CHAPTER 12
It was going to be a very long night. Trey lay in the bed next to Carly who was dressed in a scrap of lace that didn’t even pretend to cover her.
She was currently rolled on her side, facing away from him and pretending to be asleep. Or maybe she had managed to fall to sleep from sheer exhaustion.
Sighing, he wished he could do the same.
This waiting was killing him. Not that he could do much with the team while he was undercover as John Smith, but hearing at least whether Jimmy had been located would help.
He needed some military action on this op to keep his mind from thinking about another kind of action with Carly. This “sit around and wait” was unbearable.
Trey listened to Carly breathing next to him.
Unbearable.
Although he had to admit things had gone extremely well so far. She hadn’t broken character, not even when he’d dropped his towel and changed in front of her.
She looked a little shocked, yeah, but he hoped no one would notice that but him. Certainly not a security guard bored to tears watching them on a tiny black and white monitor in a windowless room somewhere.
There had been one moment he feared she would give them away. He had walked into the bathroom to find her scrubbing the stripper’s toothbrush with hot soapy water. Obviously, she didn’t want the used apparatus in her mouth, not that he could blame her.
He hadn’t even considered dental hygiene when they assumed possession of the Smith’s lives and luggage. Jeez, he’d been on ops where he didn’t even see a toothbrush for a week, much less running water, but women were different, he guessed.
Unsure about what to do about her obsessive brush-washing, which was too obvious to ignore, he’d questioned her about it with a casual, “What are you doing, sweetheart?”
He had to hand it to her. She covered for herself on the fly with a plausible excuse when she said, “Some makeup got on my toothbrush in my bag, so I had to wash it.”
She’d done well and he’d been free to return to the other room to worry about the next problem. How in the world was he going to avoid having sex with her while still acting like a newly married couple for their observers?
Trey was still considering this when she came out of the bathroom and headed for the suitcase, avoiding eye contact with him the entire way.
He’d gotten up and went into the bathroom to brush his own teeth . . . with John Smith’s toothbrush. Trey tried not to think about that fact, but since she had already raised the issue in his mind, he used extra hot water to rinse it first.
By the time he emerged from the bathroom, Carly had already changed into the nightie and was curled on her side and pretending to be sound asleep.
Thank God. She was either really on the ball or just desperate to avoid any more physical contact with him.
Either way, it was the perfect solution to his dilemma. It would simply look like she was tired from traveling and he, being the understanding husband, had let her sleep.
As long as they were here for only the one night as planned, he could definitely get away with it. It would look realistic . . . he hoped.
He’d never been married, but judging by what the guys with wives said, sex got less and less frequent the moment they said I do.
Although, glancing at the curve of Carly’s body, he couldn’t imagine not jumping her every night of the week if they were together, married or not.
Trey sighed again. There was far too much down time, leaving him ample opportunity to think about the one thing he needed to avoid. Sex.
Punching his pillow, he repositioned himself.
What the hell good was the communication device implanted in his damn head if he couldn’t even ask them a question without being detected by the bad guy’s surveillance?
He’d never felt so cut off from the team in all his time with them. It was with that very disgruntled thought in his mind he started to drift off.
“Trey. Hey, Williams. Wake up.”
Trey controlled the urge to sit straight up in the bed as the voice in his ear startled him out of that restless place between being awake and asleep.
He had wanted to know what was going on with the team. Be careful what you wish for.
Clearing his throat softly, he let Matt know he was awake and receiving.
“We’ve got action here, big boy. We found Jimmy. The target has him confined in some sort of holding area right here in the basement of the hotel.” Matt’s voice radiated excitement.
Trey’s heart rate doubled knowing the action was so close to him. Right here in the hotel.
“The bad news is they’ve worked him over pretty badly and we don’t think they’re done yet. We’ve got to get him out, but the area’s swarming with the target’s men.”
His heart fell at that news. Jack must be freaking out and there was not one damn thing Trey could do to help in his present situation.
“We need your help, buddy,” Matt continued.
Maybe there was something he could do. Trey waited for Matt to explain and give him his orders.
Trey only wished Carly wasn’t involved. He’d kill or die to save Jimmy for Jack, but he wasn’t willing to risk Carly’s life in the process. She was a civilian under his care. Her safety was his priority at the moment, even over the success of the mission.
“Here’s the deal, Trey. They have the surveillance room set up next to where Jimmy is being held. The guards have been sitting around watching the video feed from your room since you arrived. They’ve taken a liking to your bride. They particularly enjoyed when she changed into that thing she’s wearing to sleep in. Even the guy sitting inside watching Jimmy got called in to watch her put that on.”
His jaw clenched in anger at that revelation.
“Trey, I need a diversion and I need it now. We’re in place to sneak in through the rear and take Jimmy out, but we need every guard in the area glued to the monitor of your room.”
Trey tried to control his breathing when Matt said what he was afraid he would say. “You’ve got to use Carly as a distraction. It’s the only way. Do you copy?”
He cleared his throat again.
Oh boy. Just when he was all smug thinking they’d get away from this op fairly unscathed.