“Jonquille?” Sean persisted. “You were looking for something besides the ability for natural healing.”
Jonquille took her time before responding, breathing deeply in and out. She made certain she kept her facial expression exactly the same. She wasn’t about to give this man any intelligence on what she had been looking for. It was a pipe dream anyway. Maybe she should just come clean and tell him that. As far as she knew, no one could do what she had hoped—remove the psychic enhancements Whitney had put on them.
“I wasn’t nearly as clever in the laboratory as I thought I was,” she finally said. “All those months of research on lightning and healing. I thought I was very clever sneaking in under a different name.”
“You were, actually,” Sean agreed. “We caught you in a random security screening that we do on and off. We never tell anyone ahead of time, we just conduct them. Your prints matched, everything did. In fact, your profile was so impeccable I nearly passed it over, but then I looked at you again. Really looked at you. Those eyes. That hair. You’re very small. You look almost fragile. There’s no hiding you even in baggy clothes. I’d seen you in films countless times. Chandler had watched them over and over. I knew you were the same Jonquille from Whitney’s lab. You were either spying for him or for someone else.”
“I can see how you’d come to that conclusion,” Jonquille agreed noncommittally. “I’d never spy for Whitney. He could pull my fingernails out one by one. As for another country, that just would never happen. If I did get one thing out of being with that bastard, it was to love my country. So, no, I wasn’t spying. Just doing research and helping out someone who needed an assistant.”
“You say you were researching to learn natural healing to help those here in the mountains who refuse traditional medical aid because they don’t like outsiders,” Sean continued. “You aren’t from the Appalachian Mountains, so wouldn’t you be considered an outsider?”
Jonquille drew up her legs, promptly swatted another mosquito and then gave the men a faint apologetic smile. “I can take a bullet better than a bug bite. I detest them. There’s something about that silly bug chowing down on me.”
It was rather ironic playing such a girlie girl when she practically lived in the woods half the time—and Rubin called her Lightning Bug.
“Yes, to answer your questions, I would be considered an outsider and wouldn’t get in the front door, but fortunately, I have friends here and they introduced me. So far, I’ve been accepted and I count myself very lucky. The people I’ve met have been lovely.”
“You’re a research assistant for Colonel Rubin Campo. There isn’t much known about him other than that he is out in the field with his unit bringing back wounded. A colonel, no less. They say he actually goes to the hot spots and doesn’t have the others go, but then most of those in his unit are officers now, aren’t they? In fact, they get regular promotions quite often.”
There it was. Her opening. Her heart accelerated and she had to force it back under control. She refused to be the rabbit. She stayed mute, rubbing at her neck as though it itched. Fishing, Sean. You can do better. She didn’t blink.
“It would be friendly if you would answer the question.”
“How could I possibly know if his unit gets promotions? I don’t ask him that. Most of his work is classified, so even if I wanted to tell you about it, I couldn’t.”
“Do you know the colonel outside of work?”
Whoa. Sean didn’t back off from the hard questions. She smiled up at him angelically, knowing she was about to drop a bomb on him. “Well, actually, yes. I know him quite well. In fact, I was here to visit with him. And Diego, his brother. They’re very, very close, in case you’re unaware of Diego. He’s good in the forest. Extremely good.”
There was a silence, so much so that the wind seemed to pause, as if holding its breath right along with them all. Very slowly, the men looked at one another and then to Sean.
“I need you to clarify this for me, Jonquille. Are you saying that you were with Rubin and Diego Campo in the forest when we acquired you?”
“Yes.” She answered without hesitation. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“Why were you with the Campo brothers?” Sean persisted through clenched teeth.
“Rubin is my fiancé,” Jonquille said. “He’s been working with me on healing as well. He’s very good at it. He has a natural gift for it.” She gave them her sweetest smile and rubbed her thigh over the supposed mosquito bite.
She sent a message to Rubin, hoping he wouldn’t be upset with her, using little fiery flicks of the sequence and keeping it short. As she sent the message, she watched the others under the veil of her eyelashes, trying to figure out if any of them felt those jabbing spears of hot lightning on the outer edges of the brain. Blew yr cover. Told them U healer if that’s what they want. Not happy.
She really hated that she had blown it for Rubin and Diego. Part of their advantage was that this group had no idea who they were dealing with. They still didn’t know for certain the brothers were GhostWalkers, but they had to be guessing. Sean was intelligent. She didn’t understand why Rubin was so insistent, but she knew the news had really shaken Sean.
Rubin let some time go by so there was no way to associate the tiny jabs with communication. She noticed that two of the soldiers rubbed their temples. It could have been coincidence, but she’d noticed them before when messages had come in from Rubin. One was called Hudson, the other Andrew.
“We attacked a colonel in the Air Force, his brother who happens to be a lieutenant colonel, and kidnapped the fiancée of the colonel.” Abel rubbed the corners of his eyes. “We’re going to be court-martialed. The keys to our cells are going to be thrown away.”
“We knew going into this that it could go wrong,” Sean reminded the others. “We all agreed it was our only chance. We voted on it. The only thing we can do is go forward and try to talk to the colonel and hope he has some understanding of our situation.” He turned his attention back to Jonquille, his gaze moving over her in a dark, moody way she wasn’t certain she liked.
“Does he have a radio on him?”
She frowned. “Why would he have a radio? He wasn’t lurking around in the woods playing soldier. He’s a doctor. He came to check on patients. He does every year, twice a year. There are people, families, that won’t seek out normal medical attention. Rubin and Diego were born here. They’re accepted and can go into those homes and provide care for those that would otherwise never have it.”
“If the colonel came up here to play doctor, why was he loaded for bear?”
“They always go armed. I’ve never seen either of them without weapons. I don’t go into the woods without weapons. And Diego doesn’t ever go anywhere without his rifle.” The moment the words were out she wanted to clap her hand over her mouth and shove them back inside. It was too late. Far too late.
“Diego,” one of the men whispered, his voice filled with fear. “Sean. That’s not just anyone she’s talking about.” He suddenly glared at Jonquille as if she had deliberately set them up. “Tell us who he is.” He shouted the command at her.