In the Dead of the Night (31 page)

“Yes.”

“Tomorrow you’ll climb Mount Monadanock as planned. After that, you’ll return to the cottage. There’s been some activity in Pensacola, Florida that’s raised some eyebrows. A woman’s body washed up on the beach. The body bag she was enclosed in had ripped open, and the rocks we’re sure had kept her planted to the ocean floor, slipped out. In any event, it looks suspiciously like Wilson’s work.”

“Yes.”

“There’s also been some activity around your place. Someone’s watching your house to see if you return. We want you there, but we want to wait for the right moment.”

“But
—”

“We’ll figure a way of getting Allan away from you.
Don’t worry.”

But she did worry, and she didn’t want Garcia to take Allan away from her, ever.
Would Allan ever forgive her for the job she had to do? Would he understand it was the job she signed up for, recruited fresh out of college? They’d wanted her to go into the Army first as part of her undercover training. But she’d only been in a year when her aunt had become sick with cancer. Jenny had gotten a hardship discharge to take care of her. Now it was all coming back to her.

She sighed deeply.
“Yes.” Here she’d figured she could ply herself with strawberry margaritas, attempting to drown her concern over Allan’s tough missions when he was away.

“All right?
You’ll thank me for this someday. Believe me.”

“Yeah, right.”
She looked up to see Allan studying her. She hadn’t meant to say what she did to Garcia. But he’d been like a father figure to her for the last six years. She closed her eyes. Her parents had died when she was in kindergarten. Her aunt had raised her. She wasn’t at her parent’s home when her cousin, Roy, had attempted to rape her. She’d been at her aunt’s.

Roxie had fed her a lie, too, not to help her recall her memories, but to make sure it fit in with the story Allan and his men had been given.
The only thing Roxie had done to help her with her memories was show her the photo of them in New Hampshire.

“Jenny?” Garcia said.

“Yes?”

“Treat Allan well.
He’s one of the best agents I have.” The phone clicked dead in her ear.

“Bye.”
She handed the phone to Beasley, then pulled Allan along behind her.

He caught up with her with a giant stride.
“What did he say?”

“To be nice to you.”

“What else?”

“He wants us to enjoy mountain climbing tomorrow.
He said something about my returning home sometime soon, he hoped.”

“Absolutely not.”

“After they catch Wilson. You know.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek. She choked back the tears, fearing Allan wouldn’t want her if she continued to be an agent, due to the comments he’d made earlier about such a thing. She would do the job without Allan’s knowledge, but she didn’t have to like it.

***

Allan clenched his jaw. He’d had really bad vibes about this whole operation from the beginning. Did Garcia have some information that the case would be cracked soon? How could his boss tell Jenny she would be returned to her home like that?

What Allan suspected was that the boss wanted her to be the bait.
That’s what soured his stomach. They couldn’t catch Wilson any other way and the boss had talked Jenny into going along with the deal. And she’d do it, too. Because she’d no doubt want to end the worry about him coming after her.

Wilson was too smart to walk into the trap.
Garcia knew that. What in the hell did he have in mind?

Jenny and Allan continued to walk along the lake with their bodyguard escorts in silence.
Jenny rubbed his hand that held hers, and he realized then he was squeezing hers with a death grip. He loosened his hold, took a deep breath, and kissed her hand. “The boss didn’t ask you to return home to be the bait for Wilson, did he?”

Her eye
s widened, she turned away, then shook her head.

He couldn’t read her body language.
Was it a yes? Or did she worry that Garcia had that in mind for her, but she hadn’t considered the possibility?

She shivered.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. “Are you cold, honey?” Or was she scared? He wanted to chase all the demons away, keep her safe from the harshness of the world.

She rubbed her arms.
“Yes, it’s getting a bit nippy out. The air seems fresher when it’s colder than when it’s suffocating and hot like in Texas this time of night, mid to late summer.”

He nuzzled her neck with his cheek.

She chuckled. “We’ve got company,” she whispered.

“Yeah.”
He glanced at the lighted face of his watch. “I’d say by the time we get back to the cottage, you could try out that sponge and body wash the clerk gave you.”

“Ah.”
She snuggled against his chest, their pace nearly slowing to toddler steps as they cuddled on their moonlight stroll. “Because if the scent wasn’t agreeable, or the sponge didn’t do a good job, I should ask for a refund?”

He laughed, then kissed her nose.
“Your nose is ice cold.”

“More of me than that is.”

“I’ll have to warm you up.”

She slipped her finger through his belt loop and tugged.
“The shower’s not very big, but I was thinking if we shared it, maybe we’d stay warmer.”

“I’d say that was a good bet.”

She laughed. “I hope the others aren’t hearing this conversation,” she said under her breath.

“Don’t worry.
If they haven’t, they’ll get a drift of it when they hear us in the shower.”

“You’re so bad.”

“You said you like me that way.”

“You bet.”

He had every intention of wheedling the information out of her concerning what the boss had said to her, later after they’d shared some quality time. The only other thing he’d caught that definitely had gotten a reaction was when her voice sounded irritated as she said “yeah right”. So what had Garcia said to force that kind of a response from her? Allan had expected her to roll her eyes at about the same time, but she seemed to be concentrating hard on the conversation. And Garcia was careful to only give her the opportunity to answer “yes” or “no” questions.

Allan would have loved to have been a bug on the phone listening to everything that was said.
But instead he had to use his Agency training to coax it out of her. And he would, too. He was good at his job. He smiled as he led her down the path off the main road toward the house.

A new b
lack vehicle parked in the dark caught his attention. He pulled Jenny to a stop, and he and the other men brought their guns out while Lantham hurried to investigate.

Seconds later, Lantham motioned for them to continue toward the house.

“Who’s here?” Allan asked as he walked up the steps to the cottage.

“One of our fallen comrades.”

“Cameron?” Jenny asked, her voice full of enthusiasm.

Lantham laughed.
“He’ll be glad to know you’re happy he’s here.”

“Don’t tell him,” Allan said.
“It’ll go to his head.”

Lantham opened the door for them.

A golden fire crackled in the fireplace, heating the entire living area. She took a deep breath as they stepped into the house. “Love a fire on a cold, crisp night.”

Dale and Samuel had already retired to bed.
Cameron waved to them from the couch. His face appeared slightly pale, and he seemed tired. His arm was wrapped and truss in a sling.

“Are you going to be all right, Cameron?” Allan asked.

“Yeah. I’ve got house duty. I understand you’re climbing the mountain tomorrow. I’ll watch the house while the other guys sleep.”

“All right.
Well, Jenny and I are going to get some rest.”

Jenny crossed the floor
and kissed Cameron on the cheek. “Glad to see you’re going to be okay.”

He chuckled.
“Yeah. I knew there was a reason I signed up for another tour with this team.” He faced Allan. “Heard you had rather a rough night of it.”

Allan shook his head
and pulled Jenny toward the bedroom. “Everybody’s a wise ass.”

When he closed the door behind him, the guys all laughed.

Allan pulled Jenny against his chest and kissed her lips. “You know when this is all over, and we’re truly alone for the first time…”

“Think we’ll miss them?”

He laughed. “Absolutely not.”

***

Thurman Wilson bit his fist as he stood on the redwood porch of his ranch in the dry desolate reaches of the Texas Panhandle. Nothing but rattlesnakes, roadrunners, coyotes, and giant rolling tumbleweeds, tossing over the uneven terrain at a fast clip in the wind.

“Yes!” he shouted into the phone.
The evening had gone extremely well. He’d successfully transferred a million dollars in drug money to a terrorist cell in Columbia, not the same as if he’d had Jenny’s money, but still it appeased his boss for the moment. And Caruso had made his day with finding a fine specimen of a man who could be Thurman’s double.

And
he was being delivered within the hour. Lure of big money, easily made, would make most anyone jump at the chance. Yet hadn’t the man ever learned if a situation appeared to be too good to be true, it probably was?

Thurman hung up the phone, headed inside to his bar, and poured a shot of whiskey.
With a flick of his wrist, he slugged it down. Things were coming together finally. All he needed was Jenny rolling around underneath him in his bed.

He pulled a gun from a drawer and pointed it at a lamp, the shade covered in cowhide.
Aiming, he pretended to fire off a round. He took a deep breath and shoved the gun into the drawer, then poured another drink. In a little bit, he’d practice on towering cactus. Then he’d plant a bullet in his double’s shoulder, make him earn his pay. Of course, the man would never live long enough to get it, but such was the way of the world.

Thurman freed a knife from its sheath on the kitchen counter.
He stabbed at the air. He’d have to do a quick thrust thus and, so then, voila! The man would be his double for real. One bullet in the shoulder and one neat stab wound in the side.

He threw the knife on the counter.
To think one of his own henchmen had given him the wound. He cursed out loud. The man had never lived long enough to regret it.

Thurman touched the photo of Jenny wearing a bikini, standing with her friend, Roxie, when they’d been lakeside somewhere.
Having Jenny at his fingertips again…

He snarled.
Killing his double couldn’t occur soon enough for him. Then the A.T.A. would return Jenny home to her place outside of Waco, and he’d grab her for good.

Allan led Jenny into the cottage’s small bathroom, complete with aqua-colored toilet, free-standing matching colored sink, and a simple shower stall. He switched on the shower, then watched Jenny step out of her clothes.

She nudged his should
er with hers. “No wonder you act as though you’ve barely seen me undress before.”

C
row’s feet appeared beneath his darkening brown eyes. “Yeah. Shows, huh?”

“Sure does.
I swear your tongue’s dragging the floor.”

“It’s all your fault.”
Allan cupped her naked breasts in his hands.

She reached for his belt, and he quickly yanked his shirt off.
After she’d unbuckled his belt, she ran her finger down his zipper, enjoying tantalizing him further.

He groaned.
“We’ll never make it into the shower.”

She loved how she could get him worked up instantly.
He certainly fired up her emotions with a whisper of a kiss. “Maybe we should skip the shower. I already took one earlier, and we haven’t really worked up a sweat or anything.”

“Not on your life.”

She unzipped his zipper, slowly. Her gaze turned up from the fastener to see his expression. His eyes twinkled with intrigue.

But then he yanked his shorts down in a rush, followed by his boxers.
“You know, Mrs. Thompson, you’re a terrible tease.”

“Who’s the tease?”
She ran her hand down his rigid erection, her brows and lips raised.

He grabbed her up
and carried her into the shower stall. “I’ve caught my mermaid, and I’m not even into fishing.” He set her down on the tile floor.

“Ah, but you definitely have the right lure.”

He chuckled, seductively, then slipped his tongue into her mouth as the water splashed over their heads, his hands working quickly on opening the bottle of tangerine-scented body wash. “Hmm, you sure know how to improve a shower.”

He poured the body wash into his hands, then handed the bottle to her.
Before she squirted soap on her hands, he massaged her breasts with silky, warm, indulgent fingers.