by Paula Graves
He couldn’t hold back a smile. “What, you read minds now?”
“I read people,” she answered, her tone serious. “Part of my job training, you know.”
“It’s more than your training,” he contradicted her, tugging off his hiking boots and wiping them down with a towel from his pack. He picked up her discarded boots, wiping them as well. “One of the first things I noticed about you that first day in Mariposa was how easily you seemed to see past all my outer bluster to the person underneath. It was...disconcerting. And maybe a little exhilarating.”
“I didn’t read you all that well, in the end.” Her quiet tone might have seemed neutral to most people, but maybe he had a little of her people-reading ability as well, for he could sense a layer of pain beneath the words.
“You read me too well,” he disagreed, touching her cheek. Making her look at him. “I almost called to tell you I’d go with you on the hike we’d planned that day. I had time before the meeting my father set up with Grijalva. But I knew, deep down, that if I gave you the chance, you’d see what I was up to, that you’d talk me out of meeting Grijalva at all. So I didn’t give you the chance.”
“I wish you had,” she murmured.
He touched her cheek, wishing he’d made a lot of different choices. “So do I.”
She closed her hand over his, holding it in place. “So you really were a double agent for the CIA.”
“Nah,” he said with a smile. “That would be a cliché.”
A reluctant smile curved her lips, carving dimples in her cheeks. He’d almost forgotten about those dimples, the way they took ten years off her face and made her look like a mischievous girl instead of a fully grown woman.
Those dimples had disarmed him the first time he’d seen them, years ago on a Mariposa beach. They hadn’t lost their power.
He leaned closer, pressing his lips against one of those tiny indentations. “You should get some sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be a long day, I think.”
She moved her thumb across his chin, her skin making a soft rasping sound against his two-day growth of beard. “I don’t think I trust you not to hare off on your own.”
He couldn’t blame her for that, he supposed, since he’d been thinking of doing that very thing only a few minutes earlier. “I don’t suppose I’d be able to sneak past the Coopers anyway,” he said with a shrug.
With a soft sigh, her shoulders slumped and she dropped her hand away from his face. “But you’d like to.”
It would be easy to back away right now, he thought. Put distance between them, ease the ache of longing that seemed to come with spending time with her. She made him want things he knew, deep down, he couldn’t have. Didn’t deserve to have, and certainly not with a woman like her.
But this might be all the time he’d ever get with her. Even if things went perfectly, if he and the Coopers managed to come up with a foolproof plan for getting Alicia back without trading his own life for hers, there was still no chance of a future with Ava Trent. She was an FBI agent and, regardless of the true situation, he was and would always be considered a traitor and a fugitive. Hell, if he just remained a dead terrorist, it would be the best possible outcome.
He put his fingers under her chin, tilting her face up. Willing her downcast eyes up to meet his. After a silent battle of wills, her eyelashes fluttered up to reveal her warm hazel eyes, full of vulnerability and questions.
“I don’t intend to go anywhere tonight.” He brushed his lips against hers, keeping the touch tender but undemanding. “So let’s get some sleep.”
She lowered her gaze, turned so that she was lying on her uninjured side and stretched out across the padded bedroll that covered most of the tent floor. Her body rose and fell in a gusty sigh.
He lay next to her, close enough that the heat of her body washed over his own. He edged nearer, until his hips cradled her round backside. Feathering his fingertips down her arm, he whispered, “Is this okay?”
Tension coiled in her body for a long moment before she relaxed, curling herself against him. “This is good,” she murmured.
He snuggled closer, wondering with a sinking heart how he was ever going to walk away from her a second time.
Chapter Twelve
The world was dark when Ava woke with a start, chased from slumber by a hazy, ill-remembered nightmare that left her heart pounding and her breath burning like fire in her lungs. For a moment, she couldn’t remember where she was or why she was there. A low throb in her hip suggested an injury, and the answering ache in her head suggested a bone-tired weariness.
Then she remembered everything, in a swirling rush, and her pulse ratcheted up another notch as she realized Sinclair was no longer there with her. Which meant—
The tent flap opened, and Sinclair’s face appeared in the gap. “The Coopers have coffee going. Want some?”
“God, yes,” she muttered, trying to hide her relief at seeing him.
She must not have succeeded, for as he helped her ease her aching body through the narrow tent door, he whispered, “You seem surprised to see me.”
She managed a smirk, not willing to let him see just how glad she was to find him still here instead of off in the woods somewhere playing martyr. “Not really. I just figured I’d wake up to find you hog-tied somewhere after the Coopers caught you trying to breach their perimeter.”
“Hannah’s got a sort of latrine set up behind her tent. Thought you might prefer that to a bush in the woods.” He arched his eyebrows at her as he pointed her toward Hannah’s tent, making her smile a genuine smile.
When she returned to the campsite, Sinclair had a cup of coffee and a cereal bar waiting for her. There were also more people in the camp, she saw with surprise—more Coopers, by the looks of them. They eyed her with curiosity while Jesse Cooper made the introductions.
“Ava, this is my sister Isabel and her husband, Ben, my cousin J.D. and his wife, Natalie. Izzy and Ben are Cooper Security agents. J.D. flies our company bird, and Natalie is a deputy sheriff.” He nodded at Ava. “This is Special Agent Ava Trent with the FBI.”
“Don’t pretend you’ll remember us all.” Natalie stepped forward with a quirky grin to shake Ava’s hand. She was a tall, muscular woman with friendly green eyes and a mane of wavy auburn hair pulled back in a utilitarian ponytail. “I still get them all mixed up after two years.”
“Maybe y’all should wear name tags,” Ava answered with a smile as she sat in one of the camp chairs Sinclair had procured for her. They huddled in a semicircle around a small kerosene camp stove that was heating a fresh pot of coffee.
“We’ll take that into consideration.” Jesse’s smile belied the sharp watchfulness in his blue eyes. As she’d noticed the night before, he seemed to carry his role as CEO with him wherever he went, taking charge with the ease of a man used to command. Probably former military, she surmised, taking in his straight spine and broad shoulders. Marine, maybe. Or Special Forces. A man who exuded competence and authority.
Gabe Cooper was looking marginally better that morning after several hours of sleep. Having his siblings around seemed to infuse him with extra energy as well, adding a little spring to his limping gait as he settled in the folding chair next to his twin, Jake. He looked across the small circle at Sinclair for a long moment before speaking.
“I want my wife away from that crazy bastard Cabrera. And it may not be fair of me to say so, Solano, but I’m willing to let you take a risk with your life to get her back.”
Ava put her hand on Sinclair’s arm and shook her head. “It’s not a smart plan.”
“With all due respect,” Jesse said in a quiet but firm tone, “you haven’t actually heard our plan yet.”
Biting back a retort, she pinned her gaze on the Cooper Security CEO. “So spill it.”
He met her gaze without flinching, his expression hovering between annoyance and amusement. “We set up the exchange with Cabrera. A neutral meeting spot. Armed escort for Solano.”
She shook her head. “Not good enough.”
“I’m not finished.”
Sinclair put his hand on her knee, giving it a light squeeze. “Let him talk. I’d like to know what he’s got in mind myself.”
“You don’t know?” She shot him a look of surprise. She’d assumed Sinclair and the Coopers had discussed everything while she was sleeping and were presenting it to her as a fait accompli.
Jesse walked over to stand in front of Ava and Sinclair. “Solano, you can say no. We’d rather you didn’t, but we’re not going to shanghai you into playing bait against your will.”
“Speak for yourself,” Gabe muttered.
Jesse slanted a warning look at his cousin. “We think Cabrera will bring an armed contingent with him, as well. In fact, we’ll offer that as a part of the deal—we’ll have five armed people escorting Solano. He can bring the same number for himself.”
“He has seven men left, if we’re right about how many he brought with him,” Ava murmured.
“He’s fond of even numbers,” Quinn said, echoing what Sinclair had told her before. “I’d guess he brought an even dozen. That comports with what Gabe saw before he was dragged out of the camp.”
“We figure he’ll leave two in camp to guard Alicia,” Jesse added.
“Ah,” Solano murmured.
“We go in the back door, overpower the two remaining guards and get Alicia out of there,” Jesse finished.
Ava nodded, realizing it was a pretty good plan. At least, it would be if Cabrera fell for it. And if they were right about how many remaining men Cabrera had with him.
More ifs than she liked.
“Cabrera may not go for it,” Sinclair warned, echoing Ava’s concerns.
“I think he’ll risk it to get his hands on you.” It was Luke Cooper who spoke that time, in a low voice that rang with certainty. “I know how people like Cabrera think. Believe me, I’ve had experience with blood vendettas.”
He was that Cooper, Ava thought. The one targeted by Eladio Cordero. He’d tangled twice with Cordero and Los Tiburones and lived to tell.
“He’ll take any chance to get his hands on you,” Luke continued. “He won’t be able to help himself.”
Sinclair shook his head, his dark eyes troubled. “What keeps him and his men from killing the lot of you as soon as they set eyes on you?”
“It’s a chance we’re willing to take to get Alicia out of there alive,” Jesse answered for his cousin. “And we’ve got better weapons now, too.” He nodded toward his cousin J.D., who started handing out rifles and ammunition magazines. AR-15s, mostly, fitted with high-capacity magazines, similar to those some of Cabrera’s men carried. “This should make us at least even. Gabe says they don’t seem to be wearing protective vests, so they’re not going to be invulnerable to our bullets.”
“You’re talking about a paramilitary assault in the middle of Tennessee,” Ava protested.
“Yes. We are.” Jesse met her gaze without flinching. “Can you deal with it?”
As much as she didn’t want to admit it, she knew what he and the others were planning was quite possibly the only workable solution to their problem. The FBI couldn’t take the same risks to save Alicia that the Coopers would. And the Coopers were a hell of a lot more motivated than the government to get Alicia out alive.
“Okay,” she said after a long pause. “But I want in on it.”
“You’re injured,” Sinclair protested, closing his hand more tightly around her knee.
“I’m fine,” she disagreed, ignoring the twinge in her hip. “And I have no intention of twiddling my thumbs in the tent while everyone else gets in on the action.”
“Actually,” Jesse said, “if you’re good with a rifle, we could use another person on the extraction team.”
“No,” Sinclair said.
“Cabrera won’t take women seriously,” Luke explained. “So we’re putting all men on the front team. J.D., Jesse, Rick, Jake and Ben will go with you. Riley took a bullet hit last night, so he and Hannah stay here with Gabe.”
“Oh, hell, no,” Gabe growled. “You’re not benching me.”
“Gabe, you’re not in any condition to be an asset. You stay here,” J.D. said firmly. “Riley and Hannah stay with you. You three guard the camp and call for reinforcements if things go belly-up.”
“Natalie, Quinn, Luke and I were going to be the extraction team at Cabrera’s camp,” Jesse’s sister Isabel said. She was tall and slim, with deep brown hair pulled back in a ponytail like Natalie’s and eyes the color of strong tea. It took a moment for Ava to realize she’d met Isabel before, several years ago.
“You were an FBI agent,” she blurted as Isabel’s gaze met hers. “We met at a conference six years ago.”
Isabel nodded. “I wondered if you’d remember.”
Her heart contracted as she remembered something else about the former FBI agent. “Oh, God. Your partner was killed in that explosion in Maryland, wasn’t he?”
“Um, actually—” Isabel’s husband, Ben, cleared his throat.
“My partner.” Isabel waved her hand toward Ben with a quirk of a smile on her face. “Not so dead after all.” She slanted a look at Sinclair. “Seems to be a lot of that going around.”
Apparently, Ava thought. “So, if I join the extraction team, that’s five against hopefully two.”
“The more the better,” Jesse said. “In case we’re wrong about how many men Cabrera has with him.”
“Ava is injured,” Sinclair said sharply. “She took a bullet to the hip.”
“It was a scratch,” she protested as the Coopers all turned to look at her. “It’s already healing.”
Luke gave her a considering look. “Will it stop you from being useful in the raid on the camp? Tell me the truth.”
“It’s painful, but it’s not debilitating. I can do the job.”
Sinclair caught her arm and pulled her aside. “It’s not just your wound you need to think about,” he said quietly. “If you participate in this raid, you could get in serious trouble with the FBI.”
“I know,” she answered. “But I can’t sit here while y’all risk your lives to get Alicia back. I didn’t join the FBI to be hamstrung by rules.” She’d been thinking about that aspect of her job for a while now, especially on the days when it seemed she spent more time filling out forms than solving crimes. “I’ll deal with the fallout when it comes. But for now, I need to be useful. There are lives at stake. And if we can take out Cabrera here and now, that could save a whole lot of lives back in Sanselmo, as well.”
He brushed his knuckles against her cheek, his touch light but the expression on his face dark with emotion. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“I don’t want anything to happen to me, either,” she said with a lopsided smile that made his lips curve in response. “Trust me that I know what I’m doing. I’ve been on raids before.” She didn’t elaborate that most of them had been carefully controlled scenarios during training. The training was still valid, and she knew what to do. “I can do this.”
“If we’re going to do this, we need to start getting everything set up now,” Jesse Cooper warned from a few feet away.
Ava turned to face him. “Then let’s do it.”
* * *
BY 9:00 A.M., Jesse Cooper was ready to make the radio call to Cabrera’s camp. The others gathered close around him while he thumbed the speaker switch and spoke Spanish into the radio microphone.
After a long pause, the radio crackled, and a voice on the other end asked in guttural Spanish who was contacting them.
“I want to speak to Cabrera,” Jesse answered. “Only Cabrera.”
There was another pause before a second voice came over the radio. “I am Cabrera,” the voice declared. Jesse looked at Sinclair.
Sinclair nodded, his chest tightening at the sound of his old foe’s voice.
“This is Jesse Cooper. We have Sinclair Solano. We’re willing to trade him fo
r Alicia Cooper, but we must have evidence that she is still alive and well. Put her on the radio.”
“You don’t make the rules.” Cabrera’s tone was pure arrogance, fitting the man Sinclair remembered. “How do I know this is not a trick?”
“We have one of your radios, so you know we’ve dispatched one of your men,” Jesse said coolly. “But if you want to speak to Solano, that can be arranged.” He looked up at Sinclair, raising one dark eyebrow.
Sinclair nodded and took the radio. “Cabrera. You want me, you can have me, but only if you let Alicia go.”
“Your sister is a beautiful woman,” Cabrera said in a tone designed to make Sinclair’s skin crawl. Across from him, Gabe Cooper lurched out of his camp chair, held back by his brothers Jake and Luke. Jesse shot his cousin a warning look.
“You’re a lot of things,” Sinclair said in a voice far calmer than the rage boiling inside his chest, “but you’re not a deviant. I have your word as a soldier that you haven’t touched her in an inappropriate way?”
“As you say,” Cabrera said, “I am not a deviant. She is our guest.”
“Then let her go. I will come to you willingly if you let her go.”
“I cannot afford to believe you, Sinclair. You have not been the most honorable of men in the past, have you?”
He supposed, from Cabrera’s point of view, that fact was inarguable. “I have betrayed you and El Cambio. But I’m willing to face your justice now if you will let my sister go unharmed.”
“In due time,” Cabrera said. “I assume you have an offer more reasonable than the one you just gave me?”
Jesse took the radio from Sinclair. “We’ll bring Sinclair to a neutral place in the woods. There’s a partial clearing we found last night.” He rattled off some coordinates; Sinclair guessed one of the perimeter teams had scouted out a place for the exchange the night before and marked down the GPS coordinates. “I have five men with me besides Solano. You may bring five men of your own. We’ll meet and make the exchange.”
“We will meet,” Cabrera agreed after a pause that lasted so long Sinclair feared the terrorist leader had decided to end the conversation abruptly. Releasing his breath, he sought and found Ava’s dark-eyed gaze. Her lips curved in a scared smile, and he closed his hands into fists to keep from grabbing her and pulling her into his arms right here in front of the Coopers.