Targeted

that from her. Not the boy she’d been in love with.

No fucking way. He couldn’t be that cruel.

Sam had died. Died. She knew that. So why had she felt this unexplainable sense of familiarity from the moment she’d met Jack? A strange numbness started at her toes and worked its way up to her fingers. Her fingers were so jittery it took a few tries before she could pop open the shampoo bottle.

Jack worked for the government. She supposed they could have changed his face. She shook her head and increased the water pressure, letting the jets massage away her soreness. This was insane. Maybe she was seeing things because she still had unresolved issues over Sam’s death. Maybe . . .

“Sophie? I’m back.” Jack’s deep voice from outside made her jump.

“I’ll be out in a sec,” she called, thankful her voice didn’t shake.

Instead of focusing on her crazy Is Jack really Sam? thoughts, she hurriedly got ready. She didn’t have time for any of those thoughts anyway because there was no way in hell it was possible. After washing her hair, shaving, and drying off, she towel-dried her thick hair as best she could. She hadn’t seen a hair dryer anywhere and didn’t feel like hunting one down. She smoothed on lotion she’d found at Mandy’s place before tugging on her clothes. Perhaps she should feel guilty at using the woman’s stuff, but Mandy had tried to kill her. She was way past guilt.

She glanced at her reflection in the mirror and cringed. She still didn’t have a bra or panties. The long- sleeved shirt she wore was snug enough to support her, and even though it was warm in the bathroom, she could see the faint outline of her nipples.

Sophie tugged at the shirt one more time before gathering up the toiletries against her chest and exiting the safety of the bathroom.

When she walked out she found Jack sitting on the bed, staring at that damn computer screen again.

“Any news?”

He blindly glanced at her before returning to the screen. “Yeah. We’re meeting my boss soon.”

She folded up her worn clothes and tucked them back into his bag. “Is one of those mine?” Sophie gestured to the two foam cups on the nightstand.

“Yeah, sorry.” He handed her one of the cups. As he did, he raked an appreciative glance over her, letting his heated gaze linger on her chest. A small, knowing smile played at his mouth before his eyes met hers.

“Okay, we need to make a stop before meeting your boss,” she said as she took the extended drink.

Picking up his cup, he frowned at her. “Why?”

“I don’t feel like going commando anymore and I really don’t want to meet your boss with my nipples showing.”

He choked on his coffee before setting the cup down. “Good point,” he rasped out.

She watched in amazement as a shade of red crept up his neck. She hadn’t thought it was possible to make him uncomfortable. Biting back a grin, she took another sip of her coffee, which was surprisingly good.

Once they’d packed up what little they had, they were in the stolen SUV cruising down the road. Oranges and yellows streaked the sky so that even the clouds draping across the city had a bright and cheerful tint. It seemed almost wrong with everything going on in her life.

She took a sip of her warm coffee, letting the heat flow through her. “Where are we headed?”

“A warehouse . . . Can you text your boss while I drive?”

“Uh . . . yeah.”

“Instruct him to walk outside his home and call this number.” He handed her one of the throwaways and repeated the number as she punched in the digits.

When the phone buzzed in her hand, Sophie hit the green SPEAKER button.

“Who is this?” the familiar voice of her boss asked.

Jack took over the conversation. “It’s me. Are you still at home?”

“Yes, I’m in the backyard,” Ronald said.

Jack continued. “Did you talk to Vargas?”

There was a moment of silence before Ronald answered, “Yeah . . . I did what you said. He let me talk to my daughter.”

Sophie listened to the conversation, wishing she could feel something other than hurt. The man had been willing to sacrifice her without even attempting to contact the police or another government agency. Expendable. That’s all she was. She’d considered Ronald family, but he considered her . . . nothing.

Jack glanced at her as Ronald continued, and gave her a reassuring smile. Jack’s smiles were so rare that he gave her a boost of confidence. She wasn’t nothing to Jack. Unless sleeping with her was part of his job. Even thinking that made the coffee in her stomach roil.

“What else did he say?” Jack asked as he turned back to the road.

“How do I know you’ll be able to protect my family?”

“No matter what happens, you have a better chance with my team as backup than if you meet with him alone.”

There was a long beat of silence. “He wants to meet in hangar eight at the Opa-Lopka Airport tomorrow.”

“What time?” Jack glanced over his shoulder and switched lanes.

“At noon. He says . . . He says he’s bringing my daughter with him.”

“You and I are going to need to meet today, then.”

“What if they’re watching me?” His voice rose with panic.

“They probably are, so head to work like you always do. I’ll be in contact within the hour.” Jack disconnected and left the phone on the center console.

“Is Walmart okay?” he asked as he pulled off the main road and into a parking lot.

“What?”

“You said you needed to pick up a few things.”

“Oh, it’s fine. What are you going to do about Ronald?”

“Bring him in to meet with the team, explain that we’ll be watching the whole time, and explain how everything needs to go down.”

“How do you know someone isn’t following him?”

“He’s definitely got a tail, but I doubt he’s being tracked by satellite. It costs too much money and would draw too much attention to constantly track your boss like that. I guarantee they’ve got his house bugged, though. So far he hasn’t been a problem to Vargas, so security’s probably gotten lax. That’s good for us.” He put the vehicle in park and shut off the engine.

“You’re coming with me?” she asked as he opened his door.

His brow furrowed. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

The thought of shopping for any sort of undergarments with Jack was . . . interesting. “If you say so.”

Chapter 17

C-4: a common variety of the plastic explosive known as Composition C.

He looked up from his computer screen as Wesley walked up. “What’s going on, boss?”

“Conference room. Two minutes.” Wesley headed toward another desk, making any questions pointless.

He wiped sweaty palms on his pants, then logged off his computer. Over the past twenty-four hours, he hadn’t been able to get anything useful from Wesley, especially regarding Sophie Moreno and everything surrounding SBMS. His boss had switched phones, and hadn’t been communicating on many open channels. At least not that he could find. Wesley was paranoid by nature, but lately his boss had been taking extra precautions—as if he knew he was being watched.

And now the Abarca woman had disappeared according to Vargas. He hadn’t heard that she’d been picked up by the NSA, but for all he knew, he was being kept out of the loop. At least Vargas didn’t seem to think she’d