Iris Johansen - Final Target

"Are you quite finished telling me what I'm going to do?"

"No, you have to promise to protect Jessica. The President put you here because you needed to be kept safe. I don't want any of the flak surrounding you to impact her."

"Is that all?"

"For now."

"Good. Then I'll race you back to the gatehouse." He looked back over his shoulder. "And this time you won't win, Melissa."

He hadn't promised anything, but she hadn't really counted on it. It was enough that he knew what she expected of him. "It won't bother me." She started after him. "I'll just work on it."

I'll just work on it.

Travis stood in the doorway and watched Melissa race up the drive. That single sentence seemed to sum up Melissa Riley. Courage in adversity and a determination to have her own way no matter what it took. On the other hand, maybe that sentence didn't encompass her entire personality. He'd never seen anyone with such glowing vitality. In her book Jessica had talked about the first months after Melissa had come back. Not only had her sister displayed a superior intelligence, she had also shown an insatiable thirst for life, which Jessica had attributed to the desire to make up for lost time. She'd said she expected the effect to dwindle after a few years.

Well, those few years had passed and he had an idea Jessica had been wrong. Melissa Riley was a firecracker and more complex than any of them might be able to imagine. Jessica had bargained and handled him with reason and maturity. Melissa hadn't tried to bargain. She'd analyzed his character and then thrown down a challenge…and a threat.

How phenomenally well she'd read him in such a brief encounter.

Interesting…

"What were you doing down by the pond with Travis?" Jessica's voice was disapproving. "Not a good idea, Mellie."

"He's not off limits anymore." Melissa grinned over her shoulder as she started up the stairs. "And he's more interesting than I first thought. He's very bright, and intelligence is mega-sexy."

"The President may have said he's not off limits, but I didn't. For God's sake, he's a criminal."

"And you want me to find a lawyer or a doctor or maybe a computer executive. What about a banker?"

"Sounds good to me."

Melissa smiled. "Okay, I'll look for one the minute I go back to school."

"I'm not joking, Mellie."

"I know you're not. You think I need a stabilizing influence. You're probably right. Stop worrying, I didn't ask him to go to bed with me. We just took a little run together."

Jessica moistened her lips. "I didn't think you-I wouldn't ask you to tell-"

"But I'll tell you anyway." Her smile faded. "I'd never do anything to cause you concern. If you don't want me to go running with Travis, it stops right here."

"And you think I'm a nosy bitch."

"I think you love and care about me. And not running with him is no great loss. Our little jog couldn't have been more casual."

"It didn't look casual. It looked damned intense."

And it had felt intense. For the few minutes they were running together, Melissa had been aware of a weird sense of intimacy. And when they had been talking at the pond, she had almost felt the sparks, the undercurrent, that lay beneath every word. It had been…exciting. He had been exciting.

Well, danger was always exciting, but Travis could become an enemy in a heartbeat.

So? Playing games with the enemy was stimulating too.

Still, that didn't make it the best option to choose in this circumstance. She started back up the stairs. "Nah, it's definitely the banker for me, Jessica."

Amsterdam

"Something very interesting is happening," Provlif told Deschamps over the phone.

"You found Cassie Andreas?"

"No, but while my CIA contact was nosing around trying to locate her, he stumbled on another bit of information. Andreas sent Air Force One on a hush-hush trip to Amsterdam a few weeks ago."

"Carrying his daughter?"

"No, it was a retrieval. They picked up Michael Travis and brought him to Andrews Air Force Base."

"Travis?" Deschamps was puzzled. It didn't fit with the information he'd gathered. "The CIA captured him?"

"They picked him up and delivered him to the President. They left together for an unknown destination."

"You're sure?"

"My source in the CIA is impeccable."

"Then why can't they tell you where the girl is?"

"The CIA and the Secret Service seldom confide in each other."

"Find them."

"Whatever you say. As you know, I've been concentrating on finding Cassie Andreas only since you told me that's what you wanted me to do."

"I wanted you to do what was needed. Get the child. Find Travis."

A pause. "And kill him?"

"No. I want to do it myself. Besides, he's going to prove more valuable alive for a while." He hung up.

Travis and Andreas. Travis was not being held against his will. What in hell was happening? Since he had been here, he had stumbled on intriguing and profitable possibilities he hadn't expected. But now the picture was becoming more puzzling.

Also more promising?

He'd always believed a clever man was one who let others win the prize and then plucked it from their grasp. Travis was moving, manipulating, and obviously shifting into high gear with Andreas…

A gift for me, Travis?

"Get up here," Jessica said when Travis picked up the phone two nights later. "Now."

"I’ll be right there."

She was waiting on the porch when Travis arrived a short time later. "How long has it been going on?" he asked.

"Fifteen minutes."

"Why didn't you call me sooner?"

"I wanted to give her a chance to come out of it by herself."

He followed her into the house. "And eliminate the need for my services."

"Of course."

"I understand. But that fifteen-minute delay m ight not be healthy for Cassie."

"And are you healthy for her?"

"I'm the best game in town." They climbed the stairs, and Travis nodded at Fike as they reached Cassie's room. "Good evening. Same drill?"

"Sorry."

"I didn't expect anything else." He leaned against the wall while Fike searched him. "At this rate, we're going to become very intimate friends." He opened the door. "Has she been screaming like that since it started?"

Fike nodded. "Poor kid. I've never heard anything like this before. Sometimes she scares me to death."

"Stop talking and go help her, Travis," Jessica said curtly." If you can."

Travis sat down on the bed. "I'll do my best." He gathered Cassie's hands in his. "Listen to me, Cassie. It's Michael. I'm here and nothing's going to harm you. You don't have to run away."

Cassie screamed.

"I stopped them before. I can do it again. Just let me help you and we'll find a way…"

Thank God.

Michael was there in the darkness of the tunnel. Melissa couldn't see him, but she could feel him. Which meant Cassie could feel him too.

Or maybe she could see him. Melissa was so frightened, she couldn't tell.

The monsters. Sweet Jesus, the monsters. They were going to catch us and blow our heads to bits.

Run.

Run.

Run.

Find it.

Run.

Find it before they got close enough to -

Run.

It hurt to breathe. Their hearts were going to burst.

No, slow down.

Michael was here. The monsters couldn't touch them as long as he stood between.

What was he saying?

It didn't matter.

He was here.

Cassie's grip on Melissa was loosening. She was floating free…

She could feel Cassie's desperation. "Come back. Miss you," the little girl told her.