Check Mate (21 page)

"How about a shower?" he asked, a wickedly lascivious grin on his face.

"You scrub my back, I'll scrub yours." She jumped out of bed, grabbed his hand and frolicked across the room with him, but her gaze caught a glimpse of morning sunlight peeping through the cheap plastic blinds at the lone window in the room. Ignore the time, she told herself. Pretend this is only the first morning of many you and Jake will spend together.

Jake turned on the shower and they waited until the water wanned before stepping beneath the peppering spray.

Her eyes devoured Jake. Every inch of his large, sleek body was sheer perfection. Reaching out, she ran her hands over his chest, down across his navel and then forked her fingers through the jet black hair surrounding his impressive sex.

He grabbed her hand to stop her from touching him. She looked quizzically at him.

"I want foreplay this time," he told her. "That means you behave yourself until I've done everything to you I want to do."

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"Ooh, that sounds like a threat."

"It is. I'm threatening to drive you wild with desire until you're begging me to make love to you."

"I thought we'd already done that," she said. "Me wild with desire and begging you to—"

"I didn't hear any begging. I heard orders from the boss lady."

Marian laughed. "Well, if you want me to beg, you're going to have to—"

He dove down and sucked the nipple on her right breast into his mouth while his other hand slipped between her feminine folds and rubbed her intimately. She gasped, the pleasure instant and intense. Moaning softly, she gave herself over to him completely, allowing him to do with her as he willed.

"Jake?"

"Hmm?" He released her nipple for a second.

"What else... ah... do you... oh, yes... have in mind doing to me?"

While the warm water cascaded over their hot, naked bodies, Jake planted a series of kisses from her breasts to her belly, then eased down on his knees and spread her legs apart. He told her, in earthy, graphic words and phrases exactly what he was going to do to her. Mariah braced herself by placing her hands on his shoulders while his mouth and tongue went into action. As he stroked her into a frenzy, he clutched her buttocks, pressing her against his face.

At the very instant she gasped with release, Jake rose up, pushed her against the wall and lifted her enough so that he could fit himself inside her. And while her climax tapered off into aftershocks, he held her hips and pumped into her again and again and again.

"I like your idea of foreplay," she said breathlessly, then draped her legs around him and held on for dear life as he pounded deeper and faster. And harder.

Mariah's mind was so fuzzy from passion and pleasure that she didn't even think how remarkable it was that she was on the brink of a second orgasm—not until she climaxed simultaneously with Jake. A few minutes later, he slid her down his body, reached outside the shower and yanked a washcloth off the rack, then lathered it with soap and began washing Marian's back. She closed her eyes and savored the experience. When he finished, she took the washcloth and familiarized herself with his body as intimately as he had hers.

***

Marian had telephoned Johnson from a pay phone in the ladies' room of the only cafe in town and told him when and where to meet her. He'd tried to question her further, but she'd hung up on him. She'd taken breakfast back to the motel for Jake and her, but neither of them had had much appetite, then at nine-fifteen, she'd kissed him goodbye and walked away. She had wanted to look back at him, but she hadn't.

She had now been waiting inside the abandoned gas station just outside Eagle Springs for at least ten minutes.

Don't think about what will happen if Johnson doesn't agree to Jake's plan, she told herself. If Johnson says no, then you'll have to knock him out and go it alone. No way in hell was she going to let Jake be recaptured by the Coalition without her being right behind him, tracking him every mile of the way to Verde Valley, wherever the hell that was.

When she inquired about Verde Valley at the cafe, no one had ever heard of the place.

At one minute after ten, a dark, nondescript sedan pulled up outside the gas station. Mariah glanced through the station's dirty, cracked windowpanes and immediately recognized her boss as he emerged from the car. He was alone, just as she'd requested. Of course, that didn't mean he didn't have backup half a mile down the road.

She waited for him to come to her. He studied the deserted building, then walked all the way around it before trying the door. The rusty hinges creaked as he eased the door open. He drew his Smith & Wesson before he entered.

"Daley?" he called her name.

Mariah came out of the shadows and showed herself.

"Where's Jake Ingram?" he asked.

"That's what we have to talk about."

"Your assignment was to bring Ingram to us so that we can keep him safe."

"I know what my assignment was, but things have changed."

Johnson lifted a skeptical eyebrow. "I haven't been informed of any change."

"That's what I'm going to do—inform you of a change in plans."

***

At twenty-eight minutes past eleven, Mariah and Johnson watched while Agnes Payne and Oliver Grimble, aided by four suited men, walked Jake out of Room Six at the Eagle Springs Motel and straight to a waiting gray van. Jake didn't put up a fuss and to any unsuspecting soul looking on, it appeared that he went with his captors willingly. And in a way, that was exactly what he'd done, Mariah thought. Her noble superhero. A man who would sacrifice his own life to save his brother and destroy an evil empire.

Although realistically she knew she had to stay put, had to wait and could do nothing but follow at a very discreet
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distance, every feminine instinct in her wanted to run to Jake, her "borrowed" Glock blazing bullets as she rushed in to save him, not only from the Coalition, but from his own nobility. As soon as the van disappeared down the road leading back toward downtown Eagle Springs, Mariah and Johnson jumped in his sedan and headed out after them.

Not for one second during their journey would they be within sight of the van taking Jake to Verde Valley and possibly to his death. With only a minimum of time to coordinate the operation, her boss had lined up a squad of federal and state agents who would take part in tracking the van from Eagle Springs to its destination. Keeping in contact via digital phones with scrambled frequencies, a series of cars would follow the van, each for no more than two miles, and would always keep a discreet distance between their vehicle and the van.

Once Jake was inside the Arizona compound, the federal agents would move in and position themselves, waiting for Jake's signal. On his command, they would storm the complex, blasting their way inside if necessary. Johnson had agreed that Mariah could be in the forefront of the invasion, although to be honest with herself, she knew his permission hadn't been essential. With Jake's life on the line, she intended to lead the advance attack and nobody had damn well better try to stop her.

Fourteen

The new Arizona Coalition compound where Agnes and Oliver took Jake was underground, in what Jake figured had once been gold mine country. The rocky roadbed, with signs of long-ago mining camps, came to an end on the snow-covered mountainside. There was no paved road, no high gates connected to winding chain-link fencing.

Nothing to make the place resemble a government installation or a private facility. Although there were no armed guards to be seen anywhere, he suspected the place was as secure as Fort Knox. The driver stopped directly in front of what appeared to be the opening of a mine shaft. Hanging precariously overhead was a weathered metal sign. Verde Valley Mining Company. Before Jake could fully appreciate the irony; his personal goon squad hauled him out of the van and kept him in step behind Agnes and Oliver by occasionally prodding him with the tips of their rifles. Inside the mine shaft, they boarded an elevator—a modem, well-lit elevator. So, this new Coalition compound was underground also, Jake realized, just like the one in Oregon directly beneath Redeem headquarters.

Once deep beneath the earth, they emerged into a modem facility which had no doubt cost millions of dollars to build and equip. But as Agnes and Oliver led them down a long hallway, Jake didn't see more than two dozen people, which led him to believe that a vast part of their organization was still in Oregon. Did they intend to keep both secret bases active or did they plan to eventually phase out the one in Oregon?

Oliver opened a wide metal door, then stood back and waited for the guards to usher Jake inside before he and Agnes entered. The interior appeared to be an office of some sort, sparsely furnished, with tan walls and a gray concrete floor.

"You may all wait outside," Oliver told the guards. "If we need you, we'll call you."

As soon as the guards exited, Agnes turned to Jake. "Please sit down."

Jake pulled out a chair from a nearby metal desk and sat.

"For a man with a brilliant mind, you've made some very foolish mistakes," Agnes told him. "You should have gone directly to the FBI with the laptop. I'm sure that's what Dr. Brooks—or whatever her real name is—told you to do. You should have listened to her. But instead you tried to hack into our computer system and gave away your location. A very dumb thing to do. And we both know you aren't dumb."

"Dr. Brooks and I made a deal. I gave her the laptop and she allowed me to hand myself over to you. I wanted to be recaptured, which of course you've figured out."

"As we speak, the access codes on our main computer system are being changed and will be changed at random to protect our files," Oliver said. "The laptop will be useless to the FBI."

"And there is no way the FBI can find us here," Agnes told Jake. "We searched you for a homing device and found none attached to you and we disposed of your little microtransmitter, so you're quite alone here and totally at our mercy."

Jake felt certain that if there had been any way to keep tabs on him from the motel to this underground compound, at this very minute Mariah knew where he was. The only thing she wouldn't know for sure was when to issue the order for the Feds to storm the compound. His only hope was that luck would be on their side and the federal agents would make their move at the right time.

"Are you bringing Gideon here?" Jake asked.

"How sentimental and noble of you." Agnes walked up to Jake and smiled, her gaze locking with his. "Even now, knowing that you've lost the war, that your life and Gideon's are in my hands, you're still arrogant and proud, aren't you? Enjoy feeling superior for the time being. All that will change soon enough."

"Not unless you allow me to see my brother. Remember, you're the one who so wisely pointed out that Gideon is your only power over me."

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Agnes's smile vanished. She brought her face up close to his. "Do you believe you're invulnerable to torture?"

"Not invulnerable," he told her. "But I'll die before you break me. And I think you know that"

Agnes's facial muscles tightened. "Gideon is already here."

Jake almost reacted, but managed to remain totally in control.

Agnes frowned. "Would you like to see him?"

"You know that I would."

"I can arrange for him to be brought here, for the two of you to have some time alone together." She motioned to her husband. "Have them bring Gideon to me."

Oliver left immediately to do his wife's bidding. She turned back to Jake. "Now, I want something from you. A goodwill offer."

"What do you want?"

"I want to know Dr. Brooks's true identity."

"How should I know?"

"Is she a federal agent?"

"Probably."

"If you want to see Gideon, then you must give me something in return. I want information about Dr. Brooks. And it must be reliable information. If I later find out that you've lied to me..." She allowed her sentence to trail off, but the implication was plain.

"All I know is that she's not a Coalition psychiatrist, that she works for the government and her real name isn't Brooks. It's Mary Bailey. But other than what you already know, that's it."

"Mary Bailey. You realize that I can check that name and find out something within a few hours."

"She's a martial arts expert. And a crack shot." Jake paused for effect. "And she told me that she killed Lester."

Agnes huffed. "You've told me very little, but it's enough... for now."

She crossed the room, opened the door and left Jake alone. He took the opportunity to explore the small room. He searched for a bug of some type and within minutes found two. One in the empty staple gun on the desk and the other in the central ceiling light overhead. Before he could check further, he heard the door open. He hurriedly plopped his butt down on the side of the desk and crossed his arms over his chest.

Gideon walked into the room alone, unshackled and apparently not drugged. The door closed behind him, so Jake guessed that Agnes assumed the brothers might share vital information with each other if left alone. Looking at Gideon, he saw himself, so similar was their physical makeup. Same black hair. Same blue eyes. Identical height and weight within five pounds of each other.

Gideon came toward Jake, then the brothers grabbed each other and exchanged a hug. While hugging, Gideon whispered into Jake's ear. "I got the disk and was able to send the information on it to Gretchen and the others, then I destroyed the disk, but they caught me before I could access the main computer."

"I'm glad you're all right," Jake said loudly as they ended their brotherly embrace. Knowing that his siblings now possessed the info on the disk solved one problem, but left them with one far worse. They were both captives of the Coalition and if the FBI stormed the compound too soon, both he and Gideon could get caught in the crossfire.