Raven's Prey

the other end. “Well, I’ll get someone to take him off your hands before you change your mind. There’s a man in the Albuquerque office I can call. Where are you now?” Judd told him. “Okay, stay where you are. We’ll have someone out there as soon as possible. Oh, and Judd…”
    “Yeah?”
    “Watch yourself. Prager’s as nasty as they come.”
    “I didn’t know you cared.”
    “It’s not you I’m worrying about,” Maddock growled. “It’s your new business partner. She seems to be a good influence on you.” He hung up the phone before Judd could slam his receiver down.
    “What now?” Honor asked brightly. She had turned the gun over to Judd, who was keeping it idly trained on a sullen Prager.
    “Now we wait. Maddock’s sending someone to pick him up.”
    Honor seated herself on the old metal desk and swung her feet gently. She didn’t look at Judd. “What an interesting evening this turned out to be.”
    “Didn’t it, though?” he murmured. “Fascinating”
    And once again Honor couldn’t tell a thing about what he was thinking. They spent much of the waiting period in silence, neither of them making any real effort to break it. Of course, Honor assured herself, Nick Prager’s presence made it difficult to conduct a private conversation.
    Still, by the time the Albuquerque authorities had come to collect Nick, Honor was beginning to feel slightly apprehensive. Judd hadn’t spoken at all in the past twenty minutes and he seemed relieved when the official car arrived outside the hangar.
    “Come on, Prager, your ride’s here. The destination won’t be Mexico, but that’s the breaks. On your feet.”
    Honor waited quietly while the exchange was made. The two government men from the Albuquerque office were cool and competent. Judd talked to them in low tones for a few minutes and then, before Honor was quite ready, the car drove off with Prager and his new escorts. She was alone with Judd.
    He came slowly back into the small office, his dark eyes finding her instantly as he paused in the doorway. She thought he was looking at her very much the way he had looked at her that first night in the cantina. And she felt once again that atavistic chill that warned of the presence of the hunter.
    For a long moment they stared at each other in utter silence. Then Judd asked quietly, “Were you frightened when I put the Cessna into a spin? There wasn’t time to warn you.”
    “It’s quite a dramatic maneuver, isn’t it?” she murmured dryly. “Actually, all things considered, you’re probably lucky I didn’t throw up all over your precious plane.”
    His face softened. “I would have forgiven you under the circumstances.”
    Her mouth curved softly. “That would have been very understanding of you.”
    “I’ll be willing to forgive you just about anything if you’ll repeat what you said in the plane.” He was watching her so intently Honor found herself gripping the edge of the desk.
    “About not being a true mercenary?” she whispered. “You’re not, you know. I’ve known that from the beginning. A real dyed-in-the-wool mercenary type would have handed me over to Garrison without a qualm. A genuine mercenary wouldn’t have given me those four extra days in Mexico. And don’t forget, I knew from the first that you had some ethics. Remember how you turned down my bribe?”
    “That wasn’t all you said in the Cessna,” he reminded her slowly. “You said something about loving me.”
    “Oh, that” Her smile widened and her green-and-gold eyes were filled with gentleness.
    “Yes, that. Honor, did you mean it?” he rasped. He didn’t move from his position in the doorway. Every line of his body was taut and poised as if he were about to take wing.
    “I meant it.”
    He stared at her. “Honor, I didn’t…I wasn’t what you wanted me to be that first morning after we went to bed together. I didn’t give you the complete trust and faith that you wanted; that you
deserved”
    “No. You gave me your protection, instead. Have you ever looked after someone the way you looked after me, Judd?” she asked whimsically.
    He shook his head, saying nothing. His silence was eloquent enough-Honor slid off the desk and took a step toward him. “You didn’t know anything at all about love so it’s understandable.”
    “What’s understandable?”
    “That you didn’t recognize the first signs of it in yourself.” She took another step. “Offering me your protection was