Page 9 of Jager's Prey
I nodded, glad for the subject change.
“How did you do that?”
“Long story.” I told him.
That was a mission I didn’t talk about—ever.
“Ask me what you want to ask me.” I told him.
I hated this game.
He leaned back in his seat. “And what do you think I want to ask?”
“Look, I’m not gonna play this game wit-cha.” I exhaled then dumped a sugar cube into my second cup of coffee and stirred. After I sipped, I met his gaze again. “I’m used to bein’ the only vagina in a room. I know what men like you think when they expect a man, and a woman walks in. Let’s just go in, get this lil boy and come back.”
“Men like me?”
“Yes.” I leaned forward. “Men who think this isn’t the lane for a woman.”
He scoffed. “You walk in with this chip on your shoulder—that wasn’t what I was thinking at all. But let’s put that aside because I have a feeling that’s a battle I wouldn’t win even if I wanted to fight it with you. For now, tell me what you know about this.”
As I discussed it, Daisy returned with our meals and condiments. I had her leave the entire coffeepot. When we were alone again, we continued talking about the mission and what the plan was. We couldn’t simply fly into Algiers or Oran since that would raise red flags. Though Oran bordered Morocco that would be an even bigger issue.
The plan was to fly to Casablanca, then a friend of mine who owned a private plane, would fly us into Oran under the cover of darkness. That would be a one-way trip. When he flew back into Casablanca, they would meet the plane on the runway and search it. We couldn’t take the chance that we were to be found and got him into any trouble.
Once he dropped us off and we managed to get Cage, we would be on our own to figure out a way back to Casablanca or an alternative way out.
That part of the plan, we didn’t have hammered out yet.
The frown on Mack’s face told me he wasn’t a hundred percent on board with the plan. Especially the part of it that sounded like a kamikaze mission.
We couldn’t ask anyone for help—we were on our own on this. But even he had to know that we didn’t want any questions asked about this mission.
At the end of our meal, Mack paid the tab and after small chat with Daisy, we left the diner to walk back to the parking lot where we were parked. Since my place was closer to the airport, I gave Mack my address to meet me there the next day.
He watched me ride off and I couldn’t seem to get the expressionless way he looked at me from my mind. It was almost as if he had a wall around his emotions, something everyone who’d ever met me had accused me of.
The angry, lonely person in me knew the angry, lonely person in him.
But I’d been on my own for so long, it was hard trusting people.
The army was my family until it wasn’t, and I was left scrambling again to find a place to belong. Mix martial arts was something I picked up as a teenager to protect myself from bullies. After a few years of Muay Thai, I branched off into Jiu Jitsu and kind of never looked back.
It was something I excelled in because people looked at me and saw this helpless woman. It was a secret weapon I held until I really started competing—and winning.
I wondered what Mack knew about me—what Swede had told him in those same papers I had on him. I wondered if he knew how battle scared and world weary I’d grown ever since I was a little girl.
Glancing over my shoulder to check traffic, I signalled and switched lanes only to speed around a car that was going so far below the speed limit, it had a line of cars behind it.
Once I was safely by it, I checked again and went back into the lane, the wind singing by my helmet.
Mack Salazaar
Our flight wasunlike anything I’d taken before. The plane, for most of the journey, flew uncomfortably low—I assume it was to avoid radar. Usually, I would question that, but with what we were about to do, I would take any leg up we could get.
Jager slept a little—not sure how she could under the current circumstances, but I couldn’t really blame her. The body sometimes had to take us down for us to take a break. I watched her calm face and couldn’t help smiling.
Jager was a beautiful woman—dark skin, beautifully kissable lips, an elegant neck that sloped down to a body I wouldn’t decline getting close to.
