Hard to Trust (10 page)

But why were they speaking in Russian? She'd mentioned that once before in passing, but didn't elaborate. Somehow she knew who was after her.

Timing was everything, and he scurried back down the siding and circled the perimeter back to the side where the door was located. He glanced over to find the driver still tied up and still out of it next to the car.

One, two, three
.

He counted off the numbers even though he was alone. Old habits from the days of working with his siblings died hard.

Breaking through the door with a well-placed kick was the easy part. Hoping their reflexes were a little slow was the hard part.

He rolled inside and took out two guys with shots to their knees. Then grabbed their guns. While they were rolling around the floor moaning, the third guy was a little quicker and got off a couple of shots before moving toward Tessa, attempting to use her for leverage. Jake squeezed off a shot, which clipped through the guy's right hand, making it useless. He then tackled the guy to the ground securing his hands behind his back.

Next he pulled the other men's arms behind them and secured flexi-cuffs around their wrists. One of the men eyed him. "You're helping a traitor." The guy's words struck him as odd, considering the Russian accent. Was this some kind of triple cross on her part? The growl in his voice synced with the vehemence in his eyes. "We'll be coming after you too."

Negating the impact of the words seemed impossible. His assignment wasn't about judging. It was about ferreting out the truth and keeping her safe in the meantime. He needed to keep that in mind.

Instead, he set about doing that as he cut the ropes that bound her even while the man's voice echoed in his ears. This was not the first time he'd heard those words about her, but that didn't mean the thought didn't reverberate inside.
Nothing is ever that simple.
Especially in the tangled game the CIA played.

Tessa's head came up, and she stared at him, a puzzled expression marring her face. "I know you, don't I?" Her words were slurred, nearly incoherent, but in English this time.

"Yep, I'm the guy you've been trying to lose. Now let's get out of here." He helped her to her feet, but quickly realized it would be slow going at her current pace. Instead he swooped her up, tossed her over his shoulder fireman style, and looked around for her computer before stuffing it in her backpack. He readied his gun to take on anything that might be waiting outside, and creaked open the large door.

As quickly as possible, he sprinted off toward the SUV and placed her inside, buckling her. He'd dump the Russian's car after he got to Manhattan. Once he got back to his apartment, he knew exactly who to call on for help.

For right now, he called Jennings and let him know about the guys in the warehouse. While he hoped they'd still be there so The Alliance could bring them in for questioning, he doubted very much they would.

Jake's sister, Sabrina, rushed inside his apartment, slapping the morning paper into his hands. "I assume this is the new houseguest you called me about?" As usual, his sister knew how to make an entrance.

He unfolded the paper and saw a security photo of Tessa, along with a caption that read,
Wanted for Questioning in the Murder of Nicholas Stamos.
Even knowing what he might read, he still skimmed through the article. It mentioned a possible eyewitness as well as a suspicious death—which was code for murder—but stated they were waiting for a final determination of the cause of death from the coroner.

"This doesn't look good," he muttered.

"Ya think?" Sabrina rolled her eyes and moved past him to the guest bedroom. After removing what was left of Tessa's shirt in order to examine her chest and arms, she placed her fingertips to Tessa's wrist. "Very slow heart rate and a faint pulse." She turned toward Jake and scowled. "This woman should be seen by a doctor," Sabrina said, even as she strategically placed acupuncture needles. She turned on her portable heat lamp and plunked it into Jake's hands. "This should give the needles an extra boost. Hopefully they'll keep her from dying." She turned to give Jake the evil eye. "Bring her to a doctor."

"Ms. All-about-alternative-medicine suddenly wants to call in a doctor?" He tried to keep his tone light even while fear clutched at his gut. If Tessa died, it would be on him. He didn't get to her soon enough.

"I know my limitations, Jake, and this woman might need more than I have to offer." Her voice softened, as if she'd recognized her words had worried him.

"You're the best, Sabrina. I wouldn't have called you otherwise."

"But The Alliance doctors could—"

"You know they have limitations on what they can and can't do without contacting the authorities. Besides, with her picture hitting the headlines, keeping a low profile is the best option."

"Especially since she's currently wanted for murder." She scowled again. "Are you crazy?"

"You wanted me to take a case, and now I get one, and you're pissed. Make up your mind." He slipped his arm around her shoulder and found a slight easing in her posture. While his sister was tough, as a family they'd been through a lot together. It would always come back to that. No matter what, they were there for each other.

"I didn't think you'd be harboring a murderer, along with a CIA double agent. I ask again, are you crazy?"

"I'm pretty sure she didn't kill that Nick guy. Number two, we don't know for certain she's a double agent. There's just some speculation."

She touched his arm. "Pretty sure? For all you know this woman could kill you in your sleep without batting an eye."

"Does she look like she's going anywhere fast? Besides, no way she'd get the jump on me. No worries there." He put an arm around his sister's waist and ushered her toward the back part of the room. He wasn't sure if Tessa could hear or understand any of their conversation, but it would be best if she didn't. "I got this, sis. Your mad acupuncture skills are what I sorely needed, not an earful of sisterly advice."

She sighed. "We need to flush whatever they gave her out of her system. You'll need to make sure she drinks a lot of water." She rolled her eyes. "Who did this to her, and do they know who you are? And are they the people who murdered this Nick guy?"

"That's what I'm guessing. I'm not sure who they are, but they won't be doing much of anything for the time being. A good old-fashioned shot to the kneecap will keep most bad guys out of commission for a while." He bit back the words he'd said, uncertain how his sister would react. She strongly valued loyalty, as did he.

He didn't want to mention the Russian part. It would hit a little too close for comfort.

"But they're acting on somebody's behalf. So that means wherever they came from, there's more to fill in," Sabrina said.

"I'll have to be careful."

"Careful? It might be wise to leave the city. Hell, maybe you should leave the country." She walked back toward the bed. After touching Tessa's forehead, she brushed away an errant hair and clucked. "Somebody did a number on her. This woman has bruises all over her body."

"That's why I'm glad you came here. I'd feel like a pervert if I undressed her to make sure everything's okay. Even if her clothes were torn to shreds anyway."

"I can't be sure there's not internal bleeding. She moaned a bit when I felt near her kidneys, which means there's some tenderness. That's what I'm most worried about."

"But if there's damage, what symptoms would I look for?" Even if it was the last thing he wanted or needed right now, given his propensity toward bad luck, he wouldn't be surprised if something more serious had happened.

"She'd probably start to pee blood. If it's more than a little, you'll have no choice but to take her to the doctor ASAP."

He didn't want to think about that now. Instead, he tapped his fingers along the bed. "You brought some spare clothes, right? I'm pretty sure you two are about the same size."

Sabrina nodded. "A couple pair of sweats, some jeans, and sweaters. They should fit her. I stopped on the way here and picked up some new underwear—some sports bras, since I didn't know her size. Nothing fancy, but it should work fine." The sigh she released seemed to be laden with worry. "I know I wanted you to get back into the game and not wallow in what happened in Istanbul, but this"—she waved her hands in the air—"this seems like it might be more trouble than it's worth. The CIA or their minions may or may not be after you, and, as if that weren't bad enough, they gave her a drug that might very well kill her. What are you going to do if that happens? Huh?" She was doing her scowling-mother routine, despite the fact he was the older sibling.

"She's not going to die. Besides, since when has a case
not
been a boatload of trouble? Didn't you just come back from being kidnapped by a ring of sex traffickers?" When she tried to interrupt his flow, he held up his hand. "I rest my case." He brushed off her fears more easily than he could his own. Something about this case made him question if he could see this quagmire of possibilities through to the end. "Bottom line
is there anything a doctor can do for her that you're not?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "My guess is she has a couple of cracked ribs, but a doctor can't do much for that anyway. As long as her kidneys are all right, let her rest for a few days. I'm sure once that stuff is out of her system she'll be almost as good as new. Of course, that's assuming she doesn't die first." She tapped her finger to her lips. "Which reminds me, how did she get captured by them in the first place? Weren't you supposed to be watching her?"

"I trusted she wouldn't be dumb enough to run away, but she did while I was sleeping." He shrugged. "Go figure."

"See, your charm doesn't work the same on all women, big brother." She gave him a peck on the cheek. "Make sure you remove the needles in"—she glanced at her watch—"about ten more minutes. Now, you take care."

"Where you off to?" He pointed to the travel bag she'd bought with her.

"I'm meeting Kane in Switzerland. He's got something he wants my input on."

Jake chuckled. "Yeah, like I haven't heard that line before. Hell, like I haven't used that one before."

"We're jet-setters. We've got to fit quality time in when we can." Sabrina's smile made her eyes twinkle. It was good to see her happy for once.

"Yeah, well, don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Considering you'd do pretty much anything, I'm good to go." She opened the door and stopped. "Take care. And let me know if you need anything. You know Max is worthless where this stuff is concerned."

Even though he knew her comment was far from true, he played along. It was easier to play along about Max's incompetence when in reality Jake's skills would never be able to measure up. Hadn't he heard that time and time again from Petrovich?

Your brother is exemplary. You are only so-so. You'll never be as good as he is.

"Don't let him hear you say that. He thinks he's better than both of us combined." And he pretty much was. Max's instincts were impeccable. On their last mission together, Max knew things were going south and had sacrificed himself for both of them—and nearly died in the process. Jake would never be as good as his older brother, but he'd die trying.

*  *  *

Tessa patted the surrounding area and smiled. Yep, she was in bed. Soft and warm, and the sheets were unbelievably comfortable. That was some seriously high thread count beneath her fingers. She could only hope it wasn't a dream—or she wasn't dead. Yep, that would totally suck.

Even though every inch of her body ached, she felt much better than she had when she was strapped to a chair in that disgusting, rat-infested warehouse coming off drugs of unknown origin. If she could only figure out what they thought she knew, the last twenty-four hours would make a whole lot more sense.

But where was she?

She opened her eyes slowly, taking in the room with a calculated perusal. Expensive furniture and a view of the New York skyline greeted her. There was a pitcher of water, along with a note that said, "Drink." She couldn't help but chuckle.

Jake.

That's right. He'd swooped in last night like some kind of knight in shining armor and yanked her from the clutches of death. How clichéd was that? She shook her head.

Kinda ridiculous.

Who the heck was he, and why was he so determined to risk his neck for her? Sure, he said it was a job, even if that seemed a bit suspicious. She'd heard rumors about The Alliance but was convinced it didn't really exist. Besides, anyone could say they worked anywhere. How was she supposed to prove otherwise? The intel on the organization was locked up tight.

He did have skills. She'd give him that. She vaguely recalled him taking out the three men holding her hostage. The bullets seemed to come out of the sky at the time. If she could only remember what the men wanted from her. Why did the idea it had something to do with Afghanistan keep circling her brain? Were they CIA operatives? She couldn't guess. Contrary to common belief, she couldn't tell an agent just by looking at them. Besides, if the CIA were out to get her, she suspected they'd hire someone for the job. But hadn't he told her the CIA hired The Alliance?