A Question of Honor Read Online Free PDF Page B

interrupting her thoughts. He placed the chart before them on the coffee table, using his index finger to trace the areas of activity. “There are four major choke points where Garcia might appear. These are also where we tend to intercept most of the drugs en route to the United States. We’ve got the Yucatán Channel, the Windward Passage, the Mona Passage and the Anegada Passage.”
    Kit managed to surface from the mire of grief. “What happens at those points?”
    “Our chances of intercepting Garcia in a sixty-to two-hundred-foot class of mother ship are much greater.” Noah rested his strong chin on his clasped hands as he gazed over at her. “Mother ships carry the bales of marijuana, dropping them off by crane to small ships and boats that try to smuggle them into our waters. The Coast Guard plies 1.8 million square miles of open seas, but the DEA feels Garcia will show up at one of these choke points.”
    “And we’ll be there?”
    “Sometimes. It depends on weather conditions. It’s May now, and beginning in August we’re building toward hurricane season. No one knows when Garcia might make his move. We know it will be within a year, but not when.”
    “And you need me on board to identify the bastard, right?”
    Noah watched her face grow tense. “Yes. We could end up catching him, then turning him loose without even being aware of who he is. You were the only agent to successfully infiltrate his organization in Colombia and can identify him on sight. That’s pretty impressive when you consider Garcia can smell an agent ten miles away.”
    Kit’s breathing grew harsher, and she tried to control the hatred welling up inside her. Running her fingers agitatedly through her hair, she whispered, “Don’t get me started on him. He’s the key man in all my nightmares.”
    “It must have been rough on you.” Instinctively Noah reached out and placed his hand on her arm in a gesture of comfort. Her skin was warm and smooth, sending an ache through him. There was something mysterious and primal about Kit that had nothing to do with her being a police detective. Noah had spent all week mulling over his unexpected attraction to her. She seemed unaware of her own sensuality. Yet he sensed it—still, powerful and profound. Reluctantly he released her arm and focused his attention back on business.
    Shaken by the sudden intimacy Noah had established with her, Kit retreated inside herself—the only place of real safety she knew. “Garcia’s rough on everyone.”
    “No argument from me. We’ve been wanting him a long time. The DEA is calling this ‘Operation Storm,’ because Garcia will, in all likelihood, take his mother ship out during hurricane season. But we can’t be sure. That’s why we need you with us on every bust. Only you’ve survived to make a positive ID. The only other person who knows his real identity is his accomplice, Emilio Dante.”
    Kit’s mouth thinned. “Him,” she stated flatly, a cold shiver moving up her back.
    Noah nodded grimly. Garcia was known for his cold-blooded murders of agents who had tried over the years to infiltrate his vast drug empire in Colombia. Kit had been the only agent to successfully accomplish it and live to tell about it.
    Lady, you’re very special. And how I admire your courage, Noah thought, glancing over at her bent head. But her bravery had taken a terrible toll on her, and Noah sensed her fragile hold on her emotions. “You can read the report on Operation Storm between today and tomorrow. If you’re not doing anything tomorrow afternoon, I’ll take you over to the Osprey and you can get acquainted with the ship.”
    “I’ll warn you right now, Noah, I don’t care for boats.” Kit tried to appear calm despite the adrenaline pumping through her. When Noah had touched her, she had wanted to melt into his arms. But her attraction to him wasn’t clear or simple. In fact, she wasn’t at all comfortable with these newly emerging feelings.