Dangerous Attraction Romantic Suspense Boxed Set (111 page)

She laid her chin on her hands. “It’s French—means ‘father of peace.’ We lived there when I was born. When I went to school in DC I always wished they’d chosen something ordinary—like Karen or Julie or Susan—but no, we had to have something sophisticated and unusual…according to my father.”

“Is your dad still alive?”

She nodded.

“Brothers or sisters?”

She shook her head. “What about you?”

“Tyrone Dempsey. Sergeant. 2350045.”

After her confessions his impersonal answer felt like a slap in the face. “You’re a pain in the ass, Sergeant Tyrone Dempsey. 2350045.”

“Copy that, ma’am. Try and get some sleep. And, for the record? So are you.”

* * *

Time was running out. Desperation drove him onward, barely letting him sleep because with every footstep he imagined the life running out of his grandson’s frail body. He’d trudged through the night using the Soviet-era night vision goggles he’d bought in Gilgit. Now dawn was exposing the land in shades of gray. The jagged peaks were eerily silent, except for the giant’s breath of wind that pulsed and robbed his own.

Yesterday he’d been gifted with the sighting of a snow leopard and a markhor together in the same valley. It was God’s blessing on his quest. He’d taken down the shaggy goat with the magnificent twisted horns but had only clipped the predator.

The signal was gaining in strength. He was closing in on the wounded leopard so he tied his yak to a stunted tree and stealthily slid the rifle from its case and over his shoulder. The receiver and antenna were bulky but he could carry all three items over short distances. He wasn’t the man he’d once been—had spent too many years wallowing in self-pity and trying to drown his mistakes in hard liquor.

He felt ancient. But death was a mercy he didn’t deserve.

The wind came off the mountain, taking his scent with him. He climbed the ridge silently, peering furtively into the next valley. He didn’t want to spook his prey. There was more snow in the clouds, he could smell it. As long as it didn’t block the road to his hideout, it didn’t matter. Then he spotted it…a footprint. Human? And another. Two people. The biologists? Or someone else?

He listened, used the scope on his rifle to scan the opposite side of the valley. A faint trail in the light snow led to a small cave. The awareness that had kept him alive for so long prickled over his scalp and he narrowed his gaze. The biologists had set a trap. Fury welled inside. His grandson was dying and they set him a trap? He started to slither backwards, but froze as a man, swarthy as an Arab, with the bearing of a soldier, faded into position. He’d never seen him before but he immediately knew the game had changed.

Dmitri slipped out of sight and jogged to the pack animal.

Hurry.

Anger filled him, anger and fear. Fear that he would be too late, that they would stop him.
Magdalena
…the name came out of nowhere, ripping through him with a tidal wave of yearning.

Snow started to drift out of the sky again, swirling around him in an endless crystal ballet. He headed in the opposite direction to his yak, circling around, searching for signs that anyone else was here. But the snow obliterated the earth now as surely as it cloaked him.

Dmitri took the rope and led the animal into the swirling flurries. He’d kill a thousand snow leopards, shoot the last the tiger on earth to save one precious child.

They hadn’t found him yet. He intended to make sure they never did.

* * *

The midday sun beat harshly on this patch of barren rock, melting the inch of snow that had fallen during the morning. The woman beside him had finally stopped wriggling and fallen asleep a couple of hours ago. His team was in position and they’d been on stag duty while he caught a quick nap. Now he was wide awake and refreshed, but so far, nothing,
nada, nyet
.

What had made Dmitri Volkov turn his back on his former homeland? What made him defect to fight on the side of people who got their kicks out of brutalizing innocent civilians?

Dempsey understood terrorists better than anyone this side of a suicide vest. He’d grown up with them, would probably have become one himself if not for the tragic death of his sister. That was the family business, right alongside farming. Being immersed in that indoctrinated shit from a young age meant he understood how people born into it found it hard to break free. It was so ingrained, so fecking
normal
. Talk about brainwashed. His sister’s death had severed all connections with that life. Obliterated everything that had come before it. But this guy, this old Red Army soldier, and many like him, had actually opted to join forces with the nutters.

Silence pressed down on him. False. Unnatural. He lay absolutely still but he was starting to get one of those feelings.

He keyed his comms. “Report.”

“Nothing.”

“Clear.”

“Not a fucking thing.”

He frowned. Wishing he didn’t trust his intuition more than he trusted his men. “Taz, take a look around.”

“Copy that.”

The silence held the essence of expectation. Like everyone was waiting for something to happen.

Axelle woke and bashed her head on the rock. He automatically cupped his palm over her hair, which felt like warm silk and had red-gold streaks in the morning light. A look flashed between them. A nameless connection though he’d done his best to keep his distance. Usually he was skilled at distance and, judging from the wary expression on her face, so was she.

“Report,” he ordered Taz.

“No sign of anyone or anything along the rim of the valley,” said Taz.

Cullen and Baxter both checked in.

Axelle pulled out her radio receiver and turned it on.

“What have you got?”

She frantically scanned the frequencies and frowned. “There’s something about a mile west of here.”

“One of your collars?”

“I don’t think so.” She shook her head. “It’s on the same frequency but…”

Dempsey slipped out of the cave. “I’ll check it out.”

“I’m coming with you.” She scrambled out.

“You won’t be able to keep up.”

Her chin jutted. “Try me.”

“You’ll make too much noise.”

“These are my leopards. You can’t stop me.” She was whispering but her voice still dared him to try.

He couldn’t exactly knock her out. Well, he could, but he didn’t want to. “Fine. But you do what I tell you, when I tell you.” He grabbed his stuff because he wanted to be able to keep after this bastard if it was indeed the Russian. And leaving your pack behind unguarded was a stupid way to die.

“Baxter—you and Cullen stay here with this collar. Taz, you and I—”

“And me.”

“—are going to check out another transmitter signal a mile due west.”

“Roger that.”

He set off fast down the cliff but had to slow when Axelle refused to hand over the receiver to allow him to follow the signal. Probably better this way even though he seethed with impatience. He joined up with Taz at the head of the valley. The trooper had his map out and Dempsey checked the radio receiver and noted the GPS position and marked it on the map.

Taz’s black eyes gleamed as they took in Axelle. “You seem to have rescued a damsel in distress, Irish.”

Dempsey grunted.

She gave him a feral glare.

There were several steep interlocking gullies in their way. Taz took the lead, moving fast. Dempsey ran, making as little noise as possible—all his kit taped down so it didn’t rattle. Axelle managed to keep on his heels and though she was breathing hard, she didn’t utter a single murmur of complaint. Soldiers in the Regiment weren’t just fit, they were run-up-and-down-a-mountain-in-full-kit-and-then-do-it-again-for-fun fit. After half a mile he slowed and she caught them. He didn’t want her left alone in these mountains with this character around.

Taz looked over his shoulder and gave him the signal to slow down. They couldn’t afford to run into an ambush or booby trap. As far as they knew the Russian was alone, but they had no real intelligence or sightings of the sly sonofabitch, so they couldn’t take anything for granted, especially this close to the Afghan-Pakistan border.

“Check the signal but keep the volume down. We don’t want to spook the bastard if he’s here,” he instructed Axelle quietly.

Her cheeks pulsed a vivid red and her chest pumped air at a rapid pace. He did his best not to notice.

The signal hadn’t moved. Her lips pressed together in a tight line as she showed him. They started forward again, Dempsey with his rifle to his shoulder. He’d given the Glock back to Axelle earlier but he was grateful she kept it concealed. They worked their way over one ridge, then the next, staying below the horizon line. When he figured the collar was over the next ridge they found an area of dense shrubs and army-crawled until they could see into the basin below.

Axelle gasped and his stomach turned.

Below them, staked into the bare earth, was the glistening red carcass of an animal—some makeshift collar attached to the body of the slain creature. There was no doubt a message had been sent. Axelle stuffed her fist in her mouth to stifle a sob.

Shit.

The fine hair on his nape prickled with super-awareness. He grabbed Axelle’s arm and pulled them both behind a boulder. He looked at Taz. “You think he spotted us?”

Taz nodded. “And left us a little fuck-off present.”

Dempsey nodded. “Given his expertise”—he flicked a glance at Axelle, but she was staring at the corpse as if she could resurrect the dead if she just tried hard enough—“I wouldn’t be surprised if he left us more than that.”

It was a grotesque display with the skinned face of the animal—probably a goat—almost smiling at them. He felt the tremors that started to pass through Axelle’s body. He called the others on the radio. “Gig’s up. He knows we’re in the area. Get up here. Strong chance he’s set up some booby traps in the area. Go careful.”

He nodded to Taz to go ahead of him. “Let’s work our way around the valley before we go down. You stay here,” he told Axelle. He might as well have saved his breath because she stood and followed him. The glint in her eyes told him she wasn’t sitting around waiting for anyone.

“Fine.” He caught her flat stare. “Stay behind me. It’s possible he set mines or tripwires. Keep your eyes open.”

They scouted the entire rim, Taz using the thermal imaging scope on his C8 to search for any heat sources before they headed to the base of the valley floor—the least popular spot for any soldier. Drag marks were visible over the eastern ridge. Flies filled the air, swarming over the dead flesh in a feasting mass. He ignored them but Axelle started swatting at them. He touched her arm but she jerked away from him. This must be her idea of hell.

Her being blown to smithereens was his.

He caught her arm. “Put your feet where I put my feet, but stay back a little, just in case…”

Her gaze swung to his and her mouth opened as she finally registered what he was saying.
Just in case he stepped on a landmine.
It wasn’t an image anyone wanted in their heads but this offering posed a tempting trap, so why wouldn’t the Russian leave them a little surprise? A few dead soldiers would be a nice bonus after a hard morning’s work.

They got within a few feet of the animal and he held Axelle back when she went to run forward. He only relaxed his grip when she stopped struggling. “Let’s make sure he didn’t conceal any surprises before we check out this collar.” His skin felt like it was stretched taut over an electrified body, every sense hyperaware. Taz was the designated demolition expert in their squad although they all had training, Dempsey more than most. Axelle jerked out of his arms but stood quietly beside him.

Taz knelt beside the dead animal and inspected the mouth and body cavity for explosives. With meticulous care he moved dirt and stones from beside the animal. After five sweat-drenching minutes, he looked up. “Nothing.”

Dempsey kept scanning the surrounding area feeling like he was about to get hit by the world’s biggest ambush.

“I want to bury it,” said Axelle.

“No.”

“I can do what I damn well want.”

“Normally, you can.” He didn’t take his eyes off the hills. “But I’ve never felt so exposed in my whole bloody life so I am not going to let you. Grab the collar and let’s go back to your camp and figure this thing out.”

“Or?” Her eyes glittered. He’d have smiled if he hadn’t wanted to strangle her.

“Or I knock you unconscious and carry you out.”

Taz watched them with interest.

He could practically hear her jaw breaking, she clenched it so tight. “I never figured you were the sort of thug to hit a woman.”

“I’m an equal-opportunity thug, so don’t push it.”

Baxter and Cullen radioed him from the ridge, but he didn’t drop his weapon. He felt like the devil had skated over his grave. He whirled. Was the Russian here? He sure as hell couldn’t see him. He nodded to Taz who pulled out the infrared scope again and started scanning.

“Even though you’re totally bloody barmy, Dr. Dehn.” He was pushing her buttons but they were both pissed so who cared. “I’d like to make sure you don’t die on my watch. Or is that too fucking macho for you?”

She bent down and detached the fake collar. He spared her a glance. Her expression had become flat, her lips pale, knuckles bone-white. She was barely holding it together.

This collar was fashioned from a long strip of gray cloth with a small transmitter sewn to one end. Axelle stood, then opened her mouth in shock. He caught her arm as she swayed and was about to swing her up into his arms before she fainted when she fought off his grip.

“Look.” She flattened the material. On the inside there was a message printed in black ink.

Now I kill them all.

Oh, shit.

“He knew we set that trap.” Her skin turned ashen. “This is my fault.” Her hands shook.

He nodded to Taz to lead the way out. The boys would cover them. He put his hands on Axelle’s shoulders, felt her tension beneath his fingers and wished for some of that closeness they’d shared earlier. “This guy is manipulating you, making you feel like you’re the one to blame, but you aren’t. He’s the sonofabitch who shot these creatures. If he’s the guy I think he is, he’d put a bullet between your eyes and not feel a moment of regret.”