Chapter 3

Chapter

Three

F or once, Noah was appreciative of London’s notoriously heavy traffic. He turned on his police scanner but wasn’t surprised when there was no report of any incident at Zara’s home. He glanced at her and noticed the outline of her cell phone lodged under her shirt, being held in place by her lingerie. Without asking, he reached down her shirt, into her bra, and snatched it from her, tossing it out the window.

“Hey,” she snarled. “I just got that phone last week. Do you have any idea what that cost me?”

“I’m guessing not more than your life is worth.”

“Just who the bloody hell do you think you are?”

“I thought I covered that when I helped you escape your uninvited visitors. I’m assuming, of course, they were uninvited. In case you’ve forgotten, I’m the guy who just saved your ass.”

Noah used the Rover’s Bluetooth capability to call Croft. He refused to think about time differences, figuring Croft needed to know there was trouble, then he could alert the rest of the team.

“Hello?” came the groggy voice.

“Croft, wake up! We’ve got trouble.”

“Noah? What the hell? Where are you?”

Noah could hear Croft coming fully awake.

“London. Well, technically, headed out of London. I have Zara Hughes with me. A small assault team just tried to get to her at her place. I’ve dumped her phone, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to go back to the Savoy. I’m going to toss my phone as soon as I hang up. Avery left me with the secure laptop, and I’ll establish a secure phone line when we get settled. I’m headed to our European bolt hole. I’ll contact you once I have us safe.”

“Gotcha. I’ll get everything rolling on this end. Is Hughes all right?”

Noah glanced over at her. “I can’t tell if she’s annoyed, scared, or a combination of both, but no worse for wear. I’m betting you can’t say the same thing for Finn.”

Croft chuckled. “Well, she’s not complaining at the moment. Of course, she’s exhausted and sound asleep, but I’ll tell her you asked after her. Take care of Hughes, she’s Finn’s best friend. And Noah, Hughes isn’t Finn. She’s going to be a major pain. Contact us when you’re in place.”

“Will do,” Noah said before taking his own phone and headset and tossing them onto the highway as they drove through the outskirts of London. Noah watched via the rearview mirror as both were crushed beneath the wheels of the large moving truck directly behind them.

“So, you’re Noah Taylor, and Finn is with Croft? When did that happen? I just spoke with her night before last.”

“It seems your friend thought better of her decision to run off to London and went home yesterday.”

Noah’s eyes swept all the mirrors to ensure they weren’t being followed, but he continued to take a circuitous route out of the city.

“I’m not sure if she realized the danger her brother brought down on her head wasn’t over or figured it was better to be waiting for Croft at home than to have him catch up with her. I’m not sure she has enough sense to understand neither of you is safe, but she was right about Croft.”

“That’s all fine and good. Don’t think I’m not grateful for the assistance you gave me back there, but if you drop me off at Scotland Yard or MI-6, I can make a report about what’s happened…”

“The team will take care of that from our headquarters in Mesa. We prefer to control the dissemination of information.”

“Dissemination of info…” She sighed, then continued, “I’m sure you want control, but you won’t control me. I need you to drop me off. It looks like you’re headed out of town, so you can just drop me at the closest tube or train station, and I’ll get myself back.”

“Did you miss the part where those guys jammed your phone and circumvented your security system, so you were cut off from any kind of help? I know Edmond LaCroix?—”

“How do you know who I was talking to?” she interrupted.

He looked at her and laughed. “I was eavesdropping on your phone. As I said, I know LaCroix. He’s a lazy sonofabitch. My guess is he shrugged off your call and has gone back to eating donuts or whatever the S?reté’s equivalent of that is.”

“Oh, that’s rich coming from the guy who left the military—a guy with a heavily redacted service record. Was it intelligence or something far more nefarious? Of all the men at Wild Mustang, you seem to be the one people fear the most. Then without any warning, you left for a cushy job with a private security firm.”

He laughed. “If you know my background, then you know enough about Wild Mustang to know it’s far from cushy. I think you’re trying to get a rise out of me, Zara.” He felt his cock throbbing against his fly. “Which at this point is redundant.”

She glanced over at his lap, saw the evidence of his arousal, and blushed, which was kind of endearing.

“No,” she said, rolling her eyes and focusing forward. “What I’m trying to impress on you is I know you have no legal jurisdiction to take me anywhere I don’t want to go, and you need to honor my request to let me out of this vehicle. Now, Mr. Taylor.”

“Not a chance, Zara. I think we ought to be on a first-name basis, don’t you? Finn involved our firm in whatever mess her brother stumbled into, and our team is still figuring out how all the pieces fit. The assault on your home this morning should prove whoever is pulling the strings is more than willing to kill to achieve their goal. Until we know what that is, there’s nothing we can share with the authorities. In most situations like this, if we get them involved too early, they just get in the way. Since Croft’s girl involved us, we feel an obligation to protect those of you who are in danger. That means, until further notice, you’re with me and will do what I tell you.”

“The bloody hell I will. Like you said, Finn hired you… not me,” she hissed, then took a deep breath. He wondered if she realized how it emphasized the size of her breasts? “I don’t know anything more than you do,” she said in a calmer tone. “I’m an investigative journalist and think this could be a big story. I mean to see it through to the end.”

“In case you missed it, your end was supposed to be this morning at your place.”

“Damn it, Taylor, let me out!” Zara said, her anger returning to the fore.

She had a foul temper. Under other circumstances, it might be interesting to find out if the fire that fueled her temper extended to her other emotions.

“No,” he said calmly, watching her take another deep breath, trying to rein in her infamously nasty disposition.

“You do realize you’re headed west, right?” she asked in an irritably civil tone.

“Your point being?”

“Europe is east of London, you clueless idiot. You told Croft we were headed to your European safehouse.”

He chuckled. “You’re a reporter. Let me give you a little inside tip. Often, when a field operative thinks there is a possibility a conversation will be overheard, said field operative gives out bad information. We call that misinformation. We aren’t headed to Europe; we’re headed to a place that we keep in the middle of nowhere.”

“Where, pray tell, is that?”

“It’s a secret,” he said, teasing her.

Noah found he was rather enjoying irritating Zara.

“God damn it, Taylor! Let me out of the damn vehicle. I have things to do.”

“No. Pay attention, Zara, I’m not going to repeat myself. You have one thing and only one thing to do—stay alive. My job is to make sure you do. That means you’re with me until we get this figured out and neutralize the threat.”

“Excuse me?” she asked incredulously. “I don’t think so. I had nothing to do with you getting involved and want even less to do with having you act like some overzealous bodyguard. I am quite capable of taking care of myself.”

Noah was glad the traffic around them was beginning to thin out. He’d be able to relax a little once they were on the open highway, and he could keep a clear field all around them. Noah remained silent as he put distance between them and the city and hopefully, those who had come gunning for her. He waited for her to respond and didn’t have long to wait.

“Well?” she snarled. “Don’t you have anything to say?”

“Arguing with you is a waste of time. You’re hell-bent on doing what you want, and I’m not going to let you. No bitching and moaning on your part is going to influence me in any way, and you’re too pigheaded to listen to reason.”

“Pigheaded? I’m pigheaded? God, I despise arrogant men. Let me out of the damn vehicle.”

He shook his head and grinned. “No.”

“You can’t tell me no!”

“I just did. You’d better get used to it. I suspect you’ll be hearing it a lot from me.”

“The instant, and I mean the very instant, you stop this vehicle, I’m going to get out and scream bloody murder.”

“Good thing I have a full tank of petrol and a full auxiliary tank as well. When we get where we’re going, you can yell, shout, and curse at the top of your lungs if you want. It won’t do any good and won’t change anything.”

“You are a bastard of the first order.”

“Yes, ma’am… I most certainly am,” he said agreeably.

Z ara shrieked in frustration. The man was infuriating—sexy as all get-out, but absolutely infuriating.

They drove for hours. Zara found the weight of what had happened combined with the steady monotone of the engine oddly soothing and found she was fighting sleep.

“I meant what I said, Zara. I’m not stopping until we get where we’re going. You may as well get some rest.”

“I’m hungry.”

“Too bad. I’ll fix you something to eat when we get there.”

“Can’t you just stop to get us something to eat?”

“And have you scream your fool head off? Thanks, but no thanks.”

“What if I promise not to?” Zara said, trying to sound reasonable.

He laughed. “No.”

Zara swore under her breath, turned away from him, gazing out the window, and finally dozed off. When she woke, it was late afternoon, and they were on a deserted road in a desolate area. Taylor was pulling onto the shoulder of the road.

“We have a couple more hours to go. If you need to relieve yourself or want to stretch your legs, go ahead.” Noah tossed her some wipes.

“Not worried I’ll run off?” she challenged.

What was it about the man that set her on edge? She should be trying to be nice and win him over, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself from taking verbal jabs at him… not that they seemed to make much difference.

“Not particularly. If you want to give it a try, knock yourself out. I’m going to give you a little privacy while I do the same.”

“What? Run off? My luck hasn’t been that good.”

Not knowing how much longer they would be, Zara left him on one side of the Range Rover while she found a small group of shrubs and crouched down. When she was finished, she folded up the wipe, put it back into the individual packet, and placed it in her pocket. As Noah hadn’t come around to her side of the vehicle, she nonchalantly headed off in the opposite direction, careful not to attract his attention.

She never heard a sound behind her, but when she glanced over her shoulder to recheck where he was, she could see him loading a handgun. The bastard meant to kill her! He was a part of whatever Reid and Finn had stumbled on. Zara’s instincts took over, and she began to run in a zigzag pattern to make it more difficult for him to get off an accurate shot. She had to get away and get to Finn. If Taylor was trying to kill her, it most likely meant Croft and the rest of the Wild Mustang team were in Fariq’s employ, which meant Finn was in danger too.

Zara didn’t hear the shot but felt something hit her in the butt. It wasn’t nearly as painful as she thought a bullet might be. She reached around and found the reason for that. He hadn’t shot her at all—he’d darted her. The sonofabitch had hit her with a tranquilizer. She could hear him running toward her but couldn’t get her body to respond. It seemed as though there was a dense fog gathering around her, making it impossible to move in anything but slow motion. Gradually, it robbed her of consciousness.

As Zara crumpled, Noah’s strong arms went around her.

“No.” She feebly pushed at him.

“Easy, Zara, I’ve got you,” he said as blackness descended over her like a shroud.

N oah smiled. Even though she was unconscious, he liked the feel of her in his arms. She just seemed to fit. He carried Zara back to the vehicle. Hoisting her over his shoulder, he arranged the back area of the Range Rover, so it was padded, and she wouldn’t wake up too stiff or sore. As he glanced at her upturned derriere over his shoulder, he had a passing thought that there were a lot of ways he wouldn’t mind making Zara ache but folded into the back of the vehicle wasn’t one of them. He sat her inside the back and leaned her against the side of the opening, then took a small length of silk cord and bound her hands and feet, stuffed a handkerchief into her mouth, securing it with duct tape. He laid her down gently, placing her head on a pillow, and looked down at her, smiling. He wouldn’t mind having Zara bound and gagged, but it would be a lot more to his liking if she was naked and because she had given her consent to play. He laid a lightweight blanket over her, completely covering her. Closing and locking the back, he checked to make sure no one passing the parked vehicle would see her. He got back behind the wheel and pulled off the shoulder.

Before heading out for the final stretch to the safehouse, Noah stopped at the last market and picked up pantry items, fresh food, and equipment that might make the time they had to spend together at the safehouse more enjoyable. Unfortunately, the small store didn’t carry a spreader bar or nipple clamps… now that would have made their time together a lot of more entertaining, not to mention pleasurable. He put the bags on the passenger seat and floorboard, then headed toward the isolated small house the firm maintained as one of their bolt-holes.

Noah arrived at the shepherd’s cottage located on a large parcel of land on the coast of Wales, with acres of lush rolling hills to the front and sides and the Irish Sea behind it. The firm allowed two local shepherds to graze their herds on the pasture, so anyone passing by would see they were in use. Both shepherds were ex-British Special Forces, several of the men at the firm, including Noah, had known for years. The property was strategically placed and landscaped to allow Avery to land the company jet or one of its helicopters close to the dwelling.

The cottage faced a small, fenced front yard that wrapped around to a beach at the back, bordering on the ocean with a private and well-concealed cove. All in all, not the worst place to hole up with a beautiful woman. He shook his head, then put their things away. Not something he needed to be thinking—this was business, not pleasure. Stunning as she was and as tempted as he might be to play with the fiery beauty, she was Croft’s girl’s best friend, which meant she was off-limits for anyone at Wild Mustang who wasn’t looking to make some kind of commitment. Besides, he had no need of a woman like Zara in his life.

The last thing he brought into the dwelling was Zara herself. He used his knife to cut her loose. The tranquilizer must be very effective, even removing the duct tape hadn’t disturbed her slumber. He turned back the bedcovers of the only bed in the only bedroom and laid her down. The couch in the sitting room had been chosen for its ability to let someone sleep comfortably, and there was an air mattress stowed away on the top shelf in the closet if needed. Noah placed Zara on the bed and thought about removing her outer clothes to make her more comfortable, but realized the sports bra she was wearing as a top was the only thing covering her naked breasts. His dick throbbed, reminding him again how long it had been since it had been enveloped in a beautiful woman’s wet sheath. Noah decided she could sleep in what she had on.

Leaving her sleeping, he got the communications system from its hiding place, set up, and called to check-in.

“Noah?” came Avery’s soothing voice.

“Hey, beautiful. How goes it?”

“We’re just dandy, but none of us had a party with a bunch of global thugs this morning.”

“What can I say? When you’re popular, everybody wants to play.”

Avery snorted. “Right. Whatever went down at Zara’s has not made any kind of ripple anywhere. We’ve alerted the police, and they’ll keep an eye on the place just in case. We assured them we had her protection well in hand and would be providing close cover. We agreed if and when we knew something specific, we’d share information with them.”

“I told her the same thing.”

“How did she react to the ‘being under our protection’ portion of that statement?”

“Not particularly well.”

Avery laughed. “I’ll bet that’s putting it mildly. Finn indicated Zara wasn’t likely to just go along.”

“And how is the future Mrs. Crofton?”

“Concerned for her friend and brother but seems to be very happy to be back with Croft. Of course, Mandy has already started talking about planning the wedding.”

“Mandy’s a good girl. John is lucky to have her.”

Avery laughed. “I’m not sure Mandy is exactly what the rest of you think she is, but I’ll let you have your little fantasies. Fact is, you, especially, are more inclined to go for a Finn or Willa than a me or Mandy.”

“You?” laughed Croft. “Avery, darlin’, you have a lot of wonderful qualities, but quiet and sweet ain’t among them.”

“Yes, they are,” she protested.

“You keep telling yourself that. When is Mac due back?”

“He should be rolling in tonight. John has assured him everything can wait until tomorrow, but we’re going to want an update from you and a conference to set up a game plan for going forward.”

“How’s Fariq?”

“I think he’s feeling pretty safe with us and doesn’t seem inclined to make trouble.”

“So, he’s just abdicating to Springer? That’s not good. I think we should include Zara in our call tomorrow. I think she may know some things that will help.”

“Take care, Noah. Let us know what we can do to assist.”

“Don’t worry about us. No one knows we’re here, and I’ve got Zara safe as a bug in a rug.”

“Keep in mind, there are those who say that particular bug has fangs and claws.”

Noah shook his head. There was no way he would share with Avery that he wouldn’t mind if she sank those fangs into him or raked his back with her claws, as long as he’d breached her slit and was plowing her when she did it. Again, his dick spoke to him about the length of time since he’d let it come out to play with something other than his fist. He told his dick to shut up.

“Take care, Avery. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

Noah used the sophisticated security system to check their location and found nothing of interest. He got up from the desk and walked into the bedroom, expecting to see Zara still asleep in the bed. His first inkling something was wrong was the feel of the ocean breeze coming through the open window. A quick glance at the bed confirmed his worst fear…

Zara had flown the coop!