JoshuasMistake (4 page)

It was fantasy. That was true, but he couldn’t resist
pulling her close. Her soft skin rubbed deliciously along the hard planes of
his chest and abs. “If you are here guiding me then you are not truly resting.
You must know that. Sleep now. We have time for this.”

“You think we have time. I think we need to grab what we
can as fast as we can. Time is a luxury we will likely run out of.” Her voice
rang with sadness.

He wanted to reassure her. Wanted to tell her everything
would be all right…

Time passed at a different rate in dreams than in reality.
It was nearly dawn and Joshua felt the odd sensation again. Reluctantly he
pushed away from Tessa’s generous offer and woke.

It was the same strange sense he’d felt at the safe house.
Something was coming and it somehow blocked his abilities. He had been woken by
the lack of psi energy reaching out to him.

“Tessa. We have company.”

She woke instantly and was on her feet. Crouching, alert and
completely naked. He guessed she’d given her clothes to Peggy to wash. He’d
done the same but had put on a pair of swim trunks and a T-shirt left by the
couple’s son long ago. He didn’t think he could have slept naked with Tessa and
if he’d know she was completely bare and stunningly beautiful under the covers
he still would not have slept.

Even with the eminent danger looming he couldn’t control his
body’s reaction to her.

Opening the door a crack, he hoped to find her clothes
washed and waiting.

Bill was there already. Joshua was sure the man had some psi
abilities or he was the most intuitive non-psi Joshua had ever met.

“Trouble.” He had a folded stack of clothes in his hand.

Joshua took them. “You’d better take Peggy and get in the
bomb shelter. I’m sorry about this. I never thought they’d connect me to you. I
thought it’d be safe.”

Bill smiled. “Don’t worry about us. We’re glad you came to
us for help. Peggy stocked it up last night just in case. After last year we
figured it was a good bet we’d end up down in the cellar again. There’s an ATV
with the keys in it down near the barn. Take it through the woods and grab one
of old Max’s cars. You got a way out in case of emergency?”

A year ago, when Kane and Lena had needed to run, Joshua,
Bill, Peggy and Lena’s grandmother Rose had gone down in the old bomb shelter
and hidden until the mercenaries looking for them had gone. Joshua hated the
idea the Flacks would be alone with no one to protect them should the enemy
think to look for the older couple.

“I have a way out.”

“Better take it. I think this is going to go badly and you’ll
need to protect that woman of yours.”

Joshua didn’t bother to explain that Tessa was not his
woman. But he liked the idea, wrong as it might be, Bill thought she was. He
simply nodded and closed the door.

The sound of shoes heading down the steps and out the back
door reassured him they had made it to the bomb shelter.

Joshua tossed Tessa her clothes and pulled his own on. There
was no time for modesty and neither one of them bothered to shield their nudity
before getting dressed.

“I don’t feel anyone,” Tessa said, pulling her shirt over
her head.

“No. I feel nothing and that in itself is strange and
exactly what I felt at the shore before those agents showed up. They definitely
have a blocker.”

“How far to the ATV?”

“A few thousand feet and there’s no place to hide.”

“I guess we’d better run for it, then.”

He sensed her excitement. God, everything about this woman
turned him on.

Quickly making their way to the ground floor, they slipped
out the kitchen door and broke into a run toward the barn. The cottage where
Rose had lived until she’d moved in with Kane and Lena stood to the right. He
rushed behind it for cover. The long, white barn was still more than a thousand
feet away and there would be no further cover for them. He could hear the high-pitched
whistles the enemy was using to communicate. At least it was good to know their
blocker affected them as well.

That made him curious.
“Tessa, can you hear me?”

“I hear you,”
her inner voice called back to him.

Interesting, the blocker doesn’t affect our connection.
Was it because the blocker was too far away or did they share some kind of bond?
Those questions would have to wait for a more opportune time to consider them.
He looked down at the exterior power outlet just below his hand. Flipping the
cover up, he silently drew energy out.

“The ATV should be on the other side of the barn. We’ll
be exposed. I’ll draw fire. You run for it.”

She didn’t answer immediately. She was considering the order
before she replied.
“I’ll come back for you. Be ready.”

Her long legs took off at a sprint and Joshua stepped out
into the yard in plain sight. Electricity buzzed through his body. He gathered
it and shot at the first movement he saw. A human scream broke the silence and
a body thudded to the ground.

The predawn erupted in gunfire. A familiar aura touched
Joshua’s mind.
Not possible.
Then it was gone and he knew he must have
imagined it. Though it would explain how they’d found him at the Flack farm. He
pulled his gun and fired on a dark figure moving to his left. All the while he
backed up toward where Tessa would be waiting.

He thought he might have one more small charge left in him.
Before he could get another bolt off, he heard the ATV motor behind him. Wheels
screeched to a stop. She had backed the side-by-side Arctic Cat Prowler all the
way down the barnyard.

“Get the fuck in,” she shouted over gunfire coming from near
the house.

The enemy feared him. It was the only explanation as to why
they didn’t come forward. He didn’t know if he had enough energy for one more
blast. Deciding in an instant it would be safer for the Flacks if they were
gone, he jumped in the back of the ATV and nearly tumbled back out when she hit
the gas and headed toward the woods.

Joshua was in the little storage bed behind the seats. Tessa
barreled through the woods at a dangerous speed, tossing him around as if he were
a sack of potatoes. He kept a death grip on the roll bar as his body was
battered against the steel bed.

A bullet struck the bar just below his hand. They both
ducked at the sound. He could hear men shouting and multiple shots being fired
in their direction.

“To the left, Tessa!”

She didn’t question him. She jerked the wheel to the left
and sent him flying to the side of the ATV. He hooked one arm around the bar
and braced the other on the steel side of the storage bed to keep from flying
out.

It was the same way his brother and Lena had come, though
they had been on horseback. He hadn’t been with them, but he’d tracked their
path once the danger had passed. He wanted to make sure they’d gotten away.
Unfortunately their escape had been short-lived and they had eventually been
captured.

He had a bad feeling if he and Tessa were captured they
would not come to as satisfactory an end. Joshua didn’t know what this was all
about, but it was obvious someone wanted them dead.

He had to yell to be heard over the noise of the ATV and
gunfire. “The woods are about to clear. Head for the barn. We’re going to
borrow a car.”

She nodded and kept her hands on the wheel and her focus on
the break in the trees.

Joshua had to admit the woman could drive.

They wouldn’t have much time once they cleared the trees.

Tessa gunned the engine as soon as they were out of the
rough terrain. The small vehicle, pushed to its limits, sped toward the red-and-white
barn. She careened around the front and Joshua jumped to the ground before she
had fully stopped. He rolled open the barn doors.

The gunfire had stopped for the moment. The enemy was likely
just getting into position.

Keys in the ignition, Max’s black, hardtop ‘71 Corvette sat
there as if waiting for them to arrive. “You drive,” Joshua said.

She didn’t argue. He had one magazine in his handgun and he
had a feeling he was going to need it when they cleared the barn door.

The engine roared into action and with the windows rolled
down Tessa spun the tires and rocketed out of the barn.

Three men dressed in black BDUs were a blur. She clipped one
with the side-view mirror and he went down. Joshua emptied the clip at the
other two, who ducked for cover. One tried to fire on them, but he went down
when one of Joshua’s bullets ripped through his right side.

“Take a left and then head north on 206.”

“Where are we going?”

“We need a better means of transportation.”

Joshua could practically hear all the questions going
through her mind. But instead of asking them she trusted him. He knew she really
had little choice, but he loved the idea she had even the tiniest amount of
faith in him.

He watched the road. Two black SUVs pulled out behind them.

“This is not going to work. We need to lose these guys and
wait for dark.”

“You want me to lose them? I hope you know your way around
these country roads, Lakeland.”

She gunned the engine and turned down the next street. It
wound through woods and over bridges. She was pulling away from the slower
vehicles. Another turn and they were on a narrow road. Joshua wondered if there
was any way out. He saw a flash of the other car before the road turned again.

Tessa was doing eighty-five on a road with a dozen S turns
and she barely broke a sweat. The road turned left and a dirt road continued
straight. She slowed and pulled down the dirt road.

She cut the engine.

Fifteen seconds later the two SUVs sped down the paved road
and disappeared from sight.

“Nice job,” Joshua said. He leaned back in the bucket seat.

Tessa smiled. “We should wait ten minutes, backtrack a short
way and then find a place to stay out of sight until dark.”

Her driving was extraordinary and the plan was textbook.

He nodded. “Where did you learn to drive like that?”

“Ohio. My brother loved hot rods. I wanted to spend time
with him and his friends, so I learned to drive.”

“He must have been impressed.” It was a hint about her past
and he wanted to dig for a bit more.

“I suppose he was for a while.”

“What happened?”

“Jamie wrapped his ‘64 around a telephone pole when he was
twenty-two.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It was a long time ago. What I didn’t know at the time was
my driving is part of my psi abilities. I can sense the space ahead of me. I
know what the road will do before I get to it. Unfortunately Jamie didn’t have
the same gift.”

“It’s an amazing talent.”

She didn’t say any more and he didn’t push. They stayed on
the hunting road for the requisite ten minutes and then Tessa pulled out and
backtracked several miles before taking another road.

An hour later they tucked the Corvette into an abandoned
barn on the outskirts of Princeton and waited in the woods nearby. Even though
it felt as if they were miles from civilization the sound of cars rushing down Route
206 assured him they were within walking distance of acquirable transportation.

* * * * *

“I’ve got to go and find a clean phone,” Joshua said.

He was leaving her. It took all of her will to push down the
surge of panic flooding her gut.

Tessa was crouched down with her back against an old oak
tree. Joshua took a similar stance facing her. He took her chin with his
fingers and forced her to look up at him. “I want to check on the Flacks and
send someone to help them. That’s all. I’ll be back.”

She pulled her head back and out of his grasp. “I can take
care of myself, Lakeland. Stay or go, it won’t matter to me.”

He shook his head and stood up. “I’ll be right back.”

From the moment he was out of sight pressure built up in her
chest. She had training. She was a government agent. She could take care of
herself. So why was she so distressed by his leaving her?

Less than thirty minutes later he skulked back through the
wooded area and took up a stance ten feet way. Tessa relaxed.

She’d expected him to ask her dozens of questions about
Jamie, but somehow he knew she wouldn’t want to talk about it. The past would
cloud her focus and they couldn’t afford that. There was something very
intimate about sitting silently in those woods for hours.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to know everything there was
to know about Joshua Lakeland, because she most definitely did. The fact was,
just sitting in companionable silence had told her a great deal about him. He
was introspective and kind. He could likely sense her need for privacy and he
gave it to her.

As to what the plan was to get out of New Jersey she trusted
him. That was probably the most shocking thing of all.

Tessa imagined with another man, she would have been
embarrassed about her wanton behavior the night before. Even though it had been
in a dream state, they both knew she had offered herself to him, a man she
barely knew. She spent the time in the woods thinking about why she’d done it
and the only answer was the obvious one. She wanted him.

Once the sun set they made their way to a small strip mall
on the edge of the woods. Joshua easily started a car and they drove for five
minutes before turning into a small airfield in Princeton, New Jersey.

The place was abandoned. He made his way to the small office
and jotted down a note.

She read it when he was done.
Joe, I took her. Be in
touch. J.

“Who is Joe and what does he know about me?”

“Don’t freak out. The ‘her’ in the note is a plane, not you.”

He sensed her relief and moved quickly back through the tiny
airport. He ran a preflight check as quickly as possible. Once they were in the
air she started to relax a little more. It amazed him that in so short a time
he had become in tune to every nuance of her emotional state. Generally he
detected something from everyone in his vicinity, most of the time he ignored
the input unless there was a sudden change from someone. Quick mood swings were
always a bad sign. With Tessa the link was clearer, more specific. If and when
he had time he’d have to examine the connection more closely.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

It was a good question. He had no idea what the answer was.
Legally he was required to file a flight plan. Of course if he did they would
be found right away and he needed to buy them a little time. Someone was trying
to get rid of her—and him too if he wasn’t mistaken. He turned south and made
an effort to stay off the grid of any major airports. “Key West.”

“What’s there?”

“I have some friends, a safe house and resources.”

“It sounded to me as though the FBI agent back in New Jersey
was your friend and look how that turned out.” Accusation dripped from her
words.

He shrugged and imagined the horizon in the darkness. He
would have to fly by his instruments and stay off the radar. “Blake is not my
friend. He helped my brother out of a jam last year. And you can think whatever
you want, but for whatever reason he probably saved our lives. He told me how
to get us out of the safe house.”

“He called you ‘old friend’.”

“That was my clue that whatever he was about to say was
important. We are not old friends.”

“He lied to get your attention.”

The dashboard instruments illuminated her with a kind of
soft glow he found very sexy. Actually everything about Tessa sent his thoughts
in a very erotic direction. “How long were you in custody?”

“Three weeks.”

“How long had they had you in the shore house?”

“A few hours.”

“When was the last time you slept? Last night doesn’t count.”

There was a long pause. He wondered if she was blushing, but
he sensed no embarrassment from her. He liked that.

“A while,” she said.

“I know it’s hard for you to let your guard down with me
near. Trust takes time that we don’t have. You’ve been in my head. You have a
small idea of what I am. You can also feel how attractive I find you. I wouldn’t
trust me either. But if you don’t get some rest you won’t be of any use to me
or yourself. Go in the back and sleep a while. I’ll wake you when we’re close
to landing.”

A myriad of emotions rushed through her mind. He wondered if
she intentionally let him feel her trepidation or if she was just too exhausted
to shield herself. Either way he loved the feel of her near him and it was
dangerous for both of them.

* * * * *

As she started to wake, his voice cut through her haziness. “Good,
you’re awake. I don’t think I could take much more of your dreaming.”

She pushed herself out of the comfortable seat and moved
forward to the cockpit. She ignored his comment and only felt her cheeks heat
slightly. “Tell me about your psi abilities.”

“What do you want to know?”

She looked out the window and saw nothing but blackness
below. They were likely over the ocean. “I can only read general impression of
a person’s thoughts. Can you actually read minds?”

“Sometimes. It depends on how strong the thought is, how
weak the mind, conscious or not, a lot of factors.”

She’d sat down in the copilot’s chair and turned toward him.
She dreaded knowing the answer, but she had to ask. “Then let me be more
specific, Mr. Lakeland. Can you read my mind?”

“Not without making an effort though I think the probe left
a thread linking us. I sense more from you than most people I’ve just met. I
get your general mood, feelings and the erotic nature of your dreams. Normally
I would need to establish a link or focus my energy on a subject. With you it
feels natural to be connected. I don’t have an explanation for it.”

Her gut tightened, but it was more excitement than dread
over their strange connection. “What else can you do? You manipulated the locks
back at the beach house, so you can move objects. Telekinesis can be handy. Can
you see the future, the past, find objects?”

In the blue instrument lights she could see his mouth turn
down. She could also feel his frustration growing. Was it because he didn’t
like her asking him questions? Or was there something else?

“I’m not required to divulge that information to you, Ms.
Clark. I strongly suggest you stop asking so many questions.”

“I probably won’t take your advice. I tend to be pretty
inquisitive by nature.”

His mood lifted. She couldn’t help liking the feel of his
mind, his emotions tickling the perimeter of hers. They were familiar and yet
she’d never met him before. She closed off her mind. He had enough information
about her and she knew nothing about him. Not really. She knew he had killed
more than his share. She had seen it in his mind. Though the recollection of
him gently pushing his way into her memories made her skin prickle with
awareness, which was not unpleasant. He could have plundered her brain for what
he needed. If he had told her the truth, he had the highest psi rating ever
recorded. It would have been nothing for him to grab the information he wanted
and get out. It would have hurt like hell and probably left her damaged, but it
would have been quick and efficient.

Yet he hadn’t done that. He had asked her to let him in and
when she’d struggled to pull down her barricades he had eased her into
submission. He was a curiosity for her. Why had he helped her and why was she
still with him? Obviously he needed to protect himself, but he didn’t have to
keep her with him. He could have chained her back up to the table and saved
himself. Why hadn’t he?

“We’ll be landing shortly.”

She looked out the window but didn’t see an airport. “Don’t
you have to call in for clearance?”

“We’re not landing at Key West International.”

She didn’t ask where they would land. She had a feeling she
wouldn’t like the answer. A few minutes later her suspicion was confirmed when
he picked up the radio headset and put it on.

“Will908…J110 here. You got me?”

Tessa picked up the second headset and put it on. All she
heard was light static for several moments.

“J? Really?”

“In the flesh and in your air, Will.”

“Give me three seconds…out.”

The line went dead. Joshua removed his headset and she did
the same. She had no idea what or who Will908 was, but she watched out the
window for some sign from below.

After what seemed an eternity of silence Joshua pointed. “There,
eleven o’clock.”

She turned in the direction just left of the nose of the
plane. A short double strip of lights showed the way to land.

Moments later they touched down between those runway lights.
The space directly in front of them was pitch-black and Tessa suspected
overshooting the runway meant driving headlong into the sea.

He ran a quick shutdown check on the plane and turned toward
her, smiling. “We’re here.”

She couldn’t help the short laugh that escaped. “I guess we
are.”

Before they’d made their way out of the cockpit something
pounded on the door. “That will be Will.”

The door was barely unlocked when it was pulled open the
rest of the way by a hulking man of at least six and a half feet with shaggy
blond hair and hands the size of meat hooks. Instinctively Tessa crouched into
a defensive position. He might be bigger, but she was still confident she could
do some damage before he knew what hit him.

His actions were abrupt and perhaps her experience in the
past few months had made her jumpy. Since waking, she’d kept her mind closed
off to keep Joshua out of her head. She let her barriers down and pushed her
sense toward this newcomer—she felt nothing but elation.

Further owing to this was the fact he wrapped Joshua in a
bear hug that might have crushed a lesser man.

Joshua laughed and returned the death grip. “Good to see
you, Will.”

“I couldn’t believe it when I heard the radio.” Will grabbed
Joshua’s arms and held him away, giving him a thorough once-over.

“Sorry to wake you, buddy. I need a safe place where we can
sort a few things out.” He jerked his chin in her direction.

Will released him and turned, seeing Tessa for the first
time. “Oh, sorry.”

“Will Starkey, Tessa Clark.” Joshua made the introductions.

Will took a step forward and was so tall his head literally
touched the roof of the fuselage as he held his hand out to her. “Nice to meet
you.”

Will Starkey blushed as if he was a schoolboy. He was not
exactly good-looking, at least not in Tessa’s opinion, but there was a quality
in his eyes and his easy smile that immediately endeared him to her. He was big
enough to crush a grown man, but when he took her hand there was startling
gentleness within the giant. She detected no psi ability. In fact she detected
very little anger at all, which surprised her. Most people were a mix of
positive and negative emotions, but there was none within Will’s gray eyes.

She couldn’t help smiling up at him. Most men were at eye
level with her, but both Joshua and Will consumed space and the small jet
became very close. “The pleasure is mine, Mr. Starkey.”

“Oh no, just Will if you don’t mind.” He blushed deeper.

Joshua said, “Just Will, do you think we could get off the
plane anytime soon?”

Will dropped her hand. “Yeah, of course. Come on. I’ve got
some tuna steaks I caught today. I’ll throw them on the grill for you. You must
be hungry.”

She watched as he sprinted down the steps and took off into
the dark. “Is he for real?”

Joshua gave a short burst of laughter. “I’m afraid so.”

“He’s so…nice.” She couldn’t think of a better word to describe
Will.

“Don’t sound so surprised. And yes, he is nice. He’s also
one of the deadliest snipers in the world.”

“Impossible.” She couldn’t believe anyone with so little
anger could be deadly.

“Will’s a pretty unique guy. He’ll be back up here in a minute
if we don’t join him.”

He started toward the door, but she put a hand out to stop
him. “I’m going to have some questions for you at some point tonight.”

They were pressed close together near the exit. Joshua’s
eyes locked with hers and he lifted a hand to touch her cheek. Gentle yet
fierce, she didn’t want him to affect her, but every touch either of his hand
or his mind moved her.

Dropping his hand, he smiled. “You and me both, Tessa. Let’s
get some food first.”

Had he read her thoughts or was his comment in reference to
asking questions? She followed him down the stairs to the runway.

* * * * *

“I don’t think they should let women like you into military
or paramilitary organizations.”

She would normally be offended by any man saying such a
ridiculous thing, but Will had been talking nonstop through a delicious meal of
salad and grilled tuna. Most of what he said led to some anecdote or joke. She
was sure there was more to his statement. “Why is that?”

“Too distracting. I mean even I would have had trouble
putting a bullet between those pretty eyes. One time, when I was in Beirut, I
had to kill three women who were all spies. It was not at all easy to think of
them as the enemy when they had legs that went all the way up.”

She guessed she should be flattered, but the content of his
rant was too disturbing. “That’s quite a story, Will. How much of it is true?”

Joshua and Will both burst out laughing.

“You got me there, girl. I swear. You got me. Only one was a
woman. How did you know?”

She smiled. “Well, it would be rare for any team to be made
up of that many women and even rarer for you to see a woman’s bare legs in
Beirut. You’re not very hard to figure for being full of shit.”

Joshua continued to laugh.

“Aw, come on. Most of my stories are as true as the Bible.”

Tessa got up from the large farm table and took her plate
into the kitchen. The house was a converted airplane hangar and had been left
as an open plan, so her departure from the table only took her to the other
side of an island countertop. “I’d stay away from whatever Bible you’ve been
preaching from. I think you got a bad copy.”

She started to wash the dishes, but Joshua took the plate
from her hand. His touch was gentle and she didn’t fight him. She moved to the
side and went to clear the remaining table items.

Will laughed. “I’m going to put your plane out of sight. I’m
sure someone must be looking for the two of you or you wouldn’t be in my neck
of the woods to begin with.”

“True enough.” Joshua didn’t look away from the sink.

Tessa looked around the nicely furnished house. When she looked
at the ceiling she could still see the metal building. However, the ground-level
interior was dry-walled and painted. Leather couches and lounge chairs made a
cozy living room. The kitchen reminded her of a restaurant with stainless
countertops and an industrial range and refrigerator.

“He’s not even going to ask why we’re here.” She was amazed
and intrigued by Will’s attitude.

Joshua shrugged. “He trusts I’ll tell him what he needs to
know.”

“And will you?”

“Your opinion of me is not too flattering, Tessa. I won’t
let any harm come to him.”