Nowhere to Hide (Delos Series Book 1)

by Lindsay McKenna

  “This is quite a paradigm shift for a charity,” Lia said, holding Dilara’s gaze. She saw the concern in her boss’ eyes, knew that her love for people was always at the forefront of everything she did. Her heart swelled with pride knowing that she worked with Delos Charities.

  “Unfortunately,” Dilara sighed, “yes, it is. But our world has changed, I’m sorry to say. It’s not the world you and I grew up in. Especially me, since I’m in my forties,” and she smiled a little. “I grew up in a safe world, Lia. There were no school shootings, no mass murders of innocent people, no beheadings, and no terrorism. If we are to continue to help those who need us, we must protect our property, our volunteers and paid staff. We can’t leave them open the way you, Maria and Sophia were left vulnerable so that Medina could kill. I will go to my grave with their deaths on my conscience, and I never want this to happen again. Delos is about hope for a brighter future for the people who come through our doors. That’s why our charity logo is a rising sun. It’s about hope, giving people who are in the dark, a way out, a way to a better life. We’re here to provide them medical help, education and give them help in agriculture so they can grow better, bigger crops for their people.”

  “I understand,” Lia whispered, deeply affected by Dilara’s passionate words. She was one of the wealthiest women in the world, but to Lia, Dilara was not the socialite the entertainment magazines touted. They didn’t really know this Turkish-Greek woman with a heart as big as the world. Lia had often heard her say during charity meetings, “money isn’t something we can’t take with us once we die.” Their money, billions, would be placed into Delos Charities. Dilara was a fierce advocate that education was the only tool that would lift people out of poverty and give them a chance for a decent life, free from starvation.

  Lia loved working in home schools and had, in her four years, seen the children of La Fortuna blossom with the education Delos provided them. The world was a better place because these children were being educated. Education bred understanding, not fear or kept people imprisoned in darkness. And Dilara, in Lia’s mind, was a torch of hope in this broken world. She was a rising sun of hope for those who had so little.

  “I’ll read this and make notes,” Lia promised, eager to dig in and help.

  “Good. I’m really relying on you, Lia, because you’ve spent time in our Home School program. I want to find someone in our Farm Foundation area and our Safe House charities to read the manual, too.” She gave Lia a proud look. “You were my choice for the Home School portion.”

  Blushing, Lia said, “I’m sure there are other teachers who are certified, who can do better than I can.”

  “No, that’s not true,” Dilara said. “For four years, you have run the Home School charity in La Fortuna in every way but classroom teaching. You know about the building, the plumbing, electrical, the water, as well as coordinating the lesson plans, getting supplies ordered and to the classrooms. You do all the logistics, Lia. A teacher teaches. What you do? You’re like a manager who oversees the entire operation from beginning to end.

  You really are the right person to be reading this manual. And you are especially valuable to us because of the managerial position you held at La Fortuna. No, you can give us a full overview on this operation, whereas a teacher could not. Does that make sense to you now?” Dilara gave her a reassuring smile.

  Lia felt tears threaten to overtake her. “Y-yes, it does. I guess I never saw myself in that capacity. All I wanted to do was help serve, and make those kids’ lives better.”

  “Well, you have and you do,” Dilara patted her hand. “But I have one more thing I must speak to you about.”

  “What?” Lia hoped it wasn’t anything bad. She’d seen enough of that to last a lifetime.

  “Robert and I are already starting to hire key staff for Artemis Security. Among them, we’re reaching out to key individuals from our charities, and hiring them to come and work here, with us. Robert has had a real estate company buy a huge farm just outside Alexandria that we’re going to convert into Artemis Security. It’s going to take nine months to convert the three-story farmhouse into a major security operation. We’ve created three key departments based on the charities’ outreach programs: Safe House, Home School and Farm Foundation.”

  She halted, and then gripped Lia’s hand. “I very much want to hire you to run the Home School Department, Lia. You’re perfect for the position. You not only have experience and management knowledge, but you also have a military background. We’re trying to hire managers with military experience because Artemis is ultimately about security and protecting our people out in the field. That needs key people with a military background so they can make good decisions based upon their knowledge. You make sound decisions with such a multi-career background already.

  I can promise that you’ll have your own office, as many assistants as you need, and you’ll run that department. You’ll answer to Tal, Matt, Alexa, as well as, Robert and me. The department managers are the top tier in Artemis and you will be one of them. You will help create policy to be carried out in the field. This is a job for someone who loves educating children, who’s fierce about it. And you are, Lia. I can promise you a very handsome salary. You will be helping Delos move into the twenty-first century with Artemis. We are going to transform our global charity to keep our people safe. What do you say?”

  CHAPTER 17

  Lia had discovered that late June in Alexandria, Virginia was absolutely beautiful. She was at the old farmhouse outside the bustling, busy town, ensconced in her new office on the fifth floor. It was Monday and she was working on a manual to be sent to all Home School Delos charities in South and Central America.

  Outside her bulletproof window was a huge green pasture surrounded by a freshly painted white fence. The farmhouse had been converted into Artemis Security, but from the outside, if someone drove along the narrow, two-lane asphalt road, looked like a farmhouse from the mid-1850s.

  Inside, however, it was a very different story. Lia could hear the carpenters, the drywall people, the electricians and the construction workers humming throughout the three-story above ground structure. They were also adding two floors beneath the building. They’d prepared her office first because she was the only employee on site so far. Tomorrow, three women would be in the newly painted HR, Human Resources, office on the first floor. Lia was on the top floor, where all the managers would eventually be located.

  Even though she was excited about her new job, Lia’s heart and mind were never far from Cav. Since being shuttled out of Costa Rica a week ago, he’d contacted her once. They had chatted via webcam so he could let her know he was okay. He’d been back in San José after taking down Medina, and reported that he and the team of Delta Force operators were going back into the northern highlands to begin dismantling the huge cocaine network Medina had put together.

  Lia had tried to keep their conversation light, feeling the pressure on Cav. It wasn’t that he tried to hide anything from her, but the camera showed the tension at the corners of his mouth and eyes. She knew how dangerous his mission was going to be.

  Medina’s soldiers were stationed at every farm with the latest weapons, with orders to protect the farms and keep the cocaine flowing for distribution. All she could hope was that Cav’s years of experience would keep him safe.

  On her desk were a landline phone, satellite phone, desktop computer, and a radio connected to the men and women directing the building of Artemis. When her sat phone buzzed, she frowned, then looked at the number. It was Cav! She picked it up eagerly. “Cav? Are you all right?” Lia tried to keep the worry out of her voice.

  “I’m fine. I just wanted to let you know that Dilara is ordering me up to see her. She’s going to offer me a job and I’ll potentially be working at Artemis Security. I don’t know the details yet, and I’ve got an appointment to speak to her about next Monday. We’re just about finished mopping up Medina’s operation here, and she wants me to put in for
a job with their new security company. Could you use some company at your condo Friday evening?”

  Hearing the amusement in his teasing tone lifted all her worries. “I’d love that! When are you coming in? Which airport? I just bought a car and I can pick you up.”

  “Sounds great.” Cav gave her his flight information, and Lia’s hand shook as she wrote it down. She didn’t have an office assistant yet, but Dilara had promised she’d have one as soon as the HR department was up and running. Then, she’d have all the people she needed to work on the global manual.

  “I can hardly wait to see you,” Cav growled. “Get ready, because we’re picking up where we left off.”

  Heat flowed through Lia’s body. “I’d love nothing more than that, Cav. You’re coming in on a Friday evening, so I’ll have the entire weekend to spend with you.”

  “Good. Because I’ve got plans…”

  She laughed, feeling freer than she had in the last five years. “Okay, I wonder if they’re the same as mine?”

  “Let’s compare notes when I get home to you.”

  “Stay safe and I’ll see you soon.”

  “Always,” he promised her.

  Lia sighed as she set the phone down on her desk, her heart thumping wildly. Cav was coming home! That was wonderful news, but she was curious as to what Dilara was up to.

  Why was she hiring Cav for Artemis? Since he already worked for the charity, maybe she was creating a new job for him?

  “Hi, there,” Dilara called, poking her head into her office, “How do you like your new digs, Lia?”

  Turning, Lia smiled broadly as the older woman walked in. Dilara always looked like a fashion plate as well she should coming from a family of wealth. She wore only the finest clothes, but they were always understated and elegant. This morning, she wore a light pink linen pantsuit with a gold collar around her throat and dangling, Turkish earrings.

  “Hey, come on in. I just heard from Cav!”

  Dilara smiled and closed the door, sauntering over to the burgundy leather chair next to Lia’s tiger maple desk. “Did you, now?” she said innocently, her ever-present eel skin briefcase next to the chair.

  Lia leaned back in her leather chair. “Okay, what’s going on?” she baited. “Why are you asking him back here?”

  Dilara smiled wickedly. “You need an assistant, don’t you?”

  “What?” Eyes widening, Lia was at a loss for words. “Cav…he’s the one you chose as my assistant?”

  “I bet you didn’t know that he has a Bachelor of Arts from Cal Poly in Comparative Ethnic Studies. He also has a minor in African and Asian studies, which I feel strongly, will help you when you guide your teachers to create specific teaching manuals for our charities in those countries. What do you think?”

  “No, he never told me about his academic background. I mean he never talked about having a degree.”

  “We have his resume on file at the main office,” Dilara confided. “I’ve known for sometime about his background and have been looking for a way to use it.” Her eyes danced with mischief. “You’re our Central and South American specialist. You won’t have issues guiding our teaching staff to create teaching manuals and updating them for these Latin countries. But you need specialists in other parts of the world who can help you.”

  “No question,” Lia admitted. “So you’re looking to Cav to help me with manuals for your Asian and African charities?”

  “Yes, and I’ve got my eye on another operator who has a similar degree for our European operations. We’ll see if he wants to trade in his M4 for a spot here in your department,” she smiled.

  Shaking her head, Lia said, “This is such a huge project, Dilara.”

  “Tell me about it,” Dilara laughed. “But getting our HR department online soon will take a big load off me, which I’ll transfer to the three women we’ve hired. I think you’ll like them. Two of the three have a military background, so you should get along well. There’s a lot of work to do to get your Home School Department fully functioning, with lots of school manuals that need updating as well as bringing in the correct teaching staff to write them.”

  “Sometimes,” Lia admitted, “I see the bigger picture and wonder how I can do it all, and do it well.”

  “Well, you can’t, Lia. See, that’s why you’re the manager. You’ll direct people who know the specific areas. But you’ll be their visionary, their guiding hand, to bring it all together. I have an appointment to talk with Cav next Monday about the job offer we have for him.”

  “He doesn’t know he’ll be working with me?”

  “No, not yet.” Her lips twitched. “He knows I’ll be giving him a job if he wants it, just not WHERE in Artemis. Yet. I’ve a feeling once he knows he’ll leap at the opportunity. Besides, I think you two are sweet on one another, and this is something you’d both want. Am I right?”

  The answer seemed obvious, but Lia was still cautious. “We haven’t talked about any of that,” she admitted. “Everything blew up on us in La Fortuna, so we’re still getting to know one another.”

  “I’ve known Cav for awhile. He’s a wonderful person, Lia, but I think you already know that.”

  Lia sobered. “I tried to not get entangled with him, Dilara. I was worried that he’d be like every other man, and think I was ugly because of my knife wounds.”

  “He’s not like that,” Dilara protested.

  “I’ve found that out,” Lia admitted softly. “He sees me, not the scars.”

  “And that’s the kind of person I want working with Artemis and with you.” She pulled a few manuals from her briefcase and set them on the desk. “Now, these are the manuals we’re presently using for our African, European and Asian Home School charities. Take your time going through them. If Cav takes the job, you can hand him two of them and he can work with our education specialists, whom we’ll be hiring in about a week. Because Cav knows the political environment of a given continent, he can add his knowledge into the updating of our school manual. Then, all you have to do is read it, pass it on to our Education Department and let them make the final changes. Then, we’ll have new manuals for the start of the school season next year.”

  “Sounds easy enough,” Lia said. “I’m picking Cav up at Reagan International Friday evening.”

  Dilara stood up, smoothing her linen trousers. “We have a condo rented for him.”

  “He’s staying with me for the weekend, but I’ll pass along the information on his condo when I see him.”

  “I thought that might be the case.” Dilara grinned and pulled out a packet from the side of her briefcase, handing it to Lia. “If and when he makes it over to his condo, which by the way is a floor above yours, he can make himself at home. He knows to be at my office at 9 A.M. Monday morning.”

  “Yes,” Lia promised, taking the manila packet. She could feel a set of keys in it.

  Waving to her, Dilara opened the door. “See you later. Have a good weekend…”

  Exhaustion pulled at Cav as he deplaned and joined hundreds of other people moving toward the security exit. He carried a dark green duffle bag in his left hand. Friday night, in Washington, D.C., was a far cry from the humid jungle of the Monte Verde Cloud Forest in Costa Rica.

  Most exciting for him was that he was finally going to see Lia, with no threats to spending time together. His lower body stirred, and he had to remind himself that all they’d shared were some touches and kisses. Not his bed. Yet.

  Cav spotted Lia before she even saw him. She was standing off to one side near the wall. He smiled, seeing that she was wearing a tasteful pale cream-colored pantsuit with a bright red blouse that brought out her hair’s rich highlights.

  The fact that she was allowing it to grow pleased him, and she looked terrific, the longer hair enhancing her oval face and her sensual lips. God, he’d missed her, especially since he’d gotten used to having her in his life. His heart pulsed with need for her, and he watched her moving nervously from one sandaled foot
to another, his grin broadening. She never could stand still for long.

  As he emerged from behind a group of businessmen walking quickly out of security, Cav saw Lia catch sight of him. Her gray eyes widened and he saw the joy shining on her face. Quickly, he lengthened his considerable stride, leaving most of the passengers behind. As he neared Lia, he dropped his canvas bag to the floor and opened his arms wide.

  “Cav!” she cried, throwing her arms around his neck, hugging him.

  Groaning with pleasure, Cav accepted her frontal assault with a laugh, bringing her tightly up against his entire body, feeling how soft she was. Catching a scent that reminded him of cloves, her hair silky against his face, he heard her choke out his name, holding him as hard as she could.

  “Oh, Cav!” she muffled against his neck. “I’ve missed you so much!”

  He let her feet touch the floor, then held her, kissed her hair, kissed her temple. “Come here,” he growled, tilting her face upward, his mouth descending upon hers. Every cell in his body glowed as she eagerly kissed him, reminding him of a happy, wriggling puppy. There was nothing but joy as he kissed her again, then backed off slightly, trying to control his hunger for her.

  Cav was aware that they were in public, and that others were watching them. Always protective of Lia, he moved so that he placed her near the wall, his back toward the crowd, shielding her from curious, prying eyes.

  After another kiss, they came up for air. Timing was everything, and Cav knew it. Allowing her to ease from him, keeping his hands on her shoulders, he smiled down at her. “You have no idea how much I’ve been looking forward to this…to you,” and he caressed her face, hoping Lia wouldn’t wince or pull away as his fingers grazed the scar on her beautiful flesh.