Under the Wire: Bad Boys Undercover

by HelenKay Dimon

  “So that makes three of us against this guy.” Parker put his hands on his hips and walked around the body. Seemed to be assessing Simon while he slept.

  “You just got here and you already hate him?” That seemed about right for Parker. He figured people out fast and didn’t hold back.

  “He’s too clean for a guy who’s been on the run.” Parker gestured in Reid’s direction. “I mean, look at you. You look like hell. You even smell.”

  “That’s not a really big concern for me. And Cara seems fine with it.” He’d already bled all over the one person he cared about on this continent. She’d sewn him up and never complained about dirt or a smell or the lack of a shower. Another reason he thought she was a keeper.

  Parker snorted for the second time in a minute, which might be a record. “Well, for now. Give her time.”

  Reid froze. That tone meant trouble. He recognized it and knew he should walk away. Still, curiosity had him asking. “What does that mean?”

  “You already used your emergency condom. Unless you had sex with Simon here, I’m thinking Cara is okay with your stench.”

  Reid looked around to make sure she hadn’t snuck up on them—again. He felt a kicking in his gut, and not the good kind.

  “When did you check my bag?” The words were out before Reid realized he’d failed to deny the comment. But why bother? Even if it was an educated guess, it was the right one. Unlike her, Reid didn’t regret the sex or being together. She wasn’t some secret shame he needed to tuck away and never think about again.

  “I got here before your distress call about me needing to bury more bodies, then headed out again.” Parker reached over with a small packet between his fingers. “Here’s mine. Enjoy.”

  “What if you need it?” Reid asked as he snatched it out of his friend’s fingers. No need pretending he wasn’t hoping one would magically appear. Tasha insisted on a condom being in the go bag. He’d stupidly only included one.

  “One of us shouldn’t be thinking with his dick right now.”

  That came really close to the one step too far. “Careful.”

  Parker held up both hands. “I was just going to say the same thing to you.”

  A heavy sigh preceded Cara’s entrance. She stood right by the bend in the wall and glanced at the condom in Reid’s hand then frowned. “Wishful thinking.”

  Parker barked out a laugh. “I really like her.”

  “At least you two tried to whisper this time.” She walked around the body, following the same path Parker had taken and stopping beside him. “He’s alive, right?”

  “Yes,” Parker said.

  Reid wasn’t quite ready to let her dramatic entrance go. The rush of his heartbeat at the sound of her voice would take a while to slow. “You have a habit of sneaking up on people.”

  “Unless I want a dunk in the pool, there’s not a lot of places to hide in here.” She’d changed since being outside. Wore a dry thermal pullover. Looked like she might have brushed her hair. The wild concern still showed in her eyes but her body no longer buzzed with unspent energy.

  He took that all as a good sign. As a scientist she understood the ramifications of finding that lab. Rather than wither, she came out fighting.

  He loved that about her. Standing there, looking at that round face and thinking about all they’d been through together, he knew he felt more here than loving things about her. He loved her. All of her. Even the frustrating, stubborn bossy parts. Loved her to the point that this time he would fight for her. Run the risk of losing all over again, no matter what that would cost him.

  He felt the sudden need to sit down.

  “Pool?” Parker pointed at Simon. “We could throw him in and be done with him.”

  “The water could be contaminated.” Cara sounded very serious as she pointed the fact out.

  Parker’s eyebrow lifted. “So?”

  Reid’s mind scattered. All of a sudden he didn’t want to deal with death or Simon’s stories. He needed a minute with her. She talked about how they got sucked into this danger vortex and it spun their feelings out of control. He didn’t buy it.

  “We need to get rid of the truck.” The words just popped out of him. He knew he’d missed something in the conversation or context because both Parker and Cara stared at him.

  Parker cleared his throat, clearly covering a smile. “Is that my job, too?”

  “We’ll do it.” He pointed to Cara. “The two of us. Together.”

  Great. Now he sounded like a bumbling teenager. Much more of this and he’d start fidgeting. That would just be fucking fantastic.

  Cara frowned. “What?”

  “Oh, really?” Parker asked at the same time.

  Reid rushed to think of a reasonable excuse for walking out on an interrogation. He usually stuck around to ask the questions. Probably had something to do with his control issues and fear of missing something. “Me staying around here isn’t going to get us any intel out of Simon. He doesn’t like me very much.”

  “You did threaten to shoot him.” Cara took a turn trying to move Simon with her foot. “And it looks like you knocked him out.”

  “Both were justified.” No matter what happened with Cara, Reid knew that much was true. Simon should be tied to a chair and forced to spit out whatever information he had. They had enough unknown variables without adding him to the mix.

  Unknown variables . . . now he was thinking like her.

  Parker shrugged. “Probably.”

  “We’ll get out of here for a few minutes and you can question him.” Reid spoke to Parker but didn’t look at him. He could imagine the grin and that was enough. “Simon might trip up.”

  Cara looked from one man to the other. “If not?”

  “Parker will shoot him.”

  Her face fell. “You’re kidding.”

  “Is he?” Parker asked in an amused voice. “Because we should clarify the parameters here.”

  None of this was getting him where he needed to go, so Reid just conceded. “I am joking.”

  He probably would have said anything at that moment. The need hit him hard and out of nowhere. He was not the type to risk her safety by driving all over the Russian countryside in search of a safe place for a booty call.

  “Then let’s go back to the part where you two leave.” Parker crossed his arms in front of him. “How is that going to work, exactly?”

  “Should I stay?” Cara asked.

  “Good question.” Parker would not stop smiling. “Reid, should she?”

  A few more minutes of this and he might hit something. Reid bit back the frustration roaring inside him and tried to keep his voice steady. “I promised Caleb I wouldn’t leave you, so you’re with me.”

  “That’s what this is about? A promise to her brother?” Parker asked.

  Yeah, two seconds from punching. “You want to say something about my plan?”

  Parker shook his head. “Nope.”

  Cara treated them both to a long drawn-out sigh. The kind that said she was sick of male nonsense. “What’s happening?”

  Lucky for her, so was he. Reid looked at Parker. “Is it raining now?” When Parker shook his head, Reid turned back to Cara. “You’re going to get to ride in a Russian truck.”

  She winced. “Lucky me.”

  “We’ll see if you think so when you get back.” Parker winked at her then bent down and started dragging the body toward the other part of the mine.

  Tasha sat on the oversized bed with the oversized pillows, in the oversized hotel suite. The place struck her as overkill.

  She bounced up and down on the mattress. Just a little but enough to test it. Not bad. There weren’t exactly luxury accommodations in this part of the Urals. Cozy houses, good apartments, and hiking cabins. Not five-star properties, but that didn’t stop Niko from staying for a while.

  As soon as she thought about him she heard the lock. The door swung open and Niko walked in carrying a tablet and reading something on it. H
e was three steps inside with the door closing behind him before he jerked to a stop and looked up.

  Rather than make a scene, he dropped the tablet on the desk and walked over to the bar sitting under the mirror. Made a show of pouring a drink then finishing it. Even took off his jacket and gently folded it over one of the leather chairs in the sitting area.

  He turned around to face her and sighed. His gaze went first to the gun. Then it traveled all over her.

  She’d plunge into a scalding hot bath later.

  “I’m beginning to think you have an unhealthy attachment to me.” He walked over to the bedroom area, dragging the desk chair behind him. “Should we warn your fiancé?”

  She refused to get derailed. Of course he knew about her personal life. The Alliance was top secret and need-to-know only, but they’d had a run-in before. People whispered when they shouldn’t, especially if enough money changed hands.

  “You’re definitely not my type.”

  His head tilted to the side as he sat down in front of her. “You don’t like rich?”

  “I’m anti-asshole.” Which was why she had checked the room twice, barred all other entrances, and paid off the housekeeper to warn her when Niko got on the elevator. And why she was not putting the gun down.

  Some of the amusement left his face. “You have two seconds before I call security.”

  If hotel security could stop her, that would be the signal it was time to retire. “Call.”

  Niko sighed as he leaned back in his chair. “What do you want?”

  “Cobalt.”

  “What?”

  She had to give him credit. The knitted brow and dropped mouth—the confusion looked real. “That’s why you’re here, right? Use the expedition to find the cobalt so you can build your bombs.”

  “You’ve officially lost your mind.” Niko shook his head. “I almost feel sorry for Ward.”

  The voice matched the blank reaction. She’d been trained to pick up cues of deceit. Increased blinking, selective wording, repeating the questions to stall for time, throat clearing. Those were just the beginning, and none of them were present. It could mean the man lacked a conscience, and she didn’t discount that possibility. It could also mean whatever sins he committed did not include this one.

  She pushed a little more, watching for any nervous tic or fidgeting. “Did you think you could bomb Russia back into power?”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  So smooth. He didn’t ask a follow-up question because he barely seemed interested in the topic. “My people are combing through every inch of your life right now.”

  He brushed a hand over his pants. “There’s nothing to find.”

  The move matched his comment, which she knew was wrong. When someone tried to mess with her records, the computer system back at the office went wild. Their tech expert watched over all of the identities, real and not, that each Alliance member used. The wealth of information passed through . . . she didn’t even know what. She just knew someone tried to make it look as if she’d been accepting illegal payments. Tried and failed.

  “Mysterious payments.” She’d started with the withdrawals they found buried, but connected the dots back to companies within companies that were owned by him. “It seems you didn’t just fund an expedition here. You’ve been paying for equipment and intel.”

  “I can only assume by this conversation that you’re setting me up again.”

  And now for the other payments. “Well, since you tried to phony up some deposits to me that traced back to Chechen rebels, it would serve you right.”

  Niko shifted. Crossed one leg over the other. After a few seconds he did it in the opposite direction.

  She took that as confirmation.

  “I’m a businessman.”

  He liked to fall back on that explanation. As if it meant anything to her. “So you keep saying.”

  “I am trying to reestablish communication with the expedition, then I’m pulling my people out. After that I will talk to some of my friends and let them know the Alliance is illegally operating in Russia. Maybe implicate the CIA. Generally cause you enough trouble that you’ll lose your precious team.” He folded his hands together on his lap. “And if you’ve been funneling money to the Chechens, you could have some trouble.”

  “The scientists are dead. Almost all of them.” She hated that part, but that blame started with the man in front of her. He put them in danger. He told lies and used them for his personal agenda, whatever that might be.

  He sat up straighter and the chair creaked beneath him. “That’s not possible.”

  “Your plans to build a cobalt bomb are done.” It didn’t matter whose plan it was. She would end it.

  “Why would I want to bomb Russia? I am determined to restore its greatness. To move out corrupt leaders, something you should be trying to do.” He leaned forward, his voice growing louder with each word. “Starting a war gets me nothing. That would likely keep these incompetent men in power even longer.”

  The argument made some sense. That sucked, because if he wasn’t at the bottom of the secret lab, it meant there was another player on the ground. One she hadn’t identified yet. One who could be stalking Reid and Parker even now.

  She stood up. “Where’s Mickey? Isn’t he supposed to be watching over you at all times?”

  “I have other guards.”

  “I got in here without trouble.” She stood, dragged her finger along the dresser as she walked by. Fingered the closed file. Stopped in front of the stack of clothes on the end of the bed. She’d looked through everything when she first got here. This was her way of letting him know that in her mind there was nothing left to see.

  “Let me worry about my staffing issues.” Niko spun around in his chair as his gaze followed her around the room. “What’s your next move here, Tasha?”

  She headed for the door, keeping him in her view at all times. This was not a man a smart woman turned her back on. Besides, there was no need to extend her time there and invite trouble.

  After a quick check out the peephole to make sure it was clear, she slipped her gloved hand over the door handle. “I suspect you’ll follow me and find out.”

  “I don’t trust you.”

  Since she needed to check in with her men and watch Niko, the easiest thing to do was convince him to follow her. She was betting the temptation would prove too great for him to sit around and wait in a hotel room.

  She glanced at him one more time. “Then we’re even.”

  21

  CARA WAITED as they drove around in circles, slowed down, sped up . . . hid behind a boulder. As far as subterfuge went, Reid was not playing around. The man was a master. He had her half dizzy with motion sickness by the time he slid into an empty space behind a falling down cabin.

  She expected him to go in, guns blazing. Instead he sat there with the truck idling. The engine hummed in the background until it vibrated inside of her.

  From this position she could see through the building to the front. The caved-in roof had water spilling into what should have been the inside rooms. One window had been taken out and leaned against the wall. A hole by the back door gave her a view of what looked like a stack of pots and pans.

  No way was anyone in there. No one had been for a long time. The place didn’t offer shelter but was large enough to cast a shadow over the small truck. At least for now that would work. She just had to hope that eventually someone in the Russian special forces would notice patrols kept going out and never coming back. Seemed like an obvious issue to her.

  But none of that explained why they still sat there.

  For a second she wondered if the plan had been to get her out of the mine while Parker tortured Simon. The second the idea flashed through her, she blocked it out again. She didn’t want to know how the Alliance gathered intel or what they did to people who lied to them. She’d never sleep again if she knew that piece of the puzzle.

  Still
, she couldn’t imagine Reid hurting someone just for the thrill of it. He was not that kind of guy, and he would not let someone else do it in his place. But that left a pretty big gulf between causing pain for no reason and extracting legitimate and necessary information. If she’d never been kidnapped, she likely would have had one take on the issue. But as a survivor of a terrifying crime, the line between right and wrong blurred for her a bit.

  She could imagine it did for Reid as well. Not that he’d ever tell her.

  With a sigh, she leaned her head against the seat behind her and looked over at him. Even his profile spoke to his strength. From here she could see the outline of his jaw. That sexy neck.

  Her gaze traveled lower, to his hands. She loved his hands. Long lean fingers and the ever-present black watch on his wrist. The calluses on his palms spoke to the amount of physical labor he performed, the strenuous workouts he put himself through. She’d seen one or two. The tire flipping made her lower back ache just to watch it.

  But what he could do with those hands. From the way he toured his fingertips over her, to the gentle touch of his palm to the side of her face. Tough yet careful. Always so controlled in his use of force and show of strength.

  He turned the truck off and turned in his seat, just a bit. Enough to face her. “What do you want to know?”

  Her brain sputtered. Jumping from the thoughts running through her head to his comment left her spinning. “What?”

  “I keep trying to figure out what the one thing is that I could say that would make this right.”

  The cobalt. Russian. Simon. The list of what the “this” could mean was pretty long. “Reid, I don’t understand—”

  “That’s how it works, right?” He stretched an arm along the back of their seats. “You need me to tell you about my past before you can trust me. I’m not sure what part you need to hear. Just tell me and I’ll say it.”

  Understanding dawned and her heartbeat took off in a gallop. This odd mix of anxiety, hope, and doom hovered over her. Followed by a swift kick of guilt. This is what she’d reduced him to. This man, all in control and barking orders, wanted her to come up with one question that would let them move forward.