Rogue Renegades (Rogue Trilogy) (9 page)

Ryan
had a hundred questions for Abby, but they would have to wait. He led the way down the confusing labyrinth of hallways to the elevator, glad that his sense of direction hadn’t abandoned him.

Abby cursed softly when she saw they’d need an identification card to use the elevator.
Ryan held up the card that he’d swiped from Swift’s pocket and smiled. “I have very light fingers,” he explained.

“
That’s a useful skill,” she responded. He was glad to see the expression returning to her face. Her eyes were less cold now and were more like the Abby that he knew and had come to care for.

Reaching the parking level, they exited with their guns
held ready, but encountered no resistance. Watts wasn’t stupid enough to sacrifice any of his people by trying to stop them from leaving. They were highly skilled and had nothing to lose, which was a dangerous combination.

Ryan
didn’t bother to steal one of the agency’s cars. All were equipped with tracking devices and inbuilt GPS, which could track their every move. They left the parking area on foot and quickly ran for several blocks. He found an unlocked sedan that was old enough to be easily hotwired. Abby climbed into the passenger seat and kept watch for pursuit as he coaxed the relic to life and drove away from his former workplace.

“Where to?”
Ryan asked his passenger. He was still trying to assimilate the fact that she was an agent for an unknown organization.

“I have
supplies stashed just a few blocks away,” Abby said and gave him directions to a storage facility. She didn’t have the key on her, but she’d taken the precaution of hiding one near her storage unit.

Ryan
pulled into the driveway of a facility that housed storage units of various sizes. Some were large enough to contain the contents of an entire house. He followed Abby’s directions and stopped near the back of the property. There were hundreds of containers in total and the last few rows of gigantic rectangular boxes all looked the same. The large black numbers painted on the silver sides were the only way to be able to identify them.

They walked
along one of the rows and Abby bent to dig beneath a cracked piece of concrete. She pulled out a key and led the way to her unit. His eyes widened when she unlocked the door and pushed it up to reveal an impressive arsenal and an array of equipment. He was especially impressed with the sleek black jeep that took up two thirds of the container. Running his hand down the side of the vehicle, he smiled in appreciation. “Very nice.”

“You two can become better acquainted
in a minute,” Abby said dryly as she tossed her stolen weapons in a drawer then plucked a new pair of handguns off the rack on the wall. She placed them in a small black backpack along with a few more items that she took from within the drawers beneath the guns. “Take whatever you need,” she offered.

Tearing his eyes away from the vehicle,
Ryan took a larger black backpack from beneath the bench that ran along the right side of the container. He chose a couple of handguns, an assault rifle and ammunition for all three weapons as well as several knives that came with handy sheaths.

Abby opened a drawer and removed the stack of passports and other false identification. She tossed several bundles of cash to
Ryan and stuffed more bills into her backpack. They now had over one hundred thousand dollars in cash and access to several million more in offshore accounts under her various aliases. She assumed Ryan had similar setups storage areas and secret accounts of his own. Once they parted ways, they’d both be able to survive indefinitely, as long as they remained under the radar. She felt a pang of regret at the thought of never seeing him again, but suppressed it. Now wasn’t the time to become sentimental. Now was the time to run and hide.

Ryan
grinned when Abby tossed him the keys to the jeep. He popped the hood and connected the battery then checked the oil, gas and tire pressure. Abby pointed to the containers of gas she’d stored at the back of the unit beneath canvas sheets. He filled the tank then neatly stacked the remaining fuel back beneath the canvas.

Ryan couldn’t help but compare the storage unit to several
that he owned. Their tastes in equipment were very similar. While Abby strapped some knives to her wrist, waist and calf, he climbed into the jeep and let it run for a few minutes to make sure the motor was working properly. It was and Abby opened the container door before she could become asphyxiated by the fumes. Ryan drove out of the container and waited for his companion to close and lock the door then to return the key to its hiding place.

Instead of climbing inside the jeep, she stopped at his window. “I’m going to move the stolen car a few blocks away.”

Ryan nodded his agreement. They didn’t want Trevor to know the location of her storage unit if they managed to find the vehicle. “I’ll follow you,” he said and waited for her to re-hotwire the piece of junk.

Abby drove for several blocks then abandoned the car in a dark alley.
“Where to now?” she asked as she climbed inside the jeep. For all she knew, Ryan would want to part ways immediately. He had a girlfriend to get back to, after all.

“I know a place where we’ll be safe for a while,” he said as he drove off. He caught her surprise
d expression and raised an eyebrow in question. “You don’t think it will be a good idea to stick together?” He wasn’t certain of that himself, but found that he didn’t want to be parted from her just yet. Not now that he knew she was just like him. He’d already been intrigued by Abby and he now wanted to know everything about her. He especially wanted to know why she’d turned renegade.

“What about your wife? Won’t she be pissed at having
me along?”

“What makes you think I have a wife?” he asked
, tensing at the question and shooting her a guarded look.

“You said her name in the hotel in
Rio,” she replied.

Pain squeezed
Ryan’s insides and his hands tightened on the wheel. “Miranda
was
my wife, but she died two years ago.”

Putting two and two together, Abby felt compassion swell. “Montoya had something to do with her death, didn’t he?”

Nodding jerkily, Ryan tried to box his grief and guilt back inside. He described his first mission to try to take down the drug lord and how Diego had retaliated. “Watts ordered us to cease and desist tracking Montoya, but I couldn’t let him get away with murdering my wife.”

“That’s understandable,” Abby said then hesitated before speaking again. “Was I responsible for your
second mission failing?”

“Not directly,” he said with a rueful smile. “I was prepared to do whatever it took to take him down, but that was before you
were thrown into the mix.”

“I should have told you who I was.” Guilt made her drop her gaze to her hands. “If you’d known
that I could take care of myself, you would have killed him and put an end to your mission.”

“If you hadn’t come along, I’d be dead,” he said flatly.

“Suicide by bandits?” she asked.

“Something
like that.”

They lapsed into a contemplative silence until
Ryan’s curiosity had him asking a question. “What agency did you work for?”

Shrugging with one shoulder, Abby turned away from the scenery. They’d left Washington behind and
picturesque trees lined the highway. “They didn’t have an official name. Our team was just called the ‘Black Squad’.”

He recognized the name, of course, and had heard
that they were even more clandestine than his agency. He’d also heard that they were far more deadly. The Black Squad was used when their government didn’t want any prisoners left alive. They were a kill squad, pure and simple. “Why did you walk away from it?”

“I lost count of how many people I was told to kill during the past decade,” Abby said softly. “I was numb to it by then. Ending lives was as easy as eating, drinking and sleeping
for me.”

“It was your job,”
Ryan said in full agreement. “You were told that your targets deserved to die and you didn’t ask any questions. You trusted you were doing the right thing for your country.”

Nodding, Abby’s mouth quirked up in a pained smile
that he understood her so completely. Why wouldn’t he when they were two sides of the same coin? “I was sent to the Middle East and I was given a different type of target. Instead of killing the leader of a terrorist group, I was ordered to murder his entire family. I was expected to wipe out five kids and their mother, none of whom had lifted a finger against the US.”

Studying Abby in quick glances
as he drove, Ryan felt a surge of empathy. “If I was put in that situation, I’d have walked away, too.”

“I didn’t just walk away,” she confessed. “I knew my team would come after me if I did.”
Just like the mob, no one walked away from the Black Squad.

She was silent for a long moment
. Long enough for him to prompt her. “You killed them?” He kept his tone expressionless and un-accusing despite his shock.

“Yeah.”
Abby hadn’t enjoyed the process of eliminating her own squad members. “It was them or me,” she explained. “They were soulless dogs working for the devil himself. He’d point and we’d tear the throat out of anyone he told us to. The others had been brainwashed beyond redemption and none of them had a problem with killing children. I realized they’d done it before and I was the only one Logan hadn’t ordered to take down a minor. It was a test and I failed it. One of the guys put his gun to my head when I refused the order and my training took over.” Five bodies had been left sprawled on the ground and none of them had been hers.

“You must have some crazy
hand to hand skills,” he said in genuine admiration.

“I can hold my own,” she said modestly.
She hadn’t actually used her hands. Knives had been her weapons of choice. Sometimes, she almost felt as if their blood was still on her. Unconsciously, she wiped her palms on her thighs.

“So,
what about the mob husband that you’re on the run from?” he asked with a crooked smile.

“He d
oesn’t exist.”

“You don’t have a boyfriend?” He was relieved when she shook her head. “Girlfriend?” he teased and smiled when she laughed.

“There’s no one special in my life,” Abby said. There never had been and there probably never would be. She was on the run and would be for the rest of her life. What kind of man would be able to put up with a lifestyle where they had to be constantly on the move? Unwillingly, she turned to look at Ryan who was so much like her that it was almost scary.

₪₪₪

It
took five hours to reach the destination that Ryan had in mind. Abby remained alert and on the lookout for anyone following them. Neither of them spotted a tail and he didn’t hesitate before turning onto a private road. He stopped at a gate and motioned for Abby to stay in the jeep. Like her, he’d hidden a key to the padlock nearby. Finding it still inside the watertight plastic bag beneath a rock, he opened the gate. Abby climbed into the driver’s seat and drove through. He locked the gate again and climbed into the passenger seat.

Abby followed the dirt road
past increasingly dense woods until she spied a lake. It shimmered in the late afternoon sunlight and the light reflected off the water blindingly. The house that was set back from the edge of the lake was small, cozy and rustic. The windows were shuttered and it had an abandoned air about it. The white walls needed to be painted, but it was still in pretty good shape.

Ryan
examined the property intently and didn’t see or sense anyone lying in wait for them. He’d have been very surprised to find an ambush here. He’d never told anyone about the property. Not even Miranda had known that he’d bought it. He’d planned on saving enough money so that neither of them would ever need to work again. He’d planned to quit work next year and start the family that they’d always wanted, either by IVF or adoption. That dream had been shattered, but the house would still provide a safe haven for him and his unexpected guest.

Pulling up
next to the garage, Abby waited as Ryan climbed out, found another hidden key and opened the door. A light came on automatically when the door went up. She wasn’t surprised to find the power on. If she’d had a safe house, she’d have set up an electronic account that paid her bills automatically just for an occasion like this. Ryan wouldn’t have to contact anyone to get the electricity and water turned on. The house was ready to be used at all times and came in handy during an emergency like this.

Ryan
closed the door, but didn’t lock it just in case they needed to make a quick getaway. They’d stopped for supplies at a small town twenty minutes away and he opened the back door of the jeep and grabbed a couple of grocery bags. Abby took the other two and followed him through the door and into the house.

The kitchen was the first room they stepped into and
Ryan put the food away while Abby took a quick tour of the place. It was musty and in desperate need of cleaning, but it was livable. The living room adjoined the kitchen and a large family room opened up beyond that. The floors were polished wood, just like her apartment.

A fireplace in the living room looked like it hadn’t been used in years. She wasn’t sure how long they’d be here, but she liked the idea of sitting in front of the fire next to Ryan.

All of the furniture was covered in old sheets, but she took a peek to see a long, dark brown leather couch, a slightly battered coffee table and matching entertainment unit. The TV was much smaller and older than hers, but it would do in a pinch.

The dining table could seat six and was also covered by a sheet. The chairs
and table were blonde wood and the chairs had padded seats and backs in a truly hideous striped pattern of reds and greens. With new chairs and some paintings on the walls, it could easily become a home rather than just a house. Abby shook her head at such romantic notions coming from a killer like her. After all the things that she’d done, she didn’t deserve a home, or to be happy at all really.

Large picture windows overlooked the lake, but the shutters blocked the view. Turning down a hallway to the right, she found a bathroom, two smaller bedrooms and the master bedroom at the end. It had its own private bathroom and door that led to a small deck. She couldn’t help but smile at
Ryan’s precaution of having a quick escape route.

Dust had settled on the floors and the protective plastic sheets covering the furniture.
Abby found a vacuum cleaner in the linen closet and stripped the plastic off the beds first. There was carpet in all three bedrooms and it changed from a greyish color to light green when she was finished vacuuming them.

Dust motes still swirled around when she was
finished cleaning the entire house, but at least they could breathe without sneezing now.

Ryan
had taken care of cleaning the bathrooms and kitchen. He was a rare man that could multitask and he’d also prepared a meal. He placed two plates on the table just as Abby reappeared after taking a quick shower. She’d chosen the bedroom closest to the bathroom to sleep in. She’d stashed a few changes of clothes in her storage and had brought them along. Her outfit had been filthy from cleaning and she’d changed into a fresh T-shirt and jeans. She’d washed and blow dried her hair and it fell around her in dark waves. He had to resist the urge to bury his face in it.

Tasting the spaghetti bolognaise, Abby gave
Ryan the thumbs up and dug in. Being on the run had never affected her appetite before and it did little to dampen it now. After dinner, she washed the dishes while Ryan poured them both a glass of wine. They took a seat on the couch and stared at the moonlit lake through the window. Ryan had removed the shutters on their bedrooms and the living room, but had left the rest of the shutters in place. If anyone mistakenly managed to find their way to the house, it would still look uninhabited, unless the trespasser took a closer look.

They drank in silence for a while,
then Ryan spoke. “I have a confession to make.” Abby turned and raised her brows when he couldn’t quite meet her stare. “I lied when I told you that someone might be watching us in bed together.” He made himself look into her eyes and found she was amused rather than angry.

“I know,” Abby said and calmly sipped her wine.

“You knew all along that I didn’t have to pretend to force you?” He was genuinely shocked by that. “Then why didn’t you stop me?”

Now it was her turn to
look away. Staring at her glass, she shrugged. “It’s been a very long time since I’ve slept with anyone. I guess I needed to have some kind of contact again, even if it was just pretend.” Heat flooded her cheeks at her admission and she finished off the last sip of wine.

Ryan
rapidly played back every moment that they’d spent in bed together in Brazil and his eyes narrowed in speculation. “Did you come the first time I took you from behind?” He was fascinated to see more red stain her cheeks as she nodded jerkily. “Do you enjoy having someone hold you down and forcing you?” The thought brought heat to his groin and his shaft became rigid. It wasn’t the idea of rape that made him hard, it was Abby submitting to him that did it.

Reluctantly meeting his gaze, she decided on total honesty. “I enjoyed it when you held me down. It was a first for me. I’ve never let a man have any
sexual power over me before. It was a total turn on.”

Hot excitement flared and
Ryan put his empty glass down. He plucked her glass out of her hand and put it on the coffee table then shifted closer until they were sitting hip to hip. Placing his hand at the base of her neck, he stared down at her beautiful face. Her full lips were parted, waiting for him to kiss her. He did, slowly and deeply. Thrusting his tongue inside, he became fully erect when she made a sound of pleasure deep in her throat.

Abby’s head spun when
Ryan pulled away, and it wasn’t from the single glass of wine that she’d consumed. It would take a lot more than that to affect her. His gaze was intent when he stood and pulled her to her feet. His grip on her hand was unyielding as he led her to his bedroom.

Once inside,
he stripped off quickly and efficiently. She moved to take her shirt off and he stopped her. This was a task that he wanted to do himself. Taking her hands, he lifted her arms up over her head then lifted her shirt up until it covered her face. Pushing her back against the wall, he pinned her in place with his lower body. Lowering his head, he sucked her nipple through her bra. Abby ground her pelvis against his as he tormented her other breast and undid her jeans and slipped his hand inside. He rubbed her clit through her panties and moisture seeped through the thin fabric. She was ready for him already and he’d barely even started yet.

Abby’s body ached for
Ryan’s touch. She didn’t just want him, she
needed
him. She needed to have his hands and mouth on her, sating her desires. He unhooked her bra and pushed it up then cupped a breast with his hand. With her face covered by her shirt, she couldn’t see him as he bent and took it into his mouth. His thumb continued to rub her clit and she wasn’t sure how much longer her legs would be able to hold her.

Feeling Abby’s body tremble,
Ryan stripped her T-shirt off and her bra followed. Even before they’d landed on the floor, he’d tossed her onto the bed. Searching his dresser, he pulled out two ties that had never been worn and tied her hands to the bedhead. Straddling her, he kissed her and she responded with the passion that he’d already come to crave. Her pelvis sought his as he kissed his way down to her breasts and she moaned his name as he sucked her nipple into his mouth and pinched the other one lightly.

Abby
’s core was pulsing with need as they relived the night that he’d handcuffed her to the bed. He kissed his way down to the waistband of her jeans then stripped both them and her panties off. She opened her eyes when his hands came to rest on her ankles. He spread her legs apart as he moved his hands along her inner thighs until she wide open and was fully exposed to him. His eyes darkened to a deeper blue when he saw her moist center. Excitement clenched inside her when his dead dipped down and he tasted her.

Savoring the salty taste of Abby,
Ryan shuddered with his need to plunge into her depths. He was torn between pleasuring her with his mouth and satiating his own needs.

“
Take me,” Abby whispered, putting an end to his dilemma. “Please,” she added and he obeyed. Some part of him had hoped that their relationship would escalate this far and he’d bought some condoms while shopping. He’d stashed them in the top drawer of his bedside table and swiftly donned one now.

Abby moaned when
Ryan’s length slid inside her. She no longer had to hide her desire for him and thrust her pelvis up to meet him, taking him in completely. He leaned down until their chests were touching and kissed her hard as he rocked his hips against hers. It was his turn to groan when she wrapped her legs around him. She was tight, hot and slick and she responded to him instinctively, matching his pace and giving him everything she had.

Lost in pleasure
at the sensation of Ryan’s skin on hers and his shaft sliding in and out of her, Abby felt herself approaching the edge of a chasm. Her body convulsed in ecstasy as he increased his pace and pounded himself inside her. He groaned when her core tightened around him as she came and he thrust harder and faster, making her come again as he climaxed.

Knowing how heavy he was, Ryan collapsed beside Abby rather than on her.
A dazed smile met him when he gathered the courage to lift his head to look at her. He’d been too fast and had been more like a desperate teenager than a man with finesse and control.

“Wow,” she said and he smiled cautiously in return.

“Was that ok?” he asked. It had felt pretty damn fantastic to him, but he was pretty sure she’d enjoyed herself.

“More than ok.
It was amazing.” Abby stopped herself before she started gushing like a lovesick girl. Ryan lay beside her and stroked a hand down her side and back up again. This was far more intimate than she’d ever been with a man before. Usually, the few times she’d allowed herself to have sex with someone, it was over with quickly and she left before they could ask her any uncomfortable questions. Being tied to the bed, there was no escaping from his intense gaze.

He trailed kisses along her collar bone and she saw the distinctive scar of a bullet wound on his left shoulder. Unlike the freshly healed graze on his right shoulder, this bullet had gone
all the way through his flesh. “When did you get shot?”

Going still, Ryan gave an almost inaudible sigh.
“Two years ago, when we almost took Montoya down. He got off a lucky shot and plugged me.”

“
The wound hasn’t hampered your movements at all?” she asked with a hint of a grin.

“Not so far,” he said with a suggestive smile.
Seeing the red stain Abby’s cheeks again, Ryan chuckled. “I haven’t noticed it impeding any of my skills. In fact, I believe I’m a little rusty in some areas and I could use some more practice.” He cupped her breasts with his hands and bent to plant a kiss between them.

Abby’s smile was wide
and wicked. “Maybe I can tie you down sometime.”

Reaching out to untie her hands,
Ryan held up the flimsy material. “Do you think they’d hold me?”

Eyeing his bulging biceps, she shook her head. “
I doubt it, but I’ll think of something.”

Feeling himself growing hard again already,
Ryan was certain Abby’s inventive mind would come up with a solution. First, he had another reenactment in mind.

Having Ryan’s hands on her was as close to bliss as Abby had ever
felt. He licked, sucked and squeezed her breasts, then trailed kisses down her torso to her center. He licked her folds delicately, then plunged his tongue inside her until she bucked and moaned in torment. Her eyes went wide when he flipped her over onto her stomach and pulled her back until her legs were hanging over the edge of the bed. She looked back over her shoulder as he stood behind her with his hands on her ass and his cock standing at full attention.