by Lea Griffith
Her heart cracked. She didn’t want to break the silence because she sensed he was about to tell her more, so Allie folded her hands in her lap and waited.
“I’m on a mission to destroy the people responsible for the deaths of several members of my team.”
“I’m going out on a limb here because I know jack about your past, but surely, if they were soldiers like you, they knew the danger. Who were you working for?”
“Endgame Ops.” He spit the words out, as if the taste of them in his mouth was abhorrent.
Something niggled at the back of Allie’s mind. It wasn’t the first time she’d heard that name, but damn if she could remember where or in what context. “Sanctioned?” she asked.
He shook his head. That wasn’t good. Allie was her father’s daughter and had always had an ability to ferret out secrets and angles. She wished she had a secure Internet connection and a way to access it so she could do her own searching. Because something about Endgame Ops rocked her foundations.
“You have to realize that on paper, Endgame offers protective services. We work for organizations rebuilding war-torn countries. We keep their people safe. In reality, that’s a cover. We operate in the black, taking missions our own government won’t. None of our missions were sanctioned. That allowed us to act with anonymity, and we were able to deny our government’s culpability in any of our actions. I trained men and women to be the best soldiers they could be, and I led them into the darkness of covert ops. I was a killer by birth and a leader by design.”
Of course he was a leader. She’d recognized that the moment she’d seen him. Okay, maybe that had come later—after the mink-brown hair, the high-and-tight ass, and that chest. Good Lord, she wanted to fan herself right now. The man had a way with her hormones.
“So what happened?”
“I really shouldn’t tell you this,” he muttered.
“But you will,” she singsonged. “Because you trust me.”
“I don’t trust anyone. You’d do well to remember that,” he replied through clenched teeth.
That hurt, but she refused to be cowed so she waited. She’d change his mind.
His shoulders tightened, but he didn’t look at her. “We ran an op in Beirut a year ago, an incursion operation. It went belly up. Our helo crashed, and several members of my team were caught and murdered. Endgame Ops almost came to an end.”
“God, you are so stingy with information.” She sighed loudly before she followed with, “And?”
“And I’ve spent the last year trying to hunt down the ones responsible.”
“Why?” she asked softly.
“To destroy them.”
“Yeah, you mentioned that.” Well, wasn’t that simple then? She snorted and he turned to her, disbelief on his face. “Are you a one-man army now? Or do you have help?”
His lip quirked at the corner, and her heart thudded heavily. What this man did to her with the tiniest of movements was a hazard all its own.
“I have help.”
“That’s good then,” she responded with a grunt of her own.
“Why would you care?” he asked silkily.
“It isn’t your turn to pump me for information, buddy.”
He came back and sat across from her. His seriousness conveyed itself startlingly well. His face went hard, and his intent stroked her skin. “You were on that plane. Why?”
She rested her jaw on her fist. “I told you I was headed home. I’ve been in this country for two years. I missed home. Plus, things were heating up here. As you can tell, Boko Haram is becoming entrenched in Cameroon. Nigeria is fighting a constant war with them, and they’ve spread their wings.”
“Did anyone know you were heading home?”
“If you’re turning this into an inquisition, can you at least grab me a bottle of water? I’m dry as the Sahara,” she groused.
He did as she asked, and as he bent to retrieve the bottle from the bowels of the fridge, Allie looked her fill, almost groaning at how his khakis stretched over that amazing rear end.
“I know you’re looking at my ass,” he said. She could hear the smile in his voice.
“I so am. When I’m better, I’ll turn around often so you can do the same. I’m totally willing to return the favor.”
He snorted. “What if I don’t want to look at your ass?”
“You don’t want to go there with me.”
“No?”
She cleared her throat and lowered her voice as deep as she could. “‘You’ll not only look at me that way again, Redding, you’ll do it while I’m buried inside you, riding us both to release.’”
He stilled, threw back his head, and laughed. It was one of the most beautiful things she’d ever seen or heard.
Then his face blanked when he looked at hers. “Don’t,” he said suddenly, harshly.
She met his gaze, wondering what he was talking about.
“Don’t make this harder on me,” he repeated roughly.
She glanced away, afraid she’d burn to cinders at the look in his eyes. “Sorry. I don’t want to make anything harder than it already is.”
He handed her the water. “It’s pretty fucking tough. My neck is itching, and it’s time to get moving. I’ll give you tonight to rest up, but we need to head out soon.”
Allie drank the water and breathed heavily. She was sore, but healing fast. She would survive. She’d made it through a bullet’s grazing kiss, anything that came after was child’s play. Right?
“I didn’t tell anyone I was heading home. That’s always been the way it is. I buy my tickets and head home—no notice, no nothing. I’m always careful. I’ve been taught to watch my six and take the unknown into account, but I’m not a soldier. I’m a caregiver. So those things come harder to me. I didn’t notice anything unusual. I had one of the villagers drive me to Douala, was a little late arriving, but everything was fine. You know, until the bullets started flying.”
He gazed at the table, his index finger making circles in the condensation from his water bottle. “Six people, including me, knew I was in Cameroon, and I was only here because I was expecting to meet a courier.”
“Meet, as in kidnap?”
“You say to-may-toe…”
Allie raised an eyebrow.
“How long ago did you reserve your flight?” he asked.
“Two weeks. I called my dad from the satellite phone when I arrived—”
The same sat phone with the tracker embedded in it. His head snapped up. “Wait, you said nobody knew, but Loretta knew. I heard her say she thought you’d be gone by now.”
There were some things Allie would never doubt. Lo-Lo’s loyalty was one of them. Just like she knew Kingston McNally would never willingly harm her. Some things just were.
“It’s not Lo-Lo. I don’t know how anyone found out, but it wasn’t from her. Maybe they were tracking my cell phone. You said that was a possibility.”
He rubbed a hand down his face. He’d said it before, and it bore saying again—she was too damn trusting. The look on his face spoke of his doubt. His mind tickled with the possibility that Loretta was involved in this somehow. “I told your father I’d get you home, but he’s got a leak somewhere. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Somebody has put you smack-dab in the middle of this. You say it isn’t her. Okay, but I’m not willing to trust her any farther than I can throw her. For shits and giggles, let’s say it isn’t her. That means someone besides Loretta knows who you are, what you are to him, and they’re using you to do one of two things: get to your dad, or get to me.”
“I didn’t even know you existed until a few days ago. Why would anyone think you’d be swayed by putting me into play?”
“It’s not you, it’s what you represent” came his hard reply.
Allie clenched her fists tight. She was getting
angry, and that wouldn’t help anything. “What do I represent?”
“A link to the man I was told you were handling information for, and through him, a link to Horace Dresden.”
“And why is that important?”
“Horace Dresden and Vasily Savidge are the ones who killed my teammates in Beirut.”
Fear tripped through her. “I have never been a courier. So why would the person setting all this up think you’d keep me so close after you discovered I had no link to Dresden?”
“Because you’re also a link to the CIA,” he said roughly.
She sighed. “I know I’m a bit slow, but why is that important?”
His gaze was on her, but his mind was somewhere far, far away. “Because it was CIA who betrayed us and gave Dresden the heads-up we were coming in Beirut.”
He stopped there, and she could have screamed in frustration.
“And?”
He got up and began pacing, his big body and long legs eating up the tiny hut in a loop. “There is no and. The less you know, the better off you are.”
Frustration had her gasping for breath. No sudden moves, Allie. You might hurt yourself. Or him. “You just said you have no idea what their true motivation is for using me. The thing about that whole statement? They’re using me. So I’m all up in this whether you, me, or Gray Broemig likes it or not.”
Anger rushed through her and she stood suddenly, the need to move and expel the sudden excess of energy overwhelming. She began to pace.
“Stay in your seat, woman.”
“Don’t tell me what to do,” she returned. “I want the truth, King.”
“I work in the black, Allie. I do things other people refuse to do so that in the end, the greater good is met.”
“What does that mean? Spell it out,” she demanded. Her heart was in her throat. She knew what it meant…
He sighed and rubbed a hand down his face. “They obviously thought I’d be willing to use you to get what I want.”
Her disbelief was tempered by her meager knowledge of how black ops worked. “And are they right?”
He looked at her, his green gaze intent. Would he be truthful here and now? There was a lot riding on this. She trusted him, even though she doubted her sanity to do so.
“No. I won’t use an innocent to do my dirty work.”
Relief poured through her, making her momentarily weak. “Thank you.” It was all she could say. His answer meant he believed her—she wasn’t an operative and had no idea how she’d been pulled into this mess.
He crossed his arms over his chest and widened his stance. “I can’t tell you Endgame business. You know too much as it is now. I won’t put you in more harm than you’re already in. Trust me, knowing Endgame business gets people killed.”
“What about you?” she whispered, stopping in front of him and giving in to the urge to touch him. She stroked a finger down his stubble-roughened cheek.
“I can take care of myself.” Their gazes locked, and she heard everything he didn’t say. He was constantly in danger. It surrounded him like a mantle. She hadn’t noticed that hard edge when she’d first seen him on the plane. Truthfully, she hadn’t been able to see past the instant lust.
And she knew then she was getting nothing else from him today. “I’m tired. If we’re leaving tomorrow, I need to rest. Can you tell me where we’re going?”
“I won’t know until we get there,” he replied.
Evasion—he was a master at it.
“Nice. Great answer.” She was the one crossing her arms over her chest now. “I don’t like being kept in the dark.”
“You can’t tell what you don’t know.”
Ahh, the flip side of being innocent. Apparently, she wouldn’t know plans until they happened. His words made her shiver, but she walked to the bed and lay down gingerly. Soon they’d be on the move. She needed the rest if she wasn’t going to slow them down.
“I’ll wake you when it’s time to go,” he told her.
“Can you at least tell me why we can’t hit the closest U.S. base and send me home on a military plane?”
He shook his head. “I promised your father I’d deliver you home personally. Until he knows who the leak is, nowhere but with me is safe. The man responsible for my team members’ deaths has access to U.S. installations worldwide. I won’t risk you by trying to get you home easily.”
“And yet you say people are gunning for you and your men,” she reminded him.
“I can protect you, Allie. Trust me.”
She glanced up, sleep teasing her. “I do.”
He turned away, and she thought she heard him murmur, “I’m sorry.”
She didn’t respond, unsure what he was apologizing for. She breathed in deeply, knowing that for right now she was as safe as she would ever be.
Because she was with him.
Chapter 12
King’s neck prickled, and he glanced out the window he’d been standing beside for hours. Allie had nodded off long ago. He checked her breathing before he grabbed his Kimber off the bedside table and stepped to the door.
Someone was out there. Someone doing their best to avoid detection. Friend or foe? He was about to find out. He began counting his breaths, slowing them until his blood was quiet in his ears.
A slide of boot on sand, the shift of a rock beneath the same boot. Then the knob turned and King struck, throwing open the door, and kicking up and out to push the big man back.
“Goddamn, King. It’s me,” the man hissed.
“You know better than to sneak up on me, Chase,” King said in a low tone.
“Figured your lady might be sleeping,” Chase said with a grin. “Didn’t want to disturb her.”
King shoved with his hand this time, and Chase stumbled back another step. “Fuck you,” King replied, adding, “You can come out now, Jude. I know you’re there.”
He turned and headed back into the hut. Chase followed, and then came Jude, his face rueful as he shut the door softly.
“Nice place, Your Highness,” Jude teased.
“I haven’t heard from you. Truth be told, I was starting to worry. Why are you two down my way?”
“Jude said you needed help. I brought you me, and Black is close by,” Chase said with a grin, holding his arms open wide.
“I told him to contact his source and find out why the hell I was led to her,” King returned, pointing to where Allie was lying.
“Apparently his original source is no longer cooperating. But she’s the courier. That’s what Jude wanted you to know. Said no matter what you thought you knew or heard, she’s the one we’re looking for.”
King shook his head. “Jude can’t speak now?”
Jude gave him an impenetrable look. The man was hard. If King was a boulder, Jude Dagan was a frigging mountain. King shook his head. “No way. She’s important, but she’s not Savidge’s contact.”
Chase rubbed his chin. “Jude is rarely wrong.”
“Yeah, Your Highness, I’m rarely wrong,” Jude tossed into the conversation.
As soon as Jude finished his sentence, his mouth twisted. They all knew the truth. Jude had been wrong one time before, and it had cost him his heart. It had cost Endgame three valuable teammates.
King rolled his shoulders. He had just as much, if not more, culpability because he was their leader. He should’ve known, damn it.
“I can’t figure out what Savidge is doing.” King ran a hand through his hair and cursed. He noticed that Jude was staring at Allie sleeping peacefully on the bed. He clenched his fists, and King straightened. “Is he using her to get to her dad or us? Or both?”
Chase must have noticed the sudden tension in the room. “Jude, tell him what you know.”
Jude sighed. “Savidge is doing Dresden’s dirty work, as always. By the way, word is
Dresden is back in the States and your boy Savidge has holed back up in Beirut.”
Goddamn it. They had a bead on Savidge, and he had the complication of Allie Redding.
“Does Rook know?” King asked. “And the contact inside Dresden’s operation—they still providing us with all this information?”
“Rook left the Ukraine the minute he discovered Dresden’s location. And yes, the contact is still operational. It’s like Christmas every month of the year because all of their intel proves to be true,” Jude whispered.
“I want to know who that contact is as soon as possible. Has Black made any headway?”
“None. The contact is adamant they’ll provide intel in exchange for future services,” Chase explained.
King rubbed his eyes. “They might ask for more than we’re willing to provide.”
“Anything’s possible.” The other man glanced at Allie. “She’s gotta be a link.” It was like Chase was reading King’s mind.
“She’s Broemig’s daughter.”
Jude inhaled sharply. “No fucking way that robot has offspring. Though like I said, anything’s possible.”
King nodded. “He does, and there she lies.”
“Best-kept secrets and all that. Hell, I’m just glad it’s you and not me.” Chase winced, then took a deep breath. “There are several items in the packet Jude has. You can take a cruise or fly—you’ve got options,” Chase informed him.
“Plans have definitely changed.”
Chase nodded. “We figured as much.”
King pointed at Chase. “I need you to find everything you can while keeping an eye on the situation in Burundi. That warlord is running diamonds and lining Dresden’s pockets. We need him as leverage.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Goddamn but there’s a lot of balls up in the air. Something smells about all of this. I came here to track Savidge, and I’m being led on a merry chase. It stinks.”
“I’m on it.” Chase responded.
Jude handed him the packet. “You said to formulate a new itinerary, so I contacted Black and he brought these.”
“He just brought them to you, huh? Why is Black on this continent? You know what? Never mind. He’s always got another agenda. Worse than a damn spook.” King opened the packet and smiled. “It’s like you and Black read my mind.”