Danger and Desire: Ten Full-Length Steamy Romantic Suspense Novels

by Pamela Clare

  Especially at two-thirty in the morning.

  If Nick called, someone would deliver a fleet of vehicles or a 747 with the same miraculous timing.

  From time to time, Nick was asked about his Carrera last name. Tanner couldn’t recall any straight answer, just a patent Nick smile for a reply.

  At Tanner’s Suburban, he waited for Har and Pang to climb in, then reached to give Jin a hand up since she was the only one handcuffed.

  She snatched her arm away and sent him a death glare.

  Whatever had been behind that kiss back on the boat had disintegrated to never return the minute she’d awakened with cuffs back on her wrists.

  Airplanes roared overhead and the smell of jet fuel washed through the air.

  Nick and Dingo wasted no time going to their individual sport utilities.

  Nothing had changed with regard to their situation. Sabrina had not called back yet and probably wouldn’t for another hour. It would be later today at the soonest, if not tomorrow, before the State Department representatives showed up.

  Government moving at the speed of molasses in the winter.

  Blade had gotten Har stable for now, but Har still looked deathly pale.

  Don’t let him throw up in the Suburban. Three miles in LA could take a while. Tanner did not want to be subjected to Eau de Fresh vomit for the entire ride.

  Tanner dropped his rifle and monocular headgear on the floorboard of the passenger side and climbed in, cringing at the sound of Har’s dry heaving. Man, that was painful to listen to and the guy already smelled like a puke fest.

  Blade jumped into the driver’s seat and shut his door. Tanner drew his HK Tactical and held it ready, but low, out of sight of anyone passing by.

  Nick was gone by the time Blade pulled slowly out of the airport. Tanner swung around to do a quick check on each passenger.

  Two rows back, Pang was doing his standard imitation of an imposed-upon celebrity, still waiting to be treated like the legend he believed himself to be. The guy better be able to deliver. If Tanner ever found out he was a fraud, the Korean King might get his ass kicked after what Tanner and his team had been through to deliver Pang safely.

  Har was next to Pang, holding an airsick bag like a safety line and looking gaunt.

  Tanner finally moved his gaze to Jin who sat, fuming, in the second row behind Blade. She didn’t flinch when he frowned at her. No siree. She dialed up the heat on her seething gaze for several seconds then let her disappointment punch through.

  I know. I’d be angry and disappointed in your shoes too, he wanted to tell her.

  She finally swiveled her head away, looking past Blade’s left shoulder where local traffic and airport hotels buzzed past the window.

  Shit. Tanner turned back around, fighting off the drowsiness brought on by riding in a warm van that rocked gently as Blade wormed his way slowly out of the airport area and took surface streets toward the safe house.

  Taking the long way would give Nick a chance to arrive first, do a walk through and be ready to meet the Suburban when they pulled up.

  Considering that no one had expected his team and the Koreans’ presence at LAX or that they were on the way to one of several safe houses Sabrina had in this city, all this caution might seem like overkill.

  But everyone on Tanner’s team wore high-end, lightweight titanium body armor.

  There was no such thing as being too careful in this business.

  Cold air from the vents hit him in the face and Tanner blinked his eyes. Shit, he’d almost dozed off. Rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger, he lowered his hand and sat up, shaking off the fatigue. Then he gave Blade a nod, thanking him for the air conditioning wake up.

  Blade swung down a two-lane road where warehouses stood. They’d been around for over twenty years from the looks of the area. Tanner reached down to the floorboard for his monocular and slipped the head straps in place, leaving the eyepiece flipped up. Blade took a left turn between two buildings crammed up to the property lines. He drove down a potholed road for the next half-mile until the dead end.

  On the left were woods and on the right stood a one-level brick ranch.

  Just your average, three-bedroom, brick residence built in the 80s, with white shutters and a gravel driveway. The security light on a twenty-foot wooden pole at the corner of the house tossed enough light to show the boarded-up windows. The house was a little rough around the edges, but it came with a basement safe room stocked with supplies in case of an attack.

  A room Tanner’s three guests wouldn’t see unless something went very wrong.

  The house sat eighty feet back off the road with the land cleared for forty feet all around it. This had to have been a holdout piece of property—owners refusing to sell—back when the area turned industrial.

  The street might look like a dead end, but Nick would already know the exit strategy from this place if he’d been here before.

  Nick’s black Suburban sat in the driveway, backed in.

  Blade backed in, too, pausing the Suburban in front of its twin, but he kept the motor running. With the house to his left, Blade had the best line of sight to watch for Nick.

  Tanner turned to the other passengers.

  Har was leaning against the window, his breathing shallow. The minute he moved, he’d probably start upchucking again, but he had to be ready to move when Tanner gave the order.

  “Har, you with us?”

  “Yesh…”

  That was as good as it would get with him. Tanner said, “You three stay seated until I come around to get you.”

  Jin stared out the window, but she did incline her head to acknowledge hearing him.

  Pang heaved a long sigh that Tanner ignored. Pain in the ass. The State Department can’t come for you soon enough.

  The security light went out, which meant Nick had flipped the switch inside the house. He should give the all-clear next. Blade put the truck in park and turned off the engine. “Nick’s waving us in.”

  Tanner holstered his HK. Blade flipped a switch so the interior lights wouldn’t activate, and Tanner dropped his night-vision monocular over his eye as he jumped out, clipped his rifle to his vest, and hustled around the front of the truck.

  Stepping out with his own monocular in place, Blade drew his CZ 75 and scanned the area around the house.

  One dim light inside the small entry backlit Nick at the front door. He took a step off the porch, calling out, “Took you long enough.”

  Gunfire erupted.

  Rifle rounds sprayed the house, breaking the storm door glass, slamming Nick backwards and taking out the light.

  Chapter Twenty

  Tanner dove for the ground, weapon up and returning fire just for cover.

  Blade was half in and half out of the truck, ordering the three inside, “Hit the floorboard!”

  That wouldn’t be enough to protect those three. Tanner yelled at Blade, “Get ’em out of here.”

  He’d use the distraction of the Suburban leaving to make a run for Nick and drag him in the house.

  Shit, don’t let that crazy Italian be dead.

  A white panel van squealed up and slammed to a stop, blocking the end of the driveway. Snatch van. Fuck. Deep drainage ditches ran along the road the full length of the property.

  Blade dropped to the ground next to Tanner. “No way out through the yard, even with the Suburban.”

  Tanner needed a plan B that included a chopper, but he was fresh out of magic dust. They were both breathing hard and waiting, anticipating the next round of fire.

  But no one in the van at the street was shooting.

  Why not?

  Tanner didn’t want to shoot from his current position and draw fire toward the Suburban. He told Blade, “Okay, new plan. I’ll cover the packages. You get Nick inside.”

  “Roger.” Blade slithered beneath the Suburban, then disappeared into the dark on the other side. Tanner followed him beneath the truck, a damned tight fit. All
he needed was to get stuck down here. When he reached the other side, he paused to check the tree line of undeveloped land next door, then he lifted quietly to his knees and eased the rear passenger door open.

  Shooting started up again from the far side of the property where the first blast had originated. Snapping hits pinged all around, blasting the windows from Nick’s truck, but not one window shattered on this one.

  So they definitely wanted these Koreans alive, huh?

  That was a plus. Now he just had to get them into the house.

  “Jin. Har. Pang. Out here with me and stay low.”

  Jin must’ve crawled to the passenger side, because she pushed out the door and dropped to the ground first, with Har following. Jin squatted next to Tanner, echoing his thoughts when she whispered, “They must want us alive. Stay beside me and you will be safe.”

  Meaning he could use her as a human shield? Was she crazy? “No. Stay down and be quiet.”

  “Don’t be—”

  “Shut. Up. Give me your hands.” Tanner didn’t have time to argue or be polite. Nick could be bleeding to death and Tanner had to get these three somewhere safe. He pulled out his knife and sliced through the flex-cuffs around her wrists. He would not leave her bound and at a disadvantage if she had to fight. “Come over here, Har.”

  Har crawled forward on his hands and knees, tears streaming down his face and shaking like a leaf in a windstorm. He paused, rocked back so he was sitting upright, and heaved once. Tanner grabbed him by the shoulders, dragging him back down.

  Being sick might kill him, but not as fast as a bullet.

  Pang took his sweet time getting to the door and grumbled all the way out of the truck.

  Hate to inconvenience you while I save your life, dickhead.

  But the good news was that no bullet had struck this Suburban yet.

  Tanner told the three of them, “We’re going to work our way back to the house.”

  Pang decided to share his unwanted insight on the situation. “They will shoot us.”

  If Pang didn’t shut up, Tanner would save someone the bullet and do the deed himself. “Stay close to the ground and move when I tell you.”

  Pang argued, “We will die.”

  Tanner grabbed him by the throat and yanked him close with one hand. “There’s a safe room in that house. All we have to do is get to it. Decide now if you want to live or die, but shut the fuck up.” That silenced him.

  Tanner gave the order for them to start crawling down the driveway toward the house. Har was making low howling sounds, but that couldn’t be stopped. Jin led the way. They’d made it as far as Nick’s truck when Tanner heard someone coming up behind him.

  He whispered, “Keep moving.” Then he flipped around, weapon up.

  The footsteps paused.

  Where was that bastard?

  Gunfire blasted. He could hear it ripping up the house. Shit. Shit. Shit.

  Tanner shoved up to get ahead of Jin and the other two so he’d be the first to face the threat.

  But when he turned to face forward, he found Pang and Har being dragged off.

  Where was Jin?

  Tanner took one running step toward Pang and Har.

  Someone body slammed him into Nick’s truck. Sharp, hard strikes pounded his face below the monocular.

  Tanner roared and shoved off the truck, using his body weight to try to gain room to shoot. The bastard was even bigger than he was, and was still right on top of him, punching so fast Tanner couldn’t even reach for his handgun or knife. Fuck this. Tanner slammed a headbutt into the giant’s face, jamming his monocular headgear into the other guy and into his own skin.

  Shit that hurt.

  But it earned Tanner a grunt of pain from the other guy, and the split second he needed to throw his weight forward, knock the guy back a half-step, and buttstroke him across the face with the rifle.

  The giant staggered and grunted again but didn’t fall.

  Tanner bashed him two more times, adrenaline surging through every hit he delivered. What the hell was this guy on, to take this kind of beating? He swung again but the son of a bitch moved a hair faster. Tanner hit the truck with his weapon and shock vibrated up his arm.

  “No!” shouted behind him. He risked a glance.

  Someone was dragging Jin away.

  A boot struck Tanner’s side, the penalty for looking away.

  He rammed the stock up, catching his opponent low in the jaw this time. Bone crunched. Yeah, baby. That finally knocked the bastard off balance. Tanner kicked him in the head on the way down. He landed, out cold.

  Sabrina would want one of them alive. Looked like it was gonna be this one. Tanner took a split second and dropped the magazine out of the guy’s rifle and flung it across the yard toward the woods, then tossed the guy’s empty weapon under the Suburban, out of reach, in case he woke up too soon.

  “Let … go!” Jin’s voice jerked his attention to the van where they were loading Pang and Har into the back.

  The guy who had a struggling Jin in his grasp must have heard Tanner’s pounding steps coming around the front of the Suburban.

  The next seconds stretched and distorted like one of those warped mirror reflections at a carnival show.

  Jin turned with the kidnapper as he swung around with her in front of him, lifting his weapon in a smooth arc. Fuck, Tanner couldn’t shoot the guy without risking Jin.

  Her face registered every emotion from shock at seeing Tanner coming for her to terrified realization that he was going to run into the line of fire.

  As the rifle came level, Tanner twisted away, watching for the flash of gunfire.

  Jin broke her attacker’s hold in one smooth move and knocked the legs out from under him. His weapon sprayed bullets up into the air, just missing Tanner’s head. She turned into a miniature cage fighter, her knees on his chest, battering the guy with a series of sharp strikes at his face and throat.

  Couldn’t have been over five seconds.

  Tanner caught his balance and flipped around to go after her. The guy knocked her backwards, off of him, and lunged for the van, but Jin was getting to her feet. Tanner still couldn’t get a shot without risking hitting her. A spray of rounds came from the passenger-side window, and Tanner and Jin both dove for the ground.

  Doors slammed on the van, then it screeched forward and spun around in the middle of the road to head back toward the warehouse area. Tanner fired up the front quarter panel and driver’s-side door, not willing to risk hitting Pang or Har in the back. The rounds bounced off the surface. Armored. He stood to get the tag number, knowing full well that it’d be a stolen plate and a dead end. The van slowed long enough to pop off one last shot.

  Jin dove to the side again, and Tanner dropped back to his stomach. He was sick and fucking tired of being up close and personal with this damn driveway.

  That last shot went nowhere near Jin, but flew past Tanner.

  He looked around. They’d nailed their giant buddy who’d been struggling to his feet. Leave no one behind who can talk.

  As the van screamed away, bouncing along the potholes in the asphalt, Tanner pushed up and ran to Jin.

  Or more like, he ran to the spot where she’d landed. It was empty. “Jin!”

  Tanner swung back and forth, searching everywhere. She couldn’t be hit. They didn’t shoot at her. “Jin! Where are you?”

  He cursed up a storm all the way back to where he’d left the giant they’d shot.

  The fucker was dead. Shit. Had they taken Jin too?

  Not that quickly and silently. She was too much of a fighter.

  Son of a bitch.

  She’d run.

  Nick. Screw all of this. Nick was hurt.

  Running to the house, Tanner found a smeared trail of what had to be Nick’s blood leading inside. Or was it Blade’s blood, too? Tanner grabbed his head.

  Nick shot and all three Koreans gone.

  All. Three.

  He yelled at the house,
“Coming in.”

  Blade met him at the door, hands bloody. “I can’t fix Nick. He needs a hospital now.”

  Fuck.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  A flat in Thailand …

  The bloody burner phone woke Chatton from a power nap she’d needed after being up for four days straight tracking a Russian operative through Bangkok.

  Only one person had that number.

  She snatched up the phone. “What do you want, Wayan?”

  “Is it not possible to show some manners at least when you answer a call?”

  Not when she knew how much it infuriated him to be shown no respect. Manners were for social relationships, which she didn’t encourage. Her relationship with Wayan was similar to a honey badger stalking a cobra, with her being the honey badger.

  Wayan just hadn’t figured that out yet.

  “I have an opportunity for you.”

  “I’m listening.” She smiled at Wayan contacting her. This had to do with The General. Those two had joined forces at some point before she’d found them and finagled her way into their midst, pissing off both of them.

  Two birds. One stone. Score.

  “The US just extracted a pair of North Korean physicists who were part of Project Jigu-X and suddenly decided to defect.”

  Way to go, US. Chatton had been digging around for information on Project Jigu-X recently, just like everyone else in the intelligence business. Even if she was no longer with MI6, her beloved UK sat too close to that buggar leading the DPRK.

  Rolling over on her back, she stared at the slowly moving ceiling fan and asked, “This matters to me, how?”

  “You are looking for someone.”

  She stilled, thinking. Yes, she was hunting the serial killer who had murdered her parents and who was systematically hunting down every Macintosh in her bloodline, but Wayan did not know that. Couldn’t know that since the only way he could have found out was from her.