Fatal Pursuit (The Aegis Series) (6 page)

He glanced past her toward the door, clearly not wanting to make eye contact. “I’ll find us a ride.”

He was rattled. She never saw the man rattled. A tingle lit off in her belly. The same one she’d felt over the last three months whenever he looked right at her at work.

She wasn’t interested in Jake Ryder. He was domineering, aggravating, and he had more baggage than she wanted to deal with. And yet, no matter what she did, she couldn’t stop that stupid tingle from spreading up her chest toward her heart.

He moved for the door, then turned back. “Don’t think about disappearing.”

Her heart made a weird little skip.
It’s alcohol. It’s stress. It is
not
attraction
, she told herself.

Bracing one hand on the handrail, Marley reminded herself this was Jake—her bullheaded, obnoxious boss—and flicked him a sassy look. “Why on earth would I possibly do that? We both know you’d just do something illegal to find me.”

“So long as we’re clear.”

Marley rolled her eyes and stomped up the stairs.

No, they weren’t clear on anything. And that stupid little bump in her heart said that was going to be a major problem for her. Probably soon.

“
Gracias.”
Jake climbed out of the beat-up Ford pickup and motioned to the driver he’d wrangled to take them to Bruhia.
“Un momento, por favor.”

The guy nodded behind the wheel, then looked down to tinker with his phone. As Jake headed into the hotel, he pulled out his cell and dialed Eve back at Aegis headquarters.

“Well?” Eve asked as soon as she picked up the line. “Did you find her?”

“Yeah.” Jake moved up the stairs, pulled out his key, and unlocked the door to his room. “I found her.”

“And?”

“And she’s being evasive.” He tucked the phone between his shoulder and ear and grabbed his bag. “I need you to run a search on a guy named Grayson McKnight. He used to work for Mason Addison over at Omega.”

“Oookay. And why am I running background on some random guy who works for a rival company?”

“Because whoever he is, he’s got Marley twisted up in knots.”

“Ah,” Eve said slowly. “Now it’s making sense. Marley took off on a romantic vacation with this guy and you don’t approve. Got it.”

“Don’t be a smartass.” Jake slung his bag over his shoulder and pulled the door closed behind him. “I couldn’t care less who she hooks up with. That’s not what this is about. The guy isn’t what she thinks.”

“Says your super jealous black ops senses.”

Jealous? He wasn’t jealous. “Says my gut. I don’t need your opinion here, Wolfe. Just run the damn search.”

She sighed. “You’ve got a real way with women, Ryder. You know you’re not going to be down there long with that attitude, right? Marley will kick your ass clear back to the States if you pull that on her.”

He wasn’t jealous, dammit. But even as Jake thought the words, his moment with Marley on the stairs rippled through his brain, drawing his feet to a stop in the middle of the hall.

Just what was that anyway? Marley was his employee, not a woman. At least not a woman
like that
. Not one he was interested in. She was a friend.

He swiped at the sweat beading on his brow. Yeah, that made more sense. She was a just a friend. The same way Miller and Bentley were his friends. He’d do what he could to help those guys too. This was no different.

Telling himself there was nothing to worry about, he stopped in front of Marley’s room and banged his fist on the door. “Car’s downstairs, Addison.”

“Be right there,” she hollered back.

He headed down the stairs, but a little voice in the back of his head whispered,
You don’t get turned on by Bentley and Miller
.

“Ryder?” Eve asked in his ear. In the background, voices echoed as if from a TV. “Did I lose you?”

“No, I’m here.” Irritated with himself, Jake clenched his jaw. “And I know you’re in my office, Wolfe. I don’t remember giving you permission for that.”

“
Moi?
Why would you assume that? I’m only running the show while you’re off gallivanting around South America playing lovesick tourist.”

The woman could be such a smartass. Just like Marley. Why did he surround himself with sassy women?

“Don’t mess with any of my shit.”

“I wouldn’t dare.”

The smile in her voice lifted his spirits, if only for a moment. He moved from the lobby to the street. Midmorning sunlight beat down to mix with the humid air, making him sweat beneath the white button-down and cargo pants. “And if you call me a lovesick anything again, you’ll be looking for a new job.”

“Got it, boss.” Her voice turned businesslike. “I’ll call as soon as I have info on Marley’s mystery boyfriend.”

The line clicked dead in his ear. Pocketing his phone, Jake’s almost-good mood plummeted. He hoped like hell the guy wasn’t a boyfriend. That was just going to muddy things up for Marley, especially after five years. But his gut was already screaming that was the only logical answer. He couldn’t think of another scenario that would make Marley drop everything—including him—and rush to a dangerous country alone.

This was cozy. Too close and cozy after her moment with Jake on the stairs.

Marley wanted nothing more than to shift to her left, closer to the driver, so she wasn’t plastered against Jake on the bench seat of the rusted pickup. But if she did that, Jake would know she was awake. And that would mess up her plan to ignore him on the drive toward Bruhia.

The middle-aged Colombian man Jake had paid to drive them—Manuel—hummed along to salsa music on the radio. Normally, that wouldn’t bother her, but she was hot, sweaty, and still a little hung over from the night before. And every time they went over a rock or pothole in the dirt road, it jostled her in her seat and knocked her into Jake at her side. Jake, who was radiating waves of heat that only sent jolts of awareness through every inch of her body. Jake, who wasn’t taking the hint that she was too hung over to talk just yet and had spent the last two hours shifting in his seat, sighing repeatedly, and muttering under his breath.

The rig bounced over something big in the road, and Marley bumped into him, her arms flying up in the air. Before she could lay her head back down and feign sleep, Jake said, “Nice of you to finally wake up.”

She closed her eyes and tipped her head away from him. “Wake me when we get there.”

“I don’t think so. You’ve had your sleep. It’s time you continued talking.”

Sighing, Marley shifted upright in her seat and moved as far from him as she could get, which really was only a centimeter. “You’re like a dog with a bone, you know that?”

“Which is why I’m so good at what I do. Tell me about McKnight.”

Marley exhaled a long breath. She’d been overly optimistic when she thought he’d let this line of questioning go. She brushed the hair out of her eyes. “I already told you he was a friend.”

“What kind of friend? That’s the question here, isn’t it?”

Marley couldn’t quite read him. The words were spoken in a calm and even tone, but she could tell from the tense line of his shoulders that something was bothering him. Something other than the fact she’d taken his plane. “Why do you care what kind of friend he was? Does it matter?”

“No.” He glanced out the window. “Why would it matter? I’m just trying to figure out what you dragged me into.”

Okay, he was definitely being moody about something, but Marley had no clue what. Before their little moment on the stairs, he’d been cocky as always. “For the record, I didn’t
drag
you into anything. If you remember correctly, you forced your way in by bullying my brother.”

“You’re right, I did. And why didn’t I know you have a brother?”

She could barely keep up with him. Now he was frustrated she hadn’t told him about Ronan? He’d never seemed interested in her family life other than to play nice with her father, who was his closest rival for clients. “I wasn’t aware we were trading family secrets, Jake. Tell you what. You go first. Let’s talk about all your father’s indiscretions.”

He shot her a look. “Don’t go there, Marley.”

Manuel stopped humming and glanced their way.

She’d hit a serious nerve with that one. She knew it and immediately regretted the low blow. Jake’s relationship with his father was a sore spot for him, even years after his father’s death. Though she wasn’t entirely sure why.

Marley reminded herself to stay calm. That was how she got through everything with Jake. She forgot how frustrated and hot he made her and focused on keeping the peace. “What do you really want to know?”

“I want to know who the hell this guy is we’re risking our lives to rescue.”

She nearly laughed. “We’re hardly risking our lives. We’re driving along a quiet jungle road. Sometimes you are so dramatic, Ryder.”

“And sometimes you are just so”—Jake curled both hands into fists and clenched his jaw—“damn maddening.”

“Hey,
señorita
,” Manuel asked at Marley’s side. “You want me kick him out of the truck?”

“Hm, I might.” Marley grinned. She was kind of having fun with this. As much as she hadn’t wanted Jake to tag along, watching him get worked up for no apparent reason gave her a little thrill. “Hold that thought.” She glanced Jake’s way and lifted her brows.

“God Almighty.” Jake rubbed his thumb and forefinger across his forehead. “I give up. I don’t know why I even try anymore.”

Okay, enough was enough. She’d put him in his place. It was time to stop messing with him. “Gray and I used to date. He left on an op five years ago. Something went wrong on the mission. When my father came back, he told me Gray had been killed. Fast-forward to a couple of days ago when Gray called out of the blue asking for help, and you’re caught up to speed.”

Jake dropped his hands, but he didn’t look her way. “So he’s your boyfriend.”

“Was. Kind of hard to have a relationship with someone who’s been dead for five years, you know?”

“Now you’re a comedian. Ha-ha.”

There was no humor in his voice, but there was something different in his eyes. He was still irritated, but now there was a hint of . . . was that disappointment?

No, she had to be seeing things again. Why would he be disappointed? Because she’d dated Gray? He’d never cared who she dated before. He’d never cared about her personal life, period.

She gave herself a mental slap and looked back out the windshield. The more likely explanation was that he simply disapproved of her choice. Jake was one of the most opinionated men she knew. Another trait he shared with her father.

“That’s all I know,” she said.

“Why didn’t you call your father for help?”

“Because he asked me not to tell my father. Whatever happened to him, he thinks my father was responsible.”

When Jake’s brow lowered, Marley sighed. “Let’s get real, Jake. We both know how my dad works. He alienates people. It’s his way or the highway. My father made it clear that he wasn’t wild about my dating Gray right from the start. I don’t doubt that Gray and my father clashed five years ago. Just as I don’t doubt that my father had nothing to do with Gray’s disappearance. But Gray was already agitated on the phone when he called me. If my father was the one to show up to help him, I’m not sure Gray would go with him. That’s why I made the decision to come down here without Mason Addison.”

She could see those wheels turning again in Jake’s mind as he stared at her, but before he could respond, Manuel slammed on the brakes, bringing the pickup to a jarring stop, hurling both Jake and Marley forward.

Marley slammed into the dash with a grunt. Jake gripped her arm and pulled her back up on the seat beside him. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She winced at a stab of pain in her side. “Seatbelts would have been nice. What the heck was that?”

Manuel had already opened his door and stood in front of the truck, waving his arms. Marley’s gaze shot past him to the giant tree lying across the dirt road.

“That,” Jake said, popping his door open, “looks like a roadblock.”

“Shit.” Pressing a hand against her side where Jake must have elbowed her, Marley climbed out after him and stood in front of the truck with the men.

The jungle rose up on both sides of the road. Vines wrapped around tree trunks and hung from the branches above. Several different species of palms littered the jungle floor, and everywhere birds chirping and animals moving could be heard. Even along the road, there was so little light from the dense canopy above, it was hard to see in the distance.

Jake perched his hands on his hips and glanced around. “I don’t suppose there’s another way.”

“No other way,” Manuel said. “Not unless we go back. Must have come down during last week’s storm.” He threw up his hands. “We have to chop it.”

Marley’s brow lifted. The trunk alone had to be eighteen inches wide. They’d be here all night.

Manuel moved around the back of the truck and reached for an ax from the bed. The rat-tat-tat of something loud echoed through the trees off to their right.

Marley turned toward the sound. Manuel dropped the ax back into the bed. Jake grasped Marley’s hand and pulled her around the driver’s side of the truck.

“What was that?” Marley asked.

Jake’s eyes scanned the trees. “Sounded like gunfire. Two hundred yards away.”