Burn (Page 76)

Since they’d started tailing Larkin, Cael and the others had been keeping a sharp eye out for Mills, or one of the other security guards. It was unlike Larkin to go out alone, unlike him not to have some sort of backup. Then again, it was likely that none of his people knew Larkin was a traitor. Who in their right minds would think an electromagnetic pulse weapon in the hands of the North Koreans was a good idea?

So what had Larkin and Mills been talking about the other night? If Mills wasn’t in on the EMP deal, what sort of plans did the two of them have?

The job done, for now, Cael looked down at Jenner. He was surprised to find that she was watching Larkin as intently as he had been. She hadn’t been able to hear Matt, but she had apparently been paying attention. Her eyes narrowed, and when she realized that he was watching her, she looked up and asked, "What the hell is he up to?"

JENNER WASN’T STUPID. In her thirty years she’d been up, she’d been down, but she had never been stupid. Larkin was into something dirty. She wasn’t ready to accept without question that Cael and his people were the good guys; they had, after all, kidnapped her and Syd and they hadn’t exactly been nice about it. She’d been handcuffed, ordered around, and manhandled.

But she hadn’t been hurt; chafed wrists didn’t count. And she’d been watching Cael, seen the split second of shock in his expression as he listened to the deck boy’s running commentary. Then his gaze had hardened, and all she could think was that she was very, very glad she wasn’t Larkin.

She hadn’t entirely discounted the possibility that she wasn’t caught between the bad guys and the good guys at all, but had gotten herself into a situation with bad guys and badder guys. On the other hand, she was leaning heavily toward coming down on Cael’s side. He wasn’t having clandestine meetings with North Koreans – yes, she’d heard one of the others mention that, and as far as she could tell he and the entire group were merely watching.

"Are you going to tell me what’s going on, here?" she asked, trying for what seemed like the umpteenth time. Sooner or later she’d wear him down.

"No."

"I could make a scene here and now," she said softly. "Scream, cry, run like hell."

"Remember your friend," Cael said, and while she was beginning to think he was on the right side of things, as right as was possible given the situation, she was also aware that he was capable of doing anything to get his way.

That didn’t stop her from challenging him, pushing him. How else could she find out what she wanted to know? "I don’t think you’d have Syd hurt. Threatened, yes. Scared, absolutely. But not hurt."

"Are you willing to test that theory?" He leaned closer. "Are you willing to lose your phone privileges?"

"No." If she was learning him, he was also learning her. He didn’t think she’d balk if he cut off her calls to Syd. He probably didn’t really need her any longer, she thought. Their so-called relationship was firmly established in the minds of more than a few people. He could keep her completely confined to the suite, and no one would know any better.

Understanding didn’t make her feel any better about the situation. He knew the calls were important to her, so he’d taken to using them as a threat, like she was a rebellious teenager. Phone privileges!

He put a hand to his ear, his attention diverted. "Copy," he said, not for the first time that day, and then he returned his attention to Jenner. "Larkin is headed back to the ship."

"You mean the field trip’s over? Hip hip hooray."

"I have to make a call first." Cael took her arm and steered her away from the crowd. They walked at a fast clip to a nearby park. As they walked, Cael pulled a cell phone from his pocket and punched in the number. He stopped, silently ordered her to stay put, and walked away from her, just far enough so she couldn’t hear.

While she could’ve made a pest of herself and followed him – what the hell was he going to do in a place so public? – she didn’t. She let him have his space, and enjoyed a moment of her own.

Think, think. She hadn’t been entirely clearheaded lately, and why should she be? Her life had been turned upside down, all because she’d had the misfortune to be reassigned to the suite next to Larkin’s. First of all, she hadn’t been hurt. Second, she could see for herself that Larkin wasn’t who he pretended to be, not entirely. And third, Larkin had just had a quick, clandestine meeting with an Asian man who didn’t exactly look like a Boy Scout. She’d take Cael over either of those two, any day. The devil you know …

Cael ended his call, faced her knowing that she hadn’t moved, that she’d remained exactly where he’d left her. Her compliance, these past couple of days, had made him less vigilant. No, he was always vigilant; he never relaxed, but he was beginning to take her compliance for granted.

"So," she said as he neared, "what would you have done if Linda Vale and Nyna Phillips had been assigned to my suite?"

"I’d have improvised."

"Do you improvise often in your line of work?"

"More often than I’d like."

"Would you have slept with them?"

A quick grin flashed across his face. "I like them, but I’m not that dedicated."

"Tell me what’s going on. I’ll try to help."

"No."

At least he was being honest with her. She might not like the answer, but she knew he wasn’t feeding her a line of bull.

They walked back toward the market. "I talked to my people in San Diego this morning," Cael said. "While you were in the shower." For a moment Jenner thought he was going to threaten Syd’s safety again, and she stiffened, slightly. She was getting damned tired of that. But he said, "Adam complained that, for entertainment, Ms. Hazlett has taken to dressing the others like Barbie dolls."