Chapter 8 #2
“Slight change of plans. I spoke with the friend of a friend, and he arranged alternative transportation as a precaution.”
She relaxed a little at that.
He took an exit, and she saw a sign for a small municipal airport up ahead. A small, fancy jet sat in the distance outside a hangar.
“Who the heck owns that?”
He flicked the headlights off, so they were suddenly driving blind. He seemed to be able to see the road so her heartbeat slowed back down to only slightly panicked.
“As of a month ago, the US Government owns it. The jet formerly belonged to a cartel leader who died during a confrontation—which he started and we finished. It’s been swept from top to bottom and is clean.”
“Okay. I need to text my boss and tell him I’m getting a different flight. I don’t want him or the others in my lab to worry about me.” She had to work with them when she got back home.
Jordan shook his head. “We want everyone expecting you to be on that original flight—especially the authorities. By the time they figure you’re a no-show, we’ll be over US soil. You can text him then.”
She bit her lip. Wilson and the others were going to be pissed she’d disappeared without a word last night. She didn’t want to upset her advisor at the start of her project. He’d been super supportive of the situation with her dad. She felt like she was becoming a liability to his research program.
Jordan pulled up in the shadow of the hangar. Scanned the surroundings. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and she could see surprisingly clearly.
She gnawed her lip. “Any news about Francois?”
“The French government is sending their own investigative team, as is the International Atomic Energy Agency.” He glanced at her.
“The Mexican police have that witness who says you were on the beach with Francois not long before he died and now everyone wants to know why you disappeared, and what you have to say.”
“They don’t believe our story?”
“Our story will hold as long as we do. Eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable, and it was dark. As for why we disappeared, tell them I didn’t feel safe in that environment, so we left. Tell them I’m a horny, paranoid, control freak.”
He shot her a grin that made her blink in surprise. She wasn’t used to seeing him smile.
“Tell them we slept in the back of the car, no need to specify the trunk. You don’t know the location exactly but somewhere quiet, near the ocean.
Then I arranged this flight because I was concerned about possible information leaks that might mean I was identified and a potential target for the cartel, which might, in turn, have put others in jeopardy. ”
Her eyes grew wide at the reminder of all the people who’d died on the flight her father was supposed to catch in January.
Sacrificed to keep ugly secrets and prevent billionaires being held accountable for their actions.
That threat was locked up now, neutralized.
The technology controlled by the US Department of Defense and its allies, who she had to hope were the good guys.
But what if others used similar tactics to stop her and Jordan leaving the country? The thought was terrifying.
“When we get interviewed, that’s the story.
No matter who’s asking the questions. The eyewitness was mistaken about it being just you and Francois on the beach.
I was there too. And I came to your room via the balcony every night because I’m a macho asshole and you’re a romantic fool—or, more likely, you were ashamed of me and didn’t want anyone to know I was at the conference with you, but the sex was great.
” He shot her a forced grin. “Unfortunately, we can’t talk about this onboard the jet.
We need to get our stories straight beforehand.
We have to assume the plane is bugged. I can’t use my jammer inside as I’m not sure whether or not it might interfere with the flight instruments. ”
“That would be bad.” She frowned. “What do you mean, ‘no matter who’s asking the questions’?”
A muscle worked in his jaw. “Apparently, the FBI Director wants to know what the hell I was doing in Veracruz at a conference for nuclear engineers, and she is suspicious about Ackers running some sort of off-the-books operation. Don’t worry.
I’ll tell her the truth about why I was there, just not the rest of it. Your alibi needs to be rock solid.”
“Don’t tell her.”
He glanced at her sharply. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, if I have to lie to my boss, then why can’t you?
I don’t want my dad to be in trouble with the FBI leadership.
He doesn’t deserve to get shit from anyone except me.
Tell everyone you and I formed an attachment when you kidnapped and held me hostage in—what did Ackers call it? Oh, yeah, protective custody.”
His lips compressed but those haunted eyes stayed fixed on hers.
“We hooked up afterward but kept our relationship secret because you were concerned about my dad knowing, which I think is patriarchal bullshit. When I told you I was headed to this conference, you lost your mind because you’re a macho asshole and you insisted on taking vacation time and coming with me. ”
He sighed. “What if she decides to polygraph me?”
“The polygraph isn’t foolproof, and you know it. Especially if we blur the edges of the truth rather than outright lie.” She slid her hand up his thigh and felt him tense. “Surely you can fake a little biological attraction to me?”
He gripped her hand. “You’re my best friend’s daughter—”
“So what?” Disgusted, she snatched her hand away. “My dad is not in charge of my sex life.”
Jordan huffed. “I’m trying really hard not to think about who you have sex with.”
“If this is going to work, you’re gonna have to get over that because you are the person I’m having sex with.
Lots of it. I’m not a virgin,” she snapped impatiently, “and neither are you. The patriarchy wants me to be ‘pure’ because it suits their agenda. Fuck the patriarchy. Fuck their agenda. It’s okay for men to ‘sow their wild oats’ and be a stud, but a woman lives by the same rules, she’s a slut? ”
“Your father—”
“Fuck my father!” She exploded. “My dad wasn’t around enough to police what I got up to when I was a teen when maybe it mattered.
My mother was too busy being a martyr to notice me sneaking in and out of the house.
” Her bitterness was leaking, and she refused to let her insecurities show more than they already had.
“You’d be an idiot to ignore the perfect plan that gets us both off the hook.
And you can tell my dad privately that you never touched his precious princess’s vagina or any other orifice for that matter.
” She shook her head at his shocked expression.
“Why are we sitting here, rather than getting on the jet?”
“Waiting on a signal that all is well.” He turned toward her with eyes that glittered in the gloom. “That was quite the speech.”
She bumped a shoulder. “Whatever.”
“I’ll lie to my boss about why I was in Veracruz, but I can’t lie to her about my security concerns.”
“No one asked you to.”
He was staring at her. “Daisy, those concerns put you in very real danger if you are in any way associated with me. If the person I believe killed Tremblay finds out you and I are involved—even pretend involved—he would hurt you to get to me.” His eyes were alive with feelings right now.
“Who on earth do you think killed Francois Tremblay?” When he didn’t reply she decided it didn’t matter.
“Look, we talked about this. You know as well as I do that the fact you’re my alibi for Francois’s murder will leak.
We can’t say we lied about that because then I don’t have an alibi, and it looks even worse than before, because… well, we lied.”
Jordan swore as he rested both hands across his brows and pressed his thumbs into his temples.
“Okay, so we pretend we’re really together for long enough to convince the FBI director and whatever authorities she decides to involve, that we’re a genuine item and this wasn’t some goddamned op.
But the potential threat is serious enough that you will need protection. ”
“I’m not going into protective custody.” She crossed her arms. “No way.”
“You can stay with me. Work on base like you did last time.” He eyed her almost nervously and continued, “I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t know he was dangerous.”
“Well, you think he threw Francois off a balcony, so I have a pretty good idea.”
“You have no idea.” The gravel in his voice jolted her.
He grimaced. “After a week you are going to dump my ass so convincingly that anyone with a brain would believe you hate my guts and vice versa. Maybe I can persuade Meghan Donnelly to pretend to have an affair with me and you can slap me in the face or something.”
“Kick you in the balls more like.” She looked away, reminded of her ex and former BFF. Apparently, she was easy to cheat on, even in fake relationships.
The engine ticked quietly as it cooled. The pre-dawn silence should have felt peaceful, but until they were safely out of the country, she didn’t think she’d be able to relax.
He was patiently waiting for her agreement to his plan, which beat the hell out of the last time when he’d strong-armed her in the name of “her own good.”
“I can stay with you for a few days and work remotely, but then I have to help my boss with an experiment that I’m using as the basis for my entire thesis at the facility on Lake Moses next week.”
Lights flashed in the cockpit, and Jordan immediately climbed out of the car and grabbed their luggage.
“Can you delay the experiment?”
She shook her head. “The timing depends on the nuclear power plant where we’re conducting the research.
They are switching out old spent fuel rods, and we plan to insert in a new type of rod that’s only been tested in an Advanced Test Reactor so far.
It’s what he gave his talk on at the conference. ”
“He’s running experiments in a nuclear reactor?”
“They’ve done all the preliminary work. Now they have to test it on a commercial scale.
The company funds a lot of our research along with the feds.
” She sniffed at his judgy expression. “Professor Williams is one of the smartest people I know. Scientists have been running these experiments since the Manhattan Project. Why do you think safety has improved so much over the past sixty years?”
He grunted and took her hand as they started across the tarmac toward the airplane steps. “Considering someone targeted a member of your community, we’re going to be running background checks on everyone who was at that conference and in that hotel.”
“You think one of the attendees had something to do with Francois’s death?” The people she worked with were dedicated professionals. None of them seemed the type to push someone off a balcony.
“I honestly don’t know yet because I haven’t had time or the opportunity to even discuss it with my colleagues.”
“Except for Florence.” She winced because that sounded a lot like jealousy in her tone.
“I needed someone I trusted to gather that surveillance data in case someone decided to wipe it, and she’d already helped with the cameras—let me just suggest she keep this all to herself for now.
” He paused and sent a quick text, presumably to Florence.
Then he scanned the gray dawn as they hurried toward the jet.
“A few days should be enough time to allow me to figure out some details, and then the FBI can determine the threat level to you. You can decide how you want to handle it.”
He caught her gaze, and she saw those ghosts once again haunting the depths of his eyes. He was trying not to be a neanderthal and think about how this affected her, which she appreciated.
“I’d rather lose my job than endanger you,” he said earnestly.
Her heart melted.
“Or any other innocent civilian.”
She mentally rolled her eyes at herself.
She was such a loser.
Well, she wasn’t going to be that loser anymore. She was doing things her way this time. On her terms.
“Okay. I agree. For now.” She turned on the bottom step.
Touched his face. Caught him by surprise.
“But you better hurry up and figure it out, because I have a life to live that doesn’t include protective custody no matter how sexy the FBI agents doing the guard duty.
” She ran her palm over the scrape of his beard.
“Although, you never know, I might be persuaded to wear handcuffs under the right circumstances.” She leaned closer and watched his eyes fix on her lips.
“Get ready to act your ass off for the next few days, Operator Krychek, because I am going to be madly in love with you, and you better not leave me hanging. And then I’ll happily dump your ass in a public display of female empowerment, and you will have to live with that humiliation and regret for the rest of your life.
In the meantime, why don’t we enjoy the ride?
No strings. No expectations. No messy emotional baggage.
Until we can get this thing figured out. ”
She tapped his cheek and then sauntered up the stairs with a little extra bounce in her step.
Her terms.
And they felt glorious.