blankets in his other hand if the situation went south on them.
'Tina!' someone shouted from the living room.
'What the hell!' she yelled as three men burst into her bedroom.
The cop stopped short and fumbled for words, stammering and stuttering.
She didn't bother to cover up as she turned, exposing her breasts even more as she faced them. She climbed off Jason and yanked a robe down from the closet door. 'Get out! Get out of here right now!' she shouted.
The three men retreated to the living room as Tina slammed the bedroom door, then turned to Jason and winked at him. She put on her robe while Jason slipped on his jeans and a shirt, tucking his Glock into his waistband and covering it with the long shirt. Together, they walked out into the living room.
'Which one of you is going to tell me what the hell is going on here?' Tina snarled. 'Sheriff Giles? Do you have an explanation?'
Giles, Chris Marley and a man Jason hadn't met before all stood in the living room, staring at the floor and looking pretty sheepish. On a bet, he would guess that the third man was one of the drivers from the quads.
'Two men were killed tonight,' Giles said. 'These guys think that your friend there might have done it.'
12
'Oh, my God,' Tina said, her voice filled with alarm. 'Who was killed?'
'Rod Omiak and Joseph Kuzruk.'
'What happened?' she asked.
She gestured for the men to sit down on the sofa, and took her own seat in an overstuffed chair. Jason sat on the arm of her chair. If things turned ugly, he wanted to be close to her.
'I'm not sure yet,' Giles said. 'I haven't even seen the bodies. Chris and Troy here came over to the house and said there was a murderer in town and they thought you might be next.' He shrugged, blushing furiously. 'Then when we got here, we heard noises and…Well, you know we thought…and so we…Sorry, Tina,' he finished.
'Did it look like I was being murdered to you?' she asked.
'No,' Giles admitted, 'but there are the bodies.'
'Didn't you say you haven't even seen them yet?' she asked.
'Troy here thought he saw…'
Tina turned her attention to the other man. 'I'm curious to know, Troy. What did you see?'
They all gave Troy their full attention. 'Well, I'm not really sure. I was just out riding my new quad, getting a little fresh air, and I thought I heard gunshots and I saw people down on the beach.'
'How scary for you,' Tina said. Jason could detect the mocking tone in her voice, but he wasn't sure that the other men did. 'And how very brave of you to drive straight into the middle of a gun battle. You must have seen the whole thing, then.'
'No, no…' he stuttered.
Jason had to stifle a smile. She was good. She had him trapped and everyone in the room knew it.
'Sheriff,' Tina suggested quietly, 'maybe you should investigate a little more and then come back if you have any questions for us. Jason and I have…a lot yet to do.'
She stood up and walked to the door, opening it as the men followed behind her without another word. 'Sheriff Giles, I know that you have so much to do, but please let me know if there is anything I can do for the families,' she said.
The men walked out and Tina shut the door. She leaned against it, doing her best to hold back her laughter, while Jason watched the men retreat through the window.
'That was close,' she said. 'We…'
Tina turned to see Jason pulling the gun from the waistband of his jeans and sitting back on the arm of the chair with the pistol in his hand.
'You're not starting to suspect me again, are you?' she asked.
'No,' he said. 'But I don't think that I can leave you here and expect to come back and find you alive. The fashionable route didn't work for Chris. Something tells me that he's not going to give up on this as simple as that.' He thought for a moment, then added, 'He and Giles and that other guy…what was his name?'
'Troy Keelut,' she said. 'He's a local.'
'Those three seemed pretty tight. We already know Chris is involved in the smuggling operation.'
'You think Giles and Troy are working for the smugglers, too?' she asked.
'Well, let me ask you this. What did you do with that crate of weapons we brought in?'
The light dawned in her eyes, and she gritted her teeth. 'I took them…'
'To Giles,' he finished for her. 'And he said he'd look into it or take care of it. Am I right?'
She nodded in defeat. 'You were right. We should have tossed them all in the ocean. So what are you suggesting we do?' she asked.
'To use the bad cliche, I think it's time for us to get the hell out of Dodge.' He gestured vaguely. 'More specifically, I mean you.'
'What about the sub and all of the guns? You're not just going to let them get away with what they're doing, are you?'
He shook his head. 'Look, Tina, this mission is turning into a disaster, and if things keep going like they are, you're going to wind up dead!'
'You're telling me you never had a civilian die when you were working before?' she asked.
'Sure, I have,' he said. 'Casualties happen, but only a fool continues an operation when there has been so much exposure.'
'Let me ask you this, then,' she said. 'If you leave now, what are the odds that you'll get the information you need about either the sub or the weapons?'
Jason stood staring at his feet for a moment, then he looked at her and said, 'Slim, but that has nothing to do with it.'
'I'd say it has everything to do with it. You're the one who keeps talking about the mission. Plus, I think you're forgetting something. Sure, I could leave and go with you now, but I'd never be able to come back. This is my home and I would always be in danger here. Unlike you, I happen to give a damn about whether or not I see my family and friends again.'
Tina clenched her hands at her side. Jason wasn't sure if he should hit her or kiss her.
'What are you suggesting?' he asked.
'I'm suggesting that I stick with you until this is…'
'Impossible,' he said flatly.
'Why?'
'You could get hurt.'
'That's different because…' Her voice trailed off.
'It's different because then
'You've threatened to kill me yourself,' she said, chuckling. 'Besides, I have great faith in your ability to keep me safe.'
'You're not getting it, Tina,' he said, once more finding himself caught between exasperation and fondness for her stubborn streak. 'I can keep me alive just fine. That's what I've been doing my whole life. But when bullets start flying, I can't make you do what you need to do in order to stay alive.'
'Well, I don't see a whole hell of a lot of other options. You leave and I'm in danger. You stay and I'm in danger. I leave with you and I can't come back. At least if we stick together we have a shot at making it out of all of this alive and getting the information that you need.'
Tina stuck her hand out. Jason raised an eyebrow.
'Let's meet again,' she said, smiling. 'Supersecret spy Tina, at your service.'
Jason shook his head, laughing ruefully, then reached out and shook her hand.
'Apparently not so super or secret spy Jason, at yours,' he said. 'You know, you may not live to regret this.'
