Breathing hard with his blood humming like a hornet’s nest, he murmured huskily, “Sorry, but it’s time to go, babe.”
“I like that you call me that.”
“I like that you’re willing to fight for our lives.” Hint, hint.
Her tongue took one last lap around his mouth, and she whispered, “Let’s do this.”
Reluctantly, he ducked out of her embrace and took a step back. “Work bench?”
“This way,” she said as she bumped hips with him. “Straight ahead. Looks heavy. We’ll have to drag it.”
It was heavy, but with her help, Jameson managed. He worried while they grunted and sweated the sturdy table made of four-by-fours across the concrete floor. “Were you injured? You said you couldn’t breathe earlier.”
“Just scared. It’s not every day a girl ends up in a burning jet.”
“I think that was Pops Delaney working with Shade. Had to be him. They argued. She slapped him.”
“Delaney’s a flat-out killer.”
“So’s Lucy Shade.” Which meant Maddie was in more trouble than he’d thought.
“Do you think there’s more than just them two?”
“Might be, so be extra stealthy once you’re out of here. Run for your life, Maddie.”
“What if my big ass gets stuck in the vent?”
He couldn’t help the smile that broke through the gloom of her leaving him behind. “Trust me, you don’t have a big ass. One step at a time, Maddie. That’s how we get the tough jobs done. You can do this. I have faith.”
“Aww, you say the sweetest things.”
At last, Jameson positioned the bench at the door, so Maddie could reach the vent. He made quick work of the screws holding the vent in place. Maddie had climbed up on the bench and was at his side by then. Luckily, the screws were long and sharp. He used one to carefully saw the ties off her wrists, and she was ready to go.
Interlocking his fingers, he crouched to boost her up to the ceiling. “Ready?”
Her palms clapped over his shoulders. A dainty booted foot settled into his cupped hands. Her breath warmed his face when she kissed him again and said, “I’ll be waiting for you.”
“That’s the plan,” he whispered into her open mouth, loving the smell and taste of her. Wanting to know her better. It’d been ages since he’d felt this way about any woman. How could he let her go?
She made the decision for him. With one little push, she was out of his life and into the vent. “Sure wish I had that bin of yours now,” she teased. “Lots of cobwebs up here. I could use a big, square helmet.”
“I’ll let you borrow it next time,” he quipped, wishing it was him up in the vent, not her. Wishing he could see, damn it. Was she sitting there looking down at him? He doubted it. Ductwork wasn’t usually large enough to allow much movement but forward travel.
Since the incident, he’d come to believe that everything happened for a reason. Karma had to work that way, else there’d be no balance in the universe. No yin and yang. No reason for mankind to struggle like he did. No challenge for life to go on. But now? Maddie was the one Karma had singled out today, and that kiss might be his last. Just when he’d finally caught his balance.
“Be careful,” he told her one last time.
But she was already gone.
Chapter Nine
Alex stood with the fire chief while his men finished fighting the blaze outside Reagan National Airport’s private hangars. They ended up using more Class B fire suppressant foam than usual on the aircraft, but at last, the fire was under control. Since airspace over Reagan was restricted, no media helicopters hovered overhead to fan the flames. Which they would have done, if this had happened anywhere else.
What troubled Alex most was that Lucy Shade, an obvious stage name, was nowhere to be found. Yet Vladimir, who the fire chief had claimed was her personal bodyguard, was the person who’d placed the 911 call to report the explosion. He’d claimed two people were still on board. That he’d feared for their lives. Which Alex would soon find out. But if there were bodies in the debris, they’d be burned beyond recognition. DNA and dental records would be useless. To validate what his gut was telling him—that Maddie and Jameson were still alive—he’d requested access to Reagan’s security tapes. This portion of the tarmac was within view of several separate cameras. He’d know soon enough.
Also troublesome was Junior Agent Walker Judge’s high opinion of former CPO Tenney. Walker had bragged about the mad ninja skills Jameson had developed since he’d lost his sight. For a SEAL to brag up another SEAL was telling. Walker was as solid an operator as they came. Which meant Jameson was just as good. Alex hadn’t yet met him, but upon Walker’s recommendation alone, he’d told Mark to hire the visually impaired warrior. Hell, Alex would have done that sight unseen. No pun intended. It just didn’t feel right, that a trained special warfare operator of Jameson’s caliber, would’ve been trapped and burned to death in a fire on his first night at work. The entire scene stunk, and Alex meant to get to the rat behind it.
“Where’s my limo?” he asked Mark, meaning the vehicle Maddie had driven to Reagan.
“Over there.” Mark pointed to the south side of the airfield. “What’s left of it. The firemen moved the carcass before I got here.”
Alex stared at the smoking wreckage. There’d be no forensic evidence coming from that mess. “Is Mother able to track our people?” She tracked all TEAM agents’ cell phones when they were on active ops.
“No, which means they were frisked before they were abducted and their phones destroyed, or…” Mark let the obvious—or they were dead on the scene—go unsaid.
Turning his head, Alex glared at the glowing, smoking
