Fatal Pursuit (The Aegis Series) (17 page)

She was his employee, not his girlfriend. He didn’t even
want
a girlfriend. His track record with women proved he wasn’t relationship material—just like his father. Besides which,
this was Marley
. If he wasn’t careful from here on out, he could lose her for good.

An image of her dancing around that bonfire pinged through his brain. Followed by the way she’d kissed him in that hut, then dragged him to the floor and completely rocked his world.

His skin grew hot. His hands sweaty. More frustrated than he’d been when he’d come in here, he turned out of the bathroom, found fresh clothes in his bag, and pulled them on. What he really wanted to do was stretch out on the couch in his stateroom and sleep for seven hours, but he was too fired up to get any kind of rest. The only thing that was going to cool him out now was a bottle of Jack and a few hours of mindless television.

He opened the stateroom door, intent on finding that bottle, then drew to a stop. Marley sat on the couch, her back angled Jake’s way, holding McKnight close. His hand ran up and down her spine in an intimate way as he whispered words Jake couldn’t make out. Neither seemed to notice him, but Jake’s stomach twisted into a tight, hard knot at the sight, and before he could retreat back into the safety of his stateroom, McKnight’s eyes lifted and zeroed in.

If he’d seen gratitude or relief or even happiness in the other man’s eyes, Jake would have turned around and left them alone. But he didn’t see any of that. What he saw was victory. A flash of gloating, then a whisper of something dark.

Every alarm bell he had went off all over again. This guy was not at all what he seemed. Jake didn’t care what Marley believed. No way in hell he was leaving her alone with McKnight.

He stepped past the pair and headed toward the galley. At his back, Marley said, “Jake. I didn’t hear you come out.”

No, of course she hadn’t. Because she was too wrapped up in McKnight to notice what he was doing. Another fact that burned more than he liked. He moved into the galley and reached for a glass from the shelf above. “Don’t mind me. I’m just getting my laptop and something to drink.”

He poured a generous glass, added ice, and took a big sip. From the corner of his eye he watched Marley push to her feet and look toward him with worried blue eyes.

“We need to talk.”
Yeah, they did, but he wasn’t in the mood to deal with her right now.

Carrying his glass into the main cabin, he found his laptop in a storage compartment, then sat in the chair farthest away from the duo. After flipping up his screen, he powered on the machine and pretended to work.

“Freckles,” McKnight said. “Why don’t you come back and sit down so we can finish talking.”

Freckles? McKnight had called her that in Bruhia. What kind of nickname was that? Clenching his jaw, Jake pretended to type, but he was so on edge he could barely see the screen.

Marley turned and looked down at McKnight, who was still sitting on the sofa. But McKnight’s gaze skipped from her to Jake and back again, and Jake knew the fucker had already figured out there was something going on between them. Something, Jake guessed from the seething look McKnight shot his way, that put a crimp in the man’s plans.

She’s not all yours, after all, asshole.

Of course, Marley didn’t back Jake up on that. She went and sat next to McKnight again. “Okay, explain to me why you didn’t want my father to help rescue you.”

McKnight reached for her hand and, contrary to what Jake wanted, she didn’t pull away from his touch. “I know this is going to be hard to hear, but your father lied to you. He knew I was still alive in that South American prison. He left me there on purpose.”

“Go back to the beginning, Gray. Originally, you went down to Colombia to rescue an American hostage.”

“No. Your father lied about that too. He didn’t want you to know the truth. It wasn’t a rescue mission. It was a hit. Contracted by the US government to take out a ruthless drug lord who was taking Americans hostage. We were awarded the contract after the third American in two weeks was executed. Your father sent me and two other guys in to do the job. I don’t know what went wrong, but they were waiting for us. Jones and Reynolds were killed. Me they took hostage.”

“Then what happened?” Marley asked.

“I was there about a week. Let’s just say they weren’t wild about American black ops. I knew your father wouldn’t leave me behind, so I toughed it out, figuring he’d come back for me.”

“He did. I was there when he and the second team left to bring you back.”

“You’re right, they did. I was in a room high in the compound when they arrived. I watched the firefight from the tiny window. Your father saw me. But his team never made it inside the compound. I was still alive when he ordered the retreat. And he knew that.”

Jake’s fingers hovered over the keyboard. He remembered hearing about Omega’s failed rescue attempt. He’d just been starting Aegis back then, so he’d been paying close attention to what was happening with his competitors. The drug lord was Jose Moreno. One of the most ruthless drug lords in all South and Central America. And he’d been killed by US forces three weeks after Omega pulled out of that op.

“Hostages are big money in Colombia,” McKnight went on. “The drug cartels pay paramilitary groups to run their security. And those paramilitary groups are often in bed with corrupt Colombian military officials. They decided to hold on to me for a bit, let me suffer before they tried to ransom me back to Omega. They handed me over to the Black Eagles, who threw me in a Colombian prison. The conditions were . . .” A dark look filled his eyes as he gazed at the windows across the cabin. “Well, let’s just say they weren’t pretty.”

He blinked and looked back at Marley. “I was there for several years. I don’t know exactly how long. I heard through the grapevine that the general who’d thrown me in that clink was killed with Moreno. Basically, they forgot about me. Then about six months ago, someone wised up to who I was. They pulled me out of that hellhole, put me in isolation in the drug cartel’s compound, and started feeding me. I was sickly. Weak. They brought in doctors. I knew what they were doing. I knew if they were getting ready to try to ransom me back, then it meant my days were numbered. Your father left me in South America. He wasn’t going to pay to get me back. My only play was to get strong enough and then find a way to escape. Which is what I did.”

The story made sense on the surface. But one thing didn’t sit right with Jake. Namely, why the Black Eagles had kept McKnight alive in the first place. They’d killed the other two members of his team. Why let him live?

There was a whole lot McKnight wasn’t copping to. Every instinct Jake had screamed that this guy was not at all what he seemed.

He paged through his inbox and found a message from Eve. Hitting Open, he leaned forward and read her note.

Ryder,

Where the hell are you? I’m starting to worry, and you know how much I like to do that. I left a message on your phone but figured I’d e-mail this as well. Here’s the info I was able to find on McKnight.

He’s thirty-four years old. Went to high school in Arizona. Joined the army when he was eighteen. Did two tours—East Africa and the Middle East. Rose to the rank of staff sergeant in his infantry unit. Had a history of being difficult to work with but always got the job done. No stellar commendations. Left the army and went to work for Mission Elite, a defense contractor based out of North Carolina. Spent most of his time overseas, primarily in Central and South America. Basic merc stuff. Five and a half years ago, he joined Omega Intel. Spent six months with them before he was listed as missing in action.

No red flags in his background. The guys at Mission Elite didn’t have anything positive or negative to say about him. Just said he was a hard worker and sort of a loner. I didn’t contact Omega to get their take on him, but I can if you want me to.

Call me when you get this so I know you’re alive. FYI—I like being in charge less than I like worrying, so get your ass back here soon.

~Eve

J
ake leaned back and read through the e-mail again. Nothing stood out, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t find more when he dug deeper.

“How did you get out?” Marley asked.

Jake glanced over his laptop toward the pair. McKnight was still holding her hand, but instead of sitting back all relaxed and confident as he’d been before, he was now leaning forward, his elbows on his thighs, his fingers slowly stroking the back of Marley’s hand as he stared down at the floor with a dazed expression. Jake frowned. The guy’s mood switched faster than a chameleon changes color. But the kicker was Marley. She didn’t seem to notice. Or if she did, she just didn’t care.

Clenching his jaw, Jake looked back at his screen. He hit Reply and sent Eve a quick response, gave her an update on their status, then opened a new e-mail and typed a note to his contact at the State Department.

“Security at the compound wasn’t as tight as at the prison,” McKnight said to Marley. “I paid attention to the guard’s patterns, watched for weaknesses in their routines. When I felt comfortable with the timeline, I faked an illness. The guards took me out of my room and walked me to the doctor on site. I made my escape while we were in transit.”

“And then what did you do?” Marley asked.

“Then I made my way to the first phone I could find and called you.”

“We ran into paramilitary soldiers in the jungle. They were looking for you.”

“I know. I stayed out of sight. Made friends with that kid who brought me food. The soldiers came and went in Bruhia. I knew they were looking for me, so I sat tight and waited.”

“We went to your hideout. You weren’t sitting tight.”

“That’s because I heard the helicopter. I was trying to get to the airstrip when your friend over there intercepted me.”

Jake glanced over his laptop once more. McKnight wasn’t looking Jake’s way, but Jake could see Marley’s skeptical expression. And a tiny shot of relief bounced through him. She wasn’t buying McKnight’s story. At least not all of it.

That’s my girl.

Marley’s brow wrinkled, and she pulled her hand from McKnight’s. “I’m sorry you went through all that. It sounds awful. But you need to know that my father did look for you. I’ll be the first to admit he has his faults, but I believe if he’d known you were alive, he wouldn’t have just walked away.”

“Sometimes the people closest to us are the ones we’re blinded by most.”

Marley stared at him for several seconds, and the statement hit Jake as odd. Just as everything about McKnight seemed odd.

Sighing, Marley braced her palms against her thighs and pushed to her feet. “I’m sure you’re hungry and tired. There’s food in the galley, and these chairs all recline. Since you both had a chance to get cleaned up, I guess it’s my turn.”

She moved for the stateroom, but McKnight pushed to his feet and caught her by the arm. “Marlene.”

She turned back to face him. “Yeah?”

“Just . . . thanks. For coming to rescue me. You know, things are foggy in my head. I might not be remembering right about your dad.”

She stared up at McKnight, and Jake couldn’t help wondering if she was thinking the same thing he was. That McKnight’s sudden capitulation about her father was a complete one-eighty from what he’d believed about the man earlier.

Marley nodded. “Okay.” Gently, she pulled her arm from his grip. “I’ll be back in a little while.”

She disappeared into the stateroom and closed the door behind her. And in the silence, Jake leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest.

Slowly, McKnight turned and caught Jake’s gaze. Only Jake didn’t see gratitude or relief or warmth in the man’s green eyes. He saw darkness.

McKnight averted his gaze and headed for the galley. “I’m just gonna get something to eat and then take a nap.”

“Yeah, you do that,” Jake mumbled as McKnight stepped past him into the galley.

But sleeping was the last thing on Jake’s mind. He rose from his seat and headed for the stateroom. Before this got any more out of control, he planned to make sure he and Marley were on the same page where this guy was concerned. And if they weren’t, well, he’d just have to set her straight.

M
arley ran a comb through her wet hair and then tucked the towel tighter around her breasts. The shower had helped—at least now she felt clean—but her head was still spinning with everything that had happened and all she’d learned in the last hour.

She wasn’t sure what she thought about Gray. He was different. One minute he seemed angry, the next vulnerable. Five years
in
a South American prison would mess with anyone’s head, but she couldn’t seem to get a handle on his mood from one moment to the next. And that bit about her father . . . She’d seen deep distrust in his
eyes when she’d first defended her dad, but by the end of their conver
sation, Gray had acted as if he’d been wrong about the entire situation.

She tipped her head the other way and combed the opposite side of her hair as she thought back through their conversation, then stilled when she realized she had no plans for what to do with him when they got back to Kentucky.

“Shit.”

Her father had boxed up the belongings from his apartment and stuffed it all in storage. Gray didn’t have a home to return to. And she wasn’t about to let him stay with her. She might have flown down to Colombia to help the man out of guilt, but she didn’t really know him anymore, and she wasn’t about to be stupid.

That meant she’d have to get him set up in a hotel, then find him a more permanent place to stay. Her spirits dropped. All her plans for this to be a quick extraction were crashing and burning before her very eyes. And in the back of her head, she couldn’t stop hearing Jake’s irritating voice whispering,
“There’s a reason I keep you out of the field.”

She looked up at her foggy reflection and straightened her spine. Planning was her strong suit. She did this kind of thing for the guys at Aegis all the time. And she’d already proved herself in the field. She didn’t need Jake’s approval one way or the other.

Shoving the bathroom door open, she stepped into the stateroom, then drew to a stop when she saw the man she’d just been thinking about sitting on the long couch that folded down into a bed.

Marley’s stomach tightened, and she tugged the towel tighter around her breasts. “What are you doing in here, Jake?”

“Waiting for you. We need to talk.”

She’d said the same to him just before he’d taken his own shower. The memory of that kiss spiraled through her brain. The way she’d grabbed him. Pushed him. Bit him. Her skin prickled with awareness and anticipation and a host of nerves. In the center of her chest she knew he wanted to talk about that kiss. About what was happening between them. About where it was going. And she didn’t know what the hell to say.

She’d liked that kiss. Liked it way too much. Knew it was a bad idea but probably wouldn’t have stopped if they hadn’t been interrupted. And she had no clue about what that meant or where they went from here.

Her throat grew dry. She drew the towel tighter around her. Was he as confused as her? Did he feel the same way? What the heck were they going to do about this—
thing
—that seemed to be smoldering between them?

“O-okay.”

He leaned forward, rested his elbows on his knees, and clasped his hands in front of him. His big, masculine, talented hands. Marley’s gaze followed, and her pulse raced when she remembered the way he’d lifted her shirt and run his warm, rough fingers over her belly only minutes ago.

“You do realize McKnight’s not telling you the whole truth, right?”

Her gaze slid up, over the faded SEAL tattoo on his forearm he usually kept covered, then to his strong biceps and the dark T-shirt pulled tight across his muscular chest. Her skin warmed. Nerves danced in her belly. Just being in the same room with him made her body feel alive in a way it hadn’t felt in a very long time.

When had that started? In the jungle, obviously. No, she realized, thinking back. It had been happening for a while now. Over the last few months she’d been feeling this way whenever he walked through the damn door or called her on the phone or looked at her when they were together at the office.

“Marley.”

She tore her gaze from his chest. “What?”

“You do realize he’s keeping things from you, right?”

She stared at Jake’s clean jaw and the dark hair still damp around the edges from his own shower and tried to remember what he’d been talking about before she’d been distracted by his hands and muscles and
him
. “Who?”

“McKnight. Aren’t you listening?”

Gray. He was talking about Gray. She blinked several times, tried to get her brain back online, and suddenly realized he wasn’t here to discuss what had happened between them in the galley. He was here to lecture her about Gray.

All that warmth cooled, and though she told herself not to be disappointed—after all, this was Jake, the most emotionally closed off person she’d ever met—she couldn’t stop her heart from sinking just a little bit.

“I heard you.” She moved for her backpack on the far side of the room, lifted it to a chair, and rummaged around until she found clean clothes. “But you’re wasting your breath.”

“And you’re naïve if you buy everything he’s selling out there without considering the source.”

God, this man was so aggravating. And it wasn’t because she was in love with him, dammit. It was because he was just completely bullheaded sometimes.

She tossed her pack on the floor, gripped the fresh clothes in her free hand, and tugged the towel up with the other. “And what source is that? He’s been through hell, Jake. You saw the people who were after him. Cut the guy a break.”

She moved back for the bathroom, but Jake stepped in her path. “Have you even once asked yourself why they were after him?”

“Because he escaped. Duh.”

Irritation darkened his eyes. “Don’t get smart with me. You know what I’m getting at. Why him? Why not the other guys?”

“Because they’re dead.”

“Right. And why did the cartel kill them and not him?”

She exhaled and stared at him. She’d asked herself that when Gray had been explaining what had happened to him. But no matter the answer, she couldn’t see how the facts of his imprisonment changed his situation now. “Regardless of why, he was still imprisoned. I didn’t go to Colombia to figure out what happened five years ago. I went to help a friend.”

She stepped past him and moved for the bathroom.

“Is that all he is? Just a friend?”

Marley’s feet slowed at the quiet question, and her pulse ticked up all over again. Resting one hand on the bathroom door, she turned to look Jake’s way. “Does it matter if he’s just a friend?”

He watched her carefully, but he didn’t immediately answer. And in the silence she tried to read his blank expression and figure out what he was thinking—what he was feeling—but couldn’t. His face was as guarded as always.

“No, it doesn’t matter,” he finally said. “But the truth does. And my gut’s telling me there’s something off about the guy. You need to be careful.”

Disappointment rushed through her—way more than she wanted to admit, even to herself—and she looked away. What did she expect? That he was suddenly going to open up to her? That he’d tell her how he felt? He’d never done either of those things before, so why would she expect him to start?

She turned back for the bathroom and stepped through the doorway, more exhausted than she ever remembered being. “Thanks for the concern, but I know how to take care of myself. I think I proved that the last few days.”

She pulled the door closed.

“Marley, wait.”

She couldn’t. Because right now she just needed to be alone. Flip
ping the lock on the door, she drew a deep breath that did nothing to
ease the burn in the center of her chest, and told herself this was all for
the best. Once they got home, she could forget about the last few days,
forget about everything that had happened between them, and focus
on what really mattered. Namely, getting everything back to normal.

The only problem was, her heart screamed there was no more normal. Nothing with Jake would ever be the same again.

Jake stuck his head through the cockpit door to thank Tony and Ben for the easy flight. They’d made good time on the way back to Kentucky, but he hadn’t been able to sleep even though they’d flown through the night. All he’d been able to think about was Marley. About the disappointed look on her face when she’d closed that bathroom door. About the way he felt as if she’d expected him to say something more.

The hard truth was, he didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know what to do, either. Talking about what had happened between them would only remind him just how hot kissing her had been. And how much hotter making love with her was. And while a big part of him wanted only to do both of those things again and again, an even bigger part knew it could never happen. Not with how closely they had to work at Aegis.

To his relief—and disappointment—she hadn’t seemed up for talking when she’d emerged from the bathroom. Dressed in fresh jeans that molded to her body and a fitted white sweater that accentuated her breasts, she’d feigned exhaustion. Then she’d found a chair near McKnight in the main cabin and closed her eyes. Jake had no idea if she’d actually slept, but just the fact she’d gone to sit by McKnight set off a weird vibration in his stomach. One that had kept him awake all the way home. One he didn’t like.

The pilots killed the engines. It was close to four a.m. and darkness pressed in through the windshield, but Jake could see the remnants of another snowstorm littering the edges of the runway.

Frustrated—with the weather, with McKnight’s presence, mostly with himself—Jake said goodbye to the pilots, walked back into the main cabin, and then stilled. Marley stood near the couch in a lightweight red jacket, tugging her backpack over one shoulder while she reached for her extra bag from the seat. Her shoulders were tense, her blonde hair hanging past her shoulders. He knew she’d heard him walk back into the room, but she refused to look up.

She was upset. About their argument? About what had happened in the galley? About their conversation in the stateroom? Probably all three, but he couldn’t stand the distance between them any longer.

Say something, idiot, and fix the giant mess you made with your dick.

He cleared his throat. “Where’s McKnight?”

“Washing his hands.” She tossed the strap of her pack over her shoulder and took a step toward the exit, but as he was blocking her path, she had no choice but to stop. “You’re in my way.”

He drew a quick breath. “Look, Marley. I know you’re upset with me. I get that. But I’m just keeping your best interest in mind here. This guy . . .”

She glanced up at him. Her gaze narrowed, and as their eyes held, he realized there was only one thing he could say that would hopefully get through to her.

“I’m worried about you,” he said softly. “That’s all. I don’t want to see you make a mistake.”

“Why not?”

Why not?
The question took him back. “Because I care about you.”

“How?”

His skin grew hot. His mouth opened, but the words wouldn’t come.

She shifted the bag on her shoulder and tipped her head. “How do you care about me, Jake? As your assistant? As a friend? As something more? As what? After everything that’s happened these last few days, I think I deserve to know what, exactly, you mean by that.”

She wanted an answer. About the night they’d shared in the jungle. About that kiss in the galley. About what it all meant in the long run. Only, he didn’t have a clue what it meant, and he had even less ability to explain it.

The palms of his hands grew damp, and his mouth couldn’t seem to find any words that made sense. But he needed to give her something, and the only thing that kept circling in his brain was the fact he didn’t want to lose her. “Marley, I—”

“I’m all set, Marlene.” McKnight stepped through the stateroom door with a shit-eating grin on his clean-shaven face. But the grin faltered when he saw them standing together. “Oh, Ryder. I thought you’d already left.” That same contempt Jake had noticed before flashed in McKnight’s eyes before quickly clearing. “I’m not interrupting something, am I?”