Dangerous Assignment (Aegis Group Book 4) (20 page)

Luke’s head throbbed hours later.

Still no leads.

Just more still images, glimpses of the man, but never a good look at him. He always turned his head right before he came into the frame.

Wait…

Luke tabbed the footage back.

Was that…?

He brought up the video of the bomber with the chairs. It was as close as they’d ever gotten to him.

Close enough to see his hands.

And the ring on his pinky finger.

The same ring Abigail had noted that night in the restaurant where he’d played that silly game with her.

What were the chances that the dinner guest that night—a supposed oil tycoon—was the same bomber on this footage?

Luke went back further until he found the restaurant security tapes. Again, the man sat where there wasn’t a direct view of his face, but Luke remembered him.

He hadn’t had the facial hair. He’d been slightly balding. Thicker through the middle. Maybe even shorter.

Which meant the one image of his face they had was wrong.

A glue-on mustache, a wig, some sort of body altering disguise, even shoes with lifts…

The Smiths hadn’t noticed he was the same person.

But had they been around to see the set-up?

Mrs. Smith had been out shopping and then getting ready while Mr. Smith remained in their suite, constantly on the phone.

They would have never seen the man. And at dinner Luke had been too focused on Abigail to study the dinner companions.

What were the chances this was
Zach
?

Abigail hadn’t been there for swapping out the furniture. She was observant, but even she’d missed this man from her past sitting a dozen or so feet away. Hell, she’d probably been trying to knock Luke off his game so he’d stumble and give her the casualty free chance to off the Smiths herself.

He needed to see employee records. Morgue reports. If he could get his hands on those he could match bodies and names, figure out who it was they were dealing with. Or at least an alias.

Luke was so engrossed in the screen, in puzzling out how to go about acquiring the information without going back, that the sudden ringing startled him.

He stared at the satellite phone and its flashing screen for a moment before it registered.

If the admiral were calling to kick his ass, he wouldn’t use a secure line.

He pressed the answer button and waited.

“Luke.” Baron’s voice had an edge to it, one he hadn’t heard before.

“You got my note?”

“That was unwise.”

“Yeah, well, you didn’t leave a call back number or anything.”

“What happened to Yael?”

“Abigail left. She’s on her own.”

“That’s what she wanted.”

“Yeah, well, we have different opinions.” Luke zoomed in on the ring.

“Take my advice, let her go.”

“I think I got a visual on your guy in Amman.”

Silence.

“What does this Zach look like?” Luke asked.

“If you don’t know what he looks like, how do you know it’s him?”

“Because I have two guys wearing the same ring Abigail swore was the kind of thing you couldn’t buy. One is in a fancy restaurant, the other is the busy boy bomber.”

“Send it to me.”

“I don’t—” Luke blinked, and there was an email in the new dummy account. “I send these to you, you help me find her.”

“I’ve spent the last few years looking for her, and I never found her.” Baron’s voice softened.

“If I could punch you right now, I would.”

“I realize you view my marriage to Yael as criminal, but it wasn’t.”

“She was a kid.”

“In your country. Would it make you feel better if I told you I didn’t touch her during our first year of marriage?”

“No.”

“Hard as it maybe for you to understand, I cared for her.”

“We are never going to agree about what you did to her. All I’m asking is that you help me ID this guy.”

“Send me the images. I know Zach. I had lunch with him a few days ago. I owe Yael a debt I can never repay.”

Luke hit send on the email and waited in silence. Neither man spoke. Part of him couldn’t believe he was considering working with Abigail’s ex-husband. Yeah, the laws might be different, and they might have gotten hitched to fix a bigger problem—but she’d still been a child. A kid. And there was no answer, no justification Baron could give him to absolve him of that sin.

Baron muttered something Luke couldn’t understand.

“What?” he said. Maybe sharing what he knew with Baron wasn’t a good idea.

“The ring was procured by an asset a year ago during a sensitive operation. It’s been missing. There was a short list of people who could have taken it.”

“And Zach was one?” Luke could fill in the holes himself, but he didn’t trust Baron to leave anything left unsaid.

“Yes.” Baron spat something that sounded like an inventive curse. “What else do you know?”

“Mr. and Mrs. Smith had dinner with Zach pretending to be one of their associates on the second day of our employment. The bomb happened the next day. He would have—wait. I think…he might have been at the bar that first night. I’ll have to look at the footage, but he could have already been there.”

“That would be like Zach. He encouraged pre-placement, deep cover.”

“Let’s say he was scoping us out that first night, had contact the second night, and was setting up the third day for the bomb that night. He’d have to have been damn close to us the whole time. Is there any way your people can get a hold of employee records, morgue reports, guest names?”

“It will take time.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Yes.”

“When did he disappear from there?”

“Four days ago.”

“While we were still your
guests
.”

“Zach knew Yael was there. He watched…” Baron blew out a breath. “He watched the interrogation.”

“You mean the torture? When you waterboarded your ex-wife?”

“I know what my sins are.”

“He watched that. He knew eventually she might share the fact that she thought she’d killed him.”

“Or you would.”

“Me?”

“We didn’t waterboard her. Not truly. Just enough to scare her. To get you mad. I thought… My gamble was that you would tell us before she would. Of the two of you, I had you pegged to give up the information first.”

Luke balled his hand into a fist. If he could only reach through the God damned phone…

“Yael is strong. There’s not another agent like her.”

“She’s a fucking person, which you seem to forget. She’s not a robot.”

“I know that. You think I don’t?”

“I think you’d do whatever it took to achieve your ends.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“A lot. Back to this guy—you can get the information on who he was pretending to be?”

“Yes. It will take time, but we have most of it already. Can you send me more footage?”

“I’ll send you the important parts.” Luke glanced over his shoulder. What was that pinging noise?

“Good. I’ll also send you contact instructions. Never go through the website again. If—”

The rest of Baron’s words were cut off.

A concussion blast and burst of light momentarily stunned Luke.

A flash bomb.

The device was nothing more than a flash of light and smoke—but it still immobilized him for a crucial second.

He dove for the gun case stacked against the wall, scrabbling with the catches.

Men with guns poured through the double doors leading to the hall. Their yells were incoherent, their language foreign to him.

Luke never stood a chance. He barely had his hand wrapped around an unloaded rifle before they were on him, one on either side, another cracking the butt of his gun against Luke’s temple. He lunged, taking one to the ground with him and managed to kick and tangle half the electrical cords, knocking out the power to Zain’s rig.

At least they wouldn’t get the Aegis intel.

It was his last thought before everything went dark.

16.

Abigail kept one hand
wrapped around the pistol deep within her bag and the other pressing the goggles harder over her eyes. The sand and wind combined to make the trek south one hell of a ride. Too bad the truck she’d hitched a ride on didn’t have AC. Or windows. At least it had an engine and decent enough shocks. The pills had numbed the pain, but she could tell something wasn’t right. Was it the fluid in her lung?

Once she got over the border, she could arrange for better transportation and a doctor. In two days’ time she could meet with one of her old sources, someone more than likely with a finger in at least one pie that would help her.

Zach was slippery. He’d gotten away with so much. But he wasn’t infallible. He’d always been the kind to leave a few lose threads, like when he hadn’t confirmed her death. If she’d been able to confirm his death so much wrong in this world could have been prevented, but she’d had to run. Hide. Survive. Unlike Zach, she learned from her past. If she searched hard enough, dug deep enough, she’d find more mistakes. And as she well knew, mistakes could kill.

She allowed herself a glance at the dash clock. It was slow to the point that it would never tell the right time, but if she calculated how long it’d been since she left against how much time the device had ticked down… Luke should be in the air right about now. Headed home. To his friends. His mother. Safety.

And out of her life.

Her heart squeezed, yearning to join him. But she couldn’t.

Not without putting his life at risk.

She’d made too many enemies to have any kind of life. Sure, there were agents who retired to have families, but that wasn’t for her. Too many people knew her face, were aware of what she was, for that to be an option. She’d always look over her shoulder, wondering if the people in her life were planted there or genuine. But she could dream. And maybe once it was all said and done…she could become someone else. Mrs. Smith had altered her appearance by use of surgery. Was Abigail ready for that? If it meant a future safe from harm, maybe.

Abigail leaned back and let her head rest against the seat.

She’d never been to Florida, but she could imagine it. Beaches. Sand. Fruity drinks. Bathing suits. And Luke.

He’d be a devil and tease her until she wanted to clock him, but she wouldn’t. Because she loved him. With him…she could laugh. She could be someone else. She could pretend Abigail was her real name. That she was free.

She sighed and closed her eyes.

In reality, Luke would go home. For a time, he’d look for her, but as her memory grew faint and his feelings for her dulled, someone else would step into his life. A woman who deserved a man to be her rock, her safety, and he would fall for that future woman, reeling her in with his silly lines and easy smiles. He might never bear the scars on his soul to that future woman, but she’d know they were there. That what made him unique, lovable, special, and also had the power to break him.

Chances were, that woman would not be her. Abigail could never give Luke a family, children to replace the cousin he’d lost or the family that had betrayed his younger self’s trust.

All she could give him right now was pain and suffering.

Which was why she had to end this thing with Zach. Leaving Luke stung, but in time it, too would heal. As had all of her other hurts. Though she didn’t think her heart could totally recover from him. He’d wormed his way too deep, too fast. A piece of her she’d never given to anyone was forever in his grasp. And she could live with that. If anyone deserved to have a hold over her—it was Luke.

She opened her eyes as they crested a hill and watched the sun set, plunging the desert into a starlit wonderland. The inky black sky overhead was seeded with diamonds. How many times had she looked at those stars and wished her life were different? Or at least parts of it?

Years, a lifetime ago, Baron had changed her fate. Luke didn’t understand, and maybe he never would, but she would always be grateful to Baron for that. Her life had made a difference. People lived because of the work she did. But at some point she had to live for herself. Even if living meant dying.

If it was the last thing she did, Zach had to be stopped. Whatever information he’d taken with him would be valuable, it would make her people vulnerable, and death would rain down. She had to stop it—for the innocent lives, for Luke, for Baron, for the memory of her mother. And maybe, just maybe, when it was all said and done…she could have a life.

The bag on her lap vibrated.

She’d left one phone on, and only for one reason.

Her heart raced up into her throat, pulsing, making it hard to breathe.

She pulled out the phone, covered one ear and pressed the device to her other.

“Hello?”

“The Aegis compound was just raided by mercenaries.”

“What? Who?” The only person she could think of who could move that fast was Baron.

“Oddly enough, it was Nador’s men.”

“Did they take anyone?”

“I don’t know…”

She twisted to shield the phone and the conversation.

“Name your price,” she said.

“I want something Nador has.”

“What?”

“The location of his stockpile.”

“I can make it happen. Did they take anyone?”

“One man.”

“Who, damn it?”

“I don’t know who, only that it’s an Aegis man.”

“Was he black? White? Did he have long, shaggy hair? Was he Irish?”

“Black. Big guy. He’s been seen around.”

Damn it.

No.

This was all her fault. Somehow this had to come back to her.

What did the mercenary want? Something from her? There was always the possibility that Luke had crossed the man at some point in his history. Could Zach be involved? It seemed too convenient for him to not be involved somehow.

This was all because of her. Because for one, blessed moment back in Amman she’d wanted to be a normal woman with a man.

“Thank you. I’ll send payment.” She ended the call and straightened.

The driver darted a glance her way. A woman traveling alone was easy prey. She’d expected him to try something. Eventually. Which was why she’d never taken her hand off the gun in her bag.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

“We need to go back,” she said.

The driver barked out a laugh. He was nice looking, middle aged, probably had a wife and kids tucked away somewhere he visited on occasion. But he was also a smuggler and a thief.

Abigail turned, lifting the gun out of the bag and aimed straight at him.

“Stop the truck. Now.” She put as much distance between them as the cab would allow for.

His eyes widened, but not too much. So he’d expected her to be packing. Smart guy.

“Okay, okay.” He slowed the truck to a crawl, shifting the gears with a grunt each time until they lurched to a stop.

The driver snatched at the barrel of the gun, ducking his head. She swung with her left hand, cracking him in the skull with the phone and squeezed the trigger. He screamed and recoiled, both of their ears ringing. The glass cracked, a few broken chunks littering the dash.

The driver shoved backward out of the cab and landed on the hard-packed earth with a grunt. She scooted over, keeping the gun trained on him.

“I was going to let you ride back with me, but now you can walk.” She closed the door and transferred the gun to her left hand, keeping one eye on him while she shifted the truck into reverse, putting a good forty yards between them.

Shit, it hurt right between her ribs.

There wasn’t time to tend to the ache—she had to press on.

She shoved the gun into the side compartment, shifted, and swung the truck around in a big half circle, all the while keeping the former driver in her mirrors. She had to squint past the raging headache setting in due to the concussion of the gun, but at least she had a ride.

Next, she’d need to lose the windshield.

Abigail pushed the truck hard for ten miles before stopping to remove the hazardous glass and pop a few pills to take the edge off. She crammed the phone between her shoulder and ear as she worked, the call bouncing between relays.

“Yael?” Baron’s voice conveyed all the shock and disbelief she expected.

She had not anticipated ever needing to speak with him again, but for Luke she’d do it. Because Baron owed her, because he had intel and resources, because if it weren’t for her Luke could have been headed home already.

“A mercenary has kidnapped Luke.”

“I know. I was on the phone with him when it happened. They spoke Arabic. Libyan, if I had to guess.”

“Nador is based in Libya.”

“Nador? That name isn’t familiar.”

“What can you tell me?”

“I can have a team on the ground—”

“Now, Baron. I don’t have time to wait for a team or permission. I need to know, now.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Yael wasn’t there.

Hassan clutched the top of the truck as it bounced along the highway out of Egypt toward Libya. They’d have a few more hours of transport for him to come up with a plan, a backup. Contingencies.

Of course the idea to snatch Yael
and
Luke from the compound was just too easy.

The only reason Nador had found the hit appealing was for revenge. And the man Nador was really after had left, or maybe he’d never been there. What the hell did Hassan know?

Hassan knew shit.

This was when he needed to be Zacharias. With all of his connections.

That bitch was ruining his plans. His life.

All because she wouldn’t die already.

The truck slowed, pulling off the pavement and onto the shoulder. He leaned forward, peering through to the back of the cab.

“Why are we stopping?” he asked.

The men in the truck with him didn’t answer.

They were a silent lot, much like Nador.

A Hummer coming from the opposite direction crossed the median and pulled up in front of them.

Fuck.

He’d hoped for a few hours to think things through, but clearly Nador wanted to see his prize.

Luke hadn’t woken up yet. The sedative they’d hit him with could take down an elephant. At least two guys had broken ribs, a dislocated arm, and a concussion, plus a dozen bruises, black eyes, and Lord only knew what else from their tumble with the man.

“Did you get them?” Nador asked.

The men in the truck shifted, finding somewhere else to look.

Nador climbed in, a flashlight in hand. He scanned the truck until his light came to rest on Luke.

“Is he the only one you got?” Nador’s voice rose, an unusual change in pitch.

“He was the only one there. The others had left already.” Hassan bent his head, playing the role of the humble informant, all the while grinding his teeth. Fucking mercs. They couldn’t pull off a simple gig like this without fucking it up.

“Damn it.” Nador slammed his palm into the side of the truck.

“I thought this was one you wanted?” Shit. Hassan’s intel on the Mexico job wasn’t very good. He only knew that there were several Aegis guys involved, not which ones Nador had a grudge with.

“He is one of them—but it’s not him. Or the gimp. Your woman wasn’t there?”

“No.”

Zacharias’ stomach turned.

Yael was still out there. Whoever this man was, he meant something to her. His life was officially in Nador’s hands. Zacharias had to survive the man’s hospitality both to save his own skin and to wait for Yael to strike. Because she would. That was her weakness.

She cared.

The early morning hours
stretched on, dark and lonely.

Abigail tiptoed through the opening between the large, double doors leading into the Aegis courtyard. The lights were all off, not a soul stirred, but that didn’t mean it was empty.

What about the staff?

Could Baron be certain there wasn’t anyone else on the premises?

She kept close to the wall, her hand around the pistol.

Nador had come here for a reason. It was too coincidental that he hit just hours after she left and took the only man she cared about. Aegis Group had enemies, and while it wasn’t impossible that Nador was one of them and might very likely have a beef with Luke, she didn’t believe in happenstance like this. The world didn’t work that way.

“Stop!” The unmistakable sound of a six shooter’s hammer drawing back clicked not ten feet away. The voice was familiar, Arabic, female, older. The cook. Salma. Except, there was a waver in her voice that hadn’t been there before.

“It’s me, Abigail.” She held up her hands, her pistol dangling from her thumb.

“Abigail?” The older woman stepped out into the light, a limp in her stride.

“Where’s Luke?” Abigail knew the answer, but she had to ask someone else. Someone that wasn’t Baron.