Operation Date With Destiny (3 page)

Tupper stared at the woman silently. Her desperation was real—he could see it in the worry behind those dark lashes and hear it the emotion of her voice. He knew she truly believed he could help her for some reason—he still had no idea how she
’
d have known about his experience—that stuff wasn
’
t general knowledge in his social circles.

So how had she managed to dig up the dirt on him? A chill, maybe even a premonition of something bad lurked in the back of his mind and he knew he wouldn
’
t rest until he
’
d worked out what it was.

“
Why don
’
t you tell me, from the beginning, what this package is, why you need it, and how it got to be where it is? But maybe first, you could untie me,
”
he suggested.

“
All you need to know is there
’
s something I need you to get—and get us in there to get it.
”

“
Look—even if I wanted to help you
,
I can
’
t do something like this on my own. I
’
d need my team and equipment. We
’
d need to plan it. It takes weeks and weeks of planning, then we have to go out and run through it in training to make sure it all works. You don
’
t just throw together a retrieval mission in five minutes,
”
he told her irritably.

“
We don
’
t have time for all that. Money isn
’
t an issue—you can
organize
everything you need once we
’
re in country and as for men
,
I have a contact lined up and he has his own
people
.
”

“
No way. I don
’
t work with strangers.
”

“
Well you
’
ll have to this time. There
’
s
no other
option.
”

“
Then you better look for someone else—cause there
’
s no way I work with anyone other than my own team. This thing takes trust—years of operating together to get it right—you can
’
t just go throwing together a bunch of guys.
”

“
Sorry
,
but time is a luxury we don
’
t have so you
’
ll make do with what we
’
ve got. In fact,
w
e
’
re due to catch a flight very soon, so I
’
m
only going to
giv
e
you one shot at coming along peacefully,
”
she told him, taking a brief glance at her watch
.

“
Exactly, how are you planning to get me to
peacefully
leave Hawaii? You don
’
t think going through customs I
’
m not going to kick up a stink and end this little thing just like that?
”
he asked, and tried to click his fingers only to remember he was still tied up and felt his anger rise all over again.
Damn it to hell! He wanted out of these freakin
’
ropes, already!

She sent him an almost pitying smile and a little of that earlier premonition came back.
“
The thought did occur to me—
”
she admitted,
“
—which is why I had to make other arrangements—hence drugging you
.
The thing is, Johnny…we
’
re
not in
Hawaii anymore.
”

Chapter
Two

Destiny hated this! God she loathed feeling torn between guilt and obligation. Why the hell couldn
’
t she have been able to handle this herself? If only she could—how much easier would this be? She wouldn
’
t have had to kidnap this antagonistic pain in the ass, Johnny Tupperoni!
T
he man could make her blood boil just by opening his smart-alecky mouth.
He did more than make your blood boil last night though,
a nagging voice chimed in from the depths of her subconscious. Destiny decided to ignore that—she had too much to think about without getting side tracked by hormones
.
So what if the guy was built like every woman
’
s fantasy
. S
o what if he could kiss like no
one
’
s
business
,
and
so what
if she may have technically gotten a little carried away in the heat of the moment before the drugs had kicked in…she was
only
human after all!

Damn it! Everything was such a mess!

She knew getting him to agree to all this was going to be a problem
. H
owever she also knew that once she got him there, he wouldn
’
t be able to
not
help. His history was the only reason this whole stupid plan had a chance of working…there was no way she could have kidnapped anyone else without the probability of them breaking her neck at the first opportunity and running off.

Of course at the moment he was probably contemplating doing a lot more than simply breaking her neck, but he
’
d calm down eventually. It wasn
’
t in him to do something like that. She
’
d done a lot of reading on
Mr.
Johnny Tupperoni, and
the
one thing she knew
for certain,
was that he was one of the original good guys. In this world of the
‘
Me Generation
’
he stood out above your average Joe.
H
e hid it beneath his ladies
’
man image and his caustic sarcasm, but it was there—she knew it
. S
he
’
d seen the evidence with her own
two
eyes…but he didn
’
t need to know the how
’
s and whys of all that.

“
What the hell are you talking about? Where are we?
”
Johnny strained against the ropes and she sighed inwardly. There wasn
’
t really any avoiding it—he had to find out eventually, but it
made
her quiver a little at the fury she was sure would soon follow.

“
We
’
re just outside Manila, in the Philippines.
”

“
I sincerely hope you
’
re joking,
”
he said quietly. So quietly in fact, that she eyed him cautiously waiting for him to explode.

“
Trust me
,
the last thing I have at the moment is a sense of humor. If you listen to me carefully and do as I ask
,
you
’
ll be back stateside within a few days. So get over it
and let
’
s move on.
”

“
Get over it?
”
h
e
echoed
in a cold as steel tone that managed to set off warning sparks inside her. This was a dangerous man—it didn
’
t matter that he was tied to a bed—he was a well-trained warrior more than capable of killing quickly and efficiently, but there was no way she was going to allow him to see that she was wary of him.

“
Did I mention we don
’
t have time to waste?
”

“
Did I mention there
’
s no way in hell, I
’
m helping you?
”

A knock at the door caught her attention momentarily, before she walked across to the chair and grabbed his clothing, throwing it at him
. “
I
’
d suggest you reconsider,
”
she said withdrawing the impressive hunting knife strapped to her thigh.

Destiny saw his eyes widen slightly, before changing to a frown as he watched the hand that held the knife, warily. She quickly slid the sharp blade beneath the rope of his
furthest
arm and cut it, making sure she was out of reach in case he tried to make a grab for the knife.

“
You have about two minutes to get dressed and make up your mind to come with me,
”
she said briskly, keeping her ear alert to what was happening outside.

“
It would help if I had both hands free to do the job,
”
he snapped.

“
You get one hand—now hurry up.
”
She averted her eyes when he threw back the sheet and slid into his pants
without bothering with his boxers
,
she noted
,
and felt a strange flutter at the thought.
He
pull
ed
on his jeans with little regard to finesse or detail and she had to admit that even one handed
,
he was doing a pretty good job
.

“
And what makes you think I
’
m going to change my mind?
”

“
Because if you don
’
t—I
’
m leaving the room and you
’
ll remain tied here until the police burst through that door and discover you with ten pounds of cocaine.
”
She pulled back a blanket next to the bed and h
e
blanch
ed
as he took in the stack of white powdered drug beside him.
“
And if you
’
re thinking of trying to run once I cut you l
o
ose—don
’
t. I
’
ve left your ID and enough evidence behind to make sure they know exactly who
this belongs to
.
”
She saw
his hand automatically go to his
neck for his dog tags and
realize
they were gone.

“
I
’
m sure you
’
ve heard about the Southeast Asian drug laws
, a
nd especially how they frown on drug trafficking—especially
foreigners
participating in drug trafficking in their country
.
They
’
ll throw you in prison
—that is, if they don
’
t execute you
for a stash this size
.
”
She let him digest that for a moment then continued.
“
Not even Uncle Sam will be able to get you out of this, Tupperoni.
”

“
D
o this job and I
’
ll get you back to the States safely
.
If you don
’
t, you
’
ll be a wanted criminal.
”
Outside she heard doors opening and closing and her name called out in warnin
g.
“
So what
’
s it going to be?
”
F
rom the street came the whine of police sirens and bedlam breaking out all around them.
“
Clocks ticking, Johnny.
”

“
Fine!
”
h
e snarled.
“
Cut me loose.
”

She slashed through the remaining rope and spun around to race out the doorway. Behind her she heard him following, his shirt and shoes in hand, obviously not about to let her out of his sight for a second. There was no time to feel guilty over what she
’
d just done—which was to frame an innocent man and put his life in jeopardy. There
’
d be time to dwell on her sins later—hopefully
.
Right now she had to concentrate on getting out of the safe house and to the pickup point before the police caught up with them.