by Lisa Harris
Dad cleared his throat, and he slowed down. “Sienna, I’m so sorry for all that I have done to you and to your mother. I am sorry.”
Sienna blinked, trying not to get tears on her mascara. “I forgive you, Dad.”
He squeezed her hand in his. “Thank you.”
“Now you two guys be strong, okay? Exercise, eat right, stay healthy, all that.” Sienna smiled. “I want you both to be around when Earl and I have kids. We need babysitters.”
Uncle Tabbebo moved his other arm back and forth. “I’m starting right now. I’ll join the gym next week.”
Sienna laughed as the door opened to the sky and a garden filled with gardenia and roses. Their hundred-plus guests smiled as the music rose to a crescendo with the “Wedding March.”
At the end of the petal-strewn aisle, Earl and his two best men—Deshon and Cade—stood like statues frozen in time. Earl’s eyes widened and he looked positively stunned.
Under a canopy of puffy clouds and sea birds going about their day, Sienna walked forward in the morning breeze, an occasional gust pushing her mid-length bridal veil back and forth around her shoulders and bare arms.
When Dad and Uncle Tabbebo handed Sienna to Earl, she could hear her future husband say, “Wow.”
The ceremony went as rehearsed, with Pastor Diego Flores reading Bible passages about holy matrimony and love and future children.
It was all too real now, and in spite of everything having been planned, Sienna’s hands started to shake. She had never been this nervous before in her entire life. It seemed now that being an administrative assistant was easier than going through a wedding ceremony.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” Pastor Flores concluded.
What?
Sienna blinked. They had sailed through the wedding vows and ring exchange. She looked down at her ring finger. Yes, the wedding band was there.
She prayed she had not botched up the wedding vows because it went so fast that it was all over. Perhaps Earl had been right. They should not have decided on such a short ceremony. They wanted it to be short and sweet so that they could run off to their honeymoon as soon as possible.
But first, the reception.
Earl relived every minute of the wedding ceremony, remembering the ring exchange with great excitement. Sienna had been nervous, but so was he. When Pastor Flores told him he could kiss his bride, Earl made sure to kiss Sienna long enough to calm her nerves.
Well, they were both still nervous when they walked down the aisle to cheers and hollers. It was only when they had a quick moment of privacy before they headed to the reception in the Moss Tybee ballroom that Earl and Sienna were able to catch their breath.
He caught her hand and led her down a quiet hallway. Gently, he planted a kiss on her forehead.
“We’re finally married,” he whispered in her ear.
Sienna smiled. “We’ve known each other all of two years.”
“We have the rest of our lives to get to know each other more, starting tonight.” He caressed her cheek with his fingers and then lifted her chin to his—
A ping stopped him.
He turned toward the echoing sound. Down the hallway, Helen Hu was swiping her pinging phone as she stood still. She looked worried. Then again, Helen always looked worried.
“Something is wrong,” Sienna said.
“How did you figure that?” Earl asked, not letting Sienna go.
“I can read people’s faces—and Helen’s face says something is up or someone is down.”
“You sure?” Earl leaned toward his bride.
“Go check.”
“No.”
“Then I will.” Sienna tried to wiggle out of Earl’s embrace.
“No. It’s our wedding day, Sienna. We’re officially not working for two weeks, remember?”
“Give me two minutes. Please?” Sienna pleaded.
Earl sighed. “Why is Helen more important than I am?”
“She’s not.” Sienna held his hand and dragged him down the hallway. “Come on. This is our happy day. I don’t want to see anyone upset or worried. Let’s take care of it and send her on her way.”
“Okay. Whatever.” Earl realized he had just learned the first lesson of his married life. “See? I’m listening to you.”
“Thank you. I listen to you too.”
They rounded the corner. In the rotunda leading to the ballroom, Helen was talking animatedly with Hugo, Deshon, and Cade.
“What’s going on?” Earl asked as he approached them.
“Stay out of this,” Helen said. “Sienna, take him to the reception. They’re probably waiting for you two to cut the cake.”
“Is everything okay?” Sienna asked.
Helen didn’t say a word.
Deshon and Cade weren’t about to override their boss, Earl figured.
“Hostage situation in Miami,” Hugo said. “Pilar Santiago is in the middle of it. She might be injured.”
“Oh no.” Sienna leaned against Earl’s arm. “Does Ming know?”
Earl was impressed that Sienna remembered how they came to know Pilar. It was via his friend Ming Wei, another private investigator in Savannah with his own company, Savannah River Investigations. At one point in time, Earl almost became a partner in SRI, before Helen offered him a promotion.
“Ming is in Miami now, but he needs some help,” Helen said. “I don’t want to be the bringer of bad news to my sister, so this is serious.”
With three kids and one more on the way, Ming’s wife, Sabine, would probably be very worried. Earl wondered whether there would come a time when his life was in danger, and Sienna was left having to handle their kids and thinking about his well-being.
“We need to pray,” Sienna said.
Helen nodded. “Miami SWAT and CNT are on it, but Pilar and Ming were working on a surveillance operation before they got caught in the crossfire. Ming escaped, but Pilar did not.”
“I’m packed and ready to go,” Cade said. “Send me.”
“Send me too,” Hugo said. “Ming’s my friend.”
“He’s my friend too,” Earl said.
“You’re going to Port Lucaya,” Helen said to Earl. “Hugo is going back to Brussels. I’m taking this one. Cade can come with me.”
“You?” Hugo asked. “If you go to Miami, we all want to go with you.”
“Isn’t that wonderful?” Helen said. “But if something happens to me, you need to run Hu Knows, so we can’t both be in the same operation at the same time.”
Hugo nodded. “Who’s going to run the Savannah office? Earl is on vacation for two weeks.”
Sienna turned to Earl. “We’re only in the Bahamas for one week. We’ll be home the following week.”
“Right. We’ll be here in case you need us.”
Helen pointed to Deshon with her red fingernails. “You up to the task of running our Savannah office for one week all by yourself?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Deshon nodded. “Plus I get to stay free at Earl’s house.”
“And feed my cat,” Sienna said.
“Our cat,” Earl corrected her. “Wyclef Halstead-Young.”
“Yes, our cat.” Sienna wrapped her arms around Earl’s waist.
He placed his arm around her shoulders. “Let’s pray and ask God to keep us all safe.”
“Go ahead.” Helen closed her eyes.
“Thank you, Father God, for bringing us here today for a blessed wedding day,” Earl prayed. “Please keep Ming and Pilar safe right now in Miami. Protect Helen and Cade as they fly to Miami to rescue them, and Hugo as he returns to Brussels.”
“And keep Earl and Sienna safe on their honeymoon,” Hugo prayed. “Lord, bring all of us back together again safely. In Jesus’ Name, I pray. Amen.”
Everyone said amen.
“Sorry to spoil your day,” Helen said to Earl and Sienna. “But Cade and I can’t stay for cake. When we return, we can have dinner at my house.”
“On Santorini?” E
arl’s jaw dropped.
Helen nodded. “Ruben is a great cook. We would love to have everyone over. Maybe we can have a company retreat for our families.”
Earl nudged Sienna. “See the perks of working for Hu Knows?”
Sienna smiled.
Earl didn’t want to nag her any further for choosing to work at SSLR instead of at Hu Knows with him. At the end of the day, it was a good thing for them to separate their office work from their home life.
From the corner of his eye, Earl saw someone waving to them. It was Sienna’s Uncle Tabbebo, motioning the bride and groom to get on with the program.
“Ah, our guests are waiting,” Sienna said.
“Keep us posted.” Earl held Sienna’s hand. “We’ll pray for you from the Bahamas. If we need to be there, we can fly to Miami in an hour.”
“I’m sure we don’t need you,” Helen said. “Go enjoy your honeymoon. There will be plenty of hard work waiting for you when you get back.”
“Thank you. We’ll see you in a week.” Earl led Sienna away to the reception hall.
They stepped into the ballroom to the cheers and applause of their wedding guests and well-wishers.
Putting aside work and the trouble in Miami for a moment, Earl wrapped his arms around Sienna’s waist and drew her to his chest. The music started playing around them, a waltz of some sort that Earl wasn’t familiar with. Instead of dancing, Earl brushed his cheek against Sienna’s and held her in his arms. Then he kissed the edge of her lips, coaxing a smile out of her.
“I thank God for you,” he whispered in Sienna’s ear, and held her for a long time.
Acknowledgments
Many thanks to my Georgia Press publishing team for keeping up with my writing schedule.
Thank you to editor Lesley Ann McDaniel for copyediting and proofreading this novel.
A special thank you to my early readers, many of whom have been with me from the beginning of my publishing career. Your enthusiasm for every book I write is encouraging and inspiring.
I am grateful to God for my husband and son for their support and encouragement.
And I’ll always remember my beloved mother and my late father for having instilled in me the love of reading and writing from a very early age. I miss my father here on earth, but I will see him in heaven some bright day.
Most of all, I am eternally thankful to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross to save me from my sins and rose again from the grave to give me eternal life. Without Him, I can write nothing of value.
Jan Thompson
John 3:16
Note to Reader
Thank you for reading Never a Traitor, Book 7 in my Protector Sweethearts series. Earl and Sienna are glad that you journeyed with them through their ordeals.
Many of the supporting cast of Never a Traitor have their own books in this series or in another series. Some of these books are published and some are coming soon. Sign up for my newsletter (at the end of this boxed set) to be notified when my next books are released.
Helen Hu and Reuben Costa are in Once a Thief (Protector Sweethearts Book 1)
Jake Kessler is in Once a Hero (Protector Sweethearts Book 2)
Corazon Garcia and Donovan Moss are in Twice a Fighter (Protector Sweethearts Book 4)
Donovan Moss is also in Smile for Me (Vacation Sweethearts Book 1)
Cade Sumter and Pilar Santiago are in Never a Hostage (Protector Sweethearts Book 8)
Pilar Santiago is also in Look for Me (Vacation Sweethearts Book 4)
Deshon Kernaghan is in Never a Fugitive (Protector Sweethearts Book 9)
Cayson Yang and Stella Evans are in Zero Sum (Binary Hackers Book 1)
Kelvin Gallagher is in Zero Day (Binary Hackers Book 2)
Priyanka Patel-Jacobs is in Kiss You Now (Savannah Sweethearts Book 7)
But first, I’m excited to introduce the next novel after Never a Traitor in this multi-author Dangerous Deceptions collection. Ben in Love is written by my friend Luana Ehrlich, the Carol Award finalist and author of the Mylas Grey Mysteries and Titus Ray Thrillers. Have you read these stories of CIA intrigue? You won’t be disappointed! Here is the book description for Ben in Love from the author herself:
What’s going on with CIA operative Ben Mitchell? Is he really in love with the daughter of a Turkish dissident? Titus Ray isn’t buying it; he thinks Ben is getting intel on a Muslim cleric for a future operation. But when Titus follows Ben to a safe house, he discovers Ben’s deception is more dangerous than he thought. With their lives on the line, can Titus convince Ben to abandon his plans before it’s too late?
Turn the page to read Ben in Love by Luana Ehrlich. Happy reading!
Joyfully in Jesus,
Jan Thompson
Ben in Love
A Ben Mitchell/Titus Ray Thriller
by Luana Ehrlich
Copyright © 2020 Luana Ehrlich
All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Visit the author’s website LuanaEhrlich.com
All Titus Ray Thrillers are available on Amazon here
When you sign up for Luana’s newsletter here, you’ll receive a FREE download of One Step Back, the prequel to the Titus Ray Thriller Series.
To Ray Allan Pollock,
for giving an eleven-year-old girl
permission to read adult spy novels.
Chapter One
monday, june 17
The call from Senator Elijah Mitchell came late in the day, after I’d just finished reading the CIA’s Daily Briefing Summary, and I was about to fire up the grill and cook some steaks for dinner.
I promised my wife, Nikki, and our soon-to-be-adopted daughter, Eleanor, I would have dinner ready for them by the time they got home from a birthday party for one of Eleanor’s friends who was turning nine years old today.
When I saw the Senator’s name on my caller ID, I hesitated a moment before taking the call.
I was a covert operative in the CIA, and the Senator, head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, wasn’t one of my favorite people.
In fact, the two of us seldom saw eye-to-eye on anything, especially when it came to the Senator’s son, Ben Mitchell, who, like me, was a Level 1 covert operative in the Agency’s Middle East division.
Two weeks ago, during Operation Invisible Target when Ben and I were in Baghdad trying to prevent the assassination of a high-profile government official, Ben took a bullet to his leg.
The only reason I finally decided to take the Senator’s call was because I was afraid he might be calling to let me know Ben had suffered some kind of setback with his recuperation.
“Good evening, Senator. How are things with you?”
“Not good. I’m sure you know I wouldn’t be calling you otherwise.”
“Has something happened to Ben?”
“Yes, something’s happened to Ben.”
His tone sounded so ominous, I immediately thought the worst. “You don’t mean he’s dead.”
“No, of course not, but if you care about him, you’ll get on a plane and fly to Washington tonight.”
“Uh . . . okay. What’s Ben’s condition? Is it his leg?”
“I’ll tell you everything once you get here. Text me your arrival time, and I’ll have my driver pick you up at Dulles.”
Before I had a chance to question the Senator any further, he hung up on me.
I figured Douglas Carlton, the head of the Middle East desk and my boss at the CIA, might know what was going on with Ben, so I immediately tried to call him, but after I gave Communication Services my four-digit code, the operator told me he was unavailable, which usually meant he was in the Ops Center and couldn’t be disturbed.
Although I spent a few minutes debating what I should do, I eventually
got online and checked the flights to Washington, D.C.
I lived on the outskirts of Oklahoma City in Norman, and there were two direct flights from Will Rogers Airport to Dulles International, one in the morning and one in the evening.
I was able to make a reservation for the evening flight, and after texting the Senator my arrival time, I threw some clothes in my carry-on and backed my Range Rover out of the garage.
The minute I did so, I saw Nikki driving up the long driveway to our farmhouse in her Buick Enclave. Our place was located on thirty acres outside the city limits of Norman.
I’d purchased the property a year ago, after the Agency rented the house for me while I was recuperating from injuries suffered when my network in Tehran was blown.
I met Nikki shortly after coming to Norman.
She was a detective in the Norman Police Department, and the circumstances surrounding our introduction weren’t the stuff of romance novels.
She was the lead detective in the homicide investigation of a young Iranian woman I found lying in a pool of blood at the bottom of a church stairwell.
At first, Nikki suspected me of killing her, but I convinced her otherwise, and while I was doing so, I fell in love with her.
My career was a huge impediment to any kind of romantic relationship, but after a lot of ups and downs, Nikki and I were able to overcome those obstacles, and a few weeks ago, we were married in a church ceremony in Norman.
Now, we were in the process of adopting Eleanor, the daughter of an intelligence officer who’d been killed by a terrorist in Yemen during Operation Rebel Merchant, one of my previous missions.
I left my vehicle running and walked over to let Nikki know what was going on. “How was the party?” I asked Eleanor when she ran over and gave me a hug.
“It was amazing. I won a game, so I got to choose my own prize.” She held up a book about the solar system. “See what I picked out!”