Authors: Allie K. Adams
At Any Cost (16 page)
Donovan studied Dan for several seconds, contemplating whether to tell him or not. "So you want back in, huh?"
Dan met his eyes. "I'm here, aren't I?"
Donovan nodded, shifted his eyes over to JT. Dan stiffened and tried to remain nonchalant about the contact. "And you?"
JT's eyes widened. She looked to Dan, then back to Donovan. "I'm in."
Donovan leaned forward and seemed to pull sealed files right out of his ass. He threw one at each of them. "You know the drill. If you to take the op, I'll brief you."
JT watched the sealed file drop at her feet. Dan could see her itching to reach down and open it. She caught his eye. He shook his head slightly, telling her to back off.
"You," Donovan said to JT. "Now that Weber is here, finish your side of the story."
"You just had us in separate rooms. Isn't it customary to keep the interrogations separate until one of us cracks?" Dan asked. "I mean, if you're trying to get us to turn on each other, that's hard to do when we're sitting next to each other." He didn't like being surprised, and Donovan wanting JT to spill her story while he sat next to her didn't make sense.
"As you know from your previous partnership, trust is everything. If she can't spill the entire story with you sitting here, then she isn't right for this op. Hell, she isn't right for this agency. Same goes for you, Weber. Trust."
Partnership
?
Trust
? Dan didn't do well with either. "What are you talking about? What is it you are asking us to do?"
Donovan's eyes sparkled. He was up to something. "Remember the rules, buddy. No engagement on the op until it's accepted. I will tell you this; as a prize, you get Miss Turner here as your new partner. Who better to pair together than two of NASSD's best?"
Dan hated head games. He didn't play well with others, and sure as hell didn't want JT Turner as a partner. He couldn't concentrate as it was. Adding the beautiful Miss Turner into the mix and Dan might as well throw in the towel.
"No partners," Dan stated gruffly.
"You don't get the choice," Donovan clarified.
"So you're saying if I want back in, I have to take her with me?" He tried to sound put out, pissed off. It didn't take much for him to reach that point. The idea of spending time with JT did intrigue him. But there was a time and place for them to take their fascination with each other to the next logical level. An op wasn't it.
Donovan nodded. "That's what I'm saying."
"And if I say no?"
"There's the door."
Dan couldn't believe this shit. They were forcing him to take JT in under his wing, baby-sit her. A mentor? Hardly. Dan wanted Peck. NASSD wanted
There was no room in the deal for a woman. Especially a woman like JT. "I don't think so."
Her fist came out of nowhere, connected square with his jaw, adding to the bruise she'd already given him with her foot. And another when she head-butted him. It almost knocked him out of his chair. When he recovered and looked at her, her eyes were blazing. Green, burning orbs of fire.
"What the hell is so wrong with pairing up, Weber? You got that big of an ego that you can't share in some of the glory?" Her eyes shifted down to his crotch. "Or does your problem go deeper than that?" She met his eyes again. They were sparkling. The woman liked a good fight.
Dan grinned inwardly. The little vixen. "The last partnership I had didn't end well."
"So I heard. But that was then. You can't go back and relive the past, and you can't change what happened. Get over it and move on, already."
"You don't know what it's like."
"I would if you'd tell me."
He'd bite off his own tongue before he shared the details. Not with Turner. At least not with Donovan listening in. No one needed to relive that Hell, and yet Dan lived it every day of his miserable existence. "Can we move on?"
"You can't bring him back! Going after Peck may make you feel better, but it just puts you in the same league as him."
He'd never had anyone put it so abruptly, but she was right. He hated Peck and would like to see him take his place in Hell. But killing Peck in cold blood didn't make Dan any better than the monster who killed his partner.
"Then it's settled?" JT looked at him, waiting for his next argument.
"No partners."
"I'd be a good partner."
"That's not what the fellows back at
JT dropped her jaw, then snapped it closed. "That's because they couldn't keep up with me."
"Maybe I just don't like you."
"Now you're just being mean."
"I'm not a nice person." Dan caught her eyes with his. They were shining. She was certainly enjoying this.
So was he.
"That's no secret. You need to work on your people skills."
"You have a tendency to get shot. I don't want to get caught in the crossfire."
"You're lucky I don't shoot you myself for that one."
They sat there, staring at each other, completely oblivious to the fact Donovan still sat across from them. Dan felt a tug in his pants a split second before he made the connection. Christ. He started to swell from the verbal foreplay and shifted in his chair to hide the growing bulge in his pants.
Her gaze slid down. Judging by the color in her cheeks, she noticed the swell in his pants. He caught that little grin on her face and had to swallow. The she-devil did it on purpose.
Paybacks are hell, lady.
He couldn't pay her back unless he went with her. Against his better judgment, he nodded. "I guess I'm in."
Donovan blew out a breath. Dan shifted his gaze to him.
The bastard was smiling. As soon as he caught Dan watching him, he quickly shifted his eyes away. But not soon enough.
Holy hell. Donovan nailed him. Dan fell for his little plan hook, line, and sinker. He didn't know why he never saw it. NASSD would never allow Dan to go after Peck anyway. They knew it would be personal, knew Dan would stop at nothing, even if it meant taking out more agents if they were protecting Peck. It could turn into a NASSD bloodbath. Only one agent would be able to stop him.
The one NASSD trained to replace him.
She was in. And with the legendary Dan Weber. She still didn't care much for the Donovan fellow, but he at least gave her another chance. And from the little job he had for her, she'd be the key assassin on their next mission.
She'd succeed. She had to. This would be her second—and last—chance. If she blew this op, she was out of NASSD. Period. The end.
She didn't like the little stipulation attached to her newfound chance. If Dan Weber went against HQ for any reason, JT had orders to take him out by any means necessary. It was either agree to those terms or leave NASSD.
Did he have to agree to those same terms? What kind of partnership was that? A shiver washed up her spine.
It wasn't a partnership at all. It was an execution.
Donovan spoke. "Weber, where the hell is
"It's safe."
JT whipped her head around so fast the room started to spin. She brought her hand up and pushed her palm into her temple to dull the throb. The room started to come back into focus. She blinked until she could fix her eyes on Dan. "Why didn't you tell me?"
He threw her a sideways glance. " I don't know if I can trust you."
Donovan pushed himself up with his cane. "I'll be right back." He hobbled out. As soon as he cleared the room, JT turned and glared at Dan.
His insult slammed into her reserve. How dare he not trust her! She felt the growing need to cold cock him again. Jerk. She glanced over her shoulder at the door, confirmed Donovan had indeed left, before she leaned toward him and whispered, "How could you not trust me?"
"I don't know you," he answered her, but wouldn't look at her. Instead, he focused on the large mirror in front of them. "Did you notice when the light went out?"
"What light?"
He nodded toward the mirror. "Behind the mirror."
She couldn't care less when the light went out. "It's a mirror, Weber."
Instead of saying anything, he continued to study the mirror.
"Answer me, goddamn you! You can trust me now, right?"
He pulled his gaze away from the mirror to look at her. And not nicely. "We'll see." He shifted his attention back to the damn mirror.
JT snapped her mouth closed, giving up. "You suck."
"Yep."
"Well," she had to think of something to one-up him. "Can I trust you?"
"You have no reason not to."
"Same with me."
He looked at her in obvious disbelief. "Do you want me to make a list? Let's start with the way I found you. You were running for your life with top-secret information in your pocket. Then you tried to escape. You came this close to handing
She accepted defeat. It didn't mean she had to like it. JT and Dan exchanged heated glares as long as possible before turning their eyes to Donovan as he came back in the room.
"You've heard of the Mercado cartel?" Donovan asked JT as he sank back down in his seat.
She nodded, grateful to put Dan as far out of her head as possible. Work. She focused on the question, recalling as much as she could from her training. "A powerful family in Colombia, both politically and financially. The head of the family is Santos Mercado, thirty-seven. Only child. Mother died a few years back. NASSD took out his father, Carlos Mercado, twenty-five years ago. The mom blamed the United States for Carlos' death, and raised Santos to hate us in every way."
"Very good, Miss Turner. I see you've done your homework."
"They had me studying the Mercado cartel back at
Gahanna
."
"What do you know about
JT stole a glance at Dan. He'd been studying Donovan carefully, though JT didn't know why. When Donovan mentioned
But she wasn't about to volunteer anything, either. "I know how to spell it. That's about it."
"What'd you forget?" Dan spoke up.
Donovan looked at him. "Come again?"
"You must have forgot something in the other room to have to leave in the middle of a briefing." Dan's jaw hardened.
"Oh. My cigarettes." He held up the pack, took one out and lit it, blowing smoke into the air. It lifted in a lazy swirl and settled as a smelly cloud above the group. He eyed JT. "So you are saying you didn't contact members of the
JT went rigid. How did he know about that? Her eyes darted around. Dan perked up, no doubt from her not-so-subtle body language, and leaned forward in his chair.
"JT?" Dan asked cautiously. "Did you?"
She didn't see the need to lie. So she used them to try and gather enough information to find
"Jesus Fucking Christ," Dan rasped, slouching back into his chair. He gave her a once over before shaking his head and turning away.
"See?" Donovan seemed rather proud of himself.
"Did you do it?" Dan rasped.
She felt impaled by his unyielding gaze. Swallowing hard, she tried to push the interrogation back to him. "Do what?"
When his eyes narrowed in on her, they were lethal. Eyes of steel, cold and impenetrable. Eyes of an assassin. She thrust out her chin, refused to back down. "Did you kill those agents?"
JT choked on the gasp as it escaped. "Kill them? Of course not!" Her back went ramrod straight as she met each set of eyes. "Why? What happened?" When no one answered, she asked again. "What happened?"
Dan spoke up, that steel look gone. "Three of the men from the
At this point of the juncture, she wouldn't be opposed. As long as he stopped looking at her like that. He acted as if he hated her. Or at least her hair. "And you think I'm the hot brunette?"
"Something like that," Dan finished.
"I contacted them. But I didn't kill them."
Dan wouldn't look at her, which tore right through her heart like a poisoned dagger. "Why did you contact them?"
"I was looking for
Dan's spine went straight instantly. His eyes riveted to her. "List? Who gave it to you?"
Should JT tell them? It couldn't get Uncle Charlie in any trouble. He'd lost touch with reality long ago. It wasn't like he'd even realize if he were in trouble. "Charlie Cole."
"Christ," Dan growled. He looked at Donovan. "I thought you said he was out of commission."
"I didn't even know the invalid could talk."
"Hey!" JT jumped to her feet, charged Donovan. "Don't you dare talk about him like that. He's a good man. He gave his all for this agency. And what did you do to repay him? You threw him on his ear when he no longer served his purpose."
"That's not what happened," Donovan defended. "Cole cracked."
"You dismissed him. Sent him on an
extended vacation
. That's what made him crack."
Donovan narrowed his eyes at her. "Why are you so concerned with him? What's he to you?"
"Holy shit," Dan stated, barely above a whisper. "I never made the connection. You're
Jessica
."
JT whipped around. "How did you know my real name? No one calls me that but my—"
"Uncle Charlie," Dan finished.
"Who?" Donovan asked.
"Charlie Cole is Turner's uncle. This is the little Jessica he always talked about," Dan explained.
JT couldn't breathe, the bombs dropping on her faster than her mind could process. And that was saying something. "You know him?"
Dan looked up at her. "I know him."
"How?"
"Hello? Agents?" Donovan interrupted. "Care to play catch up later? We kind of have a little national security issue that takes precedence over good old Uncle Charlie."
JT took her seat. She had every intention of playing catch up later. She wanted to know how Dan knew her uncle. Uncle Charlie never said which project he'd been a part of. Could he have been on the team as Dan Weber? That could make anyone crack. "Go ahead."
"Thank you," he replied sarcastically. "In those files you'll find everything you need. Maps. Pesos. Your passport. You have hotel reservations at the
Decameron Cartagena
." He held up the hotel's brochure and read the front. "
In beautiful Cartagena de Indias, South America's heroic city and the historic Heritage of Mankind.
" He tossed the brochure down on the floor. "It's also home to the biggest drug lord in the world, Santos Mercado."
Dan had already opened his file and scanned through its contents. Following his lead, JT swiped the file off the floor and ripped open the seal. He looked at Donovan. "Colombia? You're sending us in?"
"Your flight leaves in three hours. There will be a limo waiting in Cartagena to take you to the hotel."
"A limo?" JT could feel her eyes light up. She'd never been inside a limo before.
"Why now?" Dan asked, seemingly unimpressed with the thought of riding in a limo. He kept flipping through the papers, shuffling them around, as if searching for something.
"According to intel, Mercado has been saving up for a rainy day. Then
"His latest trick would have been
there
, she wouldn't be
here
."
"I saw Mercado's men at the hotel," Dan stated and flipped through more papers.
JT turned to him. "You did?"
Donovan stopped in mid-drag. "How do you know it was Mercado's men?"
Dan lifted his gaze and rested it on Donovan. "I know."
"Peck is working with Mercado." JT nodded in understanding, verbally connecting the dots. "Peck wants
"Which means he'll try again," Dan added.
Donovan grunted in agreement. "Peck could be Mercado's connection in the United States. He has to have someone on our soil doing his dirty work. If Mercado so much as places a toe on America's terra firma, we have the go ahead to take him out."
"Peck also needs someone inside NASSD. My guess is he planned to use JT, at least to get his hands on
"That still doesn't explain the woman who killed those agents," Donovan jumped in.
"The woman could be a hooker for all we know. Peck could have hired her to slip them some sort of drug. Mercado probably gave him a hefty down payment on
Donovan darted his eyes to Dan. "You don't?"
"Peck killed them. Six shots. It's his trademark."
JT studied Dan, noticed how his eyes darkened.
"Mercado is still our mark, not Peck." Donovan pointed to their folders. "Peck will stay on American soil until he gets his hands on
Dan glanced over at JT before dropping his attention to the folder in his hands. "What's our cover?"
"JT is an American woman running away from her jealous boyfriend. We want her to be a distraction for Mercado. Just long enough to get close to him and take him out."