“Sorry.” She picked up her laptop with one hand even as she continued trying to wipe up the coffee with the tissue, setting it on the floor. The coffee could ruin it. Could this be any worse?
“Do you need to keep these?” Preston asked, picking up some papers that were soaked in coffee. His tone was easy going as he tossed the soaked napkins into a trash can and then gathered together a big wad of tissues himself to get more of the coffee. After a few moments that seemed to last for a few hours, most of the coffee was wiped up.
They were papers for her library work. Elle couldn’t even begin to figure out what they were at the moment. She just waved for him to put them down. “They’ll dry: I’ll look them over then.”
Preston set them back down and then settled back into his chair. He looked matter-of-fact. Dammit, he had to be nice, didn’t he?
Elle forced herself to look at Mason, who still held her folder up in the air. She reached out for it. There was nothing else to be done at this point: time to just move on.
Could he tell she was unsettled? His gaze seemed sharper, a little more attentive than usual, but if he noticed anything, he didn’t address it. Instead, he simply handed her the folder. “Another Black Bag Job for another disc.”
“We have to retrieve a disc-” Preston elaborated but stopped when she gave him a stony look.
Nice or not, she sure as hell wouldn’t be patronized. “I’m aware of what a Black Bag Job is.” She couldn’t keep the sharp edge out of her voice. As if she hadn’t learned the lingo during her training. She turned her attention to Mason. “Two agents are necessary?”
Mason paused: he had been about to say something else. “Yes, Ms. Paquet.” He spoke as if she were being especially dense. “That would be why I brought Agent Raddick with me.”
She wanted to sock him, just once, right in the eye, but she managed to keep herself from saying anything else.
After another moment, he continued. “We have a lead on where we think the disc is located but are awaiting final confirmation before wheels up. We’ll infiltrate an office building, but depending on what we find-” He glanced at Preston, “-this may need to be a smash and grab.”
Mason looked at Preston as if to make sure he understood. Whether or not she understood was apparently irrelevant. Like she didn’t know what a damn smash and grab was. It was exactly what it sounded like: smash whatever was holding the intel, grab it, and run.
“What we would prefer,” Mason said, “is a substitution, or even an adjustment, to what’s in place.” He focused on Elle. “Your computer skills need to be on point.”
Like they ever weren’t? She knew she was glowering at him but couldn’t stop herself. The fucking prick knew about her computer skills; it was likely why she had been selected for the op. Preston’s computer skills, on the other hand, were limited to sending emails and web surfing.
“Understood.” She didn’t bother to hide the tightness in her voice. Why should she be polite and cordial when he continued to be an ass?
Mason stood. “Make sure you review the entire brief, and be ready to fly out. We’ll likely fly out of Hampton Roads, so you should try to head back to Norfolk as soon as possible.” He walked over to the noise machine, turning it off and unplugging it.
Preston remained seated, staring at Elle. She didn’t want to look at him, but he kept looking at her, and she’d be damned if she looked away. They were sitting in her office, after all.
“You want to enjoy the great city of Charlottesville?” Mason asked Preston.
Preston looked away from Elle to glance at Mason. “I wanted to review some things with Elle.” He looked at her again.
He wanted to talk to her? Alone? Oh, hell, no.
“That’s not necessary.” She knew her response was a little too quick, but she didn’t care. “We can review details when we’re in transit.”
Preston began, “I think we need to-”
Elle rose herself. “I have a meeting in-” She glanced at the clock on her computer. It was nearly eleven am. “In ten minutes. I’d better not to keep my supervisor- Janet- waiting.”
Preston stood himself, his eyes searching her face. “All right then.” She refused to give him the satisfaction of showing any type of response at all. “We’ll talk another time.”
She stayed standing as Mason and Preston left, not letting herself fall back into her chair until Preston had shut the door behind them.
Un-fucking-believable.
A hell of a lot had happened since Preston walked out of her apartment after advising her to call Lyle. She’d been drugged, nearly raped, had her apartment burglarized, yet she never heard a single word from him. When Elle had started field training, she’d wondered if she would encounter Preston. Sometimes more experienced agents came, talked to the trainees, and a few were involved in training. Yet she had never seen or heard anything about him. She hadn’t felt comfortable asking, even though the agency knew they weren’t strangers. She and Preston had worked together while she was still in school.
Through it all, she never heard from Preston.
In fairness, it was possible he had no idea what had happened after he left her apartment. He’d said he was going on an op that could take months, so it was possible he’d been deep in an operation somewhere overseas for the past year.
She could understand that. The reality, however, was that didn’t make her any less pissed off.
And now she had to go out in the field on an op with him.
Chapter 9
“It’s like I’m dealing with a master at E&E.” E&E: Escaping and Evading was supposed to be something he dealt with in the field, not at home. Elle’s disappearance made her that much more intriguing. Even as Reese and Gabe walked through the gym where they had just finished sparring with each other, he found himself scanning the room, which didn’t even have a chick in it.
Looking for her.
He hunted people for a living: it was part of what SEALs did, and he was especially good at tracking targets, running them to ground. Yet this lady was proving to be more elusive than many terrorists he sought to bring to justice.
“Not like you to miss EEI.” Gabe was enjoying busting his balls over this.
EEI meant Essential Element of Information, the critical knowledge for successful mission planning. Reese couldn’t believe he hadn’t gotten Elle’s last name himself, which was a pretty critical piece of information. She had taken off so damn fast after they hooked up last week, he hadn’t had a chance to learn anything more about her besides her first name, her interest in new experiences, and she had a supple body he wanted to enjoy some more before shipping out. And there was something about her that was just… different. He couldn’t explain it any better than that. How the hell could he have not found out what she did or where she worked?
“Take care.” He mumbled Elle’s last words to him before she slipped out of the hotel room. He’d come to hate that damn phrase.
He had gone to Shore Leave every night since, but she was never there. At this point, even the bartenders knew he was looking for her. It was a good thing they knew him, knew he wasn’t some crazy stalker, so they didn’t mind keeping an eye out and telling him she hadn’t been seen.
“She hit the door faster than some terrorist on the run.”
Gabe grinned. “Maybe things didn’t go so well on her end.”
Reese fixed his friend with a death stare. “Things went well on her end.” He knew they had. He could read a woman’s body, her responses. He could still see her writhing on the bed. Things had gone very well for both of them that night.
“Lindsay’s been looking for you.”
This wasn’t news to Reese. While Elle was nowhere to be found, Lindsay seemed to have taken up residency at Shore Leave. He’d nearly taken her up on her offer to go to her place a couple of nights ago but decided against it.
He wondered what Elle’s place was like.
“Man, have you forgotten we’re going to be
out in the middle of the ocean not too long from now?” Gabe asked. “Lindsay won’t be looking so bad after about thirty days or so out there.”
Reese shook his head. He didn’t know what the hell was wrong with him, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Elle.
Gabe whistled. “She must be some prime-”
Reese silenced him with a glare.
Gabe’s eyes widened. “You act like you’re in love with this chick. Have you guys even had an hour long conversation?”
Reese looked away. He knew this was crazy as hell, but he couldn’t help himself. He’d even looked up Elle’s name in the Norfolk phone book but hadn’t found her. He had even briefly debated calling all the numbers with a first initial of “E” before forcing himself to stop with the crazy shit. Even for a rather small city like Norfolk, it amounted to thousands of people. Consider the entire Hampton Roads area, and it was batshit crazy to even attempt. Of course, most people had cell phones anyway rather than landlines, so they weren’t even listed in the phone book.
As they left the gymnasium and stepped into the main entrance hall of the gym, the swish of a long, dark brown ponytail caught his eye. He was sure he recognized that round ass even in sweats. The woman was talking to one of the staff members at the main desk.
“Caught a scent?” Gabe asked, following his gaze.
“Think so.” Reese was about to head over to the desk when he felt his friend’s hand on his arm.
“Dude.” Gabe’s hold was just firm enough to give him pause. “Don’t go executing a body snatch. That shit can get you arrested in civilian territory.”
Reese guessed he was in full-on warrior mode and looked it: eyes focused, body primed, ready for the fight, but he wasn’t in the field. He forced his arms to relax and his eyes to soften.
“That’s better.” Gabe let go. “Go get her, dude.”
Reese was already moving.
***
“Mike called in sick today,” the staff member explained to Elle. “I’m sorry no one called you: you should have been notified.”
Elle nodded, trying not to let her annoyance show too much. Really, she was disappointed. She’d been looking forward to her weekly sparring session to relieve some tension: she was still waiting to hear from Mason about when she had to head out into the field with Preston for their op. While in field training Elle had learned krav maga and judo. It still boggled her mind that she actually enjoyed doing martial arts: a year ago she had hated even the thought of dragging her ass to aerobics. Yet now, to keep her skills sharp, she sparred once a week unless she was in Charlottesville. She’d missed sparring while out of town, especially since she was reeling from the identity of her new partner.
“Is there anyone else available to spar?” she asked. Mike wasn’t the only trainer with martial arts experience, and she just needed a target to challenge her.
“I’m up for some sparring.”
If her ears were capable of physically perking up, they would have. Could it be…?
Elle turned to see Reese standing behind her. He looked like he’d just finished a workout: his t-shirt was damp and sticking to his chest in some places, which only made him look hotter.
“I’ll even lick your wounds afterwards.” His voice promised licking and more.
She couldn’t help but smile as giddiness lit up from somewhere within her. “I don’t know: I wouldn’t want to hurt your manly pride. Or get myself arrested for assault.”
A guy standing a little ways behind Reese, but openly watching the exchange, snickered.
Reese didn’t even spare him a glance. “I’m a Navy SEAL: not much takes me out of commission.” Again, there was no bravado in his voice; he spoke as if it was simply a fact. “But you’re welcome to try.”
A Navy SEAL. Just like Preston. Dammit, she did not need to be thinking about him right now. “Taking out a special operator like a SEAL would be even worse than hurting a civilian.” She couldn’t stop herself from grinning, partly because she had come back with a response without a pause. “I’d really have to be careful.”
“Tell you what,” Reese said. “If I win this sparring match, we get together for drinks.”
The “danger” sign flashed in her head; it was so bright she could practically see it. Seeing Preston had been a potent reminder of just how badly things could go if she got too involved in a hook up. “I’d like to, but-”
“No strings attached.” He held up his hands. “Everybody’s gotta eat and drink.”
She couldn’t hold back a grin in return. “What about when I win?”
“I’ll take you out for a nice dinner.”
She cocked her head, eyeing him. “Sounds like you win either way.”
He grinned. “I always negotiate the best possible terms.”
She couldn’t believe what she was doing even as she motioned for him to follow with a jerk of her head and set off for the gym. She needed the workout, the physical exertion, after a couple of days of coming to terms with the idea that she was working with Preston and waiting for the orders to head out with him. And okay, she didn’t mind seeing Reese again. Not at all. “Well, I do need the exercise.”
He fell in step beside her.
“What type of sparring do you do?” he asked as they made their way to an empty mat.
“Krav maga.” She would’ve mentioned judo, too, but it was known that the agency taught krav maga and judo to their field operatives, and she didn’t want to give herself away. A Navy SEAL would definitely know that, since they sometimes worked with CIA operatives.
“Krav maga?” Disbelief saturated Reese’s deep voice. “How the hell did you come to practice krav maga?”
“It’s a good workout.” She knew her excitement at seeing him again was a bad sign. Very bad sign. He was supposed to be a one-time hook up. The fact that that one time was burned in her memory didn’t change the facts. Well, there was no law forbidding seconds, was there?
And he was sure to give her a hell of a workout. With his body, there was no question he was in shape, especially since he was a SEAL.
“Are you a police officer? Detective?” Incredulity saturated his voice.
Something told her it was hard to amaze this guy, and she felt a little thrill that she had actually managed to amaze him, but she didn’t feel like explaining about information science right now. Besides, why not keep the aura of mystery going? It was working, and this was just a hook up.
“Getting nervous?” She gave him a teasing grin as she dropped her bag by the side of the mat and staked out a spot.
“Curious.” He faced her, his stance loose.
“You know what curiosity did to the cat.” She gave him a small bow. Surprise again flashed in his eyes that she knew fighting etiquette before he bowed in return.
“Try not to hurt yourself.” Sweetness infused her voice as she lowered herself into a fighting stance.
“Bring it.” He grinned as he crouched into a fighting stance himself. “Can’t wait to see your moves.”
Remembering her CIA instructor’s advice that it was advantageous for a woman to initiate combat (when trapped) since men typically didn’t expect it, she rushed straight at him, raising her knee to get him in the stomach. His eyes again widened in surprise, but he had no trouble blocking her knee with his forearm.
What he wasn’t prepared for was her roundhouse kick to his side. It was just a tap (they were sparring, after all, not actually fighting to wound), but it was a clear hit.
Elle danced out of his grasp, unable to hold back a laugh at his flabbergasted expression as she gave him a wink. “How’d you like that move?”
He began to circle her. Despite being about six feet tall, he was incredibly light on his feet, moving with the grace of a lethal predator, like a panther. “Impressive.”
He came at her so fast she didn’t have time to think: she spun on instinct to avoid his hand strike and got a second roundhouse kick in to his side again before jumping out of his reach.
She could practically feel the blood pumping through her veins, sharpening her senses and thoughts as she did what she had been trained to do.
“Made that one up on my own.” Her laughter was breathless as they circled each other, both crouched low.
His eyes narrowed as he studied her and her movements. He was getting serious now.
“You’ve got some moves: I’ll give you that,” he said as they circled, eyes locked on each other as they scanned the other for any drop in defenses. “You compete?”
“I just like the exercise.” She should’ve waited, see what move he would make, but she was having too much fun to just stand back, so she went on the offensive, flying in again with a hand strike of her own.
That time he was ready, catching her as she was running towards him and lifting her up off her feet. Rather than fight him, she used the momentum to her advantage to swing herself up. Instead of letting herself get pulled up over his head, however, she twisted her body so she landed on his upper back, her legs wrapped around his chest.
She leaned forward, forcing him to fall to the mat. He probably fell more because her move was completely unexpected than anything else: SEALs carried sixty pounds of gear or more sometimes when they went out on ops. They weren’t easy to knock down.
Her plan had been to spring up as soon as she was on the mat, but Reese was ready for that and held tight onto her hand, rolling over so that he had her pinned to the mat with his body, blanketing her with his heat. He flipped over so that they were face to face so fast she didn’t have time to wriggle out of his grasp. He’d caught her by surprise there.
She could feel his heart beating as his chest pressed against hers.
“If you’re not with the police, then where the hell did you learn those moves?” he demanded. His grin told her he wasn’t upset, however.
She laughed at the surprise he wasn’t even trying to mask at this point before she gave him another wink. “Special references that take expertise to find.”
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