He pulled some ingredients out of the fridge and set them on the counter. He rubbed two bass fillets with olive oil and seasoning, stuffing them with sliced onions and oregano sprigs and tying them with string.
Sliding them into the oven, he moved on to the Mediterranean-inspired salad made up of garlic, anchovy paste, olive oil, grape and cherry tomatoes, Kalamata olives from Spain, sun-dried tomatoes and chopped oregano.
By the time Callie came back into the kitchen, the fish was almost done and the salad was chilling in the fridge.
“Wow, that smells heavenly and I’m starving. What are you making?”
“Roasted black sea bass with tomato and olive salad.”
He started to set the table and Callie put down her phone to help.
“How did it go?” Jammer asked.
“I’m getting my gear delivered here in about two hours, and contracted four people to back us up. I also got the base plans and the rotation schedule for the guards. It’s best to use a water egress rather than a frontal assault. I’ve secured boats and scuba equipment,” Callie replied, arranging forks and knives.
“You do have yourself some nice contacts.”
She shot him a look. “Hey, I’m not just a pretty face.”
He chuckled and got a stab of pain thinking that he would never get a chance to find out all he could about Callie Carpenter. It was a complicated mess. Drew Miller was marrying Callie’s sister, Allie Carpenter, and he and Miller hadn’t parted on the best of terms. The DEA had helped her brother, Max, disappear along with Rio Marshall for their own protection. It was one of the demands he’d put to Stanford in exchange for completing the mission with Fuentes. So now that both of them were out of danger, all he had to do was worry about Callie getting on Fuentes’s radar.
He’d done his best in the three years he’d played this low-life arms dealer to keep people out of harm’s way and still obtain his objective.
“You sound like you know your way around a military base,” Jammer said.
“You could say that. I was a military brat when I was a kid, so I know the ropes,” Callie replied.
The oven timer went off. Jammer went over and took out the fish. He set the fillets on plates, then added the salad.
Callie seated herself, and Jammer set her plate down in front of her.
She breathed in the sizzling fish’s aroma. As soon as Jammer took a chair and poured the wine, she dug in.
He would never get tired of watching her, especially with that expression of pure rapture on her face.
“Where did you learn to cook this way?” she asked between bites.
Sick of ducking questions and offering half-truths, Jammer said softly, “My mother. She was a master in the kitchen. We ate like this every night.”
“That must have been fantastic.”
“It was. She was a stay-at-home mom, and all my friends were jealous when I told them that when I got home from school, my mom would have something waiting for me. It was either pizza bagels, hot soup on a cold day or my favorite chocolate-chip cookies still warm from the oven.”
He looked up at Callie and she had stopped eating. He knew she realized that he was telling her an actual piece of his life. Just as he had when she’d asked about the book in the library and he’d talked about his father.
He smiled wistfully. “I guess we were spoiled.”
“You were blessed,” she said. “Truly.”
He nodded, his throat tight. It pained him that she would never get a chance to meet his parents and that they wouldn’t get the chance to meet her.
He ached that he would have to change his life again, become someone else and sacrifice this woman who meant more to him than any woman had in his life.
She reached over and covered his hand with hers. “I was lucky, too. Very lucky with my parents.”
“Are they disappointed in what you do?”
“They don’t know what I do, Jammer, and I like it that way. They wouldn’t approve, but I have to live my life the way I see fit.”
He realized that she wasn’t talking about Gina Callahan, but Callie Carpenter. Of course, being a black ops agent, Callie wouldn’t be able to tell her parents what she did for a living.
“What would you do if you could do anything you wanted?”
“I’ve thought about that often. After all, being an arms dealer is already starting to get old. I think I’d go to law school.”
Jammer laughed so hard he choked.
She had to slap him on the back and get him a glass of water.
“I know,” she said with amusement in her voice. “It’s an odd choice.”
He also realized that it was Callie who would become the lawyer, and she’d be a great one. She was smart and thought quickly on her feet.
“Give a guy a warning next time,” he said, his voice hoarse from the coughing.
“Sorry.” She giggled and took another bite of her meal. Shortly after that, they left their empty plates and drifted out into the night.
“It is simply breathtaking here,” she said. She sat down on the edge of the pool and dangled her feet in the water. Jammer settled behind her and did the same.
He wrapped his arms around her, and she sighed wistfully. “Have you thought about what you will do after this deal with Fuentes is done?”
“Do more deals,” he lied.
“Why? I mean, you must have amassed a fortune, and arms dealing is such a risky and dangerous profession. It would be smart to get out. I can tell how much you love this place. Why not make wine?”
“I’ll think about it,” he said. The fact that she was so intuitive about him made him both happy and sad. He wasn’t going to be able to stay here once Fuentes was arrested.
He kissed the nape of her neck. She sighed and leaned her head back, resting it on his shoulder.
It gave him better access to her throat. He slid his lips along the column and sucked her earlobe into his mouth. She shivered in his arms and twisted her head, presenting her mouth to him for a kiss.
“Hey, you two lovebirds. We’ve got work to do.”
A heavy bag dropped on the pool deck. Callie and Jammer turned to find Drew Miller and three other men standing behind them-one Asian, one blond and a man with dark hair drawn into a ponytail.
Callie got up and rounded on the newcomers. “Drew! How many times have I told you not to sneak up on me?”
Miller glanced at Callie for only a brief moment. Without broadcasting his intentions, he walked up to Jammer and socked him in the jaw. Coldcocked, Jammer took the blow that drove him back and into the pool.
When he surfaced, he could hear Callie cursing the man out, but Jammer calmly walked up the stairs and faced Miller.
“Jammer-” she said, glaring at Drew.
Jammer held up his hand. “No, I deserved that.”
“You’re a slick bastard, Jammer. I’ll give you that. But I owed that to you for Tina,” Drew said, his eyes narrow and filled with vindication.
“I get it.”
Drew did quick introductions. “This is Kyoto, Michaels and Frost. Well, let’s get going. We only have a few hours to get this show on the road. Midnight is the bewitching hour, my friends,” Drew said, picking up the black bag and looking at Callie. “The gear you wanted is in here.”
They went into the kitchen and cleared off the table. Drew pulled out the map of the base.
“The front part of the facility is heavily guarded, but the approach to the airstrip isn’t as bad and the guard rotation changes at twelve midnight. It’s the best time to infiltrate the base and hijack the airplanes. Do you need me to fly shotgun, Gina?”
“Yes,” she said. “The rest of you hightail it out of there once we rev up those engines.”
The three men nodded.
Just then the doorbell rang and four more steely eyed men dressed in black entered Jammer’s residence-courtesy of Director Stanford.
Jammer made the introductions and said, “Gear up. Let’s take our merchandise back.”