“Where are we going?”
“There’s a back way out of here that’s pretty well hidden. It has a gate and everything. I can’t figure out if it’s Abbas’ private escape hatch in case of trouble or if one of the owners put it there. Anyway, I scoped it out the first day I was here.” He tugged her along with him, crab-walking as they moved. “I have a car stashed there.”
Nicki’s hand clenched over his momentarily in surprise.
“You just happened to find this secret exit? And have a car there? Is that part of your usual activity when you take a vacation?”
They had traveled a decent distance and no one seemed to be around. Adam stopped and faced her. “You and I both know what I’m doing here is no fucking vacation. And even if it was, old habits die hard. I never leave myself without an escape hatch. So come on.”
Twenty tense, mind-numbing minutes more and they reached the farthest boundary of the resort grounds. The tall, chain-link fence was artfully disguised with the tropical shrubbery, but even more impressive was the way the gate had been camouflaged. Unless one knew where to look.
Adam probed the glossy green leaves covering it until his fingers found what he was looking for. Apparently he’d already done what he needed to because in seconds the gate swung open and he hauled her through it. In seconds they were in the dark green SUV hidden among tall plants, Adam had kicked over the engine and they were pulling away from the resort.
“How can you even tell where you’re going?” she wanted to know. She had the feeling they were driving blind.
“Trust me. We’re golden.”
And apparently they were because ten minutes later they pulled out of the jungle onto a wide place on the shoulder. Adam eased the SUV onto the highway and presto! they were part of the traffic moving along at a good clip.
“So, on this so-called vacation of yours,” Nicki said slowly, “did you have a next stop in mind?”
Adam chuckled, a deep, gravelly sound. “Guadalajara. Sound good to you?”
Nicki was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that nothing in this clusterfuck was the way it seemed. “Sure. Any place is good. But first I have something to tell you.”
Whatever she expected after her brief recitation of the facts, it wasn’t just a nod of his head. “I know.”
“You know?” She practically screamed the word. “So you knew I was being set up?”
“Not exactly. But I knew there was a connection here to Calderon, and that he was an integral part of the drug machinery.” His mouth tightened in a caricature of a grin. “I just didn’t expect a surprise package like you.”
“I’d say we need to get the hell out of Mexico. We know the partners are involved but we won’t find the answers here. We need to tackle them in their own lairs.” She sighed in frustration. “If I hadn’t lost all my gear back there I could contact my office and set up an extraction.”
Adam was silent for a long moment, his eyes focused on the road ahead. “I think you need to get out of here. Your safety is compromised.”
She gave a short laugh. “And yours isn’t?”
“Uh-uh. No one knows why I’m here. And I’m not leaving until I get what I came for.”
“You connected the dots and the line on the deadly drugs led you directly to Calderon,” she guessed.
“You got it.”
“And your owner contact got you into the resort as a ‘vacationer’. Burnt-out spy. Whatever.” She nibbled her lower lip. “Wait. You suspected he was involved, didn’t you.”
“I plead the fifth.” The casual tone belied the tension riding him.
“Ah. Not with me, you can’t. This is turning out to be a bigger bowl of spaghetti than you thought, isn’t it?” When he didn’t say anything she went on, “You can’t do this alone, Adam.
His hands tightened on the wheel. “I do very well alone. Believe me.”
“Okay, but think about this for a minute. Now you have me. And all the resources of Nemesis. We can regroup at my ranch, get whatever we need and create a real plan together.”
“This isn’t your fight.” His voice was tight, edgy.
“The hell it isn’t!”
“Look! I won’t have you killed because you and I are involved!”
“I am involved. With or without you! Calderon wants me dead, so my only recourse is to take him down first. And you know as well as I do the dots here can wander in many directions. How do they distribute the drugs? What’s their system? If it’s international all the owners could be involved.”
“I already thought of that.”
“So. We need a plan and we need resources.” She rested a hand on his thigh. “I want to help you, Adam. Don’t think you have to do this alone. And I’m no novice, believe me.”
He was silent for so long she wasn’t sure he was ever going to answer her. Finally he blew out a long, slow breath.
“All right. But this is a shared op. We both call the shots.”
“Agreed.”
“Then let’s get to Guadalajara. I know a cheap motel. Secluded. Private. And I’ve got a secure phone you can use to call your office.” He slid his eyes over to her. “This is going to be a bumpy ride, Nicki.”
She laughed, for the first time since the explosion. “Aren’t they all?”
* * * * *
The motel was buried among many others in a slightly seedy part of Guadalajara, the room a carbon copy of so many others she’d used for just this purpose. Hardly an icon for the cultural center of the Mexican state of Jalisco. Nicki had been to this part of Mexico before, as a tourist following another case, visiting the historic buildings and cathedrals and riding through the countryside that reminded her so much of the Texas Hill Country.
But they weren’t here as tourists and the more anonymous the motel room the better off they were.
“We’re good to go,” she told Adam, turning off the special secure phone he’d lent her. She hadn’t been the least surprised to learn he had a fully supplied go-bag stashed in the back of the SUV. A phone. A laptop. What else might he have, she wondered as she told him, “Extraction will be in the morning just at sunrise.” She handed him the slip of paper on which she’d written the coordinates.
Adam sat down at the rickety desk and powered up his netbook, entered the information and pinpointed the exact location.
“No sweat,” he told her. “I know the spot. There’s a small plateau between two short hills, and even a place to leave the SUV.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Doesn’t someone have to pick it up?”
“They will. Not a problem.” He closed the little computer, stood up and stretched. “That leaves us with some time to kill before we have to leave.”
“My.” She smiled. “Whatever shall we do?”
“Well, we could have some food.” He grinned, a wicked gleam in his eyes. “We need more to eat than each other.”
Nicki chuckled, but heat surged through her body as it remembered the feel of his mouth. “There must be a cheap store around here.”
“Taking a shower is first on my list.” He picked her up easily in his arms. “Yours, too.”
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Are you trying to tell me I need a bath?”
He elbowed aside the shower curtain, balanced her on one knee and turned on the water. “No. I’m trying to tell you that I can’t wait to see that sweet pussy slick with soap.”
Moisture instantly soaked the crotch of her thong and a whisper of heat skittered over her skin. Her muscles still remembered the feel of Adam’s thick hard cock in her cunt, stretching her, filling her.
Letting the water run, Adam stood her on her feet and peeled her out of her clothes.
“Do you know how fucking hard I’ve been sitting next to you and remembering what that sweet little cunt of yours feels like? How soft the curls are around it? The taste of your nipples in my mouth?”
Her attraction, their sex, was just like the first time. And the second. In
stant, hard heat. Sizzling heat. Carnal heat. Desire that erupted like a geyser, bathing both of them. It couldn’t be too hard or too fast. Nicki pressed her hips against him, seeking the steely length of his cock, rubbing herself back and forth against the rigid planes of his body.
His warm hands moved to cup her breasts. His mouth surrounded a nipple, pulling and sucking. He shifted so his knee edged between her thighs, pressing hard against the moist heat of her pussy. Nicki moaned, a delicious sound of pleasure that echoed at the back of her throat, and arched herself into him.
Adam sucked first one nipple, then the other and each hardened to the point of painful pleasure. All the while he was busy caressing her hips, her tummy and teasing her with deft touches to her bush. When he released her nipple he knelt on the tile and reverently spread the lips of her pussy with his lean fingers.
“You have the most gorgeous lips, beautiful. Pink and pouty and slick now with that cream that tastes like champagne. I could eat you for breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
Her legs shaking under the assault of his tongue, Nicki had to brace herself with her hands on his shoulders and lean back against the small counter as he pressed his open mouth over her cunt. He licked every bit of her labia and then nipped at her already sensitive clit.
“Do it,” she ordered. “Don’t tease.”
His laugh vibrated through her body. “But I love to taunt you. You are so responsive.”
“You want responsive? Fuck me, and I’ll show you responsive.”
“We were made for each other, honey. But one of these times it won’t be hard, fast and furious. One of these times I’m going to take hours to enjoy your body.” He nipped and she gasped. “And let you enjoy mine. But in the meantime…”
Two fingers slid into the channel of her pussy and he pulled on her clit with his teeth. Nicki exploded, the climax taking her by surprise. She held on for dear life until the shudders subsided, then tried to settle her breathing. When she looked down at Adam he was smiling up at her, his lips slick with her cream.
“God. I’ve looked for a woman like you all my life. Don’t go anywhere anytime soon.”
“As if I could,” she breathed.
She watched through heavy-lidded eyes as he stripped off his own clothes, then reached into the pocket of his shorts to retrieve a condom.
“After fucking you the first time I figured I’d better be prepared.” He kissed her, hard, his tongue probing into her mouth carrying with it the flavor of her musk. “Come on. Into the shower.”
She stepped in, eager as a cat in heat. He reached for her instantly. His hands massaged lather into her, starting at her shoulders, working their way down her breasts, tweaking her nipples, rimming the tiny folds of flesh in her navel. Nudging her thighs apart he paid careful attention to every bit of her cunt, sliding his fingers inside and scissoring them to catch her sweet spot. Again she could do nothing but hold on for the ride as heat sizzled through her and lust encased her in an erotic fog.
He paid as much attention to her back, kneading the muscles as he worked his way down to her waist. When he reached the globes of her buttocks he bent for a moment to nip each one lightly, then slipped his fingers through the cleft. She heard herself moan again as he teased at the tight ring of muscle at her anus, almost begging him to take her there.
His low laugh against her ear was filled with need. “Later. When we’re in a time and place to do it right. But it will be my pleasure, beautiful. Believe me.”
He turned her to face him again, handing her the soap.
“What?”
“Your turn.“
Her hands were shaking as she returned the favor, soaping his body, scraping her fingers across his nipples, loving the way he caught his breath when she did. But it was the tightening of his body when she grabbed his cock that made the inner muscles of her pussy quiver in anticipation. Thick and long and hard, with its swollen plum-colored head, his penis was a living thing in her hand and she stroked and caressed and squeezed. When she dipped her hand between his thighs to cup his sac he grabbed her wrists.
“You send all my control straight to hell,” he said between clenched teeth.
Reaching past the shower curtain, he found the condom and rolled it on.
“Spread your legs,” he commanded as his strong hands lifted her.
Nicki spread them wide and he lowered her onto his shaft with one quick plunge. Nicki wrapped her legs around him, pulling him closer. He tightened his hands on her waist and pounded into her as if this was the last time he’d ever get to do this.
“Look at me, Nicki.”
She opened her eyes, aroused even more by the sight of him like some dark god with the water pouring down his face and body, pistoning into her again and again.
“Tell me what you want, Nicki.”
She sucked in a breath. “Fuck me. Hard.”
“My pleasure.”
He leaned her against the tiled wall and pounded into her, again and again. She felt his big body tighten as her own release blasted up through her and they exploded together. His cock flexed with each spurt of semen as the walls of her pussy clenched and milked him. The spasms rocketed through her hard and fast, stealing her breath, until at last they died into aftershocks.
He was still holding her tightly when her legs slid down his thighs to the floor. She stood there shaking while he rinsed them off, turned off the water and grabbed two bath towels. When they were dry he lifted her out of the tub and carried her to the bed.
“I think we need a little rest before we head out for some food,” he told her.
Nicki looked at him and burst out laughing. “Ya think?”
Chapter Six
Nicki gazed out the chopper window down at the familiar sight of her compound, the headquarters of Nemesis, her security company. Nestled into the rugged hills of central Texas, the main building consisted of fourteen thousand square feet resembling a modern ranch house. Few could tell, from the road or the air, that inside were housed the most efficient state-of-the-art communications systems and the finest experts to run them. One of the two out-buildings of stucco and limestone contained back-up generators to independently power the compound, while the other stored an arsenal of weaponry only a few security firms in the world could rival for quality and quantity.
“Nice,” Adam complimented her, squeezing her hand. “I should have heard about you long ago.”
She smiled at him. “I’ll introduce you around. Show you the sights.”
His gaze zeroed in on her lips and he whispered so the pilot couldn’t hear. “I’ve seen the best already and I love ’em.”
She elbowed him.
Soon, they were climbing down, and striding along the path to the main building.
She led the way. “I’ve been dreaming of owning my own company for years. Started this almost five years ago. Growth has been swift, given the current state of the world’s troubles. But only in the past three years has Nemesis really blossomed. Great clients. Wonderful new additions to my staff. Meanwhile, so many other security firms have come under a cloud.”
“Corruption charges. Operatives who are loose cannons in the field. Gives private ops a big bad name,” Adam said as he took note of the profusion of live oaks and yucca amid the rocky landscaping leading to the wide front doors.
“Right. So I have strict procedures. Strict ethics. One misstep and a consultant is severed. No questions. No excuses. Gone, baby, gone.”
Adam swung open the front door for her and let her precede him. “Good practice.”
“Saves lives,” she told him as she beckoned him down the hall with a nod in one direction. “And a lot of heartache. In here,” she told him and opened the heavy door to her private office.
He whistled as he measured the thickness of the metal door. “Are all the doors this tempered steel?”
“Every one. No one can get to us. Or me.” She caught a lift of his brows. “Except you,” she murmured and gave him a smile. “
Straighten up, Molloy.” She spun and smiled at her assistant. “Say hello to Catrina Cardoza. Hey, Cat. Meet Mr. Adam Molloy.”
The young woman stood and grinned at Nicki, then handed her a stack of neatly opened mail and a glass of sparkling water. “Hello, Mister Molloy, welcome. Nicki, you’ve got Maddie and Dan Foreman in your private conference room, as you requested and you can call Ridge Tarleton whenever you want. He said to emphasize that, once I told him you were on your way in.”
“Good to know. Thanks, Cat.”
“Mister Molloy, would you like a drink? Anything to eat?” Cat’s dark brown gaze traveled over his rumpled clothes. “Anything? Name it.”
“Sure. Now that you mention it. How about a pastrami sandwich on rye, a bottle of Johnnie Walker Red and a glass?”
Nicki had to chuckle. “Make that two sandwiches and two glasses, Cat. Come on inside,” she told Adam. “My lair.”
“You shock me,” he told her after she closed the door behind him. His hands on his hips, he surveyed the room. “When you said the latest technology, I really didn’t expect you to rival our setup in Jerusalem.”
She grinned as she took her chair behind her large granite-topped steel desk. “Actually, I’ve been told we rival the toys that the boys at NSA have at Fort Meade.”
“Never been there. But I believe it!” He sank into a chair opposite her. “Cozy.”
She pressed a button and a screen opened on the far wall. “For teleconferencing. Similar system to what’s in Camp David and the Secure Room under 1600 Pennsylvania. Over here—” she clicked on another screen for him to swivel and admire, “a traffic monitoring system for most major cities where we have client operations in progress.”
“Isn’t that illegal in the States?”
She nodded. “It is. But all of these are in cities outside the country. Addis Ababa. Singapore. Sana’i.”
He got a horrible look of delight on his face. “No wonder you get big bucks. The worst hellholes in the world and you are monitoring them like hawks.”
“Make no mistake. When we find something that we think the Feds or Interpol should know, we share. Good intelligence is all about being a team player. Gets you where you want to be.”
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