Page 8 of Cheating the Devil

Another couple, out for a moonlight walk, approached them, and Avery paused, waiting until they were out of earshot again. “The family’s empire had been built on the backs of others, and they didn’t care who they hurt in the process. As long as the money was rolling in, nothing else mattered. Lin Chao, the father, had inherited the legitimate family businesses, but that wasn’t enough for him. He got involved in the drug, arms, and slavery trades. He found dirt on every politician and member of law enforcement he could, guaranteeing they were in his back pocket.”

Brad knew all about men like that and even a few women. They kept his teams busy trying to take them down and save the innocent. “Sounds all too familiar. China, Colombia, Korea, Russia, Mexico. Hell, there are even some of those bastards in the US. It doesn’t matter who they step on in their effort to rule the world, or at least their part of it. So, what happened?”

“The reason Lin Delan and his men were in the area was that they were forging a new route for their arms dealing. His men had terrorized the locals—assaults, rapes, stealing what little they had. One day, in the middle of the village, Delan shot a pregnant woman in the chest at point-blank range because she hadn’t moved out of his way fast enough. Just pulled out his gun, shot her, then stepped over her bloody body like she was a mud puddle he was trying to avoid.” Her voice had gone cold at the memory, and Brad gave her hand another squeeze, reminding her he was there for her. “One of the men with me was a doctor. Out there, in the middle of nowhere, there wasn’t anything hecould do to save her, but he could save the baby—she’d been just days away from giving birth. He did a Caesarean, as the life was draining out of her. Mere seconds after hearing her baby boy’s cry, she died. Hours later, I got the order to take Delan out. My superiors had found out he and his father had plans to eliminate the US ambassador to China in retaliation for the US’s interference in some of their illegal activities. Had it come in earlier, that woman would still be alive, and her child wouldn’t have been orphaned.”

Brad stopped in front of their resort and pulled her into his arms. He wasn’t sure if she was aware she was crying as she made no attempt to wipe away the tears, so he did it for her, cupping her cheeks and using his thumbs. “That’s why you went into nursing.”

She nodded as best she could with him holding her head. “Mm-hmm. I needed to help save lives. I knew I’d done that with every person I’d killed and every piece of intelligence I’d intercepted, but after taking that bastard down, I was done. I never wanted to take another life again. I called Gene and told him if he didn’t pull me out, I’d be a walking time bomb. I was back on US soil within forty-eight hours.”

Gene McDaniel had been the head of Deimos since its inception nearly twenty-five years ago and was well-respected by those who worked for him and the presidents he’d served under. There were very few people he reported to and POTUS was one of them. From what Brad had heard about the man, McDaniel would be holding onto his leadership position until he was either forced out or carried out to the morgue.

“Smart man. I’m sure if you’d made that demand while you were still with the CIA things would have turned out a lot differently.”

His hands skimmed down her arms to rest on her hips as Avery cocked her head to the side and smirked. “I’m sure too.But Gene knew I was serious. He also knew I could still be an asset to the agency. When I told him I wanted to leave for good and go into nursing, he was the one who suggested combining the two careers. I’ve been taking care of injured or sick operatives ever since I became a licensed practical nurse. While about half the states have reciprocity for my certification, the others don’t, and I would have had to jump through quite a few hoops to make that happen. Gene took care of all that, so it didn’t matter where my patient was located INCONUS.”

“Well, I’m just glad Texas was where Haven ended up because I would have missed out on someone who’s become very, very special to me.”

Bending down, he brushed his lips against hers. It was there, right on the tip of his tongue, to tell her exactly how he felt about her. Was this the right time? He’d never thought he’d get remarried, but now he couldn’t help wondering what it would be like to stand before their family and friends, with Avery in a beautiful, white dress, as they professed their undying love for each other. Or maybe they’d elope, and it would just be the two of them. Either way, he would love to grow old with her by his side.

He gazed into her eyes and suddenly he knew. Avery felt the same way about him, but she was scared and uncertain. She’d gotten to this point in her life without ever marrying. Hell, as far as he could tell, there’d never been someone special, long term, in her life—someone who had cherished her no matter what came their way. How the men who’d crossed her path over the years had never tried to snatch her up permanently, he’d never understand, but their loss was his gain. While she wasn’t ready to hear his intent to someday put a ring on her finger—yup, Bradley Barton was officially off the market—he could at least start things moving in that direction.

With the moon and stars high above them and the ocean lapping against the shoreline, Brad prepared to say the three words he’d only said to one other woman who hadn’t been a blood relative. He was certain he’d never say them to any other woman ever again. Taking her hands in his, he brought them to his mouth and kissed her knuckles as he stared into her eyes, letting her see all the emotion welling up inside of him. “Avery, I love you.”

Tears filled her eyes as her jaw dropped. It took her a moment to gather herself before she threw her arms around his neck and held him tightly. “Oh, thank God! I’ve wanted to say that for weeks now, but I was so scared you didn’t feel the same.”

A grin spread across Brad’s face as he chuckled then leaned back so he could see her. “I think that means you love me too, right?” He desperately needed to hear the words.

“Yes! Yes, I love you, Shrek.” She went up on her toes and melded her lips to his. Never in his life had something felt so damn right.

CHAPTER 7

“I don’t knowabout you, but I’m all shopped out,” Lori said, holding up the multiple bags that were weighing down her arms.

They’d spent the past three hours roaming the huge, crowded street market in town, with over a hundred vendors hawking everything a tourist could want, along with a ton of stuff they didn’t need. While Avery had picked up a few things along the way, she hadn’t really been into the whole excursion. That feeling of being watched had been with her since they’d left the resort, but she hadn’t seen either of the men from the bar last night, nor anyone else tailing her, for that matter. So far, whoever these assholes were, they’d only been doing reconnaissance. The intel she’d gotten from Kenny this morning hadn’t helped her figure out why she was being targeted. Liang Guo and Feng Su, both in their early twenties, were local petty criminals who’d been arrested for fights, possession of drugs, picking pockets, etc. Liang had emigrated from China about six years ago while Feng had been born to his immigrant parents on the island. Other than that, there’d been little else of importance in their histories. If last night had been the only incident where she’d felt like she was being watched, Avery might have writtenoff the two men’s actions as simply sizing up the tourists, so they could rip them off somehow.

Avery hadn’t been surprised when Haven had called a few minutes after Kenny had hung up with a promise to keep looking into Liang and Feng. Having already been filled in by the geek the night before, the younger, female Deimos agent had wanted all the details she was missing—which weren’t many. Then, before disconnecting the call, Haven told Avery to expect a knock on their hotel room door in exactly twenty minutes and to not bother with a tip—it’d all been taken care of. When Brad had opened the door, a nondescript kid around the age of eighteen or nineteen silently handed him a large, black duffel bag before scurrying toward the stairwell instead of the elevator. Brad eyed both ends of the hallway then ducked back into the new room they’d moved into the night before, locking the door behind him. Setting the duffel on the bed, he’d unloaded the cache of weapons and equipment, not the least bit stunned at how quickly Haven had arranged things. While they hadn’t left the room since moving into it, Brad had still used a bug detector to ensure there were no listening or video devices hidden in the room. He’d then set up a jammer that would prevent their cell phone calls from being intercepted, followed by several motion-sensor cameras that would send an alert to both their phones if anyone entered the room while they were out.

Now, as she walked side by side with Lori, Avery felt a lot more comfortable with the compact Sig Sauer pistol tucked in the waistband of her shorts at the small of her back. A stiletto knife was under the back strap of her bra, while a switchblade was sitting snugly under her breasts. She and Brad had discussed staying at the resort, but neither had wanted to disappoint Lori and Cameron—well, Brad hadn’t wanted to disappoint Lori. They also hadn’t wanted to try to explain a bunch of weird suspicions. As far as Lori and Cam knew, Averyhad been a nurse her whole adult life. They knew nothing of her black-ops years or the number of people who’d died at her hand. While she and Lori had walked around, Avery had taken all precautions to make sure they remained surrounded by plenty of people, plus she didn’t know if the possible threat was due to her past or if it was just a coincidence—something she didn’t truly believe in. Hell, she didn’t even know if she was the target or if it was Brad, Lori, or Cam. As long as Avery stayed alert, things would be okay. Still, she was glad to hear Lori was ready to head back to the resort.

“Sounds good to me,” she said to the younger woman. “I think I hear a Mai Tai calling my name.”

Lori smiled. “Iknowa piña colada is calling mine.” Her eyes lit up at something over Avery’s shoulder. “Oh, here comes a taxi; let’s grab it.”

A bright, yellow minivan pulled up to the curb not far from them and let two touristy-looking men out. When they walked in the opposite direction from the women, not even giving them a glance, Avery’s tensed shoulders relaxed again. The men from the bar last night were nowhere in sight, nor did anyone else seem out of place or overly interested in the two female tourists. That still didn’t make Avery feel any better. Even after years of not being in the field, it was difficult for her not to suspect every single person within a mile radius of being a bad guy.

Keeping an eye on their surroundings, Avery followed Lori, who quickly spoke to the dark-skinned driver through the front passenger window, giving him the name of their resort. When he responded with the same fare amount as it had cost them to get there, Lori opened the rear sliding door and jumped in. Out of habit, Avery checked the bench seat and floor behind the middle seat before climbing in and shutting the door. They could have taken the rental car, but the concierge at the resort had advised them to take a taxi since parking was chaotic and overpriced inthe area around the market. After seeing it for themselves when they’d first arrived, Avery had been glad they’d listened to the man.

“Hello, beautiful ladies,” the driver said with a huge grin, showing off several missing teeth. As soon as they were settled in their seats, he pulled away from the curb and maneuvered into the local traffic. “I see you enjoyed the market today.”

“Yes, we did,” Lori agreed. “I don’t know how I’m going to get all of this home in my suitcase though.”

“A lot of tourists have that problem.”

As the two chatted amicably, Avery turned sideways in her seat, facing Lori, so she could inspect the vehicles behind them to see if they were being followed. By the time they’d left the busy streets surrounding the market and moved onto the quieter main road that lead to their resort, Avery was almost convinced they didn’t have a tail. But then a white van appeared behind them, speeding to catch up. Avery tensed. Her hand settled on the gun at her lower back, ready to draw and fire if need be.

Their driver noticed the vehicle in the rearview mirror and turned the steering wheel enough so they hugged the dirt shoulder of the road yet maintained the speed limit. He didn’t seem concerned. “Some people are always in a hurry. Don’t they know we’re on island time?”

The vehicle never slowed down as it veered around them and kept going, disappearing around a curve. Avery released the weapon and forced herself to relax. Jeez, this was supposed to be a stress-free vacation. Well, at least her relationship with Brad was progressing better than she’d hoped for. She’d been so worried when she’d realized she was head over heels in love with him. For the first time in her life, she wanted a future with a man more than she wanted her next breath. There’d been other men in her life, but none of them had had her dreaming of growing old with them. They’d been a fun way to pass the time, and, whenthe relationships were over, she’d moved on without any regrets. Now, she was glad none of those affairs had worked out because they’d led her to Brad. The man she loved. The man who loved her. The man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

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