The Impossible Alliance (23 page)

She stared down at Jared. “Well?”

Nothing.

“Damn you, Jared. I want my twenty years!”

Again, nothing.

She finally sighed. It was useless. He'd never give in. She was about to remove her hand from his and straighten when his fingers bit down harder than they did when Orloff had been rooting around inside for the bullet. She gasped.

“What if I don't have twenty years before it gets bad? What then? What if I only have ten or five? What if I have
one?
”

She leaned in close, staring directly into those gorgeous eyes. “
I'll take it.
And every other damned day I can get. Don't you understand, you dense, boorish oaf? I'm not leaving you. I don't care if I have to camp out on the front lawn of that blasted Texas ranch for the rest of my life. You're stuck with me.”

“Alex—”

“Don't. Don't say a word unless you're ready to say what I want to hear. What I need to hear. So the ear doesn't bother you. Whoopee. You know what? I've learned these past few days that it just doesn't matter. I don't care if I have to walk around lopsided for the rest of my life. What I need to know is if I had something else—for example, if
I
had early-onset Alzheimer's—would you be able to walk away from me?”

The blades had finally stilled. She didn't need her missing hearing aid to know that Jared's breath was searing into his lungs. She could feel it. “Well? Are you going to answer me?”

“No.”

She stiffened. “No?”

He shook his head slowly. “No. I couldn't abandon the woman I love any more than I was able to leave my mom.” Her breath caught as his hands cupped her face and drew her closer, right down onto the floor of that blasted metal bird.

She didn't care.

“So…I guess what I'm saying is, you're stuck with me, Alex. For as long as you want me, for as long as we have.” Her eyes began watering as he pulled her the rest of the way down to his kiss. But this time it wasn't the thunder in her ear that caused the tears, it was the thunder in her heart. Because she knew, as long as she had with this man, it would never be enough. But she'd take it.

E
verything had gone exactly according to plan.

He hated that.

Something always went wrong. Hell, that was why the Army created fragmentary orders, so that once an operation commenced—and the Op Plan went promptly to hell—everyone had something to base the new, ever-changing plan on. But nothing had gone wrong today. Which, of course, meant they were in for a doozy.

“Relax. It's a wedding, not a mission.”

“I am relaxed.”

Jared ignored the disbelief in those soft green eyes as his wife slipped one of her amazingly agile hands in his. The left one. The one he'd slipped that antique ruby wedding band on for the second time—in front of 150 of their closest friends, relatives, neighbors and fellow agents. Well, mostly Alex's friends and relatives. Though surprisingly, quite a few agents he'd worked with over the past decade had shown up, as well.

“I know it's a wedding. I was there, remember?”

She took the teasing in stride. Though she wasn't fond of the jokes about his condition, she seemed to understand that he needed it. He still wasn't sure why. Maybe because he was still worried she'd have enough one day and walk away. But for now, the insidious fear ebbed as she tiptoed up into his arms, her fingers sliding about the collar of his tux to tangle in the hair she'd once again insisted he leave loose. He took the hint and slid his own hands down the lush curves currently encased in a body-hugging ivory sheath.

A sheath he couldn't wait to peel off.

He dipped his head and trailed his lips down the endless column of her neck, nipped the hollow at the base, then kissed his way back up. He lingered beneath her right ear, pouring out his suggestion at a thrumming volume meant for her only, even if they were alone in the foyer. “Let's go upstairs.”

“We have guests. Lots of guests.”

He sighed. “I know. Let them find their own beds.”

She chuckled softly. “I think that's your job. You're the host.” She matched his sigh. “But since I'm now married to the host, I suppose it's my job, too.” She slipped out of his arms far too easily. “I'd like to greet our guests. Are you coming with me…or should I interview for another escort?”

They both already knew the answer to that one.

Hell, the whole blessed town of Greenlaurel knew. They'd all heard him in that church. Alex might put up with his references to the darker future that awaited them, but she was determined not to let him live in the past—much less, as she put it, in limbo. He still couldn't believe she'd gone to the blue-haired mavens of Greenlaurel the day after they'd returned from Rebelia with an offer. If The Belles of Texas Historical Society helped her put on the wedding of a lifetime in just three short weeks, Jared would foot the bill for the entire upcoming Bluebonnet Ball.

The Belles had been thrilled.

As for him, it had been worth it to see Alex smile.

He shoved the double doors open and shook his head at the massive tents for food, dancing and just plain mingling that had been erected out on his lawn beyond the circular drive. Every blessed one of them was full of smiling, laughing people, too. As operations went, he had a feeling The Belles could teach the Army, as well as ARIES, a thing or two. He gave in to the spirit of things, sliding his arm around his wife's bare shoulders as he guided her down the front steps.

As they reached the outer throng, damned near every adult they passed was still either talking about the town's upcoming Bluebonnet Ball or the World Bank Heist that had been pulled off days before.

“I read in the
Post
they stole fifty million dollars!”

“Well, I heard just this morning on CNN that they may have taken more than 150 million.”

He steered Alex away from that particular group.

While personally he suspected neither figure came close to the dent the cyberthieves had placed in the World Bank's monetary reserves, he wasn't interested in tossing Alex into the middle of the discussion. She'd end up there soon enough. Several ARIES agents were already on the case. He just hoped to hell Alex wouldn't be added to the list until after the honeymoon. He still wasn't sure how he'd feel the next time she was called up. Or worse, how he'd feel if she refused.

Though with her cover blown and the knowledge out within the agency that the section director was her uncle, she was contemplating moving into another line of work, anyway. Or so she said. He just hoped to hell she wouldn't end up regretting it.

Or him.

“Jared? Are you okay?”

The moment he glanced down into that sea of green, he was.

“I'm fine.” He tugged her close and pressed a kiss to
the honey curls at her temple, then nodded to their left. “Look, there's the private eye I told you about.”

Jared returned Kurt Miller's wave, despite the fact the SOB was ultimately responsible for this entire swollen gathering. If the bloodhound hadn't tracked him down after his grandfather's death, he'd be holed up with Alex in a quiet hotel room somewhere right now on a bed, instead of dodging more wedding guests than a man should ever be cursed with—a hard, cramped bed that wouldn't allow him and his recovering arm nearly enough freedom to show his wife how much he loved her on their wedding night. The oversize bed Alex had delivered just yesterday, the one they'd yet to baptize, flashed before his mind's eye.

What the hell, maybe he'd thank Kurt, instead.

“Aiden!”

Jared took one look at the man five bodies to the right of Kurt and grinned, despite the fact that he promptly lost his bride. Alex rushed out of his arms to throw hers around her former mentor. A few inches taller than Alex, Aiden managed to get her feet to clear the ground as he spun her around in a hug.

Aiden grinned as he released her long enough to stick out his hand. “Sorry, buddy. I know she's yours, but it's not every day a gorgeous lady throws herself into these old arms.”

Alex clipped his jaw. “Forty is
not
old. And if you can't get a date, you're not looking in the right spot, much less looking at all. Come to the Bluebonnet Ball next Saturday. I'm sure the local Belles can set you up.”

Jared mimed slitting his throat.

That earned a deep chuckle from Aiden. Unfortunately Jared also earned his bride's renewed attention as she spun around. He dropped his hand in the nick of time. At least, he thought he had—until Alex smiled sweetly. Too sweetly.

“Just for that, we'll be going, too.”

Aiden's chuckle died. “Wait a minute. I didn't do anything. How come I gotta go?”

The moment the gleam entered her eyes, Jared knew Aiden was doomed. Especially when Alex tsked softly. “You're right. You didn't do anything. The best man at the wedding and you didn't even bring a gift. I'd say that means you owe me one.” She smiled as the noose tightened. “See you there, Aiden.”

“Sorry, buddy.”

“Yeah, right,
buddy.
See if I don't tell her now about that time in Tanzania when you and I—”

Jared swung his arm about Alex's shoulders before Aiden could finish and spun her around. He didn't need that story coming out. Not with his wedding night ahead and a bed he dearly hoped to be sleeping in and not beneath. Undaunted—and laughing—she simply stared up at him.

“Tanzania, huh?”

“Look, I see Sam.”

She refused to bite.

A split second later, he
did
see Sam—and the man was headed straight for them. With an envelope in hand. A manila envelope large enough to contain new orders. A mission overview. Dammit. Couldn't he at least get in a honeymoon with the woman before she was torn from him?

“What's wrong?” But she was already following his gaze. “Sam!” He lost his bride for the second time, to the only other man he didn't mind losing her to. As long as she came back.

She did, her uncle in tow.

Old habits must die hard indeed, because Jared automatically eased the three of them from the crowd. “Good to see you, sir.”

“Sir, my ass. It's Sam. Say it.”

He nodded. “Sam.”

“Good job, son.” Hatch held out the envelope. “Here's your reward, hot off the fax machine.”

He stared at the envelope.

“Go ahead. Take it.”

“Sir—
Sam
—I'm out. You know that.”
“It's not a mission brief.”

Then what the devil was it? It sure as hell wasn't a wedding present. The his-and-hers Thoroughbreds were already stashed in one of the barns. And what the hell was it with that tone? He'd never seen Sam Hatch so guarded.

Jared glanced at his bride. “Alex, you read it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” If he was getting another load of crappy news, he'd rather it came from her.

Alex had either picked up on her uncle's vibes or his, because she took it, though reluctantly. She whittled a year off what time he had left slowly breaking the seal on the envelope and carefully withdrawing the plain paper fax from within. Her brow furrowed as she skimmed the contents. He watched her gaze stop, shoot back to the top of the fax and begin again. By the time she finished, tears were rolling freely down her cheeks and he was damned near dead.

“What?” His voice was hoarse.

But so was hers. “Read it.”

“Alex—”

“
Read it.
I want you to see the words. Forever.”

Determined to get it over with, he took the sheet and ripped his gaze down the form…the medical form? Lab work? He didn't have any outstanding lab work. But the form was his. Like Alex, he shifted his gaze to the top and stared at the header block. Early Onset Alzheimer's Results.

Negative.

His gaze blurred. He blinked to clear it, but he couldn't. Worse, for the first time in his life, he couldn't pull the picture in front of his mind's eye just by thinking about it. He was dimly aware of Alex retrieving the paper and reaching up to slide her arms about his neck. Then her lips were merging with his, right along with their tears. He finally managed to drag his mouth to her ear. “Did I just read what I think I read?”
She pulled away slightly and nodded, and then all he saw was her blinding smile. But he heard Sam's cough.

They turned together.

“Sir…I…don't understand.”

His old mentor shook his balding head. “Sam. And neither did I at first. But when Alex mentioned Karl Weiss's claim regarding a mole, I started to sift through some old information. Old suspicions. I also questioned Janice Errington at length. Yours wasn't the only genetics record Janice was ordered to falsify. If the man I suspect of murdering Eugenie William's family is involved, it even makes sense.

“Who?”
He and Alex practically shouted in unison.

Hatch merely shook his head. “You're both too close. You have too much to lose. And I…I don't have enough proof. Not yet. Just the rambling of an old man. Or so I've been told.”

“That's a load of bull.”

“I know, son, I know. But it's the way it has to be for now. Promise me, both of you. You can't even confront Janice. She never met the man who blackmailed her. To expose her could ruin my one chance at nailing this bastard for crimes far, far worse than this. Agreed?” The sharp green gaze that resembled Alex's more than he'd ever realized stabbed her first, then him.

He looked at his wife and waited.

She finally nodded.

He turned to Hatch. “Agreed…and thank you.”

Jared swore his old mentor's were watering, too. He was certain of it when the man nodded and turned abruptly, mumbling something about wedding cake as he strode off. Jared turned to his wife and gathered her close, wondering how the hell he could ask what he desperately wanted to ask.

He had no right.

“Don't worry. I'm already out of the business.”

He stiffened.
She, however, laughed. “Oh, don't tell me you weren't thinking about it.”

“I won't.”

“Good.” The sun caressed her shoulders as she snagged his hand to lead him between the tents and back toward the front steps to that once-cold mausoleum that was growing warmer and brighter by the minute. By some miracle, not a single soul stopped them.

“Alex, are you sure?”

She nodded. “It was supposed to be a wedding present for you and me. I was going to tell you tonight.” She smiled. “And, no, knowing I'm going to be stuck with you for the next sixty years, instead of twenty, doesn't change anything.” Her smile ebbed as she stopped at the top of the steps and glanced down on a sight he apparently wouldn't be forgetting, after all. “But, Jared, it does change one thing.”

“What?” Damned if his voice hadn't grown hoarse again. This time with fear.

“I want kids.”

Kids? But—he'd had a vasectomy. He wouldn't reverse it even if he could. He might not have Early-onset Alzheimer's, but it was still genetic. He still carried the gene.

“I know.”

Something in her voice made him follow her gaze. To a little boy in a fancy, new high-tech wheelchair Sam had sent, along with the horses. The boy's grandmother, Helga, stood beside the wheelchair, along with Sam. The boy's new “Uncle Roman” knelt to show him how to work the controls. Alex was right. Orloff would be leaving to work in the refugee camps soon. Helga and Mikhail would need a home.

Mikhail would need a mother and a father.

Damned if his eyes didn't begin watering once more as he stepped behind his wife and drew her into his arms. Piercing joy and humbling relief burned through him as they gazed down together on another scene he never
wanted to forget. Though he could now see the form in his mind, he still couldn't quite believe it. To know that he would be able to hold the memory of this perfect day, this perfect moment, this perfect woman, in his mind for the rest of his life was almost too much to grasp.