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It had been explained to Cassie at her recruitment that because much of what SPACE did pertained to national security and many of the agents found it necessary to work outside of the law, the agency was top secret.
The agency had been dealing more and more with domestic matters following 9/11, while other agencies like the CIA and FBI focused more on terrorists.
Cassie didn’t know where the home office of the agency was, but she suspected it was somewhere in Washington, D.C. She’d always worked out of mobile offices like the one she had just left.
In truth, she knew very little about the agency, although Kane had once told her part of the history. It had begun in the mid-eighties as one of many covert agencies run by the government to deal with problems both foreign and domestic that might need special handling. The agents didn’t have to worry about the restrictions that often bound the hands of law enforcement and were highly trained both physically and mentally for all circumstances.
Cassie wasn’t sure how their recruitment ordinarily worked. She’d come to the attention of somebody because of her stunt work in several movies. Apparently an extensive background check had been run on her and they liked what they saw. It didn’t hurt that she had no family. In fact, Kane had told her the agency preferred their operatives to have no families.
Ancient history and in a few minutes she would be back in the fold of the agency she’d left behind.
She remained in the car for a long moment, staring at the old brick building. It wasn’t too late to change her mind, to turn her car around and forget everything that Kane had told her the night before.
She could go back to her ordinary life, arresting bad guys, bickering with her cantankerous neighbor and having breakfast with Max.
All she’d have to worry about were the nightmares that would plague her as she thought of the danger hitting the streets in the form of a deadly drug.
In truth, she had no choice. She hated nightmares.
She got out of her car and approached the building, aware that once she opened the door and walked inside the relatively peaceful life she’d built for herself would be transformed into something much different.
The interior looked like a hundred other employment agencies. Plastic orange chairs lined one wall, a table provided a place to fill out applications and a water cooler occasionally gurgled from its position in one corner.
A receptionist at a small metal desk looked up from the magazine she’d been reading. “Hi, can I help you?”
“I’d like to fill out an application,” Cassie said.
At that moment a door behind the receptionist’s desk opened and a tall gray-haired man stepped into view. “Cassie, it’s good to see you.”
“Hello, Greg.” Cassie smiled at Greg Cole, the man who had recruited her into the agency years ago.
“Why don’t you come on back. I’ve been hoping you’d show up.”
A sense of déjà vu filled Cassie as she followed him down a long hallway and into a private office. He motioned her into one of the two chairs that faced a large, mahogany desk.
She sank down in one of the chairs, suddenly feeling much like she had nine years ago when she’d had her first private meeting with Greg. Excitement and anxiety battled each other inside her as she waited for Greg to get settled in the chair behind the desk.
Once he was seated, he smiled at her again. “You look good, Cassie.”
“It’s all that good, clean normal living I’ve been doing,” she replied and felt herself begin to relax. The old, familiar excitement was quickly taking over the anxiety. She recognized that she was not only back with the agency physically, but emotionally as well.
Greg Cole was a distinguished-looking man about fifty years old. With his steel-gray hair and blue eyes, clad in a three-piece tailored pale gray suit he looked like he’d come from the same mold as a thousand other successful businessmen.
But Cassie had seen Greg put a bullet between the eyes of a paid assassin yards away. She’d seen him scale a twenty-foot fence like a monkey climbing a tree. Greg was much more than a man behind a desk pushing papers.
“Something is agreeing with you,” he said. “We’ve heard good things about you since you’ve been away
from us. Eight commendations, a folder full of civilian praise for you and a stellar record that proves you’re better than most police officers.”
So they’d kept tabs on her since she’d left the agency. Somehow she wasn’t surprised. “I try to be the best at what I do.”
“You were one of the best agents we ever had when it came to working the streets.”
That had been Cassie’s specialty. Her early experiences on the streets of L.A. had given her an insight into the language, the nuances, the underbelly of that world that few people truly understood.
It was something that couldn’t be taught, but had to be experienced and it was part of what had made her valuable to the agency. She’d been useful in information gathering from the streets, able to tap into gangs, drug dealers and weapon deals by knowing who to listen to and what to say.
“You know what they say, you can take the girl off the street, but you can’t take the street out of the girl,” she said.
“I don’t know about that, you manage to clean up pretty well.” Greg’s smile not only held genuine affection, but respect as well.
During the time she had worked for the agency, Greg had always been the superior she reported to and she’d never doubted the man’s integrity and belief in all the agency stood for. She hadn’t left because she didn’t believe in their work. She’d left before she could completely destroy one of their top men.
However, she also knew that Greg’s loyalty was to the agency and agents were expendable when it came to protecting SPACE.
He leaned back in the chair and patted his breast pocket absently. Cassie smiled, realizing the pocket that had always held a pack of cigarettes was empty. “How long since you quit?”
“Six months, but old habits die hard. Kane filled you in?” She nodded and Greg continued. “It’s an insidious plot devised by a devious man.”
“Sounds like a nutcase with a nutty plan,” she said.
“Perhaps, but it’s a mistake to go into this and think Adam Mercer is just your garden variety nut. He’s far too intelligent, far too resourceful to be written off so easily.”
A knock on the door interrupted the conversation. “Come in,” Greg called and Cassie half turned in her chair to see Kane enter the room.
Instantly she felt every muscle in her body tense. She hadn’t expected him to be here.
“Cassie,” he said and nodded in her direction, then took the chair next to hers. She nodded back at him, then returned her attention to Greg.
Shock had gotten her through last night’s unexpected meeting with him but seeing him again now brought forth feelings she hadn’t expected…or wanted.
There was that initial blaze of physical attraction that had always burned inside her for him. It was an attraction built not only on the mysterious forces that worked between a man and a woman, but also on memories of their explosive lovemaking and the intimacies they had once shared. But she also felt guilt…for what had happened on their last assignment. And for leaving him and the agency behind.
“Kane, now that you’re here we can all go over the game plan,” Greg said.
She shot a quick glance at Kane who, despite being seated, radiated with an underlying taut energy. He didn’t return her gaze. Kane smelled the same as she remembered, a wonderful blend of wildness and spice. But she didn’t remember his eyes being as dark, as brooding as they were now.
“We have to stop this shipment.” Greg looked at Kane, then to Cassie.
She shook her head ruefully. “It seems strange. You’re asking me to save the people who under normal circumstances I’d be arresting…drug users and dealers.”
“That’s true and yes, we find ourselves in an unusual position here. But it isn’t just the guilty we’re trying to protect. Innocent lives will be affected if this drug gets on the market. We’re talking about first-time users, college students who succumb to peer pressure, even kids who mistakenly get hold of it.”
“We can worry about the dope dealers and users later,” Kane said. “Right now the man we need to get off the streets is Adam Mercer.”
“Why aren’t the local authorities taking care of this?” Cassie asked. She’d never been certain what criteria were used to determine if the agency would get involved.
“We took it over due to the special circumstances of the potential for thousands of deaths,” Greg explained. “We’re coordinating with DEA.”
“Okay, so what’s the plan?” Kane asked.
As Greg outlined how it would go down, what would be expected of her and the dangers, Cassie wondered what Kane was thinking.
He’d always been difficult to read, but there had been a time when he’d shared more of himself with her than she suspected he ever had anyone else. And she’d simply turned her back on him and walked away. He had to hate her now…or maybe their relationship had never meant enough to him to warrant that kind of intense emotion.
She’d halfway hoped that he was simply the contact man and would have nothing else to do with the actual operation. But the fact that he was here told her she’d have to work directly with Kane. They couldn’t fix old wounds now. Not after all this time.
She focused her full attention back on Greg. “One thing you have to understand, Cassie. You’ll be deep undercover and that means little or no backup.”
“I understand that,” she replied.
“You sure you’re up to it?” Kane asked. “I mean, it’s been a long time since you’ve played this kind of game.”
Her back stiffened as she sensed him questioning her competency. “I’m in better shape physically and mentally now than I’ve ever been. Just because I haven’t played the game in a while doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten how to play.”
“Then you’re in?” Greg asked.
“I’m in.”
“Kane will be your contact. Is that going to be a problem?”
For the first time Kane looked at her and in his dark gaze she thought she saw the hint of challenge. “No problem here,” he said.
“Fine with me,” she replied and looked back at Greg.
“Good, then we’re set to begin.” Once again Greg went over the plans, detailing the work that would be done before Cassie went undercover.
It was nearly two hours later when she left Eddie’s Employment Agency and headed for the station house. She needed to arrange for time off her job, which shouldn’t be a problem as she had plenty of vacation time accrued.
She knew that within the next couple of hours Eddie’s Employment Agency would be shut down. All the equipment would be moved and there would be no evidence that a business had been there.
She pulled into the parking lot behind the station house but remained in her car.
She’d have to come up with a logical reason for requesting time off. If she didn’t, Asia would wonder what was going on and she knew how relentless her partner could be if he smelled any kind of a mystery.
A rush of adrenaline filled her as the full realization of what she’d agreed to hit her. White Rose was back in action.
Kane sat in a car parked in the lot of a Motel 6 located on the north side of Kansas City. He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel then checked his watch.
Quarter until eight. Another fifteen minutes and she should arrive at this location. He’d never known Cassie to be late.
He leaned back against the headrest and thought of the woman who had been his partner five years ago.
Cassandra Newton had been the best partner he’d ever had. She’d not only been exceptionally bright, but tough as nails as well. She had amazing physical ability. She could punch like a man, kick like a kangaroo, and had moves that would made Jackie Chan turn green with envy.
She was almost as deadly with a gun as she was with her knives and she had a natural cunning that made her a survivor. She’d been a hell of a partner. She’d been the one lover he hadn’t been able to forget.
He leaned forward and switched the air-conditioner fan from low to high, his thoughts still consumed by Cassie. He’d kept tabs on her over the past five years even though he knew if she found this out she’d despise him for it.
He knew she liked her toast light, her pizza with mushrooms and her coffee black. He knew she worked out at a gym near her home four or five times a week, that she’d received nearly a dozen commendations as a police officer and that she hadn’t dated anyone in the five years since they’d been together.
He knew all that about her, but he didn’t know why she’d walked out on him and the agency when he’d needed her most. An edge of anger rose up inside him and he consciously shoved it aside. He couldn’t let their past complicate the job they had to do now.
The streak of color he’d enjoyed in the sky lasted only minutes, then was gone in the purple shades of early night. There were only a few cars parked in the spaces in front of the motel rooms. Business wasn’t booming for this particular motel.
He tapped his fingers once again on the steering wheel as he waited impatiently for her to show up.
He hadn’t wanted to bring her back in. She’d managed to do what so many agents found impossible…build a normal life as a productive citizen. He hadn’t wanted to screw things up for her, pluck her from her ordinary existence and place her into danger.
However, Cole had insisted that she was the right woman, the only woman for this particular job. Kane knew there was nothing Cole would like better than to pull Cassie back into the fold, to get out of her “retirement” and working once again for the agency.
But, Kane had to admit, Cassie was the best woman for this job. She was not only Adam Mercer’s type, but she knew the city. If she was going to work it, then Kane wouldn’t allow any other agent to work with her but him. He knew her. He knew how she thought, how she worked. He knew her strengths and her weaknesses. There was no way he’d allow any other man to back her up.
Deep in his heart, he’d known she would take the job. Cassie was an adrenaline junkie. In this they were on the same wavelength. And if that hadn’t been incentive enough to bring her on board, he’d known the information about her family would entice her. He’d felt guilty
about using that particular card to get her back into the game but he knew it was a shoe-in.
When she’d first joined the agency a search had been conducted for the mother who had abandoned her and the brother she’d never seen again. But even the agency, with its far-reaching tentacles and information highways couldn’t find the scent of a ghost.
He sat up straighter in his seat as he saw Cassie’s red Mustang approach, then turn into the parking lot. She pulled up in front of room 115 just as she’d been instructed and parked.
She slid out of the car, her long blond ponytail keeping time with her subtle hip movement as she strode from the car to the door of the motel room. She carried nothing with her but the motel room key, but he knew beneath her short skirt and blouse she had no less than two knives hidden. Cassie never went anywhere without her knives.
He knew the minute she spied him. Her gaze met his, then slid away as if she didn’t know him. But her back stiffened and her gait appeared less fluid.
Working with her again was going to be both exhilarating and torturous. She was the most complicated woman he’d ever known, independent and competent and yet exuding a vulnerability that she seemed unaware of and would anger her if she became aware of it.
Working with her again would have been so much easier if they hadn’t shared a past…an intense past both as partners and lovers.
She didn’t seem to suffer any regrets about walking away from him. In the brief time he’d seen her two nights ago in her apartment and again yesterday in Cole’s mobile office, she’d been cool and collected.
Again a burn of anger built inside him, but he forced it down. There was no place for anger…or any other kind of emotion where she was concerned. Emotion was dangerous. He had to remember that, it might make the difference between life and death.
As she disappeared into the motel room, he shut off the engine of his car and got out. It was just after eight but the lateness of the hour hadn’t done much to ease the heat and humidity of the day. Early June and already records were being broken. July would be a killer unless the current weather pattern broke.
From the trunk of his car he removed a suitcase, then headed toward the motel room where Cassie would be staying for the next couple of days.
If Cassie thought this was going to be all business, she was in for a shock. Because he still had questions she’d never answered. Questions that would finally let him close the door on their past.
Let the games begin.
Chapter 4
Cassie stepped into the motel room and looked around, knowing she had only moments before Kane would come in. A quick glance around the room showed it to be like any other budget motel room in the city.
Two beds covered with identical shabby gold spreads, shag carpeting that was probably older than Cassie’s thirty years. A small table took up the space of one corner and a television was bolted to the top of a set of dresser drawers.
This would be her home for the next couple of days, until Kane deemed her ready for the undercover task ahead of her. She would not be lounging in bed and ordering up room service. She would be spending her time learning everything there was to know about Adam Mercer and whatever persona they had chosen for her to become.
