Chapter 19

Gaige held his breath until the plane left the ground. He had this vision of Seth storming the runway with law enforcement right behind him.

Once they leveled out, he leaned back in the plush leather seat and unclenched his fingers from the armrest. Anxiety no longer pounded him into the floor. For the next few hours he could relax, then the whole process would start again. Seth might be a dick, but he was good at his job, and excellent at manipulating people to do his bidding. If he had pushed his bosses to investigate Svalbard, then something was happening there.

Gaige reached for the water bottle in the cup holder next to him. Before he could unscrew the cap he glanced over to find Alec staring at him.

He launched right into a comment as if he’d kept it locked inside for just the right moment. “It’s been four hours since you made the suggestion. We bought you cold-weather clothes, and we’re packed and on a plane. Now tell me the plan here.”

They had worked fast to make the trip happen. Gaige now knew all he had to do was suggest a strategy and let Alec run with it. Alec made things happen. The reality was: Alec excelled at everything. Give him a problem and he fired off orders and directions until every box got checked.

There was a potential loose end they needed to tie off, so Gaige asked the necessary question. “The manifest?”

“It’s fake. Anyone checking will think Finn is flying to Paris.”

Just as Gaige thought—handled.

They had a lot to talk about and specific plans to make. Gaige knew the next step but he needed Alec to get him in the door. But all that could wait.

They’d only known each other a few days but Gaige could feel something unlock inside him. All those secrets, all the worries he analyzed and dissected on repeat. The guilt he punched down. The anger at being tricked by Jase and the very real panic that he might get sucked under because of Jase’s deceit.

Going to prison for another person’s sins didn’t appeal to Gaige. He had guilt about missing the signs, but he wasn’t a martyr. He didn’t break the law. No, that was Jase and he was on the run. He might always be, which put the focus right back on Gaige.

Gaige had dealt with it all alone, but with Alec he wanted to share the burden. He didn’t need Alec to solve his problems, but being able to talk about ideas and unleash some of the pressure sounded good. He’d spent so much time having life happen to him. He needed to take charge again.

Smart or not, Gaige plunged ahead. “You can ask me. About Seth. About his allegations.”

Alec lowered the window shade next to him. “I’d prefer if you just told me.”

They were alone in the cabin. The pilot and copilot sat on the other side of a door. Alec specifically had asked that the plane be stocked with drinks and some food but that the two of them fly alone. Tony would meet them there later.

From the lights to the buff-colored seats, the plane had an open feel. But also sort of a safe cocoon to talk about unbearable subjects.

“His name was Jase. My ex, I mean.” Gaige didn’t know where else to start so he tried there.

“Stupid name for a fucking asshole.”

Alec’s reaction helped. So did the way he sat there, relaxing in his seat with his arm on the rest, but wide-eyed and on alert. He’d skipped the suit in favor of black pants and a sweater. The casual look worked on him. Hell, everything did.

Gaige’s mind wandered. His brain tried to focus on any topic except the one he wished he could forget, but he forced the words out. “You’re not wrong about the asshole part. He’s actually much worse than that.” When Alec didn’t say anything, Gaige continued. “We were business partners and a couple.”

“He was a computer guy, too?”

“Better than me.”

Alec scoffed. “Come on.”

As far as compliments went, that was a good one. Gaige sensed Alec didn’t hand them out all that freely, so Gaige accepted it without question.

“I tried to hack NORAD when I was sixteen. Jase did it when he was twelve. We met in college. He dropped out and I barely hung on, but we worked and after a few years we managed to get a reputation for being able to test supposedly unbreakable security systems. That was our business.” In school he had trouble concentrating on subjects that didn’t matter to him. He spent all of his free time on his computer or playing a game or trying to break into the coding behind a game to figure it out.

“I hire a company like that for testing,” Alec said.

Yeah, about that…“Stop payment on the check.”

“Shit, why?”

This was off-track, but Gaige let the conversation be pulled in that direction for a second. “I tested your system and was able to get in by leaving jump drives with viruses at different work stations throughout the building. Not knowing, your people picked them up, used them, and I was in.”

All the color left Alec’s face. “I’m firing everyone.”

Gaige understood the reaction. He’d seen it on more than one business owner’s face over the years. “Your employees can’t bring in outside equipment, including phones. You have removable hard drives that are locked in safes with digital imprinting. You’re doing things right, but if someone smuggled in something like a corrupted jump drive, people wouldn’t be expecting it. They use it, and the wrong people gain access.”

Alec blew out a long, pained breath. “I may never sleep again.”

It was so tempting to stay on this conversation. To launch into a discussion about new protocols Alec could institute. To talk tech and computers and ignore the information he’d hidden for so long as he waited for the espionage charges to be filed.

Gaige exhaled, getting his mind on track again. “We had a job with the DIA…you know what that is, right?”

“Defense Intelligence Agency. An agency that deals with military intelligence but answers to the Department of Defense, not any branch.”

“Let me guess. You’ve done black ops work for them.”

“You could assume that.” Alec didn’t offer anything else.

“Well, Jase was working on the DIA’s closed system. It turned out that instead of testing for breaches he was creating one that he then manipulated once the job finished. He created a back door and used it.”

Alec didn’t look so relaxed now. Tension tugged around his mouth, and a flash of anger showed in his eyes. “Damn.”

“We were in London at the time. While I thought he was working on a non-government contract, he actually decoded encrypted classified DIA intel about coordinated military campaigns and equipment, and sold it to China. Or tried to.”

Gaige hadn’t known any of it as it happened. He’d thought they were lucky. They lived in a great city and made stupid money doing something they always loved to do. They would work and joke. Eat and have great sex. He never suspected he was being duped.

“He hid his trail but did provide a fail-safe so that if anyone figured it out it would all trace back to me, of course. I found out when a group of men beat the crap out of me, then threw me in a van. I woke to Seth’s interrogation.” The memories came rushing back until they flooded him. The pain and shock. Sitting there as Seth set out the evidence and showed him the computer trail leading to him, with just enough subterfuge to suggest he had missed a step in hiding his identity.

Alec’s hand balled into a fist on the armrest. “Is Jase alive? If he is, I think we should fix that.”

That reaction meant everything. Alec didn’t question him or suggest he’d fucked up by trusting the wrong person. Knowing only pieces and only one side, Alec believed Gaige. He hadn’t known how much that would mean until he heard the fury in Alec’s voice and realized it wasn’t aimed at him. It showed his support.

The weight that had been crushing his chest, nearly suffocating him, lifted. For the first time in a year Gaige felt like he could breathe without coughing. Like he could talk without examining each word or defending his actions.

“Jase is on the run. He planned well.” The motherfucker. “People who knew him then think we broke up and he’s off finding himself. That’s what his texts to them said.”

Alec shook his head. “This guy doesn’t take responsibility for anything.”

“Other than Seth and his team, you’re the only one I’ve told.”

“I can find Jase for you.”

That felt even better. Alec might be able to do it, too. He had connections and eyes everywhere. Which was why Gaige had to say no. Alec would make it his mission to track Jase down. That would lead to more danger and kick the whole betrayal up again.

For his sanity, Gaige had to let that part go. He had to try to put his life back together. Until he met Alec he figured he’d be doing that alone. Now he wasn’t so sure.

They were supposed to be only having sex—keeping things light. That theory worked at the start and Gaige had tried to hold on to it. In his head he kept saying that’s all this was, but a part of him knew better. This wasn’t just about the relief of being trusted. This was something more…for him, at least.

“You can’t go after Jase.” When Alec’s eyebrow rose, Gaige qualified his response. “Okay, we can, but don’t.”

Alec stared without saying a word before finally nodding. “For now.”

With his past spread out right there, Gaige moved on to the problem in front of them. “We’re on the plane now because, while Svalbard has seed information online, its security is on a closed circuit. I need to get in there and get access. Then we need to look inside the two supposedly unused vaults to make sure they really are empty. The glitch I found in the security video suggests that might not be the case.”

“I also want to see what’s in the boxes Drummond supposedly sent off schedule.” Alec drummed his fingertips on the armrest. “They could have been used as subterfuge to get something else in the vault. I want to know.”

“You have cover because of your relationship with Astrid Larsen. We need to use that.” That meant leaving Seth out of the loop. Gaige knew Seth might try to limit his access or keep him from crossing a line, and Gaige sensed he might have to do that before this was all over.

“Astrid?” Alec winced. “I can’t believe she’d be involved.”

Gaige understood. They were friends, or at least colleagues, and Alec wanted to know he didn’t mess up by trusting the wrong person.

Nothing in her background suggested a problem. Gaige knew because he’d looked. “She might not be, but I can tell you from experience that sometimes you don’t know you’re trusting the wrong person until they’re waving a gun in your face.”

“Words to live by.”

“Right?” Relief shot through Gaige over and over again. He’d kept so much balled up inside for so long, depended only on himself. Taking this step loosened the valve on the mounting pressure.

With the information out and the sketchy outline of a plan on the table, he could concentrate on something else…like the very sexy but scowling man in front of him.

Gaige relaxed back into his chair. “How many hours is this flight?”

Some of the tension eased out of Alec. His shoulders fell, and a small smile played on the corners of his lips. “Why?”

Gaige glanced at the door to the cockpit. “They need to stay up there, right?”

“I can order them to.”

Now he’s getting it. The flat look in Alec’s eyes gave way to something very different. Heat. Excitement.

“I’ve never had sex on a plane.” Gaige pretended to look out the window. “Imagine the view as I ride you.”

“Why are you still sitting over there?”

One of the many things Gaige liked about Alec was his near-guaranteed green light when it came to this topic. The man liked sex. Made sense since he was so damn good at it.

Just one more thing. “Do you happen to carry condoms on this thing?”

Alec shifted as he slipped his hand into his front pants pocket. He held up a condom between two fingers. “Of course.”

“I like how prepared you are.”

“Show me.”