by Linda Conrad
But her lone weapon was not going to get her far. And she was beginning to worry about Tarik—though she still felt certain he was holding his own.
Her best move for locating him would lie with finding the Taj. She imagined Tarik hiding somewhere near the garage side of the house. Maybe he was even waiting there for her help.
Determined to make the right move and not let herself get caught first, she stashed her backpack again and eased out of the alcove with weapon in hand. But she had hardly taken two steps when someone grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her around.
“Tarik!” She rounded on him and hissed, “You scared the life out of me. Was it you following me out of the house?” Lowering the gun, she took a deep breath and tried to calm her pounding heart.
“It was me. I’ve been looking for you.” He had his hands on both her shoulders and was gazing at her with question in his eyes. “When I made it back to the dining room and found you gone…I…I…”
He’d been worried about her? Her first reaction was indignation. She was a pro, damn it. But the sudden flash of hurt to her pride only lasted a second or two before being replaced with a gooey, warm feeling that had nothing whatever to do with the mission or their jobs. And everything to do with the besotted look in his eyes as he stared deep into hers.
“I’m okay.” She slipped out of his hold so as not to be distracted by either his warmth or those sexy, bedroom eyes. “But the Taj. I think they’re getting away. Let’s find a way of following them.”
Tarik shook his head. “Shakir’s handling the Taj. I want Eltsin. That Russian knows more than simply what was supposed to be sold here tonight. He knows a name. And he’s going to give us that name.”
Name? Tarik had been thinking the same thing that she had? “Yeah. I’d like the identity of the traitor, too. Let’s go.”
“Find a place to hide your weapon first.” Tarik raked her up and down with an exasperated look before holding out his palms with a questioning expression in his eyes. “Well, do something with it. And fast. Surprise works a hell of a lot better than a full-frontal attack.”
The game was over. But Tarik didn’t want to think too long about who might be the traitor. It had to be someone connected to the Task Force, and the idea that someone he knew—someone he’d trusted—was in league with the Taj seemed so outrageous he refused to consider the possibilities.
He would wait and hear the name from Eltsin’s own lips.
Meanwhile, Tarik fought his conflicting emotions over Jass. She was the smartest, most capable agent he’d ever encountered. But he wished he could shake the images of her naked—in the shower…in the bed…and in his dreams.
Earlier, even when they’d both been sated and exhausted, he’d laid across the bed trying to find enough reserve energy to do it again. He refused to close his eyes; he’d rather think about her and the way they’d fit together. Instead of gazing at her amazing body while she slept, he’d stared at the ceiling and listened to her breathe.
After most of a lifetime spent playacting as the chameleon, wanting people to love him for who they thought he was, he’d finally found someone who knew the real person underneath. And she actually cared for him anyway.
It felt as though he’d taken an emotional exhale.
She was…like coming home. There wasn’t any other word but home that matched the feeling.
But Jass was not convinced. He’d seen it in her eyes. Deep down she felt scared. Afraid to take a chance with her emotions. She’d held herself apart from any real human contact for so long that she didn’t know how to stop protecting herself from the possibility of being hurt.
That was no way for such a loving person to exist. He hurt for her. Hurt for the relationship she would eventually throw away. Yeah, he knew she wouldn’t stick around forever. At least not physically. She was like a frightened rabbit who would run for the cover of her work at the first scary emotional moment.
But it would be harder for her to shake the memories of the two of them and the very real sense of belonging that they’d built over the past few days. They did belong together, damn it.
She couldn’t forget that.
Nothing would happen to her while they finished the mission. He wouldn’t let it. As tough as she was, the professional covert agent still needed him beside her to keep her safe. They were partners. And she wouldn’t forget that either.
At the building’s edge, Tarik halted with Jass right behind him and peered toward the garage area. The Taj were long gone. But the car Shakir had promised to leave sat in the open driveway, hopefully with the keys in the ignition.
Tarik had changed his mind since he’d last talked to his brother. After being attacked out beside the pool by a couple of Eltsin’s incapable henchmen, he’d learned they already knew they were dealing with covert agents. But he hadn’t learned how they knew. He’d made up his mind that when he and Jass left Eltsin’s mansion in a few minutes to catch up with the Taj, Eltsin would be coming along.
And the Russian would sing his guts out, telling them all about how he’d known who they were.
Tarik gave a quick thought to the weapon he’d stuck in his waistband. It had originally belonged to one of Eltsin’s men. Now it would be the tool he used to bring down Eltsin himself.
“We’re going in through the kitchen area,” he told Jass. “We can raise enough of a ruckus there that the kitchen help will call on Eltsin to come remove the guests. We’ll ambush him as he enters the room. That’s the only way to take him alive.”
“I’m not sure about this plan,” Jass whispered. “Where are all his gunmen? It seems too quiet out here. They should be looking for us by now.”
“I’m sure we’ve already neutralized most of Eltsin’s men. I took out a couple by the pool and Shakir probably took out the ones who were stationed outside near the garage area. Besides, this is the best plan we’ve got.” He added one more thought for good measure. “Trust me.”
Jass rolled her eyes, but nodded her head in agreement. “Okay. Let’s go see if we can surprise the man who thinks he has all the answers.”
Tarik had previously scoped out the kitchen entrance and knew most of the layout. Keeping to the wall, he took Jass by the hand and opened the servant’s door to the pantry.
“Why isn’t this door on the alarm system?” Jass wanted to know.
“Shush. The servants use this entrance and they probably keep the alarm turned off to make it easier for them to go in and out.”
But by the time he and Jass entered the kitchen proper, Tarik’s gut instincts were screaming in protest. Too quiet. The lights were dimmed and not one soul was still at work. The place was empty.
“Where is everybody?” Jass echoed his sentiments. “How are we going to make that ruckus of yours now?”
She was right. As Tarik reached for his weapon, he nodded for her to turn back. They needed to get the hell out of here.
“There you two are.” Eltsin’s voice came from right behind them. “Drop the weapon, Sheik Zohdi, or whatever your name is. I’ve been expecting you.”
Tarik swore under his breath. Bad move. But thank heaven he was already standing between Eltsin and Jass. She would have a better chance of staying alive if she hid behind him. Tarik bent and gently set the gun down on the tile floor.
“Good. Now slowly turn around to face me and then kick the gun in the other direction.”
As Tarik raised his head and prepared to turn, he whispered to Jass, “Stay behind me.”
“Right,” she whispered in return. “When I say drop, you drop.”
What? No. That wasn’t what he’d meant at all. But it was too late for further debate.
“Come on,” Eltsin demanded. “Stop the whispering and do what I say. It would be a shame to have to shoot you in the back, but I will.”
Grinding his teeth and drilling a look at her that clearly shouted “no way,” Tarik forced himself to turn and kick the weapon out of range.
Jass stepped
up so close behind him that he could feel her breath on the back of his neck.
“Trust me,” she murmured.
Chapter 14
Trust. For days he’d been wanting her to trust him. Now he was faced with the reverse situation. But could he give her that much in return—without reservations?
“No. No.” Eltsin waved his gun. “That’s not the way I want you. Move out from behind him, Celile. You begin walking toward the dining room alone while I finish with Zohdi in here.”
Ah. The Russian idiot actually thought he might kill off one covert agent and still have a chance at sex with the other? Tarik would’ve laughed in his face had the barrel of Eltsin’s weapon not been pointed at the middle of his forehead.
“She’s not going anywhere, Eltsin. You want her, you have to go through me.”
“I will if I must. But I thought you might like a little information first. To satisfy your curiosity?”
Tarik could feel Jass rustling behind him, but she stood her ground and didn’t move out in the open. Good girl.
“You don’t have anything I want.” Tarik folded his arms over his chest.
“Oh? Don’t pretend you know what was being exchanged here tonight. Nuclear detonators? Child’s play. You haven’t the first idea of how our revolutionary new technology for nuclear delivery will change the world.”
Nuclear delivery systems? Tarik unfolded his arms. Now he knew he needed to find a way of capturing this ass alive. For information.
“Ah. I see that has sparked your interest. Are you willing to do as I say? You’ve got less than a minute to decide.”
“I’ll do what you want, Eltsin.” Jass called out in a clear voice, but she didn’t move a muscle. “Just don’t shoot him. Or you get nothing from me.”
Eltsin’s eyebrows shot up. “What’s happened to your heavy accent, Celile?” Then the Russian smiled as he narrowed his eyes with a look that Tarik never wanted to see again.
This wasn’t good. “I have another question, Eltsin.” Any thing to capture the man’s attention. “Don’t you…”
“Sorry, time’s up.” Eltsin raised his gun hand.
“Drop!”
Tarik ducked and all hell exploded at once. Weapons fired. The smell of gunpowder assaulted his nose, and the too-close discharge of a weapon rang loudly in his eardrums, deafening him. He felt the sting in his upper arm and knew he’d been hit.
Cradling his painful right arm, Tarik fought to see through the clearing smoke. He couldn’t hear anything. Couldn’t see anything.
What the hell happened to Jass?
Cursing under her breath, Jass pulled her fingers away from the silent pulse point on Eltsin’s neck. Dead cold. Damn bastard wouldn’t take no for an answer. She’d known how much Tarik wanted to take him alive. But she couldn’t let the Russian kill her partner simply to get at the truth, could she?
“Jass!” Tarik’s panicky voice reached out and tugged at her heart.
She stuffed her weapon inside the waistband of her skirt and sought him out through the lingering gun smoke. In two steps she was kneeling beside him and searching for signs of where he’d been hit.
There was some blood, but not much. Thank God.
“Where were you hit?” Her voice sounded a lot shakier than she felt.
“You’re okay?” Tarik’s own voice was hoarse as he struggled to sit. “Can’t hear a thing yet. Where’s Eltsin?”
Jass noticed Tarik favoring his right arm. Oh Lord, he’d taken a bullet. Sympathetic pain squeezed at her heart. She helped him sit up and then tried to inspect his wound.
He batted her hands away. “It’s fine. A scratch is all. Bullet only grazed me. What happened to Eltsin?”
She leaned in closer and spoke in his left ear. “He’s dead. Sorry. I tried to aim for his gun arm, but he was moving too fast.”
Tarik looked at her quizzically. “You took the time to aim? How good a shot are you?”
Beaming at him, she sat back on her heels. “Not bad.”
She heard him groan as he tried to stand. “We need to stop the bleeding and get you to a doctor.” Taking his left elbow, she assisted him to his feet.
Pulling his arm out of her grip, he scowled at her, spun around and went into the pantry, returning with a kitchen towel. “Can you find something to cut this into strips and fashion a bandage?”
She took the towel from his hand and, using her teeth, started a small tear in the end. “This do?” she asked while neatly ripping the material lengthwise with her two hands.
“A sharpshooter and a medic? Nice.” He took a length of the makeshift bandage but shook his head after the first attempt. “A little help here?”
Sighing, she took back one end of the material and lent him a hand as he wound it around his upper arm.
“Looks like the bleeding’s already stopped.” Her breathing was finally evening out. “But it still might need suturing. And someone should definitely sterilize the surrounding area.”
“Nonsense. I said it was fine. We have to get out of here before any of Eltsin’s buddies come looking for their boss.”
He was right about that. “Agreed. Any ideas how?”
“Can you drive? I could do it, but one-handed may become problematic if anyone’s chasing us.”
“Sure I can drive.” She bit back a smart retort. “But where are we going to find a car?”
Tarik took her by the elbow this time and twisted her around, heading for the pantry again and the same way out as they’d come in. “Shakir left one of Eltsin’s cars standing by for us. That way we’ll also have easy access to the gate codes. Come on, your chariot awaits, Madame.”
“What are you looking for?” Jass kept one hand on the steering wheel as she flipped on the overhead light.
They’d left Eltsin’s house an hour ago and were now making the turns right below Corcovado mountain. With its huge arms outstretched over the city and its lights blazing brightly in the darkness of the forest surrounding the mountain, the 125-foot statue of Jesus at the top of Corcovado seemed to be offering its blessing to any who needed help. Jass would be happy to receive all the help she could get.
Tarik was rooting around in her backpack with his good arm. “Turn out the light,” he demanded softly. “We’ll be driving into the city lights soon enough. Besides, I can find your communicator by feel alone.”
“Try the outside pocket.” She turned off the interior lights and checked her rearview mirror for maybe the hundredth time since they’d left Eltsin’s mansion. The road behind them was empty and dark.
“Are you hoping to reach Ed?” She had a few words for her handler herself.
“Or the local station chief.”
“Hit the star button at the bottom. It’s a direct line.”
A few moments later, Tarik swore lightly under his breath. “No answer. Where is everyone?”
“Why don’t you try reaching your brother?”
“I’ve been hesitating to contact Shakir. He might still be in a car along with the Taj. I don’t want to break his cover.”
“I think you’d better try him anyway. I don’t like being out of touch when things have just gone to hell. We need advice and assistance.”
Tarik clicked his comm and held his breath.
His brother’s smooth, deep voice answered nearly right away. “Are you okay?”
“Fine. We’re in the car you provided and headed down the mountain into Rio. Eltsin’s dead. Where are the Taj agents?”
“They’re about to board a flight to Miami. I’m putting on a disguise so I can board the plane with them. I’ve been afraid to get too close for fear they would recognize me as a Kadir. I had one of the local men drive them into Rio.”
“Miami? Why there?” Tarik asked.
“I was hoping Eltsin could tell us that. Did you get any information out of the Russian before you killed him?”
Tarik wasn’t about to tell his brother that he hadn’t been the one to shoot their prime information s
ource. “All I know is Eltsin said he’d sold the Taj some kind of new high-tech weapon-delivery system. He didn’t give us a chance to ask anything else.”
Shakir groaned. “Hell. I have to leave. I can’t lose the Taj. And there’s not another commercial flight to Miami for twelve hours. But I’ve arranged for you and Jass to take a U.S. military transport leaving Brazil right before noon. Bosque, the CIA station chief, will be waiting for you at your hotel room. He’ll have instructions and passes.”
Shakir didn’t linger long enough to say anything else. He cut off and was gone.
Tarik relayed what his brother had told him. Jass didn’t make a comment, but, through the dim dashboard lights, he watched her bite her lip.
“You’re thinking the same thing I am?” He didn’t like voicing his suspicions aloud, but had no choice. “That our traitor might be Bosque and we’ll be walking into a trap at the hotel?”
“I’ve considered the possibility. But I want to gather my equipment from the hotel room. And how else are we going to get the passes we’ll need for transport to Miami?”
Tarik sat quietly for a few moments, mulling over the possibilities. Finally he said, “We have no choice. But I have a plan.”
“Oh, no. Not another plan. Lord help us.”
As plans went, this one was somewhat better than the last brilliant idea Tarik had come up with. Jass straightened her borrowed maid’s uniform and shoved the laundry cart in front of her down the hotel hallway.
“You need to go on a diet,” she whispered, loudly enough for Tarik to hear. “This cart must weight a ton.”
“Shussh,” came the reply from deep under the dirty sheets and towels in the cart.
The hallways were silent at this hour. Six o’clock was too early for most hotel services and their luxury guests. But this was still a good disguise as far as Jass was concerned. As they drew closer to their room, she felt for her weapon under the cleaning supplies sitting on the cart’s shelf.
After pulling the cart to a halt in front of their room, she immediately realized the door was ajar. “Trouble. The door’s open.”