Debra Webb - Safe by His Side

Victoria couldn’t help wondering why such a beautiful young woman didn’t seem to have much of a social life. Of course, the world was different now than it had been when Victoria was twenty-five. She studied the woman seated across from her. Perhaps Miss Robertson had the right idea, she mused. Career first and foremost—and then maybe a husband and family later. Those had been Katherine Robertson’s exact words in her interview thirteen months ago, and she’d been true to her word. She concentrated on work with a determination Victoria seldom saw in a person her age.

“How did the Colby Agency end up with an assignment like this?” Katherine asked, breaking into Victoria’s thoughts. “This case has federal jurisdiction written all over it.”

“For six months Raine’s own people have been unsuccessful in their attempts to bring him in. It’s difficult to capture a man who, for all intents and purposes, doesn’t exist. That—” Victoria gestured toward the folder Katherine held “—is all there is on Jack Raine. Each time his whereabouts have been locked on to, he’s managed to slip through their fingers.

“Unfortunately, Raine knows too much about too many things to simply write him off. If he’s turned, the government needs to know so they can defuse the situation. If he hasn’t, then he needs protection. Ballatore wants him dead.”

Katherine examined the one and only photograph the file contained of her target. “Well, if he’s a criminal, he’s certainly a handsome one,” she said without looking up.

“He is that,” Victoria agreed. With sky-blue eyes and sandy blond hair, Jack Raine was a breathtaking, lean and rugged six foot two. Victoria never doubted for one minute the other reputation Lucas had warned her followed Raine—lady-killer. But, beneath those devastatingly good looks, the man was a highly trained soldier, specializing in death and deception.

“Why me?” Katherine looked up, her surprise at being handed such an important assignment evident.

Victoria sighed. This was the part that bothered her most. “Raine is an infiltrator—the best in the business. He’s spent the past twelve years of his life living on the edge, getting in and out of places no one else could. He’s good, maybe too good. If you can find him, the extrication will be extremely risky. I have reason to believe that he’s playing some sort of game—dropping clues like bread crumbs. It’s more than possible that the few times he has been located were intentional. We might not get so lucky this time.”

Victoria paused a beat before she continued. “To answer your question as to why you were selected for this assignment, you’re a woman, and you’re young and beautiful. That will get you closer than anyone else in our agency. The fact that you don’t have a great deal of field experience will probably keep you alive.”

Katherine arched a dark eyebrow. “How do you figure that?”

“If Jack Raine suspects for one second that you’re tracking him, he won’t take the time to find out which side sent you.”

“Oh.” Katherine dropped her gaze to the folder in her lap and studied it for a moment. “I see.”

Victoria straightened and leveled a serious gaze on the Colby Agency’s newest investigator. “I’ll understand completely if you choose to decline. I’d never ask one of my people to take a job they didn’t feel comfortable with.” She drew in a heavy breath and added, “I have to admit, Katherine, this one worries me, but you’re our best shot at getting close to this guy.” And Lucas is depending on me, she didn’t add.

As Victoria had anticipated, Katherine met her gaze with a determined one of her own and, without the slightest hint of misgivings, asked, “When do I start?”

IGNORING THE DRIZZLING November rain that dampened her hair and chilled her to the bone, Katherine tossed the one duffel bag she’d allowed herself into her rented car. She checked her small shoulder bag once more to confirm that a full prescription of her heart medication was there. She shook the small bottle of pills and smiled. She was definitely ready. Her little secret would be safe as long as she took her medicine and steered clear of an in-depth physical examination until she had proven herself. Then it wouldn’t matter, the agency would keep her anyway. She had worked too hard for this opportunity to lose it because she couldn’t measure up to someone else’s perception of acceptable physical condition.

Finding Jack Raine hadn’t been as difficult as she’d imagined it would be. It had taken her only two weeks to pinpoint his location based on the latest information Lucas had given her. It seemed almost too easy. She wondered if Jack planned it that way. Did he savor the chase?

Catch me if you can?

She shook her head at the thought of the kind of man who would get his jollies that way. What purpose could it possibly serve for him to yank around the very system for which he had once worked? Something just wasn’t right. Katherine had that feeling—the one her father called cop’s instincts. Except she wasn’t a cop. She had failed the required physical. The same type required by the Colby Agency for investigators. But Katherine had already been employed by the agency as a researcher, so she had delayed the appointment after her promotion. Now all she had to do was prove herself. Then the results of the physical wouldn’t matter.

After arriving in Gatlinburg the afternoon before, Katherine had checked into a hotel. Within a few hours of her arrival she had located Raine’s residence and done a little advance scouting.

His place was the typical Smoky Mountain retreat, a rustic rental cabin that probably had a fabulous view of the surrounding mountains and valleys. The place sat a good two miles off the blacktop in a particularly remote area.

The rendezvous point and estimated time of arrival had been arranged with Nick. All was go.

Katherine slid behind the wheel of the green Ford Taurus and checked her reflection in the mirror. She swiped the raindrops from her face and immediately banished the flicker of uncertainty she caught in her eyes. This was her big chance—she wasn’t about to blow it by getting cold feet.

“You can do this, Robertson,” she whispered sternly.

Despite her dislike of the reasons she’d been chosen for the assignment, she intended to make the best of it. She might be young and she might be new, but she was a damn good investigator and tracker. And she intended to prove that her physical limitations wouldn’t hold her back.

Nick didn’t approve. And her father would likely blow a fuse when he found out. But by then it would be a done deal and they would both see.

She could do this.

She would do it.

Katherine started the engine, set the transmission to Reverse and put her plan in motion.

Thirty minutes later, the drizzle and the fog making the curvy mountain road even more treacherous, Katherine neared her destination. She quickly reviewed her strategy one last time, then took three slow deep breaths to calm her racing heart. She assured herself once more that she could do this.

Katherine spotted the sudden movement on the highway in front of her too late. She slammed on the brakes and swerved hard to the right. She felt the wheels lock. Heard the squeal of tires.

And then everything went black.

Jack Raine jerked his front door open and stared down at the drenched woman standing on his deck. The freezing precipitation had gone from bad to worse in the last hour, and she appeared to have gotten the worst end of it. He had lived in this remote location for over a month without a visitor and he damn sure didn’t want one now. This wasn’t the sort of place that attracted door-to-door sales-people or that a passerby merely stumbled onto.