Bare Nerve (3 page)

Kirk Mann was the first to ask him about the mission. Jack suspected his expression had to match his mood, which meant he was ready to kill.

“What’s the hurry?” Kirk asked. Kirk and Jack had worked together for the CIA and had saved each other’s necks a time or two. He was one of the few men Jack really trusted.

“Beats me, but the client said there is no time to waste,” Jack said. He didn’t want to start talking about what the client had alluded to. The capture of one of the most wanted weapons dealers was something his team would want to be part of. But the information was spotty, though the fact that the client was paying them a lot of money for their services gave the client the right to be a little sketchy on the details.

“Pentagon?”

“No, not this time. A detective agency from the private sector. I’ll brief everyone in the vehicle on the way.”

“Yes, sir.”

Though they were no longer a military unit, they functioned with the discipline of one. They were a ragged group of men who all owed their allegiance to Jack. He kept his past from the men because he didn’t like explaining himself. The policy he put forth for the men was that their company would take only the best-paying assignments, which they all knew meant were the most dangerous, but these guys just didn’t care.

“Where are we meeting, J.P.?” Jack asked. J.P. was the logistics expert in the team and was responsible for coordinating transportation to and from all their mission assignments.

“Out front in three,” Kirk said; he was Jack’s second in command. The rest of the team consisted of Harry Donovan, a munitions expert and engineer; Tommy Lazarus, communications; and Hammond—or Hamm—MacIntyre, weapons expert. The seventh of their team was Armand, who had died two years ago, and they had never replaced him. The guys weren’t sure they’d trust anyone else to be in their circle.

They made their way outside to the Range Rover J.P. had secured. It was big enough to seat all of them.

It was snowing and slushy in February, and Jack cursed. He hated cold, wet weather.

Once they were all in the car and driving, Jack turned to face his men from the passenger seat. “We have a lead on Demetri Andreev.”

“A solid one? The last time we went after that bastard we ended up with nothing to show for it but windburn,” Hamm said.

“It’s pretty damned solid,” Jack said. “We’re going to collect the information from the group who found him. They will be a part of the capture.”

“Why the hell? We don’t need any extra manpower,” Kirk said.

“Because they found him, and he’s been living under an alias. They were tracking him for embezzling, and they need to collar him to wrap up their case.”

“Who is it? Anyone we know?”

“Liberty Investigations,” Jack said.

Some of the guys nodded. Liberty Investigations had a reputation for being very good at what they did. Their paths had never crossed, but Jack had always been intrigued by what he’d heard of the team. Three women who were lethal…hell, it sounded very intriguing.

“Where is Andreev?”

“Seattle.”

“Damn, more cold. I thought embezzlers ran to the Caribbean or some other warm, exotic place,” J.P. said.

“Not all of them do. We don’t all need to go to the meeting. Drop me off at the offices, and then we’ll meet at the private airport where Liberty Investigations keeps their jet.”

“Sounds good, boss,” Kirk said. “We’ll make sure everything is ready by the time you rendezvous with us.”

Ten minutes later they pulled up in front of a nondescript office building, and Jack got out. He pulled up the collar of his trench coat to cover the back of his neck. He really hated the cold, but he ignored it as he walked to the door. The door was open, and he walked in. There was no receptionist. Now he faced a locked glass door.

He hit the buzzer and identified himself. The inner door unlocked, and he entered.

He wasn’t too sure where to go but heard voices at the end of the hallway.

He followed them and stood in the doorway watching three really hot-looking women arguing.

“I don’t think we need some rough-and-tough mercenary to do this job, Sam.”

The woman who spoke had a crisp British accent and thick, dark blond hair. Her features were delicate and petite.

“Well, because you ladies haven’t dealt with the Andreev clan before, and I have, I think I might be of some service,” Jack said.

The blonde turned to face him, and her expression was one of outrage at his intrusion, but she quickly masked it. “And you are?”

“Jack Savage. You?”

“Anna Sterling. Contrary to what you may think, we are perfectly capable of capturing a terrorist without your assistance.”

He gave her a once-over, letting his gaze drift over her slim, curvy body. He knew women were lethal—had learned that lesson the hard way—but there was something about this chick that said she hadn’t spent a lot of time out of the office.

She was hot as hell and just the kind of woman he’d always wanted. But she also had a certain sophistication that made him believe she was out of his league. And he knew that shouldn’t have disappointed him as much as it did.

A
nna was beyond annoyed that Sam had brought in mercenaries to help them collar Ivan Kirch. She’d dealt with them before, and on their last mission they’d had to renegotiate to keep the mercenary they’d hired working for them.

And this man…this Jack Savage…she had no doubt he’d chosen that name for himself to make sure he sounded like the biggest badass in the mercenary business. She realized she was clenching her hands into fists and took a deep breath.

She refused to let him know he was getting to her. She wasn’t going to play mind games with Mr. Soldier of Fortune over there. Instead she was going to calmly gather her computer and the intelligence she’d uncovered and then go to her office and turn on some really loud music—probably Godsmack or Radiohead—and then she was going to scream until she felt a measure of calm.

“Thanks for getting here as quickly as you did, Jack,” Sam said. “Please come in and have a seat. Anna, will you bring us all up to speed on what you’ve found?”

“I’d be happy to, Sam. Did you buzz Jack in?”

“Yes, I did,” Sam said.

“Next time let us know we aren’t alone,” Justine said.

“I will. I’m sorry if it made for any uncomfortable moments.”

“Didn’t bother me,” Jack said with what would have been a charming smile on any other man, but on him it looked like a smirk. Anna really didn’t want to have to deal with him. Which wasn’t like her. She usually had no problems with anyone. How could this man, that she’d just met, get under her skin? He was good-looking in a very rough way, and damn her but she’d always found that kind of tough guy attractive.

“It didn’t bother me either,” Anna said. “I still think some hired gun isn’t necessary to finish this job.”

“You might change your mind when you hear that Kirch/Andreev has left the country,” Sam said.

“When?” Jack asked.

“Was he alerted to the imminent arrest?”

“Yes. Marcus called his executive staff together and told them to expect the name of the embezzler tomorrow morning. After that Andreev left the building and boarded a plane for Canada.”

“Why didn’t we have this information?” Justine asked.

“It’s just coming through now,” Anna said. She realized Sam was receiving this information as soon as they were. She tuned out the meeting and Jack and instead started working on her computer. This was where she was an expert, and she would much rather trace information through the Internet than deal with Sam right now.

There were no records of Kirch or Andreev leaving Vancouver International, but that didn’t surprise Anna. He had about five active aliases. She downloaded the list she’d compiled from Interpol and other government organization databases.

“Are you running names through airline records?” Jack asked, leaning over her shoulder.

His aftershave was spicy and woodsy and altogether too yummy-smelling for him. She nodded tightly and then sent the information to the large screen at the end of the conference room so he could watch it up there.

She also tapped into a second program, one she’d started when they’d first taken the AlberTron case. It was a small tracker she’d installed in all the “new” smartphones Marcus Ware was giving his executives. To be honest, searching Andreev/Kirch’s smartphone was what had given her the break she’d needed finding his real identity.

She accessed the tracking system and added that to the screen for everyone to review. “He’s already on the move, it looks like across Canada.”

“Yes, it does. What system is this?”

“The tracking device we put in the smartphones.”

“I knew that would pay off,” Charity said. “Embezzlers are always ready to run.”

“Do we assume he’s running because of the embezzling?” Justine asked. “And how much time do you think we have until he ditches the smartphone?”

“From his profile I’d say he’s going to assume we aren’t smart enough to have made the connection,” Charity said.

“I’d have to agree. He seemed to think women weren’t as capable of doing the job as men. Remember that comment he made?” Anna asked.

“Yes. I almost jumped over the table and punched him,” Justine said.

Anna smiled at that. This was what she loved about working with her team. “We really don’t need any extra help on this one, Sam.”

“I think you will,” Jack said.

“I don’t believe I was addressing you.”

“Yeah, I know. But because we know Andreev is heading out of the country, and your team is going to have to wait for him to land before you know where he’s going…”

“Are you trying to imply you know where he’s going?” Anna asked. She really didn’t like this man.

“Not imply. Andreev always heads back to Algeria when he needs to regroup. It’s a land and government he’s familiar with, and he has no problem disappearing there.”

“Sam, why don’t we have this intelligence?” Charity asked.

Anna was already running the information on her laptop. It seemed that since they’d uncovered the embezzler, everything was going at breakneck speed. Which was exactly what they liked. Sitting around waiting for things to pop made them all crazy.

But Sam should have passed this information on to them. Anna added it to a growing list of concerns in her mind about her boss. Why was he suddenly holding out on them?

Jack had never worked with a team made up of all women before, and, to be fair, he wasn’t sure he liked it. He was used to men. He’d grown up with only his old man and an older brother. He’d gone into the military as soon as he was old enough and qualified for special ops where, frankly, there weren’t a lot of women.

He dated some, mostly just to get laid and because he didn’t want to go to a prostitute. To be honest, he didn’t like paying for sex. But he didn’t want a long-term commitment and rarely spent more than one night with the same woman.

So as he approached five hours of being in the same conference room with the three women, he was ready for some testosterone. He sort of counted Sam as a guy, but Sam wasn’t in the office, and this team was self-managed. They weren’t looking for a man’s guidance, and Jack was impressed at how well they worked together.

He could use someone like Anna on his team. Though his communications expert was good, he didn’t have the magic touch Anna had with computers. When any of them mentioned a location or a resource, she had the information in moments.

Charity, Justine, and Anna reminded Jack a little of his team. And he saw a few things he’d like to integrate into the way the Savage Seven—Six—worked.

“Are your men going to be ready when we are?” Anna asked. She hadn’t softened in the least toward him, which was understandable.

His hard-on for her hadn’t softened either. He wanted her with an intense desire that took him by surprise. She was nothing like the women he usually spent time with. He would have liked to play it off as nothing more than a sexual itch, but as she wasn’t his usual type of lay, he knew it was more. She was exactly the type of woman he’d always wanted.

Which made him uncomfortable, so he tried desperately to ignore the images in his head of her naked in that big leather chair.

“Jack? I asked you a question,” she said, her British accent even sharper than it had been earlier.

“My men are always ready,” he said. He was trying to give her a little extra room because he would be pissed as hell if his client had suddenly brought in a new team for them to have to work with.

“Wonderful. Do you require anything from me so they have the mission specs?”

“I will forward Tommy Lazarus, our comm expert, the information you’ve compiled. And I’ll ask him to send you what we have. I think most of it you already know, but Andreev’s local hangouts in Algiers might not be familiar to you.”

“We haven’t taken any jobs in Algeria. We tend to work for dignitaries and executives, and that country isn’t exactly welcoming to foreigners,” Anna said.

“Very true. We can get you up to speed on the country very quickly,” Jack said, surprised she’d admitted to not knowing everything.

“I know the White City,” she said carefully. Her accent wasn’t as sharp, and neither was her tone. And an emotion he couldn’t define passed behind her eyes.

“All the better,” Jack said, trying to keep things light and focused on the mission. He didn’t need to know why she’d suddenly turned pale when she’d mentioned the White City…well, he didn’t need to know unless it would affect the mission and his team.

“When were you last in Algiers?” he asked, trusting his instincts.

“A lifetime ago,” she said and glanced away as Charity walked over to them.

He wanted to say the hell with all the other women in the room and pull Anna away so he could find out more about what made her tick.

Damn, it was a very good thing Kirk wasn’t there, or he’d be giving Jack hell about not focusing on the mission. Never had Jack been tempted to put anything or anyone in front of a mission.

“Jack, can you give me a minute?” Charity asked. “I need you to show us on the map the different locations Andreev’s known to frequent.”

Jack stood up and went to the computerized whiteboard that lined another wall. Charity called up a map of Africa. “We can’t enter through Morocco, because that border is closed. I have contacts to help us enter through Tunisia.”

“That’s okay, Sam will get us through in the most expedient way. It’s nice to know Andreev won’t have the same advantages,” Justine said.

“But Andreev will more than likely go through Morocco and the mountains,” Jack said.

“That is true,” Anna said. “We have to remember to think like a criminal if we’re going to catch him.”

She looked right at him as she made that comment, and Jack realized Anna Sterling didn’t like him or what he did. That pissed him off because he knew he was a necessary evil. The world they lived in was violent and turbulent, and there was always a need for a soldier-for-hire.

“I’m not a criminal,” Jack said carefully. “My men are highly trained, and we do a job no one else will do. And your boss doesn’t think you’re familiar enough with Algeria to go in on your own,” Jack said.

“I didn’t mean to imply I thought you were a criminal,” Anna said, looking straight through him. She turned away. “I’m almost done here.”

“Good. I’m going to the airport unless you need me here. I want to check out Jack’s team,” Justine said.

“I’ll let them know to expect you,” Jack said.

“Hold up, I’ll go with you,” Charity said. “Anna, you get all the info from Jack and put it in one big file. Then we’ll meet you at the airport.”

Jack left the room while the women wrapped up whatever details they needed to. He didn’t really like the idea of bringing three new people onto his team, but he did like the thought of spending more time with Anna Sterling.

She was a firecracker and a half, and that attitude of hers was enough to make him want to do something to shock her and force her out of the polite manners she retreated behind.

Anna wasn’t one of those women who showed her temper through words. She didn’t like to allow anyone to see that side of her. So she needed to get out of the conference room and away from Jack Savage before she broke her own personal rule.

She tried to be objective, but she really hated people who lived in the gray area of right and wrong. And working with Jack and his team wasn’t going to be easy for her. Jack’s mobile rang, and he stepped out of the conference room to answer it.

“Sam?”

“Yes, Anna.”

“I don’t think we need Savage and his team on this. Justine, Charity, and I really work better on our own.”

“Normally that’s true. But as soon as we uncovered the connection between Kirch and Andreev, the game changed.”

“I am aware of that. But I still think we can handle this on our own. We can use Savage and his men if we need them.”

“Normally I’d agree with you. But Algeria is not your normal mission spec. I think having Jack and his team on the mission will you give you the advantage you need.”

“I’m not trying to be difficult, Sam.”

“I know that. Are you sure you’ll be okay in Algiers?” Sam asked.

“Fine. I don’t let anything from my personal sphere spill over into my work sphere.”

“You
are
very good at compartmentalizing,” Sam said.

“That doesn’t sound like a compliment.”

“I was simply stating a fact. You’re a bit prickly today.”

“I am. I don’t know why.”

“Is it the mission?”

“No. I’m glad we have some action. I think I need to get out of this office, and I know Charity and Justine do.”

“Good. Keep me posted,” Sam said.

“I will.”

Sam signed off, and Anna tried to change her mental attitude. She had some personal baggage with mercenaries from her childhood. And she didn’t trust men who sold their allegiance. She didn’t know what kind of man Jack was….

“Except that he’s a savage,” she said out loud to herself.

“I
am
a Savage,” Jack said.