Bare Nerve by Katherine Garbera Page B

left his spot in the plane to go to her.
    “We’ve lost the signal on Andreev’s phone. I think he ditched it,” Anna said. “Charity is tracking private-plane and commercial flights from Paris to see if we can pinpoint where he’ll land. We still think Morocco is the best bet, and we’ll be going with that.”
    “When did you decide all this? This is a joint venture.”
    “I’m aware of that. We just got the news and made the decision. If you want us to drop you somewhere else, we can do that,” Anna said in that haughty tone that set his nerves on fire.
    “Because our mission objective is two-fold, I don’t think that option is going to work.”
    “Two-fold?”
    “Sam hired us to apprehend Andreev and to keep you girls safe.”
    She crossed her arms over her chest. “Girls?”
    “Girls. Now, I need to talk to my men,” he said, walking away before he did something stupid like kiss her again.
    Jack wasn’t too surprised that they’d lost the tracking signal. Andreev had survived for a long time, and so far the only mistake he’d made was the embezzling thing. He wondered why Andreev had done it.
    “What was that about?” Kirk asked, stopping Jack before he reached the rest of the team.
    “Andreev ditched the cell phone. We need to work our contacts and see if he’s still heading back to his base in Algiers. Do you still have your contacts?”
    “Yeah, I’ll go see what I can find out,” Kirk said, but he made no move to leave.
    “What?”
    Kirk rubbed the back of his neck. “The guys and I have been talking.…We need to be operating on our own. Let the Liberty Investigations team go to France and follow the leads there.”
    “Well, it’s not up for a vote,” Jack said.
    Kirk stared back at him. “For Christ’s sake, Jack, you’re acting like a horny fool who’s thinking about getting laid. We don’t work with another team. And those girls might be good in the corporate world or acting as snipers, but Andreev is a different kettle of fish. And the Jack I know would agree with my assessment.”
    “Are you questioning my judgment?”
    Kirk shook his head and turned away but turned back. “Yeah, I guess I am. Something’s not right with you now. Why is that?”
    “Maybe because we’re going after the one guy who’s eluded us for so long. The one guy we all have a score to settle with.”
    Kirk nodded. “I’ll give you that.”
    Jack was the leader, and the group wasn’t a democracy. The only way this team worked and thrived was through his leadership. They needed to know who was in charge, and the leader—he—could show no weakness.
    He briefed his team on the latest, but Kirk still was restless and kept making comments under his breath. Finally Jack pushed to his feet and got in Kirk’s face.
    “You have a problem with me, Kirk?”
    Kirk stretched his arms out in front of him and pushed Jack back. “I don’t like the way you keep talking with Anna.”
    “We’re working with her team.”
    “Yeah, but the look on your face says you have more than just teamwork on your mind.”
    “Again, is that a problem?” Jack didn’t want to have this conversation in front of all his men.
    “It could be. Men who are distracted are dead.”
    “I know that better than anyone here,” Jack said.
    The other men just sat between him and Kirk, quiet, tense, waiting. Jack didn’t know if he was going to have to fight this out with Kirk or not. Physicality was the one language his guys always understood.
    “I think Kirk is just saying we want Andreev, and letting him slip through our fingers again isn’t something we’re going to let happen,” Hamm said.
    “I’m not about to. What’s up, guys? Suddenly you don’t trust me?”
    Hamm shook his head. “It’s not that. We’ve just never seen you lose focus before. You want to chase a piece of tail, fine. But we’re not willing to die so you can get lucky.”
    Jack grabbed Hamm by the shirtfront and drew him to his feet. “Never