“It was to me,” Mack said. “He didn’t discuss it.”
“Jaimie’s my sister, Mack,” Kane said, his tone one of exaggerated patience. “I don’t have to discuss it with you. She left. She wasn’t going to let it go. I know her, the way she thinks, and she wasn’t going to drop her argument against Whitney. She was going to try to find proof for you.”
“You knew he was going to watch out for me anyway,” Jaimie pointed out, stepping away from Mack.
“From a distance, Jaimie. I wanted someone on you up close, where when you tripped up, they’d be able to send a report to Griffen and he’d contact me. That was the arrangement.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me?” Mack demanded.
“Because the sergeant major wanted something in return,” Jaimie guessed, her eyes locked with Kane’s. “He did, didn’t he?”
Kane shrugged. “I knew what you’d do, Jaimie, and I wasn’t about to let you get your neck chopped off.”
“I’m not giving him my data. That’s what you promised him, isn’t it?”
“That and how you do what you do.”
“That’s too bad, Kane, because, had you asked me, I would have volunteered the information to you had I known how I do it. But no way in hell will I ever turn over my proof of Whitney’s crimes to Sergeant Major Griffen. He’s entrenched in the GhostWalker program and probably embroiled up to his medals in Whitney’s scum.”
“I can hack your computer.”
“You don’t have the skills to hack me. And neither do Sergeant Major’s little experts.” She tilted her chin at him, her eyes dark and stormy.
“Maybe, but Javier does.”
She smirked at him. “Maybe, but I don’t think so.”
Kane’s jaw tightened. “You anticipated me trading for protection.”
All trace of amusement faded from her face. “I know you just as well as you know me. The minute I saw that dead body, I knew it was a warning. I knew I was getting close to Whitney’s protectors. Then you showed up here because of a wrong address.”
“Wait a minute,” Mack said. There was a note in his voice, a strain of underlying anger that had Kane moving back out of harm’s way. Quiet. Nasty. That dangerous tone that made Mack who he was. “Are you telling me that Sergeant Major traded information for Jaimie’s safety? He actually knew she was in harm’s way and made you pay a price to protect her?”
“Mack,” Kane said.
Mack’s teeth snapped together. “You watch her, Kane. I’ll be back later. I think I’ll go have a chat with Griffen.”
“You’ll be court-martialed if you lay a hand on him,” Kane said. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“Because you think you can stop me?”
“You sound like a couple of little kids,” Jaimie scolded. “Let’s think this through instead of punching someone. Sheesh, Mack. Are you ever going to grow out of that?”
“I’m sublimating.”
Jaimie stared at him. She felt heat moving up her neck and throat to her face. His eyes were black and glittering, but filled with more than just teasing lust. Possession maybe. Whatever it was, it was all male and very compelling. Like a starving wolf.
“Well, don’t.” She croaked the words out. It was the best she could do with the sudden dry-mouth syndrome that seemed to afflict her whenever he gave her that hungry stare.
Mack’s eyebrow shot up. “You heard her, Kane. She just gave me permission to punch out a superior officer.”
“I did not,” Jaimie denied.
“You told me not to sublimate.”
She sighed. “You’re so crazy, Mack. Sit down and quit prowling around while I’m trying to cook.”
She glanced out the window at the sky. The sun had set already and fog swirled in, thick and gray, covering the buildings with a veil of mist. “Are the boys out in this weather?”
“A couple of them. They change shifts,” Mack said.
“I’m making lasagna. They all love that with French bread and salad. I’ll feed everyone and then call the ones on watch in.” She sighed. “Maybe I should invite Joe to show him I’m not that angry.”
“You should be angry at that Sicilian Don Juan with his stupid tight jeans and cocky grin. You’re too forgiving, Jaimie.”
Kane coughed, trying to be discreet.
“A Sicilian Don Juan?” Jaimie echoed. “Joe?” She laughed softly. “Is he even Sicilian? I thought that was his cover.”
“You bought the entire Sicilian carpenter persona?” Mack rolled his eyes and then flicked Kane a quelling look.
“He’s got the muscles,” Jaimie pointed out. “You know, hot carpenter bod and all that. And impeccable credentials. I tried to find holes in his story, but it was solid.”
“Javier said that. He tried finding out about him. I take it you lifted his prints?”
She nodded. “First thing, but then, if he’s in the GhostWalker program, he’s hooked up and can be anybody he wants to be.” She worked smoothly as she talked, carefully putting thick, flat noodles into boiling water before turning back to her sauce.
Mack crowded her all over again. “You don’t need to be looking at his muscles, Jaimie.”
“I can hardly help it, now, can I, Mack? His muscles are rather obvious.”
“I told you to shoot the son of a bitch while you had the chance, Kane,” Mack complained. “Now I’ve got to put up with Jaimie ogling him. And no, there’s no need to invite him for dinner. I don’t want him to see the boys. Not yet.”
Jaimie didn’t reply for a long time. “If he’s a GhostWalker, and you let him work on me the other night, then why wouldn’t you trust him?”
“Because I didn’t listen to you last time when I should have. I’m going to be a lot more careful this time around. We have to think this bargain Kane made with Griffen over very carefully. If he’s capable of bargaining for your safety, he isn’t the man I thought he was.”
Kane shrugged. “As long as she’s safe, Mack. I don’t want her anywhere near Whitney. The way the man treats those women is criminal. And I’m not convinced he doesn’t have more orphans locked up somewhere, experimenting on them. I’ll pay whatever price Griffen wants to keep Jaimie out of Whitney’s hands.”
She turned around and rested one hip against the counter to study Kane’s face. He was handsome in a tough sort of way, even with the lines etched there. “What happened there, Kane? In Whitney’s compound. I know you were assigned to guard the place…”
“I wish I’d been assigned to guard the place. That’s what I thought. That’s what we all thought. But it was for something altogether different. Whitney ran tests on all of us and he paired a few of us with some of the women being held there.”
She swallowed hard. She’d hacked into Whitney’s files and she had several condemning files. Had Kane really been asked to get one of the women pregnant? She couldn’t imagine him doing something like that.
“I’m not discussing it, Jaimie, not yet. It’s all too raw and I haven’t quite figured out what I’m going to do yet.”
“Jaimie! Get down here now.” Javier’s voice came through the intercom. “You’re being hacked. Double-time it.”
Jaimie threw the spoon back in the sauce and pushed past Mack. She leapt across the room in two long bounds, landing at the top of the stairs in a crouch and then jumping to the landing below. She was comfortable using her enhanced genetic skills. Mack noted her body was fluid like a cat’s as she leapt the remaining distances. He didn’t use his cat skills; he used his teleportation speed, flashing from spot to spot and landing right with her.
“The alarm should have gone off upstairs. I’ve been waiting for this,” Jaimie said, seating herself beside Javier. Her eyes gleamed with satisfaction. “Did you touch anything?”
“I turned it off just now,” Javier admitted. “It scared the hell out of me.”
