Page 23 of Spy With Me
The woman he called Lace was quiet for a moment. “Did youopen the boxes? Get any footage of what was in them? Perhaps collect a coupleof samples?”
It was Zach’s turn for a pause. “I had to get her out. Thatfire was going, and no one was putting it out. I doubt Cooper had a chance toget down there.”
“So what you’re saying is even if by some miracle the firedoesn’t destroy what could have been incredibly valuable intelligence, theAgency now has it. Not your old boss but his boss,” she pointed out in a tersetone.
“Yes. I know what a fuck-up it was, but I wouldn’t take itback. I couldn’t leave her there,” Zach insisted.
Leave her? He was talking about her. The “her” in questionwas Devi Taggart. What had happened? Everything was fuzzy. Her brain was on thefritz. She might be dreaming this. She dreamed about Zach all the time. Dreamedabout him not turning out to be the biggest mistake of her life. Dreamed thathe’d come home when he was supposed to, and the betrayal was actually the dreamand she needed to be way less insecure because they were perfect for eachother.
“Zach?” Devi managed to say his name. It felt weird. She hadto concentrate to talk.
“Sweetness?” He gently smoothed back her hair. “Thank god,you’re awake. You’re safe. You’re in a car, and we’ll be on a plane in an hour.What’s important is that you are safe and you’re going to stay that way.”
She understood nothing except he was here and he shouldn’tbe. He ran. He hadn’t come home from Canada. He had taken off and was now AWOL,and every intelligence group in the world might be hunting for him because hebetrayed his team. “How are you here?”
“That is a long story and one I’ll tell you when we get tothe safe house and I’m sure we’re secure,” he replied, his voice a low rumble.
A huff came from the Brit. “It’s secure. I told you. It’ssafe as houses, and no one will think to look for us there. I’ve been workingon our cover with the locals. Though I would like to point out there were onlysupposed to be two of us, and I’m going to need a cover for her.”
“She’s my girlfriend. That’s all they need to know,” Zachshot back and then his hand was on her hair again and she fought the urge tosigh at his touch.
There was something so wrong with that statement. “Not yourgirlfriend.”
He sighed, and she felt his weariness. “You sleep. You’reokay, and I’m going to make sure you stay that way. When you wake up, know I’mgoing to take care of you. I promise.”
Take care of her. It was all she wanted from him. Zach wasthe one, but he’d been gone for so long. Something played at the back of hersedated brain, but it didn’t seem important now.
“You should have told me you were extracting a Taggart,”Angry Brit said.
“Why does it matter that she’s a Taggart?” Zach asked, a bitof suspicion in his tone.
“They’re trouble for us, and you know it,” she said afterthe slightest hesitation. “You should have told me this was your plan. I’vetrusted you with my life for a while now, Zach. This feels like you don’t trustme.”
“I do, but I didn’t know I was going to do it until I wasthere,” Zach shot back. “I planned to let her uncle take her, but it’s obviousto me he can’t handle her. We’ll have a talk about that.”
Bodyguard. She’d had a bodyguard. She hated having abodyguard. Not Landon in particular. He was an okay guy. He was evenattractive, and she’d thought seriously about trying to wipe Zach from hermemory with him.
She couldn’t do it, so she acted out. She acted rebelliousand gave Landon the slip, and something terrible had happened and that was whyshe was in this car with the man of her nightmares.
“You still should have told me, and you shouldn’t havecarried her like that when you’ve got a hole in your side,” came the reply, andDevi felt the vehicle turn. “Lucky for you I’ve got a kit in the plane. I’llstitch you up before we go.”
“Lucky for me you found a damn plane,” Zach muttered. “I’msorry I didn’t tell you. It was a gametime decision. I appreciate you comingall this way for me. I know how hard that must have been and what stringsyou’re having to pull to get me out of the country.”
“It wasn’t that hard.” The Brit’s voice was softer now.
He was leaving again? Thoughts seemed to flow in and out.Time, too. For a moment she remembered standing in the private terminal withhim, their arms around each other. Saying good-bye had been hard, but she’dloved showing him off to her family, letting them know she’d snagged thatgorgeous, funny, amazing guy. “You just got here.”
She didn’t feel good. Well, maybe she felt too good. Shecouldn’t tell. One second she wanted to wrap herself around Zach, and then shethought she would puke and then her head was pleasantly floaty.
What the hell had happened?
“I know,” he replied, his voice going low. “And I’m notletting you go this time. I should have done this weeks ago.”
“Done what?” She managed to get her eyes open, and he wasevery bit as gorgeous as she remembered. Except worse for the wear. He had acut on his cheek. Not deep, but a bit bloody. His face was still lovely. Like amodel but rougher, his life experience showing in the lines of his face, thehard, chiseled jaw. She liked to kiss him there.
They’d been together for a week. How could it feel like alifetime?
He looked down at her with such tenderness. Such softness,like he’d missed her terribly and only now felt right again. “Kidnap you.”
