Chapter Three

He’d be thankful for his amazing luck, except, given Ivy’s bruises, it wasn’t luck that had brought them here. It was a brutal assault that left her shaking even as she ensured her equipment was secure.

“I live on my boat,” he said, his voice guarded even while his mind raced, considering how to reply. If he overplayed this opportunity, she’d bolt.

“I figured.” She glanced down at her mud-coated skin. “Just promise me it has a shower.”

The rank slime from the swamp had begun to dry. He couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she was, even coated in mangrove mud, but mostly he was surprised by how rationally she responded to what must have been the most terrifying experience of her life.

“It has two,” he said. He’d liberated Liberty—originally owned by the Pakhan of a Russian Bratva organization—from Indonesia, neatly providing himself with both housing and a job that had been the perfect cover for his search.

She arranged the aluminum boxes, locking them together in two stacks of three and extended a luggage handle from the bottom case, which had wheels. She slipped her backpack over her shoulders, then draped a purse across her chest and grabbed the handles for both stacks of equipment and headed for the door.

When he didn’t follow, she stopped and glanced over her shoulder at him.

This was a delicate game. If he came across as too eager, it would raise alarm bells. “I don’t know, Ivy, I—”

“Please?” She shook her head, clearly realizing she’d forgotten both her manners and to wait for his affirmative response. “I can pay you. Just for one night. I need to contact the FBI and explain the situation, but first, I need to protect CAM.”

He gave a sharp nod. “One night.” He reached for one of the luggage handles. “Let me help you with that.”

She jerked back from him. “No. Only I touch the equipment.”

He raised his hands and backed away. “Suit yourself, but you’re going to find the stairs difficult. If we take the elevator, you’ll be seen in the lobby. The cops will detain you and everyone will see us together. My boat won’t be safe then.”

“It’s a good thing I know how to find the service elevator, then.”

He smiled, liking this woman’s cool wits in the face of terror. He’d have to remember that she didn’t give in to hysterics. When she learned what he was, she’d be a cunning adversary.

Ivy’s cell phone rang on the drive to Jack’s boat. She glanced at the screen. Her boss’s name lit on the display. Shit. She should have called Mara the moment she and the equipment were safely tucked into the vehicle, but the first priority had been to call the police and tell them about Spiderman and Thor. She’d completed that call and had yet to catch her breath.

She pressed the phone to her ear. “Hey, Mara, I take it the party has made headlines.”

“Thank God you’re safe!” Mara paused. “Wait, are you safe?”

“Yes. And so is the equipment.” She glanced sideways at Jack, then said in a soft voice that he’d hear no matter what, “I triggered the transponder. Can you make sure it’s working?” Knowing the US Navy could track CAM’s location was the only reason she felt safe taking off with a virtual stranger, even if she had been ogling him for the better part of a week. No way could Jack possibly know how to interrupt the embedded signal.

“Cressida opened the direct link.” Mara projected her voice away from the phone. “Do you have CAM on the map?”

Ivy heard a muffled response before Mara said, “You’re nearing the bridge to Koror.”

A glance at the road ahead showed signs for the bridge. “Yep. I planned to report what happened once CAM and I are settled in a safe place.” She then explained to Mara what happened in the swamp. “I need to talk to Aurora Ames,” she added, naming the US attorney for the District of Columbia, who was personally handling Patrick’s prosecution. “She can add selling CAM to the charges.”

“I’ll brief Curt. He’ll want to send out a team of FBI investigators, but it will probably take a few days to get them out there.” Curt was US Attorney General Curt Dominick, Mara’s husband. If anyone could get the FBI to respond quickly, it was the head of the Justice Department. Ivy had been battling panic from the moment she heard the soft curse in the swamp. This reminder that she had powerful allies led to her first deep breath in what felt like hours.

“We need to consider bringing you home,” Mara said.

Dread settled in her gut. The test of CAM was going so well. “I understand. I don’t want to leave. But I understand.”

“If we could ensure your security, you could complete the project, but I doubt the Navy will be willing to send a team. It’s too expensive.” After a pause, Mara added, “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thanks, Mara. Did you have a chance to see the upload I did today?” Because of the scheduled party, she’d worked in her hotel room all day, giving Ulai the day off. She’d used her direct satellite link to upload the latest data, which she’d already compiled into GIS layers.

“It’s amazing,” Mara said, her voice full of awe. “I can’t believe how detailed the map is of the submerged Zero. And I could swear you found a tunnel in the Peleliu jungle.”

“Me too. I planned to go out there in a few days, to confirm.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “It would be a win for Patrick if I had to run home and hide.”

“I know, Ivy,” Mara said. “And I know what CAM means to you. I’ll do what I can on my end. In the meantime, promise me that if you’re in distress, you’ll lock CAM down.”

Lockdown would mean full abort of the project. Her stomach clenched at the thought. “I promise.”

She’d initiated CAM’s tracking signal. He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. No doubt she had a direct satellite uplink. He didn’t have the skills to block it.

Just the idea that she’d been on the phone with Curt Dominick’s wife… It brought both a shiver of fear and…hope. The man could be an ally, but given his straight-arrow reputation, he was more likely a foe. 

It was absolutely vital for him to earn Ivy’s trust, or the game was over. For him and for Ivy.

Even after the assault in the swamp, she probably didn’t realize exactly how much danger she was in, because she had no idea what the stakes were. He was the only one who knew.

So far she trusted him. But then, he’d been trained to be a charmer. A seducer. Part of the job description.

He wanted to believe he was a good guy, but all evidence pointed to the contrary, even if none of it was his choice.

Free will. A key trait of humanity, and the one thing he’d always lacked. He had more in common with Ivy’s mapping drone than anyone knew. The day he achieved control over his choices was the day he’d both enter and leave the human race.

Ivy MacLeod was his ticket to humanity. His liberation. And eventually, his death sentence.

He couldn’t fuck this up. More than his and Ivy’s lives hung in the balance. The sister he hadn’t seen in years and the nephew he’d never met were vulnerable. Freedom waited for them if he pulled this assignment off.

“What branch of the military were you in that you learned to fight like that?” she asked. “Were you special forces?”

The reckless side of him wanted to tell the truth, just to see her reaction. But he’d learned to curb that impulse after a few lessons at the end of a hockey stick reinforced the message of control at all times. “Major Jack Keaton, US Air Force, retired.”

She glanced at him askance. “You’re a little young to be retired.”

“Medical retirement.”

“I’d have guessed you were more the Green Beret type. Aren’t they all about the hand-to-hand combat?”

“Sometimes pilots have to bail in enemy territory. It’s important to know how to fight.” He’d been assured Jack Keaton’s military records would hold up. All he had to do was say the right thing.

He pulled into the marina parking lot. She had to let him help unload the cases from the backseat of the truck cab. “Sorry I was difficult at the hotel. You were being so great and helping me. I shouldn’t have… I—I’m a bit mother-bearish about CAM.”

He draped an arm around her shoulder and pressed his lips to her temple. “I get it. We’re cool.”

She leaned against him, and he felt her tremble. She was running on fumes.

He’d found her attractive from the first time he saw her photo, and his ego had enjoyed the way she’d stared at him when he brazenly swabbed the deck shirtless to snare her attention. But he’d never expected to actually like her.

However, from the moment he’d overheard her call Shiro Kimura on his bullshit—in two languages the man could understand—something had shifted.

She was obviously smart as hell, given that she’d designed, built, and coded equipment that could be a game changer in surveillance and search technology. But in the wake of the assault, he saw the strength that had carried her when her life and work had become tabloid fodder.

She’d been attacked and nearly kidnapped, and yet she’d held herself together with a razor-sharp focus on protecting her invention. It demonstrated in stark relief what her priorities were—which would be a problem down the road. But for now, he was impressed. It didn’t help that he found her beautiful in spite of her exhaustion and mud coating.

It was the imperfections of her features that caught his attention. The sharpness of her chin, the slight crook in her nose. She was tall, voluptuous, and unique.

Lying to her left a bad taste in his mouth, which was odd. He’d been lying for so long, what were a few dozen more?

But the one truth she’d never believe once the bigger lies were exposed was he’d never hurt her. No matter what happened, she was safe with him. He’d protect her—and CAM—with his life. And he had no doubt she needed his protection now.

His path had been forced upon him, and Ivy was the key to getting out of this mess, but he wouldn’t sacrifice her for this assignment.

She’d already been used by one spy. Being used by a second might break her magnificent inner strength.