by Debra Webb
Jeez, now he was playing dirty. She’d just have to use another tactic. Anything to keep him from guessing her true feelings and to keep this conversation out of even more dangerous territory.
“A guilty conscience will do that, you know. Haunt you.”
That persistent thumb stopped, but he didn’t let go.
“That was part of it,” he confessed.
She looked at him then. Stared hard through the semidarkness. If his voice hadn’t sounded so raw…so wounded, she might have been able to pretend his attention was just a game…a way to pass the time and distract her from the call she wanted to make.
But she couldn’t pretend. She knew what she’d heard.
“You knew where I was.” That she’d let the hurt and vulnerability come out in that statement made her want to snatch back the words. But it was true. There was no denying how she felt on that score.
“You were safe. I didn’t want to disrupt the careful world you’d built. I couldn’t take that risk, Nessa. Olivia,” he amended. “You’d been through enough. As much as I wanted to be with you, I wanted you safe even more.”
Okay. Enough. She was not going there right now. “Whatever you say.”
He exhaled a heavy breath. She refused to shift her attention from their target again even if her curiosity was killing her to analyze his expression.
“I don’t know what to say to convince you except that, even when I watched you allow Jeffrey into your life, I couldn’t be with anyone else.”
Disbelief, confusion and so many other emotions that she couldn’t separate one from the other rushed over her. She couldn’t quantify the revelation. Three years and no one…he’d stayed faithful to her? How was she supposed to process that information?
“I can’t talk about this right now.” It was too much to expect.
All she’d learned in the study of the human psyche escaped her at the moment. She couldn’t comprehend the scope of his admission. Completely unexpected. Had she really meant that much to him? There was a time when she’d thought so. She wrestled her thoughts back to the matter at hand, watching for a reaction from Echols.
For several moments Landry said nothing more. She spent some of that time stealing glimpses of his profile as night’s shadows slowly gave way to gray light. Those lean, chiseled angles that had once driven her crazy with desire made her want to reach out and touch him just to make sure he was real. He was here. He’d come to help her…to protect her. He’d been watching her all this time. Calling just to hear the sound of her voice.
“You were the one, Nessa,” he said softly, his gaze still dead ahead. “I didn’t expect to have to go on with my life without you.”
All the guilt she had hoped he’d felt for the past three years suddenly dumped on her shoulders.
“The truth is,” she anted up, “I did what I had to do in an effort to erase the memory of you.” There. She’d said it.
She battled with the emotions twisting inside. Why the hell had she let this conversation slip into this territory?
“We should…” He reached out and gripped the steering wheel, maybe for something to do with his hands instead of touching her. “I don’t know…” He glanced at her before shifting his gaze back to the target. “Maybe take a look at us again…if we survive.”
She had to touch him. A simple caress of his lean, beard-shadowed jaw. It felt good to touch him that way. His eyes closed as if he too reveled in the sensation.
How could she have pretended that she hated him for a minute, much less three years? She’d been lying to herself. Trying to go on. Pretending the past was over…didn’t matter.
“I agree.” She managed a shaky smile. “And so you know, Jeffrey and I parted as friends. For me, that’s really all it ever was.”
When she would have drawn her hand away, he took it, drew it to his lips and brushed a kiss across her knuckles.
She stared into those blue eyes and for the first time in three years she felt herself slipping away, getting lost the way she did when they first met…so long ago. He’d had that power over her then…he had it now.
Lights came on in the downstairs portion of the Echols’s house, snapping their collective attention to their mission.
Dangerous, Olivia, she chastised. Don’t let yourself get that distracted again. If they wanted to survive, she’d sure as hell have to do better than this.
“Well, well,” Landry said, “our boy is up and at ’em.”
“I’m making that call now.”
Landry watched the house while she entered the series of numbers that would connect her to Echols’s home number as well as block her number from showing up on his caller ID. Of course, a guy like him could easily have her call tracked down, but her effort would buy them some time.
Echols answered on the second ring.
“Mr. Echols, this is the past calling with a warning. Ancient history is about to come back to haunt you.”
She and Landry exchanged a look. The tension inside the vehicle escalated, the source wholly different now.
“Who is this?” Echols demanded.
She smiled at his impatience. He was far too important to bother with a nuisance like her.
“Your worst nightmare, Mr. Echols. This is Vanessa Clark, the CIA agent your administration ordered to eliminate a high-profile Middle Eastern target. Sound familiar?”
“Miss Clark, I’m certain I have no idea what you’re suggesting.”
She laughed drily. “Then I would suggest that you ask your good friend Director Woods or his deputy. Today’s the day, Mr. Echols. I want my life back. I’m coming for it.”
Olivia ended the call.
Landry gifted her with one of his particularly charming smiles. “Very good, Agent Clark. You sounded just like the girl I used to know.”
Problem was, she wasn’t that girl anymore.
Fifteen minutes later the front door opened and Mr. Paul Echols hustled down to the cobblestone drive in front of his house, loaded into the black Mercedes and pulled out onto the street.
“Here we go.”
Landry waited an adequate amount of time before easing away from the curb and following the same route Echols had taken.
At 7:00 a.m. traffic was still fairly light. Olivia remembered clearly that by half past seven the situation would be vastly different.
Echols was no fool. He took a number of unnecessary turns to ensure he wasn’t tailed. He could take all the turns and evasive maneuvers he wanted. Olivia wasn’t worried. Like her, Landry was a master at sticking to a target.
At 7:33 he stopped at a park that was well off the beaten path. One she didn’t readily recognize. Not that she’d spent that much time visiting the local parks. She hadn’t. She’d been too focused on her career to take time for anything so domestic.
Landry’s question about whether she’d thought about having babies popped into her head. The memory startled her all over again. Why would he ask that? You were the one, Nessa.
She banished the thoughts. She couldn’t think about that right now. It was too overwhelming. Too unexpected. All this time she’d thought she knew how it was. He hadn’t cared. He’d walked away. Could she have been this wrong?
Stop it. Focus. Olivia surveyed what she could see of the park. Their survival depended upon her keeping herself together right now. She couldn’t let anything else interfere.
At this hour the park was deserted. Echols didn’t get out of the car. He was waiting for someone.
Anticipation pumped harder through her veins.
Olivia couldn’t wait to identify whoever had betrayed both her and Landry. He would pay. She told herself that over and over. The anger helped her stay focused.
Most likely someone from the very agency to which she’d entrusted her life, for whom she’d carried out dozens of missions. How could none of that matter?
No make-believe this go-round.
Landry had parked their borrowed car in the trees near the entrance of th
e park. They were well hidden yet their target, in the parking area near the water below their position, was in plain sight. Moving closer would not be necessary until whoever Echols waited for arrived.
Her mind tried to drift back to her and Landry’s earlier conversation. She brutally lugged it back to the business at hand. Not right now. Again she reminded herself that the next hour or so was far too important to their survival for her to let anything distract her.
But the silence was driving her out of her mind.
“You never did tell me who lent you the house.” She’d been curious about that. He hadn’t mentioned it again. That seemed like a safe enough topic.
His eyes met hers briefly, but neither of them wanted to risk missing anything going on below. “The house belongs to Andrew. He bought it as a birthday present for his wife.”
She should have suspected as much.
“The Land Rover was his, as well?”
“No. That was mine.”
Was being the operative word. The SUV was likely in about a hundred pieces now at some chop shop, since they’d had to abandon it on the less desirable side of town.
“You might be able to buy it back when it hits the black market.” A smile spread across her lips at his testy glare.
Then there was the problem that the car they were in was stolen. She hoped the owner slept in. Having the vehicle reported stolen this morning could cramp their plans.
More of that awkward silence.
She shifted in her seat, unable to just sit there. Between the anticipation of what would happen next with Echols and being shut up in this small car so long with Landry, she couldn’t sit still.
She needed air. “I’m getting out.”
Her cell phone vibrated. A new kind of tension coiled inside her. “It’s my phone.” She reached into the back pocket of her jeans and tugged it out. The flashing icon on the display indicated it was a forwarded call.
A call for Sheara.
“It’s Hamilton.” She didn’t need to wonder. No one else could possibly have that number.
Landry looked from her to the car parked down by the water and back. “Be very careful what you say.”
She nodded then opened the phone. “I’ve been waiting for your call.”
“Good God Almighty,” Hamilton gasped. “I’ve been trying for twenty-four hours to reach you.”
She wanted to believe him. He sounded sincere. “You had the number,” she countered.
“No,” he argued, “I didn’t. I sank your file three years ago, remember? That included all the information I had on your code name. I had a hell of a time tracking down this number in some of my old personal files.”
“Do you have useful information for me?”
“Vanessa, there are a lot of things I can’t explain right now, but I need you to trust me.”
She considered her response carefully. “That’s asking a lot.”
“No matter what happens,” he reiterated, “remember that you can trust me. And for God’s sake, whatever you do, keep your head down.”
Landry tapped his watch. She couldn’t stay on any longer.
“Sorry, Hamilton, but I have to go now. I have my own plans.” She closed the phone, severing the connection.
“We have company.”
Landry was right. Another vehicle had entered the park. A limousine. That most likely meant a high-level official. She did not want it to be Hamilton. And she really didn’t want it to be Woods.
Her heart bumped into double time.
“We need to move closer.” She was already opening her door when she made the suggestion.
Landry put a hand on her arm. “No sudden moves. Lay low and listen. This is reconnaissance only. We’re not prepared to make an aggressive move. Understood?”
“Understood.”
Emerging from the vehicle with an efficiency of movement and little or no sound, she and Landry stole through the thicket of trees surrounding the park until they reached a position within hearing range of their targets.
Echols had exited his Mercedes and now waited for his contact to do the same.
The driver of the limo didn’t get out. The rear door on the side facing away from their position opened.
Olivia held her breath.
Didn’t want to miss a word.
Maybe if her instincts had been as sharp as they once were…if she hadn’t let herself go soft for the past three years…then just maybe she would have heard the enemy’s approach from the rear.
But she didn’t.
Landry, however, did. But his attempt to protect her from the threat cost him any advantage he would have had.
“Drop your weapons.”
Her hands held out in the open, she turned slowly to face the man who’d issued the order.
“I said, drop your weapons,” he repeated.
She recognized him immediately as one of the four who’d shown up at the hotel the night before. Definitely not one of the ones she’d shot.
That was probably a good thing, otherwise she might be even sorrier than she already was. He’d brought along two of his friends. She supposed the party would begin now.
The guy with his muzzle boring into Landry’s skull barked, “You heard him. Drop your weapon.”
No agent ever wanted to give up his gun, but there were times when the choice was not your own.
Olivia knew Landry wouldn’t go first. Men and their damn pride. He would die before he’d throw down his weapon.
She, on the other hand, had a plan B.
She reached for her Beretta—
“Left hand,” her captor cautioned. “Slow and easy.”
“Whatever.” She slowly reached, with her left hand, beneath her shirt and pulled the weapon from her waistband. She crouched with the same caution and placed it on the ground then kicked it a few feet away. She knew the drill. No need to make this part difficult.
Landry sent a sidelong glance in her direction, which garnered him a kick in the gut.
He doubled over and the jerk who had a bead on him snagged his Glock, checked it out before tossing it onto the ground next to Olivia’s weapon.
“Check for backup pieces,” the third man, the one who appeared to be in charge, ordered as he moved closer.
This one looked ready to snap Olivia’s neck just for the fun of it. Maybe one of the guys she’d shot was his brother or something. Whatever the case, he looked pissed.
Landry’s new friend was busily patting him down already, moving quickly and efficiently. No man wanted to linger when feeling up another dude so intimately.
On the other hand, her guy took his time.
She let him, didn’t resist. Maybe if he got a little too distracted he wouldn’t notice the knife tucked into her shoe.
The .32 Jeffrey had lost landed on the ground next to the Beretta and the Glock. She flashed Landry an annoyed look, and he shrugged. Evidently Jeffrey had dropped it in the SUV she’d rented and Landry had found it.
Her new friend had crouched in front of her. She spread her legs wider to facilitate his efforts. The wicked gleam in his eyes told her the tactic she’d decided to use was having its effect.
The man in charge reached into his interior jacket pocket and pulled out his cell phone. “Parker.”
About that same time her overinterested captor had discovered the phone in her back pocket. He leaned close to her and tugged it out, then dropped it into the pocket of his jacket.
You could always tell the difference between undercover operatives and those who were paid to capture and transport targets.
The latter always overdressed for the occasion. Suits and ties and shiny leather shoes. Please, this was awfully dirty work for such businesslike attire.
“He wants to see them first.”
This announcement came from the man who’d just tucked his phone back into his pocket.
She and Landry exchanged a knowing look.
Time for that debrief they’d fully expected.
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The man moving his hands down her thighs abruptly stopped and stood, the triumphant glitter in his eyes letting her know how much he’d enjoyed his little game. She’d enjoyed it, too. He would soon know just how much.
“Turn around and start walking,” the boss ordered. “I think you know where to go. No sudden moves.”
She took her time, let the various possibilities for making an unexpected move play out in her head. Since the odds were looking like about five or more to two, they weren’t that good. But she’d take her chances.
No way was she going to die without trying.
Chapter 15
With her new friend one step behind her, Olivia moved down the hillside toward the Mercedes and the limo.
Landry’s shadow ushered him down the hill, while the one who’d given the orders moved ahead to meet the real men in charge and to receive additional instructions, most likely.
Olivia forced her muscles to relax, allowed herself to bump into her guard once or twice as if she were unsteady. He grabbed her by the arm with his right hand and yanked her closer, purposely jabbing the muzzle of his weapon deeper into her side. She didn’t resist. In fact, she kept the arm he’d manacled tucked close to her body, ensuring that his brutal fingers brushed the side of her breast.
She knew he liked it and she would use that to her advantage. A woman could always count on that one basic weakness in a man. Let him believe he was in control and you could lead him anywhere. The feel of the overlooked knife in her shoe provided undeniable evidence of her deduction.
As they neared the lower parking area near the manmade lake, the men who waited next to the limo turned to watch their arrival.
Olivia had known this moment was coming. She’d thought she was prepared for the reality.
But she wasn’t.
When Deputy Director David Hamilton’s gaze settled upon hers the rush of fury that lashed through her was like nothing she’d ever experienced.
It was him.
She’d refused to believe it…but it was true.
The loss of her life and career three years ago hadn’t been about Landry or anything he had or hadn’t done. It had been about the bastard standing before her at this moment. Hamilton and his cohort, Echols. The idea that the president had likely been in on it, as well, made her sick to her stomach.