True Deceptions (True Lies) (26 page)

“What about the people who could die if something goes wrong? Don’t they matter?” she yelled into the phone. Her hand shook at the realization that she couldn’t help anyone if she was locked away. Simon would accept a certain amount of casualties—casualties that she could prevent.

“It’s my mission, my call.”

“Don’t do this. I can help you,” she pleaded.

“No.”

“I hate you.”

“That’s okay. I love you enough to make up for that.”

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” She hit the wall and shuddered as pain shot through her palm. “Don’t expect to come back and have everything good between us, because I don’t take abandonment lightly.”

“I’ll wait.”

“You’ll be waiting forever.” And forever after that as well.

“I have more patience than you do. Look, the doors are closing now. Stay safe. I love you.”

“No, you don’t,” she screamed into the phone. “Don’t do this.”

“Goodbye, angel.”

The call ended, and Cassie burst into tears.

Chapter Twenty-Two

C
assie fell asl
eep on the couch and awoke several hours later. Now that the panic and anger had cleared from her mind, she could think rationally, so she called Tucker. He put her on this mission. He’d want her to complete it.

“Cassie Watson. You’re not dead yet, so I assume you’re faring well with your boy toy.”

She tried to release the image of him pointing a gun at her in the flat and spoke with as much calm as could muster. “Simon left me in Hong Kong. I can’t get out.”

“Did he tie you down?”

“No. He took my passport.”

“Stupid girl. Either you’re having a lovers’ quarrel, or Simon doesn’t think you have what it takes to be on his team.”

She held back what Simon had told her about Tucker’s botched fieldwork.

“Where are you on the assignment? Were the drones armed successfully?” he continued.

She hesitated before answering. Simon didn’t want her to contact the main office without his permission, but what choice did he leave her?

“Yes. Everything’s set.”

“Are they still going through Yonchon?”

“He only mentioned Daecheong Island.”

“Excellent. I assume he’s set up safeguards to prevent the detonation of the devices in the home villages of the soldiers.”

“What do you mean
villages
?” Her voice climbed three octaves.

He laughed as though innocent children blown to smithereens was hysterical. “From what my sources tell me, the soldiers are taking the drones home at night for safekeeping. They don’t want to risk losing the bunch in a mass explosion.”

“Oh my God. They said that, but I didn’t think they were taking them
home
.”

“You met with the businessmen?”

“Yes. We can’t let them harm those families. I need to disarm the drones.”

His voice sobered. “I’m afraid I have no ability to get you out of the country. If only you knew an American with contacts.”

“I think I know someone who could help.”

“Do I know him or her?”

She paused again, a terrible habit when trying to conceal something. “No. I’ll contact him and see if he can assist me.”

He hung up before she could say good-bye. Tucker offered no help, as expected.

Her anger and shattered nerves decreased after an hour of pacing back and forth. Should she contact Dane? Would
he add a new level of issues into this already complicated assignment? He didn’t help her out of jail, so why would he tick off Simon and assist her in following him? She needed Dane. Now that she knew his actual job, she understood how she left jail so quickly, without press or an international incident.

He’d programmed his cell phone number into her phone before they left Jordan, in case she needed anything. She did now. With a deep breath and false sense of bravado, she pushed the button. The phone rang several times before he answered. She heard a giggle in the background. This would have been her replacement if she’d decided to stay with him instead of Simon.

“Hi, gorgeous. Simon finally bore you in bed?” The giggles increased in the background. Were there two women with him?

“I need to speak with you…in private.”

He paused. “Where are you?”

“I’m in Hong Kong.”

“Good. Give me five minutes.” He hung up the phone.

She placed the phone on the coffee table and poured herself some water while she waited for him to call back.

A few minutes later, someone knocked at the door. She looked through the hole in the door.
Dane?

Why was he in Hong Kong? Did Simon know? She opened the door and backed up to let him in. His eyes roamed over her outfit, and he grinned. Not the best choice of clothes to keep Dane away.

When Cassie had arrived back from the spa, she’d been dressed to kill in a short red skirt, a low cut white blouse, and candy-apple-red heels that took her height to six feet five inches. Simon’s height. Ready to seduce him. Now she was a wrinkled mess. All of her other clothes sat in a ball in her suitcase, ready to go nowhere except to the cleaners for some ironing.

“Hey there, beautiful. Don’t I get a hug for old times sake?” He opened his arms for her, but she stood staring, still not understanding why he was in this particular part of the world.

Never one to be put off, he stepped closer. “You caught me at a bad time. Perhaps you can make it up to me.”

She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I know who you are.”

“No loss. Simon shares everything with his partners. He always has. I also know a lot about you, Catherine Wallace.”

Hearing her real name melted her brave facade. She wasn’t sure how much he knew, or what she should tell him, but she needed to reprogram those drones before innocent children died.

His eyes narrowed in a predatory manner, and he moved beside her before she could get out of the way.

“Now that I know you’re his partner and not his lover, we can make up for lost time.”

She shook her head. “That’s off the table. First, you have another woman’s perfume all over you. Not the way to my heart. And second, I’m not a toy. You and Simon will just need to find something else to compete over in the future.”

He shrugged. “How can I help you, beautiful?”

“Simon and I had a fight, and he left me here.”

“You’re a big girl. Go back to London.”

“I can’t. He took my passport.”

Dane laughed. “He’s good. So what can I do for you? Hong Kong has closer ties to the U.K. than to the U.S.”

“I’m still an American. And Tucker refuses to help me. And I can’t go to the embassy. Not after Jordan.”

“Tucker?” His expression changed to something dangerous. She shouldn’t have mentioned his name. It tended to make the men around her angry. There were so many things about her new position that she still didn’t understand.

She stayed silent for a second too long. He lifted her chin so her face was within an inch of his. The tension now showing in his neck caused her stomach to tighten.

“I need to know what Tucker’s doing on this transaction, or I’m walking out of here.”

The needs of the children in North Korea trumped Tucker’s need to be anonymous. “He’s the MI6 contact on this.”

“Simon never told me Tucker worked this assignment. Who wanted you working with the drones? Simon or Tucker?”

“Tucker handpicked me for this assignment.” Although she had no idea why Tucker had chosen her over a handful of others just as competent.

“Does Simon know this?”

“I think so.”

His expression softened a tiny bit. “If Simon wants you in Hong Kong, I’d trust him. He has great instincts.”

“I have to fix the drones. When I called Tucker about Simon leaving me here, he told me about the possibility of the drones detonating while they’re being stored with families. Simon doesn’t know that, but I’m sure he’ll let me render them all useless to save lives.”

Dane nodded, his focus fractured. “I’ll help you on one condition.”

She looked in those dark eyes. Devil or angel, it didn’t matter. She’d do whatever he asked. She nodded her head.

“Good. I want all the drones back in my possession. If you can’t do that, I’ll hunt you down and kill you myself. Do you understand?” He placed his arm around and kissed her on the lips as though sealing their bargain. She didn’t kiss him back. Instead, her body remained stone-cold and motionless.

Dane directed her to the couch and sat next to her. He pulled out his phone and placed one of his fingers over Cassie’s lips to keep her silent while he spoke to whomever he’d called.

“Greetings, my friend. I seem to have something you want.”

She could hear Simon’s voice in the background.

“Yes, she’s a beauty. Very compliant too. Apparently, someone stranded her in Hong Kong without her passport. No problem. I can assist in getting her a temporary card to travel with me. We were thinking about taking a vacation to Daecheong Island. I hear it’s very romantic.”

Simon answered at such a high volume, Cassie could understand most of his words, which involved twisting off Dane’s body parts and feeding them to wild dogs.

Dane snickered and pulled Cassie closer to him. “Here, he wants to say something you.”

“Simon?”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing? I gave you an order, and you need to follow it. Do not get on a plane.”

She should have enabled full access to the drones from a distance. Instead, she’d left herself vulnerable. That wouldn’t happen again if she could help it. “I have to. The drones are going to be stored in villagers’ huts. Innocent families will be murdered—by us. I can’t let that happen. I need access to them one more time. Please let me reprogram the drones and try to find a way to stop the massacre.”

The curse Simon roared caused her body to flinch. Dane took the phone back.

“Don’t bother, Simon. She’s quite stubborn when she has a mind to be. We’ll contact you when we arrive.” He ended the call and returned the phone to his pocket.

Cassie’s phone rang. She tried to get up to answer it, but Dane shook his head.

“Another condition is you forego contact with Simon until we arrive. I have no doubt he’ll wait for you.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

S
imon hung up the phone and punched a wall in the house he’d rented. His fist went
through and came back out with blood seeping from his knuckles. How could Cassie have contacted Dane? He didn’t have her safety in mind, all he wanted was a bigger role in what Simon was doing.

He walked out of the small cottage to get the materials ready for the short boat ride from the South Korean island to the North Korean coastline. The businessmen would send someone to meet them and the transfer would take place just inside the border. He didn’t like the information Cassie had relayed to him. If someone detonated the drones while they were in the villagers’ houses, nothing would be able to roll back such an international disaster.

Perhaps all of this had gone too far. He considered contacting the South Korean authorities to raid his operation before he sent the weapons to North Korea. It might mean a few years in jail for him, but Cassie and the baby would stay safe and so would a bunch of villagers who had done nothing wrong. He tried to call her again, but she didn’t pick up her phone. Dane probably forbid her to answer it so he could control the situation. He would have done the same thing.

A flight from Hong Kong to Seoul would only take three and a half hours, and they could charter a boat or helicopter to the island. He’d see her that afternoon.

The waiting was difficult, so he walked through the transfer details with his team. A few members of his most elite team had flown in after finishing a deal with a terrorist cell in Syria. These men had been through this many times and would make sure everything went as planned.

He sent them to rest in a house further in the village, leaving two men standing guard with the crates.

The only taxi on the island dropped Dane and Cassie off at ten minutes to midnight. Far later than he expected. Perhaps Dane had more trouble with the passport than anticipated.

Cassie, looking as though she’d walked all the way from Hong Kong, pulled her bag from the car at a slow rate. She was dressed in a tight red skirt, high red heels and blouse, and wasn’t wearing the ring he’d given to her. He jumped up to assist her.

“Nice place you got here, buddy.” Dane slapped him on the back.

“Fuck you.”

“Right back at you.”

“Cassie, follow me.” Simon led her to a bedroom in the back of the hut. “I understand your inability to understand simple directions, but I’ll try again.
Stay in here
until I come for you.”

He didn’t want her here, but now that she stood before him, he needed to hold her tight. He dropped her suitcase and pulled her into his arms. At first her muscles were tense, but after a few seconds, she relaxed and let out a heavy sigh. He kissed her with as much restraint as he could muster when all he really wanted to do was throw her over his knee and spank her for insubordination—and because she had an amazing ass.

Her body leaned into his for support. He couldn’t convince himself to release the warmth she sent through him for another minute or two. Dane could wait.

She pulled her head back and stared at him with a strained expression. “I was wrong.”

He held her tighter. “I wasn’t. I want you, but I don’t want you here. It’s not safe and you need to trust me, or we have nothing.”

She nodded. “I’m sorry. When Tucker told me about the villagers, I panicked. And I didn’t know Dane would order me around so much.”

“You spoke to Tucker?”

“I called him for help, but he refused.”

“Back up a second. Tucker told you about where the drones would be stored? How did he know? He should have no contact with the buyers.”

“I thought he arranged everything.”

“No. I arrange my own deals. MI6 will send me in the right direction as they hear requests by target groups under their surveillance, and they’ll occasionally bail me out, but the less people I work with, the less things tend to go wrong. This whole project is starting to smell.”