The Spy Who Saved Christmas (13 page)

“We’re adults. In a seminude situation. With full control of it. Hardly a capital offense.”

Then he felt her hands at his belt and he swallowed hard. If those pants came off, Operation Self-Control, well, semi-self-control at this stage, would come to an abrupt end. Unfortunately, every cell in his body clamored toward that goal.

He grabbed her hips and held her still. Put an inch or two distance between their lips. Rested his forehead against hers.

“No.” His voice was so hoarse and full of pain he barely recognized it.

“I don’t want to stop,” she lifted her chin and whispered against his lips.

The exact same words that she’d said two years ago. And he’d been a jerk to give up all common sense and take that for a full green light.

“No,” he repeated this time. “You’re killing me here.”

They lay side by side like that for a long moment, both of them still breathing hard.

Then she went slack and crossed her arms, covering her breasts, turning her head down so she wouldn’t have to look into his eyes. “I’m sorry. Oh, God. I don’t know what’s gotten into me.”

Not him. Unfortunately. “Hey.” He turned her and pulled her back against him, and tugged the blanket until it was over them. “There are a lot of high emotions running amok right now. We just slipped for a second here. It won’t happen again.”

Like hell it won’t,
his body assured him immediately. He ignored that voice of unbridled need. Of all the women he’d ever known, how unfair was it that he had to be in this situation with Lara? The only one he had a track record of being unable to resist.

“We’re older now,” she whispered against his chest, her warm breath tickling his skin. “Thank God, we’re too smart to make the same mistake.”

“Right,” he lied through his teeth.

They had three hours before they had to get going. She was lying half-naked in his arms. He could feel her nipples poking against his skin. If he managed to keep his hands off her, it would be a major miracle.

If he had that much gallantry and self-restraint in him, Colonel Wilson should put him up for a medal.

She was pulling her top back on under the blanket. The next time she spoke, her voice was riddled with guilt. “For a moment, I almost forgot…everything. I can’t believe that at a time like this, I could—”

She sounded so wretched all of a sudden that it started an ache in his chest, drawing his attention from what other parts of his body were still demanding.

“The last thing you need is a guilt-trip. Listen to me. I’m a healthy man, you’re a healthy woman. We have a history. We’re in an emotionally charged situation. A moment of weakness, wanting some comfort where you can find it… It’s okay.”

She stayed silent for a while before she said with a frustration-filled voice, “What do these people want, anyway? Why are they doing this? The virus and everything?”

“There are always people who are full of hate, no matter what. You do them the slightest wrong, and they’ll hate you as long as you live. You don’t do anything at all, and they’ll make up something just so they can hate you. Hell, they’ll hate you even if you try to help them. That’s just the way it is.”

“That’s stupid.”

“It is. They operate out of a position of hate and fear. They get into the whole them-versus-us mentality. Happens all over the world.”

“So what set this particular group off?”

“They’re antigovernment. Not sure how Jimmy Sparks came to join them. I know Kenny Briggs is in because his father and uncle had been executed by lethal injection for first-degree murder. The current governor was a judge at the time. The current mayor of Philadelphia was the prosecuting attorney. They both went on to brilliant political careers. It sticks in Kenny’s craw.”

The man wasn’t the sharpest tool in the cell, but blind with hate and his need for revenge, he was the worst kind of enemy. And Reid had no reason to believe that other members of the cell would be any better. Something to keep in mind as he stepped among them in a couple of hours to bring Zak and Nate home.

This wasn’t a group to reason with. It was a group whose sole reason for existence was to kill.

He looked at Lara, outlined in the firelight, and thought of their boys. And knew that whatever happened at that exchange, he would protect what was his.

Lara woke with Reid snuggling her from behind, holding her so tight, as though never wanting to let go. She pushed that fancy thought from her groggy mind. He did want to let her go. He
would
let her go. He’d already told her that.

“Is it time?” she asked without turning.

“We have a few more minutes.”

She got up anyway as nerves rushed her.

The fire had died down in the stove. The air in the cabin was nippy, but not freezing. The waiting warmth of his body under the blankets pulled her back.

She moved forward, rubbing her hands up and down her arms. “Does your friend keep coffee around here?”

“Above the sink.” He got up and tended the fire while she looked for coffee, sugar and two mugs. He used kindling for some quick heat that wouldn’t last long, but was enough to warm a little water.

Then they sat at the small table, fingers wrapped around the warm cups. She tried not to look at him. She looked hideous in the morning: hair sticking out in every direction, bleary-eyed. He looked sexy and rumpled, only his gaze sharp and lethal. He could have been on a magazine cover.

When he finished his coffee, he pushed to his feet. They tidied up the place together.

“We’d better get going,” he said as he pulled on his coat and took one last look around.

She was already standing by the door. “Ready.”

They talked little on their way up the north trail to the car Cade had left, a white GMC Jimmy with four-wheel drive that looked brand-new. She even stayed quiet on the drive out of the woods. Not that her brain was still sleepy, she was more than awake. But all she could think of was her babies, worrying about them was taking up all her energy.

Then she and Reid were flying down the highway, reaching the bridge a little earlier than the appointed time. In the woods, there had still been some snow on the ground, but here, piles of garbage were stuck in the muddy riverbank, the soft wind tossing lonely plastic bags. The place was deserted, the river flowing darkly ahead of them, the noises of the water filling up the night. The old railroad bridge was a dark relic silhouetted against the sky, nothing but a long stretch of rusty metal.

Spooky,
she thought, and shivered at the same time, her nerves already raw.

Reid scanned the area, although he probably had every square foot mapped in his head from the materials his friends had sent to the laptop. He was just double-checking things. His efficiency was comforting at a time like this.

“I’m leaving the keys in the ignition. If anything even looks like it might not work out, you slide over behind the wheel and drive away,” he told her.

A second passed before the meaning of his words registered.

“Give it up already. You take the macho thing too far,” she snapped. “I don’t need you to start channeling Rambo here.” She didn’t want his overprotection. She wanted her babies. “In case it’s not clear to you yet, I’ll die before I leave this place without Zak and Nate.”

O
N THE ONE HAND,
L
ARA’S
insubordination drove Reid crazy. He was used to military rule, where the superior officer’s word was law. On the other hand, he would have said the same thing in her place. He respected her for that.

He scanned the bridge and the woods on the other side of the river again, grateful for the moonlight. He could pick out the glint of a long-range rifle on the bridge. A sniper. A bad one at that, if he let himself be seen that easily. Then he made out the figure of the man, too.
Cade.
Reid nodded in acknowledgment, and Cade did the same in response, then pulled back into the shadows, becoming virtually impossible to detect the next second.

“Cade’s here. He’ll be securing the area and providing cover if anything goes south. If there’s any gunfire, don’t shoot at the bridge.”

She whipped her head around to look. Her mouth was set tight, her arms wrapped around her torso. She was practically vibrating with nerves. “I don’t see anything.”

“That’s the point. Keep your gun at hand, but out of sight,” he told her when two black SUVs pulled up. Since the windows were tinted, he had no idea how many enemies he was facing.

Four got out.

He pushed his door open and stepped outside, leaving the car door open for cover. “Before we do anything, I want to see the children,” he said in the way of greeting.

“Do you have the CD?”

“Do you have the kids?”

The men went for their guns, bringing the hardware out into the open. So did he.

Four more bastards got out of another vehicle. And this time, when the doors opened, he could see that there was nobody else in the cars now but the two drivers.

This wasn’t an exchange.

The men were here for the CD, all right, but they had no intention of letting him and Lara leave.

“Okay. Let’s see if I got what you came for.” He stepped toward the back door, opened it and took out a single ampoule from the biohazard cooler, set it on the hood of the car in its protective plastic holder. “Actually, I have something better than the CD.”

One of the men was on his cell already. Probably talking to the boss. The others moved forward.

“What the hell is that?” the heftiest of them demanded.

“I think you know. I have the rest, too. Not here, of course. I have your whole order. Jason might be a misunderstood scientific genius, but he’s a coward. He wasn’t exactly willing to protect the goods with his dead body.”

The man on the cell phone was still talking.

Reid pocketed the ampoule. “Now, how about we try another exchange, and this time we both mean it?”

Lara chose that moment to step from the car. “Please take me with you. Please take me to my babies. You’ll have an extra hostage.” She moved toward the men, who looked confused and nervous at her unexpected play.

They didn’t know what her game was. They probably weren’t used to people begging them to be kidnapped.

“Lara.” He tried to put as much warning into his voice as possible.

But her face, white as the moonlight, was set in a mask of determination as she marched forward, her body rigid with fear.

“Stop right there,” one of the men said and raised his weapon.

The others followed his example. There was more than one finger twitching on a trigger. While most of the thugs looked like seasoned criminals, the two youngest seemed pretty green. They weren’t going to be able to keep cool long under pressure. And the tension was palpable in the air. One wrong word, one wrong move could set off fireworks.

Lara took another step forward. “I’ll take care of the babies while you negotiate so they won’t be any trouble. It’ll be easier for you.” She took another step, her arms out in an entreating gesture. She had left her gun in the car.

Despite the cold, a bead of sweat rolled down Reid’s temple. He could have strangled her. This was why you didn’t bring a civilian to a hostage exchange, dammit. He watched as one of the younger guys locked his elbows, his eyes narrowing as he went for the shot.

Reid had no other option but to shoot first, yelling, “Get down!” to Lara at the same time.

She had enough sense to listen, hit the ground hard and roll back toward the car, accepting at last that she wasn’t going to get her way.

The next second Reid was on the ground, too, returning fire. Thank God, the shots coming from the bridge divided the enemy.

Reid was almost back at the car when he was hit in the hip. Which wouldn’t support his weight now to get up and out of harm’s way.

Then Lara was there, pulling him inside, shoving him down behind the dashboard, taking the wheel, tearing the hell out of there, mud flying in their wake. A pro couldn’t have done it better. He wished she would have shown some of this common sense and acumen five minutes earlier. But just when he thought she was finally getting with the program, she slowed the car.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

His hip burned enough to take his breath away. “Go, go, go! Don’t stop for anything. What the hell were you thinking?”

She slowed even more. “I can’t leave my babies. I can leave you out here. You can call for an ambulance. I have to go back, Reid.”

She was a wild one, whether she wanted to be or not. Had more of her grandmother’s blood in her than she thought. No civilian in her right mind would want to go back into a hail of bullets once she’d been lucky enough to escape.

“They don’t have the kids,” he ground out the words.

“Are you sure?”

“A hundred percent. Honey, if I weren’t, you couldn’t have dragged me out of there if you’d tied me to the trailer hitch.”

She held his gaze for a long moment, then stepped on the gas at last, a fat tear rolling down her face. She wiped it away angrily. “What do we do next? We’re not giving up. I can’t give up, Reid.”

“Nobody’s giving up. We’ll reestablish the parameters. Raise the stakes.” He was dialing his cell phone already. “Hi, Eileen. I’m Reid Graham. Thank you again for handing that CD over like you did. You’ve been a great help. Listen, we’ve hit a snag here and we have an emergency on our hands. Two little kids were kidnapped recently. We believe your sister’s boyfriend had a hand in it. We have to get to these kids and quickly. Can you tell me everything you know about Kenny?”

The FBI had already asked her those questions when they’d first begun investigating Kenny, but back then she hadn’t answered, not wanting to incriminate her sister.

“Of course. Let me think,” she said now.

Apparently, Jen’s death had changed things.

“Even the smallest detail might be helpful. Start with the first time you ever heard of him, ever met him.”

“I only met him a couple of times. He was very, you know, just not like the family. Very condescending toward women. Had that whole male superiority going. He got the idea pretty fast that the family wasn’t crazy about him and he stopped coming around. Ordered Jen to stop seeing us, too. It was like he had a hold on her she couldn’t shake.” She sniffed.