Page 76 of Dangerous Games (Tempting SEALs 2)

"I don't have time for you, Masters," Clint growled. "Clear out."

Drage sighed patiently as he turned to Jayne Smith and nodded slowly. A grin tugged at her lips as she reached to the other side of the bar and lifted a small wooden box to the top of the well-polished teak bar.

Damn. Maybe Clint's stash wasn't hidden as well as he had thought it was.

"You will find it untampered with," Drage commented softly as Clint closed the door behind him. "I assume time is of the essence, so I thought I would make it easier for you." "What do you want?" Clint kept his weapon lowered, though his finger lingered on the trigger. A fact that his host was well aware of, if the tightening of his lips as he glanced at the gun was any indication.

"I want the bastard who's using my clubs to kill women," Drage snarled with cold fury. "Killing men who could lead me to him in my parking lot won't help my cause much, my friend."

"Find Diego Fuentes and you'll find your problem," Clint bit out, ignoring the surprise in the other man's eyes. "Now get out of my way and let me collect my little stash there and I'll head on out."

"Fuentes is dead." Drage ignored his order. "He was taken out a year ago by the Colombian army."

"Actually, his cartel was busted by mine and Reno's units," Clint sneered. "Fuentes evidently escaped. This drug was his and his little wife's brainchild. Trust me, Fuentes is alive, and I don't have a whole lot of time to get back to Morganna and get the hell out of here. One of her suspects, Roberto Manuelo, is one of his highest henchmen. Follow him, you'll find Fuentes."

"Is that wise, Clint?" Jayne Smith spoke up. "Running won't capture him; you'll always be looking over your shoulder."

"Don't fuck with me," he snapped, caressing the trigger of the gun. "The bastard nearly ambushed us at a party earlier. He took out one of my men in Colombia and he hit another last night. I have a damned itchy trigger finger right now, so don't push me, Smith."

"Fuck!" Drage pushed his fingers roughly through his hair as he gave his head of security a pointed look before turning back to Clint. "Bring Morganna here, Clint. Let him believe you're still accessible. Draw him out where you'll have your back covered."

"Covered?" Clint arched his brow. "Aren't you the one whose men can't even catch the bastards working this drug? And don't tell me you haven't figured out that the DEA team working this little game has a mole, Drage. I thought you were quicker than that."

"We know, and we are very close to cracking his identity," Smith revealed, her voice as cold as a winter night. "Bail out now and Fuentes will go looking for you. Continue this operation and I'll cover your back personally, Clint. We find the mole and he will lead us to Fuentes. Whoever he's paying off would have direct access to him. You know the control freak he is. He wouldn't allow anyone else to work this for him. It would be too important to him."

She was right, as much as Clint hated to admit it. Because no way in hell was he putting Morganna's life on the line any further.

"No."

"Jesus, Clint, you're losing your objectivity here," Drage snarled. "You're letting your emotions cloud your judgment. You know we're right. Fuentes has stepped up his efforts to refinance his cartel. He'll take you and Morganna out the first chance he has just for the hell of it now. Let his own ego take him down. Work with me here."

"And I'm supposed to trust you for what reason?" he growled. "Weren't you the one preparing to sponsor my woman, Drage? That was confidence-inspiring."

"It got you off your ass and into her bed, though, didn't it?" Drage shot back. "I don't believe in running from your demons, Clint. Perhaps I was helping you face yours."

"Well, thank you all to fucking hell and back," Clint snarled furiously. "Did I ask for your help?"

"Consider it a favor between friends." Drage waved o: the sarcastic remark with a mocking flip of his hand as his lips flattened with his own anger. "We have the master suite downstairs. I can circulate the rumor that you have tired of her defiance and you're using the suite to complete her training. No one would doubt it except Fuentes. He would attempt to hit you here. To do so, he would have to use the mole he has within Merino's team. This way, we both get what we want, and you aren't running alone. Fuentes could have a damned army backing him. Don't be a fool with Morganna's life."

Clint had a nice little cabin deep in the mountains, secluded, sheltered. He had taken great pains to keep it secret. but he knew the information could be had. He had intended to run there with Morganna, to hide her as far from danger as possible. But would she be safer there, where he couldn't face the enemy?

"Clint, they raped and tortured friends of ours. These women they're striking have done nothing to deserve what they found at this bastard's hands," Jayne's voice echoed with a killing chill. "We would have betrayed you already if that was what we meant to do. Let's help each other."

They were right, and he fucking hated it.

"They won't expect the security system I have in place in the private rooms," Drage continued. "You'll have the suite to yourself for the week. You can make your appearance in the bar each night and taunt him with the fact that you're killing his men off and that you're unafraid of the threat he represents. If you run, you're giving him the upper hand."

"Dammit, I know that," he snarled. "This is Morganna. Drage. She's as predictable as lightning-"

"She's smart, and she's careful. You haven't watched her the past months as I have." His lips quirked faintly. "Her brother has entrusted me with her care for nearly two years, Clint, and I am the eyes and ears that allowed her to work this operation for the past six months. Trust me, if I didn't think she could carry this off, then I would be helping you to cart her out of state." Okay, that made better sense. Clint knew Reno was well acquainted with Drage and Jayne. He hadn't expected this, but as he thought about it, he knew he shouldn't have been surprised. Which also explained the fact that Raven was able to monitor and block the calls to Reno's cell phone. This was the only way Reno would have allowed it.

God, he was going to kill Reno. He could have at least warned him.

"Shit!" He raked his fingers through his hair in a gesture of complete frustration.

Everything inside him was screaming out in rejection of the idea. Every possessive instinct in his body was demanding that he cart his woman off and hide her as far away from this shit as possible.

"You need backup for this, Clint," Jayne inserted. "You know you do. If we work together, we can finish Fuentes for good." Bloodlust echoed in Jayne Smith's voice, causing Clint to stare back at her with hard intent. "They nearly had me, McIntyre," she revealed, her lips tilted mockingly. 'Trust me, that drug is no fun, and had they managed to get me out of the club I was in that night, I would nave never lived to find vengeance. Now I want vengeance." The flash of fury in her eyes, the cold set of her expression, combined with Drage's sudden tension, convinced Clint. He hated it. If there was anything he hated more than blowing Morganna anywhere near the danger swirling around this club, then he couldn't imagine it. But they were right. Eventually, Fuentes would find him in the mountains. He couldn't keep watch 24-7 on his own and he couldn't ask Reno to leave his sister right now and help him.

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