Chapter 12
Mia walked away from Cullen with her blood drumming in her ears. And desire so intense her legs threatened to give way. Her breathing had yet to return to normal, and it was everything she could do to walk away from him.
The kiss had been . . . amazing. The kind of kiss that she would remember fifty years from now. The kind of kiss that left a person breathless and aching.
The kind of kiss that crushed resolve.
That’s exactly what was happing. She’d known better than to get that close to him. No matter how much she wanted him, they were partners in this mission. Everything needed to remain platonic.
Though that was now out the window.
She pressed her lips together. They still tingled from the kiss.
She lengthened her strides and exited the hangar, furious at herself.
It didn’t matter if she and Cullen worked together for the next ten years or ten seconds.
He was her partner. Becoming involved with a colleague never turned out well.
Mentally, she gave herself a shake and then swallowed and turned her mind away from Cullen. Her focus needed to be on the seduction of someone other than him. And, obviously, she needed to work on her skills, because she’d had no effect on him whatsoever.
That fact didn’t bother her. Or she wasn’t going to allow it to. It couldn’t bother her.
It wouldn’t bother her.
Why did he have to move her so? Why couldn’t he be uninteresting or ugly? Why couldn’t he have something—anything—that kept her from craving his touch?
Perhaps she was just lonely. It had been . . . well, a while since she’d put herself in the dating scene. It had been easier to concentrate on her work.
She wasn’t looking for a relationship. Far from it, actually. Why then couldn’t she stop thinking about him?
There was also the small manner of what she kept from him. She was thankful she was near a building as she put a hand on the side to help hold her. It wasn’t as if she could come out and tell him that she’d had dealings with other Russians besides Sergei.
Or that she suspected she’d taken jobs from the Saints before Camilo. She blew out a frustrated breath. It was all theory, but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense.
What a fucking brilliant mess she’d gotten herself into. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought the faction she’d dealt with and the decisions she’d made would come back to haunt her.
“Oh, Dad would love to say ‘I told you so,’” she murmured to herself.
Not that her father would ever learn of this. She did whatever she had to in order to keep her life private. Still, she knew he paid others to keep him informed of her movements. That’s what money could do.
And he had plenty of it.
Not that she was above using it to get what she wanted. She’d managed to buy a cabin in the mountains, hadn’t she? But that was the last time she’d used family money for anything.
Everything else she had—her job, the hangar, her apartment, the Valkyrie, and weapons—she’d gotten with her own money.
It felt amazing to break away from family ties and be her own person. That dream had alienated her from her father, however.
All communication had been cut off from her stepmother until and unless she talked to her father first. She missed the long calls with Cindy. Her stepmom was the closest thing she’d ever had to a best friend.
For her father to take that away had solidified her decision to walk away from the Carter family wealth and connections.
How simple it would be to call her father and be sheltered by his power. It would be the easy thing to do. He would make everything go away.
How could she live with herself, though? Orrin wouldn’t run and hide. He’d look for her. He’d done it once already.
She owed Orrin that and so much more.
“Mia?”
She looked up into the face of Airman Schenck. His eyes were bright, curious, and held a hint of concern as he gazed at her. He had a long, thin face with thick eyebrows and wide-set blue eyes. With his tall, lanky form, he could be picked out anywhere.
“Schenck,” she said and pushed away from the wall. “I didn’t see you.”
“Are you all right?”
She put a smile on her face. “Right as rain.”
“You were leaning against the building. And you looked like you were in pain.”
He wasn’t going to let it go. She had to give him some sort of explanation. “I’ve a bit of a headache. Nothing that some coffee and an aspirin won’t cure.”
“You sure?” His frown had deepened.
She’d always liked Schenck. His German roots were strong, and everyone knew it by the food he always brought to share. He was proud of his heritage. Young and ambitious, Schenck was honest and loyal.
That would change. It made her sad to think of it happening to him, though. He was a good kid. But the military chewed up and spit out good kids like him.
“I’m sure,” she told him. “I was hoping you might know what General Davis planned to do to me?”
He shot her a lopsided smile. “What?”
“I saw the general at the dining hall earlier. I’ve got a meeting with him.”
“I’ve not seen anything come across my desk about you. Perhaps Bailey hasn’t sent it to me yet.”
She let him mull that over for a moment. “Odd that you don’t know about any kind of punishment or anything, isn’t it?”
“Very.” He scrubbed a hand over his chin. “This doesn’t happen. I always know where you’re sent.”
Well, that was something she hadn’t known before, and definitely a tidbit that would help. Since she had to work with Schenck and Bailey, she didn’t want to make anything awkward by flirting with him and not doing anything about it.
It just seemed wrong. Especially with Schenck. Maybe because she’d been just as wide-eyed and innocent when she’d entered the Air Force. More so because her father had sheltered her from anything that might harm her.
She’d had to learn fast. A few times, she hadn’t been sure if she would survive, but she never gave up. Never. She wasn’t going to start now.
“How long have you been Davis’s aide?” she asked.
His chest puffed out. “Two years. I’m being promoted to Airman First Class next week.”
“Congratulations. That’s great news.”
He ducked his head, a slight blush staining his cheeks. “Thank you. You’ve always been nice to me.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” She threw him a bright smile. “This world is a cruel place. It’s good to have people like you in it.”
He stared at her as if she were a gift, something to be worshipped. And it made her uncomfortable. All she wanted to do was give him encouragement that might help him in the years to come.
She looked away and started around him. She’d taken two steps when he said her name. She turned back to him.
“Did you need something from General Davis?” Schenck asked.
“I was curious if you knew anything about the night of those murders in my hangar.”
He took a step toward her, lines of worry bracketing his mouth. “I was very grateful to learn you weren’t there during that mess.”
“Thanks. I was, as well.” She tried not to think of the bodies and blood she’d found.
“If you’re curious about what the general was doing, he was at a dinner with the governor.”
That gave him an alibi for that night, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t sent out the order to allow the Russian group inside the base.
“I see,” she mumbled.
Schenck’s dark eyes widened. “Do you think General Davis had something to do with it?”
“Of course, not. I’m just trying to figure out how the men got onto the base and off again without being seen or questioned.”
His head of sandy blond hair nodded. “For that to happen, the order would have to come from very high up.”
“Indeed.”
He covertly looked around, then leaned down and whispered. “Come with me.”
Mia followed him into the building all the way to Davis’s office. The general’s door was cracked, showing he wasn’t there.
Schenck sat at his desk and began searching on his computer. She looked around at the plaques that lined the walls, stating some award or achievement the general had gotten during his years in the military.
“Mia,” Schenck whispered.
She spun around and hurried to his side. There, pulled up on the computer, was none other than the order signed by Davis himself to allow a team of ten Russian military men onto the base for specialized extraction training.
So that was how they’d gotten Orrin off the base without being stopped.
The order was vague. But it clearly stated ten men from the Russian military. Cullen had suspected it could be a group of ten. This was the piece they’d been looking for.
“Can I get a copy of that?” she asked.
Schenck hit a key. The paper popped out of the printer a few seconds later. She took it and folded it several times, stuffing it in her bra.
“How could he do this?”
She saw the look of desolation and bewilderment on Schenck’s face. “We don’t know that Davis was in on this. Perhaps it’s as innocent as it seems.”
For everyone’s sake, she prayed that it was. Not just for Schenck, but for herself, as well. Orrin counted Davis as a close, personal friend.
If the general did know about the plan to kill the team and take Orrin, his betrayal ran so deep that it would affect numerous people.
It hurt her heart to see Schenck so stricken by what they’d uncovered. Unfortunately, this would be the first of many times the world would prove how vicious it could be.
The sound of voices approaching stopped her from saying more. She turned as General Davis, followed by a none other than Major General Yuri Markovic, walked into the office.
“Carter,” Davis said when he spotted her. “It’s not time for our meeting.”
She tried not to look at Yuri, keeping her attention directly on Davis. “Of course, sir.”
“Come back at your scheduled time,” Davis stated, dismissing her as he continued into his office.
Yuri stepped so close, she could smell his aftershave. It nearly made her gag. He could be the one who’d taken Orrin. Yet she couldn’t confront him. Not now. Not when she didn’t have Cullen.
Cullen. Shit. If she told him about Yuri, she would have to tell him the rest.
“Thanks, Schenck,” she said over her shoulder and hurried out of the office.
She had to find Cullen. First, she needed to figure out what to do. They could follow Yuri back to whatever hole he’d crawled out of, which might lead them directly to Orrin.
If Cullen would allow her to come once he discovered that she hadn’t just worked with Yuri before, but she had helped him. It had been a side job, something to make enough money to put aside for the future.
Never in her wildest dreams had she ever imagined such choices would begin to chip away at the world she’d created for herself.