by Cyndi Raye
Josh held up his hand. “It’s okay guys. Get it out of your system, you’ll be working hard tonight. Carry on.” He gave Sara a wink and went to get dressed. Let the guys have some innocent fun and unwind. He wanted them on their toes tonight, ready for anything.
It wasn’t long before the glass door slide open. Sara came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his middle, hugging him from behind, her cheek against his back. After a while, she spoke, her voice quiet and so serious. “Can we leave here, right now, forget about all of this?” she whispered.
“Soon. Sara, promise me when I ask you to leave the party tonight, you will.” He turned swiftly around, her arms still around him, and cupped her face in both hands.
“I promise, this time, I’ll listen.” She raised her right hand up. “I swear.”
He swooped down and kissed her, so incredibly intense that when his mouth left hers, she cried out.
“You drop me to my knees,” they both said at exactly the same time.
She shivered against his skin. “I almost forgot to tell you about the Spa.”
“I wondered when you would get around to that.”
“How did you know?” she asked, surprised. “Of course, the man who followed me. Wait, he wasn’t your man, he went into Darian’s cabin.”
Josh stilled. “What did he look like?” When she described him, he took off out of the suite to the other agents. She followed behind.
“Let’s get this rolling now. I want him found, secured and dump him in the ocean if you have to shut him up.” He turned when her arm slid around his waist. “What else happened Sara?”
She told him everything about the visit from Darian in the Spa and what he said about leaving tonight, which had the men moving in another direction. Josh made calls, changed plans and ignored her presence. He had to focus on the operation.
<><>
She went outside on the veranda, thinking about everything happening so quickly. That’s when she realized they found the rat. He must work for the agency and decided to double dip.
That only meant one thing. She stood up and grabbed the rails. Morgan’s life may be in grave danger. The reason Josh came in on this whole sting from the beginning was because his sister and Morgan may need his help. There was a chance Morgan would be thrown under the bus by one of his own men. She didn’t want to face that reality, now it stared her dead in the face. She began to shake, afraid for his life for the first time since they boarded the ship. This was too much, too dangerous. Sara began to lose faith, her knees started to buckle, so she clutched on to the rails even harder, afraid to crumble in a big heap on the ground.
When Josh came outside, she heard his voice, steady and strong. “Sara, you need to stay with us. Snap out of it.” He grabbed her shoulders and cupped her chin, placing desperate kisses on her mouth.
“Morgan could be in danger. Grave danger.”
Josh raised his voice. “Sara! Morgan is not in danger.” He shook her shoulders, not trying to hurt her but her arm, still sore, made her grimace. “What is it? What’s wrong with your arm?”
His words made her snap out of it, realizing if Josh saw her bruise, he would lose his mind and go after Darian, and the whole thing could blow up in their faces. No, she had to remain calm. “I’m sorry Josh, it won’t happen again.”
Josh rubbed her arms, lifting them both and brought her hands to his mouth. The chiffon sleeve covered her bruise well. She smiled at him.
“Are you sure you’re all right?”
She nodded as his dark eyes delved in to her own. A moment went by before he spoke. “You’re keeping something from me, but for now we have to move. Plan A is about to begin.”
Sara shuddered and pulled herself together, glad he didn’t catch her lie, even if it was for the best.
<><>
“You must admit, we make a striking couple,” Sara said when she gazed at their reflection on the glass door. He patted her hand, the one tucked into his arm. He wore a black suit, the white shirt open at the neck.
“Ready?” he asked, his eyes cold and hard. He was back in secret agent mode.
“I believe so. Let’s do this.”
When Sara and Josh walked arm in arm into the owner’s suite, she didn’t expect so many people. She recognized a few others and some of his men, but when the tall blonde from the other night sauntered up to Josh, it changed everything. “Do not expect me to be nice,” she told him.
“Sara, it’s all a game. She means nothing.” She realized he’s right, until the woman boldly and completely ignored Sara and wrapped her arms around Josh’s neck, planting a kiss dead on his mouth. Sara grabbed his arm, flung forward and crushed the heel of her wedged sandal on the top of the intruder’s foot.
The blonde shrieked.
“I’m so sorry, these heels make it hard for me to walk at times. How are you, I’m Mrs. Eden, Josh’s wife.” Sara held out her hand in expectation, silently daring the woman to refuse. Her eyes flashed and she wasn’t above grabbing that blonde hair and giving it a yank if she had to.
The other woman reluctantly took her hand, shook it, then turned and stumbled away. Sara opened the tiny snap on her gold encased clutch and pulled out a white Kleenex. Turning to Josh, she reached up and wiped the blonde’s red lipstick off his mouth. She held it by the corner as if it disgusted her, and flung it in a nearby trash can. She kissed him hard, possessing his mouth and said, “I’m going to mingle.”
She giggled as she walked away, his laughter ringing in her ears. She turned back to see him pick up a drink from a tray, those dark eyes never leaving her. She was elated, they would make this fun, no matter how dangerous it may get.
Sara did mingle. She became the life of the party on purpose and Darian Lane couldn’t stay away. She had to elude his dirty hands reaching out many times during the evening. The moment he got too close, Josh seemed to be right there, whisking her away with some excuse or another. The more it happened, the angrier Darian became. She knew how a man looked right before he exploded and Lane was about to combust.
Because she was a major distraction, it kept Darian away from what Josh was up to. With Lane’s focus on her, Josh searched the suite for the jewels. But it didn’t seem as if he were having much luck and when the music stopped and everyone began to exit the room at Darian’s request, an alarm went off in Sara’s head. It was too soon to end the night, Josh still needed to find the jewels from the heist. They exchanged worried glances.
The night was not going according to plan. Did that mean plan B is now in place? Josh stood beside Darian and when she looked at him again, he gave her the ‘nod’ to leave. This time she would listen and walked towards the door behind several others. That’s when Sara noticed the table at the entrance hall with a few tiered dishes covered with expensive chocolates. Two large dishes set on the mahogany table, and she absently reached out to grab one.
From the corner of her eye, a shopping bag leaned against the wall, the exact same one the elderly man passed on to Darian in Mallory Square. Picking up more chocolates to stall for time she leaned over to sure it was the same bag. Earlier, she thought the bags held black jewellery cases, now she knew it was boxes of chocolates.
Her eyes widened and the hairs on her neck stood up. She turned in time to avoid the blonde behind her make a grab for her hair. “What are you doing?” she cried out.
“Let her go,” Josh ordered in such a low tone from the other side of the suite. The room became silent, the air so thick with tension those left in the suite stood frozen.
Darian’s laugh rang out. He took a few steps away from Josh and turned, a revolver in his hand. “You are a fool, Eden. If you think you are going to keep what belongs to me, think again. I want your wife and I will have her. I told you I can just take her.”
“I have more than enough to give you. You don’t want my wife. You want my riches.”
Darian lifted the gun to Josh’s face. Sara cried out. “That’s where you’re wrong. I want
all of it, the riches, the woman, the art and I devised a plan to have it all. I don’t need you any more.”
He cocked the hammer.
Sara kicked the blonde holding her arm and flew in to the wall beside the mahogany table, causing a distraction. Darian’s voice, nasty and threatening, filled the silent room. “Sara, get over here. To me, now!”
She reached down and picked up the shopping bag, then pulled out a box of chocolates. She began a slow walk to Darian Lane, her hands clutching the box.
There was so much tension in the room, on Josh, who had a gun pointed at his head. Morgan was to the right of Lane, too far away to help. She had to admit, her brother knew how to do the secret agent thing too. Sophie stood in the background, between two of Lane’s goons. Sara tried not to think about anyone getting hurt, she had a job to do.
But Sara held in her hand what Josh needed to bring this man down. “Give me the box.” Lane’s deadly voice chilled her. She almost handed it over.
The moment Josh realized what she held, he clasped his hands together, one touching his wrist, secretly pushing a few buttons on the watch.
Sara smiled. She knew Josh by now to realize his little wrist-watch trick. She hoped she called it right. She lifted the top off the box of chocolates as Darian cried out to stop. She threw the box at Lane, and the contents flew in the air, sparkling and glittering as the jewellery hit him in his face.
Darian reached out to grab the jewels with one hand while he pointed the gun at Sara with the other. In the silence, she stepped back and Josh’s body flew across the room, in front of the gun. The shot rang out and knocked him clean across the room.
Sara screamed. Someone grab her hair and pull her backwards out of the room. Everyone stood frozen except Morgan, who came at them full speed until he saw a gun to her head. Sophie’s face looked horrified but she held her gun on the two goons who tried to get away with Darian. Sara struggled but Lane had a fistful of her hair, her scalp on fire.
“Just keep walking,” he said, forcing her to put one foot in front of the other. Men were everywhere, guns cocked at them as he began to drag her down the hallway. No one moved. “Your husband is a cop! You’re going to die for this.”
It seemed as if every man with a loaded gun stood frozen to the spot, as if they waited for an order. He shoved her in to the elevator and before the doors closed her heart wrenched when Josh stumbled out of the suite. She cried out, he was alive, thankful now he put on a vest earlier. He tried to make his way towards her but it was too late, the steel doors closed.
Darian moved the gun away from her head. He lifted his hand and slapped her hard across her face. Her head flung to the side, but she planted her feet solidly on the floor. She had enough of men striking her.
“You can’t hurt me,” she told him forcing herself not to cry. “I’ve been slapped before.”
He laughed. “I don’t care if you’re a cops wife or not, you will be mine by the end of the night. That’s a promise.”
She chewed on her lip. “That you won’t be able to keep. How do you plan to get off the ship, they're men everywhere. They had you from the time you robbed the jewellery store in Key West.”
“Ah, there’s where you’re wrong.” the elevator began to go down instead of up, stopping at the fifth deck. He again grabbed a chunk of hair and cocked the gun. But when those steel doors opened, no one waited on deck. He shoved the gun in her back every time her steps slowed. She tried to buy some time, to pretend to trip and almost stumble, anything to slow him down.
She saw the lifeboats ahead and her heart began to hammer in her chest. If she was forced to get in to one, she would be doomed. She had to do something to save herself. She closed her eyes and pretended to go limp. Until he got off this boat, he needed her alive. He jerked her up but determination rang out and Sara let her body slacken until Darian had no choice but to let her fall to the ground. To catch her would’ve meant letting go of the shopping bag with the jewels and she counted on him to cling on to them for dear life.
An exit door burst open and Josh came through with several other men. Darian tried to pull her up, but she grabbed the shopping bag from where she lay on the ground. He jerked back on it and ran towards the lifeboat, shooting wildly in to the air until he ran out of bullets.
Morgan gathered her in his arms and held her. She watched, terrified as Darian attacked Josh, trying to move him out of the way to get to the lifeboat. Josh blocked a deadly blow to the head, wrestling the gun from his hand and slinging it over the deck. Josh lifted his foot and then began to kick several times, pummelling his face, circling him, back and forth but the man still wouldn’t go down. It seemed as if Darin Lane had nine lives.
It seemed to be a fight to the death. Sara held her hand over her mouth so she wouldn’t cry out. Her brother held her safe in his arms, but she was dying to run to Josh, to stop him from this madness.
Quietly, her brother released her and stepped away. He got down on one knee and with his one hand, pushed Sara behind him. He lifted the revolver he carried and held it steady, aiming towards Darian Lane.
“Oh no Morg, you may hit Josh.”
“Shh,” he whispered, his arm steady, his body so still it scared Sara. She watched in horror as he gently squeezed the trigger and then looked up to see Darian Lane’s body jerk and fly back and hit the railing.
Josh dropped to his knees, his chest heaving. “I’m too old for this,” he mumbled as Sara ran to him, stumbling over the deck in her wedge sandals. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. His arms dangled at his side, too exhausted to wrap them around her.
Chapter 10
Josh closed his eyes for a moment, relishing the softness of Sara’s body against his. It gave him a second wind as his arms, too weak at first to lift, wrapped around her sweet flesh. He lifted her chin and wiped the tears from her face. He traced the hand print on her cheek, adrenaline rushing through his whole system. “Baby.” He put his lips to the bruised cheek, tasting the salt of her tears. “He’s lucky Morgan got to him first.”
“No, it’s okay. It’s not the first time I’ve had a bruise.”
“It will be the last, I promise,” Josh told her. “No man will ever lay a hand on you, what is this?” He pushed the chiffon sleeve away, studying her upper arm for the first time, the purple bruise peeking out from the torn sleeve.
He stared, furious. Sara looked up at him, “Josh, all that matters is you’re okay.”
“When did this happen?” But Josh guessed. She winced after she came back from the spa, after the little meeting with Lane.
“Josh, we need to wrap this up,” one of the agents told him as he rushed past. Josh got to his feet, bringing her up with him.
Her arms tightened around him. “I can’t bear to let you go.”
He kissed the top of her head. “Sara, I have more work to do.” She lifted her head, worry in her eyes. He kissed each eyelid. “You go with Sophie, she’ll help you get back to Key West. I’ll be there as soon as we wrap up here.”
Sara stood up, surprised. “I’m going back without you?”
He decided the truth alone would work with a woman like her. He sure didn’t need her trying to follow him. As brave as she is, that part of her life would be over. He’d never, ever let her be a part of any sting operation again. “Sara, do you see the lights in the distance?”
He pointed to a boat out in the water. She nodded. “That’s where Darian Lane was going, to the fishing boat out there. There’s also a speed boat close by in the water here my men took down. The bad guys are waiting on him to appear. We have to make sure there is no more danger.”
“Oh my, no Josh. Do you plan to go out there, pretending to be Darian?” She began to shake. “Let me come with you.”
Josh laughed. “Baby, I can’t let you do that. I’m going to have a medic give you something to calm you.” Josh nodded to the ship’s doctor, on standby, called to the deck when things began to unfold. The doc pu
shed a needle in to Sara’s arm before she was able to refuse.
Morgan swooped his sister up in his arms.
Josh looked back. “Take good care of her,” he told Morgan and slid over the side of the boat in to the life raft. He spoke in to the watch several times, giving instructions to the helicopter. He needed to make sure it showed up at the precise time. Josh wanted to make it back to Sara again.
When the life raft hit the water, he waited for the speed boat to appear. The scarab crept along beside the boat enabling Josh to switch places with the driver. A body lay in the back seat, the one agent who turned traitor. Josh threw his dinner jacket over the guys limp body. The man would’ve killed Morgan and Sophie point blank if Sara hadn’t come along and stirred things up.
Josh smiled as he pushed the accelerator forward, the boat riding the waves. Sara didn’t know how she moved this operation along. He ran a hand over his hair, clearing thoughts of her from his mind. He had a job to do.
The lights on the boat glittered brighter and brighter, the oval shapes throwing shadows on the deck. In another minute he’d be on top of it. He counted two or three live bodies, but he didn’t have a clue how many men were on board. He pulled the cap down over his eyes, hoping the element of surprise would be to his advantage. If not, a flick of his wrist would bring the chopper’s fury on them all.
He pulled the scarab beside the old fishing boat. One of the men pushed a ladder over the side and reached out his hand for Josh to grab, thinking he was Lane. “Here goes nothing,” he mumbled, right before he reached up and pulled the guy over board. He jumped on deck before the other two noticed. But when they heard a loud splash in the water, the sound of hammers cocking riddled the air.
He was too far away to get hit by a bullet. The number of shouts and guns at the ready made Josh realize the fact he probably was out numbered, so he hit the button on the watch, hoping to get off the boat before the chopper arrived. “Craig!” Someone yelled out, but disappeared behind the mast of the ship when no one returned the call.