by Amy Ruttan
Tears stung her eyes. “Brighton told me he killed Dane. I was ready to kill him with my bare hands. I’m surprised he let you live all those years ago.”
“I didn’t know anything about it,” Jack said. “And at the time I could barely see him, my vision still impaired. I accepted the honorable discharge he offered me and I left. I was out of his hair and no threat. I wanted to live with my shame, it was my penance for surviving and for not finding any answers. I tried to forget it all, but it’s hard to forget something that’s eating away inside of you.”
“That still doesn’t explain how you ended up in the water at the exact moment I went overboard,” she said.
“Oh, well I was questioning where you were and they said you were still on a mission. I walked outside and started wandering down a back alley. I saw the masked men moving you into a van. I incapacitated one and put on his uniform. I’m the one who gave you a nasty knock.”
Lisa rubbed her head. “Yeah that hurt, you son of a bitch!”
“Hey, it saved your life.”
“True.” She sighed. “So you were on the boat this whole time?”
“Yeah, they were busy paying attention to you and so I planted a simple bomb with the accelerants and got into a wet suit. Totally unnoticed. If he had killed you before throwing you into the water I would’ve jumped him, but he did what I thought he would do.”
Lisa shuddered. “He wanted me to give the name of the Agency and the man who helped me.”
“And did you?” Jack asked.
“No. Never.”
Jack sat down next to her and ran his hand over her face. “I thought I lost you.”
Her heart skipped a beat. “And that matters to you?”
Jack nodded. “God, yeah. I was an idiot before. I thought I was doing you a favor. I thought you wouldn’t want to be tied down to me, half a man, scarred and broken. I wasn’t worthy of you, because I let your brother die.”
“That was for me to decide,” she said quietly. “And you didn’t let Dane die.”
“I know that now. I am stubborn.”
“I know.” A tear slipped out of her eye. “I love you, Jack. I always have.”
“And I love you too, Lisa. The thought of losing you was too much for me to bear. That’s why I’m here, and I will always be here from now on.” He kissed her then, pulling her close against him, his lips pressing lightly against hers for a moment, before deepening to something more urgent. Needy. He poured every last bit of emotion he was holding back from her into that moment and the walls they’d both built came tumbling down.
She could sense it.
And when the kiss ended she buried her face in his neck, her body racked with shivers and tears, as emotion she’d been holding back for so long, since Dane died and Jack disappeared, came rushing to the surface like a storm.
They sat there on the beach for several moments, listening to the waves and each other’s heart beats.
“You’re dead now you know,” Jack whispered against her hair.
“What? Brighton is dead, can’t I just reappear?
He shook his head. “See, when you thought you destroyed the USB in the incinerator I actually switched them before you got out of the shower. It was part of my mission.”
“Wait, are you saying that you have the information still? That Brighton hasn’t stolen it?”
“Yep. This Bio-Tek thing goes deeper than you thought so, the thing is, you’d still be in danger if you ever resurfaced.”
“We have to get the information to the proper authorities.”
“Already taken care of. I sent Grey the USB drive. He’s taking care of it, but there will be a target on you if you ever showed up alive again. It’s best to pretend you’re dead. It’s safer that way.”
A shiver ran down her spine, but she was going to have to go into hiding anyway at the end of this mission. How was this different?
It’s different because you have Jack now.
“I’m dead too,” Jack said offhandedly as if reading her thoughts, grinning down at her in the moonlight.
“Oh?”
“I’m afraid I died when my house in Nome caught fire.”
“Destroyed then?”
“Completely.”
“Henry’s doing?” Lisa asked.
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“Does Grey know this? I mean, he’s losing a good agent for the Omega Team."
“Grey knows what he needs to know, but he did help get me fake identification and citizenship for Brazil. What do you say about Brazil?”
“I don’t know Portuguese,” she held him tight and then kissed him. “Why Brazil?”
“A nice change. It’s certainly warmer there.”
“You love Alaska so much. I don’t want to take you from your life there.”
“I know, but I love you more. You are my life, Lisa. We can disappear in Rio or maybe we’ll find a nice private island and stay there. I have enough money to take care of us. What do you think? You say you love me, do you really want to spend the rest of your new life with a broken down fisherman?”
“Fisherman?”
“It’s what I did in Alaska. I have to do something. So what do you say?”
“Yes.” She reached up and kissed him. “You’ll have to tell me your new name though.”
He grinned. “Let’s get to my boat. It’s moored not far from here and we’ll get cleaned up. We can play a fun game while you try to guess my new name. I mean, we have to pass the time. We’re in this together now, Morgan. Just you and me.”
There was a hint of evil promise in his voice as he stood up and helped her to her feet. They walked hand in hand to his large sailboat. She peeled off the remnants of her navy dress uniform, tossing it in the water, and then removed the dog tags with her name, Jacks and Dane’s.
She held them in her shaking hands.
Jack cocked an eyebrow. “What’re you doing?”
“Getting rid of them. We’re dead remember?”
Jack nodded; he understood. “I’m sorry.”
“I served my country and we succeeded. Let the proper authorities deal with the corruption now.” She tossed the dog tags into the ocean, watching her old life sink into oblivion. The memory of Jack, her, and Dane disappearing under the waves.
She was ready for a new chapter.
“So what were you saying about a fun game?”
Jack grinned. “Let’s get out onto the ocean first and then we’ll talk. We need to put some distance between us and here.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.” She wrapped herself up in a blanket as Jack pulled the moorings. The engine started and they slipped out of the marina on Islas Coronado and into the ocean, headed south for South America and adventure.
Wherever it took them. She was free, unburdened and it scared her, but thrilled her too.
This was her new life and as long as Jack was in it they could conquer anything.
Epilogue
One year later, somewhere in Brazil
Lisa moved through the people quickly, her little scooter parting the crowd as she headed from the village centre and up a winding path to a small villa hidden at the edge of the Amazon.
Tendrils of brown hair whipped around her face and her contact lenses, which obscured the blue of her eyes, were bothering her. Bloody allergies but, still, there had been a spring in her step when she grabbed a copy of the local newspaper that had come from Rio.
She wanted to take it home to Jack and maybe do a bit of a victory dance.
When she approached the gate, she punched in a code and the gate slowly opened. She parked her scooter in the garage and then punched another code that allowed her into the house.
Even though the world believed they were dead, Jack hadn’t spared any expense to protect them since the night Commander Brighton met an untimely fate in Mexican waters.
Jack was sitting at the dining room table, cleaning one of his guns. He looked up as she came in. He wore a beard and he’d
dyed his hair darker than the light brown it naturally was. His skin was tanned and you would almost swear he was native to Brazil, especially since he spoke the language so fluently. Whereas Lisa was still struggling a bit with learning Portuguese.
“What?” he asked.
“What do you mean, ‘what?’” she grinned and then slapped the paper on the table in front of him.
Jack leaned over and read the article and his eyebrows shot up before a smile crept across his face. “Wow.”
She nodded. “I know. Bio-Tek’s executives are all being sentenced. Terrorism. The antidote to Chem Agent 1157 is readily available and being mass produced by government labs. Chem Agent 1157 will become eradicated. All those going into missions will have a cure to it, should they come under attack from it.”
“That’s great news.” He grinned and went back to his work. “I wonder how the government got that information?”
“They didn’t say who turned over the information, but I suspect it has something to do with the Omega Team and your foresight to save the USB stick from the incinerator.” She sat down on the edge of the table.
“It wasn’t foresight, it was part of the mission. Well, it was someone’s foresight.” He set his gun back down in its case and shut it. Then moved it, so as to be able to drag her across the table until she was sitting in front of him, before sliding his hands up her skirt.
“I can’t believe it’s over,” Lisa said.
Jack nodded. “It’s good, no more lives will be destroyed by that biochemical agent.”
“Yeah, but someone could still produce another one."
“I know. Biochemical warfare has been around for a long time, but there are more people like us out there to help put an end to it, thanks to people like Grey and the Omega Team.”
“It’s too bad we won’t ever be able to go back to the States and thank Grey for getting the information into the right hands.”
“I know, but he understands. He knows we’re grateful. And I’m sure he’d be able to find us if needed.” He removed his hands from her legs and stood up. “We’re still not safe. There are probably operatives out there, but this is good. Bio-Tek falling to its knees and the antidote being available makes it all worth it. Makes the whole mission worth it.”
Lisa leaned forward, grinning, as she wrapped her arms around his neck, opening her legs and wrapping them around his waist to pull him closer. “Is that the only thing that made it worth it, Crane?”
“Nope, that’s not the only thing.” He cupped her face and kissed her.
“Then what could it be?” she teased, as he began to nibble her neck, just under her earlobe.
He stopped his nibbling and grinned before showing her exactly how much more worth it, it was.
ABOUT AMY RUTTAN
Born and raised just outside of Toronto, Ontario, Amy fled the big city to settle down with the country boy of her dreams.
After the birth of her second child, Amy was lucky enough to realize her life long dream of becoming a romance author. When she's not furiously typing away at her computer, she's a mom to three wonderful children who use her as a personal taxi and chef.
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Twitter: @ruttanamy
OTHER BOOKS BY AMY
Harlequin Medical Romance
Safe in His Hands
Melting the Ice Queen’s Heart
Pregnant with the Soldier’s Son
Dare She Date Again?
It Happened in Vegas
Taming Her Navy Doc
Tempting Nashville’s Celebrity Doc
Unwrapped by the Duke
NYC Docs Quad
One Night in New York
Sealed by a Valentine’s Kiss Duet:
His Shock Valentine’s Proposal (Book 1)
Craving Her Ex-Army Doc (Book 2)
Hollywood Hills Continuity Series
Perfect Rivals…
Hot Latin Docs Quad
Alejandro’s Sexy Secret
Royal Spring Babies
His Pregnant Royal Baby
COMING SOON
Convenient Marriage, Surprise Twins!-Coming July 2017
Navy Doc on Her Christmas List-Coming December 2017