* * *
Reese wedged his gauze-covered fist into the pocket of his coveralls and pulled out the key to his stateroom. He glanced at Jade's door before unlocking his own and entering. Then he dropped the keys to his desk and stared down at the ball cap she'd given him.
Her cap.
Her cover.
It still had the officer's emblem—a gold eagle brandishing a silver shield—pinned beneath the ship's name. He trailed his fingers along the scarlet edge, battling the temptation to don it. Because of Jade, the urge damn near won.
Hell, wouldn't Dad laugh his ass off if he could see him now?
He flung the cap onto his rack, wishing he could rid himself of what it represented as easily. No matter what Dillon said, no matter how much she loved the sea, Jade was not like his father. And maybe when this case was over, he'd set about proving it. Until then, he had to get his mind back on the job.
Somehow.
He had a lot to figure out tonight, like how he was going to get Jade to tell him what really happened to those forklifts. He had to. Because his gut was still doing a dance that could only mean one thing.
Something was wrong. And from the surprise on Jade's face when she'd spoken with her chief, he had a pretty good idea what it was. Someone had caused that accident. But who?
Dillon?
Coffey?
But the most pressing question of all was why? And why now? He crossed over to the trash can underneath the sink and unwrapped the bulky gauze from his hands before dumping it into the trash.
What the—?
The hair on the back of his neck snapped to attention as he stared at the contents of the garbage can. Someone had gone through his garbage!
He spun around to the door, his ears straining for the slightest sound out of the ordinary—but if there was one, he couldn't make it out. All he heard was the constant whir of air passing through the ventilation ducting overhead and the rhythmic creaking of metal as the ship pitched and rolled smoothly with each successively less powerful wave. Beyond that, nothing.
But his gut was still on alert.
He crept across the compartment and released the catch on his modular wall unit, peering inside as he lowered the flap to form the temporary desk.
Crap.
He'd left the combination on seven and a half—and now it was on seven. Someone had been in here. Not only had they rifled through his garbage, they'd tampered with his safe.
He spun the dial back and forth several times and popped the catch. Relief flooded him as he stared inside. Everything was exactly where he'd left it—including the tiny speck of lint on top. He removed the contents and slipped them into his boots. His cover story might have survived this particular attempt, but he wasn't taking a chance on another.
Once he'd locked the safe, he turned and executed a systematic search of his quarters. Suspicion gnawed a hole into certainty as he worked his way around the room. Whoever had violated his stateroom had taken their sweet time, because everything he owned had been handled, then carefully replaced, in almost exactly the same spot.
He'd test for prints, even though he doubted he'd come up with any. Anyone who'd taken this much time to toss his room would be smart enough to wear gloves. But that realization led him to another. Whoever had rifled through his gear knew he had time.
Like Lieutenant Coffey.
He glanced over at the mutilated dummy Coffey had dumped on his rack—just before the guy suggested they join Jade and the doctor in the wardroom. Yup, Coffey definitely had opportunity. Especially if he managed to create a diversion with a time delay factored in. Then again, maybe he was just pissed the guy had dropped the dummy off instead of letting him accompany him to the NSF. The missed opportunity still burned him.
Reese jerked his head up as he heard Karin whispering in the passageway.
"I mean it, Jade. You're not allowed to stand watch tonight."
"But I feel fine. Though I have to admit, I'd feel better if you gave me something for the pain."
He heard Karin's muffled sigh as Jade's key slid into the lock. "I wish I could, but I can't take the chance of it masking symptoms of latent brain swelling. Besides, even if I did give you something, you still couldn't stand watch. You're not supposed to operate heavy equipment on painkillers—and, honey, this ship definitely qualifies. Especially when I'm on it."
He missed Jade's response as her door closed, but chuckled, anyway. It didn't take much imagination to figure it out. He squelched a smile and pondered the upcoming minefield as he headed next door. As much as he hated pushing Jade after what had happened, he had to talk to her.
Now.
The more time that elapsed, the greater the risk of her forgetting something seemingly insignificant, but potentially vital. He also needed to question her about Coffey—carefully.
He rapped the knuckles of his good hand on Jade's door, wishing he knew up front if the relationship he'd just discovered between Coffey and Jade was going to work for or against him.
* * *
Jade glanced at Karin as someone thumped the outside of her door.
Chief Haas?
If it was, as much as she wanted to confide in Karin, she had to get rid of her. She yawned and stretched. "I'm pooped. How 'bout I check in with you in the morning?"
Karin nodded as she headed for the door. "Sounds good. Remember, lie on your back. I don't want to have to redo my handiwork." She opened the door and chuckled. "Well, well, fancy meeting you here."
Damn. She needed to see Haas, not Reese. Jade suppressed a wince and smiled. "Hey, Macbeth. How's the hand?"
He held up a set of raw knuckles. "Fine. How's the head?"
"Fine."
Liar, liar, pants on fire. Her head throbbed out an accompaniment to the taunting litany.
She tried to ignore the concern creasing his brow. It was dangerous—that same concern almost had her crumpling into his arms to sniff and whine until the pain passed on the fantail.
"Bet it hurts like hell."
"It's been better." She took a deep breath as he entered her room uninvited.
Karin traded places with him, turning back as she reached the door. "Well, I'm off to hit my rack. You seem okay, but I'll check back in an hour to see how you're doing."
Reese shook his head. "Get some sleep, Doc. I'll take the first shift."
Karin stared at him intently for a few moments and then nodded. "Okay, but call me if you don't see the whites of her eyes or she doesn't respond when you call her name."
"You got it."
Jade considered murdering Karin as she smiled that secret smile of hers. The door snicked shut before she could execute her plans, leaving her standing in the middle of the room staring across the silence at Reese.
He cracked the tension with a grin. "Guess we've come full circle—seems the baby-sitter's become the baby-sittee."
Humor was such an ugly concept at this hour. She frowned, regretting the motion a split second later.
The concern slid back into place as he moved closer. She didn't know which hurt worse, the pain in her skull or the piercing blue in his gentle gaze. "That bad, huh?"
She sighed as he guided her around and began rubbing her neck and shoulders. "Worse."
Reese chuckled and she leaned back, against her will, into the soothing sound, into his magic hands. The more he rubbed, the more the pain in her head ebbed.
Yeah, his hands were magic all right. Black magic. Because her defenses were weakening. Not only that, she couldn't find the strength to move. Before she knew it, she'd sunk back even farther, stopping only when she reached his chest.
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. And there they stood, for what seemed like an eternity. If she died right now, she'd die content. Because then she wouldn't have to tear herself from this warm, musky cocoon.
And she did have to. Soon.
But not now.
Right now she just wanted to stand here and fill her lungs with Reese'
s scent, feel his strength, draw on it—and pretend nothing else existed. For just a moment, she wanted to forget the lesson Jeff had carved into her heart. A lesson she'd learned so well that it now ruled her life.
"I didn't know you went to school with Lieutenant Coffey."
The spell broke.
She tried to pull away, but Reese wouldn't let go. He tucked her head beneath his chin and rubbed his jaw lightly over the top of her hair, luring her back under.
She sighed, closing her eyes as she followed. "I went to school with a lot of guys—the Navy's kinda funny that way. First in Austin, and then a whole other set when I transferred back to San Diego the end of my junior year."
He cupped his palms over her arms and soothed them up and down her bare skin, igniting fires she had no desire to douse. His lips whispered against her uninjured temple. "Why did you transfer?"
She followed the warm breath, snuggling closer as his arms came to rest on top of hers. "My mom had a heart attack." She lifted her fingers and threaded them into his as he tensed slightly. "It's okay. She's fine now. It was a warning and she heeded it. My parents hired a manager for their restaurant and learned how to take it easy."
"Good."
His arms relaxed, but his fingers continued winding in and out of hers, weaving a string of desire through her heart and knotting it deep inside her. Deep inside places she'd gotten extremely good at ignoring.
Until now.
She sighed as she realized he'd made her forget about her head for a few minutes. She really should move—while she still could.
"So who's Jeff?"
This time she tensed. "Just a guy I knew."
"Did he give you the necklace?"
Was that jealousy she heard? If it was, it was a pretty heady note. She smiled. "Why do you want to know?"
His fingers stopped, trapping hers. "Did he?"
"No. It was a commissioning gift from my mother." That was mostly true. He didn't need to know the rest.
Jade drew a deep breath as he released her fingers and resumed the heavenly torment along her arms. Another few minutes of his touch and she'd be tossing her principles overboard. And then where would she be? Turning around in his arms and pressing her lips into his, that's where.
Suddenly the phone rang, giving her just enough strength to escape him.
"Hello?" She frowned at the husky voice that came out of her mouth. Damn, why did she feel so cold and bereft?
"DCA, that you?"
She turned away from Reese, hoping it would clear her voice—and her head. "What's up, Chief?"
"Near as I can figure, three of the four chains on each lift were tampered with. The links were cut clean through on one side. The remaining chain was left whole—probably to buy time."
She cupped the phone and lowered her voice to a near whisper. "How much lead time are we talking?"
"The way we were rocking and rolling? Not much. Half hour, maybe an hour, tops. You got someone listening in?"
She returned her voice to its normal pitch. "I understand. Who do you want to take the watch?"
"Gotcha. No other leads yet. Have no idea who could have done it, but I'm not done asking around, either."
She forced a light laugh. "Better wake him gently. You know how be gets."
"I hear ya. I'll be careful. How's your head?"
She touched it automatically. "Fine." Oddly enough, it did feel better.
"Good. I'll call you if I get more tonight. Otherwise, see you at quarters in the morning."
"Great. Thanks, Chief."
Reese studied Jade as she hung up the phone, relieved the massage had helped. It had to have—because she wasn't favoring the eye below the cut anymore.
That cut.
Just the sight of it made his blood run cold. If he found out someone was behind this, he was going to pay. And it was going to hurt.
But first he needed answers. And who better to give them than the one woman who seemed to have her finger on the pulse of the ship? "So, are you going to tell me what happened tonight?"
He focused on her eyes. The second she decided to misconstrue his words, it was there—smack in the middle of those dark gray depths.
She smiled. "Oh, that. Just a problem with a sick sailor. Chief Haas needed to run it by me."
He crossed his arms. "Tonight?"
"Hmm. The guy was supposed to be on watch already." She unhooked her keys from her belt and stared at them.
"Jade?"
She glanced up. "Yeah?"
"Why are you lying to me?"
The keys jangled in her hands. "What are you talking about?"
Reese squared his feet on the deck as another swell hit the ship. He stood his ground, cutting her off before she could argue. "I've been following you around for two weeks now. And if there's one thing I've learned about you, it's that you expect your people to pull their weight. Whether or not you're around to watch."
He approached her slowly, taking the keys out of her hand and carefully setting them on the desk. "Now, I'm not saying you don't have a problem with your watch bill. What I am saying is there's no way in hell Chief Haas would call you up in the middle of the night with a correction—especially after what you've been through. He would have handled it himself."
"Listen—"
He cupped her chin and tipped it, gaining better access to that telling smoky gaze. "No, you listen. Something happened to those forklifts and I want to know what."
She blinked.
He closed in. "Jade, you trusted me enough to let me in this past week. You even trusted me enough to give me your ball cap. Trust me now—when it really matters. When I can do something to help. Please."
She stared up at him for a few long moments and then cleared her throat softly. "Let's—uh—just say the lifts might not have snapped the chains by themselves. They might have had a little help."
Damn.
It was what he expected, but it was not what he wanted to hear. He traced his fingers across her cheek, wanting more than anything to smooth those tiny, neat stitches and that jarring cut from her temple.
But he couldn't. And he couldn't get them to stop blaring the truth at him, either.
He'd done this to her.
Not Dillon, not Coffey, but him. He'd gotten her involved even after he knew she wasn't the one. He'd used her. He'd used her until he'd gained her trust and gained access into this tight little world called the Navy. He'd used her until he'd gained the attention of whoever he was really after.
Dillon, Coffey—right now it didn't even matter which one. What did matter was that Jade finally learned the truth, And that she heard it from him. He'd spent the last hour examining the ramifications of what he was about to do. And he'd come to the conclusion that he'd be better off working with Jade than around her.
He just hoped to hell she felt the same way.
Jade swallowed and tugged her chin from his hand, making him realize he hadn't responded to her revelation. She stepped back, almost as if she was embarrassed.
He reached for her, but came up empty as she took another step.
"Look, Macbeth, forget what I said. Blame it on my head. Even if it's true, it's probably just a simple case of vandalism. Heck, you and I both know this isn't Hollywood. We're not talking danger and intrigue on the high seas here."
It was time.
He dragged her chair from the desk and hiked his boot up onto it. Reaching inside, he fished out the one piece of evidence that would change everything Jade thought she knew about him. He leaned over his knee and carefully laid it on the desk between them, anticipating the blink before it came.
"W-what…?"
"It's a Glock. Nine millimeter, semiautomatic. Carries seventeen rounds in the magazine, no safety—"
"I know that."
He'd suspected as much—war was her profession. But it was his, too—he just fought a little closer to home. He glanced down at the gun, then back at her. "It's loaded."
Her gaze narrowed
and her hands twitched at her sides, as if instinctively. He linked his hands together on his propped leg, making damn sure she noticed them. His gut warned him if he so much as breathed toward his weapon right now, she'd fight him for it.
And she wouldn't stop until she won.
"Might I ask what you plan on doing with it?" The churning shadows in her gaze belied that cool, steady voice.
He let out a sigh and slowly reached into his boot again, allowing himself one last glimpse of the now-crumbling trust he'd worked so damn hard to build before he pulled his real wallet out and flipped it over to her.
She caught it neatly.
He held his breath as she opened the leather and glanced down at his badge. The moment the last of her trust vanished, he felt the answering void suck into him. She raised her eyes them, her icy gaze carving what was left of him in two.
"Who are you and just what the hell is going on here?"
* * *
Chapter 8
« ^ »
Jade stared at Reese, slicing into the inside of her cheek as she tried to absorb the blow. She hadn't been this dazed when she'd smashed her skull into the side of the ship a few hours ago. And she certainly hadn't been this ticked.
God, how he must have been laughing at her!
She shoved the bulk of her anger and betrayal deep into her box and studied the Glock. Then she stared at its owner. He wasn't going to shoot her. That much she knew. Because if that was his intention, he'd have done it already. Besides, he wouldn't have saved her life on the fantail just to shoot her now. But of course, that only meant one thing.
The ID was real.
He cocked his head toward his badge. "It's real. But if you can get to a cell phone, I can have it confirmed."
"I know. But I'll take the confirmation just the same." She glanced down at the badge again. She needn't have bothered—the words were already branded into her brain. "It says here you're Special Agent C. Reese Garrick with the Drug Enforcement Agency." She managed a cool smile. "Well, Mr. Garrick, would you like to explain to me how you ended up on my ship posing as some Hollywood bimbo?"
She'd offended him.
Good.
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