Around-the-Clock Protector (5 page)

“My mission hasn’t changed. I’m taking her to McLean. They can sort it out there.”

“You could leave her with me. Let me try to get at the information.”

Caution bunched Carson’s nerves. “Negative. No more drugs.” He hesitated. “She’s pregnant, Gary.”

Resnick blanched for an instant and pulled in an audible breath. “You’re sure?”

“That’s what she says. It’s her body and I’m sure she knows what she’s talking about.”

“This could complicate the recovery process. It’ll
limit the range of drugs they can use on her.” Gary Resnick stared at him, concern in his gray eyes. “She would be better off here.”

Carson considered the offer for a moment. Considered the health of his unborn child. “Not necessary. I’ll stay on once we get there. Make sure they take precautions for the baby as well as for her.” He wasn’t sure how Ava would take the news, but he’d already made up his mind.

Gary looked away. “Okay. But if there’s any way I can help, you can call me anytime.”

“Thanks.” Carson extended his hand and they shook. “We’ve got to get going. Can’t miss the transport.”

“McChord Air Force Base?” Gary asked, turning back to his desk.

“Yeah.”

“Good luck, then.”

Carson nodded as Dr. Resnick sat down in his desk chair. “Where’s your team?”

“Dark.”

Gary nodded. “Chances are Ava’s going to experience some violent headaches as she withdraws from the hypnotherapy drugs. Give her Tylenol.”

“Okay. Thanks, Doc.”

“You know the way out. Keep in touch.”

Carson left the room, closing the door behind him.

An uneasy sensation traveled up his spine as he
stopped at the bedroom door and raised his fist to knock, listening for movement behind the door. Nothing.

He grasped the knob, turned it and stepped into the room.

The lamp on the bedside table was on. Ava’s crumpled blouse and pants lay in a heap on the floor, and next to them, his bulletproof vest.

An unexpected blaze of desire singed his nerves. He swallowed, determined to squash the longing in his body.

He’d crossed the line that night months ago, and he couldn’t give free rein to his desires again.

Light shone from under the adjoining bathroom door. He moved toward it, listening to the sound of water running in the shower.

He knocked. “Ava. We’ve got to go.”

No reply.

Carson attempted to turn the knob. The door was locked. He knocked again, harder this time. “Ava. Are you okay?”

Nothing.

He felt a wave of foreboding as he dug in to his pants pocket and pulled out his pocketknife. Opening the blade, he pushed it into the slot on the knob and gave it a turn.

The lock popped.

He pushed the door open.

Steam billowed out. The air was sauna-hot against his face.

Worried, he approached the bath and shoved back the shower curtain. The tub was empty.

Reaching down, he turned off the hot water faucet, his gaze settling on the open window above the toilet.

“Problem?” Gary asked from behind him.

“She’s gone.” Carson closed his knife and shoved it back into his pocket. “What’s on the perimeter?”

“A wooded area.”

“You search the house. I’m going outside to look for her. Be careful. She’s unarmed, but she’s not defenseless.”

Carson moved past the doc, grabbing his vest on the way out of the bedroom. He pulled it on over his shirt and bolted down the hallway, out into the living room and out the front door. Drawing his 9 mm, he eased around the side of the house, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness.

He listened for movement.

Nothing.

Making out the back corner of the ranch-style home, he moved in next to the bathroom window she’d crawled out of. She had a ten-minute head start. How fast could she move? How far could she run?

A flash of admiration stilled his movements.

Ava Ross didn’t want to go to McLean, and she
was willing to risk injury to keep it from happening. Was there merit in her resistance?

Carson darted away from the protection of the house and moved into the woods, slipping in behind a tree.

Again he assessed his surroundings, listening for any indication that she shared the woods with him.

A slight breeze stirred in the tops of the trees, riffling the leaves. In the distance a dog barked. The odds were she’d hidden. Hunkered down close by to wait him out. Maybe she’d seen him move away from the house and made countermoves to avoid him.

They’d go in circles until time ran out and the transport left without them.

Determination pulsed inside him. He had a mission to complete.

Carson squatted, feeling around on the ground until he found a rock.

Aiming deep into the woods, he chucked it, hearing it cut through the air and smack into a tree well beyond his line of sight.

A muffled squeal came from the direction he’d thrown the stone.

Moving like a cat, he edged deeper into the trees, careful not to make a sound. The element of surprise would be his.

Shuffling footsteps froze him in his tracks. They’d come from the direction of the house, but Ava was in front of him—he was sure of it.

Had Dr. Resnick followed him?

Ava’s scream slammed into his brain.

Carson lunged forward, following the sound.

Voices. There were voices up ahead.

He hit the dirt and crawled forward in the darkness intent on his target.

“Take it easy, Ross. You know what we want.”

He held his breath, letting the words sink into his brain. Dr. Resnick’s summation regarding Ava’s loyalties seemed to be proving out.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Let me go!” The desperation in her voice coiled his nerves. He couldn’t let her be hurt, even if she’d turned.

The sound of Ava’s cries drove him forward.

Carson came to his feet and burst into the clearing, gun raised.

One of the men held a flashlight beam directed on Ava’s bare back, and the other man held a knife inches from her skin.

“Drop the knife,” Carson demanded, staring at the men as they raised their eyes to meet his.

“This doesn’t concern you.” The man with the flashlight ground out the words.

“She concerns me.” He scrutinized the two men wearing black.

They resembled the thugs they’d encountered back at the warehouse—probably CIA or NSA, but he wasn’t sure.

“Who are you?” he asked, aware that neither man had followed his command, or shown any sign they intended to. “Let her go,” he demanded.

Malice infused the air as Carson watched the man with the knife step back.

“Ava. Over here.”

She jerked her arm free of the man’s grasp and moved to Carson’s side.

“You’ve got no idea what’s going on. Stay out of it,” one of the men warned.

“So fill me in.” Carson braced for a fight. He didn’t like the way the situation was shaping up. Reaching out, he steered her behind him.

In an instant the man who’d wielded the knife pulled a gun, but Carson beat him to the shot.

He squeezed off a round, hitting the man in the shoulder.

The thug stumbled backward and fell to the ground, cussing and sputtering.

His partner was next. He lunged forward, but Carson was ready. Raising his leg, he slammed his foot into the man’s chest, sending him to the dirt next to his cohort.

He grabbed Ava’s hand and whirled around. They ran through the darkness and out of the woods into Dr. Resnick’s backyard.

Porch lights snapped on along the street. It wouldn’t be long before the cops arrived. Gunshots in a residential neighborhood always got someone’s attention.

By the time they made it to the truck parked a block away, the sound of sirens filled the night air.

Carson jerked open the driver’s door and helped Ava in before climbing in next to her.

“Down!” He cupped her head with his hand, pushing her down in the seat.

A squad car rolled by, its lights flashing.

That was all he needed right now—to feed an explanation to the locals.

Carson rose up and peered over the dashboard.

The police unit stopped at the end of the block at the home next door to Dr. Resnick. He watched two officers climb out of the car and approach the house.

He waited until they went inside before he sat up and shoved the key into the ignition. The truck fired up.

Carson put it in Reverse and backed down the street and around the corner before he flipped a U-turn and headed out of the area. He scanned the road from the rearview mirror to make sure they weren’t being followed. The men who’d caught up with Ava in the woods didn’t want a confrontation with the cops any more than he did. But one of them was going to need medical attention. Maybe that would slow them down.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you going to tell me what you have that they want?” Anger fisted in his gut. He hated half-truths and disinformation.

“I don’t know what they were talking about. All I’ve had for the last four months are the clothes on my back, until tonight.”

Worry churned his thoughts as he turned on the headlights and pulled out onto the main road headed for McChord AFB. Whatever they wanted from her, they were willing to kill for it, and the sooner he knew what it was, the better their odds of surviving.

Ava stared at the heap of scrambled eggs on her plate and back up at Carson, who sat across the long narrow table from her with an inquisitive gleam in his eyes.

When had she last eaten? She didn’t know and it made her angry. Her unborn child needed sustenance as much as she did.

She picked up her fork and dug in, eating while worry filled her mind.

Carson Nash had claimed the baby she carried was his, but she couldn’t be sure it wasn’t a ruse designed to elicit her cooperation.

Glancing up between a bite and a sip of orange juice, she studied his face.

Was he her type? What
was
her type? Would she have allowed him into her bed? Aggravated with her lack of recall, she polished off the eggs and chomped on her bacon. Maybe it didn’t matter at
this exact moment, but it was going to matter five months from now.

“You might want to…you’ve got some egg…” Carson made a wiping motion.

She picked up her napkin and brushed it across her chin. “Gone?”

“Yeah. Do you want more? We’ve got time.”

“No, thanks.”

A satisfied smile spread across his mouth, and a streak of desire rippled over her.

“I love a girl with an appetite and some meat on her bones.”

She returned his grin, relaxing for the first time since she’d come to at the warehouse less than seven hours ago. She was safe with him. He’d already rescued her more than once. But there was still the matter of McLean. She couldn’t go back there. And he was determined to return her.

She glanced around the almost empty hall. The base was a secure facility. The most she’d be able to do was hide. Maybe her chances were better at Andrews AFB, on her home turf. She pushed the plan back in her mind.

“Come on.” Carson stood up. “We’ve got to get over to the flight deck and suit up. The transport leaves at 0600.”

She stood and followed him around the perimeter of the mess hall, where he snagged a banana and a
muffin from the chow line. “Put these in your pocket. You might need them on the flight.”

She took the food.

Their fingers brushed in the handoff. A jolt of total awareness sang up her arm.

Ava looked into Carson’s eyes, witnessing his moment of hesitation as he studied her. Was it the chemistry between them, or was he beginning to believe her fear of being returned to CIA headquarters was justified?

Maybe he was just working over the ways he planned to force her into the fold? She didn’t know. She didn’t want to know, because knowing would compel her to make a final decision about the character of the man who claimed to be her baby’s father.

“Let’s move.” Carson turned and headed out of the mess hall, confused by the jumble of emotions clouding his mind and his judgment.

The fire in her touch only made it worse, but he had a mission. One mission. To return Ava Ross to the CIA. So why couldn’t he shake the idea that something was seriously wrong? In fact, the whole damn mission had an air of trouble about it that wouldn’t dissipate. And there was the child she carried. His child. An innocent in the middle of it all.

A cauldron of protectiveness boiled over inside him, a need to shelter her and the baby from the
harsh measures he knew he would have to take if she gave him any more trouble.

He would complete his mission.

They left the mess hall and tagged a ride to the flight deck hangar. The C-130 Hercules they were going to board sat on the tarmac being fueled and loaded.

Carson opened the door to the locker room and glanced inside. It was empty.

“You need to suit up.” He guided Ava into the room and closed the door, moving to a closet, where he searched for a jumpsuit that would fit her.

“It’s orders. You can’t look like a civilian—not even on a transport.”

She stood behind him with her arms crossed. “Grab me a small.”

“Got it.” Carson pulled out a small flight suit in olive-green and handed it to her. “There’s a women’s section around the corner.”

“Thanks.” She took the uniform and went in search of privacy.

Carson felt wary as he pulled out a flight suit for himself and closed the closet. He didn’t trust Ava. She’d tried to skip out on him at the doc’s place, but she’d be a fool to think she could do it here. Still, he couldn’t help but worry.

A curtain separated the men’s section from the women’s, and he took up a spot on the bench closest to the doorway.

Bending over, he stared under the curtain, scanning for her legs. She’d chosen a bench close to the divider. He relaxed as he stared at her feet. There was only one way out of the room. She’d have to come through him if she tried to pull another escape attempt.

Stripping down to his boxers, Carson shoved his legs into the flight suit, pulled it on and zipped up the front. Sitting down again, he pulled his boots back on and started to lace them, but he couldn’t resist taking another peek at Ava.

He glanced under the curtain where her legs were visible from the knee down. His gaze locked on the bruises covering both of her calves.

Anger roared to life inside him. “Grab something and cover up. I’m coming in.” He stood up.

Ava let out a yelp of protest, but it didn’t deter him. He pushed aside the curtain and stepped toward her.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were injured?”

A look of defiance crossed her face. “I’m on the mend.”

“Sit!” he demanded, glad when she followed orders and sat down on the bench, clutching the flight suit to her body.

Reaching out, he grasped her right ankle in his hands.

A muffled cry escaped her lips before he looked up, witnessing a grimace of pain on her face.

“You should have said something.”

“It was healing, until those thugs grabbed me in the woods last night. I kicked one of them and aggravated it.”

“So the first time you injured it was also kicking someone?”

“I don’t know for sure, but yeah, it’s a defensive move.”

“It could be sprained.” Carson felt all along her leg from the knee down, ending at her foot. “You need an X-ray. It’s the only way to know for sure.” He looked up and saw her face brighten with anticipation for an instant before she hid her expression.

She was looking for another chance to escape, and a busy hospital would do it.

He gritted his teeth. “It’s going to have to wait until we get to Andrews. They can patch you up there at the base. For now, I’ll wrap it.”

The excitement faded from her eyes, confirming his suspicion. Agent Ava Ross was still looking for a way out in spite of the danger on their trail.

On a gut level he tuned in to her fear. She’d put up one hell of a fight somewhere along the way, and the injuries to her body proved it.

He stared at her ankle for a moment, noting the color of the bruises. The ones from earlier were purple…fresh, but the coloring farther up her shin above the ankle had turned yellow and green, signs of an old injury.

Heat circled in his veins as he recalled her legs four months ago. Long, silky, void of trauma and entangled with his.

He stood up. “Get dressed. I’ll pull the first aid kit and an ice pack. It’ll keep the swelling down until we get you to a doctor.”

Ava stared after Carson as he disappeared through the curtain, disappointed that her brief chance at another escape had been shot down. Her ankle hurt like the devil. She could still use it, still maneuver. But the feel of his hands on her had confirmed one thing for certain.

Physical contact between them
always
generated sparks.

She pulled the flight suit from around her midsection and gave it a shake before sliding both her legs into the uniform. She’d feel more comfortable dressed the next time she faced Carson Nash. It wasn’t that she hadn’t enjoyed the contact. It was the fact that she didn’t want to feel anything for him when she took the measures she planned to take.

Carson squeezed the ice pack until he felt the vial inside pop and start the chemical reaction. It got cold in his hand as he headed for the locker room.

Maybe he was being too harsh with her, making her wait for medical treatment, but he knew what he’d seen in her eyes was trouble.

Trouble that could endanger them both if he ever let her get away.

Carson stepped through the curtain and stopped.

The bench was empty. His senses went into overdrive.

“Ava!” He turned around, but not fast enough.

Crack! She caught him on the back of the head with a hard object.

His vision blurred for an instant before he reacted.

Whirling around, he dropped the Ace bandage and the ice pack and lunged for her, catching her with the broomstick in the air ready to take another whack at his head.

He locked his arms around her, pushing her backward until she hit the wall.

The weapon clattered to the floor as he pinned her raised arms over her head. “What are you doing? I don’t want to hurt you, but you have to stop this.”

He stared down into her watery green eyes, wide with panic. She shuddered.

Slowly he released her arms, but he continued to press her against the wall with his body, determined to come to an understanding.

“I’m not going to let you go until you promise to behave.”

She stared up at him. The panicked expression was gone, but he could still see determination in her eyes, mixed with mistrust and desperation, like an animal trapped in a cage, looking for a way out.

“Why don’t you believe me? Why won’t you help me?” Her voice wavered.

“My mission is to deliver you to the CIA. Period.”

“Even if I know what they’ll do to me?”

“You’ve been compromised. They only want to debrief you. They wouldn’t have sent me or my team in to rescue you if they planned to hurt you. They’d have done it in the field.”

“What if you’re wrong? What if you’ve been played and they’re responsible for everything that’s happened?”

Carson swallowed as he considered his gut reactions from the moment he’d pulled the black hood off her head and discovered someone he’d thought was dead.

For an instant he wanted to believe her, but other than the defensive marks on her body and the attempts on her life, he had no proof.

“You’re hurting me,” she whispered.

Slowly he stepped back, reluctant to turn her loose. The points of his body where they’d made physical contact buzzed with sensation.

He rubbed the back of his head, feeling the knot left by the broom handle. Holding his stance, he stared at her. “You don’t know where those injuries came from. If you could remember some of what took place and where…I’d be more likely to believe you.”

She clenched her teeth and he instinctively braced for another attack, but it didn’t come.

“You know I can’t do that. Dr. Resnick couldn’t even pull anything out of me.”

“Then McLean is your best hope.”

She glared at him and attempted to move around him, but he snagged her arm. “Not this time, sweetheart. From here on out we’re joined at the hip. Now, sit down and let me bandage your ankle. Our ride out of here is ready to taxi.”

Obediently she sat down as Carson scooped up the bandage and the ice pack.

Ava hiked up the pant leg on her flight suit and stared at the wall in front of her rather than at him. She tried to ignore the feel of his hands as he carefully wrapped the bandage around her foot, ankle and halfway up her shin, but the gentleness in his touch sent shivers through her body that she couldn’t ignore. He finished and tucked the loose end back down into the bandage. “That should do it. You can put the ice pack on your ankle once we take off. Is it too tight?”

She stared down at him. Heat crept into her cheeks as a wave of desire crashed on her nerves. “It’s good.”

He slid her service flats onto her feet. “Where are your clothes?”

She pointed to the jeans and T-shirt rolled up on the bench.

Carson snagged them and shoved them into his pack. “Let’s get moving.” He helped her stand and
put his arm around her waist. “Those C-130 pilots are a punctual bunch. They won’t wait for long.”

Leaning into him, she let him help her aboard the waiting aircraft through the rear cargo door.

“Good morning, sir,” a baby-faced crewman greeted them as they moved into the belly of the plane. “If you’ll come with me, I’ll show you to your seats.”

“I thought this flight was supposed to be an empty return.” Carson nodded to the Humvee parked in the belly of the otherwise empty aircraft and loaded down with cargo parachutes.

“Oh. The Hummer. It’s a last-minute drop at Fort Belvoir Military Reservation in Virginia. It’ll add half an hour to our flight time.”

“It’s going out on a chute?” Carson asked as they followed the flight-suit-clad young man.

“Yes, sir.”

“No problem. We’ve got plenty of time to meet our deadline.”

“Here you go.” The crewman pointed at a pair of jump seats near the front of the aircraft.

“Thanks. How many crew onboard today?” Carson pulled off his pack and pushed down one of the jump seats.

“Three, including myself, and I wouldn’t be here if this vehicle could push the deployment button itself.”

He gave the young man a nod before helping Ava into the seat. Kneeling in front of her, he put the
large ice pack on her ankle and tied it in place. “It should last for three to four hours.”

She nodded and reached for her shoulder harness belt.

Carson helped her into the safety setup and strapped himself in while the crewman closed the airplane’s massive rear cargo door.

He handed her a pair of headphones, as much for communication as for ear protection. She put them on and adjusted the mouthpiece. He did the same.

One by one the engines whined and came to life, until the aircraft rumbled like a freight train and lurched forward.

“Ever been on one of these tuna boats?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Not that I remember.” She looked over at him and grinned.

Her response made him smile and he tried to relax. They were finally rolling. They’d be on the ground again by late afternoon. She’d be delivered to CIA headquarters shortly after that, so why didn’t the information sit well in his gut?