Chapter 25
Chapter 25
A t first they were almost frantic, as if afraid someone might snatch the opportunity away from them. When they realized that wasn’t going to happen, kissing became more a form of affectionate expression. It was relaxed, lingering, and no less enticing.
“Should we talk about this?” Maggie asked at some point.
“I think we’ve both proved we can’t be trusted with talking,” Ridge said. “Besides, we’ve done nothing but talk the last year. This is loads better.”
“Good point,” Maggie said and they resumed kissing.
“But should we be doing this?” she said a long time later.
“Yes,” he replied, and the kissing continued.
“It’s just that…” she tried again after another long interlude.
“What you’re doing now, that’s the opposite of not talking about it,” he said. “Besides, it’s innocent kissing. Friends can kiss.” His lips migrated to her neck.
“Can they?” she asked.
“Yes,” he decreed. “And the closer the friendship, the better the kissing. And you are, hands down, my closest friend.”
“You’re full of vital truths tonight,” she agreed.
Approximately ninety minutes later she tried again, “But we’re heading…”
He touched his finger to her lips. “We’re not heading anywhere. We’re lingering in the moment. We’re being affectionate because it’s been a rough few days, and we need each other. I need you. Don’t you need me?” His hands captured hers where they rested face up on the carpet, pressing their palms together as he twined his fingers with hers.
“I need you,” she agreed almost shyly. “But…” He stopped her again.
“Maggie, don’t you have any idea how long I’ve wanted this?” he whispered.
“No,” she said, shocked.
“By continually trying to stop what’s happening here, you’re prolonging my torture,” he informed her.
“Can I ask you one last question? It’s important, and it has to do with your past,” she said, her tone suddenly serious.
“Anything,” he said.
“Is this the first time you’ve ever made out with a miniature lumberjack?”
He burst into laughter and rested his forehead on her shoulder. “I can’t get enough of you. Do you know that?”
“Please never stop trying,” Maggie said.
“I…” he began, but almost immediately stopped talking. Abruptly, he sat up and cocked his head in the direction of the front window.
“What is it, Lassie?” she asked, sitting up beside him.
“A motor, a car.”
“So?”
“So this place is designed to let us know when anyone approaches, and no one should be approaching,” he said. He reached for his holster and gun and began to attach them.
“Maybe it’s The Colonel,” she suggested.
“The Colonel knows better than to come here. I’m supposed to make contact with him tomorrow. No one should be here. Get your gun, we’re bugging out.”
She reached for her purse and, by extension, her gun. “How do you do that?”
“Do what?” he asked as he stood and reached a hand to help her up.
“Go from that,” she motioned to the spot they’d been, “to that.” She waved her hand at him, now standing with gun in hand.
“With maximum effort and the prospect of picking up where we left off when this is over,” he said, giving her hand a squeeze. “Stay behind me and do exactly as I say. Exactly.”
“Really wish the magic box of ugly clothes had provided me with some shoes,” she muttered. She was barefoot, and it was freezing outside.
He winced. “Great. Just power through the pain and don’t think about it. Mind over matter.”
“Remind me not to make you my labor coach when I have a baby,” she said. He snapped on his helmet with the night vision attachment and reached for her, intending to put Kevlar vest on her.
“Absolutely not,” she said, stepping out of reach.
“Absolutely yes,” he argued, grasping her wrist and pulling her closer.
“Which one of us is the better target, the big agent with the gun or the tiny librarian without a clue? They’re going to want to take you out to get to me. Don’t let them,” she said, shoving the vest back at him.
“We don’t have time for a debate, and I’m your…”
“If you’re about to remind me you’re my boss, I’m going to quit again,” she said.
“I’m the man who has to live with it if you get shot,” he amended.
“So don’t let me get shot,” she said, shoving the vest into his hands and taking a step back.
“Holy geez, you’re piece of work sometimes,” he muttered as he attached the vest, grabbed her hand, and hauled her out the back door.
Outside the moon was full, but the night was cloudy. Maggie couldn’t see anything, and her feet were already beginning to prickle with cold and soreness. Ridge affixed her hand to the back of his pants like a handle and led her into the woods. He moved in a zigzag, dodging piles of dried leaves so as not to make noise. Maggie did her best to walk lightly, but it was hard when she was stumbling blind and tethered. He led her to a sheltered spot beneath a large tree and pushed her to a crouch. He held up four fingers in front of her face. She nodded. There were four guards. His hands split apart, two fingers on each hand, indicating the guards had split into two groups of two. She nodded again. He pointed to his chest and then to the two fingers on his right hand. He was going after the two guards who had gone to the right. Reluctantly, she nodded, knowing what was coming next. He tapped her chest and pointed to the ground in front of her. Stay here. She nodded, wishing she could say more, knowing she couldn’t. She had no idea how far away the men were, nor if they were close enough to overhear. Since Ridge wasn’t using words, she guessed that was the case.
He took her right hand, the one grasping her gun, and put it in front of her, giving it a tap. Use it if you need it, he seemed to be saying. She nodded again, assuring him she would. His left palm, the one not holding a gun, pressed her cheek, and then he was gone. Maggie shrank back against the tree, feeling bereft and afraid. She could neither see nor hear anything. She would only be able to use her gun if someone walked right in front of her, practically begging to be shot.
She tried to make herself breathe slowly and deeply and then realized she probably sounded like a steam engine. Abruptly she instead concentrated on breathing silently, on being as still and invisible as possible. Was anything on her body white or shiny enough to flash in the moonlight? Her skin and hair were the lightest parts of her. Turtle-like, she pulled the flannel over her head, covering her hair. Whoever wore it before her must have been gigantic because there was still enough sleeve left over to cover her hands. Would it be enough to disguise her? Did the guards have night vision? Probably.
Every snap of a twig or rustle of leaves sent her nerves into overdrive. What would she do if someone attacked? Could she actually shoot someone when threatened? It was one thing to learn new skills in theory and another entirely to put them into practice. The lifeless targets they’d used at Quantico were a far cry from living, breathing humans. Would she take a life to save her own? She might have to find out much sooner than she was ready for.
What if Ridge never came back? What if the worst happened and she was left all alone to defend herself? What if he got lost and couldn’t find her again in the woods? Should she go look for him?
No, she discounted that possibility immediately. He had said to stay put, and he was big on having his orders followed, that much she knew for certain. She would stay until sunrise or until frostbite took her toes and they snapped off. The latter would probably happen first. Her feet were freezing and getting number by the minute. Though, now that she thought about it, the temperature was probably above freezing and her toes weren’t in mortal danger. It only felt freezing to her because she had no coat, socks, or shoes. The temperature was probably somewhere in the forties.
Why are you contemplating the weather when trained men are trying to kill you? Her mind had zoned, as if she weren’t surrounded by danger, as if she had all the time and mental energy in the world to ponder the thermometer. Maybe the mind reaches a limit of what it can handle; maybe she had reached hers. How long could a body stand in one spot, waves of fight-or-flight adrenaline crashing down?
A hand covered her mouth from behind. Before she could react, Ridge whispered in her ear. “It’s me. I didn’t want you to accidentally shoot me, so I came from behind.”
The assailants could easily have done the same. Apparently she was fundamentally lacking when it came to surveillance. Her gun might as well be filled with confetti. What was the point of having it if she had no idea when anyone was coming for her?
“Two men are down, but the two who are left split and are flanking us. I’m going to go east and draw them out. I want you to walk due west through the woods for approximately one mile and then go north and follow the road but stay in the trees. In another half mile, you’ll come to a gas station. Go there and call the agency. Ask to speak with The Colonel and only The Colonel. Use my clearance. He’ll know what to do.”
She clutched his vest and shook her head. What was he saying? He wanted them to split up and not just temporarily? Which way was west and which was north? She had no idea. The brief survival training she’d had at Quantico was nothing compared to the navigation training he’d had in the SEALs. What would become of him if she left him?
He pulled her into his arms and held her close. “Listen to me, it’s going to be all right, but you have to go.”
“Why? Why can’t I wait here until you come back?” she asked.
“The other two men were hired hands with no training. They were easy. The two who are left…they’re the uncles.”
From all they’d been able to gather about the uncles, it appeared they’d had extensive training, both in the military and in the intelligence community. They knew what they were doing, and they were deadly at it.
Maggie felt cold with terror as reality set in. Without saying the words, he was telling her he didn’t know if he could take them. He was trying to draw them out to save her. “Go now,” he said, giving her a little shove away from him.
“No,” she said. “I’m going with you. I’ll be your backup.”
“It’s not up for discussion. It’s an order,” he said.
“I quit, remember? You can’t give me orders,” she said.
“Go,” he said, angry now.
She shook her head. “Figure out a way to use me as backup or I’ll be a tagalong liability.”
He stared at her, completely flummoxed. No one had ever disobeyed an order before, and especially not in the field. He was used to SEAL members and fellow agents who did what he said. How was it possible a librarian was the first to defy him?
“I think we both realize what needs to happen here,” she said when he remained mute and mutinous.
“No, I don’t think we do,” he said.
“I need to draw them out, to be the bait, while you drop in and take them out.”
“Out of the question,” he said.
“Why? Because it’s my idea?” she said.
“Because it’s a bad idea, because so much can go wrong.”
“It’s the best idea. I’m the one they want. They have to know by now that Sam gave me the information and they probably believe I still have it. Why else would they go to the trouble of hunting us down?”
“Because they want revenge, because they want to make him pay by watching you be killed,” he said.
“Either way it comes back to me. I’m the one they want, so let’s pretend to give them what they want,” she said.
He shook his head.
“If it were anyone besides me, what would you be saying right now?” she asked.
He refused to answer.
“You can’t let your personal feelings get in the way of the job, Boss,” she said, easing her arms around him. She stood on her toes and pressed her face to his neck. He squeezed her so tightly in return that it felt like her ribs might crack.
“If I agree to this, then you have to do exactly what I tell you.”
“I will,” she promised.
“If I tell you to run, then you run. Whatever I say, you have to do it as soon as I say it,” he said.
“Yes, sir,” she agreed.
“This is going to be dangerous,” he told her. His hand was at the back of her neck, holding her ear close to his lips. She nodded. “If we don’t make it…”
She shook her head. “I’ve never lost anyone on a mission before, and I don’t plan to start now.”
His lips at her ear curved into a smile. “I like the way you think, Agent Eldridge. All right, here’s what we’re going to do.” He whispered the plan in her ear, and it was time to go.