Alex was speaking again. ...need to leave town before whoever shot at you tries again. Stay inside for now. He continued. I have a few things to take care of before I can go. Theyll take me about an hour. Can you and Dawn be ready to leave in that amount of time?
Of course.
The threat to Dawns safety rubbed at her psyche until she felt raw and exposed. If they were back in the crosshairs, the baby needed to get away from her and Alex. Again.
Failure burned in her gut like acid as she packed. What kind of mother was she if she couldnt even keep their baby out of mortal danger? Where were they taking Dawn, anyway? She needed to know so she could pack the right kinds of clothes for them both. She headed for Alexs office and knocked on the door.
Come in.
He swiveled in his desk to face her. A glance over his shoulder revealed his right hand closing his laptop screen. He was hiding whatever he was working on from her. Why? The question exploded across her brain, rife with suspicion.
If you dont have any better idea, I was thinking we could take Dawn to stay with my folks until we figure out whos shooting at us.
Alexs eyes clouded with what looked like genuine regret. It was genuine, right? God, it sucked not knowing if she could trust him or not. If only she could shake the feeling he was up to no good.
Although, truth be told, she was working behind his back, too.
He nodded once, grimly. Sure. We can drive up to Pittsburgh tonight. He looked impatient, and she took the hint, merely nodding and backing out of his office.
Anxiety prodded her. In the past, when he got all secretive like this, his father had had something to do with it. What was Peter Koronov up to now? The man just couldnt leave his only son alone. It was an obsession between the two of them. They were locked in some sort of mortal struggle that neither one would let go of. So unlike her big, happy-go-lucky family.
She made a call to her mother, who was delighted to take Dawn for a few days while she and Alex took care of a few things. Not that she thought her mother was fooled for a second that there wasnt some sort of problem. The woman had raised five soldiers and cops. She could smell trouble from a mile away. She just knew not to ask about it. Her kids would tell her what was going on in their own time. Strong woman, her mother.
Katie busied herself packing the copious gear a well-spoiled baby required for any self-respecting road trip. It took the full hour Alex had given her to make trips to the underground parking garage and cram the BMWs trunk to the gills.
Just as she finished, he emerged from his office, grabbed a prepacked bag, for which she hated him a little, and was ready to go.
Traffic was heavy until they cleared the Washington suburbs, and then they made good time to Pittsburgh. It was about a two-hundred-fifty-mile trip and took a little over four hours. But by halftime of the Monday Night Football game, theyd arrived at her folks house. In time-honored ritual, her brothers and dad were gathered in front of the large-screen TV in the family room yelling at one another and armchair-coaching.
Alex joined the men, but sat off to one side sipping at the beer her father poured for him. He looked misplaced among her burly brothers, although he had more in common with them than most people would guess at a glance. They were all lethal men who took care of their own. Dawn would be perfectly safe ensconced among the McCloud men.
Katie was just retreating to the kitchen for some girl talk with her mother when her cell phone rang. She was lifting it to her ear when Alexs went off, as well. Their gazes met grimly as they took the calls.
Hi, this Ashley Osborne at D.U.
André Fortinays admin assistant? What did she want?
Are you up for an emergency deployment, Katie?
Where to?
Miami, for now.
I thought D.U. didnt work in the United States. What happened to all the doctors in Florida?
Were prepositioning a team to insert into Cuba after Hurricane Giselle strikes it.
She frowned. Its going to get that bad? Her knee-jerk reaction was to say no and hang up the phone. She and Alex were done with dangerous missions to deadly places, right?
Were being told this will be a major storm with heavy damage. A lot of casualties, Andrés assistant explained persuasively.
Huh. Who alls going?
Just you two. Obviously, were hoping to send you and Alex together.
What was so obvious about her and Alex going together? Was it her job to keep an eye on him? Make sure he didnt stray off the CIA reservation? After all, she wasnt even a nurse, let alone a physician. Sure, shed taken a first-aid class in the past year while she waited out Alexs training, but what she knew how to treat didnt amount to anything when stacked up against a natural disaster.
Ashley was speaking again, a little more urgently. Can you be ready to leave first thing in the morning?
Come to think of it, why was a low-level admin type calling to send her on this mission that everyone knew she wouldnt want to go on? Katies antennae went up and started to wiggle. In her years of working with children, shed learned to sense a lie or evasion, and she was getting one now.
Im not in D.C., actually. I cant really give you an answer tonight.
The girls reply was perky. A smidge too pushy. No problem. You can fly out of the airport nearest to wherever you are now.
Alarm exploded in her chest. No! She couldnt just drop everything and race off to parts unknown on a dangerous adventure! She had a baby to take care of. A fragile relationship with Alex to nurture into something more stable and permanent. For all she knew, she needed to talk him down off whatever emotional bridge the CIA had forced him to climb this year. The last thing she needed was to dive headlong into life-threatening danger.
She asked cautiously, Is someone talking to Alex now?
Andrés on the phone with him.
Katie glanced across the family room. Alex had turned his back on everyone and was in the corner having a quiet, intense-looking conversation with his boss. And it was taking longer than, Hey, Alex. You wanna go to Cuba?
Dammit, what were they whispering about? Alex turned slightly, and she caught sight of his face. It was more alive than it had been in weeks. His eyes were bright, his entire body vibrating with tension. Excitement.
Dismay crushed her. Shed known as soon as he got home that Alex had been changed by the past year, but there had been more to it than just that. Something had been missing from him, but she hadnt been able to put her finger on it. Not until now. Not until this dangerous, electric side of him awoke and showed itself. This was what had been absent.
Was the prospect of domestic bliss with her and Dawn so stifling, then? Apparently so. Who was she trying to kid? She would never tame the tiger within him. Not without killing that part of him. He would never be happy without living on the edge. Heck, hed spent his entire life walking a high wire without a net. What made her think that clumping around in the mud of average life with her would be enough for him?
Racing off to a dangerous place like Cuba was more than what Alex did. It defined who he was. If she gave half a damn about him, she wouldnt stand in his way. Except she wasnt ready to let go of him yet. Even if her dream of a life with him was doomed.
All that was left for them was a swan song. One last adventure. How, when it was over, would she ever find a way to let him go?
Lemme talk with Alex, she mumbled into her phone. Well let you know.
Ashley replied too brightly, Send me your location, and Ill set up your itinerary and flight reservations.
Were they not being given any choice in the matter, then? Was that what was taking so long between Alex and André? She ended her call, frowning.
Cuba, huh? She flopped down beside the brother everyone in the family thought was an intelligence officer for the SEALs. Hey, Mikey. Whaddya know about Cuba?
That I can talk about with you? he retorted.
Duh.
She listened intently as he and several of her brothers pitched in to bring her up to speed on the political and military situation with the island nation. The only big, unpleasant surprise to her was how active the Russians still were in Cuba.
No wonder André was all hot and bothered to get Alex down there on any pretense he could. Alex possibly knew more about Russian intelligence practices than just about any other person at the CIA. After all, hed been raised by a master KGB spy and carefully trained to follow in Daddys footsteps.
At long last, Alex disconnected his phone. You up for a trip? he asked her tersely.
Not particularly. Im not crazy about leaving Dawn, and frankly, I could do without being shot at again.
I wont let you get shot at.
You cant promise me that, she retorted.
Alex frowned. I need to go.
Why?
He glanced at her brothers, who were unabashedly taking in the exchange. Well need to discuss that in private.
Aw, cmon, Mike complained. Were family.
Katie sympathized with the pained look on Alexs face. He wasnt used to dealing with a big, nosy family like this. She took pity and nodded toward the back porch. Lets go outside.
Her brothers protested, but they could get over it. This was between her and Alex.
He pointedly turned his back on the picture windows. Good call. A couple of the McCloud men could read lips. Theres more to this trip than just treating hurricane victims.
There always is, isnt there? she replied rhetorically.
He merely rolled his eyes at her.
When he didnt speak, she demanded, Youre not seriously going to put your neck on the line again, are you? I thought we agreed this stuff was over. For both of us.
He sighed and moved toward the edge of the big deck. Things have changed. My...role has changed.
She wanted to shout at him that his role was to be Dawns dad and her lover and eventual husband. But she bit the words back. Shed known going into this relationship what his priorities were. But shed thought she could change him. Or at least change his priorities. Foolish her. Yup, that was her heart cracking just a little bit more in her chest. How long until it shattered completely?
He continued. Cargo ships have been seen making unscheduled stops in small ports along the east coast of Cuba. No off-loads or on-loads have been observed. Weve been asked to poke around. Talk with the locals. See if they know something about any smuggling that might be going on.
What kind of smuggling?
No idea. Could be drugs, weapons, human trafficking...hell, it could be cigars for all I know.
She snorted. If the CIA wants to send us in to have a look, they think its more serious than cigars.
He exhaled hard. You always have been too smart for your own good.
She took a step closer to him, to where he stared out at the woods. Its not our problem anymore. Other people with a death wish can go check it out.
But Im uniquely qualified he started.
Why? Because youre practically a Russian agent yourself?
He spun to face her. Something dark and cold emanated from him. This was the side of James Bond the movies never portrayed. They might get the fun and games right, but the movies mostly ignored what it meant to be a trained killer. A couple of her brothers were trained killers. She knew the signs of it in the way Alex held himself now. In how he watched everything and everyone, in the way he moved, always coiled, always ready to spring. He was a living, breathing hair trigger.
Alex spoke low and hard. My fathers telling the powers-that-be in his government that Im working for him. I can use that against him. I ought to be able to use his name to move around with impunity.
Until they get wind of you working for the CIA, she retorted. If your father thinks D.U. is a CIA front, you have to expect the Cubans to think the same thing. Wed end up in danger regardless of who your father is.
He shrugged. I have the skills to evade the Cubans. I know exactly how theyve been trained. Its how I was trained, dammit.
The CIA can find someone else to do the job, she said implacably. She felt bad about coming across as a pushy bitch, but no way was she going to show him the true depth of her terror at the course shift his life had taken. He was heading down a path she and Dawn could not follow him down.
He huffed, sounding exasperated.
What arent you telling me, Alex?
I already accepted the assignment.
Well, unaccept it!
I cant.
You mean you wont.
I mean I gave my word, and Im going to do this.
And Im supposed to sit at home like a good little woman and wait for you maybe not to come back? Ever?
He shoved a hand through his hair. Yes, he finally answered. Thats about the way of it.
You expect me to sit around doing nothing while you sally forth to your possible death? Not a chance. If you go, I go.
Thats crazy. Youre not trained for this kind of mission.
And yet, Doctors Unlimited asked me to go on it.
You need to stay home.
She planted her fists on her hips. No. If you go, Im going, too. And thats an ultimatum.
I dont deal well with ultimatums, he snapped.
And I dont withdraw mine, she snapped back.
They glared daggers at each other. She could be just as stubborn and pigheaded as he could. If he was determined to do this supremely stupid thing, he damned well wasnt going off by himself alone to do it and die.
A little voice in the back of her head whispered that this wasnt the way to demonstrate her trust in him. She shoved away the realization that her declaration was partly based on desperation. If he decided to leave her, there wasnt a darned thing she could do about it, right? Mentally, she knew that. But way down deep in her gut, she was forced to acknowledge that her ultimatum had as much to do with clinging to him as anything.
What else arent you telling me? she demanded.
I dont know anything more than Ive told you.
If youre dragging me off to Cuba, I have a right to know everything.
I dont want to drag you to Cuba, dammit! I want you stay here and be safe.
Which is exactly what I want you to do, too.
Not happening.
Then Im going to Cuba, whether you take me with you or not.
He stared at her in frustration. She crossed her arms defensively and stared back. It was a long standoff, but she was a McCloud, and they were a tenacious bunch.