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Chapter Forty-one
Rylee couldn’t believe the pain Carl’s words had caused. The kid had gotten to her. She just prayed he’d wandered off on his own and wasn’t missing because Hakim’s lot decided to use him for bait.
“We have to get back to your suite, Jake. See if there’s any clues. I need to change out of this rig first, five minutes tops, okay? I’ll meet you there.”
Rylee scanned the restaurant and could see they hadn’t been followed and it was safe to leave. From now on she had to pay more attention to why she was on board this sailing wonderland and less to the man who made her senses flare and her skin tingle.
Looking confused but not arguing, Rylee admired Jake even more. Most would want an explanation… about how she knew Miguel was missing. Since there hadn’t been any alert from an impending message, the text excuse could be disputed.
And… the obscure hearing device in her ear sounded only to her. He had no way of knowing Rylee and Carl were working together, and that their instructions were to stay undercover.
Mind you, on these types of assignments, she believed in a need-to-know basis. Except he didn’t question her, just signed the bill and agreed to meet her in his suite.
She’d never moved so fast in her life, carrying the shoes that made running impossible, she flew down the corridor to her room and the switch from princess to working girl took all of five minutes.
A pair of light-weight khaki pants, wide enough at the bottom to conceal her second weapon, a plain white T-shirt and comfortable sandals, and she headed toward Jake’s room, running up the stairs rather than using the elevator.
***
Jake had had enough with the mollycoddling. He saw Carlos acting invisible while tailing him to his room. Once there, he pounced. “What the fuck is going on, Carlos? I want the straight goods, no bullshit.”
“Not sure what you mean, Señor?” Carlos hedged, trying to appear as any room steward would when faced with an unhappy customer.
“Rylee, she’s an undercover agent for the FBI, and I have reason to believe you are too. And you’re both covering my ass because of the threat on my life. Does that about cover it?”
“I have no idea how you found out, but that’s not quite accurate. Close but… well…” Carlos straightened, and his character underwent a transformation. “Look, the government doesn’t want you falling into the wrong hands, and we’ve had credible information that the Chinese are very interested in the new program you’ve invented. They’d like nothing better than to undercut the U.S. design and create their own app. They searched your cabin the first night, and I watched as they found nothing. Next, they sent their agent to come after you.”
Jake, now satisfied that Carlos was levelling with him and no longer working the scam, nodded. “Okay, that makes sense. You figure Madelaine worked for the Chinese government?”
“No way of knowing for sure, she won’t talk, but it’s what we suspect. Harrison, our boss, is having both her and Hakim’s man picked up tomorrow. They’ll interrogate them both, but until then, we don’t know much more than you’re in danger… and anyone around you.”
Jake let that information sink in. “I can’t help you with the Madelaine situation, but I can with Hakim. He’s out to kill me because he believes I was instrumental in his brother’s death.”
Carlos looked stunned that Jake seemed to understand. But to confirm, he questioned him, “Because…?”
“Because, I shot the man.”
“Well, in my book, that could be construed as instrumental.” Sarcasm rang out that had Jake grinning – a relief from the sudden tension.
Almost from the minute he’d gotten back to his place, he’d felt the tightening of the steel cage surrounding his stomach. He’d had to hide his hands in his suit pockets to appear calm.
Yet all the while, his heart was beating hard and a headache formed at the base of his neck, similar to the ones he had suffered months ago and hoped they were gone for good.
He thought he’d overcome those stress symptoms, but they’d attacked tonight, worse than before. No doubt because the kid who’d won his heart could now be at the mercy of the crazies who killed as easy as swatting at flies. They just took it personal when one of their own was the victim.
If anything happened to Miguel or Rylee because of him, he’d lose his shit, and this time, he didn’t know if he could ever get it back.
***
Once she arrived, Rylee noticed Carlos looking everywhere but at her.What the fuck?
“What’s going on, Carl?”
“We’ve been had; Jake knows we’re agents.”
“Where is he?”
“He’s changing.” His voice went low as he informed her, “I met up with him just as he was leaving the restaurant as we agreed. It was all-clear, we got to the room with no problems.”
