Holding Out For A Hero: SEALs, Soldiers, Spies, Cops, FBI Agents and Rangers (50 page)

“They’re on the front porch.”

“I’ll get them. Come on, Grace. Help me load the Jeep.”

The moment father and daughter were out of the kitchen, Nick kissed Jaymee hard on the lips. She opened to him without protest, desperately needing a final connection with him before he left. She told herself she wouldn’t show her anxiety. She wouldn’t distract him, so he would come back safely.

Nick looked into her expressive eyes, the muddied brown and green betraying her feelings more than she knew. He felt the now familiar tightness in his chest, trying to come to terms with his reluctance to leave her. She was doing her best not to interfere with his work, and he was a selfish bastard not to stop giving her hope. Yet, he needed to kiss her, to taste her, before he left.

“Three days,” he husked out.

“Promise you’ll be careful?”

“Promise.”

“One more thing, Killian?”

He stiffened at her using his name. “Yes?”

“Give me one more night when you come back? Just you and me, nothing else?” Her eyes were luminous with unshed tears, but she was determined to let him know she was prepared for his choice. She forced a light note into her voice. “Then I’ll consider your debt over my torn clothes and dirty tee-shirts paid in full.”

Nick gave her a long, passionate kiss, his tongue possessing her mouth with such evocative tenderness, she wanted to beg him to stay. He laid his forehead on hers.

“I always pay my debts,” he told her. “It’s a deal.”

Jed was already in the Jeep waiting when they went outside. Grace was perched on the hood, and she jumped off when Nick climbed in. He tweaked her cheek and returned his attention to Jaymee.

“Good luck,” Grace told Jed, as he started the vehicle. “I’m sure you’ll get the sequences decoded, Cousin Kill. Their computer language wasn’t that difficult, even with it in Chinese.”

“You’ve been practicing, I see,” her father observed, shifting into gear. “Nick?”

“One minute,” Nick said, and turned back to Jaymee, taking the basket she handed to him.

“Hey, Dad,” Grace said softly over the idling engine, deliberately waiting till he gave her his full attention. “Tell Killian thanks for the Chinese books he gave me. They have an interesting way of writing.”

Jed nodded, and the Jeep pulled away. Jaymee waved, and Nick saluted back. Grace just stood and watched.

“What lovey-dovey things did Nick say to you?” she teased. “You guys were just so sweet.”

Jaymee flushed. She wouldn’t let a teenager make her uncomfortable. “He was telling me how to access the new program for my invoices in the new computer, that’s all.”

Grace laughed merrily. “Ah, how romantic.”

“I don’t know how to do anything with the new stuff and Nick was supposed to teach me,” Jaymee retorted defensively. “He knew I’d be trying to use it when he’s gone.”

Grace linked her hand with Jaymee’s in affection. “Well, let’s bargain. Orange juice for help with the computer.”

Jaymee’s eyes narrowed. “How many glasses?” She should have known the darn kid was also computer literate.

Grace grinned. “Negotiable,” she offered generously, as they walked back to the house. “This is going to be fun...boss.”

Her imitation of Nick’s drawl was so on the money Jaymee laughed, despite missing him already. She would have to carry on, and not think of the lonely nights. Determined, she donned her tool belt.

“Fun...” she drawled back in a similar vein, “is for sissies.”

Big Bad Wolf: Chapter Fourteen

Jaymee kicked a stone in moody contemplation as she walked through the woods toward the house. She was sweaty and tired. And she missed Nick. The last two days, without him, had been long and tedious. It was difficult to continue, when everywhere she went made her think of him—sitting in her truck, working on a roof, sitting in her study, even in what used to be her sanctuary, her project-house. It frightened her, this feeling of desolation. How was she going to cope when he finally left her?

Work herself to death, she supposed. That used to be her antidote to pain. Smiling wryly, she kicked at another stone. Poor Grace. She’d worked the teenager hard the last couple of days but she was a tough young thing and absolutely fearless where height was concerned. After going out to buy the right kind of shoes, she’d taken delight in running around on the roof, working without complaint in the heat.

Without the Hidden Hills subdivision, Jaymee didn’t have to meet many deadlines. Her workload, with smaller independent builders, was lighter, and she spent more time at remodeling, leaving Dicker and Lucky on the job. She’d sent Grace ahead of her today, to start cleaning out one of the upstairs rooms while she answered some messages on the business line.

It was a mistake walking alone in the woods. It made her think of Nick. She sighed. What didn’t make her think of Nick? The sound of broken twigs behind her halted her thoughts. Turning around, she saw two figures coming toward her. Very quickly. Two very well-dressed men, looking absolutely out of place. They didn’t seem lost. Or friendly. Her eyes widened at the sight of the gun in one of the strangers’ hands. It was pointed at her.

***

Nick stared out at the ocean, wondering what Jaymee was doing at the moment. Working, of course. He smiled wryly. The woman was an incurable workaholic.

Jed looked up from the maps he was studying, his gaze hard on Nick’s contemplative stance. “You have to decide sooner or later, you know,” he said softly.

Nick didn’t deny Jed’s unspoken admonishment for letting his mind wander off. He knew Jed already guessed of whom he was thinking. His rejoinder was short.

“There’s nothing to decide.” His slate eyes followed the flight of a seagull as it swooped into the ocean. Stealing a page from Jaymee’s book, he changed the subject. “Two things bother me about the whole mission. First, how did they find me? I was in the middle of nowhere out there, yet they homed in on me as if I personally gave them a call. I know my boat was clean; I double-checked before starting sail. Second, how did they find the others, one after another? I can’t accept we were tracked down so easily.”

“It’s on my mind too. Emma’s boat was checked by Diamond himself.”

A muscle worked in Jed’s jaw. “He must blame himself.”

“He’s disappeared,” Jed told him, his voice expressionless. “The unit is in disarray.”

“And you also opted to disappear in the middle of this mayhem?” Nick turned around, walking back to where Jed was seated. “I’m dead. So is Winters. Diamond’s disappeared. You’re here. Who’s at the helm?”

Jed folded up the maps. “They’ll find me eventually. I know they’ll send out a tracker. Right now, training Grace is all that matters. And getting this mission completed. I want those responsible cancelled. For Emma. For the others.”

Nick nodded. They were all in danger as long as these people knew some way to get to them. “I’ll break the code soon, I swear it. I refuse to let those Chinese characters get to me. There’s a link in there somewhere. I can feel it.”

“Extrapolate,” Jed ordered. “That’s why we’re here. We move from what we know to the unknown.”

Nick turned around and kneeled on one knee as he scooped sand through his hand. It felt cool to the touch and he deliberately concentrated on the exercise, scooping a handful, then letting it trickle out. “After getting the encryption code, I made the copies and gave them to Emma to distribute to the rest of our team. Then we spread out, each with one for decoding and backup. That’s the last time I saw them. I was out there and while waiting for instructions from Command, I attempted to break the code.”

“Did you call Command or try to reach them by computer or phone, so they were able to trace you?”

“No. All I did was the initial decoding interface, and run a random overview. Nothing unusual.”

“What warned you?”

Nick dusted his hands. “You know my programs are different from the others. I have my own warning system. There was an incoming missile.”

“Incoming?”

“Yeah, underwater.”

“So you were targeted by an outside explosive, not pre-wired.”

Nick nodded. “Right, but there would still have to be a tag somewhere on the boat for them to know the exact spot to hit. It was too well-planned, as if they were out there hunting for us, knowing they would get us.” He ran impatient fingers through his wind-dried hair. “Maybe I need a refresher course in Chinese. Maybe I overlooked some important double meaning. I’ve tried every damned sequence.”

“You can reread those books you lent Grace,” Jed suggested.

“She’s done with those? She’s good with languages, you know. I’ve seen her memorize those pictograms in one sitting. She probably has the encryption code in her head by now, the way she was staring at the program so intently that afternoon.”

Jed’s silver eyes narrowed a fraction. “She gave me a message to pass along to you before we left. I didn’t think it strange then, because you were talking to Jay, but it did sound cryptic, now that I think about it.”

Nick grinned crookedly. “I wonder where she got that from.”

“She instructed me to thank you for the books, and to tell you the Chinese have an interesting way of writing.”

“She’s your daughter. Was that supposed to have an underlying message?”

Jed repeated the message, then arched a dark brow. “What were the books about?”

“Just essays, reprinted newspaper arti...cles....”

Nick suddenly sat back on his haunches, closing his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose with thumb and forefinger. His curse was short and explicit. Silver eyes met Nick’s blue-gray ones when he opened them.

“I assume my daughter has caused some trouble?”

“Trouble,” snorted Nick, his mind racing. “Hell, Trouble has been playing her father’s little mind games.”

“Oh?”

“An interesting way of writing,” Nick repeated Grace’s message again.

Jed’s eyes glittered in the sunlight. “You’ve already tried right to left, the way they do it. Error, remember?”

“Yeah, but Trouble meant the books and articles I gave her. Chinese newspapers read up and down, Jed.” His lopsided grin was rueful. “I’ll bet if we just connect the pictograms up and down….” He stood up, his eyes far away. “Let’s go. I need to get back to Jaymee’s place.”

“Not yet. Our plan was to retrace your steps. We’ll start with you getting to shore and work our way to your getting the small apartment.” Jed stood up, jamming his sunglasses on his nose. “I need that piece of information to assimilate.”

“All right,” Nick agreed.

Jed’s specialty was information assimilation, assessing how the other side thought and compacting massive chunks of information into relevant details. Simplification, followed by the process to extrapolate cause or effect. Very useful for an assassin. No one could get into an enemy’s mind like his cousin, and certainly, very few could rival the Ice Man when it came to silent elimination.

Jed would find and target the enemy from within. As all Viruses were trained to do, Nick acknowledged. Invade and disappear. That was why all these attacks on them were unacceptable. No one was supposed to know about the Virus Program.

It had to be something tied with the targets and their relatives, Nick darkly concluded. Emma was Diamond’s wife. Jed said one other victim was a relative too. Winters was using his brother’s boat. Jed. Unlike the others, he didn’t have anyone vulnerable. Until now. A sense of protectiveness burned fiercely in him. He had to find these bastards and eliminate them. There was no way he would let Jaymee be jeopardized by unknown assailants who, one day, might link her to him. Even after he disappeared from her life. His eyes darkened at the thought.

***

Jaymee tried to hide her fear. The gun against the small of her back felt hard and cold, and she knew her captors wouldn’t hesitate using it. It was in their eyes, the way they marched her to the house, the swift slap one of them gave her when she made an unexpected move.

She hadn’t asked any questions. She had known instinctively these men were after Nick, that they were looking for him now. For the first time, she was actually grateful he wasn’t anywhere in the vicinity. Maybe things did happen for a good reason.

“Open the door,” the one holding the gun commanded.

It shouldn’t be locked, but Jaymee took the opportunity to make as much noise as possible. She had to warn Grace somehow. Pushing at the door, she said to her captors, “The house isn’t lived in.”

“Perfect hiding place,” the other man commented, his voice echoing through the empty house. “I wonder why he rented the little apartment when he has this.”

Jaymee blinked in relief. Another reason to thank God. If she hadn’t argued with Jed, Grace would be in Nick’s apartment and these men would have gotten her.

“Decoy, of course,” the one holding her replied, pushing Jaymee roughly into a chair. “Now, Miss Barrows, you’ll tell us what you know.”

“I don’t know what you want to know,” she managed to say in a steady voice. “Please, do you have to point that thing at me?”

The armed man studied her for a second, then put the weapon away. He was a big man, and his expensive suit didn’t hide his physique. He stepped closer, and Jaymee smelled the musky cologne that clung to him. It made her more afraid somehow, and she wanted to vomit.

“Do you understand what I can do to you if you don’t cooperate?” His voice was quietly menacing. “I’ll break every bone in your body, starting with your little finger.”

Jaymee swallowed. She looked at him in the eye. “I still don’t know what you want.”

“The man you hired recently.”

“Nick?” Jaymee feigned surprise. “My new helper? But he’s gone.”

“Don’t lie to us, please. The two men we talked to told us you fired them because you’re sweet on this man.”

Damn Rich and Chuck, Jaymee silently cursed, even as fear unfurled in her stomach when the big man in front of her moved even nearer.

“I don’t really want to hurt you too much,” he continued, “but I will, if you won’t tell us where he is.”

“I’m telling the truth!” She was. She didn’t know where Nick and Jed went off to. “He left two days ago, said he was tired of roofing work.”