Unmasking the Mercenary
Page 19
Odie blinked a few times, as though trying to conceal her fracturing effort to hide the turmoil building in her. It was quite a sight. Haley felt like she was watching history unfold. “They don’t come with any complicated baggage.” She paused as though debating whether to continue. Her vigorous personality overruled. “Other than a nauseating fondness for detail.”
Haley laughed. “You aren’t getting married, Odie. You might make it to the altar, but you won’t get to the ‘I Do’ part.”
Rem stepped into his condo in Taos, New Mexico, unable to shake the lasting knowledge that Haley was no different than anyone else he’d encountered. Just like the rest, she didn’t understand him. Just when he’d begun to trust her. It annoyed him that he’d allowed himself to fall for her so hard.
He took two stairs at a time up to his bedroom. A platform bed barely filled the space of the large room, although it was king-size. He had one dresser and nothing on the walls. He hadn’t lived there long enough to make it feel like home. Pulling a carry-on-sized luggage from his closet, he put it on the bed and paused.
Looking at his walls again, white, bland and bare, it struck him that he’d never spent much time here. Once he’d found the place in Monrovia, he’d settled right in. But here, in the States, where so much of his childhood haunted him, he’d never opened his heart to risking a life here.
Funny, how easy it had been to risk a life in places like Monrovia. Meeting Haley had melted a little of that armor. He supposed he’d still been too frozen to see it until now. Until she had to go and turn out like all the rest. Or had she? He’d never given her a chance to talk to him when he’d left. Not liking where his thoughts were headed, he began tossing his belongings into the bag, irritation making his movements more forceful than necessary.
This had happened to him before. He’d met women who ran as soon as they figured out he wasn’t ordinary, but there was one, six years ago, who’d wormed her way into his heart the way Haley had. But she couldn’t handle what he was. What he did. His actions weren’t enough. The label said it all. It was the only affirmation she’d needed. Mercenary. He was a merc. She’d never gotten past it and she’d ended up running. Haley would never know how accurate she’d been about the clothes.
She’d also never know that getting over her would hurt a lot more than the one who’d worn the clothes before her. It would take a long time to forget Haley. But some day he would. It’s what he always did. He moved on. He did the best he could and he moved forward.
Continuing to pack what little he’d need, he eased his mind off the woman who’d haunt it for God only knew how long. Aside from feeling the loss of Haley, there was the grave news that Cullen had imparted. The DEA. After him. In his wildest desires for revenge, he’d never seen that one coming. But it wasn’t surprising. Farid was on the U.S. government’s radar. They’d likely been watching Dane Charter and that was how they’d put it all together. Rem should have considered the possibility that he was being watched by someone other than those affiliated with Dane and Ammar.
It hardly mattered now. What did matter was securing his future. He was practiced in that. It was something he was good at. Nothing he’d aspired to, but the talent was there nonetheless.
He’d go back to Monrovia until he figured out what to do. He’d lay low for a while and see what happened. Move if he had to. Haley knew where to find his villa. She might lead the law to him.
Just the thought of her tightened his chest. He hadn’t thought he’d gotten so tangled with her. Maybe it wasn’t so much the way he felt about her as it was her easy sway to Cullen’s side of things. After all her persuasions. Her taunts and comparisons. Why couldn’t she accept him the way he was?
Again, the nagging sensation that something was off came over him. What if he was wrong?
Chapter 15
It was different being in Monrovia this time. Haley listened to her bare feet tread lazily over the cool tile floor of Rem’s dining area, licking the icy berry flavor of a frozen Popsicle. She’d already taken a swim in his pool and raided his freezer. It was hot today. She felt naked in her bikini, all by herself, but there was a bounce to her slow, leisurely step; she felt more feminine than she’d felt in a long, long time. And more secure. That was the difference. Her future was less of an unknown now.
She knew Rem was here, in Monrovia. Odie had been right. Haley had found his things in his room and the kitchen was newly stocked. There were dishes in the sink. But she was glad he hadn’t been here when she’d charmed his guard into letting her in. It gave her time to acclimate. And prepare for facing Rem with his lifelong struggle of living on the wrong side but acting on the right.
The sound of the front door’s lock turning jarred her pulse into a gasping rhythm and stilled her at the same time. Rem stepped inside. He saw her and stopped, swinging the door shut as he stared. She couldn’t find her voice. It had been almost two weeks since she’d last seen him.
“How did you get in here?” he asked, his tone flat and unwelcoming.
She had to squelch the urge to throw herself against him and plant kisses all over his face. It was so good to see him again. “Your guard let me in.”
He didn’t say anything else. Didn’t ask why she was here, didn’t greet her. Not that she expected him to.
“Rem—”
“You wasted your time coming here.” He walked toward her, dumping his keys on the dining room table before standing in front of her.
“I know it was Ammar who killed your sister,” she blurted.
“Is that what you came here to tell me?”
“Yes. I also came to tell you that I never stopped believing in you.”
He smirked at her.
She stepped closer and put her hand on his chest. “I never doubted you, Rem. You didn’t give me a chance to tell you that at TES headquarters.”
When he moved back, out of her reach, the rejection stabbed her heart. But she wasn’t going to back down. “There’s just one thing I don’t understand.”
“What’s that? Why I didn’t take money from Ammar?”
“No. Why didn’t you go after Dane yourself?”
He took in her face for a few seconds, as though trying to gauge where she was headed with this.
“Ammar said he knew where to find him,” he finally said.
“That’s what you told Cullen and me. But did you find Dane?”
“No.”
“What happened?”
“Ammar gave me an address and the name Charter supposedly took on. But I never found him. I kept looking, and one thing led to another, until I finally discovered he was murdered the night my sister was killed.”
“So Ammar lied to you.”
“To get his drugs back.”
“Which you gave to him.” He had to know how bad that looked.
The same anger and resentment she’d seen in him the day he’d left her at TES headquarters radiated in his eyes now.
“Rem, I never stopped believing in you,” she repeated, imploring. Somehow she had to make him understand. “I always knew you wouldn’t have done what Farid claimed. Not without a good reason. You should know that. You should know by now that I wouldn’t believe anything Farid said.”
“It’s too late, Haley.”
“No.” Tears burned her eyes. He was going to shut her out.
A stillness came over him. His eyes still fired their wonderful light, but a calmness, a resignation seemed to take over. “It is. Let me show you why.” He turned. “Follow me.”
She did, her heart beating heavy with dread. He had yet one more surprise in store for her, and she was so afraid it would mean the end of them. For good.
He went into his office and opened the closet door. He glanced at her.
She looked from him to the closet. A safe was on the floor, not concealed, just pushed back in a corner, under the hang of his shirts.
Rem spun the dial with his combination. The door opened. And inside, piles of a cash were
plainly visible.
He looked up at her over his shoulder.
“What is that?” she asked.
“Ammar sold the drugs I gave him, but he never got to do anything with the money.”
She stared at him as it all fell into place. Rem had given Ammar the drugs in exchange for information. Somehow, he’d stolen the money Ammar had made when he’d sold the drugs. Ammar had never received the money.
“And he couldn’t get the money back from you.”
Rem shook his head.
“And then you stole the diamonds.”
“I would have taken anything from them that would have made them money.”
“Rem…” She could think of nothing else to utter. She wiped her cheek.
“It would never work, Haley.”
It would. Didn’t he see? “I love you,” she whispered.
He looked up at her for a timeless moment. Then he turned toward the closet and pulled a briefcase from the top of the safe. Opening it, he started putting the money inside.
He wasn’t even going to acknowledge what she’d just said.
“I want you to give it to Cullen and ask him to pass it on to that DEA agent who took pictures of me with Ammar,” he said as he worked.
“You can do that yourself.”
He finished putting the money into the briefcase and put it by her feet. Then he stood.
“I was wondering how I was going to get the money into the right hands. So I guess it’s good you came here.”
“Rem, stop this.” She moved closer and put both hands on his chest. “Don’t let your pride stop you from having what you know you want.”
He reached for her wrists. She slid her hands around to his back, not letting him push her away. He put his hands on each of her arms.
“Cullen asked me to tell you he wants to work out a deal between TES and Pioneer Security Consultants,” she said.
He seemed wary and didn’t say anything.
“He knows the truth as much as I do,” she went on.
“The truth, huh?”
“Yes.”
“And what truth would that be?”
“You already know. You’ve always known. You just have a hard time accepting it.”
“What. That I’m the next great American hero?” He grunted.
“Yes,” she said with a straight face. “Will you agree to it? Will you work with Cullen?”
“Haley…” He started to push her away, but she clamped her fingers together behind his back.
“What are you so afraid of?”
“I’m not afraid.”
“What’s stopping you, then?”
His lips pressed closed and he just looked down at her. She saw his desire to believe her along with his reticence.
She rose up onto her toes and brought her lips close to his. “Maybe you need some more convincing.” She touched his mouth with hers.
His hands on her arms tightened.
“I love you,” she whispered. “I do.”
She moved back a fraction, just enough to see his eyes.
“What are you going to do about that?” she asked, kissing him again.
“What do you want me to do?”
She heard his breathing come faster and smiled against his mouth. “Tell me you love me, too.”
He slid his hands around to her back and pulled her harder against his body. Then he just looked down at her, breathing through his mouth, a storm of wavering passion in his eyes.
“You’re the damnedest woman I’ve ever met.”
“Does that mean you see what an ass you’ve been?”
“Maybe a little.” He kissed her.
“Tell me I was right.”
His lips curved into a grin as he kissed her more. “You were right.”
She didn't think he completely believed it, but he would. Eventually.
Smiling at his stubbornness, she opened her mouth over his and kissed him harder. “Now, tell me you love me.”
“I love you,” he rasped.
She threw her arms over his shoulders and folded them behind his neck.
“Does this mean you’ll marry me?” he asked.
“Anytime, anywhere.”
“Good. But I have one condition.”
“What.” She kissed him again. “Anything.”
“You work intel where it’s safe.”
That was easy. “Agreed. Yes. Where it’s safe.”
“Where it’s safe, Haley.”
“Yes, where it’s safe.” No more putting herself in danger to overcome her weaknesses. And Rem would never have to doubt what anyone thought of him again. She could feel the change in him, the acceptance of a truth that had been inside him all along. A truth that only she could have unleashed.
When he lifted her, she wrapped her legs around him and he carried her toward his bedroom, alive with a love that had conquered the darkness in them both. She wanted to celebrate that love with Rem. Right now. And for the rest of her life.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5239-8
UNMASKING THE MERCENARY
Copyright © 2010 by Jennifer Morey
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*All McQueen’s Men
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