Dangerous Attraction Romantic Suspense Boxed Set (24 page)

His heart beat even faster. “Roger that. Who is he?”

“Not exactly sure yet, but he goes by the handle Youssef911. I’ve got a hit where he accessed one of the chat rooms a few days ago, one at a residential address in Pindi, and the other looks to be an engineering firm in Islamabad. I’m sending you both addresses by e-mail.”

“This is why I love you, Claire.”

She snorted. “Yeah, well, your love could get me in some major shit if I keep digging. And speaking of shit, how’s it going over there?”

“It’s been…interesting. Never a dull moment, you know?”

A pause. “Everyone okay?”

“We’re good. Anxious to get hunting though.”

“I’ll bet. Good luck. Sorry I couldn’t get anything else, but like I said, digging any deeper would cause all kinds of grief for me.”

“Understood. I appreciate you taking the risk for us.” Though they both knew why she’d done it, and it wasn’t for him. She’d done it for Gage, break up or not, which was why Tom had wanted him to call in the favor personally.

“It’s okay. You take care of yourself.”

“You too.”

The e-mail came in before he’d ended the call and he dialed Ellis. The sniper answered on the first ring, his voice betraying only a hint of grogginess. Hunter got right to the point. “I’ve got a couple of addresses for you to check out. Start with the residence, then move to the workplace. If anything looks promising, let me know.”

“Roger that, chief.”

Hunter hung up and called Gage next to give him the news. “Ellis and Dunphy are starting at the residence. Wouldn’t be a bad idea for you to try the engineering firm while they’re checking it out.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I’ve gotta get Khalia to the airport by oh-seven-hundred. I’ll meet you after I drop her off.” Only four hours from now. The sinking feeling in his gut at the thought of letting her go was far worse now.

Once he ended the call, Hunter went back to the bed and carefully slid beneath the sheets. Khalia was on her side facing away from him, still asleep. He eased forward until his chest was against her back, his thighs cradling the soft swell of her hips and her curls tickling his chin. She sighed and shifted closer, trusting him even in her sleep.
I could get used to this.
Exhaling a painful breath, Hunter wrapped an arm around her and held her close, both dreading and welcoming the dawn that was racing toward them.

Chapter Sixteen

Youssef paused in the midst of yanking a handful of shirts from the shelf in his tiny closet to wipe the back of one wrist across his sweaty face. Lord, he was soaked. He dragged a small duffel bag from the closet floor and shoved the clothes inside. No matter how he tried to control it, he couldn’t stop his hands from shaking. He hadn’t been lying when he’d called in sick to work earlier. He
was
sick. He’d already thrown up once and his stomach still churned as if it might bring up the light breakfast he’d eaten just before sunrise. That sick feeling in his gut was why he’d decided to run. The authorities were closing in on him, he felt it. Whether it was the Americans or Pakistanis who eventually took him out was irrelevant at this point. Youssef had no intention of suffering torture or imprisonment for his part in this operation. He’d already fulfilled his obligation to the organization behind all this and now he wanted out. But how could he do that?

You can’t. You know you can’t.

Ignoring the shiver that raced up his spine, he grabbed an extra pair of shoes and stuffed them into the bag for good measure. Once he left this apartment, he could never come back.

He now knew for certain that the TTP cell he’d been in contact with were merely chess pieces in this game. Whoever the man in that warehouse was the other night, he was no lowly militant warlord. Youssef had done everything they’d asked of him, had led the Patterson woman to Peshawar and so far managed to avoid detection. Now his only chance was to flee while he still could.

He yanked the zipper on the bag closed and headed for the door. Behind him, his smashed computer lay in pieces across the desk and floor, along with its pulverized hard drive and SIM card from his old phone. A new burner phone now rested in his jeans front pocket. He took one last glance around the apartment and out the window above the kitchen sink. The sun was almost up; his time to escape was dwindling by the second.

He was halfway down the block in the coolness of the morning air, on his way to a bus station when the muted bleat of a ringtone went off. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he realized it was the phone in his pocket. No one had the number. No one.

There in the middle of the sidewalk as the city came to life with the call to prayer rising from the minarets at the local mosque, he cast a frantic glance around. They had eyes on him even now. He felt it.

The damned phone continued to ring in his pocket, the quiet note sounding as loud as an air raid siren to his panicked ears. For a second he considered not answering it, thought about throwing it in the nearest trash can or grinding it to pieces beneath his heel and making a run for it.

But he knew it was far too late for that. If they already had his new number, they were close. He wouldn’t make it as far as the other side of the city before they found and killed him. For all he knew, a sniper could have him in his sights at that very moment.

As his heartbeat drummed in his ears, he dragged the phone from his pocket and answered with a gruff, “Yes?” Frustration and anger pulsed through him. What did he have to do to get out of this mess?

“Youssef,” that familiar chilling voice said. “I’m disappointed that you think so little of my intelligence. Almost as disappointed as I am to discover you thought you could run from me.” It was the man from the warehouse, and his tone was all the more sinister for its chiding edge.

Fresh beads of perspiration bloomed across Youssef’s forehead and beneath his arms. A cold, sticky sweat borne of fear. “I did what you asked,” he argued.

“You did, but unfortunately last night did not go as planned.”

Youssef didn’t know what that meant, but he knew it wasn’t good. He’d seen the footage of the bomb’s aftermath on the news last night and had wrongly assumed it meant everything had gone smoothly. His hand tightened around the phone. “What do you want?”

“Walk one block up and turn right. There’s a black SUV parked at the curb, waiting to pick you up.”

He couldn’t help but shoot a glance over his shoulder, back the way he’d come. But no, there was no telling how many eyes they had on him. He’d waited too long to make his escape and now he was little more than a five dollar poker chip in a million dollar game. Utterly expendable. The thought made his bowels churn. “What do you
want
,” he repeated, anxiety making his voice sharp.

“Another meeting. What happens after that is up to you.”

The line went dead. Youssef stood trembling for a moment, his mind whirling for a solution to the problem, a way out. He found none, save darting into an alley and bolting to the nearest mosque for sanctuary. But he knew they’d find him eventually.

The walk to the SUV was agonizing, and when he got there he found a big man dressed in khakis and a polo shirt standing beside the vehicle. His head turned toward Youssef, eyes concealed by black wraparound shades. Though he half expected to be gunned down with every step, Youssef approached and climbed in the back of the SUV when the man opened the door for him. He jolted when the door slammed shut behind him. No one said a word to him on the drive across town, this time to a different industrial area. They parked in front of what appeared to be a series of deserted warehouses. Given how early it was, it didn’t surprise him that no one was around.

They escorted him into one of the buildings, flanking him on either side in a show of intimidation, and through it to a dark room at the back that smelled of dust and musty carpeting. A lamp came to life on the edge of a desk and once again he found himself face to face with the powerful, goateed Pakistani man at the center of all this.

“Sit,” the man told him without preamble from behind the stainless steel desk, jerking his chin at a plastic chair on the opposite side. The two guards left the room, and the sound of the door shutting echoed off the walls like a gunshot. Youssef’s knees gave out. He dropped into the uncomfortable seat and waited, barely daring to breathe in the tense stillness. The man regarded him with black, unblinking eyes that seemed to gleam in the dim lamplight.

He didn’t make Youssef wait long to find out why he was here.

“Ms. Patterson escaped both the bombing and Peshawar last night,” the man told him. “And because the local authorities acted rashly, some of them were killed in the blast along with our men guarding the hostage.”

Youssef swallowed and didn’t reply. This was bad. Very bad.

A faint smile curved one side of the man’s mouth in the midst of his neatly trimmed facial hair. “So. You’ve proven very useful to us with your abilities so far. Now we need something else from you.”

Youssef managed a weak shake of his head, his insides trembling. “I’m an engineer, good with numbers—”

“And very good with computers,” the man added. “Though not as good as some of my people are.” He straightened at the desk and regarded Youssef with a curious expression. “You realize at this point that we can’t let you go, yes?”

Youssef felt the blood drain from his face, leaving him dizzy and sick. Hearing the words aloud set off a burst of denial and panic.

“How this plays out is your choice.” The man reached down to open a drawer with a shrill squeal of metal on metal. Youssef’s skin crawled as the man withdrew something and set it on top of the desk. A soft black case made of material, rolled up to conceal whatever lay inside. The man let his hand pass over the top of it, almost a caress. One edge of the material fell away to expose something silver and shiny in the lamplight. It glinted against the black cloth, the sight of the stainless steel surgical instrument making Youssef’s heart rise into his throat.

The man smiled faintly, as though he enjoyed Youssef’s obvious fear. “I can force your cooperation if I must,” he continued in that deadly, silky tone. “However, I’d prefer you continue to work with us by choice. If not…” He left the sentence dangling, the threat already overt.

“What is it I have to do?” Youssef managed through bloodless lips.

“Find the woman. She’s somewhere in Islamabad, and you will locate her for us.” He removed his hand from the case of instruments, the glint of steel still visible. “You will also find their location for us. There is a team assembled and ready to launch the attack. But we need her position first.”

Those eyes hardened to shards of obsidian. “We think she’ll be at a higher end hotel in the city because of the added security. Her bodyguards will be scrambling to get her out of the country as soon as possible, and we want to avoid having to make an attack at the airport because of all the extra security measures there. You have only a few hours to complete the job, otherwise it will be too late. Either lead us to her, or you are of no further use to me.” He drew a finger along the line of exposed steel, and in that moment Youssef knew he’d do whatever it took to avoid death at this man’s hands.

“Now.” He rolled the instruments up and placed the case back into the drawer. Again the screech and grind of metal as he closed it, and Youssef couldn’t help but draw back as the man rounded the desk. “You’ll need a ride back into Rawalpindi.” He gestured for Youssef to precede him out the door.

Youssef wasn’t sure how he got to the SUV, because his legs were like rubber. The man slid in beside him in the back seat and lounged there with one arm stretched across the back of it as though he hadn’t a care in the world. “Back to his place,” he told the driver.

Youssef didn’t dare tell him there was no point, that he had no way of starting his search there because he’d already destroyed his computer and smart phone. What was he going to do? They’d be watching his every move. If he left, they’d assume he was running and kill him.

The minutes ticked past with agonizing slowness. As they reached the outskirts of Youssef’s neighborhood, the man next to him stopped scrolling through something on his phone and spoke. “Your mother looked very tired this morning,” he remarked. “Is she unwell? Maybe her houseguests have kept her from getting enough rest.”

Youssef’s heart stopped beating as the man held out the phone and showed a picture of Youssef’s mother. The shot was so clear it must have been taken with a powerful telephoto lens. She was standing in the kitchen of the house where Youssef had grown up, cooking something for all the family members who had stayed with his parents last night. From the timing of the guests’ arrival and the darkness outside the kitchen window, the photo had been taken before sunrise this morning.

Youssef swallowed back the grief and guilt that threatened to choke him. The threat was clear. If he didn’t comply with their every demand, they’d kill his family.

“Please. Don’t hurt her. She knows nothing of this. Nothing.” And she would be devastated if she found out. His father would disown him for the shame it would bring upon their family.

The man made a tsking noise. “I would only harm an innocent woman as a last resort. You’re the one who determines her fate, Youssef, not I.”

A hot rush of tears blurred his eyes. He blinked them back and took a steadying breath. “My office,” he blurted. “I need to go to my office to get what you need.”

“Why?”

“The computer. I…my computer isn’t working.”
Because it’s in pieces on my apartment floor.
“I need to use their system to do a thorough search.”

“If you think you can find help there, you’re mistaken.”

Youssef shook his head adamantly. “No. I wouldn’t.” Not with his mother’s life on the line as well.

The man searched his eyes for one long moment and Youssef was sure he was going to say no. Then he turned and spoke to the driver. “You know where to go.” The driver immediately turned right and took them toward Islamabad, where the engineering firm was.

Youssef buried his face in his hands and prayed he’d be able to find Khalia Patterson before she left Pakistan.