Army of Two (11 page)

“That should make things easier for you.”

He nodded. “Now that we’re more or less healthy, I have an idea about how we can contact help.”

She leaned forward fast. “Oh, Mitch. How?”

“There should be a radio in their helicopter. We’ll use it.”

She couldn’t believe she’d heard him correctly. “You’ve heard the names of at least seven men. There could be more, and they’d all be armed.”

“And there are two of us. I’ve planned missions where the odds are a lot worse than that. Hear me out.”

She gestured for him to continue.

He leaned down to move his improvised camp stove to one side, then cleared away the stones. Once he’d bared an area of sand, he smoothed it flat with his hand. “This is the main building,” he said, drawing a rectangle in the sand with the stick he’d used to cook his trout. He drew another, smaller rectangle and then a circle. “Here’s the garage, and here’s the landing spot on the top of the hill. Show me all the trails that go between them.”

She slid off the log and knelt in front of his diagram. She used her own stick to draw in the lines, taking her time to make sure she was right. “The main trail is bordered with rocks,” she said, drawing a double line. “There’s another one that comes up from the west side of the hill,” she added.

“Where do the trees stop?”

“Below the crest.” She sketched a flattened square around the landing circle to show the extent of the trees. “There’s no place to hide on that rock. We cleared everything away to make it safe for a helicopter to land. Anyone could see you.”

“Which means I’ll be able to see them, too.”

“Are you going to wait until dark?”

“It would be better for the hostages if I don’t. The sooner we can contact the authorities and get a rescue initiated, the better.”

“Are Knox’s men still patrolling around the Aerie?”

“From what I’ve overheard, they are. It makes me think he could be former military.”

“Because of his thoroughness?”

“Yes. Most civilians would assume the area was secure because of its isolation, but he’s not taking chances. He’s established a perimeter and is posting watches.”

“If he’s from the military,” she said slowly, “that could be how he knew about Graham. The Petherick Corporation wouldn’t be well known in civilian circles.”

“Good point. And if Knox has had military training, he’s going to want to maintain discipline and stick to his schedule, no matter what. I figure I’ll have a window of at least ten minutes as his men do their rounds. I can approach from here,” he said, pointing to the trail on the west. He then indicated a spot at the edge of the tree line. “You can be positioned here where I’ll be able to see you but anyone coming from the lodge can’t. You can signal me if there’s trouble.”

“How?”

“You can use the flashlight we got from the boathouse. This cloud cover looks as if it’s going to get thicker. I’ll notice the beam if you direct it straight at me.”

She looked at the rectangle that represented her home. Her sanctuary. Part of her still couldn’t believe this was real. Waves lapped against the pebbles on the shore, sounding just the same as they had on countless other mornings. Birch leaves rustled in the wind overhead. The delicate taste of fresh trout lingered in her mouth. How could she be sitting here, calmly planning what was beginning to resemble a military operation?

Then her mind filled with images of what she’d seen through the Aerie’s front window yesterday morning, and reality descended with a thud.

It had been more than a day since those men had arrived. Were her friends still unharmed? Had they eaten or slept? Were they being mistreated? What would happen when their three days were up?

As if he’d followed the direction of her thoughts, Mitch touched her arm.

She jerked at the contact. Her hand obliterated half the sketch. She smoothed out what she could and started to redraw it. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

“You won’t need to do anything except be my lookout.”

“I’ll do whatever I have to. It’s my home. The people there are my responsibility.”

“I won’t knowingly put you in danger.”

“We’re a team, Mitch.”

“Right.” He took the stick from her hand. He was careful not to touch her this time. “And because we are, before we get started there’s something we need to talk about.”

She brushed off her hands and resumed her seat on the driftwood log. “What?”

“Our kiss.”

She should have known he wouldn’t let it slide. When had he ever hesitated to speak his mind? “There’s really nothing to discuss. It was a mistake.”

“Yes, it was. It was reckless and irresponsible. I have no excuse. I apologize.”

It would be easy to allow him to assume the blame. He appeared to want to. He’d always had a noble streak. “I started it, Mitch. You did your best to discourage me. I’m the one who should apologize.”

“If it makes you feel better, go ahead, but you couldn’t have been expected to understand what was happening.”

“You mean the adrenaline.”

“Yes.”

“So it’s happened to you before?”

“I’ve experienced an adrenaline rush during a hazardous situation on a mission, yes.”

“And have you channeled that rush into a kiss?”

His eyebrows shot upward. “Hell, no.”

He seemed so dumbstruck, she was surprised into a smile. “Sorry. I wasn’t questioning your…uh…preferences…” She closed her mouth before she could say more. Considering his enthusiastically heterosexual response to their kiss, casting any doubt on his sexual orientation would be ludicrous.

He appeared to think so as well. He blew out his breath on a low chuckle. “Right. I walked straight into that one. The fact is, we seldom have females present during a mission.”

“I suppose not.”

“Although on a few of the occasions when we have, it’s led to similar problems. Not with me, of course, but I’ve had to caution some of my men to maintain their objectivity.”

“Really?”

“Even tough-as-nails Delta Force commandos have human urges.”

He’d used her own words. She made a face. “Do you remember
everything
I said?”

“It’s important to me. I’m trying to get to know you.”

“For the good of our army of two.”

“Yes.”

“Well, I assure you that I’m not in the habit of forcing kisses on unwilling men. You just seem to have a way of bringing that out in me.”

“In case you hadn’t noticed, I wasn’t unwilling.”

“No, not this time anyway.”

“Chantal—”

“Please,” she said, holding up her hand. “Don’t explain again. We covered that yesterday. I do understand why you walked out the last time. It was the only honorable thing you could have done.”

“You were too young. And I was concerned about my career.”

“Yes. Really, I do understand. I only brought that up because I don’t want you to think I’m trying to relive the past or anything like that. As a rule, I’m fully in control of my impulses these days.”

“I noticed you’ve changed. You’re more reserved.”

“I’ve learned to be.”

“Is that because of me?”

For once, a sharp retort didn’t come to her lips. Maybe it was the grilled fish. Or maybe she was finally putting her issues with him into perspective. She shook her head. “Only partly. I latched onto you because I was searching for someone to take me away from a life I didn’t know how to change. I saw you as my fantasy hero. I gave you capabilities that no man really has.”

“Why did you want to change your life?”

She hedged. Her new comfort with him didn’t extend that far. “What teenager doesn’t? I had to learn that I needed to rely on myself, no one else. I had to take charge of my own life.”

“Is that why you came to the Aerie?”

“I have everything I need here. I love my job. I love this place. My staff are like my family. Most of my clients become friends.”

“It’s a drastic change from how you used to live.”

“Not entirely. Don’t you remember how much entertaining my mother used to do? I learned how to be a good host and how to take care of guests from the time I was a child.”

“Okay, I can see that.”

“But you’re right about one thing. The Aerie itself is the complete opposite of a military base. It’s beautiful and peaceful. Out here, the troubles of the rest of the world don’t seem to matter. There’s no rank to keep in mind, no protocol to worry about and few schedules to keep. For six months of the year, I’m able to live in a place where I feel totally free.”

“Six months,” he repeated. “Where do you live in the winter?”

“I have a small apartment in Bethel Corners. It’s a lovely little town, but can’t compare to living on the lake.”

“Doesn’t the isolation bother you?”

“No, it’s invigorating. Look around you,” she said, sweeping her hand in a wide arc. “There’s more power in the natural world than in any amount of man-made constructs. This hill and this lake will be here long after all the army bases I grew up on are nothing but ruins and no one remembers why all the wars were fought.”

A hawk cried overhead. Mitch tilted his head back to follow its flight for a while before he spoke again. “How come you ended up hating the army, Chantal?”

Once again, he had managed to zero in on a thread she wasn’t comfortable pursuing. “It was probably the guns.”

“Sure.”

“How did we get onto this topic, anyway?”

He shifted to sit sideways, leaving his left leg stretched out and drawing his right foot onto the log. He rested his forearms on his up-drawn knee and leaned toward her. “We were talking about our kiss.”

“Oh.”

“You said you only kiss willing men.”

“As opposed to throwing myself at men who run away.”

“There must be a lot of the first kind.”

“What does that mean?”

“Willing men. Men who would consider themselves lucky to be kissed by you. I can’t imagine there being a shortage.”

“Is that a convoluted way of paying me a compliment?”

“It depends. If you’re going to get prickly about it, then no. That was actually a convoluted way of asking you about your personal life.”

She frowned. “I don’t see that it’s relevant to our continued functioning as a team.”

“It’s not. I’m just curious.”

“I’m not currently seeing anyone special.”

“Why not?”

“For one thing, I’m far too busy. During the season we’re usually booked solid. Running the Aerie is a long-term commitment. For another, I like my life the way it is. I’m not interested in having a relationship.”

“Neither am I,” he said. “Everything you just said goes for me, as well. My work is too demanding to leave much time for a personal life, and that suits me fine. I don’t have any desire for a serious relationship.”

“Then we have something in common.”

“Uh-huh. But we also have a problem.”

“What?”

“It’s broad daylight, and we’re not particularly stressed or in imminent danger, so there’s no adrenaline in play here, but I still want to kiss you.”

His declaration triggered another round of triumphant arm pumps from the girl deep inside Chantal. She turned her head aside, unwilling to let him see the pleasure that surely must show in her eyes.

She’d just told him that she didn’t want to relive the past. And she didn’t. She never again wanted to be that needy girl who loved him. The mere thought of being that vulnerable brought on a quick jab of panic.

Yet that wasn’t what was happening between them, was it? Nor was it what she felt. It was one good aspect that had come from their kiss in the boathouse. She could never confuse the lust it had aroused with the sweet, pure love that had once filled her heart. Yesterday’s kiss had been about sex, plain and simple. It had been entirely physical. “We’re both adults, Mitch,” she said. “We should be able to control our hormones.”

“We. Is that your way of saying you’re attracted to me?”

The question was ludicrous. How could a woman not be attracted by the way he looked this morning, with the tangled forest as a backdrop and the churning sky overhead?

His cheeks were darkened with a day’s growth of beard in a way that accentuated the dramatic lines of his face, yet his tousled hair looked appealingly boyish. He’d discarded his jacket, and the loose neckline of his sweatshirt had pulled to one side, revealing the strong ridge of his collarbone. His sleeves were pushed up to his elbows, showing off forearms that were contoured with ropy muscle beneath a dusting of soft, black hair. His pants were stretched in tight folds of cotton that fingered across his thigh like a caress. He’d left his gun leaning on the log behind him, and his improvised stove rested at his feet.

Not only was he a rugged, drop-dead-sexy specimen of manhood, he also cooked.

Chantal had a mad desire to laugh. “To be honest, Mitch, you’re the last man in the world who I would want to be attracted to.”

“You’re ducking the question.”

“Did anyone ever tell you that you can be too direct at times?”

“In my line of work, it’s an asset.”

“I can imagine.”

“And you’re still ducking the question.”

“Fine. Yes, I find you attractive, but that shouldn’t interfere with our ability to work together any more than our history did.”

He pulled his foot off the log and stood. “I know. We have bigger priorities.”

“Too many people are depending on us.”

“Absolutely. I’ve thought the same thing myself.”

“Not to mention the fact that neither of us is interested in any kind of relationship.”

“That’s true.” He regarded her steadily. “And even if you were, I’m the last man in the world you’d want one with.”

“Exactly.”

He nodded. “Swell. I’m glad we cleared that up.”

Chapter 8

T
he clouds scudded low and fast, coming in from the northeast in dark-bellied banks of gray. Chantal could see the blurred outline of a squall as it worked its way across the lake, driving rows of whitecaps in front. So far, the rain hadn’t reached the crest of the hill, but it would be here before long. She could taste the moisture in the air. She curled one arm around the pine she stood beside and continued her scrutiny of the cleared rock.