“Do you know how to get in touch with him, say, in case of an emergency?”
“Y-yes. I have a contact number. You’re not going to turn me over to him now, are you?”
“No, Doctor. Relax,” Peter said, as he thought about what he wanted to do next. “I want you to give me the number.”
“But…”
“Give him the number,” Max said, as he stepped closer.
Lynn Ames
The doctor rattled off a phone number and protocol, which Peter wrote down.
“Will this number work any time, day or night?”
“Yes.”
“Well done, Doctor. We’ll be back.”
The Value of Valor
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
ay sighed blissfully and turned in the comfort of Kate’s embrace.
J “Thank you,” she said softly.
“For what?” Kate asked, smiling.
“For holding me and making me feel safe again.”
Kate kissed the top of Jay’s head. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For the first restful sleep I’ve had in months.”
“You’re welcome. Kate?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.” Jay’s voice became a hoarse whisper. “Maybe you’re still not ready to hear it, but…”
Kate pressed two fingers against Jay’s lips. “I love you, too, sweetheart. I never stopped loving you—I couldn’t.” Tears moistened her lashes. “Geez, I can’t seem to turn these things off.”
Jay reached up and gently removed the tears with her tongue. “Hmm, needs a little salt.”
Kate laughed, then grew serious again. “Thank you for everything you went through to come back to me. Every night, I wished for just one more chance to hold you…one more chance to make love to you.”
“Every night, I wished to know where I belonged—to know what was missing.” Jay snuggled farther into Kate. “This is what I was missing.
You are my life, Katherine Kyle.”
“And you are my heart, Jamison Parker.” Kate rolled over, pinning Jay beneath her. She ran her fingers across Jay’s exposed collarbone, down the center of her T-shirt and underneath its hem. “Is this okay?”
she breathed.
“Mmm. More than okay.” Jay leaned up to allow Kate to remove the shirt, wincing as the sleeve got caught on her left arm.
Kate was instantly alert. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah. Just a little sore every now and again.”
Kate ran her fingers reverently over the tender shoulder, kissed the ribs Jay had broken, and lifted the hair on Jay’s forehead to look at the tiny scar under her hairline. Her fingers trembled, her heart turning over
Lynn Ames
yet again as she thought about how close she had come to losing Jay forever.
“It’s okay, Kate. I’m all healed.”
“I can’t wait to get my hands on Breathwaite.”
Jay chuckled. “I suspect you’re too late. Peter told me he was taking care of it.”
Kate smiled evilly. “Wish I could be there to watch.”
“I didn’t realize you were so sadistic. Remind me to stay on your good side.”
“Which side is that?”
“Well, let’s see.” Jay began to trace Kate’s neck, shoulders, arms, abdomen, pelvis, and legs. “This side isn’t bad, but I can’t judge adequately until I’ve seen all the angles.”
“Oh, no, you don’t.” Kate reasserted her position on top of Jay. She lowered herself and kissed Jay possessively on the mouth. This time, there was no holding back, no ambivalence—just pure, unadulterated desire. She parted Jay’s lips with her tongue, demanding entrance.
Roughly, she sucked Jay’s tongue, scraping it with her teeth, filling her mouth until Jay moaned and melted beneath the scorching heat.
Kate pulled back just enough to bite Jay’s lower lip, sucking it into her mouth. She let that go, only to continue her assault on Jay’s jaw, neck, ears, and throat. She tasted greedily, savoring the scents and flavors.
Without warning, emotion overtook her senses as she opened her heart to the love Jay gave so freely. Her mouth trembled over Jay’s nipple; she closed her eyes and willed her body to stop shaking, to no avail.
Jay reached up and captured Kate’s face with her hands. Slowly, she lifted herself until her mouth met Kate’s. With their lips just millimeters apart, she said, “I love you. Make love to me.” Her voice was husky and low. Its timbre reached to Kate’s very core and wrapped itself around her heart.
Kate nipped at Jay’s bellybutton, then licked and kissed the same spot. She sucked on Jay’s hip bones, first one, then the other. She smoothed her palms over hardened nipples, groaning with pleasure as she felt Jay’s body respond.
Finally, when neither one of them could wait any longer, Kate lowered her mouth to Jay’s center and feasted.
Their twin orgasms left them both breathless and awed once again by the incredible power of their love.
“Grayson?”
“Who is this?”
The Value of Valor
“You’ve been looking for me.”
“I doubt it. If I’d been looking for you, I’d have found you.”
Peter laughed. “Better hire more competent help next time.”
“Let me guess, Peter Enright.”
“Very good.”
“What do you want?”
“I’ve got something important to you; you’ve got something I want. I want to trade.”
It was Grayson’s turn to laugh. “What is it you think could be so important to me?”
“Dr. Jonathan Englert.”
“Don’t know him, don’t need him.”
“You’re lying—you and I both know it. Stop the games.”
There was silence on the other end of the line for a few moments.
“All right, what is it you think I have that you might value?”
“Dr. Barbara Jones.”
“Never heard of her.”
“I said,” Peter tried to modulate his voice, “I want to make a trade—
Englert for Jones—tomorrow night.”
Another momentary silence ensued.
“All right. Midnight—at the Lincoln Memorial.”
“That’s a bit ironic, don’t you think?” In truth, Peter was thinking of all the many places Grayson could, and most likely would, have snipers hiding.
“Take it or leave it, Mr. Enright.”
“Fine. But first, I need proof that Dr. Jones is alive. I want to talk to her. Once now and again five minutes before the meet.”
“Out of the question.”
“I don’t talk to her, there’s no deal. I’ll take your scam public.”
“You’d never see the lovely Dr. Jones alive again.”
Peter tried to sound nonchalant. “She’d understand.”
“Would she, now? That’s quite a woman.”
Peter ignored the clumsy attempt to make him reveal his emotions for Barbara. “Yes or no?”
“I get to talk to Englert, too.”
“Of course.”
“Where can I reach you?”
“I’ll call you back in thirty minutes. Be ready.” Peter hung up the phone.
“Did he bite?” Max asked when Peter joined him in Englert’s room.
“Yep. In half an hour, I’ll find out if Barbara is really alive.” He bit his lower lip.
“You worried?”
Lynn Ames
“A little.”
“Ask a question they couldn’t have anticipated. That way, you’ll be sure she really is alive.”
“Good thinking, Max.”
“Hey, that’s why you pay me the big bucks.”
“I’m paying you?” Peter appreciated the banter, which he knew was designed to put him more at ease.
“If you count Chinese takeout as payment.”
“You complaining?”
“Never.”
“Good thing.”
They walked back down the hall.
“Okay, Dr. Englert, here’s the drill. I’m going to put you on the phone with Mr. Grayson,” Peter said.
Englert began to shake and whimper, “No, please. You can’t.”
“Relax, nothing’s going to happen to you. He just wants to confirm that you’re alive. You are to tell him the exact time—nothing more. Do you understand?”
Englert nodded.
“Any word beyond that, and I won’t wait for Grayson—I’ll kill you myself.”
“I-I understand.”
“Good boy.” Max patted Englert on the cheek as the doctor shrank away from him.
Barbara heard footsteps coming again. This time, they were heavier, and there were more of them. She pulled her knees up to her chest and tried to gird herself for whatever was coming.
When the key turned in the lock and the door opened, she was surprised to see a good-looking, middle-aged man in an expensive suit, followed closely by the man who had questioned her earlier.
“Dr. Jones. It looks like you’ve got a fan club,” the new man said.
She watched him, puzzled. He looked familiar—like she’d seen him somewhere—maybe on television or in the newspapers, but she couldn’t quite place him.
“In a few seconds, this phone is going to ring.” He pointed to his cell phone. “It’s going to be for you—a friend of yours, Peter Enright.”
Barbara gasped in surprise, relief coursing through her.
“He wants to know if you’re alive. I assured him we were treating you quite well, but…”
She shot the man a hateful glare.
The Value of Valor
“In any event. If you try anything funny, he’ll kill you right here and now.” Grayson indicated the Viper with his head. “Do we understand each other?”
Barbara didn’t answer.
Grayson looked at the Viper. “She can speak, can’t she?”
Before the Viper could answer, the phone in Grayson’s hand rang.
Exactly thirty minutes after he’d hung up from Grayson the first time, Peter called him back.
“Put Dr. Jones on the phone.”
“Hello to you, too, Mr. Enright. All right, you have ten seconds.”
“P-Peter?”
“Barbara, what’s the name of Kate’s dog?”
“Wh—Fred, why?”
He closed his eyes as his throat tightened. She sounded so frightened and vulnerable. “Just making sure you’re really okay. I’m coming to get you. Be ready.”
“That’s all you get, Mr. Enright,” Grayson came back on the line.
“Give me Englert.”
“All right.” Peter held the phone to Englert’s ear.
“H-hello?”
“Jonathan, Jonathan. Got yourself in a mess this time, didn’t you?”
Grayson said smoothly.
Englert swallowed hard as Max came to stand in front of him. “I-it’s 11:42 p.m.”
Peter took the phone away. “Satisfied, Grayson?”
“For the moment.”
“Remember, I talk to Dr. Jones again five minutes before the meet tomorrow night. Should I reach you at this number?”
“Yes.”
Peter hung up the phone and left the room. He walked down the hall to his room, closed the door, and leaned his forehead against the wall.
Barbara’s voice was small and weak—indications to Peter that she’d probably been beaten and maybe tortured. He closed his eyes. It was his fault—he had made her vulnerable by sending her to Denver. If he hadn’t done that, the Commission likely would have done nothing more than watch Barbara from a distance.
Damn.
He slammed his hand against the wall. He got her into this mess; if it cost him his life, he would get her out—alive.
Grayson left the room without saying another word to his captive, the Viper following closely behind. When they were alone, Grayson said calmly, “I want them all dead.”
Lynn Ames
“Englert, too?” the Viper asked.
“Yes. Enright, Jones, and Englert.”
“Done.”
“You’ll supervise personally?”
The Viper smiled malevolently. “It will be my pleasure. Sir?”
“What is it?”
“Do you want to move the patient? Assuming Englert’s told Enright his location, it might be risky to keep him there.”
Grayson tapped a forefinger against his chin as he considered the options. “True, but it would be even riskier to try to move him. Enright could have people watching, waiting for us to panic and run.” He reached a decision. “As long as the patient’s still inside, we can control the environment. We’ll beef up security.”
“Very well.”
“Besides, I don’t think Enright would try anything before ensuring Dr. Jones’s safety. He’s too honorable for that.”
“Kevin? This is Skydiver.”
“To what do I owe the unexpected pleasure, mate?”
“Are the packages safe?”
Kevin frowned. Peter sounded very tense, which was unlike him.
“Yeah, mate. I’ve been keeping a bit of an eye out for them. They’re both quite something. No wonder you’d go to the wall for them.”
“Good. That’s why I called. I, um…”
“What’s going on? You sound a bit uptight.”
“There’ve been some developments, and I’m not sure how it’s going to come down.” There was a pause before Peter added, “I need to know that you’ll protect the girls.”
“Of course. You know you can count on me.” Kevin had never, even in the heat of a firefight, heard Peter sound this rattled.
“I know I can—that’s why I sent the packages to you.”
“Tell me the full story so I can be better prepared, okay?”
When Peter was done, Kevin whistled. “That’s quite a tale. Okay, mate. No worries on this end, I’ve got the girls covered. You take care and be careful over there. Sounds like these buggers play for keeps.”
“Will do. Kevin?” Peter asked after a moment.
“Yeah?”
“Do me a favor, will you?”
“Always.”
“Tell the girls…tell them I love them.”
Kevin swallowed hard. “You bet. But you’re going to tell them yourself when this is all over. Take care, Skydiver.”
“Thanks, buddy.”
The Value of Valor
Kate was getting a cold drink out of the refrigerator when she heard the car drive up. Without hesitation, she ran across the room and grabbed the gun off the night table. “Jay? Where are you?”
“I’m out here enjoying the view. You should join me.”
Kate ran through the French doors to where Jay was sitting. Pulling her up, she moved them both behind the cover of the cottage’s near corner.
“What’s going on?”
“Shh. Company,” Kate whispered. She held the gun in front of her, listening. She saw a shadow cross the lawn and waited until she had a clear view. “Stop right there,” she ordered.
“Whoa. Easy. I’m a friend.”
“I said stop.”
The man stopped and held up his hands.
“On the ground, facedown. Now. Hands away from your sides.”
The man did as he was told.
“Are you alone?”
“Yes, you can check the car.”