by Lora Leigh
The memory flashed in her mind. She had stored a secured laptop as well as a variety of devices used to detect audio or video surveillance.
She remembered wrapping them in protective pouches and placing in the cabinet that sat in the corner.
Sitting down on the bed, she pulled her boots off, careful to keep her demeanor cool. Something warned her that her bedroom was indeed bugged in some manner. She was more prone to suspect the audio versus the video, though. Not that video bothered her over much.
She almost laughed at the thought. She had visited the French Riviera more than once and made use of the nude beaches there. She had never been particularly shy about her body, just rather picky about sharing it.
She would slip out tonight and get the items she needed. She could manage a few hours without getting caught, just not another all-nighter.
Strange, she felt no sense of trepidation about spying into her family’s finances. A part of her was too determined, too intent on finding whoever had murdered Father and was now determined to kill her.
She was a threat to someone. Enough of a threat that they hadn’t been convinced she had died in that car crash. They had gone looking for her, and somehow, they had managed to find her.
That had been yet another mistake on their part.
The first had been in killing her father.
The second in forcing her back here to the life she had obviously walked away from.
As she headed for the bathroom and a shower, a low knock sounded on the door.
“Yes?” Turning, she watched the door as it opened slowly.
“Fresh towels, ma’am.” The petite housemaid entered the room, her arms laden with towels as she moved for the bathroom.
Lilly stepped back as the young woman moved into the bathroom. Dressed in the customary gray skirt and white blouse her mother insisted on for the house servants, she moved quietly and as unobtrusively as possible.
Servants were forced to just about tiptoe around her mother. Her mother believed that servants shouldn’t be seen or heard unless there was no other choice.
“Thank you.” Lilly stood back as the young girl moved from the bathroom once again.
“You’re welcome, ma’am.” A shy smile and the maid scurried from the room, closing the door quietly behind her.
Lilly shook her head at the girl’s skittishness before entering the bathroom herself.
She laid out a towel and clothes before turning to the shower and adjusting the water. Stripping her clothes, she tossed them to the counter before pulling open a drawer for a hair clip to hold her hair out of the water.
The folded piece of paper lying on top of the clips had her pausing and staring at it suspiciously.
Pulling it free, she unfolded it carefully and stared at the words printed there.
Discretion is the better part of valor in any game.
Remember who you are, but never forget what you were, because that will be the only way to survive. Now, please, be kind enough to flush.
Her eyes narrowed on the last line before she glanced at the toilet and sighed heavily before crumpling the paper to a small ball and doing as requested.
It wasn’t as though the note held surprising information. She was well aware that she needed to play a more subtle game than she was currently playing—that of learning who she was while keeping her family unaware. She hadn’t been doing a very good job thus far.
For the rest, she just might be screwed. She remembered well who she had been before the past six years; it was after that that she had a bit of a problem. If her survival depended on remembering who she had been during those six years, then she was definitely screwed.
Now, if she could just find a way to force those lost memories free, then perhaps the answer to finding who had killed her father, and who was trying to kill her, might lie there.
One thing was for certain, she was going to have to remember soon, or she would end up truly dead, rather than simply pretending to be.
CHAPTER 9
TWO DAYS LATER Travis rode his Harley into a deserted warehouse lot and eased into the old brick building with its cracked and shattered windows and decaying wood doors.
The team was waiting for him. Noah, John, Micah, and Nik were lounging on their cycles while Jordan waited in the black SUV, the passenger’s side door open as he watched the entrance with narrowed, neon-blue eyes.
His driver was the red-haired little hellion who seemed to drive the commander insane on the best of days. Tehya was the jokester of the unit, the agent that wasn’t really an agent but an integral part of the unit nonetheless.
As Travis pulled the bike to a stop amid the semicircle created around the SUV and swung off the seat, he wasn’t surprised by the air of speculation that seemed to emanate from the group.
The three married agents, Noah, Micah, and John, were watching him warningly. They had tried to warn him over the past days about the deepening involvement between him and Lilly, but it wasn’t something he wanted to hear. Warnings weren’t what he needed. What he needed were solutions, and he hadn’t found any yet.
“I have to get back by evening,” he informed Jordan as he approached the men, who were now standing by the open door. “I’ve been invited to the Harringtons’ estate by Lilly for a little get-together they’re having.”
“The French ambassador.” Jordan nodded. “He’s a good friend of the Harrington family. Desmond and the deceased Harold Harrington were classmates of his for several years at Eton. The party is an excuse to discuss business with their American counterparts in a setting where their wives can also participate.”
“A dress-up party,” Nik snorted.
The Russian knew well the type of parties the Harringtons frequented. Like Travis, he’d been to several get-togethers hosted by the Harringtons or those of their social set before his induction into the Ops.
Nik had been a member of Russia’s political and social elite. He’d been a husband, a father, and a man on the fast track to a leadership position until he had pissed off the wrong political group.
Nik and Travis seemed to have that in common. Once, they had been a part of society, they’d had power, wealth, and ideals. Those ideals had been the cause of their “deaths.”
“So why are we meeting here instead of at the safe house?” Travis turned to his commander, then glanced around the warehouse casually. “And I notice Elite Two’s Commanders aren’t here.”
Santos and Rhiannon had the potential to become pains in the ass, if anyone wanted his opinion.
“This Op is under the jurisdiction of Elite One, just as their agent is,” Jordan reminded him, his tone brusque. “They’re only allowed in an advisory position. And we’re meeting here to ensure that that status remains uncorrupted.” The tight, merciless smile that pulled at Jordan’s lips was telling.
Well, now, wasn’t that surprising. Travis bet that wasn’t sitting well with Rhiannon in particular.
“Commander McConnelly is making waves,” Jordan continued. “She contacted Elite Command last night to report that she believed, based on the meeting three days ago with Night Hawk, the viability of the mission is in jeopardy. I was in a vid-conference with them this morning with my own report.”
“And what was your report?” Travis asked, trying to hold back his suspicions and his anger.
“I didn’t throw her to the wolves if that’s what you’re asking. But get Lilly under control, Travis,” Jordan growled. “You and I both know she’s regaining partial memories. Make sure she doesn’t become a danger to the Elite Ops or the order for cancellation will go out, Travis. She’s a civilian now. Elite Command won’t let her walk around with bits and pieces of our secrets in her head.”
That was what Travis liked about Jordan. He was a hell of a commander. He played by the rules laid out by the head of Elite Ops, Elite Command, and did the job he had taken on, but he also understood people and his men in particular.
“From all appearances he has more
than a handle on her, Commander,” Micah, the Israeli contribution to the unit, said. “She’s been sneaking out of the estate every night and heading to Black Jack’s after Travis’s butler goes to bed, and strutting back into the estate the next morning as though her family weren’t in a rage because of it.”
And they were screaming with rage, Travis was sure of it. Desmond Harrington had demanded, more than once, that Lilly terminate her liaison with Travis, and each time, she had refused.
“Elite Command’s psychologist doesn’t believe Lilly’s going to be able to keep that calm demeaner she has much longer,” Tehya said at that point. “Dr. Lasal has been reviewing the reports sent in by each of you, as well as Jordan’s and Commander McConnelly’s. She believes the parts of Lilly’s memories that are being repressed may be about to break free. She doesn’t expect that her memories will return in full, though. Bits and pieces could be more damaging than remembering nothing, Travis.”
Travis shook his head, his lips to curling in a mocking sneer. “Lasal’s intentions are good, but she worries too much about things that may not happen,” he growled.
“Her cover was breached, Travis,” Jordan reminded him quietly. “We were lucky to save her. But Elite Command and the Ops can’t risk discovery. She’s a weak link. If there’s any chance she’ll expose the Ops, then she’ll be canceled. None of us want that, but we can’t allow her to become a risk to the unit either.”
“I agree with Travis. She was a damn good agent,” Noah pointed out then, “Personally, I think if she gets her memories back, she won’t spill our secrets.”
“Are you willing to bet Bella’s and little Nate’s lives on that, Noah?” Jordan asked, referring to Noah’s wife and infant son. “I’m not certain I am.” Jordan had been Noah’s uncle in that life before the Ops. He still retained that blood tie with his nephew, and reminded him of it whenever he needed to.
“It’s hard to bet Bella’s and Nate’s lives on anything, Jordan,” the other man stated coolly now. “But I’m not the only one here who has had to depend on Night Hawk to pull their ass out of the fire. We owe her more than suspicion and a promise of cancellation once this is over. No matter what her commanders want.”
“That also brings up a still unanswered question,” Nik said. “How was her cover breached? Doesn’t make sense that someone would target a call girl, no matter how exclusive she is. But they knew where to wait for her, they knew how to strike, and yet the investigation into the breach seems to have stalled.”
Nik’s eyes were on Jordan as he spoke, the accusation in his voice clear.
“I’m still working with Elite Command on that angle,” Jordan assured them. “Senator Stanton is particularly concerned about the matter. If the Ops is compromised, then it will jeopardize his career, and possibly endanger his daughter’s life.”
Elite Command was a group of shadowy figures who were the financial and center of operations for Elite Ops. The only member of that section that any of them were given the identity of was Senator Stanton. A contact point, Jordan had called the senator. If all else went to hell, Stanton was a man they could depend on because his daughter was married to the team that provided backup to Jordan’s team, Elite One.
Stanton’s son-in-law, Kell Krieger, was one of the former Navy SEALs that had provided backup on many of the missions the operatives were sent into. Discovery would reveal his family to the enemies the Elite Operatives had made over the years. Enemies that thus far had no idea who or what had taken them down. If they ever learned, then the SEALs as well as the operatives were guaranteed dead. And there would be no coming back.
“Then we have no idea how her identity was leaked, who attempted to kill her, or what we can expect from this operation. Right?” Travis’s frustration leaked through in his voice, as well as his control. He was riding an edge with Lilly, and he knew it. Just as he knew Lilly was riding a particularly dangerous edge herself.
“We’re hoping Lilly’s presence with her family will draw the killer out of hiding,” Jordan revealed as his gaze focused on Travis. “Have you sensed any movement or uncovered any new info?”
Travis shook his head. “All we have is the information Noah and I found the night we wired the office.”
That information was incriminating enough. As far as Travis was concerned, Desmond was involved in something up to his eyeballs. He just wasn’t entirely certain that something was the death of his niece.
“There’s no information circulating among our contacts either,” Tehya stated. “We’re in the dark here. Our only hope is Lilly at this point, and that the killer is tempted to go after her again sometime soon.”
“Third time is the charm,” Jordan said and Travis glared at him.
“Lilly is the only operative of the entire Elite Ops organization who has been targeted in the eight years the organization has been running,” Tehya stated. “Any other hit that’s been attempted has always been in relation to an operation. That’s not the case here, otherwise chatter would reach our contacts.”
“That doesn’t mean the Elite Ops isn’t endangered by this,” Nik said. “Whoever tried to kill her killed the plastic surgeon the Elite Ops placed her file with. Despite that safety measure, they still found her. That’s not a good thing. If they found Lilly, they could find any one of us.”
None of them wanted that. They had left their old lives behind and had no desire to have them resurrected.
“Morganna, Kira and I have initiated an investigation into Santos and Rhiannon as well,” Tehya announced. Morganna and Kira were the wives of two of their backup members. “So far, they’re coming up as assholes, not traitors.”
Jordan snorted at that.
“Yeah, well, that’s what we call Jordan on a good day, too.” Noah chuckled.
“The responsibilities of command isn’t all fun and games,” Jordan drawled. “Santos and Rhiannon have responsibilities to their agents just as I do. And Lilly isn’t their only agent.”
“No, she’s ours now,” John Vincent stated, his gaze turning to Travis.
Travis turned back to Jordan. “She’s always been one of ours,” he stated.
And that was no more than the truth. In some ways all of the girls of Elite Two were a part of Elite One. They had trained them, watched over them. Lilly’s move to the American-based operation could merely make it official. And if they survived this mission, it was a move that would definitely be made by Lilly. Travis would see to it.
Jordan shook his head. “You’re making a mess for yourself, Travis.” Though his tone was filled with disgust, Travis detected the smallest note of something akin to envy in Jordan’s voice.
“I’ll try to keep the mess to a minimum,” Travis promised.
Jordan leveled a hard, aggravated look at him. “You do that, Black Jack. And let me know if she remembers anything.”
Travis remained silent.
“If there’s anything I need to know, Travis, now is the time to tell me,” Jordan advised him. “I’m giving you the benefit of my trust by covering her ass, so at least do me the courtesy of making certain you do as much for us.”
He shook his head. “Her memories aren’t coming back, Jordan.”
“Great,” Jordan muttered. “Let’s just get this over with and take care of whoever the hell has targeted her as quickly as possible. I’d like to get my commanders off my ass even if you don’t care.”
“Where do we go from here, boss?” Nik asked as he leaned against the SUV and stared back at Jordan. “That party will have most of our players there. Hell, it’s just about the same invitation list that comprised the party the night Lord Harrington was killed.”
“That’s normal.” Jordan sighed. “We’ve been watching the Harrington parties for years now, an operative from one of Elite’s teams has always been in attendance. We’ve learned nothing. Whoever killed Lord Harrington did so quietly and without a trace. Except for his daughter.”
“It’s a damned miracle Lilly wasn�
�t killed.” Nik grunted. “If Travis hadn’t been at that party that night, then she wouldn’t have had a chance.”
Jordan’s smile was vaguely mocking as he shrugged negligently. “We were lucky.”
“And now she’s at risk again,” Micah stated as an uncomfortable silence descended on them. “The assassin will be waiting for another opportunity. There’s no doubt of that.”
“Why hasn’t he tried yet then?” Tehya piped up again. “He’s had every opportunity, why is he waiting?”
“I’ll be certain to ask him once we catch him.” Travis snorted. “Until then,” he checked his watch with a grimace, “I have a party to prepare for.” He turned to Nik. “As do you.”
Playing Travis’s bodyguard was often more amusing for Nik than true work. The bastard had a morbid sense of humor and he never failed to make use of it whenever he had the chance.
“Roll out.” Jordan nodded to the open doors. “The backup team has kept an eye on your exit, but we have to be careful here, too many people know Ian and Kell. Speaking of which, I believe they’ll be at your little ball along with Senator Stanton.”
Just what Travis needed—a member of Elite Command breathing down his neck. But if someone had to be there, at least it was Stanton. He could halfway make sense of the senator’s motives. Sometimes.
Lilly was waiting for him when he pulled into his garage nearly an hour later and shut off the Harley. Lounging back on the breastplate of her own cycle, her legs crossed and dangling over the back, she pushed the dark sunglasses down her nose and watched silently as he swung off the machine with slow, lazy male grace.
Damn, he was sexy as hell in black leathers. Lean, powerful legs flexed and spread as he faced her, causing the bulge between his thighs to become more prominent. A dark t-shirt stretched over his chest beneath the leather jacket, and heavy riding boots covered his feet.
He hadn’t worn a helmet and his hair was windblown, and the short, neatly trimmed growth of beard on his face gave him a sexier, more dangerous appearance. His eyes narrowed as she continued to watch him silently, and he crossed his arms over his wide chest.