Top Gun Guardian

Chapter Two

Damn, his ex-fiancée looked better than ever with her black hair slightly askew, her expensive silk suit wrinkled and a Colt .45 clutched in her manicured hands.

But what the hell was she doing hiding in a closet?

“What are you doing in there? U.N. security already has the two shooters in custody, or at least one’s in custody. The other’s dead. They nailed the two guys right in the General Assembly.”

The news did nothing to unfurl the frown creasing her beautiful features. Her hand tightened on the weapon as she narrowed her dark eyes. “They didn’t nail all of them.”

His pulse ticked up several notches. “What are you talking about? You weren’t even with the Burumandan contingent.”

“I was with one part of that contingent. One very important part.” She stepped to the side and swung open the closet door behind her.

Buzz raised his brows at the girl huddled in the closet, her chin balanced on her knees. President Okeke’s daughter. He should have figured Raven’s boss had assigned her to the First Daughter. Security was going nuts looking for the girl after finding her bodyguards and the Secret Service agent conked out in the anteroom where she’d been stashed.

Still didn’t explain why Raven had been ensconced in a dark closet with the girl. Raven didn’t even like kids. He knew all about that firsthand.

Buzz smiled and waved at the girl. “How you doin’, sweetheart? Excitement’s all over. Your daddy’s A-OK.”

Her big brown eyes got bigger. She dropped her gaze to his boots and then sent a beseeching look toward Raven.

“Does she speak English?”

Raven snorted and finally lowered her weapon. “She speaks better English than you, Buzz.”

Extending a hand to the girl, she said, “It’s all right, Malika. I know this man. He’s…safe.”

Buzz cocked an eyebrow at Raven. She’d never called him safe before.

As the girl scrambled out of the closet and grabbed Raven’s hand, Buzz folded his arms and squared his shoulders. “What did you mean about not nailing all of them?”

“When Garrett and then the bodyguards lost consciousness and we saw the shooting erupt on the closed-circuit TV, I didn’t want to take any chances.” She dipped into the closet, grabbed her handbag and tucked the gun away in it. “I mean, why incapacitate Malika’s security if you’re just shooting at President Okeke?”

Buzz’s mouth went dry and he ran his tongue along his teeth. “Your time with Prospero paid off. Go on.”

“So I locked the door of the anteroom, grabbed Garrett’s gun and headed for the secret exit.”

“There’s a secret exit in the anteroom?”

She nodded, and her dark hair swept across one shoulder. “I know all the ins and outs in this building.”

“And the secret exit led you here?”

“Not before I heard two men in the anteroom desperate to find the president’s daughter.” Raven rested a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

Buzz tightened his jaw. President Okeke had been whisked away to a secure hotel room, frantic over his daughter’s disappearance. Shortly after the shooting, the CIA had gotten word that rebel forces had attacked the capital of Burumanda. And now the First Daughter was in danger.

“We need to keep her safe.” He crouched in front of the girl. “What’s your name, darlin’?”

Again, her gaze slid to Raven, who inclined her head.

“Malika.”

“A lot of people are very worried about you, Malika, including your daddy. But we’re going to take good care of you.”

The girl inched closer to Raven and clutched her hand, still resting on Malika’s shoulder. Must have been the fear that had drawn these two together. He’d never seen Raven close to a child before.

He liked it.

“What next, Buzz? Are we going to bring Malika to her father?”

“Not so fast, Raven.” He ran a finger along the seam of his lips. Truth was President Okeke didn’t want his daughter anywhere near him. He didn’t want his proximity to put her in danger. And neither one of them could go home right now with trouble brewing.

Raven dug into her suitcase-sized handbag and pulled out a pair of shoes—high heels with lethal-looking points on the ends. She slipped her feet into them and grew four inches in stature. “What is your involvement, anyway? I thought you’d retired from Prospero and were flying the friendly skies for a living. What are you doing here?”

“Special assignment.” A special assignment that had everything to do with Prospero. Jack Coburn, the former team leader of Prospero, was missing and his disappearance had been linked to the upheaval in Burumanda. Buzz needed to stay involved in this investigation and follow the trail that had begun with his former Prospero team members, Riley Hammond and Ian Dempsey.

“So I repeat—” Raven tugged at the hem of her jacket “—what next?”

Buzz studied the toes of his boots. “We’re going to let President Okeke know his daughter is safe and take our cue from him.”

“Hold it. Put your hands out where I can see them.”

Buzz raised his head to see two cops at the end of the hallway…both pointing guns. He held his hands out in front of him and told Raven to do the same.

Raven coughed as she shook her hand loose from Malika’s. “Can’t they see we have a child here? They shouldn’t be pointing their weapons at us.”

Buzz murmured under his breath. “Unless they think we’re in the process of kidnapping her.”

Raven called out to the approaching cops. “This is President Okeke’s daughter. I’m a U.N. translator. I was with her when the shots were fired in the General Assembly.”

One of the cops spoke into the radio on his shoulder. Then he tightened the grip on his gun. “Until we can verify that, get on the ground.”

As Raven grumbled about the general condition of her silk suit and dropped to her knees, Malika screamed and threw her arms around Raven’s waist.

“Do not hurt Raven.”

Buzz’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull. Raven and this little girl had sure forged a bond over the past hour.

And he had every intention of using it to his advantage.

RAVEN TAPPED HER STOCKINGED feet together as she sipped a diet soda and furrowed her brow at the cartoon on TV. The cartoon hero was a sponge living underwater. How could that be funny?

Malika giggled and bounced on the bed next to Raven. “He is very funny but stupid.”

Raven smiled at her. Malika hadn’t wanted to leave her side ever since the cops turned them over to a phalanx of security people and eventually Malika’s father at the hotel.

The president had been so relieved to see his daughter and had showered so much praise on Raven, she thought he was going to offer her a position in his new government. Or what was left of that government after the renewed rebel attacks.

Raven’s gaze shifted to the closed door between the hotel suite and the conference room. High government mucky-mucks were in there now with President Okeke…and Buzz.

How had Buzz known she’d been hiding in that closet? He’d maintained that he had super-duper radar where it concerned her. She’d almost given him a big kiss, well, after she’d almost shot him. Warm relief had flooded her body when she’d looked into his baby blues. That man always could make her feel safer than an egg packed in cotton.

“See.” Malika poked her in the ribs. “Very funny sponge.”

“He’s hilarious.” Raven rolled her eyes. Holding up her soda can, she asked, “Do you want another one?”

Malika nodded and bounced on the mattress again. Raven rolled off the bed and padded to the minibar. Why not? The kid deserved a double shot of sugar and caffeine after the morning she’d had.

She handed Malika a frosty can and settled against the pillows. She’d known Prospero had disbanded and had heard that Buzz was working as a commercial airline pilot. Did he have a wife and baby to go along with his white picket fence? She hadn’t noticed a wedding ring on his long, strong fingers—and she’d been looking.

Sighing, she wiggled her toes. They had gotten engaged when they were both still working with Prospero, the covert ops group headed by Jack Coburn. Jack was the one who had recruited her to translate some of their bugged conversations between terrorists.

She still couldn’t figure out why she’d fallen for Buzz instead of Jack. Jack had been as commitment-phobic as she was, a loner. Maybe that was it. She would’ve had to try too hard to maintain any kind of relationship with Jack, while a relationship with Buzz had been inevitable from the moment they met.

Once Buzz had decided on her, there was no holding him back. With his slow Oklahoma drawl and his easy grin, he’d swept her off her feet before she even knew his true intentions. Once he had a ring on her finger, he’d revealed his plans for settling in the small Oklahoma town where he grew up and raising a passel of kids. He’d even used the word passel.

Raven had taken off faster than one of those jets Buzz maneuvered through the sky like a paper airplane.

The connecting door swung open, and Raven’s fingers clawed into the bedspread. She still hadn’t regained her composure after the wild escape at the U.N. But she always put up a good front.

President Okeke opened his arms, and Malika hurled herself off the bed and against his chest. He smiled and winked at Raven over Malika’s head. “Are you happy here with Miss Pierre?”

“Yes, she gave me soda pop and fixed my hair.” Malika twirled one finger around her pigtail.

Raven had bounded off the bed and stuffed her feet into her heels when the president had entered the room with Buzz lounging against the doorjamb behind him. Her cheeks heated and she spoke in the president’s dialect to restore her dignity. “I hope the soda is not a problem, Mr. President.”

He waved his hands. “A small treat for a difficult morning, and please speak English. We do not want to be rude to our friend Mr. Richardson.”

Friend? Raven narrowed her eyes, giving Buzz a sidelong glance. He sure had gotten chummy with the president in a short space of time. Leave it to Buzz. He could charm just about anyone into anything.

She should know.

“Are you finished in there? Have they found a safe place for you and your daughter?” Not that Raven wanted to dump Malika. The girl had grown on her…a little. But she did have a life and a fabulous apartment on the Upper East Side and even a date for dinner.

Her gaze wandered across Buzz’s wide shoulders and broad chest. Her date didn’t have a fraction of Buzz’s mouthwatering physical attributes. But he had something Buzz lacked—a big-city, superficial nonchalance that suited Raven just fine.

President Okeke shifted his gaze to Buzz and then back to her. “We’re not quite finished. We have a few more details to arrange.”

Buzz stepped to the side as the door behind him nudged open. A suit stuck his head into the room. “Everything fine with your daughter, President Okeke? We’ll have the two of you out of this hotel and installed in a secure location in no time at all.”

The president nodded and crouched next to Malika. He whispered something in her ear in their own language, and Raven caught just one word—safe.

The Secret Service agent ushered President Okeke back into the conference room and held the door open for Buzz. “Are you joining us?”

The agent’s clipped tone made it clear he didn’t think Buzz warranted a place at the table with the Secretary of State and the other high-level security representatives.

Buzz shrugged. “You don’t really need me in there. I’ll hang out here and watch—” he cocked his head at the TV “—the sponge.”

The agent smirked and snapped the door shut.

Buzz pressed his ear against the door for several seconds and then locked the deadbolt with a soft click. He pointed to the minibar fridge. “Can I have one of those five-dollar sodas?”

Raven frowned at the door. Did Buzz think they were in danger from anyone in that room? Not likely.

Tapping Malika on the head as she walked by, Raven said, “We’ve pretty much decimated the colas. Do you want a root beer?”

“Sure. Give me a root beer for the road.”

Raven swiveled her head around. “For the road? Where are you going? I thought you’d want to see this thing through.”

“Not just me.” Buzz took two large steps to the minibar and snatched the can from Raven’s slack hand. “We’re all going.”

“Yeah, well, once the suits in the other room find a secure location for President Okeke and Malika—” Raven slammed the door to the little fridge and pushed up to her feet “—we’ll all be going. And we’d better hurry because I have a hot date.”

Buzz raised one brow and snapped the lid on his can. “We’re not waiting for them. We’re headed for that secure location right now, the three of us.”

Biting her lip, Raven shot a glance at the locked door again. “I-is that the plan? We’re going there first and then the president will follow us?”

Buzz dipped his head once and chucked Malika under the chin.

Malika had already slipped into her shoes and had grabbed her doll from the bed. She didn’t seem surprised or alarmed at the news that they were leaving the hotel ahead of her father.

Raven rubbed out the furrow between her eyebrows. But why did she have to come along? “Buzz, are you sure I’m included in this plan?”

“Don’t you want to help Malika?” His brows shot up to his hairline. “You’re about the only one she trusts right now. Isn’t that right, darlin’?”

Malika pinned Raven with her big brown eyes and nodded.

Raven sucked in a breath and then blew it out, rolling back her shoulders. She was not going to allow Buzz Richardson to accuse her of disliking little children…again.

She checked her Rolex. She could still meet her date on time. How long could it take to stash Malika and a few bodyguards in some safehouse?

Rubbing Malika’s back, Raven said, “Of course I want to help Malika. We’re a team—at least until her father takes over.”

“I knew I could count on your love of children to propel you in the right direction.” Buzz grabbed her handbag from the credenza and shoved it against her chest. “Let’s go.”

“Shouldn’t we let them know we’re on our way?” She jerked her thumb toward the room next door.

“They’re busy.” Buzz inched open the door to the suite and exchanged a few words with the Burumandan guard stationed there.

The man trailed them down the hallway to the stairwell, and then followed them down four flights of stairs. When they burst through the final fire door, Buzz guided them away from the lobby and toward a side door. The door landed them in the middle of the busy kitchen, where they darted through a maze of counters, refrigerators and vats of churning food.

When they hit the back door of the kitchen, their escort melted away and another intercepted them as they entered an alley on the side of the hotel. Their guard hustled them into a Lincoln Town Car with tinted windows.

Despite the blacked-out windows, Buzz told Raven and Malika to slouch in their seats. Raven swallowed her complaints when she noticed Malika’s swift compliance. The girl had experience in this sort of subterfuge.

The car shot out of the alley and Raven whispered to Buzz. “I’m glad this guy has diplomatic immunity or they’d throw the book at him for reckless driving.” The car squealed around the first corner. “And speeding.”

The driver whisked the car down the FDR Drive and Raven peeked out the window. The safehouse must be outside of Manhattan. Maybe she wouldn’t make it to her date on time after all.

That was probably for the best. How could she possibly concentrate on another man when she’d just spent an adrenaline-fueled day with Buzz? His larger-than-life presence eclipsed everyone. It just wasn’t fair he had to come traipsing back into her life, reminding her of what she’d thrown away.

Malika had conked out and slumped to the side, resting her head against Raven’s arm. A little drool had trickled from the corner of Malika’s mouth onto the sleeve of Raven’s suit. Raven rummaged through her bag for a tissue and dabbed the girl’s lips.

Raven met Buzz’s eyes above Malika’s head. “What? She’s drooling on my new suit.”

“She really likes you.” He spread his hands in front of him as if he couldn’t believe it.

“Yeah, well, I saved her life back there at the U.N. What would you expect?”

He lifted one shoulder. “I would expect her to like you. Kids do.”

“You’re crazy. I was never around them enough for you to gauge that.”

“There was Eric and Grace’s boy.”

Raven gave an exaggerated shiver. “You mean that horrid little monster who ran around putting tadpoles on everyone’s lap?”

Buzz laughed and the sound filled the backseat of the Town Car, coaxing a grin from Raven. “Except yours.”

“That’s because I warned him if he came anywhere near me with a tadpole, I’d take the critter and flush him down the toilet.”

“And he fell in love with you on the spot. Followed you around for the rest of the party…without his tadpoles.”

“Ha! He probably just wanted to make sure I wouldn’t get my hands on any of his creatures and flush ’em.” Raven pressed her warm forehead against the cool window. “Where is this place?”

“We’re almost there.”

Several minutes later, the car exited the highway and pulled into a small parking lot next to a low-slung gray building.

Raven tapped the window. “This is a secure location? It looks like, it looks like…an airplane hangar.”

The car jerked to a stop and Buzz threw open the door.

Raven clawed at the door handle, her heart pounding. Buzz. Airplanes. The two went together like…little boys and tadpoles. “Buzz! Buzz!”

She clambered out of the car. “What are we doing here?”

He dipped back into the car on the other side, and Raven ducked her head inside, too. Did he think he could avoid her that easily? They nearly banged foreheads over Malika’s sleepy form.

Raven hissed. “What are you doing?”

He tucked his arms beneath Malika and slid her across the seat toward him. “I’m kidnapping President Okeke’s daughter. And you’re coming with me.”

Chapter Three

“Bryan!”

Buzz grinned. Raven must be really mad to use his real name instead of his nickname. He had to play this right because he needed Raven for the plan to work.

He waved to the mechanic he’d called earlier. “Did you do the pre-flight? Everything ready to go?”

“You’re good to go, boss.” The mechanic flashed him a thumbs-up.

Clutching a drowsy Malika to his chest, Buzz strode across the tarmac to his Jetstream. Two steps up and he felt a tug at his shirt. He suppressed a grin and twisted his head over his shoulder.

Raven’s dark eyes sparkled, practically shooting sparks. “Where are you taking Malika and why?”

“I’m taking her to safety.”

“Are you crazy? You’ll have the entire CIA, FBI and probably the U.S. Military after you, not to mention some of those huge Burumandan security guys.”

He pointed to Naru, the Burumandan driver waving on the tarmac. “You mean like him? I’m not as crazy as I look, Raven. I have President Okeke’s permission to take Malika. We’d already discussed and planned it.”

Her black, sculpted eyebrows collided over her nose. “But why? I thought that’s what you were all figuring out in the conference room. Are you telling me President Okeke doesn’t trust the United States government?”

“He trusts me more. And you.”

“Me?” Raven ran a hand through her silky hair, the color of velvet midnight. “I just met the guy.”

“You saved his daughter’s life.” Malika stirred in his arms, rubbing the back of her hand across her nose. “We can’t waste any more time out here. I have to get her in the plane and get going.”

Raven took a step down, one heel digging into the asphalt of the tarmac. “I can’t come with you.”

“President Okeke specifically requested that you accompany us. He wanted to ask you himself at the hotel, but the Secret Service agent interrupted him.”

Buzz held his breath. Raven lived and breathed her career, and Buzz could imagine how she felt being relegated to babysitting duty. Now through a set of crazy circumstances, the new president of Burumanda needed her help. Buzz would have to keep pounding on that to convince her to come along.

“The president believes his daughter’s safety rests with you. He never would’ve hatched this plan if not for his confidence in you, Raven.”

She shook her head and pursed her lips. “I can’t rush off and leave everything, especially for some cockamamie scheme of yours. If you’re involved, trouble is not far behind. How do I even know you have President Okeke’s permission to take Malika?”

“And why would I want to kidnap the president’s daughter?” Of course, he didn’t have to tell Raven about the link between the assassination attempt on President Okeke and Jack Coburn’s disappearance. That wouldn’t convince her of anything except his insanity.

Raven’s right foot joined her left foot firmly on the ground. “I can’t do it, Buzz. You’re on your own.”

Buzz clenched his jaw. That’s not the first time she’d said those words to him.

Malika squirmed in his arms, lifting her head from his shoulder. “Raven?”

“You’re going to be fine, Malika.” Raven flashed a fake smile. “Your father asked Mr. Richardson to take you someplace safe.”

“I know. You are coming, Raven?”

Raven’s shoulders slumped. “No. I can’t come with you, Malika, but you’ll be safe with Mr. Richardson.”

A tremble rolled through Malika’s small frame and she choked on a sob. “Please, Raven.”

“I’m sorry. I—I just can’t.” Raven clamped her bottom lip between her teeth.

Buzz’s pulse leaped. Was that a quivering lip she was biting? Nah, this was Raven Pierre, career girl extraordinaire.

“Say goodbye to Raven, darlin’. Let’s get you buckled in nice and tight.” Buzz turned to duck into the hatch of the Jetstream.

Clawing at his arms, Malika wailed. “I want Raven.”

She wasn’t the only one.

Raven grabbed the handrails and leaned forward. “You’ll be fine, Malika.”

“No, no.” Malika buried her face against Buzz’s chest, and he patted her back.

Without Raven, his plan looked as though it was going to deteriorate rapidly. He liked kids, but this motherless little girl wasn’t going to be too happy with his male companionship.

Raven sighed and launched forward, nearly barreling into his back. “All right. I’ll come along, at least to get you settled.”

Malika sniffled and a big smile claimed half her face.

Buzz narrowed his eyes as he transferred Malika to Raven’s waiting arms. The girl’s cries had done more to convince Raven to come along than Buzz’s assertions to her importance to President Okeke. Had he just fallen into a rabbit hole?

He sat at the controls while Raven buckled Malika into one of several seats facing the cockpit and retrieved two blankets from a bin on the side of the plane. She tucked the blanket around Malika, twitched the girl’s pigtails and then buckled into the seat next to her.

She let out a breath. “Where to, flyboy?”

“Just relax and enjoy the ride.” Buzz adjusted his headphones and flipped a few switches. No need to tell Raven their final destination. She’d just gotten used to the idea of traveling along with Malika. He didn’t want her to go ballistic about the location just when she’d accepted her fate.

Buzz gave a final wave to the ground crew and Naru waiting next to the car, and then taxied down the abbreviated runway. The meeting at the hotel had probably ended by now, and everyone would know he’d taken off with the president’s daughter.