Mercenary's Woman (17 page)

123

MERCENARY'S WOMAN

DIANA PALMER

129

She pondered that. "A colleague?"

"That's right. He
still works with Micah Steele," he
said. "He's a demolitions expert."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"Very," he
replied. "His wife died four years ago.
Committed suicide," he added
shockingly. "He never got
over it."

"Why did she do something so drastic?" she asked.

"Because he was working for the
FBI when they married and he got shot a few months after the wedding. She
hadn't realized his work would be so
dangerous. He was
in the hospital for weeks
and she went haywire. He
wouldn't
give up a job he loved, and she found that she
couldn't live with the knowledge that he might end up
dead. She
couldn't give him up, either, so she took what she considered the easy way
out." His face set grimly.
"Easy
for her. Hell on him."

She drew in a sharp breath. "I suppose he felt guilty."

"Yes. That was
about the time Maggie broke up with
me," he added. "She said she
didn't want to end up like
Patricia."

"She knew Cord's wife?"

"They were best
friends," he said shortly. "And some
thing happened between Cord and
Maggie just after Mrs.
Barton's funeral. I never knew what, but it ended in Mag
gie's sudden marriage to a man old enough
to be her fa
ther. I don't know why, but I
think it had something to do
with
Cord."

"He's unique."

He glared at her.
"Yes. He's a hardened mercenary
now. He gave up law enforcement when
Patricia died and took a job with an ex-special forces unit that went into
freelance work. He
started doing demolition work and now
it's all he does."

Her eyes softened. "He wants to die."

"You're
perceptive," he mused. "That's what I think,
too. Hell of a pity
that he and Maggie don't see each other.
They're a lot alike."

She looked at her
purse. "You aren't still carrying a
torch for her?"

He chuckled.
"No. She's a kind, sweet woman and I
probably would have married her if things had
been dif
ferent.
But I don't think she could have lived with me. She
takes things too much
to heart."

"Don't I?" she fished.

He smiled. "At
times. But you're spunky, Miss John
son, and despite the scare you had with your two neigh
bors, you don't balk at fighting back. I like your
spirit.
When I lose my temper, and I
do occasionally, you won't
be looking
for a closet to hide in."

"That might be true," she
confessed. "But if you were into demolition work, I think I'd run in the
opposite di
rection when I saw you
coming."

He nodded.
"Which is exactly what Maggie did," he
replied. "She ran from Cord and
got engaged to me."

That was heartening.
If the woman was carrying a torch
for another man, it might stop Eb from
falling back into
his old relationship with her.

"Jealous?" he murmured with a sensuous glance.

Her heart raced. She
moved one shoulder a little and
avoided his eyes. Then she sighed and said,
"Yes."

He chuckled.
"Now that really is flattering," he said.
"Maggie is part of the past. I have
no hidden desire to
rekindle old flames.
Except the one you and I shared," he
qualified.

Sally turned her head
and met his searching gaze. Her
breath caught in her throat as she stared
back at him hun
grily.

MERCENARY'S
WOMAN

"Watch it,"
he said, not quite jokingly. "When we
drive up in your yard, we'll be under
surveillance. I don't
want an
audience for what we were doing in the parking
lot at that restaurant."

She laughed delightedly. "Okay."

"On the other hand," he added,
"we could find a de
serted road."

She hesitated. It was
one thing for it to happen spontaneously, but quite another to plan such a
sensual interlude. And she wasn't sure of her own protective instincts.
Around Eb, she didn't
seem to have any.

"Don't make such
heavy weather of it," he said after
a minute. "There's no hurry. We've got
all the time in the
world."

"Have we?"
she wondered, remembering Lopez and his threats.

"Don't gulp down
your life, Sally," he said. "Take it
one minute at a time. I'm not going to
let anything happen
to you or Jessica or Stevie. Okay?"

She swallowed.
"Sorry. I panic when I think about how
dangerous it is."

"I've
been handling danger for
a long time," he re
minded her.
"I have a state-of-the-art surveillance system.
Nothing is going to get past it."

She managed a weak smile. "He's very ruthless."

"He's been
getting away with murder," he said simply. "He doesn't think the
justice system can touch him. We're
going to prove to him that it can."

"How do you
bring a man to justice when he's rich
enough to buy a country?"

"You cut off the
source of his wealth," he said simply.
"Without its head, the snake can't go
far."

"Good point."

"Now stop worrying."

DIANA
PALMER

I'll try."

He reached across the
seat for her hand and locked it
into his big, warm one. "I enjoyed
tonight."

"So did I," she said gently.

"Maggie isn't my
future, in case you were wondering,"
he added in a soft tone.

Sally hoped fervently that it was true.
She wanted Eb with all her heart.

His fingers tightened
on hers. "I think it might be a
good idea if I start driving you and Stevie to
school and
picking you up in the afternoons."

Her heart leaped. "Why?"

He glanced at her.
"Because Lopez wouldn't hesitate to
kidnap either or both of you to further his
own ends. Even
two miles is a long distance when you don't have any sort
of protection."

She stared at him
worriedly. "Why didn't Jess leave
well enough alone?" she asked
miserably. "If she hadn't
gotten that person to talk..."

"Hindsight is
wonderful," he told her. "But try to remember that Lopez's operation
supplies about a quarter of
all narcotics sold in the States. That's a lot of
addicted
kids
and a fair number of dead ones."

She grimaced. "Sorry. I was being selfish."

"It isn't
selfish to be concerned for the welfare of people
you love," he
told her. "But getting Lopez behind bars,
and cutting his connections, will
help make the world a
better place. A little worry isn't such a bad trade-off,
con
sidering."

"I guess not."

He brought the back
of her hand to his mouth and kissed
it warmly. "You looked lovely
tonight," he said. "I was
proud of you."

132

MERCENARY'S
WOMAN

DIANA PALMER

133

Her face flushed at
the rare compliment. "I'm always
proud of you," she replied softly.

He chuckled. "You're good for my ego."

"You're good for mine."

He kept his eyes on
the road with an effort. He wanted to pull the car onto a side road and make
passionate love
to her, but that was impractical, given the circumstances.
All Lopez's men
needed was an opportunity. He wasn't going to give them one, despite his
teasing comment to
Sally
about it.

When they pulled up
in her driveway, the lights were
all on in the house and Dallas was sitting in
the front porch
swing, smoking like a furnace.

"Have a nice
time?" he asked as Eb and Sally came
up the steps.

"Very nice," Eb replied. "I ran into Cord Romero."

"I thought he was overseas, helping
detonate unex-
ploded land mines?"

"Not now," Eb told him. "He's in Houston.
Between
jobs, maybe. Why are you sitting out
here?"

Dallas stared at the
red tip of his cigarette. "Jessica has
a cough," he replied. "I didn't want
to aggravate it."

"Are the two of you speaking?" Eb drawled.

Dallas laughed softly. "Well, she's
stopped trying to
throw things at me, at
least."

Sally's eyes went enormous. That didn't
sound like her
staid aunt.

"What was she throwing?" Eb asked.

"Anything
within reach that felt expendable," came the
dry reply.
"Stevie thought it was great fun, but she
wouldn't let him play. He's gone to
bed. She's pretending
to watch television."

"You might talk to her," Eb suggested.

"Chance," Dallas replied, "would be a fine thing. She

doesn't want to talk, thank you."
He finished the cigarette.
"I'll be out in the woods with Smith."

"Watch where you walk," Eb cautioned.

"Mined the
forest, did we?" Dallas murmured wick
edly.

Eb grinned. "Not with explosives, at least."

Dallas shook his head
and went down the steps, to van
ish in the direction of the woods at the edge
of the yard.

Sally rubbed her arms through the coat,
shivering, and
it wasn't even that cold. She
felt the danger of her predicament keenly and wished that she could have done
some
thing to prevent the desperate situation.

"You're doing it
again," Eb murmured, drawing her
against him. "You have to trust me. I
won't let anything
happen to any of you."

She looked up at him
with wide, soft eyes. "I'll try not
to worry, I've never been in such a mess
before."

"Hopefully you
never will again," he said. He bent and
kissed her very gently, nipping her
lower lip before he
lifted his head. "I'll be somewhere nearby, or my men
will be.
Try to get some sleep."

"Okay." She
touched her fingers to his mouth and
smiled wanly before she turned and walked to
the door.
"Thanks
for supper," she added. "It was delicious."

"It would have been better without
the company," he said, "but that was unavoidable. Next time I'll plan
bet
ter."

She smiled at him. "That's a deal."

He watched her walk
inside the house and lock the door
behind her before he turned and got back into his truck.
Less than twenty-four hours remained before Lopez
would
make good his threat. He had to
make sure that everyone
was prepared for a siege.