Tell Me No Spies (17 page)

“Arnie, you know I
don’t pull that shit. Just pretend I’m one of your guy
friends.”

He blew out a sigh as
his shoulders relaxed. “Christ, darlin’, ya had me worried there.
So we’re good?”

“We’re good. Same as
always. What you see is what you get.”

His old teasing smile
came back. “I like the sound a’ that, darlin’, ‘cause I ain’t been
gettin’ any lately.”

The tension drained
out of my body. I didn’t want to admit how much his friendship
meant to me. Along with the benefits of that friendship. I leaned
into him. “We’ll have to see what we can do about that.”

“Yeah.” He pulled me
closer and gave me the opportunity to compare his kissing technique
with Dante’s.

Oh. My.

He was definitely
still in a class by himself. And it had been ‘way too long since
I’d sampled that class.

A few steamy minutes
later, he pulled away, his eyes black in the dim light. “So what’d
ya wanna talk about?” he asked hoarsely.

“Uh.” I refocused with
an effort. “Long story.” I tugged him toward the buildings. “I
don’t want to be seen. I shouldn’t have been standing out here so
long.”

“Coffee shop’s still
open.” He jerked his chin in the direction of the hotel.

“No, let’s stay out of
sight. Have you seen James lately?” I asked as we headed for a
darkened corner of the hotel.

He frowned. “Not for a
coupla days. Why?”

“He beat Nichele up
and said he was going to kill her…”

“Shit!”

Hellhound’s yell rang
out as I was jerked backward into the shadows. Something very hard
ground into my back and a massive arm across my throat crushed me
against the tall, muscular body behind me.

“What the fuck?”
Hellhound rasped.

I took a shaky breath
and pulled cautiously at the arm with both hands. I might as well
have tried to wrestle a bronze statue. “Is that a gun in my back,
or are you just really happy to see me?” I quavered.

“Don’t do anything
stupid, or I’ll shoot you right now,” Kane ground out.

“Ya ain’t gonna shoot
Aydan,” Hellhound protested. He stared at Kane in consternation.
“Ya said ya hadta talk to her. Ya said it was a fuckin’ emergency.
What the hell…”

“Time for you to go,
Hellhound,” Kane said. “Get on your bike and get out of here.”

“I don’t fuckin’ think
so,” Hellhound retorted. “What the hell’s goin’ on?”

“Leave,” Kane barked.
“Now. That’s an order.”

Hellhound stiffened.
“Come on, Cap, what the fuck?”

“Arnie,” I said
quietly, feeling the tension in Kane’s body. “Just do what he
says.”

“This is bullshit!”
Hellhound snapped. “I ain’t gonna-”

“Arnie, please, just
go!” I widened my eyes at him, willing him to listen. “You don’t
want to get in the middle of this.”

“In the middle a’
what?” he demanded. “Put the gun away, Cap, an’ tell me what the
hell’s goin’ on, an’ then maybe I’ll think about leavin’.”

“I can’t do that.”
Kane’s voice was grim.

“What d’ya mean, ya
can’t? Ya ain’t gonna shoot Aydan, so stop dickin’ around.”

“Arnie, if you push
it, he’ll shoot me. Believe it. Please, just go,” I pleaded.

Hellhound shot an
incredulous glance at us. His face darkened into a scowl. “Then
he’s gonna hafta shoot me, too,” he growled.

Kane’s grip tightened
on my neck. “Arnie, you don’t know what’s happening. Get out of
here, now. I’ll explain later. Please.”

“No.”

I heard the faint but
distinct sound of teeth grinding behind me. “Fine,” Kane said.
“Here’s the deal, then. We’re going to take a nice, casual walk
through the hotel. If either of you makes a sudden move, I’ll shoot
Aydan. No matter how many witnesses there are. Clear?”

“But, Cap…” Arnie
sounded lost.

“Move.” Kane released
his grip on my neck and nodded forward, his gun rock-steady in his
hand. Arnie and I moved slowly in the direction he’d indicated.

When we approached the
entrance, he slipped the weapon into his jacket pocket, but I knew
it would still be trained on me. And I knew he wouldn’t miss.

I walked stiffly down
the corridor as Kane directed, half-expecting a bullet in the
back.

“That’s it. Stop at
210,” he commanded.

He held out a cardkey
toward Arnie, his gun still held unmoving inside his jacket pocket.
“Open it. No tricks, or she’s dead.”

Arnie took it slowly
and unlocked the door.

“Inside. Hellhound
first.”

Hellhound stepped into
the room, and I followed. We stood side by side as the door swung
shut behind Kane. He slipped his gun out of his pocket to aim it at
me again.

“What the fuck, Cap?”
Arnie hissed. “Drop the act. What’s goin’ down?”

“No act.” Kane’s voice
was as hard as his eyes. “I have orders.”

Hellhound made a
sudden move, but Kane was faster. There was a tiny flat report and
Arnie’s body hit the floor with a heavy thud.

I gaped in shock and
disbelief for a frozen second. By the time I jerked my gaze back to
Kane, I had exactly enough time to glimpse the small trank gun in
his left hand before he pulled the trigger again.

My last coherent
emotion was fury.

I had just begun to
register the yielding surface under me when my left arm was yanked
roughly above my head. Cold steel tore at my wrist and my knuckles
slammed into something agonizingly hard. The bruise on my forearm
seared fire into my bones.

“Aaagh!”

My arm jerked
viciously and repeatedly, pain hammering through my knuckles all
the way to my shoulder. Cries wrenched out of me while I fought to
escape the torture, my body flopping ineffectually with
still-spastic muscles.

“Stop struggling.
You’re hurting her.” Kane’s voice was dispassionate.

“Shit!” Hellhound’s
voice sounded next to my ear, and the pull eased suddenly. “Ya
fuckin’ asshole!”

I couldn’t suppress a
sob of relief when my arm relaxed.

“Shit! Aydan, I’m
sorry, are ya okay?” Hellhound’s gentle hand stroked my hair away
from my face. “Talk to me, darlin’.”

I blinked and shook my
head, trying to catch my breath and clear my vision. Hellhound’s
face swam into focus beside me on the pillow.

“Wha…” My tongue
didn’t want to cooperate.

“Fuckin’ prick,”
Hellhound spat. “Handcuffed us to the bed. Sorry, Aydan, I didn’t
know ya were on the other end. I didn’t mean to hurt ya.” He
brushed a kiss across my lips. “Come on, darlin’, try an’ move up a
bit. It’ll take some a’ the pressure off.”

I peered up at my left
wrist, handcuffed to Hellhound’s right. The chain of the manacles
passed around a sturdy post in the centre of the bed’s headboard.
Together, we heaved and squirmed toward the head of the bed. My arm
throbbed mercilessly.

“Well.” I swallowed
thickly and licked numb lips. “Well, this is cozy.” I glared at
Kane as he loomed over the foot of the bed. “What do you want?”

Hellhound’s free arm
closed around me protectively. “Ignore him. When he’s ready to stop
actin’ like an asshole, then we’ll talk.”

“Shut up.” Kane
glowered at his best friend.

“Don’t be a dickhead,”
Hellhound retorted. “I can’t believe you’re pullin’ this shit on
us. What the fuck’s your problem?”

Kane turned his scowl
back to me. “Thanks for betraying my trust.”

I jerked up,
momentarily forgetting the handcuff in my rage. “Ow! Fuck!” I fell
back on the bed again, clutching my aching arm. “Betraying
your
trust! That’s pretty goddamn funny. I’ve been trusting
you all this time. I was ready to take a fucking bullet for you,
you
asshole
, and what have you done for me? Murdered my
husband, lied to me for months, fucked with my mind, and now this?
Fuck you, buddy! You can stuff trust right up your ass!
Sideways!”

“Ya killed her
husband? What the hell?” Hellhound demanded.

Kane ignored him and
fixed his iron gaze on me. “You went rogue. Stemp gave the order.
I’m giving you a chance to explain.”

“Don’t do me any
fucking favours,” I snarled. “You know damn well I wouldn’t go
rogue.”

“What were you doing,
then?” he demanded.

“You undo this cuff,
and we’ll talk.”

“Like hell. You’re not
getting another chance to lie to me and take off.”

“I never lied to you!
Let me go.” Captivity was starting to have its usual effect on me.
My heart pounded and I gasped uneven breaths. “Let me go.”

“Come on, Cap. Ya know
Aydan can’t stand bein’ tied up.” Hellhound eyed Kane. “It’s just a
misunderstandin’. Take off the cuffs an’ we can talk about it.”

Kane crossed his arms
over his chest, his expression remote. “The sooner you talk, the
sooner I’ll let you go. Simple.”

“John, please. I was
just visiting my aunt in Victoria. That’s all.” I gave him an
imploring look as my hands turned clammy. “Please just take the
cuffs off.”

Kane snorted.
“Visiting your aunt. That’s a good one.”

“It’s the truth. Ask
at the nursing home.” I clenched my teeth together on panic. Stay
calm.

Hellhound shot a
worried look at me and turned to scowl at Kane. “Fuck, Cap, she
told ya what ya wanted to know. Let her go. What the hell’s goin’
on, anyway?”

“I’ll let her go when
she tells me the truth. And while we’re waiting, you can tell me
why the hell you were going to jump me.”

Arnie glared. “I
wasn’t. But it woulda served ya right if I did. Ya lied to me. What
the fuck was that?”

Kane’s lips tightened.
“Sorry,” he said evenly. “I couldn’t take a chance on telling you
the real reason I needed to see her. I didn’t know what she’d told
you…”

“An’ ya thought what?”
Hellhound interrupted. “Ya thought I’d stab ya in the back after
all we been through? That’s bullshit, an’ ya know it.”

Kane blew out a breath
between his teeth. “I know the two of you are… close.” He shot a
glance at Arnie’s arm around me. “I thought she might try to turn
you against me.”

Arnie went still. When
he spoke, his voice was quiet. “Ya know goddam well Aydan wouldn’t
do that, an’ ya know goddam well I’d never turn on ya, no matter
what anybody offered. But right now you’re doin’ a helluva good job
makin’ me wonder why.”

“Look, I said I’m
sorry, and I am,” Kane said. “But Aydan may not be the person you
think she is, and I couldn’t take a chance on having you caught in
the middle. Just tell me what she told you. I’ll uncuff you, and
you can leave.”

“What about uncuffin’
Aydan?”

Kane shot me a cold
look. “We’ll see.”

Arnie scowled. “She
ain’t told me nothin’ yet. Didn’t have a chance. I got a message on
my computer sayin’ to be here, an’ here I am. That’s all I
know.”

“Bullshit. We’ve been
watching your email. You didn’t get any messages.”

Hellhound gave him a
look that dropped the air temperature by about fifty degrees. “So
now you’re callin’ me a liar an’ spyin’ on me? We been brothers for
forty-some years, an’ you’re pullin’ this shit on me now?”

Kane eyed him, silent
and expressionless.

“I already told ya,
she ain’t told me nothin’. Ya gonna work me over now?” Hellhound
grated. “Gonna make me talk?”

Kane flushed. “Just
tell me what she told you, goddammit!”

Hellhound’s face set
like granite. “Helmand, Arnold. Corporal, retired, Canadian Armed
Forces, service number-”

“Cut the crap,” Kane
snapped.

“Helmand, Arnold.
Corporal, retired, Canadian Armed Forces-”

“Fine!” Kane threw
himself into a chair. “I can wait. She’ll crack any time now.”

Hellhound turned to
face me on the pillow. “Hey, darlin’.” His free hand stroked my
hair.

“Hey,” I responded
weakly, trying to control my urge to scream and struggle against
the handcuff.

His arm slid around me
and he pulled me closer. “Ya got any bondage fantasies?”

I gave him a tremulous
smile, and he kissed me gently. I couldn’t believe it when his hand
drifted down to pull my T-shirt free of my jeans.

He nuzzled my ear, the
prickling of his whiskers sending a cascade of shivers down my
neck. “Wanna play, darlin’? This bondage thing’s givin’ me a
helluva hard-on.” His hand slid under my shirt, caressing my skin
while he kissed me again.

“Knock it off.” Kane
sounded thoroughly irritated.

I suddenly realized
what Arnie was doing. Killing two birds with one stone. Distracting
me from my panic, and annoying the snot out of Kane at the same
time.

Hell, I was onboard
with both those goals. I smiled against Arnie’s lips.

“Actually,” I
murmured, “I do have a particularly kinky fantasy involving
handcuffs and an audience.”

“Oh, really?” He
deepened the kiss, his tongue making seductive promises I knew he
could keep. Wildly exceed, as a matter of fact. I draped a leg over
his hip and fumbled one-handed at the button on his jeans.

“That’s enough,” Kane
growled. “Cut it out.”

Hellhound chuckled.
“Nah, that ain’t nearly enough.” He rolled on top of me, parting my
legs with his knee while he kissed me hungrily. He pulled away a
few inches to smile down at me while his free hand coasted down to
fondle my ass before migrating slowly up again. “She’s gotta come
seven or eight times before it’s enough.”

“I said,
cut it
out!
” Kane barked.

I’d been hoping he’d
realize we weren’t going to cooperate until he took the cuffs off,
but he sounded mad enough to shoot us again instead.

Undeterred,
Hellhound’s hand slid back under my shirt. “Oh, God, Arnie,” I
gasped, only slightly over-acting as his fingers slipped inside my
bra. Okay, not over-acting at all. Those gifted hands, oh hell,
yeah…

He kissed his way
across my throat, the roughness of his beard and moustache sending
sizzling pulses zipping to all sorts of sensitive places. I let my
head fall back, eyes half-closed while I emitted soft, breathless
cries.