Protecting Ainsley Page 2

  “I want to know names, dates, places. Everything about the assholes your work for.” A figure raced across the parking lot, ducking behind a few cars and then stopping behind a tree. Keanu made out a small weapon of some kind in the man’s hands. If that wasn’t Colorado, Keanu was fucked.

  “Andrew Johnson. He’s who you want.”

  “Tell me why.” Keanu let out a long breath. This was going nowhere, and fast.

  “Last year, my sister died in a scuba accident, except it was no accident. Andrew said he’d help me find the answers, but instead he used me and my father for his own agenda," Ainsley said so fast he could barely keep up. And he didn’t quite follow her logic either.

  According to the C fucking IA, she’d been working for Isis for years now. She’d stolen top-secret documents regarding special ops right off her father’s desk at the Pentagon. How did the daughter of one of the most decorated Army leaders end up as a terrorist?

  “You’re Andrew’s fiancé, right? You worked for him?” Andrew’s company had been contracted by the military to build special equipment. She had access to all the company documents through her relationship with Andrew and through her job. He supposed that could be reversed. More than likely, they worked together. So, if she crossed him, he’d find a way to put the screws to her.

  “Was, as in past tense. He sent me out of the country without a passport or any way to return the moment my loyalty was questioned.” There was a slight tremor to her voice. “My father’s death was no accident, either. He never drank.”

  “Get to the point.” He could see movement outside, and a van pulled in. Henry Maxwell, the CIA agent, must be liking what he heard. Thank the stars because Keanu needed out.

  “Andrew forced me out of the country under the pretense that he’d prove I was innocent of all the rumors. I argued with him that me taking off like that would just make me look guilty. I’d already been told not to leave DC.”

  “I’m bored. You have two minutes.”

  She stiffened. “Right before my dad died, I got a phone call from him saying he had proof of what Andrew was up to. The next thing I remember was waking up in some cow pasture, beaten and near dead.”

  “Your father believed Andrew was working with terrorists?” Keanu questioned with an arched brow. Arthur Emerson had been well respected until his daughter went and sold government secrets to the enemy.

  “He did some digging for me, but he didn’t want to believe Andrew would do something so dishonorable. He loved him like a son. It was more to prove I was innocent as well as verifying that Andrew wasn’t behind the treason.”

  “Let me get this straight. Your father and sister both die accidentally, but you think they were murdered, by your fiancé no less.”

  She nodded.

  “If that’s true, why didn’t he kill you? Make that look like an accident? Like the rest of your family.” Since the van pulled in, there had been no movement from the outside. Maxwell needed to get his ass in here and finish this up. Keanu had done his job. So had his team. It was Miller time.

  “Andrew beat the crap out of me. He left me for dead in a foreign country with no ID. I have no logical answer for why he didn’t put me six feet under.”

  “How did you stay under the radar for the last few months…” A loud shout came over his earpiece. He heard a few more shouts before a loud hum echoed in his ears. “Damn.” He sprinted across the room. “Get down.” He flicked the light switch, then dashed back to the window, pulling back the curtain.

  “What?”

  “Shut up and stay on the floor.” He tapped his ear. “Report.”

  He tapped his watch and rolled the dial trying to get better reception. “What’s going on out there?”

  Keanu waited but got no answer. Not good.

  “Who knows you’re here?” he asked Ainsley.

  “Only those you told.”

  “Something’s wrong.” He pulled out his weapon and pointed it at Ainsley. “Did you set me up again?”

  She shook her head.

  “We have to move.” He tapped his ear, still hearing only a faint hum. “We’re coming out.” Just as the words left his mouth, he heard the pops.

  The window shattered, and repetitious pounding filtered through the room. “Fuck.” He dropped to the floor and covered Ainsley with his body, rolling behind the bed. “Don’t make a noise,” he whispered in her ear.

  The gunfire continued for another minute, tops. When it stopped, he slid his arm under her belly and hoisted her to a standing position.

  Quickly, he opened the door. Three women ran past him screaming. “Come on.” He took her by the hand and tugged her down the hall. He needed to find a safe place to take cover, because at any second, the bad guys would be storming down the hallway. He tapped on one of the doors. “Open up. It’s the police.” He held his gun over the peep hole. Nothing. “Stand back.” He aimed and fired, blowing open the door. Quickly, he shoved her inside and barricaded the door as best he could.

  He needed a few minutes to collect his thoughts and find his team. He pulled out his cell phone and called Colorado.

  Nothing.

  Buddy.

  Nothing.

  Fuck.

  “I’m bleeding,” she said, her voice barely audible as she fell back on the bed. “Did I get shot?”

  He knelt down next her, then ran his hands up her calves and across her thighs checking for wounds. “I don’t think so,” he said, “but you got hit in the arm with some glass.”

  “It stings.”

  “Don’t touch it. I can see the glass.” He tugged at her hand and pulled her into the bathroom. “This is going to hurt.”

  She leaned against the sink and closed her eyes. He stared at her for a brief moment. He wanted to believe if she had known who he was two weeks ago, she would have picked a different target. But he wanted to believe a lot of things about Ainsley and none of them true.

  He dabbed a wet washcloth around the open wound then pulled.

  “Fuck, that hurt.”

  “I told you.” He cleaned the cut with some soap and water, trying not to cause her more pain.

  She tried to pull away, but he didn’t let her go.

  “Alive and feeling pain,” he replied dryly. “If you want to stay that way, tell me who knows you’re here.”

  “You do.” She swatted his hand and grabbed the washcloth. “Jesus, that’s going to leave a scar.”

  “Poor girl, shall I call the plastic surgeon?” The radio made a loud buzzing noise in his ear. “Buddy?” he said, tapping his ear.

  “All your buddies are dead,” a male voice bounced through his brain. “Give us the girl, and we might let you live.”

  “Who the fuck is this?”

  The voice laughed as if he were the joker from the Batman movies. “Just do as your told, and no one else will die tonight.”

  “No can do,” he said. “Now how about you give me a name, so I know who the hell I’m dealing with.”

  “All you need to know is if you don’t hand over the girl, I’m your worst nightmare. My men are entering the lobby as we speak. You have no way out.”

  Fuck. Keanu yanked the piece out and tossed it across the room. The device smacked the wall and landed on the floor with a thud.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Your people are here to collect you,” he muttered.

  “I’m not a terrorist, and I don’t have a clue who is out there. I’m telling you the truth, Keanu. I have no one. My mother died when five years ago, my sister last year, and my dad just six months ago. There’s no one left.”

  “But Andrew.”

  “Yeah, well, when I see that bastard again, you can haul my ass to jail for murder because I’m going to castrate the man and let him bleed out.” She poked Keanu in the chest, shoving him backward toward the toilet. He reached for his weapon and drew it.

  Her gaze waffled between him and the gun. “Go ahead. I’m going to die anyway.” She tossed he
r hands wide.

  “I’m bringing you in alive.” But first, he had to find out what happened to his men. “We have to move.” He shoved open the window, thankful he’d picked a room on the opposite side of the room he’d booked. He placed his hand under her ass and gave her a healthy push.

  “Oh, my God,” she managed to say as she landed on her face.

  “Sorry,” he said as he helped her to her feet.

  He snatched her hand and started running toward the side of the parking lot. He leaped behind a large rock. “Fuck,” he said softly, staring at the van filled with bullet holes. Buddy lay lifeless on the ground. “Come on.” He stood and took off with her in tow between the hotels toward the beach, almost falling over one of his men. “Colorado, you hear me?” Keanu dropped to his knees, ripping off his shirt. He placed the fabric over a few of the bullet holes, but the blood oozed out too fast.

  Colorado blinked, wheezing. “Get out,” he managed.

  Keanu pulled out a phone and hit some numbers.

  “Hanson here,” his commander answered.

  “Operation Princess failed. Colorado is down. Don’t know where anyone else is, but I think they are dead. I do have the asset in custody.”

  “I hear sirens. Are you with the cops?”

  “They are on their way.” Keanu glanced up. Red lights flashed in the sky.

  “This isn’t my op. I wasn’t briefed until after it went into motion.”

  “I know. It came from the director of the CIA, but I’m alone here.”

  “All right. Stay out of sight when the locals get there. As a matter of fact, get out of there and take the asset and hide. I’ll contact you at zero five hundred hours and let you know what I find out.”

  The phone went dead.

  “Take her and run,” Colorado said, clutching Keanu’s shirt. “Do what Hanson says.”

  “I’m not leaving you.”

  “Take her someplace safe.” Colorado coughed. “Now.”

  “Hang tight, buddy, okay?”

  Colorado coughed. “Go.”

  Keanu nodded. He took her by the hand and started jogging south on the beach.

  Tires squealed. Men yelled out in the background. He focused on his goal. Bring her in. Just as soon as he knew who to bring her to.

  Chapter 2

  “Where are we going?” Ainsley said between ragged breaths. Every muscle in her body ached and the humid air burned in her lungs.

  “Not a clue,” he said as if running forever and a day was a walk in the park.

  “Can we rest?” She tried to slow down, but he held her so tight she couldn’t stop without falling to the ground. The ocean waves crashed into the shore in a loud roar. He dodged between hotels and small seaside shops, dragging her helplessly along.

  He made a quick jaunt to the left, almost making her flip heels over head.

  “Please.” She dug her heels into the sand and fell to her knees. She gasped for air, desperate to fill her lungs.

  “This is not the best place to rest. We need to cross the road and get to that parking lot and find a car. You can make it.”

  “I can do it,” she said with as much confidence as she could manage.

  “Good.”

  She glanced at him for a moment, catching his intense gaze, but she couldn’t read his emotions. What did she expect? She barely knew the man. She knew he wasn’t a computer salesman for HP on a trip that he won from his company. She’d scoped him out after the old man at the bar told her he was a mercenary, and for the right price, he’d be able to help her. It never occurred to her that he might be a part of the most elite group of sailors in the world.

  But why would the bartender tell her he was a mercenary?

  He looped his arm around her waist. “Walk casually across the street. Don’t bring attention to yourself.”

  Her breathing finally slowed, and her pulse didn’t hurt with every beat. “What now?”

  “We hide until zero five hundred. Then I take you where I’m told.”

  “Here.” He stopped in front of a sedan and opened the door. He reached under the dash. “You have to love older molder vehicles. So easy to hot-wire.”

  “I don’t think the Navy taught you to do that.”

  The car sputtered to life.

  “Where’d you learn to do that?” She wrinkled her nose. Whoever owned the car had horrible taste in perfume. She sneezed.

  “Juvie. Now shove over.”

  “A bad seed turned good?” Her butt bumped against the armrest, and she groaned.

  “Better than a good seed turned bad.” He revved the engine and slammed the gearshift into drive. “Like you.”

  “That’s not true.” She folded her arms across her chest. “And part of you believes me, or you would have let whoever shot at us kill me.”

  “If I did that, I’d be no better than you.” He kept his focus on the road and the rearview mirror, giving her a chance to study him. He certainly didn’t act like the carefree man she’d met in Mexico two weeks ago.

  “You know who my father was, right?”

  “Captain Arnold Emerson, Army advisor to the Secretary of Defense. And before he died, there were rumors he’d betrayed his country.” He glanced at her with condemning eyes. “By helping you.”

  “What will it take to get you to listen to me?”

  Keanu maneuvered the car onto Interstate 95 heading north. “I’d have to be delusional.”

  “Where are we going?” she asked with an exasperated sigh.

  “Right now, Jacksonville. Now, if you don’t mind, I need some peace and quiet so I can think.”

  For the next forty-five minutes, she stared out into the night. Gray clouds collected, covering the half-moon in the dark sky. Perspiration beaded at her hairline. The pungent perfume lingering in the stale, humid car choked her. She hadn’t thought things could get worse when she got on the plane in Mexico, but they had.

  The car rolled to a stop in front of a Wal-Mart.

  “What are we doing now?” She’d put her fate in a man who not only didn’t believe her, but wanted to send her off to a prison for traitors.

  “Getting some clothes, dumping the car, and taking a bus.” He grabbed her hand. “If you run, I can’t protect you.” His eyes narrowed, and his grip tightened.

  “Is that what you call this? Protection?”

  “Jail should be the least of your worries, honey. You crossed the wrong people, and now you’re a walking dead woman.”

  “Thanks for the reminder.” She rubbed her wrist as she slipped from the car. She had no intention on running. At least not tonight. She had the next few hours to try to make him understand Andrew had set her and her father up.

  He slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. His breath was warm against her ear as he whispered, “We need to act as if we’re lovers.”

  “What?” She tried to break free, but he yanked her back, forcing her arm around his waist.

  “If we act like we’re into each other, people will ignore us. Just hold my hand, put your head on my shoulder, laugh at my jokes, and pretend that I rock your world.”

  She swallowed. That wouldn’t be so hard. She remembered every inch of his glorious body. She relaxed against his strong frame. She trembled, but not in fear. His thumb rubbed her hip, sending a sudden rush of heat to her cheeks.

  Quietly, she followed him through the store as he picked out a couple of shirts, shorts, pants, and a sweater, but he hadn’t let her try them on, saying they would do well enough.

  She was tired of well enough. After months of living in Mexico, working in a nasty hotel for room and board, she wanted her freedom, and that came with a nice silk top and a pair of Jimmy Choos.

  They walked three blocks to the bus stop. He purchased two tickets to a small town on the Georgia, Florida border. She sat next to him on the bench, her hand resting on his thigh. The urge to squeeze and run her fingers toward the inside of his knee, where it would make him squirm because it tick
led, was almost too much to ignore.

  She thanked the heavens above that the bus came before she caved to her own desires. He waved her on and directed her toward the middle of the bus.

  “Relax,” he whispered. His lips felt hot as he brushed them against her temple, pulling her close. He raised his hand to her chin, tilting her head toward his. “It’s about an hour trip, so just sit back and take a nap.”

  She gasped at the intensity of his stare. His thumb rubbed against her cheek, then he closed his eyes and drew her lips to his. His mouth rubbed gently across hers. Reactively, she clasped her hands behind his neck and thrust her tongue deep into his mouth. He tasted like peppermint and smelled like a warm spring day at the ocean.

  “Very nice,” he said, kissing her cheek. He tossed his arm over her shoulders, practically forcing her head into the crook of his neck. “Academy award.”

  She closed her eyes and mentally strangled him. This wasn’t Keanu, the cute guy who had offered her his hotel room, a warm body, and someone to care about when she had no one.

  This Keanu held her fate in his hands. If she didn’t convince him to check out her story, she’d either end up dead at the hands of Andrew, or in jail as a traitor.

  Keanu forced his body to ignore the woman resting her head in his lap. Idle time didn’t help the pounding between his ears. But he couldn’t do anything until he got word from his commander.

  Except maybe get a hold of Wolf. Keanu pulled out his cell and sent a text to his old friend.

  Keanu: Hey man, got a minute? I need some advice about an op gone bad.

  Wolf: What happened? Thought you were forced to take a few weeks off.

  Keanu: I was. I called back to bring in Ainsley Emerson.

  Wolf: Fuck. That was you?

  Keanu sucked in a breath. Wolf knowing that quickly couldn’t be good.

  Keanu: Yes. What are you hearing? My team? What do you know about them?

  Wolf: It’s not good. You need to bring her in, and hopefully the repercussions won’t be too bad for you.

  Keanu: I’m waiting to hear from my commander for a drop point. The CIA was running the show, but they have fallen off the face of the earth.