Hawkins. And I’m certain the colonel or the general, or whomever is in charge will be absolutely appalled when he learns how badly you’ve treated a defenseless law-abiding citizen.”
His eyebrow raised slightly. “Law-abiding?” he repeated in a mocking tone. “I doubt my wing commander will call trespassing on private government property something a law-abiding citizen would do.”
He was toying with her and Maddie knew it, she could see the hint of amusement in his dark brown eyes. Dreamy eyes, she might add. Eyes that were currently staring at her so intensely Maddie felt her cheeks flame a second time. He’s openly flirting with me, Maddie suddenly realized. And though his flirting flattered her in one respect, it irritated Maddie in another.
“I prefer that your wing commander, not you, Captain Hawkins, make that type of decision for himself,” Maddie was quick to tell him before she added with another lift of her chin, “and if you’ll kindly escort me to his office, I’ll be happy to take the matter up with him myself.”
He stalled for a moment, seemingly amused that she would question his authority. “First, I’ll need to verify that you are who you say you are. Can you provide me with any type of identification?”
Maddie let him know exactly what she thought of such a stupid question. “Well, of course, I don’t have any identification on me,” she sputtered. “My purse was in the Jeep with my sister. And I’m sure you scared her to death when you had G.I. Joe reach out and grab me and then body-slam me to the floor of your stupid—” she glanced around her surroundings before she added “—your stupid whatever this flying contraption is.”
He glanced at his copilot, who had suddenly found something rather interesting on the toe of his boot.
“And what is all this spy nonsense?” Maddie’s hands were on her hips now. “Take a good look at me, Captain Hawkins. Do I look like a spy to you?”
When he purposely looked her up and down, Maddie wished she could snatch back the invitation to do so. She was sure he was thinking that she didn’t look like a professor, either. And she didn’t. She looked like hell is what she looked like, thanks to him and his partner.
Angry all over again, Maddie glanced briefly at the metal door to her left and made her move. She wasn’t quick enough. Captain Hawkins had the door blocked before she could reach for the door handle. And the scowl on his face told her trying to reach around him probably wouldn’t be a good idea.
Now what? Maddie wondered, worried for the first time that her impressive credentials might not be enough to get her out of her current predicament.
BRAD DIDN’T BOTHER admitting he’d already made the spy assessment himself. He had no doubt she was who she said she was. Even the way she carried herself let him know she was accustomed to giving orders instead of taking them. But Dr. Morgan was on his turf now. And the sooner she realized he was in charge, the better it would be for both of them.
Still, he couldn’t help but notice that her beauty was genuine. No heavy makeup, no frills, no polish or jewelry. None of the usual amenities most women felt were necessary to make them attractive. And her confidence wasn’t limited to her appearance, either. She’d been confident enough to make a break for the door. Which meant keeping her sequestered until he figured out what to do with her might not be an easy task.
Time to play hard ball, Brad decided. “Right now all I know is that you were trespassing on private government property. And,” he added as he reached out and grabbed the camera strap from around her neck, “you were taking pictures on government property without permission. Illegal pictures,” he said as he quickly flipped the back of the camera open and jerked the film out to completely expose it. “Pictures I’m personally authorized to destroy on behalf of the United States Air Force.”
The color drained from her face so fast Brad was prepared to catch her if she fainted. It was then Brad realized the Black Ghost wasn’t the only thing his pretty captive had been photographing on her expedition in the desert.
“Do you have any idea what you just did?” she gasped as her hand flew to her mouth.
“Yeah, I just did my job,” Brad told her.
“No, you just destroyed the only evidence I had to support the research I’ve been working on for the last six months.”
Destroying her research hadn’t been his intention, but there was nothing he could do about it now. Stuffing the exposed roll of film into his pants pocket, he slipped the camera strap carefully back over her head and said, “I’m going to have to detain you until I can verify your identity. Sergeant Baker will escort you to my living quarters. You can stay there until I notify you otherwise.”
“Your living quarters?” She jerked her arm away when the sergeant tried to take it. “If I’m under arrest, Captain Hawkins, then I insist you take me to the proper authorities!”
She could insist all she wanted, but Brad had his own problems to worry about. Like explaining to his wing commander how his test flight that afternoon had suddenly turned into a quasiespionage mission. A mission that had resulted in one suspect being apprehended, while a search party was now racing across the desert in hot pursuit of suspect number two.
Knowing he could no more divulge those details than he could successfully restore her ruined film, Brad folded his arms across his chest and said as calmly as possible, “Look, Dr. Morgan. If that is who you are. We can do this easy, or we can do it hard. It’s your choice. But you are going to go with Sergeant Baker one way or the other until I get this whole mess straightened out. Understood?”
Another lift of her chin told Brad she wasn’t even going to acknowledge his question with an answer.
Turning to his copilot, Brad said, “Wait at least thirty minutes before you make your move. Be discreet. Take her through the back way. And don’t answer any questions if anyone stops you. The fewer people who know she’s here, the better.”
“You’re going to regret this, Captain. I’ll see to it,” she threatened with a deadly look.
Brad held her gaze a second longer than necessary, then turned away. “Don’t let her out of your sight,” he called back over his shoulder before he opened the side door of his multimillion-dollar Black Ghost and slammed it soundly behind him.
2
“YOU DID WHAT?”
Brad squeezed his eyes shut when the powerful fist of Brigadier General Joseph Gibbons made contact with his heavy wooden desk and sent a loud crack echoing through the room. Still standing at attention, Brad took a deep breath and said, “I’m sorry, sir. We were right on top of her before I even saw her. If she hadn’t picked that moment to play photographer, I could have been out of there so fast her head would still be spinning. But under the circumstances, I didn’t have any choice but to bring her back to the base.”
“And you destroyed that film?”
“The minute we landed,” Brad said, then took the exposed roll from his pocket and gave up his straight-back pose long enough to place it on the desk in front of his commander.
Gibbons, who had seen more combat action than Brad ever planned or hoped to see, pushed back in his chair and stood up, then began pacing around his office. Standing at attention again, Brad never moved a muscle.
“And
