by Dawn Ryder
Does it matter?
She reached in and turned on the water in the shower, tearing the paper off the little bar of soap and lifting it to her nose to indulge in the scent.
Maybe she should just enjoy the moment …
She was free, and the plane had to land sometime.
A memory surfaced. One of a bathtub that she’d indulged in on a case. She recalled stripping down and selecting a similar bar of soap from a box containing them in that cabin. Thais smiled as she realized how Dunn had known she liked sandalwood.
You knew he was watching you …
Well, she’d certainly suspected Dunn was monitoring his cabin. The soap confirmed it.
How long had it been since someone had noticed a personal detail?
Thais stiffened. She had to shut the doors on her emotions and quick. Otherwise, she had the feeling she was going to end up as another one of Dunn’s castoffs. It wasn’t just her need to remain untouched that had warnings ringing though her head.
Dunn had a reputation of avoiding entanglements.
His parents had been denied the love they’d had for each other. It made sense that he carried the scars of knowing what love had done to his father. She had her scars as well and wasn’t foolish enough to believe they might heal each other.
No, once jaded, there was no reversing the process.
Not for either of them.
* * *
“Find out.” Carl Davis was already beaming with the anticipation of victory. “Find out who got her out of Homeland.”
Eric nodded. Carl was pacing—something he’d taken to doing more and more often behind closed doors as the election neared and tension drew tight enough to snap.
“Kagan made his mistake at last,” Carl continued. “A rogue Shadow Ops agent. It’s perfect!” Carl chuckled for a moment before turning to look at Eric. “Have you found Miranda? I want to visit that bitch while she’s in a hospital bed.”
Carl didn’t pull his punches. Eric kept his distaste hidden behind a stern expression, but the truth was, he was a tad sickened by the way Carl went after Miranda. A mother had the right to defend her child, and that’s all Miranda had ever done. Entering the election for Congress, well, that was something Eric rather admired in the middle-aged woman. Miranda had shown them she had a solid backbone when push had turned to shove.
“I know where she is,” Eric answered Carl when he turned and stared at him. “But if you show up, Kagan will know you had me dig up the information. She’s locked down after the last attempt on her life.”
Carl waved a finger in the air. “Right … right … Don’t show them my hand. Well, she’ll surface sooner rather than later. If she stays hidden, she’ll lose the lead she has in the polls. She has to hit the campaign trail like the rest of us. I’ll catch up with her soon enough.”
* * *
Dunn’s flight crew knew their stuff.
Of course, Thais expected it of the man, but the truth was, she didn’t know too much about him. Thais rolled out of the bunk she’d found across from the bedroom in the back of the plane. The fasten-seat-belt light was on. She dropped into one of the backseats and secured herself for landing.
No, she’d avoided looking too deeply into who Dunn Bateson was.
It had been an act of self-preservation.
One she couldn’t really regret or second-guess. Thais only had one feeling about Dunn and that was an unmistakable warning. He triggered something inside her she refused to name.
Or unleash.
She’d made her choice and invested a lot of effort in locking away the feelings her life didn’t afford her.
Everyone made choices.
Sacrifices for what they wanted to achieve. From the professional ballerina who ate a salad when she wanted a burger to the businessman who watched his toddlers’ first steps on his cell phone because he was away from home working.
The aircraft touched down smoothly, taking a short taxi ride across the airfield before driving into another open hangar.
“You’ll want to meet the team,” Dunn said.
Thais unlatched her seat belt and stood. Dunn was watching her. He waited to see what she made of his words before one side of his lips twitched up. “Hoping I’ll clear out of here and try to have this conversation down on the ground, Agent Sinclair? Where you have escape routes available?”
“Do you somehow expect me to blush over you knowing what I’m thinking?” she asked.
His eyes narrowed. “I do enjoy knowing what you blush over.”
He turned the topic so very neatly back to something personal. She watched a flash of satisfaction cross his eyes before he turned and ducked beneath the door opening and disappeared from sight.
She hadn’t expected that.
Damn, he surprised her too often. It was frustrating because she enjoyed it, and there was no way to deny it to herself.
Thais shook off her musings and followed him. The best course of action was to bury herself in work.
“I appreciate the help, Mr. Bateson,” she began.
“But I’m a civilian?” He turned and closed the distance between them. Somewhere behind them, a car was waiting. The driver sitting behind the wheel in a dark suit and sunglasses. Looking straight ahead to avoid infringing on his boss’s privacy.
Dunn made full use of the moment. Stepping up close and filling her senses with his persona. He just blocked everything else out. Touching off something inside her that made her unable to break her attention away from him.
He was big, but she worked with plenty of muscle-bound men. That fact alone didn’t account for the level of intensity.
“Try contacting your team and you’ll end up back in handcuffs, Thais,” Dunn informed her. “They’re playing nice with the media, and Carl Davis likes it that way. A rogue Shadow Ops agent is exactly what Carl needs to support his desire to shut Kagan down. Your section leader will let you be collateral damage if it means the difference between his teams surviving and Carl signing an executive order to disband them.”
Thais held her hand up. “I am not discussing this with you, Dunn. You’re a civilian.”
She caught a flash of his teeth as he leaned toward her.
“A very well-informed civilian,” he muttered, clearly pleased with himself.
Thais felt her emotions battling one another. Sure, he was smug. But he was extremely well-informed and that wasn’t an easy feat. He’d earned the smugness. Cutting men down was something she excelled at, but she only had a taste for slicing into falsely inflated egos. She knew how hard it was to earn things.
“The key word is ‘civilian,’” she answered smoothly.
He crossed his arms over his chest and leveled a hard look at her. “How long do you expect that little word to stand between us?”
“It’s more of a concept,” she answered, feeling a little twinge of regret. “If I have to take the heat on a case, well, it goes with the badge.”
“Ah,” Dunn responded softly. “Is that your way of saying you’d rather I left you in that cell until an assassin showed up to silence you?”
She didn’t.
But she couldn’t tell him so. No, Dunn would home in on the weakness and press against it as he tried to get inside her personal space.
“Yes,” she informed him firmly. “I know what I signed up for.”
“Liar,” he shot back at her. “You enjoy knowing someone is very nervous right now because they can’t explain how you slipped out of their maximum security facility.”
He offered her a smug look that she admitted she richly deserved.
“And you want to know how I managed it,” he finished.
“Okay, I do want to know,” she admitted.
Dunn inclined his head toward the waiting car. Thais offered him a raised eyebrow. “Just get in the car with me, little girl, and I’ll get you some candy?”
He flashed her a grin before he turned and went toward the car.
He was baiting her.
/>
The problem was, he was using really premium bait.
And she wanted a taste pretty bad.
It wasn’t that Thais didn’t know how to find her way on her own. Maybe she didn’t know where they’d landed but that little bit of information wouldn’t stand in her way. She had only the clothing on her back, and yet again, she wouldn’t allow that fact to prevent her from reconnecting with her team.
One call and she’d have resources.
You’ll also have to deal with Kagan calling the shots.
Thais liked her section leader. The fact that she trusted him was more important, but trust was built on a solid history together. One in which she’d learned a few things about Kagan, and one of them was, he would use bait when he felt it had the best odds of success.
She’d bit her tongue while her teammates went undercover.
Her teammates would be expected to keep their jaws tight while she was laid out, too.
Dunn had resources as well.
She narrowed her eyes but felt the decision taking form in her thoughts. Turning her back on Dunn’s offer was illogical. So unless she wanted to know she’d turned tail and run because she couldn’t control her emotional responses, the only choice left was to get into the car.
The door closed right after she pulled her feet inside. A second man moved up to take a position next to the driver before the man pulled the car out of the hangar.
“Show me your resources,” Thais said. “And we’ll see if it’s worth my time.”
Dunn didn’t answer her.
Instead he cast her a look full of confidence. But what tempted her to smile back at him was the flash of intent in his eyes. She’d seen glimpses of the part of him no sane person would ever want to mess with.
Today, she was getting a look at the man who wasn’t going to be denied satisfaction. Dunn was going to hunt down the person behind his mother’s attack.
And kill them.
Damned if she didn’t want to be along for the ride.
* * *
“Vitus,” Miranda Delacroix said, fixing him with a look meant to break him down. “What can I do to help?”
“Focus on getting your strength back,” Vitus responded.
Saxon was hanging back. Vitus shifted his gaze toward his brother for a moment but Saxon shook his head.
Miranda let out a little huff. “I see there is only one way to put this matter to rest.”
There was a creak from her bed as she swung her legs over the side.
“Miranda—” Vitus began.
His mother-in-law sent him a raised eyebrow before she pushed herself right off the bed and stood for a moment. Saxon was suddenly there, offering her a forearm to lean on.
Miranda shook her head and walked away from the bed. “I … am perfectly fine”—she sent them both a solid look—“due a great deal to Agent Sinclair. So … you will allow me to assist in clearing her name.”
Miranda faltered, causing both of them to converge on her. She ended up lowering herself into a chair, her pallor white but her gaze still sharp and demanding.
Vitus caved in. “We need support, against Carl.”
Miranda frowned. “Yes, I can see how that would be useful. But wouldn’t it be better if he somehow thought I had buckled beneath his demands?”
Saxon grunted. “Useful, yes. I don’t see him trusting you after you turned over that conversation between him and Kirkland.”
Miranda fiddled her fingers for a moment, lost in contemplation. “We need to cause an uproar. Shift the voters away from Carl and onto Tom Hilliard.”
“Miranda,” Vitus began. “You have done enough. Leave this to us.”
His mother-in-law fluttered her eyelashes, sending a chill down his spine. Because his wife, Damascus, had the exact same look when she was planning on digging in her heels and defying him.
His wife would never forgive him if something happened to her mother on his watch.
The fight coming was a firestorm. They’d either all be in the clear or all dead.
* * *
The cabin the car delivered her to was magnificent.
Thais paused as she climbed out of the car, sweeping the huge log-cabin-style home with a critical eye. It was set against the red and orange rocks of the Arizona desert. The dry heat didn’t distract from the magnificence of the setting.
“Inside,” Dunn muttered as he cupped her elbow and helped raise her up. “Kent went to great lengths to get you up here without anyone catching sight of you from above. Don’t ruin his work now.”
Thais felt a charge go through her from the contact. She lifted her elbow out of his hand and strode forward. The driver had parked beneath an awning that cut the direct sun, as well as offering shelter from satellites.
“Do I get to meet Kent?” she asked.
Dunn crooked his finger at her. “You get to meet the team. I promised you resources.”
And satisfaction …
She drew in a deep breath, wishing her inner voice wasn’t on such a mission to turn her into a wreck at Dunn’s feet. Seriously, Dunn Bateman was super rich and that fact alone had women hunting him in droves.
The fact that he kept his body in shape only added to the allure.
That’s not what attracts you …
Thais felt heat creeping into her cheeks. It was a solid truth. She’d had plenty of men in prime condition. Could get a bed partner in about two minutes from among her fellow agents or the military escort they so often brushed elbows with.
It had all become so very boring.
Dunn woke something inside her.
A sensation she’d dismissed as something produced by her youth and inexperience.
You mean a need …
She did, and there was no way she could allow him to know about it.
Except he already does …
“Allow me to introduce Kent,” Dunn said, interrupting her thoughts as he reached a man.
Thais swept him up and down, noting the way he stood. Kent wasn’t a shit talker. No, Thais knew a trained man from his stance. Kent had it. His eyes taking her in with all the same experience she’d swept him over with. They were taking each other’s measure, the nod she earned from Kent was something she knew the true value of.
“Nice to meet you,” Kent offered with a slight brogue. He looked at Dunn. “Team is ready to bring you up to speed.”
Kent pushed a door open. The glass was mirrored, allowing for one-way sight only. Inside she found herself face-to-face with a control center Kagan would have been proud to call his own.
Monitors were mounted on the wall. Along with live shots from around the cabin itself, there was an unmistakable view from a satellite. There was also a white board with a very crisp timeline on it. Miranda’s attack was there, the angle of the shooter circled along with details of the types of amination and rifles it fit into. Every possible escape route was mapped. In short, she didn’t see anything missing.
“Ready to get to work?”
Thais turned around to discover Dunn watching her. He’d shrugged out of his suit jacket and rolled up the cuffs of his expensive shirt. He also had a chest harness on with a pistol in it.
“Want to see my permit?” he inquired when her attention remained on the gun.
“Guess it stands to reason you’d have one,” she answered, while leaning over to peer at a laptop screen. Thais blinked. “You’re wormed into the federal net…”
“As I said,” Dunn answered her, “Kent laid down some serious work to get you out of Homeland.”
“Damn it, Dunn!” She whirled around to face him. “This is my point. You’re a civilian and that”—she pointed at the laptop behind her—“is a federal offense.”
“Unless someone else did the worming and I’m checking the system installed by my company to ensure that it’s functioning.”
Dunn didn’t miss a beat. He pushed off the table, daring her to try another attack on him.
Thais squared off with him, fe
eling the rise of anticipation inside herself.
“Arrogance won’t save you from espionage charges,” she said.
“And it won’t save your life if you go running back to Kagan and the Hale brothers.” Dunn took another step and looked down at her. “On your own, your chances aren’t very high. Carl Davis has Kagan over a barrel and you know it, Thais. We’re not going to solve this one by playing nice. I’d expect a Shadow Ops agent to realize that.”
She drew in a stiff breath. Suddenly the need to argue with him dissipated, leaving her on shaky ground as she realized how much she didn’t like knowing he was willing to put himself in jeopardy for her sake.
He wasn’t a teammate.
No, this was personal.
And it made her insides quiver.
“I know it,” she offered in a low voice. “And there is no way I can allow you to place yourself at risk for me. I had full knowledge of what I signed up for when I accepted my badge.”
Thais tried to step back. Wanting to leave him with a firm but not unkind rejection. Dunn caught her upper arm.
“They put a hit out on my mother, Thais.” His eyes flashed with unsatisfied rage. “No one is going to stop me from being involved.”
He released her. She ended up falling back a pace because she’d been pulling against his grip so hard.
“The only thing you need to decide, Thais,” Dunn informed her sternly, “is whether or not you want in on the hunt.”
Because he was going to go after his mother’s attacker regardless of her or the legal walls he had to go through.
She admired his tenacity.
And dedication to his family.
Whatever else she might think, Thais didn’t doubt that Dunn was someone the hitman had better be very worried about. The room was full of resources, ones her own Shadow Ops team would have enjoyed having on a case.
“I’m in.” She wasn’t too sure exactly when she decided on her answer, only that the words were past her lips before anything like logical reasoning managed to stop them.
Dunn’s lips twitched. Just a tiny amount before his expression tightened with intent. “Let’s get to work.”
* * *
“Miranda,” Mason Kingston said, “I have been very concerned for you.”