Black Jack (18 page)

Strange, she felt no sense of trepidation about spying into her family’s finances. A part of

her was too determined, too intent on finding whoever had murdered Father and was now

determined to kill her.

She was a threat to someone. Enough of a threat that they hadn’t been convinced she had

died in that car crash. They had gone looking for her, and somehow, they had managed to find

her.

That had been yet another mistake on their part.

The first had been in killing her father.

The second in forcing her back here to the life she had obviously walked away from.

As she headed for the bathroom and a shower, a low knock sounded on the door.

“Yes?” Turning, she watched the door as it opened slowly.

“Fresh towels, ma’am.” The petite housemaid entered the room, her arms laden with towels

as she moved for the bathroom.

Lilly stepped back as the young woman moved into the bathroom. Dressed in the

customary gray skirt and white blouse her mother insisted on for the house servants, she

moved quietly and as unobtrusively as possible.

Servants were forced to just about tiptoe around her mother. Her mother believed that

servants shouldn’t be seen or heard unless there was no other choice.

“Thank you.” Lilly stood back as the young girl moved from the bathroom once again.

“You’re welcome, ma’am.” A shy smile and the maid scurried from the room, closing the

door quietly behind her.

Lilly shook her head at the girl’s skittishness before entering the bathroom herself.

She laid out a towel and clothes before turning to the shower and adjusting the water.

Stripping her clothes, she tossed them to the counter before pulling open a drawer for a hair

clip to hold her hair out of the water.

The folded piece of paper lying on top of the clips had her pausing and staring at it

suspiciously.

Pulling it free, she unfolded it carefully and stared at the words printed there.

Discretion is the better part of valor in any game.

Remember who you are, but never forget what you were, because that will be the only way

to survive. Now, please, be kind enough to flush.

Her eyes narrowed on the last line before she glanced at the toilet and sighed heavily before

crumpling the paper to a small ball and doing as requested.

It wasn’t as though the note held surprising information. She was well aware that she

needed to play a more subtle game than she was currently playing—that of learning who she

was while keeping her family unaware. She hadn’t been doing a very good job thus far.

For the rest, she just might be screwed. She remembered well who she had been before the

past six years; it was after that that she had a bit of a problem. If her survival depended on

remembering who she had been during those six years, then she was definitely screwed.

Now, if she could just find a way to force those lost memories free, then perhaps the answer

to finding who had killed her father, and who was trying to kill her, might lie there.

One thing was for certain, she was going to have to remember soon, or she would end up

truly dead, rather than simply pretending to be.

two days later
Travis rode his Harley into a deserted warehouse

lot and eased into the old brick building with its cracked and shattered windows and decaying

wood doors.

The team was waiting for him. Noah, John, Micah, and Nik were lounging on their cycles

while Jordan waited in the black SUV, the passenger’s side door open as he watched the

entrance with narrowed, neon-blue eyes.

His driver was the red-haired little hellion who seemed to drive the commander insane on

the best of days. Tehya was the jokester of the unit, the agent that wasn’t really an agent but

an integral part of the unit nonetheless.

As Travis pulled the bike to a stop amid the semicircle created around the SUV and swung

off the seat, he wasn’t surprised by the air of speculation that seemed to emanate from the

group.

The three married agents, Noah, Micah, and John, were watching him warningly. They had

tried to warn him over the past days about the deepening involvement between him and Lilly,

but it wasn’t something he wanted to hear. Warnings weren’t what he needed. What he needed

were solutions, and he hadn’t found any yet.

“I have to get back by evening,” he informed Jordan as he approached the men, who were

now standing by the open door. “I’ve been invited to the Harringtons’ estate by Lilly for a

little get-together they’re having.”

“The French ambassador.” Jordan nodded. “He’s a good friend of the Harrington family.

Desmond and the deceased Harold Harrington were classmates of his for several years at

Eton. The party is an excuse to discuss business with their American counterparts in a setting

where their wives can also participate.”

“A dress-up party,” Nik snorted.

The Russian knew well the type of parties the Harringtons frequented. Like Travis, he’d

been to several get-togethers hosted by the Harringtons or those of their social set before his

induction into the Ops.

Nik had been a member of Russia’s political and social elite. He’d been a husband, a father,

and a man on the fast track to a leadership position until he had pissed off the wrong political

group.

Nik and Travis seemed to have that in common. Once, they had been a part of society,

they’d had power, wealth, and ideals. Those ideals had been the cause of their “deaths.”

“So why are we meeting here instead of at the safe house?” Travis turned to his

commander, then glanced around the warehouse casually. “And I notice Elite Two’s

Commanders aren’t here.”

Santos and Rhiannon had the potential to become pains in the ass, if anyone wanted his

opinion.

“This Op is under the jurisdiction of Elite One, just as their agent is,” Jordan reminded him,

his tone brusque. “They’re only allowed in an advisory position. And we’re meeting here to

ensure that that status remains uncorrupted.” The tight, merciless smile that pulled at Jordan’s

lips was telling.

Well, now, wasn’t that surprising. Travis bet that wasn’t sitting well with Rhiannon in

particular.

“Commander McConnelly is making waves,” Jordan continued. “She contacted Elite

Command last night to report that she believed, based on the meeting three days ago with

Night Hawk, the viability of the mission is in jeopardy. I was in a vid-conference with them

this morning with my own report.”

“And what was your report?” Travis asked, trying to hold back his suspicions and his anger.

“I didn’t throw her to the wolves if that’s what you’re asking. But get Lilly under control,

Travis,” Jordan growled. “You and I both know she’s regaining partial memories. Make sure

she doesn’t become a danger to the Elite Ops or the order for cancellation will go out, Travis.

She’s a civilian now. Elite Command won’t let her walk around with bits and pieces of our

secrets in her head.”

That was what Travis liked about Jordan. He was a hell of a commander. He played by the

rules laid out by the head of Elite Ops, Elite Command, and did the job he had taken on, but

he also understood people and his men in particular.

“From all appearances he has more than a handle on her, Commander,” Micah, the Israeli

contribution to the unit, said. “She’s been sneaking out of the estate every night and heading

to Black Jack’s after Travis’s butler goes to bed, and strutting back into the estate the next

morning as though her family weren’t in a rage because of it.”

And they were screaming with rage, Travis was sure of it. Desmond Harrington had

demanded, more than once, that Lilly terminate her liaison with Travis, and each time, she had

refused.

“Elite Command’s psychologist doesn’t believe Lilly’s going to be able to keep that calm

demeaner she has much longer,” Tehya said at that point. “Dr. Lasal has been reviewing the

reports sent in by each of you, as well as Jordan’s and Commander McConnelly’s. She

believes the parts of Lilly’s memories that are being repressed may be about to break free. She

doesn’t expect that her memories will return in full, though. Bits and pieces could be more

damaging than remembering nothing, Travis.”

Travis shook his head, his lips to curling in a mocking sneer. “Lasal’s intentions are good,

but she worries too much about things that may not happen,” he growled.

“Her cover was breached, Travis,” Jordan reminded him quietly. “We were lucky to save

her. But Elite Command and the Ops can’t risk discovery. She’s a weak link. If there’s any

chance she’ll expose the Ops, then she’ll be canceled. None of us want that, but we can’t

allow her to become a risk to the unit either.”

“I agree with Travis. She was a damn good agent,” Noah pointed out then, “Personally, I

think if she gets her memories back, she won’t spill our secrets.”

“Are you willing to bet Bella’s and little Nate’s lives on that, Noah?” Jordan asked,

referring to Noah’s wife and infant son. “I’m not certain I am.” Jordan had been Noah’s uncle

in that life before the Ops. He still retained that blood tie with his nephew, and reminded him

of it whenever he needed to.

“It’s hard to bet Bella’s and Nate’s lives on anything, Jordan,” the other man stated coolly

now. “But I’m not the only one here who has had to depend on Night Hawk to pull their ass

out of the fire. We owe her more than suspicion and a promise of cancellation once this is

over. No matter what her commanders want.”

“That also brings up a still unanswered question,” Nik said. “How was her cover breached?

Doesn’t make sense that someone would target a call girl, no matter how exclusive she is. But

they knew where to wait for her, they knew how to strike, and yet the investigation into the

breach seems to have stalled.”

Nik’s eyes were on Jordan as he spoke, the accusation in his voice clear.

“I’m still working with Elite Command on that angle,” Jordan assured them. “Senator

Stanton is particularly concerned about the matter. If the Ops is compromised, then it will

jeopardize his career, and possibly endanger his daughter’s life.”

Elite Command was a group of shadowy figures who were the financial and center of

operations for Elite Ops. The only member of that section that any of them were given the

identity of was Senator Stanton. A contact point, Jordan had called the senator. If all else went

to hell, Stanton was a man they could depend on because his daughter was married to the

team that provided backup to Jordan’s team, Elite One.

Stanton’s son-in-law, Kell Krieger, was one of the former Navy SEALs that had provided

backup on many of the missions the operatives were sent into. Discovery would reveal his

family to the enemies the Elite Operatives had made over the years. Enemies that thus far had

no idea who or what had taken them down. If they ever learned, then the SEALs as well as the

operatives were guaranteed dead. And there would be no coming back.

“Then we have no idea how her identity was leaked, who attempted to kill her, or what we

can expect from this operation. Right?” Travis’s frustration leaked through in his voice, as

well as his control. He was riding an edge with Lilly, and he knew it. Just as he knew Lilly

was riding a particularly dangerous edge herself.

“We’re hoping Lilly’s presence with her family will draw the killer out of hiding,” Jordan

revealed as his gaze focused on Travis. “Have you sensed any movement or uncovered any

new info?”

Travis shook his head. “All we have is the information Noah and I found the night we

wired the office.”

That information was incriminating enough. As far as Travis was concerned, Desmond was

involved in something up to his eyeballs. He just wasn’t entirely certain that something was

the death of his niece.

“There’s no information circulating among our contacts either,” Tehya stated. “We’re in the

dark here. Our only hope is Lilly at this point, and that the killer is tempted to go after her

again sometime soon.”

“Third time is the charm,” Jordan said and Travis glared at him.

“Lilly is the only operative of the entire Elite Ops organization who has been targeted in the

eight years the organization has been running,” Tehya stated. “Any other hit that’s been

attempted has always been in relation to an operation. That’s not the case here, otherwise

chatter would reach our contacts.”

“That doesn’t mean the Elite Ops isn’t endangered by this,” Nik said. “Whoever tried to kill

her killed the plastic surgeon the Elite Ops placed her file with. Despite that safety measure,

they still found her. That’s not a good thing. If they found Lilly, they could find any one of

us.”

None of them wanted that. They had left their old lives behind and had no desire to have

them resurrected.

“Morganna, Kira and I have initiated an investigation into Santos and Rhiannon as well,”

Tehya announced. Morganna and Kira were the wives of two of their backup members. “So

far, they’re coming up as assholes, not traitors.”

Jordan snorted at that.

“Yeah, well, that’s what we call Jordan on a good day, too.” Noah chuckled.