Page 21 of Poison Evidence

She nodded. Because of the encryption and layers of security, she could only access a heavily secured email network. It was a closed system; only people on the network could email others on the same network. But Jack—or Dimitri—didn’t need to know the limits of her email access.

“You’re going to let me email Mara and tell her you’ve abducted me?”

“No. You’re going to tell her I’m protecting you and making it possible for you to finish your survey.”

She swiped at tears that had started to fall again as he quibbled over the definition of abduction. “You’re unbelievable. She’s going to notice when I’m not uploading data from Peleliu.”

And that was where he grinned, a full-ongotchathat she would have found charming mere hours ago. “But you see, that’s the beauty of it. The item I’m looking for is in the Rock Islands. You can map the siteandhelp me.”

“So we’re going to return to Peleliu and the Rock Islands and pretend everything is hunky-dory? You can’t tie me up and leave me aboard. You can’t fly the mapping drone. I need to go into the jungle to ground-truth the data. You can’t keep me prisoner.”

“I have no intention of keeping you prisoner. We’re going to work together. Listen, I’d have wined and dined you to win your trust and weasel my way into your project, but the attack last night forced my hand. I really am protecting you. And frankly, I’m worried about Ulai.”

Her emotions had been in a tumble from the moment she discovered they were at sea and not in port, and now horror kicked her in the gut. How low was she that she hadn’t given a thought to her pilot? He’d be the first person the terrorists would go after, and she hadn’t stopped to warn him.

“We’ll check on Ulai, Ivy. All you need to do is initiate CAM, email your boss and tell her you’re fine, and I’m protecting you. No mention of Dimitri Veselov. They can do a background check on Major Jack Keaton. I’ll pass with flying colors.”

“Why did you tell me your name is Dimitri, then?”

“Because I wanted to give you power over me, something to hold on to. The name will mean nothing to the US, but there are others who might be searching for Dimitri Veselov, and if they find me, we’ll have problems.”

“Meaning anyone who is with you will be in danger too.”

He nodded.

“That’s a shitty token of power. I can’t use it without it being suicidal.”

He shrugged. “I didn’t choose the parameters of my life. They were forced on me.”

“And now they’re forced on me.”

“Boot up CAM. We’ve been in this location for too long without word.”

She was neatly blocked in. She was out of options, but at least this would buy her some time. They would be working together for days. He’d make a mistake. She could escape. She’d be spending hours on the computer as she processed the mapping data. Surely she’d be able to get one email out without him reading it. Or she could find a way to embed an SOS in the upload. He wasn’t a techie. He’d never know.

Chapter Eight

Dimitri didn’t think he’d taken a deep breath from the moment Ivy had emerged at the top of the ladder. She’d been so beautiful with the morning sun glinting on her thick honey-brown hair as she held the erotic flower he’d picked on impulse the night before.

Her face had been alight, eager, but he’d known it would take only seconds for her to take in the situation. Then fear, anger, and pain would take over.

He’d had several tough missions in his life, but never before had he so thoroughly embroiled an innocent. And one thing he’d come to believe in the hours since they’d met was that Ivy MacLeod hadn’t been part of her ex-husband’s treason. She might not be as pure as the driven snow, but she was damn close.

And he’d tainted her with a second treason by association.

He hated his fucking job.

He helped her carry four of the cases to the upper deck. The other two contained the drone, which she would assemble later.

First she set up the satellite uplink. He watched her carefully as she positioned the mushroom-shaped external antenna and hooked it up to the transceiver. The transceiver had a phone port, and there was a landline phone in the case. He plucked the phone out of the box. “Anything special about this phone?”

Her focus was on the power pack, which had a different plug from the boat’s outlets. “Not particularly, no. Do you have an adapter for the power cord, or do I need to set up the solar array?”

“I’ve got an adapter, but if it draws a lot, we should use the array. No shortage of sunlight.” He then stepped to the side of the boat and dropped the phone overboard.

Her eyes flattened with anger. “Dammit, Jack! I don’t have a stand-alone satellite phone because I hadthat. Now I won’t be able to call my tech team with the specs.”

“Dimitri,” he corrected. He had a perverse desire to be called by his real name, even if only in anger. “And you don’t get to call anyone. You can email, but I read every email coming and going.”

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