by Debra Webb
“On one condition,” she said to Lucas.
He lifted a questioning eyebrow.
“That Logan and I be teamed together. We’re on-the-job partners or no deal.”
“I’m afraid it’s not that simple,” Lucas informed her solemnly. “There’s a more far-reaching condition involved.”
Erin’s hopes fell. “I don’t understand.”
“You’ll have to ask Logan that one, it’s his condition,” Lucas informed her.
She shot to her feet and glowered down at Logan. Here she was dancing out on that limb and he was holding out on her. “What the hell do you mean getting my hopes up like that and then shattering them in the next breath?” She could barely stand the ache in her chest. How could he do this?
He stood and looked squarely at her. “It’s a little complicated. You see, I realized I don’t want just an on-the-job partner. I want a wife. A real one.” He smiled that sexy, crooked grin that took her breath. “Yes is the only acceptable answer.”
Myriad emotions rushed through her, but one rose above all others—love. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. “Yes!” She drew back suddenly and frowned petulantly at him. “But only if you kiss me right now.”
Logan obliged. Erin intended to see that he spent the rest of his life doing just that.
“Thank God,” Lucas Camp said with obvious relief. “If you two can slow down just a minute we’ll talk about your next assignment.”
“After the honeymoon,” Logan said between kisses.
Erin knew for certain then and there that she, not the mission, would always come first to the man she loved.
MISSION BRIEFING
Thomas Casey reviewed the file in his hand once more before he began the priority one briefing with his deputy, Lucas Camp. This one was going to be a little sticky and a lot dangerous to the specialist assigned to the case.
“That bad, is it?”
Casey glanced up. Lucas read him too easily. He didn’t like that. No one else had ever been able to analyze him as well as Lucas could. Though they had worked together only for a short time, since Jack Raine brought down the former director of Special Ops, who sold out his field operatives on a regular basis, Lucas had earned Casey’s respect up front.
The man knew his business.
Mission Recovery involved a great deal more than merely the spy business, the unit’s sole purpose was to salvage missions gone bad for other agencies. Sometimes simply spying was the goal, other times it was infiltrating the enemy—becoming one of them really—and bringing them down from the inside.
As was the case with the one the CIA had just passed to Mission Recovery and its team of specialists.
“That bad,” Casey agreed finally, allowing his deputy the pleasure of knowing he’d read him yet again. “Katrina Moore.” Casey opened the file and leaned back in his chair. “CIA Shadow Ops. Twenty-seven years old—”
Lucas swore. “What’s a kid like that doing in Shadow Ops? When I ran things over there, only seasoned operatives were allowed in that club.”
Casey had wondered the same thing, but that wasn’t his problem. “Fluent in several languages,” he went on. “Demolitions expert. Her mission was to infiltrate the World Security Agency’s newest team of recruits. And she’s the first to field-test the CIA’s new profile memory implant.”
“Don’t those lunatics ever give up? We’ve been on to WSA for years.” Lucas lifted a skeptical eyebrow. “Now, the implant business, that’s something new. What’ve they come up with this time?”
Casey laid the file aside and repeated what he’d learned that morning about the CIA’s newest gadget. “It’s a tiny computer chip surgically implanted in the brain where memory is stored. When an operative is under deep cover and feels that his or her cover is in jeopardy, the implant can be quickly and easily activated. Once activated the operative’s own memory is blocked and replaced by the cover profile.”
“Thus the operative becomes the person profiled in his or her cover,” Lucas guessed.
Casey nodded. “Drugs, not even torture will make the operative admit anything other than the cover contained in the implant.”
“So what’s the problem?” Lucas sat up a little straighter, his interest definitely piqued.
“Either Ms. Moore’s implant has malfunctioned or her cover is in serious jeopardy. They want us to send someone in to attempt a retrieval.”
“What qualifications do we need?” Lucas asked, no doubt already mentally running down the list of specialists not currently on assignment.
“We only have one choice. Ferrelli.”
“Ferrelli? Why’s that?”
Casey nodded. “He’s part of her implant profile.”
“These two have a history?”
“Apparently,” Casey affirmed.
Lucas said derisively. “I hope the boys in the Company built in a back door for this nifty little gray-matter gadget.”
Casey stroked his chin, worry nagging at him. Personal involvement was never a good thing. It could get a man killed. He didn’t believe in sending his specialists into a situation he felt less than comfortable with—but he had little choice.
“There’s a code phrase,” he said in answer to Lucas’s question. “All Ferrelli has to do is get in and say the code phrase and she’ll recognize him as the former lover she’s still hung up on. The implant will automatically imprint his connection to her into memory.”
“Assuming the damned thing is functioning properly,” Lucas interjected.
“Yes,” Casey acknowledged.
Lucas sighed. “Ferrelli’s good.” He considered the matter a moment then nodded resolutely. “He can handle the situation. Even if it is personal.”
“If the implant malfunctions,” Casey reminded, though he knew that Lucas was fully aware of what he was about to say, “we’ll be sending him into a death trap.”
Their gazes locked. Lucas’s gray eyes held a lifetime of wisdom, an entire career of confidence and plain old guts—the kind only gained by experience. “That’s why they’ve called on us. We’re the best and all other efforts have failed. They know we won’t.”
“They’re right,” Casey agreed. “We won’t.” Katrina Moore was counting on them, he didn’t add.
“Let’s go into this briefing with Ferrelli without giving away that we know about their history,” Casey suggested.
Lucas shrugged. “All right. I see your point. We need to know just how personal this is.”
“His initial reaction, yes,” Casey said. “I need to be sure the risk isn’t too great.”
Casey could always count on Lucas. Mission Recovery was extremely lucky to have him. As optimistic as Lucas was about the success of this upcoming mission, something was not quite right. It was apparently personal since Lucas had not chosen to share it with him. That really didn’t bother Casey since his and Lucas’s personal relationship was only in the beginning stages. What did concern him, however, was the Colby Agency connection. Casey had gleaned from Lucas’s frequent trips to Chicago that Victoria Colby was more than a friend. Whatever was troubling Lucas involved this Victoria Colby. Though Lucas hadn’t asked for his help, Casey had every intention of looking into the matter.
“Anything else?” Lucas asked, his finely tuned radar picking up Casey’s thoughts.
Casey shook his head. “That’s all for now.”
Lucas stood and reached for his cane. “I’ll start pulling together the mission profile.” He grinned as if all were well in his world. “We mustn’t keep the CIA waiting.”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-7169-6
UNDERCOVER WIFE
Copyright © 2003 by Debra Webb
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* Colby Agency
** The Specialists