Chapter 14
“Marc?”
Jerking, he realized Kendall had asked a question. “Sorry. What did you ask?”
“I was wondering who built this. Hunters?”
“Probably.” Looking around, he chuckled, “But it looks like it hasn’t been used in a long time.” Bringing his gaze back to her, he added, “I wish I could offer you more, but—”
“Oh, Marc,” she reached out and placed her hand on his arm. “This is fabulous! We’ve got walls that won’t blow over in a gust of wind…a way to keep out wild animals, and a stove! What more could we ask for?”
Cocking his eyebrow, he stared, causing her to laugh.
“Okay, okay! I suppose we could have a hot shower or a big bathtub to soak in, room service from a five-star restaurant, and maybe a big, soft bed!”
At the mention of a shower, tub, and bed Marc’s brain short-circuited, images of a naked Kendall flashing through his mind. Willing his cock to behave, he stared at her smiling face, acknowledging how well she was handling their situation.
He felt each of her fingers burning into his arm, causing an electric jolt throughout him. He stared into her eyes, bright with the firelight flickering in their reflection, and her smile rivaling the flames. Unable to stop himself, he lifted his hand to cup her cheek, his thumb rubbing her smooth skin. “Amazing…you’re amazing, Kendall.”
She leaned her head slightly into his palm, loving the feel of his touch. Drawn to him like a moth to the flame, she closed her eyes for a moment, slipping into the fantasy of a man like him being interested in a woman like her. When she opened her eyes, his face was a whisper away. His gaze held hers, as though seeking permission… she hoped seeking permission. Throwing caution to the wind, she stood on her tiptoes and closed the distance.
Surprised as her lips moved over his, even though he had started it, Marc welcomed their silky warmth as her arms reached up to his shoulders. The light touch became deeper, more possessive. She moaned into his mouth and, taking advantage, he slipped his tongue inside, the unique taste of her intoxicating. As soon as his tongue stroked the inside of her mouth, hers thrust forward tangling with his. Twisting heads as their noses bumped, he breathed her in, the storm outside forgotten as she became his lifeline.
It had been a while since Kendall had been kissed—thoroughly, completely kissed. In fact, as her body reacted to the taste, texture, and touch of his mouth on hers, she no longer had any memory of any kiss before, this one rocking her to her core. Squeezing her legs together, she felt the damp at the apex as her nipples pressed against his chest. Not knowing where the kiss was leading she realized she did not care—as long as it led to the two of them together.
Instinctively he slid his arms around her, desiring to lift her in them, but the twinge in his ankle shot a dose of reality through him. “Fuck,” he moaned against her lips as he shifted his weight back to his good foot.
The slight jolting of their bodies seemed to bring Kendall out of her lust-filled haze. Rocking back on her heels, her chest heaved as she gulped in air, the kiss having stolen her oxygen. Her eyes pinned his, unable to read what was in their depths, but she knew hers must have shown her acceptance of whatever the kiss was leading to.
Marc, decidedly not caring about his foot or his previous headache, recognized the desire in her eyes before his gaze dropped to her kiss-swollen lips. Licking his own, the taste of her still there, he forced his body to behave. Jesus, I can’t take advantage of her! Even as the thought crashed through his lust, he wondered if he would be able to control himself. Sucking in a deep breath before letting it out slowly, he battled the desire to tell her they needed to get naked and horizontal as fast as possible. Instead, he said, “We should…uh…eat something and then…uh…” The survivalist part of his brain, numb with the kiss, was unable to think of what else they needed to do. Staring at her, he hoped she retained more sense than he did.
“Yeah…” she said, her breathing slowly coming under control. “Eat…that’d be good. And then, uh…” She reluctantly pulled her eyes away from him and looked around. “We need to get things in place here…for comfort.” She kept her eyes down, worried that a man like Marc would never be interested in her out in the real world. Maybe he only kissed me back because of the crazy, intense situation we’re in. Not staring at his handsome face gave her common sense the kick it needed to spring back into place.
Stepping back, she offered him an apologetic smile, knowing she had instigated the kiss. “I’ll get a place for us to sit so you can take the pressure off your foot.” Glad for a purpose, she turned and walked over to the duffle, unzipping it and rummaging through the contents to see what she needed.
Marc watched her for a second before lifting his face to the roof, his hands on his hips, sighing in frustration. He wanted to howl, but figured sounding like a wild and wounded animal probably was not the best idea. Although I feel wild and wounded! Chastising himself for taking advantage of her and for not being able to fully take care of her, he hobbled over to the stove, determined to make sure the fire kept going. She was not like the easy girls he picked up on his hikes or camping trips and the sooner he accepted she was an important research doctor and his mission, the sooner he would get his straining cock under control.
*
Jack checked his phone in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana hotel room he was staying in.
“Mr. Bryant? Kenneth Rhodes here.”
Glad to hear from the doctor, Jack replied, “I haven’t heard anything new about your daughter yet.”
“I understand but, actually, I wanted to let you know of a new development. In light of what has happened, Homeland Security is asking for a contingency from my organization to meet in D.C. since Kendall won’t be there.”
“I’ve already gotten a call from my FBI contact,” Jack confided, “telling me that he thought this would happen in a few days.”
“I have to make those plans and decide who will go. Please keep me up on the latest about Kendall.”
Jack hesitated for a second, having been told of Marc’s accident, but chose to keep that information to himself. Kendall’s father would do nothing but worry and there was no new information to pass on.
“We’re still in contact with our man and everything’s under control. As soon as the snow stops we’ll be able to extract them.”
After Jack disconnected a knock on the connecting door sounded before Patrick walked in. “Got anything new?” Discussing the upcoming meeting, they turned their conversation to the possible suspects at the NCBRT.
“Cliff doesn’t hide his dissention in the group, does he?”
Jack shook his head and replied, “It makes me wonder what he’d do to rise up in the organization. Or if he’d sell them out because he’s disgruntled.”
“Estelle Barnaby?”
“I hated like hell on our last case to think that someone from the FBI could be selling the Bureau out but, now, I have to admit, I’m more willing to take everyone at face value, as a possible suspect. So even though she’s from Homeland Security, I can’t rule out that she might have a hidden agenda.”
“I assumed the attempt on either the elder or the younger Dr. Rhodes’ lives was due to their knowledge but then, from what we’ve learned, they have no special knowledge that the other researchers wouldn’t have.”
“That brings me back to the meeting in D.C. and what DHS wanted from them,” Jack stated, shaking his head. I hate like hell not knowing the motive. But let’s go back and look at opportunity and means.”
Patrick leaned back in his chair, scrubbing his hand over his face. “Marc said the hangar was supposed to be secured and yet the sabotage occurred there.”
“I’m waiting to hear what Nick and Monty come up with from Alaska.”
“Since everyone from the NCBRT was here and not there, none of them could have sabotaged the plane.”
“From what Marc said, it was more than just stealing his supplies. It had to be someone with specific airplane knowledge. To drain his gas tank but tinker with the fuel gauge so that it appeared full…that takes special skill.”
“So, no one from here?” Patrick asked.
“No one here…but maybe someone here directing what was happening in Alaska. Someone with serious connections,” Jack surmised.
*
“I don’t give a shit if you’re pissed or not! You’ve had a serious security breach here, under your nose, and I want answers,” Monty growled.
Kevin stood toe to toe with the Saint, both men’s stances unyielding. Nick stepped forward, his granite expression just as hard.
“Look, I’m telling you I’ve looked at the security tapes from the hangar and there’s nothing. Whoever got in knew what they were doing and blanked out the cameras. I’ve got my tech people on it and a contingency of agents combing over the hangar.”
“Who knew about the flight?” Nick asked.
Kevin turned his gaze back to the other agent, heaving a sigh. “This did not come from the inside. I’m telling you, I know my people here and this was not an inside job.”
“Someone knew my teammate was here with his plane—knew ahead of time. Someone knew what the mission was and someone had enough time to get an accomplice who was adept at sabotaging a plane. That had to have come from inside,” Monty argued.
“The only people who knew about this was myself, Hank…Henry Tomlin. One other agent, Sharon Chikuk, knew as well. She works in our Fairbanks office. Those are the only three agents who knew. I can’t tell you who knew back at the Bureau’s headquarters or who knew from Homeland Security. So you see, we were hardly the only ones involved. The leak wasn’t from my team!”
“What about the hangar? Who takes care of the planes, refueling…all of that?”
“Airport personnel, but they’re vetted by us. We know who’s in here and they’re not allowed here without someone with them.” Kevin looked to the side, his mouth twisted in a grimace and added, “And before you ask, Hank was with them when they refueled Marc’s plane.”
Nick stated, “I need to talk to him.”
Shaking his head, Kevin stood with his hands on his hips. “Fine. He’s at the hangar right now. I’ll take you over.” He pierced Nick and Monty with his glare, saying, “I know this is what you have to do, but as far as I’m concerned, I know my people.”
“You may know your people, but what about the threat of terrorism?” Monty asked. “We have to look at everything since one of the groups the Rhodes are working with is the International Olympic Committee.”
Shoulders sagging, Kevin admitted, “Until just the last year or so, Alaska, for whatever reason, was the only state in the U.S. that did not have an active terrorist cell. Then, in 2015, we lost that designation. It’s active…we keep an eye on it, but don’t have the resources that other states do to monitor what’s going on.”
Nick glanced at Monty and gave a silent signal. As Nick followed Kevin to his vehicle, Monty detoured quickly. Placing a call to Luke, he said, “Start checking into the recent terrorist cells in Alaska. I’ll give more info later but, for now, see what you and Charlie can dig up.”
“On it,” Luke assured before disconnecting.
Monty jogged over, climbing into the back seat of Kevin’s vehicle.
*
“We weren’t in here that long,” Hank said, his eyes wide, Adam’s Apple bobbing as he swallowed audibly.
Monty wasn’t sure if Hank was concerned because he was being questioned or excited because something out of the ordinary was happening.
“Just walk us through what you did,” Nick ordered, trying unsuccessfully to hide his irritation at the over-eager rookie agent.
Tilting his head to the side, Hank scrunched his forehead in thought. “Well, I got here about nine at night and met the two-person crew. They had badges from the airport with names matching the ones on the list I was given. I opened the door over there,” he pointed to the side door near the office. “The three of us came in and they immediately got to work.”
“Got to work?” Monty prodded.
“Um, yeah. You know, they started doing whatever they do.” Hank’s smile dropped slightly as he continued to stare back at them.
“Can you be more specific?”
“Well, one of them walked around to the fuel tank and I remember seeing them drag the nozzle around—they were at the back of the plane.”
“Did you actually watch them the whole time?” Nick pressured.
“Uh, well, not every minute. But they weren’t here long,” Hank protested.
Kevin interrupted, “We’ve got them on camera. They were here for twenty-two minutes. The missing time is after they left.”
Hank smiled as he breathed a sigh of relief.
“So, when you left, you locked up and saw them leave?” Monty asked.
“Yeah, yeah,” Hank replied, his head bobbing. “I was warming my car up so I sat outside the hangar for a few minutes and watched them leave right after they got in their truck.”
Nodding, Monty turned back around to take a look at the hangar. He wandered around the perimeter, noting the lack of windows. The only entrances, besides the main doors, were the door by the office and a door near the back. The large, metal framed building held no secret entrances or rooms. A typical private hangar with basic security. His gaze shot up toward the cameras in the corners and he wondered about the different ways to get around the security.
Pulling his phone out once more, Luke picked up on the first ring. “Patch into the FBI’s security on Hangar 23C at Fairbanks International Airport. It was breached, so see what you and Charlie can dig up.”
“Damn, man, you got a lot of requests,” Luke joked.
“Yeah, well, I’ll buy the two of you a beer when I get back from this frozen city,” Monty quipped before disconnecting. Walking back over to Nick, he gave a curt nod of his head. Nick responded and it did not pass Monty’s notice that after only one case together, Agent Nick Stone seemed to already be in tune with the Saints. With a slight smile, he walked back toward the hangar’s office.