The Ties That Bind. Cliff Ryder

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СКАЧАТЬ and a welcome basket with coffee and hot chocolate sat on the dresser.

      Jason returned to the living room. Tina still hadn’t moved, and the tension in her features hadn’t lessened by so much as a single fine line.

      “Are you all right?” he asked.

      She tilted her head, her lips compressed tightly together and her eyes narrowed. She no longer rubbed her hands for warmth, but held them fisted at her sides.

      “You’re fucking kidding me, right? No one gets shot at, sees other men shot and killed, then tows cartons full of munitions through the Alaskan tundra and is ‘all right.’ Just what the hell is going on here? Who the hell are you?”

      “I told you I work for a survey—” he began, but she cut him off immediately.

      “Bullshit!” she snapped. “Complete and utter. I’ve seen a lot of surveyors come through here. They carry maps, advanced GPS systems, charts and notepads, and on occasion a flask of whiskey on their hip.” She jabbed a finger in his direction. “What they don’t carry is semiautomatic handguns, and they sure as hell don’t fight like you did!”

      Jason folded his arms across his chest. He had only been in this position one other time in his career. Back when he was doing black ops for the CIA, his cover was blown in Peru while he was trying to get to a double agent. He got caught in the midst of a drug exchange that went sour, and the whole operation had blown up in his face. He ended that situation with the expediency of simply killing the guy, but that man hadn’t been necessary for his mission. For right now, Tina was. If necessary, he would kill her, but he preferred not to. And his cover wasn’t completely blown; she was suspicious, but it seemed as if that was more of a personality trait than anything else.

      He wasn’t sure what he should be more concerned about—the beautiful woman scowling at him across the room or Denny Talbot’s reaction to all this when he had specifically asked for little to no body count. The three dead men back at the ancient village would not, in Denny’s estimation, constitute a minimal body count. One thing he was sure of was that being treated like an errant schoolboy by a woman he’d known for only a day was intolerable. He would worry about Denny tomorrow. Right now, he had to deal with Tina. And he couldn’t let his anger at her treatment of him get the better of him.

      “Is there anything I can say that is going to make you feel better about any of this?” he asked. “It’s not like I planned on running into a bunch of gunrunners.”

      “You could start by telling me the truth about who you are,” she said.

      “I don’t suppose you would be willing to accept that I acted on instinct?” he asked, allowing a half smile to cross his lips.

      “Not with shot groupings like that,” she said. “I’ve been on more hunting trips than I can count and have been shooting most of my life. I don’t know anyone up here who shoots with that kind of calm and accuracy.” She shook her head. “Especially not when someone is shooting back.”

      He sighed heavily. “Look, Tina, I’m afraid that there isn’t anything much more that I can tell you. I spent some time in the military—Special Forces, actually—though it was a long time ago. Those guys shot at us and I reacted. Call it muscle memory if you want.”

      He walked toward her, but she held up her hand and backed away shaking her head.

      “I’m not buying,” she said. “I may not be a genius, but I can tell when someone isn’t telling me the truth. What kind of surveyor carries a gun?”

      “One who wants to live—” he started to answer, but she held up a hand once more to silence him.

      “I’m done for the night. I’m going to bed and tomorrow morning I’m going back to Nome and I’m reporting all this to the authorities. You can finish your so-called surveying without me. I’m not about to get my ass shot off for what I’m getting paid.”

      Trying another approach, he said, “That would be a shame, it really is such a nice ass…”

      She turned and slapped him. Hard.

      “Okay, wrong thing to say,” he admitted, rubbing his cheek. “Tina, hold on a second. Please.”

      She arched an eyebrow but kept her silence.

      “Look, I need you. You’re the best guide around. And I need the best to do my job right. If you won’t accept that what happened out there was just pure survival instinct, then I don’t know what to tell you. I had no idea that those men were there, but I won’t apologize for choosing our lives over theirs. I didn’t go looking for trouble and I hope you can believe that. But I’m not very big on turning the other cheek when someone tries to shoot me, either.”

      “I don’t know what to believe,” she said. “You sound sincere enough, but something about your story doesn’t ring true for me.”

      “I can respect that,” he replied. “But truth often has a lot to do with perspective. The bottom line is that I need your help.”

      “My help for what?”

      “To do my job. I’m not here to hurt you or anyone else. I’ve told you that before and I meant it. But I’m not going to stand down and do nothing while someone is shooting at me, either. I’ve been in dangerous situations before, and if those were small-time operators, they would have hidden or tried to scare us off. They’re part of a larger group and if they’re operating around here, it could jeopardize not just me getting my job done, but a lot of your people, too.”

      Jason could see the confusion, then defeat roll across her face. He knew he had her, at least for the moment, but he also knew he couldn’t push her too quickly.

      He ran a hand through his hair, more tired than he’d realized. “Look, just sleep on it, okay? We can talk more in the morning. We’re both exhausted. I’ll see if I can shed a little more light on the situation for you then. Besides, we’ll have to talk to the local authorities and get these weapons in the hands of the right people.”

      Finally, she nodded. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll sleep on it. Right now, I’m too tired to think anyway.”

      Tina stomped to her room and slammed the door. Jason heard the lock click into place. She might be willing to listen to him a little more, but she obviously didn’t trust him. He checked the windows in the living room and kitchen, placing small motion sensors on the rails that would send a signal to his watch. He placed another one by the door.

      Convinced that the cabin was as safe as he could make it, Jason stripped off his outer layers and sank down onto the couch. Propping his feet up on the table, he rolled his head back, contemplating what a disaster the mission had been thus far.

      JASON AWOKE to the smell of fresh coffee. He propped himself up on his elbow and pressed the light on his watch. Five-thirty. He swung his legs over the side of the couch and ran his hands through his hair, then slipped on a shirt and headed into the kitchen.

      Tina was standing at the counter. Her red fleece sweatshirt was unzipped, showing off her black tank top and nicely rounded breasts. Her hair was tucked behind her ears, eyes closed, as she took a long sip of coffee. Jason could feel the room heat up—or at least his own body temperature—but put his libido in check, knowing he would have to play nice if she was going to remain an asset to him. He also knew that if this got too complicated, СКАЧАТЬ