I Spy a Wicked Sin (30 page)

“You think he’s going to tell you any of that shit now?”

“I have a mole who will. Stand by.”

In less than ten minutes, Tio was on his way to shoot three fish in a barrel.

Lily drove, forcing herself to go at a normal pace. Being stopped by the Mexican police would be a disaster. Besides, if she got there too fast, they’d look suspicious parked in a car in a rural area for too long.

“Do you have a gun?” Liam asked from the backseat. Jude’s head was in his lap, big body folded uncomfortably.

“Not with me.”

“Why the hell not? If you’re some sort of ninja woman, shouldn’t you take one everywhere?” Liam sounded close to panic.

“Covert agent,” she corrected. “And I don’t have one now because we flew commercial. They don’t like finding weapons on a person these days. Makes them cranky.”

“The bad guys will have one!”

“If so, they bought it once they arrived.”

“That was not reassuring.”

“I’m sorry. But the helicopter will be here soon. They’re on our side and they
will
be armed.”

“Thank God.”

As she reached the pickup spot, she slowed and turned off the road, driving a good ways down it before shutting off the ignition. The only sounds were the tick of the cooling engine and Jude’s harsh breaths.

“Lily? Is Jude going to . . . ?”

She turned in her seat, gazed into his worried, handsome face. He’d never looked younger than he had at this moment, terrified for his friend’s life.

“No. He’s going to be fine. Our doctor is on his way with Michael, and he has the antidote. It’s not a magical cure,” she cautioned, “but it does help neutralize the effects of the poison so the body can begin recovery.”

He looked forlorn. “So it’s not a sure thing.”

In the distance, Lily thought she heard something. “Listen.”

“I don’t hear anything.”

But as the noise grew closer, the
whump-whump
of rotor blades was unmistakable. “They’re coming. Be ready to haul Jude out of there and book it.”

The noise grew deafening and the craft burst into view. It was the most beautiful thing she’d seen.

“Jesus, they fly that piece of crap? It looks like something out of the Vietnam era,” Liam said in dismay.

“It is. You won’t care how pretty it’s not when it saves your bacon.” The copter set down about forty yards away, the blades kicking up a dust storm because the pilot hovered, ready to take off again. “Let’s go.”

As she got out of the car, Lily recognized Blaze Kelly leaping from the open side door of the copter. The tall, muscular man had an M16 slung across his back, his dark, wavy hair blowing around his face.

She got their duffel, put the strap over her shoulder, and helped Liam get Jude out of the car. By the time they got Jude upright, Blaze was there.

“I’ve got him,” he shouted above the noise.

With that, he hoisted Jude in a fireman’s carry over one shoulder, as though he weighed nothing. The man was damned strong.

They took off, Liam jogging beside Blaze, Lily a couple of steps behind.

Just as they reached the belly of the copter, a popping noise came from behind them. A sting in Lily’s arm made her cry out and she whirled to see the big man from the resort standing by his own vehicle, firing at them.

“Get in!” She pushed Liam in the back, forward and down, sending him sprawling onto the floor of the copter. She scrambled in after him, shielding him with her body.

“Fuck! He’s shooting at us!” Liam yelled.

“Stay down!”

Blaze spun and yanked the M16 into position one-handed, never losing his grip on his fallen comrade. In a move that would’ve done Sylvester Stallone proud, he opened fire on the enemy, sending him diving for cover.

Satisfied, Blaze climbed into the craft. They were lifting into the air, spinning away, by the time he laid Jude carefully on the floor, on his back.

“Michael said he’s been poisoned?” Blaze called out above the racket.

Lily nodded, feeling nauseated.

“Sorry, we’re not equipped to treat poisoning, just a few things for wounds.”

Inspecting the stinging arm, she held it up. “Like this?”

“You’ve been shot?” Liam exclaimed. “Shit!”

Yes, indeed. In the fleshy part of her arm above the elbow. Though it bled profusely, it technically wasn’t too bad. Amazing how wounds so small could cause such pain and make her stomach flip.

“That I can take care of, temporarily,” Blaze said.

Grabbing some alcohol, swabs, and bandages, he cleaned and bandaged her arm—both the entrance and exit wounds. She supposed she should be thankful it wasn’t worse, but right now she was too wiped too care.

She wanted to get the man she loved to the safe house. The man she loved who’d never love her in return after this.

But now was not the time to give in to the black hole waiting at her feet. They weren’t out of the woods, but when this was over, she’d crawl off and hide. Cry herself dry.

After that, she had no idea.

Michael would probably fire her when all was said and done. So she’d quit before he had the chance.

The flight took forever, the trip made longer because of a stop to refuel, and she was convinced they’d all be deaf before they arrived in Tennessee. Talking was too difficult, so they did it only when necessary. Liam sat by Jude, clutching his shoulder, giving him what comfort he could.

Lily no longer had the right.

The copter finally descended, coming to rest in a valley surrounded by rolling hills. A pretty log cabin sat in the middle of the picture like a postcard, inviting.

They landed and jumped out one by one, Blaze carefully gathering Jude and carrying him inside. She and Liam trailed the big man through the house to a bedroom, where he laid Jude down and stepped back. Outside, the copter took off again.

“I heard he’s been through motherfucking hell,” Blaze said, turning questioning golden eyes on hers. Not accusing, but cautious. Like the jury was out for him.

“He has,” she said around the lump in her throat. “Part of that is my fault.”

“Oh, I don’t know. When you trace this thing back to the root—Dietz and his greed—I think there’s plenty of blame to go around. We all accepted him, answered to him as our second- in-command. Even when the signs began to show, no one did anything. The problem was overlooked until . . . well, this.”

This
was Lily, shot. Jude lying pale and still, lashes rested against his cheeks, dark smudges under his eyes. His hair spilled like blood around his head. His sleep was unnatural, his chest barely rising and falling.

Perching on the edge of the bed, she checked his pulse. Too fast and shallow. He might recover at this point, or he might not.

“You guys want something to drink? I can check the fridge,” Blaze offered.

“No thanks,” she said.

“Me, either.”

“All right. I’m going to stand watch outside. Oh, take this, just in case.” He pulled a SIG from the small of his back and laid it on the nightstand. “Yell if you need me.”

When the agent was gone, Liam looked her straight in the eye, no trace of his warmth or humor present. “I think it’s time you told me a story, don’t you?”

“I deceived you both, from the start. I was sent to kill him.”

Liam sucked in a shocked breath and hung his head. He didn’t say a word, just listened as the whole fantastic, ugly truth came to light. Weapons theft, espionage, Jude finding out one of the bosses had done it, then his being framed, his mind swept. Liam knew the rest.

“You’re telling me Jude is some secret agent for this SHADO group? An assassin?” He shook his head.

“Yes. When you think back on everything, I’m sure you’ll see the pieces fall into place. The trips, how he’d come home in knots afterwards.”

“Why didn’t he ever tell me? I thought he trusted me,” he said in a hurt voice. “I never would’ve said a word.”

“Oh, sweetie, he didn’t want to see you hurt. If you didn’t know about his other life, you had less chance of being used against him. Now that you do know, he’s going to worry.”

“He might send me away.” His chin quivered.

“No, I don’t think that will ever happen. Even if you make up with Dev and Geneva, he’s not going to let you go far. He and Dev will protect you.”

“You think so?”

“I’m positive. We just have to focus on getting him better right now.”

Liam swallowed. “What if these SHADO people decide I’m some sort of threat because I know about them? They could ice me and no one outside your agency would know.”

“You watch too much spy stuff. It doesn’t work that way—the agents at SHADO are the good guys, in spite of how this all looks to you at the moment. It’s like working anywhere else; we have our problem employees. In Dietz’s case, a bad one slipped through, and he convinced a few to follow him. But he’s the exception.”

“So you protect citizens?”

“Yes. We wipe out terrorist threats long before the media ever gets wind of them. We stop the bad guys short of their goal, or we die trying. Sounds a bit corny, but it’s what we do.”

“It doesn’t sound corny at all.”

“Liam, I don’t expect you to ever forgive me, but I want you to know how terribly sorry I am that I didn’t question Dietz’s orders sooner. We’re trained to follow orders, period, but that doesn’t erase the fact that I was wrong. You were hurt, and so was Jude.”

“I know you did what you had to do,” he said carefully. “You’re not a bad person.” He didn’t say he forgave her. Didn’t embrace her.

The pain was almost unbearable. “I’m a cold person. I’m hard, and have been for a long time. It was easier not to feel, and I don’t know how to change.”

“Funny, you weren’t hard and cold at all when you were with us,” he said quietly. “You were warm, and you seemed to care for us. I don’t think anyone could fake the passion we all shared in bed, either. I thought you were falling for Jude, too. I wonder who the real Lily is.”

The question cut deep.

The answer was, she had no idea.

Jude didn’t awaken so much as he ascended from the depths of hell. His teeth chattered. So cold. He hurt so bad, his internal organs giving up the ghost. It was like he could feel his system winding down, like the lights in a house being turned off one by one.

Death would be a blessing.

After all these years of living on the edge, expecting a bullet in the head, to go out like this, in a sneak attack, was a rich irony. He’d lived hard and played harder, and he’d die with barely a whimper.

Focusing on his surroundings, he listened. He could have sworn Lily was talking to him. Saying she loved him and asking for his forgiveness.

Was it as simple as that? Could two people fight past something like this? Could he trust her?

Did it matter?

Seeking some relief from the pain, he rolled to his side. As he did, footsteps approached on a hard surface and Lily spoke softly.

“You’re awake. I won’t ask how you feel.”

“Where are we?”

“Tennessee, at the safe house.”

He digested this.

“How many men have you eliminated with the poison?” He hadn’t intended to ask, but some perverse part of him wanted to know. “I’m not accusing you. I know it’s your job, but I’m just curious.”

“That’s macabre.”

“Humor me.”

“Two.”

“So few?” He was surprised.

“Well, you know as well as I that it’s not wise to use the same method too often. Unlike you, perched atop a building somewhere with a scope, I go in close. People remember.”

“Who were they?”

“You know I can’t tell you that. But they were working with terrorists. They were a threat to all Americans.”

“So I was in good company, then.”

The legs of a chair scraped and she leaned close, caressing his face. “No. I thought so at first. I have to believe in a target’s guilt to my bones, but with you . . . looking back, I know I never really believed. I didn’t want to. I tried to tell myself I was going soft, letting my attraction to you cloud my thinking, responsibility to the job. But my heart was telling me that you couldn’t have done what Dietz said.”

“Lily . . .”

But he couldn’t say that now. The timing wasn’t right.

“I forgive you.” He knew she needed the words. Her scent enveloped him as her arms came around him, a kiss brushing against his lips. “Thank you. You can’t know how much that means to me.”

“I know how I would feel if I learned I’d killed an innocent target,” he said. The idea sickened him.

“That’s always a possibility in our work.”

“With great power comes great responsibility.”