by Gennita Low
“We found her car,” Jed said.
Amber bit down on her lower lip. She wasn’t sure whether she wanted to hear this. Hawk pressed a button on his wheelchair, moving him forward and closer. He held out his hand. She put hers in his. It felt so good to touch him again.
“It was at the bottom of a cliff,” Jed continued. He opened a file and leaned forward to hand them some photographs. “It’s not easy to recognize, but you can see the license plate. Is this her vehicle?”
Amber squeezed Hawk’s hand as she checked the photo. “Yes.”
“There’s no body in the wreck,” Jed said.
Hawk jerked forward. “You could have told Amber this right from the get-go,” he said, then paused. His eyes narrowed. “You son of a bitch, you were testing her.”
Amber looked at Jed steadily. “Did you think I would lie about Lily?”
Jed ignored Hawk’s glare. “I wanted to see how prepared you are for her death,” he said calmly. “Because eventually she will die.”
“Why?” Amber asked. Despite what Lily had done to her, she didn’t want her dead.
“Because she still has the bomb,” Hawk said.
“We need you to work with us to understand how Lily’s mind works—what would be her next target, if she uses the weapon. We need to find her and eliminate her.”
“I don’t want her…killed,” Amber said.
“Time is running out for her,” Jed said. “Mr. Sun released her mind, but the trigger is still there, waiting for someone to reactivate. She’s a time bomb, Amber. If we don’t find her, Greta will. Greta, as you know, is the mole who was the handler to a few very important CIA higher-ups. She wanted the weapon for some agenda, but Llallana’s actions changed everything. Apparently, we have another problem with the CIA having a different agenda.” Jed’s expression hardened as he added, “Which will be dealt with when I get back to the States. But the point is, someone at the CIA knows his plan to eliminate a number of political figures at the summit has gone awry. He’ll be after Llallana, too. Or worse, find a way for her to actually use the bomb the next time. We have to find her first. And eliminate this problem.”
“I’m not working for the damn CIA again,” Amber told Jed coldly. “I don’t like what they have done to Lily and they can kiss my ass.”
“You’ll be working with my agency,” Jed said. He cocked his head. “Who knows, with your input, you might be able to save your friend.”
Amber stared at Jed for a moment. Then turned to Hawk. “He’s a son of a bitch,” she declared. Jed knew that would be the perfect bait to get her to cooperate.
Hawk lightly squeezed her hand again. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” he told her.
“I’ll do anything to save Lily,” Amber said. Lily had been her best friend the last four years. How could she not help her? She made a face at Jed. “I hate your innovative negotiation technique, Jed McNeil.”
Jed inclined his head. A small smile entered his eyes. “You’ve always wanted to know more about NOPAIN,” he said. “No charge this time, Ambrosia. Bradford Sun is outside, waiting to talk to you. Want to see him?”
“Of course!”
“Then I’ll leave you two now. I’ll be in touch. McMillan, Admiral Madison will call you today sometime. You and I will talk soon. It was a good joint venture.”
“Yes,” Hawk said. “It was…different.”
Amber watched as the two men exchanged glances before Jed slipped out of the room. “What was that about?” she asked.
“He’d told me a while back that this would be the hardest assignment I’d ever have because of the length of time it would take me to live in Dilaver’s world, that I would come out of it different,” Hawk explained. “And it had been tough for me because at that time I couldn’t do what I wanted to do—take down every piece of mortar and brick of those kafenas and destroy Dilaver. But…I found you, too. I’m glad I did.”
Amber could imagine the toll it took. Fighting one’s natural self all the time. And Lily did that for so long. “ILY,” she mouthed softly as the door opened and Brad came in.
Hawk’s lips curved and his eyes caressed her. “ILY back-atcha,” he mouthed back.
A man either had to learn to let go of something out of his control or be driven out of his mind by it. It was late at night and Hawk couldn’t sleep. Once again, images haunted him. He wished Amber were here with him.
Hawk thought of Bradford Sun and couldn’t help but feel sorry for the man. He had appeared his usual unruffled self today, but Hawk could tell that the man was suffering. There were shadows under his eyes as if he hadn’t slept well lately. They lit up when Amber told him that there was a possibility that Lily wasn’t dead. He had come to tell them that the girls at the safe houses were gone, along with the two nurses. It was now very probable that Lily had gone back to take her girls to safety.
“She couldn’t just trust them to you or me. I freed her mind with that damn trigger, but she still hadn’t freed herself.”
“What are you going to do, Brad?”
“Let her go. She and I weren’t meant to be, Amber. I’m not even sure whether I ever reached the real Lily.” His voice had turned bitter as he added, “Except maybe those last few minutes. But that was her turning point, not mine, and she chose to continue on without me or anyone close to her. I could stop my life and go off hunting for her, but I don’t even know where to start. If I keep at this, I’ll end up like that line she kept repeating—I’ll fall apart. I’ll have to learn to let go. It’s out of my control.”
Brad’s words made Hawk think. He had to learn to let go, too. He couldn’t let what he had seen and not been able to do the past few months living under Dilaver to destroy his own view on life. In a chilling way, Lily had been right. Things would fall apart if one’s core beliefs didn’t stay strong. He had to find some way to anchor his own dark fury.
His laptop by the bedside beeped him. This was how they communicated while they were apart.
Hot Stuff. I have something for you.
He smiled in the dark. He knew who his anchor was. He placed the computer on his lap. We aren’t talking till you agree to marry me.
Oh, all right, if that’s the most romantic way you can think of to propose. At a stupid hospital. In a wussy white hospital gown that barely reaches your knees.
He chuckled. Something else to remember us by along with the sumo wrestlers. He would never be able to watch that particular activity again without remembering what Amber did to him on her couch. What do you have for me, love?
Something to add to our collection of memorable moments. Remember the message you scrawled on my thigh?
How could he not? Yeah. You cooking me another hamburger?
No…I have this.
A window popped up on the left top corner of the screen. It was Amber in front of her rigged-up laptop camera. She patted her hair self-consciously, then smoothed her hands down her naked breasts to her hips. Hawk stared, his mouth falling open. Was she wearing…
Well? Are you going to find a way to get in here to eat this? Or aren’t you hungry? It’s strawberry-flavored, by the way.
Hawk didn’t even bother answering, shutting the system down in a hurry. He scrambled out of bed. Hospital rules be damned. He was a SEAL. He would find a way into her room tonight. He had more memorable moments to make.
Acknowledgments
This book was written under the crossfire of Charlie, Jeanne, Ivan and Francis.
Special thanks to Maria “HoF” Hammon and Melissa Copeland, two operators navigating the no-man’s-land of my mind; the sea mammals that taught me swimming isn’t all about floating; Erika Tsang, my editor, who panicked through four hurricanes with me; and Liz Trupin-Pulli, my agent, the best huntress out there!
And always, the ladies at Delphi TDD, especially Sandy “Sadista” Still, Mirmie Caraway, Karen King, Angela Swanson, Teena Weena Smith, and Katherine Lazo, the most supportive BSHes in the world.
There are numerous sources for more information about human trafficking, but these official reports and news articles speak for themselves:
www.spacewar.com/2004/040506172314.wol6yurc.html
www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/05/08/2003154608
www.news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1028249.stm
About the Author
Gennita Low is a former translator who speaks fluent Chinese, Malay, German, Russian, and English. Gennita is co-owner of a roof construction business and quite probably the only female roofer in central Florida. She is the author of three previous novels—The Protector, Facing Fear, and Into Danger—and is a winner of the Romantic Times Best Romantic Intrigue Award of 2003. To learn more about Gennita, visit her website at www.gennita-low.com.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
By Gennita Low
THE HUNTER
THE PROTECTOR
FACING FEAR
INTO DANGER
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
THE HUNTER. Copyright © 2005 by Jenny Low. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Microsoft Reader August 2007 ISBN 978-0-06-154204-6
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)
Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
55 Avenue Road, Suite 2900
Toronto, ON, M5R, 3L2, Canada
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77-85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.uk.harpercollinsebooks.com
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com