Love & Deception (Agents in Love - Book 1) (43 page)

Nick replayed the message, his heart sinking
at this confirmation of his earlier fears. What role had he played
over the last year in harming innocent people? Carlie was only his
fourth case since the order to assassinate Jason Steele. As far as
he knew, all the other targets still lived. Then again, he’d taken
items or information from each of them and had no idea what Paul
did with that.

He caught the tram to the main terminal and
headed for the car rental counters. While there was a possibility
the FBI was actually there to arrest him for working with Paul,
Nick didn’t think so. They were his best shot at getting Carlie
back, and the only real choice he had.

It wasn’t hard to spot them. Three men and
one woman leaned against the back wall, out of the way of travelers
attempting to get a car. They each wore smart business suits and
dark sunglasses. The green bags next to them on the floor were
probably government issued.

Sighing, Nick headed toward them. Nothing
like being obvious. Since Paul didn’t know when his flight landed,
he could only hope no one watched the airport. The boss would know
these guys were feds. Having the element of surprise when they went
after Carlie was how Nick hoped to get them out alive. Paul needed
to think he was alone.

He stopped in front of them and set his
carry on next to his feet. “I’m Nick. I think you’re waiting for
me.”

There was a tense moment while they looked
him over, and Nick wondered again whether they were there to arrest
him. Finally, the woman pushed her sunglasses on top of her head,
pulling her long brown hair away from her face. She stuck her hand
out and shook his. “I’m Jenessa Jones. It’s good to meet you. The
President personally extends his thanks. We haven’t been able to
get a lead on Paul Billings since contact ceased last year. He’s
been involved in a lot of horrible deals, but each time we think we
are about to close in on him, he slips away. We need your help in
putting a stop to his criminal activities.”

“We already have a car outside,” said the
man to Jenessa’s left. “We shouldn’t talk about anything in
here.”

Nick nodded his agreement. They picked up
their bags and headed into the heat of the Arizona afternoon. At
least Carlie wouldn’t freeze without her ugly coat.

He’d tried hard not to consider what could
be happening to her, but hearing this confirmation Paul had gone
rogue ratcheted his fear up even higher. Even if Carlie was still
alive, it didn’t necessarily mean she was okay. While he needed to
talk to the feds and see what they could do to help before alerting
Paul to the fact he was in town, Nick was anxious to call. He
didn’t know why the bracelet was so important, but if Paul wanted
it, he’d have to let Nick talk to Carlie. That was the only thing
keeping him halfway sane right now. Paul couldn’t kill her.

As much as Nick knew him, the boss also knew
Nick. Paul would have to put her on the phone, or he’d never see
the bracelet. He would know Nick was serious about that.

One of his demands would be to talk to her
each leg of this multi-step process Paul had planned. It would keep
her safe, and then he
would
rescue her. Nick ground his
teeth with determination and slid into the back of a black SUV next
to Jenessa.

“What’s the plan?” he asked. “I’ll try to
help you capture Paul, but Carlie’s my main concern. She’s an
innocent bystander pulled into this because she had something he
wanted. If you want to work with me, rescuing her needs to be your
top priority.”

Paul led her down a long, white corridor,
Shelley trailing behind. The fluorescent lights continued in this
part of the building, again with no windows to the outside. Carlie
couldn’t even guess where she was or what time of day it was. She
wondered if Nick had returned to the lake house from Vancouver yet,
what he thought of her being gone.

There were several doors along the hallway.
Carlie tried to look inside the windows of each, though she wasn’t
able to see anything in their quick hurry past. Were there other
prisoners trapped in those rooms? If so, were they all innocent,
too?

The faint sound of rock music came from in
front of her, and Paul stopped walking, pulling his phone from his
pocket. He half turned to her with a smile. “Looks like the client
will have to wait.” He swiped the screen and lifted the phone to
his ear. “Nick. How nice of you to call. Are you at the
airport?”

Nick? Then he knew Paul had her. Hope lifted
Carlie for the first time since she awoke. Nick was coming for her.
She didn’t know why Paul contacted him, but maybe getting out of
here alive wasn’t as farfetched as it seemed a few moments
earlier.

“Yes,” Paul said. “She’s right here and
totally unharmed, but you better bring the goods if you want her to
stay that way.”

Goods? So Nick had something he needed. That
was great news.

Paul pressed the phone against Carlie’s ear.
“Let your boyfriend know you’re fine, but he better cooperate or
you won’t stay that way.”

“Carlie?” Nick’s voice never sounded so
good. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. I’m fine.”

“Every time I talk to you, I’m going to ask
you something personal that only we would know. This way he can’t
record your voice and use that to fool me. I’m going to keep you
safe, don’t worry.”

Clever of him. She didn’t know why it
surprised her that Nick would think about that stuff, however. He
was a secret agent after all. Carlie hadn’t really considered that
too much. It meant he’d lied to her about a lot of things.

She pushed that thought aside. They could
worry about that in the future, if there was a future. “Do you have
a question for me this time?”

“What was it you liked about the Chinese
restaurant?”

It was a good question, since she never told
Shelley about the interior of the room. “The bamboo plants and the
chandelier.”

Nick let out a loud breath. “Good. Now we
have a baseline and I can ask something else each time. Look, I
don’t want you to put yourself in danger by answering, but is there
any way you can let me know where you are?”

“I don’t know. Shelley’s here, working for
them—”

Paul jerked the phone from Carlie and shoved
her into Shelley. “None of that.” He put the phone to his ear.
“See, she’s alive. Now, here’s the next step of your journey.” He
rattled off an address. “There’s a burner cell behind the counter
there. Ditch your current phone and make sure you’re by yourself.
I’ll call that phone in one hour. Oh, and someone will be watching,
so don’t try anything. If you bring in police, Carlie will be dead
before you ever get close to us.”

Paul paused as Nick apparently
responded.

“That’s just a job, not as important as my
own freedom.”

Another pause. Carlie glanced at Shelley,
wondering what she made of Paul slipping up and saying not to
involve the police. She had to be wondering if this mission was
really government sanctioned, didn’t she? Her former friend had
narrowed eyebrows and chewed on her lip. At least she appeared to
be thinking again.

“Fine. You can talk to her each step, but
don’t think about double crossing me,” Paul said. “If I have to
hunt you down myself after killing her to get the piece back for my
client, I’m not opposed to doing that. You have nowhere left to
hide.”

He ended the call and gripped Carlie’s
elbow, resuming their march down the hallway.

“Why am I here?” she asked, knowing Nick
arranged for her protection making her bolder. “You know I’m
innocent. Why did you kidnap me?”

“Not only are you a terrorist, but a liar,
too,” Paul said.

Carlie figured that must be for Shelley’s
benefit, since Paul knew she wasn’t a terrorist. Maybe Paul wasn’t
entirely sure Shelley would agree to illegal activities. It gave
Carlie more hope. If she had an ally here and Nick helping from the
outside, the prospects looked brighter than they had since Terrance
came after her with that rag.

They stopped at one of the doors, this one
flanked by two guards. Stephen Chance smirked at her from the far
side, and Carlie took an involuntary step back.

“Good to see you.” Stephen winked and ran
his tongue across his lips. “Maybe once you’re done in there, I can
escort you to your room. Plenty we can do to pass the time.”

Taking a deep breath, Carlie stood up
straight and held her head high. “If you touch me again, I’ll break
your balls. So, sure, come on back to my room.”

Behind her, Shelley laughed. “You always
were a prick, Stephen.”

Paul turned, his hand on the doorknob, and
glared at Shelley. “You’re on the same team.”

She shrugged. “Doesn’t make him less of a
prick.”

Shaking his head, Paul opened the door and
stepped to the side. “You stay with her,” he said to Shelley. “The
client will be along in a while. He can question her with any force
necessary to make her talk. Is that clear?”

“Crystal.” She pushed lightly against
Carlie’s back and followed her inside.

The small room held only a metal table in
the center with a chair on either side. It reminded Carlie of crime
shows on TV and the interrogation room the cops always had. The
only thing missing was a two-way mirror.

Shelley indicated she should sit in the
chair facing the doorway. Carlie obeyed, though it set off pain in
her bound hands. Stephen jeered at her through the window in the
doorway.

“You’re mine,” he mouthed.

She shuddered and looked at Shelley, who
leaned against the wall behind her. “How could you work for someone
who would also hire Stephen? He’s a grade-A creep.”

“Yes, he is. I’m pretty sure Stephen was a
desperation measure when you wouldn’t tell me anything.” Shelley
folded her arms. “Why couldn’t we be close friends, Carlie? You
wouldn’t trust me with anything until after Nick was brought in on
the case. This was my first mission, and I wanted to be successful.
You made me look like an incompetent fool.”

“So, you answering my ad for a waitress, all
the fun times we had together, pushing me into a relationship first
with Stephen and later with Nick...” Carlie shook her head, feeling
more betrayed than ever before. She really thought Shelley was a
friend, almost a sister. “That was a job, and we were never
friends?”

The hardness in Shelley’s gaze softened
slightly, but then she shrugged. “Yes. It was just a job. I never
cared about you.”

So much for having an ally. Carlie thought
she was a better judge of character than that.

***

Nick was finally on the road in his rental
car, racing for the convenience store Paul directed him to. It had
taken a bit to get everything set up. Jenessa insisted on sending
an agent with him. He argued that he was a better marksman and had
more fighting experience. They’d put Carlie in danger with their
presence.

The FBI agents didn’t appreciate knowing a
spy had more skills than them and could take care of himself. He
got the impression none of the male agents liked him. It made him
wonder if they were invested in making sure he and Carlie got out
alive, or if they only wanted to capture Paul. At least they agreed
to let him go alone.

Insisting they didn’t follow closely so as
not to tip of whoever watched him posed another problem. Luckily,
Jenessa said her main job was computers and all things digital. She
produced a watch with a tracking system and listening device built
in, which calmed any fears that they wouldn’t be able to find
him.

Nick hoped Paul didn’t have a way of
discovering what the watch really was or jamming the signal. Nick
wanted the other agents there when he confronted the boss. They
could keep Paul occupied while he rescued Carlie.

He sped as fast as he dared. It would be
tough to reach the store before Paul called. Nick had no way to
explain the delay, so hopefully the cops were busy elsewhere.

Knowing how Paul had changed in the last
year was a constant worry. If he did anything wrong, Carlie would
suffer the consequences. A lot could be done to a body and keep it
alive, and it seemed Paul wasn’t above torture.

The door opened and the man stepped into the
interrogation room. Carlie’s mouth went dry. He looked
different—older and hardened. Gray dusted the temples of his black
hair and those brown eyes bored into her.

“Stephanie,” he practically purred her name.
“I hoped you’d be dead by now.”

She could barely catch her breath. “Ryan? I
don’t understand. You died in the explosion.”

Ryan laughed and crossed the room, pulling
out the chair opposite her. “It was a very convincing explosion,”
he agreed. “Good enough to make the people in my country believe
that poor, sweet, lovely Princess Stephanie lost her life in it,
though I barely escaped with mine.”

Carlie tried to make sense of things. “You
told them
I
died? Why? The assassins were out to get you,
not me. Who would care if I died?”

“Oh, Stephanie.” Ryan shook his head. “You
were such a gullible person from the very beginning. All I wanted
was your virginity, and you had to go and get pregnant.”

She looked down at the table, not wanting to
see the condescending look in his eyes. While she had been a
gullible, love-struck girl in college, she wasn’t the same
person...was she?

He continued on, “Talk about ruining my
future. I was engaged to a gorgeous woman back home when I left for
America. We were going to marry after I returned from my time
abroad. You ruined everything!”

Looking back up, she glared at him,
challenging him. She
wasn’t
the same person, and he wouldn’t
push her around. “Guess you shouldn’t have plied me with alcohol
and raped me.”