Authors: T C Archer
Shock flickered across his features, then disappeared. He slipped an arm around her shoulders. Jesse frowned, then realized his intent when he looked over the top of her head and called to the bartender, “Dos cervezas, por favor.”
Cole looked at her and said in a quiet tone, “What did you do, Jess?”
Before she could halt the memory, Robert Mills’ fingers sticking up through fresh dirt flashed across her mental vision.
“
Jess.”
Her mind jumbled.
“
Jess.”
She jarred back to the cantina and Cole’s arm, warm around her shoulders.
“
What is it?” he demanded, and Jesse realized a tear was slipping down her cheek.
She exhaled a slow breath. “I gave Martinez’s family closure. You can do the same for Green Team’s loved ones.”
And yourself
, she silently added. “Use the team you brought.”
Cole’s gaze sharpened and she tensed with the realization that his mind was working at lightning speed and he was just smart enough to ask questions she didn’t want to answer.
He nodded. “We’ll get Green Team home.”
Relief threatened to bring a bona fide rush of tears.
“
About that team,” he said, and Jesse froze. “They’re not the men you spotted at the airport.”
“
What do you mean?”
“
I mean, you haven’t spotted
my
team.”
She stared. “You’re telling me you brought not one, but two teams?”
“
I let Lanton send a team.” She started to interject, but he cut her off. “You want him to suspect I have doubts?” Cole shook his head. “Don’t worry. I carefully chose my own team; four men with ties to the men we lost in Columbia. They don’t know anything about our deal.” Jesse lifted a brow, and he added, “They want you, don’t mistake that, but they’re soldiers to the core and will follow my orders without question.”
Like you do Lanton’s,
she wondered?
“
Every one of them has a horse in this race.” Cole removed his arm from her shoulders. A draft swept across her neck as he ticked off his fingers one by one: “Caruthers, Fletcher, Young, and Roush. Caruthers was Quinn’s partner for seven years. Sal got Fletcher the job with Green Team. Young and Benton were roommates at Annapolis and got each other through Naval Aviator training. Young is engaged to Benton’s sister. Roush and Pete were a team in Green Team. When offered a spot in Blue Team, Pete refused because he’d have to leave Roush behind. Robby is the only one who didn’t have ties.”
Jesse’s heart twisted painfully.
Cole took a breath. “If you’re right about Lanton, they’ll rip him limb from limb.”
Unexpected rage rushed to the surface. The first thing Hwuang Kano taught her was that her physical prowess, her ability to kick ass, was a tool, nothing more. Anger had no place in getting the job done. She had always been able to maintain that belief—until now. Was it Cole that incited this cold rage? No. It was the same helpless feeling she experienced when her mother stuck Amanda in an institution.
“
Don’t worry,” he said as if reading her mind. “Things aren’t as out of control as they seem.”
She gave hear head a slow shake. “Lanton murdered seven men and a little girl and is still Green Leader. How much more out of control does it need to get? Listen, Tex, this is my mission. If you can’t live with that—” She broke off at hearing someone approach, and snuggled close to Cole’s unyielding body.
He slipped his arm around her again and she grimaced at the realization that meeting in a public bar had been a bad idea. She remembered their private meeting in her hotel room and the warmth of his hands on her body. That hadn’t been any better.
The bartender set two bottles of beer on the table. Jesse started at realizing the man’s size, then caught the leer he gave her. She dropped her gaze. Dammit, the man could wrestle King Kong and win.
After the big man left, Jesse leaned closer to Cole and whispered, “First, you tell me to trust you, then you tell me to trust complete strangers—strangers who won’t hesitate to kill me the first chance they get.”
“
No. These men are on our side.”
“
You thought Lanton was on our side. You don’t know anything for sure. You don’t really know I’m innocent.”
He started to reply, but broke off, distracted by something behind her. Jesse started to turn, but Cole pulled her close. She froze when he nuzzled her ear.
“
Our friend at the bar is watching,” he whispered. “We have to play nice.”
Cole brushed his nose against her ear. His warm breath tickled the tiny hairs on her neck. Heat rippled through her midsection.
“
I admit I wanted revenge," he whispered. "After reading your service record, I had to know why someone like you would turn.”
Her stomach did a flip. Her entire life was in that file—growing up in North Dakota, losing her father at age eleven, Amanda, her military service. She remembered the investigation when she had gotten her Top Secret clearance. Federal agents had interviewed her high school teachers, neighbors, college friends, and family.
“
I latched onto every bit of information that came within ten miles of me.” He squeezed her shoulder. “I got so good, I could smell when something was in the air. In the beginning, I thought I knew you better than your own mother, and was convinced I’d figured you out.”
He brushed his lips against her throat. She’d forgotten how soft a man’s lips could be. She grabbed her beer, glad for the cool bottle against her palm.
“
I got my hands on your service record.” His voice caressed her senses the way his mouth caressed her body. “Then your psyche file, your exemplary record with Blue Team, your college days at Berkley.
Berkley.
Had he learned about Michael Quesada?
Even your childhood,” he ended.
Good Lord. She had been so proud of herself for doing recon on him. For the first time in her life, her target knew more about her than she did about him.
“
None of that says I’m innocent.” She wasn’t feeling innocent. The warmth of his fingers penetrated to the bone, and she wished mightily they weren’t in a tavern. She took a swig of beer and set the bottle on the table.
“
After you ran out on me in New York, I dug deeper and found out about the endowment fund,” Cole said.
Jesse jerked her head around before halting the reaction.
“
Easy, Jess,” he warned. “Let’s not attract attention.”
She couldn’t believe it. He was giving her tips on how to stay inconspicuous? Mr. Apple Pie, All American? He stood out like a bulldog on a greyhound racetrack.
Cole gave her an approving look. “A six million dollar endowment fund buried under four corporations. No trite offshore banks, but right there under the noses of anyone who knew where to look. Very nice.”
Jesse’s mind raced. He had found the endowment fund, which meant he was the one who found Amanda’s trust fund. She should have realized that when he admitted knowing about the transfer from the Caymen account into the Philips and Rothman fund. He hadn’t lied. Cole had led Lanton to her, and her money and—she stared.
“
You found my safe deposit box.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Surprise flickered across his face. “What box?”
Jesse narrowed her eyes. “My safety deposit box.”
“
I didn’t know anything about a safety deposit box.”
The denial sounded genuine, but he’d fooled her more than once.
“
You’re good, Jess,” he said.
“
Not good enough?” she muttered, now wishing they weren’t in the tavern so she could beat the snot out of him.
“
The two hundred thousand could have been a single installment,” he said, “but the bribe didn’t fit with a woman who used every penny of her father’s life insurance to set up a six million dollar endowment to fund research for autistic kids and a four million dollar trust fund for her sister.”
Desperation bubbled up at the thought of the research fund going dry. Until a cure was found for autism, they needed funding.
Cole ran a finger along her cheek. “Why didn’t you tell me, Jess?”
She blurted, “Tell you what?” then glanced around the tavern before pinning Cole with a glare meant to burn him to ash. “I don’t know you. You’re butting into business that you have no right—”
“
No one knowing this could believe you’re a mercenary. Then there’s the incident in the alley. You thought I was some hick who couldn’t take care of himself. You could have left me to fend for myself. You didn’t.”
Jesse stared.
His gaze locked with hers. “Let’s not forget Lancelot. To you, he could have been just a dog, Jess.”
“
Not just a dog. He was—” She broke off.
“
He was what?” A corner of Cole’s mouth lifted in a tiny smile. “I know what you thought of Lance.”
“
What planet are you from? This isn’t Mayberry, and—” she faltered. The guy was unreal. “No one gives a damn how altruistic I am. Plenty of do-gooders are dirty.” Her mind jumbled. “I’ve got to think about this.” She hated the weakness her indecision revealed.
Cole’s arm tightened around her. “You’re not running out on me again. Try, and I’ll handcuff you to me.”
The threat was delivered in a voice devoid of threat. Jesse remembered the alley, and how Cole had reacted like a man with little or no fighting experience. She had thought he was some big country bumpkin too inexperienced to take care of himself. Yet, he had taken her down in the doctor’s yard, then again in the hotel. The description of his Columbian experiences didn’t jive with his behavior in the alley or the soft-spoken man sitting beside her. Did it really take murder and a Columbian jungle to get him riled?
“
Look, Cole, I told you before—”
“
Don’t fuck with you,” he interjected.
Jesse blinked. He made the phrase sound about as dangerous as an ice cream social. She felt like she’d stepped through the looking glass.
“
I’m telling you, you’re not running out on me,” he insisted just as quietly.
Jesse studied him. “Where are your men now?”
“
Around.”
Apprehension turned to dread. A man with brains was far more dangerous than one who could fight. Jesse had a vision of the brown-toothed clerk at her motel spilling his guts to a tall American about a woman staying in room number twelve. Shaking Cole wouldn’t be so easy this time.
Cole loosened his grip, but didn’t remove his arm as he took a swig of beer. He set the bottle back on the table and asked, “What are we doing?”
“
I told you I have—”
“
I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
He abruptly pulled her close and kissed her. His lips were soft and moist, just as she’d imagined. His tongue brushed lightly at her lips. Jesse broke the kiss, working hard to ignore the furious beat of her heart. Ernesta was right; she needed a man—only not this man. He was good, too good. But unlike him, she didn't buy that an altruistic act like him allowing her to have his bribe money made him innocent.
“
You’re taking our cover just a little too far, don’t you think?” she said.
“
Not far enough,” he replied.
Jesse jerked her gaze to his, but read only the same impassive look she’d grown accustomed to seeing. Who waited for him back home? She reached for her beer, but he surprised her with another kiss, this one quick and hard. He pulled back and stared into her eyes.
What would happen if she took him over to the seedy motel right now and slowly stripped him naked, then climbed on top of him?
You’d fall so deep you’d never find your way out, that’s what
, her mind responded, but the picture of straddling his waist and lowering herself onto his erection made her wonder if she gave a damn. Everyone had to go sometime. Emma Peel would agree. Cole had nearly died in the Columbian jungle. Jesse’s breath caught. Just how guilty was she feeling over what had happened to him? What about his team? How far was she willing to go to redeem herself in his eyes?
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Jesse saw the shadow of the approaching man a second before the bartender appeared beside the table.
“
Que pasa?” he said.
Cole nodded.
“
Cuanto?” the bartender asked, nodding at Jesse.
Jesse frowned, then understanding dawned and she almost laughed. She would definitely have to talk to Ernesta. Apparently, all peasant girls in Columbia had a price, or maybe it was her B-cup breasts in a white t-shirt minus the cups.
Cole laughed good-naturedly and said in English, “You have the wrong idea, friend.”
The Columbian’s eyes narrowed. Jesse tensed. He reached for her, but Cole pulled her close. The bartender gave him an appraising look. Jesse slid her hand along the table and grasped the beer bottle. Cole squeezed her arm gently as if in warning. He had to be kidding.
“
I don’t want any trouble,” he said to the bartender