Читать книгу Delta Force Desire - C.J. Miller - Страница 11
ОглавлениеThe squeaks of the cot springs gave away that Kit wasn’t asleep. She was tossing and turning.
“Why aren’t you sleeping?” Griffin asked. His cot wasn’t the most comfortable, but he had slept on worse. At least he was dry and no one was shooting at him.
Kit shifted in her bed. She was the most restless sleeper he had ever been in the same room with. “How do you know I’m not?”
“For one, you answered me. For two, your breathing is irregular and the noises of your cot indicate movement.”
She blew out her breath. “I’m upset. It’s been an upsetting day. I’m worried about my family.”
The West Company would ensure their safety. She had nothing to worry about in that regard. “They are being guarded.”
She let out a harrumph. He should have stayed quiet, but he hadn’t been sleeping, either. He wouldn’t give in to the exhaustion that pulled at the corners of his brain until he was sure she was asleep.
“Let me call my mom.”
A security breach to allow direct contact. “Can’t happen. People are looking for you. We can’t risk someone tracing the call or your mom alerting anyone to your status.”
He could envision Kit glaring at him in the dark.
“Do you think I don’t understand how to mask where a call is coming from? I know to think before I speak. I have not questioned how well you do your job, snatching people and punching people, and I’m asking you to trust me to do this.”
She didn’t strike him as an overconfident woman, and he guessed she could back up her statement. “I don’t have permission to give you a phone.” They were working on obtaining a secure computer and phone for her.
“I am not a prisoner. I am a person,” Kit said.
Griffin turned on the overhead light to look at her. “I know you are a person. A person I am trying to keep safe.” He was having enough trouble wrapping his mind around the idea that he was responsible for protecting her. His complex about that was a twisted mess. He had accepted the assignment to retrieve her and deliver her to a safe house. This added complexity caused uncertainties to surface.
“Give me your phone,” she said.
“You can’t call your family and check in. We want your whereabouts to remain unknown to Incognito.” Since that wasn’t dissuading her, he decided to tell her the brutal truth. “If anyone knows that you contacted your family, that family member will be tortured for information. Do you understand what torture is?”
She glared at him. “I am aware of what it is.”
“Have you ever been tortured?” He hated pressing her, but he needed her to understand the severity of what was playing out.
“Not physically.”
He considered her words. “If you want to check the internet for news about the incident at your sister’s party, I’ll allow it, but no underhanded stuff.”
“Underhanded stuff?” She seemed pleased at the small victory.
“You know what I mean. No sending secret, encrypted messages. It’s a point, click and read-only venture.”
She smiled. “Thank you. That will help me sleep. I need to see for myself.”
He crossed to her cot and sat next to her. She moved away and extended her hand for the phone. He shook his head. “I watch what you are doing, every finger motion.”
She rolled her eyes. “You are an untrusting man.”
“That is a trait that will keep you alive.” He handed her his phone. Activity on it was monitored by Kate West. If Kit tried to pull anything, Kate would know it.
Kit smelled of the beach. It was an odd smell to associate with someone, warm sand and the waves, when she hadn’t been near the shore. She elbowed him. “You’re too close. You’re crowding me.”
“The screen is small.”
“Is that a tattoo on your neck?” she asked. She traced a finger over the tattoo that ran from the base of his neck along his collarbone and to his biceps.
“Yes.”
He didn’t lean away from her touch, knowing the slightest distance would give her fingers time to do mischief on his phone. Her profile was fresh in his mind. When it came to computers and technology, she was not to be underestimated.
“Can I see the whole tattoo?” she asked.
“You want me to take my shirt off?”
“Yes.”
“When you’re done with the phone.” She’d use the time he had the fabric over his eyes to send a message.
Her frown told him he was right. The short time he’d spent with her, he’d learned at least that. Genius behind a computer, but she had no game face. Everything she felt and thought played out in her expression.
She clicked a few links, read an article and then handed him the phone. “No mention of anyone being killed. Except the men who broke into the party, and I already knew what happened to them. I’m surprised the reporter didn’t include a quote from my sister expressing her grief about me going missing. No mention of me missing at all.”
“You sound angry about that,” Griffin said, slipping his phone back into his pocket.
“Not angry. Resigned. For as long as I can remember, Marissa has been at the center of a three-ring circus, and I’ve been the person selling popcorn to the crowd.”
“Does it bother you to have a famous sister?”
She shrugged. “It bothers me when people make comparisons between us. If my sister had been average-looking, then the fact that I’m below average wouldn’t stand out so much.”
She had a low opinion of her looks. He found her tremendously appealing. Griffin didn’t go for stick-thin and expressionless, a look he had associated with her sister and a number of guests at the party. “You are not below average.”
Kit stared at him, her eyes wide. “If you’re making fun of me, stop it.”
“I’m not joking with you. I’m speaking plainly.”
“Then I can speak plainly and tell you that you are a handsome man. You’re scary, but I don’t think you’re planning to hurt me.” A question on the end of the statement.
He had killed to protect her. He had placed himself at great risk to keep her safe. If he had wanted to hurt her, she’d be dead. He had sworn to Connor that he would stay with Kit until his job was complete. He would do what he could to protect her, and that had deep meaning to him. Connor was aware of Griffin’s lack of experience in this arena and what had happened to Beth. “I won’t hurt you.”
“I believe that. Of course, I’ve believed a lot of things that have turned out to be lies.”
The hurt in her words was heavy. Griffin wasn’t privy to the details of her personal life. “We won’t be together long, but while we are, you can count on me to be honest with you.”
“What if someone comes in here to kill me?” she asked.
He nodded to his cot across the doorway. “They won’t get through me.”
She pulled her knees to her chest. “Thanks for getting me these clothes. They’re much nicer than the dress.”
“How’s your foot?” he asked.
“Better.”
“Ready to sleep now?” he asked. Their day would start before first light.
“I’ll try.”
He moved from her cot and returned to his. He waited for her to settle, and then he shut off the light.
What was she thinking about? What would she dream about? Who had hurt her to make her question everyone around her? He could understand her fear and apprehension about the situation, but this wasn’t the first time she had been cut off from her family and staying in a military base.
When she had chosen to work on the Locker, she must have known she was committing to a lifetime of looking over her shoulder.
* * *
Griffin had not left her side the entire morning. Kit wasn’t accustomed to someone hovering over her, and it was unsettling. She couldn’t catch her breath with him watching her.
When she went to the shower, he checked that the bathroom was empty, then waited outside the door. As she showered, Kit realized that the military had provided some essentials like shampoo and a razor, but she wouldn’t have clean undergarments. Who could she ask about that? It was a small thing to worry about, but she wanted some normalcy in her life. She was a creature of habit, and her routine had been taken from her.
Kit climbed out of the shower and wrapped herself in a bleach-smelling rough white towel. Griffin was standing in the doorway to the bathroom.
“What are you doing in here?” she asked, pulling her towel tighter around her body. She had never been naked in front of a man before, and Griffin wasn’t just a man. He was an incredibly handsome and virile man.
“I told you, I am looking out for you.”
“I’m trying to work something out. Could you please leave?”
“What is it that you need to work out?” he asked.
She was an adult, but she couldn’t discuss something this private with a stranger. “I can’t talk to you about it.”
He looked around. “There’s no one else to talk to.”
“It’s a female issue.”
He lifted a brow. “If you need a tampon, I’ll find one.”
Kit felt her face flush hot. “It’s not about a...you know.” A man hadn’t ever talked to her like this.
“Isn’t that what you mean by female issue?” he asked.
Kit liked that he was keeping his word to her and speaking simply. With him, she didn’t have to read between the lines. “No.” She might as well tell him. He’d solve it without making a big deal or embarrassing her. “I don’t have any clean underwear, and I wasn’t wearing a bra under my dress. Or socks. I’ll need fresh bandages for my foot, too.”
He gave her a look up and down. “I’ll get what you need.” He stepped out of the room for a moment and returned. “They are on their way.”
Feeling better knowing she’d have more clothes between her and Griffin’s perceptive eyes soon, she relaxed. She secured her towel around her, walked to the sink and combed the knots from her hair. Her sister had helped her arrange it last night. Now it was back to its normal shape, which was not much of a shape at all.
One knock on the door and Griffin opened it, standing between her and the person on the other side. He closed the door and handed her a bag. “Get dressed. The chopper leaves in five minutes.” He turned around to give her privacy but stayed in the room.
Kit dressed and then sat to rewrap her foot.
“Are you finished?” he asked.
She had taken less than three minutes. Her bathroom routine was quick compared to most women’s. “Just need to wrap my foot.”
Griffin left his post and knelt at her feet. “Let me help you.”
“How much time does it take you to get ready?” she asked. She had hurried. If he was annoyed, that was too bad.
“Minutes. Less if needed. But I’m concerned about this injury. I want to be sure it doesn’t get infected.” He used great care examining and bandaging her foot. Putting on socks didn’t hurt. Shoes did. So did walking on it.
“I can carry you,” Griffin said.
She refused to be that dependent on him. “I’ll hobble.” She’d figure out a way to walk to put the least amount of pressure on her foot even if it made her gait clumsy.
Griffin didn’t leave her side and was patient with her slow walk. They were escorted to a field. After a few minutes, a chopper touched down close to them.
Kit moved faster, but she tripped over a divot in the grass. Before she could face-plant, Griffin grabbed her arm, keeping her upright.
“Careful. No more injuries,” he said.
She had been trying to be careful. “Thank you.”
Griffin supported her on the side of her injured foot, and they walked the rest of the way to the chopper.
They climbed inside. The chopper was similar to the one that had taken her to the secret military facility where she had lived for a year. For that trip, she had been blindfolded. It had been terrifying and exciting.
If she had known what that year would be like, if she had known what her work would entail and what it would mean to have a successful project, would she have done it? She had been naive and filled with self-importance. She’d thought her work would revolutionize cybersecurity. She’d believed her research would lead to malicious hackers and black hats being exposed.
The government hadn’t been interested in her work being applied to any systems other than their own. They didn’t care if anyone else was victimized as long as their computer systems were safe. By the time she had realized that, the project was almost complete. She had been used and cast aside, and nondisclosures and noncompete clauses prevented her from using her algorithms in other applications. Thinking of it still burned.
Griffin touched her shoulder, and heat zipped over her. He mouthed a question: “Are you okay?”
She nodded. It was too loud to talk over the spinning rotors, and Kit was glad. She didn’t want to tell him she had been used then, she was being used now and in all likelihood, so was he.
* * *
Kit was driving him mad. The moment they landed, he would hand her over to the protection specialist assigned to the case and put distance between them. Connor would have had enough time to get a resource in place. Griffin was the wrong man for the job.
Griffin’s entire body heated as he realized he was attracted to Kit Walker. She was part girl next door who had no idea how appealing she was and part smart professor who had a room full of male students fantasizing about sleeping with her. He was interested in her, and that awareness switched his desire on high. He wouldn’t act like a sex-starved lunatic; he was a professional. But it was getting harder to keep those boundaries clear in his thoughts.
From what he’d read about her and what he had witnessed, she had a touch of social awkwardness, yet he didn’t feel uncomfortable around her. He guessed she had spent so much time in her sister’s shadow and then as a supergenius online, she didn’t interact as naturally with people face-to-face. But when he engaged her in a topic she enjoyed, that clumsiness melted away and she was magnetic.
If she’d been more aware of her feminine prowess, she would not have stood in front of him in a towel or crammed herself next to him in this copter. He’d sat in the bathroom while she had dried herself and dressed, giving her privacy with his eyes, but his thoughts were borderline indecent. He had imagined her rubbing the towel over her soft skin, sliding her clothes on, and he had wanted to watch.
He had to keep his attraction to her in check. Maybe the leftover adrenaline from the escape the night before was still charging in his veins, but his thoughts centered on her more than the Incognito assassins they had evaded.
Her big brown eyes had been the first trait he had noticed about her. But now he enjoyed her brain and her humility. Someone in her position could be demanding and egotistical about what she had accomplished. If she realized how much the West Company and the United States government needed her, she wasn’t capitalizing on it.
The pilot turned around and handed them blindfolds and earplugs. “Eyes and ears covered.”
Kit did as he asked without question. She had been through this before.
She reached for Griffin’s hand and slipped hers inside his. Kit was scared and she needed him. He sensed it in how she watched him and spoke to him. She was looking to him for guidance and reassurance that they were safe.
It was a heavy weight to carry, and it made him feel guilty for his thoughts of dumping her on someone else. But what could he do? Keep a job he was unqualified for? Could he handle being close to her, knowing he was attracted to her, and maintain objectivity?
Soon she would be in the care of a protection specialist, someone who hadn’t let his wife die. Placing Kit with another operative with the right skills was better for everyone involved. He knew where the line was, and he wouldn’t cross it with Kit.
After a short ride, the helicopter touched down. They were allowed to remove their blindfolds and earplugs. They would be met by one of the West Company’s operatives. Griffin would complete the handoff, go to his debriefing and then return home and wait for his next assignment.
Done and done.
Kit didn’t release him. He was helping her with her injury, but her hand gripped his clothing as if she was afraid they would be separated.
“I’m here,” he whispered to her.
“I hate not knowing where we are,” she said.
“We’re safe. That’s priority one,” Griffin said. He couldn’t get to his gun as easily with her hand in his. Her hands were shaking, giving away she was nervous.
In a small, comfortable room with plush tan carpeting and beige furniture, they were offered drinks. Trays of fruit, cheese, small sandwiches and vegetables were set in the middle of the table. The pictures on the wall were of generic floral arrangements.
A man Griffin didn’t recognize entered the room. “Thank you for your help in this matter. You may consider your service complete. Mr. Brooks, please come with me.”
“Wait,” Kit said. “You’re leaving me?” She sounded shocked, and her voice quavered.
“You’ll be working with someone more skilled to handle your unique situation,” Griffin said. He heard the words and hated how bureaucratic he sounded. He wasn’t the right man for the job, and knowing it stung. He had reached the end of the line for him and Kit. Kit was safest with someone who could protect her without thinking of her naked and writhing on his sheets.
“My unique situation? What is unique about my situation?” She didn’t hide her anger.
Griffin didn’t want to talk about this in front of a stranger. “Your skills are needed.”
She narrowed her gaze at Griffin. “If you walk away from me, I swear I will be less than useless. I know what you want me to do, and I am exclusively skilled to help you in this matter. But my memory might suddenly take a nosedive, and perhaps I’ll forget everything.”
The other man looked between them. “Is there something about your relationship with the target that we’re unaware of?” He addressed the question to Griffin. Griffin heard the accusation in the words.
“No,” Griffin said at the same time Kit said, “Yes.”
How should he respond to this situation? Laugh it off? Try to explain about Kit? Reassure her she was safer with someone else?
She was scared. She needed to feel safe. Everyone did. “Kit, I was sent to retrieve you and bring you in. I’ve done that.”
“You said you would stay until you knew I was safe,” she said.
“I know you are safe,” Griffin said, hoping he sounded confident.
“I don’t feel safe. I don’t know anyone here,” Kit said.
She was digging in her heels, creating an impasse.
“I’ll get Connor,” the man said and left the room.
“Kit,” Griffin said, trying to reason with her now that they were alone. “You’ll lead everyone to believe I’ve done something wrong.”
Kit stared at him. “Wrong? I’m still alive. That means you’ve done something very right. I feel safe with you. I don’t want to be passed around.”
Connor West entered the room. Griffin stood to attention, even though this wasn’t a military op. The man had that presence. He commanded and got respect. All the operatives who worked for him felt better with him at their backs. Griffin knew he had likely gotten little sleep, but Connor was clean shaven, his clothes pressed and his close-cropped brown hair tidy.
“Kit Walker, it is a pleasure to meet you. I’m Connor West,” he said. Connor’s voice was warm and genuine.
Connor didn’t shake her hand. Her profile had indicated she didn’t like intrusions on her personal space.
Kit glared at Griffin. “I’m not changing my mind no matter whom you parade in here.”
Connor didn’t appear upset by her hostile tone, but rather amused. “You want Griffin to stay with you. Could you tell me why?”
Kit looked at Griffin. “He’s killed to protect me. I can trust him.”
Connor nodded his agreement. “I like having Griffin on the team. I trust him implicitly.”
“Connor, can we speak in private?” Connor wouldn’t force Griffin to take up the post as Kit’s protector, but Griffin felt the question coming. Should he tell Connor the whole truth about how he felt about Kit? His attraction to her could deepen, and the deeper the attraction, the more dangerous the situation.
Kit folded her arms and sat. “Go ahead.”
He and Connor walked into the hallway. “What is the nature of her feelings for you?” Connor asked.
“She’s been through a lot. She’s attached to me. You know her profile. She’s guarded.”
“We need her. We need her calm and in control,” Connor said. “The safety and security of the United States government depend on it.”
Griffin rubbed his temples, where a headache was forming. Aside from his concerns about his ability to maintain professionalism with her, he had other problems that needed to be addressed—like, say, his track record showing he couldn’t keep someone safe. “She says she’ll make herself useless if I leave her.”
“Tell me what I can do to make this work,” Connor said. “You know her better than I do.”
“She’s smart. She may feign ignorance about the project, especially if she’s scared.” If she bowed out of helping them, they wouldn’t have a way to safeguard the Locker or counter Incognito’s threats.
“We need to convince her to help, and she may be more willing to help if she remains with you. Can you do that?” Connor asked.
“I am not trained to be someone’s bodyguard. That’s not my area of expertise.”
“You can handle this,” Connor said.
It was on the tip of his tongue to tell Connor about his attraction to Kit. But Griffin could keep it in check. He wasn’t a slave to his hormones. Too much was at stake for him to give in to his feelings. Instead, he made the point that mattered most. “My wife died because I couldn’t protect her. What makes you think I can keep Kit safe?”
“This situation is nothing like what happened with Beth. No one blames you for Beth’s death except you. What could you have done differently?”
At the mention of his wife’s name, disgust for himself and anger at her killer renewed. “I ask myself that every day.”
“The answer eludes you because there is no answer. You couldn’t have done anything. What happened with Beth was a terrible atrocity, but protecting Kit will be different. You will be at her side around the clock. She is your sole mission.”
Griffin didn’t care for his body’s response to hearing that. As a red-blooded man, he wanted to be close to Kit. As an operative, he was inadequate to protect her.
* * *
Kit and Griffin were given accommodations, nicer ones than they’d had at the military base. Kit had even been issued a rolling suitcase filled with clothing and essentials. The clothes were in her size. Creepy, but Kit had been thoroughly investigated before becoming part of the Locker team, and she wasn’t surprised to learn every detail of her life had been recorded.
“We need to go on the offensive,” Griffin said.
“On the offensive against Incognito?” Kit asked.
“Yes. Covertly. You can strike back.”
“At Incognito?” she repeated. It sounded insane. She wasn’t a hacker who enjoyed hurting people, and she liked to avoid trouble. Obtaining her security clearance to be part of the Locker team had required an aversion to creating problems. While some people thrived off drama, Kit liked her life to be trouble-free.
“This will play out one of two ways. They will win or we will. Incognito will continue coming after you and everyone on the team until we stop them,” he said.
“You and me against Incognito?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Don’t think in those terms. We have the West Company behind us.”
“Except Incognito managed to find me,” Kit said.
“This is a challenge you’ll enjoy.”
A thrill traced through her at the idea of getting back into the game against a real competitor. “I didn’t work on the Locker alone. I need people with very specific skill sets.”
“Tell me where to find them.”
She took great joy in speaking her next words. “Gamer Con.”
“The video game convention?” Griffin asked.
She had attended whenever possible, three times in the past decade. She’d loved it every time. “Yes, a video game convention. Thousands of the world’s biggest computer and gaming enthusiasts packed into one conference center. The place will be humming with talent.”
Griffin ran a hand through his hair. He seemed resigned, but not excited. “Tell me how to get tickets and I’ll clear it with Connor.”
* * *
The flight from their meeting with Connor West to Las Vegas, Nevada took less than an hour. It took three times that to make the security arrangements and convince Connor West that Kit’s plan was safe and would have a positive outcome.
Gamer Con was the world’s biggest video game enthusiast convention. Kit hadn’t attended in a number of years, but she had a few online friends skilled at hacking who would be there.
The easiest part about Gamer Con for Griffin and Kit’s cover was the ability to blend. Gamers wore jeans and T-shirts as well as costumes of favorite video game characters. Incognito had been targeting events like Gamer Con looking for members of the Locker project. Griffin was on high alert.
“Have you ever played a video game?” Kit asked Griffin as he parked his car in the multilevel garage behind the hotel.
“I have,” he said.
“Recently?”
“Not recently. A shooting game isn’t as fun when I’ve been involved in the real thing. When I’m not working, I don’t like to handle a gun or pretend I’m handling a gun.”
“Not all video games are violent and involve guns,” Kit said, though most of the ones she played did have elements of fighting, even if it was with fantasy weapons.
“If we need to play games here, I can hold my own. Don’t worry about me.”
She wasn’t worried about him. Everything she had seen about Griffin spoke to how competent and capable he was. “I ordered costumes from a local boutique and paid the rush fee for them to arrive today. They should be waiting for us at the front desk.”
“Costumes?” Griffin asked. “What’s wrong with what we’re wearing?”
“To hide from Incognito, we can dress as our favorite video game characters,” she said.
“I don’t have a favorite video game character,” he said.
“My favorite video characters,” she clarified.
“I’m not wearing a tutu,” he said.
She smirked at the idea of him in a pink tutu, the pure ludicrousness of his six-foot-something muscled self crammed into a delicate tulle skirt. “I would never be so cruel to you.”
A woman and man with their faces painted green and wearing purple latex jumpsuits walked by.
“Oh. Okay. I got it,” Griffin said. “Who will we dress as? Want to give me a clue?”
She wouldn’t ruin the surprise or give him a chance to protest. “You’ll see.” Seeing Griffin dressed as a video game hero held an enormous appeal. He could rock the buff bad boy look better than most of the men she knew. He had that even without the costume.
They slipped on their sunglasses. Anyone recognizing her was unlikely, and while she was at Gamer Con, she would use only her most recent online alias, Orchid. Lotus was dead, and if Kit wanted to survive this, it needed to stay that way.
