Chapter 9
The flight to Mexico City took nearly four hours. Crusher didn’t like being idle, but there was nothing he could do otherwise, so he settled back, determined to rest to be ready for whatever awaited them in Mexico City and then Miami.
Once they were up in the air and the aircraft had leveled out, Marta insisted on using the first aid kit on the plane to clean his scuffed knuckles and a cut on his chin. Her hands were gentle and efficient.
With her so close, the temptation to lean in and kiss her was so strong, it took all his control to fight it. But then she touched an alcohol pad to the cut on his chin.
“Geez!” He pulled back sharply.
Her lips twisted. “Don’t be such a baby. I need to clean the wound of germs. You don’t want it to get infected.”
He gritted his teeth as she touched the pad to his chin again. The sting wasn’t as bad this time, and it meant she was close enough the scent of the shampoo she’d used wafted around him.
She’d removed the hat as soon as they’d climbed aboard, letting her auburn hair fall around her shoulders.
Marta pressed a bandage over the cut and smiled. “There. That should hold until your next fight.”
When she started to move away, he gripped her elbow and pulled her close. “Thank you.” Before he could think better, he cupped the back of her neck, leaned forward and kissed her full on the lips.
She’d been leaning over him as she’d taken care of his cuts and scuffs. Once his lips touched hers, she sank into him.
What started as a quick, spontaneous kiss changed. She opened to him, and he thrust past her teeth into her mouth, caressing her tongue with his. Marta descended onto his lap, wrapped her arms around his neck and gave as good as she got, melting against them as if they could become one.
Her body warmed him, making him feel more alive than he’d felt in a very long time. Blood coursed through his veins, sending fire into his soul and hope into his heart. What was she doing to him?
He didn’t know. Didn’t care. As long as she kept doing it.
They finally broke off to breathe, and she blinked up at him. “When you jumped out of the van...” She shook her head. “I was so scared.”
“We weren’t going to leave you.” He brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear, loving how silky soft the curls were.
“I wasn’t scared for me,” she whispered and brushed her lips across the bandage on his chin. “I was afraid for you.”
“We got through. That’s what counts.” He held her cradled in his arms, not wanting to let go.
“You were amazing.” She lay her cheek against his shoulder. “Six armed men against two unarmed ones. I don’t know how you did it.”
“I couldn’t have done it without Raul’s help.”
“I hope Vasquez’s cartel doesn’t go after him for helping us.”
“I think he can protect himself. Besides, the cartel wants you, not him.”
Marta sighed. “I don’t understand how working for something good has led me to this. People are getting hurt or dying because of me.”
“It’s not your fault. Like you said, you’re working for the good. There are bad people who want to exploit your knowledge for their own selfish gain. If not you, then someone else. So, you see, it’s not you, it’s the bad players who are at fault.”
“Still,” she said, her fingers curling into his T-shirt, “I worry about Raul, Liza, Stewart and Slater.”
“They’ll be all right. You have enough to worry about with the release of that pathogen. Focus on it.”
“I’d like to. Until I can get back in a lab, or we can find the scientist working to get past the binding protein issue, my hands are tied.”
“Then do what will help most and sleep,” Crusher said. “You’ll need to be at your best to save the world.” He bent and claimed her lips in a gentle kiss. “Close your eyes. That’s my plan, too. Sleep while we can.”
She did close her eyes and kissed him back. “I should move,” she whispered.
Crusher’s arms tightened around her. “I like you right where you are. But if you’re not comfortable...”
She snuggled closer, her cheek pressing into his neck, her bottom rubbing across his groin.
Crusher’s control slipped a little. He had to concentrate on the fact that they were in an airplane, tens of thousands of feet in the air, with a pilot whose cabin door remained open to them.
No, this wasn’t necessarily a private place where he could do anything to slake his desire for this amazing woman.
Marta’s hand rested on his chest, and her breathing slowed. She’d fallen asleep on his lap.
As much as it pained him to restrain his lust, he couldn’t ask her to move. He didn’t want to. This might be his last chance to hold her before he handed her off to Devon Marsh and the State Department.
He sat for the next few hours with Marta in his lap. For the first time since he’d found her in Vasquez’s lab, he could relax with her. He closed his eyes and slept with her in his arms, his last thought one of what it would feel like to fall asleep with her in his arms for the rest of his life.
He woke to a bumpy ride as the plane descended for landing at Mexico City's airport. Night had fallen, and a million stars twinkled in the sky around them.
Marta had moved to her seat and was securely fastening her seatbelt. He’d been vaguely aware of her disengaging herself from his lap but had been too tired to protest.
Crusher straightened, adjusted his seatbelt and stared out the window at the city sprawled below them, lights blinking up at them.
The heat made the landing even rougher as they circled the runway and came in to land.
Then they were on the ground, the plane coming to a stop at a general aviation terminal.
The pilot shut down the aircraft and emerged from the cockpit to lower the stairs.
Crusher thanked him and stepped down to the tarmac. He turned and helped Marta.
“What now?” Marta asked as she came to stand beside him.
The pilot joined them and motioned for them to enter the terminal. “Your flight arrangements to Miami have been made. You can collect your tickets inside.”
Crusher and Marta entered the terminal and approached the desk. The receptionist handed them their tickets and said they could either wait there or get a ride over to the commercial terminal to wait for their flight.
Marta touched Crusher’s arm. “I’ve been thinking…
” she said and pulled him to the side. “I have a friend, a colleague, I worked with at the World Health Organization. She lives here in Mexico City. If I could get to her place, she might have the access I need to see how far they’ve come in getting around the binding protein error I introduced. ”
Crusher shook his head. “I don’t think it’s a good idea. We’re too close to getting you to Miami and potentially to a lab where you can work to fix this problem.”
Marta’s hand tightened on his arm. “I need to know how close they are. The timeline we’re working with could be much shorter if they’re finding a way around my temporary stall.”
“Mexico City is a big place.” Crusher wasn’t excited about venturing into the city. Too much could happen from a multitude of directions.
“From what I remember, she’s not terribly far from the airport. We have four hours until our flight. If I can get in and see what they’ve done so far, I’ll have a better idea of the time we have remaining.”
“You don’t even know if she’s home or if she’s awake at this time.”
“Let me check,” Marta said. “If she’s not home, we stay and wait for our flight.”
Crusher held out his burner phone.
Marta grimaced and took the phone. “Now, I just have to remember her number.” She closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them to enter a number on the burner phone before pressing it to her ear.
A moment later, Marta met Crusher’s gaze as she spoke into the phone, “Priya, it’s Marta Hale.
I’m sorry to call this late, but I need help.
” She paused, listening. “Are you home? Do you still have access to the WHO database? Could you help me get online and into the database so that I can look up something? I know it’s a lot to ask, but it’s a matter of life and death—potentially, the deaths of millions.
” She nodded. “Yes, I remember. We’ll be there as soon as we can get a ride.
Thank you.” She ended the call and met Crusher’s gaze.
“She’s home, and she can help. We just have to get there. It’s only fifteen minutes from here.”
Crusher turned to the receptionist. “Could you call for a taxi, please?”
The woman nodded and made the call.
Marta and Crusher had just stepped out of the building when the taxi pulled up to the door.
They sat in silence for the short ride to Marta’s friend’s apartment complex while Crusher kept a three-hundred-sixty-degree surveillance on everything around them. If Vasquez had people on the ground in Panama, he might be one step ahead of them and have more waiting for them in Mexico.
As soon as the taxi driver dropped them off, Crusher hustled them inside.
“Priya’s on the seventh floor,” Marta said.
Crusher followed her into the elevator and touched the button for the seventh floor. He reached for Marta’s hand and held it until the door opened on Priya’s floor.
A dark-haired woman with brown skin and brown eyes stood in a doorway down the hall. She motioned for them to enter.
Marta went in first. After Crusher crossed the threshold, the woman closed the apartment door and pulled Marta into a big hug. “It’s so good to see you.”
“It’s been too long,” Marta said and stood back. “Priya, this is Crush—Jack Bailey. Jack, this is my friend, Priya Patel.”
Crusher held out his hand and shook Priya’s. “Nice to meet you.”
Marta didn’t wait long before saying, “Can we get onto the WHO database?” She took a precious few minutes to fill Priya in, giving her a brief rundown of what had happened and what could potentially happen if the virus were unleashed.
Priya pressed her hand to her lips. “Oh, my. Come with me.” She spun on her heels and hurried down a hallway.