Resurrection, page 16
part #1 of Redemption Harbor Series
He understood, because he felt the same way. Reaching between their bodies, he rubbed her clit as he crushed his mouth to hers. Over and over, he teased the little bundle of nerves until her inner walls convulsed around his cock, her orgasm slamming into her.
As soon as she let go, he did the same, releasing himself inside her, marking her, claiming her. The thought was primitive but he didn’t care. He wanted to mark this woman, wanted to lock her down forever.
He’d even bought the ring.
Her head fell back as the remnants of her orgasm faded. All his muscles were pulled taut as he thrust one last time, his breathing erratic as he watched her slowly open her eyes.
She gave him a seductive smile that told him she was sated, relaxed. He loved seeing her like this. Their lives were so stressful and these moments between them far too few.
Though he hated to, he pulled out of her and rolled their bodies so that she was half splayed on top of him. Skin to skin. He rubbed a hand down her spine. “Want to order room service?” They’d planned to head out but he wouldn’t mind staying in the rest of the night.
“Sounds good to me,” she murmured.
Neither made a move to call. He didn’t want to budge from this spot, and food would wait. He continued stroking his hand down her spine, savoring the quiet, intimate moment.
“You’re the first person, other than my parents, I’ve ever told I loved.” The quietly spoken words against his chest weren’t exactly a shock. Not for the woman he knew. She’d never been in a serious relationship before him and her parents had been her only family—that she knew of, anyway. But he wasn’t sure why she was telling him this now.
“You’re the first woman I’ve ever told I loved.” Something she should know, but he decided to spell it out. She was the last woman he would love. Telling Skye that, however, was likely to freak her out. Which was why he hadn’t proposed yet.
He was waiting for the right time—if there was such a thing. He’d know the moment when it presented itself.
“Good.” Her breath was warm against his chest. Then she lifted her head, pinning him with her pale blue eyes. “I…just want you to know that you’re the best man I’ve ever known, Colt. Being your partner has been the best time of my life. I wouldn’t trade this last year for anything.”
It hadn’t been quite a year, but he agreed. Except the tone of her voice also set off an alarm in his head. “You breaking up with me?”
She snorted softly and let her head fall back to his chest. “Shut up.”
That didn’t ease the dread gathering inside him. “That’s not an answer.”
She pinched his side. “No. I just wanted you to know. This time with you, I’ll always treasure it.”
That sounded a hell of a lot like goodbye. Or at least a warning that one was coming.
“I’m not going anywhere.” He tightened his grip, pulling her closer. Her saying goodbye had to be bullshit. She might be complicated, but he knew how she felt about him. She couldn’t hide that. Just like he couldn’t hide his own feelings. He didn’t want to. Not with Skye.
Chapter 18
—Everyone deserves one true friend.—
Colt and Skye stepped into the guest room Gage had turned into his temporary work station. Multiple computers were set up and he’d hung up a simple white board with pictures and names of interested buyers of the bioweapon. He’d been busy in the last twenty-four hours.
“Your dad settling in?” Gage asked without looking up from one of his monitors.
“Yeah. He’s out with Brooks, helping fix some broken fences.” Colt had been surprised his father had actually shown up but this morning right after breakfast, he’d arrived, bag in hand. And since his father couldn’t sit still, Brooks had gladly put him to work.
“Good. All right, so far I’ve got six interested buyers.”
“That’s it?” Skye stepped forward, crossing her arms over her chest as she eyed the board.
“Well, six interested buyers who actually have the funds. We’re making you look desperate but not so desperate you’ll sell to just anyone.”
Yeah, that had been something they both agreed on. Even if Skye was desperate she would still never sell to certain buyers on principle. Otherwise, Gianni might not believe this was her.
“Why no pictures for these two?” Colt motioned to the two names on the board without photos.
“Because I don’t think they exist. This one,” he said, pointing to the name Dae Jung, “has only existed on paper in the last two years. There’s not even a passport linked to it. Not one I can find, anyway. It’s linked to a shell corporation that, at the end of a very long electronic trail, leads back to China. And this one”—he tapped the empty space above the name Terrence Pace—“I think is your guy.”
Colt straightened. “You think he’s Gianni?”
“It’s possible. The alias is good. I mean, really, really good. If I’d only peeled back the first few layers of his history, I wouldn’t have suspected this was an alias. The driver’s license on file looks similar to the picture you gave me of Gianni. But it’s not him.”
Colt only had one picture of Gianni—an eight-year-old photo from when he’d first been recruited. “You know who it is?”
“After reviewing the image I think it’s a combination of different faces. Which means someone hacked the DMV and replaced the original picture with this image. Not too difficult if you have the skills. The image is a similar enough resemblance to Gianni that if he needed to use it, it would work fine, but it wouldn’t trigger any facial recognition software. Which is the whole point for him. Maybe Pace isn’t Gianni, but combined with what I’ve found so far trying to track him and this Pace being an interested buyer…there’s a good chance it’s your guy.”
“Only way to know is if we get an in-person look at him.” Skye’s voice was grim.
“What other info do you have on him?” Colt asked.
Gage gave a rundown of the guy’s holdings, financial accounts and addresses. His main one was listed in California. Which meant Colt would be planning a trip to the West Coast. This wasn’t the kind of thing he could hire out. And he didn’t want to alert anyone at the Agency. He was already on a short leash with his boss. Not to mention there was no telling if Gianni was working with anyone else. No, this had to be under the radar.
“I don’t think you should go to California,” Skye said, as if she’d read his mind.
“We need to see if it’s him. If it is, we don’t even need to set him up on a buy. If Pace is Gianni, I’ll just take him out.”
Her frown deepened. “You think he won’t be protecting himself?”
“I won’t know until I see for myself.”
Skye had started to respond when Savage stepped into the room.
“I’ll go,” Savage said. “I was listening outside the door,” he added when Colt frowned. “Even if Gianni knows my face he’ll be less likely to look for me than you. If for some reason he’s tracking your movements—and the fact that he recently called you is suspect—it makes more sense for an unknown like me to head out and track him.”
“It might not even be him.”
Savage shrugged. “Then we’ve lost nothing. I can go alone or bring Brooks with me. If all you want is recon, I’m your guy.”
“Gianni is highly trained.”
“So am I.”
“I like it,” Skye said. “He should go.”
Colt glanced at her, surprised. She hadn’t wanted anyone involved in this whole thing at all. Now she was siding with Savage?
She placed a hand on her hip. “Gianni freaking called you and you told him where you are. So far you haven’t lied to him. If he’s just testing the waters, seeing if you know anything about me, you’ve given him no reason to distrust you. Unless of course he knows I’m alive, then this is all a moot point. But if he doesn’t, then having Savage do recon is the smartest move. You know it too, you just want to go after Gianni yourself.”
He clenched his jaw. Colt did want to go after Gianni, take him out and never worry about him again. Then they could figure out a way to bring Skye back to life without completely making their boss at the CIA lose his mind. He hadn’t figured that part out yet. Right now, he was taking things one step at a time. And step one was to eliminate Gianni.
Colt hated that she was right. “Fine. You and Brooks both go. You can be each other’s backup. And just get a picture or confirmation that Pace is Gianni. If he’s not, come home. Hell, come home regardless. I want to bring him to us.” It would be a hell of a lot easier to take Gianni out on Colt’s own territory.
Savage nodded and gave a small grin. “We’ll head out tonight. I’ve got my go bag ready.”
“Thank you for doing this,” Skye said. “I know it’s for Colt, but still, thank you.”
“I’m doing this for both of you.” Savage left the room in a few long strides.
Colt scrubbed a hand over his face. Going after Gianni without the normal resources of the CIA was a pain in the ass, but Gage was damn good at what he did with computers. If he thought Pace might be Gianni, there was a good chance he was.
“Even if Pace isn’t Gianni, at least we know that word’s spread about the bioweapon.” Skye leaned against the front of Gage’s desk, arms still crossed over her chest as she stared at the board.
He didn’t think she was really seeing it though. No, she was lost in her own head. He drank in the sight of her lean profile, the hard set of her jaw as she remained immobile. It wasn’t often that she was still. Her auburn hair was down around her shoulders in soft waves rather than in her usual braid.
She made a frustrated sound and rubbed the back of her neck. When she turned and caught his gaze, she gave him a half-smile. The sight, like always, was a punch to his senses. The fact that she was alive, back in his life, and they were working together again… Yeah, he would be putting a ring on her finger soon. He didn’t feel her pulling away from him anymore.
It was as if she’d embraced what was between them. Finally.
* * *
Three days later
“Dude will you stop? You’re driving me nuts,” Brooks said, not glancing at Zac. “Seriously, you’re like a five-year-old.”
“How are you not bored?” Zac realized how he sounded but stakeouts were mind-numbing. Still, he stopped throwing almonds at the side of Brooks’s head.
“Maybe it’s the stellar company.” Brooks’s voice was dry and he didn’t look over from his binos.
They’d rented a boat tonight—their third day in California—and were staking out the residence of Terrence Pace from the ocean. The past couple days they’d tried other positions from around the property but there was no good visual. And if Pace was inside he hadn’t come out yet. Not that they’d seen anyway. Jake Young, a guy who worked for a security company, had been coming and going, with groceries and other types of deliveries. But that was it. On almost three acres, the beachfront property had ultimate privacy from the front and from any neighbors. And if this Pace could afford this type of place, it was likely he could afford the bioweapon.
The water was the only way they might have a shot at actually seeing Pace. If they didn’t see anyone tonight they’d be heading in tomorrow night.
That was a last resort though. They didn’t want to risk being seen by anyone and tipping Gianni off that they were on to him—if Pace was even Gianni.
“This is why I could never do what Colt or Skye does,” Zac said. Yeah, they saw a lot of action, but spies also spent a whole lot of time sitting on their thumbs just waiting. It was why spies trained so hard, working out like fiends. They had to stay in shape so when the situation went from zero to a hundred in seconds, they were ready.
His best friend snorted. “Yeah, that’s the only reason.”
“All right, I couldn’t deal with all the politics.” With his job, he ghosted into hard—aka impossible—to reach places and took care of business. Either with a weapon, or he simply retrieved things. He preferred stealing. Much cleaner and easier on his soul. Something he didn’t want to think about right now.
“No shit. So, what’s up with Leighton?”
Their friend had arrived at the ranch the day they’d left and he hadn’t looked good. He’d lost at least ten pounds and there had been a haunted look in his eyes. “I don’t know but he said he’d been thinking about taking a break.”
“Yeah, he mentioned that a few months ago too.” Brooks frowned, still not taking his gaze from his binos.
“Want me to take over?”
“Nah. I’ll let you know when I’m ready. You thinking about quitting your job?” The question was abrupt, but Zac shouldn’t be surprised Brooks asked.
Of all of his friends, Brooks knew him the best. He stretched his legs out and stared up at the spatter of stars. The moon was hidden, which was good for their purposes. The waves rolled softly, barely jostling the boat. “Maybe.”
“I figured.”
“What the hell would I do though?” A question he’d asked himself too many times to count. He was good at what he did, which probably wasn’t something to be proud of. He’d thought about getting into personal security, but it would mean he worked for someone else and there would always be a boss to answer to. Yeah, he had one now, but there was a level of autonomy he liked.
“Start your own company. Join the RHPD. They’re hiring. Come work on the ranch with me. Or—”
“It was rhetorical,” he muttered, even if it hadn’t been.
Brooks straightened suddenly, snapping Zac into work mode. Without asking if Brooks had seen something, he grabbed his own pair of Steiner tactical binoculars and raised them to his eyes. “Second story, second room from the left. Two French doors just opened,” Brooks said.
Shifting over, Zac scanned to where Brooks had said and zoomed in on the man stepping outside. His heart rate kicked up a notch as he watched the man wearing a pullover sweater and lounge pants sit on a lounge chair, a drink in hand. His mouth was moving… Zac saw the earpiece and cell phone in his hand. Talking to someone.
“He does not look happy,” Brooks murmured.
“No kidding.” Thanks to the magnification he had a clear image of Mark Gianni’s face.
“I’ll call Colt.” Brooks put his binos down but Zac kept his up, watching him.
“We could move in tonight, take him out.” This was one kill Zac wouldn’t feel guilty about. Mark Gianni had threatened Colt’s family, friends, and caused serious pain to a man he considered a brother—making him think he lost the woman he loved. Not to mention Gianni wanted to buy a bioweapon that could kill hundreds of thousands—maybe millions—and sell it to the highest bidder. The world would be a better place without him.
Brooks didn’t respond, just talked quietly into his cell phone. Zac zoomed out and panned over the rest of the back of the house—and spotted three guards. Well hidden, but three were in place…and another was patrolling. He hadn’t seen them earlier and Brooks hadn’t mentioned seeing any boots on the ground.
Putting the binos down, he moved to the cabin of the boat and started the engine, not bothering to tell Brooks what he was doing. It was time to get out of there. If Gianni or his guys spotted them, they might get suspicious. About half a mile down the coast, Brooks stepped up next to him at the wheel.
“Colt wants us to come home.”
“Figured he would. I saw four guards.”
“They must have come out when Gianni did.”
“Yeah. And they’ve got to have video security.” Probably sensors and other high tech stuff. Things that could definitely be manipulated, but without knowing the layout of the house, what system they were using, how many guards and how many security precautions were in place, it was stupid to attempt a takedown of Gianni. Not when it wasn’t absolutely necessary. Zac figured that Gage would have no problem getting the architectural layout of the home, but it could set off a trigger if Gianni discovered someone was looking into his alias. Yeah, not worth the risk.
“At a minimum. We’ll get him to come to us.” There was a hard note in Brooks’s voice, one Zac didn’t hear often.
Sometimes it was easy to forget Brooks had been a sniper. He seemed so laid-back—and normally he was. But when he was focused on something or someone, especially through his scope, watch out. “The plane ready for us?”
“On standby.”
Good. They could get home and formulate a real plan for taking down this bastard. One that didn’t involve Colt going off alone and half-cocked in an attempt to save them all. Hell no. Zac wasn’t exactly surprised Colt had gone after Mary Grace without telling anyone, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. And no way was he letting his friend take this on alone.
Not Colt and not his woman, Skye. Because she was just as bad as Colt. Faking her death instead of telling Colt what was going on? The kind of love that had taken, to sacrifice her career and life for Colt… He could respect that.
Other than for his friends and some of the guys he’d served with, he couldn’t imagine making that kind of sacrifice for anyone. Especially not a woman. He was going to make damn sure Colt and Skye got a chance at a future.
Chapter 19
—Playing with fire.—
“You ready for this?” Skye squeezed Colt’s forearm, knowing this would be hard for him, even if he tried to deny it. They were going to set up his former mentor and yeah, Gianni was a piece of shit, but he’d been an important figure in Colt’s life. The man had recruited him, changed the very course of his life. And maybe he hadn’t been an actual father figure but he’d been pretty damn close.
“Yeah.” He held his cell phone in his hand loosely but tension was visible in every line of his body.
“I can leave the room if you want.” They were using the room that Gage had established as his work station so Colt could call Gianni and start the process of reeling the bastard in.
