Operation Date With Destiny by Karlene Blakemore-Mowle Page A

right to go and call in those men. ” She steeled herself from flinching at the coldness of her tone and saw his features harden like she ’ d slapped him.
    “ Makes us even—you had no right messing with my life. ”
    “ If I ’ d had any— ”
    “ Yeah, yeah—I know. If I had any other choice…whatever. Fact is you ’ ve put my reputation , not to mention, my career in jeopardy. I ’ m not doing this for any other reason than to make sure you clear my name. I ’ d also prefer to do it and come out alive—hence bringin ’ in my boys. I ’ m not doing that job without them. ”
    “ Fine. It ’ s not like I can do anything about it now , is it? ”
    “ We need them, ” he said.
    “ So they ’ re not here to rescue you then? ”
    She heard Tupper chuckle. “ The day I need those clowns to come and rescue me… ” he let the words trail off.
    She knew who they were. She ’ d seen their photos in the research she ’ d done . She also knew that they would , and had in the past, do anything for each other. She should have known they ’ d come. She should never have underestimate d his ability to somehow get word out to his team for help.
    Great! She couldn ’ t even pull off one simple kidnapping right!
    “ Look—about back there— ” he started.
    Oh hell no! They were not going there now. “ We ’ re here to do a job and nothing more. I apologize for my behavior —you can be sure it won ’ t happen again. ”
    “ What? You forgot for a minute that you were actually a person beneath that control freak exterior? ”
    “ Obviously , I was hallucinating or something from lack of sleep! Now if you ’ ll excuse me, I have things to do. ” She didn ’ t wait around for him to reply—she wasn ’ t up to hearing any more of his caustic dry wit right now.
     
    ****
     
    Tupper stood staring after the woman who was walking away from him… again, w ho had just become his greatest source of frustration . He ’ d come ahead to announce the guys to the rest of the camp so no one got over excited and started firing off shots at the bunch of strangers , when he ’ d seen her sitting so small and lost looking that he couldn ’ t help trying to reach out to her. Well, that ’ d blown up in his face hadn ’ t it?
    He should have known she wouldn ’ t let one little kiss tear down the defenses s he ’ d obviously spent years building up. One little kiss? Were you actually participating in the same thing we were? His ego asked with a sardonic smirk. Okay, so it was more than one little kiss…it was pretty damn lethal … and she ’ d just made it clear it wouldn ’ t be happening again. Well , one thing Tupper liked was a challenge and if , Destiny whoever she may be, wanted to go throwing down gauntlets like that , then she better be ready to back it up…cause he was up for it—on so many levels.
    Later that evening as Tupper came back from giving his brief to the Cambodian ’ s about what would happen tomorrow; he saw his team crowded together and noticed Del was on the satellite phone. They ’ d set up their camp slightly away from Destiny and the other men—there was defiantly an undercurrent of distrust floating amongst the small band of warriors and Tupper decided it best to give them some space.
    “ What ’ s goin ’ on ? ” Tupper demanded. He had that something ’ s not right feeling in his stomach again and the look on Del ’ s face wasn ’ t exactly reassuring.
    “ I ’ m putting you on speaker, babe. The guys are all here. Go ahead and tell them, ” Del said, holding the phone in the center of the tight circle they ’ d huddled into.
    “ She ’ s been living under the name, Destiny Dawson. ”
    Tupper fought the urge to cover his ears and run around singing loudly to avoid hearing this…somehow he knew whatever Willow had discovered about Destiny —he wasn ’ t going to like it.
    “ And? ” Tupper prompted cautiously.
    “ The name on her birth certificate … was