A Game of Chance Read online

  She was full of wild hopes these days. She hoped she hadn’t been recognized. She hoped her baby would be healthy and happy. Most of all, she hoped she and Chance could build a life together, that he would be thrilled about the baby even though it was unplanned, that he truly cared about her as much as he appeared to. He never actually said he loved her, but it was there in his voice, in his actions, in his eyes and his touch as he made love to her.

  Everything had to be all right. It had to. There was too much at stake now.

  Sunny slept through the landing as Chance set the plane down in Des Moines. He glanced at her, but she was soundly asleep, like a child, her breathing deep and her cheeks flushed. He let her sleep, knowing what was coming to a head.

  The plan was working beautifully. He had arranged for Sunny’s face to be broadcast worldwide, and the bait had been taken immediately. His people had tracked two of Hauer’s men into the country and maintained discreet but constant surveillance on them. Chance hadn’t made it easy for anyone to follow him and Sunny; that would have been too obvious. But he had left a faint trail that, if the bloodhounds were good, they would be able to follow. Hauer’s bloodhounds were good. They had been about a day behind them for about a week now, but until Hauer himself showed up, Chance made sure the hounds never caught up with him.

  The news he’d been waiting for had finally come yesterday. Word in the underground of terrorist organizations was that Hauer had disappeared. He hadn’t been seen in a few days, and there was a rumor he was in the States planning something big.

  Somehow Hauer had slipped out of Europe and into America without being spotted, but now that Chance knew there was a mole in the FBI helping Hauer, he wasn’t surprised.

  Hauer was too smart to openly join his men, but he would be nearby. He was the type who, when Sunny was captured, would want to interrogate this rebellious daughter himself.

  Chance would take him apart with his bare hands before he let that happen.

  But he would have to let them think they had her, not knowing they were surrounded at all times, at a distance, by his men. Chance just hoped he himself wasn’t shot at the beginning, to get him out of the way. If Hauer’s men were smart, they would realize they could use threats to Chance to keep Sunny in line, and they had proven they were smart. This was the risky part, but he had taken all the safeguards he could without tipping his hand.

  His interlude with Sunny would end tonight, one way or another. If all went well, they would both live through it, and she would be free to live her life out in the open. He just hoped that one day she wouldn’t hate him, that she would realize he had done what he had to do in order to capture Hauer. Who knows? Maybe one day he would meet her again.

  He guided the Cessna to a stop in its designated spot and killed the engine. Sunny slept on, despite the sudden silence. Maybe he’d cost her too much sleep and it had finally caught up with her, he thought, smiling despite his inner tension. He had glutted himself with sex for the past two weeks, as if subconsciously he had been trying to stockpile memories and sensations for the time when she was no longer there. But as often as he’d had her, he still wanted her. Again. More. He was half hard right now, just thinking about her.

  Gently he shook her, and she opened her sleepy eyes with a look of such trust and love that his heart leaped. She sat up, stretching and looking around. “Where are we?”

  “Des Moines.” Puzzled, he said, “I told you where we were going.”

  “I remember,” she said around a yawn. “I’m just groggy. Wow! That was some nap. I don’t usually sleep during the daytime. I must not be getting enough sleep at night.” She batted her eyelashes at him. “I wonder why.”

  “I have no idea,” he said, all innocence. He opened the door and climbed out, turning around to hold his hands up for her. She clambered out, and he lifted her to the ground. Looking up at the wide, cerulean-blue sky, he stretched, too, twisting his back to get out the kinks. “It’s a pretty day. Want to have a picnic?”

  “A what?” She looked at him as if he were speaking a foreign language.

  “A picnic. You know, where you sit on the ground and eat with your hands, and fight wild animals for your food.”

  “Sounds like fun. But haven’t we already done that?”

  He laughed. “This time we’ll do it right—checkered tablecloth, fried chicken, the works.”

  “All right, I’m game. Where are we going to have this picnic? Beside the runway?”

  “Smart-ass. We’ll rent a car and go for a drive.”

  Her eyes began to sparkle as she realized he meant it. That was what he loved best about Sunny, her ability to have fun. “How much time do we have? What time are we leaving?”

  “Let’s stay for a couple of days. Iowa’s a nice place, and my tail could use some time away from that airplane seat.”

  He handled his business with the airport, then went to a rental car desk and walked away with the keys to a sport utility.

  “You rented a truck?” Sunny teased when she saw the green Ford Explorer. “Why didn’t you get something with style, like a red sports car?”

  “Because I’m six-three,” he retorted. “My legs don’t fit in sports cars.”

  She had bought a small backpack that she carried instead of the bulky carry-on she had been lugging around. She could get her toiletries and a change of clothes into the backpack, and that was enough for the single night they usually spent in a place. That meant her pistol was always with her, fully assembled when they weren’t having to go through x-ray scanners, and he didn’t protest. He always carried his own pistol with him, too, tucked into his waistband under his loose shirt. She put the backpack on the floorboard and climbed into the passenger seat, and began pushing buttons and turning knobs, every one she could reach.

  Chance got behind the wheel. “I’m afraid to start this thing now. There’s no telling what’s going to happen.”

  “Chicken,” she said. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

  “I’m just thankful Explorers don’t have ejection seats,” he muttered as he turned the key in the ignition. The engine caught immediately. The radio blared, the windshield wipers flopped back and forth at high speed, and the emergency lights began blinking. Sunny laughed as Chance dived for the radio controls and turned the volume down to an acceptable level. She buckled herself into the seat, smiling a very self-satisfied smile.

  He had a map from the rental car company, though he already knew exactly where he was going. He had gotten very specific directions from the clerk at the rental agency, so the clerk would remember where they had gone when Hauer’s men asked. He had personally scouted out the location before putting the plan into motion. It was in the country, to cut the risk of collateral damage to innocent civilians. There was cover for his men, who would be in place before he and Sunny arrived. And, most important, Hauer and his men couldn’t move in without being observed. Chance had enough men in place that an ant couldn’t attend this picnic unless he wanted it there. Best of all, he knew Zane was out there somewhere. Zane didn’t usually do fieldwork, but in this instance he was here guarding his brother’s back. Chance would rather have Zane looking out for him than an entire army; the man was unbelievable, he was so good.

  They stopped at a supermarket deli for their picnic supplies. There was even a red-checkered plastic cloth to go on the ground. They bought fried chicken, potato salad, rolls, cole slaw, an apple pie, and some green stuff Sunny called pistachio salad. He knew he wasn’t about to touch it. Then he had to buy a small cooler and ice, and some soft drinks to go in it. By the time he got Sunny out of the supermarket, over an hour had passed and he was almost seventy bucks lighter in the wallet.

  “We have apple pie,” he complained. “Why do we need apples?”

  “I’m going to throw them at you,” she said. “Or better yet, shoot them off your head.”

  “If you come near me with an apple, I’ll scream,” he warned. “And pickled beets? Excuse me