Her purpose came into pinpoint focus. “I need your computer.” She had to let the agency know.
Teague adjusted his position and accidentally knocked into the sideboard. The pitcher of orange juice teetered and two trays clanged.
Rush went into action. Rifle raised, he ran toward them through the snow while firing. His gait made his aim lousy, but he could get lucky.
“Run!” shouted Jaeda. On her feet, she shoved Teague out of the morning room then stopped him in the next doorway. She spoke quickly. “Look, I know you’re innocent. Your life is in danger, and everyone else here in the manor. Go to the kitchen and get your staff someplace safe. I’m sure he’s working alone, so if you can, try to get to the stable. I’ll keep him here so he won’t double back.”
Teague gripped her arm and shook his head. “I can fend for myself. I’m not leaving.”
She swallowed, recognizing the significance of her assignment. “Do you love me?”
“What?” he squawked.
The shooting stopped and crunching footsteps approached outside. “I’m serious. You’ve got to tell me this instant. Do you love me? For real?”
“Yes, damn it! I love you.”
“Then you know you can trust me. All the games, they didn’t mean anything. You know you can trust me.”
“Yes.”
“Then do as I say.” Glass clinked in the morning room. He was coming through a window. “Get your people safe.”
He hesitated for only a moment, warring emotions playing across his features. With a curt nod, he sprinted for the kitchen.
Turning, Jaeda skulked to the doorway of the morning room. The rifle tip protruded past the doorframe, and she assumed a kicking stance. The moment the agent’s hand came into view, she struck the weapon with a powerful X-kick and knocked it from his grip. It went sliding too far, however. She couldn’t go after it.
She formed a tiger paw fist and sent braced knuckles into his windpipe. He clutched his throat and staggered backward. She took a step to go after him, but he already had a dagger in hand and appeared ready to block an attack. She needed a weapon.
Launching into the air, she went for the rifle. She hit the floor in a shoulder roll and snatched the gun. When he came through the doorway, she had it ready. She pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. It occurred to her that he’d stopped firing because he ran out of ammunition.
He came after her, but she anticipated his attack. On her feet before he could get to her, she flipped the rifle, caught it by the barrel, and sent the stock into his chest baseball bat-style. He hit the wall and swore at her.
Flinging the useless weapon, she raced for the stairs. Fear for Teague threatened to slow her, but she shoved it aside. To save him, she had to keep her emotions out of it. She drew upon her training.
Rush gave chase, his shoes pounding against the marble floor. At the staircase, Jaeda took the steps two at a time. She ran for Teague’s bedroom door and her gun, but the agent caught her near the end of the hall.
He grabbed the back of her neck and hurled her against the door of her guestroom. Pain exploded in her cheek and behind her left eye. Not letting it stop her, she gripped the handle and opened the door. Hugging it, she moved inside as Rush went flying past. He bounced off the back of an overstuffed chair but recovered almost immediately.
Still, it gave her time to reach the shoes she had discarded in the middle of the carpet. She fell to a hip and slipped one on then thrust her foot upward at an angle. He lunged at her. The steel spiked heel caught him in the gut.
Rush roared. Arms flailing, he fell backward and bumped against the chair. The heel remained embedded in his abdomen, and the shoe came off her foot. With pain and anger contorting his features, he honed in on her and threw his dagger.
The blade sank into her chest, right below her left shoulder. She screamed. Fire burned the strength out of her, making her want to collapse, but she had too much to fight for. Thinking of Teague, she picked up her other shoe and jammed the spike into the agent’s thigh with all her might. The movement caused another shot of piercing fire through her chest. She clenched her teeth then gasped as the pain released its paralyzing hold.
She pushed off the floor with her good arm and lurched from the room. Rush bellowed an anguished cry of pain and frustration. She ignored him. She had to kill him. She couldn’t call for help on an unsecured line, the computer was too far away, and besides, how fast could the agency get to her in this weather? No, she would personally handle this threat to her nation’s security. This threat to her life. This threat to the man she had unwillingly given her heart.
In Teague’s room, she seized her gun and turned. Her heart beat so heavily she had to fight for breath. A wave of nausea caught her off guard, stopping her in her tracks. Doubling over, she winced as a terrible pain pressed against her forehead and her already throbbing left eye. Blackness moved in, filling her peripheral vision.
No. Don’t pass out. She clutched the gun. The floor came up to meet her, and she instinctively rotated to keep the dagger in her chest from making contact. As her vision narrowed further, Rush limped in. She could only see him from the waist down. He had pulled the shoes free, and blood darkened his clothes. At his thigh, his hand gripped a semi-automatic handgun.
She had to stop him. She had to save Teague. It was her mission. Oh, God. It was everything. She could barely move. She managed to inch her hand along the carpet and point the gun at his passing shoe, but he moved past too quickly.
Something’s wrong. I’m really hurt. Don’t let me die before I take out this traitor.
Her vision narrowed further, making it seem like she looked through a tube. She sank weightlessly, as if drowning. In socks and sweatpants, Teague came running in and stopped. She wished she could see his face. Warn him that Rush was in the room. Tell him to run for his life. She couldn’t get the words to form.
The world went black.
Oh, please, Teague. Please save yourself.
A horrible ringing sounded in her ears.
Then a gunshot.
No! God, no!
Chapter Fifteen
Jaeda’s head throbbed. And something ice cold and heavy pressed on her forehead. Far away, male voices talked in hushed tones. Teague’s television again? The thought made her smile.
“Jaeda? I saw her smile. Jaeda?”
Teague’s voice. No. An overwhelming grief banded around her ribs, and she gasped on a sob as a warm tear trickled town her temple. Had she died with him? Were they in Heaven? Couldn’t be – not with this headache. Hell? She’d never believe Teague would deserve such a place. Then where? What waited after death?
“Jaeda. Please…”
“I’m so sorry, Teague. I’m so sorry I failed you,” she whispered.
“Please, open your eyes. You didn’t fail me. You saved me. Us.”
She cracked a lid. A white ceiling came into view, then white curtains and a white wall. Everything was white. “It’s got to be Heaven.”
“Oh, Lord,” said a familiar voice. “If this is Heaven, we’re all in trouble.”
Laughter sounded from multiple places. It seemed disjointed and jumbled.
“Look at me, Jaeda.” Teague caressed the backs of his fingers down her cheek.
Trying again, she opened both eyes. He sat at her hip on a narrow bed with white linens. She searched his forehead, his chest, and his stomach. They seemed perfectly intact. It made no sense.
“But he shot you,” she said. “I heard it.”
“No, I shot him. I took your tiny gun from your hand and got him as he came from my bathroom.”
“That can’t be right. He had a semi-automatic. My pistol doesn’t sound anything like it.” Her head throbbed harder as she tried to comprehend.
A man in a long white coat came forward and removed the weight from her forehead. An icepack. At least something made sense.
“I’m Dr. Frelen. You’re in the hospital.”
American accent. Fami
liar name. She studied his face until it came to her. “Dr. Frelen. From the agency. Spy doctor,” she said, repeating the nickname she and her classmates had assigned him when she went through training.
He chuckled. “You’re going to be fine. We were worried about you for a few hours. You took a blow to your head that caused your brain to swell. Medication is working well, so we were able to avoid surgery. Your stab wound was another matter. That took a lot of stitching, but it missed your lung. I expect you’ll recover fully.”
Head injury? No wonder she had lost it in Teague’s bedroom. “How long do I have to stay?”
“I’d prefer if you stayed at least overnight tonight. For observation.”
Jaeda glanced at Teague. Hope and affection shined from his eyes. She put a hand on his and turned to the doctor. “I’m okay? And I can go if I want?”
“I’d rather you stayed.”
“I’d rather I didn’t.” She moved to sit.
From the far corner of the room, a dark figure stood and came forward. In the light from a window, she immediately recognized her director. “Ms. Bennett, maybe you should do as the doctor advises.”
A look at Teague told her he’d support whatever decision she made. “With all due respect, sir, I’m lucky to be alive. I don’t want to waste a precious minute in a hospital when I’ve got serious work to do.”
“I hate to break it to you, Ms. Bennett, but you’re on mandatory leave. Six months. This was a level six assignment. You did an outstanding job, Agent, and you know the rule.”
“Yes. Successful completion of a level six or higher requires a six-month disconnection before reactivation. But that’s not the work I was talking about.” She looked to Teague. “I’ve got some making up to do.”
“Ah,” said the director with a nod.
“What about my report?” she asked.
“Tomorrow. And no paper. Send it through the same window you used to contact us last night. Now get some rest and do as the doctor says.” The director gave Dr. Frelen a nod then left.
“Last night?” whispered Teague, not looking pleased to hear about her secret nighttime activity.
“Dr. Frelen,” she said, not taking her gaze from Teague’s. “Release me. Give Mr. Jameson your contact information in case we need you, but I don’t think we will.”
The doctor left the room without a word, clearly not pleased with her decision. But she didn’t care. With every passing moment, she felt more herself and less an invalid.
“Your place or mine?” Teague asked, brushing a strand of hair from her forehead.
“Oh, definitely yours. Mine’s a disgrace. I do want to swing by and get some things, though.” Anticipation fluttered in her stomach.
The next hours proved trying in her weakened condition. Having her left arm in a sling made it more difficult yet. But Caster and Teague helped every step of the way. Jaeda disliked the questions written on Teague’s face, but she respected how he refrained from bombarding her with them.
Finally, at the manor, Castor pulled the car into the shoveled circle drive. It amazed Jaeda how the place seemed untouched despite all that had happened the day before. She imagined the back view of the house would tell a different story.
When the driver climbed out and began carefully making his way around to open the car door closest to the steps, she placed a hand on Teague's wrist. "Allay my final concern. Tell me what's in that locked desk drawer."
A gentle smile softened his features. "Of course. I keep my father's antique watch collection in there. I'll gladly show you. You needed only ask, you know. I'll hide nothing from you."
As Caster opened his door, she relaxed. "I'd love to see it, but later."
“How do you feel?” Teague asked, offering a hand to help her out.
“Remarkably well, considering. I’m tired, but the pain medicine is doing its job. My head stopped hurting and my shoulder only pulls when I move wrong.” On his arm, she climbed the steps while Caster followed with her bag and equipment case. “Are you sure you want me to stay?” She glanced over her shoulder at her suitcase.
“Positive.” Teague grinned, chasing her doubts away on the breeze.
Sutton opened the door and smiled. Actually smiled. “Welcome home, sir. Welcome home, ma’am.”
Home?
Mrs. Wilson beamed from the ballroom doorway. “Welcome home, ma’am.” She eagerly accepted the suitcase from Caster and disappeared with it.
“Oh,” Jaeda cried, hoping to stop her. “Please, not the lavender room,” she said in a weak voice, knowing the housekeeper wouldn’t hear her anyway. Darn it.
Sutton took her equipment case and went to the study.
“Where to?” Teague asked. “Anything you want to do. Anywhere you want to go. I want you to consider this your home.”
There was that word again. Home. “For how long?”
“Hmm,” he said, leading her into the ballroom. “I distinctly heard the director mention six months. But we’ll see.”
She gasped. “Six months? Are you serious? You hardly know me.”
“I know you. I see the truth of you. It’s the details that will take some time learning. But that’s the fun part.”
She liked the way he thought. He had such a unique view of the world, and unique way of coming at life. He energized her. Thrilled her. And she looked forward to learning his details, too.
“So, where would you like to go?”
“Honestly?” It made her wilt to think her request might mean less time with him when all she wanted to do was spend every minute of the next six months as close to him as he would allow.
“Yes, honestly.”
“I’m growing exhausted. I need to lay down.” In the lavender room? Ugh!
“Of course. Quite frankly, I’m surprised you’ve lasted this long. I half expected you to fall asleep in the car.” He took her hand and headed for the staircase.
“I’m not sleepy, really. Just weary.”
At the base of the stairs, he scooped her off her feet and she laughed. “I told you, I can’t help myself. Besides,” he added, climbing the steps with no effort, “I can’t think of a better excuse. You’re injured and exhausted. It makes me feel heroic to do this.”
She kissed his cheek and put her head on his shoulder. “You are heroic. You killed a very bad man who would have murdered me as soon as he’d finished killing you. Then he would have cleansed the property by hunting down and taking out every single one of your staff. You saved us all.”
He shook his head and halted outside the closed doors of his bedroom. “You’re wrong. I did kill him, but I only saved myself and perhaps you. Your director told me the autopsy showed he was dying, and fast. You sent the heel of your shoe into his bowel. He was spewing poison into his abdomen.”
“You didn’t know that at the time. You did what you had to.” Whether he admitted his heroic deed or not, she considered him her hero. She had never had one, and it filled her with wonderment.
He opened his bedroom door.
“But…” She glanced at the door to the lavender room.
“No, my love. This is your room. Ours.”
He carried her through the sitting room and into a romantic dream. More than twenty dozen red and white roses welcomed her in beautiful arrangements. Pink petals littered the carpet. Chocolate covered strawberries waited on the dresser next to an envelope, and her suitcase stood on the floor underneath. The entire room smelled of rose garden and love.
“Happy Saint Valentine’s Day,” he whispered. He set her on the bed and let her rest against a stack of pillows. Bringing her the envelope from the dresser, he said, “I considered champagne to go with the strawberries, but didn’t think it a good idea since you’re taking pain medicine.”
“It’s so lovely,” she said, fighting tears of joy.
Stretching alongside her on the bed, he handed her the envelope and grinned.
Jaeda removed a booklet card and smiled. On the cover posed a brown a
nd white Teddy bear with blue sunglasses reflecting another Teddy bear in red sunglasses and holding a rose. The back said Juicy Graphics.
She opened it and read, “I could have had a job with the CIA.” She turned the page. “They wanted me to work undercovers. I thought that meant that I would be spying. But what they needed were covert lovers.” She turned another page, her heart beating harder. “Well you can imagine how surprised I was when I realized what they wanted me to be. I was shocked and outraged at their request. I told them they’d never recruit me.” Jaeda smiled and turned the next page. “I still get letters asking me to join, but it would be such a needless thing to do. I get all the excitement anyone could ever want.” On the last page, she read, “Under the covers with you.” Handwritten below that, Teague had written, “With all the love in my heart, your undercover lover for as long as you’ll have me, Teague.”
He ran fingertips along her bare arm. “Will you have me?”
She forced her smile to melt. “Well, I don’t know. Do you deserve me?”
“I’ll never deserve you. But that doesn’t stop me from wanting you.”
She laughed, unable to help it. “In that case, I’ll have you. I need you to understand that you may still be in danger, though. Rush worked for some nasty people, and the money they entrusted to you just got confiscated by your prime minister.”
“I’m not concerned in the least. I’ve got a level six kick-ass spy on my side. And if I’ve been very good indeed, you’ll come to love me like I love you.”
“I’m surprised, Teague.”
“Why?” He arched his brows as a flash of hurt glinted in his gaze.
She smiled to reassure him then planted a kiss on top of his head. “You’ve been able to read me so well. I can’t lie to you. You see it. You said yourself that you see the truth in me. You trusted me when my actions would have told anybody else not to. Yes?”
“Yes.”
“So look into my eyes, Teague. Read what’s in my heart.” Her voice broke.
Hope opened his expression as he sat. “Say it, Jaeda.”
“I love you.”
He leaned close and tenderly kissed her. “Say it again.”
Code Name Desire Page 9