Pandora's Box

  PANDORA’S BOX

  by K. C. Blake

  Pandora’s Box

  Copyright ©2012 by K. C. Blake

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  THANK YOU NOTES

  I want to thank everyone who has helped me from my former editor at Harlequin to the fans of my romantic suspense novels. Although I am the author of young adult paranormal books now, I will continue to publish romantic suspense on occasion. Hope everyone enjoys this book. You can find my other books on Amazon as ebooks and in print. Soon I will be releasing Married to a Stranger and His Borrowed Identity. If you enjoy the paranormal, check out Vampires Rule, Werewolves Rule, Crushed, and Witch Hunt (coming soon).

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  Chapter One

  Madison Grey hissed between clenched teeth as the president’s motorcade rolled into view. This was it, the moment of truth. Her heartbeat quickened, seeing the small American flag on the first car’s hood. She watched from the opposite side of a chain link fence. The second car appeared. Her fingers looped through the holes and squeezed the metal links in frustration. It should be her in the car with the president, sitting next to him, protecting him from the latest threat.

  Madison glanced over her shoulder at the crowd of homeless people who resided on the docks, living in tents and boxes, whatever they could find. They didn’t seem to notice or care the president was within spitting distance. After spending several weeks with them, living as one of them, she’d come to the conclusion the CIA had been wrong on this one. She’d bet her career there wasn’t a criminal mastermind hiding among the down-trodden masses. She turned back to the motorcade as the third car slid into view. A few more minutes and mission over.

  And whose bright idea was it for the motorcade to travel this road anyway? It didn’t make sense to her. Shouldn’t they have taken a more direct route to the airport?

  Her peripheral vision caught a dark blur. Madison turned and her eyes widened in disbelief. A homeless woman known only as Nancy-girl wobbled to the center of the street, blocking the motorcade. The woman took her time, seemingly ignorant of the escalating situation. The bulky black coat she wore made her look twice as big as usual.

  Wait a minute! Madison stopped breathing. Where in the world would Nancy-girl get a brand new coat? There wasn’t a patch or a rip on it. She didn’t have any family left in the world and spent most of her time talking to herself. People gave her a wide berth. No one was likely to get close enough to give her a coat like that.

  Six car doors simultaneously burst open and several Secret Service agents piled out. They approached Nancy-girl with caution. A few of them fingered the butts of their holstered guns while the others ordered her to move aside.

  Madison leaped onto the chain link fence and scaled it at top speed, knowing every second counted. She flipped over the top, head first, somersaulting in the air and dropped on the other side, landing on her feet like a dismounting gymnast. The hard impact sent shockwaves up her legs. Her red hair, secured in its usual ponytail, bounced as she ran.

  She went to the president’s car, waving her identification and praying some trigger-happy agent that she didn’t know wouldn’t shoot first and ask questions later.

  A truck parked behind the motorcade, blocking them in. It was a trap! She didn’t have time to figure out what the bad guys were up to. Guns or missiles, anything was possible. Didn’t matter. She had to get the president out of harm’s way.

  What did the Secret Service think they were doing? They’d abandoned the president. Even the driver had walked away from the car to watch the others handle Nancy-girl. It was like a training mission gone horribly wrong. The driver’s side door remained open, an invitation to a third partner. Madison jumped into the driver’s seat. She gunned the engine and wrenched the steering wheel sharply to the right. Outside the car, chaos reigned.

  The man in the truck opened fire on the Secret Service and they promptly returned it. Bullets hit the president’s car. They bounced off the protective surface. Madison concentrated on removing the president from the dangerous situation. She planned to steer around the cars in front and proceed to the airport.

  Nancy-girl opened her coat.

  The woman had something tightly wrapped around her middle. Madison only got a brief glimpse before Nancy-girl turned to show the other agents. There was a flash of wires, blocks or tubes, and metal. A bomb. Nancy-girl had strapped a bomb to herself and was going to blow everyone up in an attempt to kill the president.

  Madison saw the woman’s eyes.

  The crazy bitch is going to do it!

  “Hold on, Mr. President,” Madison shouted over her shoulder.

  She yanked hard on the steering wheel and shoved the accelerator to the floor. The limousine zoomed toward open water just beyond the end of the dock. Madison barely had time to blink before they hit the water’s surface. It felt more like hitting a concrete wall. Her forehead struck the steering wheel, sending a spray of stars before her eyes.

  She groaned in pain, hand to head.

  The car tipped and slid into the frigid water, front first, sinking a lot faster than Madison would have liked. Fighting a wave of nausea accompanied with dizziness, she struggled to turn around in her seat to check on the president.

  A startled gasp burst through her numb, parted lips.

  She’d known the president her whole life. She knew the man’s face. President Law, a handsome man for his age with salt and pepper hair and a hard, chiseled face.

  The man in the back seat was definitely not Malcom Law. Her impostor had a wild mane of dark hair, a bit long for her taste, and his face was a rugged composition of hard angles and smooth lines. Handsome was too tame a word for him. Women probably threw themselves at this man’s feet as though he were a rock star.

  The thought fueled her anger.

  “You aren’t the president!” she shouted.

  “And you aren’t a bag lady.” The man had the audacity to grin at her. He didn’t appear to be worried about the sinking car. He asked, “Was this your plan B?”

  The most incredible green eyes stared at her, through her, as if he could see into her soul. His smile faded a bit as he tugged at the tight white collar around his neck, obviously not used to formal wear. The dark suit came complete with a noose.

  His obvious discomfort gave her a tiny thrill. Well, good, he could strangle for all she cared. He had no business grinning like an idiot while they were sinking into the ocean.

  “Who the hell are you?” she yelled above the sounds of guns firing, shouting, and rushing water.

  “I think the time for introductions has passed.” He pointed at the front windshield. They were going down fast and the water was darkening around them, blurring out the sky above. “We need to get out of this metal coffin.”

  Taking charge, the impossible man climbed over the seat into the front and pushed the button to roll down the window. Nothing happened. Cursing, he reached over her to the driver’s side window. His arm brushed against her breast, sending a tingle of sexual awareness through her, but the blasted jerk didn’t even seem to notice. The grim twist of his lips didn’t falter for a second. He could have been touching a rock and produce the same lack of response. She didn’t know why it bothered her so much, but it did.

  Madison shoved him hard, annoyed with the journey her thoughts had taken. The last thing she wanted or needed was another arrogant man in her life.

  He glared at her for pushing him. “What’s your problem?”

  “The windows aren’t going to work, Einstein.” They were well beneath the surface now, stuck in the car’s dark interior, and Madison’s claustrophobia threatened to overtake her. She clenched her fists, refusing to give in to the black panic clawing at her throat. She said, “Think
of something else.”

  “Hey, I’m not the one who thought it would be a good day for a swim.” He reached quick fingers beneath his dark blue suit jacket and pulled his gun free. Turning it butt first, he prepared to strike the window.

  Madison grabbed his wrist.

  “This is the president’s car, remember?” She jerked her head at the window. “Bulletproof.” A small crack in her voice betrayed her. “We’re trapped.”

  “You seem to be well informed.” He glanced down at her hand, fingers still tight on his wrist.

  She let go as if he’d scalded her.

  Water leaked into the car from somewhere beneath the dashboard. It had already reached Madison’s calves. She shivered, certain her cold lips had turned blue. She clenched her jaw tight in an attempt to still her chattering teeth. It didn’t work.

  The sexy imposter shrugged off his jacket and pushed it at her.

  “Put it on before you freeze to death. The coat you’re wearing is too thin to protect you.”

  Madison’s heart flipped over. Torn between her need to be strong and in control and the spreading warmth his offer induced, she didn’t know what to do. In the end her type-A personality won out. She pushed it back at him.

  “Keep it. I won’t freeze any faster than you will,” she said. “In fact, females of different species including mankind have always packed on extra weight to keep them warm.”

  “You don’t look like you weigh more than a sack of potatoes.”

  “Idiot,” she muttered beneath her breath.

  Madison jerked on the door handle and placed her feet against the door, pushing with every ounce of strength she possessed. Getting the idea, the man beside her added his feet to the mix. They both struggled against the weight of the ocean. Although the car was filling with water, the pressure hadn’t equalized yet.

  Their bodies, side by side, they faced each other, too intimate. She felt every hot breath he expelled. Thighs rubbed together. Stomachs bumped. The tips of her breasts brushed against his hard chest.

  It took what seemed like several minutes, painful groans, and more strength than Madison knew she had before the door budged a crack. Water flowed in instantly, liquid ice. She nearly stopped pushing, but the man with her spoke up sharply, reading her mind.

  “Come on! Don’t stop. A little more.”

  Water reached their bodies on the seat. Soon they’d be covered. The pressure was starting to equalize.

  Madison dug fingernails into the seat for leverage. She pushed as hard as she could. The muscles in her calves and thighs began to shake. She felt like giving up, but then her father’s voice screamed at her from the past.

  Don’t you say you can’t! You can! Say it! SAY IT!

  “I can do it,” she grunted. Forgetting she wasn’t alone, she shouted, “Do it!”

  Newly found strength ignited her body and soul. She groaned in pain, pushing with all of her might. The door opened wider and the ocean flooded in. She took a quick breath, only filling her lungs halfway to capacity. It would have to do.

  Madison twisted around and swam out the door. She kicked with her sneaker-clad feet, but her clothing grew heavy with water and weighed her down. What little strength she had was ebbing fast. She pushed the torn gray coat off her shoulders and forced it down her arms. The thing clung to her like a stubborn octopus. Some precious air burst from her lips and tiny bubbles took it away. Time was running out. She couldn’t hold her breath forever.

  The clinging material finally released her and sank to the bottom of the sea. She started to ascend. Then she realized the sexy imposter hadn’t passed her by yet. She turned, her eyes searching for him in the dark water. He was caught in the open door of the car. Something had his foot tangled. He was fighting viciously, a man desperate to escape.

  Madison swam back for him.

  He shook his head fiercely and pointed up, wanting her to leave him. Stubborn bastard would probably rather die than accept help. A kindred spirit, she thought with a grimace. A couple more bubbles escaped her mouth. It only took a few seconds for her to reach him, but it passed like minutes. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold her breath.

  If they died, they died together. She never left anyone behind, not even when they were uninvited and unwanted. The man was a stranger to her, but fate had made him her partner. She wasn’t going to let him die.

  Madison pushed against the man’s chest to keep him from interfering with his rescue. She climbed halfway back into the car, her upper body fitting snugly between his large body and the car’s metal frame. It didn’t take long to find the problem. His wide shoelaces had caught on a lever just below the driver’s seat. She pulled on it, but it held tight. Neither of them could go without oxygen much longer.

  Decision made, she ripped the shoe off his foot with fierce determination. He was free. The last of Madison’s air left her lungs in a desperate Whoosh! of bubbles. The dark water seemed to close around her. She fought a sudden rush of panic. If she lost it now, she’d drown for sure.

  Sensing she was in trouble, he grabbed her arm and pulled her along with him. For a big guy, he was graceful, at least in the water. He let go halfway there, giving her the space she needed to swim. They kicked their legs and used their hands to claw at the encompassing water. Madison could see the sky above the water’s surface, but she couldn’t tell how close she was to breaking free of her wet grave. Any second, she shouted in her mind, any second I’ll find air.

  Unable to restrain any longer, Madison opened her mouth. Water flooded inside. The need to breathe was too strong to be ignored. Salt water choked her, but she refused to die here like this. Madison closed her eyes and kicked viciously one last time.

  Her head broke through the surface. She coughed and sputtered as her lungs tried to expel water. A wave broke over her head. Another mouthful. Near panic, she struck out for the dock with both arms. Something bumped in to her, and she realized the stranger was beside her again.

  Madison grabbed the edge of the wooden pier and heaved herself halfway up until she could lean over it. Relief. She looked around, taking in the scene from a professional standpoint. The perp, also known as Nancy-girl, had been taken down. Two of the agents were sitting on her while a third cuffed her hands behind her back. They had removed the bomb from her body before she could set it off. The man who’d blocked them in with his truck had also been arrested. He limped between two agents, apparently shot in the leg.

  The man beside her climbed onto the pier and turned to offer his hand. Madison ignored it. She used her remaining strength to join him. She realized she came off as a hard-core bitch at times, but she knew if she gave a chauvinistic male like the ones she worked with on a daily basis an inch, they would slap her in a frilly dress before she could spell her own name.

  “Where’d you go, Madison?” Agent Ellis asked as he passed them, a wide smirk on his narrow face.

  Ignoring him, she marched across the street to her superior who was busily waving a clipboard around, shouting orders. She smelled a rat. Why was Agent Tony DeMarco on the scene? And how had he gotten there so fast?

  Her clothes weighed her down, slow yet determined steps. The shirt and pants fit like a second skin now, clinging to every curve of her body. Her anger kept her warm in the chilly afternoon air. It took a lot for her to keep from yelling at her boss.

  “Where in the hell is the president, Marc?”

  DeMarco barely glanced at her. He was average height and build, a normal looking guy with light brown hair and chocolate eyes. He had a nice face, not handsome, but nice. The only thing extraordinary about him was his irresistible smile, a smile he didn’t share very often with those around him. He held his emotions in check, which was probably why she’d been attracted to him in the first place.

  “They took him to the airport by another route,” replied Agent DeMarco. “He’s safely aboard Air Force One.”

  “You knew this was a decoy mission!”

  “I was un
der strict orders not to tell you.” He finally took a good long look at her and shook his head in dismay. “Get out of those wet clothes before you freeze to death. Worry about who knew what when later.”

  DeMarco would have walked away then, but Madison grabbed his arm and jerked him back to face her.

  “I want to know now!” A few of the other agents turned in their direction, distracted by her raised voice. She talked softer. Wet strands of hair had escaped her ponytail. She absently tucked them behind her ear. “When they ordered you not to fill me in, did you fight for me, Marc? Did you tell them I could be trusted? Did you bother to point out my years of strong service with the CIA?”

  “Of course I did.” His eyes went south for a moment, indicating he was lying. “You can always trust me, Madison.”

  Yeah, right.

  She took a deep breath and swallowed the pain of betrayal.

  Changing tracks, she asked, “Who’s the newbie? I wasn’t aware we had any openings.”

  “Be nice, Maddie.” DeMarco smiled—big and fake—over her shoulder at the newcomer. He spoke through clenched teeth like a bad ventriloquist. “That guy is a former Navy SEAL with medals up the ying-yang. He comes highly recommended.”

  “By who?”

  “Oh, just the president of the United States.”

  Madison’s dark eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Since when does the president hand-pick agents for the service?” She turned to look at the stranger again, this time from afar and without a return appraisal from him. The new guy walked in the other direction with Agent Ellis, talking to him amicably. From her vantage point, his left leg seemed a bit stiff. The knee didn’t bend much as he walked. Old injury?

  “Come on, Maddie.” DeMarco rolled his eyes at her. “You can’t be that out of the loop. That’s the president’s son, the great Tyler Law in the flesh.”

  Her mouth formed a silent ‘O.’

  And what incredible flesh it was.