The Midnight Hour - Brenda Jackson [13]
"At a fortress-type house in the middle of the jungle. My guess is they don't know they grabbed the wrong girl, which is a good thing. From what I understand she's been drugged and as long as she's unconscious she's okay. But if she wakes up and starts talking, claiming she's not who they think she is, she'll unknowingly place her life in danger since they won't have any use for her after that. There's no telling what they will do then."
Drake nodded. He didn't want to think about that part of it. Rebels were known to have fun with their female victims before slitting their throat.
"When do you want me to leave?" Drake asked, already gearing up to go. Adrenaline poured through his veins at the thought of getting back into action.
Casey hitched a hip on the edge of his desk and narrowed his eyes. "I meant what I said, Drake. You won't be going alone. You're to team up with a partner in this assignment." Drake sighed deeply, anger replacing the adrenaline. "And I've told you I work alone. I know that area like the back of my hand, Casey. Another agent will only slow me down."
"And like you've been told, you have no choice. Since we're talking about a kidnapped female and we don't know what condition we may find her in, it was decided that you need to team up with a female agent and-"
"A female agent! Forget it! That's out of the question!" Drake said at the top of his lungs, not letting Casey finish whatever he was about to say. His expression became murderous. "Under no circumstances will I work with a woman and-"
"Excuse me, but Lucille said for me to come right in."
Both men turned to stare at the woman who had entered the room. "Damn," Drake said, immediately recognizing her as the woman he'd been checking out earlier downstairs in the lobby.
"Victoria Green, I presume?" Casey said, standing and moving across the room to shake her hand. At her nod he said, "You're right on time. I was just briefing Drake Warren on what the two of your assignment will be."
"What!" they both exclaimed at the same time.
"What the hell do you mean by that?" Drake asked in a deep growl, reluctantly taking his eyes off the woman to look at Casey. "You're not pairing me up with a new recruit!"
Casey's lips turned into a frown. "She's not a new recruit. It's my understanding that Ms. Green has been with the Agency longer than you have, and like I said, Warren, for this mission you'll need a female partner and she is it."
Eyes narrowing, Drake said gruffly, "When hell freezes over."
Warmth crept up Tori's neck and into her face. She wasn't surprised by Drake's outburst; she expected no less since he had raised holy hell years ago when she'd gotten assigned to be a female part of the Recons. Trevor and Ashton had
en okay with that decision but Drake had felt that when it came to down-in-the-trenches-type covert activities, a woman had no place amidst that kind of danger.
Tori had heard his raised voice before she had reached Casey's office and had recognized Drake's immediately. At first she had almost staggered, lost her balance when she realized they were about to come face to face after all this time. She had paused outside the door to get her bearings and probably would still be standing there if Lucille hadn't been watching her curiously before asking if something was wrong. With all the strength she could muster, she knew she had to play it cool and get through this somehow.
It seemed while walking upright and not lying flat on his back in a hospital bed, very little about Drake had changed, definitely not in the way he could throw his shoulders back so damn arrogantly, and tilt his head with such overbearing pride while looking at you with deep dark eyes that always had such an alluring effect. And then, just like now, there was so much power and masculine strength contained in his
well-built body.
But she had to admit that there