Unmasking the Mercenary

by Jennifer Morey

  “Do not try my patience.”

  Recovering from the memories threatening to come into full light, she spat in his face. “You’re going to kill me anyway, so why don’t you just do it now?”

  He wiped dripping blood from his nose. “Do not be so eager to bring about your demise. You tempt me to do as you ask.”

  With a long, penetrating stare, he moved around her and left the room. The other two men left after him and the deadbolt slid into place, leaving her in silence once again.

  Farid wasn’t going to kill her until he had Rem. Did that mean he wasn’t sure he could? Did he wonder if Rem might succeed in freeing her? Had he been certain, he would have killed her already.

  She hoped Farid was right. She hoped Rem would succeed in freeing her. Moving to a chair beside the single bed, she sat there and fought the memories. When they kept coming, she lowered her head into the palms of her hands.

  Rem slammed his gun into the back of the guard’s head. The guard slumped to the ground, unconscious. Rem looked up one direction along the iron fence to the other. No one moved through the darkness. He figured he had about fifteen minutes before the guard patrolling the perimeter fence would be missed.

  Running across the grounds toward the sprawling ranch house, he searched for movement. He saw none as he reached the side of the house. Raising his gun, he stepped sideways along the building. He peered into a darkened window. The blinds were closed. Making it to the corner, he continued down the side of the house, using the shrubbery as cover as he reached the back. Trees and plants surrounded a curving pool. Lights illuminated the water and patio. An armed guard strolled across the stone, looking across the pool and scanning the grounds. Rem ducked behind a shrub as his gaze reached him. He peeked out a few seconds later.

  The guard had turned his back and headed the other direction on the patio. Rem slid a knife from the holster strapped to his calf under the hem of his pant leg. Rushing to the back of the man, he made quick work of slicing his throat. Pulling the body into the shadows, Rem leaned his back against the wall beside the sliding glass door.

  After a careful glance through the glass, he pushed the door open just enough to slip through. Closing the door again, he moved quietly through a tiled sitting area.

  He didn’t hear any sounds. Quiet was good. Hearing Haley scream would probably bring him to his knees.

  Taking a couple of deep breaths, he proceeded forward. A hallway opened to two doors that he could see. There were probably more.

  Muffled voices reached him. Now he heard the elevated sound of a female’s voice, hissing something he couldn’t decipher. It was quickly followed by a crash. Rem ran.

  At the door, he checked the knob. Unlocked. He turned it and then pushed it open with his foot. As the door banged against the adjacent wall, he charged in, ready to fire at anything that wasn’t Haley. He saw her in his peripheral vision, struggling with a dark-haired man. He swung her around, using her as a shield.

  Another man appeared to his left. Rem swung his weapon the same instant the other man fired his own. The bullet grazed his arm. He felt it slice through the material of his shirt. It didn’t matter. The man was dead now, a hole in his forehead from Rem’s bullet.

  Rem faced Haley and her struggle with the dark-haired man. He stepped closer, watching her free herself from the man’s grip and turn toward him. She blocked his fist and knocked his gun from his hand.

  Rem fired his own gun. The man collapsed forward, pushing Haley off balance. But she quickly regained it and jumped out of the way as the man’s body fell to the floor.

  Rem stepped before her and cupped her chin in his hand and kissed her quick and hard.

  “Rem,” she whispered fervently, sending emotion spreading from his brain like shards of wild electricity. She threw her arms around him for a hug.

  “We have to get out of here,” he said, gently pushing her back.

  She removed her arms from him and nodded.

  Taking her hand, he led her out of the room and down the hall. No one intercepted them in the house. Rem led Haley outside. Two men emerged from the cover of shrubs on each side of the sliding glass door. He stopped and took as many steps backward as he dared, hoping to get Haley in a position to take cover inside.

  Another man appeared, striding toward them slowly. Rem saw the smile on Farid’s face and felt rage swell and churn in him.

  He almost reacted defensively when he felt Haley’s slender hand pull the extra pistol from the back of his pants. It made his resulting smile a lot different than Farid’s. She stuck the gun under his left arm.

  Enough of a hint for him. He went for the guy on the right and let her take Farid. She fired at the same time. Rem watched the man who caused the gruesome death of his sister slump to the concrete floor of the patio and felt…nothing.

  After everything, he’d at least expect to feel relief, maybe even satisfaction. But nothing resembling those emotions rose in him. It was like another job. And it was over.

  Something about Haley’s behavior was bothering him. After arranging travel to Buenos Aires, Rem had gotten them out of South America, but in all that time, she’d barely spoken to him. And her body language seemed stiffer than usual.

  “Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked. He’d asked her a couple of times before now, too, and the answer was always the same.

  She turned from looking out the darkened plane window as they taxied toward their gate. “Yes.”

  It was too blasé. Just like the other times he’d asked.

  “You don’t seem to be.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Did something happen at Farid’s ranch? Did any of them hurt you?”

  “No, not the way you’re thinking.”

  “What’s wrong then?”

  He could see her hesitation. She didn’t want to tell him. Foreboding crept through him.

  “I remember,” she said.

  It took him by surprise. He felt his brain catch up. And then he understood.

  She remembered Iraq.

  “Haley…” He didn’t want her to torment herself with reliving it more than she already had.

  “No,” she stopped him. “It’s okay.”

  He studied her. In her eyes he saw she meant it. In fact, she seemed more than okay with it. Which only convinced him that something else was wrong. Something else had made her withdraw into her thoughts. What he wanted to know was why she wasn’t saying anything about it. Because he had a feeling it was about him.

  “After we were attacked,” she began, “after everyone else was killed except me, there were three Iraqis left.”

  “One was angrier than the others.” Now she got a faraway look in her eyes and he knew she wasn’t as unaffected as he thought. “He used his AK-47 to beat me. I fought him. And I managed to loosen the weapon from his hands. I turned it on him and shot.” She paused. “I killed him, but that angered his friends. The two of them together were too hard to fight. They both beat me, with their guns, with their fists. I couldn’t…I just…I couldn’t fight them.”

  “You don’t have to tell me,” he said, taking her hand.

  She only shook her head, telling him she needed this. She needed to say it.

  He clamped down on his protective instincts and let her go on.

  “I…remember them ripping my clothes. That was after they hit me many times. My head was so foggy. I was dizzy. And sick to my stomach. And in pain. The pain in my head was excruciating. I was barely aware by then.”

  Rem forced himself to keep his eyes direct and detached as her remembering eyes found his.

  “The last thing I remember is I was topless and one of them held my hands while the other went for the buttons of my pants. I kicked him and he hit me with his rifle.”

  Rem gritted his teeth.

  “That’s the last thing I remember,” she said.

  He knew then that she’d finished.

  “Haley.” He heard the rasp in his own tone. “I
wish I could have been there for you.”

  She breathed a soft laugh. “I wish that, too. But it’s okay now. I’m okay now. It’s behind me and I can move on with my life.”

  “Does that mean you’re going to quit TES?”

  “No. I’ll always fight terrorism. But Cullen and Travis were right. I can do that without ever leaving the States.”

  Looking at her, seeing the peace on her face, he knew that she had put it behind her. Confirming that she had gone unconscious during the abuse helped. She would never have to relive the worst of it.

  He smiled, glad for her. But then he recalled her withdrawal and felt his smile drain away as it dawned on him what must have happened. She’d been held captive by Farid. If he’d spoken with her…

  “It isn’t true,” he said.

  She turned her gaze on him.

  “Whatever he told you,” he added.

  “Who?”

  “Farid.”

  “You won’t tell me the truth anyway.”

  “Is that why you didn’t say anything?”

  “Why bother?”

  “So, you believe him.” The notion dug into his heart and twisted.

  It took her a while to respond. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Exactly as he’d feared. She believed Farid. The confirmation of that swelled into a caldron of emotion. He felt betrayed. By her. And a sinking feeling followed when he realized why. Somewhere along the way, he’d fallen in love with her. Her sweetness had worked its way through him. So had her constant conviction that he was more like Cullen than he thought. But along with that had always been her doubt.

  He turned his head, unable to look at her beauty any longer.

  She’d been wavering since the beginning. Her heart wanted to believe he was good enough for her, but her mind knew better. Never in his imagination would he have thought he’d ever want to be wrong. That for the first time ever, he regretted the bad decisions of his youth. That he could be the man Haley wanted him to be. He could almost despise her for making him feel that way. Except he couldn’t. Because he loved her. He loved her, but he couldn’t have her. He’d known that from the start. Why had he let himself forget that? Even for one minute?

  “Why?” she asked from beside him.

  He met her eyes and couldn’t discern what thoughts hovered beyond their deep blue depth. “Because I knew what you’d think.”

  “Tell me the truth, Rem.”

  “I already have.”

  Chapter 14

  Haley followed Rem into RC Mountaineering; she hadn’t missed that he carried the diamonds. After talking to Cullen without Rem knowing, she more than dreaded this meeting. She’d told her boss about the drugs and what Farid had said. Cullen worried she’d never get out of South America if any of it was true, so he’d told her not to say anything to Rem until they arrived at Headquarters in Roaring Creek.

  I already have.

  Whatever Farid had told her, it wasn’t true. That was what he’d meant on the plane. And Haley believed him. She believed whatever he’d done, he had a good reason that whatever wrong was in it he’d righted. He was too accustomed to people thinking the worst. She didn’t know how to show him how wrong he was.

  Odie approached from displays of clothes and gear, dark hair bunched in a messy pile on top of her head.

  “It’s about time you two made it here,” she said.

  “Odie,” Haley greeted.

  Odie gave her a brief hug before turning to Rem, unabashedly giving him an observant once-over.

  “Rem D’Evereux, Odelia Frank,” Haley introduced.

  “Well, you brought her back,” Odie said. “That’s something, anyway.”

  “Leave them alone, Odie.” Cullen emerged from the basement, stopping before he reached the top step, just far enough to see them. He didn’t sound or look happy. “Let’s go downstairs.”

  Rem sent her an accusatory look before following. She followed, too, struggling with how to convey she’d never stopped believing him, in him. In a conference room to the right of the stairs, Cullen pulled a chair out for Haley.

  “I’ll stand,” she said.

  Cullen turned to Rem, who’d moved to the other side of the long table. Not much else adorned the room. One wall was left blank to hang maps and satellite images, the other had a huge, currently blank whiteboard. The far wall opposite the door had a picture of the Twin Towers under a crystalline blue New York City sky, before 9/11. It was the only picture in the room.

  “I had an interesting talk with a friend at the DEA,” Cullen began. “Any ideas what might have been the topic?”

  Rem smirked. “I’ll bet he gave you an earful.”

  “He confirmed what Haley told me.”

  That removed any expression from Rem’s face, but when he turned his head his eyes were cold. It was like invisible daggers pierced her.

  “She wasn’t inclined to believe Farid, but in this case, it turns out he was right.”

  Haley turned from Rem. “Cullen.” She silently implored him.

  He didn’t acknowledge her, but she knew he was aware of her anxiety.

  “If it isn’t true, why didn’t you tell us?” he said to Rem.

  “What did your friend tell you?” Rem asked instead of answering.

  “They’d like to ask you a few questions, the biggest being why you took cocaine from Dane Charter and sold it to Ammar.”

  “I never sold anything to Ammar.”

  “The agent I spoke with said he saw you. Even has pictures.” Cullen dropped them on the table. Rem looked down at them and then at Haley.

  She could read what he was thinking, wondering what she thought, if she believed all of this. She shook her head. Could he see in her eyes that she trusted him?

  But his gaze left hers for Cullen’s. “Ammar promised to tell me where I could find Charter in exchange for the drugs. I wanted that more than anything at the time.”

  “How long did you work with him and his son?” Cullen asked.

  “I never worked with them.”

  “You gave him drugs.”

  “That was an exception.”

  “You make pretty loose exceptions, given they were terrorists.”

  She couldn’t take it anymore. “Cullen, stop.”

  “We need to resolve this, Haley,” Cullen said. “Why did you go after them? Why did you want them dead? Seems to me they did you a favor.”

  Rem just stood there, letting Cullen piece it all together. All the bad news. Why wasn’t he defending himself? Why was he letting Cullen think so poorly of him?

  “Were you afraid of what they’d reveal to the DEA?” Cullen pressed.

  That pulled a change from Rem. Anger radiated from him as he dumped the leather bag onto the conference room table. “I hope you put these to good use.” Then without another word, he straightened and went to the conference room door.

  “Rem,” Haley called.

  But he never paused. He just kept going. She let him. Nothing she said right now would sway him anyway. And that made her feel so hopeless. What was she going to do?

  “I’m sorry, Haley. I thought he was different.”

  I already have. He’d already told the truth.

  She turned from the empty doorway to look at Cullen. “Farid was lying about Rem’s sister.”

  Cullen gave her a sympathetic frown. “Too much of what he said corroborated with the agent’s claims.”

  “But…what if Farid and Ammar lied to Rem? They wanted their cocaine back. And in the end, they wanted their diamonds back, too. Wouldn’t they try anything? Say anything?”

  She watched Cullen mull that over. “I know you want that to be true, but—”

  “No,” she cut him off. “Listen to me. It gives Rem a compelling reason to go after them.” It explained the depth of his emotion, too, and his relentless drive to taste revenge.

  “Whatever happened between him and Ammar, whatever reason he gave Ammar those drugs, it wasn’t without a ca
use,” she said.

  “Haley—”

  “He had a reason.”

  He stared at her. And finally she watched him relent. “I’ll look into it.”

  Smiling, she pivoted and ran out of the conference room and up the stairs. Past Odie’s startled look, she swung the door open and ran into the street, turning, searching. But he was nowhere. He was gone.

  She had no cell phone number. She didn’t know where he lived. She only knew he had a villa in Monrovia.

  Odie walked into the street and stopped at her side.

  “You don’t want to wind up with a guy like that anyway,” she said.

  Haley was too consumed with loss to pay too much attention, looking down the empty street. “You have to help me find him, Odie.”

  “Why bother? Nothing but heartache from those kind,” Odie said. “You can do better.”

  Haley shook her head. “You have to help me find him.”

  Odie’s silence made her turn and look at her. Being scrutinized by a woman with Odie’s bold self-assurance was never a comforting experience.

  “You love him?”

  “More than I could ever put into words.”

  “He’s going to break your heart.” Odie gave her a once-over. “Look at you, he already has. He walked away, Haley. He’s gone. G-o-n-e, gone. How could you allow yourself to fall for a man like that?”

  Something in Odie’s tone clued Haley to a deeper emotion, one that this dynamo had done a good job of hiding until now.

  “Go find yourself a nice, steady…anal…and boring…engineer,” Odie continued, apparently having missed Haley’s growing awareness of the change in her. “Boring is good sometimes.”

  Her choice of words and the faltering sass in her tone made Haley even more curious. “What do you have against men like Rem?”

  Odie shrugged, a bad attempt to appear nonchalant. “They’re always on a mission. And as a result, always walking with their back to a woman.”

  “Have you ever had a relationship with an operative?”

  Odie’s chin jerked up a fraction and her expression sort of stiffened. “I’ve had relationships with a lot of different men.”

  “Hmm.” Haley bit off what she really wanted to say. The one that hurt the most had to have been an operative. “Is that why you’re marrying an anal, boring engineer?”