Flirting with Danger (13 page)

“The exchange is happening in a park?” Garth replied, surprised.

Jack nodded.

“One of the old duelling fields. Since they will be bringing Victor with them, I think it’s a safe bet there will be at least four or five of them, possibly more. Us bringing you three might not make them happy, but should not be too far over the line.”

“Considering they brought a rocket launcher to their initial attempt to obtain Skye and this damn hard drive, I think it’s a safe bet that, unless we had half the Armed Forces with us, they’d still out-power us weapons wise,” Katherine said, seeming to capitulate to their plan.

“Can we at least use our transport?” she asked wryly. “The body of the car is armoured and the windows are tinted.”

Skye turned to Jack and caught his grin. Her lover nodded his assent.

“Sounds like a plan. Shall we move on out? The last thing we need is to get stuck in traffic and lose this chance.”

Katherine, Tarek and Garth turned towards the door. Jack and Skye stood up and faced each other for a moment.

“You okay?” he murmured so the others couldn’t overhear easily. She moved into his arms, enjoying the warmth and solid security in his embrace. She lifted up on to her tiptoes and whispered in his ear.

“I’ve got nerves in my stomach. I’m scared they’re stringing us along and have already killed my dad. Otherwise the adrenaline seems to be kicking in and I’m fine. You?”

Jack kissed her tenderly. The press of his lips on hers sent electric passion coursing madly through her blood. Her body heated, her nipples peaked and for a moment she longed to forget their audience, forget their mission and pretend nothing at all was wrong in her world. His tongue flicked out and stroked inside her mouth. She longed to drag Jack to the bedroom, to test out a real-life, honest-to-goodness Four Seasons bed and have her wicked way with her man.

For a heartbeat she could see it—stripping him naked, bending on her knees in front of him and sucking his thick cock down her throat. He’d clench his hands in her hair, fuck her deeply and spill his hot seed down into her belly.

She’d lick every ounce he gave her and still beg for more.

But this wasn’t the time or place. Reluctantly, Skye pulled away from the intimate kiss and glanced towards the door. Katherine turned in the door frame to raise her eyebrows at them, the silent, ‘Are you coming?’ as vivid in her look as if she’d spoken the words aloud. Skye pressed herself against Jack and tried to absorb his strength into her body.

“Love you,” she whispered into his ear.

“I love you, too,” he murmured back before they let each other go.

Silently, they followed the agents out the door and down into the street. They had a mission to perform and Skye didn’t want to compromise that.

Chapter Eight

Skye straightened her spine as she walked across the isolated park. Grass blew in the gentle breeze—the sun shone warmly down. The gorgeous weather proclaimed that summer was only around the corner. The sky appeared endless, blue and calm, but Skye couldn’t find it within herself to relish the rare beauty of the day. Jack kept pace beside her, his shoulder barely touching her own.

Had they been in almost any other circumstances it would have been the perfect setting.

The three armed men keeping guard around a black car with darkly tinted windows managed to keep the sickening twisting of her stomach rolling dangerously around, shattering her nerves.

‘Even if you don’t feel it, portraying confidence and not letting your enemies know how badly they’ve hurt you is always the most important aspect of battle, sweetheart’, her father had whispered in her ear. ‘Never show your nemesis how greatly they affect you. That simply hands them another weapon. If you portray an in-control attitude then you hold an edge over them’.

Her father’s advice had worked all those years ago back in school against the bullies he had been counselling her about. Skye knew the advice still rang true today. She lifted her head, tilted her chin to a stubborn angle and straightened her back as if she were walking into a battle.

With some effort she managed to push down all her fear, her heart-wrenching concern for her father’s safety and even the doubts that crowded her mind, the worry something horrible was about to go wrong and destroy her entire world.

At her insistence they had left Garth, Katherine and Tarek with the car on the other side of the park. Jack and she had decided to walk into the middle of the clearing and wait, forcing their enemies to meet them halfway.

“What if they won’t budge? Will we lose face if we end up having to walk all the way over to them? Do you think they have my father in their car?” Nerves had Skye almost babbling, questions overwhelming her mind. The action of walking at least helped give her some form of release. In one hand she carried the small black box, clearly visible to their enemies as a sign of good faith.

Her free hand strayed to the small of her back, where hidden in the waistband of her jeans and under her sweater sat the small lady’s gun. Determination raced through her blood. Skye knew without a shadow of a doubt that she would shoot to kill if the need came. She wanted her dad back. Whole. Safe. If that meant she had to shoot these evil bastards, even if she had to end up killing some of them, that was a price she was willing to pay.

“We hold something they need,” Jack replied calmly, his warrior’s mask firmly in place. Skye nodded, struggled to mimic the cool demeanour he portrayed. She recalled her father’s face, how he could look in control no matter what the circumstances. She schooled her features carefully and lifted her head higher, determined not to show even the smallest hint of the fear that coursed through her body.

“They have Victor, true, but this is an exchange. Both parties are vulnerable and need to meet halfway. While we won’t push them on something so small, exerting this level of control merely evens the playing field for us both.”

Jack stopped speaking as they both came to a halt dead centre of the park. Katherine had not been pleased with their decision to leave the three agents behind, but as their enemies’ men stood outside his car, guarding them but making no move to become further involved in their exchange, Skye had been adamant. Finally she had pointed out that if Katherine, Tarek and Garth joined them then their guards would follow, and there would be far too many people in a knot for a simple exchange. The situation would be incredibly fluid—things happen in the space of a heartbeat. Some of them could die.

“If your stubborn need to be a part of this costs my father his life I won’t rest until every branch of the Agency and even your government competition knows of your arrogant fuck-up,” she had shouted at Katherine, her patience at an end. “I don’t care if I need to organise an interview with the Queen herself, I will make it my life’s mission. This is my father and my operation right now. Am I being clear enough?”

Katherine had given her the evil eye, but nodded stiffly. A part of Skye felt bad for her over-reaction. Katherine was the professional here, and if Skye was being honest she’d dealt rather well with ‘a civilian’ stomping all over the mission. Skye just found the safety and protection of her dad was a hot button and she would not let anything mess with that. Not even a professional agent.

Skye resisted the impulse to fidget, refusing to give in to the urge and show their enemies just how ill at ease she felt. Jack remained by her side, his gun in hand, though lowered and pointing to the ground. She held the hard drive in her hands, clearly in view but just comfortably in front of her, not on show.

The seconds dragged by endlessly. It took every ounce of her patience and strength to not jiggle, pace or move more than strictly necessary.

“This isn’t going to work,” she murmured, though everyone was far enough away so that even if they had they spoken normally no one would’ve been able to hear a word. “They aren’t going to come meet us. We have to go to them. Oh, Lord, have mercy. What if they don’t have my dad here? What if this is a trick or a setup? I shouldn’t have trusted Garth. He must be involved. What if they just shoot us here and now and come take the hard drive? Who will rescue my father? We need to—”

“Skye Adams, stop that right now,” Jack whispered firmly. “I can see movement inside the car. Look. Someone is climbing out. Take a breath. This will work. You’ll see.”

Skye’s head whipped around to watch the car and sure enough Jack spoke the truth. The back door opened and one of the guards stood protectively at the side and raised his gun defensively. At first she couldn’t see more than the shadow of a man climbing out of the rear seat. When he stood, she gasped.

Tall with midnight-black hair, the muscled man filled out his black suit and jacket powerfully. When he turned, Skye caught a glimpse of a neatly trimmed beard and confusion flooded her. Superficially, he resembled Garth, and she could understand how from only a split-second glance she had mistaken the two and been so uncertain. This man, however, had a good twenty if not thirty years of age over the young man. Relief flooded her mind, followed quickly by the sharp sting of guilt for not trusting her father’s protégé.

From such a distance she couldn’t hear the words the dark-haired man spoke, but clearly he was giving orders to his men. After a moment he slammed the car door closed and began to stalk across the grass, evidently meeting them halfway. One of the men followed, his sub-machine gun held ready and with what to Skye’s eyes looked like a professional stance.

She eyed the weapon warily, suddenly feeling extremely under-protected and out-classed.

“I don’t recall seeing any Uzis or the like in your gun safe.” She tried to lighten the ambiance with a half-hearted joke. “You call yourself a professional?”

“I’ll buy you one as a belated birthday gift—or for our first anniversary if you wish,” Jack promised solemnly. “Victor and I can teach you how to use it properly. Right now you’re as likely to shoot yourself with something that powerful.”

Skye nodded and conceded the point. Jack was right, though her mind lingered hungrily on the promise of a first year anniversary.

“I’d rather travel or get a nice house for our first wedding anniversary,” she replied. “So it will need to be a belated birthday present, if that’s okay with you.”

“It’s a deal, though you can break it to Victor. I got the strong impression he’s a lot more protective of you than you’ve ever realised. I’m not sure how he’ll feel knowing I plan to give you weapons as well as take you off his hands and marry you once this mess is dealt with.”

Skye laughed and threw Jack a delighted look. For a moment everything faded into the background and she simply stared at the man she had come to love more than life itself. He met her gaze warmly, love shining in his electric blue eyes. Skye had to remind herself she couldn’t lean over and kiss him right now.

This really was the wrong moment for such thoughts, but at the same time it had all fallen into place so perfectly she knew she’d never regret a single thing the last few days had brought her. Not the pleasure and not the pain, either.

Jack broke their contact and she watched the suit-clad man halt a dozen or so metres away from them.

“I’m Jennings. You must be Skye Adams,” he said. Skye recognised his voice from their earlier phone conversation. “You look a lot like Victor. The resemblance is strong. In many ways, I gather. I don’t know many women who would be exchanging top secret government data for their father and still be able to laugh with such delight at something their companion had just said. I could use someone like you. I don’t suppose you’re in the market for a job? You’ll learn I pay quite well.”

Skye shook her head.

“I’m already spoken for, but I’m willing to continue with our deal. No,” she added hastily with a raised hand as the bodyguard with the Uzi began to take a step forward. He halted the instant she raised her hand. “Not until I see my father. You can see the hard drive—I’ve been up front about that. I want you to bring my father out here and stand him with you.”

“This isn’t how things are done,” Jennings insisted, his tone dangerous. Skye nodded. Even though her stomach was twisting in fear, she refused to let any of it show on her face.

“You know I’m not with the Agency. Think of me as a freelancer. I don’t mean to be insulting, I promise. But neither am I stupid. Have one of your guards bring my father out here and stand him with you. I’ll give you the hard drive—you can test it right here and we can complete the exchange.”

“You know,” he mused, “I really could do with someone like you in my company. Are you sure you’re not interested? Nerves of steel, just like Victor. You’d be astonished how rare it is.”

Not waiting for her to reply, he turned around and made a hand signal to the two guards still out by his car.

Skye was torn. Either they were all about to die in the next few seconds, or her bluff had worked and he was about to bring her father out. Tension mounted inside her and she almost passed out from the stress of waiting those last few seconds.

The back seat door on the other side was opened by one of the armed guards. Roughly he leaned into the car and dragged a bound man out.

“Daddy!” she cried out, the word heartfelt and instinctive. In that second she could not have pretended to be the cool, collected agent any more than she could have spread her arms, grown wings and flown to the other side of the park.

Her gaze drank in the sight of her father and her voice shook with emotion.

“What the fuck have you done to him?” Her eyes burned with anger and the fierce need to kill this evil man.

He shrugged, an amused grin on his face as he didn’t bother to reply, the answer evident on her father’s battered, blood encrusted face.

Jack’s hand fell on her shoulder and Skye sucked in a breath and tried to compose herself.

“He’s fine,” Jack murmured so softly she had to strain to hear him. His voice soothed her as little else could. Her gaze soaked up the heart-wrenching sight of her father.

“Look at how Victor can walk,” Jack continued, the soft monologue obviously meant to calm and distract her so she could get her boiling emotions under control once again. “He’s limping, yes, but he can walk. All his fingers are intact, though the strapping means a few are broken, but bones mend, they are all attached, as are his other limbs. His shoulder is broken, probably the collarbone, considering the way his bound hands are linked to support it at one elbow. His face is beaten badly, but the dried and fresh blood makes it look far worse. See how the bruising around his eyes is dark black-purple? That means he’s been spared long enough to begin to heal. Chances are once they called us they’ve left him be since then.”