Карен Кингсбери - A Distant Shore [calibre]

She looked gorgeous, every bit the happy bride ready for her honeymoon. They both wore wedding rings. Terri had taken her shopping again, this time for designer clothes and new sunglasses. As Eliza climbed into the SUV, as she took the seat beside him in the second row, Jack sensed something different about her. It only took a few minutes to figure it out.

Eliza wasn’t a victim anymore.

She wasn’t trapped in a situation where she had no choice about her days, no way to leave her father’s captivity. Working as an informant was her choosing. It was how she wanted to spend her days, and the victory she clearly felt must have been palpable. He knew all that before she even said a word.

The driver was an agent, so they didn’t need to pretend yet. Jack shifted so he could see her better. “You look the part.”

“Thank you.” She adjusted her sunglasses and stared out her side window. “Is the weather in the Bahamas warm like Belize?”

It was going to be a long four days if she wouldn’t look at him. But Jack had to trust her. She had told Oliver she could pretend better than anyone. Time would tell.

“Yes.” He pulled his own sunglasses from his backpack and slipped them on. “Summer in the Bahamas is hot and humid. The water has more jellyfish in mid-August. We’ll have to be careful.”

“In every possible way.” She sighed and looked straight ahead past the driver. “If they’re selling girls the way the bureau suspects, we’ll identify the traffickers. I’ll know.” She finally looked at him. “I want to rescue a hundred children for each one I convinced to go to the Palace. Even that won’t be enough.”

Her knowledge and passion to see justice done made Eliza the most skilled informant Jack had worked with. He looked away. The faint scent of Eliza’s perfume filled the car. The question wasn’t whether Eliza could pull off the operation ahead.

But whether he could.

THEIR FLIGHT DEPARTED out of Dallas–Fort Worth International Airport, four hours from San Antonio. But it was worth the drive. That way they would take a nonstop into Nassau, arriving just before six o’clock.

Fewer chances to make a mistake.

Jack would’ve paid a million dollars to know what Eliza was thinking during the drive, but she stayed quiet. Mostly staring out her window. Maybe she didn’t hate him. Maybe her attitude was the hatred she had for the people who bought and sold kids. Or maybe she was focused on the mission. The seriousness of it. The danger.

Again, he had many questions for her, but already he had asked the only one that mattered when it came to the mission. And he was still paying the price for that.

From the moment they stepped out of the SUV and gathered their bags, Jack felt a shift in Eliza. She walked shoulder to shoulder with him, looking up at him with an adoration Jack had never seen before. She was quite the actor.

When they reached the check-in line, she worked her fingers up into his hair and kissed his cheek. “I can’t believe we’re married.”

Jack took a moment to catch his breath. “Yeah.” He slipped his arm around her shoulders. “Me, either.”

The act never stopped for Eliza. They sat side by side at the gate and she slid her fingers between his. Then she settled back into her seat, as if holding hands with him was something she did as easily as breathing. When she pulled away to sip her coffee, she would look at her left hand, admiring the ring. Then she’d smile at him again.

Young and beautiful and in love.

No one in the world would have doubted her.

An armed federal agent in street clothes was on the plane, just in case. Jack never knew who might be following him. He had a thousand enemies, at least. Eliza took the window and Jack, the middle seat. The aisle seat was empty—purchased by the bureau.

For much of the flight Eliza looked out the window, like she’d done in the SUV. What is she thinking? Jack wondered. What’s in her heart? Or did her heart ever get a voice in that pretty tortured head of hers?

Every ten minutes or so, she’d turn to him and kiss his cheek or lean her head on his shoulder. This is just a mission, it’s pretend, Jack told himself. Only for him it could never be completely an act, no matter what he’d told Oliver. Because this was the girl he had saved. And now God had brought them back together again as only He could do. Unless the whole thing was one big coincidence.

Before they landed in Nassau, Eliza turned to him. “I never wanted a big wedding.”

“Yeah… me, neither.” He searched her face. She was taking this a bit far. No one in the Bahamas trafficking business could hear them, after all. Even if one of their dirty gang was on the plane, they wouldn’t require this conversation for Jack and Eliza to be convincing.

“But what a wedding, right?” Her eyes sparkled.

Fine. If she wanted to go all in, he would play along. He looked deep into her eyes. “Almost as beautiful as you.”

“Mmm. Thanks.” She framed his cheek with her fingers. Even the tone of her voice was different. Lighter, less serious. “I’ll remember it forever.”

They were still talking like that when the pilot announced they were about to land. Then Eliza did the thing he least expected. She tenderly took his face in her hands and kissed him on the lips. Not a seductive kiss, but a loving one. Slow and easy, like she’d done this a thousand times.

Her eyes looked straight through him and she smiled. One of the only smiles Jack had ever seen from her. “I love being married to you, Luke.”

If they hadn’t been in public, Jack would’ve slid to the empty aisle seat. They weren’t supposed to kiss like this, that was part of the deal. Affection, admiration, starry eyes—all good. But the mission was not to include anything more. Not unless absolutely necessary.

There was the hint of victory in Eliza’s eyes. As if she wanted him to know she could handle the mission. Despite her lack of experience when it came to relationships. She kissed him once more, her lips on his, and then she turned to the window.

What was he supposed to do? He couldn’t pull away or act uninterested. In case one of the traffickers actually was on the plane. That wasn’t likely, but still. Jack closed his eyes and leaned back. Her kiss stayed with him. It captured his breath and undid his mind so that even five minutes later the feeling was all he could think about.

Everything in him wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and kiss her . The way she had kissed him. But that would never work. He was the experienced agent, the one who knew the rules and the price he’d pay if he broke them.

The sooner he could tell her that, the better.

She didn’t try to kiss him as they made their way off the plane and through customs, or as they picked up their bags and hired a van outside the airport to take them to Atlantis. She gushed about the flight and remarked about the pale blue water and white sand. As if she’d never been to the beach.

But she didn’t kiss him. Didn’t do more than hold his hand.

“This is going to be the best week.” She leaned her head on his shoulder again as they drove up and over the bridge to Paradise Island, home of Atlantis. “I love you, Luke.”

“Love you, too.” He smiled at her, then glanced at the rearview mirror. Locals involved in trafficking sometimes worked as drivers to cover up their illegal activity. So unless the two of them were behind doors in their hotel suite, they had to play their parts. Jack kissed Eliza’s forehead.

Jack had said those words before in situations like this. But there was something different about saying them this time. Something that made his knees tremble. Stop, he told himself. This is a mission. You’re a machine, Jack Ryder. Don’t let her get to you. She was pouring it on, goading him, challenging him. Trying to prove she was up for the mission. That’s what this was.