Vengeance (SSU Trilogy Book 1) (2 page)

Ryker knew it was his fault. He hadn’t warned her father of the danger in time. Since then, he’d done everything in his power to make it up to her. The moment she’d been stable enough, he’d moved her here to the SSU’s medical and training facility. He’d spent hours by her bedside, urging her unconscious body to live. Telling her childhood stories of her father and of their time together in the military. He’d watched with admiration as she fought fiercely to overcome her injuries. Despite his misgivings, he’d honored her decision to apply to the SSU’s operator training program, hoping the training would empower her and help her work through the trauma of the attack.

Yet even though Jenna was in the top ten percent of her class, Ryker wasn’t convinced this was the life for her. He had trouble reconciling the smiling, energetic young woman she’d been before the attack to the grim, focused woman moving through today’s exercise.

He walked over to Grayson. “How’s she doing?”

They both knew he wasn’t referring to Jenna’s physical ability. Nobody watching her fight would guess she’d spent two months in a wheelchair. Or that she’d once been a sunny art history graduate student who taught dance classes on the side.

“Desensitization mostly worked,” Grayson grunted. The grizzled, African American, former Army Sergeant dismissed the training class from the field with a nod. “Just average newbie mistakes so far. No fear of being approached from behind or grabbed by the throat. Okay pinned to the ground. Knife work remains her weakest skill, but she sucks it up and gets the job done.” Grayson slanted a glance at Ryker. “Still think she’s a walking time bomb. A girl don’t survive what she did without getting good and mad. She’s so calm, the boys call her Lady Zen.” He shrugged.

Ryker watched Jenna finish the exercise, satisfied with her physical skill and her teamwork. Yet he shared Grayson’s concern about her emotional state. Yes, the psychiatrists had cleared her for duty. They said there was no way to predict if Jenna would ever have a major emotional breakdown. She’d made it two years and only lost it a couple of times. She’d been solid for a good six months now.

Still…Ryker shook his head. Graduation was in a few weeks, but he wasn’t ready to let Jenna go. Not even knowing that she’d initially be paired with an experienced agent on low-risk missions eased his mind.

His mouth twisted wryly. Who was he kidding? He never wanted Jenna out on assignment. She was his surrogate daughter. Her father, Eric, had been his best friend since they were three. Ryker had promised to keep Eric’s children safe if anything happened to him. He’d failed Eric once. Eric, his wife, and their fourteen-year-old twins Isabel and Justin were dead. But Ryker could make good on his promise and keep Jenna safe.

He turned to leave, then paused.

“Tell Jenna I want her in my office in half an hour,” he said. Maybe he wasn’t ready to send her out into the world, but it had been a long time since they’d shared a meal. He’d see if he could convince her to have dinner with him so they could catch up.

#

Short hair still damp from her quick shower after training, Jenna walked through the administration building toward Ryker’s office.

“You have Paterson’s sister here,” an unfamiliar male voice said from behind Ryker’s partially opened door. “But you haven’t used her once to draw Paterson out of hiding. Let her come with me to Moscow. When Paterson learns his sister is alive, he’s guaranteed to show himself.”

They’d found Kai! Jenna stopped, holding her breath as she waited for Ryker’s response.

“No.”

Ryker’s denial catapulted Jenna into molten rage. She slammed her palms flat against the heavy oak door and shoved it open. The door bounced against the wall with a satisfying smack as she stormed into the office.

Ryker glanced at her with surprise, but didn’t show any guilt for the refusal she’d overheard. The tight hand of betrayal closed around her throat, and for a moment she couldn’t breathe. Then anger broke through, forcing air into her lungs.

“You know where Kai is,” she snarled, flinging the words at Ryker. “But you weren’t going to tell me, were you?”

“Who’s this?” Ryker’s guest demanded. Then he did a double-take, looking between Jenna and something on Ryker’s desk. “Wait.
This
is the sister?”

Jenna narrowed her eyes and gave the man the once-over. He was tall, probably a few inches over six feet. His rich, oak brown suit fit so perfectly it had to be custom tailored. His arrogant expression made her think of a king deigning to visit his peons.

Jenna was so not in the mood for dealing with an asshole. She took an aggressive step toward the stranger before Ryker cleared his throat and sanity returned. Turning her body slightly away from the man, but keeping him in her peripheral vision, she planted her feet and crossed her arms over her chest, then focused her attention on her boss.

Ryker sighed and stood up. “Mark Tonelli, meet Jenna Paterson, Kai Paterson’s sister. Jenna, Tonelli is with the CIA. He just finished participating in one of our joint operations.”

Jenna gave a brief smile in response to Tonelli’s raised eyebrow.

“Tonelli, please give us a moment alone,” Ryker said.

The man pursed his lips, but with a curt nod he turned and left, shutting the door behind him.

“What’s going on?” she demanded. Then she noticed what Tonelli had seen on Ryker’s desk. A fax with Kai’s picture on it. She snatched the fax before Ryker could stop her, waving it toward him as her anger flared back up. “You found Kai and weren’t going to tell me? You promised to keep me in the loop!”

“I promised I’d let you know when we found Kai.” Ryker nodded toward the fax in her hand. “One of our informants spotted Kai getting into a cab in Moscow this morning. However, I never promised to let you go after him.”

Jenna flinched. “I…you…you…” She could barely think past her anger. “You know that’s the only reason I entered the training program. So I’d be ready to take down Kai!”

Ryker raised his eyebrows. “Is that right? I don’t remember seeing revenge listed as a motive in your paperwork. The SSU doesn’t condone vigilante action, Jenna.”

Dammit, how had he managed to twist the situation so that she appeared in the wrong? And why couldn’t she have kept her mouth shut? She’d assumed Ryker understood her unspoken need to be active in Kai’s capture when she asked to be kept aware if they found him. Putting it into words had been a mistake.

Kai had always accused her of being too impetuous for her own good, but she’d thought that tendency had died the night of the attack.

“Besides, you’re still in training,” Ryker continued. “You’re not experienced enough to participate in this mission. It’s too dangerous.”

“But…” She struggled to come up with a legitimate reason he should include her. “Mr. Tonelli wants to use me as bait. How dangerous can that be?”

Ryker tapped a manila folder with his index finger. For a heart-stopping moment she thought he was going to lie to her. Then he sighed and something almost like fear crossed his face.

“Alvarez just got out of prison.”

Jenna felt her jaw drop. “But—”

“I know.” Ryker drummed his fingertips on the desk blotter. “
Alvarez
managed to blackmail a judge into commuting his life sentence. There’s an ongoing investigation, and the judge is facing jail time, but what matters is that Alvarez is out and once again after Kai and Nevsky’s microchip. You know how brutal and ruthless Alvarez is. Can you honestly tell me you’re ready to face potential capture and torture just to get back at Kai? We let everyone think you died in order to protect you, Jenna. You’re the only witness to what happened to your family. Once Alvarez discovers you’re alive, you’ll become a target.”

Screams echoed in her head, making her dizzy. But she couldn’t let Ryker see her fear. She raised her chin. “I’m willing to take that risk.”

Ryker’s eyes bored into hers. “Unfortunately, I’m not. I—”

The phone on his desk rang. Ryker glanced down to check the caller id and his lips tightened. Shooting her an indecipherable look, he picked up the receiver. “Ryker here…Yes, sir…That’s correct, sir. But…Yes, I understand. But I…No. No, sir. Good-bye.”

Ryker hung up the phone and stared at his desk blotter, his jaw working as his fingers clenched and unclenched into fists.

“It seems Tonelli has been busy telling tales while he waited for us to finish,” Ryker said without looking up. “I’ve just been given orders from one of our primary government funders to bring Kai back at any cost, including using you as bait. We need that microchip.”

Jenna knew Kai wasn’t just wanted for the murder of her parents and the twins. The SSU had sent him undercover to investigate charges of suspicious deaths at a top-secret government lab tasked with creating extraordinary spies and soldiers. While there, Kai had been approached by Alvarez to steal a microchip containing the backup of the project data. Before Kai could hand over the chip to Alvarez, the lab caught fire, killing the lead scientist, Dr. Nevsky. The security tape showed Kai fleeing the scene.

Not only was Kai a suspect in Dr. Nevsky’s death, but it was assumed her brother was in possession of the microchip at the time of the fire. Jenna didn’t care about the microchip. She just wanted Kai dead for what he’d done to their family.

Ryker raised his head and Jenna winced at the conflict she saw there. “If I let you accompany Tonelli, you have to promise you won’t go after Alvarez.”

Jenna nodded, heart racing with excitement. “I promise.” Mexican crime lord Jaime Alvarez had sent the assassins who’d worked with Kai to kill her family. She didn’t know how Alvarez had turned Kai against his family so thoroughly that he’d participated in their deaths, but Alvarez was next on her kill list after Kai. Right now, though, it was no great sacrifice to give her word. She knew Alvarez’s vicious reputation and understood she wasn’t ready to tackle him just yet.

“Thank you,” Ryker said. “And please…be extra careful in Moscow. It’s not just Alvarez’s men who are the threat. Kai also poses a danger. You’re the only witness to his presence in your house the night of the attack. By now he has to know there’s a warrant out for his arrest. Be prepared for him to attack you.”

Ryker straightened a few of the papers on his desk. “If anything happens to you, I’ll never forgive myself. I failed you and your family once. I can’t fail again.”

The muscles in Jenna’s throat ached with the effort not to cry. Sometimes she forgot that Ryker blamed himself for what happened that night.

It wasn’t his fault he hadn’t warned her family in time. While trying to recover an accidentally deleted voicemail, Ryker had discovered a deleted, unheard message that Alvarez planned an attack on Jenna’s family. He’d immediately called her dad, but by then it had been too late.

Still…sometimes she did blame Ryker. If only he’d never lured Kai away from the CIA in the first place, maybe her brother would never have been involved with Alvarez.

And her family would still be alive.

Jenna fought the urge to squirm. It didn’t sit well, keeping secrets from Ryker. He was the closest thing to family she had left. But her loyalty was now, and always would be, to the memories of her parents and the twins. Ryker might have guessed she wanted revenge against Kai, but he’d never let her go to Moscow if he knew she wanted Kai dead.

Ryker gestured for Jenna to sit, then pushed a button on his intercom and instructed his assistant to let Tonelli back in. The man settled himself gingerly on the empty chair, then adjusted the crease in his trousers.

Jenna wanted to roll her eyes. This was an agent? Of what? Fastidiousness? He reminded her of one of her former college professors, a man who’d worn a perfectly pressed three piece suit every day to class and was so obsessed with order, he’d arranged the blackboard chalk by size and thickness.

“Okay, Tonelli, your little power play worked. You’ve forced my hand. But be clear. This is the SSU’s mission. Not the CIA’s.”

Even though he’d played into her hands, Jenna wanted to wipe the satisfied smirk off Tonelli’s face.

“Jenna,” Ryker continued, “Tonelli is fluent in Russian. He spent most of his childhood in Moscow.” For the next several minutes they discussed logistics and formulated a plan.

“The girl has to follow my orders,” Tonelli insisted. “And stay out of my way once Paterson surfaces.”

Jenna opened her mouth to comment, but a sharp look from Ryker had her pressing her lips together instead.

“If you convince Paterson to turn himself in and give up the microchip,” Ryker reminded them, “our extraction team will be on standby to bring Paterson back safely and take possession of the chip.”

“Sir, the CIA is perfectly capable—” Tonelli began.

“No. We’ve been over this, Tonelli. You’re serving strictly as a consultant. This is the SSU’s project. Once you find Paterson, he’s ours. Not the CIA’s. We were tasked by both the Department of Defense and the CIA to investigate Nevsky’s lab. The retrieval of the microchip is part of that assignment. And we will turn Paterson over to law enforcement once he’s been safely debriefed.” Then Ryker added, “Jenna, I’ll clear this trip with your trainers. We’ll work out how to get you caught up in time for graduation after you’ve completed your mission.”

“Thank you.”

Jenna was aware of Tonelli’s barely concealed anger as they wrapped up their discussion. The second Ryker dismissed them, Tonelli stalked from the room.

Jenna thought about letting him go, but since they were going to be working closely together over the next several days, she wanted to clear the air. So she followed Tonelli out of the building and onto one of the compound’s many stone-lined paths.

He slowed his steps as he reached a fork in the path, tilting his head as if trying to decide which direction to take—left to the picnic area and cottages beyond, or right to the medical offices. There was no doubt in her mind he was putting on a show. She wasn’t making any effort to hide.

Ah, to hell with it. She sprinted past him then turned so quickly that he’d knock her down if he didn’t stop.

He raised his eyebrow. “Excuse me, but you’re in my way.”