Agent T3: d'Artagnan (Superhero Romance) (The D.I.R.E. Agency) (13 page)

Her piercing, violet-blue gaze studied him. “You won’t shoot me.”

He pointed the gun at the middle of her forehead. “Wanna bet? You mean nothing to me, other than an excuse to pull this trigger.”

Swallowing hard, her face went pale. “I don’t have my keys. They’re inside.”

Dar nodded toward the front of the building. “Let’s go.”

He followed her around the building to the door. As soon as they stepped over the threshold, he told her to halt.

“Stay against the wall. Go near the desks and I’ll shoot you.” He nodded farther into the building. “Now move.” He pointed to his left.

With her back to the wall, she scooted along the brick surface
.

“Stop.”

Angela stilled.

Reaching into his sleeve, Dar pulled out Jocelyn’s note and tossed it on a cluttered desk. “Is this your husband’s desk?”

Her voice held a sad tone. “Nathan isn’t my husband and yes, that’s his main desk, anyway. What is that?” Her eyes widened before she moved away from the wall. “Is that from Jocelyn?”

Dar held the gun higher. “I swear I’ll use this.”

Pressing back against the wall again, she sighed. “If you’re anything like your father, I believe you.”

Dar gritted his teeth. He was
not
like his father. His father was a cold-blooded bastard. Dar had been working damned hard to change his ways. He wouldn’t be here now, changing the course of the war and history, if he hadn’t changed already.

“You left us twenty-six years ago. What the hell do you know about me or my father?” He waved the gun toward the time machine. “Let’s go.”

Walking behind a row of chalkboards, Dar followed her to the machine door. “Open it.”

She shook her head. “If I do that, it’s as good as putting a bullet in my head.”

“Sorry if I don’t shed a tear. I’m fresh out.” Grabbing her by the arm, he went to the panel on the side of the craft and started pressing buttons. After a few tries, the door raised and a set of steps lowered to the floor.

“That wasn’t so hard.”

A car pulled up outside, before a door slammed.

She stared at him with raised brows. “Now, what are you going to do, d’Artagnan?”

“I’m getting out of here.” Leaving her there, he climbed the steps of the small craft. Going to the primitive display panel, he pressed a couple of buttons until the door closed. Realizing it worked much like an airplane, Dar powered up the machine and set the destination hour and date. He pushed the launch button.

He was heading home.

“You’d better strap in,” Angela said from behind. “It’s a bumpy ride.”

The first rumble of thunder stopped Jocelyn in the middle of Dar’s apartment
.

The time machine. It was on its way.

Sharing a glance with Rachel, they ran out the door and raced for Robinson’s laboratory. Modern-day stretch denims, no
jeans
, were much easier to run in than anything she’d owned back home. And, she may never take off these light-weight tennis shoes again.

Barging in the door, they found Tristan and Aidan in the

lab with Robinson and his team. Jocelyn stopped in her tracks when Mitchell called Dar over the device in his hand.

“Naylor, is that you?”

Out the window, lightning flashed across the sky as winds pounded the compound with rain and hail. It sounded like a train would crash through the wall at any moment. A loud boom echoed outside. Jocelyn to jump in her shoes.

“Naylor?” Urgency laced Mitchell’s voice
.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

A huge rush of relief swept through Jocelyn. It was so good to hear his voice. She’d missed him terribly over the last two days, despite their strained relationship.

“But, I’m not staying. I need to go back.”

Mitchell frowned at no one in particular. “Why?”

“Angela jumped on board. She’s with me.”

The air got sucked out of the room. All eyes shot to Mitchell.

His face looked as white as Clint Robinson’s coat. His Adam’s apple bobbed. “Stay, Naylor. Don’t go back.”

Dar’s curses mingled with the sound of Angela’s sobs in the

background. “Are you sure?”

“That’s an order, Naylor.” Mitchell headed for the door without looking at anyone. “We’ll meet you out there.”

“You’re the boss.”

Minutes later, Aidan skidded to a stop in the wet sand. Cassandra climbed out of the SUV after him, Jocelyn on the passenger side. Rachel and Tristan climbed from the jeep with Mitchell and Robinson.

The machine sat in the middle of the empty desert, the cold, manmade weapon marring nature’s beauty. Slowly, the door rose in the steamy heat, rainwater dripping from the edges.

Jocelyn recognized Angela’s high heel shoes on the steps. Lowering into full view, her stepmother’s body visibly shook. Frantic, her watery eyes searched the crowd of people before zeroing in on Mitchell
.

Sobbing uncontrollably, she kicked off her shoes and ran to him in the shifting sand. He caught her to him and held her tight. She sobbed against his shoulder, her muffled cries loud against shirt, his own tears dangling on his lashes
.

Showering kisses all over his face, Angela hugged him tight. “I love you, Mitchell. I love you. I love you...”

Tears blurred her own vision when Jocelyn looked back at the machine. Dar trudged down the steps, his movements sluggish. Bitterness radiated off him like the vapors on the sand.

She met him at the foot of the stairs. His eyes rounded as he gave her a slow once-over from her canvas-covered feet to her straight-ironed hair. A blush crept up her neck.

“Cass and Aidan drove me into Vegas to buy a couple of things.”

His voice held a distant tone, his face stoic. “You outdid yourself.”

Although the need to jump into his arms kept her on edge, his guarded demeanor kept her rooted to the ground. “How did it go?”

He stepped in the sand and hit the button to close the door. “Because of your information, it was a piece of cake. I didn’t see your father but I left your note on his desk.”

She swallowed hard. “Thank you.”

“My only snag was Angela. Who, by the way, never married your father.”

She pulled back her head. “What? She’s lived with us since I was a little girl.”

He made a one-shouldered shrug. “That’s what she told me.”

Her gaze went to Mitchell and Angela who remained locked together. “They still love each other.”

Grumbling to himself, Dar started walking. “Yeah well, I’ve decided Mitchell rows with one oar out of the water.”

Falling in step beside him, she said, “Why? Because he loves a woman unconditionally? Despite all her faults?”

His hand shot out in front of her. “Don’t even go there with me, Jocelyn. You’re starting to sound like a hypocrite.”

She turned him around to face her. “Excuse me? Why am I a hypocrite?”

“You can’t forgive me for following an order I haven’t even followed yet.”

Did he compare them to Mitchell and Angela, who were –
are
– in love? Was he implying he loved her?

Excitement mingled with dread to sharpen her voice. “Are you saying we’re in love?”

The anger and tension fizzled out of him. His vibrant, aqua gaze flattened. “You know, you’re right. What was I thinking?”

He walked away from her and went to Robinson
.

Jocelyn stood where he left her just… stunned. Dar had never once mentioned love to her. Was that something that was just assumed these days? Was it something that went unsaid?

She wasn’t quite sure how she felt about that. The last thing she wanted to do was find herself on the receiving end of another death telegram. Considering Dar could time travel anywhere and at any time, he could find himself in danger at a moment’s notice.

Staring at his broad back, her hands itched to touch him. All she wanted in that moment was his arms around her, to feel the safety his strength had given her that first day in the hospital
.

Although Angela’s presence brought a sense of comfort, Jocelyn knew Angela’s true colors now. That sense of comfort was a lie
.

Yet, Mitchell fought for good and he loved Angela.
His
feelings supported Jocelyn’s love for her. She couldn’t be all bad.

“Jocelyn.” Rachel dragged her over to the group
.

It was a bizarre sight, watching Angela cry tears of joy while her children scowled at her. Mitchell’s dominating presence protected her. But for how long?

“Jocelyn.” Angela wrapped her in her arms. “Thank God you found them. I was worried sick.”

She nodded at Dar. “d’Artagnan has been with me the entire time.”

Angela smiled back at Dar who looked away. “I’m glad.”

“Why did you come, Angela?” Jocelyn said. “Because you wanted to be with your family? Or, to protect yourself?”

#####

Robert lowered the D.I.R.E. binoculars to his chest, shock reverberating through his body. “Angela is
alive
, Kate.”

Turning away from the window, he stared at the floor as if the answers to all of the questions in his head could be found there.

“Where has she been all of these years? Where has Mitchell been hiding her?”

Kate rose from the bed and ran a hand through her hair. “Mitchell has endless resources at his disposal. She could’ve been anywhere, Bobby.”

“But to desert her children?” Anger built in Robert like thunderclouds. “She left me to raise them all of these years while she was off doing who knows what?”

“Look at it this way,” Kate said. “We now have Mitchell’s greatest weakness at our disposal. Taking over D.I.R.E. will be easier than ever.”

Anger exploded inside of him.

Grabbing the edge of the desk, Robert flipped it over. Kate jumped away. The white acrylic splintered and crashed against the wall, landing in jagged pieces on the floor. He picked up the accompanying chair and threw it against the far wall, narrowly missing the window.

He’d had it with all of them.

He held up one finger. “One day, Kate.”

“One day for what, Bobby?”

“Tell Jaydan Rose he has until this time tomorrow to get his shit together. I want you to find out where Angela has been and why she’s here. Alert all of my agents working here in the compound. Come this time tomorrow, D.I.R.E. is going down.”

“Are they ever going to come out of his freaking apartment?”

Dar glanced at Jocelyn sitting across his dining room table and wished
he’d
been greeted with an afternoon in bed.

“He’s such a damned hypocrite.” Tristan glared at his beer bottle. “He fought like hell to keep Rachel and I apart and now look at him.”

Yeah, he knew a hypocrite himself. She stared at him now, with sultry, chocolate eyes and a body with curves that wouldn’t quit. He’d nearly tripped on the steps when he saw her in those jeans and low-cut t-shirt.

The woman had slept with him when she couldn’t remember anything. Now, he wasn’t good enough to fall in love with
.

All of that bullshit about the past and how it didn’t matter was just… bullshit. Obviously, she’d been attracted to him – she’d been wet as hell every time they did it that night – but to take him seriously?

No. Apparently, he didn’t measure up to the soldier she’d lost back home.

“She’s a traitor to our country,” Aidan said. “Doesn’t he realize she’s only here to protect herself?”

Angela’s face had gone from pale to bright red when Jocelyn asked her that question out on the desert floor. With a glare at all of them, Mitchell had whisked her away before she could answer.

They still waited hours later.

Clearing her throat, Jocelyn dropped her fork and sat up straight in her chair. “At the risk of alienating all of you, did you
see
her reaction when that door opened? Did you
see
the way she sobbed at the sight of him? The way
he
cried when he held her?” Shaking her head, she stared at her plate. “She may be a traitor and she may have deserted you, but they are still in love.” Her gaze shot to Dar.

He looked away. “It’s easy for you to defend her. She didn’t desert you.”

“No, she didn’t, d’Artagnan. She raised me as her own and she wasn’t even married to my father. Isn’t that right?”

Lifting a shoulder, he took a swig of beer. “That’s what she said, but how can we trust anything she says?”

Cass spoke up, her voice soft, resigned. “Jocelyn’s right. They’re in love. It doesn’t mean she shouldn’t pay for the crimes she’s committed, and it doesn’t mean we have to accept her. What it does mean is that she’s probably here to stay.”