Street Game

CHAPTER 3

Mack and Kane and all the boys hadn’t been near her in two peaceful years. Now, within two hours of their arrival, it had started all over again. Blood and death. Jaimie stared out the window, her gaze fixed on the ever-changing motion of the dark water below. Javier had spent the night and the next day with her. Now he was gone and Mack and Kane were on their way up, finished with all their paperwork and cleanup and coming back to-what? She couldn’t go back to that life with them. She wouldn’t go back.

Facing Mack again was going to be tough, but she had to find a way to be nonchalant around him. He was family, just like all of them were. She had to keep it that way and not let the secret, hidden excitement at the thought of him overtake her brain. Hormones could be controlled. She didn’t have to give in to her feelings. She’d out-think him and stay out of trouble.

She gave a little sniff of self-contempt. Even she wasn’t buying what her mind was selling. The freight elevator door opened on the far side of the room and she turned to see Kane and Mack emerge. They both looked exhausted, lines etched in their faces. They’d been up at least forty-eight hours before they’d even made it to San Francisco and they’d pulled another all-nighter cleaning up the mess Javier had made and then making their reports.

Her heart leapt with joy in spite of her determination to keep her perspective. She was in danger any way she looked at it. She padded across the floor on bare feet to stand in front of them, determined to start out in a position of power and authority; after all, this was her house and they weren’t invited. “Just how long do you both think you’re going to be staying here?” she demanded, pretending dismay at the pile of gear. With a bare toe, she touched a gun case. “It looks like a weapons dump in here. Is this really necessary?”

Kane moved around the heap of drab-colored duffel bags and gathered her into his arms. He wasn’t tall but he was a bear of a man, dwarfing her instantly. “Don’t you ever, ever pull something like this again, Jaimie. You left us without a word. And you know damn well we couldn’t follow you.”

Kane wasn’t a man to mince words, or to be afraid to face her wrath. The whole incident had been too damn traumatic for all of them and he didn’t want it repeated. He hadn’t said a word in front of the others, but she was going to hear him-especially after Mack had enlightened him about his conversation with her. She wasn’t disappearing from their lives a second time.

Jaimie thought he was going to break every rib she had. He was squeezing the breath out of her as he emphasized his words.

It was Mack who came to her rescue, gently pulling her from Kane’s grasp, a grin softening the hard edge of his mouth. “Don’t kill her, Kane. I know we discussed it, but didn’t we just decide on severe punishment?”

“Something like that. You look great, honey, too good to be out on your own without protection. What the hell was the frying pan for?”

Jaimie groaned in exasperation. “I’ve had the lecture, thank you very much.” She threw a little glare toward Mack. “I was safer without a gun. And don’t start in on my alarm system. I’m just testing various systems and I don’t expect anyone but the average burglar to break in.”

“Well, just look how wrong you can be.” Kane’s vivid green gaze was taking in the wide-open space. “Wow. Again I say wow.”

“Admiration, I hope.” Jaimie’s hands went to her hips. “Respectful admiration. Mack didn’t give me any.”

“This place is out of sight.”

Mack rolled his eyes. “I should have known you’d be as dippy as she is. It’s a warehouse. Jaimie is living unprotected in a seamy part of town in a drafty old warehouse.” Mack indicated the far corner. “Take a look at that pint-sized bed.”

“Did you think you were going to take over my bed?” Jaimie demanded, her large eyes flashing a warning at him. He was not taking over her life or her bed.

“First order of business,” Kane said. “Tomorrow, Jaimie, we get a couple of decent beds in here. You have any beer?” He was already striding toward the refrigerator.

“Of course she doesn’t have any beer,” Mack scoffed. “She doesn’t drink. And where do you think you’re going? You can’t leave this stuff here.”

Kane was peering in the brand-new, very modern refrigerator. “Uh-oh, little Jaimie has some explaining to do.” He pulled out a bottle of Corona and popped off the top.

Mack’s eyebrows shot up. “Didn’t the doctors tell you not to drink alcohol, Jaimie?”

“Stop trying to sound like my father.”

She attempted to shove him, her hand flat on his heavily muscled chest, but shoving Mack never worked. He simply brought up his hand to cover hers, pressing her palm over his heart.

“You don’t have a father,” Kane reminded, swallowing half the bottle of beer in one gulp. “That’s our job.”

Jaimie tugged to get her hand free. She never discussed her past if she could help it, not even with the ones who had seen her through it all.

“And we’re good at it,” Mack pointed out smugly. His hand kept hers trapped against his chest. “Why would you have beer in the fridge?”

“Entertainment purposes, and stop ruffling my hair.” She ducked under Mack’s hand.

“You cut it.” Kane made it an accusation.

“It’s just the right length for ruffling,” Mack pointed out. “Entertaining who?”

“Whom,” Kane corrected, his head back in the refrigerator. He came out with a handful of turkey slices. “Thank God you’re over your vegetarian phase. I nearly starved.”

Mack hefted two bags over his shoulder and followed Jaimie across the carpeted floor to the bedroom wall. “Who’s she entertaining with beer?” he demanded. “Let’s get some answers here.”

“Stop harping.” Jaimie curled up on the bed, watching him stow the gear in the corner.

“It isn’t harping if I don’t get an answer.” Mack stood right in front of her, his dark, gleaming eyes on her face as he began to unbutton his shirt. Jaimie couldn’t tear her gaze away from his hair-roughened chest, the hard, defined muscles, his flat six-pack belly. She swallowed hard as his hands went to the waistband of his jeans. “Don’t you dare take your clothes off in my bedroom, Mack.”

He flashed a taunting grin. “You don’t have an over-abundance of walls, little darlin’. Where exactly am I supposed to get undressed?”

“Well, not right here, for heaven’s sake.” Her long lashes fluttered in shock. “The bathroom would be much more appropriate.”

Kane found a deep, comfortable armchair and sat down with a second beer and a sandwich. “Get away from that innocent little thing, you oversexed lout,” he said mildly.

“Tell her to answer the question.” Mack didn’t take his glinting black gaze from her startling blue one as he dared her.

“I did answer your question. Go ahead and change in the bathroom.” Jaimie’s chin lifted belligerently.

“The other question, the important question. Who’s the beer for, Jaimie?”

Her fist thumped the pillow. “You’re going to make me crazy, Mack. All right. It’s for my assistant, Joe Spagnola. Are you satisfied now?”

“Damn it, Jaimie,” Mack snapped, his eyes blazing.

Kane sat up straighter, a dark frown on his face.

“Well, I couldn’t do this alone,” Jaimie hastily defended. “There’s a lot of work and he’s been invaluable.”

Kane snorted derisively. “Invaluable.”

“She gives him beer to drink,” Mack muttered under his breath. “How old is your Joe Spagnola?”

Jaimie threw her hands in the air. “Look, he’s thirty-two or so, I don’t know. What difference does that make?”

“You got this guy up here drinking beer in your bedroom and you don’t know what difference it makes?” Mack said, taking a step closer to the bed. His hands were at his sides, fingers opening and closing ominously. “Is he single?”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake.”

Kane hitched himself closer in the chair. “You bring that guy up here alone with you?”

Jaimie made a T out of her hands. “Whoa, there, guys. Stop right there. Time out. I’m not a teenager anymore and you are not my guardians.” She glared up at Mack.

“I’m not yours. You got that? I’m not yours. I know what you’re thinking and you can just forget it. You aren’t going to do one single thing to Joe. Not one. In fact, you will be polite to him.”

Kane and Mack exchanged a long, wordless look. Mack turned away and stalked to the bathroom, every line in his body conveying pure outrage. Jaimie threw her pillow after him. The pillow hit the bathroom door just as he closed it. “Don’t egg him on, Kane,” she ordered. “You know how impossible he is.”

Mack called out to her from behind the bathroom door, his tone somewhere between a threat and suppressed rage. “Somehow I don’t think your Joe is going to get along too well with us. Drinking beer in your bedroom. What will you think of next?”

“He was not drinking beer in my bedroom,” Jaimie denied hotly. “Where do you come up with this stuff? And it wouldn’t be any of your business if he did,” she added furiously.

The bathroom door flew open so hard it slammed against the wall. Mack swept up the pillow, hardly breaking stride. He was wearing dove gray sweat bottoms, obviously a concession to her modesty, and nothing else. His body rippled with muscle, with pure strength, as he moved toward her with all the stalking grace of a predator.

“It’s my business, honey, anytime anyone is in your bedroom. Scoot over.” He tossed the pillow on the bed behind her.

“I’m not going to scoot over,” Jaimie argued. “Find your own bed.”

Mack sank down on the edge of the mattress, suppressing a grin as Jaimie automatically retreated. “It’s late, Kane. You aren’t going to sit up all night eating, are you?”

“I was thinking about watching television. Do you realize how long it’s been since we watched TV?” Kane pulled off his shoes. “You lack closets, Jaimie girl. We’ll have to do something about that.”

“It’s not finished yet,” Jaimie pointed out. “But it will be something when I’m all through. This floor will be my home, everything fairly open still, but with more cupboards and closets. The bathroom’s great. We finished it last week. Admit it, Mack-the bathroom’s a work of art with all that tile. It’s a masterpiece.”

Mack ruffled her hair again, deliberately easing his body farther onto the bed and stretching out his legs. “So, all right, that’s true. The bathroom is a work of art. Even you, Kane, will appreciate it.”

“Joe did it,” she said smugly.

Mack swore under his breath and made a move toward her. She scrambled backward on the bed until her back was against the wall.

“What is all this, Jaimie?” Kane wasn’t going to be polite and wait until she confided in them.

Jaimie drew up her knees, hugged them to her, rocking a little back and forth, her smile enough to blind a man. “The second floor is my lab, where I’ll do all my planning and experimenting. The first floor will be an office, bathroom, and room for my models.”

“Models?” Kane echoed.

“Of buildings. I own a security company. I’ve left Professor Chilton and branched out on my own. I started consulting work with him and now I’m swamped. I prove existing systems can be breached and design systems specifically for corporations. I have some government contracts, as I still do analytical work and retain my security clearance. That’s where all my training comes in. I get to break into these places. It’s very lucrative, not to mention fun.”

“Does Spagnola do this work with you?” Mack’s voice was very low.

“He’s a builder, not an electronics expert,” Jaimie answered. Out of long habit, she rubbed at his frowning mouth with her fingertip. “He’s nice, Mack.”

The trouble was, the feel of him was so achingly familiar. Mack’s lips were velvet soft. He opened his mouth, his strong white teeth nipping her fingertip, sending unexpected liquid heat curling through her body. She snatched her hand away as if he had burned her, rubbing it on her thigh as if erasing his touch.

“It’s dangerous work, honey. Security guards don’t have all that much training. Or worse, if it’s a government enterprise, you might run across an itchy trigger finger somewhere.”

“Oh, please, Mack, let’s not start discussing dangerous jobs.” Jaimie swept her tousled hair from her forehead. The moment she released the silky strands, they settled right back in a soft, thick halo.

“You knew that was coming.” Kane laughed, his head back, uninhibited, the way he always laughed. But his eyes weren’t laughing, Jaimie noted. “And you deserved it.”

“Get your gear out of the middle of the hallway,” Mack said.

“He always resorts to dishing out orders when you get the best of him,” Kane reminded Jaimie.

“Speaking of dishes, clean your mess up,” Jaimie said primly.

“No one was speaking of dishes,” Kane denied. “I said dishing, dishing, you know, like…” He trailed off with an exaggerated sigh. “Oh, all right, then, but this is under protest. You used to do our dishes.”

“I was twelve and you blackmailed me,” Jaimie said, scowling darkly at him. “If I didn’t, you weren’t going to let me go to any of the football games.” She tilted her chin. “Now I call the shots.”

“Says who?” Mack flipped her over so she landed on her stomach. Instantly his leg was across her thighs, his upper body pinning her down. He leaned wickedly close, his warm breath on the nape of her neck. “I just let you think you call the shots, honey. I draw the line at this Spagnola character.”

“Mack, let me up.” Jaimie tried not to laugh. She wasn’t going to encourage him. He felt so familiar, so right, but she knew better, and playing around with him was like playing with fire. Sooner or later she was going to get burned. On the other hand, he was waiting for her to fight with him over sharing the bed and she wasn’t going to do it. He would never touch her with Kane in the room. He might want to, but he was exhausted and Kane was a good chaperone. She was safe, and she could act like it meant nothing to her. Let him think it didn’t matter to her at all.

“Will you two stop horsing around?” Kane yawned. “It’s three o’clock in the morning. Let’s turn in.”

“The great TV watcher.” Mack reluctantly shifted his weight from Jaimie. He took great care to retain his hard-won portion of the bed. “Pack it in, honey, hotshot has spoken.”

“I’m not sharing my sheets,” Jaimie announced with a fierce, meant-to-beintimidating scowl. “You can sleep on top of the covers.”

“I bought them,” Mack pointed out, tracing the hand-embroidered dragon nearest him. “That should give me a few rights.”

“I’ll share my other pillow,” Jaimie conceded, “but only because you sent me all those dragons.” She loved the collection of dragons, mostly given to her by Kane and Mack over the years. She might forgive him a little just for that.

“Wait a minute, wait a minute,” Kane protested. “You know that jeweled one from Egypt? I bought that one.”

“Like hell you did. You were making goo-goo eyes at some belly dancer, as I recall,” Mack lied, settling more comfortably onto the mattress, his thigh touching Jaimie’s.

It had been so long and she felt like heaven, all soft skin and heat. She smelled a little like heaven too. It was only the fact that he was so exhausted that he dared take a chance sharing her bed again. Jumping her was not the way to win her back, but keeping the old familiar footing would go a long way toward smoothing his path. Kane retrieved the rest of their luggage and dumped it unceremoniously in the corner of Jaimie’s bedroom. “The man said you looked like an assassin; he wouldn’t take your traveler’s check. I paid, remember. Is the couch comfortable?”

“Aren’t you two supposed to be used to roughing it?” Jaimie demanded, exasperated with both of them. “And Kane never makes goo-goo eyes at women. That’s you.”

“I paid you back, Kane,” Mack insisted, ignoring Jaimie.

“When did you pay me back?” Kane asked suspiciously, as he headed for the bathroom.

“You’re in a lady’s house,” Mack called out. “Don’t forget the toilet seat. And it was in Milan.”

“I can’t believe you said that.” Jaimie was horrified. “I’d forgotten what it was like sharing a house with men.” She buried her face in the coolness of the pillow.

“He isn’t very well trained,” Mack explained loud enough for Kane to hear.

“Turn on the alarm, Kane,” Jaimie reminded as the man emerged wearing a longsuffering expression and navy blue sweats. She smiled to herself. Sweats seemed to be quite the rage in nightwear when she’d bet her bottom dollar they never slept in clothes if they could help it.

Kane activated the alarm, rolled out his sleeping bag on the couch, and turned off the light. “It wasn’t Milan.”

“I paid your fine so you wouldn’t go to jail. Hell, Kane, you tried to steal the cop’s hat.”

“You dared me to.” There was a flurry of rustling sounds, a loud thump announcing Kane hitting the floor. Fortunately, his censored comments were muffled by the carpet.

“Never try sharing a bed with him,” Mack advised. “Jaimie?” Now his voice turned very casual. “Professor Chilton was one of your instructors at Stanford, wasn’t he? How did he end up in London doing consulting work?”

“His brother-in-law worked in some capacity for a corporation. He recommended Professor Chilton after the company had a series of break-ins. It was lucky for me he checked into the same hotel I had gone to after I…” She broke off, grateful the lights were out. She didn’t have anything to be ashamed of. She’d left because she had to go in order to survive. If Mack couldn’t understand that, too bad. A hint of defiance entered her voice. “I checked into a hotel after I left our apartment and the next morning I ran into him in the lobby. We had breakfast together; I really needed a friend. Naturally, we talked electronics. One thing led to another, and before I knew it, I was in business.” She didn’t add that running into the professor had given her the freedom to keep from running back to Mack, afraid and a failure. It had actually felt good to make her own decisions and be responsible for her own life, once she’d gotten past the pain of separation.

“So you think you’re good enough to make it on your own?” Kane prompted. He took a few minutes to get settled again.

The room was pitch-black, Jaimie’s eyes working to adjust as she stared up at the ceiling. “I was better than Chilton, Kane, right from the start. He knew it too. I used his name and he used my expertise. He’s back teaching-that’s what he loves-and I’ve got enough of a reputation now to hold my own. It worked out great.”

“So you actually break into buildings?” Mack didn’t sound happy about it.

“Sure, I study the security system and find a way to beat it. The theory being, of course, if I can do it, so can someone else. Then I try to design a system exclusive to the particular needs, setting, and personnel of the client. Sometimes it’s a onetime shot; other times I’m on retainer as a full-time consultant. I’m also developing new software for a bomb detector. There’s a lot of interest in that.”

“I’ve got to hand it to you, Jaimie”-Kane’s voice was frankly admiring-

“you’ve done well for yourself.”

Beside her, Mack stirred restlessly. Jaimie ignored him. “Thank you,” Jaimie said softly to Kane. She refused to care whether Mack approved of what she did or not. She thumped the pillow and snuggled deeper, trying to ignore his close proximity.

“I didn’t spot your cameras.” Kane was casual, his voice coming out of the darkness from the direction of the couch.

“My cameras?” Jaimie turned toward the wall, curling up, her voice drowsy, unconsciously sensual.

“None of our team triggered the alarm. I looked at the tapes myself yesterday during the report. You know we always record any action. We made it into the warehouse clean, yet you knew we were there. You even knew who we were. You grabbed the frying pan instead of the gun.”

Mack could feel Jaimie go perfectly still. Her body trembled. She twisted the edge of the sheet between her fingers. Without conscious thought, Mack’s hand went to the nape of her neck, easing the tension out of her.

Kane allowed the silence to stretch and lengthen. It was a full five minutes later before his soft, insistent voice disturbed the night. “The cameras, Jaimie, where are they?”

“I didn’t bother with cameras on the ground floor.” Although she sounded sleepy, Mack was certain she was selecting her words carefully. “The cameras will be on the second floor.”

Mack found himself smiling at the misleading nuggets of information. She hadn’t changed much. She was less sure of herself with them when it came to work. She was picking and choosing what information she wanted to give them, but she had a difficult time not falling into the old pattern of camaraderie and friendship.

“And Kane,” Jaimie added, “I don’t use a gun.”

Kane didn’t buy any of it and was being unusually stubborn, not letting her off the hook. “So how did you know?” he persisted.

Jaimie curled up away from Mack, settling back into the pillow, snuggling beneath the covers. “I guess you must have been a little noisier than you thought.”

There was a lazy note of humor now.

“Damn it, Jaimie.” Kane was frustrated. “That’s not possible.”

“No?” She was laughing openly at him now. “Then it had to be my acute sense of smell. Take your choice. What other explanation is there?”

Kane’s curse was only partially muffled by his sleeping bag. Beneath his hand, Mack could feel Jaimie’s shoulder shake slightly with laughter. She had managed to elude Kane’s questions again, the same questions he and every instructor and field operative she had been pitted against had asked.

Mack lay still, savoring the feel and scent of Jaimie. His arm curved possessively around her waist. Her breathing stopped for a moment, her body tense. He smiled to himself as she fought with herself. Which was the lesser of the two evils? Let him have this one little thing? Or provoke him into something more dangerous by protesting? She left his arm in place with a soft little sigh.

Mack was fairly satisfied with the way things had gone. They had danced around each other, but Jaimie had missed him every bit as much as he had missed her. It was there in her eyes. She was determined to bring them to a brother/ sister relationship, to treat him as she would Kane or Javier, but he was just as determined to get her back. And he never stopped when he wanted something, whether it was personal or work. He would find a way around every argument.

His grip on her tightened involuntarily. He had known, two years ago, he was falling deeper and deeper under her spell, but he hadn’t known how much a part of him she really was. Until he woke up one morning to find her gone. Life went from laughter and adventure to a bleak, desolate kind of hell. Oh, he had functioned, like an automaton, but the best part of him was gone.

He knew the exact moment she let go and drifted off to sleep. She slept with all the trusting innocence of child, her body warm and pliant, her face so beautiful he ached inside. Everything masculine and protective welled up in him along with very primitive possessiveness. He eased his body beneath the covers, molding around her, a kind of heaven and hell. His arm clamped around her, his chin resting on her silky head.

Slow, smoldering desire flared into urgent demand. His body burned for her, an unmerciful, relentless, savage need. His skin crawled with it, his head pounded. The heat was a living flame until every inch of his skin was burning. Mack McKinley was a man who lived with the truth about himself. He recognized his strengths and weaknesses, he acknowledged the hidden demons he controlled with absolute discipline. He carried a kind of ice-cold rage in him, but still, this shook him. This felt out of control, beyond control even. He didn’t need the complication of fierce, combustible chemistry raging between them. He wanted to court her slowly and carefully, seal her to him for eternity. This time she wasn’t getting away from him. Jaimie moved in her sleep, the curve of her bottom sliding invitingly, painfully, over his throbbing, aroused body. Mack nearly groaned out loud. So, okay, this wasn’t working out the way he had planned. He rolled over, away from Jaimie, silently cursing his body’s raging need. He had been with her hundreds of times, taking her each night, almost every morning they’d been together, but the hunger had never been so strong, so urgent. Just the scent of her filled him with such a powerful need he wasn’t certain he had the strength to resist. The urge was almost animalistic. He shifted positions again, trying to ease the relentless aching.

A soft chuckle floated tauntingly from the center of the room. “Can’t sleep?”

Kane asked.

“Go to hell,” Mack growled, resisting the urge to throw something.

“I think you’re screwed, Mack. If it’s as bad as I think, that bastard paired you two. You were already attached physically and emotionally. Good luck.”

Mack knew Kane was referring to Dr. Whitney’s infamous breeding program. He had paired GhostWalker males with some of the females. Kane had served a short period of time at one of the breeding facilities-in fact, he’d aided some of the women in escaping. Brian had also served at one of Dr. Whitney’s facilities. Few knew where the doctor was working; he moved in secret and was heavily guarded at all times. Mack and Kane had come to the conclusion that it was not in anyone’s best interest to work with or near him.

Kane had testified in a closed hearing, as had Brian, turning over evidence of Whitney’s breeding program to Sergeant Major Griffen, as per the chain of command, but the meeting had been top secret and no one knew the outcome. The men had rejoined Team Three under Colonel Wilford’s command and had gone on several missions. Griffen worked directly under the colonel and presumably had turned all evidence and reports over to him. Kane didn’t talk about his time with Whitney, but he hadn’t slept much since and he’d definitely been searching for someone. Mack was fairly certain it was one of the women he’d helped escape the breeding compound.

Mack still had trouble believing such a thing had existed.

“Tell me about pairing. What is that?”

Kane sighed. “Are you sure you want to know? Sometimes it’s better to keep your head in the sand.”

“Tell me about Whitney,” Mack insisted.

Mack did his job and took his men where the sergeant major directed them. They had a damn good record when it came to rescuing hostages from cities where no one knew who was the enemy and who was innocent. He enjoyed being enhanced with all the added things it allowed him to accomplish, but the rumors he was hearing about some of the experiments Whitney had conducted along with the genetic enhancements made him realize they were dealing with someone who might be brilliant but as mad as a hatter.

“He’s been allowed to do whatever he wanted without answering to anyone for so long that he believes himself above the law, above even the president. He considers himself a great patriot and defender of the country. He believes the end justifies the means.”

“So basically you’re telling me that everything Jaimie told me about him and his experiments is probably true and I should have listened to her.”

“Yeah. That’s what I’m saying. I said it back then too. She’s too damn smart to ignore.”

“I hear a reprimand in there.”

“I’m just saying, you hurt Jaimie again and I’m going to tear out your heart and feed it to you.”

Kane sounded casual enough, but he wasn’t kidding. Kane, like most of his team, was protective of women. Mack’s mother had been the one stable influence most of them had. All of them had developed what the psychs referred to as being overprotective. And maybe they all were, but when it came to women, they didn’t like anyone messing around with them.

Kane had risked his career, his life, everything he was, to do the honorable thing and help the women get out of the facility where they were being held. Orders or not, as far as Kane was concerned, what Whitney had demanded of them wasn’t honorable. He had done everything in his power to take the evidence to the commanders to get it stopped. Now Kane had a deep distrust of Whitney and the chain of command, which meant Mack did also. Ever since Kane had returned from that assignment, Mack had watched his best friend’s back even closer.

“I hear you.”

“And the next time she tells you something is a red flag, put your damned ego aside and listen to the woman.”

“I’m all about the listening.” Mack sounded as pious as possible. Kane rolled over and groaned. “I’m getting back on the couch. I swear, if we’re staying here for any length of time, I’m buying a bed tomorrow.”

“We’re staying. And you’re getting soft. You’ve slept on the ground more than you’ve slept in a bed over the last few years. You’re also getting old.”

“Says the boss from his superior position on a nice soft bed.”

“It’s a single bed, Kane. It may be soft, but there isn’t much to it, and lying next to her is killing me.”

“Then move, you stubborn bastard.”

“Not a chance. I’m establishing my territory. She’s not going to let me back into her life so easily. She’s made up her mind to stay away from me.”

Kane tried to make himself smaller on the couch. He had a thick, heavily muscled chest and big arms. One kept flopping off the couch uncomfortably.

“You know, Mack, things aren’t always black and white. Sometimes, for whatever reasons, we have to do things that we can’t live with. They just sit in the gut and keep you up at night. We’re all wired differently. You have a gift, something inside you that lets you make a decision and live with the consequences. The rest of us aren’t so lucky. Jaimie had to do what she did to survive. After what I saw in that compound with Whitney, if I could get out, I would, but they aren’t going to let any of us go. Not now. It isn’t about the money and training anymore. We’re too dangerous to them.”

Mack was silent, turning the words over in his mind. Kane had come back troubled from his last assignment. Not only troubled, but suddenly very leery of every mission, questioning everything, as Jaimie had. Mack had known then that the questions in his mind, the doubt rising up with each new nugget of information about Whitney and his experiments, weren’t just because Jaimie had planted the seed and suspicion was growing.

Kane and Brian had come to him, careful of what they said, fearful that they were on a death list and not wanting Mack to be there with them. He had gone up the chain of command and set into motion a hearing. He hadn’t been allowed to go with his men.

“I’m sorry, Kane. You’re right. I should have listened to her. I should have investigated what Whitney was doing before I took us all down this path. Once we were on it, I just wanted us all to survive.” He had watched over them, trying to figure out what each of them had been gifted-or cursed-with and how best to cope with it.

“We’re all responsible, Mack. We all listened to the propaganda, took the tests, and thought we were lucky when we passed. I can’t even say I don’t like my abilities. We were all lucky in that we can work alone. Most of the others can’t exactly survive on their own in the world. But something’s not right about any of this, and they know I went after Whitney and I’m not going to stop until he’s brought down. I think Jaimie knew it all along. She never trusted him. She kept asking us to slow down.”

“I thought it was the violence. She’s always been squeamish about violence.”

Mack inhaled her feminine scent and nuzzled the soft mass of curls. He’d even loved that about her. The trait seemed soft like Jaimie and made him feel all the more protective of her. He’d been in that position since they were children and it seemed natural and right. He led. She followed. Except she hadn’t followed him this time; she’d run. Fast. Far.

He’d kept track of her. He’d used his connections and he’d known her last residence before she’d moved here, to San Francisco. He would have found her here as well. Because Jaimie Fielding wasn’t going to get away from him any more than the GhostWalkers were going to get away from the government. They’d known going in: once a GhostWalker, always a GhostWalker. Kane was right. They were just too damn dangerous to lose track of.

“You all right, Kane?” He asked in the darkness the words he could never seem to ask in the light of day. Kane wasn’t always a sharing man.

There was a long silence and then a sigh. “I don’t know. I did some things-bad things. Things I’m ashamed of and I can’t take back.”

Mack held his breath. Kane never talked about those weeks in Whitney’s facility and what he’d had to do to survive. Mack waited. Hoped. Sent up a silent prayer that Kane would keep talking.

“I hurt a woman, Mack. I did my best to help her, but still, she suffered because of me. I have to live with that. I don’t know where she is, but she’s carrying my child.”

Mack’s heart nearly stopped beating. “Are you certain, Kane?”

“Yeah. I’m certain. She’s out there somewhere, unprotected. On the run. Hiding from Whitney. Probably hiding from me.”

“And you want to find her?” Mack asked cautiously. The news was more disturbing than he could almost believe. Kane. A woman. A child. Kane saying a woman suffered on his account. He wanted more of an explanation, but with Kane, one waited until he volunteered the information.

“I have to find her. She’s carrying my child.” There was a pause. A heartbeat. “I can’t let her go, Mack.”

“Then we’ll find her, bro. We’ll find her.”