In the Dead of the Night (34 page)

Allan swallowed hard.
He wanted Jenny safe, and he wanted to stay married to her. Yet, how would she feel now that she could go back to her life, saddled with a man who couldn’t always be there for her? He should be with her once she returned home, taking care of her every night, chasing away the nightmares she would no doubt have.

“Thompson?”

“Yeah.”

“Tell her you’re ready to annul the marriage, unless of course the two of you have a change of heart.
In any event, you and your men are to be in Portland, Oregon by week’s end. There’s a suspected terrorist living on a horse ranch in the countryside.”

Allan’s blood heated. “Yes, sir.” He wasn’t ready to take on another assignment.
Not when his gut instincts told him this one wasn’t over yet.

“Any other questions?”

“We usually get a break from one hot assignment to another. Don’t we get one this time? The guys need to see their wives.”

“I have my teams spread out too thin as it is.
You have two days.”

Allan pulled Jenny close and hugged her against his body.

“Yes, sir.”

Allan snapped his phone shut, then shoved it into its pouch.
He loved his job, normally…the excitement, the feeling he was really making a difference in the world, the good guys against the bad. But he couldn’t help worrying about Jenny.

He rubbed her arm as her inquisitive green eyes studied him.

“What’s wrong, Allan?” Dale asked.

“They’ve found the bastard dead.”

Jenny took a breath and seemed to hold it.

“No,” Dale said, his green eyes shifting from Allan to Jenny
, then back again. “Is the boss sure?”

Jenny’s face paled.
Allan squeezed her tightly. “The boss says so.”

“What’s wrong?” Dale asked, his voice wary.

They’d been friends for too long for Allan to hide anything from him. “It’s all too simple.” He wrapped an arm around Jenny’s shoulder as she listened quietly, her brow wrinkled with concern. “He crashes his vehicle into a bridge and dies.”

“A double,” Dale said under his breath, expressing what Allan and the rest of his partners were sure to assume.

“Yeah, only the boss says his dental records proved it was him.”

“Forged?” Dale asked.

Allan took a deep breath. That’s what he believed. The whole thing was an elaborate ruse. And the Agency knew it. They were using Jenny as bait.

Allan fumed.
His blood pressure had to have risen to unhealthy levels as angry as he was.

“So what’s next on the agenda?” Dale asked, folding his arms.

Allan had no intention of mentioning the idea of an annulment to her in front of his partners. He wanted to keep Jenny forever, but he wanted her to make the choice. If she decided she wanted an annulment…

He’d have to convince her otherwise.
“The boss said everyone could go home and see their families for the next couple of days. We have another assignment after that.”

Dale ran his hands through his hair.
“So what’s the plan now?”

Allan knew D
ale was looking for direction, some other guidance than he’d already given him, but he couldn’t give it to him. All he could suggest his team members do was what the boss told him to relay to them. “You’ll go home and see your wives, as the boss said.”

Cameron blew out his breath
.

His partners weren’t buying the Agency’s position any more than Allan was.

“What about you and Jenny?” Dale asked.

“She and I need to talk.”

Cameron cleared his throat. “Maybe we can have a moment to discuss this other assignment also.”

Nothing more was spoken until they arrived back at the cabin.
After waking Beasley and Samuel, Allan explained what the boss had relayed to him about Wilson and their new assignment in Oregon. Then Allan cleared his throat. “Jenny and I are going to take a walk.”

“Backup?” Dale asked.

“Yeah, you know it.”

Dale raised his brows, acknowledging that he recognized Allan believed Jenny wasn’t in the clear yet.
“You’ve got it.”

Samuel, Cameron, and Dale stepped outside to give Allan and Jenny a moment alone while Beasley and Lantham busied themselves in the kitchen.

“You don’t believe he’s dead, do you?” Jenny asked as Allan intertwined his fingers with hers.

“I’d have liked to have had the guy in my sights.”
He took a ragged breath. “The boss said we could get an annulment now.”

Jenny’s eyes widened.
“What do you want to do?” Her voice had raised some, and he took a steadying breath.

“Jenny, you’ve gotten more of your memories back.
How do you feel about us?”

“I want to make it work.”
She walked outside with him.

“Then who were the agents who brought you and Rox
ie here?”

“I can’t tell you, Allan.
Not now.” Her voice was on edge, and he wondered if she remembered that she’d still been having a fling with the agent until she’d been injured.

“Why the hell are you protecting them?
We have to have honesty in our marriage, trust for one another, or this won’t work.” He couldn’t help the irritation coating his words.

“I told you, Allan.
I can’t say right now.”

He tried another tack.
“My boss wants to use you as bait. Isn’t that right? And you’ve gone and agreed to it. Only he doesn’t want you to tell me because he knows I’ll stick by your side and ensure that Wilson doesn’t get near you.”

“But he says Wilson’s dead.”

Allan grunted. “He’s no more dead than I am. You can’t be used as bait, Jenny. I won’t be able to protect you sufficiently, and Wilson will kill you.”

When she avoided his gaze, he tried another approach.
“Why did you quit your tax job? Do you remember that now?”

“I didn’t quit my job.
Wilson must have sent my resignation in to the tax office. He probably planned on taking me away and wanted to tidy up my disappearance a bit.”

That
he could believe. “Don’t block me out of your life. Tell me what’s going on.”

Couldn’t she see how dangerous this would be for her?
He couldn’t agree to it and chance losing her like he nearly lost her in the beginning. He took hold of her hand and rubbed her fingers with his thumb.

“Jenny?”

She swallowed hard, her eyes narrowed, and her full lips thinned as they drew into a line. “All right, Allan. I can’t do this anymore.”

“I’m an agent, just like all of you,” Jenny said to Allan as they stood on the cottage’s deck. “And Roxy, my best friend is, too. We were deep cover operatives. So now you know. We weren’t invited here by male agents. We had every right to be at the safe house, just like you.” She folded her arms
.
“I’ve been working deep cover for two years on other projects. But when I came into all that money, Garcia asked me to lure Wilson into wanting me. I was to put Wilson off from marrying me while trying to discover who he worked for.”

Allan stared at Jenny as her words hit him hard.
Everything she’d done—the way she’d lost them at South Padre Island, killed Randy Stevens at the condo, disarmed a robber at the store, even the way she’d knocked him on his butt—all fit in with what she said. She knew the cabin here as if she lived here for years. She knew the area surrounding the lake just as well. He tried to slow his rapid breathing. She hadn’t been Wilson’s mistress. She’d been there to take him down.

Though he should have been relieved, he wasn’t.

He took her hand and tried to walk with her, but she seemed reluctant. “You don’t want to walk now?”

She
began to stroll down the driveway. Cameron and Samuel strode past them to take the lead. Both looked back at Jenny with slight smiles.

Dale cleared his throat and followed from a distance behind, but all stayed within hearing distance.
Allan knew each of them wanted to know the whole story.

“And you found out what concerning Wilson’s boss?” he asked Jenny.

“Blue was the only clue I ever had. Wilson was apparently spooked when you guys arrived.” She didn’t sound bitter or anything, just kind of sad, like she’d wished she’d accomplished the job right, the first time around.

Allan ran his hand through his wind-swept hair.
He and his men could have gotten her killed. Damn it.
He
was supposed to catch the bad guys. There wasn’t any way he wanted Jenny to risk her life any further. “I want you to quit the Agency.”

She looked at him.
Tears shimmered in her eyes, and he knew then he had a real fight on his hands. How could he convince her to give up her job and let him do all of the dirty work? How could he concentrate on the missions if she was sleeping with the enemy?

“Jenny?”

She didn’t say a word, just looked away.

“I mean it.
I want you to stay home.”

“And if I don’t quit?
What then?”

“I can’t have my wife running around chasing after the scum of the earth.”

“I’m to sit back at home with Roxie drinking margaritas.”

“I don’t want you to get hurt, Jenny.”

She turned and headed back to the cabin. “Let’s go. I want to see my home, sleep in my own bed, and visit the pet shelter I used to volunteer at.”

“Jenny…
”

“We have two days to talk about this, Allan.

“Jenny…”

She wiped a tear from her cheek as the guys hurried to regroup with Dale guarding in front this time and Cameron and Samuel watching their backs.
Allan didn’t say another word, not wanting to force her to dissolve into a waterfall of tears. He couldn’t help the way he felt about her working for the Agency. How could she not understand how he felt?

When they entered the cabin, she strode straight to the dining area where Beasley and Lantham were eating sandwiches.
“Can I have your phone?” She stretched her hand out to Lantham, then turned and glared at Allan.

“What are you doing?” Allan asked.

“I need a phone so I can call Garcia. He’ll get me home and take care of it from there. You and your partners can see your families in the meantime. You know where I live. Send the annulment papers whenever you get around to it, and I’ll sign off on them.”

“You can’t leave.”

She frowned at him. “Like hell I can’t.”

Dale asked, “What are we going to do now, Allan?”

“She’s not to use anyone’s phone. Keep her here,” Allan said to his men. He grabbed Dale’s arm. “You and I have to talk.”

They left the cottage and walked down the road
. “Did you hear everything?”

“Yeah, the two of you were slightly vocal.”
Dale tugged at his red beard. “I can’t believe she’s a deep cover agent.”

“I could wring Garcia’s neck for putting her in this situation.”

“Are you going to annul the marriage?”

“I don’t want her worki
ng for the Agency, not doing this kind of work against terrorists any longer.”

“Couples are needed.
The two of you could make a great team.”

“You must not have heard me the first
time. I don’t want her in the thick of danger.”

“I
f she loves her work and doesn’t want to quit? Are you going to give her up?”

Allan didn’t respond, just stared ahead at the road, his inner thoughts in turmoil.
All he could see were Jenny’s green eyes daring him to see it her way. “I want her
,
but I don’t want her working as an agent.”

“No compromise?”

“I’m going to strangle Garcia. He hooks me up with a woman who steals my heart, then I find she’s one of us. He knew I wouldn’t have wanted her to have a dangerous job like this.”

“I think it could be a win-win situation, if you ask me.
You could be on assignment together, doing the job, but you wouldn’t be separated from one another either.”

“And when we have kids?
Do we put them in the crossfire, too?” He couldn’t help the venom in his voice. He just couldn’t see having Jenny’s life on the line during difficult missions.

“Who knows what will happen down the road?
What if you and Jenny can’t have any children? What if she doesn’t even want any?”

Allan glanced back at the cottage.
“She wants children. I know she does.”

“W
hen she has children, she’ll probably quit work. Or Garcia will give her a desk job.”

“What if she sticks them with a sitter and continues to work out in the field?
What if…” Allan rubbed his chin. What if he had to raise the children on his own, if his wife was killed in the line of duty? He didn’t want her hurt. Couldn’t anyone see that?