Lethal Consequences (29 page)

Her chest squeezed tight with the knowledge there was really only one solution. Eve would be pissed when she found out. Landon might just lose it for good. But this wasn’t about either of them. It wasn’t even about Olivia. It was about something bigger, something greater, something she—a nobody schoolteacher from Idaho—had the strength to change.

Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.

How many times had her father implied that to her? How many times had he hinted that Eve was out saving the world while Olivia was simply stuck in a classroom hiding from it? She believed deep in her heart that teaching was an invaluable profession—one of the most important to society—but the last few years she hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that in some way her father had been right. She’d run home from Hollywood the first time a director had inappropriately propositioned her. Gone into teaching because it was safe. And justified it all by telling herself she was just being the responsible daughter who cared about taking care of their father. But in doing so, she’d squashed her dreams. And more importantly, she’d locked away a part of herself she hadn’t even known existed until right now.

This was her chance to truly make a difference. This was her chance to do what no one else could. This was her chance to finally make her mark.

Carefully, she lifted Landon’s hand from her belly and slowly slid out from under him. She held her breath as he grunted, rolled to his abdomen, and reached for the pillow, pulling it in and wrapping his arm around it. When his soft breathing returned, telling her he’d drifted back to sleep, she exhaled a relieved breath and reached for her jeans from the floor.

She dressed quickly, then turned back to look at him still sound asleep, his hand up near his face on the pillow, the sheet low across his sexy, muscular back. Her heart squeezed all over again. He’d be pissed when he awoke and discovered she was gone, but there wasn’t anything she could do about that. Someday—hopefully—he’d understand.

Quietly, she crossed to the bed, wanted to lean down and kiss him one more time but knew she couldn’t. In the end, all she could do was save him, like the dozens of times he’d saved her since the first day they’d met.

Tiptoeing out of the room, she closed the door softly at her back, then moved through the dark house, heading for the lab.

“
Goddamn it, Marley.”

Jake rummaged through a stack of files in the office he’d told Marley to use when they’d arrived in Italy, searching for Miller’s folder. He knew she’d made paper copies before they’d left Kentucky in case the system was down when they got here, but couldn’t for the life of him figure out where she’d stashed them.

He shoved a book to the side, knocking a paperweight off the edge of the mahogany desk. It hit the hardwood floor with a clank. Cursing under his breath, he pushed a file folder aside and reached for the one below, flipping it open and frowning when it wasn’t what he needed.

This was why he couldn’t afford for her to be out of the office. It wasn’t because he was worried about her safety or any of that crap, but because he’d lose his fucking mind if he had to deal with this kind of mindless shit on a regular basis.

“Yeah, got it.” Mick Hedley stepped into the open office doorway with a phone pressed to his ear. Tipping the mouthpiece away, he said, “File cabinet, top drawer, under D for DIA.”

Fucking A.
That
made perfect sense. She should have just filed it under D for dipshit since that seemed to be Miller’s MO lately. “Gimme the goddamn phone.”

He held his hand out as he wheeled his chair across the floor tow
ard the four-drawer file cabinet against the far wall. Hedley handed it to him, and Jake tucked the receiver between his ear and shoulder while he stood and opened the top drawer. “Your filing system sucks.”

“It’s on the computer, Jake,” Marley answered in a you’re-so-freakin’-dumb tone.

He scrolled through files, searching for Landon’s info. “You know I don’t know how to work your damn system.”

“
I could teach you in under five minutes.”

“Why the hell do I need to learn? That’s what I pay you for.”

She huffed on the other end of the line. “Did you find it yet?”

He pulled out the folder, flipped it open, and stared down at Landon’s photo. “Yeah. Finally. I feel like Indy-fucking-ana Jones, though.”

“Huh. Interesting. You’re not nearly as sexy as Dr. Jones.”

He dropped into his chair and wheeled back over to the desk, a smile tugging at his lips. “And you’re no Kate Capshaw. Oh, no wait. Maybe you are. She’s the chick who screamed and threw a temper tantrum all through the second movie, right?”

“Very funny.”

“Got your way, didn’t you? You’re on an op.”

“Yeah, this is a lot of fun. Iceland’s the bomb.”

Iceland was far enough from the Caribbean to draw the Red Brotherhood away from Miller and Wolfe, but the thought of Marley anywhere near the terrorist group dragged the smile from Jake’s lips. “Tell me you and the others are already in the air headed out of Reykjavík.”

“Not yet,” she said. “The pilots are refueling. Eve and Zane placed the sample in a Dumpster in town, though, so we’re all set. Should be out of here within the next hour.”

Jake breathed a sigh of relief as he moved the mouse over the pad on the desk and brought his computer screen to life. Hopefully, Olivia’s blood sample would continue to transmit a signal for several more days, and by the time the Red Brotherhood found it, they’d all be long gone and this would be just a memory. “Stone called. They need more men to secure Crossler’s compound. Sounds like it’s a mini-nightmare down there. I’m sending Tierney and Walker, but I want you, Archer, and Wolfe to head there next. I’ll rendezvous with you in the BVI.”

“The BVI. Sweet. I have vacation time saved up. Maybe I’ll just buy a bikini and stay for a week or two once this is all over.”

Images of Marley laid out on a sunny beach in nothing more than a string bikini popped into Jake’s mind, heating his blood, making his stomach tighten with the erotic vision.

“Ryder? You still there?”

Her sultry voice knocked him back to reality. He gave his head a swift shake, forcing that useless fantasy away. “Yeah. Sorry. Just pulling up the message now.”

“So the vacation thing. That’s a go, yes?”

Fuck that.
No way in hell he wanted her parading around some beach half-naked for every douchebag guy to drool over. Aegis had an image to protect, after all. “No. I need you back in Kentucky.”

She huffed again, but this time there was no humor in the sound, and though he knew he’d just ticked her off, he didn’t care.

He scrolled through photos of the known Red Brotherhood associates his contact at the State Department had sent him only an hour ago and paused when he found the one that had caught his eye. “There it is.”

“You got it?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

Hedley moved closer to get a look at the screen.

“In the back of Landon’s file is the photo you’re looking for,” Marley said. “It’s the only one of Danica Crossler I have.”

He flipped Miller’s file open and paged to the back. To a picture he knew Marley had shown him when he’d told her he was hiring Landon Miller over a year ago. At the time she’d waved the photo and said, “This girl is going to be a problem for him,” but Jake hadn’t listened.

“Where did you get it?” he asked, still looking through pages, searching for the picture.

“Internet. You can find all kinds of shit there. Oh wait, you’re too old to know how to work something as modern as the World Wide Web.”

“Oh yeah, you’re hilarious. Remind me of this conversation when I’m doing your annual review.” He flipped a page, then froze. “Shit.”

“Why is that word so ominous?” Marley sighed. “What did you find?”

He glanced from the photo in the folder to the face on the screen to his left. Reaching across to the mouse, he flipped screens to the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list. The same face stared back at him. “The link between Miller, Danica Crossler, and the Red Brotherhood.”

Hedley’s gaze followed, and the Aussie muttered, “Fuck.”

Jake pushed to his feet. “Change of plans, Marley. Do not go to the BVI. You hear me? Head straight back to Aegis headquarters.”

“Why? You said Landon needed extra hands.”

“He does. But not from Aegis. We’re handing this one off to the DIA. They’re gonna want to take the reins on this, and we’re going to let them.”

Soft, silky fingers glided over Landon’s shoulder, moving down his spine and back up again, rousing him from sleep. He groaned, loving the feel of Olivia’s hands, loving every single part of her.

“Mm, you have wicked fingers,” he mumbled into the pillow beneath his cheek. Visions of how he was going to roll her over, pin those teasing hands of hers above her head, and take her again slowly were already filling his mind, sending the blood pooling in his groin.

“That’s nice to know.”

His eyes popped open at the sound of the voice behind him. A female voice, but definitely not Olivia’s.

He rolled to his side, diagonal in the bed, and pushed up on one hand, looking into a very familiar face.

“Dani? What are you doing in here?” The wheels in his mind sputtered. Moonlight spilled over her features. “Did you get it to work?”

Her hand slid to his bare hip. “Get what to work?”

Weird question.
His brow dropped. “The serum. The antidote. Did you get it?”

“Oh, that.” Her fingertips moved against his hipbone. “Almost.”

Almost . . .
He was obviously more tired than he’d thought. But when her fingers grazed the edge of the sheet, already riding low, warning bells rang in his head.

Holy fuck.
He was bare-ass naked only inches from her hand. He tugged the sheet up, glanced quickly to his left, and discovered Olivia’s side of the bed was empty.

His eyes shot to the floor. Olivia’s clothes were gone too. Even her shoes were missing, an empty space now where he’d dumped her garments when he’d stripped her out of them piece by piece only hours ago.

Jumbled thoughts rushed through his head. Dani here, Olivia gone, him naked. This had major-ass fuckup written all over it. He swung his legs over the far side of the bed, clenched the sheet together at his hip, and pushed to his feet. “Where is she?”

Dani shifted on the bed where she was sitting and watched him walk around the room as if his being naked in front of her was no big deal. “Who?”

Who?
She knew damn well who. “Olivia.”

Searching frantically for his jeans, he finally spotted them, hanging halfway off a chair. He turned away and tugged them on, then dropped the sheet when his ass was covered, not wanting Olivia to walk in and see him half-naked in a room—any room—with Dani. Son of a bitch, the last thing he needed was for her to get any crazy ideas about the two of them. He wasn’t interested in Dani. Never had been.

“Oh. Her.” Dani waved her hand while he looked for his shirt. “I saw her through the window when I came up from the lab. It looked like she was going for a walk. You know, Landon, she’s all wrong for you.” She crossed one leg over the other, her bare foot dangling in the air. She was still wearing the same short shorts and fitted tank she’d had on earlier, but her chestnut hair now fell over her shoulders, and in the moonlight she looked way older than twenty-two, and way more worldly. “I hate to see you get so worked up over someone like her. Especially knowing how weak she is.”

He stilled in the act of reaching for his T-shirt from the floor. “She’s not weak. You don’t have a clue what she’s been through.”

“We’ve all been through bad shit. But you and I . . .” She pushed to her feet, crossed the floor, and stopped in front of him, the look in her eyes shifting from friendly to predatory. “We share a connection you can’t possibly have with her.”

Her hand landed against his bare chest. She rose up on her toes and leaned toward his mouth.

Landon pushed against her shoulder and moved back just before her lips met his. “Whoa. Dani, stop.”

She stilled but didn’t ease away. “Why? You haven’t even known her that long. I’ve been here all this time. And you said you would take care of me. You owe me. You know you do.”

Pinpricks of ice stabbed at his spine. She was right. He did owe her. But not like this. He closed his hand over her wrist, pulling her fingers away from his skin. “Dani—”

The cordless phone on the bedside table rang, the sound echoing across the room with a sharp shrill.

Olivia . . .

Landon dropped Dani’s hand, moved around her, and punched Talk without looking at the number. “Livy?”

“No. It’s Stone.”

Raleigh.
Landon swiped a hand over his brow. “Why are you calling me on the damn landline?”

“Because you weren’t answering your cell, idiot.”

Shit.
Landon patted the back pocket of his jeans and found it empty. He’d stuffed his phone there earlier, after his chat with Dani. Just before he’d come back to this room and distracted Olivia from both their worries with his hands and mouth and body. He’d been so caught up in her he’d forgotten to set his cell on the nightstand before they’d fallen asleep. He scanned the dark floor near the chair, searching for the small device.

“We’ve got a problem,” Stone said in his ear. “The northwest corner of the perimeter is down. Bentley’s checking on it but—”

Everything inside Landon stilled. His gaze darted toward the door.
Holy fuck. Olivia . . .

“How long?” He whirled toward the closet and pulled out the black duffel. Tucking the phone between his ear and shoulder, he pawed through the weapons, pulling out the Sig Sauer P220 and the Glock 17.

“Three minutes,” Stone answered. “It could just be a glitch. You said Crossler messed with the system and that it’s touchy. We haven’t ironed out all the bu—”

“It’s not a glitch.” He snapped a full magazine into the Glock and tucked it into the back waistband of his jeans, then loaded the Sig. “I’m taking Dani down to the lab.”

“What about Olivia?”

“I don’t know where she is. She’s not here.”

“Fuck.”

No shit. The whole situation was fucked. If this was the Red Brotherhood, they were earlier than any of them had expected. Which meant . . . either Dani’s estimate about the tags was wrong, or someone was leaking information to the terrorist group.