Tamed by Love (Agent Lovers Series Book 2) (15 page)

“Are you a contract killer, or what?” he asked.

Liz shook her head vigorously. “Of course not, Dad.”

“How long have you been doing this?”

“For three years, not counting the training.”

“And how is it that I didn’t know anything about it?”

“Because I felt it would be better, not to tell you anything about it. The job is dangerous enough for me. I didn’t want to worry you. I didn’t want to draw you into it.”

“Looks like you did anyway.”

“Yeah.” Distressed, Liz hung her head again. She had failed miserably, hadn’t protected her family as she had sworn. “Certainly looks that way.”

“And Jennifer does the same work?”

“Yes. We’re a team.”

“That’s why you kept your distance from us the last few years.” Now he understood her hostile behavior toward her family. “You wanted to protect us.”

“Yes.” She said and took a deep breath. Then she looked at him and suddenly there were tears in her eyes. Liz couldn’t understand why she had to cry. She tried to hold back her tears. “I’m so sorry, Dad! I’m so incredibly sorry to have left you and John in the dark.”

Harold went to her, pulled his daughter up from the bed and pressed her tightly to him. “Never mind, dear. Don’t blame yourself! I want to hear all about it. Simply everything!”

“I’ll tell you everything. Promise, Dad!”

“She’s here, Gray,” Jeff’s yell resounded in the hall. Liz and her father whirled around, shocked. “Looks like a little family gathering. We don’t want to miss that!”

“You have to stick your big nose in everywhere,” she said chuckling, wiping her eyes. Jeff grabbed his nose. “It’s not that big!” he said indignantly.

“Is too!” insisted Liz. Then she went over to Gray who had emerged in the doorway and was looking around.

“Everything okay up here?” Gray asked with an easy smile.

“Yes. Nothing happened to us,” said Annie still embracing John.

“My nose is completely normal, isn’t it? Say something!” Jeff demanded, patting his nose over and over, trying hard to look at it.

Gray looked at Liz, who just shrugged and wrapped her arms around his hips.

“Is your nose really more important than this hostage situation? We really have more important things to do than debate the length of your beak.”

“Beak?” Jeff put his hands on his hips. Scowling at Liz, he rushed out of the room, mumbling, “Too big my ass! It’s perfectly normal. And it’s not a beak. It’s a manly nose. Women! What do they know?”

“Um, yeah, hm. That would explain the nose issue.” As Gray looked around, he didn’t notice any distress, but rather cheerful faces. Jeff’s antics had clearly lightened the mood.

“Where are Jennifer and Chris?” Liz asked pulling away from Gray. She didn’t wait for an answer. She had to see to her friend and left her family behind in the bedroom.

When she came down the stairs, Chris was nowhere to be seen and she only found Jennifer still standing in the entryway. Liz watched her as the intruders they had killed were put in body bags and taken away.

“Jenny? Everything okay?” asked Liz, standing next to her.

“I’m happy your family’s okay.”

“This work isn’t for you anymore, is it?”

“No. No, it isn’t. Not anymore. It really is time for me to call it quits.”

“Tell Townsend as soon as possible.”

“I will.” Jennifer stared into space. Suddenly she jerked her head around. Fearfully, even panicky, she looked at Liz with wide eyes. An uneasy premonition seized her. “Oh my God, Liz!”

Liz had the same thought and ran ahead of Jennifer out of the house. They both grabbed Kalashnikovs that had been taken as evidence and lay in a pile on the stairs, and hung them over their shoulders. Then they ran to Liz’s motorcycle.

“Hey! That’s evidence! You can’t just take those!” called one of the policemen. But they didn’t pay any attention to him. Liz swung up onto her motorcycle, started the engine and waited for Jennifer to climb on. Then she accelerated, throwing gravel backwards; the bystanders had to scatter to avoid being hit. They raced between the police vehicles at full speed and forced two officers to jump out of their way.

“Hey!” yelled the SWAT team leader as he looked around for Gray. When he saw Chris running to him, he vented his displeasure. “The two women have just gone through here like they’re on the run. They took two Kalashnikovs with them. And it doesn’t matter, who or what you all are,
that
isn’t acceptable! And they almost ran down two of my men!”

“Shit,” said Chris and he ran to the house. In the entryway he yelled for Gray who emerged at the upstairs banister. “They took off and stole two of the confiscated weapons.”

What were they up to now? Then it dawned on him. “How far is it from here to Jenny’s parents?” Gray ran down the stairs.

“By car, barely half an hour. Why?” Then Chris understood what he was suggesting and swore again. Why hadn’t he thought of that? He followed Gray outside and they jumped into a police car.

“You drive,” said Gray.

“What’s all that about?” said the team leader, looking at the commissioner who didn’t seem to have any interest in the matter. “That’s not acceptable! Have they all gone crazy?”

When he saw Jeff and Terence leave the house, he marched up to them. “You’re Blackwood’s brother?”

“Yeah, so?”

“I don’t give a shit what security clearance you all have, this is not acceptable! There are civilians on the streets. They can’t just swerve through the area like idiots!”

“Yeah, so?” repeated Jeff, because he didn’t have a clue what the man was talking about.

“Your brother just stole a police vehicle and took off with your friend after the two women who stole two Kalashnikovs!”

Baffled, Terence and Jeff looked at one another and suddenly understood what was going on. They dashed to one of the police cars, pulled out the officer who was sitting inside, jumped in and sped away.

“They’re all really bonkers here,” the SWAT leader said, completely stunned.

“They’ve been here already,” whispered Liz concerned, as she looked around Jennifer’s parents’ partially-vandalized home. Then she followed Jennifer from one room to the next, looking for clues that might tell them where they could find her parents.

In a bedroom they found a note addressed to Jennifer; it was stuck to the door by a knife. Liz clutched the page, pulled the knife out and read the message. Then she looked at her watch.

“We still have twenty-two hours.”

“
I
,” said Jennifer with a catch in her voice, almost in tears.

“We!” said Liz, pulling Jennifer to her and hugging her tightly. Liz stroked her back and felt helpless.

The tender affection and support Jennifer received from Liz tipped her over the edge and Jennifer finally broke out in tears. Full of despair, she sobbed and clung to Liz like a drowning person.

***

Gray and Chris stormed through the open front door of the Langners’ house and searched for their wives. From the loud sobbing upstairs, they feared the worst.

They ran up the stairs and found Jennifer in Liz’s arms. Gray loosened Liz’s tight grip around Jennifer and pulled her to the side so Chris could take care of her. Gray watched sadly as she clung to Chris in despair, looking for support.

“Did you find anything that would point to where they’ve taken Jennifer’s parents?” he asked Liz. She didn’t react and continued to stare at Jennifer and Chris. “Liz?” Gray said. She gave him the note they had found on the bedroom door. He read the message and nodded. They wanted Jennifer in exchange for her family, probably to extract the names of the other agents.

They wouldn’t let it come to an exchange. No, they would make sure the Langners got home safely, without either of their wives being in danger. Gently, Gray ushered Liz toward the stairs. They couldn’t do anything other than be there for them and let Chris calm Jennifer.

Gray and Liz started down the stairs. Halfway down Gray saw Jeff and Terence storming toward the house with weapons at the ready. As soon as they saw Liz and Gray, they stopped and secured their weapons.

“What happened?” Jeff asked and looked around for Chris and Jennifer.

“We got here too late. They’ve taken the Langners.” Then he passed on the perforated note. Together the two men read it and looked upstairs, from where they could still hear Jennifer’s soft crying.

“It doesn’t matter what you have planned, we’re coming!” said Terence. Jeff nodded.

“I realize that! But first we have to get Jennifer and Liz to safety. Then we’ll get her parents back.” Even though he hoped they wouldn’t come, Gray didn’t have to wait long for Liz’s objections.

“No way! We’re in on this. You’re not leaving us behind.”

“No! Not this time, Liz. You’re on the hit list. We’re not going to serve you up on a silver platter. You’ve done enough; you’re not coming along!” He looked at her adamantly and held her gaze until she pressed her lips together and nodded.

Minutes later, Chris came down the stairs with his arm around Jennifer. He stopped next to Gray. In a few words, he told them his plan. The men listened attentively and didn’t notice Liz and Jennifer communicating with glances and nods. Absolutely no one would exclude them from the rescue operation—not even their husbands.

***

Liz stood motionless in the open door of her parents’ house and looked at the wrought iron gate at the entrance. She marginally noticed the paramedics, who had just wrapped her arm and said goodbye. Liz nodded and continued looking at the gate.

Not even five minutes had passed since Gray had left her with her father, her family. Excluded her from further actions against the kidnappers as if she were in over her head. The absurd thing: she was a TDA who had had to cope with countless and vastly more difficult situations. She had passed each one with flying colors. And yet … she understood him. For the first time, she understood Gray’s fear for her safety, for her life.

A smile flitted across Liz’s face when she thought of John. After returning from Jennifer’s parents’ home, she had observed her brother and Annie; they had drawn Liz’s attention. John had fluttered around his fiancée like a flushed chicken, having her assure him that everything was fine. Pressing her again and again and again. When it all became too much for Annie, she burst into tears, pushed John away and fled to Betty in the kitchen.

It was the helpless expression in John’s blue eyes that made Liz understand—helplessness and concern for the woman who meant everything to him. It was the same expression that was in Gray’s eyes and it spoke of deep feelings: the expression of true love.

It didn’t matter how often Gray had assured her in the last few weeks that he loved her, Liz had believed his feelings were a fluke. Wrong. An infatuation based on the physical. That would stop. And it was exactly for that reason she struggled with her own feelings.

What if he realized she wasn’t the woman of his dreams, that she had too many flaws, and his infatuation stopped? And what would happen if she seriously fell in love with him and his feelings changed?

There weren’t many things that terrified her, but to completely open up to someone, to love him, was one of them. Love made people sensitive and vulnerable. Something she didn’t want.

It was clear to Liz that she had always regarded their relationship from one side. She had looked for, and clung tightly to, the weaknesses, to confirm her belief that feelings couldn’t last.

A soft smile came over Liz as she looked at the rose bed next to the steps. Her mother had loved roses, divine smelling roses in all hues. Roses, the flowers of love.

Her mother had always said love was the most important thing; it was the key to happiness. And Liz finally understood what she had wanted her to understand, that love didn’t make a person weaker but made them stronger. Much, much stronger.

Liz drank in the sweet scent of the deep-red roses and closed her eyes before she whispered, “I love you, Gray!” There was no more fear, no uncertainty. The flight reflex, her most faithful companion, was gone.

“Finally you admit it to yourself,” said Jennifer as she handed Liz a cup of hot coffee. She stood next to Liz, a faint smile on her face, although her eyes seemed sad.

“How long have you been watching me?”

“Long enough to know that within a short time you’ve gone through a rollercoaster of emotions.” With a sigh, Jennifer switched the topic. “You know they’ll be beyond pissed when they find out what we’re doing.”

“Of course. But I can’t let that keep me from doing what I have to do.”

“Thanks for your help.”

“Thanks aren’t necessary.” Liz smiled and sipped her coffee.

“How should we proceed?”

“As soon as Dad quits watching us like a hawk, we’ll follow them. I’m sure they’re still talking with Townsend about how to proceed and are calling in other agents and teams. That should take about two hours, three max, before they start. In the meantime, we’ll take care of our gear and start right away. When they find out where we are, it’ll be too late for them to take us back.”

“How are we going to do that? We need a helicopter to spring my parents,” said Jennifer. “Alabama isn’t exactly around the corner.”

“We’ll get that and a pilot at the base. As agents with SFSU-IV clearance, we could get
Air Force One
if we needed to. Wouldn’t you like to be comfortable? We can always ask if it’s available.”

Chuckling, Jennifer shook her head. “Not necessary. A KIOWA or LAKOTA will do. But first we have to get out of here without being seen. The place is swarming with security, and they’ve fortified the whole area.”

Liz shrugged and smiled. “So
without being seen
? Sometimes the most basic ways are the most effective. Do you remember what Gray told Higgings before he left with Chris, Jeff and Terence?”

Jennifer wrinkled her forehead, thought for a minute, and repeated Gray’s instructions, “My family’s safety is my top priority. Secure and guard the entire area. No one enters the estate without my express permission.”

“Exactly. No one
enters
the area without his permission. He never mentioned
leaving.”