Outlaw Derek (16 page)

Derek looked back at the visitors and changed the subject in a firm voice. “Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, and now that we know
how
you found us—what are you doing here?”

Injured, Raven said, “Helping, of course.”

“I told you—”

“I hate being told what to do,” Josh said conversationally, glancing at Zach. “Don’t you?”

“Always.” The big man’s voice was soft, his serene gray eyes amused.

“All right, all right,” Derek said. “You’re here.”

“Graceful acceptance,” Josh said, again to Zach.

Derek grinned suddenly. “I’d love to go head-to-head with you in a boardroom.”

“I’d love to watch,” Raven murmured. “From a concrete bunker.”

“Now that we’ve gotten
that
out of the way,” Zach said.

Shannon understood what was going on, which surprised her somewhat. There was, she thought, something interesting between Derek and Josh Long. Two powerful and wealthy men, both accustomed to command, both tough. She had the odd feeling that, although neither wished for a confrontation, a test of strength, both wondered how the contest would turn out. Like Raven, Shannon would have been a fascinated observer should it ever come to pass and, like Raven, she’d opt for the safety of a bunker.

“I gather you people have been investigating?” Derek said now, briskly, to the visitors.

“We’ve been doing our poor best,” Josh replied.

Zach cleared his throat and spoke rather quickly. “We have Civatech’s transport schedule to Norfolk, and their ship leaves port day after tomorrow for a regular shipment.”

Derek used his free hand to fumble for a cigarette and light it, his expression thoughtful. “When is the next transport to Norfolk?”

“Tomorrow afternoon. The scheduled route is just over a hundred and twenty-five miles long. They usually use two trucks, vans rather than semis. The stuff will be inspected by customs before they load it on the ship.”

“Does that help?” Raven asked.

Nodding slowly, Derek said, “Definitely. It’s what I needed to know.” He looked at Zach. “I had it in mind to destroy this device, but it’s supposed to be practically indestructible. Tell me—how long would it take you to disarm this thing and wipe the programming?”

Zach considered for a moment. “Well, without
knowing exactly what I’d be dealing with, it’s hard to say. Any idea how it’s armed?”

“From what I’ve been able to find out, lasers. It also has the capability to launch small armor-piercing missiles. God knows what else it’s capable of.”

Shrugging, Zach said, “The lasers will be simple. As to the programming, the more complicated they make it, the easier it is to throw a spanner in the works. Say two or three hours. Less if it’s partially disassembled.”

“It’s a prototype?” Josh asked.

Derek nodded. “No blueprints or diagrams exist. If we gum up the works badly enough, it’ll be useless to them. And useless is the name of the game.”

“Lot easier to break something than fix it,” Zach noted.

Shannon listened intently to the ensuing discussion. Clearly, Derek had accepted the help of Raven and the two men. Just as clearly, these
three people were as accustomed to deceptions and tactics as Derek.

Diagrams were carefully drawn, maps pored over, and a route marked. Shannon was asked to describe the trucks Civatech used, and was able to remember them clearly. She became interested in spite of herself, fascinated by the intricacies of the plan that gradually evolved.

Zach went out to get something for lunch when they realized it was midafternoon, and it wasn’t until they were eating in the kitchen that Raven dryly asked the questions lurking in Shannon’s mind.

“So how are you going to know which truck the device is in?” she asked Derek. “And who stops the other one?”

Derek was silent for a moment. “The other truck will be diverted by some friends of mine,” he said slowly. “I think they’d rather none of you saw them, or knew any more than necessary about them.”

Alexi
, Shannon thought.
And Gina
.

Raven nodded, as unquestioning and incurious as her husband and their friend, accepting matter-of-factly Derek’s implied trust in these “friends” of his. “Okay. What about the decision of which truck
we
stop?”

Derek hesitated again. He was frowning slightly, his gaze distracted for a moment, and then he returned Raven’s steady look with a faint smile. “I’ll know.”

She nodded, accepting that as well without question.

Shannon put it together in her mind. Alexi and his partner would divert the other truck, delaying it long enough so that both would arrive in Norfolk at about the same time. While that diversion was taking place, the truck they were interested in would be stopped so that Zach could “defang” Cyrano. With that done, Zach would assume the place of the driver and deliver the shipment to Norfolk, where, according to what Josh had discovered, Adam Moreton waited on Civatech’s ship.

Zach had more or less commandeered the job of delivering the truck to Norfolk, saying merely that Derek would want to remain in Richmond. And, after a steady look at the other man and a thoughtful silence, Derek had agreed.

So he can take care of me
, Shannon thought. And she didn’t know how she felt about that. She couldn’t seem to feel at all, except for surface emotions.

“It’s a tight timetable,” Zach noted.

Derek nodded. “Tighter than you know. There’s another player in the game, Moreton’s silent partner. Or partners. This shell game may bring him out into the open, but I’m gambling he won’t show up in time.”

Raven tilted her head questioningly. “He’s the danger to Shannon, then?”

“I think so. Until Cyrano is safely aboard Yaltan’s ship. After that, the whole thing’ll probably break wide open. Civatech’s ship will sail with the morning tide on Friday, and Moreton
will want best speed to meet Yaltan’s tanker as soon as possible.”

“What will happen to Moreton?” Shannon asked suddenly.

Derek met her gaze steadily. “Yaltan won’t be happy. He’ll be getting a harmless, useless device instead of the killing machine he expects.”

She took a deep breath. Yaltan, the Middle Eastern fanatic Alexi had described who wanted to conquer the world. “He’ll kill Moreton?”

“Probably,” Raven answered. Her voice was flat. “But he was willing to sell his soul and upset the balance of power, Shannon. He was willing to kill millions.”

Shannon pushed her salad away. Choices. Derek’s plan would send Adam Moreton to a probable death. She thought of the brisk, somewhat impatient, middle-aged Moreton; he didn’t
look
like an evil man.

“They tried to kill you,” Derek reminded her.

She looked at him, at that hard, handsome face with its ancient dark eyes. She thought she
understood, now, why his eyes were old and tolerant. How many impossible choices had he made?

“You said something about an appointment this afternoon.” Raven’s voice was easy and casual.

Derek looked away from Shannon with obvious reluctance. “Yes. I have to meet that friend of mine. And there’s something else I need to do before our game plan will work.”

Raven glanced at her husband, then said, “Why don’t Josh and I stay with Shannon while you’re gone?”

“And I,” Zach said placidly, “will wait in the car while you meet your friend.”

Derek looked at each of the visitors in turn, an expression of faint amusement on his face. “You had this all planned, huh?”

His ex-partner smiled at him. “Of course not.”

“All right, dammit,” Derek said, and sighed. He rose from the kitchen table and gently pulled
Shannon to her feet. “We’ll leave in a couple of minutes, Zach.”

“Right.” The big security expert headed for the garage, while Raven and Josh began clearing the dishes.

Puzzled, Shannon followed Derek into the living room. “What do you have to do?” she whispered.

He shook his head a bit as he stood looking down at her. “I’ll tell you later. Do you mind staying here with Raven and Josh, honey?”

“No.” She felt vaguely uneasy. “No, of course not.”

Derek’s hands lifted to hold her shoulders gently, and he bent his head suddenly to kiss her. It wasn’t a light kiss, and there was nothing at all casual about it. It was hungry, urgent, and more: there was something else, something Shannon sensed but couldn’t define.

But her body didn’t care. She melted against him, forgetting all her reservations, forgetting that she had rationally decided this explosion
between them had to be defused. Nothing mattered except the radiant warmth of him, the desire in his kiss, the urgency of his body.

And when the devastating kiss finally ended, she could only stare up at him dazedly. “Derek—”

He touched her cheek lightly with his fingertips, his dark eyes hot and restless. Then, abruptly and in a grating voice, he said, “I love you, Shannon.” And he was gone.

She sat down in the chair behind her, hardly aware of moving. Dimly, she heard the grinding sound of the garage door opening, heard the car start. The distant noises faded, and she sat feeling more shaken than ever before in her life.

“I love you, Shannon.”

She looked up as Raven and Josh returned to the living room. “What did he have to do?” she asked softly.

Raven looked at her for a moment, as if weighing something. “There are still a couple of wild cards in the game, Shannon. Those two assassins. They have to be put out of commission.”

“How?” The question was unnaturally calm.

Josh lit a cigarette and expelled smoke in a brief, hard burst. “Any way possible,” he said bluntly.

The remainder of the afternoon and evening dragged on. Shannon was grateful to her companions, who were casual but friendly, and made it possible for her to be the same. And she envied them their love; it was obvious in every glance, something deep and utterly certain.

It must be a wonderful feeling, she thought, that certainty. To be certain of each other. To be certain of love.

Shannon’s own unleashed emotions were turbulent. She felt as if some giant whirlpool had caught her, snatched her from a calm sea, and carried her inexorably in dizzying circles toward—something. And she was afraid.

Love? He loved her? No. No, that wasn’t possible. Men like Derek didn’t love women like
her. She believed in his desire only because it was impossible to deny. But, love?

The hours passed, and she talked to her companions with surface calm. When it grew late, she yielded to Raven’s gentle suggestion and took a shower before sliding into bed. In her room. Derek had rather pointedly put their bags in two different rooms this morning after she had …

After you told him it had all happened too fast
.

Shannon lay in the big, lonely bed and stared at a dark ceiling. But it had happened too fast, she assured herself. And he was a man outside her experience.

A good thing, too, or you’d be dead
.

She tried to ignore the little voice in her head, but it was impossible. There was no one, she acknowledged, she could have gone to who would have been better for her that first night than Derek. He had, without hesitation and
apparently without feeling it a burden, simply begun taking care of her.

And, not content with merely protecting her from a threat against her life, Derek had also insisted, gently but firmly, that she accept herself, that she stop thinking of her flaw. He had asked for her trust, openly, had moved closer and closer to her until she couldn’t back away from him, couldn’t withdraw. He had never attempted to hide himself from her. He had tried to protect her even in the face of the explosive passion between them, had tried to give her the room and the time she needed.

But there hadn’t been time. There wasn’t time now. And this caring man with the old eyes, this man who made impossibly tough choices and decisions without apology, this man who had taught her to feel shattering desire … this incredible man had said that he loved her.

And now he was out there, somewhere, putting two hired killers out of commission—any way he could.

Shannon felt cold. She rubbed her silk-clad arms beneath the covers absently, all her senses straining, hearing only the low voices of Raven and Josh Long in the living room. The coldness was numbing. Derek’s absence brought home to her just how much she’d grown to depend on him … in every way.

But he won’t always be here
.

Was that it? Was she so certain of being alone again soon that she was trying to protect a part of herself from that pain? Was that why her feelings seemed muffled, oddly distant?

Shannon stiffened suddenly, hearing a door open, hearing two more voices added to the murmurs in the living room. She lay gazing up at the ceiling, her heart pounding, aware of a profound relief that wasn’t distant at all.

After a few minutes, the voices died with the closing of a door, and there was silence. She turned her head to stare at the open doorway of the bedroom, and within a moment, Derek’s large, powerful silhouette appeared.

“Shannon?”

“I’m glad you’re back,” she said steadily.

It seemed for an instant as though Derek would have come into her room; he took a step inside the doorway, then hesitated and moved back out into the hall. “Good night, honey,” he said.

She couldn’t see his face. “Good night.”

Shannon knew he wouldn’t force the issue. He wouldn’t slide into her bed in the middle of the night. He wouldn’t demand a vow of love from her in return for his own.

She closed her eyes, trying to relax. But she couldn’t. Her body was tense, restless. She was cold. It would be over soon, really over. She’d have to start all over again with her life. That, curiously enough, didn’t frighten her. The thought of a new job, a new apartment, was just a matter-of-fact realization in her mind.

Shannon was sitting up before she realized, sliding to the edge of the bed, throwing the
covers back. She paused there for a moment, trying to think.

He wouldn’t come to her. He said he loved her but he wouldn’t pressure her. He wouldn’t make love to her again unless she went to him, unless she chose consciously to forget her own determination to have more time.