He touched her cheek, his hard, rough fingers stroking the
contours of her face with incredible tenderness. "I'm sorry. I should have
realized."
She gave him a smile that wasn't as steady as she wished.
"Let me change clothes and brush my hair, and we'll leave."
Because she wasn't the type to linger in front of a mirror, they
were on their way in five minutes. Sabin was alert, his dark eyes noting every
detail of the countryside and examining every car they met. Rachel found
herself watching the rearview mirror in case they were being followed.
"I need a phone booth off the main drag.
I don't want to be seen by six
hundred people on their way to buy groceries."
The words were terse, his attention on the traffic.
Obediently she searched out a
phone booth next to a service station on the edge of town and parked the car
next
to it.
Kell opened the door, then shut it again without getting out. He
turned to her with a smile of real amusement on his lips. "I don't have
any money."
His smile relieved the tension inside her, and she chuckled as she
reached for her purse. "You could use my credit card number."
"No. If anyone checked it could lead them to Sullivan."
He took the handful of change she gave him and went into the phone
booth, closing the door behind him. Rachel watched as he fed coins into the
slot, then looked around to see if anyone else was watching him, but the only
other person in sight was the man at the service station, and he was sitting in
a chair in the front office, leaning back against the wall with the front legs
of the chair off the ground while he read a newspaper.
Kell was back in only a few minutes, and Rachel started the car as
he slid onto the seat and slammed the door. "That didn't take long,"
she said.
"Sullivan doesn't waste words."
"He'll come?"
"Yeah." Suddenly he smiled again, that rare, true smile.
"His biggest problem is getting out of the house without his wife
following him."
The humor, on that particular subject, was unexpected. "She
doesn't understand about his job?"
He snorted. "It isn't his job – he's a farmer. And it'll make
Jane madder than hell that he didn't take her with him."
"Farmer!"
"He retired from the agency a couple of years ago."
"Was his wife an agent, too?"
"No, thank God," he said with real feeling.
"Don't you like her?"
"It's impossible not to like her. I'm just glad Sullivan has
her under control on that farm."
Rachel gave him a dubious glance. "Is he any good? How old is
he, anyway?"
"He's my age. He retired himself. The government would have
been glad to keep him another twenty years, but he got out."
"And he's good?"
Kell's dark eyebrows lifted. "He's the best agent I ever had.
We trained together in Nam."
That reassured her; even more than her dread at his leaving, she
feared the danger he would have to face. Not a hint of it would ever surface in
any newspaper, but there would be a small war in the nation's capital. Kell
wouldn't rest until his section was clean again, even at the cost of his own
life. The knowledge ate at her. If she could, if he would let her, she would go
with him and do whatever she could to protect him.
"Stop at a drugstore," he instructed, swiveling in his
seat to check behind them.
"What do you want at a drugstore?" She looked at him
again and found him watching her with faint amusement.
"Birth control. Or haven't you realized what a chance we've
been taking?"
"Yes, I'd realized," she admitted in a low voice.
"You weren't going to say anything or do anything about
it?"
Her hands tightened on the steering wheel until the knuckles were
white, and she concentrated on the traffic. "No."
Just that one, calmly uttered word had the power to jerk his head
up, and she felt his gaze burning on her. "I don't want to get you
pregnant. I can't stay, Rachel. You'd be alone, with a baby to raise."
She braked for a red light and turned her head to meet his gaze.
"It would be worth it, to have your baby."
His jaw tightened, and he swore under his breath. Damn, he was
hard again just at the thought of getting her pregnant, of her bearing his
child and nursing it at her pretty breasts. He wanted to. He wanted to take her
with him and go home to her every night, but he couldn't turn his back on his
job and his country. Security was critical, now more than ever, and his
services were invaluable. It was something he had to do; endangering Rachel was
something he couldn't do.
Her gray eyes were dark with mingled love and pain. "I won't
make it easy for you to leave me," she whispered. "I won't hide what
I feel and wave you off with a smile."
His profile was hard and unreadable as he turned back to watch the
road; he didn't answer, and when the light changed to green again she drove
carefully to the nearest drugstore. Without speaking, she took a twenty from
her purse and handed it to him.
His hand clenched on the crisp bill, and he looked like murder.
"It's either this or abstinence."
She drew a deep breath. "Then I suppose you'd better go in,
hadn't you?"
No, she wasn't making it any easier; she was making it so
difficult that it was tearing him apart.
Damn it, he'd give her a baby every year
if things were different, he thought savagely as he went into the drugstore and
made his purchase.
Maybe he was too late; maybe
she was already pregnant. Only the naive or the careless could discount the
possibility.
He left the cash register and had started for the door, when
Rachel came through it, her face strained, her eyes wide and urgent.
Without hesitation he turned and
walked several aisles over to intently examine a high stack of insulated
beverage coolers.
Rachel walked past, to the
cosmetic department. Sabin waited, and a moment later the door opened again. He
caught a glimpse of sandy hair and ducked his own head down, automatically
reaching behind his back for the pistol, but his waistband was empty. The
pistol was in the car. His eyes narrowed, and a cold, deadly look settled over
his features; moving silently, he began trailing Ellis.
Rachel had seen the blue Ford driving down the street and had
known immediately that it was Ellis; her only thought had been to warn Kell
before he walked out of the drugstore and let Ellis see him. If Ellis had been
following them it was already too late, but she was fairly certain that wasn't
the case. This was just an unhappy coincidence; it had to be. She had pretended
not to see him, getting out of the car and walking into the drugstore as if
she'd just driven up herself. She had heard a car door close behind her just as
she went inside, and she knew Ellis would be there in a few seconds.
Kell had taken one look at her
face and detoured; now all she had to do was get rid of Ellis, even if she had
to get back in the car and drive away without Kell.
She could circle back to pick him up.
"I thought it was you. Didn't you hear me call?" Ellis
asked behind her as she surveyed the array of lipsticks.
She jerked around, pretending that he'd startled her. "Tod!
You scared me!" she gasped, holding a hand to her chest.
"Sorry. I thought you knew I was behind you."
He seemed to be thinking a lot this morning; she hoped it didn't
strain him too much. She gave him an abstracted smile. "I've got so much
on my mind I'm just walking around in a daze. I'm trying to get everything
together for my trip, but I left my shopping list at home, and it's driving me
crazy trying to remember everything."
He looked at the display, his easy grin flashing. "I guess
lipstick is essential."
"No, but lip balm is, and I thought it would be here."
Condescending mongrel! She wondered how he'd look if she told him to shove off.
The problem with someone with an enormous ego was that any slight sent them
around the bend, hell-bent on revenge.
Still, she couldn't keep the tartness out
of her voice, and he looked at her in surprise.
"Is something wrong?"
"I've got a vicious headache," she muttered. She caught
sight of Kell, moving just behind Ellis; his face was set, his eyes narrowed
and cold, and he moved like a stalking panther. What was he doing? He was
supposed to stay out of sight until she got rid of Ellis, not attack the man!
All the color drained from her face as Ellis peered at her.
"You do look sick," he finally admitted.
"I think it was too much wine last night." She turned on
her heel and marched down the aisle, away from Kell. Damn the man! If he wanted
to jump Ellis, he'd have to chase him down to do it! She didn't stop until she
got to the insect repellent section; she grabbed a bottle and scowled as she
read the directions on the back.
Ellis was still right behind her. "Do you think you'd feel
like going out tonight?"
Rachel ground her teeth in frustration. She couldn't believe he
was that thick-skinned. It was an effort to take a deep breath and answer
calmly. "I don't think so, Tod, but thanks for asking. I really feel
rotten."
"Sure, I understand. I'll call you in a day or so."
From somewhere she dredged up enough control for a wan smile.
"Yes, do that. Maybe I'll feel better then, unless this is some sort of
virus."
Like most people, he backed off a
little at the mention
of anything contagious.
"I'll let you get back to your shopping, but you really
should go home and take it easy."
"That's good advice. I just might do that."
Would he
never leave?
But still he lingered, chatting, being so obviously charming that
she wanted to gag. Then she saw Kell again, silently working his way around
behind Ellis, his eyes never wavering from his prey. Desperately she grabbed
her stomach and said clearly, "I think I may throw up."
It was really amazing how fast Ellis retreated, looking at her
warily. "You'd better go home," he said. "I'll call you
later." The last words were said as he went out the door. She waited until
he got in the Ford and drove off before she turned to look at Kell as he walked
up to her.
"Stay in here," she said curtly. "I'll drive around
the block to make certain he's gone."
She walked off before he could say anything. She was seething, and
driving around the block would give her time to cool down. It made her furious
that he would take that sort of risk right now, when he wasn't a hundred
percent physically fit. When she was in the car she leaned her head on the
steering wheel for a moment, shaking. What if Ellis had seen Kell go into the
drugstore and had just been playing it cool, making sure it was Kell so he
could report back to his superiors? She didn't think so, unless Ellis was much
more cunning than she'd given him credit for, but even the possibility was
horrifying.
Shaking, she started the car and circled the block, looking up and
down all the streets for a blue Ford parked anywhere. She didn't just have to
look for Ellis; she had to look for Lowell, too, and she had no idea what he
might be driving. And how many other men were in this area now?
Returning to the drugstore, she
pulled up close to the
door and Kell came out, sliding
into the car beside her.
"See
anyone?"
"No, but I don't know what kind of cars the others might
have." She pulled into traffic, heading in the opposite direction from the
one Ellis had taken. That wasn't where she wanted to go, but she could always
cut back.
"He didn't see me," Kell said quietly, hoping to ease
some of the tension evident in her face.
"How do you know? He could have decided to report you and
wait for backup, catch you out later rather than trying something in the middle
of a crowded drugstore."
"Relax, honey. He's not that smart. He'd try to take me
himself."
"If he's so stupid, why did you hire him?" Rachel shot
back.
He looked thoughtful. "I didn't. Someone else 'acquired' him."
Rachel glanced at him.
"One of the two men who knew
where you were?"
"That's right," he said grimly.
"That narrows it down for you, doesn't it?"
"I wish it did, but I can't afford to take that for granted.
Until I know for certain, both of them are suspects."
It made sense; if he had to err, it would be on the side of
caution. He couldn't afford even one mistake.
"Why were you trailing him like that? Why didn't you just
stay out of sight until I'd gotten rid of him?" she demanded, her knuckles
showing white again.
"If he had seen me, it could have been his plan to grab you
for bait, to draw me out. I wasn't going to let that happen." The quiet,
calm way he said it made Rachel shiver, as if the air had suddenly turned cold.