Mercenary Trilogy - Willing Part 3

Daniel understood that kind of caution. All soldiers for hire did. Few men could be trusted in a world where money bought a soldier's allegiance. He'd been d.a.m.n lucky to hook up with Wolf and Hotwire, but they were getting out of the business, setting up some kind of security consultant firm. He wasn't ready for that kind of stability yet. Maybe he never would be.

He picked his way across the wreckage to where partially destroyed file cabinets indicated her dad's office had been. What had once been a computer was a melted ma.s.s of metal to one side, and the file cabinets he knew to be fire r.e.t.a.r.dant had nevertheless been unable to completely withstand the temperatures of the blaze.

They were almost completely destroyed, too, but something interested him about them. The files, or whatever might have been left of them, were gone. No charred bits of paper or manila folders remained.

"It was a standard weapon of ma.s.s destruction augmented by cylinders of a highly volatile substance, probably petroleum based." Josie's voice came from right behind him.

He turned to face her, not even tempted to question her verdict. "Whoever did this was serious about getting rid of the compound as well as your father."

"Yes."Maybe the bomb had been about the school after all, but Josie's instincts had said not, and even in theface of evidence to the contrary, his agreed.

"They've been back."She stared at him, her expression not registering understanding. She had to be exhausted."Since the blast...They came and emptied out whatever was left of your dad's file cabinets."Josie's moss green eyes widened, and she spun to look at where he pointed."But we didn't see anyone on the road.""They could have hiked in.""Then they would have left a trail hiking out.""If they were moving too fast for caution, yes."They found the trail and followed it, after Daniel saw that they were both armed with weapons he kept in his car at all times. The trail ended at a logging road, and fresh tracks indicated a four-wheel drive had been there recently. The width of the tires indicated a truck, but their tread was too common to get anything else from the tracks.

"Darn it." Josie sank to the ground, letting her head rest against her knees. "The tracks are too fresh forthem to be very long gone, but we can't follow on foot with any hope of catching them."

He said something pithy and unpleasant.

She looked up at him. "That's one way of putting it, but I think you've got some verb confusion going on.

He was in no mood to appreciate her subtle humor. "If I'd gotten to the hospital sooner, or come by herefirst, I could have caught their sorry a.s.ses."She shook her head."You doubt it?"

"I doubt your culpability in timing that they obviously took a lot of effort making sure was right.""I'd like to see whatever it is they wanted from your dad's files." But that was about as likely as TylerMcCall showing up to allay Josie's fears.

"No problem.""What do you mean?""I just finished computerizing dad's files. I've got a backup of the data on the hard drive in my apartment.

"I don't like computers much.""Hotwire told me. Don't worry. I'll do all the interfacing with the computer." She yawned."You need to sleep before doing anything else.""First, we've got to hike back. Then we have to see if Dad's journal survived. Then I can sleep."When she stood up, she wobbled, but like the trouper she was, she started marching back toward the charred buildings.

He shook his head, caught up with her, then bent down and lifted her over his shoulder in a fireman's

carry before she had time to figure out what he planned and stage a major protest. He started double-timing it back to the compound.

"What do you think you are doing?" Her words came out funny, like hiccups, because her diaphragm

was. .h.i.tting his shoulder."You're too tired to hike back.""I am not."He didn't bother to argue, but she wasn't so sanguine."Listen here, Neanderthal man, I'm a trained soldier. A mile hike is nothing for me.""You've been awake for twenty-four hours or more, inhaled smoke, saved your dad from a burning building and tracked perps at a running jog.""So? I'm not a wimp.""No, but you are a termagant.""What's that?"He smiled as he told her."I do not nag and I am not a shrew!""But you are overbearing on occasion.""You can say that when you're the one carrying me against my will?" she asked furiously. "If anyone's a termagant here, it's you.""Men can't be termagants.""You use pretty big words for a mercenary," she grumbled."I like to read.""I do, too, but the word I want to call you is one I learned listening to soldiers."He laughed, something he rarely did...except when he was with Josie. How could she think he didn't like her? She made him smile, and that wasn't easy."Put me down, Nitro, or I'm going to get mean, and I don't want to because you're helping me."

"Call me Daniel." He didn't like being reminded of his past when he was with her."What?""Daniel. It's my name.""Hotwire and Wolf call you Nitro.""I want you to call me Daniel.""Daniel, put me down or things are going to get ugly." The tone of her voice said she meant what she was saying.

They were more than halfway back to the compound, so he stopped and let her slide to her feet, his

hands loosely guiding her at the hips. When she was solidly on terra firma again, he should have let go,but he didn't.And she didn't move away immediately, but stood staring up at him like an accident victim. It was a look he'd gotten very familiar with on their last mission, but he still didn't know what it meant. She licked dry lips, and his body told him what he wanted it to mean. She was too close not to notice the change, and she jumped away from him like a scalded cat.

It wasn't the first time she'd responded that way to evidence of his desire, but his ability to deal with itrationally diminished the more he wanted her. "I can't help my reaction. If a woman is going to pressherself against me like a succubus, I'm going to get hard."

"I didn't press myself against you like a succubus, whatever that is...I didn't press myself at all. You'rethe cretin who insisted on carrying me and then, and then...""And then?" he taunted.

"Letting me down that way." She glared at him, but her expression was wounded.

d.a.m.n it. She was right. His hard-on was his own d.a.m.n fault, but his jaw locked on the words of apology he knew he needed to say.

She made a dismissive motion with her hand and spun away from him, setting off for the compound at a trot. He followed her the whole way back, letting her set the pace because of her fatigue, but anger must have given her strength because he had to jog to keep up with her.

When they arrived at the compound, he reached out and grabbed her shoulder.She went stiff. "What?"He wasn't angry with her. He was s.e.xually frustrated, and it wasn't her fault except that she was the object of his l.u.s.t, and he could hardly blame her for that. She didn't do anything on purpose to seduce his senses.

She didn't have to."I'm sorry." He could count on one hand the number of times he'd said those words in his life. The lastone he could remember had been as he stood over his mother's grave.

Her shoulders slumped. "It's no big deal."

He turned her around to face him and got a sucker punch to his gut at the sight of shimmering green eyes."It's not your fault you set me off like a Roman candle.""I...what?""Never mind. Just try to forget about what happened back there."She nodded, about to turn away again when he remembered something."It's not because I don't like you. I like you too much, and it's not your fault," he repeated."I-""Come on, show me where this footlocker is kept."She let him direct her toward the burned building and then picked her way through the debris to an area on the far right. He didn't know what had been there, but judging from what was left of the building, he guessed it was Tyler's secret bedroom. She bent down and grabbed what looked like it might have been a metal plate and started digging the ashes out of an area. He looked around for something to help her with and found a helmet.

With both of them working, it didn't take very long to dig down to where the floor had been. Under it was a rectangular sheet of composite, the lightweight but extremely st.u.r.dy stuff airplane floors were made out of. He'd used it himself in both Wolf's and his homes' designs.

The composite had two handles, and as she lifted it, he realized it was a door to an underground room. A cement stairway led downward in the dark. Josie stepped on the first tread, but he grabbed her before she could take another step.

Chapter 3.

"Y ou don't have a flashlight," Daniel said to her. "Wait and I'll get one from the SUV.""Don't worry about it. There's a light at the bottom of the stairs. Dad's safety room has everything."Everything turned out to be a supply of weapons sufficient to equip a small force, lights, food, a bed, two chairs, small table and the infamous footlocker."What, was he preparing for Armageddon?"Josie just shrugged. "Something like that. Dad didn't trust the shirts in Washington to keep us out of war.

"That sounded like Tyler."Grab the journal and let's go."She lifted the lid on the footlocker and pulled out a sealskin bag big enough to hold several journals."They're in here. He didn't say which one he wanted me to read, but he's been keeping them as long as I can remember."

"Do you need anything else from here?"

She didn't answer, but took a minute choosing a selection of weapons, including a belt knife that had been clearly made for a woman. Tyler had said Josie wanted to leave the life of soldiering behind, but she had one final mission to carry out, and apparently, she intended being adequately armed for it.

"The rest should be safe if we bury the access again."He figured she was right, and they did just that, taking time to leave the debris looking like all the rest.They were halfway down the mountain when he said, "You might as well get some sleep. We have to drive to my hotel so I can get my stuff before I can take you to your apartment.""You don't have to take me. I can rent a car and drive myself.""Do you really think a small coastal town is going to have a car rental agency?""It's not that small." She bit her lip, obviously in thought. "I don't think.""Look, I'm not leaving you to fend for yourself.""I'm a big girl.""Actually, you aren't. You're on the small size of average for a woman. It always puzzled me why you became a mercenary. You'd be at a major disadvantage during hand-to-hand combat."

"I didn't really have much choice, but as for proximity fighting, my dad taught me how to neutralize anadult male in one-on-one combat before I hit p.u.b.erty.""Did he teach you the distinct disadvantages you faced in a hostile environment after it?""Men are more vulnerable than women, particularly women as boyish in their build as I am.""You aren't shaped like a boy, and I wasn't just talking about developing b.r.e.a.s.t.s.""Rape isn't limited to women either."She was right, but her size ensured she would always be more at risk for that kind of thing than he was.

She'd probably call him a chauvinist if he said so, but he was glad she'd chosen to leave the soldier for hire world behind.

Josie woke up as the big SUV came to a halt and its engine went silent. They were parked in front of a motel.

"It could take a few minutes. Do you want to come up or stay here?"

She still felt groggy, and her mind had a difficult time translating his words. "What...Oh, I'll stay here."Her eyes slid shut again to the sound of his car door closing. The snick of locks going into place indicatedhe'd pressed the lock b.u.t.ton for her safety.

A blast of cold air woke her again when he opened the door. Summer did not always mean warm sunshine on the Oregon coast, particularly in the morning. A cold wind kept things chilly until close to noon most days.

He tossed a duffel bag and a weapons case behind his seat before getting in. "I think we should get some

breakfast before going to your place."She was so tired, the thought of food made her nauseous. "I'm not hungry."He reached out and cupped her nape.The feel of his fingers against her skin shocked her into stillness. Nitro rarely touched anyone...except her, and inexplicably, he seemed to touch her all the time. But beyond that was the sheer physical

sensation the slightest connection between them caused. In her vulnerable, just-woke-up state, it

paralyzed her.

His thumb brushed against the underside of her jaw. "You're pale."

"I need more sleep."

"No doubt, but you need to hydrate yourself, too. Especially after inhaling smoke."

Come to think of it, her throat was pretty raw. She'd been too stressed to take stock of her aches and

pains before now, but suddenly each discomfort was all too grating."I want a shower and clean clothes."His hand dropped away from her neck. "h.e.l.l, I should have thought of that before I checked out. You'l

have to wait until we get to your apartment.""House.""What?""I live in a house, near the campus. I share it with a roommate.""You can't possibly need to share."She knew what he meant. Mercenaries were paid well, and she'd been in the business since she was eighteen. "I own the house, but Claire was looking for a place, and I offered to let her move in with me."

"Why?" He sounded as if he could not imagine wanting a roommate, and probably he couldn't. Nitrowas a loner despite his close friendship with Wolf and Hotwire."She's a computer geek who has a hard time communicating with anything not driven by binary code and electric impulses.""Sounds like a lot of fun as a housemate.""Actually, she is. We understand each other better than you might expect. Neither of us fits into the world around us, and that gives us a common ground. Besides, I like not being alone, having someone there

when I get home from cla.s.ses."

"Why did you decide to get out of the business?" He didn't sound condemning, or worried like her dad did when he talked to her about her decision to change her life.

Nitro just sounded curious.

"I woke up one day and realized being a soldier was my dad's vocation, not mine."

"So now you want to study computers?"

"Yes.""And Hotwire is helping you?" There was something in Nitro's voice she was too tired to interpret."Yes. He's amazing with a keyboard.""Being savvy with computers does not mean he knows what to do with a woman."He sounded jealous. She must be really tired if her mind was playing those kinds of tricks on her."If you say so." She was the last person to comment on a man's abilities in that area.She didn't quite catch the word that Nitro uttered in response. "What are you going to do once you're done with school?""Hotwire offered me a job with his and Wolf's new security consulting business.""Is that what you want?""I don't know. I'm in an accelerated degree program, but I've still got several months before I have to decide where exactly I want to go with my new life."

Nitro pulled into a gas station and got out of the car, then disappeared into the convenience storeattached to the station.He came back carrying a small carton of milk and a m.u.f.fin. "Here. I don't want you getting sick.""What about you?"He reached behind the seat and pulled a bottle of water from the small cooler on the floor. "This'll do for now."

She drank her milk and ate the m.u.f.fin, which settled her stomach, and then fell asleep again.

Daniel woke Josie on the outskirts of Portland for directions to her house. She gave them, and he found himself in a quiet neighborhood west of the city center. He expected her to live closer to the PSU campus, but she had bought a house in a residential neighborhood obviously designed for families. There was a park right across the street from her modest white ranch-style house.

He grabbed his gear while she climbed out of the car and followed her to the front door. She unlocked it and pushed it open.

"Josette, what in the world happened to you?" The feminine shriek came from a bespectacled woman about Josie's height, but there the similarities ended.