by Amy Ruttan
There were scars on his face, which looked like the flesh had melted, down his thick muscular neck and disappearing under the collar of his V-neck shirt. They had healed with time. She knew from his chart it had been worse when they retrieved his platoon. The chemical burns were red, raw, and in parts the chemical had eaten its way down to the bone.
He may not have wanted her to see him, but she saw the charts from the surgeons. The damage that was done to him was in his file.
Which was why Chemical Agent 1157 was so brutal. It melted people, slowly. When the gas was inhaled it burned faster. Did it’s work from the inside out. But Jack hadn’t inhaled it. The gas had burned his exposed flesh.
His large, muscular arms were crossed on his chest as he slept. And the burn marks swirled and scarred the skin on his right arm, deeper than his face. It was superficial though. It didn’t detract from the man she knew. The man she cared about. The man she’d loved.
Do I know him now?
Without thinking, she reached out to touch him. Before she had time to react he’d grabbed hold of her arm and pinned her to the floor. His body pressing against her, his blue eyes were dark with a pre-programmed gut reaction of flight or fight.
“Jack,” she cried out. “It’s me. Lisa.”
Jack’s expression softened and he shook his head, releasing her hand, but still pinning her to the ground. His breathing rushed; she could see his pulse racing in his jugular.
It had been complete instinct when he took her down.
“Jesus, Lisa what were you thinking, sneaking up on me like that?” Jack panted. “I could’ve…”
“I know,” she said. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”
“Did I hurt you?” he asked, his face creased with worry.
“No.” His weight felt good pressed against her. She drank in his scent. It was still the same and it made her ache with need. Her nipples puckered and she knew that he was just as affected as her because she could feel his hard cock pressing against her thigh.
“Good.” He got up and turned his back to her, running his hands through his hair. Lisa just lay there, trying to calm her senses and mourning the loss of his closeness.
I’m so weak.
“You done with the shower?” he asked over his shoulder.
“Yep,” she said, as she sat up. “I’ll take over the watch now.”
He nodded and then disappeared into the bathroom. Lisa pulled herself off the floor and took a seat on the couch, watching the security cameras as they surveyed the perimeter of the bunker. She tried to ignore the sound of the shower starting, knowing that Jack was probably naked.
Don’t think about it.
The computer monitor lit up and a message from central command came in.
Intel received. Price on head. Transport waiting in Eielson.
Lisa’s stomach sank. As soon as Jack was done they could take the military grade vehicle waiting at the end of the mountain tunnel to Eielson. It wasn’t far, but it was the price on her head that had her uneasy.
Even after this was all said in done, there would be a price on her head for some time. She would have to assume another identity and go into the witness protection program. And knowing her commanding officer, he would have her death faked.
She could never be Captain Lisa Morgan again.
I knew that going in.
Of course, going in, she never really expected to survive this long.
Now, more than ever, the need to get all she could from Jack was imperative. Once the drop-off was done, she really would never see him again and he would believe, like the rest of the world, that she was dead.
There would be a marker in Arlington with her name on it.
Before she could type in that the message was acknowledged, the alarms outside were tripped. She spun around to see two armed assailants sneaking over the disable electrical fence.
Shit.
Quickly she typed: SAFE HOUSE COMPROMISED. COMPUTER WIPED. EIELSON COMPROMISED.
If these intruders knew about the safe house bunker, then they would know pick up was going to be at the air force base. She had to hide somewhere else and get a message to her commander.
She ran into the bathroom, ignoring the fact Jack was naked. She whipped open the curtain and took a step back as she saw the extent of the scars that covered his body. The medical charts she read hadn’t prepared her for the visual reality of the damage that had been done. It broke her heart, knowing he must’ve been in complete agony for months and she hadn’t been there to comfort him because he pushed her away. And maybe that’s why he pushed her away.
Oh God.
“What?” Jack growled, his expression like thunder.
“We’ve been compromised. Two armed assailants have disabled the perimeter.”
“Fuck.” He shut off the shower and started to pull on his clothes. “I hope this bunker has weapons.”
“Yes, of course.” She left the bathroom and he followed her, pulling on the rest of his clothes. She opened the armory hidden in the wall. She tossed him a Kevlar vest and, after they’d both put one on, they strapped weapons to them. Jack slipped a bowie knife into his boot.
“You said there’s a tunnel that leads to a vehicle?” he asked.
“Yes. Through the shower.”
Jack nodded. “Let’s go. Let’s not wait for them.”
Lisa led the way and they shut the bathroom door just as there was an explosion that rocked the bunker. She pulled the panel in the shower down and climbed in through the hole, Jack covering her as the assailants broke down the door.
“Get down,” Jack shouted.
Lisa ducked as there was gunfire. Then Jack slipped through the hole, firing his gun. For a moment he was vulnerable and Lisa popped up to cover him, just as an assailant aimed, ready to fire a shot into the back of Jack’s head. Lisa pulled the trigger and put a bullet between the man’s eyes. Her first kill, and she felt sick.
“Thanks, but run now and stay low,” Jack said, before pulling a grenade from his vest.
“You better not think about staying behind, Crane!” she shouted.
“You need to get out of here.”
“We go together or not at all.”
He nodded and then pulled the plug. “Run!”
Lisa began to run down the tunnel, as Jack tossed the grenade and then ran after her. There was an explosion which rocked the mountain and she almost fell over, but Jack was behind her, steadying her.
“Keep going, Morgan!” Jack shouted, using her last name, as if he was her commanding officer. It calmed her instantly. It clicked a switch in her brain. The combat and survival training she rarely used was activated and her body moved, completely fuelled by adrenaline.
She nodded and they ran as the tunnel began to collapse behind them. The armor plated Hummer was waiting for them. Jack short circuited the control panel, which allowed the outside door to open while Lisa started the vehicle.
Jack climbed into the Hummer as she put it in reverse and floored it. She spun the big vehicle around, just as she’d been taught, and then drove over the disabled gate and down the mountain.
“Shit,” Jack muttered under his breath.
She glanced at him quickly and could see him holding his left side. There was blood.
“You’re hurt?” she asked.
“Just a scratch from some shrapnel. Stings like a motherfucker, but I’m fine.” He winced. “This is nothing compared to…”
“Compared to what?”
“Never mind,” he snapped. “Just drive.”
Lisa rolled her eyes. “Where am I going? Eielson is compromised.”
“Drive to McKinley Park.”
“What’s there?” she asked.
“An old friend who does odd jobs for the Omega Team. He can fly us into the interior to my remote cabin on Lake Minchumina.”
“Can we trust this friend?” she asked, adrenaline still coursing through her.
“Yes. I do and Grey does.�
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“That’s somewhat reassuring,” she mumbled, not trusting anyone since the safe house was compromised.
“He’s our only option.”
***
“Thanks, Henry,” Jack said, clapping his old friend on the back. “You’re saving our hide.”
Henry Nashoanak grinned as he loaded supplies onto his float plane. “You know I would do anything for Grey, the Omega Team and you.”
“I know. I appreciate it.” Jack winced, pain burning his side. His scratch might need a couple of stitches, but it had mostly stopped bleeding.
Henry tossed in a box. “Medical supplies. You look like you need it.”
“Thanks. You’ll get that encrypted message off to Grey?” Jack asked. While Lisa was in the washroom, he passed Henry a message and an envelope that contained the USB drive he’d scooped from the incinerator and replaced with a dummy before Lisa punched in the code. She didn’t know he had it, but Grey needed to know that possibly someone in the chain of command was working for Bio-Tek. How else would’ve they have known where the military safe house was?
They were finding Lisa too easily for his liking, and Grey needed to be on alert. He needed to keep himself and the rest of the Omega Team safe, because who knew how far this went?
“Of course.” Henry pocketed the envelope and the coded message. “As soon as I get back, but you have enough supplies to last you a month.”
“Great. When can we leave?”
“In about ten minutes. Just have to do my checks.” Henry stepped up on the pontoon to check the engine.
“And the flight plan?” Jack asked, from the dock.
“All taken care of. Trust me. This isn’t my first rodeo.”
Jack snorted. “Right, but I need you to be careful too.”
“I will be, don’t worry.” Henry shut the baggage door and went about readying his small float plane for the two hour flight to Lake Minchumina, which was on the far side of Denali National Park. The best thing about Lake Minchumina and his remote cabin was its inaccessibility by road.
Only Henry would know where they were, because the vast land his cabin sat on was owned by Henry’s family, and Jack trusted Henry with his life.
Lisa and he could hide up there for a long time, living off the land. It would be hard, being so close to her and keeping his distance, but this was about protecting her life. Besides, the way she looked at him in the shower, the aghast expression as she took in the full extent of the damage of Chemical Agent 1157, made it apparent she was horrified by his altered appearance, like so many others had been.
Lisa had been sitting in the Hummer since coming out of the washroom, her leg bouncing with nervousness. She was anxious and he couldn’t blame her. She barely glanced at him when he approached; she was probably trying not to think about the damage done to him, about what she’d seen. He didn’t blame her. He had a hard time looking at himself in the mirror most days.
“When do we leave?” she asked.
“Soon. Henry will take care of everything.”
“And the Hummer?”
“He has a buddy who can strip down a vehicle pretty fast.”
Lisa winced. “I didn’t hear that.”
“No, you didn’t.” He grimaced from his wound, which now he was certain would need stitches, and then tied the bandaged he’d wrapped around his side tighter.
“I wish you’d let me look at that. I am a doctor.”
“You’re a microbiologist.”
“And a naval officer. I know basic first aid. I know how to suture a wound.”
Jack chuckled. “When we get to where we’re going. This will last until after we land and take the short hike into the woods to my cabin.”
She nodded. “Do I have time to get something to eat?”
“Yeah, there’s a small cafe in Henry’s store. Everything is comped.”
Lisa nodded. “I’ll be back as soon as possible.”
“Right,” Jack said awkwardly, as he watched her walk into the cafe. It killed him that she looked at him like that. He’d never wanted her to see him like this.
He wanted her to remember how he was before. His time with her was something he cherished. Something he missed.
Don’t think about it.
It was going to be a test of his willpower not to succumb to her. Good thing there was a nice, cold lake not far from his cabin.
“We’re ready to go, Jack!” Henry called out.
Jack nodded, as Lisa came out of the cafe finishing a hot dog. He motioned to her.
“Ready to leave?” she asked.
He nodded. “Yep, climb on in.”
Jack took a deep breath and then handed the keys to the Hummer to Henry’s nephew, who was going to take care of the military vehicle. Henry Jr. would make sure nothing was left. Jack walked down the dock and climbed into the float plane, taking his spot beside Henry.
He wasn’t a huge fan of flying. He preferred the sea over the air.
So he closed his eyes as the plane roared to life and headed down the long, thin lake before gently lifting into the air with a dip. Only then did he open his eyes to take in the glory of Denali National Park below them.
Here, in the thick forest of southeast Alaska, he could protect her. His home in Nome was no place for her. Not when there was a bull’s-eye on her. Nome was in the tundra, there weren’t many places to hide. He may be invisible there, but she wouldn’t be. Lisa would stick out in Nome. In the woods of the cabin at Lake Minchumina he could keep her safe from assailants, but he wasn’t sure she would be so safe from him.
When it came to Lisa he realized how weak he was.
How his mind always wandered to her. To the memories of her naked body under his. How tight and wet she was around his cock. The way her body moved with his, the silkiness of her hair and the taste of her kisses on his lips.
Get a grip.
Oh, he wanted to get a grip on something, but he didn’t think that Henry would appreciate that. Instead he closed his eyes and focused on the death of Dane. That memory always sobered him. Reminded him of the mistake he made leading his men into that suicide mission.
He was their commanding officer, it was his fault they didn’t come home.
All the pain, loneliness and censure he received, he deserved it.
“Look after Lisa, Jack. Promise me you’ll look after Lisa.”
“I promise, but you’ll make it. The team is almost here,” he said through teeth gritted under his gas mask, ignoring the excoriating pain that was tearing at his flesh.
“I’m not going to make it, Jack. Take care of Lisa. Just take care of her. Tell her…tell her I love her.”
“We’re landing now,” Henry announced, his voice crackling in Jack’s earphones.
He nodded in response to Henry, as the plane made its descent toward the lake, which was sheltered by tall mountains, forest and the wilderness sanctuary of Alaska.
It may be a sanctuary for wildlife but, as far as Jack was concerned, he would be facing a lot of demons hiding out with Lisa.
Demons he’d thought he had control of, but now wasn’t sure.
This was going to be Hell.
Chapter Four
Lisa didn’t say much as she followed Henry through the woods, up a winding path. Soon, the plane and the shoreline disappeared. Swallowed by the forest. When Jack said his cabin was hidden, he really meant it.
Forests always bothered her. The shadows, the way the canopy would block out the sun. She had been terrified of them for as long as she could remember. Still, they would be safe here, or so she hoped. And she was a big girl now. She could handle this. She just had to suck it up.
It occurred to her there was really no escape from Jack. Somehow the safe house was a thousand times better than a dark, impenetrable forest.
“Don’t slow down, Morgan. It’s not time for lollygagging,” Jack said from behind her.
“I’m not lollygagging. What’re you, like seven, using that word?”
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br /> “What word?” he asked, huffing because he carried a large box of supplies. There were still more provisions in the plane. Jack had informed her when the plane landed on the lake that he was going to lock her away in his cabin, and then Henry and he would go back to fetch the rest of the supplies.
She rolled her eyes, but she didn’t argue.
“Lollygagging.”
“Move your ass then, Morgan. You’re going too god-damned slow; loitering out in the open.”
And he was right. Jack was not the one with a mark on his head, he could take all the time in the world. She had to get under cover.
Whoever was after her probably didn’t even know of his existence. Anyone who had seen him was dead.
Lisa shuddered as that through crossed her mind.
In her entire Naval career she hadn’t actually killed anyone, until today. She’d been trained to do it, attended scenarios set up to test her mettle, but scenarios and reality were two different things.
She was used to working behind the scenes, in a lab or medical setting. She’d done a short tour on a medical ship, but that was it. She didn’t see combat.
The only reason she’d agreed to this was because of Dane. She was the one with the most experience with biochemical agents, and if it meant putting her life on the line to bring an end to Chem Agent 1157 then it was worth it.
She didn’t expect to live through this.
Now so many tumultuous emotions were running through her, as she realized the lives that had been lost, including one she’d snuffed out herself.
They were trying to kill me though.
Still, she was having a hard time coming to terms with it. They were human beings.
The breeze rustled through the boughs of the trees, causing a shudder to race down her spine.
Focus.
They rounded a bend and the cabin appeared. It was a simple, rustic log cabin in a very small clearing. She just hoped there was an indoor toilet, but she seriously doubted it, since they were in the middle of nowhere.