by Diane Saxon
He nodded. It wasn’t his place to judge, but she’d shattered his soul.
Unaware of the effect her words had on him, she continued, her voice a bleak monotone. “The mercenaries were fast, but I managed to get out. I raced through the village, hardly quiet. I was panic stricken. I forgot my training in my desperation to get away, get help. I must have crashed through there like a bull elephant.” She took a moment to draw in a few deep breaths. He already knew control came to her as second nature. “I reached the edge of the village, a tree line in the desert, that’s all it was.” She pulled in another long breath. “There she was. One of the young village women, barely past puberty.” Barbara’s eyes glazed as she stared hard at a spot on the floor in front of her.
“‘This way,’ she said, ‘This way, lady.’ She offered me help, even though she was weighed down by the burden of her own children.” Tears flowed down Barbara’s cheeks to glisten in the bright white lighting. She closed her eyes, squeezed them tight, but tears still leaked out from behind her lashes. “One child leaned against her leg, and she held the hand of another while she cradled a baby in her arms.”
She painted the vision so clearly in his mind, it was there in front of him, stealing his breath to make his chest burn with a fire he knew would never die.
Barbara slumped forward and covered her face with her hands while her voice came through in muffled tones. “He stepped from behind the bushes by her side. He must have known what I’d witnessed, but the woman seemed to think it was her he was going to kill. For offering to help. She held the baby out to me, asked me to take her. To save her.” She raised her head and peered through her spread fingers at him. “He shot her. Just put a bullet through her head like she was a minor inconvenience, then he killed the eldest child too.” Her voice hitched, threatening to halt altogether, but she heaved a sigh and managed to carry on. “It was instinct to grab the baby and the smaller child. I heaved them up into my arms, they barely weighed anything, and I ran. I ran without looking back, with my gun in my hand, and never gave a second thought to standing and fighting. Of shooting the bastard between the eyes like he deserved and going after the remaining insurgents. Of going back, like I had before. When I returned for Flynn. But I had my arms full of screaming babies and an empty brain. I ran for my life…and for theirs.”
She slid her hands from her face and sucked air in through her teeth while he gave her moment to compose herself.
“What did you do with the children?”
She reached for the glass of water, took her time taking a sip. “I ran through the night, two, three villages away. They took the kids in.” She placed her hand against her breast. “I found a beat up old vehicle left by the troops. I drove back to base, sneaked back in just before dawn broke. I thought he might have reported me as AWOL then, but he wasn’t there. I can only assume he was looking for me.” She shook her head in puzzlement. “No one had missed me. They probably assumed I’d been asleep. I grabbed my belongings and caught the transport home with the other guys.”
She leaned back, exhaustion wreathing her features. “You know the rest. I got out of there, contacted Flynn. I told him nothing except I was in trouble. I knew he would find a way, I trusted him, so I arranged to meet him, and you turned up and inadvertently endangered yourself.”
“Barbara.”
The awareness was there on her face. “Why did you stay?”
He knew from her jerky shrug and the way she tilted her chin downward, she was about to tell him a bald face lie.
“I had no choice…”
“Yeah, you did.” He couldn’t touch her, wasn’t ready to, because if he did, he’d pull her into his arms and never let her go.
“No, I didn’t. I had nowhere else to go. No one to trust.”
She’d trusted him. Right from the start. She may not have told him everything, but she’d trusted him enough with her safety and her sanity.
Before she could ask any more questions, he came to his feet in one rapid movement. He glanced at his watch and fear caused his pulse to stutter. They were almost out of time. “I have to speak with Zak.”
She shot to her feet and made it the six steps to him before he even blinked. “What are you going to do?” Her voice quavered at the end of her sentence, and he would have smiled but for their situation. “Dominic.” Her hand on his arm was far too resilient. He knew he was physically stronger than her, but she outweighed him in the dexterity stakes. He stepped back so his gun was out of her reach, saw the knowledge dash through her face.
“You have to let me go. I have no idea how Strachan will tackle this, but I don’t think it’s going to be pretty. Whether he’ll bring a whole bunch of mercenaries this time instead of a colonel. He tried to go through military channels to keep his name clean, his position of power in place, but it failed. If you make a stand, if he thinks you know what happened, he’ll kill you without hesitation, Dominic. He’s been cornered. He won’t falter when it comes to killing innocents. He’s done it before, he’ll do it again.”
Dominic knew what she said was the truth and understood she was trying to protect him.
He raised his eyebrows and stared at the delicate woman in front of him. Could he ever love her more than he did in that moment? His heart pounded until the sound of it filled his head and beat out a pulse in the base of his throat. Her beauty lay in her strength, her honor, her braveness, and he was privileged to be able to protect her.
In a lightning move, he reached out, cupped her face in his hands, and pressed his lips to her soft, cool ones. “I love you.” The quick flash of surprise made her blink rapidly, so he smiled as he smooched her mouth once again, this time with a gentle brush of his lips against hers. “I love you, Barbara, and if you think I’m going to let you sacrifice yourself, you have no faith in me and my honor.” He slipped his hands to the back of her neck to hold her in place while he pressed his cheek against hers. “It’s okay, don’t be scared.” Her disgusted snort had him pulling away to grin down at her. “I don’t mean about the battle to come but the fact you love me too, but just can’t bring yourself to admit it.”
He admired the deep pink flush that shot through to her hairline. Satisfied he’d made his point, he stepped back and loosened his grip on her to brush his fingers over her porcelain skin. “Right now, though, we’re running out of time and we need to prepare. Arm yourself, Captain Perry. You know where to find them.” At her silence, he hesitated and then spoke once more. “Don’t try and tell me you don’t know where Zak keeps his munitions or what the code is. I don’t need any bullshit from you.”
He tried to withdraw, but her strong grip on his wrists detained him. The plea in her eyes almost brought him to his knees. “You need to let me go, Dominic. Please don’t endanger yourself.”
He paused for a long moment and let his gaze roam her face to emblazon her features on his mind. She was right about one thing. He needed to protect them all, without further delay.
Chapter Eleven
A sleek black limousine drew up in the driveway.
Dominic’s heart dropped as a single person stepped out of the driver’s side of the vehicle. Tall and rangy, the guy wore typical special agent clothing. Sharp black suit, spotless white shirt, thin black tie. He was a Men in Black cliché, especially with the black shades covering his eyes.
It was blatantly obvious the army had no idea what danger Strachan presented, otherwise they would have sent an entire unit to escort Barbara. Who knew where Strachan would make his stand? Would he intercept them halfway, or was he already in hiding somewhere within the facility grounds?
Dominic met the agent at the back door. He swung it open just as the guy approached.
A pale green gaze in a face far younger than Dominic had hoped met his as the agent slipped his shades onto the top of his head.
At the sound of more vehicles approaching, Dominic held up one finger for the agent to be silent and whipped his gaze around to watch with a sinking heart the a
pproach of two more black limousines.
Silent, the agent turned to watch their approach, his head cocked to one side.
Interesting they should choose to go with the disguise of finesse instead of arriving gung ho in the military vehicles Dominic had half expected them in. Was the imitation of the agent’s limo deliberate?
He squinted over the guy’s shoulder to see how many climbed out of the vehicles. Seven. No one got out of the driver’s side of either, so that made nine all together. Bollocks, he hadn’t really expected anything else, but he’d kind of hoped.
He hadn’t expected them to turn up at the facility, either. He’d thought they might ambush her on her journey, where there’d be minimum resistance. Strachan must have less brains than muscle. Even if Dominic sent Zak, as he’d planned to do, they’d have been wildly outnumbered. They still were, but at least this way it was their territory, their advantage.
He resisted the temptation to rub his weary eyes in case Barbara picked up on his concern. Perhaps he should have saved his strength and not spent most of the night making love with her.
Hell, no. They’d be lucky to escape alive, and if the last memory he had was of Barbara lying naked and flushed in his arms, then he would die a satisfied man. Not that he intended to die, he’d just found another great reason to live, because he wasn’t letting her go when this was over.
Never taking his gaze from them, he watched them take instructions from Strachan. Their short, sharp nods indicated they were experienced professionals. He narrowed his eyes and centered in on the one man who appeared to challenge Strachan. Emilio. A worm of disappointment wriggled through him. From what he could tell, the exchange became a little heated until Strachan spun on his heel and strode toward the kitchen door, leaving the smaller man to follow, along with the others.
Men of war, Dominic judged, from the way they marched across his yard, all business but little form. Not military then, but a group of hired mercenaries, as Barbara had said. Not as disciplined, but vicious, cold-blooded killers who let money rule the side they fought on.
Dominic knew what he was capable of, what Zak and Barbara were practiced at, but the odds weren’t really stacked in their favor. Nine to three. He made a quick glance at the young agent and suspected had little experience in the field yet, so Dominic ruled him out. The poor guy was oblivious of the danger.
He couldn’t help blowing out a gusty sigh.
A quick glance over his shoulder reassured him Barbara hadn’t made a move. With the perfect image of relaxed disinterest, she leaned in her sleek black pants and long-sleeved T-shirt against the open doorway into the hall, her narrow-eyed gaze keen as she watched the men approach.
A small rucksack with a few clothes and some toiletries was dumped at her feet, not that either of them truly believed she would live long enough to need it once she was taken from the facility. It became even more obvious with their approach there was no intention of Barbara living long enough to reach the sanctuary of the army base.
The only sign of nerves was her neat white teeth chewing on her bottom lip. The moment his gaze dipped to her mouth, she stopped, quirked him a smile, and treated him to a sly wink. There was no fear in her eyes, no sign of strain in her voice. “I’ll be fine, I’ll go quietly. I won’t give them any cause to draw their weapons here.”
Brave woman, his Barbara.
She’d lived an independent life, and it was quite clear she neither expected nor wanted backup. She was willing to go quietly in order to protect him, and then she’d fight to the death without a qualm. He gave a lazy smile back at her. She might just be in for a surprise.
He turned his attention to the yard as seven men approached the house. Who the hell did they think they were?
He leaned against the open door and allowed his gaze to skim over the rabble.
“A little overkill, wouldn’t you think, Gus? Seven men to collect one woman.”
Flat and dead, the man’s dark eyes penetrated Dominic’s. These were the eyes of a shark, a cold-blooded killer. This was a man who was irredeemable. They should have sent him for psychiatric assessment. It hadn’t taken long to get his measure. A dangerous man, and without his commanding officer, he was a loose cannon.
“Perhaps you can have four of them wait in the vehicles.” Again the long stare.
The agent glanced from one to the other. Confusion wreathed his young, handsome features.
Strachan was after a pissing competition, but Dominic wasn’t willing to play on his own doorstep with Barbara’s life at stake. He plastered on a pleasant smile and a vacant look as he waited for Strachan to make a decision. He counted on the guy not wanting to show his hand too soon.
“Frank, Jo, Lionel, wait by the cars.” The guy was a moron. What difference would it have made if he’d agreed to the four of them returning? Except the idiot flexed his muscles, raised his hackles, like the alpha dog he believed he was, but it just showed him to be less of a man. No surprise there. Where there was narrow-minded egotism, there was weakness. They went hand in hand.
Dominic raked his gaze over Emilio and took in the fine sheen of sweat covering his upper lip, the way the man’s gaze bounced around the kitchen, anywhere so he didn’t have to meet Dominic’s stare.
With no choice but to step back and allow them to enter, Dominic removed his hand from the door, tempted to touch his fingers to his gun, but Barbara had taught him a lot. It had been a hard lesson, well taught. Keep your hand off your hidden weapon.
He quelled the smile that threatened. Barbara had taught him more than he could ever have hoped. She’d taught him truth and honesty and the brilliance of an open mind.
The sickly wash of aftershave wafted past as Strachan stepped into the room, followed closely by the agent. “Got your gear, Perry? Let’s go.”
“Oh, whoa, whoa.” Dominic reached out a hand to touch Strachan’s arm and found the barrel of a gun in his face. Wary, he raised both hands in supplication. If he ripped the fucker’s throat out, one of the others would get him, and he hadn’t quite anticipated it going down the way it appeared to be. Not this fast. The guy was obviously locked and loaded, the slight tremble of the gun not showing nerves but a surplus of adrenaline. “It’s okay. I just need to see the paperwork, Strachan. Just the paperwork, and you’re good to go.” Dominic kept his voice calm and soothing, his manner conciliatory. It wouldn’t help if he got his brains blown out quite this early in the game. What use would he be to Barbara?
Strachan hesitated a long moment before he made a show of holstering his gun. “What paperwork do you mean?”
Ignorant bastard. “The warrant for Captain Perry’s detainment.”
“I don’t fucking need a warrant.” Spittle flew from the other man’s lips as they pulled back to reveal yellowed teeth.
“I think you’ll find the Major General of Criminal Investigation Command would disagree with you.” Perhaps a little pressure from a higher ranking officer might bring him back into line. After all, army life was ingrained in him, even if he was rogue.
“I think you’ll find having committed a war crime, I have every right to remove Perry from these premises and transport her to Criminal Investigation Command for a full and thorough investigation, including and not restricted to a polygraph test.”
Dominic crossed his arms over his chest and spread his feet in a careless pose while he turned his attention back to Strachan. “I wasn’t aware Captain Perry had committed a war crime, nor to my knowledge has she been accused of such, so what are you doing here?”
Without hesitation, Strachan looked him in the eye and lied. “I’ve been sent to escort Captain Perry.”
Dominic flicked his gaze over the other three men before he turned his attention on the agent.
The slight dip of the man’s head acknowledged he was fully aware of the danger they were in. He may be young, but his instincts and training had already alerted him. Although he hadn’t stepped forward when Strachan pulled the gun, perhaps he m
ight just be enough to contain the situation. For a while. The agent shifted his weight and drew their attention. “I have the order, although I wasn’t aware of the need of an armed escort, nor is it for war crimes, just a simple detainment in order for Captain Perry to be questioned in connection with the death of certain civilians.”
Dominic guessed as much, but it was good to have it confirmed.
Dominic smiled at Strachan and cast a quick glance at Emilio before he stepped past him to the agent and held out his hand. “Dominic Salter. Let’s have your paperwork, sir, then you can get on your way.”
“Special Agent Bloomsbury.” The contact was strong and brief.
Paper rustled as the agent withdrew the sheaf from his inside pocket. A flash of his gun caught Dominic’s eye. He might need it sooner than he thought.
“Take a seat,” Dominic invited as he took one himself, making a show of putting on his glasses to read the documentation, aware Barbara still hadn’t moved a muscle.
He took his time, felt the heat of Strachan’s impatience about to explode, and when he spotted what he needed, he shuffled the papers back into order. “I’m afraid there’s an error in the warrant.”
“What?” Strachan pulsed with fury, his cheeks turning a deep, burnished red.
“Hmmm, yes.” Enjoying every moment of it, Dominic offered the papers back to Agent Bloomsbury. “I’m afraid you have the incorrect date for Captain Perry’s transfer on here. It’s tomorrow’s date.” The agent’s eyebrows twitched over his puzzled expression as he reached for the warrant. Dominic gave him a bland smile. “I’m afraid you can’t take her today.”
∙•∙
The stupid man, what had she told him? He was to let her go and save himself. What in the name of God was he playing at? Wrong date my ass. Tempted to lean in and snatch the warrant as it exchanged hands so she could check it herself, Barbara reigned in her impatience and continued to lean against the doorframe. She hoped to appear for all intents and purposes as though she was ignorant of the events surrounding her. Like it was a possibility. Strachan always had been more sloppy reaction and less attention to detail.
