Code Red (4 page)

They were going to kill her, too? Tears
blurred the image of Kieran trying to fight his way free. Holding
his arms behind him, two of the Russians punched him in the stomach
over and over.

“Stop it, please!”

Her yelling only made them hit him with more
force. He wobbled on his legs, his head bent forward, and he
slipped to the ground.

The leader placed the gun in Kieran’s grip,
holding it steady with two hands. Was Kieran unconscious? He wasn’t
fighting them anymore, and the leader was aiming the gun he held at
Jess’s head.

Oh my God.
She tried
to escape and let loose the loudest, highest-pitched scream she’d
ever made.

Kieran opened his eyes. He pulled the gun
back until it faced in the opposite direction, toward him.

More violence, more death.
Not him. Don’t kill him.

Someone kicked Kieran in the gut, and his
grip faltered. The men around him moved to point the barrel back
toward Jess’s head. All feeling had stopped in her system. It was
him or her, and for some reason she’d prefer if he pulled the
trigger on her rather than harm himself.

Kieran obviously had different thoughts. He
struggled to control the aim of the gun, receiving two more kicks
in the process.

“Stop! Don’t hurt him. Please,” she
yelled.

The bullet hit her before she heard the shot.
Fire ripped through her thigh, burning and tearing her apart. Blood
covered her skirt and leeched into the dirty hay beneath her. Did
she scream? She didn’t know, but Kieran’s eyes widened and he
shouted something she didn’t understand before her world faded to
black.

CHAPTER THREE

Kieran’s backup team arrived a mere five
minutes after he put a bullet in the most interesting woman he’d
ever met.

She couldn’t die. Life couldn’t be that
unfair. After over twenty years in the field, he’d never shot
anyone. Why did his first bullet have to hit Red?

Kieran had received two fractured ribs and
some internal bruising, but otherwise he felt fine. Jess, on the
other hand, had lost a lot of blood and was sent by helicopter to a
hospital in North Bay. He reached the hospital an hour later by
ambulance. No one would inform him of her status. After the
emergency room doctor cleared him to leave with the caveat that he
see his own physician within the next forty-eight hours, he pulled
on his shirt with slow painful movements.

The door opened, and his partner George
Fletcher walked in, sporting a navy suit and a pissed-off attitude.
“What the hell went wrong?”

“I didn’t have backup.” Kieran stepped
forward and poked his friend in the chest.

“We had a flat tire caused by a bullet. They
must have spotted us. It took twenty minutes to fix it, and by then
you guys were gone and some beat-up bartender was freaking out
about a woman named Jess. I’m guessing she’s the person we found at
the barn.”

“She is.”

“Do you know why they broke protocol?”

“Mark died before the exchange and they
didn’t want to transport Max out of Canada. I don’t have the
precise details.” Kieran should have halted the mission when he saw
people in the place, but he hadn’t and the result included two
injured civilians and Max’s murder. “It would have been easier if
we were at the farm we used before. No civilians. What moron orders
a swap at a bar?”

“Logistics is full of morons. And they’ll
blame us.” George cracked his knuckles and frowned after Kieran
filled him in on more of the details. “The Director’s going to
demote us to file clerks if this gets out.”

“What happened to the witnesses?” Kieran
asked.

“Toby took care of the bartender. He’s got a
busted nose but is otherwise okay. It’s the woman we need to worry
about. Someone at the hospital already leaked her gunshot wound to
the press.”

The idea she’d end up on the front page in
some media circus sent chills through Kieran. She didn’t need the
hassle and the agency didn’t need the negative press. Jess’s part
in the mess today could be easily hidden if the group at Langley
did their jobs. “See if someone can change the story. Maybe heroin
users on a crime spree.”

“I’ll get Oswald on it. Worst case scenario,
he can shut down their servers for a few days. They’ll be too busy
to worry about some unlikely Russian spy conspiracy.”

Kieran nodded. “Thanks. Is she okay?”

“She’s fine. If we can keep all of this
hushed up, she’ll be even better.”

Fine.
But Kieran
needed to see her, just to be sure.

“Let’s go. I booked us on the first flight
back to Dulles,” George said, stepping toward the door.

“Right now?”

“You want to stay here in the middle of
nowhere?”

“Let me check on the woman first.”

“Don’t take too long.”

George waved and walked down the hall,
probably in search of a cup of coffee, and with him gone Kieran
manipulated a young nurse into giving him the information he
needed. One step from Red’s door, however, another older nurse
stopped him. She should, he must look like a thug with his ripped
clothes and hunched over posture.

“I’m sorry, but family only at this time.”
Her hands rested on her hips. Her eyes flashed a threat.

“We’ll be related soon enough. She’s my
fiancée.” The lie wrapped around him and felt comfortable, as
though a hint of truth existed within the words.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” A smile
emerged, and the nurse stepped out of the way.

Monitors beeped a steady rhythm inviting him
into the room. A pair of exotic eyes greeted him without an ounce
of the hostility he’d expected, and all the pain in his torso
disappeared at the sight of her. Damn, she was pretty. Her hair
spread across the pillow like molten lava. Her jaw sported a huge
bruise on the right side and her leg was wrapped and propped up on
pillows.

The leg he’d shot with his gun.

“So we’re getting married?” Her voice low and
scratchy. Her eyebrows rose.

“Just say ‘yes’ and make me a very happy man.
I hope you don’t mind moving away from here. I had my heart set on
living near the coast of Maine.”

She ignored his comment. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine. I was more worried about you.”
He sat in the chair next to her bed and clasped her hand. “I’m
sorry. I tried to move the gun away from you.”

“I know. I watched the whole thing, except
when you were kissing me. Thanks. You spared me an even worse
vision of Max’s death by blocking the view.” She tried to smile but
tears started flowing down her cheeks. Her expression appeared a
bit off, as though she’d taken drugs that were slowing her down.
“What happened to all the other people?”

“They were arrested. Drug dealers attached
somehow to Max.” He needed to change the subject, because lying to
her made his stomach sour and his head hurt. “Is your family coming
to pick you up?”

“No. I’ll get a ride back home in a few
days.”

“From who?”

Her arm waved in small circles as though she
couldn’t decide. “Maybe Adam or his wife Lily. They called to check
on me. Adam has a concussion and broken nose but is otherwise fine.
Are you staying here for a while?”

Someone knocked on the door. “Ready,
buddy?”

Kieran’s heart and all of his emotions fell
to his stomach like a granite boulder.
Red.
He couldn’t leave her here unprotected. It
wouldn’t be right. His body remained anchored to the side of her
bed as though he’d be losing a piece of himself if he walked away.
He’d just met her under the worst of situations, and he knew
nothing about her except that she was lonely, feisty, and brave.
And Kieran needed more of her. He wanted her history and he wanted
her future.

Her hand curled inside of his. A perfect
fit.

What would his superiors do if he stayed?
Fire him? Doubtful. He already had one foot firmly planted in
retirement. Besides, she needed a ride home and should have someone
secure her place. He could help her out. The US government, after
all, had caused her to be here by choosing a dangerous and too
public place to make their swap.

“Come on, we’re going to miss the flight.”
George opened the door, entered the room and pulled on Kieran’s
arm.

Kieran remained with Jess. “I need to stay
for a few days at least.”

“For what?”

“Debriefing. I’ll see you back at the office
when I’m done.”

“That’s not a good idea. You don’t need a
black mark on your file so close to the end.”

Kieran glanced over at Red. She stared out
the window, not really focusing on anything. Her pain medication
must have kicked in.

“I need a few days,” he replied. “They owe me
for placing my life on the line for a paycheck that barely covers
my mortgage.

“Good luck with that.” George shook his head
and strolled out of the room, steaming coffee in his hand.

Red remained silent for a few minutes,
breathing in an easy, steady rhythm, and then her eyes closed. Her
breathing slowed and she slept, her hand still in his. Kieran
settled in next to her, staring at her peaceful expression and
relaxing for the first time in twenty years.

For two days, he stayed with her at the
hospital, Red’s fake fiancé. They compared her childhood in a town
of under five hundred and his own childhood in the suburbs of
Baltimore. She told him about Robert, the jerk who screwed with her
and then died in a car accident on the way back to his wife. Kieran
told her about Heather, his ex, and Heather’s new husband and three
children. They both drank their coffee with cream and preferred
chocolate chip ice cream over plain chocolate. She wanted to
travel. She wanted to find a life away from Ohneka. He wanted a
life away from Washington DC.

They held hands on the drive back to her
apartment. Neither spoke during the ride. Instead, they absorbed
each other’s presence until they’d each left a permanent mark on
the other’s heart.

He helped her out of the car and set up her
crutches. As they made their way to the door, his phone rang.

“Brody,” he answered.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
His direct boss, Randy, sounded furious. Nothing new, but his anger
rarely focused on Kieran.

“Tying up loose ends, sir.” He’d already
given his excuses, but no one was buying them.

“Bullshit. You need to leave there
immediately. Dmitriyev was not with the men arrested. No idea how
the bastard slipped away from the authorities.”

Oh.
Kieran had heard
Dmitriyev say he wanted out of the FSB and was headed to Venezuela.
A witness to his defection. To make matters worse, Kieran had
yelled out in Russian to stop the men from hurting Red in the barn,
blowing his cover and probably placing himself in Dmitriyev’s
crosshairs. And what about Red?

“I can’t leave. There was another witness to
the execution as well. She has no idea what’s really involved. She
needs protection.” He explained the situation to Randy.

“It’s you he wants,” his boss said. “You’re
the only live witness to his confession. And if he’s really set
things up down there it’d be easier to—”

“I can handle it.”

“You didn’t handle the last mission.” Randy’s
words came out slow and threatening. “Report to my office in the
next ten hours or you’ll be leaving this job without a
pension.”

Twenty years of twelve-to-twenty hour days
and now they threatened to cut him off because someone wanted him
dead? He sighed. “I’ll be there.”

Red had already opened the door to her place
and maneuvered herself inside while balancing on the crutches.
Kieran followed. Her apartment was small but pretty. Too pretty for
a woman lost in depression. She had to have
some
hope. Bright blues and yellows made the place
inviting and cheerful. Lots of plants decorated the shelves and
windowsills, and a large painting of the ocean with a cruising
sailboat stood over her white and blue couch.

He wrapped his arms around her waist. “You
weren’t lying about loving the ocean.”

“Someday, I’ll be on that sailboat.”

“I’d love to be your first mate.”

She tilted her head up to his. Her smile
faltered, and her bottom lip quivered. “You have to leave?”

“Yeah. Work is calling.”

She nodded. “What is it you do? You and a gun
and Max?”

“I work for the government. Boring job
usually. Never had anyone die in front of me before.” It was true.
His assignments had always finished without problem. He’d been
lucky, and his luck ran out with Max.

“My job’s usually pretty boring too. It was
interesting meeting you, Kieran Brody.” She choked his name
out.

“You too, Jessica Wonder.”

He stepped closer and kissed her softly on
the lips. Perfect lips, the top curved with a sultry invitation
while the full bottom offered itself as a main course. His hands
clasped her waist and held her tight as he deepened the kiss into a
promise, strong and solid and forever. She returned the intensity,
arms resting around his neck. A low groan escaped his throat.

More.
He wanted more
of her, all of her. When they separated, her lips were swollen and
open and so damn welcoming, causing his desire to grow from a warm
ember into a fiery blaze. But he forced himself to break away and
go back to his car. She’d been used for sex by the son of a bitch
who had hurt her. Kieran refused to go down the same path. He’d
guard her heart and build their relationship slowly until he could
commit to more than a fling.

The second he sat down, he called Randy.
“Jessica Wonder, the other witness, needs protection or I’m not
leaving.”

Randy gave him shit and then promised he’d
assign another field officer to keep an eye on her.