Dark and Dangerous

by Jeanne Adams

  Kneading gently, he soothed the taut muscles, encouraging her to lean on him. It felt good.

  "That's amazing. Too good, in fact," she protested, but she didn't move from under his ministering hands.

  "We can't get involved," Caine whispered. Although the words were harsh, his voice was velvet. "But I don't care about rules when I'm touching you, Dana. That's not good. But I don't care."

  It was a bald statement of desire. Unexpected clarity from such a mysterious man. With the anonymity of night to cover them she didn't have to be a witness, a target, a hunted woman. He didn't have to be an agent, a dark knight.

  Instead, they were just... people.

  She didn't answer. What could she say? Ditto? Instead, she let herself rest in his arms. Let herself stay. They stood for a long time, watching the stars, leaning on one another.

  "I need to sit," he finally broke the silence. "My leg is aching."

  "Oh, I'm sorry," she was immediately contrite. "I kept you standing there—"

  "Hush. I enjoyed it. Now I want to sit. Come here." Once again, they didn't converse. They merely sat, enclosed in the darkness and each other's company. His arm was a solid weight around her shoulders, warming her to her core. For the moment, it was enough.

  She couldn't pinpoint when it happened, but she plummeted into sleep so deeply, so securely, that she slept better than she had in weeks. Maybe, years.

  She woke when she felt him rise. Fear leapt to life when she saw him tense and crouch by the window. There was no lightening of the sky beyond the ridges, and the valley beneath the cabin was still pitch black.

  "What is it?" she whispered. Checking her watch, she realized she'd slept several hours in his arms.

  They'd talk about that later. For now, she sensed trouble in his silence, his tension.

  "I don't know. A bad feeling."

  "I'll trust that. I'll get Xavy and Shadow."

  "It may be a false alarm."

  She checked her own senses, that extra, deep knowing she relied upon to warn her of trouble coming. It blazed to life, full force and hollered at her to run.

  "No, I get it too. I'll snag our stuff, get Xavy."

  She rolled off the couch and onto the floor. Scuttling into the kitchen, she hurried upstairs. Stuffing the few odd things left out into her pack, she slung it, Caine's bag, and their other things over her arm and ran for Xavier. Shadow leapt forward at her entry, whining.

  Xavier woke with one shake.

  "What?" he whispered.

  "Trouble, we're not sure what."

  "You got a call?"

  "No, the other kind of warning."

  He was used to her hunches and didn't scoff or complain. He was into his jeans in a flash. A sweatshirt tugged over his head completed his dressing, and within minutes he had backpack, duffel, and Shadow's leash. He was ready to go.

  "We're going to get to the bottom of the stairs and wait for Mr. Caine's signal, okay?"

  "Got it."

  When they reached the landing, Caine was there, pressing a weapon into Dana's hand and handing her a duffel. He had the other two pieces of luggage, as well as the car keys.

  "Let's go. I saw something move on the road, then down on the logging path. Stupid of them to come in from below."

  "May not be the only direction. Should I make the dash to the car first?"

  "No, I'll go. If they shoot from uphill, I'll give you covering fire before you run with the boy, okay?"

  "Right."

  They all made it to the car before the first shot rang out. He revved the engine on the Cadillac, and two more bullets buried themselves in the garage, barely missing the front windshield.

  "Lousy shots," he muttered.

  "Don't complain. Bad angle anyway," she said, checking that Xavy was down on the floorboards.

  "Get down and hang on, both of you."

  Caine spun the wheel hard. The SUV bucked as he slid off the road and punched the engine to take them onto the gravel again. Dodging and weaving his way down the long mountain way, he was outrunning the bullets, but he wasn't sure it would do any good if he didn't keep the car on the road.

  God dammit. He'd let down his guard. Someone had managed to get too close. He'd nearly fucked up. Again.

  Not surprisingly, the gate stood open.

  Finally, they were to the end of the drive and he hit the gas, slinging the heavy car onto the paved road and gunning the engine. The tires squealed as he tore through a tiny intersection, whipping around a bend to climb a long rise. On the other side, he slowed fractionally so Dana and Xavier could get onto their seats and into their seatbelts.

  "Sorry," he said, glancing at Dana. "Rough ride."

  "No apologies necessary. Did you see them?"

  "I saw one," he said. It puzzled the shit out of him, even as he was castigating himself for not being more vigilant. He was sure there had to be more of them, with the number of shots fired, but he'd spotted only one figure racing for a car. The car had been cammo-ed, he hadn't managed a make and model.

  Nothing. Fuck.

  "You only saw one?"

  "Yeah. Had to be more. Walker never sends anyone solo, or even in twos. He favors fives."

  "Yes, I know. It's his favorite number." She leaned with the turns, bracing herself on the downward passages. "His birthday."

  "Figures. Stupid narcissist," Caine said, gritting his teeth as he fought to hold the wheel as he opposed the outward thrust of the turns.

  At the bottom of the hill, the small state route fed back into a larger, four-lane road. Caine cut across it, staying on the state route.

  "Where's this go?"

  "Joins with sixty-four a few miles from here. We can head east to Charlottesville."

  "Sounds good. Does it stay this winding?"

  "Yeah. You and Shadow okay, Xavy?"

  "I'm okay. It's a wild ride. Shadow's staying on the floor."

  "Smart dog."

  It was ten minutes of gut-twisting turns, a real-life roller coaster, before the road leveled out and ran smooth for the last mile.

  "Great, now it straightens out," Dana said. "I think I left my stomach in one of those turns about three miles ago."

  "Murphy's Law."

  "It's operating in full force."

  "Reach over here in my pocket and get my cell phone."

  She did, muttering, "Is that a gun in your pocket or are you happy to see me?"

  "Both, actually," he managed, appreciating her attempt at levity. Taking one hand off the wheel to grab the phone from her hand, he pointed at the gun on the seat "I didn't have time to holster it. Safety's on, but it would be better if it wasn't bouncing around on the seat." She cradled the weapon in her palm, then managed to holster it when he lifted his arm for her to do so. Even that little contact heated his blood.

  The woman had something that got to him. Something powerful.

  And dammit, this was not the time to be thinking about some on-the-run woman in that way. Or any woman, for that matter, he reminded himself.

  Still, he couldn't help but smile at her when he looked over and caught the faint, relieved look she sent his way.

  "Glad we all made it out in one piece."

  "Yeah." Forcing his mind to business, he dialed by feel, glad the ramp onto sixty-four was a straightaway.

  "Tervain, you better answer your phone, dammit," he said when he got the senior agent's voice mail. "We're in deep shit, here. We broke an ambush at the mountain place. Call me. Now, dammit."

  "That's seventy-five cents for Xavier's piggy bank from you, mister," Dana said, taking the phone and setting it in the console's cup-holder.

  Caine met Xavy's grinning gaze in the rearview mirror, but spoke to Dana. "Yeah, yeah. I'll pay when you do, girl."

  "She already did," Xavy piped up. "The night we got to the house."

  "You carry your piggy bank with you?"

  "Yeah, best way to keep it, you know?"

  Caine nodded, turning his attention to the road. His h
eart was heavy at the realization that the boy carried his piggy bank with him, for fear that he'd have to leave it behind forever.

  "Where the he ... heck is Tervain?" he groused, hiding the worry behind gruff talk. He glanced at Dana. "I called his cell. Short of being in church or a firefight, he's supposed to answer it."

  "He's a desk agent, isn't he?"

  "Hmmmmm. Yeah, but it doesn't mean he isn't a target on this one. He's a good shot and a he—heck of an agent. I'd have him along on any op, even if he's a paper pusher now. It's not like him to let it go unanswered."

  "I hope he's okay," Dana murmured, her hands clenching and unclenching in her lap. Caine was glad Xavy couldn't see the obvious signs of worry. In the next moment, he was angry with himself for getting too close, for letting his concern for these two color his judgment.

  What if he'd gotten them killed? He could stand anything but that.

  "I do too," he managed to respond. "I'll try again in len minutes, remind me."

  "Will do. Do we have a tail?"

  "Don't know yet. I'm going off in three miles, we'll sit lor thirty, then go to the exit for State Route 6. That runs over to Charlottesville a different way. If we have a tail, it'll be obvious on that road."

  In fifteen minutes, he tried Tervain again. He waited twenty minutes more before letting it ring out. When the voice mail finally answered, the annoying mechanical voice said it was full.

  Something was terribly wrong.

  He was about to tell Dana that they were screwed, then stopped, surprised at himself for being willing—even eager—to share the burden.

  Before he could commit such a heresy, his phone rang.

  The two adults shared a meaningful look. Dana put a linger to her lips, motioning to Xavy to keep Shadow quiet.

  "Yeah?" Caine answered it carefully, gruffly, in persona. There had been no number or name on the caller ID. A a government issue, it had special features that let it take databases, showing caller identities that even a landline wouldn't provide.

  "It's Sears," came the voice through the phone. "I'm on a secure wire at headquarters. It's bad, Caine. We got hit, and hit hard. Tervain's down. Booth is missing, presumed dead. Parlier's still critical, expected to pull through though. We don't know if it was Walker or the inside man."

  Hearing the strain in the other agent's voice, Caine asked, "What about you?"

  "Got a through-and-through at the collarbone. Two inches lower and bye-bye Thomas."

  "No vest again?" Caine asked. Sears was notorious for hating the Kevlar protective gear. Not that he blamed the guy, but...

  "Hell, no, not on this case. I know what we're dealing with. I wasn't taking no chances. Good damn thing. It got me at the weak point, took the edge of the vest, turned the bullet."

  "Tervain?"

  "Concussion. Blunt force to the head. Just one whack, or he'd be playing a harp in heaven."

  "Ambush?"

  "At home. No forced entry. Wife and kids were in bed, never heard a thing. Wife woke up, got worried, found him at his desk."

  "Damn."

  "Yeah, she nine-one-one'd it and called it in to us." He paused, slurped something. "I got a hold of his cell at the hospital. Wife got it to me."

  "What's the story with Booth?"

  "Her apartment was hit, major struggle, resistance. Shots fired. Bunch of broken crap. Tables, lamps. One of the halogens was about to ignite when we got there. Not much blood, but a duct tape roll, some rope, that kind of thing. Crime scene's all over it, we're hoping for a lead."

  "Great. Wonderful." Inside he was cursing a blue streak. If Xavier hadn't been listening to every word, counting the money, he would have been doing it out loud. "Crap."

  That would have to suffice, for the moment.

  "Pretty mild, Bradley," the other agent commented wryly. "Of course, I've been doing nothing but cussin' so I've probably done my share and yours too."

  "Yeah, tender ears, you know?"

  "Oh, yeah, Walker's kid. Better tell him to keep his head down. Daddy's gunning for him, for sure."

  "Thanks, I'm sure I'm going to say that," Caine forced himself not to look at Xavier. No need to let the boy know he was being talked about.

  "Wait," Sears' voice notched up in concern. "You sound like you're mobile. Why are you headed out?"

  "Yeah, we're on the go. We got ambushed at the mountain place, 'bout an hour ago."

  "Fuck, you're kidding?" There was shocked silence in the background as Sears relayed the information. "Hell, no one knows about that place. How'd Walker find out?"

  "No telling, but it's blown. I don't know what condition they left it, we got out before they got in."

  "Fuck, I liked that place. Can't use it if it's compromised."

  "Yeah. Something wasn't square about the ambush," Caine said. He still had the nagging sense the whole thing was off, somehow. "We saw one, maybe two shooters. Vehicle was in deep cover, or on the road. Gate was open."

  "The gate? Fuck. We'll check it out. Shit."

  "Any plan? Who's point?"

  "Guess that's me," Sears managed, still cursing. "Um, hell, keep driving for now. Do a vehicle transfer at the exchange in Cheverly. Or Balto. There's another in Lees-burg. You have the codes, right?"

  "Yeah."

  "I don't want to know where you are or where you're going. Our leak's a big fuckin' hole, now, especially with Booth missing. With the big guys out of commission, I'm screwed if I get anyone else killed."

  "You the leak, Sears?" Caine said it seriously. "Cause if you are, you better tell me now and start running."

  There was a long silence on the other end and Caine pulled the phone from his ear to see if he'd lost signal.

  "Sears?"

  "Yeah, I'm here. I heard you, loud and clear, amigo. I'm not it, but... I wonder ..."

  "You got any ideas, spill."

  "No, not from here. Call me at this number, later," he began to recite.

  "Wait." Covering the phone, he said to Dana, "Grab a pen. I need you to write a number."

  When she'd taken it down, he clicked off.

  "What's up?" Dana asked quietly.

  "We weren't the only ones hit," Caine managed. The rage at the attack pricked his nerves, roiled his gut. Par-lier out, Tervain out, Booth presumed dead, Sears injured, three agents killed at the decoy house. It made him wish he'd found a way to kill Walker before he'd left the organization. Fuck the law.

  They drove for another hour with the radio on to keep Dana company. Caine was occupied with dangerous plans. He would play by the rules for now, but if any- thing, anything else went wrong, anyone else died at Walker's hands, he was going to stash Dana and Xavy and go hunting.

  Doubling back onto the route for Charlottesville, Caine managed to pull back from the abyss of his murderous thoughts enough to puzzle over the ambush.

  He had to stay cool, keep it together, for now.

  Why only two people? Was Walker spreading it thin to cover more ground? If the inside man had known for sure that they were at the mountain house, Walker would have come in full force. And what about Tervain? Dammit, they needed Tervain in the game. He was the only one who knew who and where all the players were.

  "Everything okay, Caine?" Dana asked softly. Caine glanced at her, then into the mirror, catching sight of Xavier asleep on the comfortable seat.

  "Not really. Tervain's hurt, Parlier's out. They knew all the players and where the chess pieces were on the board. Booth is currently presumed dead or captured. Sears is injured, but in charge. We're running short on help."

  "Booth? That's the woman, right? She's dead?"

  "They think so. Her place was torn all to hell, a lot of blood ..." he trailed off. Why was he telling her all this?

  Because he trusted her.

  The realization was a hammer blow. He trusted her the way he would a partner, an equal. She wasn't his pro-tectee, she was his ...

  "I should lie, tell you we're fine, but we're not. We're in deep trouble her
e, Dana," he managed the words through a tight throat.

  Her next question disrupted his chain of thought and he was grateful. He'd been about to tread on boggy mental ground.

  "What's next? We need to change cars, right? You mentioned an exchange point or something?"

  "We'll go to Charlottesville first. We need gas. And breakfast." He made the turn onto twenty-nine north as he said it, which would take them to the west side of Charlottesville, Virginia.

  "Why would Donovan go after those other agents?"

  "He didn't. The inside man did. And I think the ambush at the mountain house was a feint to flush us out. A quarry on the run is easier to get, more likely to make a mistake, than one in a hole."

  "But if Donovan had already set us to meet in Richmond tomorrow, why hit us now?"

  He turned briefly toward her, then kept his eyes on the road. "Because he knows or suspects I'm an agent. And, if he's right and can get rid of me, he'll have a clear shot at you and the boy. Either way he wins. If he gets rid of me, gets you and Xavy, he doesn't have to pay me. If I'm an agent, same goes."

  When they pulled into Charlottesville, a handy diner was on the left. While they had breakfast, Caine outlined his plan to them both. If Dana trusted Xavy, he would too.

  "We'll go north and west to Leesburg, pick out a new car, new identities. We'll go to one of the warehouse stores, the outlets if we have to, and get some things we need." He looked from Dana to the boy and back. "From there, to Baltimore to a location only Tervain knows. If we're found there, Tervain's our leak."

  "Agent Tervain?" This from a bewildered Xavier. "But. . . Isn't he in charge?"

  Caine wasn't sure what to say. A huge bubble of relief rose within him when Dana slipped her arm around Xavier and explained.

  "We don't think Agent Tervain is against us, nor do we think he's the leak. But, the things going wrong are things he and only a handful of others knew about. We don't want to suspect him, but we have to rule him out. Does that make sense?"

  Xavier turned to him for confirmation, and Caine nodded. "I think we will rule him out, but we have to be sure."

  The boy seemed satisfied and, once in the car again, snuggled up with Shadow and his iPod.