Dangerous Liaisons (12 page)

For the hundredth time, the spaghetti strap on the yellow sundress Cole had purchased slipped down Jesse’s shoulder. The dress was a size too small and the straps were too long. She was cranky, and the scent of Cole’s shaving cream, wafting across the hotel room’s little table, wasn’t helping her concentration. He remained absorbed in reading the list of supplies she’d compiled. He hadn’t combed his hair, only run his fingers through it after showering twenty minutes ago. She wondered how many college girls’ fingers had tightened in his hair when he’d brought them to climax.

Cole’s eyes shifted to her. “What’s the judge’s name?” he asked. Jesse remained silent and he frowned. “All this cloak and dagger stuff isn’t necessary.”

She nearly choked. “It’s our business.”

He gave his head a single determined shake. “We’re on the same side.”

She wished she could be sure of that. She wished they were sitting on a beach in Santa Marta, drinking mai tai’s and flirting in anticipation of making love in their hotel room. She wished she knew who to trust.

“Are you getting the equipment or not?” she asked.

“Sure. I’ll get it, but we’ll still need back-up.”

“I planned on going alone. I still can. In fact, I’d prefer it. I never intended that anyone else risk their life.”

“No repeats of
Operation Hangman
?” he asked quietly.

She looked him square in the eye. “That’s right.”

Cole gave her a patient look.

Her hurt intensified to the point of tears. 

“You’re not alone, Jess.” He reached across the table and covered her hand with his. She started to pull away, then remembered her plan to seduce him. She looked away, as if overcome with emotion. It wasn’t far from the truth.

He leaned back in his chair, his hand sliding off hers. “Okay. It’s just you and me. For now. But if we need backup, I
will
call them in.”

She looked at him. “No reports to Lanton.”

He held up three fingers. “Scout’s honor. You call the shots. Just don’t get killed.”

Jesse dropped her gaze.

Cole stood. “Get some rest. I’ll do some shopping.”

She stood. “I don’t like being in this hotel room.” She didn’t like being separated from him, either, but wasn’t sure that was a wise admission. “If Lanton doesn’t already know where we are, he will soon.”

“He needs to think we’re working together willingly. Running will only tip him off.”

“Or, it might make him think I’ve got something to hide. Maybe it will tip his hand and we can find out what he wants from me.”

“You still don’t know?” Cole asked.

Jesse’s heart took a nosedive. He was trying to get her to spill the beans. She turned away. What was wrong with her? She didn’t know this guy. For all she knew, he beat dogs and cheated at cards. He clasped her shoulder and she turned.

“Keep Lanton out of it,” she said. “And everyone else, too. If I smell even a whiff—”

Cole pulled her against his chest. Jesse snaked a foot around his ankle and tumbled him onto the bed, landing on top of him. He rolled on top of her. His weight crushed her between the firm mattress and his body, their legs intertwined, and the warmth of his jeans-covered leg penetrated her inner thigh.

She interlocked her fingers behind his neck and pulled his face toward hers. At the last moment, he turned away and buried his face in her hair. She shivered as his breath warmed her neck.

You’re trying to seduce him
, she reminded herself through a haze of desire. She took a deep breath, painfully aware of her nipples’ sudden sensitivity against the dress’s cotton fabric. She shifted, rubbing her breasts against his chest, and allowing him to settle more snugly between her legs. His erection pressed her thigh.

Cole lifted his head and looked down at her. “You can’t go off half-cocked.”

Jesse blinked, her mind stuck on the words
half-cocked
.

“I read your file,” he said. “I know what you’re capable of.”

A chill displaced the warmth in her belly at the possibility that he did in fact know.

“Perez isn’t the type of man anyone should tangle with on their own,” Cole went on. “You’ll end up dead.” He paused. “Or worse.”

Her heart beat furiously. Good. He would think she wanted him. Hell, she did.

“Now,” he said, rolling off her, “I need to do that shopping.”

He stood, and Jesse stared, disbelieving. His gaze didn’t stray to her breasts or legs.

“I meant what I said, Jess. I know what you’re capable of.” He glanced around the room. “This hotel room can’t hold you. You’re good. So is my team. Take off, and they’ll follow. Even if you do shake them, where will you get the equipment on this list?” He patted his shirt pocket.

Her legs suddenly felt like they would melt into the bed and she’d be left stranded with nothing but a head sitting on a torso.

“Get some rest,” Cole said. “I’ll be back later.”

He turned and disappeared around the short wall separating the room from the tiny foyer. A second later, the door opened, then shut.

Jesse stared at the spot where he’d disappeared. Up until now, she always knew who the bad guy was. But Cole? What was she supposed to do with a man who might be guilty of nothing worse than trying to bring a traitor to justice?

Jesse squinted against the morning sun and pushed her sunglasses farther up the bridge of her nose. She sipped her coffee in the outdoor cafe. Cole had left the hotel the night before and still hadn’t returned when she’d fallen asleep about two in the morning. A tremor raced through her. His phone call at seven that morning had jarred her from a dream of racing through the Colombian jungle while shouting his name. Hearing his voice had confused her in that first instant.

Memory of the concern in his voice still nagged her.

Jesse set the coffee down and glanced through the café doors at the clock on the wall over the bar. One o’clock. He should arrive any minute.

She looked back at the street and, as if on cue, an olive green International Harvester approached the café and angled toward the curb. Jesse squinted and recognized Cole at the wheel. She pulled a few pesos from her pocket, dropped them on the table, then strode to the curb. He stopped and Jesse glanced through the window into the back of the Harvester. A long aluminum case lay in the rear. She slid into the passenger seat.

Day old stubble gave Cole’s apple pie looks an edge that sent a jolt of desire straight between her legs. His hair lay flat on the left side as if he’d slept in the car.  His rumpled, long-sleeved cotton shirt supported that impression. He looked like a man fresh from the beach after a night of lovemaking.

Jesse lifted her brows in question.

He shifted into drive and said, “Everything is all right.”

Everything would be all right if she could be certain he believed her innocence. Embarrassment rocketed through her. Where the hell had that thought come from? From a desire to know that he saw through Lanton’s smokescreen to the real her, she realized with horror.

She hooked a thumb under one of the sundress’s spaghetti straps. “I can’t go traipsing through the jungle dressed like this.”

He flashed a lopsided grin and surprised her by raking his gaze over her body. “Too bad. We’ll stop at your hotel.”

Fifteen minutes later and a hundred mental replays of the way he’d looked at her, Jesse led Cole up the narrow, worn-out stairs to her hotel room. The Do-Not-Disturb sign still hung on her door at the end of the hall. She pulled the key from the dress pocket and unlocked the door.

“Wait here,” she said. “The bathroom doesn’t have a door.”

“No problem,” he replied.

He leaned against the wall as she entered, then clicked the door shut behind her. An odor of foul water wafted from the bathroom. Jesse grimaced. At least her night at The Dan Carlton had saved her from having to use that bathroom. The double bed appeared undisturbed, as did the single plastic chair she had placed with one leg covering a cigarette burn in the carpet. Her purse and toilet kit still sat on the cheap dresser where she had left them. She crossed to the dresser, then eased open the toilet kit. Her hairbrush still lay on top, bristles up, at a twenty-five degree angle, the handle pointing to the corner of the room.

Cole’s men were good enough to search and leave the bed and chair the way she had left them. Few would think anything about seeing a brush askew in the kit. Jesse turned, flipped up the bedcovers, and felt under the mattress’ bottom piping. The cut she had made in the cover was still tucked under. She reached inside and withdrew the cell phone sniffer, a 9mm Beretta, and four clips. She set them out of sight beneath the bed, then heaved her suitcase onto the mattress.

Kicking off her sandals, she shimmied out of the sundress. Jesse glanced at the door. If Cole were going to burst in, now would be the time. Maybe he needed an invitation. She could slip out of the boy shorts and show him what he’d missed yesterday. Who was she kidding? She’d practically thrown herself at him, and he’d reacted as if she was his little sister. Still, that hadn’t been his Colt pressed against her thigh when he lay on top of her.

Jesse unzipped the suitcase and slipped on a black sports bra and night-camouflage top, then strapped her combat knife to her right calf, and pulled on black fatigue-pants. She checked the breach on her 9mm Beretta, then removed her thigh holster and slammed the Beretta home. After putting on the ops-vest, she stuffed the clips into the outside pockets, slid the Beretta and holster into the left inside pocket, and the sniffer into the right inside pocket. Regret brought the burn of tears. If Cole discovered the she had the sniffer, he would never forgive her. Jesse sat on the bed and pulled on black-poly socks and rubber-soled combat boots. She would have to live with that risk. Until Lanton was stopped, she couldn’t afford to trust anyone fully.

Jesse rose, then scooped up the sundress Cole had bought her. The soft fabric made her feel like a woman, but the armor she now wore was safer—especially around Cole. She carefully folded the dress and placed it in the suitcase before closing the top.

She strode to the door. With a final glance back at the suitcase still sitting on the bed, she opened the door. Cole straightened from the wall.

She closed the door. “Let’s roll.”

Jesse stared through the Harvester’s passenger window as tall buildings gave way to private homes. Soon, civilization yielded to densely foliaged countryside. By two thirty, they’d left human life behind and bounced along a dirt road surrounded by jungle. At Jesse’s direction, Cole abruptly turned off onto another dirt road. He stopped five minutes later and shut down the engine. He had driven a mere twenty-five minutes, yet the road cut through total isolation, where wise men did not venture more than five feet off the beaten track. Dense foliage hugged the ruts in the road and tree limbs arched overhead. The air hung so thick even sounds suffered an unnatural attenuation.

“Come on,” Cole said, and left the truck.

Jesse got out and they met at the rear of the Harvester.

He opened the door and slid the aluminum case toward him. “I got the camera, binoculars, radios, handgun, and lock picks, along with a few extra items.” He opened the case and removed a box the size of a paperback book with a rocker switch and a two-inch-long rubber antenna.

“It’s a cell phone scrambler. It’ll jam all cell phones in a four hundred meter area. Without a landline, your judge will be out of communication with the outside world.”

Jesse controlled her shock before it reached her expression, and nodded. The damn jammer would disable her sniffer. Leave it to Cole to bring the one piece of equipment that would completely undermine her mission. She’d have to make sure the jammer stayed off.

Cole pulled out two black headsets consisting of an ear bud with a tiny microphone affixed to a stiff wire. “These are wideband, spread spectrum radios. Impossible to pick up with ordinary receivers.” He affixed one to his ear, then handed her the other. Next he lifted out two ordinary looking analog watches. He gave one to Jesse. “Just push this button.” He motioned for her to listen with the ear bud, then pushed the bottom-most pushbutton on the side of the watch.

“Fourteen, oh-nine,” a female voice announced.

“Hold the button down and it ticks off the seconds.” He pulled two pairs of horned rimmed glasses from the case. “These have ultraviolet sensitive lenses with light sources in the frame. The light is invisible to the naked eye, and will let us see in the dark.” He unfolded a pair and handed them to her. “The batteries are rechargeable and last about thirty-minutes. The light turns off automatically when you fold them up.”

Jesse examined the glasses. “Why not inferred?”

“Inferred light can be seen by common IR cameras. UV is rarer and less likely to be picked up. We also have this.” Cole pulled out a camera not much larger than her fist. “This is sensitive to UV, just like the glasses, and designed specifically to photograph documents. It’s got Maco lens, auto-focus, UV flash.”

“Very nice,” Jesse said.

What would Emma think of modern technology? Not much. Emma would use her brains. Jesse might have to do the same.

The sleeve on Cole’s right arm hiked up as he reached forward to lay the camera back in the case and she caught sight of a cigarette burn above his wrist. What would he do if she unbuttoned his shirt to get a look at the rest of those scars?

Jesse rose onto her elbows on the spongy ground next to Cole and adjusted her binoculars against the sun’s glare. Their vantage point high atop a thick foliaged hill overlooking Albert Menendez’s mansion gave a clear view of the grounds. The hacienda was a collection of various sized wings, one- and two-story stucco sections, each with a hip-roof of terracotta tiles. Wooden beams protruded through the outer walls at the level of floors and eaves. She scanned the covered veranda bordering the far side of a central courtyard that featured an Olympic-sized pool.

The judge’s young wife sunned herself at the pool’s edge. Sunglasses and a wide brimmed hat shaded her face. The waistband of her black bikini bottom straddled her hipbones, barely touching her flat stomach, and the tiny top hugged a pair of full C-cup breasts. Flesh exposed by the bikini top lay partially hidden by wisps of long, black hair. Her oiled, bronzed body shimmered in the sun.

Jesse released a slow whistle. “You could fry eggs on that.” She handed Cole the binoculars. “What do you think, are they real?”

Cole pressed the glasses to his eyes. He gave a low whistle. “I’m no expert, but I’d say it doesn't matter. Who is she?”

“Yolanda Menendez. Her husband is federal judge Albert Menendez. If my intel is right, he’s in Perez’s pocket. Yolanda turns in at eleven. Menendez waits until she falls asleep, then sneaks to the servants’ quarters and screws the cook, Velda. That’s when we go in.”

Cole’s gaze riveted onto Jesse. “He’s cheating on
her
?”

Jesse shrugged. “That’s what the report said.”

Cole’s gaze sharpened and a tremor rippled through Jesse. Was he connecting the intel on Menendez with her Colombian college lover, a detail sure to have been included in her file?

“What about Menendez’s security?” Cole finally said.

“Five guards with automatic weapons make rounds every twenty minutes,” she replied, and tried to ignore the thought that Michael’s slide into the Colombian underworld was the luckiest break she’d had during this nightmare. “They also have guard dogs. Look at the main house, left of the pool. You’ll see a balcony on the second floor. His study is behind the double French doors.”

Cole looked through the glasses again and shifted slightly left, brushing his arm against Jesse’s shoulder. She resisted the urge to rub back.

“Those railings are supported by Doric columns topped with an eight-inch thick cap,” he said. “We should be able to grab the columns and climb over. How about the locks?”

“Lever system. They lock from the inside, but we can get in using a plastic card.”

“What about electronic security?” he asked.

“The electric service out here is unreliable, so he didn’t have one installed.”

“Not even surveillance cameras?”

“No. He has floodlights under the eaves. My guess is they’ll turn on when there’s an alarm. There’s a search light in the three-story turret at the center of the compound.”

Cole lowered the glasses and looked at her. “He doesn’t seem concerned about security. You sure he’s in Perez’s pocket?”

“Perez is the best security system in the world.”

Cole grunted. “True. We go in when he heads to the maid’s room?”

Jesse glanced at the sun. “Yeah. It’ll be dark in two hours. But we’ll keep a close watch on the guards, make sure everything’s what it’s supposed to be.”

“You ready to tell me what we’re looking for?” Cole asked.

“Anything that looks like it might connect to Perez: an address, bank statements, phone numbers, internet addresses.”

Cole lifted the binoculars back to his eyes. Jesse adjusted her position slightly. The airlink sniffer dug into her ribs.