by Rachel Dylan
As she tried to catch her breath, he punched her again, even harder. She rolled away, and he missed his next attempt.
She tried to scramble to her feet, hoping she could get to her side arm on the nightstand, but her attacker had other ideas. He lifted her off the ground and slammed her onto the floor. A scream escaped her lips as the pain radiated through her body.
Yelling again, she tried to gather the energy to keep fighting, but if this kept going much longer, she had no doubt she’d be dead soon.
She pushed to her feet and dodged another punch, but then he wrapped his hands around her neck and started squeezing. Stars flashed before her eyes as the breath started to leave her body, and she struggled not to lose consciousness.
As she started to say what she thought could be a final prayer, she found a burst of energy. She dropped low to the ground, startling her attacker, and his grip broke. That gave her the opening to kick him again in the groin, which brought him to his knees. She leapt for her nightstand, grabbed her gun, and aimed it at him.
“Don’t move. Hands up!”
“Layla.” Hunter rushed into the room, breathing heavily. His eyes widened. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, adrenaline surging through her body. “We need to secure him.”
“I’ve got some zip ties in my duffel downstairs. Are you good here?”
“Yeah. What about Ace and Dax?”
He frowned and shook his head.
She knew that meant they were dead—but there was no time to focus on that. She stared into the light blue eyes of the man who had attacked her, unwilling to let him move an inch. “Hunter, how many other attackers?”
“Two. They’re downstairs, dead.”
Without looking at him, she said, “Okay. Go get the ties.”
He jogged out of the room.
“You won’t shoot me,” her attacker said in accented English.
“Try me. Who are you? Who do you work for?”
He didn’t respond.
“You said something in Russian. Why is a Russian hit man working for the cartel?”
He smiled.
An odd response, but she kept pushing. “Tell me.” She took a step closer to him.
“I work for the highest bidder. Doesn’t matter to me. A job is a job.”
So now the cartel was hiring professional hit men. Maybe Diego had expanded his horizons because the cartel members hadn’t been able to seal the deal.
Hunter ran back into the room and fastened the hit man’s wrists with the zip ties. The Russian grunted.
“I just started questioning him,” Layla told Hunter.
“I’m not saying anything else.”
“Yes, you are. If you want to live.”
Hunter shot her a worried glance. Of course she wasn’t going to kill the guy, but he didn’t know that. She needed to play the bad cop right now, and she was the one holding the gun.
“I need answers. You start talking, and we’ll see what we can do as far as a deal. You don’t, and I’m going to blow out your kneecap.”
The man’s eyes widened.
“Layla, you can’t do that,” Hunter said.
It was actually to her advantage that Hunter didn’t know she was bluffing. It made the act more convincing. “I can and I will.”
She moved an inch closer and pointed the gun toward his knee.
He cracked. “Okay, okay. Yes. I’m working for Mejía. I don’t know what you did, but Diego is out for blood. He will not stop until you are dead. You should’ve just let me kill you because the next person might not make it so easy for you. Being tortured by one of Diego’s henchmen will be much worse.”
Her breath caught, but she kept her hand steady on the gun. “What were your orders?”
“To kill everyone in the safe house.”
“And how did you know the location?” Hunter asked.
He shrugged. “It was provided by the cartel contact. I’m not sure how they got it.”
She glanced at Hunter. “We need to get out of here. Let’s call this in, and then we need to move once backup gets here and can take this guy into custody.”
She pulled out her burner phone and made contact. She only hoped she wouldn’t be too late.
Hunter couldn’t believe this turn of events. They’d taken one of the Agency SUVs and were driving, but he had no idea where. He just wanted to put some distance between them and the safe house.
Layla said the Agency was working on a plan, but she’d been pretty quiet since they left.
One minute he’d been lying down, reading because he couldn’t sleep, and the next, he’d heard the commotion in the other part of the house. A barrage of gunshots had made him jump into action. Layla’s security detail had exchanged fire, killing one of the hit men, but unfortunately, both Ace and Dax were killed before Hunter had killed the second man. The CIA team’s sacrifice had given him and Layla a fighting chance. When he’d pulled the trigger, it had been pure survival instinct kicking in, but he was trying not to think about it.
“You really did a number on that guy,” he said to Layla. “He was huge.”
“It was touch and go for a minute. He got the drop on me, and I had to fight a bit dirty, but when you’re smaller, you have to fight differently.”
“Another thing you learned at the Farm?”
“Yeah. I had some great teachers. Women my size who understood that we’re never going to be able to take on a two-hundred-and-fifty-pound man using normal techniques.”
“You weren’t really going to shoot him, were you?”
“Of course not, but I needed him to think that I would and that I wouldn’t hesitate. Sometimes half the battle is the mind game.”
“It worked,” he said softly. “Layla, I’ve never taken a life before. I’ve been on some dangerous jobs, but nothing like this.”
“You had no choice, Hunter. You acted in self-defense. You heard that guy. Their orders were to take out everyone at the safe house. If you hadn’t defended yourself, we would’ve all been dead.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I get that. It just feels a bit strange, that’s all.”
She put her hand on his arm. “You did what you had to do. We’re up against vicious enemies who will stop at nothing for revenge. They kill without any regard for human life.”
“Have you ever taken a life?”
“Unfortunately, yes. On the Honduras op, I returned fire. I saw some of the men go down. I have no way of knowing if I’m the one who killed Diego’s brother or if it was someone else on the team, but we were in a pretty hostile firefight, and we had to defend ourselves.”
“How did you cope with that?”
“I asked for forgiveness for taking the lives, but I also know that the Lord understood the circumstances—that we were all fighting for our lives. I thought about those men and their families—who were probably completely innocent—and I cried for them and prayed for them. Experiences like this will test anyone. I wanted the analyst job so that I wouldn’t have to make those life-and-death decisions, but here I am, making them anyway and trying to deal with the fallout the best way I can. And the only way I know how to handle it is to ask for God’s help. I couldn’t do it alone.”
Maybe she had a point. “Thanks for that. Hearing your perspective on things helps me.”
“Don’t expect to process this overnight. You will need time. I know I did.”
He nodded. “We need to figure out our next steps.”
“I can’t believe Ace and Dax are dead.” She sniffed.
He knew she was not only in great pain, but also holding back her emotions over what had gone down. “I’m sorry. There was nothing I could do to save them.”
“It’s not your fault. I didn’t mean it like that. I just hate feeling like I’m responsible. They were there to protect me.”
He glanced at her. “They knew the dangers when they signed up to be Agency security. We have to figure out how the Agency safe house got compromised.”
> “I know. I don’t really want to believe that anyone on the inside would sell me out, but given the progression of events, I don’t think we can turn a blind eye to that possibility.”
“If that’s true, though, maybe we shouldn’t accept whatever they provide you next.”
“You’re forgetting that they still want to keep me under surveillance.”
“Let them clean up the mess that just happened and see whether they want to put another security team in the line of fire.”
“I don’t want to put another team there, but I don’t think I’m going to have much choice in the matter.”
Hunter was uncomfortable with this entire setup. Something seemed incredibly wrong to him, but he couldn’t figure out where the greatest threat was coming from, and that was essential to being able to keep Layla safe.
When her cell phone rang, it startled him, but he tried to play it cool.
“Yes,” she answered, putting it on speaker.
“I’m getting reports from our people at the safe house now,” Frank said. “What in the world happened? It’s a complete bloodbath.”
“We were ambushed,” Hunter said. “We’re fortunate to be alive. Those men were professionals and were not messing around.”
“That’s evident from the two dead bodies of my men,” Frank shot back.
“With all due respect,” Hunter said, “your men were doing their jobs, and their brave actions saved our lives.”
“I know,” Frank said. “We need to mitigate the risks as much as we can, which is why I’m sending you to a different safe house with extremely limited access. I can guarantee you that it’s not compromised.”
“You still think I’m working with terrorists?” Layla asked.
Her timing surprised Hunter a bit, but he understood why she was so frustrated.
“I told you before, this has nothing to do with that. Yes, the cartel wants you dead. But that has nothing to do with your activities with Al-Nidal.”
“There are no activities with Al-Nidal. The sooner you realize that, the better.”
Hunter rarely heard Layla raise her voice like this.
“Why don’t we focus on the immediate threat to your life?” Frank said.
Layla gave Hunter a frustrated glance, and he listened as she recounted their brief interrogation of the remaining attacker.
“We’ll do a full work-up on him and see what else we can find, but the cartel starting to outsource only makes things more dangerous. I’m sending you coordinates to the new safe house. I’ll have another team deploy and meet you there.”
“Roger that.” She ended the call and looked at Hunter. “What do you think?”
“Our choices are limited.”
“I’m going to give Scarlett a call. Fill her in and see if she has any ideas.”
“She’s going to toe the party line. What other option does she have?”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. She’s stood by me through all the ups and downs at the Agency. If there’s a way she can help, she will.”
“Then I’m all for it.”
For the next few minutes, Hunter soaked in the conversation between the two women. It was clear that they had each other’s backs.
“Layla, I hate to say this,” Scarlett said, “but I really think you need to go off the grid. I don’t know if you can trust the Agency. Not after the safe house was compromised.”
“But then I’ll have the Agency after me too,” Layla responded.
“Okay, let me think.” Scarlett was silent for a minute. “You should go to the new safe house, but we’ll also prepare a plan B in case things get dicey again. I’ll make some calls and see what I can put together for you so you have an exit strategy if you need one.”
“I don’t want you to do anything that would put you in a bad position. I know how hard you’ve worked to climb the ladder.”
“Don’t you worry about me. I assume I can reach you on this number?” Scarlett asked.
“Yes, it’s a burner.”
“I’ll be in touch soon.”
The call ended.
“Well, I like how she thinks,” Hunter said. “You were right. She’s not afraid to rock the boat, huh?”
“You don’t get to be in her position without taking risks.”
“This is good. If she can find you a separate safe house not linked to the Agency, I’m all for it.”
“I still can’t believe the safe house got compromised. If not a CIA leak, then how?”
“Maybe they were able to track the Agency security detail somehow.”
“I guess it’s not crazy to think that the cartel could have someone on the Agency payroll.” She blew out a breath.
He was more concerned about the fact that the cartel was implementing desperate measures by outsourcing their business to the Russians. Were they really that bent on revenge at all costs? It appeared that way.
“You’re too quiet,” Layla said.
“I’m sorry. I just hate you being in harm’s way and me feeling so completely helpless to stop it.”
“Hunter, what are you talking about? You did stop it. I’m probably only alive right now because of you taking out that other attacker, and I thank God He brought you back into my life.”
There it was. Once again she believed God was at work here. The question was whether he did. His reconnection with Layla had caused a stirring inside of him about his faith. He was still trying to work through his issues, but there had been a change—even if he had been initially resistant to it. “I think you may be right.”
She smiled at him. “Worldly explanations only get you so far sometimes.”
“True, but it’s easy to focus on being rational and only seeing what’s in front of you.” He wondered how far he should open up. Considering the circumstances of the night, he decided to go for it. “Experiencing you in my life again has changed me, Layla. All for the good. It was like I was caught in this dark hole, just going about my life thinking that God had completely forgotten about me. But then everything started to have color and light again with you there. I don’t know how to verbalize it any better than that, but your faith has helped give me strength through this.”
“It isn’t a one-way street, Hunter. I’ve been through dark days too. I’ve done things I wish I could change. But knowing that we’ve been given another chance—a fresh start—is just a glowing example of God’s love and His perfect timing.”
He hated that he was driving, because what he wanted to do more than anything was to pull her tightly into his arms and hold her. To tell her how much he still loved her and wanted to build a life together. But that would have to wait.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FIVE
The next morning Izzy sat across from Detectives Stewart and Bryant again with Piper by her side.
“Agent Cole, we called you here because we have a concern,” Detective Stewart said.
“We’re listening,” Piper responded.
Detective Stewart cleared her throat. “We believe Agent Cole has been conducting some sort of side investigation in regard to the sergeant’s murder. Is that possible?”
Izzy should’ve known she’d get caught at some point, but she wasn’t just going to roll over. “Last time I checked, there’s nothing wrong with looking at the facts of a case.”
“When you’re the suspect, it’s also called witness tampering,” Detective Bryant chimed in.
Piper groaned. “C’mon, you two. You’re better than this. You have a federal agent sitting in front of you, and you’re baselessly accusing her of witness tampering.”
“It’s not baseless,” Bryant said.
“Then, what do you have?” Piper asked. “I want to see hard evidence, not your wild-goose-chase assertions.”
“We have the fact that Agent Cole hired a private investigator and has also been meeting with people she believes have relevant evidence to this case.”
Piper frowned. “I need a minute to talk with my c
lient.”
“I bet you do,” Detective Stewart said. “We’ll leave you the room so you two can have some privacy.”
Once it was just the two of them, Piper turned to Izzy, her blue eyes icy cold. “Please tell me they’re wrong.” When Izzy didn’t immediately answer, Piper threw up her hands. “How in the world am I supposed to help you if you go rogue? What were you thinking?”
Izzy had known her attorney would be ticked, but she’d kept Piper in the dark for her own good. “I was thinking that I need to get to the truth.” She wasn’t going to pull any punches.
“And you don’t think that’s what they’re trying to do?”
“I wasn’t going to take that chance. We’ve talked about this before. The innocent aren’t always vindicated. I couldn’t take that risk. I had a feeling about the sergeant. Men like him are not onetime offenders, and I wanted to see who else he may have hurt.”
Piper’s eyes narrowed. “Let me guess. You found other women?”
Izzy nodded. “Yes. I should also tell you I spoke to a former officer at Arlington PD. Then the PI found two other women, and I’m fairly certain they were both abused by him.”
“Exactly when did you plan on sharing this information with me? Your attorney! Didn’t I tell you at the beginning that I would fight to the death for you, but that you had to be honest with me no matter what it was?”
Izzy forced herself to make eye contact. “I was still trying to figure out some things. I didn’t want to bother you without something concrete.”
“You can’t hide critical information from me.” Piper’s tone had sharpened with each word out of her mouth.
“I’m sorry.” What else could she say? She was clearly in the wrong.
“Where do you plan to go with all of this?” Piper asked.
“It’s likely that one of the sergeant’s victims or someone who knew about what he had done could be responsible for his murder. And while I’m not looking to get anyone else in trouble, I believe just the idea and the pattern of behavior is enough to muddy the waters, and that would provide reasonable doubt, if it ever came to that.”