Crystal Clear (20 page)

“Move!”  Jack yelled at them. 

Both Cindy and Patrick crouched low and ran for the tree line
,
bullets whizzing past.  Jack laid down suppressing fire behind them and Cindy couldn’t stop herself from looking back to make sure he was okay. 

He turned, and caught her gaze, “Run!  Now!”

Jack
ran full speed towards them, motioning for them to run faster.  Just as
they reached the tree line
the explosion went
off.  The noise was deafening.
Jack threw himself on top of Cindy pushing her to the gro
und.  His weight almost crushed
her bruised ribs, red and orange flames leapt into the air as they consumed the facility.  They were soon forgotten as men scrambled frantically to save one another from the rolling explosions rocking through different areas of the compound. 
Jack g
rabb
ed
her arm
in an almost bruising grip and
pulled her to her feet.

“We have to keep moving.” 
Cindy n
odd
ed as
she followed
, trying to keep pace with them. Adrenalin pumped
through her system so hard, she almost didn’t feel the pain coursing through her body.

They broke
through a clearing,
and
Cindy saw the black SUV.  Jack led her right to it and sat her down on the bumper.  Patrick kept up surveillance and scanned the area while Jack took a moment to take inventory and check Cindy for injuries.

His breathing was heavy, “God baby, I was so worried.  When he took you and cut your shirt open…”

Cindy laid a finger across his lips. “It’s okay.  He really didn’t do much else, and he’s dead now.  I really couldn’t let a traitor like that live.”

Jack’s arms came around her and his lips descended on hers.  Wanting to forget where she was for just a moment, Cindy let her hands slid
e
around his neck and she melted into him the adrenaline pumping through her system pouring into the kiss.  She had never really needed anyone before and it scared her a little that she felt so safe with Jack.  She never had that with anyone, not even
Montgomery
. 
Not since her father was killed.

“Shit guys, get a room.”  Patrick stood there with his semi-automatic in his hand looking a little like Rambo.

Cindy pulled herself away from Jack’s mouth, took a deep breath and was about to respond just as
Montgomery
stepped through the woods. 
As she p
ush
ed
out of Jack’s arms, Cindy practic
ally ran to her.
She h
ugg
ed
her friend for all she was worth, though her ribs hurt. 

“Thanks for coming to get me.”  Cindy loosened her hold. 

Montgomery
had a funny look on her face.
“What else would I do?  You did the same for me.  You okay?  You look a little roughed up.” 
Montgomery
raised a hand and ran it over the wounds on Cindy’s face.  “
Might need an ice pack for that--
” 

Cindy grinned and tried not to flinch, “One or two.”

Montgomery
glanced over her
shoulder as they heard more loud explosions coming from the direction of the compound.

Montgomery
and Garrett exchanged glances, “We’d better get out of here.  The military’s going to be all over this area in a few minutes and we need to be long gone.  Don’t want to be tangled up in interrogation.  Cindy needs medical attention, and I intend to see she gets it.” 

Quickly they loaded into the SUV and
Montgomery
peeled out, racing off to make time to the airstrip where they had left one of F
.
I
.
U
.
W
.
’s private jets. 

Montgomery
explained on the way that they would need to head to the West Coast headquarters for F.I.U.W. located in California.  It would be a while before they had access to a doctor, but there were pain meds in the first aid kits.

Cindy laid her head against Jack’s shoulder and let herself breathe easy for the first time in days. 
Montgomery
was right, there would be the debriefing back at headquarters, and that would be more than enough for her.  Jack’s arms came around her
. S
he stiffened for a moment and then let herself lean into him.

It didn’t t
ake long to get to the airport.
Montgomery
made sure they dr
o
v
e
the speed limit when they reached the main road so they didn’t raise any suspicions.  Patrick retrieved some pain killers for her from the med kit, and a few ice packs as well.  Damn she hurt, she
was glad that bastard was dead.

Cindy felt
much better as the SUV pulled into a small airport,
yea for pain killers
, she
was
ready to head home.  The jet waited
on standby.  The team boarded without any hassle.

Jack hadn’t let go of Cindy since they got in the SUV, and she was aware the fact wasn’t lost on the other people on the team.  After being seated,
Montgomery
leaned forward and eyed him with a perceptive gleam.

“So, which one of you wants to tell me what’s going on with my best friend?” 
Montgomery
fiddled with a piece of her hair
and waited. 

Cindy knew she would
have to explain things to
Montgomery
.  Her friend never saw her react to any man, let alone hold one’s hand.  Even during the time that Cindy dated Chase, she was not openly affectionate.  Cindy met her friend’s gaze directly.  She would tell
Montgomery
, just not right now.  Not in front of everyone. 

“Leave him alone.  It’s my choice.  I’ll talk to you about it later.”  Cindy waited for her friend
to acknowledge the look she
g
ave
her.

“Kay, but we will talk.” 
Montgomery
left it alone
for the rest of the plane ride.

Cindy hadn’t pushed her friend when she was taken on the last mission, and was grateful that
Montgomery
wasn’t pushing her now. 

Sitting back, Cindy used the time to go over everything that happened in her mind.  Her thoughts processing much like the computers she was fond of
as
she sifted through information. 

Jaguar definitely was familiar with the abilities of the different agents in F.I.U.W., at least those of her team.  That meant that Halverson had given them more than just a few idol pi
eces of Intel.  She would
have to
access the files to see who
view
ed
them as soon as she got back to headquarters.  It wouldn’t do to have classified informa
tion leaked to the wrong source.
Jaguar was definitely the wrong source. 

There would be flags on the files that had been accessed, and unless you knew what you were doing, there were always footprints leading back to the person accessing a file, especially in F.I.U.W. where you couldn’t access anything without a pass code.  Each time
someone accessed a file it
logged in a database, and Cindy knew how to access that database.

Cindy was tired and needed to rest, but with
Montgomery
looking on she didn’t dare fall asleep on Jack.  Her best friend already knew something was up between t
he two of them. If Cindy showed she was
comfortable eno
ugh to fall asleep with him,
Montgomery
would know how deep those feelings went.

Cindy didn’t trust anyone that much, not since Jackson had passed on.  That man was like a father to her, and the only one she trusted completely. If she let herself get too close
,
Cindy knew she would end up getting hurt again.  It
had been
so long since she relied on someone, she didn’t know if she knew how anymore.  Instead of leaning on Jack’s strong shoulder, Cindy leaned back into her seat and glanced out the window.  Maybe no one would notice if she dozed off for a few minutes.  Jack didn’t relinquish hold of her hand, but she didn’t mind.

“Cindy, wake up.”  Jack was gently shaking her on the shoulder. 

Her eyes snapped
open.  There was no grogginess. H
er head hurt where she had been hit, and her body definitely felt like it had been run over, b
ut she was alert.  She
snuggled up neatly on
to Jack’s side, the armrest
propped up, and one of her legs was thrown over his, with his arm wrapped around her shoulders. 

Well, crap.

“Ha
ve we landed?”  Her gazed locked
on Jack startled that she would end up in such a position
. S
he had her suspicions that she wasn’t the one to initiate the contact.  Especially not when he had an impish grin on his face that said plainly he liked where she was.  Taking in the others who pull
ed
down their
own
gear from the overhead compartments, Cindy couldn’t miss the glances
Montgomery
kept throwing her way or the worried look on her face.  Like her,
Montgomery
didn’t
trust easily.  She would
have a talk with her friend as soon as they were alone. 

Jack waited for her to undo the safety belt, and get up his eyes never leaving her face.  He looked worried
too.  She groaned as she rose
from the position she was in, her stiff muscles complaining.  The concerned looks being
thrown her way
irritate
d
her.

“Geez guys, I’m going to be fine.  It’s just a few bruises.”  No one treated
Montgomery
like a Porcelain doll when she was tortured not that long ago.  What made them think she couldn’t handle it. 

Jack glanced back at the others, turning a stunning smile at her, God, he was gorgeous. If the other two weren’t there, Cindy would be more than happy to have her way with him, bruises or no.  She sighed and settled for a quick kiss on the hand she h
eld
.

“We’ve been talking while you were asleep.  We think that there has to be more going on here than just the Intel that was gathered from the satellite.  Halverson had to have shared information as a sign of good faith with the terrorist group.  We just don’t know what that is.”

“I agree.” Cindy met
Montgomery’s
steady gaze and a moment of understanding passed between them, “I’ll be checking the computer database as soon as we’re back at base.  If he did retrieve Intel and give it to Jaguar then I can track his footprints and
find out what he may have leaked
.”

“I knew you could,”
Montgomery
spoke up, “first though you’re getting the medical attention you need.”

“But…” Cindy started to protest.

“No,” Garrett interrupt
ed
her, “Montgomery’s right, and as your superior I will order you to seek out that attention first if I have to.  You aren’t going to make me do that are you?”  He quirked an eyebrow.

Cindy sighed.  They were ganging up on her.  It was a waste of time in her opinion, but it seemed they weren’t going to let her do anything without clearance from the Doc.  She hated physical examinations, and felt they were an invasion of her privacy, but they were a necessary evil in her line of work.  Both of them out-ranked her, so she would have no other choice.

“Fine.”  She conceded.  The sooner they got this over with, the sooner they could complete the mission.  Cindy felt Jack’s hand brush down her arm, and she pulled away uncomfortable with the contact in front of her friends.  He scowled at her and moved in closer taking her hand.

Leaning in toward her, Jack whispered, “Don’t think that because we’re with others that this is over between us.  I’m not going to let you go.  You’re mine.”

Cindy felt a little shiver of anticipation go through her.  Jack stepped back and held her gaze for a moment.  She gave a small nod of acceptance, and he moved to exit the plane, his hand still on her arm. 

It wasn’t lost on Cindy that he stak
ed
a claim in front of her friends. S
he wasn’t quite sure how she felt about that.  On one hand
,
she had been envious of the relationship that
Montgomery
and Garrett had going for some time wanting the same thing for herself
, o
n the other hand, she wanted to keep her relationship private.  If no one but her and Jack knew about it, then no one would mess it up, but Cindy was also realistic.  In the world she lived in it was almost impossible to hold her private life apart from her job.  She wasn’t even sure she wanted to try.