Misty stood up, grinning. “Kat, your shirt, please. Maverick, if you wouldn’t mind turning your back…”
Kat stripped out of her close-fitting black turtleneck while Misty did the same. They quickly traded shirts. Additionally, Misty popped off her bra before pulling Kat’s shirt over her head. The effect never failed to startle Kat. The black fabric was skintight and left shockingly little to the imagination.
Misty announced, “You can turn around now, Maverick.”
He did so. Kat didn’t blame him for gulping. Misty was magnificently endowed, and Kat’s three-sizes-too-small shirt showed the girls off to full effect.
“Well, then,” Jeff commented dryly. “That’s certainly…informative.”
Kat’s eyes twinkled as he glanced over at her, clearly checking to make sure she wasn’t jealous of his reaction to Misty’s display.
“Pass me your cash, ladies,” Misty muttered as she applied mascara, using a small mirror Karen lit for her with a flashlight.
While Misty finished putting on eye shadow and lip gloss, the Medusas pooled their emergency cash. Misty counted it quickly. “That should be plenty. Wheels for six, coming up. Back in a few,” she said breezily. “The usual bet, Mamba?”
“T’ought you’d never ask, girlie. De usual.”
Misty disappeared down the road, rolling her pants down around her hips to show off her flat, tanned midriff, her golden hair loose and flowing behind her as she ran.
As they hunkered down to wait, Jeff asked, “What’s the bet?”
Karen explained, “Misty has five minutes once she arrives to acquire whatever she’s going after. In this case, a car.”
Jeff gaped. “Five
Kat blinked innocently. “What’s wrong? That too slow for you?”
He spluttered. “She can’t do that in five minutes. She has to buy a drink. Settle in at the bar. Strike up a few conversations. Work her way around to suggesting that she’s looking to buy a car. Negotiate a deal. It takes
Kat couldn’t resist. She replied blandly, “Is that how a male team does it? How quaint.”
Jeff retorted, scowling. “No way can she do it in five minutes.”
Aleesha jumped on that lightning fast. “Care to make a side bet, big guy?”
He glanced over at Kat. “Will I lose?”
“Oh, yeah. Bargain for three minutes. Then you might stand a chance.”
He shook his head. “This I have to see.”
Karen gestured toward the village. “Be our guest. Just don’t get caught.”
He moved off quickly down the road and disappeared into the night.
Kat felt oddly bereft without him nearby. She was losing her marbles.
Aleesha startled her out of her disgusted musings. “Nice caboose dat boy’s sportin’.”
Kat replied, grinning. “Shall I tell Michael you said that?”
Aleesha chuckled, dropping the Jamaican accent. “Be my guest. He knows that when I quit looking I’ll be dead. He also knows he’s got my heart forever.”
Kat asked curiously, “How does it work having both a significant other and a job like this?”
Karen crowed. “Oh, ho! Our little Kat does have a crush on Maverick. I knew it!”
Kat scrunched her eyes shut in dismay as Aleesha’s motherly arm looped over her shoulder. “’T’ain’t nuttin’ to be ’shamed of, kitten. He’s a fine one, he is.”
Kat blinked in surprise. “You approve of him?”
Isabella laughed. “It’s not up to us. If you like him, then go get him. I, for one, will be glad to see you happy for a change.”
The others nodded. “I’m happy,” she declared, a tad defensively.
Karen, the team’s tall Marine, and usually one to keep her nose out of others’ business surprised her by saying, “No, you’re not. You’re like I used to be. I was happy to be a Medusa. I was happy to have this job. But I wasn’t personally happy. Because I wasn’t, I just didn’t allow myself to have a personal life. I didn’t even know how unhappy I was until Anders came along.”
Kat couldn’t deny it. Ever since Karen had hooked up with the Norwegian Special Forces officer, she’d been a different woman. These days, she practically glowed from within. Kat muttered, “I don’t need to glow, dammit.”
“Ahh. Sure ye do. Glowin’s good fer a girl,” Aleesha replied.
Kat just shook her head. At least they approved of Jeff. That would save her a few hassles, at any rate.
“Speak o’ de devil. Here comes Kat’s firefly-mon now.” Aleesha glanced at her watch and cursed under her breath.
Kat grinned. Aleesha must’ve lost the bet.
Jeff rejoined them, shaking his head and muttering, “She’ll be along in a minute with the van. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Kat patted his shoulder. “It’s all right. We Medusas take a little getting used to.”
He glanced up at her, his eyes gleaming. “Now there’s an understatement if I ever heard one.”
Her pulse jumped. Sheesh. She couldn’t even have a normal conversation with the guy without twittering like a schoolgirl. She really needed to get control of herself.
The sound of an underpowered engine putt-putting up the hill toward them yanked Kat’s mind back to the business at hand.
Jeff ordered, “Let’s move out, ladies.”
As usual, the folks at H.O.T. Watch Ops came through like champs. How they managed to procure a cottage on a secluded beach on the north side of the island at this hour, Jeff had no idea. He rode shotgun and relayed directions from Ops to Misty and her tight T-shirt as she drove them to their ramshackle lodgings.
As hidey holes went, the place wasn’t bad. It had running water in the kitchen sink, a flush toilet, and most importantly, electricity and a computer. The desktop model was several years out of date, but it had a CD-DVD drive, and that was what they needed to read the disk the Ghost had given Kat.
In short order after they arrived, the team gathered around the computer, watching it boot up at snail speed. Kat held out a cardboard CD sleeve to him. He took it, examining it closely. “What did he say when he gave this to you?”
“Not much. Apparently, it was attached to the back of a painting he stole, and he accidentally took it, too. He said I’d be in extreme danger if anyone found out I have it.”
Jeff was inclined to believe the guy. Eventually, the computer spun up the disk and got around to reading its contents. The blinking hourglass on screen was replaced by the last thing he’d ever expected to pop up…
Over his shoulder, Kat inhaled sharply.
Chinese characters.
Jeff glanced up at her. “What does it say?”
“It’s the opening menu to a generic video playback program. Click on that character there to play the video.” She pointed at the appropriate pictograph.
Unfortunately, to reach his computer screen, she had to lean over his shoulder and practically lay her cheek against his. They both inhaled simultaneously, breathing in each other’s scents instinctively. Her feminine essence mixed with the green, fresh smell of the leaves and moss she’d crawled around in tonight. The combination was heady, making his thoughts whirl in a kaleidoscope of flashing impressions.
Misty piped up. “Anybody see a fire extinguisher?”
Kat started, brushing against his back. “That’s right,” she commented. “You and Greg had to deal with that booby-trapped computer last year. Do you think this is some sort of self-destruct program?”
Misty laughed. “No. I think the sparks flying off you and the good captain are going to set something on fire pretty soon.”
Amused, he glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw Kat close her eyes in mortification. He said sympathetically, “It must really suck, having all these nosy women pick apart your private life like this.”
Kat groused. “You have no idea.”
He chuckled. But his laugh was cut short when a video image suddenly popped up on the computer screen.
