“So . . .” Ward drew out the word as he shot Ford a calm-the-hell-down look. “We lock this down. Limit access and keep to Alliance members for all info gathering and clean-up. No upstairs help.”
Pearce shrugged. “That leaves me out.”
“Nice try. You’re an Alliance honorary member.” Ward didn’t usher Pearce out but something in his tone suggested it was time for Pearce to hit the streets.
He must have heard it because he straightened away from the desk. “Okay, let me see if anyone is hearing anything else while I check into this auction.”
“There’s news on that angle?” Ford had been waiting for movement there.
“I’ll fill you in.” Ward waved off the conversation and nodded to Pearce before turning back to Ford. “I need to talk to you anyway.”
Not good. “That’s usually bad.”
Ward didn’t even try to smile. “Think positively.”
Yeah, really not good. “Now I’m positive it’s bad.”
13
WARD WAS impressed they made it the whole way into his private office before Ford started rapid-firing questions. “The auction?”
“Yes.” Ward kept moving until he got to the opposite side of his desk and stared Ford down.
Ford threw out his hands. “Well? Any chance you’re going to explain what’s happening?”
This part of Ford, Ward knew and accepted. They’d worked together during Ward’s last year at the CIA. He cut out first to set up Alliance. Ford stayed behind, insisting the CIA was the right place for him, until his assigned partner and his fiancée bled out in front of Ford.
That kind of death changed a guy. Made him harder. They’d all seen some rough shit. Watched innocents get blown apart and had to pull the trigger more times than any human should.
They all had a number. The lives that weighed on their shoulders. For Ward, thirty-seven. There were many more he couldn’t save, but thirty-seven where he’d done the deed. But he’d never had a partner shredded in front of him. Ford couldn’t make that claim.
Being emotionally ripped into pieces made it tough to ever be whole again. Ward watched Ford function despite the inner turmoil, then a few weeks ago something changed, which was why they stood in the private office right now.
But first the disaster they couldn’t duck or ignore. “Pearce got confirmation. The auction is a go but there’s no word on the location of the toxin. Not that it matters to the pricks prepared to buy it. The worst of the worst are sending representatives. Apparently, homicidal maniacs all over the world are excited and emptying their bank accounts.”
Ford shook his head. “No surprise there. Benton knows he has a hot property or is about to get his hands on one.”
“Harlan is working the Benton angle.”
“That is not comforting.”
“The guy isn’t that bad.” Testy and anal as hell, but determined. Ward had to admire the man’s past, especially since the setup of Alliance had them sharing power. Neither the U.S. nor the UK held the upper hand. It was smart, but annoying as shit.
“For the sake of office morale,” Ford said. “I’ll go with no comment.”
“As if you give a shit about morale.” Time to dive into the real topic Ward wanted to discuss. “Though I do have to wonder if ignoring problems and getting pissed off is your answer for everything these days.”
Ford froze in the act of crossing his ankle over his opposite knee. “What is that supposed to mean?”
No one would call Ward the ideal human resources person. He wanted to come in and work and stay as far out of the personal lives of his team as possible. When he’d repeated that mantra to Tasha the evening before, she treated him to a “you’re so stupid” eye roll and told him to man up or step down. Not his favorite evening with her.
Taking a deep breath and preparing for the swearing, Ward leaned forward on his elbows and dove in. “Anything you need to tell me about this assignment?”
“This job is rigged to get us all killed, and Harlan is a douche.”
“True on both counts.” The muscles across Ward’s shoulders tightened as tension spun through the small room. “Anything else?”
“Are we playing games here? Just say what you’re trying to say.”
For fuck’s sake. “Shay Alexander.”
Ward expected a kick of anger. Instead, all emotion drained from Ford’s face. It was as if he’d taken a lesson from Pearce in hiding the thoughts running through his head.
“She’s not involved in the auction.” The words sounded as if they were ground out of Ford, as if a wave of fury was locked inside him and screaming to get out.
“Let me be more specific. We need to talk about your feelings for Shay Alexander.”
After a moment of shrieking silence, Ford spoke again. “We’re not doing this.”
“I’m your boss.”
Ford’s jaw tightened to the point of cracking. “You gave me this assignment. You set up the cover.”
“And I’m wondering if I should take you off this one and pass her surveillance on to someone else. Josiah would love for Delta to take lead.”
Ford’s eyes narrowed as he leaned forward. “You think you can have me go out of town and have Reid or Josiah take my place in her life and her bed?”
“I didn’t say—”
“What the fuck, Ward?”
The reaction told Ward everything he needed to know. There was no hiding the rage now. Ford wore it like a robe. It showed in the way he seethed and clenched his teeth together, in the stiffness of his body and hands balled into fists on the armrests.
The air in the room was thick, enough to choke them both. “Because you hate the thought of Shay with another man.”
“She’s a human being, not a commodity to be passed around between us.”
Not that Ward ever meant to suggest that, but the way he saw it, Ford’s feelings, jumbled and confused as they might be, were the real problem. Ward knew his friend no longer saw this woman as a job. He saw her as a woman. Possibly his woman. That had the power to fuck up everything.
He cleared his voice, thinking one person in the room should stay in control. “I think she’s more than a commodity or weapon to you.”
“Don’t do this.” The legs of the chair banged against the floor as Ford stood up and paced to the far wall.
“You moved in too fast.” Ward talked louder with each word, thinking Ford intended to storm out, but he turned and came back to the desk instead. Not that facing Ford head-on helped this uncomfortable conversation. “You failed to tell me you’d made contact and went from watching from a distance to sleeping with her. I only knew because Tasha caught you.”
“Caught me? What am I, some kid who violated probation?” The defensive hackles rose with each word.
“Don’t make this about my word choice. You know perfectly well what I mean.”
Ford took a threatening step forward then stopped again. “Not everything is your business.”
“This is.” Ward forced his body to remain still. “Look, I see you walking around here, double-guessing your decisions and feeling guilty about playing her.”
“Stop analyzing me, Ward. I fucking mean it.” Ford’s mouth dropped open and it looked as if he planned to say something else before he reconsidered and shook his head instead. “Just don’t.”
“It’s part of my job to test your decision-making.”
“I gave you space in Fiji. I didn’t get in between you and Tasha. I didn’t call it in or report it.”
That fast, Ward’s anger built up and exploded. This was the one topic sure to have him come out swinging. At the last minute he clamped down on the energy pounding through him and stayed focused, but just barely. “She was not part of my cover. Tasha wasn’t a mark.”
“I hate that word.”
>
“And the situation is different, don’t you think? I live with Tasha. I love her.” Those three words didn’t begin to describe how he felt about the woman who sat at a desk upstairs. “I’m trying to figure out if you’ve crossed that same line with Shay.”
“She’s innocent in all of this. I’d stake my job on that.”
Ward watched Ford wage an internal battle and heard him talk in circles. Little did Ford understand it all gave him away. “I trust your instincts on her involvement but we both know I’m talking about something else.”
“I know.” Ford still snapped out the words, but the heat behind them had died down.
“You may have to put her cousin down in front of her.”
Ford broke eye contact. “Right.”
This was too important for him to retreat or worry about tact, so Ward aimed right for the jugular. “You will likely need to drag her uncle away while she begs you not to and screams about how much she hates you. Take the two people she loves, including the man who helped raise her, and order their executions in a hail of gunfire.”
Ford rubbed a hand over his face before meeting Ward’s gaze again. “Your point?”
They both knew where the conversation was heading. Ward didn’t want to say the words, but he had to. He owed it to all of them, including Shay. “The way to end this might be to kill her, you get that, right? If Trent is the piece of shit we think he is—and all evidence points in that direction—he could use her to get to you. Make you choose.”
Most of the color leached out of Ford’s face. “I won’t let that happen.”
“You know how this works. We can plan and protect, and Trent could still grab her and put her right in front of the toxin.” They arrived at the bottom line. A line similar to the one that had convinced Ward to stop punishing his body in rehab and leave fieldwork. “When it comes to the woman you care about, there could come a day when you have to put a bullet in her head on your way to grabbing the bad guys.”
“Okay, enough.” Ford smashed his fist into the desk, and the thud rattled the wood and had the legs screeching across the floor. “I get it, I’m fucked.”
“That depends on how into her you are.”
“I’m not breaking cover. Not yet.”
The nonanswer told Ward what he needed to know. “That bad, huh?”
Ford balanced both fists on the desk and dropped his head. “Damn it.”
“If you can’t separate—”
His head shot up. “I can do my job.”
Ward expected those answers. In Ford’s shoes, he would have said the same things. But Ward couldn’t afford to just hope. Delaying decisions was not an option in his new role. “We still have time to move you out of there. It’s not your call. It’s mine.”
“Trust me to hold it together.” Ford didn’t beg and plead. He wasn’t the type, but desperation filled his voice.
“You’re solid, but this woman matters to you. If your loyalties are divided—”
Ford straightened up again. Tall and rigid, as if he’d regained control and was determined to show it. “They’re not.”
They had danced around the real issue for days. Now Ward moved in. “Kelly Mackenzie was not your fault, but if something happens to Shay or, worse, if you have to make an impossible call and kill the woman who is sharing your bed, you will shoulder that blame. But you can get out. Right now while I’m giving you the chance.”
“Kelly is dead because of me. Tom is dead because of me. I didn’t get to them in time and a madman cut them down while I watched. I’m not making the same mistake with Shay. I will be right there, with her, if anything happens.”
Ward had seen the file about the hit on Ford’s last CIA partner. Blood splattered the walls and stained everything. It had been an assassination meant to carry a message. Not a single gunshot. A battle with knives that took out Kelly first and paralyzed Tom.
Forgetting the details took Ward months. So many nights he closed his eyes and saw the carnage of glass and bodies. He couldn’t imagine the movie playing in Ford’s head. Ford had passed the mental health checks and Ward got him into Alliance, but Ford still had to be shaky. That was the constant worry.
Rather than poking into his friend’s pain, Ward went with simple concern. “That’s a lot of pressure, man.”
“It’s nothing compared to burying someone else I care about.”
This time the circle landed on the spot that most concerned Ward. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that last part and that you’re neutral when it comes to Shay.”
“Okay.”
Ward knew the expression. He could remove Ford from the assignment and he’d weasel his way back in, get the guys to include him somehow. Hell, having Ford go rogue sounded almost as bad as having a deadly toxin on the loose.
But there had to be rules. Ford hated them and bucked against them, but Ward would try. “I will pull you, without warning, if anything smells wrong to me. You’re going to keep me in the loop, and if you get in even one inch deeper with Shay, you are going to warn me.”
For the first time since he stepped into the office, Ford smiled and the sharp line of his shoulders eased. “You know that sounded—”
“Pretend that wasn’t loaded with sexual innuendo.”
Ford nodded. “Done.”
One knock sounded before the office door opened and Tasha slipped inside, bare leg first from where her navy skirt pushed over her knee. “We okay in here?”
Ford scoffed. “Fucking great.”
“That’s believable.” She gave him an up-and-down look. “A boring navy T-shirt? Are all your other shirts in the laundry?”
He glanced down at her. “I hate this assignment.”
The easy back and forth seemed to make Ford relax. Certainly lowered the shouting volume of his voice. It had been this way from the beginning with these two. They had a rapport. Almost a big sister–little brother thing. The dynamic fascinated Ward. Made him smile, since they were two of the most lethal people he knew and about the same age.
“Imagine thousands of people dying the instant the toxin gets out in the open,” she said. “That will motivate you.”
Ford frowned. “To what?”
Ward knew the answer to that one. “Scream into your pillow.”
The last of the tension drifted away, and Ford’s usual smartass grin returned. “Are you talking about the assignment or what happens when you two get home?”
Ward had to admit he’d walked into that one. Still, Tasha stood right there . . . within kicking distance. “Out of line, Ford.”
She snorted. “Absolutely.”
He had the smarts to wince. “Sorry.”
“For the record, Ward is the screamer.” Tasha’s deadpan response broke through the last of the tension.
“Too much information.” The amusement in Ford’s voice killed the comment. “Speaking of which, I better get back to paging through boring stacks of information before Trent holds an auction or hands off to Benton to do it.”
Tasha made a noise somewhere between a groan and a sigh. “I hate that kid.”
“I plan to beat the shit out of him when I finally meet him.” Ford gave Ward a nod. “I’ll go work on making that happen.”
Tasha watched him go and closed the door behind him. It took her another few seconds before she turned around to face Ward again. “So, we’re pretending his attraction for Shay isn’t kicking his ass?”
Her smarts or that face—it was a constant battle for Ward to figure out which he loved more. “For now.”
“I hope we don’t regret this.”
That very fear kept Ward up most of last night. “This is my call. You have deniability.”
“Don’t make me beat you down while your team watches through the window.” She frowned as she spoke. “As wi
th all things, we’re in this together.”
“That’s pretty hot.” Since she looked ready to head out, he indulged in a quick bit of flirting. “And, for the record, you’re the screamer.”
“And you are the one who makes me scream.” She winked at him. “Now get back to work.”
14
SHAY SAT on a stool at her breakfast bar and watched Ford move around the kitchen. He’d popped up a half hour ago and after a quick kiss made a beeline for her refrigerator. He stood with the door open and the cool air pouring out as he stared at a hundred dollars worth of groceries and frowned.
As if she wanted food right now. She hadn’t worn the silky dress with the buttons down the front and skipped the underwear so they could eat pizza on the couch. It had taken most of the half hour since he texted about being on the way home and coming over to achieve the just-out-of-bed mussed look with her hair.
Not that he noticed. He looked half ready to hoover the butter. The intense focus made her wonder if he’d eaten a meal since the last time she saw him.
Her bare toes curled around the stool’s cold metal footrest as she drummed her fingernails against the marble countertop. Maybe it was the way his faded jeans rested on his hips or how his broad shoulders formed a perfect vee to his waist, but something had energy buzzing through her.
The longer they dated, the more she hated being away from him. This time he called and texted, which qualified as huge progress. He even suggested they engage in phone sex until someone called him away to work and ruined his plans . . . and her evening. Just seeing him there, realizing how right and comfortable it felt to have him around, had her spinning stupid fantasies about the future in her head.
Ford stopped foraging long enough to glance over his shoulder at her. “Have you eaten?”
For a smart guy, he seemed to be missing some pretty big clues. Like the lip gloss and absence of a bra. “No.”
He shut the refrigerator and turned around to face her. “Want to go out?”
He had that distracted, not paying attention expression. Looked like she needed to be a tad more obvious.
Playing Dirty Page 13