At Any Cost (18 page)

She let out a breath, her smile causing her eyes to dazzle. With her help, the box clicked open to reveal a set of diamond earrings. "Dan. They're beautiful." As her eyes searched his, he felt like a heel. He wished the earrings really did come from him. Just to have her look up at him like that made him want to give her a matching necklace.

He watched her as she put the earrings in. Oh yeah. "Beautiful. Very."

Still smiling, she turned to him for approval as her eyes moistened. Nodding, she closed the box and set it next to her on the seat. "Thank you," she whispered.

It was just a set of earrings. Dan didn't quite understand, only that he liked her reaction. She leaned up and kissed him soundly on the lips.

Oh yeah. He really liked her reaction.

JT hated to fly. She hated airports. And right now, she wasn't terribly fond of Dan Weber. First class, the snob. Sitting up there sipping on his champagne while JT sat back in the cheap seats, fighting for her rightful spot on the armrest. How did he get a first class ticket anyway?

Running her finger over the diamond earrings Dan gave her, one and then the other, she pulled her folder back out. There had to be something in here about Santos Mercado. At least something more than the digital satellite photo of the back of his head. Not even a photo of his compound. They had more information about the hotel they were staying in than they did about the location of their target.

JT closed the folder. No matter how many times she flipped through it, nothing changed. No specifics. No plan. Just a half-assed attempt at information thrown together at the last minute. She could do better in five minutes and an Internet connection.

She rubbed her shoulder. It throbbed now and again to remind her the wound still existed. She then rubbed the newest bruise on her shin. Who knew the gate leading into the airplane could be so slippery. The rain had started to blow sideways. Leave it to her to find the one slippery spot on an otherwise dry gate.

"Those are beautiful." The rather rotund man sitting next to her stated, pointing at the diamond earrings. He wiped his brow again with the handkerchief in his hand. He bulged out in every direction, the small seat no match for his size. JT ended up pressed against the opposite armrest. Her hip had gone to sleep right after takeoff.

JT smiled, ran her fingers over her earrings again. "Thank you. They're new."

"Were they a gift?"

"Yes."

"From someone special, I gather?"

Usually, this man's prodding would annoy JT. But right now, she didn't mind talking about it. Not at all. "Very special."

"Is he flying with you today?"

"No." She lost her smile and thought about her cover. Although she highly doubted this man had anything to do with the Mercado cartel, she didn't want to take any chances. "I'm actually on a little vacation." She allowed her voice to trail off and wiped at non-existent tears in her eyes.

"Oh? What is it?"

"I'm sorry." She sniffed. "This is the first trip I've ever taken without him."

"Really? Are you traveling to
Colombia
on business?"

"No. You see, he's my fiancé."
Where did that come from?
"But he's refusing to get married. I just needed to get away."

"How long have you two been together?"

"For—" She froze. They didn't tell her how long they'd been together. But judging on the fact he would be willing to travel to find her and bring her back, they must have been together for years. "Eight years."

"Does he even know you left?"

"No." Crap! That's wrong. He goes to
Colombia
to bring her home. "That is," she corrected. "I left a note. But he isn't home from work, yet. I bet he follows me clear into
Cartagena
." She realized she'd been fondling her earring and dropped her hands in her lap.

His eyes changed. His tone hardened. "You left a note? A
note
? You expect him to come after you because you left a note?" He eyed her skeptically, and in obvious disapproval.

Wow. Not the right guy to test her cover on. Must be hitting a little too close to home.

"You do realize Colombia is another country, on another continent? He'll need a passport. He'll need to schedule time off from work. A person can't simply pick up and go." He counted off the reasons for her bad decision with his pudgy fingers. "Although it didn't seem to stop
you
. Or did you think about any of that before you decided to run off?"

JT was stunned. Apparently this man must have had something like this happen to him in the past and still held a grudge.

"You either already had a passport handy, or you've had at least a month to plan for this while you waited for yours to arrive. Too bad you didn't take as much effort to work it out with him. If you wanted to get his attention, you should have tried talking to the man." He turned up his nose and faced forward. Obviously no longer interested in carrying on the conversation.

She paused, thought about that. Dan was right. This plan really did suck. In fact, it was a terrible plan. Just trying it out on a complete stranger, attempting to iron out the
facts
made her recognize all the holes in their plan. She needed to find Dan, talk to him.

"Miss? There's a man in the first class cabin asking for you." JT looked up at the pretty blonde flight attendant as she spoke. "He'd like you to join him."

Finally. "Okay." JT grabbed her file and stood, smiled at the fat man she'd just insulted, and followed the flight attendant toward the front of the plane. The attendant unhinged the ropes closing off the first class from the rest of the seats and motioned for JT to enter.

"He was rather insistent," the flight attendant continued after hinging the rope again. "This way." She walked up the narrow aisle and stopped, motioning toward an empty seat like Vanna White.

"It's about time," JT commented and sat down next to Dan. He was talking quietly on the little phone attached to the back of the seat in front of him. As she sat, he turned his back to her and finished.

She took the opportunity to look around. Jeez. The leather seats had to be twice as big as the stained cloth seats in economy. The passengers were eating off of real plates. And drinking out of real glasses. She snuggled into her big comfy seat and sighed contently. Now this was traveling in style.

Dan's voice grew louder as it grew edgier, catching her attention. "No. I don't care. Make something up. Something better than
that
. Thanks." He pushed the end button. "What's your name?" Dan asked without so much as a glance in her direction. He leaned forward and replaced the receiver.

JT frowned. "Excuse me?" Did flying scramble his brain?

He finally pulled his gaze to her. Her insides slowed when he looked her up and down as if seeing her for the first time, treating her as if they'd never met. Never kissed. Never shared anything more than the same air. Not for the first time, she felt oddly bruised by his actions. "Your name?"

"JT Turner."

His eyes narrowed and he gave a slight shake of his head. Ah. Her cover. Right. "
Jessica
. Jessica Turner. I'm an American." She held out her hand.

He took her hand, lingering just long enough to brush his thumb across the tender part of her wrist. "Nice to meet you, Jessica the American. My name is Dan Weber."

"Ah! Now why do you get to keep your name and I have to go by Jessica?"

Dan's featured hardened instantly and looked ready to rip her in two. She could hear the growl deep in the back of his throat. Dan pulled his glare away to glance up at the flight attendant as she hovered.

"Do you two know each other?" She asked. "I thought you said you saw her fall as she boarded."

"Aren't there other passengers in need of your attention?" Dan ground out, cutting off the nosey woman.

"But you said—"

"I'll take a Jack on the rocks," he cut in.

She pierced her lips, taking the hint. "Anything else?"

JT wanted something. "Yes, I'd like—"

"No, thank you," Dan bit off. "Just a little privacy."

"Of course," the flight attendant said with forced pleasantry. JT swore the woman called him an asshole under her breath as she walked away.

Tell me about it.
She made a mental note to pull the woman aside and make up some story about him being on medication. No need having her first experience in first class ruined by bad service, or Dan's surly attitude.

"That wasn't nice," JT commented.

"I told you I'm not a nice person."

"And yet
I
still like you. Go figure." She thought of her earrings and smiled.

That comment seemed to throw him off. He looked at her, his mouth open slightly. He snapped it closed as the flight attendant returned with his drink. As she handed it to him, he shook his head and pointed to JT. The flight attendant handed it to JT.

JT looked at it. “No, thank you.”

"Just take the drink," Dan snapped. The flight attendant threw Dan a heated glare.

JT smiled up at her and accepted the drink. "Thank you."

"
You
are welcome." She emphasized her statement directly toward JT. She mouthed, "Good luck" and walked away.

I'm going to need it
. "Why do I want a drink?"

"I heard you talking to your neighbor back there. The way you sputtered through your story was embarrassing. If you plan to pull this off, you need to relax a bit. Drink."

"But I don't like whiskey."

"Drink." It wasn't a request. JT sipped at the whiskey and nearly gagged. She hated whiskey. Still, after a few more sips, it started to mix with her blood and did, indeed, relax her a bit.

"How could you hear me talking? I was sitting thirty-five rows back. Do you have super-hearing to go along with your Superspy status or something?"

Dan's eyes shifted to her diamond earrings. JT's heart sank as the realization slammed into her chest. They weren't a gift after all. He led her to believe...

It didn't matter what she believed. She was such an idiot! Oh, he must have had a good laugh over that one.
Damn it, Turner!
Dan wasn't her date. He wasn't some guy trying to impress her. Quite the contrary. Despite how she felt about him—she didn't even know
how
she felt about him, especially now—he didn't share the love. Or whatever it was that made her insides turn to jelly whenever he looked at her.

"What are they? Mics?" She grasped at her ears to give them a good tug. She couldn't get a firm hold. Damn it! Great. And now her hands were shaking.

"Among other things. Receiver on the left, transmitter on the right. Together they work as a
GPS
." He easily pulled her hands down from her ears, continued to hold them until she stopped shaking. "Don't leave my side without them. Ever. They're small enough to not draw attention, so no one should notice them."

She jerked her hands back. "They're diamonds, Weber. We are traveling into a very poor part of the world. Diamonds hanging from my ears are going to make people notice me like I have a second head," she snapped acidly, the thought of actually believing he would give her something so precious made her sick to her stomach.
Mission
. They were on a mission. Partners. Nothing more. Not now.

Not ever.

"Then stick them somewhere no one will see them."

"Why don't I stick them up your ass?" she hissed just as the pretty blonde flight attendant walked by. She paused and caught JT's eye.

"Is everything all right?"

"We're fine," Dan growled.

"I was asking her," the flight attendant corrected.

"Actually," JT spoke up. "I would like to move back to my original seat."

"You're not going anywhere," Dan ordered.

"She is more than welcome to return to her seat, sir," the flight attendant jumped in. JT smiled at him and stood. If there weren't so many people watching the scene unfold, she would have stuck out her tongue.

"
Jessica
," Dan warned, reminding her they were both there for a higher purpose. Despite her want to never speak to him again for giving her hope, then stomping on her heart with a smile on his face, they were there on a mission. National security took precedence over her disaster of a love life. Or lack thereof.

JT sat and brought her eyes up to the flight attendant. "Can I get another drink? Like a double?"

"Of course." The flight attendant hurried away.

"We are going to have to do something about you going off half-cocked all the time," Dan started in as soon as the flight attendant turned the corner into the little airplane black hole all flight attendants disappeared into during flights.

JT let out a deep breath. How did this man succeed in getting her so riled up? She used to be commended on how well she kept her cool during mock ops. What happened?

Dan Weber happened.

She knew she should bury his personal attacks and get on with the mission, but something about this man made her want the upper hand. She couldn't let it go. "Why did you let me believe they were a gift?"

"They
were
a gift."

"I thought they were from you. I should have known better."

He shook his head, muttered something. "What difference does it make?"

He was right, of course. What difference did it make? Absolutely none. It didn't matter she thought he cared about her. It made no difference to her whatsoever.