An Unlikely Hero (1) (36 page)

Tessa quickly masked her embarrassment by a cynical retort. “Trying to figure a way to get us out of this mess.

She began a clumsy attempt at trying to stand only to slip and land on her butt harder than the first time. The uncontrolled laugh of the captain and his large frame moving to assist clumsy attempt at standing halted before reaching out to touch her.

Chase understood the hands off gesture and folded his arms across his chest again, forcing patience upon himself. “And how will you save the day, Mrs. Tessa Scott, because up until now you’ve been a great deal of trouble.”

Tessa took a deep breath as she shoved at his chest. “Trouble! Trouble!” Throwing her hands up in the air, she elbowed her way past him and headed up the trail. “You don’t know what trouble is, buster! When we get done here my husband, the lawyer, thank you very much, is going to fry your high and mighty attitude in court!” Chase had easily caught up and remained quiet. “I’ve been attached to a bomb…”

“It wasn’t a bomb,” he added.

Tessa waved him off. “I thought it was a bomb! Shut up!”

“Sorry. Continue.”

“Kidnapped! Dragged half way across the country and back, delivered a baby, shot at, forced the indignity of sharing a motel room with you…”

“Now that hurt,” Chase said drily as he laid a hand over his heart.

“A cheap motel room at that!” she snorted. “I’ve been hog tied, left for dead…”

“With all due respect, if you had only listened…”

Tessa held up a hand to silence the captain, “nearly burned alive, and pushed off a cliff…”

“I gave you a choice,” he said with an amused shrug.

“Nearly drowned and now forced on a death march through an eerie scorched land that leads to nowhere! I’m tired, I stink…”

“I noticed,” he smiled.

Tessa halted suddenly as she reached down and picked up several rocks. Hurling them at the captain gave her much pleasure when one hit him in the leg. Only a minute flinch of Chase’s eye indicated it smarted. His wide, disarming grin forced Tessa to reach for another rock only to be overpowered by Chase’s unexpected grip on her wrist. He squeezed the wrist so tightly that the rock dropped aimlessly to the ground.

“Feel better?” he said in a condescending voice.

“Don’t patronize me, you over grown Neanderthal. I want to go home. I want to see my family.”

A tidal wave of regret washed over Chase, knowing that he kept the truth of Robert and the kids hidden from her. He couldn’t risk Tessa being paralyzed with the stark reality of getting involved with all things connected to national security. In the end the price of her sacrifice would be greater than the gratitude of the thousands she helped save. Tempted fate never revealed a happy ending and Tessa plummeted toward a revelation she’d have to live with the rest of her life.
If only you’d gone to Tahoe with Robert,
he thought regretfully.
I can’t save you from what’s ahead.

Jerking her hand free, Tessa rubbed the wrist furiously to start the circulation of blood again. That strange contemptible look of danger Chase so often exhibited dropped on her. In the last week she’d watched him pummel a man on her kitchen floor, unload his weapon into a dead man, or so he claimed, shoot with deadly aim in a fire fight at one of the most secure laboratories in the country, and save her life on several occasions. He showed no fear. Paranoia crept into the back of her mind. When this all came to a conclusion, what then? Realizing that she knew too much about all their secret shenanigans at Enigma, buried inside a California university, would she become a victim? The phrase ‘silence is golden’ began to take on new meaning as Chase nodded up the path, expecting her to follow blindly.

“What’s going on, Chase? Who shot at us? Where’s Zoric and Mr. Crawley? Shouldn’t we be seeing the cavalry swoop in by now?” Already she found herself panting. “Join a gym” kept popping up on her to do list.

Chase continued steadily up a steep part of the trail, reaching back occasionally to pull Tessa forward so he didn’t have to wait for her to navigate the pit falls of the eroded trail created by spring rains. “Donno.” His tone, matter-of-fact, failed to end Tessa’s stream of endless questions.
How much further? Can we stop a minute? How do you know Honey Lynch? Does Carter still work for NASA? How did you come to work for Enigma? How did Enigma originate? How do you know Essid?
Blah. Blah. Blah. Chase stopped listening until he realized Tessa no longer trailed behind him. He turned to see her propped against a boulder, hands on her knees, trying to suck in more oxygen.

Patiently he waited for her to lean back against the boulder. Even now, disheveled, ripped clothes, smudged face and stinking of river water and burned wood, Tessa looked like an angel to him. That pain tapped at his chest again just as he diverted his eyes to survey the surroundings. Out of shape and exhausted, Tessa remained a trooper when it came to pressing on in the face of adversity. He saw resolve in her eyes but her body screamed ‘enough’.

“Let’s rest,” he said standing so still all sounds became magnified.

“Are you…” she began hesitantly.

Chase turned his dark brown eyes like lasers toward, Tessa causing her to swallow with a gulp. “More questions. I would’ve thought you’d run out by now!” he snapped.

“It’s not like you’ve answered any of them,” she said softly, hoping to disarm him like she did Robert. The frown and angry step toward her confirmed once more that this man was nothing like her Robert.

“One question. Then no more!”

“Are you going to kill me when this is all over,” she said so casually that Chase hesitated to answer.

The realization that this woman thought him a cold hearted monster caused that tap of pain in his chest again. Got to see the doctor, he thought with disgust. He’d left his weapon at the Hummer and it most likely looked like a piece of melted plastic by now. He’d just removed his gun from the holster moments before to make sure it was loaded and ready. Laying it on the front seat he’d turned to go to the back of the Hummer for extra magazines. When bullets began flying Chase’s first instinct was to protect Tessa. By the time the bullets stopped, retrieving the weapon was out of the question.

His hand slid to his belt, where the soft, damp sheath holding his knife, easily pulled free with the tug of his fingers. Holding it up in front of him, Chase walked quickly to Tessa. The sound of shock escaped her mouth as she started to edge off the boulder and down the path only to feel Chase’s hard grip on her elbow that jerked her to a stop. The raw fear looming in her eyes softened his anger enough to openly search her face with confusion. Why Tessa Scott? Why me? The thought of losing her in this fight because of his obstinate attitude and ego sobered him. The tremble in her arm as he pulled against the resistance Tessa exhibited, encouraged him that just maybe she’d be able to take care of herself if he were captured or killed. Squeezing her wrist so hard that the palm of her hand popped open, Chase laid the knife gently within her hold.

Quickly removing the sheath from his belt, Chase unzipped her pants only to feel her squirm away. “Look if I wanted you, which I don’t, I could’ve easily taken care of that last night. Now stand still. I’m trying to hide this inside your pants in case we’re taken. They’ll tear me apart looking for weapons, but not you.” Tessa nodded in surrender as Chase unbuttoned the last barrier before slipping his hands inside her jeans.

The steady movement of his hands caused Tessa to divert her eyes up through the trees at first but ultimately curiosity forced her to watch his face. The skillful way Chase looped the sheath to lie next to her skin sent shivers up her spine. A fleeting thought of regret at not taking advantage of the two for one sale at Victoria Secrets managed to cloud her confidence when she remembered the panties Chase slid his hand against were the St. Patrick’s Day special from Wal-Mart. Nothing said sexy like a bunch of smiling leprechauns holding shamrocks.
Dear God, let me live until I can go to the next lingerie sale!

“There!” Chase carefully, almost slowly, zipped up Tessa’s jeans and buttoned them before she had time to protest. “In the event we’re captured, hopefully the luck of the Irish will be with you,” he grinned. Embarrassment edged up into her face giving Tessa a healthy rosy color. “Robert’s a lucky man,” he said in his best Irish brogue.

Tessa smoothed her ragged blouse over the edge of her waist. “Very funny. One more Irish comment…” Tessa pushed at Chase’s close proximity to no avail. His warm laugh caught her so off guard that she couldn’t complete the empty threat.

“You seem to forget pretty quickly that I’m the good guy,” Chase said realizing his nearness unnerved her. “We’re in this together and no, I’m not going to kill you when this is all over. However you’ll not be able to access anything that has gone on with this mission.”

“So, are you going to put on dark glasses and flash me with some Pentagon pen that erases my memory?” Tessa said flippantly.

“Something like that,” he said as he turned away.

“What? Seriously? You can do that?”

His warm laughter spilled unexpectedly out again. “Someone watches too many movies.” He started back up the trail. “Come on. We’re not that far now.” He suddenly stopped and turned to face her as she tried to catch up. “Tessa, you’ve got to trust me from here on out. I need one hundred percent from you no matter what I say or do.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I know. If all hell breaks loose, I need to know I can count on you. Things are not always what they seem. You’ve got to believe in me. No more doubting, escape attempts, complaining or trying to out maneuver me. Got it?”

Tessa nodded as she licked her dry lips nervously. “I owe you that. I’m,” Tessa pulled back her shoulders, “I’m sorry I accused you of…”

“Forget it. We get through this and I’ll get you some big girl panties,” he laughed as he heard Tessa’s exasperated snort.

The day faded quickly in the mountains as did the thought of escape in Tessa’s mind. This man really meant her no harm. It just was unnerving being so close to a real American hero. Captain Chase Hunter would remain unknown to millions for his efforts. His team carried on the work without them, hopefully safe at Global, waiting for help to arrive without incident so the mission could be put to rest once and for all. Essid would be captured and dealt a blow of justice. Her family, vacationing at Tahoe, would never know how close to disaster the country had come and the roll she played in saving it. A pride began swelling inside her. Finally her life made a difference. Nothing would ever be the same for her.

Chapter 25

Benjamin Clark could smell the smoke of the burning fires around Auburn and the nearby foothills even before he saw the flames devouring hundred year old trees. From the helicopter he could see firefighters scrambling to cut its march short as smaller fires were lit and debris pulled away from the hungry monster that Essid created to insure no outside interference compromised his recovery of the isotopes. The Scope and Discovery department notified Ben of the fire just as Technical Support confirmed authorities suspected an arsonist. Thoughts of both teams being separated or pinned by Essid’s death trap only mildly concerned him. Both Chase and Carter thrived on the impossible. When both teams failed to call in, Ben knew the plan had been jeopardized.

Aerial photos revealed empty roads except for one burning Hummer. Ben back tracked the information on the trucking company. Although the company checked out, the drivers all had one thing in common: money problems. One sold his soul to the gambling gods of Vegas; another one faced a barracuda of a divorce lawyer. Only one week remained before the bank foreclosed on his house. The third had a sick kid waiting for a kidney transplant with no insurance. Three desperate men with the need for quick money tended to resemble a flask of nitroglycerin. How many others on Essid’s payroll bowed down to the god of money? In the current economy the potential prospects for a little extra work began to mount. It no longer involved Essid and a few of his radical lackeys. Americans bent on vengeance against government intervention in their lives, paramilitary groups, and religious nuts of all denominations could be a significant pool of support for Essid’s operation.

His people needed a miracle to salvage this mission. That’s when he’d called the Secretary of Homeland Security. Looking down now at the destruction, he observed another helicopter, an Erickson 64S Aircrane, assisting with loads of water releasing from its on board tanks, to reign down on the hungry flames below. Ben turned his eyes forward to focus on what lay ahead. Although the ultimate goal was to secure the isotopes, he knew the only thing he really cared about was getting his Enigma people out alive.

Carter evaluated their situation as the labored squeal of brakes on the eighteen wheeler jerked to a halt. The three truckers didn’t have the good sense to tie them up before ordering them into the back of the first truck. His driver, who appeared to be in possession of the worst attitude and foulest mouth, made the mistake of touching Sam seductively with his gun. He smiled remembering how in a blink she’d not only removed his weapon but jammed it in his open mouth as he hit the ground with a kick upside his head. Sam always amazed him with her incredible beauty and brilliant mind. But when she exploded into action he loved to just stand back, dreaming of what it must feel like to be tangled up with all that energy and power wrapped around him.