Deceptive Treasures: Slye Temp Book 5 (32 page)

Chapter Forty-Three

Dingo set his duffel bag on the ground near the jet and turned to the footsteps clipping the pavement, coming toward him.

“This has been fun,” Val said with her signature snarky tone
. “Almost like old times. You know, back when you came to see me for different reasons.”

Two days with her had been a blessing and a curse
.

She’d made this job easier, found information they had to have fast, and had not wasted a minute of the time negotiating a deal
.

The curse had been spending hours so close to her and not being able to touch her
.

“Thank you for everything, Val. I mean it.”

“I’d say you’re welcome, but—” She looked up, tapping her cheek in thought. “
You’re
not welcome.
You
don’t deserve my help, but your friends do. I like them.”  Her gaze flitted everywhere as she spoke, except at him.

“Look at me, Val.”

That yanked her gaze to him.

She had too much pride and backbone to ever let him think he made her uncomfortable or intimidated her
. He’d loved that about her. She was strong and gutsy. She wasn’t cut out to be a high-maintenance woman. But she’d forgotten that he knew her “tell.”  She’d look all around when she was on edge.

He took her hand and she snatched it back, leaning in with a glower. “Nothing has changed between us other than you owe me big time for this.”

The last two days had shown him that he couldn’t leave things the same way with her any longer, but now wasn’t the time to make amends. Not when he had to fly back and face Sabrina first. “I’ll give you an email to send your bill to, Val.”

“Email isn’t safe.”

She was screwing with him. He said, “Then I’ll snail mail it to you.”

“The post office loses my stuff all the time.”

He stepped up close, daring her to back away, but his girl never backed away.
His girl?
Not for a long time. Never again. He would not lose his patience and end this on a bad note. “Tell me what you want and I’ll have the money wired to your account.”

Her eyes had started flitting about again, but she stabbed a piercing glare at him
. “Nothing. I want nothing from you.” She turned to walk away.

Fuck patience.

He grabbed her arm, spun her back and cupped her face, kissing her finally. Yes, Jesus, finally he could taste that mouth again and feel that part of his world he’d missed more than he could ever explain to her.

When he finished and stepped back, he took a bit of pride in the awe-filled look on her face.

That lasted the whole five seconds she let him enjoy it. “Nice try, Dingo, but I’m not interested. My price is much higher than something so negligible.”

Way to kill the moment and carve out a section of his heart at the same time
. He ground his back teeth. “Then what
do
I owe you, Val?”

She found her first real smile
. “I’ll be in touch.”

His stupid brain jumped to a potential clandestine visit when no one would know he was near her. Maybe he could find a way.

He watched the sway of her hips as she walked away from him and all at once, reality crashed in.

She’d just given him the same words he’d left her with seven years ago
. The words he’d intended to make good on before the world was yanked out from beneath him and she’d found someone new.

The words she’d just spoken had been an intentional and all-too-clear message.

She would
never
call him again.

And that was the way it should be, because he would only bring danger to her door.

He sucked his pain inside where it belonged, picked up his duffel and climbed the steps to enter the cabin of Sabrina’s jet. The first thing he noticed was the yellow, leak-proof biohazard container that was twice the size of the deadly seeding canister that it contained. That was thanks to Blade, who’d made a call to have the container delivered.

“You okay, man?”  Tanner came walking up to him
.

The cowboy had cuts and bruises from a rough parachute landing, but he was alive
.

Dingo dug out one of his convincing smiles
. “Yeah, I’m right fine, mate. What about you?”

“Just hung up with Sabrina.”

“Got any ass left?”

“A little, and getting chewed out was nothing compared to everything Sabrina has done.”  Tanner looked around at Jin who was curled up on one of the sofas with a giant stack of magazines and books, all of which would have been forbidden to possess in North Korea. Before they’d boarded, she’d asked to stop at a newsstand. She’d bought one of everything light and fluffy, including two romance novels, both with cowboys on the cover
. She looked up and caught them watching her, then met Tanner’s eye and grinned.

When his attention returned to Dingo, Tanner said, “I’ll owe Sabrina for the rest of my life, but I’m happy to pay that debt
. She hammered out a deal with the State Department.”

“Tell me she came out on top,” Dingo said. He could use some good news right now.

Tanner’s face lit with the kind of happiness that came from deep inside. “Sabrina agreed to never tell anyone that the United States had contracted to bring terrorists into the country if they agreed to give Jin asylum. Jin’s going to tell Sabrina everything she knows about the Orion Hunters and Sabrina’s CIA friend is creating Jin a new identity. The State Department could do it, but Sabrina agrees that we don’t know who we can trust there right now.”

Dingo nodded that he agreed, but didn’t know if it was wise for Sabrina to ask Gage Laughton for anything
. “She find out who set us up at the safe house?”

“No and she’s pissed, too. They sent a new guy from the State Department to finalize the details with her
. When she asked about her original contact and who would be heading up an investigation to find the leak about her safe house, she was told that he couldn’t reveal details of any investigation and her first contact had died last night of a heart attack. No one knew he had a weak heart.”

“Weak heart my ass
. I bet she
is
pissed, mate. Hell, I’m pissed. That means we can’t use him to find out who screwed us. Her contact was probably just a front man for the one pulling the strings.”  Dingo cursed, shaking his head. “That limits our chances of finding out if there are Orion Hunters in the State Department.”

“Exactly, but you know Sabrina
. She isn’t done with this by a long shot.”

“True.” Thinking about Orion Hunters living here as sleeper cells, Dingo asked, “So Jin’s sister
was
in it the whole time?”

Heartache pulled at Tanner’s gaze
. “Yep. Her sister paid for trusting the Orion Hunters. Patty’s husband had to be in on killing her. Her chute had been sabotaged, but obviously, his worked since we’re both still here. I just want to get Jin cleared through headquarters then she’ll have time to grieve in private.”

“Think the Orion Hunters can find Jin?”

“Not where I’m taking her.”

Dingo pulled on his ear, thinking. “What about the little girl your family wanted to adopt?”

Tanner’s grin dimmed a bit. “Her mother died last night, but Sabrina wrapped clearing the adoption into the deal. When things were looking bad for cashing in my deal with the State Department, I contacted a former Delta buddy and asked him to go down to Mexico. He’s kept an eye on Martina and he’s handling the funeral arrangements for me. Once that’s done, he’ll escort Martina to my mom’s home this week.”

Dingo found a real smile for that
. A sharp pang of jealously punched him in the gut, but Tanner had believed in Jin when no one else did.

He’d earned her.

And from what Dingo had figured out about Jin, she would protect her cowboy whether he liked it or not.

Chapter Forty-Four

Chatton sat in her Lexus rental and watched a jet taxi down the runway for takeoff at the Ogallala airport while she waited on Wayan to come on the cellular call
.

“I hope you have news for me,” he said when he answered.

“I do.”  News came in two forms. She doubted he was going to like his. “Har is dead and Pang was captured and taken into custody during a raid on an Orion Hunter complex.”

Wayan’s silence slithered around, looking for a victim
. “What of the woman?”

“She was on the aircraft sent up to seed toxin-laced silver iodide into a storm. The airplane exploded. The only bodies found were a woman whose chute failed to open and a man who took the dive without a parachute.”

Wayan could form his own conclusion about Jin. Chatton watched Sabrina Slye’s jet soar into the skies and fly away with Chatton’s only hope of fulfilling this deal with Wayan.

Tanner’s woman had battled the odds to escape North Korea and saved millions of people. She deserved her freedom, and Wayan had lied to Chatton about Soo Jin’s wanting to defect to China.

Wayan finally said, “That is unfortunate, Chatton. This means you have broken our agreement.”

“I did what I could, Wayan
. I lost, too.”

“I do not lose, Chatton
. And when someone fails me, they must pay a price.”

She lifted her sunglasses and sat them on top of her head, thinking
. “Are you threatening me, Wayan? I proved my value to you by keeping an eye on The General so he doesn’t screw you.”

“I do not threaten
. It is a waste of energy. I make promises. Here is my promise. You will never find the person you are searching for, but
I will
. And once I do, you will regret having disappointed me.”

The call ended.

Chatton gripped the steering wheel, admitting she might have made a mistake she’d never thought possible.

She might have underestimated Wayan
.

~*~

Wayan ended the call with Chatton and sat quietly for a moment. He had not expected Chatton to cross him, but she must think him a fool to believe her story. She was far too capable to have missed capturing Soo Jin.

He pressed a button on the control center built into his onyx desk.

In less than ten seconds, one of his most trusted men entered, dipped a brief bow and asked, “What might I do for you?”

“Lee, who did you say had located the Orion Hunter doctor in Los Angeles just before the doctor was killed?”

“A woman by the name of Valene Eklund. She is an independent contractor who locates items or people of high value. She is paid very well for her work and considered to be exceptionally skilled.”

“I want you to arrange for someone who has no tie to us—and who is American—to contact her on my behalf.”

Lee nodded. “What will be the reason for this contact?”

“I have a job for her.”

Chapter Forty-Five

Ten intense days had passed and Tanner had only one more hurdle to cross, but this one would be his toughest
.

He let his favorite gelding move at an easy gait toward the meadow that overlooked a spring-fed lake on the back fifty acres of his five-hundred-acre spread
. His father had given him this piece when Tanner told him he wanted the spot to build a house on this hill for Mary Lou.

Of course, Mary Lou had been twelve and Tanner had been eleven at the time
.

Things changed when she hit high school and football players were more exciting than the cowboys she’d grown up around
.

He smiled at the distant memory.

But he wanted that house more than ever now. He just needed someone to want it with him.

Jin had never been given a choice
. Once he’d finally convinced her that with her new identity and word leaked that she’d died when the aircraft exploded, her presence was not a danger to him, Tanner had spent the past week looking into possibilities for her while Jin stayed at his mother’s house. His mama took a liking to her, but then his mama had always had sound judgment. She’d warned him about Mary Lou and Allie.

He should have taken his mama’s advice more often
.

But he’d gotten his stubborn attitude honestly from the same woman
.

Jin shifted in his arms, taking in everything they passed
. “This is beautiful. When can I get my own horse?”

“You can ride this one.”

“No, I mean once I learn how to ride by myself.”

He’d picked out a sweet mare for her, but changed his mind before he told her about the horse
. He didn’t want to take even that choice from her. “Just say when you’re ready for a riding lesson and to go shopping.”

“I’m ready.”  She twisted around and smiled at him
. “Not right this minute. But when we go home. Okay?”

Home
. He felt that word deep in his soul. “Okay.”

When they reached the meadow, the sun was just peeking over the eastern horizon
. He’d taken her riding almost every day for the past week, but they always seemed to end up here. She whispered with reverence, “I love this spot.”

“Me, too.”  He had to get this over with
. “I want to talk to you, Jin.”

“Yes?”

“You’re as safe as you can be out here where a driveway is five miles long. With your new identity as Jennifer, I can help you get set up in a job once you figure out what you’d like to do,” he clarified, determined to let her know her future was hers. “And a place to live. You just have to tell me what you want.”

She sat so still he might have thought she’d gone to sleep if not for the deep sigh
. “Is that what you want me to do?”

“The point is not what I want for you, but what
you
want. I love you and I want you very much. But you’ve never had a chance to make your own decisions. I’ll be around as long as you want to see me.”  He swallowed. “Just tell me what you want.”

She pushed a leg up and started moving like she intended to stand up in the saddle
. Tanner grabbed her at the waist. “Where are you going?”

“To see you.”

He laughed and lifted her, turning her around until she sat with her legs hanging over his thighs. She sported new blue and white leather boots that she’d squealed over picking out. “Thank you for all the thought you put into what would be good for me. Now, I want to know, what about you?”

“What do you mean?”

“What do
you
want?”

He stared off into the distance at the sun rising further up into the sky above his land
. “I plan to keep working with Sabrina, but only domestic jobs. I’ve had enough of going overseas. I want to build a house on this spot and watch the sun rise and set as often as I can with—”  He looked down at her. “The woman I love.”

Her eyes smiled back at him
. “The course of true love never did run smooth.”

“Is that more Shakespeare?”

“Yes.”

“What does it mean?”

“That I should like to now tell what I want.” Her eyebrows lifted. “Is that all right?”

“Yep. That’s what I’ve been trying to get you to do this whole time.”  He loved looking into her eyes and seeing love, but he had to give her a chance to stretch her wings
. “What do you want, darlin’?”

She lifted her fingers to touch his cheek
. “I want to learn what it is like to be free to get up every morning and choose how to spend my day. To go wherever I want and not answer to anyone.”

Wasn’t that what he wanted for her too
? Then why did his chest hurt with the possibility of losing her? He’d done this before. Not that he’d ever compare Jin to Allie again, but this felt too familiar. What was that old saying about setting something free and if it loves you it’ll come back?

He could do this
.  

Jin stroked his face and he’d miss that as much as everything else about her
. Her touch had brought his heart back to life and he feared if he couldn’t keep her close the damn thing would shrivel and die completely.

She smiled and her eyes held contentment. “I want to live in a house where I’m happy and with people who love me.” She looked around her, then back at him, and tears had pooled in her eyes
. Her sister’s body had been found with a parachute that failed to open. Jin grieved for her on so many levels. He’d stood with Jin as she’d said goodbye at a private funeral in a cemetery that Sabrina had arranged. It was nowhere near here for Jin’s safety. The worst part had been watching her grieve the sister she’d believed in, when the real Patty had been something completely different.

She’d mentioned having a ceremony for her mother, but not when or where. He’d be there for her then, too
.

He caught her hand in his and kissed her fingers, talking past a ridiculously huge lump in his throat
. Damn he’d fallen so hard for this woman. “Go on.”

“I want to have children who will always know they are loved and wanted
. I don’t know what work I will choose to do, but I want it to benefit others.”  She took a moment then said, “I want a man I can trust and believe in who I know will stand guard over all he loves. You are that man. I love you, cowboy. I want children with our blue eyes. Will you build me a house here?”

He couldn’t speak for a second
. “Your mother was right when she named you. You’re my treasure. I’ll build a house worthy of the one thing I value above all else. Your love.” 

Then he kissed her as the sun rose on a new beginning
.

The End