CALLIE JUST STOOD THERE, Dieter’s gun still pressed against her temple.
She heard the words. Saw them come out of Jammer’s mouth. But she couldn’t comprehend them. They were a foreign language she had never heard before.
Jammer was the Ghost.
The man she had sworn to bring to justice was the man she’d been sleeping with all this time. But surely Jammer was only saying that because he thought Gina was in danger. It couldn’t be true.
But as their eyes met across the room, she knew it. Knew he was telling the truth.
“Ja. This is a surprise, but it is as I suspected. Why the ruse?”
Jammer shrugged. “To stay under the radar.”
“Like the Batman?”
“Yes, like Batman,” he agreed.
Callie tensed, readying herself for action. She had every intention of surviving this encounter. She was going to arrest the Ghost no matter who he was. She met Jammer’s eyes and no words were spoken, but it was as if they could speak to each other’s souls. He was prepared to act, as well. She knew Jammer wasn’t leaving here without securing those weapons. The pressure tautened as Joost studied him. Just when Callie thought everything was going to dissolve into chaos, Joost’s barking laughter broke the silence.
The man threw up his hands. “Then all is forgiven. I love the Batman. Dieter, let her go.”
The cold metal disappeared from her temple, but Callie couldn’t move.
“Gina, come over here,” Jammer said softly. “Now.”
She got her feet to function and she went to him.
Then he did something that made her heart jump. He stood in front of her, effectively using his big body as a human shield. Up close, she could see how pale the skin was on the nape of his strong neck, the coiled muscles that belied how worried he was for her safety, and her emotions went wild. She was mad and touched at the same time. She just didn’t know what to do with it all. Her throat got tight and that only set off her anger again. Could she really blame anyone but herself? She had told herself what she was doing wasn’t exactly a good idea. Sleeping with Jammer had been an irresponsible indulgence. His charisma and her inability to control the desire she felt for him were her downfall. And here it was in living Technicolor.
This man who was coolly negotiating an arms deal was the elusive villain numerous agencies would kill to get their hands on.
She mentally slowed her breathing, realizing that she was going to hyperventilate if she didn’t get control of herself.
The jumble of emotions she felt only added to a terrible confusion undercutting her confidence. Callie was furious that she hadn’t seen this herself, and at the same time had a heartfelt need to wrap her arms around him and hold on until this confusion ended. But then anger burned through her. Oh no, this made everything ten times worse.
Mercifully, Jammer finished with Joost quickly. All in all, the exchange had gone a lot better than they’d anticipated.
In parting Joost said, “I commend you for your choice in a woman. It will take a strong man to handle her.”
“No one handles Gina, Joost.”
Even with all the tension, and the fact that she had come very close to death, Callie smiled. It wasn’t long before they were in the Mercedes and at the Sofitel.
Inside, she expected Jammer to yell at her, curse her for not returning to the States as he’d asked. It would have been reasonable. It would have made sense.
So when the hotel room door closed and he leaned against it, saying nothing, she took the offensive. “This is your fault, you know. They got me at the airport. I tried to fight them off, but one of them got the drop on me. I had no choice. It seems that Joost planned this to force you to contact the Ghost.”
“My guess is that your plane ticket wasn’t for someplace in the U.S. ”
She faced him squarely, her eyes locked with his, his handsome, impassive face giving nothing away. “No. But, again, your fault. If you hadn’t cut me out of the deal halfway through, I wouldn’t have been at the airport by myself. I intended to finish the negotiation and in the process make a new contact.”
“Business. That’s always what it is for you?”
She marched up to him and grabbed him by the lapels of his suit. She needed to do something physical or she was going to come out of her skin. The stakes had risen and the situation she found herself in had just gotten that much worse.
How was she going to reconcile her damn feelings for this man when she had to snap those handcuffs on him, face him in court? When he’d just done something so shocking, so unselfish, for her?
She represented the law. There had to be justice and accountability, but nothing was simple when emotions were involved. Why couldn’t he have turned out to be an asshole instead of a man she admired? It wasn’t about the danger now or the illicitness of their affair; it was about her strong attachment to him, stronger than she wanted to admit.
He was the Ghost!
“What else is there, Jammer? Or should I call you the Ghost? That was a nice tidbit of information to drop on me!”
He seized her by her shirtfront and pulled her close to his face. His eyes were hard as diamonds, his mouth full and tight. In them she saw his fear and something else she couldn’t name, wouldn’t name. It would have knocked her back if he didn’t have such a tight grip on her shirt. “I wouldn’t have had to drop it at all if you had just done what I asked. You have no idea how much this complicates my life, how much is at stake. But you were more interested in business then preserving your own life.”
“Look, I can take care of myself. I would have come up with something to get myself out of that jam. But you’re the one keeping secrets, it seems.”
“Doesn’t everyone?”
She froze inside at his look-almost as if he knew she was undercover. But that wasn’t possible. If he did know, he would have taken her out of this charade from the beginning.
His mouth covered hers, hot and demanding her to respond. She couldn’t help herself. The compulsion to soothe his fear and panic came from a deep well in her; until this moment she hadn’t known she possessed that much emotion. The sacrifice he’d just made for her spoke volumes.
“I can’t lose you. Not that way.”
His words made her throat cramp, and it hit home hard that one day she was going to be without him. It almost made her want to defect to the dark side. Made her frantic to think of a way to get herself and him out of this situation. But she knew there was nothing she could do. She was ensnared in a trap of her own making.
She was much too dedicated to the vow she’d taken to serve and protect the United States, and rationally, she knew it was panic forcing her to think about treason. She would do what had to be done. No matter how much it hurt.
And it was going to hurt so bad.
“Then let’s not waste the time we have.”
JAMMER DIDN’T KNOW WHAT he was going to do about Gina. There was no going back to the way he’d been before he’d met her. Her words slammed into him and sent his body into lock and load. So easily.
Her hands slid around his neck. Her face was pensive, soft with desire, her eyes dark with secrets and the pain that came with them. He wished that he could take that look from her eyes, but he couldn’t. He’d already crossed the line. It was going to be bad enough when he had to clean up the mess he’d made. He teetered on the edge of revealing to her who he really was, and the dangerous and clandestine game he played with a powerful and dangerous foe, but he curbed it. It would jeopardize the outcome. Gina had to stay in the dark for now. She was as safe as he could make her.
She pulled his willing mouth down to hers. He tried for tenderness, for less than what he was feeling, but it wasn’t possible, not with Gina. Not with the excitement she generated with just existing.
He couldn’t live without her, without this, he thought, closing his arms snugly around her, one palm molding her curves and the other slipping under her shirt. She opened his pants, boldly driving her hand inside, and a bubble settled over them, encased them in heat, her kiss setting off the wild lick of flames down his body. Gentleness vanished and they were tearing at each other, at their clothes.
He grabbed her back, his mouth trailing hotly down her throat. He paused long enough to strip off her shirt, toss it with his before his lips closed over her nipple. He drew it into the heat of his mouth as if trying to devour her, his tongue circling and flicking.
Gina shimmered with desire and he drank it in, the scent of her, the way she tasted him as if she never would again, her lithe, sexy body flexing as his hands roamed over her roughly, almost desperately.
He pushed her jeans down; she tried kicking them off without stopping the kiss. Then in a frantic scramble they stripped, and she was back in his arms, his hand sweeping down her body and between her thighs.
“Oh, Jammer,” she breathed, and with her arms around his neck, she hopped up and clamped her legs around his hips.
“What have you done to me?” she whispered, her voice carrying pain.
He worried her mouth, cradling her behind, and pulled her to him. His erection slid wetly against her center, and Jammer loved the way her breath hitched.
“The same thing you’ve done to me,” he growled.
She nibbled his ear, his throat, and they both trembled with anticipation of him pushing inside her.
“You’re not leaving my side until this is over, Gina-Oh damn, you feel good.”
“Finally you see it my way,” she said, her breath coming in gasps.
“Trouble is your middle name.” From behind, he dipped his fingers deeper.
“I’ll have it legally changed if you stay this close to me…Oh, gosh, don’t stop doing that.”
“I can’t,” he whispered as he sank to the carpet, stroking her, and she grew more breathless, thrusting against him as she followed him to the floor.
She managed to say, “The bed…” Her hand closed over his erection, eliciting a dark, heavy groan.
“Can’t stop.” He pushed into her palm, his mouth rolling over the flesh he could reach.
She rose up on his thighs, guiding him, teasing him mercilessly as she rocked on his erection. Her smile was sinful, her fingers gliding over the tip of him. He couldn’t wait any longer, and leaned her back onto the carpet.
He entered her and for a moment held still, her hands on his face, her gaze locked with his. Emotions swelled, tightening his chest, his heart pounding so hard he swore she could feel it. The image of Gina with a gun to her head suddenly flashed in his mind-he’d almost lost her. The terror of it made him realize his need for her went beyond this frenzied desire, beyond his mission.
“This is so good, I don’t want it to end,” she whispered, and arched up to shred him with a kiss.
Jammer quaked with the savageness of it, her impatience, and without will, he moved. Gina pushed back, her heat flexing around him, a tight, firm lock on more than his body. He laced his fingers with hers, as if being joined together wasn’t enough. She smiled up at him as he withdrew and sank into her again. She rolled her hips in a devastating maneuver that almost made him come. When she quickened, he knew he wouldn’t make it, and then it didn’t matter. Her mouth was on his, her body pumping with his, and she stopped kissing him long enough to whisper, “I think you can handle me quite easily.”
Jammer chuckled and scooped her off the floor, onto his lap. Her eyes flared at the slick, wet length of him and she rocked, using her weight to drive him to the floor. She laughed at his startled look and said, “Well, maybe not.”
His response was cut off as she rode him, leaving him completely, only to shove back, her blue eyes wicked and full of her power. She knew what she was doing to him. Unhinging him. She had him. She truly had him cold.
Energy rocked and pulsed-around them, between them. He could almost taste it on her mouth. Jammer sat up, their motions primal and raw. She was on the brink, her body flexing around him, clawing him.
“Gina, oh, damn.”
“I know.”
He flipped her on her back and his hips thrust uncontrollably. The explosion ripped, pushing them across the floor. She bit her lip to keep from screaming, but Jammer swallowed her cries as her slick, wet muscles pawed him, drew him with her. Tumbling into pleasure. He watched her ride the eruption, savored the sight of pure satisfaction shimmering through her. Gina left nothing to chance, taking it all and glowing with ecstasy.
He wasn’t sure how long they lay there on the floor, panting and trying to breathe around the pleasure. He looked up into her eyes, then away, afraid of what she would see there. All this time, every step, action, kiss and embrace, had led him right here. To this moment.
He closed his eyes tight and sighed heavily, thinking about what he would have to sacrifice for a low-life bastard who didn’t deserve the time of day. Fuentes would get his just deserts, but Jammer still wouldn’t be free of the past that haunted him.
He would have to sacrifice Gina.
He opened his eyes and she was staring up at him like a woman dazed. She lifted her hand to his mouth, touching his lips as if she could absorb him into her body.
He would have been able to endure that look, even that touch, but what undid him was the tremble in her fingers. With a soft exhalation of air, he groaned, the agony of wanting almost too much for him to bear.
He grabbed her wrist and placed several kisses against the palm of her hand. She cupped his face, running her thumb over his mouth once more, then delved into his hair and urged him down to her mouth.
Her lips trembled, too, and he kissed her softly, gently, cherishing her response.
He got off her and picked her up in his arms. She smiled at him. “My Prince Charming.”
For her sake, he laughed, because that’s what she wanted him to do. Walking over to the bed, he cradled her against him as he pulled the covers off and sank down with her into the softness.
Then he curled around her and held her against him because he needed to. He knew he had a phone call to make and pressing problems to deal with, but he was going to take this time.
Time that would soon grow very short.
“Where do we go from here, Jammer?” She held his gaze intently.
“Tell me something about yourself-anything.”
“Why…” Her brow furrowed, as if she just couldn’t figure him out. When he did reveal to her who he was, she would be surprised, but would she forgive him for keeping his identity a secret? Or would she be fuming mad?
He shrugged. “Because I want to know. I just want to know.”
Her hand went to his biceps and she wound her fingers over him. A small smile curved her lips and her eyes met his. “My guilty pleasure is martial arts B movies.”
“Ah, a peek into the dangerous woman’s psyche. You like all that physical stuff, huh?” he asked, bumping her hip. “Is that why you’re in this line of work? So you can live out your guilty pleasure?” He smoothed his hand down her back in a slow caress, enjoying the feel of her soft skin.
“I’m not sure,” she said with a laugh, “but I do get to kick butt on a regular basis, which makes me happy. I just don’t shout ‘Hiya!’ when I do it.”
He laughed and pulled her close. “Next time you kick ass, and I’m anywhere near the vicinity, you will shout ‘Hiya!’”
“Is that a requirement for staying with you until this deal is over?”
He didn’t answer. He was torn-torn up inside and torn by his need to protect her. But he had to be realistic.
She sighed. “Do I have to go through how it was all your fault that I ended up compromised, or are you going to give in easily? Don’t make me shout ‘Hiya!’ at you.”
“It would almost be worth it. The part about you being a distraction hasn’t changed.”
“So, worry about me while I’m right beside you. You can allay all your fears and have me, too.”
“I like that course of action,” he said. For a moment they lay together without speaking.
The silence was soothing, and holding her was a boon to his soul. Finally her breathing slowed and he knew she was asleep.
It was time to pay the piper.
JAMMER LEFT A SLEEPING Gina. Donning a pair of jeans and a shirt, he slipped out of the hotel room and went down to the busy, noisy lobby.
He’d screwed up royally. Completely. Now came the damage control. He dialed the number and waited until the line was picked up.
“Since you’re calling me at this hour, it must be important.” The voice was slurred and concerned.
Jammer didn’t sugarcoat it. There was no time to break the information gently. “My identity has been breached.”
Now the voice was wide-awake. Jammer heard the rustle of blankets and a light being snapped on. “That’s not possible. Only you and I know that you’re-”
In a voice that sounded much calmer than he felt, Jammer said, “No, not my real identity, the Ghost identity.”
“How did this happen? Who is involved?”
Jammer gave him the story, leaving nothing out. The silence on the other end of the line stretched, but Jammer was used to it. His partner needed time to think about the next move.
“All right, we’ll snatch up Roorback and Fromme and put them on ice until you’ve finished with Fuentes. I’ll set that in motion as soon as I get off this phone.”
“What do we do about Gina Callahan?”
“What do we do with an undercover Watchdog agent who has the knowledge that the very man everyone is after has now just blown his cover?”
Jammer rubbed at his temple. “Yeah. I think I can persuade her to keep the information to herself. My guess is that I’m her target, but if she can bag Fuentes in the process, she’ll be happy to wait just a little bit longer.”
“We’ll neutralize her in a different way than we planned. Leave that up to me. She is still unaware that you know she’s Callie Carpenter, correct?”
“Yes, I’ve managed not to reveal that information. It would require explanations that I can’t give her right now.”
Jammer looked out at the people milling about the hotel-checking in at the front desk, going to dinner and moving in and out of the elevators. He sat down on one of the sofas in the lobby, suddenly exhausted.
“I understand why you revealed the Ghost’s identity. You had no choice. Letting a government agent die is not what we’re about.”
“I’m aware of that. If anything had happened to her, I would go mad and that would effectively screw up this whole thing anyway.”
“You in that deep, then?”
The question was not unexpected, and it was just common sense to reveal everything. This situation couldn’t get any worse. “I’m afraid so. I intend to keep her with me until this is all over, so square that up.”
“I think that’s the best solution at this point. At least with her by your side, you can watch her. Let me get moving on these problems. I’ll call you back when they’re handled. Jammer, stay focused. We’re almost to ground zero.”
Jammer sighed. “It doesn’t change anything for us. I still can’t have a relationship with anyone and you know it. We both do.”
For the first time since Jammer had met the man on the other end of the line, he heard compassion in his voice. “If she’s willing to go under with you…?”
“You think I would subject her to the hell that I’ve had to go through these last three years?” Jammer hissed. “I can’t ask her to give up everything like I did. She has a family.”
“You have one, too.”
“It’s not the same. I’d be asking her to choose between us, and that just isn’t fair. I had no other choice to make. I was already dead. I made my choice based on what happened to me. It was the right thing to do. Fuentes has to be taken out of action.”
“Yes, it’s a tough situation you’re in. I admire what you’re doing. We wouldn’t have even gotten this close to realizing our plan if it wasn’t for what you sacrificed. When we lost those agents…Even though we found you alive, I was incensed the mission had gone so wrong.”
“I bought into it. It was my decision. Their deaths are on both of us.”
“And now we have a real chance at making it right. So much is at stake-that’s why it’s critical to keep all this top secret. No one-I mean no one-can know.”
“I’ve kept my part of the bargain. I agreed to the rules.”
“I believe it’s what’s protected you all this time. Everyone-other agents, their agencies, even the president-was kept in the dark. It was our plan that the other agencies would perpetuate your cover for you. The disappearance of a few people all worked in our favor. But now those agencies are getting serious about bringing you in. So I’ll have to break protocol and reveal information to the director of Watchdog that I wouldn’t normally reveal.”
“Do what you have to do to buy me more time. Fuentes is so close to prison orange. He has to pay, or this has all been for nothing.”
“And the Watchdog agent? Would you risk it for her?”
“No. I couldn’t and still be able to live with myself-or look her in the eye.”
“I’ll be in touch.”
RUSSELL STANFORD, the director of the DEA, lay back on the pillows. He’d never had a case like this one. It was unique, and the whole burden of the plan fell on his shoulders. It had been his idea. Of course, Jammer had leaped at the chance to bring Fuentes to justice.
Even now, Russell wouldn’t let himself think of what he had done to protect the whole operation. Sometimes justice required a hefty price, and someone had to pay it.
“Russell, is everything all right?” his wife asked in a sleepy voice.
“No,” he replied. “I need to talk to the director of Watchdog.”
“I hope you’re not in the doghouse,” she said with a chuckle.
That’s why he loved her. She didn’t mind being woken up in the middle of the night, she endured his sometimes unreasonable working hours and she was always there to support him. A true patriot’s wife.
“Go to sleep, sweetie. I’ll just be a minute.” Russell bent over and kissed her, then turned off the light. He went into the study for privacy and so he wouldn’t disturb his wife.
The first few phone calls he placed were to a couple of agents who excelled in what Russell liked to call a bag and gag. After indicating that Joost Roorback and Dieter Fromme must be kept on ice for an indefinite span of time, he then placed his next call to Gillian Santiago, director of Watchdog and the one who was going to keep Callie Carpenter on a short leash. She was a formidable woman and an excellent director. She would understand that the DEA wouldn’t ask for dispensation unless it was due to dire circumstances. It looked as if he wasn’t the only one who was going to lose sleep tonight.