Bare Nerve (10 page)

“Why?”

Bay shrugged. “Just a hunch. Something is blowing on the desert wind that doesn’t feel right to me.”

Bay’s words made Jack uneasy, but he’d had his gut reaction come true too many times to doubt the other man.

Anna joined the rest of her team fifteen minutes later. Bay, Charity, and Justine were sitting around a table with Tommy Lazarus. Anna scanned the area for the rest of the Savage Seven but couldn’t find them. Maybe Jack had gone ahead with his men. She didn’t feel a ping of disappointment at the thought. Really, she didn’t.

“I have a lead on two different black-market Web sites. One of them I’m almost positive was Andreev’s doing. But it’s hard for me to know which of the deals he’s setting up,” Anna said.

“Good. I think that’ll be helpful,” Charity said. “You can catch up when Jack comes back. The rest of the Savage Seven are heading to Tamanrasset to get vehicles set up for us to take into the mountains.”

“Shouldn’t we have someone with them?”

“I need Charity to help get our wireless radios to communicate. Besides, we’ll catch up with the men tonight in El Golea.”

“I can do the radio thing for you,” Anna said. “I have a small computer program I wrote that should help us all communicate a bit better.”

Tommy stood up. “Great. Because we don’t want to lose the security of the connections we have now.”

“We won’t,” she said. She shrugged out of her backpack and got out her laptop. “Give me a minute to get this up, and I can reprogram all our radios.”

“Then I’ll ride with the rest of the Savage team,” Charity said, pushing to her feet.

“Too late,” Jack said, coming into the room. He was mostly in shadow due to the sun streaming in behind him. “The other Humvee is gone.”

Anna glanced away quickly, not wanting to look at Jack until she had a moment to get her emotions under control.

“No problem. We won’t be that far behind them,” Charity said.

Jack was every inch the savage this morning. His jaw was covered with dark stubble, which hid parts of his scars. His blue eyes were dark and cloudy, and Anna felt as though she was seeing the man as he really was.

Was she in any way responsible for this man and for his attitude? Or was she simply channeling her own feelings into his attitude? Last night had probably been nothing out of the ordinary for him. And she had to remember that.

Sam hadn’t taken this mission for her to explore her latent issues with men. He’d taken it so they could rid the world of yet another person who thought weapons were the answer to every problem.

“Anna?”

“Yes?”

“Are you ready to go?” Tommy asked.

“Yes. I’m e-mailing you the program. Just reset your radios and we’ll be good to go.”

She stood up and gathered her stuff, still very aware of the fact that Jack hadn’t said a word to her. She felt self-conscious as she finished getting ready and left the common area.

Outside at the Humvee, Anna knew she was in for another long day. She rubbed the back of her neck and then heard the heavy sound of a man’s footsteps. She didn’t have to turn around to know it was Jack.

He brushed her hands aside and massaged her neck and shoulders.

“I…I’m sorry I had to leave this morning.”

“It’s okay. I expected you to leave sooner.”

She turned around so she could see his face, needing to know if he was mad. But he wasn’t. Those clear blue eyes of his just stared at her as though…as though he was trying to find answers to questions he couldn’t define.

“I don’t usually do things like that,” she said.

He raised one eyebrow at her.

“I know everyone says that to make themselves feel better, but I really don’t like to get involved when I’m on an op.”

He gave her one of those half smiles of his. “I know exactly what you mean. Screws with your thinking and your reflexes.”

“So you don’t…either?”

She realized she needed some reassurance from him. She needed to believe she meant more to Jack than the sum of last night. But what if that was it? She didn’t believe in long-term relationships.

“No, I don’t. In fact, that was what Kirk and I fought about yesterday. You are affecting my concentration.”

“Is that why he’s gone now?” she asked, not wanting to focus on the personal aspect of what he was saying. She didn’t want to believe Jack was more than the mercenary she’d pegged him as.

It didn’t matter that last night had already shaken her core belief in the things she’d believed. Like the fact that Jack might be more than he appeared. That Jack might be part of the gray area that made her uneasy.

“No, he’s working undercover.”

“Do you trust him?” she asked.

“Of course I do. Why do you ask?”

“We used a mercenary last fall on a mission, and he got greedy halfway through the op. I don’t want to have to pay Kirk more than we already are to get him to do the job he was originally hired to do.”

“My men are loyal to me. And Kirk doesn’t have the need for more money.”

“Everyone says that until they’re in a position to manipulate finances to their advantage.”

“Everyone?”

“Yes. Everyone. When money is at stake there’s no such thing as loyalty or fidelity. You better remember that, Jack.”

Anna had learned that lesson when she was girl, and she’d never forgotten it.

“I know who to trust and how far to trust them,” Jack said.

“Well, I don’t know your team, and I don’t share the same faith in them you do,” Anna said.

“You do know me, right?”

She shrugged. She did trust Jack, but she wasn’t sure she trusted herself or her reactions to him. What if Jack betrayed her the way her father had? Not deliberately, but because of circumstance. She didn’t think she could handle that.

“Thanks a lot, Anna. You really know how to make a man feel good about himself.”

He pivoted away from her, but she stopped him. “I want to trust you, Jack…It’s just that I know sometimes life has different plans, and you can be betrayed by someone who would rather die than hurt you.”

“I can’t change your mind on this, but I do promise you I will never betray you. Even unwittingly.”

He walked away, and she let him go, wanting to believe the promise he’d made.

A
ndreev knew Liberty Investigations would be working to find out where he was hiding, but, to be honest, it would be very difficult for them to track down his location. He’d used Algeria for years because the infighting and civil wars in the region made it perfect for his base. Because the government didn’t have the time or interest to interfere with his business. And if they did, a bribe usually persuaded them to look the other way.

He wasn’t really that concerned with the women finding him. He knew they’d called in backup, which made him smile. Those cocky bitches couldn’t come after him on their own. Instead they had gone to a group of mercenaries…the Savage Seven.

Andreev had crossed paths with them before, killing one of their numbers, Armand Mitterand. But that bastard had had it coming because he’d betrayed Andreev. Andreev was a very Old Testament kind of man, and this was the place for that. Eye for an eye.

But there was one man on the team Andreev could secretly turn to. He had been careful not to use that connection too often because he didn’t like to rely on the past—that weakness had led to Maksim’s incarceration. But there were times when he had to.

Yan entered the cavern where Andreev had set up his base of operations. “I have three men from Tamanrasset who will arrive later tonight. I think we should be ready for the demonstration for our buyers in three days,” Yan said.

“Good. I have two extra men on their way to help me as well. We need to make sure nothing interferes with this deal, Yan.”

“Yes, sir. I will go tomorrow to check the weapons and set up the demonstration site.”

Andreev nodded at the other man. “We have a new player after us…Liberty Investigations.”

“Who are they?”

“A group of independent investigators from the US.”

“Should I get in touch with our government contacts in America?”

“Not yet. I have a man undercover working with them. But we need to take extra precautions for this sale.”

“I always do,” Yan said. “Who is on this team from Liberty Investigations?”

“It’s a group of women who work for a man named Sam Liberty. I’ve been digging around trying to find out more about him.”

Yan moved around the desk and sat down. “I can dig around, but my skills aren’t really in research.”

“I know that. Here are the women who’ll be coming after me,” Andreev said.

Liberty had a Web site that was very cleaned up and polished.

“We can take on a group of women,” Yan said. “Their very sex makes them weaker than us.”

Yan was a good man and very old school. While Andreev knew he wasn’t going to be captured by anyone, least of all Liberty Investigations, he’d spent enough time in the world to know women were just as worthy adversaries as men.

“I will make sure the men understand that women may be part of the force that will try to stop the sale,” Yan said. “Some men can be blinded by that.”

“Indeed they can,” Andreev said, thinking of Maksim, who had followed a skirt to his destruction.

“Is there anything else I can do?”

“Not at this time,” Andreev said.

Yan left as quietly as he’d come, and Andreev went back to working on figuring out the best way to stop Liberty Investigations. He wasn’t concerned with them actually finding his hidden base of operations.

The Aaggar Mountains were vast, and the caves and valleys in the range were hard to navigate. Also there were natural defenses in the area, thanks to the way sound carried over the mountains. No one was going to be sneaking up on him unless they came in on a camel.

And even then he was ready. He wanted to make sure those women paid for all they had taken from him. He clicked his mouse on the photo album and pulled up the picture of his wife and two sons. They were a part of his past, and he knew how hard it was for a young man to grow up without the influence of his father.

He only hoped his eldest, Max, would be as good a brother as Maksim had been to Andreev. Having Maksim in his life had made a huge difference.

And Andreev still mourned the fact that he couldn’t see his brother every day the way he’d used to. There wasn’t a day that went by he didn’t wish he could undo that part of the past. He wouldn’t have changed the last ten years or the deals he’d brokered, but he did miss the bond he’d had with his brother.

For all intents and purposes, Maksim was dead to him. The same way Andreev himself was now dead to his own children. Those boys would grow up without a male influence, and who knew what type of men they’d become.

His only wish for them was that they would be survivors like he was. If he’d taught them anything in the eight short years he’d had with them…he hoped it was that.

And speaking of survival, he opened his e-mail and sent an encrypted message to someone from his past. He had lost one life to Liberty Investigations—he wasn’t about to lose this life, too. This was the life that was his true self. That life in Seattle had been too soft and too settled. He’d known it wouldn’t last and hadn’t been surprised when it had ended.

But this life, this place, this was who he was, and he wasn’t about to let three women compromise it.

His message was simple and to the point: where is the Liberty Investigations team tonight?

He waited for the response, and when he got it, he smiled to himself.

“Yan!”

A moment later, the other man appeared. “Yes, sir?”

“Do we have any men in El Golea?”

“I’m not sure. I will get someone there. What do we need?”

“I need the Liberty Investigations team stopped there. I don’t want them coming any closer to us.”

“Very well. I will take care of it.”

Anna had never been able to appreciate the beauty of Algeria, and this trip was no different. But the terrain between Ghardaïa and El Golea was making her take notice.

“This is a hard place to eke out a life,” Jack said. The two of them were once again in the front of the Humvee. The rest of their group was in the backseat communicating with the outside world to make sure they had the most up-to-date information they could find.

“Yes, it is,” she said. “Have you been here before?”

“Not to Algeria, but I’ve been North Africa before. There is always unrest in this part of the world.”

“Why did you choose to become a mercenary?”

He shrugged but didn’t take his eyes from the road. The midmorning sun was bright, shining down on them. Jack drove with suberb skill along the narrow highway. “I think it chose me.”

“Did it? How?”

“I was with a Special Forces team and got injured. I almost died, as did most of my team. Kirk and I pulled through, and when I got back to the States, I found out who was responsible for that.”

When he didn’t continue talking, Anna realized that was probably all he was going to say on the matter. She should let it go. Guessing at his age, she could research the matter on her computer and find out what had happened. But she wanted to hear it from him. She wanted to understand this man, who was more than just a comrade in arms. This man who had become her lover last night.

And had changed her perspective on the world without even trying.

She couldn’t explain it and didn’t even want to try. She only knew she needed to know more about Jack Savage. About the circumstances that had made him into that man.

“Where was that?”

“A bit east of here.”

“Afghanistan?”

He shrugged. “I don’t want to talk about that time. I was in the Sudan just a little over a year ago.”

She didn’t ask who he’d been working for or what he’d done there. That was one part of the world that was horrible to even contemplate living or working in. “I’ve always been thankful I’m able to live somewhere where death isn’t an everyday thing.”

“I’m not sure I follow that. People die in DC every day.”

“True, but not in every neighborhood. There’s easy access to a better way of life in the US. Not like Darfur, where your beliefs will get you killed.”

Jack pushed his sunglasses up on his forehead and looked over at her. “There aren’t many places in the world where you are safe.”

“I know that, but we don’t live under the oppression of death the way people in this part of the world do. Their governments are so unstable there is never a time of peace.”

“That’s very true. That’s part of what keeps my business going.”

“Indeed. So you were telling me how you got started,” she said.

“Not now. Why don’t you tell me how a Brit ended up working for Sam Liberty?”

To be honest, Anna didn’t understand how she had ended up at Liberty Investigations herself. She knew a big part of it was owed directly to Sam. He’d come to find her when she’d uncovered a terror plot involving her supervisor at MI-5. Her supervisor had been reprimanded but not dismissed or brought to trial. Anna had been outraged. There were few things about injustice she could overlook.

“Sam offered me a job when I needed one. He was just forming this team, so he sent me the affidavits on Justine and Charity. I’d been familiar with Charity because she’d been a model in Europe, but I had no idea of her other skills.

“I liked the idea of working on an all-woman team. Sam promised we wouldn’t settle for democratic solutions to lawbreakers, and that’s something I needed.”

“What do you mean, ‘democratic solutions’?”

“You know, the kind where someone in power gets a slap on the wrist instead of going to jail.”

Jack pulled his sunglasses back down over his eyes. “I’m not a big fan of diplomatic solutions myself.”

“I can see that. I bet you’re the kind of man who believes in vigilante justice.”

“If that’s all that’s available. I don’t like working outside the law, Anna. Don’t tell yourself I’m in this simply for the money.”

“Then why are you in this?”

“Are you sure you want to know?”

She had the feeling Jack didn’t really talk to people that much, and she was flattered he’d take the time to tell her what was going on in his head. He was complicated, this man, and she wanted to uncover all his secrets, peel back all his layers until there were no longer any questions remaining.

She suspected that once she reached his core, he’d be like every other man she’d ever met—and not be as fascinating to her as he was at this moment. But, honestly, she was hopelessly enthralled by him.

“Yes, I do want to know.”

“I’m in this business because it’s what I’m good at. I was nothing before I joined the army, and getting out wasn’t what I’d planned for my life, but I had no choice when I realized that taking orders blindly wasn’t for me.”

His answer told her they had a lot more in common than she wanted to admit. She supposed they had both left jobs working for their governments for the same reason. And finding this commonality between them made her want to reach over and touch him. To take his hand in hers and let him know he wasn’t alone. That in some small way she approved of the man he was.

She didn’t say that, of course; instead her BlackBerry pinged, and she answered an IM from Sam.

Jack didn’t like talking period, much less talking about his past, so he had no reason to feel disappointed when they stopped for fuel and Anna got in the backseat.

Bay had climbed into the passenger’s seat. His eyes narrowed against the afternoon sun as they pulled into El Golea. His tension communicated itself to Jack, who reached for his weapon, making sure he could get to it in a pinch.

“What do you see?” Jack asked.

“Nothing. It’s just that feeling again. Blowing on the wind, whispering to me that there is something….”

“Should we push past El Golea and stop in a less populated town?”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure we’re going to find accommodations in another area. And nighttime on this highway is dangerous. A lot of guerrillas prey on the unsuspecting folks who traverse this way.”

“I think our lodging is at the end of this next street,” Charity said, leaning over Jack’s shoulder.

Jack drove on through the city. He was alert and ready for just about anything.

When they reached their lodging, no one got out of the vehicle. Anna’s fingers were still moving furiously over her keyboard, and Jack knew she was in the process of downloading more information.

“Who found this lodge?” Anna asked.

“J.P. Why?”

“There have been two terrorists incidents here. The last one was only six months ago.”

“I trust my men,” Jack said, but deep inside he was pissed off. Trusting anyone could be the road to destruction.

“Bay, do you know your way around here?” Anna asked. “I can’t get a decent map of this city on my computer.”

“I’m not familiar with the city. We should be okay as long as we stick together,” Bay said. “Jack and I will go in and check out the property.”

“Do you know something you aren’t telling us?” Charity asked Bay.

“No, ma’am. I just have this feeling we’re walking into a dangerous situation. That danger may or may not be here in El Golea.”