Tropical Safeguard (Men Of The Secret Service) (7 page)

“Help,” he whispered. His hands gripped
the rocky ledge and his feet dug into the black earth. He was stationary, but
for how long Cole couldn’t be sure.

“Hold on, Noah, I’m here now.” Cole
dropped to his stomach and shimmied to the edge. Reaching down, he grabbed onto
the boy’s forearms just as his footing gave way, sending tiny rocks and chunks
of earth plummeting into the swirling ocean some fifty feet below. Noah cried
out, tears flowing down his dirt-smeared cheeks. He tried to look down which
made his body twist slightly and Cole was forced to readjust his grip.

“Noah, I won’t let go, but you can’t look
down. Just look into my eyes, okay. Noah?” Cole thought the boy had gone into
shock. “Noah, look at me, nod your head that you understand.”

The frightened boy nodded slowly and met
Cole’s eyes.

“Noah!” cried Deputy Greenbaum and
Katrina in unison as they finally reached the cliff’s edge. Secretary Mitchell
and Jimmy huffed deeply, winded from their sprint as they watched in silent
horror. Helene soon joined them, panting from her desperate efforts to reach
the dangling boy. “Oh, my baby, Noah!” she cried when she realized the severity
of the danger. “We’re here, Honey, hold on!” She paced the edge, ringing her
hands and crying.

“Can you push with your feet?” Cole
asked.

A hush fell over the group as they
watched, helpless. It was all up to Cole now. Noah attempted to push, but his
feet slipped again and sent another cascade of rocks down the cliff making
everyone gasp.

Cole pulled with all his strength,
groaning in his efforts.

“What can we do?” Deputy Greenbaum asked
desperately, feeling helpless to save his son.

“Just give Agent Nielsen some space. He
can do this,” Katrina chimed.

Cole’s muscles strained and his face grew
red and for an honest moment, he wasn’t sure if he could pull the boy up. If
only he could get leverage somehow. Lying on his stomach seemed to make pulling
Noah up impossible as it went against the laws of physics. But if he didn’t
give it his all, the boy would surely die today.

Noah’s pleas for help grew shallow as he sobbed
and his energy waned. Cole’s eyes stared straight down, locking onto the boy’s.
After one last heave, and just as Cole thought his muscles would tear from the
bone, he finally raised Noah up and over the edge safely before collapsing
beside him in exhaustion. Helene knelt beside Noah and cradled his head in her
arms. “Oh, Noah, you’re safe,” she sobbed and kissed his forehead tenderly.
“What on earth were you doing?”

“Yes, son, why are you out here in the
first place?” Deputy Greenbaum asked as he too hugged his son in relief.

“I’m sorry, Mom and Dad. I’m okay, it’s
no big deal, really.”

“No big deal?!” his parents both barked.

“Right, Noah, no big deal. You could have
died!” Deputy Greenbaum could barely hide his anger.

Jimmy stepped forward, seeing how
distraught the adults were, “You’re really lucky, Noah. If it wasn’t for the
big agent guy…”

“Yes, thank you so much, Agent Nielsen.
Thank God you were here. I can’t imagine what would have happened…” Helene
trailed off in a sob. “Thank you.”

“I think we’ll call it a day. I declare
this golf game officially over since my head just isn’t into it now. Hope you
understand, James,” Deputy Greenbaum faced his friend.

“Completely. I feel the same.”

“Me too,” Jimmy said with a nod.
 

Zachary was still crying over the
incident. Noah sat in shock, having thanked Cole over and over. Cole could tell
he was sincere, though probably still in shock. He apologized for the stress
he’d caused everyone, though the apology had been given after some coaxing from
his father.
 

Jimmy, Secretary Mitchell, and the
Greenbaums walked toward the golf carts.

“We have room for everyone,” Helene
offered, but Cole said he felt like walking to shake off the experience.
Katrina said she would head back to the beach to gather her and Helene’s
belongings.

“So much for our Pilates workout,” the
distraught yet relieved mother looked at her apologetically.

“There’s always tomorrow,” Katrina
reassured as the golf cart pulled away. She began to walk toward the beach and
Cole fell into step with her. “And? How are you really?” She looked up and met
his gaze.

Cole tried to hide his anxiety. His body
was completely charged and still shaking. “I just can’t imagine what might have
happened. I don’t want to think about it.”

“I’d like to know where the nanny was
during all this. Shouldn’t she have been watching them?”

“You’d think so. Then again, she’s here
for Jimmy only. Besides, those boys are old enough to know right from wrong.”

“What is it about boys and danger?”
Katrina shot him a playful look. “I bet you were mischievous as a little guy…or
maybe you came out of the womb wearing a suit and tie, all prim and proper.”
Chuckling, he felt her size him up as they descended the embankment toward the
beach. “Where you
ever
little?”

Cole was grateful for the small talk,
anything to get his mind off what had just happened. Katrina was obviously well
practiced in the art of distraction in more ways than she could possibly
fathom. “As a matter of fact, I was the smallest boy in my class all through school.”

“Ah, a late bloomer. Good things do get
better with age.” Katrina flushed a little, as if taken aback by her
unintentional flirtation.

Cole looked at her and laughed. He could
tell she’d let the phrase slip. “What am I, a fine wine?”

“More like a ripe, aged cheese,” she
joked.

“No, that would be Agent Kensing,” Cole
couldn’t help himself as they both laughed.

“Yeah, no love-loss there. Why?”

“He’s not my team. I’ve never worked with
him before, but his reputation surpasses him. He considers himself the
self-described ‘Lone Wolf’, yet the other agents have nicknamed him
Agent Prickly
.
But I shouldn’t really be talking about him like that. It’s rude of me.”

“You’re so polite. It’s strange to hear
someone from New York so reserved and dignified, but I suppose it’s a
reflection of your Uptown upbringing. I won’t hold that against you.” Her smile
stretched wide and it put him at ease a little. “So,
Agent Prickly
, huh? The name suits him
from what I can tell. And what’s your nickname then?”

“Hmmm…” Cole thought about it. He doubted
he had one.

“Could it be
Agent Prim and Preppy
?” She seemed to
gauge his reaction with raised eyebrows before bumping into him with her
shoulder. He could have sworn she
 
was flirting. “You know, you and I are very similar. I get the
impression you value your independence here as much as I do.”

“You’re right.” Cole noticed that she had
relaxed a little and it pleased him. Maybe she was coming around, or perhaps
she felt sorry for what he’d just gone through with Noah. Whatever the cause,
he liked it. “Okay, Spitfire, since we’re throwing around nicknames. If you
think I should be called that, fine. But I think you overestimate my rigidity.”

“Spitfire? And who pray tell came up with
that one, you?”

“As a matter of fact, I did, from our
first meeting on the beach. That name seems perfect.”

Katrina smirked. Now on the beach, she
picked up her backpack and Helene’s belongings, but Cole intervened and helped
her carry everything.

“A lady never spits, and I’m a lady.”

“Oh, I’ve seen you spit fire when you
confronted me in your room. But that’s just my opinion. And am I really so
tense? Come on,
Agent
Prim and Preppy?
Really?” Once again, Cole took the name personally and was
self-reflecting.

“Okay, how about a superhero nickname?
You are a hero, you know.”

“Just doing my job, ma’am.”

“Wow, did you just call me ma’am?”

“Sorry, it’s automatic.”

“Hmmm. You know, it’s okay to be upset
about what you just did back there. It’s only human.”

“I have to stay strong and portray myself
as a steady, unwavering rock. That’s what people expect from the Secret
Service.”

“Expectations can be heavy, can’t they.”

“Yes.”

“I guess I’m unaccustomed to manly men
being so humble. My ex-boyfriend equated manhood with power, aggression, and
money. He would never have stood up and taken charge of saving that boy the way
you did. I get the feeling you would have saved Noah regardless of your
profession.”

“You may be right. Though it was
extremely stressful on me mentally…and physically.” Cole rubbed his bicep,
certain he had strained something when pulling Noah up.

“I know a way to relieve those tensions
if you’d like,” Katrina offered as they climbed the switchback staircase, the
shortest way back to the mansion.

Cole shot her a discrete look of
surprise. Although her words could easily be misconstrued as something sexual,
her tone conveyed a girlish innocence. Still, he was intrigued. “And what might
that be?”

Katrina giggled, probably realizing how
it might have sounded, “I just meant I could give you a massage,” she winced.
“Okay, so maybe that does sound a little forward. Sorry.”

“Um, I…” Cole was at a loss, again. This
was the second time this woman had made him speechless.

“When does your shift end?”

“About now actually. I just have to
switch off with Kensing. I’ll have to fill him in on Noah’s accident too.”

“So, are you up for a massage? I
specialize in massage therapy as well. This isn’t some random pick-up line,
Agent Nielsen. After what you’ve just gone through, you deserve a little
relaxation.”

“Um, I just have to talk with Agent
Kensing and then I want to question Trudy regarding her whereabouts during
Noah’s incident. So…”

“Are you avoiding my offer, agent?”
Katrina asked head on.

“No, I just, well…” Cole hesitated. “Yes,
that sounds, um, interesting.”

Chapter
Five

Slinking cautiously from the change-room,
Katrina gauged Agent Nielsen’s level of uneasiness at around a nine out of ten.
She couldn’t hide the grin that pulled at the corner of her mouth. “You can put
your robe on that hook there,” she pointed.

The muscular agent took off the bulky
white robe and did as he was asked.
 
Left in a very short white towel that barely covered his manhood, it
took all of Katrina’s power to contain her gasp at the sight of him, but she
hid it well, maintaining a professionalism that she hoped would put him at ease
a little. As discretely as possible, she glanced at his firm thigh muscles, his
bulging arms, solid chest and taught six-pack before turning toward a small
wooden table that held bottles of lotions and bowls of aromatic essential oils.
The vision of his body burned in her mind long after turning away from him. It
was impossible to ignore the twinges of excitement she felt between her thighs.
There was no denying the magnetic pull she felt toward this man.

She turned slightly toward him, sensing
his need for direction. He fidgeted and she could tell he felt exposed and
vulnerable as he walked across the small private patio to the sturdy massage
table that faced the nearby ocean. Katrina loved how the white canvas cloth
attached to the top of each post created the illusion of a billowing white
ceiling and gave the space a gentle shade. Each post had a white drape hanging
down beside it that blew in the breeze like something out of a romance novel.
How could he not be swept away by the tranquility of this peaceful, magical
place.

“Up here?” he asked.

“Yes, please.”

She noticed him pause as he reached the
white terrycloth-covered table that rested between four tall posts. It was as
if he debated how to get onto the table without exposing himself and his
dilemma forced her to contain a giggle. Turning away, she gave him a moment of
privacy, hearing a slight grunt as he hoisted himself up.