Harlequin Intrigue June 2015 - Box Set 1 of 2: To Honor and To Protect\Cornered\Untraceable (51 page)

Chapter Twenty-One

Juliet awoke to find someone's hand over her mouth. Terror flooded her. Her eyes instantly flew open, but she couldn't make out much in the dark room. One thing she knew for sure, Evan wasn't in the bed next to her.

She immediately began fighting, grasping her assailant's wrist and attempting to pull him closer so she could hit him. But she couldn't get a good angle to strike, so began to claw at his face. Juliet heard a foul curse as her fingernails found skin.

It was so similar to her attack by the Avilo brothers. Juliet still couldn't see who was in the room. Was it Heath Morel?

No matter who it was, she wasn't going to allow it to happen again.

Juliet struggled against the hand that held her head pinned to the mattress. She attempted to pull her legs around to gain a better position.

And where was Evan? He'd been in bed with her when they'd gone to sleep a few hours ago. He wouldn't have left without telling her.

Juliet scratched at the face again. The hand was removed for just a moment, but before she could make any sound, a fist crashed into her cheek. Blood filled her mouth.

Juliet fought to hold on to consciousness while the world spun and weaved. From across the room she heard a muffled ruckus, but couldn't see what was going on. Was it Evan?

A crash and then silence. Had Evan been hurt? Juliet renewed her efforts against her attacker. She rolled quickly off the side of the bed, landing on her feet. She was able to get off two sharp kicks to the attacker's midriff, but then the boat lurched and she lost her balance. Her opponent took advantage and Juliet received another blow to the jaw.

This time she couldn't hang on to consciousness. She moaned as blackness closed in around her.

When she awoke she was being tied to a chair. They weren't in the cabin any longer; it looked as if they were in the ship's galley. Evan was tied to another chair, unconscious, still in his sweatpants and shirt, his head bleeding from a nasty gash near his temple.

And it wasn't Heath Morel who had done this. It was the Ukrainians. One was tying Juliet, the other keeping watch at the galley door.

“Vince Cady isn't going to stand for this, you know. His men will be here any second to break up this little party.” Juliet tried to make the words as clear as possible, but it was difficult with her swelling jaw.

“I don't think Mr. Cady is going to know about this at all. At least not until it is too late.” The man's accent was thick.

“Our room was bugged. Cady's men are probably on their way right now.”

“You mean bugged with these?” He held out two transmitting devices in his hand. “I'm sure Mr. Cady's security team will figure out there is a problem, but will most likely blame it on the storm.”

Juliet was afraid they were right.

“We want the drone codes,” the man said.

“Look, maybe we can talk about a sale. But Bob and I spent our buyer's money to get the codes. We can't just give them to you. Our reputation would be shot.” Juliet knew she needed to stall. To come up with a plan.

“More than just your reputation will be shot if you do not provide us with the codes. Or maybe not shot.” The man pulled out a knife, but instead of using it on Juliet, he walked over to Evan's unconscious form. “Let's see if we can get your husband to wake up.”

He began poking his knife into Evan's shoulder. Not deep, but enough to cause the wounds to bleed through his shirt. Evan moaned and began to awaken.

“Look, fine, stop, okay?” Juliet struggled against the zip ties that held her to the chair, but there was no give. She saw Evan's eyes open, glazed over in pain. The Ukrainian poked the knife into his shoulder again, twisting it. Evan's lips clamped together and he sucked air through his nose.

“Stop! Okay? Just stop,” Juliet pleaded. She couldn't stand to see Evan in that much pain, but she knew she couldn't give the codes to the Ukrainians. “You need the briefcase Cady gave us.”

Juliet didn't tell him that they'd already downloaded all the drone codes off the computer that was inside the briefcase and wiped the computer clean. She and Evan had put the codes on a hard drive in preparation to handing it off to Omega at 3:00 a.m. It now rested inside Juliet's pillowcase.

What time was it now? Maybe she wouldn't have to rely on Cady's security team to get their act together. Maybe the Omega agents would soon be on board. When Juliet and Evan didn't meet them at the rear of the ship, the agents would come looking for them, right? That's what Juliet's brothers would do. Although she knew Omega wouldn't be sending Sawyer or Cameron. The wounds they'd sustained recently would prevent them from scaling the side of the yacht.

Juliet glanced at the clock on the galley stove. Only a couple minutes after two. Damn it, it was too early for the Omega team. The Ukrainians would have Evan chopped up into pieces by three.

“This briefcase?” the man asked. He had it on one of the kitchen counters.

Damn. They already had it here. This was going to play out quickly, not giving them the time Juliet had hoped for. She looked over at Evan. More blood oozed from his shirt at the shoulder.

Think.

Juliet watched as one of the Ukrainians opened the briefcase and booted the small computer. She knew it wouldn't take him long to figure out there was nothing on it.

Think!

She racked her brain. Yelling wouldn't help. They were in the galley, distant from the rest of the ship. Plus the storm was too loud for anyone to hear much. She was going to have to find a way of getting them out of this on her own. The first thing she needed them to do was untie her from this chair. Until then, she was useless.

The man turned from the computer to glare at her, his lips pulled back, teeth bared. “It does not boot up. There is no information on here.”

“Damn it.” Juliet did her best indignant impression. “Cady must have double-crossed me.”

The Ukrainian stared at her in silence for a moment, then in one fluid motion took the two steps to her and backhanded her across the face.

Juliet's head jerked all the way to the side and blood flew from her mouth, spraying onto the floor. She could feel her eye already beginning to swell shut from the ring the man wore.

“I will waste no more time with you!” In his anger, the accent became thicker.

The man grabbed his knife from the table and walked over to Evan. He took the wicked blade and jammed it into the front of Evan's already injured shoulder, this time much deeper.

Evan couldn't control the groan that escaped him. Juliet watched as all color drained from his face and sweat began dripping down his brow.

The Ukrainian turned back to her. “Again?” he asked. “Your husband is much tougher than I gave him credit for. I think he can take it.”

“Lisa, no...” Evan could hardly get the words out.

The Ukrainian pulled his knife out, causing Evan to give an agonizing gasp, and raised his arm again.

“No!” Juliet screamed.

“Then you will tell me where the codes are.”

“Yes,” Juliet sobbed the word. “They're in our cabin.”

“Tell me where.”

She knew if she told him, she and Evan would both be dead. Not to mention a known enemy of the United States would possess drone codes that could cost the lives of thousands of innocent people.

“I have to show you. It's a hidden safe and has biometric coding. Only Bob or I can open it.” The lies flew out of Juliet's mouth, but at least it would get her out of this damn chair.

“Fine.” The Ukrainian came and cut her loose. He turned to his partner and spoke in their native tongue. The other man nodded, grinning evilly.

“I just told my partner that if we are not back with the codes in fifteen minutes, he is to kill your husband. By gutting him from top to bottom with his knife. Slowly.” Both men laughed. Juliet's stomach turned. She nodded.

The Ukrainian kept her close by his side as they left, knife poking into her ribs. He made sure she could feel the blade.

Juliet had no idea what she was going to do. The chances of her being able to take down this hulking beast in fewer than fifteen minutes, and then defeat his partner, were remote. Both were armed and probably waiting for her to try something like that.

They walked down the empty hallway in silence. Her captor led her to a service elevator at the rear of the ship. None of the guests would be out at this time of night, especially not in the middle of a storm.

The elevator was empty, as expected, but Juliet could see some water pooling on the floor in one of the back corners. A wet person had been in this elevator recently. As inconspicuously as she could manage, she touched the wet wall and then brought her fingertips to her lips.

Salty.

Juliet had grown up in Virginia and vacationed at the Chesapeake Bay her whole life. And her mother, a high school science teacher, had always used every opportunity to teach her children—even during vacations.

The Bay was a unique water source, an estuary. It started with fresh water north of Baltimore, but by the time it got south of Annapolis—where they were now—the water was brackish, becoming more and more salty.

In this storm, anybody could've made a watery mess in the elevator. But only someone who had just come out of the Bay would've made a
salt
water mess.

Omega agents were on this ship.

For the first time since she'd come on board, Juliet had a sense of hope. She needed to be ready, and prayed that Omega had sent a good agent. She wished Sawyer and Cameron weren't injured and that Dylan wasn't retired. Her brothers were the best the agency had to offer. But of course, right now Juliet would take even a rookie straight out of Quantico.

The Ukrainian didn't notice anything suspicious. As the elevator doors opened, he grabbed Juliet's arm again and pressed the knife against her ribs. They walked this way down to Juliet's room. She didn't have a key and just reached for the doorknob.

“Glad you guys had the good sense to leave the door unlocked,” she said, just a hair too loudly. Wherever the Omega agent was, she wanted to make herself as noticeable as possible, without making the Ukrainian aware of that, of course.

Her captor shoved her into the room. “Why do you waste time? Perhaps you want to be a widow and allow my partner to viciously kill your husband? Maybe I'll just sit here and let the minutes count down.”

“No.” Juliet shook her head. “No, please.”

“Then where is this hidden safe you mentioned?”

“I lied. There is no hidden safe.”

The Ukrainian stepped toward her, his nostrils flaring, his skin mottled. “Then I hope you enjoy pain, and that your husband does, as well. You will suffer mightily before you die.”

“No, I have the codes. They're right here, look.” Juliet walked over to her pillow and retrieved the drive from the case. She tossed it to the Ukrainian. He inspected it, then looked back at her.

“Good, now you do not need to suffer. But unfortunately, you still need to die.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

The Ukrainian came barreling toward Juliet, knife extended. She grabbed the pillow off the bed—it wouldn't help much, but at least it was something—and shifted her weight sideways as the large, beefy man came at her. She used the pillow to help push the Ukrainian to the side, using his own momentum against him. He stumbled, but didn't fall all the way to the floor.

Juliet knew this would be her only chance for escape. She ran toward the door, but the Ukrainian was too quick. He grabbed her ankle and yanked, pulling her down. She tried to kick him off, but he was stronger. He reached over to grab his knife and Juliet knew this was the end.

She opened her mouth to scream, not knowing if it would be heard in this storm, but she had to try. The sound hadn't even left her mouth when the door slammed open and a figure dressed from head to toe in black neoprene flew through the air, tackling the Ukrainian. Juliet backed away, out of reach of the knife.

She couldn't see his face, but knew the Omega agent was here.

The Ukrainian was determined to kill this new arrival. The agent, on the other hand, at first used nonlethal blows, but when it became obvious they weren't going to work, the man's stance altered.

Juliet could see the change, recognize the training. The Ukrainian didn't know it yet, but he was a dead man. And this Omega agent? He definitely wasn't a rookie.

It was over in a matter of moments. The Ukrainian came at his attacker, knife aimed at his heart. The agent twisted and stepped out of the way, flipping his foot out and tripping him. Then he straightened quickly and knocked the other man forward with his elbow. The Ukrainian couldn't recover his balance.

He fell to the floor, landing with his own knife in his chest, dead just seconds later.

The agent whipped his hood off and ran to Juliet. Shock pooled through her.

“Dylan?”

What was her oldest brother doing here? He wasn't even an active agent anymore, for heaven's sake. Not that you could tell that from the fight that had just occurred.

Dylan put his face next to Juliet's and spoke almost silently. “Is this room under surveillance?”

She shook her head. “Not in here. It's been dismantled.”

He pulled her into a hug. “Jules, are you all right? Where's Evan? You've got a load of bruises on your face. Are you hurt?”

“What are you doing here, Dylan?”

He gently framed her face with his hands. “Juliet, are you hurt?” he repeated.

“No, I'm fine. I'm fine. Just some bruises. But I have to get back to Evan. That guy's partner—” she pointed to the body lying on the ground “—has instructions to kill Evan if we're not back in about five minutes.”

“I'll help you with the other guy.”

“Dylan, why are
you
here?”

“When Cam and Sawyer told me about the yacht and all the changes yesterday, I flew in to headquarters to see if there was anything I could do. When we got your message, both Sawyer and Cam wanted to be the ones who came here, but neither were up to the physical aspect of getting on board.”

“Didn't Omega have anyone else to send?”

“Of course they did, but we weren't sure what condition you would be in. Everyone thought it would be best if a family member met you, in case there was...trauma.”

Juliet quickly hugged him. “I'm fine, Dylan. Trauma-free. Although I was probably about to get myself killed by that guy. Thank you, by the way. You may not be an Omega agent anymore, but nobody would've known it from what I just saw.”

He bent and kissed her on the forehead. “You look great, little sis, um, except for the massive bruising and swelling.”

Juliet rolled the eye that wasn't swollen shut. “Thanks.”

“No, I mean you seem together. Prepared. In charge. You look better than I've seen you look in eighteen months.”

“I'm doing better, Dylan. I really am. Evan was right, I just needed something to force me to get back in the game.”

“Karcz being right, now there's a first.” Dylan winked at her. “Let's go get him.”

She opened the door, but when she heard voices down the hall, immediately closed it again. “People are out there, Dylan.”

She handed him the hard drive with the codes. “Here, you take this, find your other Omega guy and move out. I'll get Cady and his security people to help me with the other Ukrainian and Evan.”

“Are you sure? I hate to send you to Cady for anything.”

“No, it will be fine. Vince will be furious that the Ukrainians tried this right under his nose. I'll tell him I killed this guy. It will work.”

“Okay. Be safe, sis. See you soon.” Dylan kissed her forehead, then pulled his neoprene mask back over his face. Juliet opened the door and headed toward the voices she heard, while her brother made his way in the other direction. Halfway down the hall, she turned to check Dylan's progress, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Omega had lost a brilliant agent the day they had lost Dylan Branson. But Juliet knew he had his reasons for quitting.

Knowing he was clear, she started screaming her head off.

“Help! I need help!” Forcing hysteria wasn't difficult.

Juliet was sure she looked a sight—bruised, bleeding, screaming, in her T-shirt and torn yoga pants. It didn't take long for everyone to find her. Security, guests, even Vince and Christopher Cady were soon in the hallway, despite the late hour.

Juliet grabbed the biggest guy in the corridor, pretty sure he had to be part of the security team, and started dragging him toward the galley.

The fifteen minutes was almost up and she was afraid the other Ukrainian might already be torturing Evan with his knife, even if he hadn't killed him.

“The Ukrainians are trying to kill us. One has my husband in the galley.” Juliet tried to make the words as clear as possible, but her mouth felt like mush from the punches she'd taken. The security guy had drawn his weapon, so evidently he understood the gist of what she was saying. Another security person was attempting crowd control, trying to get everyone to return to their assigned cabins.

Juliet left them behind, running down the hall toward the elevator. The ride down the three levels seemed to go on forever. She didn't waste time talking to the guard. The moment the door slipped open just enough for her to fit, she was through. The guard was right on her heels.

Juliet barreled through the galley door, instantly taking stock of the situation. Evan was alive, but the Ukrainian stood in front of him, knife raised. Juliet didn't hesitate, didn't take even a moment to consider her own safety, just threw herself at the thug before he could figure out what was going on and harm Evan.

She took him to the ground, where they landed side by side, legs entangled. Juliet steeled herself against the pain of the collision, but found it difficult to see straight. The big man was quick to shake off the effects of the fall, and before she knew it, his knife was raised and coming toward her.

Evan yelled her name and she prepared to block the knife.

Until a shot was fired and the Ukrainian fell backward, a bullet hole in his forehead.

Juliet pulled her legs out from under the dead man's and looked over at the galley door. She expected to see the guard with a raised weapon, but instead it was Christopher Cady who had shot the Ukrainian. The gun was still in his hand, his arm still raised.

Juliet didn't care who had killed the other man. She was just glad to be alive and that Evan was, too.

She got up and stumbled over to him.

“Damn it, woman, are you all right? What the hell were you doing, tackling him like that?” Evan looked like hell. Half his shirt was bright red with blood from his shoulder.

“Are you okay?” She wasn't sure if she should apply pressure to the wounds, or if that would just cause him more pain without really helping him. “Somebody cut him loose.”

One of the guards immediately sliced the plastic ties that bound him to the chair. Evan wrapped his arms around Juliet, pulling her into his lap. “Where's the other psycho?” he whispered in her ear.

“Dead. In our room. Long story.”

“And the codes?”

“Safe in the place they need to be. In good hands. Even longer story.”

Evan raised his eyebrow at that, but said nothing. Juliet was sure that, like her, he was just glad something had gone right in this whole brouhaha.

Vince Cady made his way over, followed by his son. The older man looked aghast. “Lisa, Bob, I cannot believe this has happened while you were under my protection. My men are already investigating. It looks like the Ukrainians went to great lengths to circumvent our security measures.”

Juliet noticed Cady didn't mention having the rooms bugged, only “security measures.”

“Yeah, well, the other member of that merry little gang is dead in our cabin. Thanks to the storm, he tripped and fell on his own knife.”

“Yes, he has already been found. And I am quite proud of Christopher, that he did not hesitate to do what needed to be done.”

Juliet looked over at the dead Ukrainian. She was glad Christopher hadn't hesitated, either, or it might've been her lying there. “Thank you,” she offered. Christopher still gave her the creeps, but in this case she owed him her thanks. She smiled and held out her hand.

He took it, but instead of shaking it, brought it to his lips. Juliet barely contained her shudder. She withdrew her hand as politely as possible.

Evan's arms tightened around her.

“Bob needs medical attention. Those psychos stabbed him in the shoulder,” Juliet stated.

Vince nodded. “We have a medical professional on staff. I will have someone escort you both. You have injuries, too, Lisa.” The older man grimaced as he glanced at her face. She must look pretty bad.

Vince and Christopher both left to confer with the security team, anger clear in both men's stance and tone. Vince Cady might be a criminal, but his sense of honor had been contravened, his own sanctuary violated.

Heads would roll that something like this could happen without the security team's awareness.

Juliet looked over to the doorway and found Heath Morel standing there, staring at her, malice evident in his expression. He turned and left before she could respond. Not that she'd know what to say or do.

“Are you okay?” Evan whispered, now that they were relatively alone. He obviously hadn't seen Morel, and Juliet didn't mention him. “How did you take down that Ukrainian? What the hell happened?”

“Dylan happened,” Juliet murmured back.

“
Dylan
? Here on the ship? Now?”

“Well, hopefully not anymore. I gave him the drive. Omega sent him, since they didn't know what shape I'd be in. Didn't want to send a stranger.”

“Then that poor Ukrainian bastard didn't have a chance.”

Juliet sighed and shook her head. “My thoughts exactly.”

“Are you sure you're okay, baby?” Evan stroked her bruised face, grimacing.

“Surprisingly, yes.” Juliet shrugged. “Battered face notwithstanding. You were right. I can handle more than I give myself credit for.”

“See? You should listen to me more often.”

Juliet brushed Evan's hair away from his forehead with gentle fingers. “You're worried about me? You're the one who got stabbed.”

He kissed her gently on her bruised, swollen lips. “It's only a flesh wound. But if my arm falls off be sure to pick it up for me, okay?”

Juliet could see sweat still beading on Evan's forehead. She knew he must be in pain. But that he would worry about her and make jokes to help her feel more comfortable even now...

God, how she loved him.

Her eyes flew back to his and she drew in a startled breath. Where had the thought of love come from? After her rape, she had figured that love wouldn't be in the cards for her, that she would never again be comfortable enough with a man to be close.

But here she was, sitting on the lap of the man she trusted most in the world, as comfortable as she could ever dream of being. They were both wounded, exhausted and surrounded by criminals, but Juliet felt safe.

So maybe love wasn't such a crazy idea, after all.

“What? What is that look? You look like you've just had a breakthrough in quantum physics or something.” Evan smiled, shaking his head.

“Yeah, something like that.” This wasn't the place for declarations of love. But she did lean in and kiss him tenderly. “You're a pretty good husband, Mr. Sinclair.”

Evan's smile got even brighter. “Well, you're a pretty good wife, Mrs. Sinclair.”

They probably would've stayed there awhile, just holding on to each other, if the staff member hadn't come to lead them to the medical attention they needed.