FOR ONCE IN a very long time, I feel at peace. Gemini knows the truth about my past and she hasn’t condemned me. She’s even aware of how deep my feelings are for her. Fuck, I act like such a damn troglodyte around her. How is it possible that I feel this way? I need to stop overthinking this and push past it because the why isn’t what’s important. It just is and I need to be satisfied with that. The best thing about it is that I didn’t scare the hell out of her and she’s still sitting next to me, holding my hand.
But then again, where the hell is she going to go? It’s not like she can bail out of the plane. Even so, as I rifle through my memories, I can’t remember feeling this relieved before. The ache in my heart has dissipated. Maybe Gem is right. Maybe I do need to tell my parents. To hell with that oath I took. When I think about how they’ve been torn to pieces, thinking the worst of me, the ache returns with a vengeance, but this time, the anger deepens.
“What is it?” Gemini asks.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re squeezing the crap out of my hand.”
Immediately, I raise it to my lips and kiss it. “Aw, fuck. I’m sorry, babe. I was thinking about what you said. You know, with regard to telling my parents.”
“Hey, Drex, look at me.”
She puts her hands on my cheeks and I know I’m going to turn to mush. When she looks at me that way, Christ, I would jump out of this plane if she asked.
“They need to know what kind of a man their son is. That he’s honorable, loyal, courageous, and trustworthy, that he defended his country to the best of his ability. They also need to know that he is human, but that he would go to the ends of the earth for his true friends and fellow soldiers. If you don’t want to tell them, I can do it for you.
“You saved my life, more than once, and you did it not because you had to, not because you were paid to, but because it was the right thing to do. And you put yourself in danger doing it. So, your parents are very deserving of hearing about what a fine son they have. Please tell them, Drex.”
It takes several swallows to rid my throat of the lump. “You make me forget about the bad.”
“I only say what’s true.”
The plane rolls to a stop and the guys get up and stretch. I stuff my emotions in my back pocket for now and stand up with the rest of the team.
“After you.” Gemini leads the way, but Huff is in front as we deplane. There are two company SUVs waiting to take us back to headquarters. “Let’s go to work,” I say.
Huff drives us back to the office taking the back roads to avoid traffic. He’s tailing the first SUV. I’m in the back seat while Gemini is in the front. The other guys are in the lead car. We’re talking about what we’ll do when we get back when the vehicle violently lurches and I’m jerked into my seat as the seatbelt catches. The sound of crunching metal and breaking glass echoes in my head and I hear Gemini scream as the SUV is pushed sideways for several hundred feet. It comes to a stop against a big black van, pinning us in. Shaking my head to clear it, it’s then I realize we’ve just been T-boned. My head is bleeding and so is my arm. Other than that, I appear to be fine.
My hand automatically reaches for my weapon and I yell, “Is everyone okay? Gemini? Huff?”
“I think I am,” Gemini yells back. “Just scratched up.”
“Huff?”
No answer.
“Gemini, what’s going on up there?”
I scan the exterior. My window is blocked by the black van and all the windows on the other side of the car are shattered. I’m fucked.
“He’s knocked out. His head is bleeding, Drex.” Panic etches her voice.
I’m already dialing the other guys. “Code red here.” There’s no answer so I don’t know if they’re alive or dead.
“Gemini, can you see the other SUV?”
“No! I can’t see through the windshield. It’s all cracked.”
“Goddammit!” We’re on a deserted road so there’ll be no help for us out here.
Then Gemini’s door opens, followed by the rear door. An accented voice demands, “Get out of the car.”
Gemini looks at me and I nod. “Do as he says.” We have no other choice right now. And I need to see what’s going on. It was stupid of me to put myself in the back seat. Just another damn example of my lack of focus.
We get out and are greeted by six armed men, two wearing traditional Middle Eastern attire while others look like your average American.
“Hello, Mr. Wolfe. My, haven’t you been an elusive one?”
I’ve seen this face before but I can’t recall where. Maybe when I was in Iraq or Afghanistan. I’m positive he’s one of the top men with Aali Imaam.
“Please forgive me. You seem to have me at a slight disadvantage. Have we met?”
His laugh is sinister. “No, not exactly. But you have been in my family’s home. At least once. The night you put a bullet in my nephew’s head.”
My mind reels. These people are definitely Aali Imaam and we were right that night. That Iraqi official is tied to this group. But where’s the connection with Gemini?
“You can put that blame back on your brother. What kind of man sets up his own child like that?”
“Quiet!”
“What do you want?”
“Oh, come now, Wolfe. You didn’t acquire that name by accident. You know exactly what we want.”
“Fair enough. Why do you want her?”
“You know damn well why. The same reason why you’re guarding her so closely.”
Hmm. Interesting. He thinks I know.
He looks at Gemini and says, “Come. I’m taking you home now.”
There’s one thing I’ve learned about Gemini, and that’s when she makes up her mind about something, you’re not going to change it. And she’s decided she does not like this man. Her glare is chewing him up and spitting him out like nothing I’ve ever seen before.
“I am home and the only way I’m going anywhere with you is if you kill me.”
Aw, fuck, now why’d she have to go and say that?
I expect him to slap her, but he doesn’t. He only nods once and then digs his phone out of the inner pocket of his suit coat and taps a button. As he’s doing this, he walks out of hearing distance. I catch Gem’s eye and try to signal to her not to say anything else, but I’m not sure if she gets me.
Soon the suit is back with us and he looks at Gemini. He walks a circle around her very slowly, and then stops when he’s in front of her again. “It’s really a shame.”
I’m hoping she doesn’t take his bait, but it’s too much for her.
“What’s that?” she asks.
“That you’ve been lied to by the infidels all these years.”
“I haven’t been lied to.”
“Oh? So you know the truth then?”
“All of it,” Gem yells.
She starts to walk toward me when a hand on her shoulder stops her. I force myself not to break that man’s arm in two for touching her.
“Don’t move. You were not given permission to move!” the owner of said hand yells.
“Don’t touch her!” Now it’s my turn to yell.
“Shut up, Wolfe. You have no say in this.” I now have two guns aimed at me—one at my head, one at my heart.
“Stop it! Now!” Gemini cries.
“Let’s all calm down here.” My hands are raised so they know I’m no threat.
The suit finally nods and looks back at Gemini. “Come, Amira, I’m taking you home.” He moves to take her arm and it’s all I can do not to launch myself at him.
“My name is Gemini and I am home,” she grits out.
“Of course, that’s what they want you to think. But your homeland isn’t here. You are the daughter of Allah and I am taking you back where you belong.”
“I am where I belong and it’s right here.”
He looks at one of his guards and says, “Drug her.”
The guard approaches Gemini and she tries to mov
e toward me. They grab her and she yells, “No! I won’t go! I don’t know anything. Leave me alone!”
“She doesn’t know a thing! She’s telling you the truth. Whatever information you think you can get out of her, she doesn’t have. Her mother never told her anything before she died,” I say.
The suit stops and stares at me. “If what you say is true, then why did you kill the traitor whore?”
Why the hell would he think that I killed Gemini’s mother?
“I didn’t kill her. Why would you think that?”
For a split second, his face registers surprise. I need to strike now. “Someone else killed her. That’s what we’re trying to figure out. So you weren’t involved in that?”
He doesn’t answer but stares first at Gemini, then me. “Does she know the truth about you, Wolfe?”
Oh, shit. Where is he going with this?
“Yes, I know everything about him,” she answers for me.
“You do? I don’t think so. You only think you do.”
“That’s not true,” she insists.
“Is it not? Has he told you he murdered an innocent child?”
“Yes! And he explained the circumstances.”
“I see.” The suit paces a bit and then stops in front of Gemini. He bends down a bit so his face is inches from her. “Has he told you his real name? It isn’t Wolfe, you know. Are you aware he is a CIA operative?”
Fuck! Goddammit! How the hell did he dig up that information? I look at Gemini’s face and she’s as white as a sheet. Her eyes are pleading for the truth, and I know it’s going to kill her when I give it to her.
The suit sneers. “I can tell he hasn’t. You don’t know the truth, then. Just as I suspected.”
Then the suit turns to me and says, “You expect me to believe you when you say you didn’t kill the whore, and you haven’t even told her daughter the truth? The truth that you were sent to find her?”
“No! That’s not true!” Where is he getting this information? This is the first time I’m hearing it.
In the distance, I hear the faint hum of an engine and I’m hoping that reinforcements are arriving. The suit’s head snaps around but he’s comfortable when he doesn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. I reassess the situation, trying to see if there’s a way out of this. I detect movement out of the corner of my eye, but pretend not to notice. The best thing I can do now is to keep him distracted.
“I was never sent to find her. I found her by accident, working on a different case. It was you and your men who were in Austin, wasn’t it?” I ask.
He tips his head. “Let’s just say those were my associates and you have quite a knack for eluding us. Do you expect me to believe you knew nothing about her?”
“Yes, because it’s the truth.”
“The CIA needs to start training their men better. They are also on your tail, because we’ve been tracking both of you for weeks now. And if you didn’t know her, how did you find her, when my stupid men had her in her apartment?”
“Easy! I knew her address by then. Anyone could’ve found her there. So who killed her mother? And why did you kill Nick Lowry, one of your own recruits?”
“Lowry wasn’t ours. We didn’t even know about him until he posted the missing persons’ report on Amira. He led us to her. After the whore disappeared all those years ago, we searched for Amira. It was only her picture on the news that led us to her.”
So who’s the third party in this clusterfuck? Could it actually be the CIA? And why would they be doing this?
Suddenly, the sound of suppressed gunfire erupts and two of the men surrounding the suit drop like flies. One man grabs Gemini from behind and uses her as a shield. My heart stops when I see he has a gun to her head.
“Cease fire,” I shout.
The suit is still standing and I say, “Walk away and leave the girl. We can end here, but you need to leave the girl. You’re surrounded. My snipers will take you both down before he even has a chance to squeeze that trigger.”
“You’re going to regret this. We will take her one day and she will come to understand the true traitor that you are.” Then he turns to the one holding Gemini and orders him in Farsi to release her. The man obeys and forcefully shoves her to the ground. They back away, collect their casualties, climb into the van, and drive off.
“Gemini!” I shout as I run to her. She’s on her hands and knees, shaking. She lifts her head, and the hurt and anger that spill forth skewer me. I know she wants the truth.
“The answer is yes, but it’s not what you think.”
“Then you better explain now.” She’s still on the ground, unmoving.
“I can’t. Not here.”
“Drex.”
“Please. You have to understand.”
“No! You have to understand. A fucking CIA operative? And all this time you’ve led me to believe that you abhor the government?”
“Not here. Not now.” This has just blown everything for me and I’m now fucked every which way to Sunday. I have to get her to shut up.
“Then when?”
I get down on the ground and grab her shoulders. “Please,” I whisper, “please trust me and give me a chance. But not here. When we’re alone. Please, Gem.”
The desperation in my voice must have gotten through to her. My arms go around her because I’m overjoyed she’s safe, but she mistakes this for something else entirely.
“Let me go, Drex.” Her words like razors slice me open and extract my heart. I thought I was wrecked after the incident in Iraq and then the court-martial. But this … this has slaughtered me. I never knew how a few words from the woman I love could gut me so brutally. And there I have my answer. I love her. I am in love with her. Deeply, thoroughly. And leave it to me to fuck it up so badly and discover it when it’s too late.
MY MEN ARE charged with getting the scene cleaned up. The only thing they leave behind is the van, which the terrorists used to pin our SUV. The ride back to headquarters is silent, but I will have to offer her some kind of explanation when we get back. I’m not sure what to say, but I guess it doesn’t matter, because I’ve been compromised now. Fuck! How did this happen? Glancing at Gemini, she stares straight ahead, her expression stony. My gut tightens when I think about the thoughts running through her mind. I want to hold her hand right now, pick it up and unclench her fist, to ease her discomfort. But I don’t.
The SUV heads directly to the underground garage and then we’re in the elevator, riding in uncomfortable silence. As soon as the doors open, there’s a flurry of activity surrounding us.
Blake is there and I tell him to handle the debriefing. Huff was taken to the emergency room, but word is he has a concussion and a laceration that will need stitching. He’ll spend the night for observation and most likely be released tomorrow. Everyone else is fine.
My hand is on Gemini’s arm and I escort her to the apartment. Before I can close the door, she takes a swing at me. Her left fist connects with my right deltoid and she follows it up with an uppercut to my jaw. It’s a good thing I see it coming and block her with my open palm.
“Goddammit, what the fuck are you playing at here?” Her chest heaves and her lips are thinned into a straight line.
There’s no use wasting time with a preamble, so I jump right in.
“The guy in the suit compromised everything and put us all in danger. How he found out about me is a head scratcher. Yes, I work for the CIA and Homeland Security and sometimes the FBI. I don’t do any international stuff, only domestic. No, you couldn’t know. No one knows about my work with the CIA. Not Huff, not Blake, not anyone. I didn’t tell you because I couldn’t. That’s the whole meaning of undercover. I don’t work for them full-time. They came to me after the whole incident in Iraq. After my court-martial. They offered me a deal and I grabbed it. They wanted me for my inside knowledge of the terror cells and how they operate. My fluency in their languages is also a huge bonus. That’s why everything is so easy for me t
o get … fake IDs, passports, you name it. My connections with them. They also drive business my way. Yeah, they piss me off because sometimes they have a tendency to think they own me, but they don’t. I apologize for you finding out the way you did, but Gemini, I can’t apologize for not telling you. This is a case of national security. You have to understand this. The other things he said were all lies. I was not involved in your mother’s death. I knew nothing about you until that night in Austin. You have to believe me. Everything I’ve told you about me, other than the CIA, is the truth. I swear to God.”
She’s quiet for a minute. Finally, she says, “I’m so fucking tired of feeling confused. Every time I think I have things figured out, someone drops a bomb. Literally.” She rubs her head.
“I know, babe, and I’m sorry. This is a fucking mess, right?”
She snorts. “Um, a mess? That’s a nice way to put it.” She glares at me and says, “I don’t know if I can believe you anymore, Drex. And I’m sick of feeling like I’m living in a fucking cage.”
I nod. “I don’t blame you. I’d feel the same way. But all I can do is swear to you that what I’m saying is the truth.”
“Who was that guy?”
“Can we sit and talk about this without me worrying that you’re gonna take another swing at me?”
The look she gives me is anything but loving. It’s full of distrust and anger. But she nods, so I have to be satisfied with that. She sits and I continue, “I think he was the brother of the Iraqi official I was supposed to take out that night. Or maybe his brother-in-law. He said I killed his nephew.”
“So how am I connected to him? Was my father Iraqi?”
“Don’t know that, either. We know he was Middle Eastern. Want to see what’s in the box?”
“You know something? I don’t know if I want to find out anymore.”
“Oh, babe, don’t say that. You have to know. At least to protect yourself.” I crouch in front of her. “Are you okay? Physically? You weren’t injured, were you?”
“No, just shaken up … again.”
Her hands are fisted so I pry them apart. “I’m so sorry. I want to protect you, Gem. I’ll do my best, but I made a huge mistake by allowing you to sit in the front seat. I keep making stupid errors with you.”
Tragic Desires Page 23