the other end of the alarm we tripped—along with my mother. I really am sorry about that.”
A reluctant smile tugged at Darien’s lips. “It’s all right, Jesslyn—this one time. Your instincts were good and given similar circumstances, I might have done the same.”
“Maybe, but I doubt you would have tripped that alarm.”
“You’re right about that.”
It was obvious Elle was no longer interested in the conversation as she continued to stare wide-eyed at the console. “Can I—”
Darien entered a new command on the keyboard, then got up and gave Elle her seat. “Help yourself. But Elle?”
She waited until Elle looked up at her and saw the faint smile that was not meant to be reassuring as Darien let a glimmer of the predator show. “I’m not sure how you survived Islamabad, but you’ve pushed your luck with me twice now. Make sure that’s as far as it goes because there will be no more chances. Are we clear?” She paused for just an instant before continuing more gently. “Now, if we’re done here, I believe I left breakfast ready downstairs. Shall we go eat?”
Chapter Six
There would always be myriad reasons and countless agendas served when terrorist groups publicly claimed responsibility for acts that horrified most of the global community. A desire for media attention. A way to entice new recruits. A chance to demonstrate resolve and dedication to a cause. Or simply a demonstration of power, intended to instill fear.
Take your pick, Jessie mused. She knew it was only a matter of time before some group finally came forward and claimed responsibility for bringing down the three airliners. Under normal circumstances—if there was such a thing—someone should have already stepped forward. Why not today?
It wasn’t as if they couldn’t use a break. Nor could she forget they were on borrowed time, sitting on a ticking bomb. One she knew could go off at any time, without warning.
Shutting her eyes for a moment, she rubbed the bridge of her nose. She’d spent the better part of the last week pulling together information on their list of arms dealers. The hours bled one into the next seamlessly until she could no longer tell when one ended and another began. But she needed to assess where the dealers were, who they’d been seen with, then try to anticipate what might occur next.
It was like looking for a needle in a haystack, trying to find possible points of intersection between the dealers and the as yet unidentified terrorists. They had been widening the circles until the amount of information threatened to overwhelm, and she had been staring at the monitor for so long the data had begun to swim in front of her eyes.
Stretching tired and cramped muscles, she tried to run one last set of probabilities but found she couldn’t concentrate and released a frustrated sigh.
“Are you okay?”
Jessie glanced up and noted the faint line of concern on Elle’s brow. “I’m not sure. I’ve not been sleeping well.” She swallowed and pushed her hair out of her eyes. “And I think I might have done something stupid. Something really, really stupid.”
Elle’s eyes narrowed fractionally and Jessie felt the weight of her stare. “Well—?”
“Well, what?”
“Well, don’t keep a girl in suspense,” Elle teased. “Was it a good kiss?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t bullshit me. Now spill it.”
Jessie’s eyes closed and she tried to shut out the image of Elle’s grinning face as she replayed the hot, mind-numbing kiss. It had been a week and she could still taste it. She licked her lips and tried to recall the name of the last woman to kiss her like that. Failing miserably, she couldn’t quite contain a soft groan. “Oh, shit.”
Elle laughed. “Oh my God, you’re blushing. I can’t believe it. That good?”
“Ah, Jesus, Elle. Too good. How’d you know?”
“Because I can see something every time the two of you look at each other. Wow, talk about chemistry.”
Jessie released another sigh. “Chemistry, maybe. But what the hell have I done?”
“You kissed a gorgeous woman,” Elle summarized succinctly. “I’m not sure I see the problem in that.”
“The problem?” Springing to her feet, Jessie began to pace, wondering if she was being too defensive. But it couldn’t be helped. “The problem is I barely know Darien. And we have to work together.”
“You left out the fact that she’s a contract assassin. She kills people for a living. But
let’s not get caught up in the details because what’s more important is she’s helping us look for the terrorists who blew up those planes. Terrorists who are planning even bigger shit we know nothing about.”
“Exactly.” Jessie chose to ignore the sarcasm in Elle’s voice. “Damn it, Elle, there’s too much at stake for me to screw things up with sex. This isn’t me. I don’t do this. I can’t do this.”
“Then don’t,” Elle said with a shrug. “Look, Jess, at the best of times the woman scares me. But it seems to me whatever happened—this kiss—has already happened, and sooner or later, you’re going to have to deal with this attraction the two of you seem to have. And nothing says you can’t do both…deal with the attraction and do your job.”
“What are you suggesting?
“For now, I think you need to stop beating yourself up. You’ve been going nonstop for quite a while, so why don’t you give yourself a break?”
“Give myself a break how?”
“I don’t know. Go grab a shower or something, clear your head. Things always look better after a long, steamy shower.”
An image flashed in her mind, a bolt out of nowhere. Darien in the shower with her, their bodies entwined. Damn. Blowing out a breath, she ran a hand along the back of her neck, rubbing the tension she found there. “You’re right. I think I’ll do that.”
She walked away, only to hear Elle’s voice call out after her. “I’m thinking it must have been one hell of a kiss, though, to get you so worked up.”
It was. Damn, it really was.
*
A quick shower normally cleared her head, but the hot streams of water called up sensations Jessie wasn’t prepared for. Don’t think about it, she told herself—which of course only served to make her think even more. She remembered the feel of Darien’s hands in her hair. Remembered the heat of her mouth. Remembered her taste. And realized how much she wanted to do it again.