The Hunter (13 page)

There was a pause. “Hawk? I heard a shot. Are you okay?”

“Just target-shooting. What is it you need, Ambrosia?”

“You have to make sure Dilaver won’t take those men alive, especially a man named Dija.” There was a pause and Hawk could hear women’s voices arguing back and forth. Then Amber returned, sounding a lot more sober. “They know Lily and we prefer Dija doesn’t mention anything about Lily to Dilaver.”

Lily. Hawk remembered the dark-haired woman with the weapons at Amber’s place the other night. “Connection?” he asked. It was about time to make his move toward the vehicles.

“These men are mercenaries and Lily retains their services to get certain things.”

He should have known. This place was full of shady dealings. “Let me guess. Highway robberies. Dilaver’s shipments.” The persons behind Dilaver’s problem were two women. Dilaver wouldn’t like that. “This all has to do with the kidnapped girls, doesn’t it? I know Dilaver’s after the people robbing him.”

“Yes. A potential problem if Dija gets caught. He doesn’t intend to be, but he claims he’s surrounded and might have to give up. Dija is five-eight, scar on his left cheek, speaks English almost without an accent, and is missing a little finger.”

“So what do you want me to do? Go looking for some man with a missing finger in the dark?”

“If he gets caught, Hawk…” There was more muffled discussion at the other end. Amber cleared her throat, then continued, “Take him out before he talks. He doesn’t care which side he’s on, as long as he’s paid. He warned Lily because she had saved his life once, but now they’re even. And you don’t want Lily in danger, because then who’s going to guide you around?”

Her attempt at flippancy didn’t ring true. She must really need him quite desperately to make this call. He supposed, if he had to take one side, he would choose the ladies’.

Whether Amber had called or not, Hawk was going to kill tonight. But he supposed now he had a good reason other than gratuitous violence. “Are you sure?” he asked quietly.

“I wouldn’t call you if this wasn’t an emergency. I don’t order hits,” she replied just as quietly. “I have no choice.”

Hawk wasn’t one to let an opportunity go by without seizing on it. She was all serious right now, her thoughts on her decision. And like the other night when he had seen her staring down into the yard, he had this urge to make her sorrow disappear.

Besides, he enjoyed keeping her off-kilter ever since she’d taken him off-guard at their first meeting. “If I do this, you owe me. I want a date, with all the trimmings.” He got on his feet, undoing his back pouch where the grenades were tucked.

“Trimmings?” She sounded confused.

“Yeah…you know, makeup, stockings, garter belt.”

Another small pause. “Those are trimmings? You make me sound like I’m a meal.”

“That reminds me,” Hawk said as he looked through his small binoculars. “Edible underwear, preferably strawberry.”

“Edible…you’re kidding, right?”

“Nope. I do this for you and you owe me the trimmings.”

“I’m not going to discuss edible underwear over the phone.”

Hawk chuckled softly. “I’ll call back later, Ambrosia. Tell Lily she owes me, too.”

“You haven’t done anything yet,” she reminded him. “And it’s me who’s asking the favor, so Lily owes you nothing.”

“Well, then, you’re Lily’s
veza,
and I’m yours,” Hawk said, pulling out his bowie knife instead. The grenades would have to wait, since he now had to get up close and personal. “That’s double-duty
veza,
so I’ll have to think of more trimmings. How about the rest of the order I wrote on your thigh?”

“You—”

Hawk cut off the cell phone. He was learning how to get
veza
for future advantage.

Lily was surprised. She didn’t think Amber
had the balls to ask Hawk to do it. Seeing the look on her friend’s face, she knew she was thinking about it now. She didn’t want Amber to dwell on it. She knew from experience that one couldn’t second-guess decisions like this or it would eat a hole in one’s head. Being the daughter of missionaries probably didn’t help. She needed a quick distraction.

“Edible underwear?” Lily drawled, arching her eyebrows. She watched the heat rise in Amber’s cheeks. “Isn’t that on our Wretched Wenches List?”

They had gotten drunk one night and made that list. A wretched wench was a desperate woman trying to get laid. It was done in fun to relieve the tension in the lives they both led.

“You didn’t hear that,” Amber said defensively.

Lily smiled. All she had to do was bring up Hawk. She had never seen Amber quite so flustered before.

“As long as he doesn’t want me to wear them, too. I draw the line at edible underwear.” Lily unbuttoned her jacket. “Does that mean he agrees to do it? When will we know whether he succeeds?”

“Yes. He’ll call back later.” Amber became subdued again.

“Do you think he’ll get to Dija?” She had an idea that Hawk McMillan was a very capable agent. Amber hadn’t complained once about any of his skills. Another interesting observation.

“It’s our only chance, Lily. You wouldn’t have been able to drive out there and not be seen. I heard the fighting in the background.”

Lily sighed. “I know, but I’d have done it anyhow, if you hadn’t come up with this idea. Of course, now you’ll have to delve into the Wretched Wenches List to pay up.” She grinned. “He’s something else. Where are you going to find edible underwear?”

“Oh, shut up,” Amber said rudely. “There isn’t going to be any, so you can wipe that grin off your face. He was just joking.”

The woman was obviously in denial. “I wouldn’t be too sure about it. After all, you two have the most unusual courtship going.”

Amber looked up, startled. “What the hell are you talking about now?”

Lily cracked her knuckles. “Let’s see. Playing with each other’s body parts. Tapping each other’s phones with shadow programs. Running around in the dark alleys of Velesta. And all of this without a first date. Definitely an unusual courtship.”

“We don’t even know each other!” Amber shook her head, her fingertips touching her lips as she looked away.

“Look at her, deep in thought.” Lily interrupted her reverie, studying her with knowing eyes. It appeared someone else had been kissing last night. “Poor Amber. She’s joined the Wretched Wenches.”

Amber wrinkled her nose. “I’m going to finish up here,” she said. “When we get back home, we have to make a list of girls to prep for the interview. Then you have to call Brad and make your own schedule.”

Lily felt her grin fading. Brad. Damn, damn, damn. How could she face him after last night? She was a foolish, foolish woman, to get drunk and let her heart rule over her head.

She had given in and done what she had wanted to do. Had her hands into that thick blond hair and mussed it up. Ran her tongue against his and tasted him again. And again. She could feel her foolish heart start beating faster at the memory of the way he had kissed her back. He had turned her into the curve of the sofa arm and had plundered her mouth with such silky skill, he stole all thought along with control. All she remembered was how soft his hair was as she’d pulled him closer, how wonderful he’d smelled, and how absolutely, obviously hard he had been.

Lily turned around, using the excuse of taking off and folding her jacket to hide her expression. She wondered what Brad was thinking right now, especially about her. She probably deserved to be called a bitch. Or, worse, a tease.

She closed her eyes briefly. She just couldn’t overcome her fear. She hated feeling out of control, especially during sex. Last night—she sighed—last night she had actually felt something more than lust, and she had panicked. Panicked and ran off.

“Well, nothing to say?” Amber asked from behind her.

Lily opened her eyes. She had to make the call first. It always felt better afterward, knowing she was in charge of something so much bigger than one man. Personal stuff didn’t mean a damn thing to her. “I’ll do that later,” she said casually. As soon as she figured out what to say. Maybe he wouldn’t bring up last night.

A tease. She hated that kind of stuff—playing around and then not delivering. That was a big no-no to her, one of the things she and Amber…she bit down on her lip to stop the curse threatening to spill out. Horny, unsatisfied, and a tease—who had joined the Wretched Wenches now?

The ride back to The Last Resort was a quiet one. Amber thought about what she had asked Hawk to do and how, in the middle of it all, she had still managed to flirt with the man. Like Lily had said, she and Hawk had a strange courtship.

What a strange, alien word in her world. She was attracted to Hawk—there was no denying that when she couldn’t seem to stop thinking about him—but courtship? Trust Lily to come up with a word that seemed both ludicrous and yet so right.

She barely knew the man. But she wanted to know more. He seemed different. He hadn’t shown any vanity like some good-looking men did around women. In fact, he projected a calm quiet confidence that had nothing to do with his outside at all; everything he did, he had done with an efficiency of someone who knew he was more than just a face.

Amber had always liked men who used their brains. Her father was a wonderful thinker and reader, and had impressed upon her that it was the mind that made men civilized. Men who think were often the contributors of enlightenment, he had said. And Hawk had told her he meditated. She wondered whether he liked to read.

Yet Hawk was also a man of action. He was in a battle right now, and she was worried. That particular emotion surprised her. He was a man capable of taking care of himself—a trained operative who was a natural tracker. What she saw last night told her a lot. How he reacted to her request told her even more. The man had killed before; it was in his eyes and attitude. That didn’t surprise her; she lived in a very violent world.

She had her first rude awakening about that fact at a very young age, when a neighboring tribe attacked the African village at which she and her parents stayed. While most little girls were at home watching Saturday cartoons, she had seen things done to humans that made her grow up fast. Then she had struck out on her own, first as a rebellious teenager and then as a contract agent, and without the protective shield provided by her parents she had discovered how dark the world could be.

Yet she had never felt the same helplessness as she did the other night. She had chosen her line of work to do
something.
The other night, she hadn’t lifted a finger.

A man of action. But only at the right time. She had met a man like that once. Jed McNeil. Hawk had similar qualities. Jed had helped her out of some tight corners, showing her that sometimes, one had to dirty one’s hands.

Amber looked at her own. Like Jed, Hawk was also good at hiding, appearing and disappearing at will. There was more to him than what he showed. She couldn’t quite put a finger on it yet, but that was what was intriguing. That hidden side of him. That secret ingredient to that whole recipe that every cook went after. She wanted it.

But still, how combat-ready was he? He had thought Dilaver was just showing him the weapons routes. The shot she had heard on the cell phone just now—was that he who was firing or was that a shot aimed at him? Yet he had sounded so cool and detached, even mocking her. She gave a mental shake. The man was combat-ready, all right. Few men could talk about a date with—she gave a wry smile—trimmings in the heat of battle. He was definitely a deliciously dangerous man.

Her smile disappeared. And he needed her to help him track whatever it was he was after. So was he just playing her to get what he wanted? Jed McNeil had probably given him a profile of her. She knew Jed well enough to know that he would have warned Hawk not to fully trust any contract agents. After all, Jed knew about some of her riskier dealings, although she was sure he hadn’t yet discovered that she was behind some of the highway hijacks of certain trailers.

One thing was for sure. She couldn’t risk exposing herself just because an attractive man was playing mind games with her. A covert operative was trained in many ways, and if Hawk was one of Jed’s men, he was definitely in the big leagues. She knew about some of Jed’s past adventures. He would definitely be an expert in what Amber had joked with other contract agents as “sexpionage,” those pillow companions who were deadly and so very real in international spy games. She’d had dealings with them before, too.

Amber sighed quietly. Things always got more complicated when feelings were involved. She glanced sideways at Lily, who also seemed deep in thought.

“I think we need a drink when we get back,” she said, trying to lighten their mood.

“Why’s that?”

“We’ve fallen into the dark side. We’re now Wretched Wenches.”

The corners of Lily’s eyes crinkled with amusement. “Oh, please, we can’t allow that to happen.” She smiled. “I do know how to get hold of edible underwear.”

Amber snorted. “I won’t be ordering from any websites or catalogs,” she declared. “And I still maintain he was just joking. He’s like that.”

“He’s like that, huh?” mocked Lily, imitating Amber’s tone. “Wretched, wretched. You’re going to do it. And I will, of course, want all the details. Not that I haven’t seen him naked before…and on top of you….”

“Lily!” Amber made the turn that led to the back street to her place.

Lily laughed. “I swear, Amber, you’re such a prude sometimes. You can still blush after all this time. It must be your missionary background.”

She was right, of course. Her upbringing had been stricter and more conservative than most kids’. But still, it wasn’t the image that was embarrassing Amber. It was the sensation of Hawk on top of her, the secret knowledge of how he had felt intimately. In her fantasies, she had him doing a lot more than just lying there naked. He was…Damn, she would not think about the evil, immoral, absolutely delicious things she had imagined herself doing with Hawk McMillan.

“You like him, go for it,” Lily advised.

“I thought we were going to find out what he’s after, remember?”

“Well, you can do both.”

“I can’t like a person and then turn around and steal from him!”

Lily pursed her lips. “Information isn’t stealing.” She opened her door. “If it’s worth something and we can get more funds, why not? We can add a little time delay so your Hawk can run off with whatever it is.”

Amber got out of the car, pulling her purse from the back seat. “I’ll feel guilty if I like him,” she said quietly.

“Then don’t do it,” Lily said with a quick smile. “Just enjoy it and then move on.”

“Look who’s talking about just enjoying it. Need I remind you that someone should follow her own advice?” Amber raised her brows mockingly.

Lily paused in midstep up the deck stairs. “Shit. I need a drink. I feel…wretched.”

They both laughed. Amber couldn’t help but wondered whether Hawk was all right. She hoped he would call soon. She wasn’t used to this type of worrying.

Later that night, while she was accounting the bills for the day, the phone rang. She had been anxiously waiting for the call.

“The Last Resort,” she answered, leaning forward in her chair in anticipation.

“This is Brad.”

Amber slumped back, swallowing her disappointment. “Oh, hello, Brad, good evening.” She looked at the clock. He usually called earlier if he was coming for dinner. “What’s the matter?”

“How do you know there’s a problem?”

A certain date with a certain someone. But she didn’t say that. “Lucky guess?”

“I think it’s more than that. Is she there?”

“Lily isn’t here right now, although she’ll be back soon. Do you want to leave a message?”

She could hear his sigh. “She isn’t answering her cell phone, and I think it’s on purpose.”

Amber knew Lily had her phone on in case she needed to contact her. “Maybe she left it in her purse and didn’t hear it buzzing,” she said.

“You don’t have to cover for her, Amber,” Brad said. “She’s doing it again. Every time I get too close, she runs off. Last night, I thought I had made a little headway, but I guess it meant nothing to her.”

Brad was definitely frustrated if he was confiding in her about Lily. Those two were as close-mouthed about each other as the Jaws of Life.

“Maybe she just needs time,” Amber said soothingly. “She sees you as a total opposite from her way of life, you know, and is afraid of what that means.”

There was a slight pause. “She detests what I do.”

“I wouldn’t say that, but you two need to talk about this, for sure.” Especially if he intended to be a career bureaucrat. Lily was right in that sense; her shady background was a career-killer. “There’s no getting around the fact that Lily is different from other women.”

“She doesn’t talk much, Amber. Not with me anyway. In fact, the only way to get the woman to respond to me is to…” There was another pause, and then a short bark of laughter. “Never mind. I’m sorry to burden you with these things when there are bigger problems at hand. Can you pass on the message that I’ve set up the interview time and date and that she really needs to contact me so we’re all on the same page?”

“Of course,” Amber replied quietly. “I can do that, Brad. And you know you can talk to me anytime about anything.”

“Thanks. Goodnight.”

Brad hit the red button on his cell phone and slipped it into his pocket. Damn it all to hell. He sounded like a lovelorn schoolboy obsessing about his first crush.

Different from other women. Wasn’t that supposed to be why a man became interested in a woman?

He looked down at the open file on his desk. When he had first met Amber and Lily, he had used his insider contacts to find out more about them. They were, as he had suspected, not what they seemed. He studied the small photograph of Lily in the file. She was different, all right. Obsession, that must be it. Why else would he be so drawn to a woman who was so casual about breaking laws?