Lock and Load (SEAL EXtreme Team) (17 page)

“I lied. About the music box. It’s safe in the States, but there is something far more important at Mr. Lee’s Teas. Bad guys will kill to get their hands on it.”

“Which is?”

He turned her in his arms. Crap, she could see his face now and know the exact second he would start to hate her. Her heart tore a little at the thought.

“A memory card.” Strange, his expression didn’t alter. She pounded his chest with her palm. “Don’t you get it? I copied the exact trail to break into the D.O.D and the classified weaponry inside. That’s what’s on the card.”

“What else?” His voice was oddly calm.

“Isn’t that enough? We’ve got to get that card back, Charlie.”

Why wasn’t he cursing at her? Slamming his hand on the steering wheel? Throwing her overboard?

“Who were you going to sell the card to?”

Her head threatened to explode. “How many times do I have to say it?
I
wasn’t selling it to anyone.”

“Jacques, then. Give me the contacts.”

“Dammit! I don’t know any contacts. Jacques used me. When I demanded to know what was going on they shot him. I took the card from him…” She couldn’t help but remember uncurling his bloody hand. “…and ran. I kept it safe from the bad guys. Whoever those bastards are. I was going to turn it into the government.”

“Which government?”

Oh, no, he didn’t!
She shoved him backward. “Our government, you jackass! I’m as American as you are. I’m trying to keep those secrets out of enemy hands. The Triad 14K would have killed me. Slowly.” She shivered at the thought.
Shoot one kneecap and then the other
. “But I wouldn’t have told. I swear.”

“Think, Amber. Have you told me everything you know?”

“Yes! I promise. Now hurry, I hid it in a vat of drying tea leaves in the shop. We need to get the card before someone else does.”

He didn’t touch the throttle. The
sampan
continued on at a leisurely pace. Why wasn’t he flooring it?

“You could have destroyed the memory card.” His voice was measured. Was he testing her?

“Would you have believed me if I did?” No, his gaze said it all. “See? I kept it as proof of my innocence and to show that I can repair the holes Jacques found. If we hurry.”

His gaze poured over her face, looking for…what?

“Say something, Charlie.”

“You’re not lying.”

Rage and frustration overtook her. “Of course I’m not lying—”

Before she could finish the sentence his lips were on hers. He had such a lovely way of shutting her up. Her back was pressed into the steering wheel and Charlie was all over her front. Like a shield. A hot, demanding, sexy shield. She was no longer steering the boat. She gave into his insistent demands and for a long delicious minute she let his passion, her passion, carry her away.
 

Relief washed over him. Amber was a pawn, not a traitor, not a terrorist. She’d gotten involved with an asshole who’d put her in the crosshairs for at least two organizations of killers. The Frenchman was lucky he was dead. If Charlie had gotten ahold of him it wouldn’t have been so quick and easy.

“Charlie.” She pulled her lips away. “We have to hurry.”

“No we don’t.”

“What? Didn’t you hear a word I said? Someone could find the card!”

He grimaced. The next part was going to be tough. Would she trust him after this? Trust was important. It was the foundation of real relationships, or so he’d heard.

“Someone already has the card.”

She blinked. “Who? Oh, Charlie, we’ve got to get it back.”

He cupped her cheek, longing to kiss her again, and worried he wouldn’t get another chance. “It’s safe. Mack has it.”

“Mack.” She said the word slowly, as if trying to understand its meaning.

“We recovered it from Mr. Lee’s Teas. It was in the vat of drying leaves, just as you said. The big vat to the right of the back door, near his bedroom.”

Her eyes widened. “You had the card the whole time?”

“Yes.”

She stepped away from him. “So this—” She motioned angrily across the
sampan
. “Was all some sort of elaborate trick to, what, get me to confess?”

“You were keeping secrets. We had to know what they were.”

“Had to, huh? How far would you have taken it? Would you have slept with me to get the information you needed?”

“Amber…” He reached for her.

“Don’t touch me.” She plopped down in the captain’s chair. “It is all a game to you. You. Me. It’s not real.”

“No. That’s not true.”

“You expect me to believe that?” The fiery barbs she shot at him stung.

“I hope you do. I care about you, sweetheart. We’ve got this great thing—”

“Stop calling me
sweetheart
.” She spit the words out. “You know what, Charlie? You aren’t any different than Jacques. He used me for information too.”

Her words sliced him. “No. I’m nothing like the Frenchman.”

She didn’t say another word.

“Amber. I was trying to protect you.” He was talking to her back. “Give me a chance. I’ll prove it to you.”

She refused to look at him.

He turned the steering wheel, bringing the boat around. Tapping his comm unit he said, “We’re returning to base. All clear?”

“All clear, Charles. And we heard everything. I’ll toss your pillow into the dog house,” Willy laughed.

CHAPTER TEN

A
mber’s fingers hurt from coiling them in tight fists. She longed to punch Charlie in that amazing mouth of his. He cared for her? What crap! She couldn’t believe she’d fallen for his dimples and green eyes. When was she ever going to learn?

As the guys tied the
sampan
to the
junk
, Willy reached his hand out to help her. “Welcome back.” His dimples were even deeper than Charlie’s.

“Bite me.” She took his hand and didn’t look back. She couldn’t wait to get off the
sampan
. Good riddance. She never wanted to ride on that thing with Charlie again. He was lucky she hadn’t pushed him overboard.

“Hey.” Willy held her hand a beat too long. “You look great with glasses. Like a hot librarian. Don’t you think libraries are sexy?”

She was hot all right. Hot enough to spit nails. She yanked her hand away. “Where’s Jenna?”

“Down below. Want me to escort you?”

Charlie came up behind them, eyeing her with that intense gaze of his. As if nothing had changed between them. It ticked her off even more.

“You and your brother stay the hell away from me. Got it? Stay. Away.”

Willy threw up his hands in surrender. “Sure, sweetheart, I mean, Miss Fitz. I got it. You’re angry. One of us—”He cocked his head toward his brother. “—screwed up. Doesn’t mean you should shoot all the Handlys though, right?”

Narrowing her eyes at Charlie, she shook her head and stomped away.

“Shit, Charles. What’d you do to her?” she heard Willy ask.

At the top of the stairs, she waited to hear the answer. None came.

Fine. Whatever. She was officially over men. They were nothing but trouble and she’d had enough. She knocked on the cabin door. “Jenna, you in there?”

“Come on in,” a voice called sweetly. “Hungry? I’ve got hot cocoa and Oreos. Perfect for a nice girl talk.”

Oh, they’d have a talk all right. The woman she’d respected had been in on the plan to trick her. Feeling betrayed, she grabbed an Oreo and she sunk her teeth into it. She was too angry to speak.

Jenna crossed her legs and leaned back against the love seat. She took a sip of cocoa before saying, “You have questions. I’m here to answer them.”

“Why? Tell me that,” she snarled.

“Why didn’t I tell you we had the memory card? Or why did we send Charlie to sweet talk the truth out of you? Or is there another
why
you’re concerned about?”

She plopped down, exhausted. “Start with the first two.”

Jenna handed her a cup of steaming cocoa. “Drink. I swear it helps.”

Her hands shook as she took the cup. “You said Dad sent you to help me.”

“He did, Amber. That’s why we’re here. I promise.”

“Then why lie to me? I lost three years of my life worrying about the card.”

Jenna wagged her finger. “You could’ve helped us all if
you
had told the truth. Because you wouldn’t, we had to take more extreme measures. The team needs to know everything in order to protect you. Some very dangerous men want that card.”

“Really? Oh wait, is
that
why everyone’s trying to kill me?” Sarcasm wasn’t becoming, but she was seriously ticked.

“Amber…” Jenna’s voice was calm, soothing. “We need to find out who they are. You are not safe, neither is our country, until we do. Understand? The team wants to stop them.”

She put her cookies down on the bed stand. She had no appetite and her throat was too tight to swallow. “I want to stop them too.”

Jenna went on, “We’re all on the same side. I don’t know if you remember, but my dad’s an admiral in the navy.”

“I know.” Who could forget someone’s dad was an admiral? Amber suspected it would have be rough growing up in a military-style home, especially with her wild streak. She would probably have rebelled even harder if Dad was in the navy.

“He’s trying to figure things out back home. Hopefully, we’ll know who the enemy is soon.”

Amber exhaled deeply. “I guess some of this is my fault. I just didn’t know who to trust.”

“You can trust the team. They’re good men. Charlie really does care about you.”

She snorted. “Sure he does.”

“Ah.” Jenna smiled. “I see you care about him too.”

“Nope. I’m over men. Especially, Charlie.”

“If you say so. All I know is those SEALs can get under a girls’ skin.” Jenna rose and put her hand on Amber’s shoulder. “Why don’t you get some sleep? It’s been a hairy long day.”

“You have no idea.”

A serious look passed over Jenna’s face followed by a shiver. “I think I do.” She took a deep breath as if to steel herself before walking out of the cabin. Amber still didn’t know what Jenna was trying to cover up, but whatever it was, seemed painful.

Once the door closed, Amber scrambled off the bed. She had to hurry. Earlier, she’d noticed a black backpack stashed inside the closet. She dug around inside hoping to find a cell phone to use. She desperately needed to talk to Dad to make sure she was doing the right thing. Dad was the only man she could really rely on—not some far away admiral, not steely-eyed Mack, and for damned sure, not Charlie. Her brain didn’t function properly when Charlie was close.

She checked all the pockets in the pack. No phone. As she dug further, her fingertips grazed something hard at the bottom. A computer tablet?
Now we’re talking!
She could send Dad a message and do a little snooping herself.

She pulled the tablet out and turned it on. It was password protected. She grinned.
Child’s play.
In less than a minute, she’d hacked into the computer and sent a quick message to her Dad’s private email account.

“Need help. Not sure who to trust.” She signed it—
Trouble
.

Wasn’t that the truth? When she was very little, maybe three or four years old, he’d tease her saying, “Uh-oh, here comes Trouble.” The nickname stuck. Little did he know her teenage years would hit and she’d be far more trouble than he could have dreamed possible.

After Mom died she’d plunged head-first into danger, as if daring death to try to come for her. She sort of welcomed it in those days. She had been furious and out of control. A world without her mother’s gentle touch and soft arms sucked. Big time. Who wanted to live like that? With some of the dangerous crap she’d gotten herself into during those wild years, she was lucky she’d lived to see her twenty-fourth birthday.