7
LUKE DIDN’T EVEN realize what time it was when he looked up from the computer. He was still sitting on the sofa in his damp towel. He’d popped into the shower an hour before to freshen up, but then an idea had struck and he returned to the computer before getting dressed.
After leaving Vanessa that morning, he’d spent the next six hours steeped in computer-programming code. He hadn’t done that in years. Getting up, he grabbed a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and yanked them on, then opened a secure video chat with his friend Jake at Homeland Security and waited for the signal to connect.
Jake’s face appeared on the screen; he appeared even more haggard than Luke felt. Jake had to have been working on this case for several days straight.
“Jake. You look like hell.”
“Thanks. Is that file what we thought it was?”
“Yeah, it’s mine. It’s incomplete, but it’s the satellite-imagery software that was taken.”
There was no doubt about it—this was Luke’s former company’s work. His work. The software was intended to help satellites scan the earth at a very fine scale—to the degree of homing in on faces, individuals, and tracking them. Luke had developed it after 9/11 to spot terrorists in places where human operatives couldn’t go. In that way, it was meant to save lives. In the wrong hands, however, it could also track any target the user desired—presidents, prime ministers, anyone—for assassination, for example.
The code had been changed. It had been camouflaged, mixed in with other nonsense coding and buried under layers of encryption—which was why he’d been asked to try to break it. And he had. Now, thanks to Jake, who kept him in the loop, they knew who had bought it, too. NSA filters had caught the files being uploaded in Asia. Some of it, anyway.
“Incomplete?” Jake asked.
“Yeah—this is only the imaging code—the section of the program that would be loaded up to the actual satellites is still missing.”
“Maybe we got lucky and they didn’t get it or it was corrupted.”
“More like this is the bait to prove they have it, and they’re waiting on payment for the rest. Or using this to interest various buyers, inspire a bidding war.”
“That makes sense. The uploads happened all over the place, Asia, Middle East, the US... We’re attempting to track all of them to locate the buyers and hopefully disrupt further transmission.”
“Any chance any of those transmissions happened in Puerto Rico?” Luke asked.
Jake’s eyebrows flew up. “What are you, psychic? That’s the common location among all of the transmissions. How did you know that?”
“A hunch,” Luke hedged. “I’d suggest checking travel manifests once you know the buyers.”
“Already in process. Hey, did you buy your boat back?” Jake had been on the yacht a few times and probably recognized the background in the video. He was trained to notice those kinds of details, after all, so Luke wasn’t surprised.
“No, only borrowing it.”
“Where are you?”
“On my way to Puerto Rico.”
Jake frowned deeply. “Bad idea. Let us handle this. I know you have skin in the game, but you need to step aside. I shouldn’t have told you this much.”
“But you did. I have a lead I want to follow. The operation is yours. I’m only after one thing.”
“Let me guess. Nicky Brooks?”
“Bingo.”
“And how do you know you’ll be able to get her? We’ve been searching for her for years with no success.”
“I have an ace in the hole.”
“Yeah, what’s that?”
“I’m here with her sister.”
Jake’s eyes went wide again. “Wait—that video footage I sent you—that’s Nicky’s sister?”
Luke nodded.
“Wow, that’s some powerful bait. Smart thinking, bringing her along.”
Luke started to say something, when he heard a sound behind him. He turned to find Vanessa at the door, looking horrified. She turned and ran.
“Luke, either way, you can’t—”
“Gotta go, Jake. Whatever happens, I’ll keep your name out of it, don’t worry.”
Luke slammed the laptop shut and then took off after Vanessa. She had to have heard Jake’s comment.
“Vanessa!” he called out as he roamed the halls.
She had to be on the boat somewhere. He stopped by her cabin to find it empty and then moved on to search the others.
As he got to the upper deck, he noted a change in the wind, the dark gray of the sky. They were heading into a storm.
“Vanessa,” he said again more softly, finally spotting her at the far end of the bow, leaning against the rail. The thin, white shirt she wore whipped around her body in the wind. She was barely covered by the flimsy material of a brightly colored bikini. As she turned to face him, Luke caught his breath.
She was so damned beautiful.
She was also very, very angry, the look of betrayal on her face cutting into him.
“Vanessa, let me explain.”
“How dare you?” she spat.
“I know you overheard Jake’s comment, but it’s not like that. He assumed how things were, and I set him straight.”
“But that’s how it really is, isn’t it? You might be protecting me, but all you want is to use me to lure my sister out so that you can put her in jail. And for sex, as it turns out. Well, forget it. I’m out on both counts.”
Tears welled and dropped down on her cheeks, but Luke could only afford so much sympathy. Taking her shoulders, he pulled her back around to face him.
“I didn’t use you for sex. I didn’t plan on that. I wanted you. You wanted me, too. And that had nothing to do with any of this. Nothing,” he bit out.
“Right. And going to bed with me wasn’t about making sure I’d cooperate? Not get in the way of you arresting my sister? Maybe sway me to your side more?”
Luke hesitated, offended by her accusation but also searching his conscience to make sure she wasn’t right. He wanted to find Nicky so bad that he wasn’t always sure he could trust his own motives. But then he shook his head.
“No. I didn’t even want to bring you along, remember? If you’d listened to me back in Tampa, I’d be here alone, and you’d be back there in police custody.”
She blinked at that, the logic reaching through the emotional response.
“That’s true. I’m sorry. I just, what that man said on the computer—” she stopped, her voice choked off. “It made it sound like it was all part of a plan or something.”
She wiped away some of her tears, still looking incredibly upset. And incredibly gorgeous.
“I can see how that sounded, but it wasn’t the case.”
“Who was he?” she asked.
“A friend at Homeland Security.” He shouldn’t tell her, but he had to prove to her that he was on her side.
He’d rather be here alone, knowing Vanessa was safe. He would rather face Nicky by himself and not hurt Vanessa in the process. But when she was close to him like this, he couldn’t imagine her being anywhere else.
“I didn’t even consider using you as bait. I wouldn’t put you in that kind of danger. It’s my job to protect you, remember?”
Vanessa looked as confused as he felt.
“And last night...”
Luke took a chance, drew her in and wrapped her against him as the winds picked up. The skies were getting darker.
“Last night was incredible,” he said against her hair. Lightning flashed in the distance. “Come on, we have to get inside.”
Once they were in the main cabin, Luke closed the weather-tight door. The boat could handle most rough weather, but they might still get tossed around a bit. He sat Vanessa down, trying to ignore the lovely shape revealed by the scant fabric she wore—and also the bruises and bandages she’d accumulated over the last few days.
“How is your injury?”
“It’s fine. I’m fine.”
She swallowed hard, looking miserable, and Luke knew he could take credit for that. He shouldn’t have given in to his desires the night before. He shouldn’t have even opened the door for her to think he was using her that way. He was supposed to be a professional.
They sat, poised on opposite sides of a large, blue sofa, and he resolved not to put her through any more difficulty.
“Let me tell you about what you heard when you found me earlier,” he said. She deserved to hear it, and so he told her about the software, the theft and what he was doing with Jake. How important it all was to national security.
After a few minutes, he paused when she held her hand up.
“Wait. So you’re telling me that my sister is some kind of spy?”
“In a sense, though not like a government spy. Probably for some corporate or international interests, yes. Or maybe for her personal gain, like an independent contractor. She developed a relationship with me in order to get inside my company and steal the software. And I fell for that, unfortunately.”
“But that was several years ago. Why is it only coming up now?”
“Well, for one, it was too hot to put on the market when she first took it, and so she probably had to lay low for a while. She’d also stolen an incomplete project—we were working out the problems. They would have had to find people to finish that work before it could be sold for the highest price. There are maybe only a handful of people in the world who could do that.”
“Okay, wow,” Vanessa said, shaking her head. “This is so unreal.”
“Unfortunately, it’s very real. The issue now is to get it back and to stop the people who stole it. This software is still cutting edge—no one has come close to developing anything like this—it could be very dangerous in the wrong hands.”
“It sounds like it could be very dangerous for anyone. Why would you develop such a thing? No one should have that much power, to be able to identify and track people from space.”
She saw him pull back, his gaze shuttering.
“I agree. It was soon after the 9/11 attacks, and we were all thinking aggressively. My company had already done a lot of work in facial-recognition technology, so this was the next step for us. It was exciting...and it was also profitable.”
Her gaze cooled. “So it was about the money for you? Like it is for them?”
Luke winced slightly, but what she said was the truth. He’d started working on computers when he was a kid because he loved it, and that love had been very profitable. Somewhere along the line, he’d lost perspective. Then he’d gotten it back the hard way.
He could see her anger. Her disappointment. And he knew that he deserved it.
“You’re right. I hold as much responsibility as anyone. I was the source for developing the software, and I was wrapped up in the potential, the profits. And the power. I was arrogant. With Nicky, too. It was why she tricked me so easily. I never saw what was going on until it was too late.”
Her shoulders sank. “I always feared that the worst was true, and now you’re telling me that it is. I’d always worried that my sister and brother had lived through any number of nightmares. Or worse, that they were dead and no one would ever know. On the other hand, I’d fantasize that they were living good lives and had been looking for me, too. I guess it’s rough to find out that my sister is a criminal.”
“You need someone to blame for that. I get it. And I know I am to blame, partly. Not for what she did, but for the fallout, certainly. But that’s why you need to understand what’s happening here, and that I need to keep you safe.”
Luke looked away; he needed to get a handle on his own emotions.
She scooted over the length of the sofa, sitting close to him and taking his hands in hers. He tried to pull away, but she didn’t let him.
“You made a mistake, but you didn’t make her do what she did. You didn’t make that man kill himself, either. You can’t take responsibility for all of it. Or for me, even. I made my own choices. I was just angry a few minutes ago. And hurt.”
“I know. I shouldn’t have—”
“How long do you think you should punish yourself for this? When do you get to let it go?”
He found he couldn’t answer as emotion choked his words back.
She shifted up onto his lap, facing him. Her hands framing his face as she looked at him intensely.
“You can’t save everyone, Luke. You can’t hold all of this on your shoulders.”
She leaned in, kissing him, her hands rubbing his shoulders as if to ease his burden. She made noises against his lips as if to comfort, and when she quietly apologized for what she’d said to him earlier, he pulled back.
“You don’t have to apologize for anything. Ever.”
“Even for this?” she said, a glint of mischief in her deep brown eyes as she leaned in and nipped at his lip.
“Definitely not for that.”
“This?”
She did the same to his earlobe before moving back to his lips. Luke groaned, resisting at first, and then he put his arms around her as he kissed her back. He needed her, and he knew that was a bad thing, but her comfort was impossible to resist. He hadn’t expected this, wasn’t prepared for it, and in his heart, he didn’t want to say no.
He’d pay for that later.
Vanessa was utter temptation. Her hands worked their way up under his shirt, then down inside his shorts. Her bikini was no barrier for him at all. As the winds picked up and the skies darkened around the boat, she took him inside. Luke was lost, his mind blanking to everything but the pleasure she offered.
The storm was north of them. There was no way they could turn back in this weather and no way he could turn away from Vanessa.
As she rode him, he gave in to it all. Gave in to her.
Taking her mouth with his in a desperate kiss as she tightened around him. He let go, shuddering underneath her.
He knew he’d keep her safe. He had to.
His hands were in her hair as he studied her face, her flushed features. He could spend forever looking at her beautiful eyes. Her mouth was ripe fruit, bruised and plump, and he couldn’t refrain from kissing her again.
“If anything happens to you—”
“It won’t,” she whispered, turning her head to nip at his finger, sucking the tip into her mouth and closing her eyes.
“You don’t know.”
“I do.”
“How?” he asked, trying to breathe as she started to move again, slowly rotating her hips, taking him with her as the passion spiked again.
“Because I have you looking out for me,” she said, sounding certain.
Her words moved him like nothing he’d ever experienced before. Her hands were on his shoulders, nails pressing into his skin as she started to lose herself in the moment, and there was no more talking. Luke hoped that she was right, because any hell he had gone through before wouldn’t even be comparable to what he’d feel if he lost Vanessa.
* * *
VANESSA WATCHED FROM the bow as the yacht approached the island. The storm had fallen behind them, a tropical system heading back to Florida. Here, it was bright, sunny and swelteringly hot. She soaked it up. She loved the heat, the moisture.
But they weren’t here for pleasure.
The night before, with Luke, had been even more powerful than their first night together. Maybe because she’d seen his pain and knew it was as deep as her own. They’d connected on a different level—she’d wanted to comfort him, not just to have sex with him. He accepted her comfort, and offered it in return.
What worried her now was that maybe her priorities were shifting. She wanted to find Julie, but now she had doubt. Now she had Luke.
She took a deep breath, settling her nerves. She’d read through his files, finding it all so sad. For her and for him.
The evidence was damning. Emails, communications that Luke had unearthed between Julie—who called herself Nicky then—and some other man who only wrote under a pseudonym: Black Horse. It was clear what they’d been planning, how they’d set Luke up, used him.
Like Vanessa had accused him of using her.
Yet Vanessa still—perhaps foolishly—believed that her sister might not be as bad as Luke thought. That there could be another explanation for everything that had happened. It had to do with this man, Black Horse—he was the one behind it all. Luke should be more focused on him, though she knew why he felt more betrayed by Julie. They’d been lovers—he’d trusted her, and probably had loved her.
Then again, what did she know about trapping international criminals, or love, for that matter?
Not much.
Vanessa looked around the deck, then at her watch. Where was he? She’d awakened alone, figuring that Luke was off taking care of some mysterious task or glued to his computer. His room was empty. Maybe he was on the bridge with the captain?
Then she saw him coming toward her and looking so amazingly gorgeous she forgot about everything else for a while. Vanessa knew that she was attractive, or at least pretty, in a rather ordinary way. She liked her hair, which she considered her best feature, though Luke said he loved her eyes. He was rather obsessed with her bottom, as well, she thought with a smile.
She was a little too curvy, in her opinion. She dressed conservatively for her work, and not even very seductively when she went out. If she bumped into parents of her students, or coworkers, she didn’t want to potentially be embarrassed.
But now she wasn’t like herself at all. The deep V neckline of the tank top that Luke had bought along with a denim skirt that only covered the basics—and which sported a label that she knew would cost her a month’s pay—were far more fashionable than she was used to. Her feet were adorned in thin, strapped sandals that wrapped around her ankle, a rhinestone teardrop hanging down the back of each heel.
As he approached, Vanessa was glad that she wasn’t dressed in her usual, more conservative clothing. She loved the expression on Luke’s face—he clearly liked this outfit on her.
Smiling, she felt as sexy as he seemed to think she was.
“Good morning, beautiful.”
He grinned in a wicked way that made her want to stretch and preen in front of him. She couldn’t repress her own joy at his greeting; it just bubbled up.
“Good morning. I was wondering where you were. I woke up lonely,” she said, shocking herself again at the sexy siren she was becoming.
“Sorry. I had some arrangements to make for when we get to the island.” He pulled her out of the chair and backed her up against the rail, kissing her until she couldn’t breathe.
“Luke,” she gasped, shocked by how quickly he could make her want.
A thrill chased down her spine at the thought.
“It’s so easy to get carried away with you.” He kissed her once more, softly, before he backed away.
“But we’re almost there.”
He nodded, his features serious again.
“Do we have a plan?” she asked, missing his kiss already as his tone shifted, all business.
“I made arrangements with a friend of mine to set anchor on their property. That will get us on the island quietly. The boat will be out of sight there. It’s private. Well hidden.”
“You do have some interesting friends,” she said. She supposed when you were as wealthy and powerful as he had been, that was to be expected.
“It comes in handy. This will be a safe spot. No one will know you’re there.”
“I think it’s better if they do. I’m going to be involved in this one way or another, Luke.”
“Vanessa, you have no training. No experience with this kind of thing. I can figure out how to make this work without putting you in danger.”
He trailed his fingers up and down her arm, sending tiny sparks all along the path. For a moment, she forgot their talk and enjoyed the touch. Then her eyes narrowed.
Now he was trying to seduce her into agreeing with him.
“I have a better idea.” She stepped closer, letting him get a nice view of what her V neckline barely covered.
“Yeah?” he choked out the word, coughing. “What’s that?”
“You’re right. I have no formal training. I know a decent amount of self-defense, but maybe,” she said, looking up at him as she pressed closer, “you could teach me more. You can train me.”
“There’s not enough time,” he objected, tipping his forehead against hers. “And I know what you’re up to.”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t think you can distract me with sex.”
“You mean like you were trying to do with me?” she asked, and she couldn’t quite repress a smile.
As much as this was all scary, disconcerting and not at all her usual way of behaving, Vanessa had to admit that with Luke it was almost...fun.
“You’re dangerous, Vanessa Grant,” he said, capturing her mouth for another kiss.
A thrill raced through her, but then Vanessa’s head told her that he was right. This wasn’t a game. She was trying to ease her nerves, she supposed. Facing all of this made her want to be someone else. Someone more capable, exciting and sexy. Like superspies Sidney Bristow or Annie Walker, who always managed to get themselves out of danger and save the day.
Because they were fictional, of course.
Vanessa wasn’t a spy; she was an elementary-school teacher.
“I know you’re right,” she said, dropping her hands and stepping away.
A doubting voice in her head said that maybe he was letting her down easy. Maybe he’d had her, and now he’d lost interest. Maybe he’d been able to pretend she was Julie at first, and maybe it was increasingly clear that she wasn’t. Maybe.
“Good. But some extra training wouldn’t hurt, just in case. We can work on your moves. Do you know how to shoot?”
Her brow lifted. “A gun?”
“Yes.”
“No. I don’t like them. I’d rather not.”
“Fair enough. I’m not crazy about them, either. But I can help you with some of your self-defense. I have two black belts.”
So that’s where all of that hard muscle came from, she thought, trying not to lick her lips at the thought.
No more sex with Luke. Sex was distracting.
Her body rebelled, but her mind took over.
“Thanks.” They were approaching the island now, and could see people, cars in the distance. “So what’s the plan beyond docking on your friend’s property?”
“We’ll leak that you’re on the island, I think. I’ll register you at a hotel. I’ll stake out the hotel, and if they come looking, I can follow them back to where they are, try to see who’s involved and what’s going on.”
“So I stay on the boat?”
“You’ll actually be safer in the house we’re borrowing. No one will make a connection between you and Mari, so they wouldn’t look there. I’ll use your name to draw them out. If they think you’re close, it won’t take long. Nicky, I mean Julie, or whoever she’s working with, won’t want you disrupting things.”
“Why not let the authorities handle it? They seem to know what’s going on. The Puerto Rican police, for instance?”
Luke shook his head. “There’s no way to know if anyone in the government is involved. People this powerful have a lot of reach. And if they suspect they’ve been detected, they might scatter and try another time. She’d be gone, again.”
“Isn’t it more important to stop this software from getting into the wrong hands than to stop Julie?”
“It’s probably one and the same thing.”
“Then that’s why I need to be here, too, and to help you.”
Luke pulled back, both to resist the temptation of her closeness and to correct her statement.
“No. You’re only here so I can keep you safe.”
Vanessa frowned. “But why would they come after me at all? It makes no sense. I have nothing to do with any of it.”
“My guess is that you’ve been looking for her, and you got too close. You drew attention to them. They couldn’t risk that.”
“They? So she is working for someone else?”
“Big operations like this usually aren’t individual. She could be involved with any of several criminal organizations or groups. Your sister likes money. Lots of it. With a deal like this, she could disappear for life on the payoff.”
“So do you think she had anything to do with trying to kill me?”
Luke pulled her in close to him. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
He hated telling her this; he knew he was twisting the knife. Vanessa stepped back, tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Maybe they forced her. Maybe she had no choice and this isn’t her fault... She might have no idea what happened.”
“Maybe,” Luke said, but clearly he wasn’t buying it.
She wiped tears from her eyes.
“I want to help. I know I was upset yesterday, but I can be bait. I can do whatever you need me to.”
“No way. Forget it.”
“This was never the deal. You know I came here to find her, too. You can’t keep me from doing that,” she stated stubbornly.
“Vanessa, I may not be able to keep you safe, otherwise.”
“You can’t keep me safe from everything.”
“I can try.”
She frowned, not at all happy with this plan. She might be kept safe, but she’d never have the chance to make contact with her sister. The yacht pulled into a secluded harbor, a lagoon, actually, that was surrounded by lush vegetation and flowers. A huge crescent beach sprawled out before them, and a magnificent stucco building was built into the forested hillside, blending into the landscape.
“Is that where your friend lives?”
“Mariana Soltis. You might have heard of her?”
Vanessa’s eyes nearly bulged from her head.
“The Mariana Soltis? The author? The one whose Dark Chronicle books are being made into a movie? I’ve read every single one,” Vanessa said, staring up at the house in awe.
Soltis wrote the most absorbing paranormal romances that Vanessa had ever read, full of mystical creatures and fantastic worlds. And very, very hot sex. Vanessa had lost more than one night’s sleep staying up to read the compelling stories.
The boat came to a gentle stop where the water was still deep.
“We’ll drop anchor here and take the outboard to shore. Mariana’s husband is a government official. He approved our stay on the island before we arrived.”
“Convenient.”
“It pays to know people,” Luke said with a grin, and winked.
Vanessa was still in shock. She’d seen pictures of Mariana in the news and on her book jackets. She was supermodel gorgeous as well as immensely talented. She also had a different man on her arm in every photo.
“Her husband? I didn’t know she was married.”
“Only for a year now.”
“How long have you been...friends?”
“A long time. Since college. She never graduated because she skipped all of her classes so she could spend her time writing. We used to harass her about it, but it turns out that was a good decision.”
“I would say so.”
Vanessa tried to get her mind around this new development. Luke had known one of the most upcoming, famous authors in the world right now. He spoke of her fondly, and Vanessa stopped herself from asking if they had ever been more than friends. Had he been one of the men on Mariana’s arm at some point in the past?
Watching Luke as he busied himself with getting ready to leave, and knowing how sexy Mariana was, Vanessa found it hard to believe that they had never been lovers.
And here she thought she was up to the task of seducing him? Suddenly, her sexy clothes made her feel ridiculous, but there was no time to dwell on her insecurities.
“Why do they think we’re here?”
Luke shifted uncomfortably, not meeting her eyes. “I told them I was here on a getaway and needed some privacy. Believe me, with how crazy Mariana’s life has been since the books and the movie, she understands.”
“A getaway. You mean, as lovers?”
“Yes.”
“But you said that we couldn’t...um, that it was a distraction.”
“It’s just a cover. We have to act like that when we have company. I can’t say I find that all too difficult, do you?”
“No. Not at all. I can do that.”
The problem would be dealing with the fact that it was playacting, when for Vanessa, wanting and caring for Luke was becoming very real. It would be so easy, even if they were only pretending, to let her heart slip further into trouble than it already had.
“Good. You’ll like Mariana—she’s great. Very down to earth. I think she’ll like you, too.”
Vanessa muttered something noncommittal as they crossed the deck to the level below, where they could access the motorboat that would take them to the island.
“Go pack up what you need, and I’ll meet you in twenty minutes.”
He was gone, heading down to the boat before she could say another word. Distracted by the notion of seeing Mariana perhaps?
Oh, there was a nasty, green monster rearing its head in her life, Vanessa realized.
When was the last time she was jealous of anyone? She often was a little envious of people who had seemingly perfect families or relationships, but not in a truly jealous way. But the idea of Luke wanting someone else...it created emotions inside that she had no right to feel. He wasn’t hers. She had no claim.
Back in her cabin, she closed the door behind her and drew in a slow, deep breath, then released it.
She needed a moment alone. A moment to deal with everything. Her feelings for Luke, the fact that she was here, trying to find her sister and who knows who else. That Luke didn’t want her involved in the search, and how she’d changed his mind. Now she was about to meet a famous author, one of her idols, who was Luke’s college buddy and likely a former lover.
It was a lot for someone to deal with, on top of everything else that had happened to her in the last three days. Vanessa’s life was usually predictable and routine. On purpose. She liked it that way. Now it was moving at a breakneck pace, and her emotions were changing every other hour.
She could deal with it. She would because the stakes were too high. While it might be difficult to act like lovers when they had agreed that they wouldn’t allow themselves to be romantically involved, she could pretend if she had to.
Julie was out there somewhere, she thought as she peered through the porthole. Her sister was here, and no matter what Luke said, Vanessa didn’t plan to just sit back and be an observer. Julie might need her.
It was that thought that strengthened her. Vanessa grabbed her bag and headed from the room, ready for anything that came her way.