Raven licked her lips.

The mood had certainly shifted in here, as if the cold air from outside had seeped in through the window. It suited her. Guilt piled upon guilt didn’t engender lustful thoughts.

But the slabs of hard muscle across Buzz’s chest did.

“You want to join me tonight?” He patted the bed beside him.

She needed more seduction than a stark question. She’d already been feeling as if they’d been punished for their attention to each other.

“I don’t think that’s a great idea, Buzz—for a lot of reasons.”

He shrugged. “We may have different reasons, but I agree with you.” He squeezed her hand as she rose from the bed. “Get a good night’s sleep.”

Raven clicked the bedroom door behind her and leaned her forehead against it. A good night’s sleep with peril on both sides of her?

That wasn’t going to happen.

Top Gun Guardian
Carol Ericson

www.millsandboon.co.uk

For Randy, my top gun neighbor.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carol Ericson lives with her husband and two sons in Southern California, home of state-of-the-art cosmetic surgery, wild freeway chases, palm trees bending in the Santa Ana winds and a million amazing stories. These stories, along with hordes of virile men and feisty women, clamor for release from Carol’s head. It makes for some interesting headaches until she sets them free to fulfill their destinies and her readers’ fantasies. To find out more about Carol, her books and her strange headaches, please visit her website at www.carolericson.com, “where romance flirts with danger.”

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Raven Pierre —Raven is a big-city girl. When the young daughter of an imperiled African president lands in her lap and her ex-fiancé jumps in to protect them, her big-city veneer begins to crack and her heart shows signs of melting.

Bryan “Buzz” Richardson —A former member of the covert ops team Prospero, Buzz swoops in to guard a girl targeted by terrorists, hoping his protection of her gets him closer to finding missing Prospero member Jack Coburn. The fact that his assignment also gets him closer to his ex-fiancée is icing on the cake.

Malika Okeke —She forms a bond with Raven after Raven saves her life, but now the girl’s attachment to her savior might just get them both killed.

President Okeke —The newly elected president of a fledgling African country, the president has ties in his past to terrorists.

Rodeo Clown —Clowns are supposed to be funny, but Raven isn’t laughing at the mysterious rodeo clown who shows up again and again.

Lance Cooper —He blames Buzz for his brother’s death in a plane crash.

Jeb Russell —A CIA agent who wants Malika, and may be willing to take her by force.

Farouk —Prospero’s former nemesis has expanded his business model and taken his terror worldwide.

Colonel Scripps —Prospero’s coordinator, the Colonel knows he can summon all of the former team members with one call.

Jack Coburn —The former leader of Prospero and current hostage negotiator has run into a little trouble.

Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Epilogue

Prologue

He stared into the boy’s face, searching for artifice…or danger. The boy blinked several times and hunched his shoulders.

He loosened his grip on the youth, but kept his muscles coiled and ready in case the kid ran off. He couldn’t allow him to escape.

This scruffy street urchin just might hold the key to his identity.

He leaned close to the boy’s ear and whispered, “Do you know me?”

A big grin split the urchin’s brown face and then melted away as he gazed into the eyes of his captor. “Of course I know you, Mr. Jack. It is me, Yasir.”

“Yasir?” Despite the chill in the morning air, he wiped a bead of sweat from beneath his headdress. “And my name is Jack?”

The boy nodded, his black brows meeting over his nose. “You do not know your name? What happened to you, Mr. Jack? I do not see you for a week.”

Jack jerked his thumb over his left shoulder. “See that mountain range back there? I woke up on a rock this morning with no memory.”

Yasir’s mouth dropped open, his missing teeth giving him the look of a jack-o’-lantern. He jabbed a finger into Jack’s ribs where a splotch of blood stained his grubby shirt. “Did they get you, Mr. Jack?”

A tingle of fear climbed its way up Jack’s back and he clenched his muscles to ward it off. “Who are they, Yasir? What am I? What am I doing here? Where’s here?”

The kid held up his callused hands. “Okey-dokey, Mr. Jack. We go to your place. I bring you food.”

Jack tensed. Could this be a trap? Did he really have a home in this teeming village of goat herders and traders and farmers?

He looked into the boy’s earnest brown eyes. Did he have a choice right now?

“Okey-dokey, Yasir. I’ll follow you.”

Keeping his head bowed, Jack trailed after Yasir, weaving his way through the press of people. Except for a few nods directed at Yasir, nobody halted their progress through the streets of the village. Nobody attacked him.

Glancing both ways, Yasir darted into an alley and Jack slipped in behind him. A few doorways into the pungent, narrow space, Yasir ducked into a small room, pulling Jack in behind him.

Jack blinked, adjusting his eyes to the gloom. An old man dozed in a chair, and Yasir tiptoed past him. He flicked aside a coarse blanket hanging from the ceiling and waved Jack through with one hand.

Licking his dry lips, Jack sidled through the opening and crept into a room even smaller than the adjoining one. His gaze flicked across the cot in the corner, a low table with a guttered candle on top of it and a few makeshift shelves holding books—lots of books.

A flicker of recognition flitted across his brain, and he dropped to his knees on the dirt floor to squint at the titles. Yasir nudged him in the back, and Jack spun around with his hands clenched.

“Jumpy, Mr. Jack.” With two steps, Yasir crossed the small space and kicked a black duffel bag at the foot of the cot. “This is yours. You take everywhere.”

Crawling to the cot, Jack snagged the strap of the duffel bag and dragged it between his legs as he perched on the edge of the crude bed. He yanked at the zipper and the sides of the bag gaped open.

Yasir scraped a match against the earthen wall of the room. Jack’s nostrils twitched at the smell of sulfur. Yasir lit the candle on the table and a soft yellow glow illuminated the small, dank space.

Grabbing the edges of the bag, Jack peeled it open. His brows shot up as his fingers traced the bundles of cash neatly stashed in the bag. Dozens of passports littered the top of the money stacks, and a gun was tucked in the corner of the bag.

His gaze darted toward Yasir’s face, waxy in the candlelight, but displaying no surprise at the contents of the bag. Jack dug his hands into the pile of passports and let them slide through his fingers. “Why is this here? Why didn’t you steal the money when I disappeared?”

A crooked smile played across the boy’s face. “What I do with all that money in my Afghan village, Mr. Jack? And if I take—” he shrugged his narrow shoulders “—you hunt me down and kill me.”

Jack coughed, a sour knot forming in his belly. Is that what he was? Would he kill a boy for stealing money?

“I doubt that, Yasir.” He grabbed one of the passports and flipped it open—John Coughlin, citizen of the U.K. He scooped up another: Jacques Durand, citizen of France. He nabbed the American passport: Jack Wilson. Was he Jack Wilson? He studied the picture of the man with the long blond hair, a moustache and glasses.

He knew he didn’t wear glasses and he didn’t have a moustache…at least not yet. “Yasir, is there a mirror in here?”

“That is not you, Mr. Jack. You Mr. Jack Coburn and you American spy.” Yasir groped beneath the cot and dragged out a bin filled with shaving supplies, including a dingy mirror.

A spy, huh? Jack held the mirror in front of him and slid the headdress from his head. Long hair, but black. No glasses. No moustache. Dark eyes, hard eyes.

He peered at the passport photo again, detecting blue eyes behind the glasses. How the hell was he going to get out of this country? Because he’d decided that’s exactly what he had to do.

And then Yasir read his mind, his much damaged mind.

“Disguises, Mr. Jack.” Yasir patted the side pockets of the duffel bag.

Jack unzipped one side and dipped his hand inside the compartment. He pulled out wigs, facial hair, containers of contact lenses. Poking around the pocket on the other side, he found more of the same. All of these costume pieces most likely matched the photos on the myriad passports spilling out of the duffel bag.

Now he had the means to get out of here and away from the people who’d left him on that mountainside. Then what? Should he seek an American embassy? Get back to the States and turn himself in to some agency there?

Leaving the money in the bag, Jack dumped the remaining contents on the floor and sifted through it. Between two fingers, he pinched a white sheet of paper folded in two. He shook the dirt from it and unfolded it, flattening the paper on his knee. It was a brief note: Thank you for your help, Mr. Coburn, and thank you for your discretion. If you bring Gabriel home safely, I’ll have another million waiting for you. Warm regards and Godspeed, Lola Famosa.

An address in Miami followed the flowery signature.

Jack narrowed his eyes as the candle sputtered. He didn’t know the identity of Gabriel or the condition of his safety, but he now knew where to start to figure out his own identity.

He was going to pay a visit to Ms. Lola Famosa of Miami.

Chapter One

Raven Pierre eyed the small girl clutching the baby doll in one grubby hand and growled in the back of her throat. It figured her supervisor, Walter, would give her kid duty just because she happened to be the only female translator on this job.

She didn’t even like kids.

Why did the president of the newly formed African nation Burumanda bring his daughter to the United Nations for his first address anyway? The General Assembly was no place for kids. Even Raven knew that.

Raven’s gaze shifted back to the little girl whose liquid brown eyes wandered between the closed-circuit TV screen and the impassive Secret Service agent parked in the chair across from her, sipping a soda. The girl’s small tongue darted from her mouth and swept across her lips.

Was the kid allowed to drink soda?

Raven pointed to the can clutched in the agent’s hand and said in the girl’s native dialect, “Do you want one?”

The girl nodded, her pigtails bobbing vigorously. “My name is Malika. What is your name?”

Raven raised her brows. Sounded like pretty good English to her. Maybe Malika, who looked maybe eight, didn’t even need a translator. “My name is Raven. Your English is good.”

Malika snapped her fingers. “English is easy language. Official language of Burumanda now. Your Chichewa—” she wrinkled her nose “—is fine.” Just fine? Raven narrowed her eyes. Maybe Malika was eighteen instead of eight. Raven never could guess kids’ ages anyway. “Do you want a soda? I can ask one of your guards out front to bring us a couple.”

As Raven pushed back her chair, the agent reached for his own can and knocked it to the floor where it fizzled and bubbled.

Raven snorted. “Smooth move, Garrett.”

The agent slumped forward, banging his head on the table. With her heart thumping, Raven stumbled to his side. She clutched his forearm through the dark material of his suit jacket. “Garrett?”

Was he fooling around? Raven swallowed hard. Secret Service agents didn’t fool around, especially Garrett Hansen.

“Is he sick?” Malika hugged her doll to her chest, her eyes round with fear.

Raven’s gut twisted. Malika had lost her mother in the war to establish Burumanda. The kid had witnessed a lot of death and destruction in her short lifetime.

Death? Garrett had probably just eaten something that didn’t agree with him.

Raven slid her hand to his wrist, where she felt a pulse pumping away. “Garrett, are you okay?”

She patted his clammy cheek and his head rolled to the side, his mouth gaping open. With shaky fingers, Raven fumbled in the pocket of her slacks for her cell phone. Should she call 911, Walter, the Secret Service?

Closing her eyes, she blew out a breath. She’d start with the bodyguards standing sentry on the other side of the doorway.

She tripped to the door of the anteroom and swung it open. The two burly Burumandan guards were carbon copies of Garrett, slumped sideways in their chairs.

Adrenaline zinged through Raven’s system and she backpedaled away from the empty hallway leading toward the General Assembly. Unless the three men had all eaten the same lunch, this was no coincidence.

Noise from the closed-circuit TV erupted, and Raven spun around to see Malika clap one hand over her mouth. Gunfire.

“They are shooting at my father.”

Raven peered at the screen and the frantic figures darting around the General Assembly. She glanced at the doorway gaping open, and clenched her jaw. Shots fired in the General Assembly at President Okeke. His daughter’s bodyguards passed out cold. She loved shoes but didn’t plan to stick around and wait for the third one to drop.

Raven strode back toward the door, slammed it shut and locked it. Crouching next to the inert form of Garrett, she slipped her hand inside his jacket. She lifted the gun from his shoulder holster and released the safety. She gave silent thanks to her ex-fiancé and his buddies from the covert ops team, Prospero, for teaching her how to shoot. She’d been great at target practice, but she’d never had to shoot at a moving target and never once to save her life…or someone else’s.

A cacophony of voices and a stampede of footsteps echoed on the other side of the door. Raven froze, her gaze glued to the slowly turning door handle. Finding it locked, somebody rapped on the door. With what sounded like the butt of a gun.

At this point, she had no idea whom to trust. She swept her handbag from the back of the chair. She nudged Malika, rooted in front of the TV, her doll dangling from her fingers. “Let’s go. And get a grip on that doll.”

Malika whimpered and folded her arms across her belly, shooting a glance at the door, still under assault from someone on the other side.

“Don’t worry. We’re not going that way. Why do you think they put you in here in the first place?”

Raven crept across the room and pressed a panel with her palm. She felt the spring give beneath her hand and she slid the panel to the side, where an opening yawned in the wall. She turned and gestured at Malika.

The girl tiptoed toward the wall and jumped at a particularly loud thump on the door. Raven grabbed her arm and pulled her through the opening. She slid the panel back into place and tucked Malika behind her. Pressing her ear against the wall, she put a finger to her lips.

Malika wrapped one arm around Raven’s waist and trembled against her back. Raven straightened her spine to give them both a little confidence.

The door on the other side burst open with the sound of splintering wood. Raven held her breath as the blood pounded in her ears. Friend or foe?

“Where are they? I thought you said they were in here.”

Raven flinched at the sound of a sickening thud of flesh against hard wood. Garrett’s head?

“Obviously they were in here. That’s why he’s here.”

Accents. One German, one French.

“Maybe they’re still here.”

Malika’s grip tightened, squeezing the breath from Raven.

“We don’t have time to search. Once the pandemonium subsides and they try to raise their comrade here on his radio, they’ll be crawling all over the place.”

“We can’t afford not to search. We need the girl.”

With shaky hands, Raven slipped her high heels from her feet. She tapped Malika on the head with the toe of one shoe and pointed toward the set of stairs that disappeared into the darkness.

If the two men started banging around out there, Raven had no intention of waiting until they discovered the hollow cavity in the wall. She didn’t have a clue as to the meaning of this assault, but she knew danger when it stared her in the face. Two years working as a translator with Prospero in the Middle East had taught her that.

She laced her fingers with Malika’s and guided her down the steps. She had to hand it to the little girl. The minute Raven had given the command to go, Malika had performed like a champ—no tears, no tantrums, just flight.

They crept down the stairs and reached a door. “Hold it.” Raven held up her hand. Turning the tarnished metal handle, she eased open the door and peeked into the deserted hallway. She crooked her finger at Malika to follow and then tiptoed into the open space, feeling exposed and vulnerable.

Raven hated feeling vulnerable.

Her grip on Garrett’s gun tightened as she pulled Malika close to her side. They sidled along the wall. Raven had spent plenty of time in this building and knew exactly where they were. She also knew the location of a janitor’s closet nearby.

She had the overwhelming sense that she needed to keep Malika under wraps. Anyone could be out there now. She didn’t even know if President Okeke was dead or alive.

Reaching the closet door, Raven pulled it open and shoved Malika inside the small space crowded with brooms, mops and buckets.

Raven whispered. “We’re going to stay here for a while until I can figure out what’s going on.”

In the darkness, Malika scooched in closer to Raven, who could feel the trembling of the small girl’s body. She slipped an arm around Malika and squeezed her shoulder. “It’s going to be okay. Do you understand?”

Malika nodded, tickling Raven’s chin with her hair. Then she slipped her sticky hand in Raven’s. Why did kids always have dirty hands? Raven curled her fingers around Malika’s.

Despite the recent turn of events, maybe President Okeke had the right idea bringing his daughter along. It beat stashing her with some nanny or shoving her into some boarding school. Raven knew all about that.

She’d vowed never to do anything like that to her children. And the best guarantee against that was to skip motherhood altogether. Of course, that decision had cost her Buzz, her ex-fiancé. Second time she’d thought of Buzz today, not that she didn’t think of him every week, or dream about him, or…

Must be all the high-octane excitement.

“Now that we’re in a safe place, I’m going to get us some help.” Raven slipped her cell phone out of her pocket where she’d dropped it after discovering the comatose bodyguards. Walter should know the status of events. She called him, only to have her cell phone inform her that a closet in the middle of the U.N. was no place to get reception.

Malika tapped the phone. “Help?”

“Not yet. We’ll stay here for a little while longer. Police and security should have this building secured shortly, and then we can just walk out.” Raven patted her oversized handbag, where she’d stashed Garrett’s weapon. “Besides, I have protection.”

Malika emitted a puff of air from her lips. “My mother had a gun, too.”

A knot tightened in Raven’s chest. This little girl had been through too much already. When would it end? Raven’s own childhood had been no picnic, but privilege, wealth and distant parents couldn’t compare to revolution, gunfire and death.

“D-did you see it happen?” Raven bit her lip as Malika stiffened beside her. Any idiot knew you didn’t ask a child questions like that. You should change the subject, pretend it never happened, stuff down those feelings.

Raven should know better. That’s how every adult had treated her as a child, even after her little brother had drowned in the family pool.

Malika drew in a noisy, wet breath. “Yes. The rebels broke into our home. They got past our security forces. My mother had her gun—” Malika lifted her shoulder “—but they got her first.”

“I’m sorry, Malika. That must have been…horrible.” What an inadequate word. The kid must think she’s some kind of monster for asking her to dredge up that moment.

Malika increased the pressure of her fingers around Raven’s hand. “My father never asked me about it.”

Raven glanced down, trying to discern the expression on Malika’s face in the dark. Maybe Raven hadn’t been crazy for wanting to talk about her brother, Jace, after he’d died. But nobody would allow her to talk about him. Instead they’d politely avoided the topic and studied Raven’s every word and expression for signs of trauma. Her parents were big on opening up…to a bevy of therapists, anyway.

A footstep fell in the hallway, and Raven’s body jerked.

Malika pressed her head against her knees, her entire frame tensing. Raven slipped her hand into her handbag and withdrew the gun. She released the safety and pointed it toward the closet door. She didn’t plan to go down without a fight. And she didn’t plan on allowing anyone to snatch this brave girl beside her.

A door opened and closed, and Malika rolled her head to the side, resting her cheek on Raven’s knee. “They are coming. They always come.”

A twist of fear spiraled up Raven’s spine and she shook it off. No time to panic. It could be the police or U.N. security or even Burumandan security forces.

Yeah, like the ones who killed Malika’s mother?

A bead of sweat rolled along her hairline. With her finger poised on the trigger of the gun, Raven braced her stockinged feet against the door. She knew the door swung outward, giving her an advantage over their stealthy attacker. She could hit him with the door first…and then the bullet if it became necessary.

Then they’d just have to chance it and run helter-skelter out of the building, throwing themselves on the mercy of the first uniformed person they encountered.

Raven coiled her muscles as the footsteps drew nearer. Target practice had nothing on real-world situations.

Another door snapped shut. Click, click. Dull clicks, not women’s high heels but a man’s dress shoes or some kind of heavy heels. Not the soft soles of a security guard or cop. Secret Service?

Her legs ached with tension, trembling with the effort to stay poised for action. Click, click. Pause. The handle of the door turned.

Raven flattened her feet against the door and coiled her thigh muscles. A slice of light appeared, and she shoved her legs forward. The door hit resistance. Raven sprang to her feet and charged out of the closet, clutching the gun in front of her.

A man in a dark suit staggered back, cursing and reaching beneath his jacket.

Raven steadied her weapon and took up a shooting stance, just like Buzz had taught her. “Don’t move or I’ll blow a hole in your gut.”

The man dropped his hands and jerked his head up. A slow smile spread across his handsome face.

“If it isn’t Raven Pierre—city girl turned…guntotin’ vigilante. And you already blew a hole in my gut, girl.”

Raven choked as she scanned the tall figure in front of her dressed in a tailored suit and…cowboy boots. Her gaze traveled back up, all six feet three inches, until she met the blue eyes, brimming with laughter, of her ex-fiancé and former weapons instructor, Buzz Richardson.

Chapter Two

Damn, his ex-fiancée looked better than ever with her black hair slightly askew, her expensive silk suit wrinkled and a Colt .45 clutched in her manicured hands.

But what the hell was she doing hiding in a closet?

“What are you doing in there? U.N. security already has the two shooters in custody, or at least one’s in custody. The other’s dead. They nailed the two guys right in the General Assembly.”

The news did nothing to unfurl the frown creasing her beautiful features. Her hand tightened on the weapon as she narrowed her dark eyes. “They didn’t nail all of them.”

His pulse ticked up several notches. “What are you talking about? You weren’t even with the Burumandan contingent.”

“I was with one part of that contingent. One very important part.” She stepped to the side and swung open the closet door behind her.

Buzz raised his brows at the girl huddled in the closet, her chin balanced on her knees. President Okeke’s daughter. He should have figured Raven’s boss had assigned her to the First Daughter. Security was going nuts looking for the girl after finding her bodyguards and the Secret Service agent conked out in the anteroom where she’d been stashed.

Still didn’t explain why Raven had been ensconced in a dark closet with the girl. Raven didn’t even like kids. He knew all about that firsthand.

Buzz smiled and waved at the girl. “How you doin’, sweetheart? Excitement’s all over. Your daddy’s A-OK.”

Her big brown eyes got bigger. She dropped her gaze to his boots and then sent a beseeching look toward Raven.

“Does she speak English?”

Raven snorted and finally lowered her weapon. “She speaks better English than you, Buzz.”

Extending a hand to the girl, she said, “It’s all right, Malika. I know this man. He’s…safe.”

Buzz cocked an eyebrow at Raven. She’d never called him safe before.

As the girl scrambled out of the closet and grabbed Raven’s hand, Buzz folded his arms and squared his shoulders. “What did you mean about not nailing all of them?”

“When Garrett and then the bodyguards lost consciousness and we saw the shooting erupt on the closed-circuit TV, I didn’t want to take any chances.” She dipped into the closet, grabbed her handbag and tucked the gun away in it. “I mean, why incapacitate Malika’s security if you’re just shooting at President Okeke?”

Buzz’s mouth went dry and he ran his tongue along his teeth. “Your time with Prospero paid off. Go on.”

“So I locked the door of the anteroom, grabbed Garrett’s gun and headed for the secret exit.”

“There’s a secret exit in the anteroom?”

She nodded, and her dark hair swept across one shoulder. “I know all the ins and outs in this building.”

“And the secret exit led you here?”

“Not before I heard two men in the anteroom desperate to find the president’s daughter.” Raven rested a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

Buzz tightened his jaw. President Okeke had been whisked away to a secure hotel room, frantic over his daughter’s disappearance. Shortly after the shooting, the CIA had gotten word that rebel forces had attacked the capital of Burumanda. And now the First Daughter was in danger.

“We need to keep her safe.” He crouched in front of the girl. “What’s your name, darlin’?”

Again, her gaze slid to Raven, who inclined her head.

“Malika.”

“A lot of people are very worried about you, Malika, including your daddy. But we’re going to take good care of you.”

The girl inched closer to Raven and clutched her hand, still resting on Malika’s shoulder. Must have been the fear that had drawn these two together. He’d never seen Raven close to a child before.

He liked it.

“What next, Buzz? Are we going to bring Malika to her father?”

“Not so fast, Raven.” He ran a finger along the seam of his lips. Truth was President Okeke didn’t want his daughter anywhere near him. He didn’t want his proximity to put her in danger. And neither one of them could go home right now with trouble brewing.

Raven dug into her suitcase-sized handbag and pulled out a pair of shoes—high heels with lethal-looking points on the ends. She slipped her feet into them and grew four inches in stature. “What is your involvement, anyway? I thought you’d retired from Prospero and were flying the friendly skies for a living. What are you doing here?”

“Special assignment.” A special assignment that had everything to do with Prospero. Jack Coburn, the former team leader of Prospero, was missing and his disappearance had been linked to the upheaval in Burumanda. Buzz needed to stay involved in this investigation and follow the trail that had begun with his former Prospero team members, Riley Hammond and Ian Dempsey.

“So I repeat—” Raven tugged at the hem of her jacket “—what next?”

Buzz studied the toes of his boots. “We’re going to let President Okeke know his daughter is safe and take our cue from him.”

“Hold it. Put your hands out where I can see them.”

Buzz raised his head to see two cops at the end of the hallway…both pointing guns. He held his hands out in front of him and told Raven to do the same.

Raven coughed as she shook her hand loose from Malika’s. “Can’t they see we have a child here? They shouldn’t be pointing their weapons at us.”

Buzz murmured under his breath. “Unless they think we’re in the process of kidnapping her.”

Raven called out to the approaching cops. “This is President Okeke’s daughter. I’m a U.N. translator. I was with her when the shots were fired in the General Assembly.”

One of the cops spoke into the radio on his shoulder. Then he tightened the grip on his gun. “Until we can verify that, get on the ground.”

As Raven grumbled about the general condition of her silk suit and dropped to her knees, Malika screamed and threw her arms around Raven’s waist.

“Do not hurt Raven.”

Buzz’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull. Raven and this little girl had sure forged a bond over the past hour.

And he had every intention of using it to his advantage.

RAVEN TAPPED HER STOCKINGED feet together as she sipped a diet soda and furrowed her brow at the cartoon on TV. The cartoon hero was a sponge living underwater. How could that be funny?

Malika giggled and bounced on the bed next to Raven. “He is very funny but stupid.”

Raven smiled at her. Malika hadn’t wanted to leave her side ever since the cops turned them over to a phalanx of security people and eventually Malika’s father at the hotel.

The president had been so relieved to see his daughter and had showered so much praise on Raven, she thought he was going to offer her a position in his new government. Or what was left of that government after the renewed rebel attacks.

Raven’s gaze shifted to the closed door between the hotel suite and the conference room. High government mucky-mucks were in there now with President Okeke…and Buzz.

How had Buzz known she’d been hiding in that closet? He’d maintained that he had super-duper radar where it concerned her. She’d almost given him a big kiss, well, after she’d almost shot him. Warm relief had flooded her body when she’d looked into his baby blues. That man always could make her feel safer than an egg packed in cotton.

“See.” Malika poked her in the ribs. “Very funny sponge.”

“He’s hilarious.” Raven rolled her eyes. Holding up her soda can, she asked, “Do you want another one?”

Malika nodded and bounced on the mattress again. Raven rolled off the bed and padded to the minibar. Why not? The kid deserved a double shot of sugar and caffeine after the morning she’d had.

She handed Malika a frosty can and settled against the pillows. She’d known Prospero had disbanded and had heard that Buzz was working as a commercial airline pilot. Did he have a wife and baby to go along with his white picket fence? She hadn’t noticed a wedding ring on his long, strong fingers—and she’d been looking.

Sighing, she wiggled her toes. They had gotten engaged when they were both still working with Prospero, the covert ops group headed by Jack Coburn. Jack was the one who had recruited her to translate some of their bugged conversations between terrorists.

She still couldn’t figure out why she’d fallen for Buzz instead of Jack. Jack had been as commitment-phobic as she was, a loner. Maybe that was it. She would’ve had to try too hard to maintain any kind of relationship with Jack, while a relationship with Buzz had been inevitable from the moment they met.

Once Buzz had decided on her, there was no holding him back. With his slow Oklahoma drawl and his easy grin, he’d swept her off her feet before she even knew his true intentions. Once he had a ring on her finger, he’d revealed his plans for settling in the small Oklahoma town where he grew up and raising a passel of kids. He’d even used the word passel.

Raven had taken off faster than one of those jets Buzz maneuvered through the sky like a paper airplane.

The connecting door swung open, and Raven’s fingers clawed into the bedspread. She still hadn’t regained her composure after the wild escape at the U.N. But she always put up a good front.

President Okeke opened his arms, and Malika hurled herself off the bed and against his chest. He smiled and winked at Raven over Malika’s head. “Are you happy here with Miss Pierre?”

“Yes, she gave me soda pop and fixed my hair.” Malika twirled one finger around her pigtail.

Raven had bounded off the bed and stuffed her feet into her heels when the president had entered the room with Buzz lounging against the doorjamb behind him. Her cheeks heated and she spoke in the president’s dialect to restore her dignity. “I hope the soda is not a problem, Mr. President.”

He waved his hands. “A small treat for a difficult morning, and please speak English. We do not want to be rude to our friend Mr. Richardson.”

Friend? Raven narrowed her eyes, giving Buzz a sidelong glance. He sure had gotten chummy with the president in a short space of time. Leave it to Buzz. He could charm just about anyone into anything.

She should know.

“Are you finished in there? Have they found a safe place for you and your daughter?” Not that Raven wanted to dump Malika. The girl had grown on her…a little. But she did have a life and a fabulous apartment on the Upper East Side and even a date for dinner.

Her gaze wandered across Buzz’s wide shoulders and broad chest. Her date didn’t have a fraction of Buzz’s mouthwatering physical attributes. But he had something Buzz lacked—a big-city, superficial nonchalance that suited Raven just fine.

President Okeke shifted his gaze to Buzz and then back to her. “We’re not quite finished. We have a few more details to arrange.”

Buzz stepped to the side as the door behind him nudged open. A suit stuck his head into the room. “Everything fine with your daughter, President Okeke? We’ll have the two of you out of this hotel and installed in a secure location in no time at all.”

The president nodded and crouched next to Malika. He whispered something in her ear in their own language, and Raven caught just one word—safe.

The Secret Service agent ushered President Okeke back into the conference room and held the door open for Buzz. “Are you joining us?”

The agent’s clipped tone made it clear he didn’t think Buzz warranted a place at the table with the Secretary of State and the other high-level security representatives.

Buzz shrugged. “You don’t really need me in there. I’ll hang out here and watch—” he cocked his head at the TV “—the sponge.”

The agent smirked and snapped the door shut.

Buzz pressed his ear against the door for several seconds and then locked the deadbolt with a soft click. He pointed to the minibar fridge. “Can I have one of those five-dollar sodas?”

Raven frowned at the door. Did Buzz think they were in danger from anyone in that room? Not likely.

Tapping Malika on the head as she walked by, Raven said, “We’ve pretty much decimated the colas. Do you want a root beer?”

“Sure. Give me a root beer for the road.”

Raven swiveled her head around. “For the road? Where are you going? I thought you’d want to see this thing through.”

“Not just me.” Buzz took two large steps to the minibar and snatched the can from Raven’s slack hand. “We’re all going.”

“Yeah, well, once the suits in the other room find a secure location for President Okeke and Malika—” Raven slammed the door to the little fridge and pushed up to her feet “—we’ll all be going. And we’d better hurry because I have a hot date.”

Buzz raised one brow and snapped the lid on his can. “We’re not waiting for them. We’re headed for that secure location right now, the three of us.”

Biting her lip, Raven shot a glance at the locked door again. “I-is that the plan? We’re going there first and then the president will follow us?”

Buzz dipped his head once and chucked Malika under the chin.

Malika had already slipped into her shoes and had grabbed her doll from the bed. She didn’t seem surprised or alarmed at the news that they were leaving the hotel ahead of her father.

Raven rubbed out the furrow between her eyebrows. But why did she have to come along? “Buzz, are you sure I’m included in this plan?”

“Don’t you want to help Malika?” His brows shot up to his hairline. “You’re about the only one she trusts right now. Isn’t that right, darlin’?”

Malika pinned Raven with her big brown eyes and nodded.

Raven sucked in a breath and then blew it out, rolling back her shoulders. She was not going to allow Buzz Richardson to accuse her of disliking little children…again.

She checked her Rolex. She could still meet her date on time. How long could it take to stash Malika and a few bodyguards in some safehouse?

Rubbing Malika’s back, Raven said, “Of course I want to help Malika. We’re a team—at least until her father takes over.”

“I knew I could count on your love of children to propel you in the right direction.” Buzz grabbed her handbag from the credenza and shoved it against her chest. “Let’s go.”

“Shouldn’t we let them know we’re on our way?” She jerked her thumb toward the room next door.

“They’re busy.” Buzz inched open the door to the suite and exchanged a few words with the Burumandan guard stationed there.

The man trailed them down the hallway to the stairwell, and then followed them down four flights of stairs. When they burst through the final fire door, Buzz guided them away from the lobby and toward a side door. The door landed them in the middle of the busy kitchen, where they darted through a maze of counters, refrigerators and vats of churning food.

When they hit the back door of the kitchen, their escort melted away and another intercepted them as they entered an alley on the side of the hotel. Their guard hustled them into a Lincoln Town Car with tinted windows.

Despite the blacked-out windows, Buzz told Raven and Malika to slouch in their seats. Raven swallowed her complaints when she noticed Malika’s swift compliance. The girl had experience in this sort of subterfuge.

The car shot out of the alley and Raven whispered to Buzz. “I’m glad this guy has diplomatic immunity or they’d throw the book at him for reckless driving.” The car squealed around the first corner. “And speeding.”

The driver whisked the car down the FDR Drive and Raven peeked out the window. The safehouse must be outside of Manhattan. Maybe she wouldn’t make it to her date on time after all.

That was probably for the best. How could she possibly concentrate on another man when she’d just spent an adrenaline-fueled day with Buzz? His larger-than-life presence eclipsed everyone. It just wasn’t fair he had to come traipsing back into her life, reminding her of what she’d thrown away.

Malika had conked out and slumped to the side, resting her head against Raven’s arm. A little drool had trickled from the corner of Malika’s mouth onto the sleeve of Raven’s suit. Raven rummaged through her bag for a tissue and dabbed the girl’s lips.

Raven met Buzz’s eyes above Malika’s head. “What? She’s drooling on my new suit.”

“She really likes you.” He spread his hands in front of him as if he couldn’t believe it.

“Yeah, well, I saved her life back there at the U.N. What would you expect?”

He lifted one shoulder. “I would expect her to like you. Kids do.”

“You’re crazy. I was never around them enough for you to gauge that.”

“There was Eric and Grace’s boy.”

Raven gave an exaggerated shiver. “You mean that horrid little monster who ran around putting tadpoles on everyone’s lap?”

Buzz laughed and the sound filled the backseat of the Town Car, coaxing a grin from Raven. “Except yours.”

“That’s because I warned him if he came anywhere near me with a tadpole, I’d take the critter and flush him down the toilet.”

“And he fell in love with you on the spot. Followed you around for the rest of the party…without his tadpoles.”

“Ha! He probably just wanted to make sure I wouldn’t get my hands on any of his creatures and flush ’em.” Raven pressed her warm forehead against the cool window. “Where is this place?”

“We’re almost there.”

Several minutes later, the car exited the highway and pulled into a small parking lot next to a low-slung gray building.

Raven tapped the window. “This is a secure location? It looks like, it looks like…an airplane hangar.”

The car jerked to a stop and Buzz threw open the door.

Raven clawed at the door handle, her heart pounding. Buzz. Airplanes. The two went together like…little boys and tadpoles. “Buzz! Buzz!”

She clambered out of the car. “What are we doing here?”

He dipped back into the car on the other side, and Raven ducked her head inside, too. Did he think he could avoid her that easily? They nearly banged foreheads over Malika’s sleepy form.

Raven hissed. “What are you doing?”

He tucked his arms beneath Malika and slid her across the seat toward him. “I’m kidnapping President Okeke’s daughter. And you’re coming with me.”

Chapter Three

“Bryan!”

Buzz grinned. Raven must be really mad to use his real name instead of his nickname. He had to play this right because he needed Raven for the plan to work.

He waved to the mechanic he’d called earlier. “Did you do the pre-flight? Everything ready to go?”

“You’re good to go, boss.” The mechanic flashed him a thumbs-up.

Clutching a drowsy Malika to his chest, Buzz strode across the tarmac to his Jetstream. Two steps up and he felt a tug at his shirt. He suppressed a grin and twisted his head over his shoulder.

Raven’s dark eyes sparkled, practically shooting sparks. “Where are you taking Malika and why?”

“I’m taking her to safety.”

“Are you crazy? You’ll have the entire CIA, FBI and probably the U.S. Military after you, not to mention some of those huge Burumandan security guys.”

He pointed to Naru, the Burumandan driver waving on the tarmac. “You mean like him? I’m not as crazy as I look, Raven. I have President Okeke’s permission to take Malika. We’d already discussed and planned it.”

Her black, sculpted eyebrows collided over her nose. “But why? I thought that’s what you were all figuring out in the conference room. Are you telling me President Okeke doesn’t trust the United States government?”

“He trusts me more. And you.”

“Me?” Raven ran a hand through her silky hair, the color of velvet midnight. “I just met the guy.”

“You saved his daughter’s life.” Malika stirred in his arms, rubbing the back of her hand across her nose. “We can’t waste any more time out here. I have to get her in the plane and get going.”

Raven took a step down, one heel digging into the asphalt of the tarmac. “I can’t come with you.”

“President Okeke specifically requested that you accompany us. He wanted to ask you himself at the hotel, but the Secret Service agent interrupted him.”

Buzz held his breath. Raven lived and breathed her career, and Buzz could imagine how she felt being relegated to babysitting duty. Now through a set of crazy circumstances, the new president of Burumanda needed her help. Buzz would have to keep pounding on that to convince her to come along.

“The president believes his daughter’s safety rests with you. He never would’ve hatched this plan if not for his confidence in you, Raven.”

She shook her head and pursed her lips. “I can’t rush off and leave everything, especially for some cockamamie scheme of yours. If you’re involved, trouble is not far behind. How do I even know you have President Okeke’s permission to take Malika?”

“And why would I want to kidnap the president’s daughter?” Of course, he didn’t have to tell Raven about the link between the assassination attempt on President Okeke and Jack Coburn’s disappearance. That wouldn’t convince her of anything except his insanity.

Raven’s right foot joined her left foot firmly on the ground. “I can’t do it, Buzz. You’re on your own.”

Buzz clenched his jaw. That’s not the first time she’d said those words to him.

Malika squirmed in his arms, lifting her head from his shoulder. “Raven?”

“You’re going to be fine, Malika.” Raven flashed a fake smile. “Your father asked Mr. Richardson to take you someplace safe.”

“I know. You are coming, Raven?”

Raven’s shoulders slumped. “No. I can’t come with you, Malika, but you’ll be safe with Mr. Richardson.”

A tremble rolled through Malika’s small frame and she choked on a sob. “Please, Raven.”

“I’m sorry. I—I just can’t.” Raven clamped her bottom lip between her teeth.

Buzz’s pulse leaped. Was that a quivering lip she was biting? Nah, this was Raven Pierre, career girl extraordinaire.

“Say goodbye to Raven, darlin’. Let’s get you buckled in nice and tight.” Buzz turned to duck into the hatch of the Jetstream.

Clawing at his arms, Malika wailed. “I want Raven.”

She wasn’t the only one.

Raven grabbed the handrails and leaned forward. “You’ll be fine, Malika.”

“No, no.” Malika buried her face against Buzz’s chest, and he patted her back.

Without Raven, his plan looked as though it was going to deteriorate rapidly. He liked kids, but this motherless little girl wasn’t going to be too happy with his male companionship.

Raven sighed and launched forward, nearly barreling into his back. “All right. I’ll come along, at least to get you settled.”

Malika sniffled and a big smile claimed half her face.

Buzz narrowed his eyes as he transferred Malika to Raven’s waiting arms. The girl’s cries had done more to convince Raven to come along than Buzz’s assertions to her importance to President Okeke. Had he just fallen into a rabbit hole?

He sat at the controls while Raven buckled Malika into one of several seats facing the cockpit and retrieved two blankets from a bin on the side of the plane. She tucked the blanket around Malika, twitched the girl’s pigtails and then buckled into the seat next to her.

She let out a breath. “Where to, flyboy?”

“Just relax and enjoy the ride.” Buzz adjusted his headphones and flipped a few switches. No need to tell Raven their final destination. She’d just gotten used to the idea of traveling along with Malika. He didn’t want her to go ballistic about the location just when she’d accepted her fate.

Buzz gave a final wave to the ground crew and Naru waiting next to the car, and then taxied down the abbreviated runway. The meeting at the hotel had probably ended by now, and everyone would know he’d taken off with the president’s daughter.

He scanned the darkening skies and settled back into his seat as he pulled on the throttle, sending the nose of his plane toward the heavens. He hadn’t filed a flight plan with air traffic control, since he didn’t want anyone picking up his trail.

The CIA wouldn’t come after him, at least not yet. The Agency wouldn’t want to anger President Okeke and if the president trusted his daughter’s safety to him and Raven, the CIA would just have to deal with it…for now.

The plane climbed to cruising altitude and Buzz stretched his legs. He could use a cup of coffee about now. Too bad he wasn’t flying one of the big commercial jets. He glanced over his shoulder at Raven flipping through a magazine she must’ve had stashed in that huge bag of hers.

He preferred the company on this small plane to a bunch of overworked flight attendants anyway…even without the coffee.

Raven peeked over the top of her magazine. “Are we in for a long flight?”

“About seven hours.” He pointed to Malika curled up in her seat, the blanket tucked up to her chin. “You should follow Malika’s example and take a nap.”

“Seven hours?” She dropped the magazine to her lap. “I guess I can’t just land and turn around then.”

“I didn’t know that’s what you’d planned. You volunteered to get Malika settled, remember?”

“Settled where, Buzz? Where are you taking us?”

He took a deep breath and shifted his gaze back to his control panel of blinking lights. “Oklahoma.”

Raven gasped and then laughed, but the sound held no humor. Buzz had noticed that about Raven before. She could laugh but it didn’t mean she was happy. That kind of laughter always made him uncomfortable, and it hadn’t changed.

He twisted in his seat to find Raven’s head touching her knees and her shoulders shaking from the laugh that wasn’t a laugh. Buzz raised one eyebrow. “Why are you laughing?”

Not that he minded. He preferred it to her throwing things at him, especially when he was trying to fly.

Raven jerked her head up. “Come on, Buzz. Don’t play the slow cowboy with me. You know why Oklahoma is significant.”

“Because it was my home. Because I wanted to take you there after we married. Because it’s where I wanted to raise a family…with you. But now it’s just a safe place for Malika until Burumanda’s political situation cools down and she can be reunited with her father.” He shrugged. “Not significant at all.”

“It was your home?” Raven brushed strands of her hair from her face. “You didn’t return to Oklahoma after leaving Prospero?”

“No. I live in Dallas now, but I still have my folks’ ranch in Oklahoma. I figure I can protect Malika there.” He patted the empty co-pilot’s seat next to him. “Do you want to join me up front? You were getting good at flying before…”

Before she’d taken off like a scared rabbit once he mentioned marriage, family and forever. Raven had never had an example of any of those things in her life. Her wealthy family had lived abroad, dropped Raven off at boarding schools and stashed her with nannies.

Obviously not wanting a trip down memory lane, Raven scrambled from her seat and lurched toward the cockpit. “Just tell me what to do.”

“Nothing. Relax and enjoy the view.”

After fifteen minutes of companionable silence as the Jetstream cut through the night sky, Raven tapped his shoulder. “Why didn’t you settle in Oklahoma? It’s all you ever talked about.”

It’s all he’d ever talked about? No wonder he’d scared her off.

He lifted the shoulder where her hand still rested. “Wasn’t ready.”

Once he retired from Prospero, he’d discovered all his plans for the ranch had become meaningless without Raven. And all the women he’d met since lacked Raven’s spunk, her beauty, her sexiness, her…

She squeezed his shoulder. “Well, you’ll get there one day. I know the ranch meant a lot to you after your parents died.”

The transponder beeped and Buzz flicked his radar screen. “There’s another private plane in the area. We’re too low for a commercial airliner.”

Raven slouched to peer out her side window. “Is it close enough that we’d see it? It’s clear out here.”

“It’s behind us. You might be able to see its lights if you went to the back of the plane, but it’s okay. He’s not going to run into us or anything. We both have transponders.”

Buzz tried to contact the other plane on the radio, but the pilot didn’t respond. A muscle ticked in his jaw, and he clenched his hand on the steering wheel.

Raven’s gaze took in his white knuckles and the straight line of his mouth. “Are you sure it’s okay? Could that be the CIA after us?”

He shook his head. If it were the CIA, the pilot would be all over that radio giving him orders. If it were…someone else, the pilot might want to follow him silently.

“Buzz, you never told me what a commercial airline pilot was doing at the U.N. during President Okeke’s address. And how did you get so chummy with the president that he’d let you fly off with his daughter?”

Buzz blew out a breath. He might as well tell her the rest. “Jack Coburn is missing.”

“Jack?” Raven gripped the arms of her chair. “What happened?”

“We’re not sure. He took a job as a hostage negotiator after Prospero. He disappeared in Afghanistan while on a job trying to negotiate the release of some doctor.”

“What does President Okeke have to do with Jack’s disappearance and why are you involved?”

“It’s Jack.”

She hugged herself, hunching her shoulders. “I know you guys would do anything for each other, but how is his disappearance related to President Okeke?”

Buzz rubbed his eyes. “It started with a drug deal between a Mexican cartel and a group of terrorists out of Afghanistan. Jack’s name came up in the chatter. Riley was able to link the terrorists with an arms dealer.”

“Riley Hammond, the Navy SEAL from Prospero? I thought he was taking tourists out on a dive boat in Cabo?”

“He took a detour to help out. We all did. Ian Dempsey located the weapon the terrorists bought with their drug money—turned out to be a biological weapon.”

Raven covered her mouth with her hands. She’d worked with them at Prospero for a time, so Buzz felt sure not much shocked her. She’d been tough…and brittle since the moment he’d met her. The brittleness—that’s what had sabotaged their relationship.

“If Ian had something to do with locating that weapon, it must’ve been in the mountains. Did he leave his job leading mountain-climbing expeditions?”

Buzz cocked his head. She sure knew a lot about his former comrades. “We all dropped everything as soon as we got the call from Colonel Scripps.”

“I’m sure you did. And what’s this third link? What does the biological weapon Ian recovered have to do with President Okeke?” Her eyes widened. “You don’t think he’s in the market for this biological weapon, do you?”

“I wasn’t sure—” he glanced back at the slumbering Malika “—because it was rumored he had ties to some terrorist groups, but after I met with him I think he’s clean. The Agency also believes Okeke has the means to deliver a virus, weaponize it.”

Raven hugged herself. “That’s scary.”

“That might be what the rebels are after, or maybe someone is using the rebels to get to Okeke. The region of Burumanda, before it was a country, was a hotbed of terrorist training activity. A lot of terrorist groups around the world wanted to keep it that way.”

Pressing her fingers against her temples, Raven closed her eyes. “Why isn’t anyone else looking for Jack? Why is it up to you guys? None of you is even on active duty anymore.”

Buzz ground his teeth together. This was the hardest part. “The CIA thinks Jack turned. They think he leaked information to the terrorists, is maybe feeding them intelligence about the delivery method for this virus.”

Raven’s eyelids flew open. “No way. That’s not possible.”

“That’s exactly why I’m here.”

“I-is the CIA, I mean, are they going to suspect you kidnapped Malika to get information about Jack?”

“Kidnapped isn’t the right word.” He scratched his chin and yawned. “I took her with her father’s permission, but I’m sure they’ll suspect I did it for my own reasons.”

“And did you? You’re not using that little girl, are you?”

Buzz shook his head at Raven’s sharp tone. She’d become very protective of Malika in a short space of time. Must be because she’d saved her life, or at least saved her from a kidnapping. “You know me better than that, Raven. I’m the kid-friendly one around here. If I didn’t think I could do a better job of keeping Malika safe than a bunch of by-the-book spooks at the Agency, I wouldn’t have taken her.”

“You’re right.” She sighed and pushed her hair back from her face. “I’m still on edge…and I missed my date.”

“Aww, I’m sorry. Let me guess. Broadway show and a hip new restaurant? Or a tapas bar and some club in the Meat Packing District?”

“It all sounds so shallow when you put it like that, Buzz.” She unbuckled her seatbelt and slid from her copilot’s perch. “But a helluva lot more fun than sitting on a porch sipping lemonade and watching horses run around. Now I’m going to try to get some sleep before we arrive in Nowheresville, Oklahoma.”

Six hours later and with no other planes invading his air space, Buzz landed his Jetstream safely at the small White Cloud municipal airport. The morning sun streaked across the broad expanse of sky like a runny egg yolk. His stomach rumbled and he figured their first stop would be breakfast at the Arapaho Café.

He taxied to a stop next to the hangar and completed his post-flight check. Rubbing his eyes, he turned in his seat to face his sleeping passengers. Raven had reclined both seats, and her long legs were stretched out in front of her while Malika was curled into a tight ball, her head resting on Raven’s shoulder. At least she wasn’t drooling this time.

He should get a picture for blackmail purposes.

Hunching forward, he entered the cabin and nudged Raven. “We’re here.”

Raven started and grasped the arms of her seat, digging her long nails into the leather. “What? Already?”

“We’ve been flying for six hours. It’s morning, or almost.”

Raven stretched out a hand and touched Malika’s cheek. “Malika? Time to wake up.”

Buzz squinted out the window, running his tongue across his teeth. If only he’d had time to pack a bag with a toothbrush. And if he felt that way, Raven must be itching for a shower and some clean clothes. Of course she wouldn’t be able to buy any designer duds in White Cloud, and they needed to get that little girl something to eat first.

Malika opened her big brown eyes with a flash of fear, until her gaze settled on Raven and the anxiety melted away.

“Are you hungry?” Raven tweaked one of Malika’s pigtails. “Buzz, we’re going to need something to eat before anything else.”

Buzz raised his brows. Who had stolen his tough-as-nails Raven and left this squishy marshmallow in her place? “Sure. I was thinking the same thing. After I check in with the ground crew, we’ll hitch a ride into town. I doubt there’s anything to eat at the ranch.”

They disembarked, and Buzz bundled Raven and Malika inside the hangar while he secured the plane. One of the guys at the airport agreed to loan Buzz his truck.

As Buzz squeezed Malika between himself and Raven in the front seat of the truck, Raven’s jaw dropped. “You mean this guy who’s a stranger is letting you take off in his truck? How does he know we’re not going to hit the highway and steal it?”

Buzz chuckled as he threw the beat-up truck in Reverse. “He has my Jetstream. I’d say that’s a fair trade.”

“How does he know you didn’t steal that plane?”

“It’s called trust. There’s a lot of that in a small town. Besides, there are no strangers in White Cloud. That guy is cousins with my best friend’s ex-girlfriend.”

Raven rolled her eyes. “If you say so.”

They bumped along in the truck for a few miles before they careened into town. The streets were mostly empty at this time of morning, except for a couple of trucks parked in front of the Arapaho Café. Retired ranchers up at their customary time and looking for a little company.

And Buzz probably knew all of them.

Scratching his chin, he shot a glance at Raven and Malika. He couldn’t exactly tell the good people of White Cloud that he was hiding an African president’s daughter in their midst. The assassination attempt at the U.N. had been splashed all over the news, but Malika’s picture hadn’t been splashed anywhere. The government had suppressed any news of her attempted abduction and Raven’s role in her rescue.

He blew out a breath and squared his shoulders. The plan came to him in a flash and Raven might even laugh about it…someday.

He pulled up to the curb and pointed to the restaurant. “I hope you ladies are hungry.”

Buzz yanked his coat around his wrinkled suit and opened the door of the truck for Raven. She hopped out and scooped Malika from the seat. “Ahh, I can smell the bacon from here.”

“Bacon, eggs, biscuits and gravy. The Arapaho has it all.” Buzz pushed open the door and several pairs of eyes turned in their direction.

“Well, if it isn’t Buzz Richardson.”

“Must’ve dropped out of the sky.”

“It’s Steve’s boy.”

Raven stiffened beside him as he raised his hand in greeting. “Hey, guys. It’s good to be back.”

“Whatcha doing here, Buzz? You gonna take up residence at the ranch?”

Buzz shrugged out of his coat and hung it on the rack by the front door. “Just thought it was time to bring my wife and our new daughter home to White Cloud.”

Chapter Four

Raven squeezed Malika’s hand so tightly the girl whimpered. She immediately loosened her hold, but still had a death grip on the back of the chair with her other hand. If she squeezed any harder she’d snap the wood.

Raven’s stiff face formed a wooden smile as she met the curious gazes of the old men seated around a red Formica table. She peeled her fingers from the chair and waved like a queen from her motorcade.

She’d kill Buzz.

Buzz winked at her and grabbed her hand, pulling her toward the group. He performed a round of introductions, but the names whirred through her brain, replaced by the surprise at the warmth of their greeting. After each introduction, the men jumped to their feet and pulled her in for a kiss on the cheek, their gray whiskers tickling her chin.

Then they turned their attentions to Malika. They tugged lightly on her pigtails and chucked her beneath the chin. She seemed to take it much more in stride than Raven. At the end of the introductions, the old guys had Malika grinning and giggling as though she’d just discovered a roomful of doting grandfathers.

Buzz held up his hands. “That’s enough socializing. My girls are tired and hungry.”

The men grumbled but went back to talking about…whatever old men talk about in a diner in the wee morning hours.

Raven glared at Buzz as he pulled out her chair. She even flared her nostrils for added effect. He grinned at her and lifted Malika into her seat.

After the waitress took their order, Raven folded her hands on top of the plastic menu. “Why did you tell them we were married?”

“It was the best cover I could think of on short notice.” He slid a blue crayon toward Malika, who had her head bent over a children’s menu, ready for coloring. “Until I saw that bunch sitting at the table, it didn’t occur to me how suspicious I’d look marching into town with a woman and a little girl from Africa at my side.”

Raven snapped her brows over her nose. “I thought it was your job to think of things like that. You had an entire seven-hour plane ride to think of a story.”

“It’s a good story, Raven.” He shrugged. “Nobody in White Cloud needs to know we’re hiding some African president’s daughter. The world at large doesn’t even know she’s missing. Most people in diplomatic circles don’t even know President Okeke brought her.”

“Have you had contact with the president?”

“On his orders, no. He doesn’t want her location to be compromised at all. We’re supposed so stay here with her until further notice.”

Malika glanced up from her coloring through dark lashes. “My father does not want me to talk of him.”

Buzz patted her hand. “We know that, Malika. You’re a smart girl.”

Raven’s nose tingled. How easily this little girl adapted to subterfuge. She shouldn’t have to live her young life like that.

“Do you understand our game, Malika?” Raven tucked a stray curl behind Malika’s ear. “While we’re here in White Cloud, we’re going to pretend we’re a family. Just until we can get you safely back to your father.”

Malika lodged the tip of her tongue in the corner of her mouth while she colored in a tiny bird. Then she looked up. “I understand…Mama.”

The tingling in Raven’s nose spread to her eyes, which flooded with tears. She scrabbled for a napkin from the dispenser on the table and pressed it to her eyelids. Then she blew her nose.

Avoiding Buzz’s gaze, Raven rapped her knuckles on the table in front of Malika. “Our food’s going to be here in a minute. Let’s wash our hands.”

Malika dropped her crayons and hopped from her chair. Raven crossed the small dining room to the restroom, her high heels clicking on the floor. If they were going to stay here for a while, and it looked as if they were, she’d have to buy some clothes for her and Malika. High heels and silk suits wouldn’t cut it in this little backwater town.

They finished washing up and pushed out of the ladies’ room. As they passed the old men, one called out. “So where’d you meet Buzz, Raven?”

“Umm, at work.” Might as well keep this as close to the truth as possible.

“What are you, a stewardess?”

“Ah, I meant at his previous job.”

The man’s shaggy gray brows shot up. “You were in the military?”

Oh boy. Nothing was going to be simple. Of course, Buzz could never be open and honest about what he did. He was in covert ops. He was a spy. He’d lived his life in the shadows with secrets that could topple governments.

And she’d helped him. She’d been a member of Prospero. Translating, teaching, training.

Falling in love.

“Oh, on the civilian end. I’m a translator.” She waved her hands as if to brush off his question and stumbled back to the table toward the heavenly scent of bacon.

Buzz waved a knife at the old ranchers. “Giving you the third-degree back there?”

Raven spread a napkin on her lap and pointed to Malika’s lap. “Asked where we met. I said we met at work, where I was in a civilian capacity.”

“That’ll do.” He slid a basket of biscuits toward her. “Biscuits and gravy?”

She gave a slight shudder and plucked a biscuit from the basket. “No on the gravy, but I might try one with honey.”

She pulled the biscuit in half and drizzled a little honey on one side. She bit into the biscuit and closed her eyes as it melted into her mouth. “I may have to shop for one size up if I stay here and keep eating like this.”

Buzz held his fork suspended over his plate. “That means you’re staying?”

“You pretty much sealed my fate back there.” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder at the table of gossiping men.

“You could always find an excuse to leave, Raven.” He dropped his fork and handed a napkin to Malika. “You did before.”

Heat flashed across Raven’s cheeks. He was the one who’d changed the rules. She slid a glance toward Malika, who was clutching her fork between coiled fingers. Could she sense the tension at the table? Hadn’t Raven always been able to sense the tension in her family?

“Nope.” Raven brushed the biscuit flour from her fingertips. “No excuses. We’re in this together. This is our make-believe, right, Malika?”

Malika smiled, nodded and shoveled some scrambled eggs into her mouth.

When they finished their breakfast, they said goodbye to the men still nursing their coffee in the corner. As Buzz swung open the door, a short, stocky man barreled through it, almost colliding with Buzz.

“Sorry…” The man trailed off and his eyes narrowed beneath his cowboy hat. “Buzz Richardson, hotshot pilot.”

His sharp tone cut across the café and Raven took a step back. Guess not everyone in White Cloud was friendly.

“Lance, how have you been?” Buzz stuck out his hand but the smaller man ignored it.

“Could be better, Buzz. Could be better.” He turned on his heel and stalked to an empty table.

With his jaw tight, Buzz ushered Raven through the door. They stepped into the chilly Oklahoma morning, and Raven pulled her coat around her body.

“What was that all about? I thought everyone in White Cloud was your best friend.”

“That’s Lance Cooper.”

“So?” She circled one finger in the air. “I’m supposed to know him?”

“He’s the brother of Josh Cooper, the man who was flying my parents in my plane when it crashed.”

Raven gasped. “Buzz…”

He shook his head and opened the passenger door of the truck. She understood that signal.

Raven cleared her throat. “When do the stores open? We’re going to have to get some basics and Malika and I need some clothes.”

His shoulders relaxed. “It’s Saturday. The stores open around nine. We’ll head out to the ranch first and make the place livable for the next few weeks.”

“Few weeks?” Raven buckled Malika into the seat between them. “Is that how long you think this is going to take?”

Buzz cranked on the engine of the old truck. “I’m not sure, Raven. We’ll see how things work out.”

In less than five minutes, they hit open road. Raven gazed across the flat landscape with a few low hills in the distance. The sky was wide open and looked as if it could gulp up everything in its sphere. The rising sun gleamed on the dusky browns and golds and then shimmered across an expanse of aqua blue, the color of Buzz’s eyes.

She tapped her window. “What’s that?”

“That’s Lake Unega. There’s a lot of activity around the lake during the summer—fishing, waterskiing, boating. Luckily this isn’t summer.”

Raven shivered and tucked her arm around Malika. “No kidding. It’s not going to snow while we’re here, is it?”

“We don’t usually get much snow, maybe a light dusting.” He tweaked the folds of her cashmere coat. “That old rag should do you just fine.”

“Don’t pull that down-home crap with me, Richardson. You’re the best-dressed cowboy I’ve ever seen.” His gloom after running into Lance Cooper seemed to have lifted, and she was happy to give it the heave-ho. This sadness was a new side of Buzz she’d never seen before.

“See many cowboys in New York City, do you?”

Malika bounced on the seat between them, enjoying the lighter mood. “Where is your hat? Where is your hat?”

Buzz laughed and the sound warmed up the car. “I have one at home, and I’m going to get you one, too. Would you like that?”

“Yes, and those, please.” Malika pointed to Raven’s high heels planted on the plastic mat of the truck.

“You’ll have plenty of time for those.” Grinning, Buzz met Raven’s eyes over the top of Malika’s head.

His smile encased her in warmth and she suddenly felt as if she had been locked in a deep freeze for a long time. Two years and eight months, to be exact. Since the day she’d left him.

Her bottom lip trembled, and she turned and pressed her forehead against the cold glass of the window. She hadn’t even been there for him when he’d lost his parents. “Almost there?”

“Willow Road Ranch is just around the next bend.”

“It has a name and everything?”

“Thought I told you all about it.”

His clipped words made her bite her lip. He’d told her all about the ranch where he’d grown up. The more he’d talked about it, the more evident it had become that he planned to stash her there after their marriage. So the more she’d tuned him out.

“Did you tell me why it was called Willow Road Ranch?”

“Wait and see.”

He wheeled the truck around the bend and turned down a paved road. One more turn and the asphalt gave way to something less civilized. The tires of the truck crunched and spewed gravel in a cloud of dust and then trundled between the reaching branches of a line of willow trees. The thin sticks, bereft of leaves, created a spiky tunnel toward the sprawling ranch house that lay ahead.

Raven pressed her nose to the window. “This must be beautiful in the spring when the trees have all their leaves.”

“It is.” He nudged Malika’s rounded shoulder. “Looks like she needs a nap before you go on your shopping spree.”

Sighing, Raven blew a puff of air against the glass. This hideaway was going to be a minefield of emotions for both of them. Buzz had wanted to have their wedding right here on the ranch…in the spring.

Buzz had invited her to White Cloud several times to meet his parents and his sister, but she’d always found some excuse. Now she’d never meet his parents.

The truck rolled to a stop around the circular drive, and Buzz tipped his chin toward a garage at the end of the property. “My truck should be in there, and then I can return this one to its rightful owner.”

“I still can’t believe he just let you take his truck.”

“That’s White Cloud.”

Raven left the door of the truck open as she leaned against the hood. “The house looks pretty good for being abandoned.”

“It’s not exactly abandoned.” Buzz ducked into the truck and scooped up a sleeping Malika. “My manager, Shep Ochoa, has been with our family for years. He takes care of the ranch, and one of his daughters makes sure the inside is habitable. So we should have clean sheets, warm water and a working furnace and electricity.”

Raven stretched. “Sounds like heaven about now. Keys?”

“Under the mat, of course.”

“I’ll unlock the door while you keep a tight hold on our precious cargo.”

Buzz adjusted Malika’s drowsy form so that her head rested on his shoulder.

Gulping, Raven crouched down and swept her hand beneath the mat. The man was a natural. The fact that some woman hadn’t snapped him up yet surprised the heck out of her. Surprised her and pleased her.

She jingled the keychain. “Probably right where you left them. Heckuva place, White Cloud.”

Opening the door, she stepped aside to allow Buzz through with Malika. As he crossed the expansive great room to a door just beyond the staircase, Raven dropped the keys on a table and took a turn around the room.

Raven didn’t know quite what she expected from ranch décor, but she knew it wasn’t this rustic room filled with charm and comfort. Sliding glass doors led to a wooden deck that commanded a view of the ranch, rolling hills fringing the landscape. A huge stone fireplace took up half a wall while Native American wall hangings graced another.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.