Street Game (10 page)

“My sentiments exactly,” Jaimie concurred. She was wearing herself out with the ridiculous tug-of-war over who had possession of her hands. She knew Mack in this mood. He would go on for hours; worse, she was beginning to have trouble containing her own sense of humor.

“Stay out of this, Cannon,” Mack ordered. “I have enough trouble with Jaimie here. You know how out of sorts she gets when she hasn’t had enough sleep.” Deliberately, he tugged her body onto its side, his arms firmly around her again.

“I’m never out of sorts,” Jaimie protested.

Kane cleared his throat. “Actually, honey, that’s a bald-faced lie. If you don’t get eight hours of sleep, you’re vicious.”

“No one asked you,” Jaimie groused.

“You woke me up,” he grumbled. “What do you expect? Oh, all right, I’ll help you out. If she’s going to be so damned contrary, Mack, I’ll take the bed and you can have the couch,” Kane suggested slyly.

“It’s my bed,” Jaimie pointed out belligerently. “I didn’t offer to share with either of you.”

Mack nuzzled her silky hair, inhaled her fresh, clean scent. Like hell Kane was going to switch places. Kane knew it too. “I can’t believe your manners have disintegrated in such a short time.”

“We worked hard to teach you,” Kane added sorrowfully.

“It was the other way around. Without me, you two wouldn’t even know what civilization was all about,” Jaimie argued indignantly.

Mack took several silky strands of her hair in his mouth, tugged gently as he allowed them to slide off his tongue through his lips. He laughed softly when Jaimie took a poorly aimed swipe at him, missing by several inches. “This woman has such a temper, Kane.” Mack surrounded her arms with his own, crowding even closer, dwarfing her with his size. “So contrary.”

“I don’t think so,” Jaimie protested. She pressed her smiling mouth into the pillow. They’d always been like this. Talking back and forth and making her laugh when she didn’t want to.

“Fortunately we’ll have plenty of time to work on these little imperfections,” Kane said.

“I’ve got a great idea,” Jaimie ventured. “I’ll take the couch and you two jokers can share the bed.”

Mac’s arm muscles tightened perceptibly as he clamped her to him. “I’m not about to share this dinky little bed with that shaggy bear,” Mack objected. “He kicks like a mule.”

“He wakes up throwing punches.” Kane imparted the information with relish. “I refuse to be anywhere near him.”

“The arrangements are just fine.” Mack was emphatic.

His fingers brushed her breast and she wasn’t smiling anymore. Just like that her body flooded with heat. She was certain it was an accident, but it didn’t matter. She couldn’t do this, slip back into the old patterns so easily, teasing each other and feeling the fire sweeping through her body, hot and wild and so tempting. She felt alive again and that scared her so much that for a terrible moment she couldn’t think or breathe. Her heart slamming hard in her chest, she leapt from the bed, right over the top of Mack, landing like a cat, crouched on the floor, and then scrambling backward, away from him.

“Jaimie?” Mack sounded troubled. “Are you all right? We were just teasing, honey.”

She forced words past the sudden lump clogging her throat. “I’m okay. I still get claustrophobia at times.” She was hyperventilating, just as she had all those nights for months when she woke up alone without Mack beside her. She could feel sweat beading on her forehead, dangerous now, because both Mack and Kane could smell fear. Cursing under her breath, she moved to the window, staring out over the water.

The sea always calmed her. That was a good part of the reason for her chosen location. She wasn’t an anchor and the chaos of people could cause severe damage. The sea helped block the waves of energy coming at her, or maybe it just drowned out the worst of it. Whatever. She didn’t want to think about what Whitney had done and what she’d become thanks to him. She couldn’t lose herself, not when it had taken her so long to build her self-esteem and courage. Mack couldn’t just come back and steal it all away. She wasn’t that same innocent girl.

When she was with Mack, he overshadowed her. She knew she was intelligent, more so than both Mack and Kane, yet she never felt strong around them. They had a different kind of strength and for some reason, she could never quite feel equal to them. She couldn’t blame Mack for treating her as someone he had to take care of when she didn’t act like a partner, but she had stood on her own and she liked herself. She didn’t want to go back.

A tingling awareness crept down the back of her neck and she took a breath. “Who do you have watching me, Mack?” There was accusation in her voice.

Mack glanced at his watch. “It’s Gideon’s shift. In another hour Jacob will take over on the roof. We’ve got a ship coming in around eleven and the boys will be coming off that and securing residences around the neighborhood. We made certain the rooms we wanted were open. You’ve got someone watching you across the way. He’s got to be a GhostWalker, or he’s a damn good terrorist. We didn’t even get close to him. He won’t go back to his room, so we’ve got people going through it. If he left anything behind, we’ll find it.”

“If he’s that good, there won’t be anything,” she said with a sigh as she swung around and leaned one hip against the windowsill. If Mack was right, her warning system had definitely failed. She shook her head. Everything had been right. Good. And now, in one moment, she was back into something she couldn’t handle. Mack and Kane had turned her life upside down just like they always did.

Jaimie turned back to the window and stared down at the water, her fingers twisting together, betraying her agitation. “Maybe you’d answer a question for me, Kane.”

“Does it have to be tonight?” Kane asked easily. “Or rather this morning?”

Mack sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. Both Jaimie and Kane sounded tense in spite of their deliberately casual tones. He knew them both too well. The muscles in his belly knotted uncomfortably.

Jaimie didn’t turn, but stood unnaturally stiff, hands linked behind her back like a soldier—waiting for bad news. “Now would be a good time.”

“So shoot.”

“What do you think the odds are on you and Mack chasing a shipment of explosives halfway around the world and ending up in San Francisco at the wrong warehouse?”

“Jaimie, I told you.” Mack stood up and padded across the room on silent feet to stand behind her. “Do you think I would lie about this? Lie to you?”

“Let Kane answer me,” Jaimie suggested quietly. “I think it’s a legitimate question, don’t you, Kane?”

Mack shook his head. “I took the order from Sergeant Major, not Kane. I made the mistake, didn’t adequately check things out.” Mack hastened to defend Kane. “We were so close to catching them after following the shipment and I didn’t want to delay even a few minutes.”

“I want Kane to answer my question, Mack,” Jaimie insisted, her voice very low.

Kane’s sigh was audible. “No, you don’t, honey, you already have your answers and a closed mind.”

“That isn’t an answer.”

“What are you accusing Kane of, Jaimie?” Mack demanded.

Kane ignored Mack and posed his own question. “What are the odds on you training nearly three years, topping everyone in every drill, and freaking out on the first mission?”

Mack stiffened, instant rage coiling in his gut. “Damn you, Kane, you’re going too far.” He looked from one to the other. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but stop.”

Jaimie’s fingers curled around Mack’s forearm, silencing him. “No, Mack. I want him to continue.” There was no mistaking the accusation in her voice.

Mack turned to look at his oldest and closest friend, the man he considered a brother. Kane remained lying on the couch, his legs stretched out, his fingers linked behind his neck, his eyes staring up at the ceiling as he spoke.

“What are the odds you would have a terrible fight with Mack and me, when we never had a fight before?” Kane’s voice was very even, almost unconcerned. “And what do you think the odds would be, Jaimie, on you taking off, checking into a hotel you picked at random in a city you picked at random, and running into your old college professor?”

Jaimie’s nails dug into Mack’s skin. He didn’t think she was aware of it. “That isn’t an answer, Kane. It’s like you to try to throw me off the track, but I’m not going to let it happen.”

“What good is this?” Kane demanded, the coolness abruptly evaporating. “We’re here with you. Does it matter what brought us here? You had all the time in the world to figure things out. You didn’t want to know. Why the hell do it now that we’re here with you? Why care now how it all came about?”

“Maybe I can accept manipulation better than I can accept betrayal.”

Mack swore and yanked her around. “What the hell does that mean, Jaimie?”

She blinked back tears and met his furious gaze. “Kane knows what it means. Am I being set up, Kane?”

“Well, damn it, Jaimie.” Kane sounded astonished. “You’re my family. You’re Mack’s woman. Why the hell would you get it in your head that I’d do anything but protect you?”

“This doesn’t feel like protection to me.” Jaimie moved away from Mack with a small, defensive gesture.

Mack’s stomach knotted. “Jaimie.” He didn’t know what to say.

“I have a life now.” She motioned toward the window. “And now I’m right back in the middle of something I don’t want. I’m not an anchor the way all of you are. I barely get by. It’s a struggle every single day. Most nights I lie in bed with a killer headache wondering if I’m going to make it through the night. I’m not going back, not for either of you.”

Mack ignored her small retreat and followed her, wrapping his arms around her. “You never get headaches if I’m with you.”

Not headaches. But heartaches, and that was worse. She wasn’t going to let him comfort her, or change the subject. Deliberately, Jaimie stepped away from him.

“What are you really doing here?” Jaimie walked to the sink and poured herself a glass of water to gain her equilibrium. Mack looked hurt. He
felt
hurt. That was the last thing she wanted, but their coming was no coincidence.

Mack raked both hands through his hair in agitation. “I told you it was a mistake.”

Jaimie wandered across the room to the street side, staring moodily down at the tendrils of fog reaching in off the bay.

“Come on, Jaimie,” Kane said, his voice utterly calm. “We didn’t bring this down on you and you know it. We’re the convenient whipping boys. You were manipulated and you let yourself be. You wanted out and you jumped at the easy way out. It came with strings. As for who is watching you, they were here before we got here. You’re safer with us close than not.” He yawned. “I’m not getting up at five A.M. to hash this out. If you two are going to keep talking, do it in sign language.”

Get her away from the window. Get her back!
Gideon’s voice burst into Mack’s head.

Without hesitation, Mack leapt forward and tackled Jaimie, bringing her to the ground. Kane rolled off the couch, hitting the floor and fighting his way out of his sleeping bag, gun already in his hand, indicating Gideon had called the warning to both men telepathically. Kane crawled to the window, where Mack’s body covered Jaimie’s. She didn’t protest or ask questions, but lay quietly beneath both men.

What do you have, Gideon? Is Superman back?

I wish. I think these two came looking for their buddies. They’re loaded for bear.

Can you get a shot at them?

Yes. I can take both out, but it won’t be quiet, boss.

“Tell me,” Jaimie said.

There was no panic in her voice, but there was suppressed rage. Mack’s gaze met Kane’s above her head. “Who are they, Jaimie?” Mack asked.

“You tell me, Mack,” she shot back and for the first time, struggled to get out from under him.

“You little liar.” Mack hissed the words in her ear, bending close, trapping her beneath him. “You know who they are. They aren’t terrorists coming to get you, are they? Not the ones we’ve been following.”

“They aren’t any friends of mine.” She turned her head to glare at Kane. “I’m not going back. Not
ever.
I don’t care how many you send after me. I will never go back to work for Whitney. I’ve hacked into enough files to know what he’s doing and he isn’t alone in it. He experimented on
children.
And he’s got a breeding program. The women are forced to pair with a man of Whitney’s choosing. It’s barbaric and illegal and the women are held prisoners with no one to help them.”

Mack saw Kane wince and covered for him automatically, catching Jaimie’s chin and forcing her to look at him. “Does he know you’ve been collecting evidence against him?”

“Get off me, Mack.” She bit out each word between her teeth. “Right now.”

He stayed where he was for a full minute, looking into her eyes. With a sinking heart he realized the truth. “You don’t trust me.”

He had lost something beyond measure if she didn’t trust him. Jaimie had believed the sun rose and set with him. She had believed in everything he did and said. He’d been her hero. He waited but he saw it on her face, in the way she schooled her expression. She wasn’t going to tell him anything about her current life. Not one thing. And that just might get her killed.

“Damn it, Jaimie. This is Mack. You know me. You know Kane. We’re your family.”

The voice in his head whispered again.
One is a sniffer, like Jacob. He’s running his hand along the doors and windows and he knows they’re wired to blow them to kingdom come. I could take them out.

We don’t know enough yet,
Mack objected reluctantly. He wanted Jaimie safe and the temptation to kill the two men was strong. But if they were GhostWalkers under legitimate orders, Mack’s team had already made one serious mistake when Javier killed the two men earlier. They were trying to identify the bodies fast. They didn’t need to add two more.

He eased his body away from Jaimie. She sat up, her back to the wall, drawing her knees up, staying below the window. They stared at each other.