Into Danger Part 14

"Sir, what do you want to do about du Scheum? He's obviously a target."

Harden impa.s.sively answered, "My job is to follow orders."

Steve thought so. Cam had hinted as much a few days ago that Harden's past affected his judgment now, that he had paid a high price for some mistake. He just hadn't paid closer attention because his mind was on Marlena. Now it was obvious that Harden no longer trusted any action without first going over it through all sorts of channels. Steve understood. It was the best way to cover one's a.s.s. Harden wasn't going to pay for mistakes again.

Meanwhile, they were just going to sit there and knowingly wait for someone innocent to be killed. This just wasn't done in his combat days. Besides that, no one seemed to care that something else equally big was going down, and it had to do with a certain woman he would like to get his hands on right now. And somehow all this was connected.

"I thought you were dead certain that Marlena Maxwell would try to get to du Scheum again? What about that theory? Wouldn't the cops have questions linking her?" Steve asked.

"No bullets in her weapons. And they were in the apartment, cold. So that closes our file on that incident. As for the cops, that's their business, out of our hands."

"What about the dead man? Any follow-up that may connect him to her?" Steve insisted, knowing that he was stepping out of line again. So much for his teamwork speech, he thought. Might as well continue to self-destruct. "I don't get it. Why aren't we working to find out what is happening?"

"Why don't you? As far as I'm concerned, Marlena Maxwell isn't our business any longer, but you have your own private orders, don't you? Wasn't that your a.s.signment? To come into TIARA and find out what is happening?"

Steve's whole being sprung to life. Mental blinders fell off like big heavy icicles. "I was never part of the team," he breathed out. "You think that-"

"What I think doesn't matter," Harden interrupted. "I know you have an agenda."

"What?" Although surprised, Steve didn't raise his voice. The implication of Harden's words didn't fit with the revelations on his mind.

Harden's frosty green eyes were direct, challenging. "I don't think a team member reports back to anyone, even if it's to the admiral, unless it's to investigate the team itself. Task Force Two has obviously been under the admiral's suspicion for a while. If Marlena Maxwell fails at her job, I don't care to have her death as another black mark against me. Your work here is done, McMillan."

Chapter Twelve.

I t had been a long day. Marlena parked the b.u.t.ter-yellow convertible in the hotel parking lot and cut off the engine. She sat in the silence, looking out through the winds.h.i.+eld with half-seeing eyes. Returning to the apartment to get her things was harder than she had thought. The sight of the unmade bed had sent a jolt of pain.

Fortunately for her she was racing against time, so she had limited herself to packing a few things, along with certain items she had hidden. There was still some cash left in the safe, and she took that. Walking out of the bedroom, she had glanced at the bed again and almost rushed back when she caught sight of the pearl necklace lying carelessly among the pillows. For a long frozen moment she just stood there, looking at it, fighting the storm inside her. She didn't think she could bear taking the pearls. She had taken a step forward, then abruptly turned and strode out of the room.

Still in the car, Marlena rubbed her heart absentmindedly. Five minutes, she thought. She needed these five minutes to think about him, get over him, wallow about him, do whatever necessary to get rid of his memory. Once that was done, she would go into the crowded hotel lobby, take the elevator to the suite she had reserved, and leave all her feelings down here.

G.o.d, but walking away had never been this tough before. She wanted to see him so badly and he was only a phone call away. When Harden had released her, she had toyed with the idea of leaving Steve a message, but what did she have to say?

"I want you. Wait for me." Marlena said it out loud, and laughed cynically.

"Ta, it was fun. Let's do it again." She could just imagine how he would take that line.

"Sorry your a.s.signment wasn't that successful. Better luck next time." Her laughter held a hysterical edge.

"I will miss you." She sobered. "Will you miss me?"

"I want you to miss me. As much as I am missing you." She cursed, then raked careless fingers through her hair. "G.o.d, I must be going nuts."

The thing was, she really did miss him. And it hurt that he didn't even care enough to be around when she was freed. Harden almost said as much.

"He's no longer needed for the case," he had informed her. She shouldn't be hurt or surprised. People in Steve's line of work didn't stay to say goodbye. She had met plenty of them in her time.

Harden hadn't said much, but from the little explanation he did give, Marlena had gathered that they'd taken the real lackey into custody. Stash had taken his place to find out her target's ident.i.ty. She hadn't volunteered any information of her own, and Harden hadn't pressed for any. She was well aware of her profile as a possible a.s.sa.s.sin, but she wasn't in town for that kind of business this time. As a parting shot, she'd praised Steve for doing a good job. Harden hadn't acknowledged her sarcasm. She supposed he was off to another a.s.signment. Her lips twisted. If it was to bed another woman, she hoped he rotted in h.e.l.l in the worst way.

She climbed out of the car and slammed the door shut. There, all done. See, it was easier than she realized. He was gone forever. She would walk away just as nonchalantly as he had.

Steve didn't know why he felt compelled to drive back to the apartment. There was nothing left there for him. He ought to just go home and pack, get ready to drive down to Virginia to meet with the admiral. His call was brief this afternoon, but it was enough to confirm Harden's accusations. The admiral had told him he would inform him of the reasons during their meeting.

He had always been in awe of the admiral, whose service record was a kind of sacred invocation among all SEALs, and after every grueling mission the old guy would show up to commend them. The act was simple but the effect wasn't. Every member of his team always felt taller, better focused, and useful.

Steve had never thought about this much until his short conversation with the admiral earlier that day. A team couldn't function without a leader who understood what kept a group of men together in a challenging situation. His SEAL commander gave the orders, set up the operation, and kept everything under control, but it was the leader of Star Force, the admiral himself, who saw the big picture. The fact that he shared much of the information with his men had earned him undivided loyalty and the highest respect among his elite covert teams.

He missed that kind of team spirit. He wanted the a.s.surance from the admiral that there was a big picture in all this.

Steve opened the door to the apartment. He knew the cameras in the hallway were still being monitored, and wondered what they thought of his being there. Not that he particularly cared. Why monitor a place where the most important element was missing? On the other hand, maybe whoever had threatened Marlena those couple of times would call back.

He hoped so. He was in the mood to blast away some bad guys. The knowledge that they would knock off Marlena for whatever item they believed she had only served to add fuel to his ire. He was off the case, but that didn't mean he couldn't track them down himself and find out who they were.

The bedroom.

Why the h.e.l.l was he here? She was obviously gone. He didn't have to look around to see that she had taken some of her things, yet his eyes were drawn to the bed, still unmade. His nose flared slightly as he detected a trace of her perfume in the air, and he scanned the bedsheets with restless eyes. A milky gleam among the dark sheets beckoned. His jaw locked. She had left the pearl necklace.

He went to pick it up, running his fingers along its glossy length. She obviously didn't think it worth keeping. He didn't think she would just simply have forgotten. He ought to leave it there, too, and leave everything else that reminded him of her.

Steve was about to drop the pearl necklace back on the bed when something in his back pocket started vibrating. Frowning, he reached behind him to pull the gadget out. His heart skipped a beat. It was the voice message beeper that Marlena had tossed to him that first night. Could it be...? He didn't waste any time conjecturing. Pressing down, he read the message.

Call me. He memorized the number, pocketed the pearls, and tried not to appear in too much of a hurry as he left the apartment. In the safety of his own car, he dialed the phone number.

"Make a choice. If she's in danger, would you save her? Are you in or out?"

It wasn't Marlena's sultry voice on the other end, but Tess's, whom he was now very certain was connected to Marlena through more than mere friends.h.i.+p. He didn't even stop to think. All he heard was that Marlena could be in danger.

"I'm in," he said. What the heck. He was still in the mood to blow off some steam.

However, first he would enlist the help of Cam and his gatekeeper friend to find out about the mysterious Tess. Then he would talk to the admiral. If he was right that he had been sent to D.C. to be the eyes and ears for the admiral, he might as well use some muscle and brain to get what he wanted. And what he wanted was the big picture. With his mermaid in it.

He drew long and hard from the newly lit cigarette. The smoke filled his lungs, warmed him from head to foot. He thought he could actually feel each individual cell in his body moving eagerly to meet the nicotine, welcoming it like a long-lost friend.

Exhaling the smoke through his nose, he idly played with the cigarette between his fingers, holding it in various positions. It had been that long since he last had one.

He had been yearning for one lately, thought he could hold it off till he met Marlena Maxwell, but-he flicked ash into a tray-the celebratory gesture was no longer necessary. After all, she no longer would play that all-important role of being his partner.

He looked at the different pages of information scattered on his big desk. No one going through the CIA electronic request sector could escape his knowledge. It was fortunate that Steve McMillan had decided to run a check of Marlena Maxwell. He would never have found these items since they weren't in current computer databases. Yes, he was very fortunate indeed. He could use this to his advantage.

The moment those doc.u.ments were signed out to be Xeroxed marked the end of Marlena Maxwell. And to have them end up right before him so easily! He was after hard-to-find information, just as everyone going through the databases was. It was just his genius to follow somebody else's paper trail instead of working blind. The most requested files were often the least interesting, so he always looked out for unusual requests, and old doc.u.ments not yet input in the database were certainly unusual. McMillan had more brains than he had given him credit for. And what a bull's eye he'd hit! Too bad he couldn't use the fellow. The reason for his presence in TIARA was so obvious, those in charge must really think their adversary stupid.

He drew on the cigarette again. Ahhh, the first nicotine buzz was here. He welcomed it like an old lover. Looking at the picture of Marlena, he smiled mirthlessly. He had meant to woo her, slowly show her the glory of a different kind of power-the kind she and he would share together. When they met, he had planned to offer her more than her life as some hireling for the highest price. He had thought her perfect at his side, a beautiful woman who understood the meaning of power and happiness. Instead she turned out to be nothing, nothing at all.

So they were to meet finally, but not as he had intended. The stage was no longer friendly. He might still seduce her; after all, she didn't know that she had been found out. It would be amusing to see how far she would go to get her clever little hands on what he had.

Abruptly he squashed the cigarette in the crystal ashtray. Picking it up, he heaved it violently at the wall across the desk. It smashed into a picture frame, breaking the gla.s.s into hundreds of shards. Cigarette ash smeared an ugly gray line down the white wall.

Stupid f.u.c.king b.i.t.c.h! He would see to it that she paid for this! He had worked too long to be denied this important sale. He couldn't just broadcast what he had discovered, or the buyers would be wary of any more go-betweens, thinking that he was setting a trap. He couldn't afford to lose their confidence right now. No, he wouldn't allow Marlena Maxwell to destroy any more of his plans.

Maybe he would use her first. Then he would kill her. After all, what difference would it make? The real Marlena Maxwell was probably dead already.

He squinted his eyes thoughtfully. He could allow her to continue with her charade, as long as he kept her under control. He had to admit he was curious about her.

A slow smile formed. He didn't need any Marlena by his side.

He inhaled, then calmly reached for the packet of cigarettes on the desk. And oh yes, he would use her to get rid of that SEAL, too. He laughed. That would be killing two love-birds with one bullet.

Chapter Thirteen.

S teve rubbed his jaw, playing with the couple days' growth of beard as he tried to pick one of a dozen questions jumping around in his mind right at that moment. He was in a crowded cafe near Connecticut Avenue and obviously picked by the lady across the table for its tourist clientele. He wouldn't have known it was Tess if she hadn't told him the exact location of a booth in the corner. Sitting down, with shopping bags and D.C. and museum maps on the seat and table, she was busy perusing the menu when he stepped inside the cubicle and sat down. He had hesitated, but gone with instinct anyway.

It wasn't because he didn't think he could handle another surprise, but this one was...unexpected, to say the least. Tess was nowhere to be seen. Well, it was Tess, but she sure didn't look like the Tess he'd met until she glanced up and greeted him in her sultry voice.

He sat down and picked up the menu, even though he was too busy taking in her appearance to read. Her hair was black and spiky short, accentuating her cheekbones. Her eyes were gray when they glanced up at him, not the liquid honey-gold he remembered. She had done something with her face because her nose looked different somehow, but the smile she gave him was a familiar curve.

"h.e.l.lo, Steve," she said, in Tess's voice.

"Who the h.e.l.l are you?" he demanded in a soft growl, for her ears alone. He added, "Who the h.e.l.l are the two of you?"

Tess handed him a small b.u.t.tonlike pin with an insignia. "We're GEM. You should be familiar with contract agents."

He sat there waiting for her to continue, but she just sat there, reading the menu.

"Is that all?" he asked, reading the insignia with quick interest. "GEM. Contract agents. I'm supposed to take your word and go on from there?"

She closed her menu. "Yes."

"Not likely."

"We don't have much time. I only called you because I can't do this myself and you're the only person that might be able to save Marlena."

That wiped out most of his questions for now. He pocketed the insignia b.u.t.ton. "Where is she? What danger is she in?"

Her gray eyes glinted with what looked like approval. "Still interested? Even though you know nothing?"

Her laugh hadn't changed, either, a husky undertone. Steve couldn't believe the transformation from Tess to...to..."Is Tess your real name?" he asked. "If I do a search on you, is there a profile, a real person? Or are you like Marlena?"

"Oh, there is a Tess. It's Tess Montgomery, to save your friend Cameron's time." A waiter showed up at the table. Again there was immediate change. Tess gave her order with a softer Southern accent. Even her gestures were different. After the server left, Tess added, back in her normal voice, "I know how intriguing I am, darling, but now is not the time to ask everything. You are a SEAL operative and understand covert activities. Need-to-know basis, and all that."

Steve smiled grimly. "That's when I know whose side I'm working for," he reminded her. "Right now, GEM means nothing to me. All I want is to find out where Marlena is and what she is doing."

"There, common ground," Tess countered. "And don't you think if she weren't kosher to Mr. Harden, she would be running around free?"

"I don't think Harden has a choice," Steve replied. "I think you would have gotten her out some other way if my O.C. hadn't followed through. I get the definite feeling that you're a little higher than TIARA, able to pull muscle where it counts. So why don't we cut through the B.S. and you tell me exactly what you are and how exactly you want to use me? Somehow I don't think you're asking me because you feel sorry for me." He was still mad as h.e.l.l at Marlena for leaving him without even a goodbye.

"Tactical Intelligence and Related Activities," Tess drawled out the long version for TIARA while playing with the straw in her gla.s.s of c.o.ke, "is such a boring place after being in SEAL-related activities, don't you think, Steve? Don't you miss the field action? Taking matters in your own hands without red tape and someone with mental baggage breathing down your neck? Yet the admiral chose you because he saw something beyond the Kisser of the Millennium stuff that told him you could handle tactical intel, that you aren't just a SEAL warrior gunning around in enemy territory. So he sent you to TIARA and you've been stuck there. You like the intel enough but miss the action, don't you, Steve? You think if you could just jump into the fray, be given some leeway in this matter, you could actually feel more...complete?"

Steve stared across the table, his gaze narrowing as he weighed Tess's speech. He had enough training to see that the woman was playing with his mind. "NOPAIN, isn't it?" he tartly concluded. "Nonphysical persuasion and innovative negotiation, I think my operations chief said. Is this a taste of it?"

Tess laughed. "I knew you never lacked in the brain department, darling." The food arrived. Back to her accent, she said, "Have lunch and let's go sightseeing afterward, shall we? You never know, we might catch up with our missing friend."

"We aren't going anywhere until you answer a few questions. First, what is Marlena after?"

"Marlena did accept an a.s.signment in D.C., but it wasn't what Task Force Two thought it was." Tess raised an eyebrow. "Not what you thought she was."

Steve took a bite out of his hamburger and stared at Tess as he chewed. She smiled and continued, "Her job is to find out who hired her because he left a clue that he had something very important to our country's security. Once we find out who it is, everything will fall into place."

"What about this item?" Steve asked, remembering the threatening phone calls. "Don't you want it in your hands, too? Everybody else seems to be after it."

"Definitely," Tess said, "but this person is not your usual criminal looking for a quick sale. He is very good at disguising himself, and so far our contact with him is minimal. He doesn't want money but power, which makes him more dangerous. But Marlena can handle him. She's very good with men of power."

That made Steve scowl. He knew Tess was provoking him on purpose, trying to extract information with her NOPAIN methods, but he couldn't help it. "So why is she in danger?"

"She is always in danger," Tess countered, her expression turning serious. "You've put her in even more danger by giving Harden those files."

Steve jerked up sharply, a ready denial on his lips, but the gray eyes studying him across the table stopped the words. He remained silent, waiting for the rest of the information.

Again she nodded in approval, as if he'd pa.s.sed another test. "We've always known there are moles in the CIA, and TIARA leaks enough information that makes it very probable that there is an inside as well as an outside ent.i.ty working. Why do you think the admiral transferred you there? He wanted someone he could trust in TIARA to report back to him. You obviously have his confidence, Steve."

"How do you know all this?" h.e.l.l, he'd just found this out himself. How did this woman know so much?

Tess wiped her hands with some napkins. Steve noticed that she had on different rings today. "I called the admiral last night to confirm my findings, of course," she answered, her gray eyes twinkling.

"Oh yeah, right. You just picked up the phone and informed his secretary that you're Tess Montgomery with GEM and you have a few questions to ask him," Steve said dryly.

Tess's lips quirked. "I did, but I also used your name." Leaning closer, she added, "I also have his private line, so no secretary."

Steve met those amused eyes with his own incredulous ones. "Who are you?" He made a mental note to call his cousin Hawk and ask about GEM. Contract operatives just didn't have a direct line to top Pentagon bra.s.s.

"You can call the admiral and confirm my conversation with him, if you like," she offered, "and get permission to finish this whole operation."

Steve frowned. "You mean I'm back in the game?"