Check Mate (8 page)

He stared at her quizzically. "Let me get this straight. You're not a doctor, not a psychiatrist, your name isn't Brooks and you aren't a member of the Coalition?"

"That's right."

"Okay. Then who are you and what the hell are you doing here?"

"I told you, I'm Mariah Daley. Special Agent Mariah Daley."

"Are you saying you're an FBI agent?"

She nodded.

"I don't understand—"

"The Coalition is a threat to national security. The FBI has been investigating the organization for quite some time and after the World Bank Heist, the bureau sent in several agents to infiltrate the group. I was actually put in place as a psychiatrist to help your brother Gideon, if and when the occasion arose. But once you were kidnapped, I volunteered for the job of reprogramming you."

"You expect me to simply take your word that you're an FBI agent."

"My mission was to protect you and get you out of here as soon as possible. That's what I'm trying to do... if you'll cooperate."

"If you're really a federal agent, then you must know that there's no way I'm running away to safety before I retrieve a very valuable item from Coalition headquarters."

"Gideon's disk will be retrieved, but not by you," she said. "You're far too valuable for us to allow you to take such a dangerous risk. We will handle things from the inside once we locate the Coalition's new headquarters here in Arizona."

Jake reached out and cupped Mariah's chin. "The Coalition has moved its headquarters?"

She nodded. "The bureau will discover the location soon, I'm sure. Then we'll do what has to be done from the inside."

"When we leave here we're going straight to their new headquarters to get Gideon's disk and to access the disk that will cut off the Coalition accounts. You'll need me—need my expertise."

"No way. I'm taking you to a safe place, where the Coalition can't find you. You'll have to leave the rest to us.

Besides, I told you that we don't know the exact location—"

"You wouldn't lie to me, would you? You can find out what your superiors know. And I'll bet they have a good idea where the new Coalition headquarters might be." Jake eased his hand from her chin, down her throat and then across
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to her shoulder. Gripping gently, he squeezed her upper arm. "I'm afraid you're mistaken, Special Agent Daley, if you think you're the one in charge. We'll do this my way or we won't do it."

"What do you mean, we won't do it?"

"I mean I'll stay right here until Burgess and Lester return, unless you agree to my terms."

Mariah blew out an exasperated breath. "Are you crazy? Tonight is probably our only chance of escaping and you're wasting time arguing over who goes in to retrieve Gideon's disk?"

"That's right, honey. Either I do it or—"

"Why does it have to be you?"

"Because apparently none of your undercover agents have been able to retrieve it, have you? I know exactly what I'm looking for and I'm not afraid to risk everything to get what I want."

"We'll get that disk, when the time is right. But until then—"

Taking a defiant stance, Jake crossed his arms over his chest. "Make this easy on both of us, Special Agent Daley, and agree to what I want. If you do, we can leave right now. And if you don't want to assist me, then once we're away from this place, you can drop me at the nearest bus depot—after you tell me where the Coalition has moved their headquarters. You go your way and I'll go mine."

"What makes you think that's an option?"

"Apparently you're afraid of going after the disk. Afraid to blow your cover. So be it." Jake shrugged. "I'll go in alone while you report back to your boss."

"If you think for one minute that I'd let you go in alone and risk your life, then you don't know me, mister. I'd never desert you that way."

Jake grinned. When he reached out to caress her cheek, she shivered. "Is that your way of saying you're the kind of woman who stands by her man?"

"Don't make this personal."

"Too late. Anything that happens between us is personal and there's not a damn thing either of us can do about it."

"We can't risk your falling into enemy hands again." Marian looked at him pleadingly. "Try to see things from my point of view."

"We agree on one thing—we shouldn't waste any more time arguing." He grabbed her wrist. "Come on. Let's head out of here. We can argue about our destination on the way."

She hesitated, then nodded. Not for one minute did he think he'd won the war, only this one battle. Later, once they were miles away from this place, he'd find a way to persuade her to come around to his way of thinking. If not, he'd have to overpower her again and head off on his own.

When they reached the kitchen, Marian paused before unlocking the back door that led into the garage. "About halfway down this mountain, there's a back road we can take so we can bypass Flagstaff and hit I-40 about forty-five miles from here."

Jake held out his hand. "I'll drive."

She narrowed her gaze and frowned.

"Come on, hand over the keys." He wiggled his fingers.

She reached in her pocket, pulled out the keys and held them out to him, but when he reached for them, she closed them up in her palm.

"What?" he asked.

"You drive, but I'll navigate. I can get us off this mountain and to the interstate with little chance of running into Burgess and Lester."

"Agreed."

Lifting her clutched fingers, she opened her palm to him. He grabbed the keys, placed his hand in the center of her back and urged her into motion. Just as they reached the garage and Jake hit the button on the keypad to unlock Mariah's Chevy TrailBlazer, they heard the sound of a vehicle and saw the flash of headlights through the side windows in the garage.

"What the hell? That can't be Burgess and Lester," Jake said.

Five

Jake recognized the voices immediately. Lester's grumbling, midwestern drawl and Burgess's gruff, I'm-in-charge growl. Damn! What the hell had sent these two back to the cabin in such a hurry? They hadn't been gone much more than thirty minutes.

"Give me your gun," Jake whispered to Mariah. "We'll get the jump on them when they come in the back door."

"No, we won't. They both have weapons and they're both killers. I can't take any unnecessary risks with your life."

"Dammit, woman, you're too cautious to be a federal agent. They may have weapons and be trained killers, but
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they're idiots. I say we—"

Before Jake knew what hit him, Mariah gave him a couple of well-aimed chops to his midsection and his jaw, sending him to his knees. When he glanced up, she was holding her pistol on him, a threatening look in her eyes. Just as he opened his mouth to ask her what the hell she was doing, the kitchen door opened. Burgess stopped dead in his tracks. Lester skidded directly into Burgess's broad back.

Burgess looked down at Jake, then surveyed Mariah from head to toe and noticed they were both wearing coats.

"What the hell's going on here?"

"Mr. Ingrain tried to escape," Mariah said convincingly. "I'd stepped outside for a few minutes to look for a tape I thought I had in my car and caught him trying to slip out just as I came back in." Mariah pointed her 9 mm right in Jake's face. "You should know better than to try to escape. Did you think that because I'm a woman, I couldn't stop you?"

"Damn bitch," Jake grumbled, falling into the pretense mode Mariah was using, and wished she'd take her gun out of his face.

Easing the gun to her side, Mariah turned to Burgess. "Help him get up, then take him upstairs." Burgess jerked Jake roughly to his feet. "And be sure you handcuff him to the bed. He can sleep in his clothes for all I care. I'm through being nice to him. Obviously he doesn't respond to good treatment."

"Hey, Doc, if you want me to work him over, just say the word," Lester offered.

"Thanks, but I don't believe that will be necessary. At least not tonight."

Burgess grabbed Jake by the nape of his neck. "I thought that shot you gave him would keep him sleeping all through the night. What happened?"

"I don't know, unless his genetically altered system is more resistant to the drug than the average person. If I use it again, I'll increase the dosage."

Mariah lied quite nicely, Jake thought.

"He don't look much like a superhero right now." Lester got right up in Jake's face and grinned. "How does it feel, Mr. Big Shot Genius, having a woman best you?" When Lester chuckled manically and Jake smelled his sour breath, he wanted to coldcock the son of a bitch.

"Get him upstairs," Mariah ordered.

When Burgess yanked Jake into motion, he didn't resist. As bad as he hated to admit it, Mariah had probably been right to have responded quickly and subdued him before he'd acted on pure male instinct and attacked the two men when they entered the kitchen. It was possible he might have been able to shoot Burgess, wounding or killing him, but before either he or Mariah could have gotten to Lester, the guy would have pulled his gun and opened fire.

"Oh, by the way, why are you two back so soon?" Mariah asked. "You didn't even have time to make it into town."

Lester chuckled again, with more humor and less menace this time. "Our big tough guy here—" he pointed at Burgess "—got a bellyache and we had to stop and let him go by the side of the road. He's got the backdoor trots."

"Shut your trap!" Burgess gave his partner an I'm-going-to-kill-you glare.

Lester kept laughing, the grating sound reverberating throughout the cabin. Mariah returned her Smith & Wesson to its holster, then headed to the refrigerator. She hadn't eaten since lunch and Jake hadn't had a bite since breakfast.

She removed a couple of apples from the crisper, then brought out a hunk of cheddar cheese, sliced off several thick slabs and laid them on a paper towel. All the while Lester watched her, his leery grin unnerving her even more than her watchdogs' unexpected return.

"Get away from me!" She snapped around and glowered at the aggravating man. "Go to your room, watch TV, go take a flying leap off the nearest mountain peak."

"I like a feisty woman. I don't mind a good fight before the sex."

"Out!" Mariah yelled. "Get out of my sight. Now!"

Count to ten. Recite the Lord's Prayer. See how many U.S. presidents you can name, Mariah told herself. Do anything to stop yourself from killing Lester.

"Hell, you must be on the rag or something," he grumbled as he walked out of the kitchen.

After taking several calming breaths, she stashed the apples and wrapped cheese in her coat pocket and headed up the stairs. When she reached the hallway, she met Burgess coming out of her bedroom.

"I let him take off his coat before I handcuffed him to the bed," Burgess said. "If that's all you need me for right now, I—"

"Go, go." When Burgess rushed past her toward the stairs, she called out, "There's some Imodium in the kitchen cabinet over the sink, along with several other items in the first-aid kit."

"Yeah, thanks."

After entering the bedroom, Mariah closed the door quietly behind her, then held up a finger to Jake to indicate silence. Jake, one wrist chained to the bedpost, nodded his understanding. She locked the door, then removed the food items from her pocket and placed them on the desk.

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"I couldn't fix you a meal since I've stated that I'm preparing to use some not-so-nice tactics on you," she said softly. "But I did bring up apples and cheese for myself and there's enough for two."

"I guess I should apologize for suggesting we gun it out with those two." Jake grunted. "I'm usually not so foolhardy. Or at least I didn't used to be. Something in me seems to have changed drastically since I discovered the truth about my past. I've always been known for my logical thinking, for being cool under fire, but lately I've been jumping into action and disregarding the danger to myself."

"You want to protect your siblings. Gideon in particular right now. And you want to help bring down the Coalition.

That's perfectly understandable." Mariah took off her coat and tossed it on the bed, then walked over to Jake, the key in her hand, and unlocked the handcuff attached to the bedpost.

"What if one of our bodyguards comes up here to check on us?" Jake asked as she moved to unlock the manacle on his wrist. "Maybe I should keep the cuff on so I can stake myself out again if we hear them coming."

Mariah paused. "Burgess will be in and out of the bathroom for hours. And I believe Lester is wondering whether or not I'd actually shoot him. But maybe you're right." She left the handcuff on his wrist.

Jake grinned. "He just doesn't know when to give up, does he?"

"You're right about him. The man's an idiot."

Jake got up, clutched Mariah's shoulder and squeezed. "Let's eat while we work on Plan B."

"What's Plan B?" she asked.

Jake sauntered over to the desk, pulled out a chair and sat, then picked up an apple and bit into it. After chewing and swallowing, he replied, "The next escape plan. Surely you have a backup scenario figured out."

"I'm thinking knockout drops in their morning coffee."

Jake smiled.

"If possible I'll do it in the morning," Mariah said. "If not tomorrow, then the next day. As soon as I can work out something to keep both men out of the kitchen long enough for me to doctor the coffee and think of a good excuse for not drinking any myself."

"Maybe I can do something to distract them. I don't mind getting roughed up a bit, as long as it's for a good cause."

"We'll play it by ear in the morning. Now eat, then we need to get some rest. I'll set the alarm so we can get up early.

Maybe I'll whip up some pancakes or something and be all female and fluttering in the morning. And you can act up when I give you a cue. Get wild enough so that it'll take both Burgess and Lester to drag you out of the kitchen."