Conspiracy Game (10 page)

“I’d have to say when they find the bodies on the outskirts of the city, they’ll definitely come looking.”

“Jebediah’s going to be really, really angry with me.”

“Don’t worry about your brother. He knows me.” Jebediah knew him all right, and he sure as hell wouldn’t want Jack Norton lying in the same bed with his sister. Jack lay staring up at the cracked ceiling, one hand in her hair, the other over the gun, listening to her soft, even breathing and wondering why he already felt like she belonged to him.

C
HAPTER 
4

P
ounding
on the door jarred Jack and Briony from their sleep. The gun was already in Jack’s fist and he waved her to the safety of the bathroom.

“Open the door, Bri!” Jebediah yelled. “I’m standing out here with coffee and you’re still asleep. Get a move on.”

“It’s my brother,” Briony said unnecessarily, but she wanted Jack to put the gun away. She deliberately moved in front of him, blocking his sight to the door, pressing her hand to his head to check for fever. She raised her voice. “Just a minute, Jebediah. Have a little patience.”

Jack swept her out of the way with his arm. “Stay to the side of the door when you let him in. Someone could be standing behind him with a gun to his head.”

“He would have warned me,” Briony objected. “Don’t shoot my brother.”

“Stand to the side of the door.” When she remained frowning at him, he clenched his teeth. “Damn it, do what I tell you.”

Briony huffed out a breath just to show him he annoyed her, although it didn’t seem to faze him. She told herself she obeyed to keep Jack from getting upset as she unlocked and opened the door, not because he was downright scary at times.

“Here.” Jebediah handed her a cup of coffee as he leaned in to kiss her cheek. As he did, his gaze jumped beyond her to the bed where Jack lay on his side beneath the sheet, the gun steady in his hand, aimed straight at Jebediah’s heart. “What the hell are you doing here, Norton?” Jebediah jumped to place his body between the gun and Briony.

“I’m so glad you remember Jack, Jeb,” Briony said, trying to be cheerful. “He needs to get out of the country and I thought you might be able to help.”

“Lock the door.” Jack slowly lowered the gun and put his head on the pillow, draping one arm over his eyes.

Briony turned the lock and leaned against the door, blowing on the coffee to keep from having to look at her brother.

“Just how did you meet up with Jack Norton, Briony?” Jebediah demanded.

“I went to the forest on the edge of the city,” she admitted.

“Damn it, Briony.” Jebediah advanced on her threateningly, looming over her shorter figure. “What were you thinking to take a risk like that? Going out into the forest when I told you to stay put.”

“Jebediah.” Jack’s voice cut in, his tone very low, almost purring. “You talk to her like that again around me and I’m going to rip out your heart. We clear on that?”

Briony’s heart jumped at the threat. Coming from anyone else, it would have been melodramatic, but Jack sounded like he meant it. His tone was mild, he hadn’t raised his voice; in fact he hadn’t even sat up, one arm was still slung over his eyes, but something in his ultrarelaxed posture seemed deceptive—as if inside he was coiled like a snake, ready to strike at any moment. She had never in her life met anyone so casual about violence.

Jebediah backed up. “She’s my sister and my responsibility, Jack. She could have been killed.” He almost sounded conciliatory.

“I already raked her over the coals. Once is enough for anyone.” Jack’s tone said to drop it.

Briony sank down onto the edge of the bed and looked up at her brother. “I’m sorry. I needed to breathe. I couldn’t stay here surrounded by all the people… ”

Jack’s arm snaked out fast, his fingers settling around her wrist. “Don’t apologize. You’re not an anchor. You can’t be around so many people and not feel their misery. Your brother ought to know that about you by now.”

“What the hell are you talking about, Jack?” Jebediah demanded. “My sister isn’t any of your business.”

Jack sat up slowly, the sheet falling away to reveal the masses of cuts and burns and carvings on his chest and shoulders.

“God, Jack.” Jebediah swallowed hard, his gaze jumping to Briony’s. “Who got ahold of you? You need a doctor.”

“Briony took care of me.”

Jebediah’s expression hardened. “
Briony?
What’s going on between you two?”

“Wild sex, Jebediah,” Briony snapped, sarcasm dripping from her voice. “I’m not sixteen, you know, and you’re totally embarrassing me.” She handed the coffee to Jack. “Does he look in shape to perform?”

Jack looked at her over the top of the cup, his eyes meeting hers, a sudden raw intensity turning the deep gray of his eyes to a liquid silver. “I would have accommodated you had you asked.”

A ghost of a smile curved her mouth, but inside her stomach did a funny little flip. He didn’t look as if he was joking. Her womb did an unexpected clench and she had to look away from him.

“That’s not funny, Jack,” Jebediah snapped. “Don’t even think about my sister that way.”

“I’m heading to the bathroom and don’t have much on,” Jack pointed out. “So if you’re on the shy side, you might not want to look.”

She’d already looked. Briony turned toward the window, not wanting either of them to see the color stealing up her neck to her face. “I washed your clothes,” she said, “and hung them up on the shower, but I doubt if they’re dry. Jebediah, would you get him jeans and a shirt?”

Her brother waited until Jack disappeared into the bathroom before crouching down in front of her. “Are you crazy?” he hissed. “Do you have any idea who that man is? Or what he’s capable of doing?”

Even with Jack out of the room, his close proximity kept the anger, shock, and alarm her brother was exuding from hitting her quite as hard as it usually did. “As far as I can see, Jeb, he’s been tortured and needs help. Can you get him out of here?”

“The soldiers in the city are all stirred up. That’s why I brought you coffee rather than have you go out this morning. A few dead bodies were found early this morning, reportedly rebels. The fear is that they’re infiltrating the city, and that’s why the army is on alert. They were searching bars last night.”

“The rebels are looking for Jack. He escaped from their camp.”

“And they want him bad enough to come into Kinshasa, with soldiers on every street corner?” Jebediah scratched his head. “You’re right, we’ll have to get him out of here. They’ll look closely at us because we’re foreigners. I’ll get clothes for him and you keep him out of sight. Is he strong enough to travel?”

“Yes, but I don’t have any idea how. He needs a doctor, though. If you have antibiotics in your travel kit or any of the others do, bring them to me.”

Jebediah nodded. “Are you sure you’re all right, Briony? He didn’t hurt you?”

She shook her head. “He protected me, Jebediah.” She wanted to share with her brother the things Jack had revealed about the “GhostWalkers,” but the fact that she felt no pain around Jack and did with her brothers would bother Jebediah. He’d be hurt by the revelation, and she’d made up her mind a long time ago that she was done hurting her family. They weren’t ever going to know how much she really suffered in their presence.

Jebediah cast a quick glance at the bathroom door. “He must have contacts as well. Has he said anything about what he was doing here? Whether he was supposed to reach an extraction point?”

“He hasn’t said much of anything.”

“That would be Jack. He plays it pretty close to his chest. I’ll get him clothes, keep the door locked.”

Briony followed him and locked the door, setting the coffee aside for Jack when he came out of the shower. She was going to give him another shot of antibiotics the moment he came out, feed him and get more fluids down him. He had to get strong fast and that meant he needed to kick the infection.

The water shut off, and a few minutes later Jack emerged, towel wrapped around his narrow hips. His dark hair was still wet and the raw knife wounds were red and angry-looking scattered over his body. With stitches everywhere, he looked a little like Frankenstein. He had broad shoulders and powerful arms, and was well built, with massive upper body strength and defined muscle. His face was all masculine, tough and weathered with several scars. Other older scars, both from knives and bullets, marred his skin in several places over his body.

“You look a little worse for wear,” Briony observed as she handed him another bottle of water. “Drink this, take another pill, and you can have the entire cup of coffee. I won’t even ask for a sip.”

She looked beautiful to Jack. Sunshine and flowers in a meadow. He tried not to stare at her, taking the water and downing the pill she gave him without question. It hurt just to look at her, and her scent was plain driving him crazy. He turned his back on her and walked to window to check the alley below them. He heard her sharp inhale and knew she was staring at the mess of his back. The front looked worse, but he was alive so he wasn’t complaining.

“I don’t mind sharing the coffee with you.” His voice was gruff—or maybe rusty. He hadn’t really used it in a while. When talking was necessary, Ken had done most of it. Jack hadn’t meant for his statement to come out intimate, but it sounded that way, an invitation. Just being close to her stirred up his body, and his blood pounded in his veins. It was disconcerting to have such a strong reaction to a woman.

“Jack you’re prowling around the room like a caged tiger. Sit down and let me look at your wounds.”

He glanced at her, and his heart did a peculiar somersault, his pulse raced. He pressed one hand to his chest, shocked at the way he couldn’t control his response to her. He sat down because it was easier than trying to walk when it was becoming painful. He realized at once that that was a terrible mistake. She bent over him, her body so close to his he felt her through his skin. Her scent enveloped him until he couldn’t do anything but breathe her in. He was acutely aware of every detail of her body—the curve of her cheek, the length of her lashes, the steady beat of her heart. Every stroke of her fingers, as she applied topical antibiotics, felt like a caress designed to heighten his need of her.

His erection grew thicker and harder, blood pounding, centering in his groin. Her breasts brushed against his arm as she leaned across him to get to a wound on his chest that was particularly inflamed. If his body had hurt before, he couldn’t remember it, with the throbbing ache between his legs. He couldn’t think with the roaring in his head and the taste and feel of her imprinted in him.

Jack gritted his teeth and tried to use his brain. He was a loner, a solitary man who needed no one and kept it that way. Every woman had been someone he could take or leave, and he liked it that way. This woman wasn’t the leaving kind and he knew better than to want her. He had discipline. Control. He heard a noise escape, a growl of need he couldn’t prevent. The sound was as primitive as the way she was making his body feel. Worse, she had somehow gotten under his skin.