Deceptive Treasures: Slye Temp Book 5 Page 11

  Now, if this plan would only work.

  Har was wheezing like a two-pack-a-day smoker and Tanner could hear Blade trying to calm him down. Blade had probably given Har well over the acceptable dose of respiratory medicine just getting him to this point.

  Tanner felt Jin’s fingers on his face, but she said nothing. Just touching him as if to confirm that he was alive.

  He grasped her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze then shoved up on his knees to look past Nick so he could see outside the canopy.

  Lights still trailed way off behind them.

  Tanner asked Dingo, “Where the hell is the cavalry?”

  “They said they’d find us. I can’t get a connection right now.”

  Heaving hard breaths, Tanner wiped saltwater off his face. The wind had pushed clouds past the half moon, which could be a plus for finding this raft as long as the DPRK wasn’t the one who benefitted by that.

  Nick had his rifle up and pointed toward the DPRK boats. He had to be using the scope like binoculars.

  Tanner asked, “They still on our ass?”

  Nick gave it a second then said, “Their lights are getting smaller. Looks like they came, they scored, and they’re leaving.”

  That would be good news if not for floating in the middle of the Yellow Sea with no way to paddle out of here.

  Everyone stayed silent for the next few minutes then Nick pulled his rifle down. “That can’t be good.”

  Through his monocular, Tanner could see a fairwater poked up from the smooth outer shell of a submarine fifty yards out.

  Lifting a rifle right now, even to innocently use the scope would be inviting an attack. He asked Nick, “Did you see who it was before you dropped the scope?”

  “Russian.”

  Son of a bitch.

  The top hatch popped open and the top half of a body appeared. He spoke English with a thick Russian accent through a megaphone. “You need ride. Yes?”

  Tanner leaned forward, balancing himself on the side of the raft, and squinted but couldn’t make out anything about the man.

  Dingo lifted his Sat phone. “’Bout time, mate. Getting rough out here.” He tapped Tanner on the arm. “Looks like that’s who Logan sent.”

  “A freakin’ Russian sub?” Tanner growled.

  Dingo chuckled. “Logan said that was the best he could do on short notice. The Russians and Chinese have training maneuvers underway in this area. The sub is to deliver us to a lagoon thirty miles from here where Logan will meet us with a chopper and airlift us out.”

  Nick rubbed his hands. “I’m in. I’ve never driven a Russian sub.”

  Tanner didn’t know which gave him more reason for concern. That Nick thought they’d let him operate the thing, or that he had driven some other kind of sub at some point.

  Tanner cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, “Yes, we need a ride.”

  But how was he going to keep this from the North Koreans when Russia and Korea were chummy these days? Logan was one hell of an operator, but he was also Russian and trusted the men on that sub more than Tanner did.

  Mix three escaped North Koreans, four American covert operatives and the Russian navy. What could happen?

  With Tanner’s luck at this point, a whole new level of FUBAR.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Slye Temp headquarters, Atlanta, Georgia

  Sabrina blinked and realized she had her head on her arms that were crossed on her desk. She’d fallen asleep.

  That was not a problem.

  She purposely didn’t move. She’d slept at her desk plenty of times when she had an op in progress like the one in North Korea.

  But something had disturbed her sleep.

  Her head was turned toward the security panel on the wall just inside her office door.

  All the lights were green. Activated.

  She sat up and shoved a handful of hair off her face, checked her watch and did a quick calculation. Half past noon here. Tuesday.

  That made it half past one Wednesday morning in Seoul, where Margaux and Logan were stationed.

  No word yet.

  The office was too quiet, but there was often more activity going on at the Slye headquarters after regular business hours. Her assistant, Amanda, had to courier sensitive documents to Washington DC for a client and the Slye agents didn’t keep normal office hours. They were here on an as-needed basis. Sabrina was in no frame of mind to deal with their corporate security clients when she hadn’t slept since Tanner’s team went wheels up headed to North Korea, so she’d closed the office today.

  Her cell phone buzzed and she snatched it up, not wasting the time to check the caller. “Tell me some good news.”

  The hesitation on the line caused her to pull the phone away and note the unknown caller ID then put it back to her ear. “Who is this?”

  “Unfortunately, not the person you were hoping to hear from,” Gage Laughton replied.

  Disappointment and pleasure fought an old battle. “What do you want, Gage?”

  “Good to talk to you, too.”

  She scrubbed a hand over her face. Did she have to be a bitch to him just because he wasn’t here to hold her and tell her this North Korea job would work out? That she wasn’t going to lose people she held closer than family?

  Gage hadn’t been that man in her life for over two years.

  He’d wanted to be and she missed the hell out of him, but he kept putting the agency before her.

  And holding out on telling her who had screwed her and her team on the last op she’d run for the CIA.

  His CIA.

  But he’d tried to make it up to her since then.

  She picked up a pen and tapped it in a steady rhythm against the desk. Anything to release some of the tension wicking through her. “Sorry, Gage. Been a tough couple of days. How are you?”

  “I’m as good as I can be without you.”

  It wasn’t just what he said, but the longing behind his words. “Want me to hit the repeat button and ask you if you’re ready to give me the names of everyone who was involved in the UK job?”

  She didn’t have to qualify which CIA contract she was referencing.

  Only one UK job stood between them and he refused to share the information she needed to find the people responsible for sending her and her team to their deaths. That person had to be pissed because they’d survived, but in fairness to Gage, he was the reason no one from the agency had visited her since then.

  Except him.

  He sighed as if he’d hit the repeat button on his end. “Can I come in?”

  He was here? Her heart did a tap dance and it was her turn to sigh. She should tell him no. She was not in peak dealing-with-Gage shape right now and might do something stupid like give in to stripping him bare right here in her office.

  But it wasn’t like she was going to send him away either. Why? Because, in spite of all that still stood between them, she wanted to see Gage. “Sure, just give me a minute to clear the alarm.”

  “Don’t get up,” Gage said, then stepped around the corner from her assistant’s office into Sabrina’s. He rocked jeans, a Henley and leather jacket like no other man. He wasn’t gorgeous. Sabrina had never gone in for pretty boys. He was coiled power concealed in handsome packaging. Lean, tough and deadly, Gage would always be top dog in a room full of alphas, and they would all recognize him as such.

  He lowered his hand to his side, still holding his phone.

  She thumbed hers off and slammed it down on her desk.

  “Does yours work after you do that, because mine would just give up the ghost.” He kept moving forward then sat in the chair that faced her desk.

  “I’m firing all my security people tomorrow and putting in a new system.”

  “Be a waste of money and loss of ace security people.”

  She dropped the pen and got up to pace.

  That little battle nap was all the fuel she needed to kick someone’s butt. She walked across her office to
the sitting area where she met with corporate clients who marveled over how well trained her security people were. They rarely realized her agents ran black ops missions to places like North Korea.

  The mirror on the wall above the sofa reflected her lack of real sleep in the dark areas under her eyes and that her black hair could use a brush.

  Out of an unconscious female reaction, she brushed her hand over her messy hair.

  “Trust me, you look amazing.”

  Pulling her hand down, she turned to Gage. “Why are you torturing me, Gage?”

  “Looks like you’re doing a better job of that all by yourself. When was the last time you slept?”

  “Ten minutes ago.”

  “I meant in your bed.”

  “Your concern for my well being is noted and ignored. Why are you here?”

  He stood and she went on alert.

  The look he gave her questioned whether she’d forgotten that they’d once been in love with each other.

  He claimed to still love her.

  She hadn’t echoed that back to him. Instead, she’d threatened to kill anyone from the CIA who came near her after the UK job.

  Here’s the perfect opportunity, Sabrina.

  She’d put that threat back on the front burner later—once she’d made up her mind how she felt about Gage.

  If she went on the riot of emotions rushing around inside her at the moment, she’d admit that she wouldn’t harm even one of the brown hairs that played with his collar.

  He said, “I have something to show you.”

  She smirked. “Heard that one before.”

  When he smiled, his hazel eyes twinkled.

  His smile used to be the first thing she’d see coming toward her as soon as either of them returned from a mission. She’d tried to forget about things like that. But with his smile now, all those memories came flooding back.

  He took his time walking toward her and she held still to keep from looking defensive or aggressive.

  Defensive would bring out his protective instincts.

  Aggressive would just turn him on.

  Either one would not end well. Just keep a reasonable distance between you and all will be fine.

  Holding his phone up with the screen turned toward her, he touched the screen and an image popped into view of a man looking over his shoulder at someone or something on a street.

  She did a double take and reached for his phone, forgetting all about keeping any distance. “Len-fucking-Rikker?”

  “Yes.”

  She had to fight the tremble of fury that shook her hands. She held the picture of the man she and her team had gone to the UK to rescue for the CIA. He’d walked away free in trade for her team, who’d faced being tortured for information, then killed.

  Rikker had surfaced once since then during a terrorist operation in Miami, but he’d slipped through their fingers.

  This man had racked up a huge debt in human life and was a major part of the reason she’d pushed Gage out of her life.

  She finally realized Gage stood inches from her. Should have realized it as soon as she noticed his scent. It was like no other.

  His hands covered hers that held his phone.

  When she lifted her eyes to him, he was watching her closely. He said, “This came off a security cam in DC. Rikker was there four days ago. I’m showing you something no one in the agency knows about but me.”

  Her heart raced at just knowing that Rikker hadn’t vanished completely.

  Gage was trying to meet her part way by sharing this. She wanted to build her half of that bridge, but did this mean he’d finally give her the names? “What are you saying by showing me this, Gage?”

  He pulled the phone from her hands and slipped it into his leather jacket. Then he reached up and cupped her face. “That I’m close and I swear I’ll do everything I can to keep you in on this. The reason I’ve never given you the names of everyone at the agency who was involved when the UK job went down, was because I haven’t found any reason to believe someone there was behind this.”

  She jerked out of his hold and stepped away. “Still protecting the agency?”

  Anger burrowed into his gaze. “You’re not listening.”

  “I’m listening just fine, but you’re still withholding vital information.”

  “The only things I’m holding back are names that will get you killed if you go off on your own investigation, dammit.” He ran both hands over his hair and curled his fingers into fists. He looked like he wanted to plow both of them into something hard.

  Sabrina didn’t fear him. Never would. No matter how deadly he was, he’d never harm her, or any innocent woman for that matter.

  He walked around a minute then pulled his legendary control back out and crossed the room to her, calm once again.

  She let him crowd her personal space only because she missed having him close. Screwed up, but true. She told him, “If we worked together, this wouldn’t be an issue.”

  Lifting a hand to her face again, he brushed his fingers across her cheek, then threaded them into her hair.

  Her heart was thinking about jumping out of her chest and running around the room, begging him to fix this so they could go back to what they had.

  Her mind was threatening to get a transplant for the defective organ. She opened her mouth to speak and he kissed her.

  No man kissed anything like Gage.

  When he kissed a woman, he wanted her to know this was the only place on earth he wanted to be at this very minute. His other hand settled at her waist and tugged her to him.

  She’d spent night after night missing him, missing this, missing them. Why couldn’t she beat her pride into submission and put the past behind her?

  Because it hadn’t just been her in the UK.

  She owed it to Josh, Dingo, Blade and Tanner. They’d all been there with her. Josh had lost someone he’d cared about in that fight. Sabrina had lost her ability to trust the man she loved.

  Gage stepped up the kiss, making love to her mouth. He drew her in closer and her hands went around his back. Her fingers curled tight against his leather-covered shoulders.

  Too many clothes. This would be infinitely better with fewer clothes.

  He slowed the kiss and whispered, “Is that important?”

  “What?” Then she heard the ring and broke away, diving for her phone. She thumbed the on button as she raised the phone to her ear. “Margaux?”

  “Yes.”

  “Hold on.” Sabrina sent a look of apology at Gage.

  He walked over and kissed her forehead, whispering, “I will not lose you.”

  Then he was gone.

  Sabrina’s knees turned to rubber. She sat down, drew in a breath and turned back to the only problem she could solve right now. “Tell me you found a way to extract the team and the packages.”

  “Yes, but something unexpected came up.”

  It was that kind of night. “What happened?”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Seoul, South Korea

  The minute their private jet lifted off from Incheon International Airport into the still dark skies over Seoul, Tanner’s chest muscles finally loosened.

  Zero-four-forty hours.

  His team was safe.

  They’d survived that goatfuck of a mission and climbing inside a Russian sub with two DPRK defectors in tow. And oh yeah, one uncategorized pain in his ass.

  Now he was finally headed in the right direction on a Gulfstream G550 arranged to transport his team and North Korean guests home.

  But Jin wasn’t a guest.

  She wasn’t persona non grata. Yet. But maybe on her way to be.

  Sabrina had blistered the airwaves when Tanner called to explain their extra passenger. She was quick to question if Jin hadn’t caused the problems with their exit strategy in Pyongyang. In Sabrina Slye’s mind, that put Jin squarely under the heading of enemy until proven otherwise.

  Not that Tanner could argue. Or would e
ven try with Sabrina on a tear.

  He’d have been saying the same things in Sabrina’s shoes if he’d assessed the situation from the other side of the world. But he’d spent time up close with Jin and, if he had to swear while hooked to a lie detector, he’d say he believed Jin wanted to defect.

  The part that would register as truth would be his belief in what she’d told him. That, however, did not prove anything about her actions.

  What if she was a trained agent? If that was the case, why had she helped them escape when she could have walked them into a trap at any point? No one had worked any harder than Jin at finding a way out of North Korea.

  But something niggled at Tanner. An itch of suspicion that he couldn’t let go of, something that kept him from accepting her as just a defector.

  In fact, Jin wasn’t technically a defector.

  Not until the State Department decided she was eligible and no threat to the US. Things had changed significantly since the days of rubber-stamping anyone who begged to defect.

  Logan Baklanov walked down the aisle from where he’d been talking to the pilots. He dropped onto the sand-colored, cushy armchair next to Tanner’s matching one. The chairs would recline when they were ready to sleep. All the window shades had been pulled down to keep the interior dark once they hit sunrise.

  He should be asleep like the rest of his team sprawled all over the luxury cabin, but his body hadn’t hit crash point yet.

  Speaking of crash, that was the wrong word to be thinking right now with the luck, or lack of, he’d had since setting foot in Pyongyang.

  Logan leaned forward, elbows braced on his knees as the jet continued to climb. “You are one lucky mother,” Logan said.

  Were Tanner’s thoughts tattooing themselves on his forehead?

  He started to argue, but his men and the two physicists had survived the escape. Instead, he said, “Thanks to your connections. And just how did you get a Russian sub to pick us up? Especially since your entire family has relocated from Russia to the US.”

  “I’m doing a favor for someone in a position of authority in the Kremlin,” he said cryptically. “It’s a delicate matter and I’m close to repairing a blunder that will save the entire country embarrassment and a potential conflict with another government.” Logan gave him a that’s-what-I-do shrug.