Unmasking the Mercenary (8 page)

The warmth that enveloped her came from more than his body heat. How could it feel so right being so close to him? She didn’t want to analyze it. Tonight she’d let herself fall into this contentment. Tomorrow, she’d listen to her mind.

Haley sat with her feet on the chair, holding a cup of coffee in front of her bent knees, unable to stop looking at Rem. He leaned against the wall next to a window, staring across the street, surveying the road and the tangle of jungle beyond. She was supposed to be distancing herself today. But the feelings from last night still circled her heart. They’d shared something intensely personal. And now they were closer.

His defensiveness against men of Cullen McQueen’s caliber made a convincing argument that was what he craved most in life. To be honored. To be honorable. But the truth couldn’t be changed. He was a drug dealer turned mercenary. Where was the honor in that background?

He was the epitome of the kind of man who usually frightened her. Who ought to frighten her now. And yet…something drew her to him. Was it the tragic loss of his sister? Had the experience changed him and that was what she saw? He’d come here to hunt down a terrorist—a worthy endeavor, to be sure—but what would happen once he found his retribution? Would he ever find it? Or would he return to his mercenary ways?

“How do you know Habib will be here?” she asked.

He glanced back at her and then resumed his surveillance. “I’ve followed him before.”

“But how do you know he’ll be here today?”

“I heard him arrange it.”

“How? When?”

“After Ammar threatened Habib at the market. After you and Travis were attacked.”

While she lay unconscious? She stared at the back of his head. “Who is Habib meeting? Who is his diamond contact?”

“Somebody from a small-scale mining company outside Koidu. Easier to smuggle from a smaller outfit than the bigger ones. Less money for security. And Habib probably has tighter connections with them.”

“So, what were you planning? If you want revenge, why not just kill Ammar? Why snoop around his illicit diamond deals?”

Rem didn’t answer and a few seconds later, he straightened from the wall. “He’s here.”

She swore in French, something she only did when she was really frustrated. She wanted him to answer her.

Rem glanced back at her, a frown of momentary curiosity changing the set of his eyes before returning his attention to the window. Well, it was good to know he spoke French, too. She only knew it because her mother was French.

Haley put the cup down and unfolded her legs from the chair to stand. At the window beside Rem, she watched Habib climb out of a white Jeep splattered with red dirt. His short black hair messed in the hot breeze, showing a round bald spot on the top rear of his head. The wiry, under-six-foot man glanced around him before disappearing into the building across the street. She looked up at Rem.

“What are we really doing here?” she asked. He hadn’t answered her when she asked why he was snooping around Ammar’s illicit diamond deals. Why?

Barely making eye contact with her, he left the window and began to load the SUV, which he’d parked beside the shack of a dwelling, hidden behind some trees.

Haley’s instinct warned her something wasn’t right. Rem was up to something, and it wasn’t just getting Ammar.

After putting on her hiking boots, she got into the SUV and tried to calm her rushing adrenaline. Maybe she could go back to the Mamba Point Hotel. Walking back to Monrovia alone and unarmed would be nothing short of stupid. So for now, she was stuck with him.

He drove to a dirt road just outside Robertsport and turned around so the SUV faced the main road to Monrovia. Less than thirty minutes later, Habib’s Jeep passed. The road was lightly traveled.

Rem waited awhile before driving onto the road.

“What are you going to do?” She knew it was futile asking.

His eyes never flinched from the road, and he pressed the gas when the Jeep came into view. Veering into the opposite lane, he raced beside the Jeep. Haley saw Habib’s shocked and frightened look before Rem steered the big SUV right into the Jeep’s side. Habib lost control with the hard hit and swerved off the road. A loud bang penetrated the interior of the SUV when the Jeep hit a tree. Rem braked and spun the SUV around, racing back toward the Jeep. Her seat belt jerked her around in the seat. He skidded to a stop not two feet from the driver’s door. Habib was slouched in the driver’s seat.

Rem yanked off his seat belt and leaned close to her. “Stay here. If you run, I’m coming after you.”

She heard her own rapid breaths as she stared at him with disbelief swimming so hard in her it made her dizzy. He was crazy. She should have never trusted him. He swung the driver’s door open and ran to the Jeep. After searching Habib’s clothes, he pulled the man’s body back against the seat and leaned across him, then backed out with a small purse-sized leather pouch in hand.

While he loosened the top to check its contents, Haley swung the passenger door open. She went around the front of the SUV. “Did you kill him?” Her heart hammered wild and hard in her chest.

“Get back in the SUV.” He grabbed her arm and forced her away from the Jeep.

“We can’t just leave him here!”

“He’ll be all right.”

“Is he alive? Did you check?”

“He’s alive. That crash didn’t kill him, it only knocked him out.”

“Did you check? Don’t you care?”

Dark fury raged in his impossibly blue eyes. “How could I? Is that what you’re thinking?” He shoved her back against the back passenger door of the SUV. “I saw him breathing. Get in, or I’ll throw you in the back.”

She slithered onto the passenger seat, feeling a tremble racking her legs and arms. Rem put the leather pouch in his duffel bag and climbed into the driver’s seat. There were a lot of diamonds in there. Turning the SUV around, he accelerated. Ninety miles an hour down a two-lane, poorly maintained road, maneuvering curves, passing one car. He watched his rearview mirror. A few minutes later, he slowed. At a dirt road, he turned. She was jostled for more than an hour over the badly pocked road, until he finally slowed and searched the trees. Then he veered right into the dense vegetation, parking when it would let him go no farther.

She gaped at him, wondering what he was doing.

“Don’t take anything with you,” he said. “I packed enough for both of us.”

Oh, God.
Where was he taking her now? The operatives Cullen was sending wouldn’t find her.

She jumped out of the SUV and onto soggy ground. All around her thick canopy shaded the sunny sky. Birds sang and called.

Rem grabbed the duffel bag where he’d stowed the diamonds as well as a second duffel bag, which he threw at her. She caught it, and he took her hand. Pulling her after him, he ran through the vegetation the SUV had flattened on the way in. They reached the dirt road. Putting the bag down, he unzipped it and pulled out a remote control. A detonator, she realized, and she could only gape at him when she heard the explosion through the thick vegetation. He’d blown up the SUV. Now they were on foot in the middle of a Liberian jungle.

Zipping the bag, he stood with it in his hand and pulled her after him again, running down the road.

No wonder he was so moody after Ammar had threatened him. He’d known all along that he’d have to take her with him. He wanted her on a plane and out of his life because he was playing a dangerous game with terrorists. There were too many diamonds in that leather bag for Ammar to let go. There had to be thousands and thousands of carats’ worth.

What was he going to do with them? She had to stay with him to find out. Not that she had any choice.

Fifteen minutes later, she stumbled and tripped after him as he once again led her into the tangle of trees and vegetation that bordered the road. Then he let her go as he began pulling leafy branches off what she soon saw was a Jeep. A battered, rusting, once-dark-green Jeep. She climbed into the passenger seat. There was no seat belt, so she grabbed hold of the roll bar as he maneuvered the vehicle out of the jungle and back onto the road. He drove like a wild man, veering to the right when the road Y’d, veering again, this time left, when it Y’d again.

She dared a glance at him. His face was a hard mask of determination and grit. A pothole sent her entire body off the seat. She looked forward. And was shocked to see a village come into view.

Rem drove all the way through and stopped the Jeep at a clearing. Just ahead sat an armed black helicopter with no markings.

“Where are we going?” she demanded.

Grabbing the duffel with the diamonds, he slid his long legs out of the Jeep without acknowledging her. Bringing the second duffel bag with her, she followed him.

“How many diamonds are in that bag?”

“Don’t talk about that now,” he retorted in a low, angry tone.

She spotted a young man who smiled hugely, showing white teeth against dark skin as he approached.

“Remy,” the man greeted. “I glad to see you.” He leaned in for a masculine hug and a couple of hard pats on Rem’s back.

“Thanks for coming through for me,” Rem said, when the man withdrew. He pulled out a wad of cash from his wallet. He counted several hundred. The man laughed and nodded his excitement. “It is easy to help you, Remy. You save my family this year. Most of my people, too.” He indicated toward Haley with his head. “You no mention bringing a lady.”

“Sorry. We don’t have time. I’ll be in touch as soon as possible.”

The man nodded again but looked curiously at Haley. Rem took hold of her hand and pulled her toward the helicopter.

Climbing in, she dumped the duffel in the pod and lowered herself onto the copilot’s seat. Rem started the bird. It was stripped of everything but the essential instruments and controls for the guns. The rotor roared loud after a few minutes. And pretty soon they lifted into the air.

Haley watched the jungle canopy pass below, numb to this incredible turn of events. She should have seen it coming. Should have known the diamonds were all that interested him. Was that how he’d have his revenge? By taking Ammar’s diamonds? It was a huge blow. It would set the terrorist back substantially. If Rem got away with it. And judging by the direction they were flying, he wasn’t going to. They were headed north toward Sierra Leone.

Rem began speaking into a radio. An accented voice answered, “Come ahead.”

The canopy opened and a rudimentary landing pad came into view. Several buildings were scattered across roughly a ten-acre compound, with signs of ongoing construction. One of the buildings was of a fairly good size for this part of the world.

Seeing the massive wall that enclosed the compound and its gnarled barbed-wire topping, she tracked it to the gate, where armed guards stood outside a small building. More guards waited at the earthen landing pad. Unease churned into something living inside Haley. There were too many. She felt trapped. She’d felt the same when she’d seen the insurgents coming toward her.

“Rem.” She no longer tried to hide her growing fear. She met his gaze across the space of the helicopter, hoping she wasn’t so wrong about him that she’d let him drag her into something terribly dangerous.

He turned his head and met her gaze. “Just stay with me. You’ll be fine.”

Something in her expression must have clued him to the chaos building in her.

“I won’t let anyone hurt you. You have to trust me on that.”

“Who are these people?”

“I’ll die before I’ll let anyone hurt you. Do you understand?”

She hated how she had to pant for air. What if he did die?

“Haley.”

Armed dark-skinned men surrounded the helicopter. She felt herself falling back into Iraq. In the armored vehicle. Gunfire. The insurgents coming toward her. She rolled her head back and forth against the back of the seat, trying to control her snowballing panic.

“Haley.” Rem moved closer to her, kneeling by her seat and sliding his hands beside her face, his fingers curving to the back of her head and neck. Gently, he held her face still. But kissed her hard.

Then his eyes blazed energy that fired through her haze.

“Be strong,” he said in a deep, gruff voice.

“Rem.” Oh, God, she was wrong to think she could do this. To think she could be an operative like Travis. He’d been right all along. So had Cullen. She wasn’t cut out for this. Not after Iraq. Her mind reeled out of control. She couldn’t stop it. She panted more.

“Listen to me,” Rem hissed, his hands giving her a firm but gentle shake. “You’re my girlfriend. You speak French and no English. Don’t say anything unless they ask you a question or address you in French. Leave all the English talking to me. Okay?”

She could only stare at him.

“How fluent are you?” he asked in French.

“F-fluent,” she managed to say.

“Don’t be afraid,” he told her still in French, and then, “I’ll protect you.”

She wasn’t sure she could trust him like that.

“You’ll be fine if you speak only French. Okay?”

She nodded even though she was still so unsettled. “Okay. French.”

He withdrew his hands from her head. “Just stay by me and do what I tell you. They all know me here. They also know if anybody touches you, I’ll kill them.”

She stopped breathing altogether. Because now she believed him. She also believed he’d done it before.

“How many diamonds do you have?”

“Close to ten thousand carats. All rough.”

She felt her head go cold and closed her eyes. “Oh.” It came out on a breath full of dread. They were in so much trouble.

“This is no time to fall apart,” he hissed, harsher than before.

She opened her eyes and found his. “You should have told me what you were planning!”

“Yeah? If I had, would you have come with me?”

“No way!” she all but screeched.

“Yeah. And Ammar would have killed you because I
have to do this!
”

“What do you have to do? What is so important to you that you’d go this far?”

“There’s no time to explain it now.”

She glanced out the window of the chopper and saw the armed men waiting for them. A fresh wave of fear renewed her trembles.