Dangerously Deceived

by Sidney Bristol

  They hadn’t yet said much of anything since leaving the SUV.

  She glanced over her shoulder at the guy manning the wheel, but a door and glass separated them. The blaring radio pretty much insured he couldn’t hear anything they said.

  Brenden and Jamie were below deck with the man they’d called Ethan.

  Carla still didn’t understand it all. But she wanted to.

  She lifted her head and prodded Vaughn’s arm.

  He glanced down at her, brows lifted.

  “Is it okay to talk?” She kept her voice as low as she could.

  Vaughn nodded.

  “What happened?” She reached for his hand and laced their fingers together.

  “When?”

  “At the park?”

  Vaughn blew out a breath and rubbed his chin. “We saw him—Ethan—coming and made a plan. The guys lured him in, let him think he was going to get one over on us, then we caught him in a pinch maneuver. You were just too close. He grabbed you and was gone.”

  “Ashton and Jared?”

  “We got them out.”

  “Is everyone okay? Was anyone hurt?”

  “We had a few injuries,” he said slowly.

  “What?”

  “Ashton was fine. Jared, well, you know...”

  Carla squeezed Vaughn’s hand. Her family was her concern, but these other people mattered to Vaughn, therefore she cared about them, too.

  He squeezed her hand back and peered at her from the corner of his eye. “Jared laid one on Ashton in front of everyone.”

  The sea breeze tickled the back of her throat.

  That wasn’t like Jared. Sure, he was more open and flamboyant about his preferences, but kissing Ashton in public? That just hadn’t happened before.

  “Seriously?”

  “Yeah. Not a big one, but it was pretty obvious. Maybe they’ll stop pretending?” Vaughn smiled a bit.

  Carla shook her head. “No. Not until grandma dies.”

  Pain creased Vaughn’s face, and she knew he was struggling with this just like her. “You really sticking with that?”

  “After this? Yes. I have to, Vaughn.” She traced a scar on the back of his hand. “I care a lot about you, but I wouldn’t have met you if it weren’t for Ash. I can’t turn my back on that. Especially now. After all this...”

  “I get it.”

  Vaughn’s words and his voice, the way he squeezed her hand, they didn’t line up. She heard her own pain echoed back.

  This was the right thing to do. She’d made Ashton a promise. Going back on that would mean she wasn’t the person she wanted to be. She wouldn’t be the person Vaughn deserved. But if she let Vaughn slip away from her, it might just kill her.

  “Is there something else we could do?” She propped her chin on his shoulder and looked up at him.

  Vaughn’s gaze traveled from her forehead down to her chin, studying every bit of her.

  “What if you came on as our personal security?” She liked the idea, but knew the answer before he spoke.

  “What happens when I get jealous? When I get pissed off having to hang back? I’m too possessive for that to work. I could lie to you, try it out and end up destroying what we have. It’s either everything or nothing, Carla. I can’t do what you do.” He reached over and tucked a bit of her hair behind her ear. “You could always choose to start a new chapter. You said yourself you thought this arrangement would end a long time ago.”

  She bit the inside of her mouth.

  He was right.

  Ashton had pitched the idea to her as something that would last a few months, two years tops. It had started out much simpler and grown into this thing eating up her life and soul, leaving her heart bleeding.

  “Who knows? Maybe we’re dodging a bullet here?” Vaughn slid his hand from hers then looped his arm around her shoulders. “I never put my clothes in a hamper. That would drive you crazy.”

  She snorted. “That would.”

  “You’d complain at me and we’d fight about it. What happens when you do something that drives me up a wall? Huh?”

  Carla’s heart hurt a bit more. He was trying, bless him, but she just loved him more for it. “I don’t put the cap on toothpaste. I always forget.”

  “God. No.” Vaughn tipped his head up. “I can’t deal with that.”

  She sputtered a laugh, but on the inside she was dying.

  19.

  Tuesday. Yialos Hotel, Meneou, Cypress.

  “You have reached your destination.”

  Vaughn stared up at the white hotel in front of them. It was out of the way and with any luck they’d look like a group of tourists who’d partied a bit too much. He parked their rental in the small lot adjacent to the building and together they got out.

  The keys to two adjoining rooms had been waiting for them along with the car.

  Vaughn didn’t know how the guys back home did this stuff, but he appreciated it. They were all on their last leg, too tired to think beyond making it to the next stop to figure out what that stop was.

  He got out of the van and stretched, his legs wobbling a bit. An hour after they’d disembarked from the smuggler’s small ship Vaughn still felt the ground moving beneath him. It was the same thing every time he got on the water. His body just clicked with it and didn’t want to let it go.

  Maybe the next chance he got he should take a vacation. Bring Mom and Santiago if he was off the drugs. Go down to the water somewhere and just get lost for a few days. Nothing but ocean to fill his head.

  Nothing except water and her.

  He glanced over the top of the van at Carla with her hands stretched toward the darkening sky.

  She was dead on her feet like the rest of them. Who could blame her?

  They’d fled their safe house under duress, taken refuge in a place they couldn’t properly fortify. No one had really slept, and then they were routed from that place early this morning and the day had wrung every last drop out of them.

  Their only respite was that the smuggler had been willing to part with a bottle of something strong that knocked out their prisoner. He burned through a dose in half the time a guy his size should. They’d still have to watch him round the clock, but at least for two hours or so they could get some rest.

  Brenden and Jamie were already wrestling Ethan out the back. They’d tossed a shirt and shorts on him. He really did look like he belonged.

  Fuck.

  They still had to warn the guys back home who they were bringing with them.

  “Need me to grab anything?” Vaughn asked.

  Jamie shifted his grip on Ethan. “Nope. Just get the doors.”

  Vaughn took the lead, Carla catching up to walk at his side. Their arms brushed, but he didn’t reach for her hand. He didn’t initiate any contact.

  From here on they needed to begin to separate themselves. What he wanted, how he felt about her, none of that changed what came next.

  She was going home to her sky rise lifestyle.

  He was going to check on his mom and see if his brother would speak to him.

  Their worlds didn’t intersect. There was no future for them so long as both their paths continued their current trajectory. They’d had this rare, beautiful connection. They’d taken the opportunity given to them to sink into it, and now it was over.

  His heart didn’t agree, but what could he do?

  Carla deserved the best, and she got it living with Ashton. If she left him for Vaughn, what could he offer her?

  An apartment in Seattle he’d barely furnished with the necessities.

  A room at his mom’s place.

  His off weeks between jobs.

  It wasn’t enough. He knew that. And soon she would, too.

  They reached the far end of the building where their rooms were located. Vaughn checked out both before waving everyone into the marginally bigger room. It had a queen bed and a futon, so at least enough flat surfaces for three people to crash.

  Jamie got the
door, leaving Brenden and Vaughn to figure out where they were securing their captive. There wasn’t a convenient plumbing pipe or radiator.

  “What about out here?” Carla peered out onto the patio the two rooms shared.

  Sure enough, the spacious patio had a sunscreen to prevent anyone looking in and two columns supporting the balconies above, along with a rectangular hot tub.

  “Good enough for me.” He slid the wide doors open, noting that they went all the way into the wall.

  “I’ve got this,” Brenden said, hauling Ethan’s limp form out onto the patio.

  “You think our new friend let Zain know what we’re bringing home with us?” Jamie asked.

  “Nope.” Vaughn grimaced. This circus was his fault, so it was up to him to break the news.

  He pulled out his phone and stared at the screen.

  Other than the text informing them of the car and accommodations he hadn’t used it.

  Cyprus to Seattle was a big time difference.

  “What’s it back home?” Vaughn’s head hurt. “Noon? One?”

  “One,” Brenden said.

  Vaughn nodded then tapped Zain’s number putting the call on speaker.

  “You made it,” Zain said without further greeting.

  “Accounted for and mostly uninjured.” Vaughn glanced at Carla, who’s sat at the earliest convenience on the futon with her bandaged feet propped up.

  “Good.” Zain blew out a breath. “I have a puddle jumper scheduled to take you to Cairo in the morning. Get some rest. Everyone else is recuperating, waiting for you guys.”

  “Yeah, we’ve got one more problem. I’m sending you a picture now.” Vaughn texted off the image of the man they believed to be Ethan Turner. “We caught the guy who attacked us.”

  Zain didn’t reply, but Vaughn could feel the tension half a world away. And then Zain erupted.

  “Fucking—what the hell?” he said. Something banged in the background.

  Zain never lost his cool. Some guys liked to joke that he was really a robot and his prosthetic arm was to fake them out or some bullshit. But under it all he was a man who’d lost just as much as the rest of them. Maybe more. And now Vaughn was throwing a ghost at him.

  “So it’s who we think it is?” he asked.

  “How...?” Zain sucked in a deep breath. “This is the guy in Grant’s reports?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Has he said anything?”

  “We haven’t exactly allowed him to wake up since we got on the boat. The little while he was awake he nearly got away from us tied up. Thought we’d get to Cairo—”

  “Keep him sedated. I’m sending someone to take over. Start talking.”

  Vaughn related the details of their rescue to Zain, then handed the phone to Carla who managed a calm account of her hours spent in the company of her captor.

  As far as Vaughn could tell, the guy didn’t speak any English. He had no idea who they were or who he’d been. It was like someone else was taking Ethan’s body for a deadly joyride. None of it explained how the man’s gunshot wounds were almost completely healed over from earlier that day. It was like something out of a science fiction movie. Except this was real life.

  “Hey, boss?” Vaughn took the phone back.

  “Yeah?” Zain sounded weary and dreading whatever the next question might be.

  “This Ghost guy. Who is he?”

  “I don’t know. One of the other guys worked with him on a few ops back in his SEAL days. Ghost has popped up a few times and helped when things got hairy. I figured I’d try reaching out to him once.”

  “I think he knew who was attacking us and he just didn’t say.”

  “Yeah, well, we aren’t going to get answers out of Ghost. You guys good until the morning?”

  Vaughn glanced around the room. The others gave him a thumbs up. “Yeah, we’re good.”

  “Get some rest and keep an eye on Ethan. I’ll check back in the morning.”

  “Are you going to tell Ethan’s wife?” Jamie asked.

  Silence.

  Zain heaved a deep sigh. “She remarried five months after we thought he died. So, no. I’m not telling her. Not until we know what’s going on.”

  Fuck.

  Vaughn ended the call and slid the phone into his pocket. He massaged his temples while mentally sorting through what he could handle and what had to wait.

  “You guys get some sleep. I’ll sit up,” Jamie said.

  Vaughn shook his head. “We should have two on.”

  “Then I’m on.” Brenden pushed to his feet. “You—sleep.”

  That was a terrible idea, and yet Vaughn didn’t have the energy to disagree.

  “You guys take the next room.” Jamie nodded at the wall. “I’ll wake you in a few hours.”

  Vaughn stared at Jamie a moment.

  Was there something else going on here?

  Vaughn was too exhausted to think it through.

  “Fine. Alright.” He turned toward Carla and gestured at the door. “Let’s go.”

  She held out her hand, and he took it, helping her to her feet. He’d have let go, but she wobbled, too unsteady to walk on her own. And all she had was his sorry ass. They were both dead on their feet.

  Together they left one room for the other. He secured both doors then got down to stripping off unnecessary clothing. Carla crawled straight in bed and curled up on her side.

  One bed.

  No futon.

  He paused in removing his holster.

  Was this Jamie’s plan? Leave them alone together?

  It wasn’t helping Vaughn’s clean break plan.

  What was one more night together?

  It would be their last.

  Tomorrow, in Cairo, they’d have the team around them. She’d be with Ashton and Jared. Vaughn would be lucky if he still had a job.

  He placed his guns on the night stand then toed out of his boots. He’d like to strip down to his bare skin and hold her against him, but with Ethan out there he didn’t dare. Instead Vaughn crawled onto the bed, placing himself between Carla and the patio door, lying face to face with her. The bit of light coming in from outside allowed them to look at each other.

  Less than a foot separated them, and yet it was so much more.

  “Get some sleep,” he whispered.

  “I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep.”

  He understood that. The weight of what they did and saw stayed with him. Haunted him. He hated that she was going through this, but she was strong.

  Carla stretched her hand toward him and cupped his face. Her thumb traced his lips.

  “I’m going to miss you,” she said.

  He already missed her, and she was right there.

  Vaughn wrapped his hand around her wrist then kissed her palm.

  What could he say to that?

  She laced their fingers together, holding onto him. He stared at her little fingers between his own, pale and dark, and wished this wasn’t their end.

  “Vaughn?”

  “Hm?” He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand, reveling in the softness of her skin.

  “Is this the last time we’re going to see each other?”

  “There’s tomorrow.”

  “I mean in private.”

  He swallowed. “Yeah.”

  These were their last, honest moments together. The last time they could act however they wanted without an audience to present a rouse to. It didn’t matter that Ashton and Jared had blown their cover, Vaughn knew that Carla would continue to present the image of the girlfriend to everyone else.

  She pulled his hand to her waist and scooted closer, closing that gap between them.

  “Then I don’t want to sleep.” She kissed his jaw, then his cheek. “Love me one last time?”

  “Carla...” He eased away from her. The swirl of emotions inside of him raged. Love her one last time? He was going to love her always and never have her. “I can’t.”

  She curled her
fingers into his hair. “Not even one, last time?”

  He stared at her, the light glinting off her eyes. Even in the darkness he could see his heart reflected back at him. “One more time and I might not be willing to let you go.”

  “Okay.” Her voice cracked as she pulled away from him. “We both know I push too much. Sorry.”

  He pressed is now free hand against her waist holding her where she was. “Don’t be sorry. Ever. You’re amazing, Carla. Don’t forget that. You deserve every good thing that comes your way.”

  She turned her back toward him, shoulders hunched.

  He could easily have lost himself in her body, forgetting reality for another few moments. But coming off that would be harder. He barely managed to hold himself back as it was. Even now he wanted to wrap himself around her, kiss her, offer her comfort. But that wasn’t the role he was going to play in her life. He was a memory. A man who’d held her for a time. Nothing more.

  WEDNESDAY. AEGIS GROUP Headquarters, Cairo, Egypt.

  Carla kept her hands folded on her lap as the SUV rolled past the large gate leading into the Aegis Group Cairo headquarters. It felt like she’d been here ages ago. Was it really only a week? Not even a week. Six days.

  God, it felt so much longer.

  She wasn’t ready for this.

  Vaughn had effectively terminated their relationship. Maybe he was right and one more night together would have made today harder. They’d never know.

  The SUV came to a gentle stop, the dust swirling around them from a gusty breeze.

  The nightmare was over so why was she dreading this place? Was it the return to reality? To an existence that was slowly strangling the life out of her?

  She glanced at Vaughn in the driver’s seat.

  He didn’t look in the mirror at her. He barely acknowledged her, and somehow that hurt worse than the gashes on her feet or the bruises on her head.

  A man she didn’t recognize opened her door.

  “Ms. White?” He offered her a hand.

  There was no good reason to stay in the truck, so she allowed him to help her out of the vehicle and into the blazing sun. She squinted, light too harsh for her eyes after hours spent in the dark cargo hold of a plane. Every joint seemed to vibrate still. It was one flight she’d never forget.