“I can’t live in a cell.”
That stopped him in his tracks. He was looking at her now, but his thoughts were somewhere else, and she knew where. He’d spent time in prison and he knew what it was like.
“You’ve been in a cage. I don’t know why you were there, or how you became an agent, but you know what prison life feels like, and you know what happens to agents who are branded a traitor and locked up. I’m twenty-eight years old.” Her heart was racing. “My bones will be picked daily, as well as my brain.”
“What are you asking?”
“Promise me that you won’t let that happen. Promise me that if this can’t be fixed you’ll do what needs to be done.”
“And what is that?”
“Promise me that you’ll kill me.”
Merrick landed in Washington, and drove past his apartment building on his way to Sarah Finny’s flower shop. It was past midnight, but he didn’t care, he needed to see her.
When he’d phoned her from Paris and found out she was alive and unharmed, he’d felt such relief that he had collapsed in a chair. It had taken him several seconds to regain his voice, and when he had, he was sure that Sarah had sensed his fears.
She’d told him that she’d taken Cleo, the cat, home with her because she thought she was lonely. That she’d heard about the apartment fire, and that she was sorry.
Merrick parked his car and crossed the street. He saw no lights on above the flower shop. She was probably asleep. He rang the doorbell anyway.
The intercom light came on several minutes later, then he heard her voice.
“Yes, who is it?”
“Adolf. Can I come up, Sarah?”
“Adolf? Ah…of course. Come up.”
The safety door made a click. Merrick swung it open and took the steps two at a time. He didn’t have to knock. She had the door open when he reached the landing, standing there barefoot wearing a sexy pale yellow robe over a flimsy nightgown.
“I know it’s late, but I just got in from the airport.”
“It’s all right. Come in.”
He stepped inside. It was the second time he’d been in her apartment. She’d cooked him dinner one night months ago.
He took off his coat, and she took it from him and hung it on the coat tree. She headed into the kitchen and turned on the light.
“Would you like something to drink, or maybe you’re hungry?” She turned around and that’s when he knew he’d made a mistake coming up.
“Sarah, I…I shouldn’t have stopped by so late. I just wanted to make sure you were all right.”
The cat meowed, and he glanced down as the orange tabby rubbed against his pant leg.
“She’s wonderful, Adolf. Pick her up. She likes to be cuddled.”
He picked her up, and the cat started to purr like a motor.
“I’ve named her Cleo. I hope you like it.”
“It’s fine. It fits,” he said, setting the cat back on the floor. “Sarah…”
“Come sit down.”
“I don’t want to sit down.” He said the words too loudly and she flinched. “I’m sorry. I’ve just had a bad day all the way around.”
“I understand.”
“No, you don’t. That’s why I’m here. To make you understand why I can’t see you anymore.”
Ash had convinced Jaz that she needed to rest, and she finally fell asleep. While she slept, Ash stood at the window in the bedroom and waited for the signal. When he saw it, he turned and reached for his gun on the nightstand.
A man who would go to such lengths as Cyrus had was a man who played to win. That meant he knew where Jaz was now.
Ash had played similar games in Mexico, and what he’d learned was that you always had a backup plan. Which meant he would be getting company real soon.
Ash walked to the bedroom door, opened it, then looked back. She was sleeping on her side, one arm raised over her head, her wrist handcuffed to the bedpost. She wouldn’t be happy with him when she woke up. But she was too important to lose now. Important to his mission, and to him.
Promise me that if this can’t be fixed you’ll do what needs to be done. Promise me that you’ll kill me
.
He wasn’t going to be able to promise her that, because he wasn’t going to give up until she had her life back.
Like clockwork, Filip Petrov breached the infrared sensor Ash had installed outside the cabin while he was having a smoke. The minute the light went on, Ash positioned himself, and then Petrov touched the doorknob. The miniexplosive went off a second later and the door swung open just as Filip Petrov was lifted off his feet and blown off the deck onto his back. He struggled to get back on his feet, but the explosion had dazed him and he never made it before Ash stepped through the door, aimed his gun and shot him in the leg.
“I would have aimed higher,” Naldo said as he appeared out of the shadows and picked up Filip’s gun that had been dropped in the snow on impact as he’d been pitched backward fifteen feet.
“Dead men don’t give answers,” Ash said. “Help me get him over to the next cabin.”
Twenty minutes later Filip was tied to a chair in the second bungalow Naldo had rented for Ash.
After his cousin tossed water in Petrov’s face and the man started to come around, Ash stepped forward and drove his fist into Filip’s jaw. The force snapped his head back and he moaned loudly.
“That’s just the beginning,” Ash said, “I’m going to take you apart a piece at a time, you sonofabitch. I want you to feel her pain.”
He hit Petrov again. This time he broke his nose.
W
hile Filip was passed out, Ash called Sly. “Sly, it’s Ash.”
“Where the hell are you?”
“I’m close by, and things are shaping up like I planned. So far anyway. It’s time for you to fly.”
“Fly where?”
“Take Chanler to Stillman.” Ash waited for Sly to say something. “I know you’re not happy with the way I’m doing this job, but she’s not a traitor, Sly. When this is all over, I’ll be able to prove it.”
“So you want me to deliver Chanler to Stillman in Paris.”
“Then fly back here and wait to hear from me again. You should be able to get back by tomorrow afternoon, right?”
“If that’s what you need, I’ll be back.”
“Thanks, Sly.”
“Merrick wants you to give him a call.”
“Okay.”
“Are you going to do it?”
“I said I would.”
“I’ll wait to hear from you tomorrow.”
When Ash hung up, Naldo said, “Now what?”
“Now we wake this sonofabitch up and he starts singing.”
“What if you don’t find out what you want to know?”
“Then we keep on him until he cracks. I’ll get what I need from him one way or another.”
“Not if he never wakes up. Hell,
primo
, I’ve never seen you go after a man like that before. What were you thinking?”
Ash faced his cousin. “He beat her up.”
“Grant?”
“She’s got more bruises on her body than a zebra’s got stripes.”
It was true he had gotten carried away, but every time Ash had hit Petrov he’d envision another bruise on Jaz’s body.
“How is she doing?”
“She’s been through hell, and there’s still more to come. The problem is, I don’t know how this is going to turn out.”
When Naldo said nothing, Ash arched an eyebrow. “Go ahead and say it.”
“She’s a beautiful woman. If you would have let me spend more time with her it could have been me. I always said you were a one-woman man, even when you were tomcattin’.” Naldo sobered. “Do you love her,
primo?
”
“I care about her.”
“Care, as in wanting more than one night with her?”
“She’s in a helluva mess, and if I can’t prove she was used, she has no future.”
“Then you’ll prove it.”
Filip moaned, and Ash turned his focus back to the business at hand. He stepped forward, and said, “Good, you’re awake. Now that you understand how serious I am, tell me how you knew where to find Nightingale. And don’t say it was a wild guess.”
Naldo pulled out his knife. “A wrong answer, Señor Petrov, will bring you more pain. I think you’ve had enough pain to last a lifetime, no?”
“You don’t know what you’re asking,” Filip muttered, his jaw swollen.
“I know exactly what I’m asking. You think if you tell me, then Cyrus will have no choice but to kill you.” Ash smiled. “I wouldn’t worry about him. I’m the only one you have to worry about right now. I don’t like men who beat up women, and I’m anxious to continue proving that to you. Of course, I could be persuaded to give it a rest if I start getting answers to my questions. Keep in mind, I never repeat myself. Now we’re going to start again, so listen carefully. Is she wearing a tracker?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Wrong answer,
señor
.” Naldo stepped forward and ran his hand over the blade of his favorite knife.
“It’s the truth. I don’t know.”
Ash pulled a small charge of explosives from his pocket. “You know what this can do. It can close a hole, or make one. It’s all in the charge. I know a lot about explosives. Over the years it’s made me a lot of money, so I’ve spent time perfecting my craft. Where’s the data on the disk?”
Filip hesitated. “She has it. Nightingale has it.”
Ash hoped to hell that wasn’t true. At the moment she couldn’t even remember stealing it.
The look on his face must have warned Petrov he didn’t like his answer. Quickly, Filip said, “It’s in her head.”
That suddenly shed new light on the situation. Ash remembered Jaz saying she’d memorized letters.
“How do you access the data?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“I mean, if she’s carrying around something she doesn’t know she has, then there must be a way to access it. A word, or a phrase. A drug. Something that will trigger a response.”
“Who the hell are you? No drug dealer I know thinks like that.”
“You know who I am. If you want me to confirm that, I just did. Too bad it won’t do you any good where you’re going. When are you supposed to bring her to Salavich for decoding?”
“Tomorrow at ten o’clock in Salavich’s office. I’m supposed to call…Cyrus when I’ve recovered Nightingale.”
“Then we’ll give him a call. And tomorrow?”
“I make another call and…Cyrus gives Nightingale what she needs to trigger her memory. She recites the code and from there Salavich deciphers it and e-mails it back to the Chameleon, I mean…”
Ash angled his head. “Did you say the Chameleon?”
“I meant Cyrus.”
Ash was smiling now. “Cyrus is the Chameleon.”
Filip closed his eyes. “I’m dead.”
“You don’t look so good,
señor,
” Naldo said, “but you’re not dead.”
Ash weighed the information. Jaz had the data, but without the ability to retrieve it, they were still out in the cold.
“What happens after the information has been decoded?”
“I send her to Athens.”
“Back to the Chameleon?”
Filip never answered.
“I want a number where I can reach him.”
“No. He’s going to kill me.”
Naldo poked his knife into Filip’s neck. “Maybe not. Maybe I’ll do it for him.”
“It’s programmed into my phone under Cyrus.”
Ash took the phone from Filip’s pocket and found the number. Then he sat down and took out his own phone. He had an idea, and it just might work. A half hour later, he was on his way out the door.
“I’ll talk to you in the morning, Naldo. Make sure he stays put.”
“Wait! What’s going to happen to me?”
“That depends on whether you told me everything. If I don’t come back alive, then my cousin will kill you. I’m sure you’ve figured out by now that he’s as good with a knife as I am with explosives.”
Jaz sat propped up against the headboard. It had been well over an hour since she’d been jerked awake by an explosion outside. It had been followed by a single gunshot.
She glared at the iron handcuff that kept her prisoner on the bed. Trust me, he’d said.
What about him trusting her?”
As much as he claimed to believe her, he’d just proven to her that he didn’t.
She’d been a fool. She had fallen head over heels for every part of his con, including the false concern he’d shown her, and the seduction that had followed in the whirlpool.
He was good. She would give him that.
Bastard.
And now she was chained like an animal to a bedpost somewhere in the woods.
She heard a door bang shut and she waited. When ten minutes passed, she wondered if someone else other than Ash had entered the house. Another five minutes passed, then her jailer stepped into the room.
“You’re awake.”
“I woke up to an explosion and a gunshot. I called for you—” she raised her wrist “—after I couldn’t get up.”
“Sorry I had to do that. I needed to make sure you were safe.”
That was crap, but she didn’t warn him that she was on to him. “Has something happened?”
“Filip showed up.”
“How did he find me so soon? Where is he now?”
“One question at a time.” He walked to the bed, laid his gun on the table beside the bed, then pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the handcuffs. “I figured he’d show.”
She eyed his gun. “How?”
When she started off the bed, he stopped her. “I need to examine you.”
“What?”
“You’re wired with a tracking device. I thought that might be the case. Filip confirmed it.”
“The bracelet.”
“No. I just checked it. It was wired with explosives. It’s at the bottom of the whirlpool now.”
“Cyrus told me to never take it off.”
“My guess is he was planning on getting rid of you if this went sour. What’s wrong? You’re awfully quiet.”
“I’m just processing the information.”
He stood and turned his back on her. In that split second, she reached for his gun, pulled the sheet around her and stood. “You’re very good, Ash Kelly.”
He heard her pull back the hammer and he spun around. “What are you doing?”
“I’m doing the only thing I can do. I’m leaving here. Get on the bed, and strap that handcuff on your wrist.”
He made no move to do what she told him to do. “Was I wrong?”
“Wrong about what?” she asked.
“Are you a traitor?”
“No. But you don’t believe me, and I can’t trust you any longer.”
“Because I used the handcuffs on you?”
“Waking up chained to the bed does kill one’s trust.”
“I told you why I did it.”
Jaz didn’t want to talk anymore. She was tired of him trying to sell himself to her. “Get on the bed.” She motioned for him to walk around the opposite side of the bed. “Do it. Get on the bed.”
He rounded the end of the bed and sat down on the mattress. Clamping the handcuff on his wrist, he said, “Come on, Jaz. This is all wrong. You just spent an hour making love with me, honey. I’ve got a plan, and it could work.”
“Now he has a plan that could work.”
“I know where the disk is, and I think I know where the tracker is, too.”
“Where?”
“You’re wearing the tracker.”
She shook her head. “Nice try. I’m wearing nothing but a sheet.”
“My money’s on one of your cheek implants.”
That piece of news gave her pause, and she put her hand to her right cheek and began to probe it. If it was there, she would surely feel it. After a few seconds, she felt the abnormality, a small hard pea just below her cheekbone. She touched the left cheek, and found another hard little lump.
“You found it, didn’t you?”
“There’s something in both of them,” she said. “But they won’t be there long. I’m going to cut them out.”
“You can’t alter anything until tomorrow. Not until we have the data.”
“Cuff the bedpost.”
“Dammit, Jaz!”
He did as she told him. Sprawled there, helpless, he glared at her. “You don’t stand a chance without me.”
She eased the hammer back on the gun and set it on the window ledge. “Unbuckle your belt.”
“What?”
“Are you deaf? In the limo the first day I saw you, you unbuckled it one-handed. Come on, Ash, get to it.”
He unbuckled his belt.
“Now unzip your jeans.”
After he’d slid it down, she stepped to the foot of the bed and grabbed hold of the heel of one of his boots. Pulling it off, she moved on to the other one.
“Unbutton your shirt.”
“Hell!”
“Do it.”
It took him a few minutes, but he managed to work the buttons free.
“Now lift your ass.”
When he did, she took hold of the hem of his jeans and jerk his pants off his hips and down his thighs. Working them off, she tossed them on the floor.
“How does it feel to be helpless?” she asked. “Chained up?”
“That depends on what’s coming next.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“Because I…I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
He said it like he meant it. Damn him for that.
“What do you know that you’re not telling me?” she asked.
“I convinced Filip that it was in his best interest to talk. He sang like a bird.”
“You said you know where the data is?”
“I do.”
“Can we get it back?”
“If you’re willing to trust me, we’ll have it back by noon tomorrow.”
“If you double-cross me, I’ll—”
“Kill me. I know. You won’t have to. Now get the key out of my pants pocket and unlock these cuffs.”
Jaz shifted her eyes to his bare chest. “You said tomorrow morning?”
“That’s right.”
She dropped the sheet. “Then we have the night, and I have you right where I want you.”
Ash watched her move toward the bed. She was so damn beautiful.
“What’s going on?”
She walked to the bed and she climbed onto it. Leaning in, she kissed his chest, then teased one of his nipples with her lips.
His free hand curled around her bare back, and he moaned like a dying animal. “You scared the hell out of me.”
She looked up. “Punishment for locking me up and making me think that you…”
“That I what?”
She looked away. “Nothing.”
He cupped her chin and turned her face. “I believe you, and tomorrow, I’ll prove to you that I’m a man you can trust.”
Then he pulled her on top of him and kissed her like a man who was drowning. Happily drowning.
“Can we get rid of the cuffs now?”
In the middle of the night Ash woke up to find her gone. He rolled off the bed quickly, afraid that she had left him. He pulled on his jeans, and hurried into the living room to find her curled up in front of the fire on a blanket.
“What are you doing out here?”
She turned, and he saw tears on her cheeks. “Trying to remember.”
He sat down on the blanket beside her. “Any luck?”
“Not much.”
“About tomorrow. I think it’s time I told you what’s going to happen, and where the data from the disk is.”
He told her what he’d learned from Filip. Explained his plan. Every detail, one step at a time.
“And the disk?”
Ash reached up and stroked her hair away from her face. “It’s in here. You have it Jaz. It’s all those letters you memorized.”
“But I can’t remember them.”
“You will. Trust me.”
“I want to. For the first time in my life, I want Bonnie to be wrong.”
Ash smiled. “She had it rough. She taught you what she knew from experience. But maybe it’s time you let go of her life, and started living your own.”
“Will I ever be able to?”
“I’m trying to make that happen.”
“Did you kill Filip?”
“No. Naldo’s keeping him on ice.”