Devil's Gold

by Julie Korzenko

  He flipped the phone open and verified he now had signal. “Are the bears still out there?”

  Cassidy moved to the window and shook her head. “All clear.”

  Jake smiled. “Call Steve while I go check my bandage. I think it needs changing.” He headed into the bathroom praying that by giving her some of her authority back she’d begin to trust him once more. Attraction wasn’t an issue. The sadness tainting her eyes killed him. After a few moments of self-condemnation, he headed back to Cassidy.

  “Steve answered,” she said, cocking her head and gazing at him thoughtfully. “After locking on the signal, he thermal imaged the area. There’s no sign of that guy chasing us. But he clearly saw a whole horde of firefighters battling the flames beyond that small ridge to our north. Luckily, the fire is being blown away from our location. He thinks the roads will be passable in about five hours. At least, that’s what the fire department indicated.”

  “What about the chopper?”

  Cassidy shook her head. “Too risky. Water planes are working the air.”

  “So we wait?”

  “Yes, I suppose we wait.”

  His insides burned, and Jake kicked himself for the path his hormones insisted on pursuing. “No bad guy?”

  She swallowed and shook her head. “Nope.”

  “We’re all alone? No way out of here?”

  Cassidy shrugged. “We could hike south for thirty miles. There’s a road that intersects with Route 89.”

  “That would take us roughly six hours, right?”

  She nodded. “Seems silly to do that when Steve will be here within five.”

  “Yes, it does.”

  The heat in Jake’s eyes tingled along every inch of her skin. Cassidy’s pulse raced. He raised one brow and approached her. Jake growled something she couldn’t make out, but with a flip of his wrist her blanket was off her body and on the closest bunk. All thought was obliterated when he pulled her hard against his chest.

  She needed this. For once, Cassidy decided to relent to her emotions, seek what she desired. To hell with sanity. Her hands splayed against his chest, and she gazed into his eyes. The power that lay within their blue depths didn’t frighten; it invigorated and caused heat to flare in places she’d forgotten ever existed.

  “Cassidy,” he whispered into her ear and nibbled her lobe. “You’re killing me.”

  Oh, boy. She chuckled and rubbed her cheek against his skin. “Likewise.”

  Her senses spread, the scent of stacked firewood by the hearth and Jake mingled into one. She’d never be able to make a fire without remembering this one … this human pyre his kisses ignited. Cassidy tugged at the edge of his towel, and it disappeared. Her hands explored, touching what she’d forbidden herself to consider possible.

  Jake ran his hand through her hair, pausing her finger walk across his skin. She gazed into his face; desire and need mirrored the sparks and electricity coursing through her veins. Cassidy bit her bottom lip, running her tongue along the edge of her teeth.

  His head dropped down, and his lips touched hers. Nipping and sucking in tiny pieces, his mouth commanded and directed. Jake’s hands moved across her skin, caressing and exciting. He trailed tender kisses down her neck; then everything exploded. They were no longer two separate entities.

  They twirled through the room, their shadows casting a sensual dance of entwined limbs. Cassidy inhaled, her breath catching as every touch of his hand seared and branded. Jake lifted her against his chest. He bent and swiped the towel off the floor, moving them toward the narrow bunk. His whispered words were lost against her skin.

  Cassidy sank into the mattress, surrendering to the demands of her body. No more thoughts; only action. She gazed into Jake’s eyes, reached for him, and for the first time in forever submitted to a power greater than her mind. Jake moved slowly; her eyes fluttered closed as she soaked in the pleasure of their unity.

  “Cassidy.” He nuzzled her neck.

  “Don’t talk,” she murmured.

  His chest rumbled with laughter, sweat glistening and mixing with hers. She moved her hips and lost herself in the essence of Jake. Her mind and body blasted beyond the border of reality, careening her through wave after wave of pleasure.

  Jake collapsed beside her, pulling her into his embrace. Cassidy fought for air, the emotion that ricocheted inside her chest difficult to absorb. Jake kissed her temple. He placed a knuckle beneath her chin, forcing her to gaze into his eyes. “That was more than physical.” His eyes darkened, and the ramifications of their actions and his response alarmed and warmed her heart.

  Cassidy tilted her head and stared at anything but his face. “I don’t know how we fit.”

  Jake laughed; it filled the cabin and made her smile. “I thought we fit just fine.”

  She shoved his shoulder and risked a glance at his face, the sparkle of humor that glittered in his eyes a more familiar sight than the expression before. “You know what I mean.”

  “I do?”

  “Well, what I meant to say is in my head. I just haven’t let it out yet.” More laughter and this time she joined him. Cassidy couldn’t believe what a moron she was being. “It’s complicated.”

  “Only as complicated as you want it to be, Cassidy.” He bent down and rubbed his lips against hers. “We have some minor details to work out, but I bet there’ll be a day when you turn to me and fall into my arms. No second guessing. No troubled eyes.”

  Cassidy pushed a lock of hair off his face. “I doubt it.” She grinned when he growled his outrage.

  Jake nipped at her earlobe, sending shivers racing up and down her spine. “Face it. I’ve gotten to you.”

  She sighed and snuggled closer for warmth. “I can’t argue with that, Jake Anderson.” Her heart skipped a beat, and she bit her bottom lip. This couldn’t be happening. She needed to rein in her emotions. “We’re moving too fast.”

  Jake rolled his eyes. “Lord have mercy, woman, is it going to kill you to let loose a bit?”

  Cassidy offered him a small smile and ran her finger along the edge of his jaw. The scratchy prick of his afternoon shadow felt sexy and dangerous and way too intimate. “Yes.”

  He touched his lips to hers and breathed her name against her mouth, sending a rush of emotion through her system. She suddenly felt heated and flushed and entirely uncomfortable. This wasn’t desire or lust he aroused; it was more. And alien. And scary.

  “Rest, Sunshine.” He pulled the blanket around her shoulders and draped his leg over hers. The comfort and heat coupled with her emotional and physical exhaustion did her in. Cassidy surrendered to oblivion, frowning as she held tightly to the only solid thing in her life. Jake.

  She resisted the final pull of sleep, reminding herself this didn’t mean she needed to be in love. The feel of Jake’s skin beneath her hand was simply a comfort, something physical and nothing more than that. A thought rolled to the forefront of her mind, insisting she was incapable of simply having sex. Cassidy yawned, pushed it away, and finally relented to weariness.

  Robert leaned past Nick and grabbed the bottle of fifty-year-old scotch. Nick watched as he poured himself two fingers and cradled the thick, crystal glass in his hand. The door of the limousine opened, allowing a thin streak of light into the dim interior. Drew Sharpe climbed in, eyed Robert’s glass, and seated himself beside Nick.

  “I have the environmental report. I forged Dr. Lowell’s signature.” Nick hid a smirk as Robert ignored Drew’s envious stare at his scotch. “Not important now. What about the survey? Do you have that?”

  Drew pursed his lips and shook his head. “Not yet. I’m still looking. I’ve widened the search, as you suggested earlier, to include her computer and its components.” He cast a quick glance at Nick and frowned. “The media’s done well. She’ll not be able to make a move without us knowing.”

  Nick growled, finding it hard to sustain his distance. “Let me eliminate her.”

  Robert swore beneath his breath and
glared at Nick. “No. I’ve altered the plan. I need her back in the delta.”

  Drew scooted forward and adjusted his tie. “Nigeria? I thought you wanted her arrested and disqualified as a reliable scientist. Haven’t we accomplished that?”

  A wide smile curved Robert’s lips. “I think pretty Miss Lowell deserves to witness the future of the Niger Delta up close and personal.”

  Shaking his head, Drew sat back, his body smacking into the leather of the seat. “You can’t do that. She’ll die for sure.”

  Robert pointed a finger at Drew and clucked. “Exactly. And infect others before she dies initiating my plan. That land belongs to me.”

  Drew inhaled sharply. “I never agreed to this level of danger.”

  Robert glanced quickly at Nick and nodded once. Nick grinned, excitement bubbled in his chest, then he stilled and inhaled. With an indiscernible move of his arm to the left, he reached over and snapped Drew’s neck with a quick jab of his elbow. The heat of the kill flooded his system, sending him into a state he considered better than sex. He laughed and shoved Drew’s body away from him.

  “Now you do.” Robert sighed, then tilted his head back and joined Nick’s laughter.

  CHAPTER 27

  JAKE SPLASHED COLD WATER ON HIS FACE. IT RAN IN THIN STREAMS across his cheekbones and onto his bare chest, causing him to shiver.

  He wasn’t proud of the reflection in the mirror. He’d broken his own code of ethics and become emotionally involved with a suspect. With a flick of his wrist, he traced a large bull’s-eye on the surface of the mirror. “Way to go, Anderson.” Black Stripe came first, and there’d be no disclosing unnecessary details of this mission or baring his soul for her forgiveness. If she knew he still considered Black Stripe top priority, she’d consider the act of wrapping her fingers around his neck and squeezing until he stopped breathing rather lenient.

  Jake exited the small bathroom. Cassidy lay sprawled on the bunk, her hair fanned across her face and hiding the curve of lips he’d become very familiar with. The gentle rise and fall of her chest indicated she slept. Padding quietly, he was careful not to disturb her. With a towel wrapped back around his waist, Jake left the cabin to check on their clothes.

  It was late afternoon and the sun had dropped behind the tree line, no longer shining its warmth on their garments. The burning forest fire perfumed the air with a pleasant smoky pine scent, and if you forgot the damage and danger it represented it was almost soothing.

  Their clothes were dry. Boots, however, still squished with retained water. Nothing could be done about that. Gathering their things up and turning toward the cabin, the door creaked open and Cassidy walked toward him wrapped in her blanket. She smiled, a light blush touching her face. Her curls cascaded down her back, a breathtaking tangle of gold.

  “Hey there, beautiful.” Jake’s gut twisted painfully. His instincts told him she held back vital information. Cassidy’s predicament shot a new angle on his investigation. There was more here at stake than her reputation. Jake’s lips curled up in a half smile. Somewhere buried beneath all the trivial facts in her brain was the answer. He was confident she knew more than she realized. Uncovering the nature of the relationship between New World Petroleum and ZEBRA relied on determining what those facts were. “Your clothes are dry,” he said and tossed her stuff over.

  She dropped her blanket and dressed, giving him a cheeky grin as he whistled between his teeth. Jake paused a moment and watched her graceful moves; the way she flipped her hair back and knotted it without the aid of a hair clip amazed him. It was a messy mane, but the soft curls that escaped framed her face like an angel’s halo.

  She snapped her fingers and broke the spell. “That look in your eyes, Romeo, isn’t going to help us move forward.”

  Chuckling, he followed her example and tugged on his jeans and shirt, immediately feeling more in control.

  “What’s so funny?”

  He winked. “Nothing. Just thinking to myself that it’s much better to be wearing jeans when in dangerous situations.”

  She smiled and walked over, entwining her fingers with his. His heart stopped and then started with a rapid beat that had him swearing silently. He reached up and twirled a stray strand of her hair around his finger. “Cassidy, we need to talk.” Jake inhaled and felt sick to his stomach. He sat down and pulled her onto his lap.

  “I know. I thought of something.” She nestled between his legs and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight.

  “What?”

  “We need to determine the connection between Sharpe and Cole.”

  Jake nodded. “We’ve been working that angle for quite some time without any success.” He gazed at her with steady eyes.

  “You think I know?”

  “What were the geologists doing for you?” Jake didn’t like the sudden evasive expression that crossed her face. He felt a spark of anger.

  “Trying to prove that Port Harcourt was sinking.”

  Jake pushed her off his lap and stood up. “And that was worth killing for?”

  Cassidy stared at him as if he’d grown an additional head. “Why are you so angry?”

  “Because you’re not telling the truth.” He inhaled a sharp breath as she gasped at his accusation, and tried to rein in his temper. “What are you hiding?”

  She leapt to her feet and pointed a finger at his chest. “Don’t think that because of our little romp in the cabin, you know me or can judge whether I’m telling the truth or not. Because you don’t know me. And you can’t judge what you don’t know.”

  His cell phone rang, and he answered it with a curt hello. Listening to Steve on the other end gave him a momentary reprieve to calm his anger and think clearly. He flipped the phone shut and turned to face Cassidy.

  “That was Steve. He’s downloading coordinates for our rendezvous point. We need to get a move on; the hike will take us about an hour, and daylight is fading.” Cassidy worried her bottom lip. He bent over and kissed her tenderly, easing the frown that wrinkled her brow.

  “Sorry, Sunshine. You’re right.” He’d readjust his approach next time.

  “Are you positive Charlie and David were not simply victims of the raid on the ZEBRA camp?”

  He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” Jake flipped open his phone and read the coordinates. Following the built-in compass, he led them into the woods and away from a topic he no longer felt like tackling. If Cassidy still held this much resentment against him because of his deceit, he needed more time to gain her trust.

  Cassidy understood Jake’s anger. But, right now, it made absolute sense to her to remain quiet regarding her concerns about Charlie and David. The geological survey was the only trump card she held. Running her fingers across the smooth bark of a quaking aspen, she traipsed after him. She grinned as he stepped over a fallen log, his jeans tightening perfectly across his butt.

  He glanced back at her and winked. That prompted her stomach to tense and an uneasy tap dance of attraction to lodge in her gut. She bit her lower lip. “I’m starving.”

  “For?” he asked.

  “Food.” She laughed when his shoulders dropped.

  “Damn. I thought we’d have a little quickie right here in the middle of nowhere.”

  “That sounds appealing. Just think, chiggers and ticks and all sorts of funky earth creatures can join us. I think we’d better refocus our minds on the nightmare that has become my life. I know you think I’m holding back, but I’m not. We have to consider what our options are.”

  Jake shrugged and held a branch back for her. “Okay. How about the level of involvement of our fearless leader, Drew Sharpe? Why would he aid in the warrant issue?”

  “I have no clue.” Cassidy accepted his hand as he guided them through a narrow pass. “He’s always supported everything I do. And he, for one, should know I couldn’t have brought a virus back. For crying out loud, I didn’t even receive my
bag until I’d been home for a week.”

  Her boots were still wet, and her socks rubbed a raw spot on the side of her foot. Night hadn’t fully settled. She breathed deeply in an attempt to smooth out her emotions. The woods held that odd glow that she always associated with the gloaming. It was her favorite time of day. She could feel the earth sigh in relief as the heat of the sun diminished and the cool embrace of the evening beckoned those afraid of the light.

  They made their way up a steep incline, and the trees began to thin. Cassidy glanced over her shoulder and paused, soaking in the view. Yellowstone River flowed in the distance. It wound its way through thick groves of lodgepole pines, then spread in a wide path of blue ice before twisting around a bend and disappearing from view.

  Jake was directly behind her and turned to follow her line of vision.

  “This land takes my breath away. You can almost step back in time to the era of the fur trappers like Jim Bridger and Osborne Russell. The thousands of trails that wind themselves through this region allow us an unusual perspective into the past, don’t you think?”

  He tilted his head. “You mean a time before terror filled the world in the form of toxins and bullets? Yes, I can certainly appreciate the appeal of that.”

  “Did you know we were the first to use biological warfare? We handed the Indians blankets contaminated with small pox and wiped out entire tribes. I guess man has always tiptoed along the edge of the evil canyon.”

  Jake sighed as if caught in the clutches of indecision. With a quick swipe of his arm, he pulled her roughly against his chest, kissing her mouth. His lips seared and burned a wide path of desire that sparked every nerve ending in her body. She clung to his shoulders, unsure of how to respond. His kisses were angry; then they faded into a tender caress, singing to her heart. Jake pulled away slowly, inhaled a deep breath, and walked past her.