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Sixteen

I arrived at Gitmo early the following day. The planned long, hot shower before relaxing with my morning Wordle and two cups of coffee was destroyed in one six a.m. phone call. Jake wanted to speak with me before the rest of my team.

As soon as I returned from Russia, I called him and explained about the map and the possibility that Sasha might be searching for more than treasure.

He assured me he’d do his best to send me to Nassau if Marco didn’t return.

But this morning, his tone was edgy. He had something to speak to me about that he couldn’t tell me over the phone, only demanded loudly that I arrive early.

I stomped down the hall wearing my boho striped sleeveless shirt, flirty skirt, and Jessica Simpson stilettos with the bright red bow that I hoped would entice Jake to choose me. I mean a girl has to use all her weapons, right?

My stilettos tapped against tile as I marched toward Jake’s office listing possible reasons he was in such a snit and rolling myself into one. If he thought he was pulling me off the Nassau jump, he had better think again.

I had made peace with Jake over our lost relationship. He had Angel, and I had Caiyan. Sort of. My stomach fluttered at the thought of my fake engagement. How long could I keep up this ruse? Did I want to be fake engaged to Caiyan? What if it led to a fake marriage? Or a real one? Was I ready?

Get a grip.

I reached to twist a strand of hair and met a thick French braid. The only thing I had time to do with my hair this morning. I didn’t get my coffee, which added to my snit. I inhaled a deep, calming breath and thought positive, happy thoughts. I didn’t want to screw up my chances to go after Marco.

Jake’s office door was open. He sat at his desk, eyes focused on his laptop screen, sipping coffee. The ass.

I reminded myself I wanted this mission. Plastering a smile on my face, I tapped twice on the doorframe.

“Hidey-ho, Boss Babe.”

He looked up, gave me a you’re-ridiculous face, and motioned me inside.

I scooted into one of the metal office chairs in front of his desk and noticed a second cup of steaming coffee. “Is this for me?”

“Yeah. I knew you’d have to skip coffee or hair to get here on time, and I placed my bet on the coffee.” He set his cup down, walked around the desk, and stopped beside me. “Thanks for coming in early.”

Grumpy six a.m. Jake had morphed into Nice Boss Jake. I took a long drink of the coffee and moaned self-indulgent pleasure. Looking up at him, I couldn’t read the blank emotion on his face, but his eyes danced a little, and I thought that was a good sign. “What’s up?”

“I’m having second thoughts about your jump to Nassau.”

I opened my mouth to voice my objections.

He held up a finger.

“I hate when you do that.”

“Do what?”

“Cut me off with your obnoxiously long index finger.”

“It’s a gift. All the men in my family have long fingers.” He balanced his hip on the corner of the desk.

“What’s this about?” I took another drink of my coffee, realizing it was probably a bribe to soften me up when he gave the trip to Fredericka.

“I know you care about Marco. I care about him too because… I’m hoping he’s going to be my new brother-in-law.”

It took all my effort to keep from spewing the coffee across his desk. “Your what?”

“I asked Angel to marry me last night.”

I was speechless. And a small part of me was also jealous. Jake had always been mine. Even when we weren’t dating, we were best friends. My inner voice held up a sign that read One Less Potential Husband.

“Wow, that’s fantastic. Angel said yes, right? I mean, why wouldn’t she? You’re a great catch. How’d you ask her?” My babbling made me sound pathetic.

He grinned wide, sinking deep dimples into his cheeks. “I took her to our favorite restaurant, got down on one knee, and proposed with my aunt Pearl’s ring. You remember the ring? It has a rather large Princess Diana sapphire.”

“Yeah.” I’d coveted that ring when I dated Jake. Aunt Pearl used to tell Jake that when he found the right girl, he could have the ring. That’s back when I assumed I was the right girl.

“She didn’t say yes.”

“She didn’t?” Relief washed over me, followed by a hefty dose of guilt. I wanted my best friend to have everlasting happiness.

He shook his head as if the memory made him gooey inside. “Nope. She asked, ‘What took you so long?’”

“That’s great news. Super-duper.” I forced a smile.

He looked down at me and chuckled. “You have a hard time hiding your true feelings, Jennifer Cloud.”

I set my cup down and sighed out a sorry . “I’m happy for you. It’s just that we’ve been friends for a long time. And it wasn’t that long ago I thought I’d be the one wearing Aunt Pearl’s ring. But I’ve changed, and so have you. She’s perfect for you.”

I bolted from the chair and hugged him tight, a sisterly hug, and it felt good.

“It’s all your fault anyway.” He leaned away from me and loosened his grip.

“My fault?” I swiped at a wayward tear.

“Your mom called my mom, and I hear congratulations are in order.” He scanned my face for answers.

Damn. Mom didn’t wait a minute before blabbing to her friends.

“Uhm, it’s new.” I returned to my chair and reached for my coffee. The bribe had turned into my protective shield. “We’re planning on a long engagement.”

Jake pushed off the desk with a chuckle and retrieved his coffee. “Someone better tell your mom. She booked Bush Hall in April for the bridal shower.”

“The gigantic Bush Hall?” My hands clenched around the mug, and I mentally punched Caiyan in the throat.

“Anyway, when I heard you were engaged, I thought, ‘What the hell am I waiting for? I love Angel.’ I already had the ring, so I took the chance.”

“Angel’s amazing.” I slugged down the last few sips of coffee, wishing for a shot of tequila.

“Thanks. I wanted you to be the first to know.” He cocked a sarcastic eyebrow at me, like I had somehow broken a best friend’s blood oath of getting engaged and not telling him first.

“Sorry. Caiyan didn’t ask me. He sort of blurted it out at family linner.”

Jake stopped with his mug halfway to his mouth. He lowered it slowly, placed it on the desk, and walked to the door. He shut it with a gentle click. He took a moment to gather himself and turned toward me. “McGregor was at Sunday’s family linner?”

His tone had changed from excited, engaged Jake to the snitty, Boss Jake he’d been on the phone at six a.m. I chewed my lip, wondering how much I should tell him.

“And he just decided you were engaged?”

“Uhm, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision.”

“Jen, getting married isn’t a spur-of-the-moment anything.” He paced the room, fists clenched, eyes squinty. “When I catch up to him, I’m, I’m, I’m—going to punch him in the face.”

Jeez. He’d have to stand in line behind me.

He stopped in front of me. “McGregor’s an irresponsible, unpredictable criminal.”

“First of all,” I held up my finger, “didn’t you just ask Angel spur of the moment? Second,” I added another finger, “if you punch him, won’t you lose your job?”

“First,” he held up a finger, “I’ve been thinking about asking her for months, and second,” he added a finger, “it would be worth it.”

“Third,” I shoved three fingers in his face, “You can calm down. It’s not a real engagement.”

He dropped his hands to his sides. “Not real?”

“My mom was doing her when are you getting married guilt trip thing and Caiyan pacified her.”

“And you went along with it? Are you nuts?”

“Probably.” No, definitely. “But you’ll be the first to know when it’s a real engagement.”

“I hope so. And I hope it’s to someone worthy of you. Because Jen, you’ve got a heart of gold. It’s the reason you’re always getting into trouble.”

“Not this time, Agent McCoy. I didn’t cause any trouble.”

“True.” Calmer now, he picked up his coffee, took a drink. “The problem is Angel’s insisting that Marco be the first to know, and she’s upset he’s not answering her calls.”

“It’s hard to receive calls in 1718.” I paused, and my eyes grew wide. “You haven’t told your mom that you’re engaged?”

“And take away your mom’s time in the spotlight? Never.”

“That’s nice of you.”

“What’s nice of me is not telling my second favorite mom that her daughter is lying her ass off.”

“I know you don’t like Caiyan. And I know he took his key and hasn’t been working with the WTF. But why all the anger? Why now?”

Jake sat behind his desk. “He broke out of jail, stole his key, and keeps valuable intel from us.”

“This isn’t new. Caiyan’s always played his cards close to his chest.”

“Jennifer, the guy is a loose cannon. He runs every chance he gets, and he tears you apart when he does it.”

“He’s avoiding you because he doesn’t want to end up in shackles.”

“He’s twisting you up in one of his half-baked schemes.”

“No. He’s searching for Sasha.”

“He’s not following Sasha, he’s following you.”

The room grew quiet. “What?”

“Dammit. I wasn’t going to tell you.” Jake raked a hand through his hair, messing up its perfect asymmetry. “It’s the reason I didn’t arrest him at the wedding. Wherever you go, he goes. I can see him on the travel screen for a minute, and then he disappears.”

“He’s taking off his key.” I leaned against the back of my chair.

“I’m sure he knows we can see him, but he also knows I care about you. And it was nice knowing he was out there in case you needed a hand. But he’s snubbing his nose at us. He knew I’d allow it, that I wouldn’t report him to General Potts. He’s screwing with my job security.”

“How is this possible? Can’t Pickles and Al see him?”

“They do. One of them is feeding him your coordinates. Probably Al through Itty. Pickles won’t say anything because he’s not going to tattle when McGregor’s protecting you.”

“I don’t need protecting.”

“Jen, I’m about to send you into the pirate’s den. These guys are cold-blooded killers. Knowing he’s got your back gives me peace of mind.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because the general was in the travel lab last moon cycle. He saw McGregor jump. All our asses are on the line. I want you to bring him back to Gitmo.”

“You want me to trap Caiyan in my outhouse and bring him back with me?”

“Yes. The general ordered Ace to bring him in, but I don’t think Ace is capable of luring Caiyan into his photo booth.”

I snorted. “And you think I can.”

“I think you have a better chance at it.”

“Why does the WTF want Caiyan so badly they’d risk alienating him by putting him in jail?”

“I couldn’t tell you, even if I knew.”

“What is it with men and their secrets?”

“Maybe you should ask your intended.”

“I won’t do it.”

“All I know is Caiyan has information about Rogue that he’s not sharing, and we need to persuade him to share it.”

“Are you going to torture it out of him?”

“I would enjoy that, but I was thinking of asking first.”

“Why didn’t you ask him at the wedding? Or try and catch him at my house afterward?”

“This is a recent request from the general.”

“Why can’t you just call and ask him.”

Jake didn’t look me in the eye. “He’s not answering.”

“Then leave a message. I can’t do it. I won’t do it.” Even though Jake wouldn’t look at me, I looked at him. “I won’t trap my boyfriend so the WTF can interrogate him.”

“Fiancé,” Jake corrected. “It’s possible he was informed of our plan to interrogate him. What if he forced this engagement because he knows you’re the only one who can get close to him?”

“He wouldn’t.” He would in a heartbeat.

“A fiancé might have second thoughts about turning in her future husband.” Jake crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back to stare at me like I was daft. “He’s playing you.”

I placed my hands on the desk and leaned toward him. “I won’t do it.”

“Fine.” Jake gave a defeated huff and sent me a look that was somehow sad. Much different from the Jake of a few minutes ago.

His phone buzzed, making us both jump. He snatched the receiver. “Yes?”

The irritating tone of Miss Beotch’s voice, Jake’s secretary, echoed from the line.

“Yes, she’s here.” He paused and looked at me. “It’s the general. I need to take this. Report to the blue room. The moon cycle opens soon, and then I’ll have the jump dates.”

I stomped toward the door, then stopped. “I’m going after Marco. Regardless of where Mortas jumps.”

Jake’s face twisted into a pained expression. “I know.”