The Project 01 - White Jade

her green eyes sparkling in the morning sun, excited about going to her new job down in San Diego . Nick had held her close.
    " I love you , " he ' d said. " I ' ll always love you. "
    " Nick. You ' ve got to come back to me, come back safe. "
    " We ' ll get married when I get back. My tour is up in six months. I ' ll be a civilian and we can have a real life together. "
    " And a very, very fine house? " She ' d smiled and punched him lightly in the chest with both hands while he held her.
    " And two cats in the yard, just like the song. " He ' d kissed her.

    " Why didn ' t you get married? " Selena asked.
    He took a breath. " She died. "
    "I'm sorry."
    " It ' s all right. Anyway, I haven ' t been involved with anyone since then. "
    The plane lifted into the air.

    They ' d gotten to the airport in plenty of time. They were both flying out, Megan to San Diego , Nick back to the East Coast.
    They ' d killed time in one of the airport cafes until she had to go. Nick had watched her enter the gangway to board her plane . She'd turn ed and smiled, wave d at him , and disappear ed in the stream of passengers.
    He ' d stood by one of the big windows looking out over the runways, waiting to see her plane take off.
    In a few minutes he ' d seen it. The plane picked up speed down the runway, lifted into the air, the wheels coming up. He was about to turn away when the aircraft made a strange motion, the wings dipping unevenly right and then left, the nose angling downward.
    F ingers of ice wrapped around his chest.
    Then the right wing turned straight down . T he plane arced into the ground and exploded in a billowing fireball. The shock wave slammed against the window and shook the terminal. At the end of the runway a dense column of orange flame and black smoke bo iled up into an indifferent sky.
    Megan.

    He shoved the memories back into their dark box.
    " Have you ever been married? " he said.
    " No . I was close, once . I thought I was in love. We ' d had dinner and a few drinks and then we got into a big fight. I forget what it was about, some stupid thing. He hit me . I t made me mad. I broke his nose, kicked him where it hurts and walked out. "
    " You broke his nose? "
    " He asked for it. I ' m good at martial arts. "
    She shrugged, as if to say what else could she have done?
    " Since then I haven ' t met anyone I wanted to know better. Men are attracted by the way I look . W hen they find out who I am and don ' t get what they want, they back off. I guess I scare them away. "
    " Too much competition for the male ego? "
    " If it is, that ' s not my problem. "
    She shifted gears. " How would those men yesterday know where I was? "
    " It ' s not hard. You're high profile. "
    " Do you think they ' ll try again? "
    " They might . Until this gets resolved you should always have people around you. Right now all you ' ve got is me. "
    " That was good enough yesterday . "
    She looked out the window, pulled a box from under the seat.
    " Hungry? "
    After lunch and the mimosas, he was slowing down. He fell asleep. One thing he ' d learned in the Corps was how to fall asleep anywhere. A sleep , he wasn ' t remembering anything, u nless he was dreaming.

C hapter Ten

    Selena looked over at the man sleeping next to her .
    Who is he , she wondered . T hey let him take his gun right on the plane. H e ' s some kind of spy or something . H e lost half an ear and killed five people and never blinked an eye . All I know about him is he ' s got a mother and a sister, had a jerk for a father and he probably saved my life yesterday.
    His fiancé died. He didn ' t say how. Maybe that explains the wariness I feel in him . L ike he ' s waiting for something bad to happen. Like he thinks something is going to jump out at him.
    She watched Nick twitch in his sleep.
    Black hair, strong jaw, he ' s already got a trace of shadow. He ' s not handsome, but he ' s not bad either. Black eyebrows. And he ' s got those odd eyes. I ' ve never seen eyes like that, like some kind of animal, a big cat or a wolf. He ' s built, but not like one of those body freaks in the gyms. I wonder how he is in bed?
    Sudden heat and moisture between her legs took her by surprise. She couldn ' t remember the last time she ' d had that thought about someone.
    She shook her head. No way was she getting in bed with him . She felt too vulnerable to deal with the intimacy sex would bring up. Besides, this man was dangerous.
    Selena looked out the window at a layer of white