“Yes. Tess loves the little rascal.”
Mina giggled at something one of her escorts whispered in her ear. Her friends were teasing her, but it was clear her handicap hadn’t touched her heart. She looked like any other little girl. Shy smile. Innocent.
“May I talk with her?” he asked.
“Certainly.” Sister Mary Joseph waved the girls to her. “Come here, girls. Bring Mina. This handsome man is Tess’s friend.”
Mina clapped her hands even as her friends steered her to join them. “Oh good! My sister Tess. Is she here?”
Damn. A shot straight to the heart. Lee could’ve bawled at the exuberance of that motherless child for the woman he loved. He knelt with Jamaal sitting snug on his forearm, his heart softened at Mina’s trusting ways. Lee reached out his hand to Mina’s shoulder so she’d know his exact location. “I can see why Tess loves you. She isn’t here, Mina, but I can’t wait to tell her I met you.”
“Are you cute?” she whispered through her splayed fingers over her mouth. “I think you must be very strong and handsome.”
“Why’s that?” he asked, wishing he could offer more than just conversation to a child so in need.
“Because Mama Tess is the most beautiful lady in the world!” Mina twirled in a full circle while her little girlfriends giggled with her.
These kids were killing him. Sweet little Mina had probably never seen Tess. She’d judged her beauty based on everything but sight. Oh, if she only knew. “So if Tess is beautiful, that means I’m handsome?” he asked more tenderly.
“Of course,” one of Mina’s friends replied. “I have seen her. She’s a beautiful princess. You must be her handsome prince like in the stories she reads to us. Do you ride a dashing stallion? Are you going to marry her?”
Another hit to his heart. His throat tightened. It was getting harder to speak. “For now I’d just like to find her.”
“Is she lost?” Mina asked. “Did you lose her?”
“No.” I sure as hell hope not. “Just need to talk to her.”
“Did she lose a glass slipper? Is that why you’re looking for her?” Those big beautiful brown eyes of Mina’s blinked bright with pure innocence.
“Girls, shush now. That’s a fairytale,” Sister Mary Joseph intervened. “Run along.”
And suddenly it was hard to let Jamaal go. Lee swallowed hard at the thought of the other side of the irrepressible woman he now knew a little better. He understood why she did what she did. These children were Afghanistan’s future. It might not be as bright as it once was, but they deserved every last piece of their rich heritage, and Tess meant for them to have it. Wasn’t that what mothers everywhere did?
“I’ll tell her you’ve been here if I see her,” Sister Mary Joseph said kindly, her hands outstretched to take Jamaal. “Please let me know when you locate her.”
Lee sucked it up. He squeezed Jamaal before he handed him back, his heart stuck up high in his throat. “Yes, ma’am. Sure will. Is there anything you need?”
Sister Mary Joseph scanned her troupe of motherless children. “To be twins?” she offered with a weary smile. “I’ll be fine. I have three others helping me. Take care of yourself, young man. You and Tess will be in my prayers.”
“Thank you, Sister.” He turned back to his vehicle, its doors flung open like some big bird of prey cooling itself in the sun.
“No word?” Seth asked as all doors slammed shut at the same time.
“She’s not here.”
“Where to?” Jordan asked.
Lee shot him a dark look. “Hell.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Oh, shit.”
Leave it to Seth to utter the world’s biggest damned understatement. Lee’s fist clenched on his rifle grip. They’d found Tess. It was easy for a man with a sniper scope to see her, only now it was trained on the woman who was ripping his heart out and stomping it into the ground.
“He’s got a kid,” Seth muttered, “or I’d take him out for you.”
Lee didn’t answer. He had eyes. Staring at Turik with his arm wrapped casually around Tess’s shoulder didn’t help the betrayal burning a hole in his gut. That there was a young boy involved in the deceit only made it worse. Who was he? Turik’s son? Turik’s and Tess’s? They looked mighty friendly standing there beside Nizari’s decadent ride.
“You knew where he lived all this time?” Lee ground out. “Did you know he had children, too? How many?”
“Course we knew,” Seth admitted. “He’s just got the one, but you know Alex’s rules of engagement now that the war’s supposedly over. We’re not the Taliban and we’re not military. We don’t kill men in their homes in front of their families. We catch them in the act, somewhere else.”
“You could’ve told me,” Lee said, striving for a cool head while all of his worst fears slapped him in the face. He was a loser and there was the proof. She’d fled the hospital, damn her, and obviously, Tess preferred to heal in the arms of another man. Why did it have to be Turik? Hadn’t the son-of-a-bitch just last night charged Lee with loving Tess and taking care of her? Yet there they stood, holding each other. Loving each other. The bearded liar leaned into Tess’s hair, and Lee wanted to puke. So many lies and he’d fallen for every one of them.
“I thought you knew,” Seth murmured, “It’s in my reports.”
And damn it to hell. This wasn’t Seth’s fault, it was Lee’s, and he knew it. He’d made so many mistakes taking on this operation to guard Tess. If anyone shouldn’t be on this mission, it was him. Shit. Just shit.
“The boss is awake,” Jordan said calmly.
Sprawled a few hundred feet away in the dirt, all three men had the mighty Taliban assassin in their scopes. One shot could send him to hell, but three double taps would be better. Lee wanted to do just that. It took all of his common sense to not play the game the way the Taliban did. He’d never kill a guy in front of his family. Besides, that kid might be Tess’s. It didn’t feel right, but Lee didn’t know what he knew anymore. His logic card had blown a fuse trying to keep up with her.
Tess looked happy with her arm wrapped around that bastard’s waist. She smiled up at him, and Lee could plainly make out the light in those pretty eyes through his scope. He’d seen it before. Turik claimed they’d met at college in England, another secret Tess forgot to mention. What else had they studied? Chemistry? Biology? Classmates didn’t look that chummy unless they’d been intimate with each other. Had they? His gut churned at the thought of Tess with that man—with any man. Lee rolled to his back to break the connection. Sick at heart and mad as hell. He couldn’t watch.
“You seen enough?” Jordan asked politely, his finger at his ear and obviously listening to their very angry boss. Leave it to Alex to make a bad day worse.
Lee stared at the hot sky. Some kind of black birds circled high overhead. Looked like vultures, and there he was, laid out like a corpse on their menu. He felt like one, dead inside and thoroughly gutted, his heart torn out and his entrails spread for the feast. All those birds up there in the wild blue yonder needed was an invitation and a napkin.
I hate this son-of-a-bitchin’ country. I need to leave. “Let’s get back to Eggers.”
“You... you don’t want to go talk to her?” Seth asked.
“Nope.” Lee pushed out of the dirt to his feet, his mind made up. Afghanistan was nothing but war and pain, and he’d had a gut full. Somewhere in the world an island was calling his name. Somewhere a man could hide until he got his head back in the game. It was damned past time to man up. Move out. Get the hell out of there.
“But you’ve come this far.” Seth didn’t get it. “We’ve got time and we’re here. Go talk to her, man.”
Lee shouldered his rifle and walked away. You go talk to her.
They stopped her at the Eggers’ security gate, just like she knew they would.
“Step out of the car, ma’am,” the very tense guard ordered, his weapon pointed at her while his buddy did
the same. “Nice and slow. Don’t make any sudden moves.”
She showed them her hands. “May I unbuckle my seatbelt?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, his chin pressed to the radio at his shoulder.
She snapped the buckle open and opened the door, one foot to the ground and her whole body shaking. These guys were just plain scary. “My name is—”
“Shut up! On the ground! One more move and I’ll shoot.”
She dropped to her hands and knees before lying facedown, not a simple feat for a woman whose back was torn, blood oozing from the stitches. This was her fault, though. She’d expected trouble when she’d turned Nizari’s vehicle onto Camp Eggers. But everything would be okay. Once they checked her story, they’d know she was with Lee and Alex.
“This is Nizari’s car,” the other guard muttered. “Who the hell is she? His wife? His mistress?”
“More like his whore,” the other growled.
Tess bit her lip. These guys were both young and hyped up on testosterone and adrenaline. They were capable of shooting her and asking questions later. She wasn’t ready to die. At least, she was in the shade of the BMW.
A heavy truck rumbled behind her, blocking her from leaving, which seemed really absurd. It wasn’t like she was going anywhere. More tense chatter she didn’t understand, full of acronyms and military speak, and two booted feet stopped inches from her face.
“Get up,” a woman’s voice demanded.
Tess eyed this new person as she climbed slowly to her feet, her poor back muscles screaming with the simple movement. “I’m sorry. I’m with—”
“Shut up!” the woman bellowed, her face red. “No one said you could speak. Place your hands on top of your head.”
Tess caught the female guard’s nametag as she lifted her palms. George. Interesting name for a woman.
“I’m going to search you, and you will comply. Do you understand?” Officer George barked.
“Yes.” Tess nodded quickly.
George directed Tess to the very hot and shiny BMW hood. “What’s your name, rank, and serial number?” The woman had no volume control but loud and rude.
“Tess Culver. I’m not military,” Tess answered truthfully, the tension more than she had strength to endure. Her knees shook. If she had to stand much longer, she’d fall on her face.
George stuck her palm in the middle of Tess’s back, and Tess groaned, the pain of that harsh contact unbearable. “Ouch, you’re—”
“Shut up!” The woman wouldn’t listen. George strong-armed Tess, her elbow in Tess’s back until she was facedown on the blazing hot hood of Nizari’s BMW. “What makes you think you can enter a high security military base driving a vehicle that belongs to one of the highest Taliban officers, Miss Culver?”
Tess peeled her burning cheek away from the scorching metal, her eyes squeezed tight, confused if she should shut up or answer the question. The heat radiating off the metal sucked her last ounce of energy. George better get a clue or Tess was going down.
“Please,” Tess muttered, her voice dry and far away. Shadows swarmed her peripheral vision. “Contact Lee Hart. He’ll vouch for me. Or Alex Stewart.”
George barked something, but Tess only half heard the words. The oven of Afghanistan baked her quickly. She passed out.
Alex looked pretty damned pale, but then, so did Seth. He kept glancing at Lee like he still had something to say about him not talking to Tess. First things first. They were still getting their butts reamed for taking the Hummer off base.
Like Jordan said, Alex was mostly mad that he’d tripped over a sheep in the fight and broken his ankle. To make everything worse, surgery in a foreign country would make traveling back to the States awkward. He was the kind of boss who never took a day off from being the biggest and baddest jerk on the planet. “Who owns this damn company?” he ground out.
Lee didn’t answer because he knew Seth would. Sure enough, Seth opened his mouth, “You do, Boss.”
Poor, dumb Seth. Predictably, Alex jumped down his throat. “You’d better damned well believe it!” he roared, but Lee saw the signs. Alex was weakening, his roar not so much anger as frustration combined with whatever drugs he’d been given. It was hard being mad when you’re fighting the leftover anesthetic in your system. Alex scrubbed a hand over his face. He’d refused a bed and for now sat in a wheelchair, his bandage and booted foot raised in front of him. “Sit rep.”
“On?” Jordan asked.
“On Miss Culver!” Alex snarled. “Who do you think?”
Lee blew out a long-suffering sigh and admitted defeat. The boss wanted this answer to come from him. “Last time we saw her, she was in the company of Mohammed Turik at his home with his kid.”
“You’re sure about that?”
Lee nodded. No sense answering. He had nothing nice to say.
“That doesn’t seem right,” Alex muttered. “Why would she do that? We’ve still got the reliquary.”
To hell with the reliquary. Keep the damned thing for all I care.
“You get it on video?” Alex asked.
“Nope,” Lee said tiredly. “We weren’t wearing helmet cams.”
He had a plane to catch, and Alex damned well knew it. This was his last op and it was over. It sucked that the operation was a bust, but Tess Culver had refused their protection. There wasn’t much more they could do they hadn’t already tried. She seemed hell-bent on getting herself killed. Let her
“But she’s injured,” Alex insisted. The man was fading fast, and Lee wanted him to. “You talk to her?”
Damn. Those silver-blue lasers skewered Lee straight through the heart. Not fair. “What was I gonna do, Boss? Trot on down and shake hands with the happy couple?”
Pure disgust coursed over Alex’s face. “You went all that way and you didn’t find out why she went there? Is she back yet?”
“Don’t know if she’s coming back. She looked pretty happy.” Lee corrected himself, “I mean, they looked happy.”
Alex dropped his head into his hand, his eyes closed and the stress of the last night etched on his face. “Find her,” he ordered quietly. “Talk to her. At least, find out what she wants us to do with the reliquary. It’s hers, not ours. I’ll support her whichever way she wants to go.”
“Yes, Boss,” Seth answered promptly, the suck-up.
“Not you.” Another dark look skewered Lee. “You.”
And that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. “No,” he stated loudly and unequivocally. It wasn’t often an agent told the boss no. Seth and Jordan stopped breathing. Lee, on the other hand... “You knew going in this was my last op. You want her, you go get her.”
“But you care for her.” Alex couldn’t have landed a harder blow below the belt.
“Shit, Boss, that I care only proves I’m a friggin’ moron!” Lee stifled his heart. What more could he say? Hell yes, he cared, but one out of two did not a decent relationship make, much less a marriage. And now there he was, everyone staring at him and discussing his failed forty-eight-hour-old nightmare. Another freaking fine day in paradise!
He turned his back on The TEAM. Let Alex figure out what to do next. Lee had a plane to catch, and despite the fact he hadn’t scheduled it yet, he didn’t plan to miss it.
“Where am I?” Tess asked. The fog in her head pressed her into the mattress. The heat had been replaced with cooling air, but some guy was bellowing in the hallway. He didn’t sound happy. The noise hurt her eyes, the ones she had yet to open. Please shut up, whoever you are. You’re killing me here.
No sooner wished than granted. The bellowing stopped. Footsteps approached her bed, and a gentle hand rested on her forehead. She peeled one eye open, but the soft light pillaged her retinas. She couldn’t squeeze her eyes closed fast enough.
“Ma’am,” a man said, his words like thunder in her skull. “On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your pain?”
“Like hell,” she squeaked. Worse than hell. More like a
fiery migraine on steroids that stretched all the way to her toes. “What... happened?”
“Some moron at the front gate jumped to conclusions and tasered you.” Careful hands smoothed along her arm. “You’re in our medical wing. I’m Doctor Jackson. I’m still not sure why you were trying to enter Camp Eggers, but you shouldn’t have been treated like that.”
“Lee,” she muttered an attempt to explain. “I’m with Lee Hart.”
“Is this his duty station?”
“No,” she whined. Her head felt ready to explode. Talking made everything worse. “He’s with... Alex.”
“I’m going to give you something to help you sleep,” a faraway voice murmured.
“No, don’t. Please. I just... want... Lee.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
“You need any help?” Seth asked.
“Sure don’t,” Lee answered with the same response he’d given the last ten times Seth asked.
They were in the parking lot of Eggers. He shouldered what was left of his gear. Nizari’s men had taken his weapons, knife, and boots the night before. All he had left were the few borrowed clothes on his back, his bag, and one pistol that really belonged to The TEAM. He handed it grip-first to Seth. “Might need a ride though.”
Seth accepted the weapon and secured it in his belt. He seemed stuck in a place he didn’t want to be—the middle of a war between Lee and Alex. Lee let him off the hook and changed the subject. “How are the guys?”
“Hunter woke up. He can’t remember the fight at all, and Eric’s mad as hell that he took a hit. He wants to go back and kick some more Taliban ass.”
Sounded like Eric, the feistiest medic Lee had ever run into. The man could save lives, but he wasn’t against popping a few bad guys when they got in his way.
“Alex?”
Seth shrugged. “I ain’t asking. I’m staying clear of him right now. When’s your flight leaving?”
Lee grunted. “To tell you the truth, I don’t have one yet. Thought I’d hang out at the airport for a while and see what comes in. I can always go stand-by.”
Lee (In the Company of Snipers Book 12) Page 30