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.
He finally declared, You are the most stubborn, unreasonable female Ive ever had the misfortune to know.
Hah. Capitulation. She heard it in his voice. Gracious in victory, she murmured, And thats why you love me.
He scowled, and she didnt press the point. Instead, she asked, Why is André going to all the trouble of infiltrating us into Cuba to hunt for something the CIA isnt even sure exists? Does this have something to do with your father?
Maybe, he answered candidly. The close Cuban connection to Russia lends credence to the notion. Several of the ships that have been spotted belong to Russian front corporations, and some intelligence traffic has been tracked between Cuba and the FSB that corresponds to the appearances of the ships.
Is that why youre so set on going on this wild-goose chase, then?
Id definitely rather know what Peters up to than be operating in the blind. He added quietly, And so would the CIA.
Are you ever going to give up this never-ending battle against him?
I will if he will.
She snorted. Like thats gonna happen.
Exactly.
Cuba, huh? she said in resignation.
Please stay home, he tried one last time.
Please stay here with me, she retorted.
Im sorry, he said simply. I cant.
There are things going on around us I dont understand, Alex, and Im worried. My gut says something or someones closing in on us. Whoever took that shot at me on the terrace did not do it randomly. I think it would be best if we both got out of Washington and stayed off everybodys radar for a while. Call it crazy womens intuition.
He stared at her for a long time. Secrets swirled in his turbulent, unwilling gaze. But in the end, keeping them to himself won out over talking her into staying home. She gathered, however, that he agreed with her intuition.
He released a long, unhappy sigh. Are your parents going to be okay with keeping Dawn for a few weeks?
Lemme think, she drawled. More time to spoil their adorable only grandchild rotten? Gee. I dont know.
Alex smiled briefly, but the expression didnt reach his eyes. He had some inkling of whod taken that shot at her and why. What about that had him so freaked out? Enough to give in and let her come to Cuba with him? Was it really going to be safer for her in a hostile country where being caught meant arrest or even possible death?
Wow. Not reassuring.
CHAPTER FOUR
ALEX LEANED BACK in his uncomfortable airplane seat and pretended to sleep. Why hadnt CIA satellites picked up anything at all on the shooter at his condo yesterday? Hed been on the phone no more than two minutes after the shooting and André had promised the agency would take a look at its live security telemetry of the nations capital.
The day had been sunny and clear. They should have seen something. A car, a figure moving away from the area on foot, a flash off a gun scope, anything. Hed given André detailed descriptions of all three of the perches a sniper could possibly use to hit that planter on his terrace. How hard could it have been to check out three lousy hides?
His gut churned alarmingly. Something was wrong. What wasnt André telling him? His instincts warned that the agencys analysts had seen something but elected not to share it with him. What? And why were they hiding it from him?
And now they were sending him to Cuba, a known swarm of Russian intelligence activity, on a flimsy excuse. Why? What did they think Peter was up to? Or were they just using his fathers name as a hot button to get Alex to jump into Cuba?
André had been cagey when he pushed his boss for details. Fortinay had flatly refused to divulge why he and Katie specifically had to go to Cuba and what exactly they were supposed to be looking for when they got there. No way was this a random aid mission. The CIA was up to something. But André steadfastly avoided revealing even a hint of what was up.
As if that wasnt bad enough, Alex really didnt like the fact that D.U. was determined to send Katie with him. Hed tried to talk André out of it, but had failed spectacularly. He got that they wanted someone watching him, but he resented the idea that they thought they could use his civilian girlfriend that way.
This whole business of being a good guy, of playing along with their damned rules, was starting to grate on his nerves. He was half tempted to go back to the good old days when everybody hated him and he lived on the edge, tiptoeing between his enemies to stay alive.
Katies head landed lightly on his shoulder and he shifted to make it into a more comfortable pillow for her. She gave him a purpose in life, but God, the cost of being with her and Dawn was daunting at times. He so wasnt an inside-the-box kind of guy.
And it wasnt as if he had any right to ask her to live outside the box with him in his shadow world. If Dawn werent in the picture, maybe he would ask it of her. But the two of them had committed to raising the orphaned child, and he wasnt about to back out of that commitment any more than Katie was.
It was hard enough for him to straddle the world of espionage and the bright, shiny world where people fell in love and had families, and he had a lifetimes experience doing it. No way could Katie handle both. If only he could offer her and Dawn some kind of security for the long term.
Miami International Airport was as huge and chaotic as he remembered it. The plan was to wait out Hurricane Giselle in Florida, and then make their way to Cuba after it passed. Andrés contact in Cuba had flatly refused to let Alex bring any of his own equipment or supplies into the country.
The unnamed Cuban had apparently assured D.U. that plenty of emergency medical supplies were in place on the island. Riiight. Alex smelled a whole bunch of meatball medicine under horrendous conditions forthcoming.
He glanced over at Katie, who smiled excitedly at him, and he just shook his head. The girl had an adventurous streak a mile wide. It had gotten her in trouble before, and he had no doubt it would get her in trouble again. He was beginning to suspect it would turn out to be his fate in life to protect her from herself.
They collected their bags and found a shuttle to take them to their hotel. He had to give D.U. credit for springing for upscale lodgings. Most of the time, D.U. staffers lived in miserable field conditionscrude tents with no running water or electricity among refugees and the destitute, treating injuries and disease under grueling pressure. He had faith Cuba wouldnt be any better when they got there in the aftermath of a major hurricane.
Speaking of which, the sky overhead looked ominous. By the time they reached the hotel, the first fat drops of rain were starting to fall and the wind was picking up. Miami was forecast to get hit by peripheral rain bands but not much more.
They checked into their room with no trouble. He was amused that André had booked them one room with a king-size bed. Keeping the watcher and the watched close, much?
How bad is the weather supposed to get here? Katie asked as rain pounded at the big windows.
He flipped on the TV to check the latest updates. The weather channels were still showing a direct hit on Cuba. Giselle, a small but strong category-four storm and intensifying, was expected to run, literally, the length of the island. Nothing to write home about here in Miami. But Cubas going to get clobbered.
Where will D.U. send us?
East end of the island. The mountains down its spine will weaken the storm significantly, and the west end wont get hit nearly as bad.
So, the category five will be down to a measly category three or so when it hits Havana? she asked wryly.
He shrugged. Theyre used to hurricanes. Havana will be fine. Its the poor, isolated villages in the east that will be in trouble.
Have you ever been to Cuba? she asked curiously.
Not on our list of approved conversation topics, he replied shortly.
We still have one of those? she asked in dismay.
You thought having sex with me entitled you to all of my secrets?
Well, yes. She looked crestfallen.
He grinned and shook his head. I swear. Youre such a newb.
If you wont tell me all, then can we at least have sex? she asked hopefully.
His grin widened. God, she was good for his soul. He took a step toward her, but his phone rang, and he swore under his breath.
Alex Peters, he snapped.
Am I disturbing you?
His fathers unwelcome voice startled him, and he replied tersely, What do you want?
I hear youre taking a little trip. Is there anything I can do for you while youre there? I have a few contacts who might prove useful.
Alexs jaw dropped. How in the hell did Peter know about their secret trip to Cuba? Obviously not so secret a trip, dammit.
Christ. Who else knew about their supposedly secret infiltration onto the island? How dangerous was this trip to Cuba going to be, after all? He glanced over at Katie in alarm. And she was out here in the line of fire with him. On the one hand, he was glad to have her close by where he could personally ensure her safety. But on the other hand, hed promised her shed never be in life-threatening danger again if he could help it.
Yeah, hed bet his Russian spy father had plenty of contacts in flipping Cuba.
Why did the man feel obliged to let his son know that he was aware of this planned junket? What was his fathers ploy? Was Peter worried about Alexs safety and genuinely warning him that his mission was on the Russians radar? Or was the man putting him on notice that his every move would be watched? Or was it merely part of their long-standing pissing contest to show that FSB intelligence sources were better than the CIAs?
It was always like this with his father: circles within circles. Meanings hidden below layer upon layer of meaning. Sometimes, Alex got so damned tired of it all. Maybe that was why Katies directness appealed to him so strongly.
Peter. How to answer Peter? He forced his mind back to the sparring at hand. His father had asked if there was anything he could do to help. Alex replied, Actually, there is something you can do for me. Im going to need medical supplies when I get there. Nothing fancy. Sterile needles and syringes. Clean surgical implements and antibiotics. Maybe an X-ray machine.
It will be waiting for you when you get to Baracoa.
The air rushed out of Alexs gut like hed been punched. How on earth did his father know exactly where in Cuba he was going? Alex himself didnt know where he was being sent yet.
Did Peters mole at D.U. figure it out, or worse, did the information come from the Cuban government? Either way, it was a stunning display of intelligence power. Russia might be a fading empire, but its legendary spy service wasnt dead yet.
Not that it mattered at the end of the day. He and Katie would go where they were sent, treat the sick and injured until the two of them dropped from exhaustion, discover what was being smuggled and go home. He would do the job theyd asked of him, but that was it. He was damned well keeping his nose out of any other CIA or FSB business while he was in Cuba. He ended the call abruptly and jammed his phone in his pocket.
To hell with them all. He closed the distance between him and Katie.
* * *
KATIE STOOD BACK from the steamy mirror to inspect herself. Nobody would know shed just screwed the living daylights out of her boyfriend...she hoped. Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes sparkling, but that could be put down to good health and excitement over the trip to come, right?
The water cut off in the shower. Could you pass me a towel? Alex asked.
She handed a dry towel into his outstretched hand with its long, strong fingers and dark tan. She would have expected a surgeon of his skill to have more...feminine...hands. Softer. His were anything but. They were more what she would expect of a trained killer. He even had the telltale callus at the base of his right thumb to indicate that he shot handguns. A lot. Hed developed that in the past year.
Her dad and brothers had the same shooting callus. She certainly knew how to handle a pistolit was impossible to grow up in the McCloud house without knowing howbut she kept meaning to ask Alex to show her how to use a rifle one of these days. More specifically, a sniper rifle.
She tugged her sexy little T-shirt down to the top of her snug jeans. She might not be a doctor, but she knew how to fill out a pair of designer denims. And she could handle herself in a crisis. Compliments of more of her McCloud upbringing.
She took a quick look at the TV. The hurricane was wrapping tighter, intensifying its energy into a tight knot of monstrous strength. Its outer bands were lashing the east tip of Cuba now. By tomorrow morning, the island would be ground zero for the core of the storm. It was morbidly fascinating to wonder just how powerful the winds would get and how bad the damage would turn out to be.
Ready? Alex asked from behind her.
Yup. Im starving.
Vigorous sex has that effect on me, too. Although I have to say you didnt do all that much work. Next time, you can do the heavy lifting and pleasure me while I sit back and relax.
She stuck her tongue out at him and he dropped a kiss on the end of her nose. And she thinks Im kidding, he murmured.
I dont for a second think youre kidding. I look forward to having you at my mercy.
That sent his right eyebrow into an arch and a speculative gleam into his silver gaze. Hah. She dared him to taste his supper now. Not that she was going taste any of hers, either.
His hand landed in the small of her back in the protective, possessive way that never failed to turn her on. Oh, so thats how tonight was going to be, huh?
She leaned into him in the elevator, pressing her breast lightly against his arm as another couple entered the small space. He didnt glance down at her, but a faint smirk curved his lips.
He asked for a corner table in the darkest part of the hotels restaurant. Pleased to see the long linen tablecloths, she immediately kicked off her heels and planted her bare foot in his lap. While she massaged his groin with her toes, he massaged her calf under the table until she was all but groaning in pleasure.
He murmured over their entrées, So tell me, Katie. What naughty fantasy is rattling around in your head wishing to become real?