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“Stop!” Maddie grabbed Mary Beth’s arm and pointed up ahead. “Ease the Jeep up that hill. Near those thistles. I saw something. Get closer.”
As instructed, Mary Beth eased the Jeep forward and up a small rise that took them even farther away from the main road and deeper into the desert.
“Don’t get too close,” Maddie warned, still using her binoculars to search a patch of brush growing by a chain-link fence that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
“Is that a fence?” Mary Beth whispered, reaching for the binoculars when Maddie took the strap from around her neck.
Maddie ignored the question and substituted the strap of her faithful Nikon camera around her neck. Grabbing a small net from the knapsack sitting on the floorboard, she started to ease herself out of the Jeep when Mary Beth grabbed her hand and pointed to a sign fastened to the fence. Forcing Maddie to take back her binoculars, Mary Beth said, “Take another look. I told you we never should have left the main road. This is government property. I think we should get the hell out of here. Fast.”
Maddie looked through the binoculars again at the weather-worn sign that was faded, yet still official looking enough to cause some concern. Government Property—Absolutely No Trespassing—Violators Will Be Prosecuted—didn’t leave much room for any misunderstanding about the warning. However, Maddie made her decision when she checked the bush again and saw another flutter of movement.
“I’m not going over the fence,” she argued, prying Mary Beth’s fingers from around her wrist. “It’ll only take me a minute to get a specimen.”
“A specimen?” Mary Beth cried out. “I thought you said these butterflies were rare? And now you’re going to capture one? Cut its tiny life short? Isn’t that defeating the whole cause?”
Maddie drew her fingers to her lips in a quick sush. “The Deva Skipper only has a life span of a few weeks,” she whispered. “That’s why finding one is almost impossible. I have no intention of harming it, but how can I possibly save other colonies if I can’t prove the Deva was here to begin with?”
Mary Beth frowned. “All of you scientists are alike, aren’t you? Always hell-bent on getting a specimen. I bet that’s the last words those little green men heard, too. ‘Sorry we have to sacrifice your lives, you poor little green bastards, but we have to get that specimen.’”
“Save the drama for the silver screen,” Maddie said as she eased herself out of the Jeep. “I’ll be back in a flash.”
Taking her time, Maddie crept up the hill and along the fence line, butterfly net in hand. She was literally shaking with anticipation as she eased closer, marveling at the sheer beauty of one of nature’s most delicate creatures.
And it was a Deva Skipper, no doubt about it.
The fringe on its forewing was brown, its hind wing a whitish color, and the upper side wing a reddish-brown. And though she couldn’t see the underside of the hind wing from where she was standing, Maddie already knew it would be brown with a gray overscaling and a faint dark bar across its middle. In a single word, the little Deva was breathtaking.
And it was almost within her grasp.
Inching closer, Maddie adjusted the zoom lenses on her camera and snapped a few pictures as she carefully picked her steps over the dusty desert floor. She was trained, ready and skilled to take her captive easily and without doing the tiny creature harm. Holding her breath, she could almost taste the sweetest of success on her tongue. She was only one swoop away from capturing the find of her life when the flirtatious little Deva lifted itself upward and came to a perfect landing on the wrong side of the forbidding chain-link fence that now stood between them.
Without a second thought, Maddie stuck the butterfly net in the back pocket of her khakis and forced the toe of her hiking boot into one of the diamond-shaped holes in the rusted fence. She could hear Mary Beth yelling from behind her, but Maddie scaled the fence like a veteran climber and dropped nimbly to the other side.
“Maddie! Get back here! I mean it, Maddie. Do you hear me?”
“I hear you. You’ve been trying to boss me around our entire lives,” Maddie mumbled under her breath, “but this is one time I’m not leaving until I get what I came for.”
Easing forward, trusty butterfly net again in hand, Maddie was even ready to sprout wings herself if that’s what it took to complete her mission. “Come to me, little Deva,” she cooed, but when Mary Beth’s screaming grew even louder, Maddie glanced back over her shoulder in time to see the panicked look on her sister’s lovely face.
In fact, Mary Beth was literally jumping up and down on the front seat of the Jeep now, waving her arms wildly above her head like a crazy person. Maddie waved back impatiently, motioning for Mary Beth to pipe down, but a large shadow suddenly fell across Maddie’s path, blocking out the sun.
Startled, she looked up and immediately felt her breath catch in her throat. A huge metal object was hovering directly above her, yet the strange-looking aircraft was as silent in its flight as the tiny Deva Skipper that had lured her to the wrong side of the fence.
More curious than she was frightened, Maddie immediately grabbed for her camera. She was still snapping the shutter frantically when the aircraft swooped downward, instantly blinding her with a cloud of sand and dust. Maddie held tightly to her pith helmet, trying to shield her face from the caustic dust storm that was now choking off her airway and stinging her eyes.
She let out a strangled scream when something snaked around her waist and lifted her upward and into the air.
In less time than it took to worry about her twin sister’s safety, Maddie heard the loud clang of a door slamming shut. She soon found herself face-down on a cold metal floor, coughing up the dust as she tried to catch her breath. With her eyes still watering from the dirt and sand, Maddie couldn’t yet make out who or what was holding her captive. All she could hear was the definite whir of the unidentified flying object as it whisked her away to some unknown destination.
“Let me up this minute! I demand it!” Maddie started yelling, and she began struggling with such fervor the elastic strap on her pith helmet broke free, unleashing the long, pale hair stuffed under her helmet.
“Holy hell, Captain,” a shocked voice called out. “It looks like our spy is a she.”
Angrier than she’d ever been in her life, Maddie pulled herself up when the force holding her face down on the floor suddenly set her free. And it only took a split second to confirm that she really had been captured by mysterious green men, after all.
U.S. military camouflage green to be exact.
And World War Maddie was about to do battle with everyone responsible for making her lose what could have possibly been the biggest entomological find of her career.
AIR FORCE CAPTAIN Brad Hawkins jerked his head around in time to see a finger waving ninety miles a minute while their definitely female prisoner delivered a good tongue-lashing to his copilot.
Did she look like your typical spy?
Of course, she didn’t.
She looked, Brad decided, like an angry little girl with her cheeks blazing, her tangled blond hair in a windblown mess, and her chin jutted forward in defiance as if she’d just taken a nasty spill from her bike. Classic facial features. Haunting blue eyes. A curvaceous figure that even her “Dr. Livingstone” outfit, complete with a pith helmet couldn’t quite hide.
She was stunning.
And though he told himself it was only the shock of finding a woman on isolated government property that had left him so addled, it took several seconds before Brad could force himself to look away.
Turning his attention back to maneuvering the multimillion-dollar prototype helicopter he was flying, Brad aimed the large craft back toward the old air base on the outskirts of Roswell that the Air Force was using as a testing facility. She was still kicking up quite a fuss behind him in the belly of the chopper, ranting and raving about what? Butterflies? Had he heard that right? And something about a terrified sister? Was that who had blazed off in a cloud of dust so fast Brad had only caught a mere glimpse of a bright red Jeep?
Groaning inwardly, Brad picked up the microphone to his radio and mumbled, “There’s a suspicious tourist in a red Jeep along the south perimeter. Apprehend the driver. Do it quickly and quietly.” He signed off with, “I’ll meet you back at the base.”
Crap! He’d assumed they’d run across some nosey reporter. Some guy acting on a tip that the Air Force was conducting more than routine maneuvers at the old base. And that’s when Brad had made the decision to apprehend their trespasser. He’d planned to take the guy back to base, destroy the film and then threaten the reporter with serious charges.
But who would have thought that within just three weeks short of completing testing on the most advanced helicopter known to modern man, a woman, wearing of all things a pith helmet, and her runaway sister would stumble upon their operation and threaten to blow the cover on their highly guarded mission straight to hell and back again?
“And another thing. If you think for one minute I’m going to overlook the senseless, barbaric way you’ve treated me, you’re sadly mistaken. My name is Dr. Madeline Morgan. And for your information, I’m an entomologist, not a spy. I was doing nothing more than conducting necessary research on an endangered species of butterfly when you so rudely, crudely and unfairly abducted me!”
Entomologist?
He never would have pegged his lovely passenger for a lady with a bug fetish. Especially not with that sexy, Southern accent of hers. Yet, her unusual career choice made her even more intriguing.
Unfortunately her identity would only add another nail in his coffin. Apprehending a nosey reporter with a camera trained on a top secret aircraft was one thing. But hijacking a reputable entomologist? Doing nothing more than conducting important research on an endangered species of butterfly? Brad gripped the controls, just thinking about the consequences.
Not that being rudely, crudely and unfairly abducted, as she put it, wasn’t her own doing. Trespassing on restricted government property might have been overlooked, but it had been that damn camera of hers that had sealed her fate. Had she treated their accidental encounter like most people would have done and run for cover like her sister, he would have had no reason to bother her in the least.
In fact, the whole point of conducting testing at the old air base in Roswell had been Roswell’s tie to the UFO phenomena. Around Roswell people expected to see strange objects flying through the air. And it didn’t matter if those sightings were real or if they were only imagined. Roswell depended on UFO sightings as the main tourist attraction that supported most of the city’s livelihood.
A civilian actually having pictures of the current most top-secret aircraft in the United States military, however, couldn’t be tolerated. Especially when those pictures had the potential to fall into the wrong hands.
I made the right decision, Brad told himself with confidence, then skillfully landed what had aptly been nicknamed the Black Ghost on the helipad that was protected from view by the fifteen-foot concrete barrier walls that surrounded them.
Unbuckling his seat belt, Brad pulled himself out of the cockpit. He walked to the back of the chopper and stood with his hands at his waist, looking down at his disgruntled prisoner. She was still sitting where she’d landed on the floor, but she had managed to push some of her hair out of those dark blue eyes that were now as big around as saucers. Unfortunately those full, enticing lips he’d noticed earlier were now pressed together in a line so thin they almost disappeared.
“Captain Brad Hawkins. United States Air Force,” Brad said with as much authority as he could muster, and then he extended a willing hand to help his frowning passenger back to her feet.
MADDIE HESITATED FOR A moment, staring up at the imposing figure who was now towering above her. Oh, he was cute, all right. She’d noticed he was cute the second he turned around and looked at her. Yet looking at him now, Maddie realized referring to this man as cute was the equivalent of calling the brilliant Monarch butterfly a rather colorful moth. No, it was more like referring to Mt. Everest as a hill in the Himalayas. His dark hair was cut in that crisp, military fashion that commanded respect. The hint of a five-o’clock shadow crept up the full length of his jaw. A tight-fitting T-shirt and his camouflage fatigues only emphasized a fine-honed body that was lean, mean and nothing in between. And those arms—God, those arms. His biceps were literally bulging. Exactly the type of arms that would have the power to crush a woman to him and….
In a flash, Mary Beth’s total brawn from head to toe comment came rushing back to haunt her.
Maddie shuddered at the thought.
She reluctantly accepted his offer and pulled herself up to a height that barely reached his shoulder, ignoring a jolt of a different nature that colored her cheeks from the mere touch of his hand.
What’s wrong with me? Maddie worried. So, maybe he did have a hunkability factor of about a zillion. So what? He was also someone she should have been ready to throttle. She should have kicked both his shins and sucker-punched him soundly in the stomach. Hadn’t he literally kidnapped her? Terrified her poor sister? Possibly destroyed her chances of finding the Deva Skipper again? Maybe even ruined her chances for the biggest opportunity of her career?
Yet, here she was acting like a silly schoolgirl experiencing her first legitimate crush!
Shame on you! Maddie told herself, then purposely squared her shoulders and found the courage to say, “I’m Dr. Madeline Morgan, Captain Hawkins. And I’m certain the colonel or the general, or whomever is in charge will be absolutely appalled when he learns how badly you’ve treated a defenseless law-abiding citizen.”
His eyebrow raised slightly. “Law-abiding?” he repeated in a mocking tone. “I doubt my wing commander will call trespassing on private government property something a law-abiding citizen would do.”
He was toying with her and Maddie knew it, she could see the hint of amusement in his dark brown eyes. Dreamy eyes, she might add. Eyes that were currently staring at her so intensely Maddie felt her cheeks flame a second time. He’s openly flirting with me, Maddie suddenly realized. And though his flirting flattered her in one respect, it irritated Maddie in another.
“I prefer that your wing commander, not you, Captain Hawkins, make that type of decision for himself,” Maddie was quick to tell him before she added with another lift of her chin, “and if you’ll kindly escort me to his office, I’ll be happy to take the matter up with him myself.”
He stalled for a moment, seemingly amused that she would question his authority. “First, I’ll need to verify that you are who you say you are. Can you provide me with any type of identification?”
Maddie let him know exactly what she thought of such a stupid question. “Well, of course, I don’t have any identification on me,” she sputtered. “My purse was in the Jeep with my sister. And I’m sure you scared her to death when you had G.I. Joe reach out and grab me and then body-slam me to the floor of your stupid—” she glanced around her surroundings before she added “—your stupid whatever this flying contraption is.”
He glanced at his copilot, who had suddenly found something rather interesting on the toe of his boot.
“And what is all this spy nonsense?” Maddie’s hands were on her hips now. “Take a good look at me, Captain Hawkins. Do I look like a spy to you?”
When he purposely looked her up and down, Maddie wished she could snatch back the invitation to do so. She was sure he was thinking that she didn’t look like a professor, either. And she didn’t. She looked like hell is what she looked like, thanks to him and his partner.
Angry all over again, Maddie glanced briefly at the metal door to her left and made her move. She wasn’t quick enough. Captain Hawkins had the door blocked before she could reach for the door handle. And the scowl on his face told her trying to reach around him probably wouldn’t be a good idea.
Now what? Maddie wondered, worried for the first time that her impressive credentials might not be enough to get her out of her current predicament.
BRAD DIDN’T BOTHER admitting he’d already made the spy assessment himself. He had no doubt she was who she said she was. Even the way she carried herself let him know she was accustomed to giving orders instead of taking them. But Dr. Morgan was on his turf now. And the sooner she realized he was in charge, the better it would be for both of them.
Still, he couldn’t help but notice that her beauty was genuine. No heavy makeup, no frills, no polish or jewelry. None of the usual amenities most women felt were necessary to make them attractive. And her confidence wasn’t limited to her appearance, either. She’d been confident enough to make a break for the door. Which meant keeping her sequestered until he figured out what to do with her might not be an easy task.
Time to play hard ball, Brad decided. “Right now all I know is that you were trespassing on private government property. And,” he added as he reached out and grabbed the camera strap from around her neck, “you were taking pictures on government property without permission. Illegal pictures,” he said as he quickly flipped the back of the camera open and jerked the film out to completely expose it. “Pictures I’m personally authorized to destroy on behalf of the United States Air Force.”
The color drained from her face so fast Brad was prepared to catch her if she fainted. It was then Brad realized the Black Ghost wasn’t the only thing his pretty captive had been photographing on her expedition in the desert.
“Do you have any idea what you just did?” she gasped as her hand flew to her mouth.
“Yeah, I just did my job,” Brad told her.
“No, you just destroyed the only evidence I had to support the research I’ve been working on for the last six months.”
Destroying her research hadn’t been his intention, but there was nothing he could do about it now. Stuffing the exposed roll of film into his pants pocket, he slipped the camera strap carefully back over her head and said, “I’m going to have to detain you until I can verify your identity. Sergeant Baker will escort you to my living quarters. You can stay there until I notify you otherwise.”
“Your living quarters?” She jerked her arm away when the sergeant tried to take it. “If I’m under arrest, Captain Hawkins, then I insist you take me to the proper authorities!”
She could insist all she wanted, but Brad had his own problems to worry about. Like explaining to his wing commander how his test flight that afternoon had suddenly turned into a quasiespionage mission. A mission that had resulted in one suspect being apprehended, while a search party was now racing across the desert in hot pursuit of suspect number two.
Knowing he could no more divulge those details than he could successfully restore her ruined film, Brad folded his arms across his chest and said as calmly as possible, “Look, Dr. Morgan. If that is who you are. We can do this easy, or we can do it hard. It’s your choice. But you are going to go with Sergeant Baker one way or the other until I get this whole mess straightened out. Understood?”
Another lift of her chin told Brad she wasn’t even going to acknowledge his question with an answer.
Turning to his copilot, Brad said, “Wait at least thirty minutes before you make your move. Be discreet. Take her through the back way. And don’t answer any questions if anyone stops you. The fewer people who know she’s here, the better.”
“You’re going to regret this, Captain. I’ll see to it,” she threatened with a deadly look.
Brad held her gaze a second longer than necessary, then turned away. “Don’t let her out of your sight,” he called back over his shoulder before he opened the side door of his multimillion-dollar Black Ghost and slammed it soundly behind him.
2
“YOU DID WHAT?”
Brad squeezed his eyes shut when the powerful fist of Brigadier General Joseph Gibbons made contact with his heavy wooden desk and sent a loud crack echoing through the room. Still standing at attention, Brad took a deep breath and said, “I’m sorry, sir. We were right on top of her before I even saw her. If she hadn’t picked that moment to play photographer, I could have been out of there so fast her head would still be spinning. But under the circumstances, I didn’t have any choice but to bring her back to the base.”
“And you destroyed that film?”
“The minute we landed,” Brad said, then took the exposed roll from his pocket and gave up his straight-back pose long enough to place it on the desk in front of his commander.
Gibbons, who had seen more combat action than Brad ever planned or hoped to see, pushed back in his chair and stood up, then began pacing around his office. Standing at attention again, Brad never moved a muscle.
“And you say she’s a professor?”
“A professor of entomology,” Brad affirmed, still rather impressed by the fact. “I did a quick background check. She teaches at a small private college in Georgia. She’s out here doing research on an endangered species of butterfly.”
Gibbons’s scowl made Brad take a deep breath before he added, “But there is another slight problem, sir. Someone else was with her. She says it was her sister. The sister split so fast there wasn’t any time to stop her. I radioed ahead and have a patrol out now to bring her in. She was way off the main road. I’m sure we’ll stop her before she gets back to Roswell.”
“You’d damn well better stop her!” Gibbons bellowed. “Do you have any idea what will happen if that woman hits Roswell screaming a strange aircraft carried off her sister? Hell, every news team in the country will be on top of us so fast we won’t know what hit us!”
Brad cringed. “That isn’t going to happen, sir. They should bring her in any minute now.”
Gibbons resumed his pacing, then stopped to glare at Brad again. “I want both of those women in my office within the hour. Do you hear me? We have a top secret operation to protect here, and I don’t intend to let a couple of tourists jeopardize our testing.”
Brad nodded. “I’m sure they can be convinced to keep silent, sir. It may take some fast talking, but…”
“Fast talking, hell!” Gibbons shouted. “I intend to scare the living crap out of them.”
“Well, we do have the upper hand here.” Brad threw that in for good measure, hoping he might spare his pretty prisoner and her sister some of the old man’s wrath. “I mean, the professor knows she was trespassing. I’m sure if you explain…”
“You leave those details to me.” Gibbons made another lap around the room, then flopped back down at his desk. “Now get the hell out of here and see if they’ve located that sister yet.”
Brad gave his commander a salute, turned on his heel and was one step from reaching for the door-knob when a loud knock brought him to a stop. The commander’s anxious-looking aide stepped into the room the second Brad swung the door open.
“Sorry to interrupt,” said the young lad who barely had a trace of peach fuzz on his face. “The patrol Captain Hawkins sent out just called in to say they weren’t successful in their search. They said you’d want to know.”
